Diversifying into commercial doesnt have to be difficult. Pepper Moneys Malcolm Withers and La Trobe Financials Mark Hood discuss their tips for breaking into commercial, the latest market trends, and where to find growth in 2020

Q: Why are more brokers diversifying into the commercial lending space?

Malcolm Withers: I think brokers now recognise that if they are not asking their customers about their diverse needs then someone else will be. Opening the door to additional markets like commercial lending gives them a point of difference that can service these ever-changing customer needs. If we look at the industry over time, there has been a growing gap between what an SME customer wants and what traditional lenders are able to provide. SME clients are looking for a dedicated business banker that understands their business and works with them to help them grow and navigate their finance needs. The banks, however, are grappling with how to deliver this in a rapidly growing SME market, meaning these clients end up dealing with a call centre when they are expecting a personalised service.

I believe this has presented a significant opportunity for a broker to evolve and develop their business to offer more than just mortgage lending. They can bring back the personal relationship a self-employed client deserves by fully understanding their goals, growth plans and where they want to be in five years time, and help them navigate the path to achieve this growth.

Mark Hood: The number of brokers diversifying into commercial lending has increased but remains relatively low, with just 20% of brokers writing commercial loans, compared to almost 60% of brokers who write residential loans. Commercial lending appears to represent a great upside opportunity for brokers looking to expand their business and diversify their product offering, revenue sources and client base from which other services can be cross-sold.

It may sound simple, but the fi rst step is as easy as asking your clients, Did you know I can help with commercial and asset fi nance? Malcolm Withers, head of commercial, Pepper Money

We believe a key driver of the shift towards commercial lending is coming from the consumers themselves, who are already strong advocates of the value added by mortgage brokers in the process of sourcing the best available loan, whether that be commercial or residential. Several lenders and aggregators are also focused on assisting more and more brokers to grow their commercial books. With our broad suite of products, which includes commercial products and our highly experienced commercial lending team, La Trobe Financial is helping to educate and guide brokers through the commercial process, enabling them to diversify into this sector.

Q: What does this trend suggest about the housing market, and where will the key drivers of growth stem from in 2020  residential or commercial?

Malcolm Withers: By diversifying into commercial lending in 2020, brokers will be less dependent on the ebbs and fl ows of the residential property market. SMEs make up 97% of Australian businesses. Whilst they are nimble, dynamic and can move quickly to gain efficiencies or accelerate growth through different business stages, they can also struggle to obtain access to capital to support their changing needs. I see the role of brokers as a vital one in helping their self-employed clients manage cash flow, asset and equipment needs, and their property requirements.

Mark Hood: While the financial landscape remains challenging, we believe there is a unique opportunity for brokers to increase their market share of commercial business, with approximately $1525bn in unmet commercial loan needs available annually in the market that require broker guidance and non-bank assistance.

We see several growth areas, including:

Smaller SMEs placing their owner-occupied commercial properties in their SMSFs for investment and tax purposes.

Office market vacancy rates in some areas are at 10-year lows, with Sydney and Melbourne continuing their strong performance and Perth and Brisbane improving

Increasing demand for residential dwellings to meet the underlying need for housing driven by population growth. Melbourne and Sydney are likely to be in undersupply towards the back half of 2020, with Brisbane also quickly absorbing excess stock. The build to rent market continues to grow, with many developers looking to hold stock on completion.

Q: Just how much growth did commercial lending experience last year? Do you have any figures or stats that express this?

Malcolm Withers: We are excited that brokers have been embracing Peppers commercial solutions since piloting in March last year. There is a high awareness of our offering amongst our brokers, and weve seen that 45% of Pepper Money accredited brokers have written at least one commercial loan in the last 12 months. The feedback on our commercial lending solutions has been extremely positive, and weve established that it is our holistic view of a client, along with our fl exibility and agility, that sets Pepper Money apart. Geeta Kashyap, managing director of GK Finance, is a broker who has been able to support her commercial clients with Pepper Money. She said, I recently wrote a commercial application through Pepper Commercial. I found the whole exercise very easy, with the lodgement process being very familiar to the residential process. The turnaround time from scenario to application and then approval was super fast, and the team at Pepper were very helpful. I would have no hesitation in using them again in the future.

Mark Hood: Aside from noting the increase in high-quality customers over the last year in smaller development lending, we have seen another shift in small business customers moving away from the banks to the non-bank sector. As the banks undertake their annual reviews, several SME customers are struggling with the changes being made. These changes could relate to industry classifications, or they may require a reduction in LVR. This would require the borrower to make a principal reduction, or a move to principal and interest repayments instead of interest-only, putting more pressure on the borrowers cash flow. With around $15$25bn per annum in commercial loans underserved by traditional lenders, there is a sizeable opportunity for finance brokers to promote competitively priced commercial loans and capture a greater share of their clients business.

Q: How surprising (if at all) was this growth?

Malcolm Withers: We put considerable thought into the development of our commercial lending business and have been focused on meeting underserved niches in the same way we approach home loan solutions. We wanted to ensure that our products and policies delivered what clients and brokers were asking for: a unique set of solutions to meet all their needs and a lender who could deliver these in a flexible and simple way. We are also working hard to ensure brokers and their clients receive the strong support and high service levels that have become Peppers trademark. We understand the emotional roller-coaster ride that many borrowers face while seeking property loans, and we will continue to do our best to make things as simple and stress-free as possible.

Mark Hood: We experienced very strong growth throughout 2019, driven largely by the retreat of traditional lenders from segments of the commercial loans market. The extent of this retreat caught everyone by surprise, including borrowers, which meant there was plenty of demand unmatched on the supply side. This is where larger leading non-banks, foreign banks and credit unions were able to step in to meet commercial finance needs.

Q: How has the rise of nonbanks impacted this trend?

Malcolm Withers: Small business clients are looking for a lender who understands them and makes it easy to do business. They are looking for ease and accessibility so they can focus on what is important to them: running their business. This is where specialist lenders like Pepper Money are powerful. We are flexible and nimble and have a range of policies and products that look at where the client is headed, not necessarily letting their past define what they will do tomorrow.

Mark Hood: Today, consumers are experiencing high levels of uncertainty, low confidence and brand confusion in the finance world, making the role of trusted advisers like finance brokers more valuable and in demand. At La Trobe Financial, we are supporting new to commercial brokers by providing them with familiar processes and policies to those of our residential products. If they have written residential loans with us, they will automatically be able to transition to commercial.

In addition, brokers can contact our 35 dedicated senior commercial credit analysts and 28 partnership managers for assistance and education throughout the process. We have over 400 staff and some 97 lending credit analysts waiting for your call now.

Q: What tips would you have for brokers trying to break into commercial?

Malcolm Withers: Ask an important question. It may sound simple, but the first step is as easy as asking your clients, Did you know I can help with commercial and asset finance? Remember that every self-employed client is a business owner; the opportunity is there for brokers to evolve into business banking brokers and provide the personal relationships SME clients are after. Get to know their leasing schedule: understand the operating rhythm of your clients business and when any lease agreements are due for renewal. Have a process in place to check in with your client at an appropriate time beforehand to see how you may be able to help them access a better option.

Finally, be curious: ask plenty of questions and really get to understand your client  what drives their business and what makes them successful. In too many cases, a broker will know a clients finance needs but not actually understand how it will impact their business if they do not access the funding. Without this understanding, many brokers will dismiss specialist lenders as too expensive, when in fact this is not necessarily the case. With a change in mindset comes an enormous opportunity to grow both your broker business and that of your business clients.

Mark Hood: Brokers already have the lead generation tools to make the transition to commercial lending. They should review their CRM database to identify clients who already hold commercial property to see if there is an opportunity to refinance, particularly if clients have held the property for some time. The next step could be to look for self-employed clients and approach them to see if they are interested in purchasing business premises, possibly in an SMSF structure.
Sanusi Lamido

The Presidency on Saturday vehemently rejected accusation that it was a collaborator in last Mondays dethronement of Mallam Sanusi Lamido as Emir of Kano by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.

It said suggestions that President Muhammadu Buhari either instigated the emirs sack or did not intervene to save him were far from the truth.

Among other critics, the immediate past governor of Kano State, Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, claimed that Buhari gave the order to remove the emir, while a former military head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, said that Sanusi would not have been sacked if the president had intervened.

A highly placed Presidency source faulted both views yesterday.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, recalled how Buhari, in 2017, stopped the first move by Ganduje to depose the former emir.

Said the source: When the Governor Gandujes administration made up its mind to remove Emir Sanusi as far back as 2017, the governor informed President Buhari of this decision. He, however, asked for advice and guidance, President Buhari said it was inappropriate and requested that the plan be shelved.



Buhari was said to have followed up his verbal position on the planned deposition with a November 17, 2017 letter to Ganduje to put his view in a clearer perspective.

The president further directed his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, to follow up for a peaceful resolution of the crisis of confidence between the two, the source said.

Buhari also set up a committee made up of five state governors led by Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State to handle the crisis.

They did their best, the source said of the committee.



Calm returned but occasional flare-ups continued and were aggravated by the tense situations under which the governor re-emerged for his second term in the 2019 general elections.

In the course of that period, Governor Fayemi, his Jigawa State counterpart, Abubakar Badaru, and, to some extent, the Inspector General of Police made several expeditions to Kano, to prevail on the governor to not remove the Emir in those tense moments in the interest of peace and security.

The main grouse of the administration was that the Emir had failed to stay above the fray of partisan politics, especially as it related to the governors re-election.

The source said that at some point, senior citizens including Generals Babangida, Wushishi and Abdulsalami Abubakar, among others, came into the picture and offered suggestions on how the matter could be resolved.

He said: the Chief of Staff (Abba Kyari) sought permission and gave the green light for the commencement of work by the Abdulsalami Abubakar committee.

The committee members sat down with the president at the Villa to discuss their mission.

At this meeting, the president outlined the efforts he put into the resolution of the conflict in Kano and said he had had enough.

He gave assurances of support and put at their disposal, the use of the presidential aircraft, then wished them the best of luck. But he did make clear that if the situation warranted it, he would not hesitate to clamp an emergency rule on the state.

The source said Governor Ganduje gave conditions for peace, including the withdrawal of court cases by Emir Sanusi against the state government.

Sanusi allegedly agreed to withdraw some of the cases, but stood his ground on the others, including a suit filed by Alhaji Bashir Tofa and his group who the state government alleged to be Sanusis proxy in the case.

The governor insisted that the newly-created emirates must be kept but acceded to the former emir that four of the five kingmakers whose districts were excised from Kano be reinstated. Sanusi agreed not to appeal the decision to uphold the emirates by the courts.

It was clear all this while that the inflexibility to meet some of the conditions for peace by both (sides) have added complications that made peace almost impossible. For example, the former Emir had wanted the Kano State Anti-Corruption Commission to stop its case against him completely.

He stood firmly that the case he instituted against the Code of Conduct Bureau would not be withdrawn because, in his view, he needed to pursue it to clear his name, a demand that Gov Ganduje rejected.

The source said the report turned in by the Abubabar Committee did not give any glimmer of hope for ending the crisis, as a mediators success depends largely on the cooperation of the parties involved.

Undaunted by some hiccups, Buhari, according to the source, pressed ahead with his search for peace in Kano.

The source cited fresh meetings which the Chief of Staff had with Ganduje and Sanusi in Kano when he led a delegation to condole the former Emir over the death of Ambassador Sunusi, the late Dan Iyan Kano, and the former Emirs uncle.

The discussions were aimed at reconciling the feuding parties, he said.



Having gone to this extent for peace, it is uncharitable and baseless to accuse President Buhari of ordering Ganduje to depose Sanusi, he said, adding: the President holds Sanusi in the highest esteem and has nothing personal against him and, therefore, he couldnt have told Ganduje to depose him.

Allegations that Abuja, referring indirectly to President Buhari, is complicit in the Emirs alleged forceful removal from the palace and exile to Nasarawa are equally nonsensical.

Chieftaincy law in Northern Nigeria going back to 1919 makes for the deposition and confinement of Emirs and Chiefs. Sarki Alu of Kano was removed by the colonial administration using this law and was walked to Lokoja on foot to start a life of exile.

State governments have used that law to full effect dealing with Sultan Dasuki in Sokoto, removed and kept in Zing, Taraba State and Emir Jokolo of Gwandu, Kebbi State, who has been kept away from the state now for over two decades. Kano State did not need President Buharis authorisation for anyone to remove and exile emirs and chiefs.

General Abdulsalami Abubakar, speaking on the Hausa Service of Voice of America (VOA) last week, had said Sanusi would probably have remained on the throne if Buhari had intervened.

He said the committee he headed to reconcile Sanusi and Ganduje did its best by holding separate meetings with the governor and the former emir, and even left the duo to discuss.



After conclusion of the assignment, we realised that there was amicable resolution to the crisis. Surprisingly, this is what happened at last, he said.

I cant really say whether Buhari has a hand in the matter because I am currently not in Nigeria. But before I left the country, we submitted our report to him, and he expressed willingness to intervene in the matter in order to have amicable resolution, despite being a constitutional matter. I really dont know if he had intervened.

Former Governor Kwankwaso said on BBC Hausa Service that Buhari gave the order to dethrone Sanusi as emir.



You see leaders here in Kano State government themselves are saying they were given the order to dethrone the emir. He (President Muhammadu Buhari) is the one that gave them the order.

***

Source: The Nation
The government should bring in a payment holiday for rent and mortgages as part of its emergency legislation to support people affected by coronavirus, Labour has said.

In a letter to Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn also called for improvements to sick pay, the suspension of requirements at jobcentres, and support for food banks distributing supplies.

The call comes amid concern that people with the virus may continue to work rather than self-isolate because of the cost of staying at home, making the pandemic worse.

Ministers are drawing up plans for emergency legislation to help fight the virus, reportedly including powers to detail infected people and force schools to stay open. They will also launch a new public information campaign from Sunday.

But arguing that tackling the pandemic demands political as well as scientific judgements, Mr Corbyn called for a slate of social protections to cushion the economic blow that the disease would have.

In recent weeks, we have sought to avoid fuelling public panic and to support the vital work of officials and health and scientific advisers. We are committed to ensuring we fully contribute to the collective effort to protect public health, the outgoing leader of the opposition said in his letter to the prime minister.



However, this crisis demands political as well as scientific judgements and clearer public communication based on greater transparency of scientific and behavioural evidence and modelling than has been provided to date.

Measures suggested by Labour include:

 Full sick pay and lost earnings protection from day on for all workers, including the self-employed and those on low pay

 A general increase in statutory sick pay to bring it into line with amounts paid in other European countries, which Britain currently lags

 Ending requirements to attend universal credit interviews at jobcentres in all cases, suspending sanctions, and cutting the waiting period for new benefit claims from five weeks to one

 Government support for local authorities working with food banks in the purchase and distribution of food stocks

Some of the proposals reflect measures already taken in other countries: Ireland has expanded its sick pay benefit in light of the virus. RBS, NatWest and other lenders have already said they will allow customers to defer mortgage payments, while the government relaxed some requirements to attend jobcentres at the Budget last week.

Improvements to sick pay announced by the chancellor last week were fairly modest, however, and still leave self-employed workers uncovered and the statutory rate at one of the lowest levels in Europe.

Mr Corbyn has asked for a meeting with the prime minister to discuss the issues. On Saturday the opposition party also backed a call by the GMB trade union to requisition beds in private hospitals for use in the NHS, which is expected to strain under the numbers set to be infected.

Ministers are expected to announce a new public information campaign about the virus next week, following call from shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth that the government move into the explain phase of their programme to reassure the public.

Under public pressure on Friday evening the government signalled that it was likely to bring in restrictions on mass gatherings next week, a policy it has spent the week downplaying the effectiveness of.

The governments chief scientific advisers have said alternately that implementing widespread social distancing policies now could either have little effect, or undermine efforts to build herd immunity among the British population.

But with the UK increasingly isolated in Europe as one of the few states not to bring in tough measures, Whitehall sources say some restrictions are likely to come in from next week  though details are yet to follow.

Both the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the EUs European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) recommended the rapid implementation of social distancing measures last week, while most of Britains neighbours such as Ireland, France, Denmark and Belgium have followed the international advice.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Saturday night that it was inevitable that more people would become infected.

Coronavirus is the biggest public health crisis we have faced in a generation. It continues to spread both in the UK and around the world and we need to accept that sadly, many more of us will become infected," he said.

The government and the NHS are working 24/7 to fight this virus. We must all work together and play our own part in protecting ourselves and each other, as well as our NHS, from this disease. This expanded campaign will focus on ensuring the public knows exactly what they should be doing to keep themselves and others safe.

Washing hands regularly for 20 seconds or more remains the single most important thing an individual can do, but we now also need to ask anyone with a high temperature or new continuous cough  however mild  to isolate yourself and stay at home for seven days. You should continue to follow our online clinical advice and not going to A&E or your GP if you develop mild symptoms.

"Combating this virus will require a national effort - we all have a role to play to slow its spread and protect the elderly and the vulnerable."

The public information campaign rolled out by ministers is expected to include TV adverts featuring Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty, who has appeared alongside the prime minister at press conferences. The adverts will be voiced by actor Mark Strong, who played Captain Smith in the film 1917.

Dr Yvonne Doyle, Public Health Englands Medical Director said:

We know that novel coronavirus affects the most vulnerable the most and so it is absolutely vital that we do everything we can to protect them. This new guidance sets out what we can all do to help save the lives of those most at risk.
MBABANE  The first registered case of the deadly coronavirus disease in the country is said to have caused uneasiness among nurses at the Lubombo Referral Hospital yesterday.



This hospital is one of two facilities that have been identified for the quarantining of patients who have tested positive for the COVID-19, a condition caused by the coronavirus.

The patient, who is a 33-year old woman, was reportedly transferred from a reputable clinic to the referral hospital. Concerns were then reportedly raised by nurses at the referral hospital that they were not ready to receive the patient because they had not been trained.



Also, the nurses are said to have complained that there was no protective clothing given to them to use when attending to such cases.

This was confirmed by Bheki Mamba, president of the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU), who said even the hospital itself was not ready to receive the patient by the time she was transported there yesterday morning.



He said the room that was identified as the place where patients would be quarantined did not even have a bed.

Everything is now being done hurriedly. The room is just not proper to accommodate someone who is being quarantined because it doesnt have its own toilet yet the patient should do everything in isolation to avoid him getting into contact with other people, Mamba said.



He said with regard to the protective equipment, the ministry had since said it was still going to procure it with the money (E100 million) that has since been passed by parliament. But the danger with this is that other countries have bought the equipment and the supplier can no longer cope with the demand. This equipment is ordered way in advance to orepare for such outbreaks, he said.

Mamba stated that it would be difficult for health care workers to respond to this case because of the lack of equipment and medical supplies.

He said the patient should not just be placed in the isolation or quarantine ward without being offered any medical assistance and just wait for the worst case scenario.

Apparently, the isolation ward is a problem because there are no toilets to ensure that the patient does everything where she is confined, including bathing and the toilet. All those things are not in place. This then makes it difficult for us to tell nurses to respond to the case because they will simply be exposing themselves since there is no protective equipment, he said.

Nurses blame govt

He said they were now going to sit down and look at what needed to be done but the most important aspect was to engage with the ministry and government.

Weve spoken many times about the issue of equipment and staff shortage but government is failing to cooperate with us to address the challenges of staff, equipment and staff. The issue of coronavirus has been spoken about for quite some time but the ministry only engaged us from yesterday (Friday) after suspecting that the case might return positive as they saw that all signs were pointing in that direction. Thats when the ministry then hurriedly called us to an engagement. They just wanted to pretend to the world that they had engaged us yet really there has been nothing happening on the ground, he said

Mamba accused the ministry of using money on things that were not helping the situation, instead of training nurses. The nurses at the referral hospital were calling me yesterday to ask how they were expected to attend to this patient without having been trained. How are they expected to work in that facility without any form of training? Even today (yesterday) they will be afraid to go to the hospital because they havent been trained; they havent been given information; theyve not been told what would happen once the client is admitted to the hospital; and theyve not been engaged. How are the nurses expected to respond without the information? he wondered.

He added that they anticipated calling all nurses to a meeting to discuss the way forward in light of the confirmed coronavirus case.

Meanwhile, Minister of Health Lizzy Nkosi acknowledged the challenges but said issues such as the toilet had been addressed and the patient was comfortable using the one that had been made available.

He said in terms of the protective clothing, there was stock for the Emergency Preparedness Response (EPR) Unit but these must be added. He said there were also three doctors who have been trained and were readily waiting to attend to every case that would be brought to the hospital.
The health conditions of almost all COVID-19 patients in Vietnam are stable, with no fever and shortness of breath reported, the Health Ministry announced on March 15.

A quarantine area

By the morning of the day, Vietnam reported 53 confirmed cases, of whom 16 fully recovered. Among the 37 new cases, there are 24 Vietnamese nationals and 13 foreigners.

The ministry said that some cases are showing symptoms of mild cough, but they eat normally and have stable vital signs.

Pham Ngoc Thach, Director of the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases, said that elderly COVID-19 patients who suffer chronic medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, and obstructive lung disease often have worse symptoms than others.

They are also at high risk for severe and rapid progression, possibly with respiratory failure due to poor resistance to virus attack, he added.

No Vietnamese in US infected with SARS-CoV-2

No Vietnamese nationals in the US have so far been reported to contract the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which is spreading in major US states and cities.

President Donald Trump on March 13 declared a national emergency over the coronavirus outbreak.

As soon as the disease broke out in China's Wuhan city and then spread to many countries around the world, including the US, the Embassy of Vietnam in the country has promptly mapped out plans and set up emergency response teams to provide the latest information from the host's authorities and Vietnam to the community.

The embassy also maintained its hotlines to receive feedback from Vietnamese citizens in case of emergency and also prepared plans to bring them back home if necessary.

Vietnamese are advised to limit travelling and going to crowded places.

Many overseas Vietnamese have promoted solidarity and mutual support via initiatives to provide medical consultancies for cases having coronavirus-like symptoms and calling for an end to the spread of fake news about Vietnamese infection cases.

The associations of Vietnamese students in some US states have carried out a number of activities to provide necessary information about the disease and support students when they face difficulties due to school closures.

Nguyen Duc Tai, Chairman of the Vietnamese students association in Boston, one of the regions with the largest number of Vietnamese students, told the Vietnam News Agency's correspodents that since the epidemic was spread to some US states, the association has maintained close contact with the Vietnamese Embassy in the US to update the latest and accurate information as well as shared useful information on Facebook to raise public awareness of virus prevention.

To date, the US has recorded over 2,200 COVID-19 cases, with 50 fatalities.

Four more cases positive for SARS-CoV-2 The Health Ministry announced four more cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection late March 14 based on testing outcomes from the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) and the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 13:18:06|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 15 (Xinhua) -- China's cement sector reported surging growth in revenue and profits in 2019, official data showed.

Its total operating revenue reached a historic high of 1.01 trillion yuan (about 144.2 billion U.S. dollars) last year, up 12.5 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

The sector's combined profits surged 19.6 percent year on year to hit 186.7 billion yuan, also a historic high, said the MIIT.

The ministry attributed the improved profit growth to the sector's continued progress in cutting overcapacity through deepening supply-side structural reform last year.
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Every few minutes there is breaking news regarding the varying impacts of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), declared a pandemic last week by the World Health Organization.

As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau works from home at Rideau Cottage for the next two weeks in self-isolation (with his wife Sophie Trudeau in quarantine recovering from the virus), Canadian public health officials have been swift to act and Canadian researchers at Sunnybrook hospital in Toronto are making vital contributions to international efforts aimed to combat the virus.

A common threat is binding international leaders together and is driving innovation in response efforts across communities to flatten the curve of the virus spread and protect those who are most vulnerable.

Public and private institutions are racing to respond to the myriad of impacts brought on by public health requirements to reduce travel, adhere to social distancing, cancel large gatherings, and embrace heightened hygiene routines, especially the regular washing of hands.

In our efforts to limit public exposure and identify the best deployment of public resources, it is important that we target the specific barriers that may limit an individuals ability to be tested or self quarantine.

In an address to the nation on Friday, Prime Minister Trudeau assured Canadians that direct fiscal measures are on the way to alleviate the financial pressures that have accompanied this crisis. The economic impacts on Canadians vary vastly, and its those living on the margins, for which one missed paycheque is not an option, who require immediate assistance.

Among the most vulnerable are our elderly neighbours at heightened risk who require assistance obtaining the essentials, like groceries. Those in the gig economy who are seeing their hard-earned bookings cancelled while the bills continue to pile up. And further an additional burden placed as schools are cancelled and many caregivers are unavoidably unable to work from home.

Political leaders are moving at an incredible pace to advance from studying and exploring solutions to deploying measures.

While the decisions being made by political leaders are best made based on science, the political response to crisis is more like jazz. In times like these, our political leaders will make mistakes  a bad note here, an off key approach there, but over time they will find their groove. The response wont be perfect, but public servants are working around the clock to give their best.

There have been some high notes in international and local approaches to addressing the virus.

Oakland City Council immediately undertook steps to halt evictions. The mayor of Atlanta issued an order to halt the disconnection of water services for residences for the next 60 days. Irish legislators were quick to bring forward emergency legislation to amend rules on sick pay. American politician Katie Porter worked diligently to ensure individuals werent financially burdened as they access the necessary testing to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S.

No matter how we approach travel restrictions, it is primarily domestic health policy that inextricably impacts global health outcomes.

And in the time of social isolation, how do we continue to carry out community care?

As large scale events are being cancelled, we must remember why people gather, and the implications to effective community political organization while adhering to requirements of social distancing. In particular, the impact on access to participation in democratic processes.

What does political organization (which is often centered on door knocking and large, in person rallies) look like in the age of social distancing? Ideally, it would move online, but participation is difficult when one is concerned about their livelihood and meeting the basic needs of loved ones. I hope we will see innovative approaches to fighting for aligned visions of change without requiring physical presence.

As the impacts of COVID-19 continue to unfold, I encourage public and private sector leaders to be bold and creative in their approaches and take the advice of American authors Toni Morrison and Peter Diamandis respectively and dream a little before you think, because, The day before something is a breakthrough, its a crazy idea.
London, 15 March 2020 (SPS) - Lord Stevenson of Balmacara, leader of the Labor Lords in the House, led the debate, supported by Lord Shipley of the Liberal Democrats Group, before the Government of the United Kingdom.



"Western Sahara is classified as a self governing territory in chapter XI of the Charter of the United Nations. A ruling of the International Court of Justice in 1975 recognized the right to self-determination of Western Sahara and, in 1991, the UN launched a mission to hold a referendum for the Sahrawi people to decide whether they should be an independent country or become part of Morocco. That referendum has not yet been held. The EU signed a trade treaty with Morocco in 2012 covering Western Sahara. The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled twice, in 2016 and 2018, that Western Sahara is a territory "separate and distinct" from Morocco under international law, and that no agreement with Morocco can apply to the territory of Western Sahara without the consent of the Saharawi people " stated Lord Stevenson.



Lord Stevenson further affirmed: "The internationally recognized legitimate representative of the Saharawi people has rejected all proposals that the EU trade agreement with Morocco should apply to them. A coalition of 93 Saharawi civil society groups also declared that the people of Western Sahara reject the inclusion of its territory in any agreement concluded by Morocco".



For his part, Lord Shipley, from the Liberal Democrats formation, affirmed that the current year marks the 45th anniversary of the occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco, paying tribute to the Earl of Winchelsea and Nottingham for his great work in defense of the interests of Saharawi people. He also recalled the ruling of the International Court in The Hague and the UN's unfulfilled promise to date on a referendum for the people of Western Sahara to decide to be an independent country or to be part of Morocco. In this regard, he mentioned the latest report by Human Rights Watch, which evidences the human rights violations in the occupied territories of Western Sahara.



"I hope that the Minister agrees that the UK Government must now enforce the judgment of the British High Court so that goods are not imported into the UK from Western Sahara on the presumption that they are from Morocco. Only once the people of Western Sahara have expressed their right to self-determination, the UK will be able to legally trade in goods produced in Western Sahara. The UK Government should now use that High Court ruling as a basis to support the supervised self-determination process by the UN "the Lords affirmed.



Lord Ahmad on behalf of the United Kingdom Foreign Affairs Ministry affirmed, "We have always supported the efforts of the United Nations to achieve a pragmatic and lasting political solution that allows the self-determination of its people.



The United Kingdom, as I said before, will constantly support the efforts of the UN Secretary-General in this regard. UN Resolution 2494 is clear about the need for realistic, practicable and durable political solution based on compromise. A solution must be fair, lasting and mutually acceptable, and provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara. I assure the noble lords that the United Kingdom supports the efforts led by the United Nations to reach a lasting solution in this regard.



We support the efforts of the United Nations towards a peaceful solution to this dispute. I assure the Noble Gentlemen that we will continue to encourage the parties to participate in the political process of the United Nations, and we support the general objective of a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution, which, I emphasize this point, will allow the self-determination of the people of the Occidental Sahara," he added. (SPS)



062/SPS
An Aboriginal teenager who claims she was unlawfully strip-searched in the presence of a male police officer is taking legal action to prevent footage of her exposed body from being aired in court.

The girl, 16, is fighting to uphold the cultural sanctity of women's business to the Supreme Court after a Children's Court magistrate refused her bid to exclude male police witnesses from watching the video and to have her criminal case heard before a female magistrate.

An Aboriginal girl who was strip searched is taking legal action to prevent footage of her body from being aired to men in court.

The mother of the girl, who was 15 when she was searched at Wagga Wagga police station in March 2019, and who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said her daughter, also a sexual assault survivor, would break down if the footage of the incident was played in front of men.

Aboriginal Legal Service field officer Emily Bruton, a Mutthi Mutthi and Wemba Wemba woman, said in Aboriginal culture, the showing of a woman's sensitive body parts was considered women's business and was part of lore practised for thousands of years.
Coronavirus is spreading fast across the world. From China it has made it to other parts of Asia, breached Europe and also gone all the way to USA. In other words, things are not looking good. So how does one combat this disease?

AP

Well there are pointers from the World Health Organisations and of course travel advisories to follow to avoid infection. Other than that the usual washing of hands regularly, being careful of going to certain places or meeting certain people and wearing masks in crowded places if a crowd cannot be avoided.



But what if despite all this you are infected, or show coronavirus symptoms? What if you have gone to an infected country or been in contact with a person who is already infected?



AP

No worries, even that can be solved. Of course if symptoms do get worse, go to a doctor and get it checked. If it's a false alarm then well and good. If not, then begin treatment . Here are some easy ways to self-isolate yourself if you display symptoms:

1. Keep yourself indoors and stay in a separate room if you live with others

The key is to avoid putting others at risk if you display symptoms. So if you are living with others then its best to stay in a separate room and also not go outdoors unless absolutely necessary as others are exposed out there. Wearing of masks if one does go out is a good choice.

2. Make sure your food and bathrooms are not in common with anybody else

If you are living with family or friends, make sure meals are given to you separately and also that you have your own bathroom to avoid the possibility of spreading the virus.

3. Stay distant from pets if you can

No need to get pets infected if one can avoid it so while you are recovering it is best to keep the distance.

4. Whenever you have a cold, if you cough or sneeze, make sure you safely dispose off the tissues

Tissues can carry the virus from the matter we sneeze or cough out so it needs to be disposed of properly.

5. Wash hands with soap for 20 seconds

Avoid touching own eyes with unwashed hands. Keeping oneself clean is the key so as not to aggravate the condition. After all, prevention is better than cure.
Srinagar, March 15 : Four unidentified terrorists were killed in a shootout with security forces on Sunday morning in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district, a CRPF official said.

The encounter took place in the Dayalgam residential area around 10.40 a.m.

Acting on a specific input, a team of security personnel from the Jammu and Kashmir Police, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Army cordoned off the area in the night. As the security forces zeroed in on the house, where the terrorists were holed up, the terrorists opened fire triggering the encounter.

In the exchange of fire four terrorists were killed.

"An encounter broke out with terrorists at around 10.40 a.m. today (Sunday) in Dayalgam residential area in Anantnag. After the operation, troops recovered dead body of four terrorists," the CRPF official said.

During the search operation, ammunition was recovered from the encounter site.
T J S George By

The coronavirus is antinational because it has undermined our international diplomacy. As everyone knows, Prime Minister Modi developed the full-body embrace as the dominant feature of Indias foreign policy. Donald Trump, Frances Macron, Japans Abe, Abu Dhabis Crown Prince, Australias Prime Minister have all savoured the impact of the bear hug. Barack Obama was given what came to be known as the mother of all hugs. He survived. Alas, our Prime Minister will not be able to embrace world leaders any longer. Even the simple-humble handshake is ruled out.

Coronavirus forces Modiji to go down to the level of the unaffectionate Namaste. This is of course very Indian, traditional and non-touching, formally acknowledged as Anjali Mudra, meaning, I bow to the divine in you. It may be divine, but it lacks the drama of the Modi hug. This virus also produces hallucinations. It recently made Delhi look like a town in Kerala. Someone in the national capital decided that, out of the 1,600 television channels in India, two Malayalam channels must be singled out for an outright ban. Thus Asianet and Media One vanished.

Apparently the channels reported the Delhi riots over the Citizenship Act in wrong ways. Malayalam channels reach no more than 4 per cent of the viewer population. That two of these were ordered closed was curious. It was curiouser when the Union information minister said he knew nothing about how the ban came about. Mysterious are the ways of the Lord. The end result was that Asianet and Media One received a big dose of publicity and, crossing the limitations of language, became the most discussed channels in the country. No one will grudge that because both are much-loved channels.

This is all the more interesting because Asianet is owned by a BJP leader while Media One is an initiative by a Muslim group. The BJP leader was wise enough not to touch Asianets journalism while the Muslim group kept religiosity away from Media Ones journalism. Thus all became beneficiaries  owners, journalists and the viewing public, a tribute to Kerala sensibilities. Asianet was the brainchild of then-PTI journalist Sashi Kumar.

That it was the first TV news channel in Malayalam and that Sashi Kumar was a thorough professional, quickly made it a force to reckon with. As fortunes wheels turned, Sashi exited and, after some twists and turns, Rajiv Chandrasekhar became the owner of the channel. Son of an Air Commodore, Rajiv C. qualified as an engineer with an instinct for innovation. He hit big time with a company he founded, BPL Mobile, an early bird in electronics. When he sold the companys majority shares, he made a whopping 1.1 billion US dollars.

That was when he was bitten by the political bug. As ambition soared, he acquired radio, print and channel media, eventually joining the BJP as a direct route to power. In the event, the BJP proved smarter. It used his resources and outlets for the benefit of the party, giving him in return only a seat in Parliament, not a ministership he longed for. (The same trick the BJP has repeated with Jyotiraditya Scindia.) But the businessman in him understood the value of Asianet and left it strictly alone. Never once did regular viewers of Asianet feel that the channel was owned by a BJP leader.

Nor did Asianet journalists feel that they were employees of a BJP man. Perhaps Rajeev C. himself was unsure whether he owned it, so far apart was the channel from his political position. To appreciate the value of Asianet journalism, all we need to do is take a look at Republic TV, another channel Rajeev C. owned. Republics credibility became zero as its editorial shouter, Arnab Goswami became a promoter of twisted news and thereby an object of ridicule. Rajeev C. must have understood the difference between Republic and Asianet, for he did not hesitate to transfer a chunk of shares to Arnab G., making Republic an editor-controlled company.

The channel developed a trademark of its own with guest participants shouting together, only to be outshouted by Arnab, turning the show into an editor-controlled farce. Times Now headlined a report in cringing language, Modi avoids worlds mistake. Isolates India from virus. But opposition finds fault. Do these media wizards think that viewers are idiots? There is possibly a virus in channel owners minds that makes them feel that they must function as extensions of state propaganda. Asianet stays apart, chanting: Virus, virus, go away, Little Johnny wants to play. And Little Johnny has been playing very well.
A man undergoing treatment at a hospital here allegedly stabbed his friend to death during an argument in south Delhi's Yusuf Sarai area following which he was arrested, police said on Sunday.

The accused Alok Singh (34) and the victim Suman, in his 20s, had come from Begusarai, Bihar and were under the influence of alcohol when the incident occurred on Saturday night, they said.

According to police, Alok was undergoing treatment at Safdarjung hospital for bone-related complications sustained during an accident in his home state in January this year and brought Suman, a friend, along with him from Bihar as a caretaker.

The duo stayed at a rental accommodation in Yusuf Sarai and would fight quite often over petty issues, they said.

On Saturday night, when they were consuming alcohol in their room, they had a fight following which Alok stabbed Suman in his chest with a kitchen knife, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Devender Arya said.

Interrogation revealed that the accused was in a relationship with a woman and the victim used to blackmail him about informing his relatives about the affair. So the accused hatched a conspiracy to kill him, the officer said.

The accused wanted to flee by taking a train early the next morning but he was arrested and a case of murder has been registered, he added.

A blood-stained knife, used in commission of the offence, was recovered from the spot, police said.

After hearing the heated arguments, the manager went to the room to check upon them during which the victim abused the manager, he said, adding that the accused objected when Suman abused the manager. After the situation calmed down, the manager left their room, he added.

After killing the victim, Alok called up police at around midnight saying that someone had killed his friend, the DCP said.

However, when police reached the spot, they found only the accused and the victim in the room and during interrogation Alok confessed to his crime, he said.

The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead, Arya said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
TDT | Manama

A proposal has been made by a lawmaker stating that private schools and kindergartens should decrease their fees by 65 per cent during the closure period in light of Coronavirus threat. Adel Al Asoomi said that schools should bear the brunt instead of passing on the pressure to parents.

This is an exceptional situation and everyone is going through a hard time. Private schools and kindergartens should understand this and take 35 per cent of the total financial dues in order to cover operating costs only without profit during this period. In his proposal, Mr Al Asoomi emphasised the importance of community partnership in such exceptional circumstances.

He said, Schools are closed at this time and this would result in decreased operating expenses, so there is no need to take the same amount in fees. We are at an exceptional stage, and everyone must co-operate in it and overcome this adversity with minimal damage.

Tribune reported recently that, following the directives of the Government Executive Committee, chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, the Ministry of Education has announced that educational and administrative bodies within public and private schools, higher educational institutions, and kindergartens were initially planned to resume work on Sunday 08 March 2020.

The ministry later announced, in line with the directives, that student attendance at all public and private educational institutions, which includes all public and private schools, higher educational institutions, and kindergartens will be suspended for an additional two weeks, until the 29th of March 2020.

The Council of Representatives earlier rejected an urgent proposal to suspend the second semester for the ongoing academic year 2019-2020. This came during the regular weekly meeting of the Council, where 18 of the 34 attending MPs voted against the proposal.

Originally presented by MPs Ahmed Al Salloom, Hamad Al Kooheji and Zainab Abdulameer, the proposal stipulates the suspension of classes until the end the semester for all school stages except the 12th grade, in a bid to prevent the spread of the coronavirus Covid-19 in schools.

The three MPs suggested only approving the results of the first semester in order for the students to pass the year. They said the proposal comes due to considerations of public interest and the sensitive situation Bahrain is going through at the present time.

They also mentioned in their proposal: The proposal comes due to the lack of a basic environment that contributes to the success of distance learning, as it needs a solid infrastructure, in terms of the availability of computers and a high speed to connect to the Internet, making the application of this method very costly and difficult for everyone.

During yesterdays discussion, MP Al Kooheji stated: Its true that education is important, but, health is more important. We are compelled to present this urgent proposal to save the lives of our children; the students.

Defending the proposal, he added: Parents are very unpleased about this matter. They are afraid because of the carelessness from the part of some people, especially after we recently heard how a doctor was advised to quarantine himself at home, but instead he practiced his work and legal procedures were taken against him.

For her part, MP Abdulameer said: The electronic portal of the ministry is highly pressurised and it cant be easily accessed. Its flooded with schedules that are filled with activities, videos and electronic quizzes. Parents are today experiencing high pressure. Is it possible that we spend our entire day surfing the portal, Ms Abdulameer questioned. Another supporting voice was MP Mohammed Al Abbasi, who called upon his fellow lawmakers to pass the proposal considering the safety of students and teachers.

Mr Al Abbasi commented: We need to activate future schools and distant learning. The state have been spending millions of dinars for around 15 years, so we would be prepared in such situations that we are experiencing today. What is happening now is that homework is being merely uploaded to the website and students download it, while poor parents are the actual ones teaching at home.
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The Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) on Sunday backed Chief Minister Kamal Naths statement that the government was ready for a floor test but the Governor should first act to rescue the ruling partys MLAs held captive in Bengaluru or some other place.

In a midnight missive to the CM, Governor Lalji Tandon had asked him to seek a trust vote in the state assembly on Monday.

State Congress spokesperson Abhay Dubey said, Instead of making a partial reference to the chief ministers letter to him, the Governor should act on his request to rescue the MLAs from captivity of the BJP leaders. How can a floor test be held when Congress MLAs have been held captive? Had they not been held captive they would have appeared before the Speaker when he sent notices to them to be present before him to explain their stand on their resignation letters which were handed over to him by BJP leaders.

Dubey also pointed out that Chief Minister Nath in his letter to Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday made it clear that there was no meaning of a floor test till the 22 Congress MLAs were held captive by the BJP. However, its unfortunate that the governor didnt take cognizance of the CMs submission and only mentioned about the resignation of the MLAs, Dubey said.

The Congress spokesperson also said a Governor cannot decide upon the House proceedings. It is for the Speaker to decide how to conduct the business of the House as per rules and procedure of the Assembly, he said.

He said the Congress party continued to stick to its stand that for safeguarding the Constitution the MLAs held captive by the BJP should be rescued at the earliest. Meanwhile, about 80 Congress MLAs who were flown to Jaipur to prevent possible poaching by the BJP, returned to Bhopal Sunday morning to take part in Mondays trust vote.

Kamal Nath in his letter to Shah had said, There is no meaning of any demand for a floor test till the 22 MLAs of my party have been held captive. Its an unprecedented situation that on one hand BJP is demanding a floor test but on the other hand they have held captive many Congress MLAs.

All the 22 MLAs are under the protection of Karnataka police. Madhya Pradesh BJP MLAs can be seen with the MLAs where they are staying in Bengaluru. Its Karnataka BJP which is bearing all the expenses on the MLAs. But I have been informed that these MLAs have been deprived of all kinds of communication facilities and have been held captive. Their family members are not being allowed to meet them and two of our ministers were manhandled and arrested.

The CMs letter to the home minister came after a delegation of BJP leaders including former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, leader Opposition in state assembly Gopal Bhargava, chief whip of BJP legislature party Narottam Mishra and former ministers Bhupendra Singh and Rampal called on the Governor on Saturday and urged him to prevail over the government to face a floor test before any other business of the state assembly as 22 Congress MLAs have resigned and the government has been reduced to a minority.

Reacting on the governors letter to the CM state BJP spokesperson Rahul Kothari said, Governors letter to the CM has been written as per his constitutional duties. Its for all to see that 22 Congress MLAs have resigned and they continue to stick to their stand. Hence, the government is minority. As only a political party enjoying majority in the House can run a government chief minister Kamal Nath himself should step down and tender his resignation to the governor.

The Kamal Nath government plunged into a crisis on Tuesday as the 22 MLAs resigned after Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the Congress to join the BJP.


The company has asked employees to take paid leave amid slump.



By Kim Hyun-bin



Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, the country's largest power equipment maker, is struggling to stay afloat, asking employees to take paid leave to cover for ballooning losses following a sharp fall in orders due to the government's cancellation of nuclear and coal-fired power plants and a slump in the global power generation market.



If the crisis worsens, many fear the company, which is a key affiliate of Doosan Group, could directly affect the conglomerate's operations.



The company is contemplating temporarily suspending operations at some plants as revenue has been cut in half and losses topping 2 trillion won in the past five years.



Doosan Heavy's decision to temporarily halt the operation of some plants will mark the first time this has happened since Doosan Group took over Korea Heavy Industries from the government in 2000.





A motorcyclist enters the main entrance of Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, Wednesday. / Yonhap
Their 150-acre hay meadow humbled them in August.

Part of it was providing again. Producing. Yielding more than enough nourishment to get their cows through the winter.

And we were pretty amazed by that, said Ann Kepler. Regardless of everything that had happened, we were getting an overabundance of hay.

That had seemed impossible just a few months earlier, when the same stretch of land  cradled by a bend in the Niobrara River in Keya Paha County  had shocked them.

Two days after the river surged, theyd found their field inundated by ice, as if a glacier 20 feet high, 200 yards wide and nearly a mile long had landed and shattered in chunks.

They worried it would never melt. And when it did, after well-timed rain and warm days, it revealed the damage it had done  the 4 miles of fence it took from them, and all of the trees, sand, sneakers, bridge planks and other debris it left behind.

Kepler and her husband, Billy, and their family got to work. And then a team of FFA members from Newcastle, Wyoming, showed up.

The family was grateful for the help. What we got done with them in two afternoons probably would have taken us a week, she said.

They rebuilt 2 miles of fence. They picked up trash and piled up trees and scraped as much sand as they could. They were able to revive a little less than half of their meadow; 80 acres remained too wet, too close to the bend in the river, to support heavy equipment.

When they tallied their expenses, the total reached more than $10,000, including materials and machinery hours. In May, they navigated the documentation required by federal flood recovery programs but havent seen any money yet. Theyre not pushing, Kepler said, because they know the Farm Service Agency must be flooded with applications.

And then, over the summer, hay grew in the acres theyd saved. The quality didnt compare to past years  heavy summer rains forced it to grow too fast, too tall  but the quantity was enough to feed their cows.

We were able to not be short going into feeding this winter. Theres a lot of people in the Sandhills who didnt get any hay put up on their meadows because they were under water all summer.

They picked up the bales in August.

But the river wasnt done surprising them. Fueled by a 7-inch rain, it surged again in early September, further swamping the 80 acres they hadnt yet been able to clean.

This time, it was worse. A year ago, the frozen ground helped upstream trees hold tight against the current, Kepler said. But the ground was softer in September, and the flooding ripped them out whole, littering the hay meadow with elm and cedar and ponderosa pines, some of them fully intact, 80 feet from root ball to crown.

Theyre still waiting for that part of their meadow to dry so they can clear the debris. But they dont know what they will find, or whether it will provide: Those acres have been deprived of oxygen and sunlight for 12 months now.

And they also dont know whether to expect any more surprises from the river.

Its been quite the year, Kepler said. I guess gun-shy would be a good word, because its hard to know what its going to do here.

Photos, videos from 2019 Nebraska flooding

Reach the writer at 402-473-7254 or psalter@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSPeterSalter

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Although stock markets have fallen sharply in value over recent weeks, some of the country's leading money experts believe investors should not panic.

Their advice is to stay invested, think long term and to drip money into the market over the coming months, using this tax year's and next year's Isa allowance.

Here, experts tell us what we should be doing as well as giving us an idea as to how they will be using their tax-friendly Isa in the weeks and months ahead.

Although stock markets have fallen sharply over recent weeks, some of the country's leading money experts believe investors should not panic.

Jason Hollands Director, Wealth Manager Tilney What is your advice to those with money available to invest in an Isa?

I don't think most investors, including fund managers, are natural traders and so the right thing to focus on is buying sound businesses for the long term - or choosing investment managers adept at doing that for you.

Worrying about whether the time is right to invest can prove an impediment to investing. Waiting until the sun shines again on markets nearly always means waiting until prices are a lot higher and the best returns have been missed.

I suggest feeding your money in gradually, either through monthly savings or opening your Isa with cash and staggering your money into the market in phases. This will smooth out the average entry price.

What funds do you think investors should be looking to buy within their Isa? IT'S easy to get swayed by whatever is being hyped or is currently sitting at the top of the performance tables. Ultimately, investors should select investments that meet their goals and fit well alongside any existing investments they own.

What I would say is that the recent sell-off has created some notable opportunities to pick up well managed investment trusts at bargain prices.

For example, shares in Scottish Mortgage have fallen by 20 per cent over the past month. Yet, it remains a super trust.

As a core global fund, I like Evenlode Global Income that owns companies such as Unilever, PepsiCo and Reckitt Benckiser.

Any other advice to Isa investors who have seen their portfolios dip in value?

It's a time to hold your nerve, remember your time horizon and not get distracted by the noise of markets that are lurching all over the place - between days of panic and days of hope depending on the latest news developments.

Markets invariably overshoot on the way up and down, so unless you need your cash in the near to medium term, try to keep calm.

Laura Suter of AJ Bell, what is your advice to those with money available to invest in an Isa?

While this feels like a scary time both on a human and investment level, we have seen such crises before.

Markets often rebound quickly once the immediate issues are resolved and anyone investing in the stock market should be thinking in terms of five years or more rather than weeks or months.

The first thing Isa investors need to remember is that there is a difference between contributing to an Isa and making an investment.

Moving money into an Isa doesn't mean you need to invest right away. You can hold off until the current market turbulence calms down and you feel more confident about selecting investments.

Another option is to drip-feed money into markets by investing regularly.

You can invest as little as 25 a month and putting small amounts into markets every month can be a good way to build up the investment habit.

What funds do you think investors should be looking to buy within their Isa?

You should ensure your Isa portfolio is well diversified. Make sure it's not too concentrated on a handful of stocks or funds - or one or two particular countries, industries or themes that could be hard hit.

You should also avoid all investments that go beyond your tolerance to risk - or don't fit with your long-term goals.

Look to build downside protection into your Isa portfolio. Cash, gold - although the price has already rallied a lot - or a fund or invest-ment trust whose priority is capital preservation.

For example, Personal Assets, managed by Troy's Sebastian Lyon, has an absolute return mindset and offers a diversified portfolio that includes high quality companies such as Microsoft, Nestle and Unilever, short-dated government bonds, cash and gold.

This trust could appeal to cautious investors, not least because it gives an instantly diversified portfolio in one holding.

Any other advice to Isa investors who have seen their portfolios dip in value? WHILE it can be easy to panic, selling now will merely lock in losses. The best advice is to sit it out and avoid checking your investments too often.

It's hard to detach yourself from the emotion of investing but at times like this it is more important than ever not to panic and overtrade.

If you make a change to your portfolio, make sure it's for the long term, not for a few days.

Patrick Connolly Chartered Financial Planner, Chase De Vere What is your advice to those with money available to invest in an Isa?

There is no reason not to invest into your Isa. If you invest now you can buy at a cheaper price.

If you are worried about stock market volatility put your money in cash and drip feed your money into the market - or invest when you are feeling more confident.

What funds do you think investors should be looking to buy within their Isa?

Stock market falls can create opportunities for investors and an easy way to take advantage is through passive funds that track a specific stock market.

A few days ago, I moved my remaining cash into HSBC FTSE All-Share. Index - a fund that tracks the performance of this broad UK stock market index. The market could fall further, however it is likely to recover at some point.

Any other advice to Isa investors who have seen their portfolios dip in value? DON'T panic and sell out. You have to remember that stock markets go up and down.

If you are really worried then you need to reassess how much risk you are taking and if you are concerned about market timing then invest monthly amounts to negate the risk of this.

Ben Yearsley Director, Shore Financial Planning What is your advice to those with money available to invest in an Isa? IF YOU have cash, put it into an Isa so that you do not lose the allowance.

Identify where you want to invest. Decide which funds, trusts or shares you are interested in - and then invest in equal proportions over, say, the next six months - regardless of whether the market goes up or down.

What funds do you think investors should be looking to buy within their Isa? I THINK the UK economy is set fair this decade and from a stock market point of view, UK mid and UK smaller companies are interesting and represent good value, even more so after the recent market correction.

I like fund Axa Framlington UK Mid Cap and investment trust Montanaro UK Smaller Companies. For those wanting more spice, take a look at First State Asia Focus or Matthews China Small Companies. A good core Isa holding is Franklin UK Equity Income.

Any other advice to Isa investors who have seen their portfolios dip in value? IT might seem nerve-racking seeing investments fall sharply in value, but that is part and parcel of longterm investing. So my recommendation is to embrace the market dips and use them to buy more shares, funds or investment trusts. Scary? Yes, but ultimately rewarding.
Suspended J&K cop, Davinder Singh to be brought to Delhi

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 15: Suspended Jammu and Kashmir Police officer Davinder Singh, who was arrested for ferrying two terrorists, is being brought to Delhi for questioning in connection with an alleged plot to carrying out "targeted killings" of influential political and judicial figures in Delhi and neighbouring states in January, police said here on Saturday.

Earlier, he was interrogated by Jammu and Kashmir Police and the NIA, they said.

"To find out about plans to carry out any terror activity in the national capital, he is being brought here on a production warrant by the Delhi Police Special Cell for interrogation in this regard," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah said.

In Davinder Singh case, NIA arrests president of LoC trade association

Davinder Singh, who was posted as deputy superintendent of police at the Srinagar airport, was arrested in January along with top commander of Lashker-e-Taiba Naveed Babu and Altaf of Hizbul Mujahideen in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district.

On January 27, the Special Cell had registered an FIR on the complaint of a police officer, who had received information on the terror plot from a source.

The FIR had stated that an information was received from reliable source that underworld don Chhota Shakeel of D-gang has tasked his operatives to execute "targeted killing" of influential political and judicial figures in Delhi and neighbouring states.

The underworld operatives of Dawood Ibrahim's gang had managed to arrange high-grade weapons. The delivery of weapons was also arranged by Shakeel and the communication for delivery was done through ''end-to-end'' encrypted messaging applications, it stated.

No specific ''targets'' had been named in the FIR, officials said.

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Story first published: Sunday, March 15, 2020, 8:42 [IST]
Queenslands local government elections will go ahead on March 28, the Electoral Commission Queensland has confirmed.

Postal vote applications have surged with more than 96,000 applications made since Friday afternoon, days ahead of the Monday 7pm deadline.

Then lord mayor Graham Quirk voting with his wife Anne at the last council elections in 2016. Credit:Glenn Hunt

There was about 76,000 postal vote applications in total in the 2016 elections.

Queensland electoral commissioner Pat Vidgen said it was a unique and evolving situation and voters were urged to apply for a postal vote or, if voting on Saturday March 28, bring their own pencils.
The UK Government is to ramp up measures to tackle the virus (Jane Barlow/PA)

Education Minister Peter Weir announced the new system for awarding GCSE, AS and A-level grades

Pressure is mounting on authorities to take action and close Northern Ireland's schools, following the confirmation of 11 new cases of coronavirus in the region.

The latest update brings the total number of confirmed cases in Northern Ireland to 45 and is the biggest one-day increase here to date.

As the Executive remains split on whether to follow suit with the Republic and close schools, several schools have taken the situation into their own hands and announced they will shut their doors.

Belfast's ten special schools will close from Monday, while principals seek guidance from the Education Authority (EA) on the health and safety issues concerning children with special needs in relation to the virus.

The mother of one pupil in Co Armagh has also initiated legal proceedings over the government's stance.

Her child suffers from underlying health problems, including severe asthma, making her more vulnerable to the virus.

In a statement, Belfast law firm Phoenix Law, who are acting on behalf of the woman, said they have put Education Minister Peter Weir, Health Minister Robin Swann, the Education Authority and the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools on notice of their intention to apply for an emergency judicial review into their current position.

First Minister Arlene Foster has said schools will not shut at this time, however when they inevitably do, they would be shut for "at least" 16 weeks.

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill has argued schools should close their doors immediately, a view shared by the Irish National Teachers' Organisation.

Meanwhile, 40 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the Republic of Ireland.

The new cases include 23 males and 17 females.

There are now 169 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Republic and there have been two deaths.

The news comes after in emerged that elderly people in Northern Ireland will be asked to self-isolate for up to four months as part of UK-wide plans to tackle the coronavirus.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it is a "very big ask", but it is a measure which is for their own "self-protection".

He also confirmed that ministers were seeking to give police powers to arrest and forcibly quarantine people who are sick with the virus but are not self-isolating, powers which PSNI chief constable Simon Byrne recently called for.

"We are going to take the powers to make sure that we can quarantine people if they are a risk to public health, yes, and that's important," Mr Hancock told the Andrew Marr Show on the BBC.

"I doubt that actually we will need to use it much, because people have been very responsible."

Expand Close Health Secretary Matt Hancock praised those held in isolation at Arrowe Park hospital for setting a good example (Kirsty OConnor/PA) / Facebook

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In an acknowledgement of the almost wartime measures being introduced, Mr Hancock said the steps are "very, very significant and they will disrupt the ordinary lives of almost everybody in the country".

The gearing up of the Government's efforts comes as the UK's Covid-19 death toll rose on Saturday from 11 to 21, while the number of people testing positive for the disease passed the 1,000 mark.

Mr Hancock said that people aged over 70 will be asked in the coming weeks to self-isolate for up to four months, in order to protect them from the virus.

Asked if that was in the Government's plan, he told Sky's Sophy Ridge On Sunday: "That is in the action plan, yes, and we will be setting it out with more detail when it is the right time to do so, because we absolutely appreciate that it is a very big ask of the elderly and the vulnerable, and it's for their own self-protection."

Check out our live blog to see how the latest coronavirus developments unfolded
Canberra [Australia], Mar 15 (ANI): Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has lauded and promised his support to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi's efforts to organise a link-up among G-20 leaders to combat the coronavirus pandemic.



Responding to a reporter's question at a press conference here on the coronavirus pandemic, Morrison said that in his conversation with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, he communicated Australia's support to PM Modi's efforts to organise a link-up among all G-20 leaders.

"And one of the things I should mention that I spoke to Prime Minister Johnson is when it comes to the G20, I'm also aware that Prime Minister Modi is keen to organise a link-up between all the G-20 leaders. I think that's, I think that's a commendable initiative. Australia obviously supports that. I've communicated that," Morrison said.

Prime Minister Modi has proposed that the leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries should hold a discussion via video conference to chalk out a joint strategy to fight coronavirus.

The proposal was welcomed and endorsed by all SAARC nations and the video conference will be held later today.

Morrison further said that he and Johnson have agreed to hold an urgent meeting with the G-20 Finance Ministers and Governors considering the economic impact of the pandemic.

"The Prime Minister (Johnson) and I agreed last night that an even more urgent meeting that could be needed would be a further meeting of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors. This is a health crisis, but it has very serious economic impacts," Morrison said.

Australia, the UK, and India are among more than 130 countries that have reported coronavirus cases. (ANI)
(Newser)  Turkey has thrown three human traffickers behind bars in the case of a Syrian toddler whose death made headlines around the world, CNN reports. The three organizers, caught by Turkish law enforcement after fleeing the trial, were each sentenced Friday to 125 years in prison. Their crime: "killing with eventual intent." The 3-year-old Syrian, Alan Kurdi, was found face-down on a Turkish beach in 2015; a photograph of his lifeless body immediately symbolized Syria's refugee crisis.

story continues below

Alan's father, Adbullah, was the only survivor among family members on a boat taking 14 Syrian refugees to Greece, CBS News recalls. Abdullah's wife, Rihan, 35, and son, Galip, 5, also perished when the boat sank in the Aegean Sea. "The waves were so high, and the captain panicked and jumped into the sea," said Abdullah. "I took my wife and children in my arms, but they were all dead." The family was escaping Kobani, a Syrian town destroyed during an attempted takeover by ISIS. Back in 2016, CNN reported that Turkey sentenced two other menboth Syriansto four-plus years each for the sinking that claimed Alan Kurdi's life. (Read more Syrian refugees stories.)
A leading psychologist says Britons must rediscover the 'Blitz spirit' to cope with weeks or perhaps months of self-isolation without succumbing to 'cabin fever'.

Professor Steven Taylor said no one should underestimate the challenge but believes it will help if people remember they are doing it to save lives.

'If you regard self-isolation as solitary confinement, that's going to be stressful for you,' he said.

An elderly couple are pictured above clearing out rubble in Newcastle after a German raid in 1940. A shared sense of purpose helped them cope, explained the academic, who works at the University of British Columbia in Canada

Prime Minister Winston Churchill is pictured above in the House of Commons after it was bombed in 1941

'But if you reframe it by thinking 'I'm doing something really important, to keep others safe', that's a lot more constructive.'

Prof Taylor, the author of The Psychology Of Pandemics, added: 'People need reminding that they can cope with this. They are resilient. You aren't going to like it, but you'll get through it. You can compare it to the Blitz. People got through the Blitz. It was very stressful but they did it.'

A shared sense of purpose helped them cope, explained the academic, who works at the University of British Columbia in Canada.

Those with signs of the virus are being asked to self-isolate at home for seven days and whole households will soon be asked to lock themselves away for a fortnight if any one of them gets ill.
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday hit out at the Centre over hike in petrol and diesel prices in the country, asking why the government had failed to provide relief to common people at a time when international prices of crude oil were at an all-time low.

"Crude oil prices have decreased worldwide. But the prices of petrol and diesel are increasing in India. Why are the common people not getting the benefit of the fall in the price of crude oil?" asked Vadra on Twitter (roughly translated from Hindi).

"BJP leaders, who had claimed to sell petrol for Rs 36 in Delhi and Mumbai, have been silenced by which company?" she asked.

The government on Saturday hiked the excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre and road cess by Re 1, effectively a Rs 3 per litre hike on both commodities.

Petrol in Delhi on Saturday was selling at Rs 69.87 per litre while diesel is costing Rs 62.58 per litre. The decision came amid steep fall in global crude oil in a bid by the government to mop up additional money as it battles weak revenues.

The Congress has slammed the BJP-led government for hike in excise duty on petrol and diesel and accused it of indulging in profiteering.Global crude oil prices fell by as much as a third following Saudi Arabia's move to start a price war with Russia amid worries over the spread of coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In late March, two Army officers will become the first-all female team to compete in a grueling competition to select the best sappers from the entire service.

Capt. Hilary Thomas and 1st Lt. Alyvia Orsini will make up one of the 50 teams scheduled to compete in the 14th Best Sapper Competition, which will be held March 30 through April 1 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, according to a recent Army news release.

Thomas and Orsini are both engineers assigned to the 21st Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Spectators are invited to watch as sappers cover more than 50 miles in 50 hours in the rugged Ozark Mountains during the exhausting competition, all while carrying rucksacks that weigh more than 80 pounds, according to the release.

Related: Female Army Guardsman Reflects on Historic Graduation from Ranger School

More and more, female soldiers are taking on challenges such as Ranger School and other formerly male-only schools and events since former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta lifted a ban on women serving in direct combat roles in 2013.

Military.com reached out to the 101st to speak with Thomas and Orsini, but both have declined interviews to avoid being put in the spotlight, according to Lt. Col. Charles Barrett, spokesman for the 101st Airborne.

"Capt. Hilary Thomas and 1st Lt. Alyvia Orsini are currently focused on training for the Best Sapper competition, which is obviously very challenging and requires an immense amount of preparation," Barrett said in an email statement. "Out of respect for their training schedule, and to enable their success, we are not facilitating media engagements with them at this time."

The competition is designed to push teams to their mental and physical breaking point, forcing them to demonstrate their expertise on limited amounts of sleep, according to the release.

Competitors will have to complete a series of combat engineer tasks, demolition and land navigation, in addition to challenges such as jumping out of a hovering helicopter into a lake, the release states.

"It's definitely a gut check," Sgt. 1st Class Robert Moore, a Sapper Leader Course instructor who competed in 2015, said in a previous Army release about the competition. "It was tough. The soldiers who make it through definitely don't have any quit in them whatsoever."

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.

Read More: Woman on Track to Become 1st Female Army Green Beret: Report
MIAMI, March 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Guess & Co. Corporation, an emerging global stewardship solutions company launched by former federal government officials, lawyers and skilled business professionals, is developing an ecosystem to stem virus effects. The company is prepared to work with communities, companies and governments to help areas become virus free and recover promptly from the crisis. We launched this company in 2017 with a commitment to improving the welfare of people, we want everyone to know that we stand ready to assist and help mobilize resources to address the challenge before us, stated Jerry D. Guess, founder, chairman and CEO. The company is proposing voluntary testing to private sector companies and has launched its Stop The Virus, Restart Life, Restart Business. campaign which promote testing and functional isolation for recovery. We have thought through this very carefully, and we are skilled at bringing the private and public sector together to address crises situations and we are looking forward to helping our clients get through this, Mr. Guess continued. Guess & Co. Corporation provides a large portfolio of solutions to communities, companies and governments.

About Guess & Co. Corporation

Guess & Co. Corporation is an emerging global stewardship solutions company with energy, health care, technology and real estate businesses. We partner with communities, companies and governments to improve the welfare of people. Guess & Co. Corporation is a registered contractor with the U.S. Government to provide solutions to federal government agencies and members of our company have active top-secret/SCI clearances. We are based in Miami, Florida and have over 20 subsidiaries. Guess & Co. Corporation was founded in August of 2017. The management team of Guess & Co. Corporation has over 50 years of combined experience.
Portugal will close its border with Spain to tourists for at least a month to curb the spread of coronavirus, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa has said.

Goods and people travelling for work will still be allowed to cross the border but not those on leisure trips, he told a conference on Sunday after speaking by videoconference with his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez.

"There will be no tourism between Portugal and Spain in the coming months," he said.

The travel restrictions will apply to both land and air borders and they will come into force once the interior ministers of both nations iron out the details on Monday, Costa said.

They will last until at least Easter, which this year falls on April 12.

"There is a good tradition of Spaniards visiting us during the Easter holidays. This year is not ideal for that visit," Costa said.

"As a result, and without any hostility I think it is necessary that during this period there is no tourism activity between Spaniards and Portuguese because we all have to restrict our movements not just within our cities, our countries, but at the global scale."



With over 7,700 cases and 288 deaths, Spain is Europe's second-most affected country in Europe by the coronavirus outbreak.

Portugal, which is about one-fifth the size of Spain, has so far reported just 245 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus but there are over 2,200 "suspected" cases.

Earlier on Sunday, Portuguese Health Minister Marta Temido warned that the number of infections in the country is expected to keep climbing "at least until the end of April.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Republic of Ireland has called on bars and pubs to close until the end of March in an effort to slow down the progression of the coronavirus which has now claimed the life of a second person in the country.

The plans to help curb the spread of the virus, which come just days before St Patrick's Day, aim to see all public houses and bars close from this evening until at least March 29.

The government's move comes as the virus claimed the life of a second person in the country and 40 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed - bringing the total number of people affected in the Republic to 169.

Among the new cases, which include 23 males and 17 females, 25 are associated with the east of the country, nine are associated with the west and six are associated with the south.

In a statement the Government said: 'Following discussions today with the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) and the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI), the Government is now calling on all public houses and bars (including hotel bars) to close from this evening (March 15) until at least March 29.

The Republic of Ireland government has asked that bars and pubs in the country close until at least March 29 in an effort to slow down the progression of the coronavirus. (Stock image)

Earlier today the Irish Prime Minsiter Leo Varadkar urged people to refrain from mass gatherings to stop the spread of Covid-19

The calls comes after The Temple Bar in Dublin (pictured) announced that it would be shutting down all its bars and nightclubs with immediate effect

'The LVA and VFI outlined the real difficulty in implementing the published Guidelines on Social Distancing in a public house setting, as pubs are specifically designed to promote social interaction in a situation where alcohol reduces personal inhibitions.

'For the same reason, the Government is also calling on all members of the public not to organise or participate in any parties in private houses or other venues which would put other peoples' health at risk.'

The plans comes as Dublin's Temple Bar announced a complete shutdown of all its bars and nightclubs with immediate effect.

The move means no bars will be open in the area for St Patrick's Day, one of the busiest days in the Irish tourism calendar.

Martin Harte, of the Temple Bar Company, said the decision was taken voluntarily and that 'this is the owners of all pubs sitting down and deciding this is the best thing to do in terms of public health and safety'.

Pictured: The Temple Bar in Dublin told customers that they were following the government's advice and closing

The latest calls to shut down bars and pubs comes as the number of deaths due to the cornavirus in the Rupublic of Ireland rose to two. Pictured: The Quays Bar in Dublin closes its doors

The Republic of Ireland has called on all bars and pubs in the country to close. Pictured: Visitors stand outside The Quays Bar in Dublin as the government asks for pubs to shut down

Mr Harte said the problem is that social distancing and limiting of numbers is impossible to enforce in bars.

It comes as the Irish Government may seek enforcement powers to ensure that the ban on indoor mass gatherings of more than 100 people applies to pubs and clubs.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has urged people who socialised in pubs and clubs at the weekend to avoid the elderly and people with chronic diseases, to stop the spread of Covid-19.

WHAT ARE THE CORONAVIRUS SYMPTOMS? The virus, called COVID-19, is transmitted from person to person via droplets when an infected person breathes out, coughs or sneezes. It can also spread via contaminated surfaces such as door handles or railings. Coronavirus infections have a wide range of symptoms, including fever, coughing, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. Mild cases can cause cold-like symptoms including a sore throat, headache, fever, cough or trouble breathing. Severe cases can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory illness, kidney failure and death. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure. Advertisement

He tweeted: 'No indoor mass gatherings of more than 100 people applies to pubs & clubs. Have asked NPHET for further expert guidance on this. May seek enforcement powers from Dail/Seanad.'

His message comes despite restrictions on mass gatherings in the Republic of Ireland and guidelines on social distancing.

On Saturday night, Health Service Executive chief Paul Reid also urged pubs to 'wise up quick' after videos of people crowding into them.

Some pubs and bars across the country have voluntarily opted to temporarily close as the Department of Health advised people should try to keep two metres between themselves and others.

On Sunday morning, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said: 'The advice on what each of us needs to do is clear, we all need to follow that advice, not just for our own health, but for the benefit of all those around us.'

'Each one of us needs to think of vulnerable people in our midst and ask ourselves what we can do to help them through this.'

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald urged people to avoid socialising in pubs and to keep all social contact to a minimum.

Hospitality Ulster chief executive Colin Neill called on the industry to introduce social distancing in Northern Ireland to limit the spread of Covid-19.

'The health of the nation is paramount, as is the health of our staff, but it is also important that we try and ensure people will have jobs to return to once this crisis is over,' he said.

On Monday, the Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announced that all parades and festivals in the Republic would be cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Some festivals in Northern Ireland are still set to go ahead but are under review over the spread of COVID-19.

Latest statistics show that the number of cases in the Republic of Ireland have now risen to 169.

The latest calls to shut down bars and pubs come just a few days before St Patrick's Day. Pictured: Revellers celebrate St Patrick's Day early by attending the Otley Run in Leeds, West Yorkshire

Many St Patrick's Day parades and festivals have been forced to cancel plans due to coronavirus fears. Pictured: Revellers attend St Patrick's Day celebrations in Dublin

It comes as the the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Northern Ireland rose to 45.

Meanwhile in Wales there were 34 new cases today, pushing its total to 94. A huge jump from 60.

Today it was announced that coronavirus fatalities in the UK have increased by 14 overnight bringing the total death toll to 35 as the number of cases increases by more than 200 to 1,372, the department of health and social care confirmed.

A total of 40,279 people have been tested across the UK and the latest update comes as Health Secretary Matt Hancock this morning said that the elderly may have to self isolate for up to four months.

38,907 tested negative against the disease and 1,372 tested positive.

The virus, which initially saw millions of residents and tourists in China put on lock down to contain the spread, has now been transmitted between humans in 30 countries across Europe, including Spain, Germany and France, according to the World Health Organization.
Crises create and destroy leaders  and which leaders fall and those whose soar, can be surprising. Winston Churchill, until days before his installation as a war prime minister, might have been a historical footnote. A failure as a First World War minister, a disloyal partisan, and a semialcoholic struggling writer. Jimmy Carter, pre-hostage crisis, might have been a historic president who saved dozens of hostages, and returned his nation to confidence and stability post-Watergate.

Friday marked the hinge moment in Justin Trudeaus leadership crisis test. His partner in life diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus, his countrys economy on the verge of a serious reverse, national tensions already at levels not seen in a generation; and an opposition unwilling, so far, to join in a national project to meet this perfect storm as partners rather than hostile partisans.

The challenges of crisis leadership are unique in that an effective leader needs to achieve what appear to be a contradictory set of needs and goals. They must be focused on outcomes not process, while ensuring that the machinery of government is precisely aligned to get there. They need to convey confidence about getting through the battles victorious, without appearing to be flogging fairy-tales for personal political benefit.

They must act, be seen to be bold and courageous, but avoid reckless gambles. And yet  what gamble could have appeared more reckless than attempting to save hundreds of thousands of British soldiers from a beach on the coast of France, in a fleet of fishing boats, all the while under heavy German bombardment.

There is already an embarrassing contrast between Donald Trumps real estate hustler style as crisis president and Joe Bidens stable, steady and authentic approach to crisis, a role he has played successfully at several moments in personal and political life. It seems likely to enhance his status as a candidate and have ongoing political consequences for the hapless president.

Few leaders always get crisis leadership right, fewer still their first real high-wire test. One might see this as far from Justin Trudeaus first crisis. His childhood was marked by managing an often painful home environment. The sudden loss of a beloved sibling is always a personal crisis. Yet this is his first public national crisis as a leader.

Canadians are rocked, anxious about their families, their savings, even in many cases their jobs. Watching the news is to subject yourself to an unending pounding of one frightening story on top of another. In the next two weeks we all need to find confidence that those in charge are capable of righting the ship and navigating this terrifying passage.

History records a variety of musts for leaders at the edge of similar abysses: daily, truthful and credible reports directly from the prime minister and his senior ministers to Canadians; proof that goals announced are being delivered, in this case a massive ramp-up of COVID-19 testing and economic buttressing; a visible confidence, determination and empathy about the nightmares testing many Canadians; and no phoney minimization, no baloney about achievements  a la Trump. Under-promise and outperform.

When George W. Bush stood on the ashes of the World Trade Center, to the surprise of many, he conveyed many of those qualities immediately. He went from being seen as a somewhat shallow and self-interested minor politician to a global leader in hours. Whether you agreed with his military overreach or not, no one could doubt that Pierre Trudeau was a courageous, tough and determined leader following the discovery of a cabinet ministers body in the trunk of a Montreal car.

Crisis leadership experts emphasize as a quality near the top of the must-have list: self-awareness. Honesty about your excesses and gaps, a clear-eye about what you are good at and not, and a concentrated effort at suppression of the temptations of ego and vanity.

Let us hope that Jagmeet Singh, Erin OToole, Peter McKay and the premiers, together understand this is a time to support national leadership in a crisis. Equally, important is Justin Trudeau and his governments hard determination to avoid partisan temptations, spinning, and points scoring.

Canadians will reward those leaders who drop the gloves, take the risks in political co-operation, and together see us successfully return to a peaceful place of order and good government. Shaken, bruised, probably, but proud of our collective achievement at a testing moment for the nation, and the world.
Ria Clark, 21, was jailed for two years after pleading guilty to possession of a banned weapon and ammunition. (SWNS)

A woman has been jailed after hiding a loaded sawn-off shotgun behind her beds headboard for her boyfriend.

Ria Clark, 21, was sentenced to two years imprisonment at Luton Crown Court after pleading guilty to possession of a prohibited weapon and ammunition.

She was arrested in March 2019 after police discovered the lethal weapon in her bedroom.

Read more: Met superintendent sacked over child abuse video

The shotgun had a cartridge in the breach, ready to be fired. Police also found another cartridge and a live 9mm bullet in a chest of drawers.

Clark had been keeping the gun behind her bed on behalf of her partner, Victor Owoyinfa, 22, also from Luton.

He was jailed for five years last year for possession of a prohibited weapon and ammunition and another weapons offence.

Police discovered the dangerous weapon behind the headboard of her bed. The gun had a cartridge in the breach, ready to be fired. Police also found another cartridge and a live 9mm bullet in a chest of drawers. (SWNS)

Detective Inspector Dave Skarratts said: Although Clark did not own the gun, she was still complicit in her boyfriends criminality by allowing him to store it in her home.

The loyalty you may feel towards your partner is not worth the risk of a criminal record, let alone a lengthy spell behind bars, and we hope this sends a message to others who may be tempted to store a weapon for their partner.

Read more: Psychotic woman cut off mothers head and took it to allotment

Gun crime has the potential to have a devastating impact on the communities in Bedfordshire.

This is why we are working closely with Bedfordshire Polices Boson team to remove illegal weapons such as this one from circulation, and put dangerous offenders behind bars.

The principal reason criminals cut off some of the barrel from a shotgun is to make it easier to conceal and also, the ammunition travels a much shorter distance, which gives the shooter a better chance of hitting the target.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK
F ourteen more coronavirus patients have died, bringing the death toll in the UK to 35.

The number of people who have tested positive for the virus has also risen to 1,372  an increase of 232 in a one day.

It marks another sharp increase in the country's infection count, although the number of new cases declared on Sunday is lower than the 342 reported the day before.

The death count continues to rise.

The Department of Health said on Sunday that 14 more patients had died in England after testing positive for Covid-19, following the 10 deaths announced on Saturday.

To date, a total of 34 people have died from the virus in England, while there has been one death in Scotland.

As of 9am, a total of 40,279 people have been tested in the country since the first case was recorded on January 31.

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

A man in his 50s was the first of the new fatalities to be confirmed earlier this morning. He had underlying health conditions and was being treated at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, the hospital confirmed.

Later, Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust confirmed that a 72-year-old woman who tested positive for Covid-19, had died at Queens hospital.

"She had been very unwell with significant other health conditions," they said in a statement.

The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, said a woman in her 60s has died after contracting the virus. She passed away on Saturday and also had underlying health issues.

Meanwhile, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust confirmed the death of two patients: Sadly we can confirm that a man who was being cared for at Epsom Hospital, who was in his 80s, and a man being cared for at St Helier Hospital, who was in his late 60s, have died.

Both patients were admitted with underlying health conditions and subsequently tested positive for Covid-19."

George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust said a woman in her 70s had passed away on March 13, also with underlying health conditions.

Hospitals in London, Essex, Manchester, Tameside and Dudley, have all confirmed the death of patients in their 80s and 90s - all with separate health issues.

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The latest figures come as the University of Exeter confirmed one of its students has tested positive for coronavirus while abroad.

In a letter to students, Mike Shore-Nye, registrar and secretary of the university, said: Our immediate concerns are for the affected student, their family and friends, as well as the health and wellbeing of our university community.

The student has not been on campus since 12 March and tested positive at home.

The student, who is currently with their family and feeling relatively well, lives alone in a private one-bedroom apartment when in Exeter, Mr Shore-Nye said.

Elsewhere, Public Health Wales confirmed 34 new cases of Covid-19 in Wales on Sunday, bringing the total number confirmed in the country to 94.

Eleven new cases were confirmed in Northern Ireland, bringing the total number of known cases there to 45.

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Asked if that time frame was in the Governments plan, he told Skys Sophy Ridge On Sunday: That is in the action plan, yes, and we will be setting it out with more detail when it is the right time to do so, because we absolutely appreciate that it is a very big ask of the elderly and the vulnerable, and its for their own self-protection.

Pressed on when the measure will be introduced, he said: Certainly in the coming weeks, absolutely.

Health secretary: Over-70s will be asked to self-isolate for up to four months

Mr Hancock added: The measures that were taking, the measures that were looking at taking, are very, very significant and they will disrupt the ordinary lives of almost everybody in the country in order to tackle this virus.

He also confirmed that ministers were seeking to give police powers to arrest and forcibly quarantine people who are sick with the virus but are not self-isolating.

We are going to take the powers to make sure that we can quarantine people if they are a risk to public health, yes, and thats important, he told The Andrew Marr Show on the BBC.

I doubt that actually we will need to use it much, because people have been very responsible.

The Health Secretary said a Bill setting out emergency powers to deal with the outbreak will be published on Thursday, and details of what the powers will include will be shared on Tuesday.

He said ministers are yet to make a decision on whether to ban gatherings of more than 500 people in the rest of the UK, after Scotland said it would bring in restrictions from Monday.

The Government is in talks with private hospitals about the possibility of taking over beds, in a further sign of the pressures that will face the health service at the peak of the coronavirus outbreak.

There could also be a shift to household isolation rather than individual self-isolation.

Negotiations are also taking place with private health firms about access to their hospital beds.

Other measures, including school closures, have also been considered as an option to combat the spread of the virus.

Mr Hancock was pressed on when ministers would publish their modelling so the public can assess the scale of the outbreak and scrutinise the Governments response.
The government and the Reserve Bank may have found a suitor for Yes Bank quickly after the crisis at the bank could no longer be ignored, but does that mean they, especially the banking regulator, acted in time? Hardly. If trust in the banking system has been broken due to the Yes Bank fiasco, much of the blame lies with the regulator and the government.

Here is why: The Reserve Bank was forced to place a moratorium on deposit withdrawals (a cap of Rs 50,000 for a month) after the unprecedented run on the bank. In the three months starting October 2019, the bank witnessed its deposit base erode by 20% (Rs 42,000 crore)  a trend that accelerated in January. The current accountsavings account (CASA) deposits, which were hit by these withdrawals, are the cheapest form of capital for any bank  way cheaper than borrowings and equity. The high rate of withdrawals was pushing the bank to the brink of insolvency as it was already capital-starved.

READ: Fragile foundation of banking trust

Also, it was clear from September 2019 itself that the bank wasnt able to raise funds as no fund house was willing to park their monies in the bank. The situation was so bad that by December, the banks tainted founder and former CEO Rana Kapoor and his family sold their entire stake in the bank, of which only a year ago he had said, diamonds are forever.

The bigger question that the RBI needs to answer is, if everyone in Dalal Street knew that funds werent coming into the bank, how was it that the regulator gave the bank such a long rope  until it went right to the brink of insolvency?

There should have been tighter monitoring, more timely intervention, fixing accountability early, getting the incentive structure for senior management right and, most importantly, clear communication, says Amit Tandon, founder and CEO of proxy advisory firm IiAS. The days of central bank speak are over. The fact that markets have the ability to spot these trends, even as regulators are slow to act, is worrying.

To its credit, the central bank did try to clean up Yes Bank back in 2018, when Urjit Patel was RBI Governor. In September 2018, the RBI blocked the reappointment of Rana Kapoor as CEO for another tenure of three years after a year-long investigation had found the bank evergreening loans under his watch.

Unfortunately, within weeks of this episode, the RBI and the Union Finance Ministry, then under the late Arun Jaitley, were fighting publicly over the role and remit of the central bank, which soon led to the Patels exit from the central bank in December 2018 on personal grounds. With his exit, all the balance-sheet clean-up of banks seems to have taken a backseat at a time when RBI most needed to up its game on this front. In the months since, three financial institutions (IL&FS, DHFL and Yes Bank) have collapsed, casting serious doubts over the stability of the financial sector as a whole and even of the banking sector within it. In all three cases, there were suspicious activities by the top management.

Indeed, the RBI should have raised red flags even earlier as the advances by the bank grew abnormally since 2014. Despite the investment rate in the country declining, Yes Banks loan book multiplied by four times in a span of five years, indicating a clear disregard for risk assessment metrics.

ALSO READ: Yes Bank clocks record Rs 18,564-crore loss in Q3; NPAs surge; Run on the bank

By September 2019, 14.4% of its loans were stuck with NBFCs and realtors  the two sectors which have been going through severe stress in the recent past. Another 6.7% of the bank was stuck with electricity firms and 2.5% in the telecom sector, which too are under severe stress. Just before its fall, Rs 31,400 crore of the banks stressed loans -- over and above Rs 9,000 crore of NPAs -- most of which was lent during Rana Kapoors time, was waiting to be written off. On the other hand, the banks net worth was a mere Rs 27,000 crore. So, after all the adjustments, the banks net worth, the value of the bank, would have been a negative Rs 14,000 crore (-14,000 crore). Hence, the bank needed fresh capital to write off all these loans, which nobody in the financial industry was ready for, as the banks contingent liabilities  a potential liability that may occur in the future  were double the size of its balance sheet. The bank could have saved itself by increasing its current account and savings account deposits, but that went flying in the opposite direction as depositors withdrew money.

The banks former CEO Ravneet Gill has been accused of misleading investors on raising capital, claiming a unanimous decision after every board meeting on the issue  none of which materialized. The question being asked is, how is it that the RBIs nominee on the board of Yes Bank, former RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi, did not raise alarm bells?

As the RBI nominee, he should have been more circumspect and pushed for the credibility of the purported investors before giving false assurances to shareholders, says Shriram Subramanian, MD of proxy advisory firm InGovern.

Many large players  depositors and investors  in the markets saw the writing on the wall as early as the end of September 2019 as Rana Kapoors promoter stake (which he sold entirely between October-December 2019) were picked up by susceptible retail and small-time investors. At the time of RBIs crackdown on the bank, this group of investors had been left holding a whopping 48% of the bank.

The Reserve Bank could have acted far earlier on the issue, without causing much pain to depositors. But now, as it has initiated the banks revival by assuming control of it, will things improve in the larger banking sector?

There are doubts. Private sector banks, especially the smaller ones, are likely to face the heat of the Yes Bank fiasco as funds will be hard to come by due to the erosion of trust  the most important component of the financial system.

Top executives from five different fund houses told DH that many big-ticket investors have become averse to parking their monies with private banks after the collapse of Yes Bank. As on date, at least three other private sector banks are actively in search of funds to buffer up their capital bases, which have been depleted due to stress in their loan books.

With a full-fledged large bank collapsing just months after a cooperative bank (PMC Bank) went bust last year, there may be a huge outflow of depositors.

Given the recent events, new-age private banks and smaller regional banks may see slower deposit growth. Although the regulator and the government have in both cases stepped in to safeguard the interests of depositors, we expect retail investors to park their deposits in PSBs (public sector banks) and select larger private banks, according to brokerage firm Anand Rathi.

At least in the short run, all analysts expect deposit growth in new-age private banks and smaller regional banks to significantly slow down. This is likely to hit the current account-savings account (CASA) deposit levels of the banks, leading to an increase in the cost of funds.

The early signs of it have already been seen, with RBI being forced to issue a circular to state governments asking them not to close their accounts with the private banks.

But there is one question that many in the country continue to ask: why do we use taxpayers money to bail out a private sector bank which is in a mess because its founder committed some gross malfeasance? RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has been at pains to emphasize time and again that India has a banks cant fail policy. Had Yes Bank collapsed completely, a large number of depositors would have lost their hard-earned monies, sending the economy into further chaos. But will that explanation satisfy those who trust the RBI and the government to do their job?
BALLSTON SPA  Kelly Feldman started panicking Saturday night after she was notified that the BOCES that oversees the Ballston Spa school district is canceling classes through April 17.

"I was like, 'What are we going to do? We're going to go crazy,'" the mother of two boys, four-year-old Manny and two-year-old Elliot, said while at Shenantaha Creek Park with her family Sunday.

The district notified families Saturday that although there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 among students or staff, they would be canceling classes for five weeks to limit the spread of coronavirus and allow for time to assess the public health crisis.

"This is not a decision we take lightly, but we recognize we need to act decisively," wrote James Dexter, superintendent of the Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex Board of Cooperative Educational Services, which includes the Saratoga Springs city schools, among 30 other districts. "Given that this is a rapidly evolving public health issue, we feel that this is the most proactive and prudent action available to us."

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.

When Feldman and her husband, Adam, heard the news, they went into planning mode. The pair made a daily schedule to follow similar to their sons' preschool and daycare schedules, starting the day at 8 a.m., keeping up the educational curriculum, building in an hour and a half of "adventure time" to get out of the house, and a half hour to FaceTime friends and family to integrate socialization.

"It's just to try to keep the structure at home, otherwise he'll want to stay in his pajamas and watch TV all day," both parents said.

For now, the Feldmans will be able to manage taking care of the kids because Kelly is in between jobs. However, they'll have to do more planning for when she starts her new job in about two weeks.

Regardless, Adam and Kelly said they feel luckier than other parents  especially those Adam works with as the executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Northern Saratoga, Warren and Washington Counties.

"Our families have worked so hard to achieve home ownership, but they also tend to be the most vulnerable," he said. "They're hourly employees  waiters, waitresses, work at Stewart's  and a lot of those jobs are going to take a huge hit. They don't have the same flexibility."

Vanessa O'Brien was shopping at Dollar General with her two children, including seven-year-old William, the day after the district decided to close schools.

"It definitely puts parents in a tough position," she said. "We have daycare set up thankfully but I know a lot of parents do not have that. And it's definitely going to be an extra expense for us, but it should be OK."

O'Brien was more concerned about William falling further behind in a subject he struggles with in school, she said.

In his statement, Dexter said BOCES leadership would be putting together a plan for "instructional continuity" but did not detail what that would look like.

Melissa Olmstead, a teacher and parent of a six-year-old in the Ballston Spa school district, commended the district's decision.

"I'd rather be safe than sorry, and I think the sooner we try to isolate it and shut down things, hopefully we lower that curve of sickness," she said as her son pedaled ahead of her on his tricycle at Shenantaha.

Olmstead's mother, Colleen Seeberger, is a nurse at Ellis Hospital. Seeberger also applauded the district, but warned parents to "not treat it like a vacation."

"If they go to the movies and they go places where there's a lot of people  bad," she said. "Because that it just not even going to be effective."

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

While school will be canceled, the Washington-Saratoga-Warren BOCES campuses will stay open. In addition, classes offered on the campuses including Employment Training for Adults, adult practical nursing and adult literacy, will continue as scheduled.

While other governors in the country have issued directives shutting down schools across their states, Gov. Andrew Cuomo had insisted such a decision should be left to local school districts.

Concerns had 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.

Following his press conference, a cascade of other school districts announced one- to two-week school closures. Then on Sunday, Cuomo announced that New York City, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk schools will be closed. New York City schools will not open again until April 20.

Officials at Albany, Schenectady, Shenendehowa districts, which each serve around 10,000 children, announced their 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.

On Sunday, Troy city schools said it would be closed Monday, open a half-day on Tuesday for students to bring home materials, and then be closed for two weeks until resuming March 30.

Some districts have set into motion plans to educate students remotely while making breakfast and lunch available at designated pickup locations. Other districts, like Bethlehem, are having all staff report Monday to figure out at a distance learning plan. After-school activities have all been canceled.

The Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex had announced the longest closure of Capital Region school districts first.

Then on Sunday, the Champlain Valley Educational Services BOCES also said their schools will be closed through April 19, following morning meetings with local public health officials. That consortium includes 16 North Country districts in Warren, Washington, Essex and Clinton counties.

"This action has not been taken lightly," Superintendent Mark Davey wrote in a letter to families. "It is fully understood that this closure will create hardships for families, and each district will continue to support our community as best as possible throughout this situation."
NEW HAVEN  After a member of the Yale University community tested positive for COVID-19 in a preliminary test, the university opted to switch over to online classes throughout the remainder of the spring semester.

Another community member and a household contact are also undergoing diagnostic evaluation, and we await test results for these patients, Yale Health Director Paul Genecin said in a Saturday letter to the Yale community.

Genecin said all three patients are at Yale New Haven Hospital.

The university said once spring break ends on March 22, classes  including final exams  will be held online using Zoom, Canvas or other online tools.

Deans will communicate with their faculty and students to provide further details in the days ahead as the community works to navigate through this change.

All faculty and grad student teaching assistants learned how to convert their courses to online instruction.

The university urged students to remain home after spring break and through the remainder of the spring semester.

Any undergraduates on campus during spring break have been asked to please make every effort to return home as soon as possible and no later than Sunday, March 15.

The university said there will only be limited exceptions for emancipated students and students whose home country falls under the Level-3 CDC travel advisory. The university will remain open and continue to provide custodial and limited dining services.

While students have been urged not to return to campus, the university also told them to refrain from returning to campus to pick up their belongings. The universitys staff will give updates to students on that front.

Graduate and professional students are urged to stay off campus and participate in online instruction unless being on campus is absolutely necessary for their research or academic programs.
Cesar Gonzalez, who co-owns LPatron in Logan Square, was about to open his second restaurant, Gabrielas Carnitas, this Wednesday. He had a successful soft opening last week, but is closing the restaurant until the end of the month, when he can have a grand opening with dine-in customers. For his other restaurant, LPatron, he said he plans to offer curbside pickup, but he has no choice but to cut hours of employees, a hard decision he knows will have a negative effect.
A party of four people, who were being treated in isolation rooms at University Hospital Limerick for Covid-19, have since being discharged from the hospital after they all tested negative for the virus.

The two males and two females had tested positive for the virus earlier this month but were given the all clear a number of days ago, it has emerged.

The four, including a healthcare official, had travelled to the Lombardy region in northern Italy and returned to home in late February.

The healthcare worker who was not symptomatic at the time informed Public Health they had been to the affected area and they were given the green light to work.

Having been allowed to perform their duties, the healthcare employee worked a shift in the Emergency Department at UHL in late February.

The 24-hour Limerick ED was later closed and a deep clean was carried out before being reopened.

A hospital source said the four patients who were being treated for the virus were no longer at the hospital and had all tested negative for the virus.

The source said that 75 healthcare staff  who were self-isolating at home, after they were identified as contacts of one of the four patients  had all tested negative for the virus, in relation to the results of initial swabs taken from them.

The 75 staff are waiting on the results of second swabs.

The cancellation of almost all elective surgeries and outpatient appointments across all six sites of UL Hospitals Group, including University Hospital Limerick, University Maternity Hospital, St Johns, Croom Orthopaedic Hospital, Nenagh General, Ennis General, is extended to Wednesday, March 18.

Exceptions to an ongoing visitor ban at the six hospitals (with a strict limit of one visitor per patient) include:

Partners of women attending University Maternity Hospital Limerick

Parents visiting children in hospital

People visiting patients at end-of-life

People assisting confused patients (e.g. dementia)

People visiting patients in Critical Care

Colette Cowan, CEO of UL Hospitals Group, emphasised that time-critical procedures, including cancer surgery, would continue in the coming days.

Five theatres are open at UHL for emergency and trauma cases as well as time-critical elective surgery.

Exceptions to cancelled services and appointments, that will be going ahead at this time include Dialysis, Cancer services and Urgent Cardiology diagnostics.

Drop-off and collection services are available at the six hospitals to assist patients loved ones getting them important personal items.

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The Perfect Storm stars George Clooney as an intrepid fisherman who navigates his boat through a storm of deadly ferocity  a freakish confluence of weather fronts, gales and vast tides that defy all attempts at prediction, let alone control.

Today, our healthcare system is in the same perilous position as Clooneys fragile boat in that film.

The coronavirus is highly contagious and, fanned by global connectivity, is infecting huge numbers of people.

It is fair to say that the outlook is bleak and that the risk to human life is serious. Yet the situation is not desperate.

We cannot allow attention to be diverted from already vulnerable patients because it seems politically expedient to prioritise the coronavirus. Then there is the temptation to take steps that might do more harm than good, writes Professor Karol Sikora

In fact, if we all behave sensibly, I believe the crisis will have passed by the end of June when, relieved its over, we might even be surprised at how quickly the virus seemed to melt away.

For this to happen, though, we must avoid another deadly force  and that is panic.

Because by over-reacting and distorting our priorities, we can do harm to the thousands of people already dependent on the health service, those whose chances of survival would be compromised or destroyed if their treatment were to be disrupted. This is why I support the steady approach taken by our Government so far.

Some suggest we should have taken drastic action early on  that schools should be closed, that borders should be shut, that we should all be confined indoors. But after a lifetime in medicine, Ive seen many crises come and go and I know that wrong-headed intervention can cause as much damage as the problems it is supposed to cure.

Let me be blunt: if we rush to act for the sake of being seen to act, we are certain to condemn vulnerable people to a premature death.

This is not to underestimate the gravity of the situation.

While for most people, this will be a minor illness  no worse than a bad cold  there will be many others for whom it is serious.

Coronavirus is a tiny, streamlined machine, which engulfs the cells deep in the tiny air sacs of the lung, hijacks their command and control mechanisms, kills them and spews out more infectious virus. Different people respond in different ways.

The Perfect Storm stars George Clooney as an intrepid fisherman who navigates his boat through a storm of deadly ferocity  a freakish confluence of weather fronts, gales and vast tides that defy all attempts at prediction, let alone control

Some, particularly those with lung or heart issues, will become breathless. Some might also get secondary pneumonia and go on to develop multiple organ failure in the kidneys, liver and brain.

Yet others seem to be hardly affected. So far, only about one in 20 of those infected require some sort of medical support, with the rest recovering after a few days.

Weve had a measured response in Britain and so far it has worked well. Emphasising self-isolation and social distancing, the official response has been a classic public health intervention aimed at delaying the rate of infection so that our health system is not overwhelmed.

Yet nobody can offer the assurances people really want, and the imagery from around the world is powerful: patients lying on trolleys; medical staff in cumbersome protective clothing; soldiers patrolling the streets; and legally enforced, profound changes to the lives of whole populations.

Fear, too, is contagious, however, and there is a danger that by talking up the crisis, our healthcare systems become inundated to the point of collapse.

How, for example, should we protect the routine care of patients with cancer and cardiac diseases  twin scourges of the 21st Century?

The NHS has always worked at capacity, with six-month waits frequent over winter, which is why we often see delays and rationing.

We cannot allow attention to be diverted from already vulnerable patients because it seems politically expedient to prioritise the coronavirus.

In fact, if we all behave sensibly, I believe the crisis will have passed by the end of June when, relieved its over, we might even be surprised at how quickly the virus seemed to melt away. Empty shelves are pictured above at an Asda store

Then there is the temptation to take steps that might do more harm than good. The science is not exact.

Do we really want to confine everyone at home, where the risk of contagion is known to be high? If we close schools, wont that mean putting children in the hands of elderly relatives  the very people we are trying to protect?

And what about the consequence of closing down the economy and destroying jobs? That in itself is damaging to the health of people whose lives are turned upside down.

Trumps decision to close Americas borders makes no scientific sense, even if it looks good to his voting base.

Health screening at borders is of doubtful value, too. It is easy to measure peoples temperatures using gadgets but its even easier to fool the technology with a couple of aspirin to suppress a fever.

How, then, to protect the vulnerable from the virus  the old and those with underlying conditions?

I believe we must return to an older, village mentality in which we take the time to look after each other, rich and poor, old and young.

Lets pull together like close families and make sure that none of us is isolated, left to fight the virus alone.

We must take responsibility for ourselves and act as though we are infected already, taking special care to ensure we do not pass it on.

Fortunately, science and technology are on our side with excellent video-links already in place which allow routine follow-ups and even new patient consultations  avoiding the risk of transmission.

While it is true that young people are more confident with high-tech equipment, youre never too old to learn.

My wifes 90-year-old great aunt Toppie is a whizz at the internet in her care home. Computers can provide continuous monitoring of patients at risk and will call for help only when action is necessary.

Health screening at borders is of doubtful value, too. It is easy to measure peoples temperatures using gadgets but its even easier to fool the technology with a couple of aspirin to suppress a fever

These and other developments could bring about major changes to the way our health service works in future. Innovation and discovery are Britains strengths and there is certainly no shortage of ideas.

There will soon be a vaccine. Existing drugs might prove useful also. Hospital pharmacies already store cancer treatments that might block the virus getting into cells and suppress the inflammation.

Medical and scientific publishers have seen a surge of new papers from China and Korea that are helping doctors all over the world to deal with the problem. All have been made freely available on the internet  a fantastic response.

Another obvious step forward is to use the spare capacity in the independent sector (which already treats NHS patients under contract).

In my field, cancer care, there are more than 20 private clinics that could easily help.

Despite what you see on rolling 24-hour news, there are good reasons to be optimistic, and not just because spring is here.

We will get out of this together and reach the safe harbour on the other side of the storm.

Above all, we must not be consumed with fear  as that is the most deadly enemy of all.
A Hindu group hosted a cow urine drinking party on Saturday as they believe it wards off the coronavirus, as many Hindus consider the cow sacred and some drink cow urine believing it has medicinal properties.

The group of worshippers known as Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha (All India Hindu Union) had the party in Delhi, the countrys capital, on Saturday., an Indian media outlet, reports that the event, known as gaumutra party attracted many in queues as the substance was poured from kettles into small cups  referred to as kulhads.

The party reportedly began with prayers to the cow and then to coronavirus, asking it to leave peacefully and not kill more people.

Read Also: Coronavirus: South Africa Evacuates Its Citizens From China

There was also a large poster mounted to depict an avatar of Hindu god Narsingh as the virus.

Swami Chakrapani, the president of the group, said coronavirus was caused by a deity that has come to punish those who consume meat.

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, Chakrapani said.

Global leaders should get cow urine imported from India because the almighty resides only in the Indian cow and not in any foreign breed.

I request all the presidents and prime ministers of the world to take cow urine on a daily basis. You have all these scientists who dont know the cure, we have the cure given to us by the gods.

It is believed that many Hindus consider the cow to be sacred, including some members of the Hindu nationalist party, who had earlier advocated that cow urine and dung be used to treat the coronavirus.

We have been drinking cow urine for 21 years, we also take a bath in cow dung. We have never felt the need to consume English medicine, Reuters quoted one attendee to have said.

The event comes a day after Narendra Modi, Indias prime minister, addressed leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations, even as the number of coronavirus cases touched 107 in the country.

We recognise we are in an unknown situation and can not predict with certainty how the situation will unfold further. It will be most valuable for all us to share our perspectives, said the PM on Friday.

Despite claims about the cow urine drinking practice, medical experts have repeatedly warned that cow urine does not cure illnesses like cancer and there is no evidence that it can prevent coronavirus.
Looking to check out the best music venues around town?

Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top music venues in Miami, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of where to venture next time you're in the market for music venues.

Now is an ideal time to catch up on the latest popular spots, since consumer spending at bars and lounges tends to climb in March in the Miami area, according to data on local business transactions from Womply, a provider of marketing software and local advertising ideas for small businesses. Daily spending at Miami-area bars and lounges last year rose by 26% in March over the month before.

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.

1. Lagniappe

First on the list is Lagniappe. Located at 3425 N.E. Second Ave., the music venue, wine bar and traditional American spot is the highest-rated music venue in Miami, boasting 4.5 stars out of 892 reviews on Yelp.

2. The Wharf Miami

Next up is Little Havana's The Wharf Miami, situated at 114 S.W. North River Drive. With four stars out of 524 reviews on Yelp, the music venue, pop-up restaurant and cocktail bar has proved to be a local favorite.

3. Churchill's

Little Haiti's Churchill's, located at 5501 N.E. Second Ave., is another top choice, with Yelpers giving the music venue and bar four stars out of 204 reviews.

This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting with a delegation from Jammu and Kashmir's Apni Party led by Altaf Bukhari, at the Ministry of Home Affairs on Sunday here.

Union Home Secretary AK Bhalla and other senior officials are also present at the meeting which is still underway.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also met a 24-member delegation from Jammu and Kashmir's Apni Party at his Lok Kalyan Marg residence in Delhi.

A statement from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said that in the interactive session Prime Minister Modi called for 'Janbhagidari' in transforming Jammu and Kashmir and emphasised on the importance of an administration that gives voice to the people.

Bukhari, formerly with the People's Democratic Party (PDP), launched his own party on March 8.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The requested page is currently unavailable on this server.

Back to [RTHK News Homepage]
New Delhi, March 15 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday chaired a meeting with a delegation from Jammu and Kashmir's Apni Party and discussed issues like concerns on demographic changes in the erstwhile state, delimitation exercise and grant of state domicile there, official sources said.

A delegation-led by Altaf Bukhari met the Home Minister at his North Block office.

The meeting began at around 10 a.m. and was attended by Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla and other senior Home Ministry officials.

The Apni Party delegation, including its leader Bukhari and 23 other members, had also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi for around two hours on Saturday evening.

The outfit, including political leaders from a wide spectrum but all considered traditionally close to New Delhi, was launched on March 8.

At the launch in Srinagar, the Apni Party said it was willing to move beyond Article 370 and engage with New Delhi.

Mainstream politics in the Valley has been in a state of paralysis since August 5, when the Centre scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, and split it into two Union territories, and put the top leadership in detention.

With the government keen to re-start the political process in Kashmir in a bid to bring normalcy, the Apni Party is seen to have its support.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-16 01:03:54|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), one of China's biggest commercial lenders, has stepped up credit support to help small and micro enterprises as well as farming companies tide over difficulties, a deputy head said Sunday.

To ease the strain in cash flow, the bank has implemented a raft of moves like streamlining the procedures, reducing services fees and deferring the repayment to aid the companies that underwent severe impact of the outbreak, said Zhan Dongsheng, vice president of ABC said at a press conference.

The ABC has so far deferred the repayment of loans worth 130 million yuan (about 18.6 million U.S. dollars) for 252 firms, adjusted repayment plans of loans valued at 870 million yuan, and provided renewal services for 933 enterprises involving 6.27 billion yuan of loans, Zhan said.

Meanwhile, multiple steps have been rolled out to help the preparation for spring plowing, Zhan stressed, noting that meeting the financial demands of farming materials producers have been taken as priority and efforts have been made to enhance the efficiency of online services.

Special measures for hog production have been channeled to all links of the industrial chains including breeding, slaughtering and processing, transportation, feed production as well as disease prevention and control, Zhan said.
Coronavirus

This is regarding the virus thats going around. Shutting down everything is not going to solve the problem. If you shut everything down made people stay in our homes. Its not the answer. The answer is to find a cure and find a cure today. Were living in the twenty-first century. Now there should none of this stuff taking place. This is stuff that happened in 1918 when the Spanish Flu, millions of peoples lives were lost.

 A reader

Actually, the cure and vaccine are in the works, but this is a new strain of virus, so the shutdowns and preventative measures are happening because we are months and months away from a viable vaccine. The need to be developed, tested, and approved, then manufactured and distributed. All that takes time since we dont have a magic wand.

 Ed Note

Practice what you preach

I just watched President Trumps 3 p.m. press conference on the coronavirus, The president along with all doctors recommended sanitary measures to be practiced. So what do I witness doctor Fauchi touching his face repeatedly, the president shaking hands with people and adjusting the microphone, and the Press sharing a single microphone for their questions. Great examples being set.

 Happy hour

One person out of all of those CEOs and docs and politicians offered the elbow instead of a handshake. It was like a what not to do display.

 Ed Note
New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/13/2020 -- Handheld imaging devices are portable imaging devices or scanners used for visualization of internal organs or to scan body parts for diagnosis of different diseases and to decide an action plan for further treatment. Handheld imaging devices are used in various applications such as ophthalmology, gynecology & obstetrics, dentistry, orthopedics etc., for diagnosis of different diseases. These are portable and convenient to use both for patients and physicians for early screening of diseases. Market Industry Reports (MIR) has published a new report titled "Handheld Imaging Devices Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 20192030." According to the report, the Global Handheld Imaging Devices Market is estimated to account for over US$ 920 million by 2019. The market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of ~12.5% from 2019 to 2030.



The market growth can be attributed to several factors, which has led to its wide-scale adoption. Rising geriatric population, technological advancements, training programs for end users and increasing chronic diseases such as cancer especially oral cancers are anticipated to further contribute to this substantial market growth between 2019 and 2030. However, the stringent government guidelines & regulation are likely to restrain market growth to a certain extent.



Major Key Players of the Handheld Imaging Devices Market are:

GENERAL ELECTRIC, Koninklijke Philips N.V, Siemens Healthcare Private Limited, FUJIFILM Corporation, Micro C, LLC, Butterfly Network, Inc., Clarius Mobile Health, The MolecuLight, ZEISS, and KaVo Dental among others.



Get sample copy of "Handheld Imaging Devices Market" at: https://www.marketindustryreports.com/pdf/252



To obtain better insights regarding the market scenario, prominent players are increasingly focusing on collaborative initiatives with several institutes, research centers, and companies. For instance, In December 2019, Butterfly Network announced that it has expanded compatibility of its Butterfly iQ imaging device to 10 Samsung and Google devices.



Rising geriatric population coupled with increasing chronic diseases is anticipated to propel the handheld imaging devices market. Geriatric population is increasing globally; this population is prone to various chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes etc., this in turn leads to increasing demand for access to early diagnosis using efficient and easily available imaging devices.



Major Types of Handheld Imaging Devices covered are:

X-ray/fluoroscopy scanners

Ultrasound scanners, and Optical Coherence Tomography [OCT]



Major Applications of Handheld Imaging Devices covered are:

Ophthalmology

Gynecology & Obstetrics

Dentistry, and Orthopedics



Research objectives:-



- To study and analyze the global Handheld Imaging Devices consumption (value & volume) by key regions/countries, product type and application, history data.

- To understand the structure of the Handheld Imaging Devices market by identifying its various sub-segments.

- Focuses on the key global Handheld Imaging Devices manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the sales volume, value, market share, market competitive landscape, SWOT analysis, and development plans in the next few years.

- To analyze the Handheld Imaging Devices with respect to individual growth trends, future prospects, and their contribution to the total market.

- To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks).



Go For Interesting Discount Here: https://www.marketindustryreports.com/discount/252



Table of Content



1 Report Overview

1.1 Study Scope

1.2 Key Market Segments

1.3 Players Covered

1.4 Market Analysis by Type

1.5 Market by Application

1.6 Study Objectives

1.7 Years Considered



2 Global Growth Trends

2.1 Handheld Imaging Devices Market Size

2.2 Handheld Imaging Devices Growth Trends by Regions

2.3 Industry Trends



3 Market Share by Key Players

3.1 Handheld Imaging Devices Market Size by Manufacturers

3.2 Handheld Imaging Devices Key Players Head office and Area Served

3.3 Key Players Handheld Imaging Devices Product/Solution/Service

3.4 Date of Enter into Handheld Imaging Devices Market

3.5 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion Plans



4 Breakdown Data by Product

4.1 Global Handheld Imaging Devices Sales by Product

4.2 Global Handheld Imaging Devices Revenue by Product

4.3 Handheld Imaging Devices Price by Product



5 Breakdown Data by End User

5.1 Overview

5.2 Global Handheld Imaging Devices Breakdown Data by End User



Have any query? Inquiry about report at: https://www.marketindustryreports.com/inquiry/252



In the end, Handheld Imaging Devices industry report specifics the major regions, market scenarios with the product price, volume, supply, revenue, production, market growth rate, demand, forecast and so on. This report also presents SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.



About Market Industry Reports:

Market Industry Reports is a global leader in market measurement & advisory services, Market Industry Reports is at the forefront of innovation to address the worldwide industry trends and opportunities. We identified the caliber of market dynamics & hence we excel in the areas of innovation and optimization, integrity, curiosity, customer and brand experience, and strategic business intelligence through our research.



We continue to pioneer state-of-the-art approach in research & analysis that makes complex world simpler to stay ahead of the curve. By nurturing the perception of genius and optimized market intelligence we bring proficient contingency to our clients in the evolving world of technologies, megatrends and industry convergence. We empower and inspire Vanguards to fuel and shape their business to build and grow world-class consumer products.



Contact Us:

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Email: sales@marketindustryreports.com
Advertisement

Donald Trump insisted Sunday that people stop panic buying and hoarding food and goods as the coronavirus death toll in the U.S. hit 63 and cases neared 3,500.

'We're going to be so good,' Trump claimed in a press conference at the White House Sunday evening, adding, 'Relax, we're doing great. It all will pass.'

'You don't have to buy so much. Take it easy. Just relax,' Trump said, adding that President and CEO of Walmart Doug McMillon said during a conversation earlier in the day that people were buying more than they do at Christmas.

Trump said he spoke with the top industry leaders of various retailers and food stores about coronavirus as shelves in many stores have gone empty as Americans panic buy essentials like toilet paper and bottled water.

Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the coronavirus task force, also assured Americans during the briefing Sunday that stores would remain open indefinitely.

'As the president said, he received a commitment from those grocery executives that stores will stay open throughout the days that lie ahead,' he said, adding that hours might be changed or reduced so they could do additional cleanings and resupplies.

'American families can be confident, your local grocery stores will be open, it's going to be well supplied. And they specifically asked us to encourage Americans just buy your weekly needs in grocery. Because the grocery stores will remain open,' he reassured.

Trump also urged Americans not to raid stores and hoard supplies during this time.

'There's no need for anybody in the country to hoard essential food supplies,' he insisted.

'They said to me, 'Could you please tell them, just go and buy, enjoy it, have a nice dinner, relax, because there's plenty,' he said of top industry leaders.

Donald Trump told American consumers to stop buying and hoarding necessities as fears of the coronavirus outbreak rocks the nation

'You don't have to buy so much. Take it easy. Just relax,' he said during a briefing at the White House Sunday evening on the developing coronavirus crisis

He left before other members of the coronavirus task force spoke and without taking any questions from the press

Vice President Mike Pence, who is heading the coronavirus task force, reiterated that stores would remain open when he took over the briefing for the president

'American families can be confident, your local grocery stores will be open, it's going to be well supplied,' he said, urging Americans only to buy their weekly needs for groceries and necessities

'But you don't have to buy the quantities because it's hard to refill the stores on a basis as rapid as they're refilling them,' he continued.

'They're going to work 24-hours round the clock keeping their stores stocked. I would like to say people shouldn't go out and buy  we're going to all be great.

'They've actually asked me to say, 'Could you buy a little bit less, please?' I thought I'd never hear that from a retailer,' Trump quipped, lightening the mood in the press briefing room.

The president said the federal, state and local governments are all working with these retail leaders, including Walmart, Costco, Target, Whole Foods, Publix and several more, to ensure there are no shortages of goods and food.

'We have no shortages other than people are buying anywhere from 3-5 times what they would normally buy. It's going to be there for a long time,' he assured. 'There's a pent up demand, that's incredible.'

He also claimed that he told these CEOs, owners and presidents during his call earlier in the day that they must remain open to keep supplying to American people.

'They're committed to remaining open during this crisis. Totally open. They have to stay open. Those stores have to stay open. They supply our country,' he said of the stores.

'The stores are stocking up at a level that's beyond Christmastime. And it's great. It was very reassuring speaking to these people. They have it totally in hand,' he said.

Videos and images swarmed the internet over the last week of Americans rushing to stores and clearing the shelves of essential food and supplies.

Many took to social media to complain they could not buy things like toilet paper, hand sanitizer or bottled water when they attempted to do their normal shopping.

Trump said he spoke with retail and grocery industry leaders as Americans began stocking up and hoarding essentials like toilet paper, cleaning supplies, nonperishable food and bottled water

Shelves were empties of food and supplies at stores like Walmart, Target, Publix, Whole Foods and Costco

Trump declared a national state of emergency on Friday and extended the Europe travel ban, which he announced on Wednesday, to include the U.K. and Ireland.

Thousands of Americans returned to the U.S. from European vacations over the weekend and faced up to eight hour wait times to get through customs at the only 13 'funnel' U.S. airports.

The death toll in the U.S. from coronavirus reached 63 on Sunday and is nearing 3,500 cases.

At the same time the briefing continued with members of the coronavirus task force, New York City declared public schools would close until April 20 at the earliest  meaning students would miss more than a month of school due to the outbreak.

Trump did not take any questions from reporters gathered at the White House for the briefing, claiming he had to go take calls related to responding to coronavirus.

He instead handed off the briefing to his No. 2.

Pence deferred to Health and Human Service Secretary Alex Azar when DailyMail.com asked about potential plans to build more hospital beds and to provide more ventilators.

'We don't disclose concrete numbers on particular items for national security purposes,' he said.

'Obviously this is an unprecedented challenge, unprecedented,' Azar continued, keeping it vague. 'And so we will work to increase the supplies of personal protective equipment of ventilators of field medical units, hospitals.'

'We have tremendous supplies,' he added. 'But we want to acquire more. And that's thanks to the bipartisan work of Congress funding the emergency supplemental that gives us the money to scale up production here and abroad. And we're doing that.'

Pence also said on the matter: 'The whole issue of personal protective equipment and supplies and the capacity of our healthcare system is in the forefront of what we're talking about.'

Congress passed a bipartisan economic stimulus package in the twelfth hour Friday night to help with market fallout from the coronavirus outbreak and assist in funding for those affected.

Health and Human Service Secretary Alex Azar when DailyMail.com asked about potential plans to build more hospital beds and to provide more ventilators was vague. 'We don't disclose concrete numbers on particular items for national security purposes,' he claimed

Trump spent much of the briefing urging Americans not to hoard, but also issued rare praise to the Federal Reserve for cutting interest rates.

'It makes me very happy and I want to congratulate the Federal Reserve. For starters they lowered the fed rate from what it was, which was 1-1.25 and it's been lowered down to 0-0.25,' he said. 'That's a big difference.'

In a massive emergency action move on Sunday to help the economy withstand the fallout from the coronavirus, the Federal Reserve slashed its interest rate to almost zero.

It also said it would buy $700 billion in Treasury and mortgage bonds.

The spur-of-the-moment announcement signaled the Federal Reserve is worried that the fast-spreading viral outbreak will depress economic growth in the U.S.

Trump is usually highly critical of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, vocally sharing his displeasure with decisions he has made in the past.
Prison advocate Debbie Kilroy and activist Boneta-Marie Mabo, Eddie Mabo's granddaughter, have both tested positive for COVID-19 after being on the same flight as Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton several days ago.

Ms Kilroy posted on Twitter on Monday morning confirming their tests had come back positive, and both were in home quarantine  the first infected people not being admitted to hospital, she said.

Prisoner advocate Debbie Kilroy (left) and activist Boneta-Marie Mabo both test positive for COVID-19.

"We are not being hospitalised as theres limited beds," she tweeted.

"Yes its frightening but Im healthy and should be fine after 14 days. Take care of yourselves plz."


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Four Congress MLAs in Gujarat have tendered their resignation to Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi ahead of the election to the four Rajya Sabha seats

Ahmedabad: Four Congress MLAs in Gujarat have tendered their resignation to Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi ahead of the election to the four Rajya Sabha seats in the state to be held on 26 March.

The four Congress legislators tendered their resignation on Saturday, which Trivedi has accepted. Trivedi told this to PTI on Sunday. He said he will announce the names of the legislators in the Legislative Assembly on Monday.

"Four Congress MLAs tendered their resignation to me on Saturday, and I will announce their names in the Assembly tomorrow," he said.

With this, the strength of the Congress party in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly has come down to 69 from 73.

The Congress had on Saturday shifted its 14 MLAs to Jaipur fearing horse-trading by the ruling BJP ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls. The BJP has fielded Abhay Bhardwaj, Ramila Bara and Narhari Amin for the election.

Given its numbers in the Assembly, the ruling party can only win two seats unless it manages cross-voting from the Opposition camp or ensure defection of Congress MLAs to win the third seat.

The Congress has fielded senior leaders Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki.
Madhya Pradesh Minister Pradeep Jaiswal on Sunday exuded confidence that the Congress will be able to prove the majority in Assembly, however, he said that floor test might not take place tomorrow.

"We have the numbers. The Chief Minister is confident. Wait and watch. It is not necessary that the floor test will take place tomorrow, as we all are grappling with coronavirus pandemic," Jaiswal told ANI here.

Jaiswal spoke to ANI after the state Cabinet meeting chaired by CM Kamal Nath at Vallabh Bhawan ended on Sunday.

Those who attended the meeting included Home Minister Bala Bachchan, Law Minister PC Sharma, and ministers Lakhan Singh Yadav, Sajjan Singh Verma, among others.

Earlier Madhya Pradesh Congress MLAs, who arrived in Bhopal from Jaipur today morning ahead of the floor test in the Assembly on Monday, have been shifted to Courtyard by Marriott Hotel.

These MLAs were accompanied by senior Congress leader Harish Rawat, who exuded confidence of Kamal-Nath led government winning floor test in the Assembly.

He claimed that BJP is nervous about the floor test.

"We are ready for floor test tomorrow and we are confident of winning it. We are not nervous, the BJP is," Rawat told reporters here.

On being asked about the rebel MLAs who have supported former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, the former Uttarakhand Chief Minister said: "Those (rebel) MLAs are in touch with us."

Kantilal Bhuria of Congress said, "We have more than 112 MLAs with us.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
QUITO, March 14 (Reuters) - Ecuador's government on Saturday announced the closure of its borders from Sunday to all foreign travelers due to the spread of the coronavirus, after local authorities confirmed a second death from the infection.

Vice President Otto Sonnenholzner, in a televised statement, said all aerial, land and maritime transport into the Andean country will be prohibited.

Ecuadorean citizens and foreigners with Ecuadorean residency will have until the end of Monday to return, he said.

Ecuador so far has confirmed 28 cases of coronavirus, including two deaths, and authorities have banned all public activities. (Reporting by Alexandra Valencia Writing by Angus Berwick; editing by Diane Craft)
Pakistan's attempt to "politicise" a humanitarian issue by its "unwarranted" statement on Kashmir during the SAARC nations video conference on coronavirus reflected "very poorly" on it, government sources said on Sunday.

The underlying message of the video conference was unitedly taking on the virus, but Pakistan used the occasion to raise the Kashmir issue, calling for immediate lifting of the "lockdown" there to allow disease containment measures.

Pakistan chose to be "churlish" and used the video conference for political point scoring, the sources said.

Pakistan sent their State Minister of Health Zafar Mirza who was uncomfortable while speaking, they said.

Pakistan raising the matter reflected "very poorly" on their dealing with the humanitarian issue, the sources said.

"Raising the issue was unwarranted and out of context. Pakistan attempted to politicise a humanitarian issue," a government source said.

India could have kept Pakistan out of the video conference, but as it was a humanitarian issue, the country was invited, the sources said.

"Every leader responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call, but Pakistan chose to send its health minister which reflected its lack of seriousness," the source said.

Even Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli participated a day after he was discharged from hospital, but Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan chose to stay away, the sources said.

When Pakistan raised the issue, nobody responded, the sources said.

On whether the video conference was indicative of a possible revival of SAARC process, sources said it was too premature to talk in those terms.

Apart from Mirza, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, participated in the video conference.

Mirza called for the "lockdown" to be lifted in Jammu and Kashmir to deal with the coronavirus threat.

"Equity in health is a fundamental principle of public health. In this regard, let me say that it is a matter of concern that COVID-19 has been reported" from Jammu and Kashmir and in view of the health emergency, it is imperative that all "lockdown" there must be lifted immediately,



"Opening up communication and movement would facilitate dissemination of information, allow distribution of medical supplies and allow containment...to proceed unimpeded," Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Mirza said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Jerusalem, March 16 : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tested negative for the novel coronavirus, the Prime Minister's office said.

"The coronavirus tests of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and those in close proximity to him were negative," the Prime Minister's office was quoted as saying in a statement by Xinhua news agency on Sunday.

A total of 213 people in Israel have been diagnosed with COVID-19, according to figures released by the Israeli Health Ministry on Sunday evening.

On Saturday, Netanyahu announced that gatherings of more than 10 people are banned and ordered to close all cafes, restaurants, cinemas, and other recreation sites.

Israeli schools were already shut down and all who arrive from overseas are ordered to stay home for two-week self-quarantine.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Holiday plans for scores of Britons have been flung into chaos as countries shut their borders to seal themselves off from the coronavirus pandemic.

Europe has been branded the epicentre of the global outbreak, and many nations have responded to a jump in infections by imposing flight freezes.

After a string of countries closed their doors to Britons this week, Donald Trump today followed suit and announced a travel ban from the UK and Ireland to kick in at midnight on Monday.

Here, MailOnline provides a round-up of the states which have imposed fully-fledged bans, restricted travel and tough conditions on British holidaymakers landing on their soil.

Bans

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic, which has an infection tally of 189, announced it will close its borders to 15 nations including the UK. New measures will be implemented on Monday when it is likely the European nation will increase its bans. Certain exemptions apply such as UK citizens with permanent residency in the country.

The Czech Republic, which has an infection tally of 189, announced it will close its borders to 15 nations including the UK

Denmark

The Danish government announced a ban on all foreign nationals who do not have a recognised purpose for entering Denmark. Foreigners normally living and working in Denmark will still be able to enter the country.

Guatemala

Specific countries have been banned from entering Guatemala. These are Korea, Japan, China, Italy, France, Spain, Iran and the UK. US and Canadian citizens will not be allowed entry from Monday.

Slovakia

Slovakia has declared a State of Emergency and imposed strict restrictions on all public, social, sporting and cultural activity. Entry to the country is allowed only for Slovak citizens and foreign residents and even they will have to self-isolate for 14 days.

The Danish government announced a ban on all foreign nationals who do not have a recognised purpose for entering the country. Pictured: Police officers check passengers disembarking a ferry from Sweden

Norway

Norwegian authorities said all non-resident visitors arriving from countries other than Finland and Sweden would be asked to leave Norway on arrival.

British nationals legally resident in Norway will be allowed to enter the country but must enter self-quarantine for 14 days.

Jamaica

The FCO advise against all but essential travel to the country due to restrictions on entry. Only Jamaican citizens, spouses and children of Jamaican citizens and foreign residents of Jamaica travelling from the UK will be allowed to enter.

The FCO said: 'British nationals who wish to leave Jamaica are encouraged to make travel arrangements urgently before airlines reduce direct and indirect flight options.'

A man protecting himself with a mask carries shopping bags on a street of Oslo

Poland

Non-Polish nationals will only be able to enter the country if they are a spouse or child of a Polish national, hold a Pole's Card, or otherwise have the right to stay or work in the country.

Equatorial Guinea

The FCO advises against all travel to Equatorial Guinea after authorities announced border closures and the suspension of international flights for 30 days.

A border guard stands in front of a passenger car during the border restrictions taking effect on the Polish-Czech border

Peru

The FCO advises against all but essential travel to the whole of Peru due to conditions including a ban on flights to and from Europe from March 16 for at least 30 days.

Mongolia

All flights have been suspended to Mongolia until at least March 28, and the Foreign Office recommended British nationals use charter flights scheduled for March 15 and 16.

USA

The US government has extended an existing European travel ban to the UK and Ireland amid the coronavirus pandemic, with the exception of returning US citizens and legal residents.

The US government has extended an existing European travel ban to the UK and Ireland

Bolivia

The FCO has not advised against travel however all flights to and from Europe have been suspended due to concerns about the spread of coronavirus.

Travel warnings

China

The FCO advises against all travel to Hubei province due to the outbreak, and advise against all but essential travel to the rest of mainland China. If you are in China and able to leave, the FCO says you should do so. Anyone arriving from overseas into Beijing and Guangdong province must undertake 14 days of self-isolation.

Italy

Authorities in Italy have advised against travel for tourism purposes and said tourists already on holiday in Italy should limit their movements to those necessary to return to the place where they live. The Foreign Office have advised against travelling to Europe's most infected country.

Authorities in Italy have advised against travel for tourism purposes and said tourists already on holiday in Italy should limit their movements

Albania

Following the Government of Albania's decision to introduce 'stringent measures' to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the FCO advises against all but essential travel.

All borders are closed, with the exception of freight, to all nationals. Schools are also closed as are all shops except food shops and pharmacies.

Argentina

The FCO advises against all but essential travel to all of Argentina due to travel restrictions.

'The FCO strongly encourage non-resident British nationals in Argentina to consider leaving to avoid difficulties they will face if flights out of the country and the region are further restricted and they are unable to get home,' the department said.

Vietnam

The FCO advises against all but essential travel to Vietnam due to the high risk of British nationals being placed into a 14-day quarantine.

The FCO advises against all but essential travel to all of Argentina due to travel restrictions

Malta

The department advises against all but essential travel to Malta due to a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine for all arrivals including returning residents.

Kosovo

The FCO advises against all but essential travel to Kosovo as all flights into the country have been cancelled, and land borders are closed to non-citizens.

Estonia

The FCO has advised against all but essential travel as the Estonian authorities are themselves advising against all travel in and out of Estonia, and passengers from several European countries must self-quarantine for 14 days upon entry.

San Marino

In conjunction with their travel advice for Italy, the FCO advises against all but essential travel to San Marino. 'British nationals remain able to depart San Marino without restriction with a valid passport and onward ticket,' the department said.

Liberia

The department advises against all but essential travel to Liberia due to the high risk of quarantine for British nationals, as well as travel restrictions.

An Estonian police officer gives a coronavirus leaflet to a driver at the Latvia and Estonia border checkpoint

Lithuania

British nationals are advised against all but essential travel due to border controls effective from March 15, lasting ten days.

Philippines

Due to the impact of domestic travel restrictions, possible curfews and plans to impose conditions on entry from the UK, the FCO has recommended against all but essential travel to the whole country from March 15.

Sierra Leone

The FCO advises against all but essential travel due to mandatory quarantine measures for British nationals arriving from March 16.

Cruise ships

British nationals aged 70 and over and those with pre-existing health conditions are advised against cruise ship travel.

Passengers queue at the Overseas Passenger Terminal as the Norwegian Jewel cruise ship is in lock down while health authorities test a man for Coronavirus in Sydney

South Korea

The department advises against all travel to the cities of Daegu, Cheongdo and Gyeongsan which have been designated as 'special care zones' by South Korean authorities due to outbreaks.

From Sunday, travellers arriving from the UK will be subject to additional screening. People travelling from the UK will also be asked to report their condition to the authorities for 14 days.

Spain

Spain has declared a State of Emergency, which introduces a series of measures including significant restrictions on movement throughout the country in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Anybody planning to travel to Spain should consult their airline or tour operator.

Spain has declared a State of Emergency, which introduces a series of measures including significant restrictions on movement

India

Although the FCO has not advised against travel, the department said the government of India previously announced it will suspend all existing visas due to the virus outbreak.

France

France has taken several steps to delay the spread of Covid-19 including the closure of restaurants, schools, universities, cafes, theatres and nonessential shops, the FCO said. Gatherings of more than 100 people have been banned and tourist attractions have been shuttered.

The FCO has not currently advised British nationals not to travel to France.

New Zealand

Arrivals from countries other than China and Iran will have to self isolate for 14 days on arrival, the department said. Foreign nationals arriving from China or Iran will not be allowed to enter the country as part of strict new controls.

Bahrain

The department said all arrivals from the UK will be required to self-isolate for 14 days including those without symptoms, but has not warned against travel.

Singapore

British nationals will not be granted permission to enter Singapore if they have travelled to mainland China, Iran, northern Italy or South Korea within the last 14 days, the FCO said.

Malaysia

The FCO advises against all but essential travel to all islands off the coast of eastern Sabah from Kudat to Tawau, including (but not limited to) Lankayan, Mabul, Pom Pom, Kapalai, Litigan, Sipadan and Mataking.

Portugal

The FCO advises against all but essential travel to the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that the Central government has no intention to bring a demographic change in Jammu and Kashmir, which has also been assured by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech in the Lok Sabha.

"Home Minister Shah after engaging with the delegation on about 40 odd issues raised by them emphasised that there is no intention of the government for demographic change in the region and all such talks have no basis at all. He said that the government will work with all sections of the society to realize the hopes of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir at an early opportunity," an official statement said.

Home Minister Shah was chairing a meeting with a 24-member delegation from Jammu and Kashmir's Apni Party, led by its president Altaf Bukhari at the Ministry of Home Affairs here.

During the meeting, Shah assured the delegation that the NDA government under Prime Minister Modi will take all steps for the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir and expressed confidence that visible changes will be seen on the ground in next three to four months.

He said the Prime Minister, in his address to the nation after the abrogation of Article 370, said this and even he, himself in his speech in the Lok Sabha on August 6, 2019, expressed the same.

The Home Minister said this is also good for India's interest, as the region is a border area.

Shah said all decisions on relaxations being taken by the Prime Minister and implemented by Home Ministry are based on the ground realities and not due to any pressure and referred to steps like the release of people from preventive detention, restoration of internet, relaxation in curfew.

Jammu and Kashmir will have a better domicile policy than other states in the country, he said and added that a reasonable Economic Development Policy will be drafted soon after wide consultation. He also said that an attractive Industrial Policy will be announced for the rapid economic development of the Union Territory soon.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Regular readers will know that we love our dividends at Simply Wall St, which is why it's exciting to see Dunelm Group plc (LON:DNLM) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 3 days. This means that investors who purchase shares on or after the 19th of March will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 14th of April.

Dunelm Group's upcoming dividend is UK0.08 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of UK0.28 per share to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Dunelm Group stock has a trailing yield of around 3.0% on the current share price of 9.3. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Dunelm Group's dividend is reliable and sustainable. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.

See our latest analysis for Dunelm Group

Dividends are typically paid out of company income, so if a company pays out more than it earned, its dividend is usually at a higher risk of being cut. Dunelm Group is paying out an acceptable 51% of its profit, a common payout level among most companies. That said, even highly profitable companies sometimes might not generate enough cash to pay the dividend, which is why we should always check if the dividend is covered by cash flow. Fortunately, it paid out only 38% of its free cash flow in the past year.

It's encouraging to see that the dividend is covered by both profit and cash flow. This generally suggests the dividend is sustainable, as long as earnings don't drop precipitously.

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

LSE:DNLM Historical Dividend Yield, March 15th 2020

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. With that in mind, we're encouraged by the steady growth at Dunelm Group, with earnings per share up 5.0% on average over the last five years. Earnings per share growth has been slim, and the company is already paying out a majority of its earnings. While there is some room to both increase the payout ratio and reinvest in the business, generally the higher a payout ratio goes, the lower a company's prospects for future growth.

Story continues

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. In the last ten years, Dunelm Group has lifted its dividend by approximately 17% a year on average. It's encouraging to see the company lifting dividends while earnings are growing, suggesting at least some corporate interest in rewarding shareholders.

To Sum It Up

Should investors buy Dunelm Group for the upcoming dividend? Earnings per share growth has been modest and Dunelm Group paid out over half of its profits and less than half of its free cash flow, although both payout ratios are within normal limits. It might be worth researching if the company is reinvesting in growth projects that could grow earnings and dividends in the future, but for now we're not all that optimistic on its dividend prospects.

So while Dunelm Group looks good from a dividend perspective, it's always worthwhile being up to date with the risks involved in this stock. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Dunelm Group you should know about.

We wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see, though. Here's a list of interesting dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Ryan Greenwood, director of movement politics for Peoples Action

Mr. Greenwoods group, a grass-roots organization that endorsed Mr. Sanders in December, emphasized how the current crisis revealed the serious vulnerabilities of the working class, a subject that Mr. Sanders has made central in the 2020 campaign.

The coronavirus pandemic means that almost everyone in the country is now feeling the crisis and instability faced by the multiracial working class on a daily basis. The question is, as Sanders has said, Joe, what are you gonna do? The choice is pretty simple: On one hand we have a platform where nothing fundamentally changes, in which we leave millions of people out of the solutions when crisis hits. On the other hand, we have a platform in which no one gets left behind, everyones well-being is protected, and everyone can pursue their full potential. We look forward to Sanders highlighting that contrast.

Evan Weber, political director of the Sunrise Movement

The Sunrise Movement, a group of young activists that has been instrumental in pushing the Green New Deal, endorsed Mr. Sanders in January. Mr. Weber emphasized that the Vermont senator still enjoyed a huge advantage among young voters, and that Mr. Biden must recognize that he needs to win over young people to win.

With questions of electability clearly shaping voters decisions in this election, Senator Sanders needs to use this debate as an opportunity to show Democratic voters why hes the best candidate to take on Trump. Luckily, the senator has a clear case to make: No Democrat can win in November without the support and enthusiasm of young people, and millennials and Generation Z are swinging in wide margins for Bernie because he is championing a platform that meets the scale of our generations challenges.

Ana Maria Archila, co-executive director at the Center for Popular Democracy Action

Ms. Archilas group, which supports Mr. Sanders, represents a number of smaller organizations that work with community groups on issues including immigration, health care and housing.

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed how fragile we all are when millions of people are uninsured, and when workers cannot afford to take a day off from work because they risk falling back on their bills. On Sunday, we hope to hear Senator Sanders not only make the case for these policies in the context of the current crisis, but also force Biden to commit clearly to the agenda that has mobilized young people. Throughout his campaign, Bernie has asked people to fight for someone they dont know. We hope he will use this debate to remind people that we must take care of one another, and use our democracy to build a society where we all can thrive.

Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party

The Working Families Party initially endorsed Senator Elizabeth Warren in the fall, but moved to support Mr. Sanders after Ms. Warren left the race.
Bury said officials favor raising revenue through consumption or use taxes because it minimizes the impact on seniors and those on fixed incomes. While seniors and those on fixed incomes still buy fuel, they "perhaps are not doing it as much as a commercial truck driving through town, she said.
BEIJING, March 14 (Xinhua) -- China has been helping individuals stranded by the coronavirus outbreak and other disadvantaged groups get through difficulties with measures including funding their board and lodging and granting them temporary allowances, a senior official said Saturday.

"By the end of Friday, Wuhan had set up 69 temporary shelters and accommodated 4,843 nonresident individuals stranded in the epicenter of the outbreak," Liu Xitang, an official with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, told a press conference in Beijing.

A total of 5,839 stranded people in the city had received temporary basic allowances for subsistence, the total amount of which reached 16.10 million yuan (around 2.30 million U.S. dollars), he added.

The country also offered temporary subsidies to disadvantaged groups, Liu said, noting preliminary statistics showed that 1.69 billion yuan were delivered during the first two months in 2020 and some 31 million individuals benefited from the policy.

Just in January, a total of 190 million yuan were granted to residents in virus-hit Hubei Province, helping about 1.89 million people facing difficulties in their lives, he said.

Eligible households suffering substantial income shrink due to the epidemic that keeps them from returning to their jobs will draw support from the social security system for low-income families, Liu said.

Based on the prevailing low-income line, urban households with their monthly income below 624 yuan and rural families with the annually income below 5,336 yuan are eligible for stipends provided by the social security system, according to Liu.
Mr. Sanders overlapped with Mr. Biden in the Senate for just two years, from January 2007, after his election, until Mr. Bidens ascent to the vice presidency in 2009. Mr. Biden was not around all that much. Then a senator from Delaware and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, he spent much of 2007 prepping for his unsuccessful presidential campaign, the latter part of 2008 running with Mr. Obama and the rest of the time focusing on committee work.

They basically had zero interaction, but I cant recall Bernie ever saying a bad word about Biden, or vice versa, said David Krone, chief of staff to Harry Reid, the former Democratic Senate majority leader from Nevada, who was close to Mr. Sanders.

The two men have sparred, but not savaged each other, in previous debates. Mr. Biden recently told a person in his orbit that he thinks Mr. Sanders, while lacking an understanding of foreign policy, is basically a good guy. One longtime Biden staff member summed up the former vice presidents view in Baby Boomer cultural terms: In the mid-1960s, when both men were in college, Mr. Biden was a square, striving, law-school-bound ex-jock who would have seen Mr. Sanders as a noisy, strident, scraggly but basically benign campus archetype  the hippie.

Mr. Sanders, an independent from Vermont who caucuses with the Democrats, has privately praised Mr. Biden as one of the few establishment senators to make him feel at home during his first few months in the Senate. (Mr. Obama, by contrast, later suggested in a memoir that Mr. Biden behaved a little arrogantly when he first arrived in 2005.)

But Mr. Sanders has not been shy about highlighting their policy differences over the years, especially his opposition to the Biden-backed bailout of financial firms during the 2008 financial crisis and Mr. Bidens initial support for the war in Iraq.

In brief remarks after his Super Tuesday defeats, Mr. Sanders slammed Mr. Biden on Iraq and on his support for disastrous trade agreements that he said had cost millions of jobs. You cannot beat Trump with the same old, same old kind of politics, he added. In subsequent days, he attacked Mr. Bidens record on abortion, same-sex marriage and the former dont ask, dont tell policy.

Mr. Sanderss aggressive approach has, at times, angered Mr. Biden, who felt that Mr. Sanders had not acted quickly enough to muzzle supporters who posted racist and sexist attacks on two female officials of a Nevada union for opposing Mr. Sanderss signature Medicare for All plan in February. Disown them, flat disown them, Mr. Biden told an interviewer at the time. Its outrageous.
COVID-19 has changed every single aspect of our daily lives. From avoiding social gatherings to working from home, the world is now doing things no one is really used to. Sure, all of us have taken a day or two to work from home when we had some errands to run, but we have never experienced being confined to our homes as a necessity, before this.

AFP

Schools are being shut until further notice and offices have asked their employees to work from home in order to contain the infection and not have it spread any further. However, not all of us are used to sitting at home and getting office work done. Plenty of people are sharing their experiences about the same. Some have tips to share, while some have jokes to crack.

When a SBI employee gets work from home and he hasnt said Abhi lunch break hai baad main aana to someone for the whole day#Coronaindia pic.twitter.com/bsOWoLOGlW  Avial Rai Lalwani (@AvialR) March 15, 2020





Well, if there is one common sentiment out there, it is the fact that people are loving not having to meet their colleagues every day. (I am not implying anything!). It is a big change - from being surrounded by people all the time in the office, to working from home absolutely alone.



I used to think it sucks to #workfromhome because I love the funny interactions with my work mates every day (if you follow me on IG, you'd know our jokes and stuff I occasionally share on IG stories), but after doing it for a week, it's not bad after all.  Ika Natassa (@ikanatassa) March 14, 2020

Jokes aside, there are also kind people out there who are sharing tips on how to make a suitable work station so that none of us suffer from other problems while trying to stay away from one. It is a known fact that back problems are one of the biggest problems office-goers face, and imagine working from home where you don't even have a proper set-up. Half of us lazy asses are most probably just hanging from our beds and couches in order to get work done.

OMG you guys! you all may be safe from the coronavirus but I foresee lots of back problems in the near future  Groselha com Limao (@groselha_limao) March 13, 2020

My #workfromhome setup. CO2 sensor makes sure air quality is fine, phone for on-call alerts, mic and cam for headset-free video calls, iPad+Pencil for collaborative whiteboarding, and a single 4K screen to reduce stress on the eyes and keep me focused. #SwitchToRemote pic.twitter.com/YgldHSeXac  Simon Harrer (@simonharrer) March 12, 2020

Ive got everything I need and Im all set! Time to work!  #WorkFromHome pic.twitter.com/yeI2O6B834  Nathalie 'Nat0' Ek (@Nat0_o) March 12, 2020





I was born ready! pic.twitter.com/qkcdQgKsbm  Philip Amour (@philipamour) March 14, 2020

This has also brought the opportunity for people to get creative with their home work stations, because let's admit it, most of us don't even have a desk at home! So, the other half who does not want to have chronic backache forever, is trying to come up with jugaadu ideas so that they have makeshift desks till they return to their actual place of work.

Dinnertable with some puzzles. Ergonomic enough? pic.twitter.com/UoOwjyYaNa  Kika  (@kikasuzie) March 14, 2020

Standing desk flex pic.twitter.com/YqtGbnlVAc  Brad Cahoon (@iambradcahoon) March 13, 2020

just moved into a studio, still havent bought a kitchen table so what we have here is a mobile sit or stand desk... pic.twitter.com/6jdP92ogE2  Mia (@miamiamarie) March 13, 2020

Of course, there is no end to the jokes around the same and people are taking to Twitter to give people a good laugh, while being stuck in this pandemic.

Paul the Bus Driver has agreed to work from home.... pic.twitter.com/ykMlr7bLsj  Roge S (@one_eye_looking) March 15, 2020

they say work from home... this is me working from home pic.twitter.com/TDyqdC3p0l  god's forgotten neopet (@sufferingarthoe) March 15, 2020

Companies giving their employees work from home.



Meanwhile SBI employee: pic.twitter.com/03rAOMzaBH  Global Climate (@climateglobe) March 15, 2020

I know this is how y'all look when you're "working from home" with your chat sounds on high to wake ur ass up from a nap. #workingfromhome #WorkFromHome #canecorso pic.twitter.com/KbU3MbxR8Z  Plantisaurus  (@plantisaurus) March 15, 2020

When you work from home and decide to take a quick nap #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/NPH49FNSx5   (@PulcinoNotturno) March 15, 2020

Are you also working from home? Share your experience with us in the comments!
By Trend

Military units of the armed forces of Armenia violated ceasefire 30 times throughout the day in various direction of the front, using large-caliber machine guns, Trend reports referring to Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

Armenian armed forces, located in Shavarshavan, Voskevan villages of Noyemberyan region, in Berkaber village and on nameless hills in Ijevan region, and on nameless hills in Krasnoselsk region subjected to fire the positions of the Azerbaijan Army located in Ferehli, Gushchu Ayrim, Gizilhajili villages and on nameless hills in Gazakh region, in Zamanly village and on nameless hills in Gadabay region.

The positions of Azerbaijan Army were also fired from the positions of Armenian military units located near the occupied Marzili village of Aghdam region, Horadiz village of Fuzuli region, as well as from the positions located on nameless hills in Terter and Aghdam regions.
Three men were arrested from southeast Delhi's Govindpuri area for allegedly stealing car tyres, police said on Sunday.

The accused were identified as Kuldeep Singh (21), Hardeep Singh (19) and Suraj (19), all residents of Govindpuri, they said.

"The three men were arrested on Saturday from Govindpuri when they were going to sell some stolen tyres," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) R P Meena.

Four stolen tyres and some mechanical tools were recovered from them, he said.

Interrogation revealed that the accused used to steal car tyres at night in Govindpuri and Kalkaji areas and sell them at lower prices, Meena said.

They would carry punctured tyres with them and steal tyres on the pretext of changing them. Later, they would sell them to unknown persons. They also sold the tyres on e-commerce sites, he said.

In the last two months, the gang stole more than 25 tyres in Kalkaji area, the officer said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 10:15:16|Editor: zyl

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ANTANANARIVO, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Seychelles confirmed first two cases of COVID-19 in the country on Saturday evening, local media reported.

The two patients, a couple who had visited Italy and arrived in Seychelles on Wednesday, tested positive for COVID-19 after being placed in quarantine, the country's public health commissioner, Jude Gedeon, said in an interview with local television station SBC.

They have been transferred from the quarantine facility to an isolation unit at Anse Royale Hospital, he added.

"They are not showing serious symptoms so we decided to put them in the isolation unit at Anse Royale for them to receive treatment and for us to monitor them closely," said Gedeon. "At this moment neither of them has a fever."

The government has taken several measures to prevent COVID-19, including postponing all conferences and official meetings planned with the government in March, April and May, and denying entry to all travelers from countries most affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.
An injured man fled to a McDonald's restaurant in Melbournes west to seek help after being shot in the upper body overnight.

Police said the man, aged in his 20s, was shot on nearby Oakdene Grove at Altona Meadows, about 12.30am on Monday.

Soon after he arrived at the Laverton McDonalds about 500 metres away.

He was taken to hospital in a stable condition.
El Salvador's congress has declared a state of emergency and approved a partial suspension of the country's constitution to tackle the coronavirus epidemic.

The measures include a restriction on free movement and assembly for a period of 30 days, allowing health officials to ban public gatherings.

"We have given the government legal mechanisms to deal with this serious health situation," congressional president Mario Ponce said after Saturday's vote.

El Salvador has yet to record a confirmed case of the COVID-19 outbreak.

On Wednesday the country banned entry to all foreigners for three weeks and imposed mandatory 30-day quarantines for citizens returning from abroad.

President Nayib Bukele also suspended school and university classes nationwide.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Coronavirus Outbreak Updates: As many as 5,845 people have died across the world due to the deadly coronavirus so far. The total number of infections in mainland China stands at 80,813, including 3,000 deaths. In India, the Ministry of Family and Health Welfare has said the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across India has surged to 107, including 17 foreign nationals, as on March 15 (12 PM). The deadly virus has spread across 12 states of the country. Of these, 9 patients have recovered while the deadly virus claimed lives of two elderly patients -- a 76-year-old Karnataka man and 68-year-old women from Delhi. As per the Maharashtra Health Department, a 59-year-old woman has tested positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra on Saturday. She had a travel history to Russia and Kazakhstan. With this, the total number of positive cases in the state rises to 32.

Check all the timely updates on novel coronavirus outbreak on BusinessToday.In blog

5.00 PM: 450 Indians evacuated from virus-hit Iran, Italy

Over 450 Indians, including students, stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran and Italy were brought back by two flights on Sunday and were quarantined at separate facilities, reports PTI.

A total of 218 Indians, mostly students, landed at around 9.45 AM at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi and were taken to an Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) quarantine facility in south-west Delhi's Chhawla area.

Over 230 Indians brought back from Iran reached the national capital at about 3:15 AM and were quarantined at the Indian Army Wellness Centre in Jaisalmer.

4.45 PM: Iran reports 113 new deaths, total rises to 724

Iran's death toll from the coronavirus disease has crossed 724, with 113 new deaths in last 24 hours, tweeted Alireza Vahabzadeh, an adviser to Iran's health minister.

Vahabzadeh, in a tweet, said, "In the past 24 hours, 1,209 new cases have been confirmed ... with 113 deaths in the past 24 hours, the death toll has reached 724".

4.30 PM: Passenger train services between India-Bangladesh suspended

India-Bangladesh passenger train services have been suspended from today as a precaution against the COVID-19 disease, said an Eastern Railway official on a Union government directive.

The official said services of Bandhan Express and Maitree trains will remain suspended from March 15 until further orders.

4.15 PM: PM Modi speaks to CM Thackeray on COVID-19 mitigation efforts

PM Modi, in a telephonic conversation, spoke to Uddhav Thackeray, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, to discuss the state's preparedness to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak. The conversation was centred around the efforts made by the state and the Centre to tackle the outbreak situation.

4.00 PM: The inmates of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Central Jail at Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, will supply 2,000 masks they have manufactured to the state health department over the novel coronavirus outbreak, says PTI.

3.45 PM: Queen Elizabeth II shifted out of Buckingham Palace in London to Windsor Castle

The 93-year-old Queen Elizabeth II and her 98-year-old husband, Prince Philip has been shifted out of Buckingham Palace in London to Windsor Castle. They both are likely to be placed in quarantine at the royal Sandringham Estate in Norfolk in the coming weeks.

The coronavirus outbreak in the UK has affected over 1,140 people with death toll hitting 21, nearly doubling from 11 within a day.

3.17 PM: Coronavirus cases in Rajasthan

Gajendra Luniwal, Jaipur Hotel Association President (Rajasthan): 100% bookings have been cancelled. Domestic tourists are also not visiting now, it has reached to zero. Hotel industry and its allied services are facing losses. The state has reported four cases of coronavirus, including four foreign nationals.

3.15 PM: Coronavirus cases in Karnataka

Karnataka has tested highest number of coronavirus samples so far at 731, claims the state government. The number of infected people stands at 6 in the state.

3.09 PM: PM Narendra Modi had telephonic conversation with Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, reports ANI. They discussed the situation of coronavirus in the state and the measures regarding it.

3.01 PM: Pakistan's coronavirus tally rises to 34

A new confirmed case of the novel coronavirus surfaced early Sunday in Islamabad, bringing Pakistan's total number of cases to 34, according to a media report. The new victim is the husband of a woman who recently travelled to Pakistan from the United States and tested positive on Saturday, the Express Tribune newspaper reported. The lady is currently in critical condition, receiving treatment at the isolation ward in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), the paper said, adding that there are now four COVID-19 patients at the isolation ward in PIMS.

3.00 PM: Pak PM's aide to participate in SAARC video conference

Pakistan Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Health Dr Zafar Mirza will participate in a video conference of SAARC member countries on Sunday proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to formulate a joint strategy to combat the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic. - PTI

2.59 PM: Railways start disinfecting Mumbai train coaches

As the battle against coronavirus intensifies, the railway authorities in Mumbai have started disinfecting local trains, which carry around 80 lakh suburban commuters everyday, as well as long distance trains. According to the Central Railway (CR), all the coach fittings, including grab handles, door handles, door latches, entry doors, window grills, electric switches and other parts inside local trains as well as outstation trains are being cleaned using disinfectants. - PTI

2.50 PM: MP jail inmates to give 2,000 masks to health dept

Inmates of a jail in Madhya Pradesh will supply 2,000 masks they have manufactured to the state health department in view of the novel coronavirus outbreak, a senior official said on Sunday. The inmates of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Central Jail in Jabalpur started making the masks after a request from the state health department, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Jails)(Jabalpur range) Gopal Tamrakar told PTI. "A team of 50 inmates are engaged in making 2,000 masks. These will be supplied by March 16. The cost per piece is Rs 7. The cotton cloth used for preparing the masks has been made in the powerlooms installed in the jail itself," he said.

2.40 PM: Indian tests positive in UAE

An Indian national, who returned to the UAE after a holiday abroad, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. -PTI

2.33 PM: Coronavirus cases in Madhya Pradesh

The state has not reported any COVID-19 case so far. As a precautionary measure, the Madhya Pradesh government has closed schools, colleges, libraries, cinema halls, marriage halls, etc, until further notice. As many as 50 isolation centres have also been set up in the state.

Madhya Pradesh Minister PC Sharma: Schools, colleges, libraries, cinema halls, marriage halls etc will be shut till further orders.50 isolation centres have been set up in the state. We are working on war footing to tackle this. #CoronaViruspic.twitter.com/MrDcA2Vv87 a ANI (@ANI) March 15, 2020

2.13 PM: Coronavirus cases in Kerala

As of Sunday, 22 cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Kerala, the most in any state after Maharashtra. Among them is a 3-year-old boy who was confirmed positive on March 9. According to the Health Ministry of Kerala, there are 7,677 people under observation for symptoms of coronavirus currently.

2.06 PM: Avoid visit for few days: Shirdi CEO

Arun Dongre, Chief Executive Officer of Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, Shirdi, urges devotees to postpone visit to shrine for the next couple of days.

Maharashtra Health Department: A 59-year-old woman has tested positive for #Coronavirus, she had a travel history to Russia and Kazakhstan. The number of positive cases in the state now rises to 32. a ANI (@ANI) March 15, 2020

1.45 PM: Maharashtra reports another case; number touches 32

As per the Maharashtra Health Department, a 59-year-old woman has tested positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra. She had a travel history to Russia and Kazakhstan. With this, the total number of positive cases in the state rises to 32. -- ANI

1.39 PM: How many cases of coronavirus have been reported in India?

India has so far reported 107 cases of COVID-19 virus across 12 states. Kerala and Maharashtra top with 22 and 31 cases respectively. Of the total number of cases, 17 are foreign nationals. Two persons -- one in Delhi and the other Karnataka -- have already died due to the virus. As per the government, nine persons have been recovered and hence discharged.

1.38 PM: 20 passengers detained at Kochi Airport

Total 20 passengers, including a UK man tested positive for coronavirus, have been detained at the Kochi Airport, officials said, reported India Today. Others, onboard the Dubai-bound flight, have been allowed to fly.

1.35 PM: Here's a list of all COVID-19 helpline numbers from various states/UTs.

#CoronaVirusUpdate:



Here's a list of all #COVID19 Helpline numbers from various States/UTs. Please keep handy and share with others also.#SwasthaBharat#HelpUsToHelpYoupic.twitter.com/lvuwtETheg a Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) March 15, 2020

1.25 PM: Assam shuts down schools, colleges till March 29

Assam Chief Secretary Sanjay Krishna has said the state government has decided to close all school, colleges, universities, gyms, swimming pools and cinema halls till March 29. "All examinations, except that of state and CBSE boards have been postponed in view of coronavirus," he added.

1.12 PM: No tourist activities till March 31: Mumbai Police

To prevent spread of COVID-19, the Mumbai Police has issued an order prohibiting any tour -- involving group of people travelling together to a foreign/domestic destination -- organised by private tour operators or otherwise, using powers u/s 144 CrPC, till March 31.

12.40 AM: Total number of cases spikes to 107

The Ministry of Family and Health Welfare has said the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across India has surged to 107, including 17 foreign nationals, as on March 15 (12 PM).

Ministry of Family and Health Welfare: Total number of confirmed #COVIDa19 cases across India is 107 (including foreign nationals as on 15th March at 12 PM) #Coronaviruspic.twitter.com/O9OupPUUjJ a ANI (@ANI) March 15, 2020

12.37 PM: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to join the leaders of SAARC nations via a video-conference today at 5 pm to discuss a roadmap to fight COVID-19.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to join the leaders of SAARC nations via a video-conference today at 5 pm to discuss a roadmap to fight #COVID19. (file pics) pic.twitter.com/IOBhwi7PnV a ANI (@ANI) March 15, 2020

12.30 AM: Andaman and Nicobar Islands shut tourism activities

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands administrations have decided to shut down tourism activities from March 17 till March 26. All tourists are advised to refrain from travelling to the islands from midnight till March 26, say a notification.

12.16 PM: UK national tests positive at Kochi airport

Total 19 passengers were offloaded at Kochi airport after a United Kingdom national was tested positive for coronavirus, reported The Times of India. He, along with 19 others, had gone for a holiday vacation in Munnar, Kerala. Speculations are rife that the authorities may shut down the airport in wake of the coronavirus crisis.

12.00 PM: China reports 10 new deaths due to coronavirus

China on Sunday reported 10 more fatalities due to the novel coronavirus, taking the death toll to 3,199, while the imported cases rose to 111 amid sharp decline in the number of domestic cases. China's National Health Commissions (NHC) said 20 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection and 10 deaths were reported from all over the country on Saturday. -- PTI

11.45 AM: FPIs withdraw Rs 37,976 cr from Indian markets amid coronavirus fears

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have withdrawn a whopping Rs 37,976 crore on a net basis from the Indian markets in March so far amid the coronavirus pandemic triggering fears of a global recession. Overseas investors pulled out a net sum of Rs 24,776.36 crore from equities and Rs 13,199.54 crore from the debt segment between Mar 2-13, depositories data showed. - PTI

11.32 AM: Malls closed in Nagpur following the state govt order. Maharashtra has reported 14 cases (oficial figures) of coronavirus so far.

Maharashtra: Malls closed in Nagpur following the state govt order. #Coronaviruspic.twitter.com/hDhk0zfphC a ANI (@ANI) March 15, 2020

11.24 AM: Aviation sector hit by coronavirus

Madhav Oza, Director, Blue Star Air Travel Services in Mumbai, says In February, the company saw about 35 per cent fall in international bookings compared to the same period last year.

Madhav Oza, Director, Blue Star Air Travel Services in Mumbai: We began seeing negative impact of #coronavirus in last week of January when customers started cancelling flight bookings for China. In February, we saw about 35% fall in international bookings compared to Feb 2019. pic.twitter.com/3vY9t67wTu a ANI (@ANI) March 15, 2020

11.20 AM: Exams postponed in Karnataka

As a precautionary measure in wake of coronavirus outbreak, State Education Minister S Suresh Kumar has instructed to postpone the examinations of Classes 7, 8 and 9 till March 31.

11.19 AM: Visuals of students who have been evacuated from Italy

The 218 Indians who landed from Milan, Italy at Delhi airport will be shifted to Indo-Tibetan Border Police's Chhawla camp. #coronaviruspic.twitter.com/ER6ylfLUCE a ANI (@ANI) March 15, 2020

11.18 AM: Local body polls postponed in AP

Andhra Pradesh Election Commissioner N Ramesh Kumar says it has decided to postpone the local body polls for six weeks in the wake of coronavirus spread. New dates will be announced once the spread of the virus is contained. - ANI

11.13 AM: Delhi Police sets up 2 more quarantine facilities

The Delhi Police has extended quarantine facilities at two training centres at Jharoda Kalan and Wazirabad.

Delhi Police has extended Quarantine Facilities at two of its training centres, located at Jharoda Kalan and Wazirabad.#CoronaVirusUpdate@HMOIndia@LtGovDelhi@CPDelhi a Delhi Police (@DelhiPolice) March 15, 2020

11.05 AM: Mask crunch in Noida, Ghaziabad

Anup Khanna, President of Noida Medical Association, tells ANI that there has been a sudden rise in the demand for masks and hand sanitizers. Many operators say the demand for branded masks and sanitisers has increased manifold in wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

11.00 AM: Information for Indian tourists in Italy

Indian tourists stranded at the Rome airport can contact the Indian Embassy at +39-3316142085 or +39-3248390031 for urgently medical assistance.

FOR INDIAN TOURISTS STRANDED AT ROME AIRPORT !!

Pl contact Indian Embassy at +39-3316142085 or +39-3248390031 urgently for medical test tomorrow for COVID NEGATIVE CERTIFICATE.



Pl.note the test results will take minimum 1 week to be received. a India in Italy (@IndiainItaly) March 14, 2020

10.45 AM: 236 Indians evacuated from Iran

As many as 236 Indian citizens (100 males and 136 females), who were evacuated from Iran have reached Indian Army Quarantine facility established at Jaisalmer on Saturday. They will remain under quarantine for 14 days under professional medical supervision.

10.30 AM: 218 students from Milan land in India

COVID-19 or coronavirus has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation and a large number of Indian stranded in the affected countries are being evacuated by the govemment. As many as 218 Indians, including 211 students from Milan, landed in Delhi today. All of them will be quarantined for 14 days.

218 Indians including 211 students from Milan landed in Delhi. All will be quarantined for 14 days. GoI is committed to reach out to Indians in distress, wherever they are!



Appreciate Govt. of Italy for their support and team @IndiainItaly@cgmilan1@airindiain .@DrSJaishankar a V. Muraleedharan (@MOS_MEA) March 15, 2020

10.15 AM: Passenger movements through borders banned

The government has banned passenger movements through all immigration land check posts located at India's borders with Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar suspended until further notice. India has also suspended travel to holy shrine Gurdwara Karatarpur Sahib.

All types of passenger movements through all immigration Land Check Posts located at India's borders with Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar suspended w.e.f. 0000hrs, Mar15, 2020 & at India-Pakistan border w.e.f. 0000hrs, Mar16, 2020, except at the posts below.#COVID19indiapic.twitter.com/YXqNzPKqmW a Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) March 15, 2020

10.00 AM: Kerala finds solution to mask problem

In light of the shortage of masks, the Kerala government has engaged prisons in the state to manufacture masks. The prison officials of Thiruvananthapuram Jail have already handed over the first batch to the state government.
MEDICAL LAKE, Wash.  A staff member of Medical Lake School District has tested positive for COVID-19, the school district said Saturday.

Before showing symptoms, the staff member spent time at Hallett Elementary and Medical Lake High School as a Robotics team advisor, the districts superintendent said in a release.

Medical Lake, Cheney and the rest of the K-12 school districts will be shutting down this week as ordered by Gov. Jay Inslee. Most will shut down at midnight, March 17.

Inslee issued the order on Friday, along with limiting gatherings to no larger than 250 people, on Friday, March 13 in an effort to curb the spread of the virus. Sixteen Washington counties have now reported COVID-19 cases, representing over 75 percent of the population.

In the release, the Medical Lake Superintendent Tim Ames said district leadership is working with Spokane Regional Health to follow proper protocols during this time.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon and Mayor Ben Walsh announced the countys 23 school districts would close at the end of next week. Heres what we know so far:

Heres the current list of schools closing

When will schools close?

For now, most schools will close at 4 p.m. Friday, March 20. That assumes Onondaga County doesnt have a confirmed case of coronavirus before then. If there is a confirmed case, then the schools will close Wednesday, March 18, McMahon said.

Soon after the announcement, three schools said they would close immediately: Fayetteville-Manlius, Jordan-Elbridge and Skaneateles. Cayuga County said it would close schools starting Monday; no word from Oswego County yet. Oneida County had previously closed schools starting Monday, as did two Madison County schools.

Why wait?

Both McMahon and Walsh said because no confirmed case of the virus is known in this county, they want to use the time to help schools and families prepare for the change. Schools have two challenges: How to feed students and how to teach them. Parents must figure out a daycare plan for younger children, preferably one that doesnt involve grandparents, who experts believe could be more severely affected by the virus.

What about sports, field trips and other activities?

Those are all canceled, starting immediately, for all schools.

How will kids that get free or reduced lunches get breakfast and lunch?

Those details are being worked on and are a priority for government and school officials. So for now, we dont know. Other communities across the state and country are also working on this. Some are providing grab-and-go meals from schools and other community spots. Some are setting up a delivery system.

What about learning? Are classes going online?

Again, district superintendents and teachers are working on that. In some cases, yes teaching will be online. Some schools have computer equipment that can be checked out and taken home. But its unclear if thatll be true for all students. Some students dont have internet access at home.

What if I just want to keep my kid home starting Monday?

A school official said any student who stays home next week would be considered a legal absence.

How long will this last?

For now, McMahon said, there will be no classes for three weeks -- from Monday, March 23 to Friday, April 10. (Spring break for many schools is in that time frame.) At that point, the county will reassess what comes next.

Could this plan change?

Yes. It all depends on the spread of the coronavirus.

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The decision to postpone to 2022 the launch of the ExoMars 2020 mission was not made because of technical issues with the Proton-M carrier rocket, the Russian State Space Agency Roscosmos told Sputnik on Saturday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th March, 2020) The decision to postpone to 2022 the launch of the ExoMars 2020 mission was not made because of technical issues with the Proton-M carrier rocket, the Russian State Space Agency Roscosmos told Sputnik on Saturday.

Media reports have recently alleged that the decision to postpone the ExoMars 2020 mission launch was associated with poor-quality components of the Proton-M.

"The poor-quality components identified on the Proton-M carrier rocket, designed to launch the Express spacecraft, did not influence the decision to postpone the ExoMars mission. The ESA [European Space Agency] and Roscosmos did not take this into account because it had nothing to do with the decision to postpone the mission," Roscosmos said.

According to Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin, the decision was motivated by the need to maximize the robustness of all ExoMars systems and the coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
Experts are calling for an aggressive ramping up of testing in India to stave off the deadly infection that has claimed at least 5,500 lives across the world, pointing out that the current capacity to screen people may prove to be inadequate in case of a sudden surge in infections.

India has made arrangements to nearly double its capacity to test for the novel coronavirus and started random screening of samples, but in a country this large, the dangerous community transmission phase of the disease, when it spreads to people who have neither been to a global hot spot nor been in direct contact with someone testing positive, could have deadly ramifications.

India reported two deaths in the past week, and 84 confirmed infections, far lower than disease hot spots in China, Italy, Iran and South Korea. Medical authorities have, until Saturday, tested 6,700 samples.

Indias top medical body, the Indian Council for Medical Research, said it is ready for a sudden surge in cases, by adding to its network of laboratories capable of testing for COVID-19, and by procuring more testing reagents. We have added the number of labs to about 65 and at this point we can perform 100,000 tests, effectively about 10,000 tests in a day. We have made further arrangements to procure reagents to be able to do about 200,000 more tests, if required, said Dr Balram Bhargava, director general of the ICMR.

However, at the moment, only those with a history of travel to 12 countries designated as high-risk, or those who have come in contact with anyone testing positive for the coronavirus, or showing symptoms of the disease, are being tested.

Dr Lalit Kant, an expert in infectious diseases, said: The South Korea model [of aggressive testing] is good, as it worked well. It can be tried in India also as because of the high population we may soon be expecting large numbers to test.

In South Korea, which is experiencing the largest outbreak of the epidemic outside mainland China where the virus originated late last year, authorities have enforced a unique and aggressive testing regimen.

The country of 51 million people has devised rapid tests and told medical authorities to not deny screening to anyone, even if they are not citizens or residents. The administration worked with biotech firms to develop rapid tests and sanctioned local governments to test people at drive-through stations  where people pull up in cars and get tested for the virus.

Experts link these strategies with a fall in the number of new infections, and have now called for similar methods to be employed in the US, where authorities have drawn flak for slow rates of testing. Other countries such as Vietnam and Singapore have also followed the model of South Korea, which has tested the highest number of people per capita in the world.

Some countries have been very aggressive and have actually done quite a good job. Other countries have been quite lackadaisical and, I think, have suffered immensely from it..., Ashish Jha, who runs the Harvard Global Health Institute, told NPR on Friday.

India has been able to manage the infection until now, but some experts worry that in the next few weeks, the country will be at risk of a dramatic rise in numbers. We need to look at all alternatives, even rapid tests to be able to manage the numbers in future, said Kant.

A second expert said on condition of anonymity that it was unclear if India was testing enough people.

But look at the countrys population, and the numbers that have tested positive, it appears to be we arent testing enough. One of the reasons could be not all contacts are being traced adequately and that could lead in sudden jump in numbers, the expert said.

ICMR said it was ready for the challenge. We are adequately prepared; however, we have not yet reached a stage where we get more samples than we can test. As opposed to the capacity of performing 90 tests per day in all our laboratories, we are getting about 60-70 samples daily in all the labs put together, Bhargava told HT. ICMR has also begun lifting random samples of influenza-like illnesses from its network of viral research and diagnostic laboratories across India, to see if there is transmission in community. The first batch of random samples (about 20 from each of its 13 labs) was tested between February 15 and 29. All the tests were negative for coronavirus. Another batch of sample lifting is to start on March 15.

A number of states have also enforced a partial shutdown of public places. Almost all visas have been suspended for a month, and the government has invoked the Epidemic Disease Act 1897, and Disaster Management Act, 2005. Invoking these acts does not mean there is COVID-19 epidemic... It means the government is working proactively... said Lav Aggarwal, joint secretary of the health ministry.

According to World Health Organization (WHO), countries should test suspect cases, contacts of confirmed cases; test patients identified through respiratory disease surveillance, if there is local cluster transmission. A section of experts, however, disagree on the need for aggressive testing. 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..., said Dr Lalit Dar, professor of microbiology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

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Brittany Snow and her real estate agent fiance Tyler Stanaland are officially husband and wife, after tying the knot in a romantic Malibu ceremony on Saturday.

The 33-year-old Pitch Perfect star was walked down the aisle by her beloved pet pooch Billie at the Southern California wedding, which was attended by 120 of their closest friends and relatives, according to The Knot.

While the actress has yet to publicly share information on her nuptials, a number of 29-year-old Tyler's friends who served as groomsmen took to Instagram to upload footage of themselves preparing for the outdoor ceremony.

Scroll down for video

They do! Brittany Snow and real estate agent Tyler Stanaland are officially husband and wife, after tying the knot in a romantic Malibu ceremony on Saturday (pictured in September)

Tyler was shown donning a classic black tuxedo as the finishing touches were applied to his ensemble while standing on a balcony with sweeping canyon views.

The wedding comes three weeks after the couple celebrated their approaching nuptials with joint bachelor and bachelorette parties.

They each enjoyed one night apart with their friends before meeting up to spend the day with their pals in Palm Springs, California.

Glorious: A number of the groom's friends took to Instagram to share footage of the setting

Footage: As well as snapshots, video footage of the preparations was also shared on Instagram

Chilling out: Hours before the ceremony took place, Tyler was seen relaxing near the venue

Four-legged friend: The Pitch Perfect star, 33, was walked down the aisle by her beloved pet pooch Billie at the Southern California wedding, which took place in an outdoor setting

'I just want to celebrate with my best friend,' Tyler told to Us Weekly in February.

Brittany's Pitch Perfect co-stars Anna Kendrick, Anna Camp and Chrissie Fit joined the bride-to-be for her festivities with the girls.

They posted snippets of the joyous festivities to their respective Instagram accounts, which included holding court in the Jacuzzi and pool, making fun of local license plates, as well as regular old drinking and food merriment.

Wow: Brittany showed off her diamond ring after Tyler proposed in February 2019

In keeping with the fun and festive tone, signage and hashtags were used that stemmed from Brittany's sir name. Examples included '#Snowonebutyou' and '#TheFinalSnowdown'.

'She's getting married!!! And we love seeing the world through gold colored glasses,' Camp, 37, captioned a photo of herself and Snow posing in the backseat of a car, each wearing yellow-hued sunglasses.

Another snap showed all the ladies  Kendrick, Camp, Fit and Snow included with other guests  gathered around a lovely outdoor meal spread, with many of them wearing glowing lit up garlands on their heads.

Chrissie, who appeared in the sequels Pitch Perfect 2 in 2015 and the third instalment two years later, posted a fab snap of the girl group under a banner reading 'SNOW', with everyone rocking a different and fun pose.

Brittany herself also shared moments from the party to her Instagram Story, in one posing with cat ears next to the word 'Bride', and another showing a 'dedication playlist' entitled 'the final Snowdown'.

We like to party: Three weeks ago, the couple celebrated their nuptials with joint bachelor and bachelorette parties, with Brittany's Pitch Perfect co-star Anna Camp joining the fun

Lighting up her life: Anna Kendrick (third from right), Chrissie Fit (lower left) and many other friends also joined in on the festivities

Florida native Brittany announced her engagement on Instagram in February 2019, sharing a black-and-white image of the lovebirds cuddled up in a restaurant booth as she showed off her dazzling diamond ring.

Captioning the image, she wrote: 'A couple weeks ago, I said "YES" about a million times to the man of my wildest & most beautiful dreams.

'After celebrating with friends and family, we wanted to let a few more friends (you guys) know this happened.

'Im still pinching myself and thanking my lucky stars for the truest feeling Ive ever felt. Thank you @tylerstanaland for the happiest day of my life & for not proposing in this creepy empty restaurant.'

Perfect girls: Chrissie posted a fab snap of the girl group under a banner reading 'SNOW,' with everyone rocking a different and fun pose

Fun times: Joyous festivities included holding court in the Jacuzzi and pool, making fun of local license plates, as well as regular old drinking and food merriment

The pair had long known of each other through mutual friends for several years, but didn't meet until Tyler mustered up the courage to reach out on social media, which subsequently led to them dating from 2018.

Speaking to The Knot, devoted surfer Tyler said: 'I knew of Britt for obvious reasons. But Britt was my unattainable crush forever.

'As a man, I used to watch Pitch Perfect with friends and, "Brittany Snow One day." But never thinking it would ever happen.'

Of the moment he first made contact with the blonde beauty, he recalled: 'I sent a direct message with the most embarrassing pickup line. A dad joke. I'm so surprised were getting married.'

The big question: Tyler got down on one knee to pop the big question in February of last year
A day ahead of a floor trust in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, a senior minister in the beleaguered Kamal Nath government sought coronavirus tests on his party MLAs who have returned from Jaipur as well as those currently ensconced in Haryana and Bengaluru.

MP public relations minister PC Sharma on Sunday said the novel coronavirus outbreak has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation, and several measures, including temporary shut down of schools, colleges and restrictions on gathering of more than 20 people, have been taken.

"The MLAs who have returned from Jaipur and also those who have gone to Haryana and Benguluru should undergo coronavirus tests. It is important as the virus has spread in Jaipur and Haryana," he said.

For latest updates on coronavirus outbreak, click here

He said the Assemblies of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Maharashtra had been adjourned due to the coronavirus outbreak and there was even a demand to adjourn the current session of Parliament.

Meanwhile, a team of doctors reached hotel Courtyard by Marriot in MP Nagar here, where Congress MLAs are put up after coming from Jaipur, for coronavirus screening.

State Minister of Health and Finance Tarun Bhanot had earlier said the legislators would be screened for the virus, following which the team of doctors arrived at the hotel.

Talking to reporters, Congress MLA Kunal Choudhary said Jaipur was a tourist destination and sees footfalls from abroad as well and "so coronavirus screening was necessary".

Congress sources dropped hints that its MLAs currently in Bengaluru, as well as BJP legislators, would be screened for novel coronavirus once they return here.

Meanwhile, responding to a query on whether the state Assembly's budget session would begin on Monday and if the trust vote would take place on the same day as directed by Governor Lalji Tandon, minister Sharma said the speaker would take a call on these matters.

The Kamal Nath-led Congress government in the state is fighting for survival after Jyotiraditya Scindia quit and joined the BJP, and 22 of his supporter MLAs submitted their resignations.
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The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Britain reached 1,140 as of Saturday morning, an increase of more than 300 over the last 24 hours, according to the latest figures released by the British Department of Health and Social Care.

Meanwhile, a total of 21 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 have died in Britain so far, the figures showed.

"I understand this increase in the number of deaths linked to COVID-19 will be a cause for concern for many. The public should know every measure we are taking is seeking to save lives and protect the most vulnerable," said Professor Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England.

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 Britons.

Among other measures, the government on Friday postponed the local and mayoral elections in England slated for May 7 for one year due to the COVID-19 outbreak. It is also considering banning mass gatherings, according to local reports.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has described the threat of coronavirus as "the worst public health crisis in a generation." According to health authorities, the true figure for people infected with the novel coronavirus in Britain might be between 5,000 and 10,000.

Jeremy Hunt, former British health secretary, has called for more aggressive steps, including closing elderly care homes to outside visitors.

Meanwhile, experts criticized governmental 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.

Over 126,000 petitioners have called for the British government to implement a lockdown in Britain to prevent the virus from fast spreading as of Saturday. The number of petitioners on the UK Government and Parliament Petitions webpage is still increasing.

The petition said that country needs to "follow suit the containment procedures of countries that have been greatly affected by COVID-19 such as Italy."

The country should restrict unnecessary travel between towns and cities, it said, adding that travel permitted should only be for work or emergencies.
T he Health Secretary has said the Government could ask the over-70s to self isolate for several months to "shield" themselves from coronavirus as he said the UK was facing the "biggest health emergency in a generation".

Matt Hancock said the UK's action plan on tackling Covid-19 asks older people to self-isolate for up to four months for their own "self-protection".

He said the Government expected to announce the move in the "coming weeks", but reiterated that the advice was not yet being put in place because they do not want to announce the measure "too soon".

It came after he made a "call to arms" as he announced a drive to "build the ventilators and other equipment the NHS will need" to treat patients during the outbreak.

Asked if asking those aged over 70 to self-isolate for up to four months was in the Governments plan, he told Skys Sophy Ridge On Sunday: That is in the action plan, yes.

"And we will be setting it out with more detail when it is the right time to do so because we absolutely appreciate that it is a very big ask of the elderly and the vulnerable, and its for their own self-protection.

London panic buying during the Coronavirus outbreak - In pictures 1 /61 London panic buying during the Coronavirus outbreak - In pictures PA Wire Shoppers descended on supermarkets again AFP via Getty Images Shoppers seen rushing to get toilet rolls as new ones are put on sale in a London Morrisons store Rex Features Shoppers should be sensible when buying food and groceries Lucy Young Shoppers queue outside a branch of Costco, in Croydon PA Lucy Young Lucy Young Lucy Young Lucy Young Lucy Young Reuters Reuters Reuters People queue outside a Sainsbury's store as the coronavirus outbreak continues Reuters Reuters Reuters Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Jeremy Selwyn Queues for hand sanitizer at Boots in Islington Jeremy Selwyn Tesco Brent Cross 9.00 am Jeremy Selwyn Empty shelves of pasta are seen at a supermarket Reuters Brent Cross Shopping centre at 5:30am Jeremy Selwyn SplashNews.com A sign at a Sainsbury's supermarket informs customers that limits have been set on a small number of products Reuters AFP via Getty Images Shelves have been cleared of the likes of pasta and toilet roll AFP via Getty Images A woman carries a basket filled with toilet rolls AFP via Getty Images Shoppers wait in line for a supermarket to open its doors in London AFP via Getty Images Shoppers are faced with partially empty shelves AFP via Getty Images AFP via Getty Images Brent Cross Shopping centre at 5:30am Evening Standard / eyevine AFP via Getty Images A long line of shoppers queue to buy groceries at a supermarket in Chingford, London Cham Karimeddin Shoppers form long queues ahead of the opening of a Costco wholesale store in Chingford Getty Images Empty shelves in the bakery aisles of an Asda store in London PA Shoppers queue at the checkout of a supermarket in London AFP via Getty Images A customer leaves with shopping as other customers queue to enter a Costco Wholesalers in Chingford Reuters A long line of shoppers queue to buy groceries at a supermarket in Chingford Ashraf Karim Eddin Shoppers are faced with partially empty shelves at a supermarket in London AFP via Getty Images FILE PHOTO: A man stands next to shelves empty of fresh meat in a supermarket, as the number of worldwide coronavirus cases continues to grow, in London REUTERS

Pressed on when the measure will be introduced, he said: Certainly in the coming weeks, absolutely.

Acknowledging it was a "very big ask", he added: The measures that were looking at taking are very, very significant and they will disrupt the ordinary lives of almost everybody in the country in order to tackle this virus.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Hancock warned of an unprecedented "test" for our nation but said the Government had a "clear action plan, listening to the best science".

He said: Our generation has never been tested like this. Our grandparents were, during the Second World War, when our cities were bombed during the Blitz.

Despite the pounding every night, the rationing, the loss of life, they pulled together in one gigantic national effort.

Empty shelves of pasta are seen at a supermarket in London / Reuters

Today our generation is facing its own test, fighting a very real and new disease.

He also spoke about taking steps in the "near future" to protect those most at risk from the virus, including the elderly and medically vulnerable.

Experts on the UKs Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) have set out the need for extra action to slow the spread of the disease. Those measures will include steps to shield the elderly and those with existing health problems from the virus by telling them to stay in their houses or care homes.

There could also be a shift to household isolation rather than individual self-isolation.

US travel ban extended to UK and Ireland over coronavirus fears

On Monday, the Prime Minister will also urge manufacturers to join a national effort to produce equipment for the NHS.

Engineers have already been asked to draw up plans to quickly produce more ventilators in the UK amid concerns that critical care facilities will come under intense pressure as the Covid-19 crisis intensifies.

Mr Hancock wrote: "We are better equipped thanks to the NHS than most other countries, but we will need many more.

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"We now need manufacturers to turn their production lines to make ventilators. We cannot make too many."

Mr Hancock also distanced the Government from the controversial "herd immunity" concept, calling it a "scientific concept, not a goal or a strategy" that is "not a part" of the UK's "plan".

On Friday, the UKs chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said it is hoped the Governments approach to tackling coronavirus would create a herd immunity to the disease .

Boris Johnson will make a personal plea to manufacturers / POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Elsewhere, the Government is also in talks with private hospitals about the possibility of taking over beds in a further sign of the pressures that will face the health service at the peak of the coronavirus outbreak.

NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said: We need every part of society and every industry to ask what they can do to help the effort.

The increase in activity came after 10 more patients died in England after testing positive for Covid-19. A number of the patients, who were over 60, had underlying health conditions.

There have been 1,140 positive tests for coronavirus in the UK as of 9am on Saturday, up from 798 at the same time on Friday. The UK death toll now stands at 21, with 20 in England and one in Scotland.

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At a press conference on Saturday, President Donald Trump  who the White House says has tested negative for the virus  announced the extension of his travel restrictions to cover the UK and Ireland. The changes will come in at midnight on Monday night in the eastern US.

Downing Street said Mr Johnson and the president spoke on Saturday evening and the Prime Minister set out the science-led approach the UK is taking.

Other measures, including school closures, have also been considered as an option to combat the spread of the virus.

Northern Irelands First Minister Arlene Foster, who has attended the Cobra meetings formulating the UKs response, suggested that schools would need to be closed for four months if that step was taken.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in a video conference with leaders and representatives from SAARC nations on Sunday (March 15, 2020) to come up with a strategy to fight the coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 5,000 people worldwide.

In attendance were Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza.

PM Modi, who led the conference, began his address by cautioning that despite less number of coronavirus cases from the South Asian region "we need to remain vigilant". He said "Prepare, but don't panic" has been India's guiding mantra in dealing with coronavirus outbreak."

Modi said that a rapid response team of doctors and specialists in India was being readied along with testing kits and other equipment. "They will be on the standby to be placed at your disposal if required" he added.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that his country`s economy has taken a severe blow due to coronavirus and recommended SAARC member countries to formulate a mechanism to avail assistance for struggling economies to tide over the crisis.

"Our economy has taken a severe blow due to coronavirus, particularly in the tourism sector. Most of our tourists are from Italy and the EU countries. Now there is a ban on their coming. Our tourism sector was just recovering after last years` April 21 terrorist attack," he said.

Modi suggested a COVID-19 emergency fund be created based on voluntary contributions from all of the nations. "India can start with an initial offer of USD 10 million for this fund. Our Foreign Secretaries, through our embassies, can coordinate quickly to finalise the utilisation of this fund," Modi said.

Pakistan raises Kashmir issue

Representing Pakistan, Zafar Mirza urged SAARC nations to emulate China on its efforts to deal with the outbreak. Notwithstanding the crisis in hand, he raised the Kashmir issue and pointed that since a COVID-19 positive case had been reported from Jammu and Kashmir the lockdown in the region should be removed.

"In view of the health emergency, it is imperative that all lockdown there must be lifted immediately," he said, adding, "Opening up communication and movement would facilitate dissemination of information, allow distribution of medical supplies and allow containment...To proceed unimpeded.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina hailed PM Modi's suggestions to deal with the pandemic and called for taking the initiative forward by more such video conferences between the nations including ones with health ministers of SAARC nations participating.

Maldivian President Solih backed a coordinated approach to deal with COVID-19, asserting that no country can deal with the situation alone.

While Bhutanese PM Lotay Tshering said that it was important for all countries of the region to be on the same page to combat coronavirus. Nepal PM Oli said, "Our collective efforts will help us devise a sound and robust strategy for SAARC region to fight coronavirus."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON CORONAVIRUS

Modi also listed the steps taken by his government and that India had started screening people in mid-January. According to officials, the total number of passengers screened at the airport so far is 12,29,363. Modi said, "A step-by-step approach helped avoid panic and India made special efforts to reach out to vulnerable groups."

Modi mentioned India's response to call of help by its citizens abroad and that nearly 1,400 Indians have been evacuated from different coronavirus-hit nations along with rescuing some citizens of neighbouring countries as well.

Earlier, on Friday, Modi had called on the SAARC nations for a formulation of a joint strategy to fight coronavirus which was backed by all the member nations.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak has risen to 6,036, with 159,844 infections reported globally. Though China remains the country with the most number of deaths at 3,199, the pandemic is now spreading more rapidly in Europe, with 1,907 deaths in the continent's worst-hit country Italy.

In India, the total COVID-19 cases are at 109, which includes 90 Indian nationals. As of now, 23 new cases have been detected since the last update. Of these, 17 are from Maharashtra, 2 from Telangana, 1 from Rajasthan and 3 from Kerala. Among these, nine have been cured and two have died. Contract tracing of these cases is being rigorously pursued.
Serbia's president has declared a state of emergency to halt the spread of the coronavirus, shutting down many public spaces and deploying soldiers to guard hospitals.

"From tomorrow, there is no more school, no nurseries, no universities, everything closes, no training, sports... We will close down to save our lives, to save our parents, to save our elderly," President Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bhopal: In a late-night move, Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon asked Assembly Speaker Narmada Prasad Prajapati to hold a floor test on Monday, days after 22 Congress MLAs resigned and pushed Kamal Naths 15-month-old government to the brink of collapse.

In his order, the Governor said: "The Madhya Pradesh Assembly's session will commence at 16 March, 2020, at 11 am, and after my address to the assembly, the first work to be conducted will be voting on trust vote.

He added that the floor test will have to be completed on March 16 and the exercise cannot be "deferred, delayed or suspended".

The governor also directed that the trust vote be held by division of votes and the process be recorded on video by the Vidhan Sabha through independent persons.

Tandon also mentioned in the letter that six ministers were removed from the Cabinet on Kamal Nath's recommendations and their resignations accepted by the Speaker.

You (Nath) have also mentioned in your letter dated March 13, 2020, that you are ready for the floor test. I have also received a letter from the main opposition BJP about these situations. They have also pointed that the state government is putting unnecessary pressure on the MLAs who have resigned and also on other legislators, the letter read.

Based on the above facts, prima facie, I believe that your government has lost the confidence of the House and it is in minority. This is a very serious issue and therefore as per the constitutional provisions and for protecting the democratic values, it is necessary that on March 16, soon after my address, you seek the trust vote in the Assembly, it added.

Earlier on Saturday, in a letter to Union home minister Amit Shah, Nath urged him to ensure the "release" of 22 Congress legislators he alleged were being held "captive" in Bengaluru.

Please use your power as Union home minister so that 22 Congress MLAs held captive can safely reach Madhya Pradesh and participate in the Assembly session beginning from March 16 without any allurement and fear," the four-page letter, shared by the Congress with the media, said.

Nath assured Shah in the letter that his Congress government in the state will provide excellent security to these 22 MLAs, if they are "released", referring to the demand of CRPF cover for the legislators.

The CM added that on March 3, BSP MLA Rambai and his family members were freed from the "captivity" of BJP leaders in Gurugram (Haryana). Later, three Congress MLAs and an Independent were taken to Bengaluru by BJP MLA Arvind Singh Bhadoriya as was evident from the list of passengers of the charter plane, he alleged.

On March 9, 19 MLAs were taken to Bengaluru by BJP leaders by three charter planes, Nath claimed. Their "personal communication facilities" (mobile phones) were taken away and they were held captive and the Karnataka BJP is bearing the expenses of their stay in Bengaluru, he alleged.

"This is an unprecedented situation" because on the one hand the BJP is holding them captive and on the other hand it is demanding a floor test, Nath said, adding that a trust vote has no meaning in this situation.

I am concerned about the safety of these MLAs and in my opinion, floor test in assembly is meaningless as 22 MLAs are being held captive, Nath wrote.

Twenty-two Madhya Pradesh MLAs, supporters of Jyotiraditya Scindia who left the Congress to join the BJP, have resigned, reducing the Kamal Nath-led government to minority in the Assembly.
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Exhibitors at the Sydney Royal Easter Show are "devastated" months of work will be wasted after the decision to cancel this years event to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

The Royal Agricultural Society of NSW cancelled the show on Friday in response to increased public concern and a government directive banning gatherings of more than 500 people.

The show generates an estimated $250 million in economic activity and exhibitors and vendors will be among the hardest hit.

Kirrily Johnson-Iseppi, a cattle farmer in Dalby in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, said she had been looking forward to the Sydney show both as a commercial opportunity and a highlight of her social calendar.

Kirrily Johnson Iseppi and her daughter Brooke with GK powerup, Supreme Bull. Credit:Hannah Paulsen

"We understand that the public's health has got to come first, but it's really disappointing for us in that we miss out on that promotion for our herd," Ms Johnson-Iseppi said.

"Its not just that but as an agricultural community, it's a chance to see people at the show that is really just once a year. Because I'm here by myself running the place, it's usually very hard to get away."
Westerly, RI (02891)

Today

A few passing clouds. Low near 10F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A few passing clouds. Low near 10F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
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As the stock market was having its worst day in 30 years on Thursday, customers at a Bank of America branch in Midtown Manhattan, the financial heart of New York, were lining up to take cash out of their accounts  sometimes tens of thousands of dollars at a time.

So many people sought huge sums that the bank branch, at 52nd Street and Park Avenue, temporarily ran out of $100 bills to fulfill large withdrawals, according to three people familiar with the branchs operations. The shortage hit after a rash of requests for as much as $50,000, said two people who witnessed the rush.

The problem was limited to large bills  the banks A.T.M.s stayed stocked and customers with routine transactions were still able to take out cash. By Friday morning, the bank had refilled its supply of big bills, two of the people said.

But the desire for cash persisted: A teller at a JPMorgan Chase branch across the street said on Friday that there had been a nonstop stream of customers stockpiling cash over the past two days.
As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ
By Express News Service

BHOPAL: Discussions on the rising threat and spread of coronavirus dominated the Madhya Pradesh cabinet meeting in Bhopal on Sunday  triggering speculations about adjournment of Vidhan Sabhas budget session starting from Monday.

Though Chief Minister Kamal Nath, Public Relations Minister PC Sharma and Speaker Narmada Prasad Prajapati ruled out the adjournment of the budget session, Animal Husbandry minister Lakhan Singhs statement about a possible adjournment of the Vidhan Sabha in the wake of COVID-19 virus threat triggered the speculations.

ALSO READ| Coronavirus: Schools, colleges, libraries, theatres, marriage halls closed in Madhya Pradesh

"Though other state assemblies including Odisha, Rajasthan, Kerala and Chhattisgarh have already adjourned ongoing Vidhan Sabha sessions due to the COVID-19 threat, there isnt possibility of such development taking place in the MP Vidhan Sabha on Monday," said Public Relations Minister PC Sharma.

The Assembly Speaker said the Corona Virus threat is a serious issue, owing to which everyone coming to the Vidhan Sabha will be rendered safety masks and would be allowed to enter respective galleries only after cleaning hands with sanitizers, which too will be provided in the Vidhan Sabha premises.

Earlier, in the Cabinet meeting it was informed that all possible efforts are being made by the Madhya Pradesh government to stop the spread of coronavirus. All schools, colleges, cinema halls, marriage halls, public libraries, water parks, gyms, swimming pools, anganwadis, etc. have been closed till further orders. The system of biometric attendance of employees in offices has been closed.



All cultural programmes, public programmes, official visits and training programmes have been postponed. A meeting of peace committees up to block level will be organized to make people aware to stop the spread of coronavirus through local public representatives and religious leaders.

Religious leaders have been urged to limit organizing religious ceremonies. Along with this, legal measures have been taken to stop gatherings of more than 20 people. The state government has told to make additional financial provision besides special preparedness to deal with disaster situation.

ALSO READ| Coronavirus outbreak: Madhya Pradesh jail inmates to give 2,000 masks to health department

Discussion was held on the preventive measures taken against the spread of COVID-19 in the state, country and global level following the possibilities of visits of members of the Assembly and others to the capital Bhopal during the Assembly Budget session. According to Public Relations Minister, the chief medical health officers (CMHOs) in all 52 districts have been given magisterial powers to deal with the threat.

Congress MLAs screened for COVID-19

In a related development, the 80-odd Congress and independent MLAs who returned from Jaipur to Bhopal on Sunday were screened for the deadly virus infection by team of doctors at the hotel where all these legislators are housed. Similar tests could be carried out for 106 BJP MLAs, who are slated to return to Bhopal from Manesar (Haryana) by Sunday late night.
Virginias citizenry is by its very nature non-violent; however, Governor Northam, Attorney General Herring and Democratic lawmakers have deliberately demonized and portrayed peaceful law-abiding citizens as criminals.

The 2nd Amendment is not a states rights issue because the electorate first and foremost is bound by Americas Bill of Rights whereby each right is enshrined inside our founding documents. Virginias state law cannot trump county sanctuary law because 2nd Amendment county sanctuary laws are rooted in the constitutional skeletal framework of the Bill of Rights and repeatedly sanctified by the Supreme Court for well over two centuries.

Democratic state legislators are anarchists who promote tyranny by passing despotic laws denouncing the electorates liberties. Such legislators lack the ethical, legal and moral authority to usurp Constitutional Law as expressly outlined in all of the founding documents. Hence, the Virginia Democratic legislature is deliberately misleading the electorate in first-step efforts to seize power by disarming the citizenry from its own self-defense.

Nearly 250 Founding Fathers demanded in the 2nd Amendment that  . . . the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed . . . . Their original intent was not intended to merely protect hunting or recreational target practice but, instead, to arm every citizen (defined individually and collectively as a militia) against the whims and unlawful violence of an out-of-control and tyrannical government. The 2nd Amendment was specifically designed for such a time as this in Virginia.

What peace-loving actions have you taken to hold your elected officials accountable for their lawlessness?

KEITH AND MEGAN JOHNSON

GOODE
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that the countries that are members of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) should "prepare, act and succeed together" against COVID-19.

"As developing nations, all of us have significant challenges in terms of access to heal care facilities. Our people-to-people ties are ancient and our society deeply interconnected. We must all prepare, act and succeed together," Modi said in a video conference with all SAARC member countries.

He stressed the importance of vigilance since the region is densely populated.

"COVID-19 has recently been classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a pandemic. So far, our SAARC region has listed fewer than 150 cases but we need to remain vigilant. SAARC region is home to nearly 1/5 of all humanity. It is densely populated," said Modi.

Prime Minister Modi briefed the SAARC member countries about India's experience of combating the spread of coronavirus so far.

"Prepare, but don't panic has been our guiding mantra. We started screening entry into India from mid-January itself, while also gradually increasing restrictions on travel. The step-by-step approach has helped avoid panic. We have made special efforts to reach out to vulnerable groups," he said.

The Prime Minister said that "we have worked to quickly ramp up capacity in our system including through training our medical staff across the country. We have also increased diagnostic capabilities. Within two months, we moved from one major facility for pan-India testing."

Modi said that the country has developed protocols for each stage of managing the pandemic.

"We also responded to the call of our people abroad. We evacuated nearly 1,400 Indians from different countries. We also similarly helped some of the citizens of our neighbouring countries," he said.

Underlining the concern of other countries for their citizens in India, Modi said that the foreign ambassadors are being updated about the situation in the country on a regular basis.

"We cannot predict with certainty how the situation will unfold despite our best efforts. You must also be facing similar concern," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) on Sunday issued an advisory asking non-resident Indians and foreigners not to visit the temple for 28 days after landing in India in the wake of the coronavirus threat.

It also advised domestic pilgrims, having symptoms like cough, heavy fever and breathing problems, to reschedule or postpone their visit to the holy shrine located atop Trikuta hills in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir.

The SMVDSB said the precautionary measures are being taken to arrest the impact of coronavirus in the shrine area.

"As a preventive measure, an advisory has been issued to the NRIs and foreigners not to visit the shrine for 28 days after landing in India as a precautionary measure against coronavirus," a spokesman of the SMVDSB said.

He said domestic visitors having symptoms like cough, heavy fever and breathing problems are also advised to reschedule or postpone their visit to the shrine.

"The advisories are also being issued on the multipurpose audio system throughout the track from Katra to Bhawan for creating awareness about the coronavirus.

"Additionally, mandatory and complete thermal scanning of all the pilgrims at Tarakote, Banganga and Helipad has been ensured," the spokesman said.

Chief Executive Officer, SMVDSB, Ramesh Kumar said dedicated yatri help desks have been set up at the railway station Katra, helipad, enquiry and reservation at Niharika Complex wherein self declaration forms have been mandated for the pilgrims visiting from the affected countries.

Thousands of pilgrims from across the country and abroad visit the shrine daily.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
When I was 21, plainclothes police officers  who never identified themselves as law enforcement officers  choked me unconscious, beat me, and arrested me. I had broken no law. Ever since, I have battled a system designed to protect these rogue officers from justice rather than protect my rights. On March 20th, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to decide whether it will hear my case and address the governments request that the court create yet another level of special protection so out-of-control officers are never held individually accountable for their actions.

In 2014, I was a college student. I was walking down the sidewalk in Michigan, going between a summer job and my internship at a local nonprofit. Two men in jeans, t-shirts and baseball caps approached me. They asked me who I was, and I told them. But they didnt believe me. One of the men took my wallet from my pocket. Thinking I was being mugged, I yelled for someone to call the police, and tried like hell to get away. The men tackled me, and one of them choked me until I lost consciousness. I thought it was over. When I woke up, I bit the guy in hopes of breaking free. He then punched me in the face over and over, until every capillary in my eyes burst and I couldnt move.

A system to protect police

I heard sirens and was relieved. The police were finally coming. But relief turned to confusion when the police arrested me  not the men who attacked me. Unbeknownst to me or the many witnesses who videotaped the scene and called 911, the muggers were cops. They were looking for a non-violent fugitive who looked nothing like me.

MLK III:: Alabama execution shows we haven't come far since 'Bloody Sunday,' King march

When uniformed police showed up, the system immediately went into action to protect the officers with no concern for my rights. One police officer forced people to delete their videos of the incident. Others took me to the hospital, where I was handcuffed to my bed and my notes of what had happened were confiscated. Police and prosecutors charged me with felonies, put me in jail, then put me on trial all with the hope that I would settle and therefore not have the credibility to hold these officers individually accountable for their actions. A plea deal was offered on the first morning of trial, but I had done nothing wrong, so I didnt accept it. A jury acquitted me on all charges.

Story continues

United States Supreme Court (Front L-R) Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Jr., (Back L-R) Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Elena Kagan and Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh pose for their official portrait at the in the East Conference Room at the Supreme Court building November 30, 2018 in Washington, DC.

In 2016, I sued the officers, but once again, the system closed ranks. This time government lawyers argued even if the officers violated my rights, they were entitled to something called qualified immunity. Qualified immunity is a non-constitutional rule the Supreme Court created in 1982 that says you cant sue an officer who violates your rights unless an earlier court ruling found that the very same action by officers was unconstitutional. How on-point does the violation need to be? In one recent case, officers were granted qualified immunity when they let their police dog attack a man who surrendered by sitting with his hands up even though an earlier case found it was unconstitutional for officers to let their dog bite a man who surrendered by lying down. The fact that the suspect was sitting was enough of a difference from the courts perspective to grant the officers qualified immunity.

The district court agreed with the government and dismissed my case.

Fight for justice

However, a federal appeals court reversed that decision. It ruled that what the officers did violate my rights and there were cases that said as much. Qualified immunity did not apply.

Policing the USA: Prosecutors need to rethink suicide: It's a mental health issue, not a crime

My fight for justice continues now to the U.S. Supreme Court. On one side, I am asking the court to make it easier to hold officers accountable when they violate the Constitution. On the other, the federal government is asking the Court to create yet another special protection for police.

What happened to me could happen to literally anyone, and the one thing I have learned from this terrible process is that the system protects itself. At every turn, the officers who beat me have never had to face the ugly truths of what they did. That day in 2014 changed my life. Now, Im fighting to change the system. What happened to me should never happen to anyone else.

James King was assaulted by members of a joint federal/state task force. He is appealing his case to the U.S. Supreme Court to hold the officers to account.

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: Law enforcement officers must be held accountable
VERMILLION, S.D. -- A state-of-the-art finance and analytics lab opened last fall at the University of South Dakota's Beacom School of Business.

The Ellis Finance & Analytics Lab uses Bloomberg Terminals and other software to offer students a collaborative and transformative learning environment.

The lab is equipped with 12 Bloomberg Terminals, 20 laptop computers and cutting-edge analytics software platforms that brings real-world experience into the classroom. Students and faculty now have access to learn and conduct research on the same platform used by the worlds leading banks, corporations and government agencies.

Bloomberg is widely considered the industry standard for finance and business information.

"We work closely with leading employers in the region and across the country and they expect students to be highly literate in data and analytics skills, said Venky Venkatachalam, dean of the Beacom School of Business. "By providing our students with this learning experience and teaching them the right skills, we give our students a competitive advantage and it allows us to continue to attract top employers to Beacom to recruit our students.

The lab, which officially opened with the start of fall classes on Aug. 26, is available for business classes, student organizations, faculty research and interdisciplinary research across campus.

Construction of the lab, located on the third floor of Beacom Hall, began in June 2019. The project was made possible with a gift from Gary and Sue Ellis.

"The lab turned out better than Sue and I imagined," Gary Ellis said. "These resources will allow the students of USD to be even more successful in their careers and we are honored to be able to help with that."

The Ellis family gift affirms USDs reputation as the leader of business education in South Dakota, said

USD President Sheila K. Gestring said described the gift as transformational for the university.

"Our students can compete with the best of the best, and will know how to use the worlds most sophisticated business and finance technology even before entering their first job," Gestring said.

USD alumnus Gary Ellis and his wife Sue were in attendance for the event.

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New Delhi: Superstar Amitabh Bachchan took to Twitter on Sunday as he cancelled the years-old tradition of Sunday meeting with fans, amid coronavirus pandemic scare. He tweeted to inform about the cancellation of the tradition of Sunday meeting to greet his fans at his Jalsa doorstep and also advised the fans to be safe amid the COVID-19 scare.

"To all Ef and well-wishers an earnest request! PLEASE DO NOT COME TO JALSA GATE TODAY .. SUNDAY MEET am not going to come! Take PRECAUTIONS .. be safe," he said.

T 3470 - To all Ef and well wishers an earnest request !PLEASE DO NOT COME TO JALSA GATE TODAY .. SUNDAY MEET am not going to come !

Take PRECAUTIONS .. be safe

Sunday Jalsa cancel , 

  pic.twitter.com/USm4kZBEYo  Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) March 15, 2020

Earlier on Saturday, the 'Thugs Of Hindostan' actor talked about the coronavirus and how working in isolation is a work of art. He wrote, "Being held hostage by that great ball of CoVid19 .. coloured in some and in others in the whites of black .. it seeks attention, and mention both .. one would do but no, its the law of the corona .. bear it stare it declare it ensnare it .. but none whatsoever on how to repair it... uncertainties be the landmarked trademark of humanity .. never more entrusted with the weapon that has the prevalence of wiping us all out, does this by meaning mean."

Meanwhile, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the number of coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 107. So far, two deaths due to the COVID-19 have been reported in the country.

Coronavirus, which originated in China's Wuhan city in December last year, has so far spread to more than 100 countries, infecting over 1,30,000 people.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared coronavirus a pandemic.
Upon receiving the complaint, the Food Control Section, in compliance with the directives and close follow-up by the Assistant Undersecretary for Public Health Dr. Maryam Al-Hajri visited the store and took the necessary measures against him, in the company of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Shah assured the delegation that J&K will have a better domicile policy than other states in the country

Union Home Minister Amit Shah during a meeting with a delegation from J&Ks newly formed Apni Party led by Altaf Bukhari, in New Delhi, on Sunday. PTI

New Delhi: Union home minister Amit Shah has assured that the remaining political prisoners in Jammu and Kashmir would be released very soon, the newly formed Apni Partys president Altaf Bukhari said here on Saturday, days after former chief minister Farooq Abdullah was released.

A 24-member delegation of the Apni Party led by Bukhari held detailed discussions with Shah in the presence of top officials of the Home Ministry. The delegation had met prime minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.

Emerging after the meeting that lasted nearly two hours, Bukhari told reporters that the release of remaining political leaders was among the topics discussed with the home minister.

Yes, we did discuss about the detention of remaining political leaders and others, and the home minister said it is a process and we will be releasing them very soon, Bukhari said.

Many political leaders, including former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, were detained by the government after the abrogation of special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5.

National Conference president and former CM Farooq Abdullah was released on March 13 after being kept in detention for 221 days.

According to a home ministry statement, Shah allayed the apprehensions of the delegation on restrictions and said all decisions on relaxations are based on ground realities and not due to any pressure.

Even political prisoners will be freed in times to come as the main objective of the government is that not a single person should die, be it a common Kashmiri or security personnel, the home minister is believed to have said.

Shah is also said to have assured the delegation of restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood at an early opportunity and no change in the demography of the region.

Expressing confidence that visible changes will be seen on the ground in the next few months, the home minister also assured the delegation that the NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take all steps for the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir.

The political delegation was the first one to meet central leaders after the abrogation of J-K's special status on August 5.

Engaging with the delegation on about 40-odd issues raised by them, the home minister emphasised that there is no intention of the government for demographic change in the region and all such talks have no basis at all.

Bukhari said that there was a clear assurance on this issue from the prime minister and the home minister.

In a similar assurance as given by the prime minister to the delegation, Shah said the government will work with all sections of the society to realise the hopes of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir at an early opportunity.

Shah referred to the prime minister's address to the nation after the abrogation of Article 370 and said that and even he in his speech in Lok Sabha on August 6, 2019 expressed the same.

The home minister said this is also good for India's interest, as the region is a border area, according to the official statement.

The home minister assured the delegation that Jammu and Kashmir will have a better domicile policy than other states in the country and that a reasonable economic development policy will be drafted soon after widespread consultation.

Shah said his government is open to suggestions and feedback from all political parties and individuals for overall development of Jammu and Kashmir.

He emphasised that there is no discrimination in implementation of central laws in Jammu and Kashmir and interests of all sections will be taken care of.

He said that a land bank had been created in the union territory and the government would soon come out with an industrial policy to ensure rapid economic development.

He expressed hope that in the next four years, Jammu and Kashmir will have three times more investments than Rs 13,000 crore that it has received in last 70 years.

There is a huge potential and investors are also willing to come forward. This will also solve the problem of unemployment in the region, he added.

On the issue of reservation, the home minister said that a commission will be set up soon and reiterated that no injustice will be done to Gujjars, nomads and other communities.

On the issues concerning JK Bank, he assured the delegation of personal intervention in the matter.

The JK Apni Party chief also raised various other issues, including age relaxation for youths from the union territory appearing in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams, relief in horticulture and agriculture.
(CNN)  Chinese billionaire and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma said he will donate 500,000 coronavirus testing kits and one million face masks to the United States.

The kits and masks have been sourced and are ready to be delivered, he said Friday on Twitter and Weibo, China's micro-blogging platform.

"Drawing from my own country's experience, speedy and accurate testing and adequate personal protective equipment for medical professionals are most effective in preventing the spread of the virus," Jack Ma said in a statement. "We hope that our donation can help Americans fight against the pandemic!"

Ma's offer came just hours after US President Donald Trump declared a national emergency to free up $50 billion in federal resources to combat coronavirus amid criticism authorities had been too slow to test and respond as the disease spread from Asia to America's shores.

Ma has donated one million masks to Japan as of March 2 and had been attempting to ship one million masks to Iran as of March 6, according to his Weibo posts. In a March 11 post, he wrote that 1.8 million masks and 100,000 testing kits would go to Europe, with the first batch arriving in Belgium this week. He shared plans to donate to Italy and Spain, two other countries hard-hit by the virus, as well.

China is the world's biggest supplier of face masks. As the coronavirus crisis in China ramped up in January, the country cut face mask exports to the rest of the world while buying up most of the world's supply.

Some observers indicated that Ma's donations could be interpreted as a show of power.

"This is an A+++ passive aggressive Chinese flex that will come up at least 2x every conversation with an uncle from now on, but we will take what we can get!" Christina Xu, a ethnographer who studies tech adoption and internet culture in the US and China, tweeted on Friday.

The Chinese Communist Party has spoken up recently as cases there slow dramatically, saying people should be more grateful for how it handled the outbreak. Speaking Friday, Wang Zhonglin, party chief of Wuhan, the virus-hit capital of Hubei province, said it was necessary "to carry out gratitude education among the citizens of the whole city, so that they thank (President Xi Jinping)."

China has been criticized by health and government officials, including US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, for its initial response to the virus  during which Chinese officials appeared to downplay information about its severity.

Ma ended his statement on Twitter by quoting a slogan popularized by one of the US founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin: "United we stand, divided we fall."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Chinese billionaire Jack Ma says he will donate one million face masks and 500,000 coronavirus testing kits to the US."
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has announced altering protocol for devotees visiting Lord Balaji temple in the hill shrine to check the spread of coronavirus.

It said that from March 17, pilgrims need not wait in serpentine queues as time-slot tokens would be issued for paying obeisance at the temple.

Following the call by the Andhra Pradesh government to initiate steps to check the prevalence of coronavirus weve contemplated some measures, TTD executive officer Anil Kumar Singhal said in Tirumala, according to PTI.

Under the new protocol, the devotees would not be allowed to sit in the compartments of queue complexes to avoid person-to-person contact.

Follow latest updates on coronavirus here

In the given time slots system, the pilgrims would be allowed for darshan by limiting the numbers. The devotees should bring any ID card such as aadhaar or voter ID or driving licence along with them to get the time-slot tokens for darshan, he said.

He said special counters would be set up in Tirumala and Tirupati to issue the tokens. The shrine normally draws one lakh devotees daily from the country and abroad. Only 3,500-4,000 devotees will be allowed for darshan every hour against the normal number of about 5,500.

Also read: Mumbai Police ban foreign, domestic tours as Maharashtra reports 31 coronavirus cases

The TTD also cancelled rituals like Visesha Puja, Sahasra Kalasabhishekam and Vasanthotsavam in the shrine to avoid congregation of pilgrims.

The threat of coronavirus also forced the TTD to cancel its ground-breaking ceremony for Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Mumbai which was scheduled for April 5.

The TTD plans to conduct a three-day Maha Yagam from March 19 to seek divine intervention to safeguard humanity from coronavirus, Singhal said.

Also read: Coronavirus cases in India climb to 93, govt scales up combat efforts

Also read: Coronavirus positive Delhi man, 46, came in contact with 813 people
MINNEAPOLIS  Major construction on Minnesota 5 will cause significant delays for commuters heading to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport from April through October.

How much of a delay? The Minnesota Department of Transportation is recommending that drivers give themselves an extra hour to arrive.

The work will include rebuilding Minnesota 5 and repairing several bridges and ramps between 34th Avenue in Bloomington and Minnesota 62 near Fort Snelling.

MnDOT Metro District Engineer Mike Barnes said in a statement that the road resurfacing would typically be a two-year project, but "were committed to completing it in one construction season."

To get the project done in half the normal amount of time, MnDOT plans to fully close each direction of Minnesota 5, one direction at a time.

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As a result, eastbound Minnesota 5 will close in April through late July, detouring drivers onto Minnesota 77 and Minnesota 62. Crews will then close westbound Minnesota 5 from August through October.

Ramps near the Minnesota 5, Minnesota 55 and Minnesota 62 interchange will close in July.

The Metro Blue Line, which serves both airport terminals, will not be affected during construction. Most Route 54 trips will detour away from Minnesota 5 during construction, and customers heading to the airport will need to transfer to the Blue Line at the American Boulevard Station in Bloomington.

Portions of the Interstate 494/Interstate 35E interchange will also be closed from April through October.
Luxair customers who are currently abroad will be able to catch planes to head back to Luxembourg in the coming days.

Luxair representatives told RTL that that the airline and LuxairTours will no longer fly to Spain, Morocco, Tunisia, and Denmark. The airline is currently working on organising flights to repatriate customers.

Customers will be able to board a number of flights in the coming days to come back to Luxembourg. LuxairTours customers will be contacted by phone. They will be able to decide between a selection of different dates.

More details will be announced on Monday.
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

Coronavirus: Queen Elizabeth II shifted out of Buckingham Palace

International

oi-PTI

London, Mar 15: Queen Elizabeth II has been shifted out of Buckingham Palace in London to Windsor Castle as the UK plans for isolation measures for people over 70 amid the country's death toll from COVID-19 hitting 21, nearly doubling from 11 within a day.

The 93-year-old monarch and her 98-year-old husband, Prince Philip, are likely to be placed in quarantine at the royal Sandringham Estate in Norfolk in the coming weeks as tougher measures are put in place to fight the coronavirus outbreak in the UK affecting over 1,140 people.

KFC faces backlash over its 'finger lickin Ad campaign amid coronavirus pandemic

The deadly virus has claimed over 5,300 lives and infected more than 142,000 people across 135 countries and territories, with the World Health Organisation describing the outbreak a pandemic on Wednesday.

"Other events will be reviewed on an ongoing basis in line with the appropriate advice," a Buckingham Palace statement said as it announced diary cancellations for the monarch.

Some reports indicate that her move from the palace in the heart of London, which has a large staff and frequent visitors, was part of a regular weekend getaway for the Queen to Windsor on Thursday.

However, other reports indicate that the situation will be kept under constant review before she is brought back to London and may instead be shifted to Sandringham, with a much smaller level of staff.

"She is in good health but it was thought best to move her," a royal source was quoted by 'The Sun' as saying. "The Palace hosts a constant stream of visitors, including politicians and dignitaries from around the world. The Queen has met a lot of people there until recently. But she is weeks away from her 94th birthday and advisers believe it is best to get her out of harm's way," the source said.

Meanwhile, UK health secretary Matt Hancock confirmed the government's plans to put the elderly and vulnerable into complete isolation within weeks.

The heightened measure, in response to all the deaths from COVID-19 so far being among over-60s, would mean older people being asked to remain at home without visitors and with vital supplies dropped off for them on their doorsteps.

India under lockdown: Confirmed coronavirus cases jump to 107

"The coronavirus outbreak is the biggest public health emergency in a generation. It calls for dramatic action, at home and abroad, of the kind not normally seen in peacetime," he wrote in 'The Sunday Telegraph' as he called for a similar spirit as the previous generation which faced World War II in the 20th century.

"Next week we will publish our emergency bill, to give the government the temporary powers we will need to help everyone get through this. The measures in it allow for the worst case scenario. I hope many of them won't be needed. But we will ask Parliament for these powers in case they are," he said.

He revealed that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to call industry leaders on Sunday to urge British companies to join a "national effort" to produce more ventilators and other medical equipment "at speed" to help the state-funded National Health Service (NHS) deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

Work is also under way to buy up thousands of private hospital beds to boost NHS capacity, should it be needed. Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has asked for "urgent sight" of the draft laws and for a meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss the crisis.

The party had already called on the government to publish the scientific modelling and data that it is using to form its approach. More than 200 scientists have written to the government urging it to introduce tougher measures to tackle the spread of COVID-19 sooner rather than later.

In an open letter, the cross-discipline experts from UK universities say the government's current approach calling only for people with a cough and fever to self-isolate for seven days will put the NHS under additional stress and "risk many more lives than necessary".

The signatories also criticised comments made by Sir Patrick Vallance, the government's Chief Scientific Adviser, about managing the spread of the infection to make the population immune through so-called "herd immunity".

"In particular, we are deeply preoccupied by the timeline of the proposed plan, which aims at delaying social distancing measures even further," notes the letter from scientists across disciplines.

"The current data about the number of infections in the UK is in line with the growth curves already observed in other countries, including Italy, Spain, France, and Germany.

The same data suggests that the number of infected will be in the order of dozens of thousands within a few days," it says.

Queen Elizabeth II 'supportive' to 'period of transition' for Prince Harry, Meghan

They believe that putting social distancing measures in place now would dramatically slow down the spread of the virus, with thousands of lives saved.

In another joint letter, UK supermarkets and retailers have urged customers to be considerate in their shopping, so that others are not left without much-needed items.

"There is enough for everyone if we all work together," it notes in an appeal against panic buying and hoarding.

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Story first published: Sunday, March 15, 2020, 15:55 [IST]
Inside the vehicle they found the driver, identified as Perry Booker Jr., 20, of the 1100 block fo Lawler Avenue, in Chicago, by the Lake County Coroners Office, unresponsive with a gunshot wound to his neck, according to police and coroner reports. Booker was taken to St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago where he later died from his wounds, Rivera said.
Razor Clam Digs Approved on Washington Coast; Oregon Clamming Mostly Open

Published 03/13/2020 at 6:44 PM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff





(Washington Coast)  The long-awaited return of razor clam digging to parts of the Washington coast has just uplifted the spirits of some, with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) announcing a four-day dig starting March 20. Meanwhile, razor clamming is mostly open along the Oregon coast with no restrictions on days, but some areas are closed to clamming because of biotoxins.

Shellfish managers in Olympia, Washington, approved a few evening low tide digs this after marine toxin tests showed local razor clams were safe to eat.

The approved dig is for the following beaches, dates and low tides:

March 20, Friday 5:27 pm, 0.4 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

March 21, Saturday, 6:07 pm, 0.4 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis

March 22, Sunday, 6:41 pm, 0.4 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks

March 23, Monday, 7:12 pm, 0.5 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis

No digging is allowed before noon when low tide occurs in the evening.

State officials said its time to bring out your shovels, clam guns and tubes.

We are approving this dig based on favorable marine toxin findings, but folks should use their own judgment and consider COVID-19 when making travel plans, said Larry Phillips, WDFW coastal region director, referencing recent announcements that razor clam festivals centered on Ocean Shores and Long Beach have been postponed.

Along the Oregon coast, beaches from the Columbia River down to the Suislaw River in Florence are open to razor clamming, which includes towns such as Seaside, Manzanita, Lincoln City, Newport and south of Yachats. However, everything from parts of Florence southward is closed because of elevated levels of the domoic acid toxin.

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Education and municipal officials across the state are scrambling to provide food to children who typically get one or more meals in school.

The Connecticut Mirror calculated that, on Friday, schools had been closed for about 295,000 Connecticut students, including some of the states largest, urban districts.

On Thursday, Bridgeport Public Schools district was able to put into place emergency meal service for Friday and beyond at 20 locations, with breakfast being served from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and lunch being served Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Interim Superintendent of Schools Testani said there will be emergency food service sites available during school closings through March 20. Sites can be seen here: https://www.bridgeportedu.net/

Coronavirus became a threat so quickly and so suddenly that when New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker woke up on a recent day, he said he hadnt imagined closing down the citys schools that day.

But by shortly after noon that day, Elicker was standing with interim Superintendent of Schools Iline Tracey and City Health Director Maritza Bond to announce the schools were closing indefinitely. The citys schools had been planning for a potential shut down scenario for weeks, but the suddenness meant that not all those plans were ready to be implemented.

New Havens schools already offer free breakfast and lunch to students each weekday. Although its enrollment shrank slightly this year, its number of students who are federally eligible for free lunch grew by more than 1,000 this year. About two-thirds of students in the system are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.

Brian Zahn/Hearst Connecticut Media

Two sources familiar with discussions said New Haven was initially denied a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to prepare meals in a grab and go fashion. However, partnerships with other urban school districts and assistance from U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, helped to overturn the decision so that the district could begin offering meals from an estimated 39 pick-up sites starting Monday.

In a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, DeLauro and U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop of Georgia urged expansion of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program as a vital anti-recession tool.

By Saturday, the district announced families of students will be able to go to the site nearest to their residence. Food distribution sites will be open for breakfast and lunch pick up Monday through Friday from 9 a.m to noon. School officials will work to maintain appropriate social distancing per Center for Disease Control guidelines in an effort to reduce the potential spread of COVID-19, the city said in an email.

The district reverting to a neighborhood school type of model for the disbursement of meals allows young residents to go to the nearest food site instead of the school they attend, district COO Michael Pinto said. City schools are designed to be no more than a quarter-mile from most New Haven residences, he said, and the same should apply to food sites.

As of Friday afternoon, parents in New Haven were told they must pick up meals from schools where at least one child attends.

The most difficult USDA rule to circumvent was the one about congregate eating. Billy Bromage, a member of the New Haven Food Policy Council, said the rule is in place to ensure that federal meals are being consumed by students.

Its a quality control sort of thing, he said.

Under the summer meals program, the school district can be reimbursed for all meals delivered to city youth at a number of community feeding sites, but the meals must be eaten on site. Similarly, during the school year New Haven must provide meals during designated meal times with students remaining in place in a school cafeteria.

With coronavirus, we dont want them congregating, Bromage said.

Perdue announced Tuesday that there would be flexibilities on the congregant rule, but school officials said that wouldnt matter without official recognition through a waiver.

Gail Cairns-Sharry, executive food director for New Haven Public Schools, said the USDA was telling states throughout the week there was a backlog.

City spokesman Gage Frank confirmed Sunday that New Haven received the USDA waiver.

Cairns-Sharry said: We already have 6,000 shelf-stable meals in house.

I think thats a huge concern, Bromage said. All the schools close and it seems one of the first things I hear, maybe because Im already in that world, but people want to know what were going to do for food.

Nijija-Ife Waters, president of New Havens Citywide Parent Team, said the district did not give parents enough time.

More Information In New Haven: breakfast and lunch pick up will be available at the following school sites: Monday to Friday 9. a.m. to noon: Barnard School, 170 Derby Ave.; Beecher 100 Jewell St.; Benjamin Jepson, 15 Lexington Ave.; Betsy Ross, 150 Kimberly Ave.; Bishop Woods, 1481 Quinnipiac Ave.; Katherine Brennan, 200 Wilmot Road; Celentano, 400 Canner St.; Clinton, 293 Clinton Ave.; Columbus, 255 Blatchley St.; Conte ,511 Chapel St.; Davis, 35 Davis St.; Dr. Mayo, 185 Goffe St.; East Rock, 133 Nash St.; Edgewood, 737 Edgewood Ave.; Fair Haven, 164 Grand Ave.; Hill Regional Career, 140 Legion Ave.; Hooker Middle, 691 Whitney Ave.; HSC, 175 Water St.; Hillhouse HS, 480 Sherman Pkwy.; John Daniels, 569 Congress Ave.; John Martinez, 100 James St.; King Robinson, 150 Fournier St.; Lincoln Bassett 130 Bassett St.; Mauro Sheridan 191 Fountain St.; Metro 115 Water St.; New Haven Academy, 444 Orange St.; Quinnipiac, 460 Lexington Ave.; Roberto Clemente, 360 Columbus Ave.; Riverside 103 Hallock St.; Ross Woodward, 185 Barnes Ave.; Sound, 60 South Water St.; Strong-Obama, 69 Farnham Ave.; Troup, 259 Edgewood Ave.; Truman, 114 Truman St.; West Rock Academy, 311 Valley St.; Wexler/Grant, 55 Foote St.; Wilbur Cross HS, 181 Mitchell Drive. To view a map of NHPS school distributions sites, follow this link: http://bit.ly/nhpsfood In Bridgeport: students must be 18 years old and under, children ages 10 years old and under must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Breakfast will be offered at each location from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Lunch service will be available from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m Schools open for food service are: - Barnum School, Cesar A. Batalla School, Black Rock School - Blackham School, Geraldine Claytor Magnet School, Bryant School - Columbus School, Wilbur Cross School, James J. Curiale - Hall School, Hallen School, Harding High School - Hooker School, Geraldine Johnson School, Luis Munoz Marin School - Park City Magnet School, Roosevelt School, Read School - Jettie S. Tisdale School, John Winthrop School See More Collapse

Parents did not have enough time to prepare for their kids to stay home, especially the younger ones, she said. Even though there was quite a few Parentlinks, they werent descriptive.

Waters said she wanted the district to hold an instructional meeting for parents on the districts response to Covid-19.

Latha Swamy, New Havens director of food policy, said the city also is having discussions with large footprint community providers to develop a community-wide response to school meals in the absence of school.

Mark Allegrini, a spokesman for the United Way of Greater New Haven, said the organization is consulting with both New Haven and Hamden.

Were in the beginning stages of figuring out how we can support that effort, he said Wednesday. We should know more by Monday, but weve had initial conversations about what that coordination could look like and how we might be best able to help.

As districts across the state were making preparations, Waterbury Public Schools was planning daily with its city departments.

Weve opened up the (Emergency Operations Center) here as a place for people to call with questions and concerns, said Will Clark, the Waterbury school districts COO and former longtime COO for New Havens schools. Were having weekly meetings that have turned into, frankly, daily meetings with hospitals, emergency response, et cetera.

Similar to New Haven, Clark said his districts initial response was to call for an extension of the summer meals program, so the district could operate under those rules.

In Norwalk, parent Jodi Przybisiki launched into action when she began to worry that meals wouldnt be available in the district. She said she reached out to district staff about what would happen, but did not get a response.

They were so focused on figuring out if they were even closing the schools or not, which I understand had to be their first priority, that I didnt hear back, she said.

Przybisiki said she decided to launch a food collection drive, which she organized over Facebook throughout the week. On Friday, during drop off and also pick up, she asked parents to donate food for nearby food pantries.

In total, she estimated 15 carloads of food was donated Friday.

Theres people that may not necessarily need help every day or be needy, but if they cant go to work for two weeks because they have to stay with their kids, it can be a hardship where they cant put food on the table, Przybisiki said.

Neil Cavallaro, superintendent of the West Haven schools, said the district ordinarily serves 4,500 lunches per day during regular school days. The plan West Haven devised is similar to New Havens grab-and-go decision.

Our plan is to use our schools as drop off sites and deliver meals each day were not in session. We have a similar operation we use to disperse meals during the summer months, Cavallaro said.

The day before it made the call to close schools, Stamfords school district was still finalizing its response as well.

We are working closely with the USDA, CDC and CSDE, as well as with our food service provider and local community agencies to develop contingency plans in the event of a school closure, said district spokeswoman Sharon Beadle on Wednesday.

Bridgeports plan operates similarly to how Cairns-Sharry said it is being done in Washington state, with schools opening for meal service only, an option New Haven initially considered.

Torrington and Winchester schools are partnering to offer a drive through breakfast and lunch meal services at one location in each municipality for all students during the school shutdown.

Any child 18 or under will be provided a Grab and Go bag lunch for that day and a breakfast for the next morning, the school districts reported.

When schools are closed, some officials say it can destabilize lives of students and families in ways they hadnt expected.

When people say we should close school, my mind goes to: what about the medically fragile, learning for kids, food and other social services, said Waterbury Public Schools COO Clark.

brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com
UK medical schools have been urged to help final-year medical students qualify in order to help in the fight against coronavirus. (Picture: Carl Court/Getty Images)

The UKs medical schools are being urged to take steps to ensure final-year medical students can qualify and help tackle the spread of coronavirus.

In its guidance to UK medical schools, the Medical Schools Council (MSC) said it was important that final year qualifying exams are prioritised and that new doctors werent prevented from joining the workforce in the summer.

Several medical schools, including Cambridge and Oxford universities and University College Londond have already taken steps including ending clinical teaching and releasing academics amid concerns teaching is tying up hospital doctors and GPs who could otherwise be helping the NHS.

Total coronavirus cases in the UK. See story HEALTH Coronavirus. Infographic PA Graphics

In its official advice, the MSC said: The GMC has confirmed that if a final year student is deemed by the university to have met the GMCs required outcomes and has graduated, then subject to fitness to practise the GMC will provisionally register that doctor.

It is important that medical schools do not delay qualification and so prevent new doctors joining the workforce in the summer.

We advise that final year qualifying exams are prioritised where they have not yet taken place.

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

It suggested that finals exams were simplified as far as possible and that patients are not used in final clinical exams.

In a section titled: general advice on medical students working in the NHS pre-qualification, the MSC predicted that many medical students who have already passed finals would want to volunteer to work in the NHS and said they encourage it.

Important principles are that it must be their own decision, they should not be allowed to work beyond their competencies, they should be given full necessary personal protection and full instruction in its use, and they should be fully supervised with clear governance arrangements.

It said opportunities might be available for students to help in clinical services like fracture clinics that would help ease the pressure on A&E departments or working as call handlers for the NHS 111 service.
Universities across the US are places where students live and work in close quarters -- and where international partnerships are a point of pride.

But now, the same details that are selling points in campus brochures have become focal points of a different sort as colleges brace for a possible pandemic.

Temporary campus closures, enrollment dips and program cancellations are all possibilities -- though it's too soon to know whether the novel coronavirus will force a large number of US universities to take such extreme steps.

Already university leaders are scrambling to deal with problems popping up as the virus spreads. And some schools have canceled in-person classes. Officials say there's little doubt the effects will intensify, and they're doing everything they can to plan and prepare.

"Everybody is really feeling this as such a tremendous disruptor, creating this huge sense of anxiety and uncertainty," said Cheryl Matherly, vice president and vice provost for international affairs at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. "It reminds you in a very real way that universities are truly international crossroads, where all the ways that a disease like this could have an impact are coming to bear."

Whether or not you're at a college or university, the virus is threatening to disrupt everyone's daily life -- if it hasn't already. But on campuses across the US, the impact could be particularly acute. Here are five reasons why.

There are more than 1 million international students at US universities. And more than a third of them are from China

American universities started feeling the first ripple effects of the novel coronavirus soon after the disease began spreading in China.

More than 360,000 foreign students in the United States are Chinese; that's more than a third of the total international student population. And for many, fears of the impact the virus is having on friends and family in China have taken an emotional toll.

"One of my grad students said to me she couldn't bear to look at her phone anymore," Matherly said. "There were so many terrible things happening, and how stressful that is when she's sitting here in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania."

The US government's imposition of travel restrictions threw things into further flux, not just on US campuses, but for Chinese students thousands of miles away who were trying to return to them.

"I'm basically stuck in China right now. ... I have no idea when I'm going to be able to come back," said Benjamin Cai, a 25-year-old graduate student in software engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.

US officials have described the travel restrictions as a valuable tool that helped slow the spread of the virus.

Cai is one of a number of students who told CNN the suspension of visa processing in China has left them in limbo.

"My research funding has been suspended, too," said one Ph.D. student in molecular biology who asked to be identified only by his last name, Yang, because he feared he could face repercussions for speaking out.

More than 830 international students from China were in their home country when the virus outbreak happened and have not been able to come or return to the United States, according to results from a survey of US colleges and universities released Thursday by the Institute of International Education.

It's a small fraction of the total Chinese student population. But beyond uncertainty over the effect the coronavirus could have on individual students' academic careers, American universities are facing an even bigger question: How long will the coronavirus crisis last? And could it impact future enrollment of Chinese and other international students -- something many schools have come to rely on financially?

School officials say it's too soon to say. But they're already coming up with contingency plans.

"We're looking at everything from if this doesn't resolve itself, do we offer students the opportunity to defer their admission to January or the next fall? Do we try to offer some online courses? Do we try to offer courses somehow in country?" said Robin Kaler, associate chancellor and director of public affairs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"We're trying to be as innovative as we can in terms of finding solutions to this."

More students are studying abroad than ever

The virus is spreading at a time when studying abroad is more popular than ever. More than 340,000 Americans studied abroad for academic credit in the 2017-2018 school year, according to the Institute of International Education.

As the new coronavirus spreads, many universities have already canceled programs in China, South Korea and Italy. Some are looking at bringing students back from other parts of the world, too.

"Everyone's kind of bracing for the mass cancellations that are about to happen," said Blake Daugherty, a sophomore at Dartmouth College. His internship in China was canceled as a result of the coronavirus, he says, and many of his friends who'd been planning to study abroad in Europe are worried their programs will be called off soon, too.

Italy, where the number of novel coronavirus cases began climbing late last month, is one of the top study abroad destinations for US students. More than 36,000 Americans studied abroad there for academic credit during the 2017-2018 school year.

Kiely Westhoff spoke to CNN from her nearly empty apartment in Florence, Italy. The junior at the University of Colorado was packing up her things and still processing the news that she'd have to leave.

"It's been very emotional and shocking to find out this way, and it escalated very quickly, and none of us were really expecting it. ... It still doesn't feel real," she said.

For students forced to cut short semesters they'd spent years planning, it's a devastating development.

And for universities, the situation presents a host of logistical problems they're trying to solve.

Chief among them: how to handle the prospect of an influx of students returning to campus after housing arrangements have already been made and classes have started.

Some universities are considering offering online classes or shorter spring courses as they plan for the thousands of students soon returning to the US.

US universities have been working hard to expand their global reach

Hosting visiting scholars, planning conferences that bring together experts from around the world and research partnerships that span the globe are all regular parts of campus life -- and now areas the novel coronavirus is threatening to disrupt.

"This is coming at a time when universities have been so focused on becoming more internationalized. There are just more points of intersection," said Matherly, the immediate past president of the Association of International Education Administrators. "We're all now kind of scrambling to determine how to manage through these very real impacts on a very interconnected system."

"I don't think there really is such a thing as a domestic campus anymore. All of our members have some level of international engagement," said Brad Farnsworth, vice president of the American Council on Education, which represents about 1,800 colleges and universities.

Farnsworth said his organization has been fielding calls from schools across the country with concerns about coronavirus.

"Every campus we're talking to is coming up with a plan for dealing with the virus," he said.

Already major academic events have been canceled as a result of coronavirus fears. The American Physical Society called off its March meeting days before the 10,000-person conference of physicists was set to start in Denver. With a large number of attendees coming from outside the US, organizers decided the risk was too great.

Farnsworth said he expects national meetings will continue to be a big issue confronting academic institutions.

"I think everybody is looking at their upcoming travel schedule and really asking themselves, 'Should I be doing this? How do I weigh the risk?'" he said.

But even as the novel coronavirus fuels concerns over the prospect of canceled conferences and global partnerships lurching into limbo, it's also spurring more opportunities for international collaboration.

As they work to study coronavirus and develop treatments, researchers at American universities are teaming up with counterparts in China and around the world.

Viruses have been known to spread on college campuses

It's no secret that college campuses can be environments that are conducive to contagion.

"Any place where you have people living in congregate settings, using dining halls, eating in groups of large numbers of people, with lots of social activities, you're going to have potential for outbreaks of infectious diseases," said Dr. Donald Milton of the University of Maryland at College Park.

Milton, a professor of environmental health, has been investigating how respiratory infections spread on campus for years in a study dubbed C.A.T.C.H. -- short for Characterizing And Tracking College Health. And now he's using his research expertise as he advises university administrators on how to prepare for the novel coronavirus.

"We're very actively monitoring the situation and trying to be responsive as things move along. ... We've upped our surface cleaning regimens and have been thinking about what would we do if we needed to quarantine somebody, planning all of that," he said.

With such concerns in mind, the American College Health Association, which represents campus health facilities across the country that care for millions of students, recently raced to pull together new coronavirus guidelines.

One goal for the guidelines, which were released this week: pushing universities to prepare now, while they still have a chance.

"This was turned around with lightning speed. ... We knew that window of time was closing," said Dr. Jean Chin, who chairs the association's coronavirus task force.

"You want to make sure people understand the gravity without scaring them. And you just want people to plan," she said.

The guidelines advise schools to evaluate their emergency and business-continuity plans, educate and train staff, stock supplies and develop screening tools and clinical protocols.

Universities in China shut down campuses as part of the country's coronavirus response, and professors there have increasingly turned to online teaching so students can continue their studies. Professors at Italian universities have also moved their classes online.

And more universities in the United States may find themselves considering that approach as well, depending on what happens in the coming weeks. Some already are.

Starting Monday, classes will stop meeting in person at the University of Washington.

"For the remainder of the quarter, instructors have been asked to conduct classes and/or exams remotely, as possible, until the quarter concludes on March 20," the school said in a statement Friday -- making it the first large university in the United States to move classes online amid concerns over the virus.

The university said it was following public health agencies' recommendations to avoid bringing large groups of people together in close proximity. Officials said they plan to resume normal class operations on March 30 when the spring quarter begins, "pending public health guidance."

Other universities have announced they're taking similar steps. Stanford University said Friday that it was canceling in-person classes for the final two weeks of its winter quarter and moving instruction online "to the extent feasible." And the University of Southern California said it's temporarily moving classes online from March 11-13 to test technology and prepare for the possibility of a longer-term disruption.

So have rumors and racist incidents

Many universities can draw on past experiences handling outbreaks of other illnesses like the common cold, influenza or meningitis.

But Chin said there's one thing the health association's coronavirus guidelines deal with that's different from past outbreaks: reports of xenophobia.

"Even with Ebola, there wasn't a lot of that," Chin said. "But with this one, campuses were seeing some xenophobia and micro-agressions and behaviors that we just don't feel are appropriate."

As the first murmurs of the novel coronavirus outbreak in China began to spread, so too did reports of racist incidents on college campuses across the US and around the world.

Students at the University of Albany landed in hot water last month after holding a coronavirus-themed party.

And the University of California at Berkeley issued an apology after a post on its health services' Instagram account about "managing fears and anxiety" around coronavirus listed xenophobia as a common reaction to the virus, drawing a fierce backlash online.

Chin said there are a number of concrete steps schools can take to stop xenophobia from spreading.

"They're straightforward," she said. "We're talking about getting messaging from the highest levels of campus to speak out about what a healthy campus climate should be."
Hover over the bubbles to explore each profession, including how many people work in those jobs and what they earn.

Workers in a number of professions facing elevated risk earn less than the national median wage. Many of these workers in low-paying jobs do not have paid sick leave, and many could still go to work sick to not lose income.

The risk isnt limited to those on the front lines. Many people who do service jobs like cashiers and fast-food workers face elevated risks. Walmart, Starbucks and Uber are among the many companies that have had workers fall sick.

School systems around the country have been closing. Teachers rate high both for exposure to illnesses and for their proximity to other people.

First responders are also at high risk. Firefighters who responded to calls at the Washington nursing home are under extended quarantines . Paramedics across the country are taking extra precautions when responding to a possible coronavirus case.

Personal care aides and home health aides who work with the elderly  the population most susceptible to the illness  are also vulnerable. At a nursing home in Washington State linked to 25 coronavirus deaths as of Saturday, at least 70 employees have fallen sick .

Health care workers are at the greatest risk  they can encounter diseases and infections daily and typically work in close proximity to one another and their patients. Many are already under quarantine because of exposure to the virus.

The vertical position of each bubble is a measure of how often workers in a given profession are exposed to disease and infection .

Each bubble on this chart represents an occupation. The bigger the bubble, the more people do that job.

As the coronavirus continues to spread throughout the United States, people with jobs that put them in physical contact with many others are at the greatest risk of becoming sick.

The risk levels of various jobs were calculated using O*NET, a database maintained by the Department of Labor that describes various physical aspects of different occupations. The database assigns dozens of scores to each occupation for things like how often a telephone is used to how often a job requires you to bend your body. (Housekeepers rank highest in this metric.)

As virus cases have grown, many businesses have begun closing offices and stores, and sending workers home to help slow the spread. While many companies have emergency leave policies in place to help protect their employees, there are large portions of the population that have few protections. On Saturday, legislators passed a relief package that includes paid sick leave for workers affected by the coronavirus. But the benefits only apply to employees of companies with fewer than 500 employees, leaving millions of workers uncovered.

Percent of workers with access to paid leave benefits Group Sick leave Personal leave All workers 74% 45% Nurses 92% 68% Teachers 86% 62% Service industry workers 56% 28% Sales workers 65% 40% Full-time workers 85% 54% Part-time workers 40% 18% Top 25 percent of earners 92% 63% Bottom 25 percent of earners 47% 24% Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Employee Benefits Survey

For some workers  especially those in low-paying jobs  being furloughed could mean layoffs. In the Seattle area, one small catering company was forced to let go nearly all its employees because of cancellations from big tech clients.

A growing number of companies have also been asking employees to do their jobs from home. But that arrangement is largely available only to white-collar workers. For many occupations, working from home is simply not feasible, including those who are on the front lines of the response and those who are on the lower end of the economic scale.
Christchurch: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will announce a multibillion-dollar economic stimulus on Tuesday as New Zealand awakens to the shock measures needed to fight COVID-19.

On Saturday, Ardern announced almost all international arrivals, including Kiwi citizens, would be required to self-isolate for a fortnight on their return from overseas.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Credit:Getty Images

The decision will have incredible ramifications for the New Zealand economy, particularly the travel industry on which the South Pacific nation is deeply reliant.

Kiwis finding themselves in Australia and overseas went into a panic, with at least one overseas MP, Chloe Swarbrick, missing the deadline - and next week's parliamentary session.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday held a video conference with the leaders of SAARC member nations to exchange their views and share New Delhi's experience in fighting the pandemic. Government sources said India has taken a lead in combatting the pandemic, as evident from the series of initiatives taken by the country in the past two months."India has taken lead in tackling coronavirus. We heard of coronavirus for the first time from China on December 31 last year and by January 15, 2020, we had started the screening process at airports. This was followed by the suspension of visas and OCI card. Then, we carried out the evacuation, setting an example for the world, given that the initiative emanated from India," government sources said."We were the first to put restrictions on travel from China. We also suspend visas, which might look regressive, but is ultimately always better. We have handled the situation in the most proactive manner," sources added.So far, India has evacuated a total of 766 people from China, 124 from Japan, 336 from Iran, and 218 from Italy.Speaking on the SAARC's impact on the region, the government sources explained: "In the regional terms, SAARC countries are largely unaffected. In relative terms, the count of 150 infections is a small number.""In comparison to other regions, India is more integrated with the world. We cannot take this for granted. We are reaching out to the neighbours," sources said."Some SAARC countries had a huge influx of visitors from China. Our leadership role is looked upon in the region. In that context, it made a logical sense and rationale move," government sources said, referring to Sunday's video conference.During the conference, Prime Minister Modi had proposed the creation of an emergency fund to combat the coronavirus pandemic and pitched India's initial offer of USD 10 million for this fund."Each country has its exposure. Our teams will provide guidance on the quarantine and the protocol for the same. India has also offered to share its online software. We have developed a sophisticated system to get real-time analysis of the situation," government sources said.The Prime Minister has also proposed the creation of a common research platform to coordinate research on controlling epidemic disease within the South Asian region. Modi also announced that the country is assembling a rapid response team of doctors and specialists along with testing kits and other equipment."The proposal for the common research was also offered not only for the COVID-19 pandemic but also other epidemics and areas. Many ideas which we offered received a great deal of appreciation," sources said."Many countries are seeking help for the provision of medicines. The government is processing the request given that there is a shortage in our own country. We had sent 15 tonnes of medical equipment to the Chinese city of Wuhan. Efforts have been made to reach out and help," government sources added.The SAARC video conference was held at a very short notice and required an extraordinary effort at a record pace. However, the Pakistani representative tried to sabotage and politicise the conference by raking up the Kashmir issue.Speaking on this, the government sources said, "Pakistan sent their Health Minister, who was uncomfortable in speaking. He was given a slip. It's a churlish approach. This is a humanitarian issue and Pakistan tried to politicise the humanitarian issue."They criticised Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's absence from the conference, noting that the initiative witnessed the participation of leaders of all SAARC nations including Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who was discharged from the hospital on Saturday after undergoing a kidney transplant."Even Nepal's Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli participated a day after he was discharged from the hospital. Each leader participated from the SAARC except Pakistani PM Imran Khan," sources said.The Pakistani side was represented by Zafar Mirza, State Minister for Health, who in his address at the conference, said that it was imperative that the lockdown in Kashmir be lifted in view of the health emergency after the coronavirus outbreak.On being asked whether Sunday's initiative would revive SAARC, the government sources said: "It is too premature. It brought together the leaders of SAARC to deal with the emergency situation. Whether it can lead to any other initiative is difficult to say. Pakistan's comment doesn't merit reaction, it showed what they are." (ANI)
We appreciate Governor Coopers careful consideration of all the impacts a statewide closure of our public school system would have on educators, students, parents, and the wider community, said Mark Jewell, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, on Coopers Executive Order Requiring the Temporary Closure of North Carolina K-12 Public Schools to Slow COVID-19 Transmission.

Ultimately, we think this is the correct decision, and we thank him for acting decisively in the best interest of everyone involved.

The N.C Department of Health and Human Services said the gathering ban does not apply to restaurants, shopping malls and other retail stores.

In a Tweet after the governors news conference, NCDHHS urged businesses to be mindful of social distancing and to take steps to keep customers safe.

Officials said that so far there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 being spread community member to community member.
Three teams from Gael-Cholaiste Chill Dara school in Naas went to Trinity College recently to compete in the Bank of Irelands Money Smarts Challenge. Two teams finished in second and fifth place of in the event which attracted some 55 teams.

The second placed team now progress to the event final and have a chance to win 25,000 for the school. This was originally due to take place in the Citywest hotel on April 2.

The competition is in its first year and participants attend financial wellbeing sessions and then endeavour to put what they learnt into practice in the afternoon in a quiz. The quiz questions are mostly money related, aimed at helping students to understand more about money management. There have been 18 regional finals all over the country and the two teams with the highest scores from every regional final attend the final.

The other two teams that participated from Gael-Cholaiste Chill Dara were Lonela Cioara, Heidi Armstrong, Tara Ni Reachtain and Roisin Ni Ghallchoir (who finished 5th on the day), and also Sofie Ni Fhlannagain, Conor O Muilleoir, Catherine Seoige and Alex O Broin.

Pictured are the finalists from Gael-Cholaiste Chill Dara: Saoirse Ni Mhordha, Conor Laarhoven Goode, Cathal O Briain and Killian O hAinle.
BATON ROUGE, La. - Louisiana Department of Corrections inmates donated more than $11,000 to a museum of African American history in Baton Rouge that was founded by a beloved community activist who was brutally killed last year.

WAFB reported Thursday that the inmates gave $11,350 to the Odell S. Williams African-American Museum, which was founded by Sadie Roberts-Joseph in 2001 and is named after a Baton Rouge educator. The 75-year-old Roberts-Joseph was found dead in July 2019 in the trunk of a car, shocking the Baton Rouge community where she was widely respected as a community activist. The coroner said she was suffocated. Police later arrested a man who had been renting from her and was behind on rent.

Sadie Robert-Josephs son and daughter received the check and discussed plans they have for the museum such as adding a library and expanding outreach. The museum is currently closed, but they hope to have a grand reopening in June. Inmates from the department were also able to take a tour through the museum.

This is such a blessing. This museum meant so much to our mother, and it means so much to us to have these incarcerated individuals dig deep and give so much to keep this museum open, said Robert-Josephs daughter, Angela Roberts Machen.

The museum features African art, exhibits on growing cotton and black inventors as well as a 1953 bus from the period of civil rights boycotts in Baton Rouge. It also has prominent exhibits on President Barack Obama, whose presidency Roberts-Joseph cited as an inspiration to children.

She was also a constant presence at community events, and at events promoting black history or awareness.

The states top prison official, Jimmy Le Blanc, praised the inmates for their donation.

Our inmate organizations are very generous, donating money each year to worthy causes. Im very proud of them for helping the family continue the legacy of Ms. Sadie, said Le Blanc.
New Delhi, March 15 : SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk who thinks the new coronavirus (COVID-19) debate is just 'dumb,' on Sunday said that the unnecessary fear over the pandemic is not good for the humanity.

"Fear is the mind-killer," Musk tweeted.

Amid the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus which has killed nearly 5,000 people in the world, Musk appears to be dancing to his own tune, underplaying the danger from the threat time and again.

"Please tell your 32 million followers to listen to social distancing recommendations," reacted one Musk follower.

Another tweeted: "Hospitals are going to need help, they will be overwhelmed soon. Instead of this horse shit, help spread that message and mobilise resources for our healthcare workers who will desperately need them in coming days." In a memo to SpaceX employees last week, Musk said that they were far less likely to die from COVID-19 than car crashes.

Musk added in the email that he does not think COVID-19 is "within the top 100 health risks in the United States".

In the US, over 1,600 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus have been reported, while more than 40 people have died due to the disease caused by the virus.

According to a report in The New York Times that cited an estimate by health officials, if the spread of the novel coronavirus is not contained soon, between 160 million and 214 million Americans may become infected in the worst case scenario.

This is not the first time Musk has underplayed the danger from COVID-19.

In a tweet last week, he said that "the coronavirus panic is dumb." "Virality of CoV-19 is overstated due to conflating diagnosis date with contraction date & over-extrapolating exponential growth, which is never what happens in reality. Keep extrapolating & virus will exceed mass of known universe," the tech billionaire reasoned.

"Fatality rate also greatly overstated. Because there are so few test kits, those who die with respiratory symptoms are tested for C19, but those with minor symptoms are usually not. Prevalence of coronaviruses & other colds in general population is very high," Musk said.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Peru is prohibiting cruise ships from docking at its ports for at least 30 days from Monday to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, the government said Sunday.

The ban comes with local press reporting that the government is expected to announce a nationwide home-stay quarantine.

Major global cruise lines have already announced they were suspending voyages, and some countries including India have also blocked the vessels. Some cruise ships were quarantined, including in Japan, California and Chile, because of new coronavirus infections.

So far, 43 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Peru since the South American country's first case on March 6.

The government said its ban on cruise ship visits could be extended beyond 30 days as new information comes in on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Peru on Thursday had announced it was suspending the arrival of flights from Europe and Asia, which also goes into effect on Monday for an initial 30-day period.

On Wednesday, it declared a health emergency for 90 days, including orders that travelers from China, Italy, France and Spain undergo 14 days of self-isolation.

It also banned public gathering of more than 300 people, and suspended classes at schools and universities.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2020 AFP
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 15:15:53|Editor: huaxia

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URUMQI, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China will hand out free masks to students upon the start of the new semester, which has been delayed by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

About 510,000 students in the final years of senior, junior and vocational schools will be the first to return in Xinjiang on March 16, according to the regional bureau of education.

Other students in the region are scheduled to return on March 23, except for kindergartens and universities, whose dates of reopening are yet to be announced.

Local authorities said local schools would arrange small classes for returning students, suspend all gatherings and adopt close-off management to minimize infection risks.

The students' first class this semester will be about epidemic control and prevention and healthy lifestyles, the officials said.

Liu Jian, deputy head of the bureau, said local governments are busy preparing prevention and control materials, including masks, which will soon be distributed to schools. Local schools are allowed to moderately increase class hours, given the delayed start of the semester.

Xinjiang has reported no new COVID-19 cases for 26 consecutive days, and its final COVID-19 patient was discharged from hospital after recovery on March 8.
Melissa Unger and Meg Niemi

Unger is the executive director of SEIU Local 503. Niemi is the president of SEIU Local 49.The two chapters collectively represent 87,000 health care, public services and property services workers in Oregon and Southwest Washington.

Over the last few weeks, preparations to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Oregon have laid bare two important points about modern life: many working people are in precarious financial situations, unable to shoulder the impact of missing a day or two at work; and many employers fail to provide the leave, supplies and flexibility people need to handle being sick.

These issues are nothing new. Every flu season, working people in Oregon are forced to decide between health and financial security. That could mean showing up to work sick or losing income to stay at home with a sick child. In the health care industry, it means working while sick around vulnerable populations. These day-to-day struggles are common and reveal how deeply unprepared we are for a pandemic.

Weve all heard the advice. If youre sick, stay home. But for many Oregonians who do not have paid sick leave, its not that simple. In 2015, our unions and other groups worked to change the law so that (almost) all workers have up to 40 hours of paid sick leave. But if you work for a small business or youre self employed, these protections dont apply. And 40 hours doesnt cover the recommended quarantine time for exposure to coronavirus  14 days or 80 hours of work time for a 9-to-5 job with a weekend.

Last month, a few dozen employees at a Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Hillsboro were quarantined for 14 days after a patient tested positive for coronavirus. We appreciated how Kaiser Permanente partnered with our union to make sure these employees could be safely away from work without having to worry about missing a paycheck.

However, we are hearing from union members in hospitals, homecare, nursing homes and other health care facilities that if the rate of infection climbs, they fear escalating problems around inadequate supplies and staffing shortages. Where people have a union, they are more likely to have good leave policies as well as contract provisions around supplies and staffing. But in non-union jobs, employees may not have any protections in place.

Share your opinion Submit your essay of 500-700 words on a highly topical issue or a theme of particular relevance to the Pacific Northwest, Oregon and the Portland area to commentary@oregonian.com. Please include your email and phone number for verification.

One example of the gap between union and non-union workplaces is Portland International Airport, a high-risk area for the spread of disease. Non-union subcontractors who clean airplanes and airline spaces at the airport do not receive the same leave benefits, staffing level commitments and health care coverage as their union counterparts. Without these policies in place, workers and travelers could be put at greater risk by an employee who is forced to come to work sick.

Its not just work that impacts people. When schools close, as one in Lake Oswego did in early March, a familys life can be upended. Unable to pay for childcare, many working people will use up their leave and take a hit in their paychecks if schools are closed for more than a week. Its no wonder that child care is one of the top concerns weve heard from members of our unions in recent weeks.

The bottom line is that we lack the workplace policies needed to deal with a pandemic. As a result, people are having to weigh their personal financial security against public health  a decision that only a bad system would ask people to make. Employers and policymakers have a responsibility to solve this problem, both in the short-term as the nation deals with the coronavirus, but also in the long-term as these issues remain a part of life for working families across the country.
Ayesha Singh By

Express News Service

More pauses and deeper breathes. This may be divine for some but daunting for others. But whoever has tasted silence and stillness, knows its worth. Thirty-year-old Shally Makin from Dehradun is a travelling monk who through her company, RootsVida, curates experiences that inspire tranquillity in travel. No wonder then her most popular segment has been the Do Nothing Vacations that encourage you to actively hibernate. She does the planning, you do the reposing.

Gaze at the stars, hear the rocks kerplunk, smell the petrichor, witness hooting owls, the purring wild cats, the screeching monkeys, the muttering rabbits, the burbling of water from streams, and the solace of psithurism. Thats what these vacations are about. The maiden Do Nothing trip was a two-day excursion to Pangot, a little village in Uttarakhand. There was no schedule and no expectations. All travellers docked inside their rooms, ordered local food, slept or read. At night, a bonfire was organised around which they revelled in jovial banter, joked, sang and danced. The idea of this kind of vacation sprung when I met people on trips who didnt want to go sightseeing or adventure.

They wanted a comfortable bed in a safe hotel. This highlighted a social trend wherein travellers wanted to get away and do nothing, says Makin, a Chemistry graduate from Delhi University, who has made that happen for many people. Her next Do Nothing trip is to the Goat Village, Nag Tibba, Uttarakhand. There is no itinerary, no temple sprawls or shopping sprees. Instead you can try your hand at farming and engage with the local community.

At night when the stars pop up, you can lie on your back and imagine the many possible universes out there. Listen to Garhwali folk music along with savouring local dinner. If you wish to, you can partake in the community kitchen, or even try a mud bath. All these are hyper-local engagements that can be customisable. Makin has tried to make her Do Nothing offerings as fulfilling as possible. For starters, she takes people to only offbeat trails. Secondly, its important to her that the places benefit as much as the people visiting them. For this, she connects urban travellers with indigenous traditions and lifestyle practices facilitating a closer understanding of the many tribes of India. Her company name, if broken down, roots stand for ancient traditions and vida in Spanish means life. She endorses the local way of stress-free, simple life through her travel company.

Besides the Do Nothing concept, there are other interesting categories, one such being Escape Trips. In this, the destination is not revealed to the traveller. Anticipation and wonderment lead to great animation as it activates the pleasure centres in the brain. We once took our travellers to Chakrata. They had no idea till the last minute where we were headed. Everybody was super excited. They kept guessing, says Makin.There is also the Back to Nature: The Yoga Retreat curated vacations wherein you head to the mountains and retreat in a camp amidst the sublimity of nature. Its all about penetrating your consciousness to find equilibrium. Weve tried packing in a lot of things into our vacation often returning more tired than before. Maybe its time to try a do-nothing holiday.

Upcoming trips

Do Nothing Vacation Goat Village, Nag Tibba

Dates: Mid-March

Look forward to: Lots of sleep, local food, stargazing, some farming if you fancy Bhutan- Happier Himalayan Villages

Dates: April and November 12-20

Look forward to: Peaceful chants, majestic monasteries

The Folk Tales of Pushkar Dates: November 911 Look forward to: A road trip, largest camel fair, cultural engagement
Organisers of the citys longest-running Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest said they will defy the governments call to end public assemblies in the wake of the Covid-19 danger.

Those organising the Bilal Bagh protest, which entered its 37th day on Sunday, have no intentions of budging, despite police pressure to disband.

To shut this place down means defeat for the anti-CAA movement. We are fighting for our very future, an organiser said. Coronavirus might kill only some of the time, but the BJPs actions threaten to do more damage.

On March 14, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa announced the decision to close all malls, cinema theatres, multiplexes, exhibition halls, pubs and any public gatherings like marriages and conferences for one week to curb the spread of the virus.

Track live updates on the coronavirus here

One of Bilal Baghs four frontal organisers defended the move to continue, saying novel methods are enacted to ensure safety and hygiene. They said they are freely distributing homemade hand sterilisers  with ethanol and glycerin as raw materials  to hundreds of people at the site.

Wont shut protest site, says police chief

City police commissioner Bhaskar Rao said he has no intentions of intervening to close down the site. It (Bilal Bagh) was never a priority for me and frankly, we have other priorities such as limiting the spread of coronavirus in the city, he said.

When pressed about the possibility that Bilal Bagh could become a hub of infection, Rao said he would take action when the protest threatens law and order.

Pitched the same question at Bilal Bagh, where the atmosphere was one of determination, emergency physician volunteer Dr Danish Ahmed downplayed the seriousness of the disease. We feel the BJP is making a mountain out of a molehill.

Protesters said buying branded hand sanitisers is out of the question due to their limited stock and high cost.

Our homemade solution comes to about Rs 50 per 500 ml, an organiser said.

Dr Ahmed added they are planning to distribute handmade face masks with tissue paper and rubber from Monday, while holding awareness sessions on preventing the Covid-19 infection.
WASHINGTON  China has become a popular scapegoat for the coronavirus pandemic, a narrative that has been encouraged by some of President Trumps supporters. President Trump must take China on, wrote the Fox News primetime anchor Laura Ingraham on Twitter, asserting that they created this health crisis.

The disease did appear to originate in China, at a wet market  where meat, fish and live animals are sold  in Hubei province. And at first, China did attempt to downplay the severity of the disease caused by the coronavirus, COVID-19, making it difficult for both its own citizens and the rest of the world to grasp that an epidemic was at hand.

Though it has apparently contained the outbreak since, some in the United States have persisted in blaming China for the entire pandemic, including by calling it the Wuhan coronavirus, a designation that has widely been deemed racist.

But there are many lessons to be learned from how Beijing has responded to the disease, according to the top World Health Organization epidemiologist working on the coronavirus response there. He says that is especially the case for the United States because much of that response was learned from American public health officials.

If I get COVID, Im going to China, said Bruce Aylward, MD, a Canadian epidemiologist who led the WHO team on the ground in February, when the coronavirus was exploding in China. They know how to keep people alive."

Bruce Aylward of the World Health Organization during a press conference in Beijing on Feb. 24 about China's response to COVID-19. (Sam McNeil/AP)

Aylward spoke Friday to Yahoo News from WHO headquarters in Geneva, where he is based.

After returning from China, he and his colleagues published a report that praised the nation of 1.4 billion for perhaps the most ambitious, agile and aggressive disease containment effort in history.

Some in the United States have bristled at what they see as the overly deferential attitude of the WHO and other international organizations to Beijings communist masters. If these organizations arent going to look out for the broader global interests, and are going to instead praise authoritarian regimes, it begs the question if its time to reevaluate our participation in them, said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, at a recent congressional hearing on the coronavirus.

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Aylward has pushed back on such criticisms, arguing that there is much to learn from China  and much to be replicated. And he says that, despite tensions between Beijing and Washington over trade, Chinese epidemiologists learned in large part from their American counterparts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Theyre following the guidance the U.S. gives the world, he said, noting that it was the fabled Epidemic Intelligence Service, an arm of the CDC, that taught China and many other nations how to track, contain and eradicate infectious diseases. And he praised Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health and Anne Schuchat of the CDC. Both are members of the White House coronavirus task force.

History aside, Aylward said China recognized far more quickly than people realized that the coronavirus had the potential to kill thousands. Theres nothing going to hold it back. Its gonna go, he described the approach of authorities there. But we can find the cases and isolate them. He added that for China, the consequences were too high  and the consequences were human life.

A security guard at the entrance to an alley in Beijing on Feb. 20. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images)

Many in the United States are coming around to a similar conclusion, though some of Trumps supporters on the right continue to insist that the coronavirus is either a hoax or a minor disease being amplified by the presidents political adversaries. Trump himself appears to be taking the outbreak more seriously after weeks of complaining about its economic and political effects.

On Friday he declared a national emergency, signaling an escalation of the fight.

Aylward said that although respiratory illnesses like the common flu usually spread too quickly to track, the Chinese made a bold decision: We gotta find every case, super-fast. Despite the difficulty of doing so with a fast-moving virus that seems to spread easily and linger on surfaces, they implemented a contact tracing system that identified potentially ill people.

The severely ill were then isolated for treatment, while others were quarantined and monitored. Everybody became a screener, Aylward said, and use of technology was also turbocharged. This allowed the Chinese to not waste their tests but to use them on people who were genuinely ill, thus allowing them to uncover  and cut off  transmission chains.

The United States has not been able to find those transmission chains just yet because testing has been slow to get going, with only about 11,000 people tested across the country. The CDC tested only 77 people in the first half of this week.

Nurses in an ICU ward for coronavirus patients in Wuhan, China, on Feb. 22. (Xiao Yijiu/Xinhua via AP)

Aylward said that nothing about the Chinese response would be too difficult to do in the United States, and the severity and scope of the measures that have been taken there have sometimes been overblown in the media. Having witnessed that response firsthand, he said it was little like the heavy-handed lockdown described by Cruz and others.

Beijing took a pragmatic approach, Aylward said. They didnt panic. At the same time, public health officials there made clear that the danger was real.

And if he is optimistic about China, he is just as optimistic about the United States, praising the phenomenal ingenuity of the American people, which, after all, helped eradicate global epidemics like polio. And Fauci, together with other American scientists, was central to the effort to contain the ravages of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s and 1990s.

You guys are really good at this stuff, Aylward said.

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People around the world are reacting to the new and dangerous threat of the coronavirus in their own unique ways. But there is one response that has seemingly transcended borders and cultures: the panic buying of toilet paper.

Images of people fighting in supermarkets to grab armfuls of loo roll have spread across social media. In Australia, the UK and the US  to name a few  masses of people are rushing to stock up.

But few people have come up with a good reason for the stockpiling  even those taking part. The explanation is more complicated than might first appear, according to the professor who literally wrote the book on the psychology of pandemics.

Why toilet paper? It doesnt seem logical, does it? Because its not gonna stop you from getting infected, said Dr Steven Taylor, author of the 2019 book 'The Psychology of Pandemics'.

One thing that happens during pandemics, when people are threatened with infection, is that their sensitivity to disgust increases. They are more likely to experience the emotion of disgust and are motivated to avoid that, he told The Independent.

Disgust is like an alarm mechanism that warns you to avoid some contamination. So if I see a hand railing covered in saliva Im not gonna touch it, Im gonna feel disgust. And that keeps us safe.

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

So there is a very tight connection between fear of getting infected and disgust. And what better tool for eliminating disgusting material than toilet paper. I think this is how it became a conditioned symbol of safety, he said.

Stockpiling of general items can be partly explained by peoples need to feel like they are prepared, according to Dr Taylor, who is a professor and clinical psychologist at the University of British Columbia.

When youre presented with a pandemic, a big new, scary thing, and the government is telling us that we dont need to do anything special to deal with it  just wash your hands and so on  people feel the need to do something to prepare. So people are stocking up as a way of preparing themselves. When people do that, it's inevitable that some people are going to over shop.

The potency of toilet paper as a symbol of preparedness and safety is given an added by social media  there is a snowballing effect.

For a start, toilet paper  its big and bulky and distinctive, so people notice it more. And then it starts to acquire an increasing psychological value to people. Its interesting when you talk to these shoppers when they leave the grocery store with arms full of toilet paper, and you ask them why they are doing it, some of them say: I dont know, everyone else was.

Fear is very contagious. So when those sorts of things go viral, when you see people around you buying things in a panicky way, its going to make you feel more anxious. We pick up cues from other people, he explained.

There is a historic precedent for stockpiling during pandemics, too. During the 1918 Spanish influenza outbreak people hoarded stocks of Vicks VapoRub, according to Dr Taylor.

Alas, neither VapoRub or toilet paper will do much to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Those who came to the U.S. from abroad Saturday were met with chaos as new coronavirus screenings snarled airports around the country, forcing travelers into overcrowded lines for hours.

Beth Kander, 38, returned from France to a "madhouse" at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, where she spent about five hours going from line to line. Kander told NBC News Sunday that her flight was only alerted to the screenings about an hour before landing.

"When we were an hour out from landing, the captain made an announcement, and it created a lot of anxiety," Kander said. "He said you will not be allowed to get off a plane, a U.S. official will board and there will be a coronavirus update."

Only an official never boarded the plane, Kander told NBC News. Instead the captain apologized, saying information "keeps shifting" and that they would get more information after they deplaned.

Image: People wait to check in their luggage at Los Angeles International Airport on March 14, 2020. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP)

Passengers were packed into customs lines, asked to fill out forms, but never told what the screening process would be or when it would end. Eventually they were given pamphlets about self-quarantine, asked to "stay put" for 14 days and asked for their contact information, she said.

There was no line or area to wait for those who might be immunocompromised, Kander said.

"I think the most dangerous part of my trip was being in that airport with all those people in the five hours that we had to wait," Kander said.

Americans have been forced to cut vacations short and re-book flights home this weekend as Europe continues to lock down towns and cities amid the spread of coronavirus. Additionally, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he would ban many foreign travelers from Europe for the next 30 days.

OHare airport was only one of many airports where passengers returning from abroad were forced into packed lines, antithetical from the call for social distancing in an effort to slow the spread coronavirus.

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Travelers also reported overcrowding at airports in New York City, Los Angeles and Dallas-Fort Worth upon their returns.

The Department of Homeland Security was aware of the issue and attempting to add additional screening capacity to expedite the customs process, according to a tweet from DHS Acting Secretary Chad Wolf.

I understand this is very stressful, Wolf said. In these unprecedented times, we ask for your patience. It currently takes ~60 seconds for medical professionals to screen each passenger. We will be increasing capacity but the health and safety of the American public is first & foremost.

Although cases seem to be on the decline in Mainland China, where the outbreak began, the number of patients who have contracted coronavirus have surged across the world. More than 2,900 cases have been confirmed in the U.S. and at least 60 people have died as of Sunday morning.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker criticized Trump and his administration on Twitter as the new screenings were implemented for those returning to the U.S. from abroad. The governor called the lines at O'Hare unacceptable, adding that Twitter appeared to be the only communication medium the president pays attention to.

The federal government needs to get its s@#t together. NOW, Pritzker wrote.

Pritkzer told NBC News Chuck Todd on Meet the Press Sunday that the administration should have increased Customs and Border Protection staff in recognition that an influx of people would arrive in fear that all travel between the U.S. and Europe would be cut off.

Today, its going to be even worse, Pritzker said. There are larger numbers of flights with more people coming and they seem completely unprepared.

Instead of reassurance that the situation would be handled, Pritzker said that a White House staffer called Saturday night to scold him over the tweets.

"I got a call at 11 last night from a White House staffer who yelled at me about the tweet," Pritzker said. "Thats what I got.
In a move intended to give Americans greater control over their medical information, the Trump administration announced broad new rules last week that will allow people for the first time to use apps of their choice to retrieve data like their blood test results directly from their health providers.

The Department of Health and Human Services said the new system was intended to make it as easy for people to manage their health care on smartphones as it is for them to use apps to manage their finances.

Giving people access to their medical records via mobile apps is a major milestone for patient rights, even as it may heighten risks to patient privacy.

Prominent organizations like the American Medical Association have warned that, without accompanying federal safeguards, the new rules could expose people who share their diagnoses and other intimate medical details with consumer apps to serious data abuses.

Although Americans have had the legal right to obtain a copy of their personal health information for two decades, many people face obstacles in getting that data from providers.

Some physicians still require patients to pick up computer disks  or even photocopies  of their records in person. Some medical centers use online portals that offer access to basic health data, like immunizations, but often do not include information like doctors consultation notes that might help patients better understand their conditions and track their progress.

The new rules are intended to shift that power imbalance toward the patient.

They will for first the time require doctors and medical centers to send a core set of medical data directly to third-party apps, like Apples Health Records, after a patient has authorized the information exchange. In addition to lab test results and vital signs, the data will include clinical notes about a patients surgeries, hospital stays, imaging tests and pathology results.

Dr. Don Rucker, the federal health departments national coordinator for health information technology said access to medical data through consumer apps would give people more detailed insights into their health and greater choices over their health care. He compared it to ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft that let consumers make pricing choices in advance.

We as patients have not gotten really anywhere near the benefits from modern computing that we could or should get, Rucker said. The ability of smartphones to take the care with you, to be continuous, to be engaging, is going to allow totally different ways of thinking about chronic illness.

Jackie Nelson, a retired police evidence officer in Ormond Beach, Fla., said she hoped the new rules would eliminate the kinds of obstacles she recently experienced. When she moved from Texas, she said, her doctor there asked her to pay an exorbitant fee  more than $1,000  to provide her with a copy of her medical records.

People like myself, Im a senior, Im on Social Security  I dont have a thousand dollars to pay for my records, said Nelson, who is managing several health conditions. She said she hoped the new data-access rules would stop doctors from withholding patients data and make the doctor accountable for what they are doing.

Health regulators are opening patient access to their medical records against a backdrop of a virtual gold rush for Americans health data by hundreds of companies. So many entities have access to Americans medical records  including identifiable medical data and pseudonymous files that track people by ID codes  that it can seem easier for third parties to acquire patient data than patients themselves.

Dozens of professional medical organizations and health industry groups have objected to the rules, warning that people who share sensitive medical record details  such as data on depression, cancer or sexual health  with apps could face major privacy invasions.

That is because federal privacy protections, which limit how health providers and insurers may use and share medical records, no longer apply once patients transfer their data to consumer apps.

Apps frequently do not provide patients with clear terms of how that data will be used  licensing patients data for marketing purposes, leasing or lending aggregated personal information to third parties, or outright selling it, Dr. James Madara, the chief executive of the American Medical Association, wrote in public comments to health regulators last year. These practices jeopardize patient privacy, commoditize an individuals most sensitive information, and threaten patient willingness to utilize technology to manage their health.

Rucker, the health departments technology coordinator, said the new rules take patient privacy into account. When patients initiate the data-sharing process with apps, he said, their providers will be able to inform them about privacy risks.

But even federal health regulators acknowledge the privacy risks. A graphic on patient data rights on the health agencys website warns: Be careful when sending your health information to a mobile application because health providers are no longer responsible for the security of your health information after it is sent to a third party.

The rules are part of a federal effort to centralize medical data online in the hopes of helping doctors get a fuller picture of patient health and enabling patients to make more informed treatment choices.

One of the rules requires vendors of electronic health records to adopt software  known as application programming interfaces, or APIs  to enable providers to send medical record data directly to patient-authorized apps. Another rule similarly requires Medicare and Medicaid plans to adopt APIs. That software will enable people to use apps to get their insurance claims and benefit information.

Health providers and health record vendors will have two years to comply with the API requirements. Electronic health record vendors that impede such data-sharing  a practice called information blocking  could be fined up to $1 million per violation. Doctors accused of information blocking could be subject to federal investigation.

Health technology executives welcomed the new requirements, but said the initial data available to patients through apps would be limited to more basic information like prescription drug history  and not data like radiology images.

Its a decent amount of data if youre relatively healthy and you just want to check on what your lab test results were, said Deven McGraw, the chief regulatory officer at Ciitizen, a startup that helps people obtain and centralize medical records from all their providers. But its not enough data if youre really sick and you need that record.

But people who choose to send their sensitive medical data to consumer apps will largely be left on their own as far as patient privacy is concerned. While Apple has said that its Health Records app does not have access to users medical information because it is encrypted and stored on their iPhones, other apps may share or sell patient data.

Rucker said people would choose the health data app brands they trusted.

Just like with banks, just like with brokerage firms, people will go to organizations they trust with their data, he said. We dont put our money into, you know, some guy running a bank out of a pickup truck on the corner. We go to someone who has a clear brand.

Natasha Singer is a New York Times writer.




By Anna J. Park







SK Telecom plans to broadcast its general meeting of shareholders later this month live via an online platform for the first time ever.







The decision was made to ensure that the quorum of the general meeting would be satisfied, as many people cannot not attend due to concerns over the COVID-19 outbreak.







During the meeting slated to be held March. 26, shareholders will be able to watch the proceedings in real-time and question the board of directors.







Shareholders who want to participate can register from March. 16 to 24 on the company's official website. Comments or questions for management can also be preregistered through the online platform.







It is also possible to attend the offline meeting. Korea's largest mobile career said it would take careful measures to check the condition of attendees, including temperature screening, to help prevent any further spread of the virus.







Samsung Electronics also asked shareholders to exercise their voting rights through an e-voting system for its meeting, slated to be held Wednesday.


Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said that the Government will try, through the measures included as part of the state of emergency, to limit as much as possible the impact on the citizens' rights and freedoms.

"Any measure included as part of the state of emergency will be a measure we consider absolutely necessary and we'll try to limit to the maximum the possible impact on rights and freedoms within the state of emergency," Ludovic Orban told an online press conference on Sunday.The prime minister said that, following the announcement of President Klaus Iohannis regarding the establishment of the state of emergency, he asked the ministers to come up with proposals for measures to be included in the plan for the presidential decree."We have seen a lot of information circulated irresponsibly about possible measures to be taken as part of the state of emergency. At the request of the president, I asked each relevant minister who needs special measures to be included in the measure plan for the presidential decree, by which the state of emergency is established, to come with these measures, and I want to assure the Romanian citizens that we will take only those measures that are absolutely necessary. I will give you only a few examples. It is known that we need substances, medicines, protection equipment, which are currently obtained with great difficulty, due to the increased demand from all states for such materials. We need quick, immediate procurement procedures, through direct negotiation, whenever we have the possibility to conclude contracts to get such products, equipment, which are absolutely necessary for the functioning of the entire apparatus that is fighting against this virus," said Orban.He added that measures are also needed to strengthen all institutions that are at the forefront of the battle."[We plan measures for] strengthening public health directorates, strengthening all structures within the Ministry of Interior, strengthening the capacity of hospitals to receive patients and provide the health services that are absolutely needed," said Orban.The prime minister anticipated that another measure that can be taken, after a very careful study, is the measure "to limit the price increases for medicines and such products, which are very much sought right now, so as not to allow speculation with these products.""And there is this possibility to cap prices on certain absolutely necessary products, such as masks, gloves, protection equipment, disinfectants, biocides and other product categories," said Orban.
Ever since the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 was first reported from China's Wuhan city, the virus has spread to more than 166 countries and territories around the world.

Ever since the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 was first reported from China's Wuhan city, the virus has spread to more than 166 countries and territories around the world, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU). The World Health Organisation declared the virus as a global pandemic on 11 March.

The United States declared a state of emergency 13 March as many European countries went on a war footing amid mounting deaths as the world mobilized to fight the widening coronavirus pandemic. At the White House, where President Donald 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. We will defeat this threat, Trump told a news conference. When America is tested, America rises to the occasion.

The fallout from the disease spread across the Pacific, 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. The virus has infected nearly 253,000 people across the world and the death toll exceeds 10,400.

Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak

In India, which is the second-most populated country in the world, the maximum number of cases have been reported in the state of Maharashtra. Suspected coronavirus cases have also been reported in multiple cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Patna.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has said that the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases has risen to 258. Of the total 258, 219 are Indian nationals and 39 are foreigners. So far, four deaths have been reported.

However, as per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)'s data released on Friday, 236 individuals have been tested positive among suspected cases and contacts of known positive cases. A total of 15,404 samples from 14,514 individuals have been tested for SARS-CoV2 as on March 20 till 6 pm, the apex health research body said.

Among the 258 figures of coronavirus cases are 39 foreign nationals, including 17 from Italy, three from the Philippines, two from the UK, one each belonging to Canada, Indonesia, and Singapore.

The figure also includes four deaths reported from Delhi, Karnataka, Punjab, and Maharashtra so far.

Here's a state-wise list of confirmed cases in India so far:

Sr No Name of State / UT Total Confirmed cases (Indian) Total Confirmed cases (Foreign) Cured/ Discharged Deaths 1 Andhra Pradesh 3 0 0 0 2 Chhattisgarh 1 0 0 0 3 Delhi 25 1 5 1 4 Gujarat 7 0 0 0 5 Haryana 3 14 0 0 6 Himachal Pradesh 2 0 0 0 7 Karnataka 15 0 1 1 8 Kerala 33 7 3 0 9 Madhya Pradesh 4 0 0 0 10 Maharashtra 49 3 0 1 11 Odisha 2 0 0 0 12 Puducherry 1 0 0 0 13 Punjab 2 0 0 1 14 Rajasthan 15 2 3 0 15 Tamil Nadu 3 0 1 0 16 Telengana 8 11 1 0 17 Chandigarh 1 0 0 0 18 Jammu and Kashmir 4 0 0 0 19 Ladakh 13 0 0 0 20 Uttar Pradesh 23 1 9 0 21 Uttarakhand 3 0 0 0 22 West Bengal 2 0 0 0 Total number of confirmed cases in India 219 39 23 4

The worlds richest nations poured unprecedented aid into the global economy as coronavirus cases ballooned in the new epicentre, Europe, with deaths in Italy outstripping those in mainland China, where the virus originated.

More than 252,700 people have been infected by the novel coronavirus across the world and 10,451 have died, with deaths in Italy surpassing the toll in China, where the outbreak began, according to a Reuters tally.

Infections have been reported by 183 countries outside China.

Data source: worldometer

List of 25 worst-affected countries:

Sr No Country/Other Total cases New cases Total deaths Total recovered 1 China 81,008 41 3,255 71,740 2 Italy 47,021 4,032 5,129 3 Spain 21,571 1,093 1,588 4 Germany 19,848 68 180 5 USA 19,650 267 264 147 6 Iran 19,644 1,433 6,745 7 France 12,612 450 1,587 8 South Korea 8,799 147 102 2,612 9 Switzerland 5,615 56 15 10 UK 3,983 177 65 11 Netherlands 2,994 106 2 12 Austria 2,649 6 9 13 Belgium 2,257 37 204 14 Norway 1,959 7 1 15 Sweden 1,639 16 16 16 Denmark 1,255 9 1 17 Canada 1,087 12 14 18 Malaysia 1,030 3 87 19 Australia 1,023 95 7 46 20 Portugal 1,020 6 5 21 Japan 1,007 35 215 22 Brazil 970 11 2 23 Czechia 833 4 24 Diamond Princess 712 8 567 25 Israel 705 1 15



With inputs from agencies
Newsfrom Japan

Bangkok, March 15 (Jiji Press)--Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. <3099> will close its Isetan department store housed in the Central World shopping center in central Bangkok at the end of August, according to informed sources.

The withdrawal from Bangkok is expected to be announced on Monday.

Isetan opened for business in Thailand in 1992 and has continued operations for 28 years.

The Japanese company's floor leasing contract with a real estate company under the wing of Thailand's Central Department Store group will expire on Aug. 31.

Isetan is believed to have decided not to renew the contract.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
There may be no known cases of community transmission of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in India yet, but with several infected people turning up for testing weeks after getting infected, experts believe it may be just a matter of time before people they interacted with test positive.

Undetected community transmission is among the main reasons why the spread of the disease went out of hand in Italy, Spain, Iran, and even in parts of the United States, stretching health care infrastructure and leading to the loss of lives. In India, where medical expertise and infrastructure in often in short supply or under stress, many fear that such an event could inflict greater damage. So what is India doing to contain and control community transmission?

The countrys apex biomedical research body, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), will begin its second batch of random testing of samples of influenza-like illnesses (ILI) for Covid-19 on Sunday at 51 of its viral research labs, to see if there is any evidence of community transmission of the viral disease in India.

Since the day India reported its first case of the disease on January 30, which was the day the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the outbreak to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, India has reported a total of 84 cases and two deaths.

While the numbers are small, and India has taken measures to contain the spread of infection, the situation is not fully under control. Since we are not into aggressive testing yet, lifting of random samples from its flu-like illness surveillance network is a good idea to check community transmission, said a senior health expert, requesting anonymity.

ICMRs network of viral research and diagnostic laboratories (VRDLs) across India are being utilised for the purpose. The first batch of testing was done with samples lifted between February 15 and 29 from 13 VRDLs, and tested for Covid-19 at its apex virology laboratory at National Institute of Virology in Pune. About 20 samples from each lab were randomly lifted of patients with febrile illnesses.

So far none of the samples have returned positive, suggesting no community transmission of Covid-19...we are lifting a select number of random samples that are doing surveillance work on influenza like illnesses, said Dr Nivedita Gupta, a scientist at ICMR. All throughout the year, these labs get samples for flu like illnesses so we decided to lift samples from there. If we find anything suggesting community transmission then our whole strategy will change towards disease management, she added.

A comprehensive package of measures is required for countries to prepare when there are no cases, sporadic cases, clusters of cases, community transmission, or countrywide transmission..., WHO says. Lav Aggarwal, joint secretary in the Union health ministry, said the most effective way to break disease transmission is by staying under home quarantine for 14 days for asymptomatic people.

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Germany will close its borders with France, Austria and Switzerland from Monday morning due to the coronavirus crisis, a source close to the matter told AFP on Sunday, confirming a report in German media.

The popular tabloid Bild had reported that the closures would take effect at 8:00 am (0700 GMT) on Monday, and claimed that goods and cross-border commuters would be exempt.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer met with state premiers from affected German regions on Sunday to agree the closures, the newspaper claimed.

The politicians aimed not only to slow the spread of the coronavirus, but also to curtail cross-border panic-buying, the report added.

While the German measures currently only apply to three countries, other neighbouring countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Denmark have also closed their borders or introduced severe restrictions.

Germany had until now resisted closing its borders so as not to endanger the Schengen agreement, which guarantees free travel between European countries and has already been put under strain in recent years by the migrant crisis and the threat of jihadist terrorism.

But with Europe now considered to be the epicentre of the pandemic, calls to close the border with France had begun to emerge shortly before Sunday's decision.

"The spread of the virus has to be slowed. The basic rule should be: anyone who doesn't urgently need to cross the border should not cross the border," said Thomas Strobl, interior minister of Baden-Wuerttemberg state, which borders France and Switzerland.

Germany is one of the countries worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with 3,795 confirmed infections on Saturday.

The latest official nationwide figures state that eight people have died due to the virus in Germany, though two further deaths were reported in Bavaria on Sunday.

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New Delhi, March 15 : The Group of Ministers on COVID-19 will be reviewing the preparation of the states to contain the pandemic on Monday as Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan reviewed the measures taken by states and Union Territories in terms of quarantine facilities, isolation wards, adequacy of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), masks, and testing kits.

The minister has directed for scaling up capacity of the 24x7 Control Room Helpline by adding more lines and additional human resource, to serve the queries on COVID-19 through the control room the number of the helpline is 011-23978046.

The Health Minister has advised the states to maintain hygiene and cleanliness in the hospitals and adhere to all laid down protocols for containment and management of COVID-19 and reviewed the steps taken by various states for social distancing in great detail.

The measures taken for avoiding non-essential travel and mass gatherings were also reviewed by the Health Minister.

"The Union Health Minister discussed the measures to be taken for strengthening capacities of the states, mass awareness among the people for prevention through social distancing, work-from-home. Management of quarantine facilities was discussed in detail at the review meeting," said a statement issued by the ministry.

The government has evacuated 218 Indian citizens from Milan, Italy who arrived in Delhi this morning. These evacuees are quarantined at the ITBP camp at Chhawla.

The third batch of 236 evacuees from Iran arrived on Sunday and they are being quarantined at the Indian Army facility in Jaisalmer. The passengers have already been tested prior to their departure from Iran and reported to be asymptomatic at present.

A total of 265 passengers coming from COVID-19 affected countries have been quarantined at Trivandrum, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

As of now, 23 new cases have been detected since the last update. Of these, 17 are from Maharashtra, 2 from Telangana, 1 from Rajasthan and 3 from Kerala. Both deceased patients in India had pre-existing co-morbidities.

Contact tracing of these cases is being rigorously pursued. So far, this has led to identification of more than 4,000 contacts who have been put under surveillance.

The Buldana patient, who was in a private hospital and whose sample was taken and who died on Saturday, has tested negative for COVID-19.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
A run on the deposit. A bank with almost nil liquidity to meet the demand of its deposit customers. A staggering NPA level and a complete drying up of capital (the most critical component in the banking business) -- that's the position of YES Bank, which had delayed its December quarterly result on excuse of "raising capital".

That capital never came but the moratorium by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the subsequent entry of new investors and declaration of its Q3 results on Saturday have now revealed the most horrifying picture about the bank's account statement.

Also read: Yes Bank Q3 net loss spikes to Rs 18,564 cr, its worst ever

A RUN ON DEPOSIT

YES Bank's deposit base had fallen considerably in the last five months as the bigger depositors possibly sensed that there was something amiss since the lender was struggling to raise capital.

YES Bank's deposit base crashed from Rs 2.09 lakh crore in September 2019 to Rs 1.65 lakh crore in December 2019. It has now gone further down to Rs 1.37 lakh crore as on March 04, 2020. That shows a complete break of trust in the bank.

Also read: Why did Yes Bank collapse? Here are 6 main reasons

LIQUIDITY RATIO: BREACHING RBI MARK

YES Bank's liquidity ratio was at 114 per cent in September 2019, which was slightly higher than the minimum requirement of 100 per cent. Banks need liquidity at all times to meet any withdrawals and redemptions, etc. YES Bank's liquidity ratio first crashed to 74.6 per cent in December 2019 and later to 20.9 per cent as on March 5, 2020.

COMMON EQUITY RATIO AT ROCK BOTTOM LEVEL

YES Bank has also breached the RBI mandated Common Equity (CETl) ratio, which fell to below 1 per cent (0.60 per cent) as on December 2019 end against the apex bank requirement of 7.375 per cent. The massive fall in the capital ratio is because of the provisioning requirement for fresh NPAs (non-performing assets) added in the quarter.

MASSIVE INCREASE IN NPAs

YES Bank's gross NPAs have pole-vaulted to 18.87 per cent -- the highest in the private banking space. Many public sector banks, though, reported such high levels of gross NPAs a few years ago. The absolute NPAs figure is at staggering Rs 40,709 crore. This is alarming as there would be another set of stressed loans that will increase the bad book to unsustainable levels.

Also Read: YES Bank rescue plan notified; Rs 50,000 cap to be lifted on March 18
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 21:11:34|Editor: xuxin

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KABUL, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The government of Afghanistan has decided to temporarily shut down educational centers and training courses as 16 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the militancy-plagued country.

Wahid Mayar, the spokesman for Public Health Ministry, said on Sunday that "16 positive cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed and of these, 10 are in the western Herat, three in the northern Samangan, one in Balkh, another in Kapisa and another has been detected in the central Daikundi province."

As a precautionary measure, the government has postponed for one month the start of educational year, a statement of Presidential Palace said.

It also noted that the pause could be extended, depending on the situation. The statement also called upon all the government and private entities to avoid holding conferences or seminars as a precautionary measure to contain the disease.

The educational year was supposed to start on March 22.

The Afghan government has already cancelled celebration of Nawroz or Afghan New Year in Persian calendar which falls on March 20.

The government has allocated 25 million U.S. dollars to combat the COVID-19 epidemic.
Outraged customers have threatened to boycott a UK supermarket after accusing it of hiking up its prices amid coronavirus panic buying.

British grocery store Budgens is charging 4 for a four roll pack of Andrex Supreme Quilts toilet roll, despite a 2.50 RRP sign on the packaging.

Sharing a snap of the loo roll from their local shop, one shocked customer tweeted: 'Disgusting behaviour at your Crystal Palace branch, raising the price of toilet roll. Anything to make a profit huh? #boycott #disgraceful.'

As the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK has risen above 1,000, panicked Brits have stripped shelves across Britain bare of essentials, including toilet paper.

British grocery store Budgens is charging 4 for a four roll pack of Andrex Supreme Quilts toilet roll, despite a 2.50 RRP sign on the packaging (pictured)

Sharing a snap of the loo roll from their local shop, one shocked customer (above) tweeted: 'Disgusting behaviour at your Crystal Palace branch, raising the price of toilet roll. Anything to make a profit huh? #boycott #disgraceful.'

While it's unclear if Budgens' Crystal Palace branch has always priced the product at 4, it is certainly much higher than the cost of the item at other UK stores.

Waitrose, for instance, sells the same pack for 2.25 - making Budgen's offering a staggering 60 per cent more costly.

ASDA sells the identical item for 2.50 - the recommended Andrex price - while Sainsbury's prices it at 2.75 a pack.

Budgens was also slammed on Facebook for their overpricing amid growing coronavirus fears.

One person posted on Facebook: 'Disgusting Budgens rip off: This is a photo taken inside a Budgens store in Crystal Palace, clearly cashing in on the current crisis.

Customers are pictured above in Savers, north London panic-buying toilet rolls in a bid to stockpile items

One woman, left, is seen handling almost 20 rolls of loo roll in the north London Savers, while shoppers are seen lining up to pay at an Aldi in Liverpool, right

Shoppers were seen lining up in a huge line to pay at an Aldi in Liverpool. The coronavirus crisis has sparked a run on shops for hand gel and toilet roll

The overpriced item comes as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK has risen above 1,000 and panicked Brits have stripped shelves across Britain bare of essentials, including toilet paper (above)

Budgens (pictured) was also slammed on Facebook for their overpricing amid growing coronavirus fears

Yet some social media users weren't shocked and didn't have too much of a problem with it

'This is NOT about the store trying to limit the amount their customers purchase, this is purely about greed.

'The type of person who would shop in this store is typically someone either cannot get to a bigger supermarket where the prices are generally lower, e.g. an elderly or immobile person, or those who just want to support a small local business.

'These are the people who keep this shop open and the staff who run it in their jobs.

'So why the owner feels it makes good business sense to cash in on the current crisis at a time when calls from many are imploring the public to calm down is simply beyond belief.'

Empty shelves at the ASDA in Dalgety Bay in Dunfermline, Scotland, on Sunday 15 March 2020

Shoppers panic-buying toilet rolls in Savers, north London, as cases of coronavirus increase

Empty hand wash and toiletry shelves are pictured above in Tesco in Surrey Quays Shopping Centre in London

According to The Sun, one shopper claimed that when she asked in the branch about the cost, she was told it was 'put up due to high demand'.

Last year, Budgens was selling a nine-pack of the same toilet paper for 4, the publication reports.

Budgens stores are independently owned and operated and so often have a different pricing strategy among branches. MailOnline has contacted Budgens for comment.

Across the UK, shoppers have been panic buying goods in fear that they would eventually run out.

The coronavirus crisis has sparked a run on shops for hand gel and toilet roll.

A joint letter from major supermarkets has assured customers that stockpiling is not necessary.

A young mother in Glasgow was reportedly in tears after not finding baby milk for her baby who was only three days old, Glasgow Live reported.

One woman said: 'I spoke to a young guy who told me that a woman with a three day old baby was in tears because she couldn't find powdered milk, it's just outrageous.

'He also said an old lady had been in earlier looking for toilet roll and there was none left, she said she only needed one roll and the poor guy couldn't do anything to help here because it was all gone'.

One woman was seen handling almost 20 rolls of loo roll in the north London Savers, while shoppers were seen lining up in a huge line to pay at an Aldi in Liverpool.

An almost empty aisie in a Tesco branch in Camelon near Falkirk, Scotland is pictured above. A joint letter from major supermarkets has assured customers that stockpiling is not necessary
Highlights Several morale-boosting initiatives have been launched on social media during the lockdown Italians took to their balconies to praise doctors and healthcare personnel On March 9, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced restrictions on movement

Italians took to their balconies to praise doctors and healthcare personnel for their efforts in fighting the coronavirus pandemic in the country, which has reported the maximum number of cases and deaths outside China, and raise spirits amid a national lockdown.

On Saturday while speaking to the media, Civil protection chief Angelo Borrelli said that the ranks of coronavirus patients who have recovered grew by 527 to 1,966.

The country has had the second-highest infection numbers in the world, after China where the pandemic originated in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, last December.

Since the 1.5 years Ive been living in this neighbourhood, this is the most vibrant I have seen this street! #Covid19italia #coronavirusitalia #litaliachiamo #flashmob pic.twitter.com/bdKgV68Chu  Yemi Adeyeye (@yemi_adeyeye) March 13, 2020

However, several morale-boosting initiatives have been launched on social media during the long hours people have had to spend at home.

The most recent of these initiatives came on Saturday as Italians took to their balconies and windows at midday to applaud the efforts of medics against the virus.

At 12 o'clock Italians went out on their balconies to clap their hands for a nationwide round of applause for the doctors and nurses who have been working relentlessly against #coronavirus #COVID19 video @Radio1VivaVoce #Italy #CoronavirusOutbreak pic.twitter.com/9E1rrWHpUF  Pierfrancesco Loreto (@pierloreto) March 14, 2020

In Romes San Giovanni neighbourhood, banners were hung from some buildings bearing slogans such as Everything is going to be fine.

The same motto has been displayed from the balcony of the office of Romes mayor Virginia Raggi at the Campidoglio palace.

Similar initiatives were carried out across other cities such as Milan, the capital of Lombardy, one of the worst-hit Italian areas in the pandemic, as well as Napoli in the south of the European country.

The President of Lazio Nicola Zingaretti, who has tested positive for the virus, also celebrated the people who had lined up to donate blood.

A heartfelt thanks to the Italians, we are proving once again that we are a great people, he posted to his Facebook account from his quarantine.

Lets continue like this because we need it. Applause and a huge thanks to you, Italian Health workers.

Over the past few days there have been a number of morale-boosting initiatives across Italy, with people singing the national anthem and traditional songs from their windows.

On March 9, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced restrictions on movement in a bid to contain the outbreak.

He called on Italians to stay at home and only leave in the case of extreme need, such as going to work or for shopping.

Also read | Italians sing in solidarity from their homes amid coronavirus lockdown. Watch
Im ready for my close-up, Ms. Gerwig!

OK, as a budget fund without acting credits, I shouldnt expect Greta Gerwig to put me in her next film  even if both she and I are Sacramento natives. But the time is coming  quite quickly  when I, Californias humble rainy-day fund, will stand at the center of our states civic stage, and my fellow Californians will finally have to pay me the attention I deserve.

Ive had to stand on the sidelines for the past decade, like the kid ignored on the edge of the dance floor, while Californians partied through one of the longest economic expansions in our history. Yes, its true that this expansion made me a billionaire many times over  in fact, if I were human, Id rank right between Elon Musk and Laurene Powell Jobs on those business magazine lists. But my real time is the bad times.

Oh, and look, what do we have here? The coronavirus and a monster stock market crash! Do I smell a recession and a huge drop in tax revenues? Because thats my cue! My role is to be the adult fund in the room, holding onto my cash instead of spending it constantly, like the thousands of other state government funds do.

I have to be stable and dependable because you Californians are so crazy and volatile. Your incomes, your business receipts and your investment earnings go up like rockets and down like, mmm, bad rockets, which then open up giant holes in the state budget. And its my job to rush in with the funds Ive been holding onto and plug those holes. But I must confess to being a bit nervous about the hole-plugging, because, well, Ive never done this before.

Yes, Proposition 58 created me in 2004, but in that decade, I was so empty that there was nothing in me for the state to tap when the Great Recession hit. In 2014, voters took steps to enhance me via Prop. 2, and ever since, Ive been filling up with money.

But Ive never had my funds drawn down in an economic downturn. Ive been sitting on the shelf so long  like an old can of soup or a two-term vice president  that no one can be sure Ill be able to do the job when Im needed. In fact, few people really know how I really work. Even my former significant others will tell you that, while I always insisted that I was truly there for them in our relationships, they eventually found me too complicated.

For one thing, while Im called the rainy-day fund, I actually encompass more than one account. Most of my billions are in what is called the Budget Stabilization Account, but I also have a few billion in the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties and the Safety Net Reserve. The Public School System Stabilization Account is also part of me, but theres not much in it, with education instead depending on local school district reserves. (Good luck with that, kids!)

Like so much else in California, Im governed by formulas. The gist of me is that Im supposed to get 1.5% percent of the states general revenues each year. I also store away more money during stock market booms, when capital gains tax revenues peak. My success at storing money has really surprised the state. Back in 2014, when I was enhanced by the voters, the best guess is that I would be very small, gathering maybe $1 billion a year. But Ive grown at more than three times that rate, making me as swole and buff as Schwarzenegger was before he went into politics. Today Im worth around $20 billion.

Why did I get so big? Former Gov. Jerry Brown and Gov. Gavin Newsom figured out that I was a great place to put money  and so they have put more money into me than required. They had their reasons. First, when you make a deposit into me, its easier to balance the budget, because of the way the budget formulas are written. Second, governors love the fact that the Legislature has so little power to access my funds. For the state to get at my money, the governor has to declare a state of emergency.

Governors also liked the fact that putting money in me made them seem fiscally prudent  giving them cover for new spending in other areas. In recent years, the biggest controversy about me has been whether Im too big  and whether I should be tapped to handle urgent needs like homelessness, housing and health care. But, as the economy takes a bad turn, Im steeling myself for contention  maybe even struggles and fights. I fear that, as huge as I am, I wont be able to handle a bigger recession, which could cost the state revenue of $100 billion or more over four years.

Even if we have just a teeny tiny recession, the rules for tapping my dollars are arcane and untested, and there are competing legal opinions about how they would work. For example, if state revenues collapse over a coronavirus cliff and abruptly go down $20 billion this year, the rules suggest that only half my money  $10 billion maybe  could be tapped to fill the hole in one budget year. The other half of the hole would have to be made up with budget cuts or tax increases.

One reason Im writing this is to manage expectations, and to let you know that I cant handle an economic crisis alone. I need the help of California and its lawmakers, who should start making budget plans for a recession right now. At the very least, they should redesign me for the future, so that I might be more easily and quickly used in an abrupt or dramatic downturn, like the one were about to go through. You have certain obligations from which you cant run. And my presence should keep reminding you of those obligations. To quote a favorite movie of mine, Fatal Attraction, I am not going to be ignored.

Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column for Zocalo Public Square.
LAS VEGAS, March 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MGM Resorts International (the "Company" or "MGM Resorts") announced that it will comply with the emergency order issued today by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. MGM National Harbor will temporarily close operations by midnight tonight.

"The health and wellbeing of our employees and guests are our most important priority. We will work hard to mitigate the impact this will have on our employees and communities," said MGM Chief Operating Officer and President Bill Hornbuckle. "We will reopen as soon as it is appropriate and safe to do so."

ABOUT MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL

MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) is an S&P 500 global entertainment company with national and international locations featuring best-in-class hotels and casinos, state-of-the-art meetings and conference spaces, incredible live and theatrical entertainment experiences, and an extensive array of restaurant, nightlife and retail offerings. MGM Resorts creates immersive, iconic experiences through its suite of Las Vegas-inspired brands. The MGM Resorts portfolio encompasses 29 unique hotel and destination gaming offerings including some of the most recognizable resort brands in the industry. Expanding throughout the U.S. and around the world, the company recently acquired the operations of Empire City Casino in New York and Hard Rock Rocksino in Ohio, which was rebranded as MGM Northfield Park. In 2018, MGM Resorts opened MGM Springfield in Massachusetts, MGM COTAI in Macau, and the first Bellagio-branded hotel in Shanghai. The over 80,000 global employees of MGM Resorts are proud of their company for being recognized as one of FORTUNE Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies. For more information visit us at www.mgmresorts.com.

Statements in this release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking" statements and "safe harbor statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and/or uncertainties, including those described in the Company's public filings with the SEC. The Company has based forward-looking statements on management's current expectations and assumptions and not on historical facts. Examples of these statements include, but are not limited to, the mitigation of the potential impacts of the coronavirus. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements include effects of economic conditions and market conditions in the markets in which the Company operates and competition with other destination travel locations throughout the United States and the world, the design, timing and costs of expansion projects, risks relating to international operations, permits, licenses, financings, approvals and other contingencies in connection with growth in new or existing jurisdictions and additional risks and uncertainties described in the Company's Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K reports (including all amendments to those reports). In providing forward-looking statements, the Company is not undertaking any duty or obligation to update these statements publicly as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. If the Company updates one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that it will make additional updates with respect to those other forward-looking statements.

MGM RESORTS CONTACTS:

BRIAN AHERN

Director of Media Relations

[email protected]

SOURCE MGM Resorts International

Related Links

http://www.mgmresorts.com




By Lee Min-hyung





Former Financial Services Commission Chairman Jun Kwang-woo

The coronavirus outbreak will likely trigger far worse economic damage than the 2008 global financial crisis, as the spread of COVID-19 is posing "broader and far-reaching" threats to the world economy by stifling both supply and demand in all industrial sectors, finance experts said Wednesday.



The looming crisis is fundamentally different and more threatening than the international banking collapse brought about by the U.S. subprime mortgage meltdown in that the virus is rapidly disrupting global supply chains and deactivating nearly all economic activity here and abroad, they noted.



"Chances are the virus-induced economic malaise will escalate into a bigger financial crisis than the one in 2008, as the epidemic appears to rapidly paralyze economic activity at home and abroad in an uncontrollable manner," former Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Jun Kwang-woo told The Korea Times.





Shin Je-yoon, an ex-chairman of the Financial Services Commission

Jun is a renowned financial expert, having worked at the World Bank for 12 years before becoming chief of the top regulator in 2007. Currently he leads the Institute for Global Economics.



The prediction comes amid growing worries over a global economic collapse after the U.S. stock market suffered its biggest drop Thursday (local time) since the "Black Monday" crash of 1987 as a reaction to escalating concerns over the economic fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak.



The local financial markets have also undergone turbulent ups and downs in recent weeks after the country started making global headlines as one of the worst virus-affected countries.



On Friday, the stock market suffered a sharp decline on the growing fears about the pandemic here and aboard. The Korea Exchange even activated a series of trading-halt measures to minimize volatility.





United Future Party lawmaker Choo Kyung-ho

"The ongoing virus-induced economic uncertainty may deepen and turn into a far more alarming crisis in that the virus is damaging not just the financial markets, but the real economy," Jun said.



The global economy is standing at a "very critical juncture" over the looming crisis, as the scale of its potential damage will be determined by how serious the virus hits the West in the next few weeks, according to the former top finance bureaucrat.






Four Congress MLAs in Gujarat have tendered their resignation to Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi ahead of the election to the four Rajya Sabha seats in the state to be held on March 26, prompting the opposition party to shift at least 24 MLAs to Jaipur on Sunday.

While the Congress said not a single "honest" MLA has resigned, state BJP president Jitu Vaghani said if the four legislators have indeed quit, the saffron party will win three seats in the Rajya Sabha elections.

Later, the Congress shifted around two dozen of its MLAs to Jaipur fearing poaching. These moves come as Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi confirmed on Sunday that four Congress MLAs had tendered their resignations on Saturday, all of which had been accepted.

Trivedi said he would disclose the names of the four MLAs during the Assembly session on Monday. "Four Congress MLAs tendered their resignation to me on Saturday, and I will announce their names in the Assembly tomorrow," the speaker said.

Vaghani said he was informed about the development by the speaker. "Trivedi said that the names of the MLAs who have resigned will be announced in the Assembly on Monday which is in session. MLAs of the Congress have resigned it seems. It means the BJP is winning three seats (in the upcoming Rajya Sabha election)," Vaghani told reporters.

He said the Congress can withdraw its candidates form the RS election fray till Monday. BJP minister Kunvarji Bavaliya claimed that several Congress MLAs who are not happy with their party are in touch with the BJP.

He said several such MLAs are likely to join the ruling party in coming days. "After the announcement of the Rajya Sabha election, several Congress MLAs who have been in touch with us say they are not happy (with their party). Even the MLAs whom the Congress high command could not contact (for shifting them outside Gujarat) are also preparing to join the BJP," he said.

In a tweet in Gujarati, Congress leader Paresh Dhanani said not a single "honest" Congress MLA has resigned so far.

With resignation of four MLAs, the strength of the Congress in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly has come down to 69 from 73. The Congress had on Saturday shifted its 14 MLAs to Jaipur fearing horse-trading by the ruling BJP ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls.

The BJP has fielded Abhay Bhardwaj, Ramila Bara and Narhari Amin for the RS election. Given its number in the Assembly, the ruling party can only win two seats unless it manages cross-voting from the opposition camp or ensure defection of Congress MLAs to win the third seat.

The Congress has fielded senior leaders Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki. The BJP has 103 MLAs in the House. The Bharatiya Tribal Party has two MLAs, followed by one MLA of the Nationalist Congress Party and an Independent.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the nation on the COVID-19 epidemic in Pretoria on March 15, 2020; Ramaphosa said the country would close its borders to all foreign nationals from countries highly impacted by the virus

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday said South African would close its borders from Wednesday to all foreigners from countries highly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Visas will be refused to anyone who has visited a high-risk country in the last 20 days, and 35 of the country's 53 land ports will also be shut as of Monday.

"We are imposing a travel ban on foreign nationals from high-risk countries such as Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom and China from 18 March 2020," Ramaphosa said in an address to the nation.

The president also announced the closure of schools for around three weeks from Wednesday.

Public gatherings of more than 100 people will be been banned and mass celebrations cancelled to limit contact.

"Given the scale and the speed at which the virus is spreading, it is now clear that no country is immune from the disease or will be spared its severe impact," said Ramaphosa, who declared a "national state of disaster".

To date 61 people in South Africa have tested positive for novel coronavirusthe second-highest number of cases in Africa after Egypt, which has reported 110 so far.

The number of infections more than doubled over the weekend with 37 new cases announced.

Around 50 of South Africa's coronavirus patients had recently travelled abroad.

Most came from Europe, the new epicentre of the virus, while others had returned from the United States and the Middle East.

But Ramaphosa suggested the latest confirmed cases had contracted the virus in South Africa.

"Initially, it was people who had travelled out of the country, especially from Italy," he said.

"It is concerning that we are now dealing with internal transmission of the virus."

Sub-Saharan Africa has so far escaped the worst of the pandemic, which has infected more than 160,000 people worldwide and killed over 6,000.

The region has recorded just over 100 cases in more than 20 countries, almost all of which were imported from the West.

But numbers have been creeping up fast, prompting several African leaders to roll out measures to limit infections.

Kenya blocked entry to all except citizens and residents on Sunday as the number of confirmed cases rose to three.

Governments across the continent have banned public gatherings, shut schools and restricted travel from areas hit by the pandemic.

South Africa's new measures are bad news for tourism, which is a major foreign exchange earner and contributes to 10 percent of GDP.

The industry already suffered a blow after Beijing blocked overseas tours from China, where coronavirus was first detected in December.

"These losses are still going to increase," Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane warned last week, when travel bans had not yet been implemented.

"Whatever happens, the truth of this situation is the virus will have a negative impact on the tourism sector."

More than half the tourists that visited South Africa from overseas in December came from Europe, according to government statistics, followed by the US and Asia.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2020 AFP
The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (Sama) has announced preparing a SR50 billion ($13.32 billion) programme to support the private sector for enabling it to play its role in promoting economic growth through a package of measures.

This step emanates from Sama's role in activating monetary policy tools and enhancing financial stability, including enabling the financial sector to support the private sector's growth; and within the framework of supporting the efforts of the state in combating the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) and mitigating its expected financial and economic impacts on the private sector, especially on the small and medium enterprises, said a Saudi Press Agency report.

The package will support financing of small and medium enterprises and provide support in relation to POS and e-commerce transaction fee, it said.

It will also help enterprises affected by the precautionary measures being adopted in the cities of Makkah and Madinah. Sama is currently coordinating with banks and financing companies to facilitate payments related to supporting these facilities, said the report.

Sama confirmed that the banking sector is still recording good performance indicators, enhancing its capacity to face challenges and crises.

Sama also affirmed that it will continue to play its role in maintaining financial stability and increasing the efficiency of the financial sector to support the achievement of the kingdom's 2030 vision, to contribute to the march of development and prosperity being led by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and HRH the Crown Prince, the report said.
In a span of less than three weeks, the 2020 Democratic nominating contest has been reduced to a one-on-one showdown: Joe Biden against Bernie Sanders. Pete Buttigieg and Amy Kobuchar may have displayed more interpersonal animosity in the earlier debates, but Biden and Sanders embody the fracture in the partys electoratethe establishment candidate versus the anti-establishment candidate; the old peoples candidate versus the young peoples candidate.

When they face off in Sundays debate, theyll embody the visions of two warring factions: one side solidifying behind a figure who they believe is, above all, the person best equipped to beat Donald Trump, the other side hyper-focused on electing a candidate who promises transformative progressive policies in desperate times.

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Online, especially, its been a bitter and seemingly irreconcilable struggle. So in advance of Biden and Sanders airing their differences, Slate went looking for people who are living with the contradictions. We found Benjamin and Casey Davidson, a husband and wife who both work at a law firm. Hes in IT support and shes a document processor. Hes for Sanders, and shes for Biden.

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The Davidson household, about a half-hour outside of Pittsburgh in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, turns out to be divided between the candidates without being at war about it. The debate between Ben and Casey is more about emphasis and expectations than truly conflicting visions. I chatted with the couple about their outlook on the race and their hopes and fears for the country.

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Heres our conversation, edited for clarity and length.

So you two are split on Biden and Sanders. What have those conversations been like amongst yourselves?

Ben: Its not contentious at all. Weve been talking about it. I went from Warren to Sanders in late January or something like that, when it looked like he was doing well. Id ask Casey what she thought. How did you get to Biden?

Casey: A while ago I supported Beto ORourke. That was who I intended on voting for in the primaries. Obviously, he dropped out. Then I consulted with Ben and other friends whose political opinion I valued. After weighing all my options, it seemed like Biden might be the most electable. I like Bernies ideas and I support a lot of his policies. Just with this election I dont know if his whole  I like the idea of democratic socialism. I just think its too risky in this election.

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That sounds very similar to what my mother has said. She is a big Sanders supporter. Then after Super Tuesday, shes saying, Ill probably vote for Biden because it appears as though he is more electable and its more doable.

Casey: People, especially in Western Pennsylvania, when they hear the term socialismthe whole policy scares them and they just arent sure how Bernies going to pay for some of his big ideas. They havent seen a well-constructed plan. So once Beto dropped out, like I said, I was in limbo with who I supported. Just with having discussions with friends and family it seemed Biden is just less of a risk right now.

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Ben: Real quick, I think we line up almost 100 percent, Casey and I, on issues. Almost completely. I think the only difference between our support is electability, is who we think other people would like, and implementations of the plans that each candidate has. Ill say for myself, I do believe Biden will definitely come away with the majority of delegates. If the primary is still active by the time it gets to Pennsylvania, Ill still vote for Bernie Sanders primarily because last election I felt like I did the opposite thing when I voted for Hillary in the primary. I thought, I line up more with Bernie, but Ill vote for Hillary. Whereas this time I feel like I want to push the agenda and the issues more.

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It sounds like you made your decision in 2016 based on who you felt would be more electable. Whats your take on that narrative now?

Ben: Ive felt the whole time that almost anyone has a really good chance of beating Trump. I think that might even be strengthened by whats happened over the past few days with the coronavirus response from the administration. I dont know. Although, I did think that in 2016 too I honestly dont know. Id say that pushing Biden further to the left is more of a concern for me than pushing Hillary to the left was in 2016.

Can you clarify what you mean by pushing Biden further to the left is more of a concern for me than pushing Hillary to the left was in 2016? Is your fear that Biden wont budge as much and that his platform will end up being too milquetoast-centrist?

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Ben: I guess I want Biden to be pushed to the left now because Ive become more convinced, after four years of Trump, that the positions on the left could be more popular with a good messenger selling them. Biden adopting Medicare for All, for example, could be a game changer in terms of public opinion. Differences aside, I dont doubt his appeal to a broader swath of America than Bernie does.

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What worries you the most about Biden as the nominee?

Casey: That he would be unable to keep his composure during debates.

Ben: His apparent cognitive decline and frequent gaffes.

Do either of you worry that Bernie supporters are going to just sit this out if Biden were the nominee?

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Casey: Absolutely. Thats what I believe happened in 2016. Ive heard directly from Sanders supporters who have said they would.

Ben: Yes, but I dont feel the numbers would be that great. Hillary supporters sat out 08 as well and Obama still won. I also feel that the coronavirus outbreak makes the stakes obviously high. Not voting isnt an option.

You said that yall agree that your personal, political agendas pretty much line up on everything. What are some of the things that you disagree on?

Casey: Health care a little bit?

Ben: Maybe. Im Medicare for All. Youre not?

Casey: Probably not, no. I would say health care is probably our main difference. But Im open to all ideas. I think thats one reason we can agree on a lot of issues is were both pretty open-minded.

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Ben: What about national security?

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Casey: I think were probably pretty similar. Environment, were definitely right on. A lot of social issues were right on. We have the same beliefs and views.

Why no Medicare for All for you, Casey?

Casey: Maybe it goes along with my fears about Bernie, how were going to pay for it. Id like to see a plan in place before it happens. Im not opposed to the idea. Id like to see more dialogue. I dont even know a lot about it. So Id like to learn more and Id like to see a nice plan in place before we move forward with something like that.

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Benjamin, what would your response to that be?

Ben: It would basically be, Ive come to grips with Medicare for All increasing taxes for people potentially across the board, at least the middle class and up. I dont necessarily have a problem with that. I guess the only concern I have with Medicare for All, and think shes probably on the same wavelength, is selling that to the general public might be difficult.

Whats the biggest political argumentabout anything, everyouve had?

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Ben: Our biggest disagreements concern our views on the Republican Party. Casey feels that there are still good moderate Republicans and that reaching across the aisle can still be accomplished. I dont. I feel that popular movements and working to convince the general public of Democratic Party policies are the way to move forward. Weve never been in a shouting match over it, or even really raised our voices, but I have a tendency to rant about even centrist Republicans and Casey will shut me down.

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What scares you guys about our current political climate?

Casey: Everything.

Ben: Yeah, right now, its the incompetence of the current administration and how we respond to national events. The coronavirus being the latest and most current example, do we take it seriously? Do we have the right people in place to take it seriously? Thats just one example. What if a war breaks out halfway across the world? Are the right people in place for that? Anything close to crisis management is a real concern. Casey?

Casey: Everything about the current administration scares me. Anything from social issues to response to coronavirus, economics. I cant say that I have much faith in our administration, especially given everything with Russia and the Mueller thing. Ive lost faith in this administrationnot that I really had any. But its just scary.

What do you both want to see from the Democratic Party going forward? This election and afterwards?

Ben: My big thing is I would like the Democratic Party to really focus more on appealing to working-class people everywhere around the country. Again, going back to the example of Medicare for All, I think there is a way to tell people that Medicare for All is feasible, is viable and ultimately your average costs will be down if you buy into it. The marketing of that, the actual politics of getting buy-in for Medicare for All, everyone stumbles on it. Anything like that. Getting the Democratic Party to be able to appeal to more people, where the core constituencies would be, would be what I want to see.

And you, Casey?

Casey: I think Id just like to see some unity going forward. I know with the debates and everything there were some attacks. But now, I think we just need to focus on who the real issue is and thats President Trump. If we can all come together, all Biden supporters, all Bernie supporters, and just have a common goal to get Trump out of office, if we can achieve that, thats what I want to see, thats the end result Id like to see.
Of the 110 patients, 21 have recovered and 33 others have tested negative

Egypt has registered 17 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total of number of cases detected in the country to 110, the health ministry said in a statement.

The new cases reported are 14 Egyptians and three foreigners, the ministry said. Two of the Egyptians had returned from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, while the rest had come into contact with previously diagnosed carriers.

Out of the 110 cases, 21 have recovered and were released from a quarantine hospital, and 33 tested negative for the virus in two separate PCR tests performed over 48 hours, the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Egypt has recorded two deaths from the coronavirus, a German tourist and a 60-year-old Egyptian woman.

With the rise in the number of cases, Egypt said on Saturday that it is closing schools and universities for two weeks to prevent the spread of the virus. The presidency said that the move aims to "deal with any possible repercussions" from the virus.

Since it emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, coronavirus (COVID-19) has infected more than 157,000 people globally and killed more than 5,800.

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New Delhi, March 15 : Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Sunday suggested few measures to be taken by the SAARC countries to tackle the coronavirus outbreak and also appealed to them to help the economy of his island nation.

Participating in a video conference, called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, on steps to battle the Covid-19 pandemic, he thanked the Indian Prime Minister for taking the initiative of bringing SAARC countries on one page against the novel coronavirus outbreak.

"First I thank Prime Minister of India, Modi for organising this conference to share our experiences, ideas, and also the challenges we face and best practices and to discuss the measures to take to combat the disease of coronavirus." He suggested that SAARC leaders should come up with a mechanism to help the economy of Sri Lanka as it was under major blow due to losses in tourism and exports.

"Our tourism industry was just recovering after last year's terrorist attack on April but is currently facing a major blow due to Covid-19 disease. Therefore We request SAARC leaders to come up with a policy to help our economies," he said.

"I strongly recommend for SAARC leaders to come together to form a mechanism to assist our economy to tide over this very difficult period.I also wish to recommend a SAARC Ministerial level group be established to discuss, share these practices and coordinate regional matters on combating coronavirus," he added.

About the measures taken by the Sri Lankan government in order to contain the disease, Rajapaksa said: "We have banned tourists and other people entering Sri Lanka, especially from affected countries." The Sri Lankan President said that although large gatherings must be discouraged but elections in his country will be held as planned on April 25, and nominations will be filed from March 12 to March 19.

Sri Lanka evacuated at least 34 Sri Lankan compatriots from the disease outbreak epicentre Wuhan in China and 750 Sri Lankan student, studying in various universities in other provinces of China, Rajapaksa informed his counterparts during the video conferences.

The evacuees were advised for self quarantine for 14 days after returned.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Jaipur: Two persons who had tested positive -- 69-year-old Italian man and 85-year-old Jaipur resident with travel history to Dubai -- have tested negative twice and were now coronavirus-free, according to health officials here on Sunday.

Three patients, including 70-year-old Italian woman, now in Rajasthan, become coronavirus-free after treatment at SMS Hospital, said Rohit Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary (Health).

Complimenting doctors on their achievement, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said: "Happy to share, three #corona patients, including two senior citizens with comorbid issues at SMS hospital, #Jaipur have been treated successfully & their test reports are now negative. My heartiest compliments to SMS doctors & staff for their commendable & dedicated service in treating corona patients."

"This news should reassure those feeling stressed. My appeal to people is to take precautions and avoid visiting crowded places. State govt is continuously monitoring the situation & enhancing medical facilities for corona testing & treating patients. This news should reassure those feeling stressed," he tweeted.

Of the 402 samples tested in Rajasthan, 393 turned negative and four positive. Five samples are still under test.

While three have tested negative, a 26-year-old local youth, who had a travel history, tested positive on Saturday.

In Rajasthan, total 417 samples have been tested. Of this, four tested positive, 406 negative and seven were still being processed, said Singh.
Lucknow, March 15 : It has been five days since Holi and majority of the hospitals have cleaned up traces of colours played by staff and doctors.

The Coronavirus scare made sure that Holi was played on a subdued manner.

"More than the Corona scare, it was the chief minister's scare that made us clean up the mess immediately after Holi. We were told that the chief minister could undertake an inspection any moment to check on cleanliness amidst the Corona scare," said a ward boy in the Civil hospital in Lucknow.

In the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital, most of the doctors played with 'gulal' and that too in the open. Some staff members did play with water colours but took care to ensure that they did not splatter the walls.

However, the state of cleanliness was not up to the mark after Holi in most district hospitals in the state.

"More than the staff, it was the attendants of the patients who walked in and out, smeared with colour. We tried telling them not to do so but no one listens. It would have been a law and order problem if we had insisted," said a doctor in Azamgarh district.

In Lala Lajpat Rai hospital in Kanpur, videos and photographs of colour strewn on the floor and people soaked in Holi colours walking in and out of the wards, have already gone viral on the social media.

A hospital official said that those seen in the videos are 'mostly attendants' and relatives of patients. He said that the cleaning process was on though he admitted that the delay was due to the fact that a large number of the staff was on leave.

Major hospitals in the state capital like the king George's Medical University (KGMU) are maintaining high standards of cleanliness but in the Queen Mary's hospital for women, cow dung can be seen littered in the compound.

"Stray animal roam around all day and the municipal authorities do not take action," said a staff member.
Sydney, March 15 : Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Sunday ordered a 14-day self-isolation for anyone arriving in the country in an effort to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

"This is very important, what we've seen in recent weeks is more countries having issues with the virus and that means the source of some of those transmissions are coming from more and more countries," the BBC quoted Morrison as saying at a briefing here.

"We know that the virus cannot be absolutely stopped - no-one can do that - but we can slow the spread. And we anticipate that will be our task over the next six months." The measure will come into force from Sunday midnight.

The Prime Minister also urged people to practise more "social distancing", including not shaking hands.

Appearing alongside him, Australia's chief medical officer Brendan Murphy admitted that these were "difficult times" for the country and called on Australians to be sensible when buying necessities, warning against panic buying, reports the BBC.

The Australian government has also banned foreign cruise liners from docking in the country for 30 days, but schools will remain open.

Australia has reported 249 confirmed cases, with three deaths.
One of the greatest figures in Roman history, Gaius Julius Caesar has been popularised time and again across various works of art and literature. The Roman statesman and military general who played a critical role in the rise of the Roman Empire, he was also a part of Romes First Triumvirate and later after its fall and subsequent Civil War, was declared dictator perpetuo or dictator for life.

Such was the popularity of the military figure that subsequent historical strongmen like Napoleon Bonaparte and Benito Mussolini all defined themselves as Caesarists.

One of the best orators and Latin prose authors of his time, not much apart from his war commentaries survive till today.

Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of rebel senators led by Gaius Cassius Longinus, Marcus Junius Brutus and Octavian Caesar on March 15, 44BC.

9380741804, 0461364743

The statesman who has perhaps been best immortalized in the Shakespearean play Julius Caesar has also had a number of authors tracing his lifes journey and military conquests -- all of which cemented his name in the pages of history.

Emperor series by Conn Iggulden: A series of five novels about the life of Roman statesman and general Gaius Julius Caesar, the collection starts with the book The Gates of Rome which introduces a young Gaius Julius Caesar and his friend Marcus Junius Brutus and tells of the realities of Ancient Rome and the journey of the two youngsters through a political war.

The series was well received by critics, but makes historical changes for creating a more intriguing narrative.

Caesar: Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworthy: The book traces the life of the Roman emperor and potrays him as a charismatic orator, general, dictator as well as a seducer, who not only went after Cleopatra but also the wives of his two main political rivals.

Julius Caesar by Philip Freeman: The biography portrays the Roman general as a complex man, who was both a hero and a villain. The book presents Caesar in all his dimensions and shows how the historical figure dominated Rome and helped shape its destiny.

B00AZWPG48, 0743289544

Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland: The book by Holland shows how Julius Caesars crossing of the border river of Rubicon changed the history of Rome, plunging it into civil war. The book is not only a great historical account, but an exemplary portrayal of a great civilization and its stories of rivalry, decadence, catastrophe and war.

The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A Peoples History of Ancient Rome by Michael Parenti: The author presents readers with a story of popular resistance against power, set against the background of the murder of Caesar. The book is a look at wider Roman civilisation through Caesars death.

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At Hindustan Times, we help you stay up-to-date with latest trends and products. Hindustan Times has affiliate partnership, so we may get a part of the revenue when you make a purchase.

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Welcome to Money Diaries, where were tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. Were asking women how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period  and were tracking every last dollar.



Today: a Human Resources Manager with a joint income of $217,300 who spends some of her money this week on a hedge trimmer.

Editors note: all currency has been converted to USD.

Occupation: Human Resources

Industry: Mining

Age: 34

Location: Perth, Australia

My Salary: $127,300

Husbands Salary: $90,000

Husbands Annual Bonus: $9,000

My Annual Bonus: $60,000

My Annual Shares Scheme/Long Term Bonus: $40,000

My Paycheck Amount (1x/month): $10,608

Gender: Woman



Monthly Expenses

Rent: $1,731 (split with my husband, I split all the below costs with my husband)

Utilities: $200

Netflix/Amazon Prime/Spotify: $20

Health Insurance: $0 (its covered by my company)

Internet/Cell Phones: $142

Superannuation: 3.5% of our salaries (company contributes 11.5% of base for each of us)

Investment Properties: $900

Pilates Membership: $67

Les Mills On Demand App: $8

Security/Alarm: $30

Lawn Mowing/Cleaner: $150

DropBox: $10

Car Insurance (annual): $680

Car Registration (annual): $700

Day One

3:35 a.m.  I wake up and walk across to the camp gym. I use the treadmill and watch an episode of Suits on Netflix. I head back to my room, shower and head to the mess (translate from mining speak, the dining hall). All of our meals are supplied up here because we arent allowed to leave the site or camp, and even if we did, there is nothing around for miles and miles. I pack a salad for lunch, take some fruit and make a coffee, then drive the tiny little distance of about three minutes to the mine site for work. My shift starts at 6 a.m. every day, but I usually get there earlier to attend department pre-shift meetings and chat with night shift workers who are finishing their shift.

6:30 a.m.  Eating my breakfast at my desk (bircher muesli I brought from home), I do my online food shopping. I love going grocery shopping in the real world, but I find I always spend so much more when I am confronted with snacks and sales. I shop for me and my husband for the upcoming weekend as we are both home. This week I get all the staples  milk, veggies, fruit, chicken breast, tuna, yogurt, protein balls and bars, oats, dried pigs ears (these are a dog treat!), dishwasher tablets, Twix, and we pay 60 cents per plastic bag now in Australia, so whatever amount of them came in the food order. I arrange for it to be delivered Thursday night. $110

Story continues

12 p.m.  Meetings, emails, and discussions for the rest of the day. I break for lunch, which is my packed food from this morning. I usually need something sweet after meals so I head to the charity chocolate box. I avoid keeping chocolate at my desk so if I really want some, I have to go buy some from these boxes. As mentioned, there isnt a shop I can just nip out to, so this is my only option! I buy one for me and one for my coworker (Giant Freddo Frogs, for any Aussies asking). $0.68

6 p.m.  The rest of the day continues like normal, lots of meetings. I leave site (our shifts are 12 hours) and head back to the village. As a manager, I have a car, but most people catch a bus or walk if its not too hot (today reached 114 degrees, yesss Aussie summer!). I drive myself and my colleague to our rooms and head to the mess for dinner. I spend the meal discussing the recent food quality at the mess and debating if the dessert bar is worth it tonight (spoiler alert, it is not) before heading to my room about 7:30. I shower then read on my Kindle before bed. I am reading A Beginners Guide to Freefall by Andy Abramowitz and love it!

Daily Total: $110.68

Day Two

3:30 a.m.  Repeat of yesterday except today I do a workout from my Les Mills app, BodyPump, which is an hour-long strength workout with high repswalking will be tough today! I head back to my room, shower, and Im out for the day. The best part about my job is that I have to wear specific clothes provided by the workplace, for safety reasons. They are by no means sexy (high visibility yellow long sleeve shirts, navy blue drill pants, steel-capped boots), but I never have to pick what to wear or pay for work clothes! Out the door by 5:20 to get to work.

7:45 a.m.  Breakfast is a banana, peanut butter, and protein powder smoothie. I also have a coffee from the machines at work, which arent amazing but get the job done.

12:30 p.m.  During my lunch break, I browse Amazon (the Aus version is teeny tiny compared to what the USA gets!) and I buy a new phone case and screen protector since mine are both useless now. I also get distracted and buy a new watch band for my smartwatch. They are so cheap and handy and interchangeable. $28

3:30 p.m.  A day of spreadsheets and numbers, so I listen to Spotify off my laptop. I mix it up with Lizzos new album and whatever plays from Australias Top Hits. I resist the chocolate box and eat a muesli bar and crackers at my desk that I already have up here.

6:30 p.m.  Its fly out night so everyone usually goes to the wet mess, which is the term used for the bar/tavern on the premises of the camp. Drinks are cheap here because the company isnt allowed to make a profit from the sale of alcohol, so I buy four mid-strength beers for me and a coworker to have. I still plan on getting up at the crack of dawn for the gym so only have these two, talk to some colleagues, and head back to my room about 7:30 for bed. $8

8 p.m.  I have cleverly figured out that rather than hauling my beauty and skincare products to and from work each week, I should just buy doubles of everything. So I have both on-site and at home serums from The Ordinary, Dermalogica, and a few others. I recently started using a dark spot corrector for some pigmentation on my face, but its really hard up here in the Aussie sun to protect your skin!

Daily Total: $36

Day Three

3:45 a.m.  I go to the gym for another run and Suits session. If it sounds like I go to the gym nearly every day, I pretty much do because my job is long sedentary hours. I get back to my room and get ready for work. As mentioned, I use a variety of different skincare pieces, day time calls for epic sunscreen. I also wear a small amount of makeup up here. I wear concealer from NYX, mineral powder from Nude By Nature, and mascara. Whatever mascara I happen to have, I am not fussy.

8:30 a.m.  Today is fly-out day, so Im heading home! It also means the day is shorter as I have a plane to catch. Everything is hectic on these days. Breakfast is slightly later due to people issues (I am in HR, after all, my job is mostly people issues  good and bad), so I have the same smoothie and some dark chocolate. Its dark. Its healthy.

2:30 p.m.  I depart site for the airport, with 99 other people, on several buses. Its hot, were all tired, and ready to fly back to life. Even though Ive only been up here for four days this swing, some have been here for eight or even 14, so everyone is pretty keen to get back to Perth!

5:30 p.m.  After landing, my husband, R., and I hunt to find wherever I parked my car at 4 a.m. on Monday morning in the giant car park. We pay for parking as we exit. $65

6 p.m.  On the drive home we have our fortnightly rituals. Because we both work together, we are allowed to bitch and moan about work for the whole drive home, but not after that. Its a good way to separate work and home life. Another part of the ritual is The takeaway fight. We drive home while trying to decide what to get to eat. I try to convince R. we should have something healthy like Subway, but somehow we end up with fried chicken and chips. I only eat the chips and never order my own. It also comes with Pepsi that neither of us want, but will take home for later. $12.75

6:30 p.m.  The most exciting part of the day  we pick up our dogs from my mum. I miss their stupid wrinkly faces so much when were away! We get home to our food delivery ordered a few days ago, put that away, and cuddle with the dogs in front of Netflix. We are both always so tired on fly-in night so we watch whatever we land on, and head to bed about 9.

Daily Total: $77.75

Day Four

7:45 a.m.  I head to my Pilates class (included in monthly expenses) and get coffees for R. and me on my way home. One of the things I miss most when Im at work (aside from the dogs, normal air temperature, and open-toed shoes) is good coffee. I am obsessed with nitro cold brew, so I get one of them and a skinny latte for R. $7.37

10 a.m.  Friday is both of our get shit done day so we can spend the rest of the weekend together doing whatever we want. I head to my local mall and use a gift card at Decjuba for four shirts. Oops. I was supposed to buy a dress for a wedding with that. I then head to Target, buy god knows what for the house (I think I bought another fake plant?), and two new bras. $67

12:30 p.m.  Rather than heading home to make lunch, I buy sushi for both R. and me and take that back to eat. Then I take the dogs for a walk. Head home, then, unfortunately, log back into work a bit. It never ends! $11

5 p.m.  Another of our fun rituals is Friday night craft beer and cheese! We head out in the afternoon and get a selection of craft beers we havent tried and random fancy cheeses and sit and do nothing but chill out. We both work stupid hours and random rosters, so its good to do nothing! Dinner is also another fun thing we do lots of Fridays, which is homemade pizzas. We make the dough in the afternoon, let it settle, then roll it out and create whatever we want. I have the classic margarita and R. makes some random spicy meat situation. $60

8 p.m.  We continue our Festivity of Chill in front of Netflix on the couch with two snoring dogs. We cant agree on what to watch (also, I may have binge-watched anything remotely good without him so have to lie and pretend I dont feel like watching You). We rent the new Joker movie. Its good, but very intense! $4

Daily Total: $149.37

Day Five

8:30 a.m.  Up for Pilates. R. does his Saturday long run and comes home sweaty sweaty sweaty. After we both shower and feed the dogs, we head out for brunch. I go through phases of loving brunch and wanting to eat allll the poached eggs on avo toast in the world, to really hating it and its overpriced fanciness and preferring to eat at home. This week, I want me some $15 avo eggs, please. And Coffee. Always nitro cold brew. $22.78

12 p.m.  We are in the process of fixing our current house so we can sell it, as we are building our dream forever home. We head to Bunnings to get a bunch of home stuff  paint pots, plants, tools, things that do things that R. swears I dont need to understand, etc. And, we cant leave Bunnings without R. buying a sausage sizzle. I stopped eating red meat about three years ago and only miss three things  my mums spaghetti bolognese, my dads spare ribs, and the Great Bunnings Sausage Sizzle. After Bunnings, we head to some display homes to get more ideas for what we want to build. $120

4:30 p.m.  Saturday night! Tonight we are going out to our friends house for dinner, so we buy a bottle of NZ Sav Blanc to take, as well as some nibbles and cheese and dips we already have. Our friends have just had a baby, so we seem to spend lots of time hanging out at peoples houses these days. Dont get me wrong, I like their kids, but god, I want a night out dancing and doing shots and eating kebabs on the way home at 4 a.m. I say this now, but give me two white wines and Ill probably have a hangover! $12

7:30 p.m.  We order pizza because there are eight of us and its the easiest communal food. We all chip in and get a variety delivered from Uber Eats. $11

10:30 p.m.  Slightly drunker than either of us want to be, so we catch an Uber home and #insertstandardMDsexstoryhere. $10

Daily Total: $175.78

Day Six

9 a.m.  Slight sleep in and taking the dogs to get coffee and to the dog beach. R. opts out of this one. I head home after and have a banana and fruit toast. $11.25

11 a.m.  Im bored on a Sunday so I feel like treating myself and get my nails and eyebrows done. I rarely do this, and it comes out of my splurge account of my own money. R. and I both give ourselves allowances each month of $400 to spend on whatever we want, no questions asked by the other person (thanks, Barefoot Investor!). I usually spend mine on drinks and meals out with friends on weekends he isnt home, botox, clothes, and skincare. I think he spends his on sneakers, fitness gear, and BBQ stuff. Somewhere in the day, I do house chores  several loads of washing, clean up dog poo, tidy the garage that we use as a gym, dishes etc. We have a cleaner that comes twice a month but not a magic fairy that tidies up after us. $45

4 p.m.  On Sunday, we often catch up with my parents as they love to socialize and we share custody of the pooches. We head to a local tavern that is dog-friendly and watch live music, drink beers, and eat fried food. Sundays suck for me because I fly out on Monday mornings so its an early night. We head home about 7 and I shower and go to bed pretty much straight away. I read an MD before forcing myself to sleep by doing a sort of self-meditation. I used to suffer from severe insomnia but a hypnotherapist and anti-anxiety meds have helped me a lot. Wake up time isnt far away! $60.30

Daily Total: $116.55

Day Seven

4:20 a.m.  Normally if R. is home he would drive me to the airport but I know he has a big day ahead and we had a busy-ish weekend so I catch an Ola (Australian rideshare) to the airport. I feel like I just left! I check-in and wait in the lounge where we get snacks and coffee. I dont have anything because as soon as I get on the plane I zonk out straight away for the whole flight. $31.50

9 a.m.  When Ive landed, R. messages me to say he bought a hedge trimmer for the evil bamboo taking over our backyard. Cool. I hope that means he will be the one using it and not me! $165

12 p.m.  Fly-in day is not fun. I have lunch we picked up from the mess when we landed. Coffee coffee coffee. I have to tell someone they are about to be fired today. This always happens over the weekend and I fly back into Shittown. Not the most fun part of my job but mining is a very hardcore industry focused heavily on safety and standards, so people really need to behave!

7 p.m.  I head to my room at the earliest possible time I can finish. After showering and skincare, I browse my Kindle store for a new read, I get Grown Ups by Marian Keyes. Thats two non-scary serial killer type books in a row, go me! Magnesium, fish oil, and lights out by 7:35. $12

Daily Total: $208.50

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Editors note: This story has been updated with information about a party the professor attended.

A Rutgers professor at the New Brunswick campus has tested positive for the coronavirus, the university announced Sunday morning  the first known case in the state university system.

In an email to students, faculty and staff, Antonio Calcado, Rutgers executive vice president and chief operating officer wrote that a biomedical engineering professor was exposed to the virus at a non-Rutgers location in late February and is currently self-isolating. The professors test came back Saturday night, Calcado wrote.

NJ Advance Media obtained a copy of the Rutgers email and a university official confirmed the test result.

Rutgers spokeswoman Dory Devlin confirmed that the professor attended a private party in Princeton on Feb. 29, where 14 residents were later asked to self-isolate following exposure to the virus. Two people from the Boston area were also at the event and tested positive after returning home, Princeton health officials previously said.

Following the professors exposure, but before he began self-isolating, he was in contact with a number of people at Rutgers, Calcado said. Those people have been identified, notified and asked to self-isolate. Calcado said the professor has the full support of the university and its Occupational Health Department.

The professor had come into contact with two students and a limited number of faculty and staff, Devlin wrote in an email.

Calcado also said Rutgers Biomedical Engineering Building on the Busch campus, in Piscataway, is being cleaned and disinfected in accordance with CDC guidelines, with a focus on often-touched surfaces.

In a community of nearly 100,000 students, faculty and staff, it is reasonable to expect that this is only the first of several incidents of COVID-19 that will involve members of our community, Calcado wrote. I expect that each member of our university community will continue to support one another during this health crisis.

Rutgers students, faculty and staff are advised to practice social distancing, good hygiene and use common sense and good judgment, Calcado wrote.

More information about how Rutgers is responding to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus can be found on its coronavirus website, Calcado wrote.

Previously, the university told faculty and staff they could telecommute wherever feasible." The university also said last week it is expanding its paid time-off policies in response to the outbreak.

All Rutgers campuses currently remain open. Spring break was extended and some classes are now online-only, according to the universitys website.

For Camden, Newark, and New Brunswick students:

Classes are cancelled from Thursday, March 12, through the end of spring break on Sunday, March 22.

After that, starting Monday, March 23, all classes will be only online through at least Friday, April 3.

Students are also strongly encouraged to remain off campus through April 3.

And for Rutgers Biomedical and Health Science students:

Starting Monday, March 16, all RBHS classes with more than 15 participants will be provided remotely. However, no changes are being made to clinical rotations or instruction.

I want to thank everyone who has been working to respond to the presence of COVID-19 in our community and throughout New Jersey, Calcado wrote. These are understandably difficult times and have required all of us to exercise conscientious behavior and compassion toward one another.

Follow the CDC website for more and updated information. For coverage of coronavirus in New Jersey, follow www.nj.com/coronavirus.

J. Dale Shoemaker is a reporter on the data & investigations team. He can be reached at jshoemaker@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JDale_Shoemaker.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government will inject "necessary and sufficient" funds into the economy and use "unprecedented ideas" to bring back growth.

Abe gave no details during a rare Saturday news conference called to explain his government's response to the novel coronavirus outbreak, though he said fiscal and monetary policies would be used on the economic front.

The pandemic has constrained the global economy and Japan's along with it, sinking the stock market and throttling business activity. Abe said that while the priority is to prevent the spread of the virus, the government's "unprecedented ideas" will result in bold measures.

The prime minister added that the government will listen to regional voices to come up with the details.

He also pledged to coordinate with other global leaders.

"As the global economy is shaking," he said, "we need to take measures in cooperation with G-7 and G-20 countries."

As to the uncertainties that the pandemic is casting onto the Tokyo Olympics, now a little more than four months away, Abe said that "in cooperation with the International Olympic Committee, we hope to overcome the virus and hold [the event] as planned." He also said that prospects for "postponing or canceling were not raised at all in a talk" with the U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday.

Japan earlier this week enacted a law enabling Abe to declare a state of emergency if the outbreak escalates. The prime minister said Japan has managed to control the pace of transmissions compared to other countries and therefore this "is not the right time to declare [an emergency]."
66 inmates, 48 staffers of three Delhi jails test positive for Covid

WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

Covid surge: PM Modi to chair virtual meet with chief ministers on Thursday

Lata Mangeshkar admitted to ICU in Mumbai Hospital after testing positive for Covid

2 suspected coronavirus patients flee from hospital

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Mumbai, Mar 15: Three suspected coronavirus patients who were quarantined left a government hospital in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district on Saturday evening without informing anybody, the police said.

By late night, however, two of them returned to the Ahmednagar district civil hospital. Search was on for the third patient, a Topkhana police station officer said.

Punjab govt shuts down cinema halls, bans public gatherings due to coronavirus scare

Earlier, two women and a man, admitted to a isolation ward of the district hospital in Ahmednagar, left without informing the doctors, an officer said.

The civil surgeon contacted the Tophkhana police station in Ahmednagar city and sought polices help in tracing these persons, whose medical reports are awaited, the official added.

A person in Ahmednagar district is among the 31 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Maharashtra.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 15, 2020, 9:25 [IST]
Gunn Memorial Library in Washington will present a program, Synopsis of a U.S. Presidential Campaign, April 2 at 6:30 p.m

Historian, professor and author Mark Albertson will deliver the lecture at the library on Wykeham Road.

The presidential campaign process in the United States is one of the most complex, lengthy, and expensive in the world.

Every four years, presidential candidates compete in a series of competitions months before the general election in a race to win the presidency.

Albertson will explore such topics as the U.S. Constitutional requirements for presidential candidates, the nominating process, the lack of checks and balances in this process, debates, primaries and caucuses, running mates, national conventions and so much more.

Albertson is the historical research editor at Army Aviation magazine and is the historian for the Army Aviation Association of America.

He has authored several books, including USS Connecticut: Constitution State Battleship, Theyll Have to Follow You!: The Triumph of the Great White Fleet and On History.

He is working on the second of a two-volume history of Army Aviation.

He teaches as an adjunct at Norwalk Community College on the topics such as World War I, World War II, Vietnam, Iraq, The American Empire, the Nazi Revolution and Jihad.

An avid speaker, Albertson travels widely throughout Connecticut presenting topics of history and current events in a variety of venues.

In May 2005, Albertson was presented with a General Assembly Citation by both houses of Congress in Hartford for his efforts in commemorating the centennial of Battleship Connecticut.

The program is free and open to the public, but registration is requested by calling 860-868-7586.
By Laila Kearney and Deborah Bloom NEW YORK/SEATTLE (Reuters) - New York state opened its first drive-through coronavirus test site on Friday, following a similar experiment in Seattle.

By Laila Kearney and Deborah Bloom

NEW YORK/SEATTLE (Reuters) - New York state opened its first drive-through coronavirus test site on Friday, following a similar experiment in Seattle. Other places are set to do the same, improving availability of tests while keeping people in cars to avoid spreading the virus.

"This is a very creative way of testing," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told a news conference on Friday in New Rochelle, a suburb of New York City that has one of the biggest cluster of coronavirus cases in the United States. To date, the virus has killed at least 47 Americans and infected nearly 1,700, with many more expected.

"This facility will be open for as long as it needs to be open... I think we are looking at a matter of months... I think this could be a six, seven, eight, nine-month affair," Cuomo said.

The effort will soon go national, rolling out as soon as Sunday.

Leading U.S. retailers will work with the government to assist with drive-through coronavirus testing, the Retail Industry Leaders Association said. Senior leaders of Walmart Inc , Target Corp , Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc and CVS Health Corp stood with President Donald Trump at a White House announcement and news conference on Friday. The tests will be conducted in retail store parking lots. People will be able to drive up and get swabbed by state health workers or members of the U.S. Public Health Service, then have the samples sent to diagnostic labs, which can report back results in 24 hours.

"We've been asked to make portions of our parking lot available in select locations in the beginning and scaling over time as supply increases, so that people can experience the drive-through experience that the president described," Doug McMillon, chief executive of Walmart, said at the White House event.

SEATTLE PARKING GARAGE

The University of Washington in Seattle has been running a drive-through testing centre at a parking garage for the past week.

Patients drive up, remain in their cars, and medical staff dressed in protective equipment administer the test - a swab of the nasal cavity - through an open window.

"There's really pretty minimal interaction with the patient until you get to the testing step. So it's really not until you roll down the window and then swab them," said Dr Seth Cohen, medical director of infection prevention and employee health at the University of Washington.

"The parking garage was done partly because we want good ventilation and we don't want people congregating in waiting areas where they can spread infections to each other," he added.

"For Americans, it's an easy concept to grasp, where we just give people appointments, they show up and we just get them through and in and out as quickly as possible."

(Reporting by Laila Kearney and Deboarah Bloom, additional reporting by Makini Brice and Paresh Dave; writing by Bill Tarrant; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
American confirmed it is parking nearly all widebody aircraft and anticipates its domestic capacity will be reduced by 20% in April and 30% in May versus the same period in 2019.

It will still operate two flights a day to London and just three flights to Asia per week  to Tokyo. It will continue short-haul international flying.

American's sweeping cuts include suspending nearly all long-haul international flights to Asia, Australia, Europe, New Zealand and South America.

The Trump administration also signaled Saturday it wanted Congress to quickly back financial support for troubled U.S. airlines.

The dramatic announcement by the largest U.S. airline came hours after the White House said the United States would widen new travel restrictions on Europeans to include travelers in the United Kingdom and Ireland, starting Monday night.

American Airlines said Saturday it plans to cut 75% of its international flights through May 6 and ground nearly all its widebody fleet, as airlines respond to the global collapse in travel demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.

United Airlines said late Saturday it would begin cutting flights to the United Kingdom, Southwest Airlines moved toward flight cuts and Delta Airlines plans to start cutting flights to the United Kingdom.

Southwest, one of the few U.S. airlines still flying a full schedule, said it was "seriously considering" cutting flights.

While airlines scrambled to stem losses and protect jobs, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the government would "immediately" start working with Congress to support the airline and cruise industries, both hard hit by the spiraling crisis.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said restrictions on the UK and Ireland will begin Monday at midnight, barring most non-U.S. citizens from entering the United States who have been in those countries within the last 14 days.

They do not bar flights to and from the United States, and Americans and permanent residents can still travel.

United said it would suspend flights to London from Houston and Denver starting Monday. United said it expects to fly three daily flights to London and one daily flight to Dublin through the end of April.

United said it would give a credit for the value of the ticket for any customer whose international travel is disrupted by more than six hours because of schedule changes resulting from government restrictions. Customers who do not use the credit for 12 months will get a refund.

Washington first imposed restrictions on China and expanded them this week to continental Europe, prompting U.S. airlines to cut numerous flights and scramble to shore up capital.

Among cost-cutting measures, U.S. airlines are offering employees voluntary unpaid leaves of absence to match staffing with flights.

The outbreak came as Delta and its pilots' union were in contract negotiations, and the sides reached an agreement on coronavirus-related sick leave and managing overstaffing for April with partially paid schedules. United and Southwest could reach deals with their pilots soon, sources said.

On Friday, Delta said it would cut capacity 40% in the next few months, the largest reduction in its history. It will eliminate nearly all flights to continental Europe for 30 days and will park up to 300 aircraft.

United also announced cuts to European service this week. On Friday, major U.S. airlines confirmed they had been in talks with the White House and Congress about financial assistance.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Friday called on the government to "turn next to a package to assist impacted employers... No business should go bankrupt because of a temporary loss in revenue as a result of the coronavirus."

Airlines are reeling from a plunge in bookings and traffic, as the fast-spreading pandemic prompts travel restrictions and event cancellations around the world.

U.S. passenger railroad Amtrak said on Saturday it was scaling back services due to reduced demand. Last week the company said bookings had plunged 50% since the coronavirus outbreak.
New Delhi [India], Mar 15 (ANI): Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday hit out at the Centre over hike in petrol and diesel prices in the country, asking why the government had failed to provide relief to common people at a time when international prices of crude oil were at an all-time low.



"Crude oil prices have decreased worldwide. But the prices of petrol and diesel are increasing in India. Why are the common people not getting the benefit of the fall in the price of crude oil?" asked Vadra on Twitter (roughly translated from Hindi).

"BJP leaders, who had claimed to sell petrol for Rs 36 in Delhi and Mumbai, have been silenced by which company?" she asked.

The government on Saturday hiked the excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre and road cess by Re 1, effectively a Rs 3 per litre hike on both commodities.

Petrol in Delhi on Saturday was selling at Rs 69.87 per litre while diesel is costing Rs 62.58 per litre. The decision came amid steep fall in global crude oil in a bid by the government to mop up additional money as it battles weak revenues.

The Congress has slammed the BJP-led government for hike in excise duty on petrol and diesel and accused it of indulging in profiteering.



Global crude oil prices fell by as much as a third following Saudi Arabia's move to start a price war with Russia amid worries over the spread of coronavirus. (ANI)
After being asked by the states high court to pull down public hoardings carrying photographs and addresses of 57 anti-CAA protesters, the Uttar Pradesh government has put together an ordinance to circumvent the court order. The hoardings, which named rioters accused of destroying property, announced the governments intention to recover damages from the accused.

The Allahabad high court, which had taken suo motu cognisance of the hoardings, said that existing laws do not validate the decision to put up such hoardings. The issue has gone to higher judicial authorities with the Supreme Court scheduled to hear the state governments petition challenging the Allahabad high court order. The Uttar Pradesh government, which has said that the ordinance was necessary, has explained that they were following a 2009 order of the Supreme Court which had said that such a law  named the UP Recovery of Public and Private Property Ordinance  was needed.

The question of whether suspects in criminal cases should be identified in public is a contentious one and those who oppose the tactic have said that naming and shaming suspects adversely affects the legal and judicial process, besides stigmatising social groups which the accused belong to.

In 2013-14, posters with photographs and names of wanted terror suspects appeared in public places like railway pedestrian bridges and markets in Mumbai. The posters were put up by the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) which was investigating terror attack cases in Mumbai and other cities. The banners announced cash rewards to citizens for providing information on the whereabouts of the accused. Many of the men featured on the hoardings (Yasin Bhatkal, one of the accused on the posters, was later sentenced to death for his role in planning bomb attacks) were arrested even as the posters appeared in new locations.

In July 2013, the Union minority affairs ministry told the Maharashtra chief minister that the posters were discriminatory and provocative and could endanger social harmony.

Muslim groups in Mumbai felt that the notices maligned the community. One group wrote to the Bombay high court, the state governor, the Union minority affairs ministry and the National Human Rights Commission. Unlike the Uttar Pradesh case, where the courts intervened, the complaints in Mumbai received no redressal. The Muslim group was told that displaying photographs of wanted crime suspects in public places have been a common investigation procedure. The National Commission for Minorities said that displaying the names and photos of suspected criminals is a worldwide practice and that the complaints suggested that photographs of suspects from minority groups should not be displayed in public. The head of the commission said that while there was nothing wrong with the posters public perception can be affected if all the accused belonging to a particular group.

A former Mumbai police commissioner who spoke to this journalist said the complaints about the posters were ridiculous. It is normal to put up these posters; it is an age-old custom in every country, the police officer had said. If these accused are absconding, their photographs should be displayed in the same manner. I will be surprised if the police do not do this.

Another police officer who spoke to this journalist said while it is usual for investigative agencies to put up posters seeking information on suspects from citizens in this manner. How this information is put out is a different matter though.

In some countries, such posters have turned digital. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States has said that the National Digital Billboard, created in December 2007, led to the capture of over 50 fugitives in ten years, besides helping investigators get information in other cases. The billboards are given to the investigative agency free of cost as public service.

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Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad says his convoy shot at in UP

Will gherao PM Modi's residence if Lakhimpur Kheri culprits not arrested in 7 days: Chandrashekhar Azad

Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad launches his political outfit Azad Samaj Party

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 15: Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad launched his political outfit the Azad Samaj Party on Sunday -- the birth anniversary of BSP founder Kanshi Ram.

Before launching his party at an event held in Safai village in Noida, the 37-year-old Dalit leader made Kanshi Ram's photograph his Twitter profile picture.

He also launched the party flag -- a white band between two blue strips with Azad Samaj Party written in the middle. Azad said the Bhim Army will run parallel to the party and continue to fight for Dalit rights and enrol new members.

Earlier in the day, Bhim Army members claimed that police have locked the gates of the venue and pasted a notice: "Event cannot be held as large gatherings are prohibited in view of coronavirus".

The gate was, however, opened later. Azad, who rose to prominence during clashes between Thakurs and Dalits in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur in May 2017, had filed nomination against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi during the 2019 general elections, but withdrew later.

In December 2019, the Bhim Army chief was arrested by the Delhi police, when violence erupted during an anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act march in old quarters of Delhi after his address to protesters from the stairs of Jama Masjid. He was granted bail by a Delhi court in January.

The advocate-turned-politician has been critical of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, "for not doing enough for the Dalits".

Mayawati had earlier termed Azad a "BJP agent" and cautioned her supporters not to ''fall prey to his designs".

The Bhim Army had earlier said that it would contest the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls along with Om Prakash Rajbhar's Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party as part of a larger alliance -- the Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha.
One of the regrets of my last 10 years as a Northeasterner-turned-Texan is that Ive fulfilled only some of the stereotypes.

To be fair to me, Ive accomplished important ones. I wear Lucchese boots. I wear bespoke guayaberas  shout-out Dos Carolinas!

I am not yet, however, an investor in oil and gas. I say this with some wistful regret. I want to fit in as a real Texan.

I have recently discovered a possible way to correct this. But I should start with a few reasons why I havent yet invested in oil and gas.

More from Taylor: How to, and how not to, invest

The most obvious reason is that I dont have enough money to be invited into large-scale opportunities. Next, I have no particular expertise that would assist me in oil and gas investing. Prudence suggests, and I always suggest, doing the simplest, low-cost investing thing that requires the least amount of knowledge.

Oil and gas investments are famously opaque and high-cost opportunities, meaning if you buy into some heavily-promoted deal, it's hard to avoid just funding a dry hole while paying many layers of fees to the operator or promoter, who makes money whether they are successful or not. The proverbial heads you win, tails I lose kind of situation.

Having laid out some caveats  which hold true no matter what  I am intrigued by a Houston-based online platform called Energy Funders, designed for the little guy (like me) to invest in oil and gas opportunities.

When you create an investor account on Energy Funders (as I did this month) you can access specific oil and gas exploration opportunities, with a minimum as small as $5,000. Garrett Corley, the vice president of investor relations who called to vet me as an investor, says they average about one opportunity per month on their platform, with 34 deals closed to date.

More from Taylor: Small companies, service workers under threat from coronavirus fallout

CEO Casey Minshew says over the last five years they have been Beta Testing their thesis  that they can disrupt the closed, highly capital-intensive and high-fee world of energy exploration by giving access to smaller investors while reducing fees.

Minshew shared with me the results so far as well as the direction he intends Energy Funders to go in the future.

Of the 34 deals closed, 11 have been dry holes. Sixteen have produced appreciable oil and gas to date. Six of the deals, he believes, will be significant wins for investors. I did not independently verify his reported results, but those feel like results one should expect from high-risk investing, and therefore strike me as credible.

Minshew says that for this type of investment, small-dollar participants should split their money between a variety of projects to lower their risk of failure on any one investment.

Unlike the past five years, however, Minshew says the next few years will look a little different in terms of project style. Until now, Energy Funders has mostly backed so-called wildcat-style drilling, in which funders mostly get dry holes but hope to have enough big winners to compensate for losses.

Future capital raises on Energy Funders will focus on lower-risk investing, through two methods. One is to create a portfolio approach to projects, allowing investors access to multiple drilling projects, for diversification purposes. The second is to open access to unconventional, or horizontal drilling, projects.

For those familiar with oil and gas extraction lingo, youll know what that means. For the rest of us, conventional means drilling a traditional, vertical hole in the ground.

You lose money in conventional if your vertical hole is dry.

Unconventional refers to horizontal drilling techniques and deep underground rock-formation smashing, known colloquially as fracking. The way you lose money in unconventional drilling is if the high cost of fracking exceeds the value of the oil and gas extracted, particularly if theres too much gas and not enough oil.

On ExpressNews.com: Thy will be done (and you really should get it drawn up right now)

As an extremely general rule right now, gas is not profitable and oil is profitable  or will be again, post-coronavirus. Markets obviously vary and will change in the future.

The project that I reviewed on the site this week is one of their unconventional offerings, which has already been pumping oil and gas. The structure of that deal, as a result, offers less risk and less reward. But Minshew believes thats increasingly what investors on their platform want.

I dont mean to endorse Energy Funders as an investment vehicle in particular because, again, I know nothing about oil and gas investing. But the theory seems plausible to me that a larger market exists for lower-risk, lower-return investments in oil and gas, especially among the smaller investors that Energy Funders online portal will appeal to.

Energy Funders is a kind of democratizing platform. But from a regulatory standpoint, it is only offered to accredited investors, who must meet a relatively high income or net worth threshold. While their investment minimums are small  $5,000  you do have to have some income or wealth to burn in order to participate.

Final note. I understand that to many readers the idea of investing in oil and gas  in the age of climate change  is akin to investing in cancer. I disagree, but OK.

Michael Taylor is a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News and author of The Financial Rules for New College Graduates.

michael@michaelthesmartmoney.com | twitter.com/michael_taylor
Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing hit a snag as it tried to route money from a new Latin American market to Asia as the coronavirus pandemic disrupted traditional ways of banking.

Didi, which is backed by Japan's SoftBank, wanted to move the money to its treasury hub for international operations in Singapore. To do this, Didi needed to open a bank account quickly in the Lion City for the proceeds from that market to land in and from where it could pay drivers. Traditionally, opening a corporate bank account needs face-to-face meetings and documents couriered to a bank branch.

That is where the problems started. Staff at Beijing-headquartered Didi who needed to sign and stamp the paperwork with chops were working from home mid-February to limit the chance of getting infected with Covid-19.

Didi, valued at around US$51.64 billion last year, faced a delay in opening a new market, derailing its business roll-out across the continent and missing out on revenue at a time when the coronavirus has hit demand in its home market. Didi operates in Brazil, Mexico, Columbia, Chile, Costa Rica and entered Panama on March 10.

A worker at a disinfection station for Didi, in Beijing on February 24, 2020. Photo: AFP alt=A worker at a disinfection station for Didi, in Beijing on February 24, 2020. Photo: AFP

The spread of the new coronavirus is exposing the vulnerabilities of some of the more antiquated corners of banking.

Paper-based rules and regulation to root out money laundering have rendered the simple act of opening a bank account a slow and tedious process. Clients must produce documents such as proof of legal address, ownership structure, business registration certificate and passport copies of business signatories. With the time taken to collect these documents, have them couriered, checked for any discrepancies and then address those discrepancies, opening an account could take anywhere from a day to a month or longer.

Some banks are ripping up paper trails and digitising to make capital flows easier to manage. The spread of the coronavirus is accelerating this trend, starting in Asia, said bankers.

Story continues

"A crisis like this is a wake-up call if you are not digital. How do you move money?" said Sanjeev Jain, a senior banker in Citigroup's treasury and trade solutions business in Asia-Pacific.

From letters of credit placed on blockchain to net roadshows for IPOs, bankers are adapting to working conditions where face-to-face meetings with clients and large gatherings are discouraged.

Even the rarefied world of private banking where personal relationships and one-to-one meetings have been de rigueur is turning to digital platforms.

Private bankers at Union Bancaire Privee in Hong Kong have split between two offices in the city and home since early February to avoid cross-contamination, but are still connecting with wealthy clients through video conferences, traditional phone calls and FaceTime chats on their iPhones.

"For us, it's key to keep in touch with our clients and to continue to provide advice to them through these difficult times through a different communication channel," Eric Morin, the Swiss private bank's Hong Kong chief executive, said.

Smartphone showing Didi's Brazilian app for ride-sharing 99 Taxi. Photo: AFP alt=Smartphone showing Didi's Brazilian app for ride-sharing 99 Taxi. Photo: AFP

Bankers around the world can draw lessons from the digital innovation happening in Asia, where the coronavirus originated.

To solve Didi's problem, New York-headquartered Citigroup turned to a relatively new concept in banking: digital onboarding.

Citi, which handles US$4 trillion of transaction flows daily, rolled out digital onboarding around the world last year and now uses it in 10 markets across the Asia-Pacific region, including financial hubs Singapore and Hong Kong. However, some clients stubbornly stuck to analogue " that is changing now.

"This crisis is prompting our clients to embrace digital," said Citi's Jain.

Working digitally, clients can open an account as quickly as a couple of days. If clients have already lodged documents with the bank, they do not have to resubmit all their data again as they would have to do in the old paper-based system every time they wanted to open an account. Citi opened the account digitally for Didi in Singapore within a week.

Companies working with other banks might not have had this option. Citi is one of the very few banks that support cross-border digital account opening, and the banks that offer the service across continents is even more exclusive.

"Citi became a main provider of overseas capital operations solutions for Didi as early as 2017 as Didi began expanding its international business. The two parties have built mechanisms and expertise in swift response for many different situations. The coronavirus situation does not affect Didi's normal international capital operations," said Aman Singh Chadha, Asia-Pacific technology and communication sales sector head, treasury and trade solutions at Citi.

Didi declined to comment further on its banking procedures.

Such examples of digital adoption and workarounds are proliferating in Asia. The case studies provide valuable fodder for companies and bankers around the world as the coronavirus spreads to other countries.

Jain said that his colleagues are familiar with the digital onboarding solution as it is live in each region at the bank but because Asia is several weeks into the Covid-19 pandemic already, he is sharing his work with others.

"We are sharing how a client could benefit because they adopted a digital solution where otherwise they would have really struggled," said Jain.

Additional reporting by Chad Bray

Purchase the China AI Report 2020 brought to you by SCMP Research and enjoy a 20% discount (original price US$400). This 60-page all new intelligence report gives you first-hand insights and analysis into the latest industry developments and intelligence about China AI. Get exclusive access to our webinars for continuous learning, and interact with China AI executives in live Q&A. Offer valid until 31 March 2020.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright  2020 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
New Delhi: The whole world is shaken by the news of new suspects and death of Corona coming out every day. At the same time, more than 5000 deaths have also occurred due to the virus. Where Coronavirus has caught many countries around the world. PM Modi once again tweeted on Saturday night, saying, 'Time should be taken for a healthy planet. At 5 pm on Sunday, leaders of SAARC (SAARC) countries will discuss a roadmap to fight the challenge of the coronavirus (COVID-19) through video conferencing. I am confident that by coming together we will get effective results and the citizens of our country will get the benefit.

According to the information received, the issues that can be discussed on Sunday will include taking more vigilance about the movement of citizens, providing medical help or medicines to each other or sharing the experience. While it is still being said that India is the largest country in the region and has successfully limited the spread of the coronavirus so far, PM Modi can be announced to help other countries.

India helped many countries: India is already helping some countries. For example, on February 26, 2020, China's city of Wuhan was supplied 15 tons of medical supplies to fight the coronavirus. Such help will also be given to Iran soon. While India was evacuating its citizens from China and Japan, some citizens of Bangladesh, Maldives and other countries were also evacuated. India had urged all SAARC countries that if any of their citizens want to be evacuated, India will help in that. Some countries also requested.

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Coronavirus: Donald Trump's big statement says, 'So far 50 people have died from China.'

Ram Vilas Paswan's big announcement, says 'Efforts to revive sugar industry continue'

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Saudi Aramco on Sunday said it plans to cut capital spending in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, as it posted a 21% decline in 2019 net profit due to a drop in oil prices and production, its first earnings announcement as a listed company.

The world's most profitable company and by far its biggest oil producer, Aramco listed its shares in Riyadh in December in a record $29.4 billion initial public offerings that valued it at $1.7 trillion.

Its shares fell below the IPO price last week for the first time, as oil prices crashed after the collapse of an output deal between OPEC and non-OPEC members which led to an oil price war between Riyadh and Moscow. Saudi Arabia has said it plans to ramp up production to gain market share.

Also Read: COVID-19 cases rise to 107; India faces shortage of ventilators, ICU beds

Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said in a statement the oil giant has taken steps to rationalise planned capital spending in 2020 following the coronavirus outbreak.

The company expects capital spending for 2020 to be between $25 billion and $30 billion in light of current market conditions and recent commodity price volatility, compared to $32.8 billion in 2019.

Brent crude futures last traded at $33.85 per barrel on Friday, down from about $64 when Aramco listed its shares.

Despite a drop in income, Aramco said it paid a dividend of $73.2 billion in 2019 and intends to declare a cash dividend of $75 billion in 2020, paid quarterly.

Aramco, which is 98% owned by the Gulf kingdom, reported a net profit of $88.2 billion in 2019, down from $111.1 in 2018.

Analysts had expected Aramco to post a net profit of 346.6 billion riyals ($92.6 billion) in 2019, according to an estimate of 15 analysts polled by Refinitiv.

Last week Aramco said it would launch a program to boost production capacity for the first time in more than a decade, signaling to Russia and other rivals it was ready for a long battle over production levels and market share.

Also Read: FPIs withdraw Rs 37,976 cr from Indian markets in March amid coronavirus fears

Aramco said the drop in earnings was mainly due "lower crude oil prices and production volumes, coupled with declining refining and chemical margins, and a $1.6 billion impairment associated with Sadara Chemical Co."

Aramco remains the world's most profitable company, beating Western oil majors such as Exxon Mobil Corp, and Apple Inc, which made $55 billion in its last financial year that ended in September.

Aramco said it generated total revenues, including other income related to sales, of 1.106 trillion riyals in 2019, down from 1.194 trillion riyals the year earlier.

Aramco said it had total hydrocarbon production of 13.2 million barrels per day of oil equivalent in 2019, compared to 13.6 million barrels per day of oil equivalent in 2018.

Also Read: YES Bank Q3 net loss spikes to Rs 18,564 cr, its worst ever

Also Read: YES Bank was on the verge of going belly up; here's what Q3 results reveal
As many as 234 Indians who were among the people stranded in Iran amid the coronavirus outbreak have arrived in India, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in the wee hours of Sunday.

A Mahan Air flight carrying the Indians onboard landed in Mumbai. Among the 234 people, 131 of them are students and the rest are pilgrims.

Jaishankar thanked the Iranian authorities for facilitating the evacuations of Indians.

"234 Indians stranded in Iran have arrived in India; including 131 students and 103 pilgrims. Thank you Ambassador @dhamugaddam (Dhamu Gaddam) and @India_in_Iran team for your efforts. Thank Iranian authorities," the External Affairs Minister tweeted.

Iran is among the worst affected country from the coronavirus with 12,729 cases and 611 deaths so far.

In the past few days, India has carried out several evacuations of Indians nationals from Iran.

The first batch consisting of 58 nationals were brought back in a C17 military transport aircraft on Tuesday followed by another evacuation of 44 individuals on Friday.

Meanwhile, 84 positive cases of coronavirus have been reported so far from across India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Black Monday is Showtimes irreverent comedy series that centers around the stock market crash of 1987 and the aftermath of the event. Regina Hall stars as Dawn, a Wall Street trader with a big ego and shoulder pads to match. Season 2 of the series drops on Sunday, March 15, and Hall stopped by Strahan, Sara & Keke to open up about what viewers can expect in Season 2.

Regina Hall | Leon Bennett/Getty Images)

Regina Hall from Scary Movie to Black Monday

Before diving into details about Black Monday, Hall spoke with the hosts of Strahan, Sara & Keke about some of her previous projects. The hosts gushed over the memorable role of Brenda in Scary Movie, which solidified Hall as a comedy powerhouse. This year marks the films 20th anniversary, and the actress says that fans still ask her to quote lines from the movie.

Marlon Wayans and Shawn Wayans co-wrote Scary Movie with their brother Keenen Ivory Wayans serving as the director of the film. The comedy spoofed horror gems such as Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Hall delivered a standout performance that still inspires memes and gifs 20 years later.

Hall went on to reprise the role of Brenda in three sequels, then left the character behind to pursue other projects. The actress has appeared in blockbuster hits such as The Best Man, Think Like a Man, Support the Girls, and Girls Trip. Hall has at least three other projects in development in addition to her starring role in Black Monday.

Hall dishes on Black Monday Season 2

Black Monday Season 1 ended with a whopper of a cliffhanger. The stock market crashed and business whiz, Mo, played by Don Cheadle, went on the run after his mentor fell out of a skyscraper window. Season 2 picks up with aftershocks from the legendary financial crash. Hall visited with Strahan Sara & Keke and shared a sneak peek and a few juicy details about what to expect this season on Black Monday.

Its crazy again. They didnt get any better. I dont think that there was one lesson learned from Season 1. Theyre awful, Hall remarked.

Hall notes that her character is now running the Jammer Group, which has been renamed The Blair Dawn Group (TBD). The Wall Street firm was historically male dominated, but in a twist, Hall says that her character has staffed the office with all women.

Meanwhile, her characters partner, Blair, has traveled to Washington, D.C. in an effort to get deregulation passed. The actress shared a sneak peek with Strahan Sara & Keke in which Dawn has to explain that despite the name, Blair is a man.

Black Monday Season 2 sneak peek from Showtime

Black Monday premieres on Sunday, March 15 on Showtime at 10 p.m. Until then, fans can check out another sneak peek of the show on Showtimes YouTube channel.

In it, Dawn attempts to close a deal with a rival broker named Larry Lehman, who has recently lost his business partner and twin brother, Lenny. The meeting goes awry due to Larrys grudge against Dawns former partner Mo, who he holds responsible for Lennys death.

With Mo on the run from authorities and Dawn leading the firm alongside Blair, it is anyones guess where the show will head this season.

Read more: Nia Long on Boyz n the Hood and Why She Almost Turned it Down
Not all the cash will have been spent, of course, but our and other countries experience suggests a lot more will be than you may expect. Former prime minister Rudds two cash splashes in 2008 and 2009 are immediately apparent in the retail sales figures of the time.

Half of that will come from the cash-flow rebates to employers, and most of the rest from the $750-a-throw cash splash to social welfare recipients (including parents receiving family payments).

Australia is caught in a global economic storm and a recession is likely - it just depends on how you define one. Credit:Jamie Brown

Its clear that Scott Morrisons $17.6 billion stimulus package  what you might call Kevin Rudd with Liberal characteristics  was aimed primarily at boosting economic activity in the June quarter. Fully $11 billion of the $17.6 billion will be spent or rebated from the budget during the quarter.

Sorry to be blunt, but anyone who thinks avoiding a second quarter of decline in real gross domestic product means avoiding recession needs a lesson in economics.

In any case, to the possible $11 billion you have to add well over $4 billion worth of spending on cars, vans and equipment by small and medium-size businesses, induced by the temporary investment incentive, which will be spent before June 30 but wont hit the budget until next financial year.

This helps explain why Treasury estimates that the stimulus package will add 1.5 percentage points to whatever other growth or contraction in real GDP we get in the June quarter. Since growth in a normal quarter would be about 0.5 per cent  and, for comparison, Treasury and the Reserve Bank have estimated that the coronavirus will subtract 0.5 percentage points from growth in the present March quarter  this suggests the package stands a good chance of stopping next quarter being a second successive quarter of "negative growth"  contraction.

Just as it was exactly right for Rudd and his advisers to do everything they could to avoid a second successive quarter of contraction, so its exactly right for Morrison and his advisers to do the same. Credit:AAP

So, recession avoided? No, all that would have been avoided is having the financial markets and the media running around like headless chooks, shouting the R-word  and so frightening the pants off the rest of the populace  just as it was avoided in the March quarter of 2009, after Rudds carefully timed second cash splash.

Lets be clear. Just as it was exactly right for Rudd and his advisers to do everything they could to avoid a second successive quarter of contraction, so its exactly right for Morrison and his advisers to do the same. Thats not because the two-quarters rule makes any sense, its because so many silly people think it makes sense.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Prior to the NYPDs new Special Victims Division facilities on Staten Island, the conditions for sex-abuse survivors recounting what likely was the worst moment of their lives were -- as one law enforcement official put it -- horrendous.

But now, falling in line with a nationwide #metoo movement, borough investigators have a space to interview victims that feels more like a psychiatrists office than a police precinct stationhouse. The facilities were opened for use earlier this month.

Its the dawning of a new era in dealing with special victims cases here on Staten Island, said District Attorney Michael E. McMahon during a recent walk-through of the new space in St. George.

Prior to the renovation, victims had to recount their experiences to investigators either in an open room with a holding cell and often within earshot of strangers, or sometimes in what McMahon described as a closet, saying the conditions were horrendous.

Any victim who walks into this space will immediately get the message that people care about his or her situation, and that theyre getting a hug or embrace by the different services that will now be co-located in this space, he said.

The new space -- completed with about $250,000 from the NYPDs budget -- is one of five across the city, including facilities in Queens and Manhattan that are in use while still undergoing renovations.

We want people to feel like theyre walking into a living room," said NYPD Deputy Chief Judith Harrison, commanding officer of the departments Special Victims Division, which investigates sex crimes and cases of alleged child abuse. We want them to be able to have a sense of control, and I think this helps with that.

Even the signage that guides survivors to the new Special Victims Squad wing was created with a soft font, which is important in making survivors feel comfortable from the moment they step off the elevator, Harrison said.

Its very important, so they dont walk around and knock on doors and try to figure out where they need to go.

Once inside the facilities at 130 Stuyvesant Place, St. George, victims are met by an advocate who can help guide them through the interview process and direct them toward medical and social services. The district attorneys office also is located in the same building, along with a child advocacy center.

McMahon said that in the past, survivors would sometimes shy away from testifying due to the emotional stress, the logistics that went into receiving help, and a lack of confidence theyd be protected by law enforcement.

By having (this) system in place...they have the confidence to continue being supportive witnesses in cases we need to prosecute," he said.
Women wear protective masks in response to the spreading coronavirus in Caracas, Venezuela.
Flower and gifting firm Ferns N Petals is looking to double its turnover to Rs 1,000 crore in next three years from Rs 500 crore in the current financial year, on the back of its innovative services and entry into more markets across the globe.

Ferns N Petals (FNP) completed 25 years of operations with an estimated topline of Rs 500 crore in 2019-20.

The company, which started with a single store in 1994, has grown into a reputed brand with 11 verticals.

Talking to PTI, Ferns N Petals CEO, Retail & Online, India, UAE & Singapore, Pawan Gadia said, "The company strives to become Rs 1,000 crore entity in the next three years, with 35 per cent growth year-on-year basis, by adopting people first approach and doing innovation in all spheres of business."



The company's turnover stood at Rs 350 crore in 2018-19, Rs 245 crore in 2017-18, Rs 170 crore in 2016-17, Rs 120 crore in 2015-16.

FNP is also planning international expansion by launching online services as well as store operations in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, Gadia said.

The company, which has online operations in Qatar, will now also launch store operations in the country. It plans to enter a new international market in every three months.

It also has presence in Dubai and Singapore



FNP is planning to invest Rs 50 crore next year towards branding, technology and international expansion, Gadia said.

"On the retail front, FNP is planning to open 8 retail stores in a month next financial year onwards. Out of these, 60 per cent will be cake stores and 40 per cent will be flower stores," he added.

Currently, the company has 386 retail stores in 120 cities across India.

The company recently launched 'Flower Will' initiative for its silver anniversary celebration.

As part of this initiative, customers can subscribe for floral bouquets for their loved ones, and they will be delivered even after the customer is no more.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Police in the Russian capital have detained dozens of people at a protest against political repression outside the headquarters of the Federal Security Service.

The OVD-Info group that monitors arrests at demonstrations in Russia said 49 people were detained on Saturday.

It was not immediately clear what charges would be filed.

The detentions came as people stood in line to take part in a single picket protest. Russian law allows lone picketers without prior permission.

Rotating single pickets, in which each person stands for a short period before giving way to the next, is a frequent strategy.

The security service is the main successor to the Soviet KGB and its headquarters building on Lubyanka Square has strong symbolic resonance.
John MacArthur decries division in evangelicalism, calls for unity on sound doctrine

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The evangelical church today can hardly be defined by joy; theres so much fighting, discord and animosity in churches today, that its a far cry from what God desired, said pastor John MacArthur.

The influential pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in California was speaking to a large group of church leaders last week at the Shepherds Conference, where he called the issue of unity one of the many concerns he has.

Not only are individual churches very often divided, cantankerous, full of factions, animosity and anger but it seems to me that the entire evangelical church is like that  fragmented, split up, hostile, even angry, he said. This is a far cry from what our Lord desired when He said the world would know us by our love.

Division in the church is nothing new, MacArthur acknowledged, as the Apostle Paul addresses it in the New Testament. Paul tried to point believers toward unity for the sake of joy.

Its an obvious thing to say the church should be the most joyful assembly of human beings on the planet, right? MacArthur posed. Because our eternity is settled.

But that isnt the case, he lamented.

I dont know if I were an unbeliever looking at the evangelical church today, that I would conclude that its marked by joy, he said.

Do I need to say the church is divided? Do I need to say churches and the Church is dysfunctional, that it is morbidly and internally hostile to itself in so many cases? he posed.

Do we need to say that evangelical Christianity is fractured into all kinds of identity groups that are all demanding their moment in the sun and that everybody pay attention to them and give them what they think they deserve? Do I need to remind you that there are more victim categories than there are victims, and everybodys been abused and everybodys been offended? And the price you pay for that is no joy.

How do churches get to a place of joy as Paul spoke about in Philippians 1? Through unity, MacArthur stressed.

The only way to achieve unity is to be of one mind, he pointed out. That means, it is not inclusive.

It is exclusive, he said.

It excludes those who are enemies of the cross  namely, those who propagate and hold to doctrinal error and those in sin, the pastor explained.

And those of one mind  the redeemed  must strive together for the faith of the Gospel, he added, citing Paul.

All the bickering and all the backbiting and all the internal fighting stops when the real enemy shows up, he said.

When you look at evangelicalism fighting itself, you know its very superficial, they dont know where the real enemy is. The church is not engaged in fighting for the faith of the Gospel  well just fight each other.

He called it ridiculous for so-called Christians to be sinfully battling other Christians with their little petty offenses when there is a raging enemy attacking the Bible, God, Christ, the Holy Spirit and holiness.

Only when Christians wake up and realize they are in a battle for the truth and against demonic ideologies, will the infighting stop, he said.

MacArthur went on to stress that in order to stand in unity and strive together for the truth, Christians must be very clear with their doctrine.

You cannot unify a church on any other foundation than agreement on sound doctrine, he emphasized.

It is the battle against Satan and his foes and all of his corruption that draws the clear lines about what side youre on, he said. Passive, cowardly, kind of feminized church leaders, pastors in churches that dont fight, dont know where the line is drawn  they dont know what team people are on.

He added, When people say they hate what we say when we talk from the Word of God, they dont like what the Bible says about their particular sin or behavior, turn up the volume, turn it up so loud that they cant get away from it. They need to know whose team theyre on and so do your people.

MacArthur called on Christians to also suffer together if they want to be in unity.

Summarizing the Apostle Pauls words, MacArthur said, Somethings wrong with you if youre not suffering the same level of conflict that Im suffering, youre not going to get off with less; youre preaching the same message, youre living the same truth.

Take the suffering.

He also called on believers to love and cherish one another and move in one direction to advance the Gospel.

Unity cant be achieved unless there are gratitude and humility, he further noted. And that all comes down to how one's relationship with Christ is.

"Does it mean anything to you that Christ has taken up residence in your life?" he asked. "The whole Trinity has taken up residence in your life. And theyve come full of love that pours out all encouragement, all tender care, all communion,  all compassionate mercy. The only response should be grateful love, right?

"Youve taken the Trinity and all that the Trinity  can pour into your life and you know that the desire of the Trinity is that the church display its unity in joy," he continued. "And you're claiming your square inch of space and you're going to fight?"

Do nothing from selfishness, he quoted Paul. Do nothing that advances you.

If you think you have a right to demand everything you want and expect everybody to give you everything that you want, youre doing the devils work in the church, he said.

In the end, MacArthur pointed to Jesus Christ as the one who set the standard for humility  where He humbled Himself even to the point of death. And God exalted Him.

Simply, Christians must act like Christ, MacArthur exhorted.

Unity that produces joy in the church is only possible if you are the least important person in your life.

The Shepherds' Conference is held annually and aims to challenge men in church leadership  in their commitment to biblical ministry and to find encouragement together as servants of the chief Shepherd. This years theme was 2020 Vision: Doctrinal Clarity for a Confused Generation.
New Orleans officials are considering putting in place additional restrictions in the city in an effort to ramp up the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, according to several government sources.

The talks underway Sunday come a day after New Orleans police broke up large gatherings in the Irish Channel and on Bourbon Street as Cantrell admonished people who weren't heeding calls by officials to practice "social distancing."

The mayor will hold a 3 p.m. news conference at City Hall, although it remains unclear whether she will announce any changes.

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"We are not saying anything until the press conference," said Cantrell spokeswoman LaTonya Norton.

Gov. John Bel Edwards implemented drastic restrictions statewide on Friday to limit the spread of the virus, banning public gatherings of more than 250 people and shuttering Louisiana's public K-12 schools.

By Sunday morning, positive cases statewide had climbed to 91 and two people had died from the virus, both in New Orleans. A staggering 65 cases are in Orleans Parish, where officials have already warned that community spread is rampant. Twelve were in Jefferson Parish.

Those figures represented a dramatic increase in recent days, as officials expressed growing concern about the outsized number of cases in Louisiana compared to its population.

So far, 247 tests had been completed in the state.

On Saturday, Cantrell issued a press release urging residents to heed the warnings.

"I was deeply disappointed this afternoon by the individuals who chose to ignore the sober warnings of our public health officials and the proclamation issued by the Governor," Cantrell said. "At the same time we were learning the sad news regarding the first fatality in our state, certain individuals were flouting the public health protocols and actively increasing the danger to their neighbors and their loved ones. This is unacceptable."

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By Sunday, the second fatality had been recorded and the number of cases had continued to spike.

Cantrell urged in the release that "the best tool" the public has for slowing the spread of coronavirus was to practice social distancing.

New Orleans isn't the first government or area to implement stricter shutdown policies in the face of coronavirus infections.

Across the country, known cases of coronavirus had spiked to 2,700 across 49 states by Sunday morning. That's a steep increase from last Sunday, when there had been fewer than 500 known people infected, according to The New York Times.

On Sunday, Puerto Rico officials announced the island was closing all businesses except for those carrying essential items, like supermarkets, pharmacies, gas stations and banks, the newspaper reported.

Officials there were also instituting a curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.

In Chicago, city officials announced that business establishments selling liquor would be ordered to have half their regular maximum capacity, and that bars have a maximum capacity of 100, according to a news release.

One of the most extreme reactions has already happened in New Rochelle, N.Y., where officials established a containment zone around a section with the highest number of coronavirus outbreaks. That plan involved deploying the National Guard and delivering meals to residents who were ordered to stay inside their homes.

Measures could continue to get that extreme in cities around the country if current containment efforts don't work, according to The New York Times, which on Friday laid out a 13-step strategy checklist state governments are employing in attempts to further prevent coronavirus spread.

One of the first steps is social distancing. Further down the list -- No. 11 -- includes what Edwards did Friday: the closing of schools and public buildings, the paper noted.

Options 12 and 13 include closing workplaces, restricting all unnecessary travel away from people's homes and cordoning off specific areas with hotspot outbreaks.

"There are not a whole lot of other things that can be done," Edwards said Saturday. "There are a couple and they get to be more drastic."
Kurigram journalist gets bail

Ariful Islam

UNB, Kurigram : A court here on Sunday granted bail to journalist Ariful Islam Rigan, who was jailed for one year for `possessing narcotics.`



He is the district correspondent of online news portal Bangla Tribune.



Additional District Magistrate Court Judge Sirajuddoula granted him bail around 11am.



The local administration claimed that Ariful was arrested with 450ml local liquor and 100g hemp. Executive Magistrate Rintu Bikash Chakma said the mobile court sentenced him to one year imprisonment and fined him Tk 50,000.



But Arifuls wife Mostarima Sardar Nitu claimed that a group of law enforcers entered their home at Charuapara around Friday midnight and took away her husband forcefully without giving any reason.




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.
has reported 32 positive cases of novel so far, state Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Sunday.

He announced that the laboratory capacity to test samples of suspected novel will be expanded to 350 per day from the present 100 per day at the civic-run Kasturba hospital in Mumbai.

Tope said another laboratory will be set up at KEM hospital in Mumbai in the next two days. New laboratories will also come up at JJ Hospital, the Haffkine Institute--also in Mumbai, besides at a hospital in Pune in the next 15-20 days.

He said a decision has already been taken on this regard. "Orders will be issued either on Monday or Tuesday and the facility will be ready within 15-20 days," he added.

" has 32 confirmed positive cases of novel as of now including nine people who are admitted at Kasturba hospital," the minister told reporters after reviewing the quarantine facility and other infrastructure at Kasturba hospital.

Tope said 250 samples can be tested at the new facility at KEM hospital.

Meanwhile, the state government has appealed to the Public Service Commission (MPSC) to postpone its upcoming exams till March 31, apparently in view of rising cases of viral transmissions.

"The chief minister has appealed MPSC, which is an autonomous body, to conduct exams after March 30. I am confident the MPSC will conduct the exams after March 30," he said.
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The Karnataka government on March 13 announced that all malls, shopping complexes, parks and cinema theatres will closed for a week amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

While all seminars, workshops and conferences have been cancelled, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa also requested IT companies to allow their employees to work from home in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Given that most cases that tested positive in the state are IT and tech workers, the chief ministers request is well reasoned.

Unlike other sectors, the raw material for the sector is its people. From closing deals to trouble-shooting, IT professionals have to travel to client locations, often overseas, multiple times. With techies traveling so much, their chances of getting infected by the novel coronavirus is high.

So far, the number of COVID-19 cases in Karnataka is six. Three of them are techies, each from Mindtree, Dell and Google India based in Bengaluru. Two others are the wife and daughter of one of the techies.

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

All of these companies have suspended international travel and some of them have implemented restrictions on domestic travel too. These companies have also asked employees in those specific office buildings to work from home (WFH).

Employees working in other buildings, as of now, will have to go to office as usual. But after the chief ministers request to let all employees to WFH, tech firms are in discussions to expand the scope of working from home to more employees.

However, a significant portion of these employees will still be going to work. At least half a dozen IT professionals Moneycontrol spoke to said that they would be going to office as usual. "We have not got any intimation from our office," said one.

Unlike startups that have asked most of its employees to WFH, it is not as easy for IT service providers. Like V Balakrishnan, former Infosys CFO, said in an earlier interaction that companies have been designed to handle only 15-20 percent of them to work from home.

To enable thousands of employees to WFH, the company should apply for OSP license to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The company applying for license needs to pay a bank guarantee of Rs 1 crore per office. If the company has 76 offices, it should pay Rs 76 crore as bank guarantee.

In addition, access to network will be given only through virtual private network (VPN) provided by the telecom service providers (TSPs) such as Airtel. However, DoT has relaxed this norm in the light of COVID-19 pandemic.

Though the recent relaxation around the OSP license for IT firms, companies still have processes in place to enable WFH for its entire workforce. The IT industry employs around 50 lakh people.

An Infosys source told Moneycontrol that the company already has robust work from home options and have asked employees to avail WFH on case by case basis. The company is also in discussions to expand it further, the source added.

As of now, employees working in key projects and in offshore development centres (ODC) cannot avail WFH. ODC is an offshore team of supporting a company located in another country.

Also read: Remote work proponents sniff business opportunities as startups ask employees to work from home

A TCS employee said that the company is checking options. We have been asked if we have laptop and connectivity. They are taking details as of now, the employee said.

In a statement, TCS said: The health and safety of all TCS employees and their families are of utmost importance to us. We are working closely with all the relevant local, regional and global, health institutions and are implementing the latest recommendations given to us. We are ensuring that our staff have all the information and support they require. In addition we are also working closely with our clients to co-ordinate any measures in this situation.

While situations such as earthquakes and floods are taken into consideration while devising a risk policy, this is the first ever time companies are facing a health emergency of this scale. An IT executive said that this is new for everyone and such an emergency is not something a company can foresee.
Akiko Yamamoto, a 32-year-old office worker from Kyushu, Japan's southernmost main island, has a side business: She rents out an apartment in Tenjin, Fukuoka, Kyushu's largest downtown area, to tourists.

The practice that Airbnb began popularizing about a decade ago has a longer history in Japan. There's even a Japanese word for it, minpaku.

Tenjin is closer to South Korea than it is to Tokyo, making it an easy journey for South Koreans hungry for Fukuoka's famous ramen. It also draws a lot of Chinese and Western tourists.

But Yamamoto senses trouble. "I'm afraid tourists will stop coming," she said. "Then I'll have no way of making money with my apartment."

Her fear is not unfounded, and the slowdown that is already affecting Yamamoto and other side business owners like herself portends pain for Japan's economy as a whole.

Her business has also been hurt by the new coronavirus, which has led to a slew of cancelations from foreign visitors and has thrown the Tokyo Olympics into uncertainty.

Fukuoka, famous for its street food, draws many tourists from South Korea, China and the Western world. (Photo by Koji Zenke)

Yamamoto said she began her minpaku business almost two years ago when a set of regulations took effect, eliminating the legal gray area to which the industry had long been relegated. The law allows homeowners or renters to sublet rooms or entire homes for a maximum 180 days a year, if they meet a number of requirements.

Many homeowners taking advantage of the law have set up limited liability companies.

The legislation was billed as part of the Japanese government's efforts to accommodate surging tourist numbers and an expected crush of visitors for the Tokyo Olympics, a little more than four months away.

Minpaku has since emerged from the shadows as a legitimate growth industry, one that has been able to count on seemingly endless rivers of cost-conscious foreign travelers seeking cheap or alternative accommodations.

Last year, market researcher Fuji Keizai Networks estimated that the minpaku industry, including side services like consulting for landlords, would take in close to 130 billion yen ($1.2 billion) this year.

But that was before the new coronavirus began to spread and tourist numbers started to slide.

What was supposed to be a banner year for tourism is now under threat. On Feb. 1, Japan banned travelers from China's Hubei Province, whose capital, Wuhan, is the epicenter of the pandemic. It has since restricted other travelers, while fears of the virus have persuaded many other tourists to cancel their plans.

China is Japan's main source of tourists, and Chinese have been the biggest users of minpaku. According to the Japan Tourism Agency's most recent data, 28% of overall foreign minpaku users are Chinese. South Koreans are a distant second at 6%.


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Its looking like deja vu of the worst kind in Central Asia as a new economic jolt is coming to the region, only this time with some added bad news.

The jolt means that the price of oil has dropped dramatically on world markets -- much as it did in 2014.



For the five Central Asian countries -- whether dependent on hydrocarbon exports for revenue or remittances from millions of migrant laborers in Russia -- the decrease in oil prices six years ago heralded significant downturns in their economies.



Turkmenistan, for example, has still not recovered economically from the drop in the price for natural gas that accompanied the fall in oil prices, though much of the blame for Turkmenistans failure to bounce back lies in the governments lack of diplomatic or foreign-trade skills.



Some of the Central Asian governments are already moving to head off the problems they faced in 2014, and there are some reasons to think the difficulties that beset the region then will not be as severe this time.



But the added bad news -- the spread of the coronavirus and the accompanying global deceleration of production and trade -- is something that didnt exist in 2014 and will certainly add to the woes that await Central Asia.



Sending Money Home



Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are two of the most remittance-dependent countries in the world (currently occupying the fourth and fifth spots, respectively) and the vast majority of migrant laborers from these two countries work in Russia.



Among Central Asian migrant workers, Uzbeks actually send back the most money from Russia. Uzbekistans percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013 from remittances was only 9.69 percent, though it fell to 3.74 percent in 2015, according to the World Bank.

Interestingly, since President Shavkat Mirziyoev came to power in late 2016 -- and Russian-Uzbeks relations significantly improved -- remittances bumped up to account for some 12 percent of Uzbekistans GDP in 2017 and 15 percent in 2018.



According to World Bank data, remittances accounted for almost 44 percent of Tajikistans GDP in 2013, just over 37 percent in 2014, down to under 29 percent in 2015, and to a bit under 27 percent in 2016. The share of GDP went up to 31 percent in 2017 and was 29 percent in 2018.



Remittances accounted for some 30 percent of Kyrgyzstans GDP in 2014 and fell to about 25 percent in 2015. It increased to some 29 percent in 2016 and 33 percent by 2018.

In early 2016, Tajikistans National Bank said Tajik migrant laborers in Russia actually sent back more rubles in 2015 than in 2014, but the depreciation of the ruble meant the money sent back to Tajikistan was worth 33 percent less in 2015.

In 2014-15, the Russian ruble fell from 32.85 to $1 to 72.69/$1.



The Russian ruble rate was about 66/$1 on March 3, 2020, and one week later it fell to 71/$1 (down from a high of 74/$1 on March 9).



Whats Different This Time?



The health of the Russian economy is of course of vital importance to the Central Asian economies.

And with the economic problems for Moscow just starting, Russias Finance Ministry said on March 9 that the country had sufficient resources to keep afloat for six to 10 years if the price of oil was $25-$30 per barrel.

But the Finance Ministry may have just been putting on a brave face and the situation could deteriorate much further.

With President Vladimir Putin having just moved to possibly secure his spot as Russian leader for many years to come but with polls showing declining public support for him, the Kremlin will be anxious to avoid a plummet in the rubles value.

That should at least delay the sort of impact on remittances from Central Asian migrant laborers that was seen in 2015 and 2016.



If Not Russia, Where?



If the ruble does take another dive, that creates another problem for Central Asia.

The number of migrant laborers going from Kyrgyzstan to Russia actually increased in 2015 by 2 percent, owing, no doubt, to Kyrgyzstans entry into the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union that year, which afforded better working opportunities in Russia for citizens of member states.



But Russias Federal Migration Service reported that the number of migrant laborers from Tajikistan decreased by 3.8 percent (some 35,000) and the number from Uzbekistan by 4.1 percent (some 80,000 people) in 2015.

Some may have returned home, and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon recently claimed the number of Tajik migrant laborers had decreased to some 486,000.

But there were other options for Central Asian migrant workers five or six years ago when they could choose to go to countries in the Middle East, Turkey, Japan, or South Korea.

But with the spread of the coronavirus, many countries are closing off access and those arriving face enhanced scrutiny. The opportunity to travel to any of the above places to seek a job will be reduced.

That could lead to more people returning home, but employment will be difficult to find in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, and the addition of thousands of working-age citizens to the ranks of the unemployed in those countries would put additional strains on the public dissatisfaction that exists in those societies.



The Value Of Money



Kyrgyzstans national currency, the som, started 2015 at a rate of 58.89 soms to $1 and started 2016 at a rate of 75.89 soms/$1.

Kyrgyzstans National Bank made 16 currency interventions in 2015, spending some $37 million to prop up the som, and staged 12 such interventions in January 2016 alone, spending nearly $54 million.



The exchange rate on March 3, 2020 was about 69.8 soms/$1 and on March 10 the rate jumped to 74/$1.

The head of Kyrgyzstans National Bank, Tolkun Abdygulov, said on March 11 there would be no large problems in the current situation, but added that the bank had intervened to support the currency the previous day, since there was a great demand [for hard currency] and panic broke out.

Tajikistans national currency, the somoni, started 2015 at a rate of 5.3 somonis/$1 and began 2016 with a rate of 7.1/$1.

Tajikistans National Bank spent some $452 million in 2015 defending the somoni.

The exchange rate for the somoni was 9.68/$1 on March 3, 2020, and was roughly the same on March 10.

Whats different now as opposed to 2014 is that the impact of a possible economic downturn in Russia might not be as hard as it was six years ago.

The Central Asian governments gained experience from the previous drop in oil prices and announcements from central banks in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan indicate that the governments in those countries are reacting early to head off currency problems.

But Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, in particular, have limited reserves and cannot continually move to prop up national currencies.



The Oil And Gas Barons

Naturally, the two Central Asian countries that depend on oil and gas exports for revenue -- Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan -- are the first to be hit by the drop in the price of oil.

Kazakhstan was by far the hardest hit country in Central Asia the last time difficult economic times came, but that was partly due to the decision on August 20, 2015, to allow the national currency, the tenge, to float.

That day, the rate fell from 188 tenge/$1 to 255 tenge/$1 and, by the start of 2016, it had dropped to 340 tenge/$1.

The Kazakh government revised the budget three times in 2015 as oil prices continued to drop.

Many people in Kazakhstan who took out hard-currency loans for automobiles, homes, or other large purchases in the heady decade that preceded the tenges devaluation were almost wiped out.

In hindsight, one can see this sudden downturn in the economy sparked the social unrest that has evolved into recent rallies and demonstrations in Kazakhstan for an increasing variety of reasons.



The Kazakh government was quick to act this time to prop up the tenge, announcing on March 9 that it was planning currency interventions to ensure stabilization of the foreign exchange market and financial stability. And on March 10, Central Bank chief Yerbolat Dosaev announced the bank was hiking its policy rate from 9.25 percent to 12 percent to alleviate pressure on the tenge.

All the same, the tenge fell from about 380/$1 on March 3 to nearly 400/$1 on March 10.

Kazakh Energy Minister Nurlan Nogaev said on March 7 that his country would take steps to cut costs.

We have budgeted the oil price at $50-$55 [per barrel]. If it falls to $40 and below, the government has a plan to optimize the costs and we are already working on it, he said.

The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, was already under $40 per barrel as of March 11 and its expected to go lower.

Kazakhstan has signaled that it would not ramp up production to compensate for the falling price of oil, but that decision might change.



Turkmenistan is so mismanaged that it is unlikely the government can or would take any exceptional measures to head off the coming crisis.

'European Prices'



A decade ago, Turkmenistan was counting on selling its gas for European prices that were at that time well over $300 per 1,000 cubic meters.

A report in December 2019 said the price for Russian gas to Europe in the third quarter of that year had fallen to $169.8 per 1,000 cubic meters.

That was for Russian gas shipments to Europe. Turkmen gas has no chance of selling gas at that price.

The difference this time is that Russia unilaterally canceled its contract to buy Turkmen gas at the start of 2016. By then, Russian imports of Turkmen gas had fallen from some 40 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2008 to 4 bcm in 2015.

Finally, in 2019, by which time Turkmenistan was deep into an economic crisis, Russia agreed to resume purchases of a relatively modest amount of Turkmen gas -- some 5.5 bcm -- at a reported price of no more than $110 per 1,000 cubic meters.



As the price of gas follows falling oil prices in the weeks and months to come, $110 per 1,000 cubic meters might seem generous before the end of this year.

Turkmenistan cut off gas supplies to Iran at the start of 2017 citing what Ashgabat said was an unpaid Iranian debt of somewhere around $2 billion from supplies received nearly a decade earlier. Iran contests the amount and the quality of the gas received. There has been no significant movement towards resuming Turkmen gas supplies to Iran even though Turkmenistan could desperately use that or any other source of income.

That leaves Turkmenistan with only China as a major gas customer, and as has been pointed out before, Ashgabat owes China billions of dollars for loans to develop Turkmen gas fields and build the pipelines that carry Turkmen gas to China. An unknown percentage of Turkmenistans gas shipments to China goes toward paying off those Chinese loans.



On March 5, Reuters reported that, due to the coronavirus outbreak in China, the countrys leading gas importer, PetroChina, was declaring force majeure on gas imports.

Reuters quoted a source with direct knowledge of the situation as saying The supply cuts will fall on suppliers proportionately but LNG [liquefied natural gas] suppliers will have a lesser impact versus those on piped gas.

The actual proportion itself was not specified but on March 11, Kazakh Energy Minister Nogaev said, at Chinas request, Kazakhstan would be reducing the amount of gas it pumped into the three operating pipelines running through its territory from Turkmenistan to China by 20-25 percent. Twenty-to-25 percent would then seem to be the proportional cut all those who sell gas to China via pipelines face.

The three pipelines from Turkmenistan to China -- A, B, and C -- will have a capacity of some 55 bcm annually when they reach full capacity, which they are close to achieving already. Since the three pipelines also run through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, those two countries can ship up to 10 bcm of their gas to China, though neither has so far put that much into the pipelines.

Turkmenistan now faces not only even lower prices for its gas but is also looking at temporarily losing up to one-quarter of the income it does receive from China. To put that in perspective, Turkmenistan is exporting probably close to the 35 bcm allotted for its gas in the three pipelines, but that will now be reduced by somewhere between 7 to 8 bcm, more than the amount of gas Turkmenistan just started selling to Russia.

The Kazakh government will hopefully have learned from the experience of five and six years ago, but there is a new president there, at least in name.

Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev stepped into the presidents office in March 2019 when Kazakhstans first and only president, Nursultan Nazarbaev, announced he was stepping down. It is clear Nazarbaev is still in charge in Kazakhstan, but the change in presidents invigorated those in the country who are waiting for change.

There have been more public demonstrations for more reasons in Kazakhstan in the last year than there probably were combined in the 10 years prior to 2019.

Demands for better social benefits have been at the center of protests, often by working mothers with large families. The government has promised to increase benefits and has implemented some changes, but if the economy takes another downturn it will be difficult to fulfill all the pledges it has made.

Nazarbaev made it through the previous period of economic decline partly because he was the only president the country had ever known, and Kazakhstan was coming off an extended period of economic growth. Another economic downturn coming so shortly after recent hard times will put immense pressure on Toqaevs government.

It is worth noting that Uzbekistan also has a different leader than it did in 2014, but Uzbekistan actually has reason to hope Shavkat Mirziyoev will be more effective in dealing with an oncoming economic crisis than his predecessor was.

First President Islam Karimovs response to the economic problems five or six years ago was to do almost nothing. Uzbekistan is already self-sufficient for many of its needs and as the countrys economy took a beating, Karimov made no significant moves to alleviate the situation.

Mirziyoev, if nothing else, has shown more energy in office and a willingness to try new ways to bring Uzbekistan out of the economic malaise Karimov left behind.

And one new factor that will hit all the Central Asian countries is the general slowdown of Chinas economy due to the outbreak of the coronavirus and the accompanying reductions in production.

The cuts in gas are one example, but five or six years ago China still had lots of money to spend and did so, continuing to invest in projects in Central Asia and -- some would add -- increasing the debts of these countries to China. The Central Asian states will not be able to depend on receiving as much Chinese money this time.

No one in Central Asia wants the economic problems that appear to be coming. They might be better prepared to deal with some aspects of these problems, but surely many are like Kazakh Energy Minister Nogaev, who mentioned when announcing the gas reduction to China that there is hope for another meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC oil-exporting countries soon that could patch up the damage left behind when their March 6 meeting broke up amid deep disagreements.


Employers all say Vietnamese university graduates are weak at soft skills, while schools have been blamed for not equipping their students with these skills.

At a recent workshop organized by the network of former students of the Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST), Ta Hai Tung, director of the Institute for Information Technology and Communications, put emphasis on the weak point of Vietnamese students  poor soft skills and English skills.





Tung said the institute has joined forces with HUSTs former students who are working in Silicon Valley to provide opportunities to excellent students fimor internships at Apple, Facebook and Amazon.



Forty excellent students were chosen and attended the interviews with the giant firms. But only three were chosen because they were good at foreign language and soft skills, and algorithm skills as well.



Many Vietnamese students have deep professional knowledge, but are poor at English. Others have good English, but are weak at soft skills.

Employers all say Vietnamese university graduates are weak at soft skills, while schools have been blamed for not equipping their students with these skills.

An analyst said the soft skills of many Vietnamese students are so poor that they dont know how to write emails, applications for jobs or prepare a CV.

There are big differences between Vietnamese and American students. The latter can attend training courses in soft skills, he said.



In fact, many schools admit that their students are weak at soft skills, but said students need to seek separate training courses on soft skills, rather than rely on curricular lessons at schools. They said that teaching soft skills is not the job of universities.



One of the reasons that has caused schools to hesitate to open skill training programs is the lack of money. The training will be costly, while schools are not allowed to raise tuition.



Meanwhile, Hoang Minh Son, rector of HUST, said the training of soft skills has been integrated into compulsory learning subjects and training programs at his school. The training helps them improve the skills of presenting problems, solving problems, and working in teams.



Other mportant soft skills which cannot be integrated into learning subjects and need to be taught in non-curricular hours can be learned in online classes or they read the documents on soft skills online.



Regarding career skills such as work planning and methods of working in different fields, fourth-year students will get training support when the school cooperates with enterprises.



Large corporations usually run programs to train soft skills in professional training methods, he explained, adding that the internship programs provide great opportunities to students to get familiar with real working conditions and gain experience.

Linh Ha

PISA results show Vietnamese students good at academics, bad at soft skills The absence of Vietnam in this years PISA ranking shows that students are equipped with academic knowledge, but lack experience and life skills.
Mumbai, March 15 : Last week, the world was stunned to watch videos and images of the famed black stone mosque in Holy Kaaba, appearing starkly barren, resembling a strange landscape, devoid of any Muslim faithful.

Situated in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the Holy Ka'aba is the most revered and crowded religious places in the Islamic world where literally millions of Muslims daily circumambulate seven times in the 'Mataf' around the black stone, and the crowds surge massively during the Haj season, this year scheduled in July.

"After the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic, you can virtually count the faithful there now... The Holy Ka'aba mosque has never been witnessed as barren before," an aghast Mumbai journo Aejaz A. Ansari, who has prayed there, told IANS.

With Italy marooned by the pandemic, the crowds have practically disappeared or reduced to a trickle even at the Holy See's Papal Blessings, on Sundays at the St. Peter's Square in the Vatican.

On March 8, a shocked world watched Pope Francis's blessings live-streamed on giant screens from his library inside the Vatican unlike his familiar divine presence in the balcony, overawing the sea of humanity below him in the Square.

In his blessings, Pope Francis confessed he felt "caged", but added that he was praying for all the coronavirus victims and those taking care of them, and the world will watch for his blessings even tomorrow and henceforth.

"This is considered unprecedented... I have been bestowed with Papal Blessings four times in the Square, but never ever witnessed it on TV screens," a perturbed Bro. George T. Verghese, of Seva Sadan, Bengalaru, who studied at the Vatican told IANS.

India, famed for massive gatherings or congregations at various religious places or festivals or fairs at top holy spots, the low turnout with many sporting protective masks, has shocked even television viewers hundreds or thousands of kms away.

The numbers of devotees have dropped drastically even at top Budhist religious and tourist centres in Asia and India, at various Shakti Peethas, Jyotirlings and Ashtavinayak, sending alarm bells ringing among various stakeholders.

Particularly hit are the 'Buddhist Circuits' of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, besides pagoda-temples and other prominent landmarks around the country, officials admit.

"We are largely unaffected, but we have installed sanitisers in the Saibaba Temple precincts, check temperatures of all devotees coming here, regularly fumigate the premises inside and outside, reserved a few beds to tackle any coronavirus emergency," Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, Shirdi spokesperson Mohan Yadav said told IANS.

Mumbai pilgrim tour operators have reported practically zero bookings for various round-the year religious tourism hotspots like Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine in Jammu, Tirumala Tirupati Temple in Andhra Pradesh, Shreenathji Temple in Rajasthan, Kalighat, Dakshineshwar, Mayapur, Nava-Dvipa temples in West Bengal, Kamakhya Temple in Assam or even the Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra scheduled for June 23.

Closer in Mumbai, devotees or tourists barely throng the Siddhivinayak Temple in Dadar, the Haji Ali sea mausoleum in Worli or the St. Michael's Church in Mahim and the Mt. Mary Church in Bandra.

"I have been visiting the Siddhivinayak Temple since the past three decades... This is the first time after the 1992-1993 Mumbai riots that I have seen such a poor crowd," claimed a diehard Lord Ganesha devotee Rajesh Parulekar.

In Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Nagpur and other towns, several traditional, religious processions, fairs and celebrations have been cancelled while temples, mosques and churches are largely abandoned; there's a crestfallen look on the faces of poor locals selling flowers, garlands, sweetmeats, candles, memorabilia, trinkets, pictures, et al.

"Pleasure and pilgrimage tourism is at its lowest ebb currently with shut-downs and lock-downs everywhere... The only consolation would be if India develops a reliable cure for CoronaVirus, we may find succor in 'medical tourism' which can save us," a Borivali-based travel consultant Clifford Borges said wryly.

With the ongoing summer season considered a 'wash-out' due to coronavirus scourge, all players are keeping their fingers crossed - and pray - for a revival in their fortunes during Diwali and winter season.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
ALTON  Concerns about the spread of coronavirus canceled the official Downtown Alton St. Patricks celebration on Saturday, but green-clad revelers showed up anyway to celebrate all things Irish.

Though green beer, Jameson Irish Whiskey and goodwill flowed as usual, those who kept with tradition and came downtown Saturday were very aware of the cloud cast over the revelry by COVID-19 concerns. Some chose to ignore the risk, while others were a little more cautious with their celebration.

I work at a hospital in Highland, said Jessie Manton, of Marine, while enjoying a drink with friends at Altons Morrisons Irish Pub.

So I am always self-conscious and health conscious, especially during flu season, she said. Hygiene is kind of important to me.

I dont think it is anything to freak out about yet. I think as long as we are taking precautions, we are good.

Morrisons Irish Pub is typically a destination for St. Patricks celebrations and although it was crowded Saturday afternoon, it hadnt reached the can-hardly-walk-through point of years past.

At first I thought there would be more people out, but once we got out with the weather and everything, I think this is about what we expected, Manton said.

Im very Irish and my family normally participates in the Downtown parade, which has been canceled, so this is kind of our make-up for it.

Rosewood Heights resident Gene Flowers, along with friends, had some drinks and Irish stew at Morrisons.

Its always a good time down at Morrisons and theres always a good crowd here, Flowers said. As you can see today, they still show up.

Were not really concerned about the virus, he said. It doesnt seem to be a serious problem in our area, and lets hope that it continues to be that way.

Flowers noted that he and his friends didnt think twice about coming out this weekend in spite of the overall virus concerns.

We didnt hesitate at all, he said.

We were rather disappointed that the street festival had to be canceled. We wanted to make sure that we still supported the local community, so we decided to come down to Morrisons and do our part.

East Alton resident Jamie Winship celebrated her birthday Saturday at Altons Bluff City Grill, but she understood why city of Alton officials called off the public St. Patricks Day events, she said. Yet, she and her friends didnt consider changing their plans because of the virus.

Its a good idea for a crowd-control kind of thing, she said, but its not going to stop a lot of people from going out  because its St. Patricks Day.

You just need to wash your hands and dont touch your face.

Hand sanitizer is good, but what about the antiseptic properties of the St. Patricks Day drinks at her table?

Im sure it helps, she said.

At Altons Macs Downtown, a kilt-wearing David Ruyle, of Jerseyville, imbibed with family and friends.

Im here to drink, Ruyle said. For me, its a St. Patricks tradition.

Ruyle wasnt concerned about the coronavirus.

Its a fluke, he said. Its just like every other sickness.

St. Patricks Day weekend is one of the biggest revenue-generating times for most Downtown Alton eating and drinking establishments, so diminished crowds will certainly have an impact on many businesses bottom lines.

We look forward to the St. Patricks celebration, kind of, carrying us through, especially with all of the spring flood predictions, said Morrisons Irish Pub co-owner Lisa Morrison. So that is what we use to kind of carry us through that flood season, because when that flood comes it doesnt show any mercy.

Even with many people in person supporting Downtown businesses, crowds were down Saturday compared to past St. Patricks celebrations, and Morrison, who also works at a hospital, realized why people are concerned about the virus.

We sanitize our tables after each customer, and we put in a lot of good techniques to keep the place clean, she said. We are just as concerned for our customers as we are for ourselves. Its better to err on the side of safety and flatten the curve whenever possible.

Germania Brew Haus experienced normal Saturday crowds and also took ongoing precautions against the coronavirus.

Before and after every drink I am using hand sanitizer, said Germania employee Michael Wooff, of Alton. We are wiping down our screens often, we are really on top of it.

Every Monday we are doing deep cleaning here, he noted. We have a consultant from a hospital who came in and showed us how to clean on that level.

Canceling public events, like, the St. Patricks celebration might be disappointing, but Wooff understands why those steps were taken, he said.

Hopefully they (organizers of events) are taking the precautions that some of the bigger cities are.
The American woman who claims she was trafficked to Prince Andrew is set to appear in a new Netflix documentary revealing harrowing new details about her life as Jeffrey Epstein's alleged sex slave.

Virginia Roberts, 36, confirmed the news Friday in a post on Twitter, revealing that she would appear in the series alongside several of Epstein's other alleged victims.

'The Netflix team were wonderful to me & my husband. They're looking to tell the world the truth of what went on behind closed doors,' she wrote.

'I hope the message reaches the voiceless & helps give them a voice & I hope the message is clear to anyone who thinks $= no justice thinks again!'

Netflix revealed on Twitter that the series would be titled 'Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich' and would be made available to their 170 million customers later in the year.

According to a synopsis, the series 'exposes a horrifying story of relentless manipulation and sex trafficking. Epstein's survivors serve as the series' pre-eminent voices, providing powerful testimonials about their experiences, and inspiration in their resilience.'

Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Roberts will appear in a Netflix documentary series titled 'Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich'. She claims Epstein trafficked her to Prince Andrew for sex on three occasions. Roberts and the Prince are pictured with Ghislaine Maxwell in 2000

Roberts revealed the documentary news on her Twitter page Friday

One Twitter user praised news of the film in a message that was re-tweeted by Roberts herself.

It read: 'Good! Serious Exposure! When will all co-conspirators be rounded up the FBI? #Epstein #PrinceAndrew #GhislaineMaxwell.

Roberts claims she had sex with the Duke of York three times - once in London when she was 17, one time in New York and another at Epstein's private Caribbean island. The claims have been strongly denied by Prince Andrew.

Last week, US federal prosecutor, Geoffrey S. Berman stated that the Prince had 'completely shut the door on voluntary cooperation' in the case against Epstein - with whom he was once friends.

Robert is pictured (left) with her lawyer outside a Manhattan courtroom last year

Epstein and Prince Andrew were pictured together numerous times over the years, including one time after the financier had been jailed on a sex offense charge.

Meanwhile, Roberts recently stated that Epstein's Manhattan townhouse - which Andrew has admitted to visiting - was crawling with cameras.

Roberts said that she has seen images from the cameras and that they were fitted throughout his house.

'I've seen the video rooms,' she said on Twitter.

'EVERY SINGLE ROOM was being filmed. I've even seen some of the pics.'

Meanwhile, Epstein's former girlfriend and 'associate' Ghislaine Maxwell reportedly told a socialite pal about the cameras.

Epstein is pictured with Ghislaine Maxwell, his former girlfriend and alleged 'madam', in 2005

Roberts, who claims she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew, has said that Epstein's Manhattan townhouse (pictured) was crawling with cameras

Christine Oxenberg last month told the New York Post Maxwell 'said many things' about the cameras.

'All creepy. Unorthodox. Strange. I could not believe whatever she was saying was real. Stuff like: 'Jeffrey and I have everyone on videotape'.' Oxenberg stated.

Several other sources have also claimed that Epstein secretly filmed his guests using hidden surveillance cameras in the Manhattan mansion, according to The Telegraph.

In response, Roberts question why there was a hold-up in the police investigation.

'I've seen the video rooms,' she said on Twitter. 'EVERY SINGLE ROOM was being filmed. I've even seen some of the pics'.

'Everyday I wake up hoping that someone has been help accountable and everyday I wake up disappointed,' she said.

Prosecutors in the US are investigating sex trafficking allegations and are looking at possible 'conspirators' who worked with Epstein.

Epstein, who died in August 2019, was found dead in his New York jail cell aged 66 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.

His death was ruled a suicide but this has been disputed by his lawyers.
Nike has said it is closing all its stores in the United States, Western Europea, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to try to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

Outlets will be shuttered from 16 March to 27 March, the company said in a statement.

However, stores in South Korea, Japan and most of China will continue to stay open.

The company said: "We are taking additional steps in other Nike-managed facilities, including the option to work from home."

Clothing retailer Urban Outfitters also said it was closing all of its stores worldwide until at least 28 March.

Urban Outfitters owns brands including Anthropologie and Free People.

Retailers including Macy's Inc, Saks Fifth Avenue and Gap Inc's Banana Republic sent notices to shoppers last week saying they were open for business in a move to stem losses due to a steep drop in store traffic

Reuters contributed to this report
Amid quarantine, people in the Philippines are frustrated, worried that government has reacted too slowly to pandemic.

Manila, Philippines  The streets of Metro Manila, a megacity with a population of about 12 million people, were eerily quiet and empty hours after the government sealed off the city in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

The health ministry on Sunday confirmed 28 new coronavirus cases, bringing the countrys total to 140. A 13-year-old girl is reportedly the youngest person infected. There have been 11 deaths.

In the glitzy Makati commercial district, malls were devoid of shoppers. Servers outnumbered diners in restaurants that would normally be packed with families gathering for a meal after Sunday mass.

A corner coffeeshop posted shortened store hours and the barista, who declined to be named, said he was not sure if they would be open the next day.

Checkpoints manned by the police and the military would serve as border patrols [Ana P Santos/Al Jazeera]

A handful of trains and buses were still running but were nearly empty.

This COVID-19 is worse than a war. We are all affected. But the worst hit are our livelihoods,

said taxi driver Bobric Caballo.

On a normal day, he makes about $50, which is substantially more than the minimum wage of $10 a day. These days, he is lucky if he can make $20. The pile of masks and can of disinfectant spray he now keeps in his cab are an added but necessary cost to protect himself from the virus.

I give the masks to passengers who dont have one. I wish I could douse the ones who come in here sneezing and coughing with alcohol, but that wouldnt be polite, said Caballo.

Bobric Callao is making less than half of what used to earn daily [Ana P Santos/Al Jazeera]

Soft lockdown

President Rodrigo Duterte addressed the nation on the evening of March 12 and declared a community quarantine. Domestic air, land, and sea access to the 17 districts of Metro Manila would be suspended from March 15 to April 14.

Checkpoints manned by the police and military would serve as border patrols, while classes would be suspended for one month. A curfew from 8pm to 5am would be enforced.

However, Duterte stopped short of calling the restrictions a lockdown of the countrys economic hub.

We dont want to use that [word] because you are afraid of a lockdown  but its a lockdown, said Duterte in his televised address.





A total of 56 checkpoints have been set up blocking the entry points to the 17 districts that make up Metro Manila. The checkpoints are manned by police and military personnel who perform temperature checks on passengers.

Department of Interior and Local Government Under-Secretary Jonathan Malaya admitted the implementation of the government checkpoints is a logistical nightmare but drastic measures are needed.

So we were able to interview DILG Usec. Jonathan Malaya earlier on @ukgdos. Here are some answers you might be looking for about the Metro Manila quarantine/lockdown thats happening on March 15. THREAD.  Jeff Canoy (@jeffcanoy) March 13, 2020

At a news conference earlier on Sunday, Debold Sinas, head of the National Capital Region Police Office, admitted that only half the checkpoints have a thermal scanner.

If there are still not enough thermal scanners, we will transfer the ones we have at our police stations to the checkpoints, said Sinas.

Drastic measures

The World Health Organization (WHO) had presented the results of a mathematical modelling exercise to the government that indicated a scenario where up to 70,000 COVID-19 cases could be seen in the Philippines.

The WHO urges the Philippines to adopt all measures necessary to control the outbreak together  testing, isolation of cases, and social distancing, said WHO Country Representative Rabindra Abeyasinghe.

We just didnt have that many confirmed cases before. But once there is community transmission, the cases started to ramp up. That is expected in any epidemic, said Dr Edsel Salvana, an infectious disease specialist and member of the Inter-Agency Task Force on COVID-19.

The health ministry was largely criticised for its inaction and lack of transparency in its handling of the virus.

The country only has 2,000 COVID-19 test kits available, leading to fears that the total number of infections will remain undetected.





A local test kit developed by scientists at the University of the Philippines, which drastically reduces the turnaround time for testing, is still undergoing a two to three-week field test before it can be made commercially available.

Health Minister Francisco Duque admitted he should have declared COVID-19 a public health emergency sooner.

Some citizens have criticised the community quarantine as a haphazard response that would only spread the virus to other parts of the country where health facilities are less prepared.

With the mass exodus of people from Metro Manila in the last three days, we now have suspected cases on the rise in other parts of the country. The aim of the lockdown was to contain the epidemic in Metro Manila. What we need now is a national lockdown, said public health advocate Benedict Bernabe.

Salvana, the infectious disease specialist, said the exodus was foreseen and was the most contentious issue.

The two-day window [before the community lockdown] was a humanitarian response to give people  especially those with limited resources  time to go home to their provinces.

Some people, like Cecille de la Cruz, could not get home before the March 15 start of the community quarantine. De la Cruz is from Batangas, about three hours south of Manila.

She had to borrow money for bus fare. We need to get home to our five-year-old child because, in the coming days, bus trips may be reduced, she said.

Her partner, Manuel Carpio, works as a company driver. He does not know if he will have a job when the community quarantine is lifted.

My company just said they would observe the situation and see how it affects them. Im not sure what that means for me as an employee.

Train stations were largely empty on Sunday amid the lockdown [Ana P Santos/Al Jazeera]

They let the problem in

Panic and confusion ensued in a high-rise condominium complex in the city of Pasig when a resident was confirmed to have been infected.

The patient was evacuated in an ambulance, and their family has been moved to an undisclosed location for quarantine. The panic turned to anger as building management began implementing policies the residents did not understand.

We were told that there would be a strict no mask, no entry policy. Masks are already hard to come by so what will they do  prevent us from entering our own home? said Chel Roa, who lives in the building with her husband and their 12-year-old son.

I am very worried. This is an open community. Elevators, the gym, the pool and hallways are all shared spaces where we could have come in contact with this person, said Roa.

Ryan Amandy, a 29-year-old resident, is frustrated. Looking at the global trends, he said it was only a matter of time before COVID-19 affected him. But still, he feels the government could have done better.

Mostly, I resent the government for its slow response. Travel bans and quarantine should have all been done sooner. They just let the problem in, and now that problem is a pandemic.
As Houston-area coronavirus cases rise in number, one Fort Bend County family got caught in testing confusion.

We were thrown for a loop for an entire week testing (my grandfathers) symptoms for coronavirus and results coming back negative, then positive and then negative again every couple of days, said a 30-year-old Fort Bend County woman who asked to not be identified.

On Friday, her 80-year-old grandfather officially tested positive for coronavirus by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He is home now and being cared for by the womans mother, aunt and uncle. The entire family is under self-quarantine and are making a list of everyone who has had contact with the man to give to the State Department for epidemiological purposes.

The diagnosis came seven days after he was brought to a 24-hour emergency hospital in Sugar Land for dehydration and shortness of breath. It was the emergency room workers who believed the man exhibited coronavirus symptoms.

On HoustonChronicle.com: How to keep your mental health in check during the coronavirus pandemic

According to the granddaughter, he was brought by ambulance to Houston Methodist in Sugar Land on March 6, and tests showed that he had atypical pneumonia, she said.

Several tests were run and they were told that he did not have COVID-19, the new coronavirus. He was admitted and prescribed antibiotics for the pneumonia. She does not know if her grandfather was tested specifically for coronavirus that day.

From the beginning, the family was upfront about his international travel, she said. He returned to the United States from overseas on Feb. 20.

In our minds, we think that maybe it was inappropriate they didnt do the (coronavirus) test right away if they were aware of the travel, she said in a phone interview. The second thing is that a couple staff members were being so vague and not forthcoming with information even though we were all alarmed.

In an email to the Chronicle, a Houston Methodist spokesperson said they do not comment on individual patient cases per federal law.

On March 8, hospital staff told the family that he wasnt tested for coronavirus initially and would need to be moved to an isolated ward, tested and have samples sent to the CDC for additional testing. Samples are taken via nasal swab, according to Dr. Umair A. Shah, executive director of Harris County Public Health.

It wasnt until March 10 that Methodist told the family that the man was decidedly positive for coronavirus, and staff was waiting confirmation from the CDC. The family was told to prepare for the worst since he is 80-years-old.

Coronavirus has shown to be very dangerous for people over the age of 60.

The following day, more samples were taken by hospital staff because the CDCs results were inconclusive, the granddaughter said. On March 12, the family was told by Methodist that his results came back negative for coronavirus, and the man was discharged.

But then on Friday, March 13, the CDC called the family with news that the man was actually positive for coronavirus.

My grandfather is now home, and all of us are at home with him without masks and gloves, the woman wrote on Twitter. Hes certainly happy to be home and free of coronavirus. And guess what, CDC just called us and told us that he is POSITIVE for the virus.

Family members, including the granddaughter, were instructed by CDC to get tested if they had any symptoms. Everyone is quarantined and has been monitoring their symptoms for a few days. One uncle who is a smoker paid extra for testing and a lung X-ray since has additional risk factors, she said.

And the 80-year-old is doing well despite the diagnosis. He is being cared for by his family, who are taking precautions when feeding him and helping him walk.

Hes on meds for his lungs, hes really happy to be home, and were confident hes going to recover, she wrote.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Brazoria Countys first two COVID-19 cases not related to travel, may involve Rodeo

Two new cases in Brazoria County Saturday bring the regions total to 25, including 10 in Harris County.

At a teleconferenced-coronavirus panel hosted by The Health Museum, Dr. Scott C. Weaver said a major challenge in monitoring the outbreak is that health officials are watching in the rear view mirror.

Weaver is the director of the Institute for Human Infections and Immunity and scientific director of the Galveston National Laboratory.

Because of delays in the incubation period for one week, delays in testing people who become symptomatic, were always a little behind in keeping up with the spread of the outbreak, Weaver said. That means when theres community transmission, we find out too late to try to stop the community spread.

There are possibilities of false negatives in coronavirus testing, Shah said. Its important for there to be an evaluation period at home before people who are exhibiting symptoms go to hospitals or doctors for testing.

The Fort Bend County family is grateful for the health care system, but wish they could have had more definitive answers earlier.

I think it was okay to send him home. It would have been more ideal to wait until they had the confirmation from the CDC before telling us his result was negative because we werent as cautious that full day, she said. But sending him home to heal was fine because hes doing a lot better.

julie.garcia@chron.com

Twitter.com/reporterjulie

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A third person in New York state has died from the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Sunday.

Cuomo said a 79-year-old woman who had multiple major underlying health issues died Sunday from the respiratory virus. Another state official said the woman died in a New York City hospital, which she had been admitted last week.

Cuomo also reported 69 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the state since Saturday, bringing the total in the state to 729.

New York is the state that has the most number of cases, he said.

Currently, 137 of the 729 people known to have been infected with the virus are being hospitalized, a rate of 19%, he said.

Cuomo urged private businesses to direct their employees to work from home, if possible, and to even consider voluntarily closing. He said the state may consider mandatory closings if voluntary actions prove inadequate.

He said schools should also close, but only if they can make sure that families have child care available to them and students who depend on school meal programs are fed.

He also said he was ordering all non-essential state workers from Rockland County south stay home. That represents about half the state work force, he said.

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Saudi Aramcos stock on Riyadhs Tadawul exchange has been trading below 32 riyals (about $8.50) per share, the opening price in its initial public offering in December. On Sunday, the share price was about 28.70 riyals.

Aramcos future results will probably continue to be heavily influenced by the policies of Saudi Arabia, its main owner. Having failed to agree with Russia on new production trims at a meeting on March 6 in Vienna, the Saudi government ordered Aramco to ramp up its sales and production. The company recently slashed the prices it was offering to customers for its crude in April.

Saudi Arabias de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, hopes to offset the drop in prices with a rise in exports. Low oil prices and the deteriorating global economy threaten to undermine the princes ambitious plan, known as Vision 2030, to diversify the Saudi economy away from oil.

Aramco said in its release that in response to price volatility it would most likely cut capital spending to between $25 billion and $30 billion for 2020 compared to $32.8 billion in 2019. At the same time, the company recently announced plans to increase production capacity by a million barrels a day to 13 million barrels a day as part of the saber-rattling with Russia. A production increase of that magnitude will most likely require large expenditures on drilling and other operations.

Aramco said the earnings decrease was primarily because of lower oil prices. It also produced less oil because of restrictions that were in effect with OPEC and Russia. The company said it had earned lower levels of profits in refining crude and making chemicals, and had taken a $1.6 billion write-down on Sadara Chemical, a $20 billion joint venture with Dow Chemical.
Exotic prints are everywhere this spring. Palm fronds, jungle creepers, tropical flowers and luscious fruits have made their way onto dresses, skirts, summer suits and swimwear.

Jennifer Lopez gave the look a serious boost when she appeared at Versaces Spring 2020 show in a recreation of that daring palm-print dress she wore to the Grammys in 2000. So popular was that particular outfit that she famously broke the internet, forcing Google to invent a new search tool. Fast-forward two decades and while 50-year-old J-Lo still wears it well, exotic print has a new queen in the form of Colombian designer Johanna Ortiz.

Anna Pursglove reveals this season's collaboration with Colombian designer Johanna Ortiz and H&M. Pictured: Dress, 39.99, hm.com; shoes, 25.99, newlook. com

Dress, 39.99, hm.com; shoes, 20, asos.com (left). Top, 17.99, and skirt, 34.99, hm.com; shoes, 99, kurt geiger. com (right)

Her creations have taken both the fashion and celebrity worlds by storm, cleverly mixing feminine ruffles with strong silhouettes. By her own admission, Ortiz is curvy so her designs work on real women, not just catwalk models. Michelle Obama picked Ortiz for her book tour and Beyonce is also a fan. The trouble is, though, the label is expensive. Were talking close to 1,000 for a skirt and sometimes a whopping 2,000 and more for a dress. There isnt much change from 500 for a swimsuit either.

That was until H&M got on board, collaborating with Ortiz to bring her looks to the High Street. The collection (which launched in stores and online on March 12) features midi and maxi length skirts and dresses plus shirts and swimwear.

Dress, 49.99, hm.com; shoes, 245, russelland bromley. co.uk; jewellery throughout, merola. co.uk

If full-scale jungle print makes you nervous then have a look at the black and white skirt, 34.99 (above), which you could wear with the white puff-sleeve shirt, 17.99. Its got just a hint of salsa-party without being too over-the-top.

Braver souls will love the pale-pink, satin, one-shoulder dress, 49.99 (above left), just right for a summer party.

The red, long-sleeve dress, 39.99 (centre), meanwhile, will appeal to anyone who favours the current Seventies-inspired look.

As always with H&Ms designer collaborations, pieces tend to sell fast. So order now before the madness starts and clothes change hands online for outlandish prices.
A southside swimming pool has been closed for the day after a patron who had travelled overseas tested positive for COVID-19.

Brisbane City Council issued an alert at 10.40am on Sunday announcing Yeronga Memorial Swimming Pool was closed temporarily after the patron tested positive.

Yeronga pool was closed temporarily due to a patron testing positive for COVID-19 after travelling overseas. Credit:File

"The lessee has closed the pool due to a regular patron returning from overseas and testing positive to COVID-19," the statement said.

At 11.20am, the council issued another alert to advise the pool "will remain open" but that was later clarified by the pool's operators.
Ahead of the crucial floor test of the Kamal Nath government, scheduled for Monday, a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party is likely to be held at the Chief Minister's residence in Bhopal at around 7 pm today.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has also issued a whip to all its MLAs asking them to be present in the assembly for the floor test.

The development comes after Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon had stated that the floor test in the assembly will be held on Monday.

As political uncertainty developed in Madhya Pradesh for Kamal Nath-led government, both BJP and Congress had moved their legislators out of the state, apparently in a bid to keep their respective flocks intact.

The development comes amid the political crisis that has engulfed the state after senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, resigned from the Congress and joined the BJP. Scindia's decision to leave Congress was followed by the resignation from 22 party MLAs loyal to him.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
HUDSON, Ohio  The city of Hudson sent out an emergency alert Sunday saying that the second confirmed coronavirus case in Summit County is a resident of the town.

It has been reported on social media what appears to be the second Summit County case of COVID-19 (coronavirus) in Hudson, the alert says. A widely-shared Facebook post from a Hudson resident details her harrowing experience as a coronavirus patient.

Cleveland.com reached out to the woman for comment but has not heard back as of 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

The Summit County Public Health department said in a news release that the countys second case was a woman in her 40s, but did not release any additional demographical information. The Ohio Department of Health confirmed a second Summit County case on Saturday afternoon.

The alert also says that the woman is self-isolating at home, and Hudsons emergency response crews have been briefed in case they need to respond to the womans home.

Hudson is taking additional measures to limit in-person interactions with the public, the alert states. As of 12 p.m. Monday, Hudson City Hall and all city facilities will be closed to the public until further notice. If residents need to contact City staff, they must call or email.

Additionally, anyone who calls 911 for a medical emergency can expect to be asked additional health questions so that Hudson safety forces are prepared for any possible COVID-19 exposure, the alert says. Police will also likely take care of non-urgent matters over the phone.

Read more coronavirus news:

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo fully closes due to concerns over spread of coronavirus

Impact of coronavirus on spring housing market still unknown, local real-estate professionals say

A letter from MetroHealth CEO Akram Boutros on the coronavirus pandemic
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Ben Mawdsley, a 31-year-old from Toronto, Canada first fell in love with Vietnam after taking a six-week training course in Ho Chi Minh City. Since permanently settling in the country, he has run a charity club, offered free English classes, and provided first-aid kits and training to the citys underprivileged.

It was my destiny, Mawdsley explained when asked why he chose to made the decision in 2016 to make Vietnam his home.

Mawdsleys original plan was to take a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course in Ho Chi Minh City and then move on to teach English in Japan, but that plan took a drastic turn when he fell so in love with the city he chose to make it his permanent residence.

'First-aid foreigner'

Though his original plan was simply to teach English, Mawdsley has spent a good chunk of the last four years teaching first-aid to students all across Ho Chi Minh City.

Carrying around a first-aid kit is not exactly a common habit in most countries, but for many Canadians like Mawdsley, being ready for an emergency is a necessity while living amongst the islands, rivers, lakes, and forests that clutter Canada.

The vast remoteness that defines much of the North American country makes it a challenge for emergency vehicles to get where they need to be, thus the Canadian government heavily emphasizes preparedness.

For Mawdsley, preparedness means carrying a small bag of first-aid essentials  cotton balls, bandages, gauze, pain-killers, antipyretics, needles, rubble gloves, alcohol, CPR equipment  that he can whip out if he happens upon an emergency situation.

To learn how to use these tools, Mawdsley took a First Aid & CPR certificate course with the Canadian Red Cross.

Now, after trading in the tundra of rural Canada for the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh City, Mawdsley still considers his trusty first-aid kit an absolutely essential item, particularly to help tend to any road accident victims he comes across.

And he has come across quite a few, each time rushing to hop off his own bike to take care of those in need.

Its ethics. I cant do otherwise, Mawdsley explained, adding that his sense of responsibility to help in emergency situations is derived from another he took during his first-aid course.

In just his first six months in Ho Chi Minh City, Mawdsley claims he had to pull out his first-aid kit on nearly 50 separate occasions.

According to Mawdsley, his first first-aid situation in Vietnam is by far the most memorable.

After leaving a friends birthday party one evening, he came across a traffic accident at the intersection of Dien Bien Phu and Pasteur Streets in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City.

An automobile had collided with a motorbike carrying two women, one American and one Vietnamese.

The accident had left the American woman with a broken leg while the Vietnamese woman sustained a broken arm and appeared unconscious.

Though a crowd had gathered, no one seemed to be helping. Mawdsley sprang into action and was able to get the Vietnamese woman breathing again.

She made a full recovery three months later at Cho Ray Hospital in District 5.

She and Mawdsley have remained close friends ever since.

Ben Mawdsley discusses the contents of his first-aid kit with a Tuoi Tre journalist. Photo: Thanh Yen / Tuoi Tre

Charity

Mawdsley has made it his mission to ensure those around him are taken care of.

Not being one for leading an extravagant life, he tends to stay away from luxurious places and live a low-key lifestyle.

When he first started teaching in Vietnam, he worked for an expensive English center but eventually decided to leave because he felt tuition was too high for children from low-income households.

Later, he and some friends founded Audium, a charity group that supports physically and mentally disabled youth in Ho Chi Minh City and its suburban district of Can Gio, with school supplies and household goods.

The group also offers free weekly English classes for those who cannot afford the tuition at local language centers as well as monthly first-aid training days and free first-aid kits.

To cover his own living expenses, Mawdsley runs his own private business and works as a private one-on-one English tutor.

In his free time, he samples Vietnams array of street foods, enjoys beers by the roadside, or strolls through Ho Chi Minh Citys alleyways.

He currently lives in a small 'hem'  the Vietnamese word for alley  in a small apartment which proudly displays a Canadian and Vietnamese flag alongside each other.

His most treasured memory, he says, is watching one of his students use his first-aid bag to help a person in need in the middle of the street.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
MICHIGAN -- Michigan recorded its 33rd case of COVID-19 on Saturday, just six days after the first two cases appeared in the state in what has triggered an unprecedented public health crisis.

The number of presumptive positive cases of the disease caused by the new coronavirus climbed from 25 on Friday, March 14 to 33 on Saturday, according to a report from state health leaders late Saturday.

Across the nation, cases stand at 1,629 in 47 states, with 41 deaths, according to the latest Centers for Disease Control records. So far, there are no deaths in Michigan.

In recent days, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has ordered the closure of all schools, starting Monday; universities and colleges have moved to online classes, and March Madness and a slew of other sporting events have been canceled.

She also set restrictions for hospital visits and banned any gatherings larger than 250 people.

Saturday, March 14: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Friday, March 13: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

To read all of MLIves coverage of coronavirus COVID-19, go here.

Below are the latest developments that impact Michigan residents.

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.

To read more on MLive:

Complete coverage at mlive.com/coronavirus
Italy Reports Record 368 New Coronavirus Deaths in 24 Hours

Italy has reported 368 coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, raising the total to 1,809 as the country continues to be the worst-affected nation outside of China.

The countrys emergency agency, in announcing the deaths, said that more than 27,700 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the Wuhan coronavirus, have been confirmed so far. That figure includes people who have recovered, state-run ANSA reported.

Italys prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, noted that the situation is still the most severe in Lombardy, which is located in the countrys north, saying authorities have given the region their maximum attention.

The numbers have continued to grow, Lombardy governor Attilio Fontana said to local media outlets. Were close to the moment where we will have no more intensive care beds.

The country has been on lockdown over the pandemic since last week, as around 60 million residents have been told to stay at home and most businesses have been closed. All schools, sporting events, and other venues have been shut down.

Conte stressed that masks and other medical equipment are desperately needed to combat the coronavirus, which emerged in China late last year before it spread to every continent other than Antarctica. The export of masks, suits, and face shields from Germany and France has been unblocked, the prime minister said.

Italys national health institute chief, Silvio Brusaferro, said that it is not known if Italy is reaching its peak and may see the end of the epidemic soon, according to The Associated Press.

A tourist wearing a respiratory mask as part of precautionary measures against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, walks past the closed Colosseum monument in Rome, Italy, on March 10, 2020. (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images)

Brusaferro noted last week the vast majority of patients who have died from COVID-19 are over the age of 80. The peak of mortality is between 80 to 89 years, he said, ANSA reported.

Social distancing is the key to reducing the spread of the infection. The coming weeks will be decisive and will depend on the behavior of each individual citizen, Health Minister Roberto Speranza said on Friday.

In nearby Austria, meanwhile, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced Sunday that gatherings of more than five people are banned.

Austrians are being summoned to isolate themselves, he said in a statement. That means only making social contact with the people with whom they live.

Over the weekend, both France and Spain imposed new measures, with Spain locking down the country and France ordering the closure of all non-essential public buildings.

These are times of extraordinary difficulty, said Spains Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in announcing the measures. When this is over, we will be able to return to the streets and the terraces, to our work routines. We will visit friends and loved ones and take our children to the park  But until that moment comes, we will not lose our way.
H.H. Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority (ECA), said: "Allocating 15th of March of each year as the Emirati Children's Day reflects our wise leadership's keenness on securing good living conditions for the community members and providing comprehensive care and support to children

ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 15th Mar, 2020) H.H. Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority (ECA), said: "Allocating 15th of March of each year as the Emirati Children's Day reflects our wise leadership's keenness on securing good living conditions for the community members and providing comprehensive care and support to children. This is highlighted in the governments efforts to create a safe and stable environment that fosters child's integrated development, helps raising children according to the noble and positive values of the Emirati society, and instills values of citizenship and social responsibility in the child."

The wise leadership is interested in enabling the child to be an active agent in his community, to contribute efficiently and positively to pushing forward the UAE's sustainable development march towards more growth, progress and empowerment, added Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed.

Sheikh Theyab praised the great support of H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, the Mother of the UAE, Chairwoman of the General Womens Union, President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation, to motherhood, childhood and family development sectors.

He affirmed the importance of this support in advancing these sectors locally and globally.

Furthermore, he commended the UAE's leading role in creating an environment encourages children to innovate, paving childrens way to the future, protecting them from risks and challenges, and providing them with the necessary care by developing integrated plans and launching innovative and creative initiatives.

Sheikh Theyab stressed that ECA derives its vision from the insightful vision of H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, who emphasized that the Emirati society, with its long-standing and inherited values derived from the noble Islamic teachings, is an interdependent society that shows compassion to the young, respects the elders, protects children's rights, and preserves human dignity.
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Britain may be on the cusp of a coronavirus outbreak with mass gatherings banned by the government from next weekend, however a number of large events went ahead as planned today despite the last 24 hours seeing the UK's death toll from the virus double.

Today thousands of music revellers were seen descending upon Cardiff's 5,000-capacity Motorpoint Arena, to listen to the Stereophonics on their Kind 2020 Tour amid the coronavirus fears.

Taking to Twitter to share the mass gathering, the Welsh rock band, who hail from the former coal mining village of Cwmaman, posted a video of their fans attending their show next to the caption: 'Cardiff in beautiful voice tonight! #stereophonics #Kind2020Tour.'

However moments later, social media users slammed the band for allowing the tour to go ahead amid the coronavirus outbreak grappling the nation.

One user wrote: 'This is so selfish, the people in the audience here are unlikely to be in high risk groups (they're younger), but they could spread it to older friends, relatives and co-workers.'

While another commented: 'OMG. How incredible irresponsible! It takes one corona-infected person to be there and the spread will be tremendous. Please help people social distancing and stop touring.'

The scenes come after 34 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Wales today, bringing the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country to 94.

Elsewhere Liverpool's half marathon and ten mile race saw around 6,000 participants turn out to run the course despite 14 coronavirus cases confirmed in the Merseyside region, eight of them in Liverpool.

Thousands of music revellers took to Cardiff's Motorpoint Arena to listen to the Stereophonics on their Kind 2020 Tour today

The Welsh band shared a video of their fans gathered at the Cardiff arena next to the caption: 'Cardiff in beautiful voice tonight'

Some social media users slammed the move and questioned why the concert was able to go ahead amid the coronavirus outbreak

In Leeds the famous annual Otley run pub crawl, popular with Leeds University students, went ahead as usual with participants visiting up to sixteen individual bars on the route as the University cancels all physical lectures from Monday.

In the south of the country, Bath Half, the city's half marathon also went ahead with around 12,000 participants running the course despite warnings from Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse who said the event was 'simply not worth the risk'.

The MP wrote in a statement yesterday: 'I am appealing to the organisers to cancel the event. The government itself made a U-turn on its policy last night but is only calling for mass events to be cancelled from next weekend.

'This leaves a very worrying window of one week, precisely when infection is rising'.

Betsan Corkhill, a wellbeing coach for people with life threatening illness took to Twitter to voice her concern writing: 'Not cancelling the Bath Half Marathon this Sunday shows an utter disrespect for vulnerable, immuno suppressed & elderly of the city. Not to mention the added burden on hospital, paramedics, GPs already working at capacity even before #Covid_19 hits the city.

Liverpool's half marathon and ten mile race saw around 6,000 participants turn out to run the course today despite 14 coronavirus cases confirmed in the Merseyside region

Liverpool Half Marathon & 10 Mile runners in action on Sunday as the marathon goes ahead despite the number of coronavirus cases growing around the world

Runners past each other in close proximity as they compete in the Liverpool Half Marathon on Sunday

A runner falls to the floor after the race as the marathon goes ahead despite 14 cases of coronavirus in the Merseyside area

Runners shake hands after the race. The event went ahead as planned today despite the last 24 hours seeing the UK's death toll double

A man completes the Liverpool Half Marathon - after training for months many participants chose to turn up regardless of the risk posed by COVID-19

Earlier today crowds gathered at the Half Marathon start line in Liverpool, no runners appear to be wearing protective masks=

However London Marathon, the world's biggest 26.2mile run, which attracts 45,000 racers from across the planet, will take place six months later than planned on October 4 after being postponed due to the virus.

Manchester Marathon, the UK's second-biggest run, has also been postponed, after organisers fretted about the 'potential impacts' of the pandemic on the event.

Meanwhile in Leeds, pub-goers who were unwilling to miss the annual Otley run, a pub crawl consisting of sixteen bars, were seen in their fancy dress - with several wearing hazmat suits.

In the south of the country, Bath Half, the city's half marathon also went ahead on Sunday with around 12,000 participants

Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse called for the event to be cancelled as it was 'simply not worth the risk'

Runners make their way to the starting line of the Bath Half Marathon covering their face in the rain

A runner covers her face as she takes part in the Bath Half marathon run in Bath, Britain, 15 March

The Bath Half marathon was one of only a few sporting events to take place this weekend following cancellations to Premier League and English Football League soccer matches

Runners wait at the starting line at the Bath Half Marathon, several covering their face in the rain

Runners in fancy dress during the race as the marathon goes ahead despite the number of coronavirus cases growing around the world

A man dresses as a Somerset cider bottle as he completes the Bath Half in drizzly conditions on Sunday ahead of the mass gathering ban next weekend

High five! A steward uses a foam hand to high five competitors as they pass on the course

A runner wears a bandana over his mouth during the race as the marathon goes ahead despite MP Wera Hobhouse's warnings

Traipsing around three miles from Far Headlingley, north of the city, to The Dry Dock on the edge of the city centre revellers are encouraged to enjoy a drink at every bar en route.

The tradition is usually undertaken by Leeds university students, who have been cautioned to take precautions against the spread by washing their hands - the university plans to teach all its lectures online from March 16.

The total number of deaths in the UK has doubled in 24 hours, globally the death toll has passed 5,000.

Cheltenham Races also drew its usual large crowds as 70,000 people turned out during the four day festival despite ministers introducing emergency legislation early next week to allow the cancellation of mass gatherings from next weekend.

Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse said the event was 'simply not worth the risk'. The MP wrote in a statement yesterday: 'I am appealing to the organisers to cancel the event'

Betsan Corkhill, a wellbeing coach for people with life threatening illness took to Twitter to voice her concern

Sespite pressure to put the UK on a lockdown University students still attended the annual the Otley run in Leeds, west Yorkshire

Some of the Otley runners chose to dress in hazmat suits as fancy dress while out on the route

The Otley runners were out in force in Leeds with some celebrating an early St. Patrick's Day

In Ireland a lot of St. Patrick's Day parades have been cancelled and some pubs have closed despite the upcoming celebration

Students wear skimpy outfits as they enjoy the annual celebrations, putting coronavirus fears aside

Elsewhere in Europe social gatherings have been cancelled and public venues closed

Out on the town: Students wore elaborate costumes and outfits as they stepped out to visit multiple bars in one evening in Leeds on Saturday

A man carries a woman during the lengthy Otley run which usually visits sixteen individual venues

Pubs in Leeds were crowded on Saturday night while other parts of Europe imposed a lock down on its public spaces

The major escalation of the coronavirus crisis may puts key summer events such as the Glastonbury Festival, VE Day commemorations, Chelsea Flower Show, Wimbledon tennis championships, the Grand National and Royal Ascot under threat.

A number of European nations have responded to the outbreak by closing restaurants, bars and non-essential shops.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the UK had not 'ruled that out' as he vowed: 'We will stop at nothing to fight this virus.'

Adding: 'The measures that we are taking, the measures that we are looking at taking, are very, very significant and they will disrupt the ordinary lives of almost everybody in this country in order to tackle this virus.'

Racegoers arriving during day four of the Cheltenham Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse despite the risk of coronavirus

Cheltenham Races also drew its usual large crowds as 70,000 people turned out during the four day festival

Race goers use hand sanitiser installed at Cheltenham Racecourse to help curb the spread of the Coronavirus

Racegoers during day four of the Cheltenham Festival at Cheltenham Racecourse

Photos of Britain's streets on Saturday night show an almost deserted central London amid the coronavirus outbreak.

With the Prime Minister announcing the Covid-19 virus spread as 'the worst public health crisis for a generation' and urging those with symptoms to stay indoors, the capital was decidedly quieter than normal this weekend.

The usually buzzing nightlife areas of Piccadilly, Soho and China Town, saw only a fraction of their usual visitors, many of whom can be seen wearing protective masks.

People sit on the steps of Piccadilly Circus in London, on a quiet Saturday night after the Prime Minister said that Covid-19 'is the worst public health crisis for a generation'

The government's top scientist warned that up to 10,000 people in the UK are already infected. Pictured: A nearly empty Chinatown, London, Saturday night

A man pushes a woman on a trolley through Soho, London, on unusually quiet streets. Defence sources told The Mail on Sunday that Army units were stepping up their training for public order roles

Last night France became the latest country to announce the closure of all non-essential public shops and venues after 91 deaths from the virus.

This follows the example of Italy which has been on lock down since Monday as the coronavirus death toll tops 1,000.

Although Britain is yet to take this measure the government has said it plans to deploy troops at hospitals and outside supermarkets as the epidemic worsens and panic grips the public.

In preparation for the worst-case scenario, defence sources told The Mail on Sunday that Army units were stepping up their training for public order roles.

A women crosses the street in China Town, London, as some venues choose to close amid the coronavirus outbreak

A couple dine alone in a restaurant in Soho as many choose to stay in following government warnings

A man and a woman walk through quiet Chinatown wearing masks in central London on Saturday night

Teenagers pose for a photo while wearing masks in Piccadilly Circus, London,on Saturday

Two women cross the street wearing masks in Piccadilly Circus, London

If cases of the virus continue to rise in the UK the Royal Logistics Corps are set to be used to escort food convoys.

The Royal Army Medical Corps is also poised to build tented field hospitals next to care homes.

Troops trained in chemical, biological and nuclear warfare will deep-clean empty public buildings in case they need to be turned in to hospitals or morgues.

Soldiers would also be stationed outside supermarkets where startling scenes unfolded the country on Saturday as desperate shoppers gutted food and toilet roll aisles.

Britons are stockpiling as they prepare to bunker down in self-isolation after the the government issued new guidelines, advising anyone with a cough to stay at home for a week.

And whole families will be told to isolate themselves if just one member falls ill with coronavirus, the Sunday Telegraph reports.

A man in a mask on the Millenium bridge, central London, Saturday, where weekend crowds usually fill the area

A man in a mask in Piccadilly Circus, London. Britain is yet to take the same measures as France and Italy and has not closed public venues

The government has said it will deploy troops at hospitals and outside supermarkets as the epidemic worsens and panic grips the public. Woman wears mask in Piccadilly Circus, London

A Deliveroo rider wears a mask in Chinatown, London, after the food delivery service started offering contact free drop offs where riders drop food to your door step

Two pedestrians cross the street wearing masks in Piccadilly Circus, London, after shopping
Students who rely on school meals will still be able to receive them during the statewide school closure in response to the coronavirus outbreak. But some local districts are still finalizing plans for how those distributions will be run.

All K-12 school buildings in Michigan will close March 16 through April 5 as the state seeks to mitigate the risk to public health posed by the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced.

RELATED: Sunday, March 15: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

In response, federal agencies gave approval for school lunches to be distributed without the normal requirement that students eat meals in a group setting or at school, according to a March 13 news release.

Schools may now provide food to children who are 18 and younger at designated pickup locations or school bus stops, the state announced. The move will allow schools to continue providing children food while simultaneously allowing for social distancing, one of the Center of Disease Controls recommendations to limit the spread of COVID-19.

As some districts have yet to announce or finalize their plans, intermediate school districts are directing families to keep in contact with their local school leaders and watch for updates on local district websites and social media.

Here is what we know so far about how school districts across Michigan are handling food distribution for K-12 students during the statewide closures:

Ann Arbor-area Schools

Bay City Public Schools

Wednesday, March 18. More information will be provided regarding the program by Monday afternoon, according to the Bay City Public Schools plans to distribute meals from seven sites located in school parking lots starting. More information will be provided regarding the program by Monday afternoon, according to the Bay City Public Schools Facebook page. Perishable food items from Bay City Central High School were distributed Friday with leftovers boxed up and taken to Good Samaritan Rescue Mission or other organizations that can help with food scarcity.

Dryden Community Schools

(March 16, 23 and 30) and Thursdays (March 19 and 26 and April 2) from 8-10 a.m. at Dryden Elementary School, Dryden Community Schools will offer free bagged breakfasts and lunches seven days a week, starting on Monday, March 16, and continuing through Thursday, April 2. Those 18 and younger are eligible, and are not required to be students in the district. Pickup times and dates are Mondaysand Thursdaysfromat Dryden Elementary School, 3835 N. Mill Road, Dryden . A tote bag is encouraged to fit breakfasts and lunches for multiple days. Rather than sending multiple students into the school building, an adult or an older child is asked to pick up meals.

Flint-area schools

Grand Rapids-area schools

The Kent Intermediate School District has organized 25 sites for Grand Rapids-area students to pickup meals. Students may pick up meals at the closest district to them, even if it is not the district they attend, according to a Kent ISD press release. More information on pickup sites and schedules will be released as its finalized. The plan is for most sites to serve both breakfast and lunch on one or more weekdays, often with multiple meals available between distribution days and to cover weekends.

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday . Among the 25 sites expected for Kent ISD are the seven sites Grand Rapids Public Schools announced for meal pickup. Those will operate from

Grand Rapids Public Schools, starting Monday, March 16 , will open pickup locations at the following four sites: New Faith Temple, San Juan Diego Academy, Creston Plaza Apartments, and Campau Commons.

Grand Rapids Public Schools, starting Tuesday, March 17 , will open pickup locations at the following three additional sites: Hope Academy, Sibley Elementary, and Ottawa Hills High School.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Grand Rapids Youth Commonwealth is serving takeout dinners at all three locations between 4:30 -5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday , through April 6.

11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Mondays and Fridays depending on location. The full schedule and a Google planning form can be found on the districts Hastings Area Schools have partnered with YMCA of Barry County to organize 11 pickup spots for meals and household supplies. Pickups will vary fromdepending on location. The full schedule and a Google planning form can be found on the districts Facebook page

Jackson-area schools

Jackson Public Schools announced buses will distribute boxed lunches and the next days breakfast each weekday to schools, community centers and specific apartment complexes. Each school location has separate times set to pick up the meals, which can be found here

On Fridays, kids will receive three lunches and breakfasts to last through the weekend. The Carnegie Library will distribute a snack from 2-4 p.m .

Additional details on pickup locations for Vandercook Lake Public Schools, Columbia School District, Northwest Community Schools, Michigan Center Schools, East Jackson Community Schools and Springport Public Schools can be found on can be found on MLive here.

Kalamazoo-area schools

Lansing-area schools

Monday-Friday at schools and community centers in the Lansing and East Lansing area. Times vary with each location. A full schedule is posted on the The Lansing School District announced breakfast and lunch pickups will be availableat schools and community centers in the Lansing and East Lansing area. Times vary with each location. A full schedule is posted on the district Facebook page

Okemos Public Schools will provide meals 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Monday-Friday at Okemos High School starting Wednesday, March 18 . Families are instructed to enter off Jolly Road and follow signs for curbside service at the West side of the building.

Mason Consolidated Schools will start meal distribution Tuesday, March 17. Meals can be picked up at 11:15 a.m. Monday, Wednesday, Friday at the bus lane on the west end of Mason Senior High School. Meals will also be delivered along the normal bus route starting at 11 a.m. A volunteer will call each house prior to arrival. Someone must meet the bus at the road. Families can still sign up for meal services by calling 734-848-9301.

Leslie Public Schools will distribute free meals on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. At 11 a.m., food will be distributed at Onondaga Township Hall and at a home at 5112 State Road. At 11:15 a.m., the distribution will be at County Manor Mobile Park and The Garage and at Leslie Estates Trailer Park at 11:45 a.m. Food will be distributed at Trestle Bridge Boat Launch at noon and at Bunkerhill Township Hall at 12:15 p.m.

Midland Public Schools

Midland Public Schools has set up pickup sites for food distribution in addition to bus route deliveries. Adams, Central Park, Chestnut Hill, Plymouth, Siebert, and Woodcrest Elementary will be open for pickup 9-11 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday starting March 16 .

9-10 a.m Monday, Wednesday and Friday. A full list of bus routes can be found on the Meal distribution at bus stops will be. A full list of bus routes can be found on the Midland Public Schools website.

Muskegon-area schools

In Muskegon County, an estimated 17,000 students receive breakfast and lunch at school . Ravenna Public Schools, a rural district where about half of all students are eligible for free or reduced-cost meals has not publicly released a meal pickup plan as of March 15.

11:30 a.m on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays along its usual bus route. Two days of meals will be delivered except on Friday which will increase to three days of meals for the weekend. All pickups will be at the 42 bus stops with the exception of door-to-door service for special needs students. The full schedule will be on the Muskegon Heights Public Academy System, where nearly all students are eligible for free meals, will be providing free meals starting atalong its usual bus route. Two days of meals will be delivered except on Friday which will increase to three days of meals for the weekend. All pickups will be at the 42 bus stops with the exception of door-to-door service for special needs students. The full schedule will be on the Muskegon Heights Tigers Facebook page.

Mona Shores Public Schools will provide grab and go meals for all students at its high school parking lot from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays .

Wednesday, March 18 , and locations will be posted to the Muskegon-area district Oakridge Public Schools has 100% of students utilizing the meal program. Food deliveries for Oakridge students are expected to begin, and locations will be posted to the Oakridge Public Schools Facebook page

11 a.m. Monday, March 16 . The plan is to follow the usual bus route, and to add stops for students who typically walk to school. The route will run once per day, but drop off the equivalent of two meals, as well as needed school supplies and worksheets. The bus route can be found on the Muskegon Public Schools will be delivering meals along the bus route starting. The plan is to follow the usual bus route, and to add stops for students who typically walk to school. The route will run once per day, but drop off the equivalent of two meals, as well as needed school supplies and worksheets. The bus route can be found on the Muskegon Public Schools Facebook page.

Reeths-Puffer Schools will provide a weeks worth of cold meals for pickup in the cafeteria of its high school every Wednesday, beginning on March 18. Special needs student under 26 are eligible to use the meal pickup service as well. Pick-ups will take place according to student last names. Those starting with A-N will pick-up between 9-10 a.m., and O-Z names will pick up between 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Additional pick-ups may take place between 12-1 p.m.

Otsego Public Schools

Mondays and Wednesdays. The free meals program will begin on March 16 and continue through April 1. Pickup locations  Otsego Public Schools plans to provide free grab-and-go breakfasts and lunches to all children 18 and younger. The distribution will occur at 11 different locations in the community, most of which will operate during limited morning and evening pick-up hours on. The free meals program will begin on March 16 and continue through April 1. Pickup locations  operating hours for which can be found here  include Alamo Elementary, Memorial Park, Friendship Wesleyan Church, Emerald Woods Apartments, Watsons Mobile Home Park, Lombardini Mobile Home Park, Christian Neighbors, Scout House on Orleans Street, First Baptist Church of Otsego, Northside Park and Otsego High School (near the tennis courts).

Saginaw Public Schools

8-11 a.m. and hot lunches from 1-4 p.m. on weekdays. There are optional cold lunch pickups during the morning distribution if it is inconvenient to return a second time. On weekends, cold breakfast and lunch will be distributed from 8-11 a.m. A pickup site list is available on the Saginaw Public Schools plans to distribute food to students eight distribution sites and on school bus routes in Saginaw starting Monday, March 16. The grab and go distribution will hand out breakfasts fromand hot lunches fromon weekdays. There are optional cold lunch pickups during the morning distribution if it is inconvenient to return a second time. On weekends, cold breakfast and lunch will be distributed fromA pickup site list is available on the Saginaw Public Schools Facebook page

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:

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.

MORE MICHIGAN CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE HERE.

Below is a county-by-county map of Michigan tracking confirmed COVID-19 cases, followed by a map of possible exposure sites and a chart based on the states daily reports. The maps will be updated as more reports are released.

If you are reading this story on mobile and cant see the map, click here to view it on the web.

Reported coronavirus cases:

Potential exposure sites:

Sorry, but your browser does not support frames.

More coronavirus coverage on MLive:

4 Michigan stores accused of coronavirus price-gouging on masks, sanitizer

Michigan urges bars and restaurants to limit crowds to fight coronavirus spread

Coronavirus has Michigan spring-break travelers scrambling: Its all up in the air

Coronavirus concerns change Kroger store hours, Meijer deli service in Michigan

Governor clarifies coronavirus-related hospital visitation restriction, allows parents
Government has announced new travel directives for persons seeking to enter Ghana following the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus in Ghana.

At a press briefing today, Sunday, March 15, 2020, Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah disclosed that travellers from coronavirus-hit countries with cases exceeding 200 will not be allowed in the Ghanaian jurisdiction.

The Information Minister also disclosed that travels to Ghana are strongly discouraged following the outbreak.

Mr. Oppong Nkrumah further disclosed that airlines have been instructed to not to allow persons from countries with over 200 cases of COVID-19 into Ghana.

All travels to Ghana is at this stage strongly discouraged until further notice. Any traveller except for Ghanaian citizens who has been to a country that has recorded at least 200 cases of COVID-19 will not be allowed into the Ghanaian jurisdiction. Airlines are instructed to not allow such persons into the jurisdiction, he said.

At the press briefing, the Information Minister also announced that there will be a mandatory 14 days self-quarantine for persons who are otherwise allowed to enter the country.

There will now be a mandatory 14 days self-quarantine for persons who are otherwise allowed to enter the Ghanaian jurisdiction. Guidelines for the self-quarantine will be available at the various Ghanaian port of entry, he added.

Among other things, the Information Minister announced a new website, http://ghanahealthservice.org/covid19/ for all updates on the outbreak of the virus in Ghana.

Four new cases of coronavirus confirmed

Four more cases of Coronavirus have been confirmed in Ghana.

This brings to six, the total number of cases reported in the country.

This was announced by the government at a press briefing to update citizens on the outbreak of the Novel 2019 (COVID-19) in the country.

The government said three of the cases were recorded in Accra while one other was recorded in the Ashanti Region.

The Director of Public Health at Ghana Health Service, Dr Badu Sarkodie who provided updates on the country's cases said the new cases were also imported into the country.

He said two of the cases were confirmed on 13th of March 2020 while the other two were confirmed on 14th March, 2020.

---citinewsroom
Published on 2020/03/15 | Source

No international flights took off or landed at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul on Thursday due to a sharp drop in passengers amid the coronavirus scare.

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Gimpo normally has flights to and from Osaka, Tokyo, Taipei, Beijing and Shanghai. But the Taipei route has been closed since February and the Japanese routes since Monday.

That left the Shanghai route run by China Eastern Airlines and the Beijing route run by China Southern, but both were canceled Thursday.

"We'll have the same situation on Friday", a Korea Airports Corporation official said. "The only operating schedules we now have are four flights per week to China until late this month".

The two Chinese airlines have not submitted their summer schedules yet though they are supposed to begin in early April. They said they will wait and watch the spread of coronavirus.

Korean Air, Asiana Airlines and Jeju Air have already suspended their international flights at Gimpo. "It's difficult to make predictions because individual airlines make their own operating schedules", the KAC official added.

Gimpo had been an international airport from 1959 to 2001 but then handled only domestic flights for about two years when Incheon International Airport opened.

It resumed international flight operations in 2003.
British beef is to return to American supermarket shelves and restaurants for the first time in 24 years.

In a historic victory for UK farmers, American officials have lifted a ban imposed at the height of the mad cow disease crisis in 1996.

The move follows a series of inspections by US officials at British farms and abattoirs last summer. UK firms are now expecting to send the first shipments of beef to America in June.

British farmers believe they can exploit a growing demand in America for high-end cuts of grass-fed beef driven by consumers concerned about the growth hormones pumped into US cattle.

The decision to drop the ban followed a three-week visit to British farms, abattoirs and testing laboratories by five officials from the US Food Safety and Inspection Service [File photo]

The US ban was finally lifted last week after years of negotiations between government officials and meat industry experts on both sides of the Atlantic.

It comes as the British Government prepares to ramp up talks about a post-Brexit free trade agreement with the US.

International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said: Its great news that the US has reopened the market to British beef.

This is a win for our farmers and I look forward to seeing high-quality British beef being enjoyed on tables across the US very soon.

It is calculated the US market for British beef will be worth 66 million over the next five years.

Marketing teams from those groups hope to visit the US soon to promote British meat at trade fairs and to meet leading wholesalers, restaurant chains and supermarket buyers [File photo]

But after years of scare stories about mad cow disease, British farmers face a challenge to convince millions of Americans to switch from home-grown beef.

The decision to drop the ban followed a three-week visit to British farms, abattoirs and testing laboratories by five officials from the US Food Safety and Inspection Service.

The trip was arranged by experts from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) and meat promotion organisations from Wales and Scotland.

Marketing teams from those groups hope to visit the US soon to promote British meat at trade fairs and to meet leading wholesalers, restaurant chains and supermarket buyers.

It is also hoped that Dame Karen Pierce, Britains Ambassador to the US, will fly the flag for British beef in Washington DC.

Dr Phil Hadley, the AHDBs international market development director, told The Mail on Sunday: The Americans have a voracious appetite for beef.

We believe the main opportunities will be for high-end British steaks and manufactured burgers.

We expect to sell to markets on the East and West coasts where people are more interested in food and like to try new products. We know from consumer research that Americans are keen on grass-fed beef and we expect demand to be for specific pedigree breeds known for the quality of meat, such as Aberdeen Angus.

The outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)  a degenerative brain disease  in cattle in the mid-1990s decimated Britains livestock farming and led to the slaughter of 4.4 million animals.

The US ban was finally lifted last week after years of negotiations between government officials and meat industry experts on both sides of the Atlantic [File photo]

Exports of UK beef worldwide were worth an annual 520 million in 1995.

A human strain called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease has killed more than 170 people in the UK.

Nicknamed mad cow disease, BSE was first diagnosed in the 1980s but the worldwide ban on British beef was imposed by the European Union in 1996 following the British outbreak.

The EU lifted the ban in 2006, but many countries continued to refuse to allow imports of British beef. They included Canada, which finally lifted its embargo in 2015.

British farmers recently secured five-year deals with China and Japan valued at 230 million and 127 million respectively.
The Good Morning Nags, an Indie Folk and Americana Band from New York, have produced an English version of Vietnams coronavirus song.

Redoing the song in their well-known folk music style, The Good Morning Nags have called it the "Washing Hand Song". The song was posted on the band's YouTube channel March 11 with lyrics translated from the Vietnamese coronavirus song "Ghen Co Vy" with a few modifications to reflect the current situation in the U.S.

The remix carries an American folk music vige with Blues and Country music influences. The band said that with Covid-19 reaching New York, so they wanted to use the song to raise people's awareness of prevention measures, just as the Vietnamese artists did.

The MV has proved a hit in different countries like Germany, Austria and India and on social media networks. Vietnamese audiences have commented that the cover blows a new breath into "Ghen Co Vy", especially with its catchy music.

Khac Hung, who wrote the original song, wrote on his personal page: "This version is really great. You guys are amazing."

The Good Morning Nags, a band with six members, was founded in 2014 in New York. They have released two albums so far.

"Ghen Co Vy", penned by Khac Hung, released on February 23 by Min and Erik, was a project initiated the Vietnamese Ministry of Health to increase awareness about Covid-19 prevention.

The song went viral worldwide after being broadcast on HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, who praised Vietnam for many useful propaganda measures on the disease.

Audiences worldwide lauded the song. International media, including the U.S., South Korea and India also praised it. At the moment, Musicians Mew Amazing and Khac Hung are working on a separate English version of the song, scheduled for release this weekend.
By PTI

ISLAMABAD: Twenty new case of the novel coronavirus surfaced in Pakistan on Sunday, bringing the total number of COVID-19 infections in the country to 53. The number of coronavirus cases have doubled in Pakistan's southern Sindh province, with 18 new positive cases detected on Sunday.

The Punjab province also reported its first two cases in Lahore and Islamabad. Sindh Government spokesperson Murtaza Wahab said that 13 of the cases surfaced when a group of pilgrims were tested for the virus after they reached Sukkur city from the Taftan border.

Pakistan saw a sudden increase in coronavirus infections on Tuesday when a dozen new cases were reported across the country. Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday said that he was personally monitoring measures to deal with the coronavirus in the country.

Khan announced on Twitter that he would soon address the nation to take the people into confidence about measures to combat pandemic. "I want to inform the nation I am personally overseeing measures to deal with COVID 19 and will address the nation soon. I would advise people to follow safety instructions issued by our govt. While there is a need for caution there is no need for panic," he said.

We are alert to the dangers & have put in place sufficient protocols for the safety and health of our people. The WHO has commended our efforts as being amongst the best in the world.  Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) March 14, 2020

He said that Pakistan government was fully aware to the dangers and taking steps. "We are alert to the dangers and have put in place sufficient protocols for the safety and health of our people. The WHO has commended our efforts as being amongst the best in the world," he said.

The deadly virus that first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year has claimed over 6,000 lives and infected more than 150,000 people across 135 countries and territories. China remains the hardest-hit with more than 80,000 infections and 3,199 deaths.

Pakistan's high-powered National Security Committee on Friday took several decision to boost efforts to defeat the threat posed by the virus. Among other things, it decided to close down the western border with Afghanistan and Iran. It also ordered the closure of all education institutions in Pakistan till April 5 in view of the virus outbreak.
Jammu: The four terrorists who were killed in a gunbattle in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday (March 15, 2020) were identified as Muzaffar Ahmed Bhat, Umar Amin Bhat, Sajjad Ahmed Bhat and Gulzar Bhat, said police.

All four tourists belonged to terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). As per official information, Muzaffar Ahmed Bhat joined LeT in the year 2017, Umar Amin Bhat and Sajjad Ahmed Bhat joined the organisation on April 2019.

Meanwhile, the Jammu police also recovered weapons after the gunfight which include two AK 47 and two pistols. The police said that the security forces received a tip-off about the holed-up terrorists in a hideout when they launched a cordon and search operation in the area.

The encounter between the police and the terrorist broke out in the wee hours on Sunday at Dialgam area in Watrigam in Anantnag.

In another encounter on Saturday (March 14, 2020) the Handwara Police was also successful in capturing a terrorist alive along with an AK in a Naka laid on specific police input.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Congress was the biggest Coronavirus that gripped the country, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said in the State Assembly on Saturday. When Congress MLA Bhatti Vikramarka alleged that both the Centre and the State governments were not taking adequate measures to contain spread the virus during a short discussion on COVID-19, the Chief Minister retorted by saying the Congress is the biggest Corona that gripped the country.

Finding fault with the allegations, Rao said that the Central government is taking all necessary steps to control Coronavirus. It is not correct to say that the Centre is not taking any steps. In fact, the State governments ruled by the Congress were also taking all possible measures to contain the virus, the Chief Minister said.

Stating that the Coronavirus did not take dangerous proportion in the State, Rao said his government was ready to spend Rs 5,000 crore to fight the epidemic. However, Congress MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy requested the Speaker to remove CMs statement on the Congress from the records. The Congress party has a history of 130 years. It is not fair to make comments on the Congress, Rajagopal Reddy said.

CM acting irrationally, says Bhatti

CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka has criticised that the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has been acting irrational in his actions to control Coronavirus. Addressing newsmen at media point in the Assembly on Saturday, he wondered if the CM was aware that people are panicking and asked him not to pass comments irresponsibly. He asked KCR to be realistic, logical in facing the virus and asked the government to take steps to contain virus.

26,050 government schools

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More than 700 theaters (including multiplexes)
At first we thought it might be one day, and then one week and then an extra two weeks after the holidays - but now ... timing is a challenge, John Paul College principal Karen Spiller said. Online classes were being developed across primary and secondary school, she said, and schools needed to consider that some teachers would fall ill or have young children to look after, as well as elderly parents. St Margarets Anglican Girls School trialled its online learning system last Tuesday with 780 users. We thought that was prudent because it has never been tested in that way before, principal Ros Curtis said. Most private schools have enacted teacher teams, where the head of faculty will be responsible for a subject but others will step in if they fall ill.

Mrs Curtis said the states boarding schools faced challenges because some students from overseas and distant parts of Queensland would return home. Ive got boarding families who will not have the online capacity, she said. In those cases, content would be posted to students. Queensland schools are weighing a range of options to address the coronavirus's spread. Credit:Janie Barrett Brisbane Times spoke to 15 school principals this weekend, across the public and private sector, where issues of equity were raised repeatedly. Its just not an income divide. Its a rural-city divide, one said.

Another said students outside the states south-east would not have the same opportunities as those in the city. A third raised concerns that private schools would continue to teach at a capacity that would be unmatched by public schools. There has to be one rule. Some schools cant be teaching and others treat weeks off as a holiday, another said. Julie Warwick, principal of Robina State high School, said she believed public school students would not be disadvantaged and an online virtual education would deliver the same content, irrespective of the school. She said continuing to deliver well-being programs was crucial. Its been an incredible start to the year in terms of weather experiences where a lot of kids have been severely impacted - bushfires, rain, a new senior school system and now the COVID-19 virus has kicked off the term, she said.

Loading All Hallows' School principal Catherine OKane said counselling services would be provided to the schools students remotely and pastoral care plans were being worked on as a key element in all scenarios. She said teachers would work, as much as possible, within timetables and the school would adopt reasonable work practices for working-from-home situations. This meant teachers would respond to emails during specific times, like 8am until 4pm, and not throughout the night. The QCAA would ensure students were dealt with fairly, and the community had to understand that teachers would be impacted in the same numbers as the general community, she said.

Several schools are looking at what subjects need not be changed, several pointing to English, maths, science and history as examples. While science experiments would not be done, those theory subjects were easier to deliver than language subjects, dance, drama and physical education. St Aidans Anglican Girls School principal Toni Riordan said scenarios had been plotted to deal with a theoretical individual case of COVID-19 at the school, including a short one-week long closure up to a closure of more than two weeks. Other scenarios included teachers physically going to school without students and closing the school entirely. An audit of teacher resources at home - from email to computer software - had been conducted, and rolling workshops this week would address gaps.

While the QCAA was set to hold top-level meetings this coming week, principals said already existing strong data could be used for senior students, if needed. Several principals believed schools would close for several weeks, even up until July. Others said school closures would only work if it was part of a wider community shutdown because when schools were closed in Italy, children went to stay with grandparents while their parents continued to work, helping to spread the disease. Carmel Nash, executive director of Catholic School Parents Queensland, warned potential closures could not be seen as a free-for-all for students. Students cant be going to the cinema and the shopping centre. If parents dont control what is happening well have all sorts of social issues, she said. She said equity issues needed to be prioritised, particularly in cases where children did not have access to computers or parents could not assist them.

Foxwell State Secondary College foundation principal Kym Amor said while the school could deliver everything required online, implications needed to be considered. Mrs Amor, a former deputy principal of School of the Air, said every child across the state deserved equal service and equal opportunity. Many of her colleagues did not have the technology some schools boasted and could not deliver the same online interactive curriculum. Regardless if you are state or private you cant promise something that not every child in our state can access, she said. Several principals said, once closed, it would be unlikely schools would open again for many weeks, referencing experiences in other countries.
Thousands of tourists were stranded in Morocco on Saturday after the kingdom suddenly announced strict border restrictions in response to the coronavirus, leaving travellers stuck at borders, ports and airports. "We are lost!" said David, an Italian tourist waiting at the closed border with the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in northern Morocco. Late on Saturday, Rabat announced a suspension of air links with 21 countries including Austria, Denmark, Greece, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland in Europe, as well Turkey and Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates. Africa's Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal, and Canada and Brazil were also in the list. Morocco had already suspended air, sea and land links with European countries and Algeria on Friday, as well as taking measures to confine citizens to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Flights to and from Algeria, Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal and Italy were suspended "until further notice", while sea links for passengers and Morocco's land borders with Ceuta and a second Spanish enclave, Melilla, were closed. But France announced that Rabat had agreed to allow repatriation flights for French nationals. "New flights are being organised to enable (stranded French tourists) to return to France," President Emmanuel Macron tweeted Saturday. The first flights back to France had already taken off that day, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said earlier. The closure of the only land border between Africa and the European Union at Cueta and Melilla saw Spaniards rushing to leave on Thursday evening, as Moroccan day workers hastily returned in the opposite direction. The land borders are busiest in summer and the border sees regular traffic throughout the year. Now though a Moroccan police roadblock bars the road towards the border with Cueta. - 'Who will pay?' - David said he tried to go to Spain because links with Italy, a hotspot of the disease, are suspended. After arriving in Morocco for a motorcycle tour with his partner earlier this month, the 33-year-old Italian was stuck at a service station outside Cueta. The border at Cueta, like that at Melilla, was reopened Friday only for Spaniards. The Spanish embassy in Morocco tweeted Saturday that ferries were still operating between the enclaves and mainland Spain. Its French counterpart also tweeted that "passage (into Ceuta and Melilla) is open to French ferry ticket holders with vehicles." But except for a few travellers, the normally busy border post near the Moroccan town of Fnideq was deserted. At the service station, camper vans bearing various European license plates were parked waiting. "We don't know how long this will last, no one has told us anything," said Rene, a 71-year-old French man, speaking before Le Drian and Macrons' announcements. "The weather is good here, there's surely fewer cases of coronavirus in Morocco than in France," he said. Moroccan authorities have reported 17 cases of COVID-19, including one death. France and Spain have together announced more than 210 COVID-19 deaths. Morocco's Transport Minister Abdelkader Amara has tested positive for the disease after an official visit to Europe, his ministry announced Saturday. On the Spanish side at Cueta, stuck Moroccans were wondering why their country would not let them back in. "If I need to get a hotel, who will pay?" asked a man hoping to return home. At Tangiers port some 30 kilometres to the west, containers and trucks were unloaded as usual but the passenger terminal was closed. The busiest port in North Africa, the facility welcomed 568,000 foreign tourists in 2019, while some 473,000 entered from Cueta and Melilla, according to official figures. The travel restrictions are causing panic in the kingdom's tourism sector, which accounts for 10 percent of GDP and is a key source of foreign revenues.
New Delhi: Pakistan's attempt to politicise a humanitarian issue by its "unwarranted" statement on Kashmir during the SAARC nations video conference on coronavirus reflected "very poorly" on it, government sources said on Sunday.

The underlying message of the video conference was unitedly taking on the virus, but Pakistan used the occasion to raise the Kashmir issue, calling for immediate lifting of the "lockdown" there to allow disease containment measures.

Pakistan chose to be "churlish" and used the video conference for political point-scoring, the sources said. Pakistan sent their State Minister of Health Zafar Mirza who was uncomfortable while speaking, they said.

Pakistan raising the matter reflected "very poorly" on their dealing with the humanitarian issue, the sources said.

"Raising the issue was unwarranted and out of context. Pakistan attempted to politicise a humanitarian issue," a government source said. India could have kept Pakistan out of the video conference, but as it was a humanitarian issue, the country was invited, the sources said.

"Every leader responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call, but Pakistan chose to send its health minister which reflected its lack of seriousness," the source said.

Even Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli participated a day after he was discharged from hospital, but Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan chose to stay away, the sources said. When Pakistan raised the issue, nobody responded, the sources said.

On whether the video conference was indicative of a possible revival of SAARC process, sources said it was too premature to talk in those terms.

Apart from Mirza, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering,

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, participated in the video conference. Mirza called for the "lockdown" to be lifted in Jammu and Kashmir to deal with the coronavirus threat.

"Equity in health is a fundamental principle of public health. In this regard, let me say that it is a matter of concern that COVID-19 has been reported" from Jammu and Kashmir and in view of the health emergency, it is imperative that all "lockdown" there must be lifted immediately,

"Opening up communication and movement would facilitate dissemination of information, allow distribution of medical supplies and allow containment...To proceed unimpeded," Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Mirza said.
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"

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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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.-- City Comptroller Scott Stringer is calling for a shutdown of public schools and all non-essential services, due, in part, to a lack of universal testing for the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Only essential services should remain opennot bars, restaurants, or movie theaters, said Stringer in a press release Sunday.

Stringer, who is a public school parent, said he is again calling for New York City schools to be shut down.

This is about protecting our most vulnerable, he said. Lives are at stake and theres no time to waste. We have to flatten the curve.

Stringer said the way to get out of a crisis is to act "logically and strategically.

The first logical step would be to institute universal testing, which sadly not happening, said Stringer.

So the next line of defense, he said, is to implement more aggressive social distancing.

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson also issued a statement Sunday, agreeing with Stringer that schools and all non-essential services should be closed. He also addressed the inevitable impact on the local economy, suggesting payments be delved out to some workers who might not benefit from paid sick leave and unemployment.

Bar workers, independent contractors, domestic workers, gig economy employees, and other types of workers who dont have solid benefits and who are going to be impacted the most during this time need cash, Johnson said. "Government needs to step in and make this happen.

With Mayor Bill de Blasio holding firm on his decision not to close New York City public schools this upcoming week, some teachers are taking matters into their own hands in an attempt to sway his decision making.

City teachers meanwhile are planning a mass sickout for Wednesday, Mar. 18, where droves of employees will call out sick to show their disapproval of the mayors decision, multiple teachers told the Advance.

At City Hall, council meetings will be canceled next week and the councils offices at 250 Broadway will also close down until further notice.

Johnson said in an email to City Councilmembers over the weekend that Mayor Bill de Blasio issued an order Monday temporarily suspending the deadlines for the councils budget hearings, Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) votes, and its upcoming stated meetings.

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Even when a business is losing money, it's possible for shareholders to make money if they buy a good business at the right price. 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.

So should Alligator Energy (ASX:AGE) shareholders 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'.

Check out our latest analysis for Alligator Energy

When Might Alligator Energy Run Out Of Money?

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. In December 2019, Alligator Energy had AU$1.1m in cash, and was debt-free. Importantly, its cash burn was AU$1.1m over the trailing twelve months. So it had a cash runway of approximately 11 months from December 2019. That's quite a short cash runway, indicating the company must either reduce its annual cash burn or replenish its cash. The image below shows how its cash balance has been changing over the last few years.

ASX:AGE Historical Debt, March 14th 2020

How Is Alligator Energy's Cash Burn Changing Over Time?

Although Alligator Energy reported revenue of AU$39k last year, it didn't actually have any revenue from operations. To us, that makes it a pre-revenue company, so we'll look to its cash burn trajectory as an assessment of its cash burn situation. As it happens, the company's cash burn reduced by 53% over the last year, which suggests that management are mindful of the possibility of running out of cash. Alligator Energy makes us a little nervous due to its lack of substantial operating revenue. So we'd generally prefer stocks from this list of stocks that have analysts forecasting growth.

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Can Alligator Energy Raise More Cash Easily?

There's no doubt Alligator Energy's rapidly reducing cash burn brings comfort, but even if it's only hypothetical, it's always worth asking how easily it could raise more money to fund further growth. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. One of the main advantages held by publicly listed companies is that they can sell shares to investors to raise cash to fund growth. By looking at a company's cash burn relative to its market capitalisation, we gain insight on how much shareholders would be diluted if the company needed to raise enough cash to cover another year's cash burn.

Alligator Energy's cash burn of AU$1.1m is about 40% of its AU$2.8m market capitalisation. That's fairly notable cash burn, so if the company had to sell shares to cover the cost of another year's operations, shareholders would suffer some costly dilution.

How Risky Is Alligator Energy's Cash Burn Situation?

On this analysis of Alligator Energy's cash burn, we think its cash burn reduction was reassuring, while its cash burn relative to its market cap has us a bit worried. Summing up, we think the Alligator Energy's cash burn is a risk, based on the factors we mentioned in this article. On another note, Alligator Energy has 7 warning signs (and 4 which shouldn't be ignored) we think you should know about.

If you would prefer to check out another company with better fundamentals, then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt or this list of stocks which are all forecast to grow.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
The advice from Australia's health authorities to shoppers spooked by endless empty supermarket shelves and images of overflowing trolleys is to have a few days worth of food - but no more.

Australia's chief medical officer Brendan Murphy on Sunday called for 'sensible' purchasing of necessities in the wake of self-isolation fears, as supermarkets across the country struggle to restock.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews (centre) with Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos and the Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton Credit:Luis Ascui

"For most people we don't want to encourage major panic buying at the moment," he told ABC's Insiders program on Sunday morning.

"We've seen that with the supermarket chains. But I think it is probably sensible to have a few days of supply."
Hi Neighbor,

So now its a pandemic, that coronavirus, says the World Health Organization. Pandemic! That sounds bad.

Could be because I was younger and not-so-worried when Ebola, SARS, West Nile, Bird Flu or the Asian Flu swept the globe, but I dont recall ever seeing a reaction like the one we see today over the coronavirus.

Then again, I dont recall seeing Walter Cronkite go into Blizzard-Mode when an inch-and-a-half of snow fell either.

But pandemic doesnt spell, WORLD ENDS!

CNN says a pandemic is:

1. A virus that can cause illness or death. That we know.

2. Transmitted person-to-person. That we know.

3. Evidence it is spreading across the globe. That we know.

Obviously, its not just the media hyping the disease. Corona has the medical world, business, educators and government in a frenzy. Not to mention the rest of us. The stock market is bouncing all over. Airlines and vacation destinations are losing millions. Schools are closing. People are in self-quarantine. Store shelves are empty. People are buying hand sanitizer and toilet paper (toilet paper?) like theres no tomorrow.

The governor declared a state of emergency last week. A couple of days later he held a press briefing where he pointed out the plain old flu is deadlier  and then sent the National Guard to New Rochelle the following day when he heard Corona had the community in its grip.

Even our commander in chief in the White House has backed off previous assurances that the whole thing will be over as soon as the weather warms up.

Whats scary is that theres nowhere to escape unless you lock yourself in your house all day. And let no one in. Think of everything you touch during a typical day. Maybe its more effective to wear latex gloves instead of paper face masks. Im guessing those little Corona buggers will sneak in around the edges of those flimsy things unless youre wearing a gas mask.

Maybe Ive been in the news business too long. Maybe Ive seen us overreact over and over. But I just dont get the mass hysteria.

Dont get me wrong. This is serious and serious people are taking it seriously. But you know theres a ton of debate, comparing corona to the everyday flu. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tells us 12,000 Americans have died from the everyday flu between Oct. 1 and Feb. 1. Thirty-one millions Americans got it and 370,000 were hospitalized.

Big numbers.

Meanwhile, a friend points out that 109 Americans die every single day from gun violence. Almost 40,000 annually. Apples and oranges? Perhaps. But lets not lose sight that there are other very serious things killing our neighbors on a very regular basis. And they are not shutting schools, forcing people to work from home and wiping out food supplies.

But lets take a moment from the delirium and look at the bright side . . . the silver lining we often hear about. If anything good has come of all this, maybe therell be a little less PDA. Thats Public Displays of Affection. Maybe people wont be so touchy-feely outside closed doors anymore.

Does anyone understand why face-to-face contact is an acceptable form of greeting, as opposed to, say, a firm handshake and a smile? Is it just a Staten Island thing?

Maybe fewer men will kiss women on the cheek. Or fewer men will embrace and/or kiss each other. All to just say hello. You havent lived until a sweaty guy with a three-day stubble, cigar-breath, giving off the bouquet of Aqua Velva, plants one on your cheek. (This, by the way, has nothing to do with sexual orientation. I dont need to go there this week after our recent St. Patricks Parade brouhaha.)

Catholics, those who attend Mass every now and again and might be a bit socially awkward, wont break into a sweat and feel compelled to shake hands with strangers when the Handshake of Peace comes along.

For those who have no clue what Im talking about, theres a part of the Catholic Mass just after the Lords Prayer where the priest quotes Jesus. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you.

And then the kicker: Let us offer each other the sign of peace.

As far as I can figure, thats the Popes idea. Not Jesus.

Theres kissing. Hugging. Hand-shaking. Waving. Its a love-fest. Except for the socially awkward who arent wild about those public displays of affection. They werent wild about shaking hands, well before Corona. You have to see them stiffen and look straight ahead when the social soiree breaks out right there in the pews.

Who the heck knows where that sweaty palm was before Mass.

Gov. Cuomo was pictured in the New York Post recently doing the elbow bump with Nassau County Executive Laura Curran. They were just following the lead of United States Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who suggested, we should probably rethink the handshake for a while.

Not so fast, says the director-general of the World Health Organization.

When greeting people, best to avoid elbow bumps because they put you within one meter of the other person, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted, according to the Post. I like to put my hand on my heart when I greet people these days.

Thats nice. Or we could follow the lead of Star Treks Mr. Spock and do the Vulcan Salute. Thats where you spread your index finger and middle finger to the left, and the other two to the right.

Not so easy for those ambidextrously challenged, but worth a try.

Corona developments are changing by the minute. New York might be in lockdown by the time you read this. Or President Trump might have been right and the virus is on the run after the temperature soared into the 60s the other day.

Either way, look at it this way. Theres a good chance you have enough toilet paper to last till the Fourth of July.

Brian

Oh by the way: North Shore Assemblyman Charles Fall, a Muslim, was ripped by the Islamic Leadership Council of New York for his recent trip to Israel with other lawmakers. Propaganda, they said. There is far more that unites Muslims, Christians and Jews than divides us, Fall responded, calling the trip a learning experience. Bravo, Assemblyman Fall. Youre right on. Thats leadership, and inclusion.
The Republic of Cyprus said Sunday it would further tighten entry restrictions and close a string of businesses including the vital tourism sector's hotels to rein in the novel coronavirus.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said that from Monday entry to the country "will only be granted to those who... submit a medical certificate" showing they had been tested for the virus.

"Those who fulfil these conditions will be placed under a 14-day compulsory quarantine," he said.

He had already on Friday announced a 15-day ban on entry to non-residents, with only Cypriots, legal residents, diplomats, registered students and specific authorised people allowed in.

On Sunday, the health ministry announced the closure of shopping centres, bars and cafes, most restaurants and a string of other facilities for four weeks, starting Monday.

It said the hotels would be closed until April 30, except for existing guests, who will be permitted to stay for another six days from Sunday.

Anastasiades also announced a 700 million euro economic aid package to support workers and small businesses.

Cyprus is divided between EU member state the Republic of Cyprus and the northern third controlled by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognised only by Ankara.

The Republic's health ministry on Sunday reported seven new cases, bringing its total to 33.

All of the new cases were in self-isolation and authorities said they were searching for people with whom they may have had contact.

The north has to date reported six casesfour Germans and two Turkish Cypriots, both of whom had come to the island from the United Kingdom.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2020 AFP
To the annoyance of some shareholders, National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) shares are down a considerable 31% in the last month. The recent drop has obliterated the annual return, with the share price now down 27% over that longer period.

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). Investors have optimistic expectations of companies with higher P/E ratios, compared to companies with lower P/E ratios.

Check out our latest analysis for National Australia Bank

How Does National Australia Bank's P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

We can tell from its P/E ratio of 10.29 that there is some investor optimism about National Australia Bank. You can see in the image below that the average P/E (8.3) for companies in the banks industry is lower than National Australia Bank's P/E.

ASX:NAB Price Estimation Relative to Market, March 14th 2020

National Australia Bank's P/E tells us that market participants think the company will perform better than its industry peers, going forward. The market is optimistic about the future, but that doesn't guarantee future growth. So investors should always consider the P/E ratio alongside other factors, such as whether company directors have been buying shares.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

When earnings fall, the 'E' decreases, over time. 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.

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National Australia Bank shrunk earnings per share by 17% over the last year. And it has shrunk its earnings per share by 3.5% per year over the last five years. This could justify a pessimistic P/E.

Remember: P/E Ratios Don't Consider The Balance Sheet

Don't forget that the P/E ratio considers market capitalization. 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.

How Does National Australia Bank's Debt Impact Its P/E Ratio?

National Australia Bank has net debt worth a very significant 226% of its market capitalization. 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 Verdict On National Australia Bank's P/E Ratio

National Australia Bank has a P/E of 10.3. That's below the average in the AU market, which is 14.9. Given meaningful debt, and a lack of recent growth, the market looks to be extrapolating this recent performance; reflecting low expectations for the future. What can be absolutely certain is that the market has become less optimistic about National Australia Bank over the last month, with the P/E ratio falling from 14.8 back then to 10.3 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 report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.

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.
RTHK: All foreign arrivals must self isloate: Australia

Australia will impose a 14-day self isolation on all international passenger arrivals from midnight on Sunday to try and contain the spread of coronavirus, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

"We are going to have to get used to some changes in the way we live our lives," he said.

Morrison also said all cruise ships will be banned entirely for an initial 30 days and that he expects "visitor traffic will dry up very very very quickly."

"If your mate has been to Bali and they come back and they turn up at work and they are sitting next to you, well they will be committing an offence," Morrison said.

Australia has detected 269 cases of the COVID-19 virus so far, with a large number of new cases now coming from the United States, Morrison said, describing the country as a "major source". (AFP and Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2020-03-15. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
New York City is closing the nation's largest public school system, sending more than 1.1 million children home in hopes of curbing the spread of coronavirus.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the decision to close schools beginning Monday through at least April 20 and possibly for the school year, following a growing number of school closures in communities and entire states around the country and mounting pressure in New York from residents, City Council members and others.

New York City has a total of 326 confirmed cases of the virus and five deaths. In the state of New York there are more than 700 cases.

The mayor called it a 'very troubling moment, a moment when I'm just distraught at having to take this action, but I became convinced over the course of today that there is no other choice'.

De Blasio also said that he will be ordering hospitals to cancel non-emergency surgeries beginning on Monday. He said there's a possibility that bars and restaurants could faces closures as the city continues to respond to COVID-19.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office had announced the city school closure moments before de Blasio, but initially said it would start as early as Tuesday.

'This action is necessary to reduce density and mitigate the spread of #COVID19,' Cuomo said.

Scroll down for video

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the decision to close schools beginning Monday through at least April 20 and possibly for the school year

The mayor called it a 'very troubling moment, a moment when I'm just distraught at having to take this action, but I became convinced over the course of today that there is no other choice'. Students from Stuyvesant High School students are seen leaving school on Friday

The shutdown affects the city's nearly 1,900 public schools. Many private schools already have closed. De Blasio said remote learning will begin for students K-12 on March 23.

'Our colleagues at the Department of Education have in these last weeks been setting up a remote learning system. It has never been attempted by the city of New York on this scale to say the least,' de Blasio said.

Over the next few days, teachers will be trained how to teach remotely, de Blasio said, adding that the city needs 'our educators'.

'These children need you. These families need you. Keep their education going. Help those seniors to still graduate, we don't want to lose that,' the mayor said.

Schools in Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk counties will also close for two weeks beginning Monday.

De Blasio had been reluctant to close the school system because of the consequences for students and families.

Just Saturday, the Democratic mayor said keeping schools running was critical.

He worried that health care workers, first responders and other needed workers would have to stay home to care for children, and that hundreds of thousands of poor students could go hungry without their free or reduced-price school meals.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office had announced the city school closure moments before de Blasio, but initially said it would start as early as Tuesday

'This action is necessary to reduce density and mitigate the spread of #COVID19,' Cuomo (center, with de Blasio, right) said

On Sunday morning, Nassau County County Executive Laura Curran announced that schools throughout the county would be closed for at least the next two weeks. Nassau County has more than 1.3 million residents. Buses in Westchester County pictured on Thursday

Multiple states had already announced they were closing schools. So have cities including Los Angeles, Houston, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, DC.

A shutdown of the nation's largest public school district seemed inevitable Sunday as de Blasio lost key support to keep schools open.

Cuomo said in an afternoon conference call with reporters that he thought it was prudent to close schools as soon as a plan was in place to ensure that children of health care workers would be cared for.

New York City coronvirus cases breakdown by borough: Queens: 78 confirmed cases Manhattan: 72 confirmed cases Brooklyn: 53 confirmed cases Bronx: 21 confirmed cases Staten island: 16 confirmed cases Advertisement

The governor spoke shortly after county officials shut schools in Long Island and, across the state, in all of Erie County, including Buffalo.

Still, Cuomo said closing the schools did not mean every school should be closed entirely if a plan could be created to keep some facilities open so teachers could provide child care and children who need food could be fed.

Cuomo said it shouldn't take 24 hours to figure out such a plan.

As Cuomo spoke, George Gresham, president of the healthcare workers union SIEU 1199, called on de Blasio to close city schools, a step the mayor still seemed reluctant to take when he cited the union's support for keeping the schools open as he spoke on WABC-TV earlier Sunday.

Earlier, the union had warned that hospitals, now bracing for a flood of virus patients, could face a manpower crisis if schools closed suddenly and health care workers had to stay home with their children.

Gresham, though, said in a statement that he was now confident that a plan could be reached to provide childcare for healthcare workers through school resource centers.

In the United States, there are more than 3,700 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and more than 60 deaths

He also called on the city and state to provide more funding for childcare for healthcare workers.

'With these critical processes moving, I am now calling on Mayor de Blasio to close New York City's public schools to help protect public health and prevent the spread of COVID-19,' he said in a statement.

On Sunday morning, Nassau County County Executive Laura Curran announced that schools throughout the county adjacent to New York City would be closed for at least the next two weeks. Nassau County has more than 1.3 million residents.

Later in the day, the Suffolk County executive announced that schools there would be closed as well for the next two weeks.

In the United States, there are more than 3,700 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and more than 60 deaths.

Globally, there are more than 169,000 confirmed cases and more than 6,500 deaths.
Actor Neha Dhupia has got support from her Bollywood friends and colleagues after she shared a statement on being trolled online. Filmmaker Karan Johar, actors Ayushmann Khurrana, Sonam Kapoor, Taapsee Pannu, Malaika Arora and Nehas husband Angad Bedi all wrote messages of support for her on social media.

Neha was trolled for almost two weeks for her comment on Roadies Revolution that seemed like she was defending a girl for cheating in a relationship. She then posted a lengthy statement, declaring she has been misinterpreted.

Sonam shared Nehas post on Instagram and wrote, Ugh people are so gross, I am sorry about the hate Neha Dhupia no one deserves it. Esp when they are right. Karan wrote, We are all with you. Angad wrote, Mothers please raise your sons better. Thank you.

Taapsee tweeted, For all the ppl writing abusive and harassing messages to you and your family should know, they arent on the right side of the moral compass they r acting to be the torch bearers of. Adultery is wrong morally n so is violence. One cant be the response to the other.

Malaika wrote, Guys I dont condone any kind of physical or mental abuse.. Just as a man should never hit a woman, I dont think a woman should raise her hand either unless its to defend herself. But I also dont condone vicious trolling. You dont have to agree with @nehadhupia s point of view but attacking her friends, family & baby is unacceptable! Ayushmann said, Discuss, debate. Dont spread hate.

The controversy started after a recent episode of the ongoing season of MTV Roadies Revolution, wherein Neha, who is a gang leader, reprimanded a male contestant for slapping a girl, for allegedly cheating on him with five other boys. She also defended the girl saying as far as cheating goes, Its her choice. Nehas attitude, however, did not find favour with netizens, with many users alleging she was a fake feminist.

For all the ppl writing abusive and harassing messages to you and your family should know, they arent on the right side of the moral compass they r acting to be the torch bearers of. Adultery is wrong morally n so is violence. One cant be the response to the other. https://t.co/L9f8JLJB2m  taapsee pannu (@taapsee) March 14, 2020

Responding to the trolls, Neha wrote: Roadies is a show that I have been a part of for five years and enjoyed every bit of it. It takes me all over India and gives me the opportunity to team up with absolute rock stars from all parts of the country. What I do not like or accept is what is happening for more than two weeks now!

Also read: Amitabh Bachchan cancels Sunday meet at Jalsa amid coronavirus crisis: I am not going to come, take precautions

Sadly, as a reaction to my opinion, I have been subjected to weeks of vitriol. One of my posts had over 56k comments! Yet I was silent but now people close to me who have nothing to do with this - my family, my friends, my co-workers and even my dads personal WhatsApp are being flooded with abuses and harassment. My daughters page is nothing less than a barrage of abuses and this is not acceptable to me, Neha added.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
A fake fundraising page for the family of one of the victims of last week's Lockhart River plane crash has been taken down.

Queensland police issued a warning on Sunday for people not to be discouraged from donating to those in need, but to be cautious about who they are donating to.

The wreckage of the Cessna 404 light plane in the far north Queensland community of Lockhart River. Credit:Nine News

Five people died after a light plane crashed in wild weather on the Cape York Peninsula on March 11.

The pilot was aged 38 while the four passengers, including three staff and a contractor with the Queensland government's building unit QBuild in Cairns, were aged 49, 57, 62 and 63.
A irline Jet2 has announced it is cancelling all flights to Lyon, Grenoble, Paris and Nice after France imposed travel restrictions over coronavirus.

It comes after the carrier said it would be suspending all flights to Spain, the Baleriac Islands and the Canary Islands yesterday.

The company said in a tweet: The French government has announced a range of restrictions, aimed at preventing the spread of Covid-19. As a result of these measures, we will not be flying any customers to Lyon, Grenoble, Paris and Nice with immediate effect.

We will be flying customers back to the UK from Lyon and Grenoble via our programme of scheduled flights on Saturday 21 March. Thereafter, we have cancelled all flights to Lyon and Grenoble for the rest of the winter.

We will be flying customers back to the UK from Paris via our programme of scheduled flights on Sunday 15 and Monday 16 March. Thereafter, we have suspended all flights to Paris until 26 April and we are keeping this situation under review.

Jet2s statement continued: We will be flying customers back to the UK from Nice via our programme of scheduled flights on Monday 16 March. Thereafter, we have suspended all flights to Nice until 4 May and we are keeping this situation under review.

We are contacting our customers who are currently in Lyon, Grenoble, Paris and Nice who are due to travel, to advise them of their options.

We urge customers not to call us as we will be in touch.
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Satya Nadella

American technology giant Microsoft recently celebrated its 25-year anniversary of operations in Indonesia. The company achieved a value of US$1 trillion last year, becoming one of the United States most valuable companies. The Jakarta Posts Eisya A. Eloksari sat down with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Feb.27 to talk about the multinational companys vision in Indonesia and the countrys digital potential. Here is an edited excerpt of the interview.

Question: What is Microsofts vision in Indonesia after operating for 25 years?

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A large and potent storm system on the West Coast is already bringing very heavy snow to the northern and central California Mountains in what looks to be the most significant storm so far this season for parts of the state.

Since there is a good amount of instability in parts of the region, snowfall rates could be quite intense with locally up to 4 inches per hour possible this morning. This will make any travel in the region extremely dangerous.

PHOTO: Heavy rain is also starting to spread down the coast with localized flash flooding possible. Additionally, gusty winds over 40 mph will be possible in parts of central and southern California as the storm slides into the region. (ABC News)

Heavy rain is also starting to spread down the coast with localized flash flooding possible. Additionally, gusty winds over 40 mph will be possible in parts of central and southern California as the storm slides into the region.

The heaviest bands of rain will move southward towards Southern California Sunday night and into Monday, with locally 2 to 4 inches of rainfall possible. Heavy snow will continue for the Sierra through Monday as some snow also will develop in some of the southern California mountains.

PHOTO: The precipitation should decrease in coverage on Tuesday as the system moves deeper into the intermountain west. Locally, 4 to 6 feet of mountain snow will be possible in the northern and central California mountain range. (ABC News)

The precipitation should decrease in coverage on Tuesday as the system moves deeper into the intermountain west. Locally, 4 to 6 feet of mountain snow will be possible in the northern and central California mountain range and 2 to 4 inches of rain will be possible in the California coast. Up to a foot of snow will be possible in the Southern California mountains.

As we head into the middle of the week, this storm will begin to interact with another storm that in the central U.S.

Late Tuesday and into Wednesday, there will be two distinct areas of unsettled weather. One being heavy rain and thunderstorms in the central U.S., especially the southern plains, as well as regions of rain and mountain snow in the intermountain west.

Then on Thursday, a more prevalent storm system will take shape with widespread mountain snow from Montana to New Mexico and heavy rain and strong storms for the plains and Midwest.

PHOTO: Late Thursday and Friday, the storm will then race off to the north and east and likely bring a round of snow to parts of the upper Midwest. (ABC News)

Late Thursday and Friday, the storm will then race off to the north and east and likely bring a round of snow to parts of the upper Midwest.

Story continues

Additionally, a line of strong storms will form along the cold front that will move into the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, eventually reaching the east coast by the end of the week.

The main threat that could result from this storm system is several rounds of heavy rain in the southern plains and parts of the Midwest. This could lead to increase flooding potential as get towards the end of the week.

Storm hitting California with up to 6 feet of snow possible originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Trump takes test for coronavirus

The test came days after the president stood next to a Brazilian official who was tested positive for the virus.

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he took the test for coronavirus.

"I TOOK THE TEST"

"I also took the test last night, Trump told reporters at a White House briefing. "I decided I should based on the press conference yesterday. People were asking that I take the test." He said the test has been sent to a lab and the result is due in "a day, or two days".

He has tested negative for coronavirus, the presidents physician, Sean Conley, said in a statement on Saturday.

On Friday, Trump said he will "most likely" be tested for coronavirus, after coming in contact with a Brazilian official who tested positive for the virus.

The official attended a dinner with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort and was photographed standing with Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsanaro and US Vice President Mike Pence.

Bolsanaro announced earlier Friday he tested negative for the virus.
Jet2 has suspended all flights to France with immediate effect as voters head to the polls for elections that have been allowed to go ahead despite the country's coronavirus lockdown.

The budget airline, which ordered planes heading for Spain to perform a dramatic U-turn yesterday, said it would no longer fly to Lyon, Grenoble, Paris and Nice until at least April 26.

President Emmanuel Macron placed France on lockdown last night and banned the opening of all 'non-essential public places' including cafes, bars and restaurants.

But he still gave the green light to local elections for 35,000 mayors and half-a-million municipal councils today with hygiene measures in place.

France reported a surge in coronavirus cases by 832 last night, bringing its total to 4,499. As many as 91 people have died from the virus.

There has also been a rapid increase in serious cases, said head of public health Jerome Salomon, with 150 people below the age of 60 in intensive care.

Jet2 has announced the cancellation of all flights to Lyon, Grenoble, Paris and Nice until at least April 26 as the airline industry battles to survive during the coronavirus outbreak

The airline dramatically turned around at least five planes yesterday as they headed to Spain

Jet2 released this statement to customers on its twitter page and website

President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Bridgette pictured voting at Le Touquet, France

French voters have used hand sanitiser on entry and exit to booths during France's local elections for mayors and municipal councils today. (Pictured is Paris' incumbent mayor Anne Hidalgo preparing to vote)

French polling staff pictured wearing face masks at the polls in Paris today

In a statement the airline said: 'The French government has announced a range of restrictions, aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19. As a result we will not be flying any customers to (France) with immediate effect.'

They said customers already in France would be placed onto rescue flights.

Those in Grenoble and Lyon will be flown back to the UK on Saturday March 21. Britons stranded in Paris will be flown back today and tomorrow. And those in Nice will be flown back tomorrow.

'We are contacting our customers who are currently in (these areas), to advise them of their options,' they said.

'We urge customers not to call us as we will be in touch. This is a fast-moving and complex situation, and we would like to thank our customers for their understanding. The health and safety of our customers is always our number one priority.'

It was not clear what additional welfare packages are being offered to customers in Grenoble and Lyon, who will have to wait six days for their rescue flight.

French polling booth staff and voters have also been pictured wearing face masks at the polls

France ordered the closure of all 'non-essential' public places last nights including cafes, restaurants and bars. (Pictured: Shuttered cafe in Toulouse, south France)

The move comes after Ryanair said it would 'severely reduce' flights to and from Spain, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands from midnight tonight.

Easyjet has announced it will cancel all flights to Spain from March 17.

French voters were pictured wearing protective gear and standing at least three-feet away from each other when they came to vote today. Many had been asked to bring their own pens.

Polling booth staff also wore face masks and latex gloves, and asked attendees to use hand sanitiser upon entry and exit. Municipalities said they would also regularly disinfect voting booths.

France opened its polls at 8am (7am GMT) and will continue to accept votes until 6pm (5pm GMT), 7pm (6pm GMT) or 8pm (7pm GMT), depending on the municipality.

Turnout is predicted to be low for this election as many voters steer clear of the polls.

By noon today (11am GMT) it had fallen to 18 per cent of the country, a five per cent drop compared to the local elections in 2014.

Disagreeing with holding the vote, voter Pascale, 59, who wore a mask to visit a polling booth in Paris' seventh district, said: 'It's really not responsible. It will discredit the message for the seriousness of the situation.

'I've got a lot of friends and family that will not go even if they usually carry out their civic duty.'

Latex gloves have also been deployed by voters to limit their exposure to coronavirus

Voters were also asked to stand several feet apart at polling booths across France today. These voters are pictured in Cucq, western France

Hand sanitiser has been made available to all voters by municipal authorities. (Pictured in Cucq, western France)

A voter is pictured above signing in as a poll booth worker wears latex gloves in Cucq, France

A 60-year-old woman who voted in Paris said: 'I am going to vote and keep living my life no matter what. I am not scared of the virus.'

A second round of voting is scheduled in France for March 22, but prime minister Philippe has suggested that these could be pushed back.

Observers say many are bound to shun the democratic exercise for fear of contamination with the virus.

A recent opinion poll said 28 percent of potential voters in France were 'concerned' about the risk posed by mingling at polling stations, often hosted by schools.

People stand a one-metre distance apart before casting their votes in France today

Hand sanitiser is given to voters before they enter polling booths in Strasbourg, eastern France

Voters and polling booth workers in Le Pontet, France, today casting their votes

'It is important at this time, following the advice of scientists as we have done, to ensure the continuity of our democratic life and that of our institutions,' Macron said.

Some 47.7 million people are registered to vote in some 35,000 municipalities in a country where mayors and local councillors enjoy high popularity compared to other levels of government.

Boris Johnson, who has not called for a lockdown, has pushed back the UK's local and mayoral elections due to be held in May by a year.

The election will be a key test for Macron, whose party swept Paris in the 2017 presidential election, but has since lost popularity in part due to its leader's perceived autocratic leadership style and lack of common touch.

The French capital will be the main battleground, with incumbent socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo challenged by right-wing heavyweight Rachida Dati and Macron's candidate Agnes Buzyn - who was parachuted in after his chosen hopeful, Benjamin Griveaux, pulled out over a sex-tape scandal.

Many in France have questioned the wisdom of holding the vote even as the country indefinitely closed all creches, schools and universities, banned gatherings of more than 100 people, and urged residents to limit their movements.

But French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner defended his government's decision, saying there were about 1,000 voters to every French polling station on average.

And even if the participation rate is 60 percent -- which is high - that would mean 600 people spread over 10 to 12 hours depending on the district.

Hand sanitiser pictured in front of voting card at a polling station in Mulhouse, eastern France

A voting card is handed over to officials in Mulhouse, eastern France, today

Paris' incumbent mayor Anne Hidalgo pictured casting her vote in the municipal elections

A gloved officer pictured with a voters list in Cucq, western France, today

The risk from voting for the elderly was no greater 'than going shopping', insisted Jean-Francois Delfraissy, chairman of France's coronavirus science council.

'It is certain that many people will be dissuaded from voting,' political historian Jean Garrigues of the University of Orleans told AFP.

Polls showed that young people - who are not at high risk of dying from COVID-19 - are most likely to hold it up as a reason not to vote.

Even if this is just a pretext for the politically apathetic, it could impact parties that young people are more likely to support - the Greens and the far-left France Unbowed, said Garrigues.

A shuttered cafe in Paris. None have opened today due to the nationwide lockdown

Cafe de Flore in Paris has also shut its doors today due to the country's lockdown

A woman wears a face mask as she exits a polling booth in Paris today

A woman wears a mask as she heads towards a polling station in Paris today

A note posted in this McDonald's window on Champs Elysee Avenue says it has closed due to the coronavirus outbreak

Older people, even though they are more motivated to vote, may end up staying away out of fear, thus robbing parties such as the right-wing Republicans or Macron's centre-right Republic on the Move (LREM) of votes.

This means that the political repercussions of high voter abstention among the young and the old could cancel each other out, said Garrigues.

France was placed on lockdown last night as Prime Minister Edouard Philippe called the virus the 'biggest health crisis in a century'.

In a solemn TV address on Saturday evening, Mr Philippe said the indefinite shut down would apply to 'all places that receive the public but which are not essential to the life of the country.'

Restaurants, some shops, cinemas and cafes will shut for the foreseeable future with French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe (pictured) calling it the 'biggest health crisis in a century'

Mr Philippe also called on French people to reduce their travel, especially between towns. Pictured: a woman in a mask near the Eiffel Tower in Paris today

Public transport will remain open but Mr Philippe encouraged his citizens to limit their use.

Exceptions on France's ban include supermarkets, pharmacies, banks and petrol stations.

Mr Philippe added that his citizens will have to make tough sacrifices in the coming months to help stop the spread of the killer virus - which could cost the economy billions.

'I am conscious of the efforts and sacrifices that we are asking, but I have faith that the French people will have the capacity to overcome this serious moment,' Philippe said.

Philippe said the government had been left with no choice but to take the decision because too many people were still out in the streets and not sufficiently applying measures that were recently announced.

That, he said, was helping accelerate the spread of the virus.

'I have decided to close all non-indispensable locations. We must absolutely limit our movements,' he said.

France reported a sharp rise in cases on Saturday, from 3,661 to 4,499. It recorded 12 more deaths, bringing the toll to 91

Tourists wearing protective face masks visit Disneyland Paris amid the coronavirus outbreak across Europe

It follows President Emmanuel Macron appearing on national television on Thursday and saying the 'national crisis' meant all schools, colleges and universities will close from Monday

The ban is also likely to include ski hire shops, and other businesses linked to the country's Alpine resorts, many of which are likely now to shut down too.

It follows President Emmanuel Macron appearing on national television on Thursday and saying the 'national crisis' meant all schools, colleges and universities will close from Monday.

'Despite our efforts, the virus is accelerating,' Mr Macron said. 'It will hit the most vulnerable people first and we are taking great efforts to increase massively the capacity in our hospitals.

Empty restaurants in a square in Nancy, northeastern France today

'We have to prepare for the second wave, which will hit younger people. We have to prepare our emergency staff. We need to win time, but the priority is to protect the most vulnerable.

'For our collective interest, from Monday and until further notice, nurseries, schools, colleges, high schools and universities will be closed.

'Closed for a simple reason: our children and our youngest, according to scientists, are the ones who seem to spread the virus the fastest.'

Religious buildings would remain open but gatherings and ceremonies should be postponed.
This story is part of an ongoing series on global issues jointly produced by the South China Morning Post and POLITICO, with reporting from Asia, Africa and the United States.

Africa has so far escaped the worst of the coronavirus pandemic. Across the continent, only Algeria, Egypt and South Africa have reported more than a handful of cases. And many of the sick in Egypt are foreign tourists on a Nile River cruise.

But public health experts predict the continents luck will not last, given the virus highly contagious nature, Africas plentiful connections with other parts of the world, and sharp cuts in US aid to improve African public health systems. Some nations are likely to face terrible outbreaks of a disease that will further overwhelm health systems struggling with regular epidemics of measles, hepatitis, malaria and HIV.

Its just a matter of time, said Thomas Kenyon, the former director of US Centres for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) Centre for Global Health and now chief health officer of the humanitarian group Project HOPE In different countries the storm will come at different times. Its taking off in the US now. I think Africa is in great danger.

As many as 2 million Chinese live in Africa or regularly travel to the continent, part of a vast economic exchange that has brought dozens of major infrastructure projects to African countries in exchange for oil, minerals, foodstuffs and other raw materials.

Its just a matter of time. In different countries the storm will come at different times. Its taking off in the US now. I think Africa is in great danger

Thomas Kenyon

That complex web of relationships prompted forecasts that the coronavirus would arrive in Africa aboard some of the daily pre-epidemic flights from China. Unexpectedly, most of the first known cases have come via Italy, the hardest-hit country in Europe with more than 15,000 people infected and over 1,000 deaths as of Friday. But public health experts say the threat from China remains high given the number of Chinese workers who come and go from Africa, and Africans who study and work in China.

Story continues

Many African countries tried to improve their abilities to detect, trace and contain epidemics after the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic, which killed 11,000 people. Nations identified gaps in their public health systems, but few have done enough to prepare for the emergence of a threat like the coronavirus, Kenyon said.

Theyll be playing catchup, said Anthony Fauci, the head of the US governments National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in a podcast last week. You cant transform a health care system over a couple of months.

It does not help that US President Donald Trump slashed financial support for CDC and US Agency for International Development programmes to strengthen public health in Africa. Trump has shown little interest in helping other nations improve their health systems.

How long have we [in the US] been saying that this was coming? asked Kenyon. Didnt we say after Ebola wed strengthen public health systems? Did we do that? No. Its been a failure of leadership.

Still, African public health officials are proud of their improved abilities, which include monitoring temperature of arriving air passengers and some surveillance and tracking. Were in a lot better place than we used to be, said Chikwe Ihekweazu, director of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). But it does not make a lot of hard challenges go away.

Nigeria, Africas most populous country, leads most of the continent in preparedness. A World Health Organisation survey in February found only 60 per cent of African countries could contain Covid-19 through tracing and isolation, and even fewer can test for the virus.

And where the coronavirus slips past public health containment measures it is likely to play havoc with hospitals and clinics, experts say. Millions of people have undiagnosed HIV, tuberculosis and diabetes  all of which are likely to complicate treating coronavirus and raise the fatality rate. Respiratory diseases can spread easily in open hospital wards, said Kenyon, who has spent 20 years fighting disease in Africa.

Health workers can easily sicken and take diseases home to their neighbourhoods or villages.

Its with trepidation that I think about that, said Fauci, when asked about the virus likely activity in Latin America and Africa. There are already so many confounding diseases.

Ihekweazu began preparing his staff at the NCDC for the virus as news of an outbreak began to emerge from China on January 7. Nigerian public health workers were among those from 28 countries who received test kits for the virus at a meeting last month hosted by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Ethiopia.

On February 27, Nigeria diagnosed its first case  an Italian businessman who had arrived three days earlier and developed a fever. He visited a doctor familiar with the protocol for reporting suspected cases, and the NCDC  created in 2018  used classic shoe-leather epidemiology to trace and isolate 61 potential contacts, in addition to 50 passengers on the Italians plane. So far, one of these people has been diagnosed with the virus.

Were cognisant of the fact that if we had a lot more patients showing up at the same time it would be a lot more difficult, Ihekweazu said. His nightmare is a visitor with few symptoms travelling to a far-flung Nigerian city and spreading the disease to hundreds of others before detection. What happened in Italy could happen in Nigeria, he said.

It is unprecedented in recent times, Ihekweazu acknowledged, for African nations to be in the position of defending their shores from a European disease.

If there is some good that comes out of this epidemic, it is to give us a great example of how global health really means global, he said. There are problems we cannot solve within our political borders.

If there is some good that comes out of this epidemic, it is to give us a great example of how global health really means global. There are problems we cannot solve within our political borders

Chikwe Ihekweazu

Many Africans are sceptical of their governments abilities to keep out the virus. China Southern Airlines decision to resume flights between Nairobi and Guangzhou the week of March 2 sparked controversy in Kenya, leading the countrys Supreme Court to order a halt to the flights.

The South African governments foot-dragging about bringing home teachers and students trapped in Wuhan was seen as bowing to Chinas wishes, said Cobus van Staden, who directs research for The China Africa Project. There are bitter recollections of the fact that Chinese authorities strictly quarantined African visitors to China during the Ebola crisis.

Chinese companies say they are taking precautions to prevent the importation of the virus into Africa.

Many of them say that workers who travelled back to China for the Lunar New Year holiday have been quarantined or kept from returning to the continent.

Sinohydro Corporation, a state-owned Chinese company with several multibillion-dollar projects in Africa, said its Chinese workers who have returned to Africa are quarantined. The company promised not to send abroad staff from hard-hit Hubei province until the epidemic was over.

In Nairobis Kilimani area, one of the citys Chinatowns, those who have travelled to China recently are not allowed to open their shops until cleared by local health officials. The number of customers at Chinese restaurants and casinos has plunged since the outbreak began.

African docks have been emptied by the lack of Chinese shipments, and prices are going up for goods that Africans rely upon, said Su Zhenyua, a leader of overseas Chinese in Ghana.

Meanwhile, false rumours about the coronavirus abound across Africa, as do reports of public shunning of Chinese residents and businesses.

The feeling in Kenya of a Chinese invasion has been deepened by the threat of coronavirus, the analyst Douglas Kiereini wrote last week in Nairobis Business Daily . In some quarters Kenyans view Chinese presence as a new era of colonisation through the back door.

African public health officials are doing what they can to counter such sentiments, said Tolbert Nyenswah, who ran Liberias incident response team during the Ebola epidemic, and now conducts infectious-disease research at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

And other infectious disease challenges are not going away. Nigeria, for example, is suffering its worst epidemic of Lassa fever, a viral haemorrhagic disease that has resulted in 500 hospitalisation and 70 deaths this year alone.

But there is no way for public health officials to avoid focusing on coronavirus, Ihekweazu said.

We have a lot of anxiety in Nigeria particularly in the political class and economic interests, he said.

Whether we like it or not we have to be in a position to respond, even when the threat  at the moment  is very small.

Arthur Allen reports for Politico from Washington, DC; Jevans Niyabiage reports for the South China Morning Post from Nairobi, Kenya, and He Huifeng reports for the South China Morning Post from Guangdong, China.

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This article Coronavirus: Africa has few cases so far but its just a matter of time before major outbreak first appeared on South China Morning Post

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Yes, you can still go out and enjoy a nice meal or a drink with friends. Just keep your distance.

If you do go out, however, you might run the risk of being turned away at the door.

Operators of bars and restaurants in New York are under orders from Gov. Andrew Cuomo to limit their crowds to half their posted occupancy limit, up to 500 people maximum. Thats intended to help contain the spread of the coronavirus.

The order, issued Thursday and effective since 5 p.m. Friday, is being enforced by state and local health departments and, for those with liquor licenses, by the State Liquor Authority.

The SLA tweeted Sunday that it will fine establishments found to be in violation of the order.

Restaurants and bars must keep occupancy levels below 50% (capped at 500). SLA and local law enforcement will be strictly enforcing these occupancy rules. Violations will lead to disciplinary charges. https://t.co/ovIY6QFyMB  NYS Liquor Authority (@NY_SLA) March 15, 2020

The state Health Department has issued these guidelines for venues and businesses to follow.

This is the new reality for the hospitality industry in New York in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and Cuomos directive limiting large gatherings.

The order bans gatherings of 500 people or more. For smaller venues -- like most bars or restaurants -- the order requires operators to keep the crowds under 50% of the occupancy. So if your place holds up to 100, you have to keep the crowd at 50 people or less.

Many bars and restaurant contacted by syracuse.com since the order say the threat of coronavirus has been keeping crowds down anyway.

I truly wish we would get even close to our 50% of occupancy, although I cant complain -- were holding our own through this nightmare! Randy Beach, owner of downtown Syracuses Ale 'n Angus Pub, wrote in a Facebook message. His posted capacity is 86 people.

Some restaurants, like Pastabilities and Kitty Hoynes Irish Pub in Syracuses Armory Square, took the pro-active stance this weekend of taking out some tables to reduce seating and create more space between customers.

With the downtown St. Patricks Parade scheduled for Saturday having been cancelled, crowds were reduced on that day in any case. Kitty Hoynes, which typically posts staff on parade day to enforce the maximum limit, instead had people counting heads to keep it under 50%.

You have to do whats required and whats right, owner David Hoyne said.

On a relatively quiet weekend -- due in part to the parade cancellation -- Isaac Rubenstein of Middle Ages Brewing Co. on Syracuses Near West Side noted the relatively low crowds at his tasting room.

It looks like its going to be a little quiet for a while, he said. But were aware of the rules and will follow them.

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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.
Heavy vehicles have been banned from one of Brisbane's most popular riverside walkways amid concerns the 32-year pylons running along the front of the South Bank Parklands are weakening.

The parklands opened in 1988 to host World Expo 88, leaving sections of the Clem Jones Promenade along the river's edge standing in brackish saltwater ever since.

The Clem Jones Promenade along the river edge of South Bank Parklands. Credit:Tony Moore

Pedestrians and cyclists may continue to use the walkway but heavy vehicles - including garbage trucks and construction vehicles - are temporarily banned.

South Bank Corporation chief executive officer Professor Bill Delves said the organisation last week received engineering advice recommending heavy vehicles stop using the promenade.
In honor of National Womens Month, it is necessary to recognize how critical a mothers role is in literacy. According to the National Institutes of Health, a mothers reading skill is the main determinant of a childs future academic success, outweighing other factors such as neighborhood and family income.

Of the 36 million adults in the U.S. who have low literacy skills, 65% are women. How is a mother supposed to help her child learn if she cannot read or do basic math?

A missing piece in efforts to increase literacy in children is to promote the mothers literacy skills.

In an attempt to reverse the cycle of illiteracy, Trident Literacy Association focuses on helping mothers who lack literacy skills.

TLA provides direct links to community resources such as partnerships with Berkeley and Charleston County libraries.

The countys bookmobiles visit TLA weekly for students and families to check out materials. Those who may have never had a library card or access to a public library are now excited on bookmobile days.

Mothers are choosing books to read aloud to their children as well as selecting materials to read independently.

By example, they are teaching their children that education is important.

As a community, we need to support organizations such as TLA that exist for the sole purpose of helping adults throughout the Lowcountry reverse the impact of generational illiteracy.

GIA COATS

Family Literacy Coordinator

Rivers Avenue

North Charleston

National stage

We all know what a pivotal role South Carolina has played in the presidential race.

I want to salute our beautiful venue that hosted the recent debate. The Gaillard Center was spectacular in every way.

Leading up to the debate, the Gaillard became a hub for politicians, the press and the public. During the debate the center looked magnificent and proudly represented the best of Charleston and our state.

We are so fortunate to have world-class cultural resources at our fingertips.

LARRY GILLESPIE

Zig Zag Alley

Charleston

Old dog, new tricks

Thinking back over my life, I think Ive been fairly inventive. While in the Marine Corps, I designed a weapon enhancement and an engineering application.

As an enlisted Marine, I could not call them inventions.

Over the course of 80 years, Ive had several innovative ideas that either made chores easier, shortened the time to do them or made them less expensive.

But the adage is true about old dogs and new tricks.

I was making coffee the other day, holding the carafe under the faucet to add the right amount of water, then pouring the water into the holding tank, watching the water level rise to the number of cups I wanted, placing the lid on the carafe, doling out the coffee into the filter, etc.

Thats when my barely 50-year-old son said, Dad, if youd move the coffeemaker a little closer to the sink, you could cut out several steps by just using the faucet hose to put the water directly in the tank. Your view of the water level marks are easier to see and it just takes a few seconds to do it.

I dont know how many years weve had a faucet with a hose attachment, but I wonder why someone as smart as I am had to be told this wonderful shortcut.

Old dog, meet new trick.

DAVID STEVENS

Retired Gunnery Sgt. USMC

Suncatcher Drive

Hanahan

Politics is messy

I am responding to a Feb. 15 letter in which the writer decried a lack of bipartisanship and the necessary checks and balances on governmental powers.

I am 85 and lived through World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, Desert Storm, 9/11 and the war on terror, all of which changed our lives and so much more.

Never did I think we should quit or stop fighting for our Constitution, Bill of Rights and freedoms.

I suggest the letter writer read American history, particularly how the Founding Fathers discussed, argued about and finally produced our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Then read the Federalist Papers.

Learn how to make informed decisions and dont allow the outrageous behavior of fools to discourage you. There has always been a right versus a left.

As to the behavior of people, many embraced the breakdown of civility in the 1960s and, today, we are seeing the results. Many people dont have any self-respect, nor do they respect the law or people in authority.

There are millions of law-abiding Americans who lead useful lives and make America work, and they are the ones you should fight for.

Ours is a representative republic, and politics is messy.

ELISE MARCIANO

Stone Gate Lane

Summerville

Gift of volunteering

I recently had the privilege and honor of volunteering with a group of friends at the Ronald McDonald House Charities in downtown Charleston.

We brought in healthy ingredients and cooked dinner to serve 70 parents and children staying there while a youngster was receiving medical care at one of our local hospitals.

Ronald McDonald House Charities provides housing, three daily meals, snacks, family gathering areas, indoor and outdoor play areas for young children, media area for teens, laundry room, kitchen facilities and much more for these families.

The organization keeps families close to where care and resources are needed. To do so, volunteers and donations are needed to provide food, supplies, services and companionship to families who travel to the Charleston area for their child to receive medical care.

I encourage everyone to go to the Ronald McDonald House Charities website, www.rmhcharleston.org, to learn more how to provide much-needed help as an individual, group or business.

LYNN WALLACE

Long Grove Drive

Mount Pleasant
Amid coronavirus outbreak, the Directorate of Technical Education Goa has directed all affiliate institutes to suspend classes till March 31. However, all examinations will be held as per the existing schedule.

"As per government decision, regular classes in educational institutions under the purview of Directorate of Technical Education are suspended from Monday 16th March to Tuesday 31 March, as a preventive measure to combat the threat of COVID-19 outbreak," the order read.

"However, scheduled examinations should not be cancelled and shall be held as per the schedule. Institutions will remain open and functional during the above period for administrative and other academic work," it further added.

The state government has already said that all schools will also remain closed till March 31 and that the examination of all classes will be held as per the schedule.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases across India reached 107, according to the Ministry of Family and Health Welfare on Sunday.

The disease which originated in China's Wuhan city in December last year has so far spread to more than 100 countries, infecting over 1,30,000 people. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared coronavirus a pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, in its meeting on March 14, discussed whether it could borrow from the market to resolve the compensation issue.

"There were suggestions recalling what late Arun Jaitley had said about there can be ways that the Council can probably even borrow from the market. So all this was discussed," Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a press briefing.

Under the GST law, states are guaranteed compensation for revenue loss for five years if their revenue does not increase 14 percent on the base year of 2015-16. There were no differences between the Centre and states with regard to compensation payment in 2017-18, 2018-19, and in the first four months of the current fiscal.

However, with revenue mop-up from compensation cess falling inadequate, the Centre held back fund transfer to states for revenue shortage beginning August. After this, when states raised the issue with the Centre and in December 2019, Rs 35,298 crore was released as compensation for August-September.

"Rs 78,000 crore has been collected as compensation cess this year, but what has been given to the states is Rs 1.2 lakh crore. I have also given a commitment in the Budget that I shall give in two instalments whatever I have to give based on compensation collected," Sitharaman said.

The finance minister said that she would take a couple of weeks after Parliament session to examine who would be the guarantor for it, if the Council is allowed to borrow.

"How will it be paid? What is the interest that will be given? All these things will have to be legally looked into. So, I have told the Council today that I will have to look at all these things, get more information, legally get the opinion and then come back to the Council as to what I have in my hand," she said.

Sitharaman said that impact of the Council borrowing on the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act would also have to be assessed.

"I have said I will call a special Council meeting after a couple of weeks after Parliament ends and in that meeting I shall lay before the Council the opinions that I gather on this specific issues post which the Council can take a considered view," Sitharaman said.

Also read | GST Council: States not staring at financial emergency, asks Infy to fix glitches by June

The Council also hiked the rate on mobile phones to 18 percent from 12 percent in the meeting.

"GST rate on all types of matches (handmade and other than handmade) has been rationalised to 12 percent (from 5 percent on handmade matches and 18 percent on other matches). This would address the classification issues. This issue was deliberated earlier in the 37th meeting and was pending for decision," a press statement said.
But in recent months, there have been increasing reports that some Pakistani Taliban fighters have managed to come back to some of the tribal areas in the northwest. Last Monday at least three people, including a Pakistani colonel, were killed in a shootout between soldiers and militants in Tank district, near South Waziristan.

Fence construction groups have also been attacked by militants, who have released videos of themselves tearing down sections and seizing building supplies.

Corruption and bribery are also likely to help people find ways through in a region where smuggling has been a way of life for many.

The fence may slow down illegal crossings, but it will not stop them entirely, said Elizabeth Threlkeld, an American diplomat in the border city of Peshawar until 2016 and now with the Stimson Center, a Washington-based think tank that focuses on foreign policy.

Many of those determined to cross, including both militants and local residents whose livelihoods depend on smuggling, will find a way, Ms. Threlkeld said. The greater impact of the fence will instead be on Pashtun communities spanning the border, who will lose the ability to cross freely to visit family or do business.

Cross-border trails and roads were once common in the mountains on either side of Torkham, many of them without checkpoints.

Zahid Shinwari, a former chairman of the chamber of commerce for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, where the Torkham crossing is, said that traders bound for bazaars, or families visiting relatives, had thought little of the frontier and were used to passing without paperwork checks.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Lagos State Fire Service have said that the fire incident that occurred in Lagos on Sunday morning was not as a result of pipeline explosion as earlier circulated.

No official casualty has been announced, although residents of the area said five people have been killed.

Some residents of the area also provided alternative views on the cause of the fire different from the official stance.

Shakiru Amodu, the spokesperson of LASG Fire Service, told PREMIUM TIMES that the incident was an implosion and not an explosion. He said combined efforts were ongoing to quell the fire.

It has even extended to the pipeline. We are managing the situation, but it is massive here. All agencies are working harmoniously to put out the fire, Mr Amodu said.

Ibrahim Farinloye, the Acting Coordinator, Lagos Territorial Office of NEMA, also said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the explosion was not connected to pipeline vandalism.

From the information given by officials of the Lagos State Fire Service who are currently on the ground, the implosion is not connected to pipeline but might have occurred in a factory located in the Abule Ado area.

Emergency responders are on ground while others are still on their way to the scene. The situation is under control and we hope to get more information soon to ascertain its cause, he said.

PREMIUM TIMES reporter at the scene of the fire incident confirmed the spread of the fire to neighbouring communities as many houses have been destroyed.

About 10 fire trucks had arrived at the scene while men from the Lagos State Fire Service, Federal Fire Service, Nigerian Navy, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, and others were making efforts to quell the fire.

The number of casualties cannot be ascertained as at the time of this report, but no fewer than five people have died while many others are trapped in the collapsed buildings in the fire, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

Dele Fasan, a stakeholder in Amuwo Odofin area, told PREMIUM TIMES that the true cause of the incident had not been ascertained.

There is an opinion that there was an explosion either racketed by bomb which we are not quite sure of, it is only the bomb experts that can tell you that. Physically, when you look at the impact of the explosion, it is possible because the impact of that explosion is enormous, he said.

This area, as we know, is a very volatile area. Based on the tunnels of petroleum products, there is a possibility for the explosion to have also been caused by pipeline vandalism, he said.

Mr Fasan said that given that the radius of the impact of the explosion got to Mile 2, there was a possibility that it could be a bomb.

He added that the agencies deployed to the scene had not been able to quell the fire.

Stephen Mgboru, a resident, said he went for exercise on Sunday morning and on returning around 9 a.m, heard a thumping sound, which shook his house and he fell on his bed.

At first, I thought it was that thing that happened in 2002, January 30 when a bomb exploded in Ikeja. I felt Ojo barracks might blow, the ammunition they packed there Then I got information that it was this area and I came in.

Mr Mgboru said the fire incident was as a result of pipeline explosion.

One tipper climbed the pipeline and it exploded.

I saw many dead bodies and many children were trapped in Bethel School, a public school in the area, he said.

Mr Mgboru said the fire service and other responders arrived on time but the equipment they brought could not quench the fire.

Emmanuel Umeh, another resident, said when the firefighters arrived at the scene, the fire had not affected his house. But they have no equipment to combat the massive fire which is now spreading rapidly.

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We told them to go down to help, they said they dont have enough equipment, that if they can bring helicopter or something to quench the fire. You see what they are doing?  Mr Umeh said, his voice shaking.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Fire Service has assured citizens that the fire, although massive, was under control.
Photo

Chandigarh, March 15

Acting swiftly on the directions of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, Punjab Police on Saturday cracked down in a big way on sand mining being carried out at night in six districts of the state.

Nine persons were arrested in the special operations, which led to the seizure of 18 vehicles being used illegally in the night mining, according to DGP Dinkar Gupta. The seizures, made during the raids in Ropar, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar City, Jalandhar Rural, Moga and Fazilka, included JCBs, tractor trolley and tippers, he added.

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So far, nine cases have been registered by the police, and further investigations are in progress, said the DGP.

The DGP said similar raids will be carried out daily on the directives of the Chief Minister, who had received certain reports and complaints of illegal mining being carried out at night. The special operations, to be conducted in all the concerned districts, will involve officers

of the mining department. Police will accompany the civil officers deputed by the Deputy Commissioners, he added.

Giving details of last nights operations, Gupta said in Ropar, though the night mining was hampered by rains, the raiding team nabbed three people with two sets of machinery. In Moga, two persons were arrested with two tractors and trolleys, under FIR no. 58 registered in PS City Moga. All-out efforts were on to arrest the owners as well, he said.

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According to the DGP, even though mining was not supposed to be carried out in the area, the duty officer at PS Sadar Fazilka discovered illegal operations being carried out early yesterday, and an FIR (no. 71, dated March 14, 2020) was registered under the Mining and Minerals Act, 1957. Eight tractors/trolleys were seized in the raid.

A special checking drive last night in Hoshiarpur led to the arrest of one person and recovery of tractor trolleys along with implants. FIR no. 24 dated 14/03/2020 has been registered u/s 21(1) Mining Mineral Act PS Haryana, said the DGP.

In Jalandhar Commissionerate, one case was registered against a farmer for illegally mining his own fields in PS Sadar, and a JCB was taken into possession. In the sixth raid, in Jalandhar Rural, four cases were registered and four persons arrested for indulging in night mining activity, said Gupta, adding that 3 tippers and 1 tractor trolley had been confiscated.

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Meanwhile, reiterating his commitment to eliminate illegal mining completely from the state, Captain Amarinder said all-out efforts were being made by the government to check such mining activity. Top officials of the districts where such mining was allegedly taking place, especially in the cover of darkness, had strict instructions to take immediate cognizance and action on any complaints, he said, warning that no laxity in this regard would be tolerated.

The DGP said the Chief Minister had also directed the police to extend all support to the mining department and concerned district officials in the special raids against night mining. Every complaint was being taken seriously and nobody found guilty of involvement would be spared, he added.
The 20th century saw a rage for moving historic buildings into historic villages to educate the public about Americas past. Some villages consist entirely of old buildings moved from other locations  such as Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts  but at Colonial Williamsburg more than 80 buildings are still on their original sites, one of the things that makes CW so important. At Magnolia Market the role of the church is not educational but to provide a place of contemplation for visitors: in other words, a place for the husbands to sit while wives and daughters shop.

Magnolia hired an architectural firm, Clayton and Little, to create a master plan. However, it did not hire a preservation architect or architect of any sort to move and restore the church. Instead, it hired Heritage Restorations, a company that takes apart, reassembles and restores old timber-framed barns. What is missing from this description is that the barns are almost invariably moved, usually to bucolic new settings. I have looked at the website, and the results are quite lovely  and utterly un-historic. As I screened the many images of rustic luxe, I thought to myself: When I win the lottery  yeah, when  this is not what I am going to do.

Three-dimensional chess
Security forces on Sunday killed four militants in an encounter in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

The forces cordoned off the area on Sunday morning and launched a search operation after receiving specific information about the presence of militants there.

The search operation turned into an encounter after the militants fired upon the forces.

Four militants have been killed in the encounter with security forces in Dialgam area of South Kashmir's Anantnag district, a police official said.

Further details are awaited, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A leading consultant and publican has said the public have to be 'draconian in respect of social distancing and avoid catching the virus'.

Doctor Michael Conway is a cardiologist at St Luke's Hospital and also runs The Hole in the Wall, an iconic pub in Kilkenny City.

"The danger is CTC - the cytotoxic cascade (cytokine storm) that rips into the lungs and heart. The virus is able to trigger such in some. They are the ones needing ventilation. And if they are older they are being condemned because they don't recover even if ventaliated according to the Italian experience to date."

Cyto Toxic Cascade describes the lethal process that Covid 19 is causing and distils deadliness into perspective. It refers to an auto immune-type reaction where tissue in the lungs and hearts get destroyed by a person's own immune system.

Even when they are immuno compromised.

Arlene Foster cannot have made her decision to delay preventive school closures knowing about this. Nor the guy running Cheltenham. Nor the Spanish professor arguing that we know far more about Covid 19 than we ever knew about HIV etc at this stage.

The publicans are closing shop. Too late.

The virus was spreading like wildfire last night. In sweaty confined spaces.

And CTC was set in motion to surface in about 2 weeks time for some unfortunates.

People continue to blame the wet market. And carnivores. And see it as a reflection of capitalism. And yet it occurred in a communist country for starters. In a market that has operated for generations.

Scientists know that the mutation occurred around November.

The Chinese had opened a lab designed for studies on the most lethal pathogens in Wuhan last June.

Read between the lines. The Taiwanese copped it thanks to their sources and went into aggressive battle mode immediately. And have only 33 active cases when it should be 1000s.

In the west the response has been inadequate.

The horror of CTC is about to come to a family near you very soon. Prepare for the tears.

We will use an old anti-malarial called Chloroquine. And anti-virals. Well stop Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone System blocking agents. Well try anything that might quell the CTC. It will be finger in the dyke stuff, though.

Everyone in the pubs last night should have known about CTC. They didnt.

Those making decisions and educating the populace (and advising the talking heads) have let us down. Those who had twigged it in China and elsewhere have let us down.

As of today there are people around who have less than a month to live.

Probably because some enthusiast was trying to get a seminal publication and extol the virtue of one country?

Think about it. And keep your fingers crossed that you dont suffer a CTC. And pray that you become immune promptly to Covid 19."


Warren Buffett has said the coronavirus pandemic forced him to cancel Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder weekend, the largest gathering in corporate America, because safety of participants and wider community was paramount.

The weekend, which Berkshire's billionaire chairman calls 'Woodstock for Capitalists' and attracts more than 40,000 people, had been scheduled for May 1-3 in several locations across Omaha, Nebraska, where Berkshire is based.

Buffett said "events have moved very fast" since he discussed the weekend in his February 22 shareholder letter.

Berkshire's annual meeting will still be live-streamed on May 2 on Yahoo Finance, but shareholders cannot physically attend and surrounding events have been cancelled.

"Large gatherings can pose a health threat to the participants and the greater community," Buffett said. "We won't ask this of our employees and we won't expose Omaha to the possibility of becoming a 'hot spot' in the current pandemic."

Buffett's hand was forced after the World Health Organisation declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, countries and cities worldwide curbed large gatherings of people, and many other companies cancelled events or moved them online.

The formal annual meeting lasts about 15 minutes, and has been preceded by five hours during which Buffett (89) and Berkshire vice-chairman Charlie Munger (96) answer shareholder questions. Buffett said they may still field some questions.

Health experts consider elderly people the most at risk of dying from the coronavirus.

Berkshire's weekend has long been a high point for Buffett, who routinely mingles with shareholders and fans, often with a horde of media nearby. Events this year were expected to include a cocktail reception filling an entire shopping mall, a 5km run, and shopping discounts which provide Berkshire with millions of dollars of revenue.

Only about a dozen people attended Berkshire's annual meeting in 1965, the year Buffett took over the company.

Attendance surged after Berkshire in 1996 introduced Class B shares, now worth 1/1500th of Class A shares, enabling many more people to make pilgrimages to Omaha. By 2015, there were 42,000 attendees helping Buffett celebrate his 50th anniversary at the helm.

Buffett expressed hope the weekend will return in 2021.

"Charlie and I will miss you, but we will see many thousands of you next year," he told shareholders.

Reuters
Corporate welfare refers to government handouts and special protections granted to certain businesses to locate in a specific jurisdiction. Tax breaks, or as some observers call them tax incentives, have in particular become a popular device for state and local governments. new mexico politicians, whether Democrats or Republicans, have relied on tax breaks to attract new businesses.

Proponents argue that tax breaks are necessary to attract businesses and that their costs are offset by the additional tax revenue from the increased economic activity. They claim that to be competitive with other jurisdictions they need to offer tax breaks or businesses will go elsewhere.

Politicians see themselves entangled in a vicious cycle where they are competing with other jurisdictions to attract new businesses. They dont want to appear indifferent to attracting businesses that can bring new jobs. What we have seen, with Amazon as a prime example (no pun intended), is jurisdictions driving up the tax breaks they are willing to pay to exorbitant levels. Analysts refer to this as the race to the bottom.

Businesses receive tax breaks on the order of $80 billion annually from state and local governments throughout the U.S. Studies have shown that these giveaways to businesses most times have little effect on their decision where to locate. Recipients who receive tax breaks often have political and economic clout that they leverage to gain favors at the expense of their competitors and taxpayers. It is a classic example of special interests benefiting at the expense of the general public.

At first thought, it seems audacious for government officials to expect poor households and small struggling businesses to allocate some of the taxes they pay to large, profitable businesses headquartered outside the jurisdiction (like Facebook). But their behavior shows that they would rather chance a groundless handout than be perceived as anti-job and anti-business.

While governments offer handouts with the hope of realizing greater economic returns, companies often make promises to create jobs they fail to keep. Handouts are often no more than a zero-sum game where one jurisdiction benefits at the expense of another. For many of them, the added revenue from the recipient business falls short of the tax break.

Tax breaks are just as likely to encourage perverse behavior and unintended consequences. They can shrink the tax base, shift tax burdens to other taxpayers or reduce public goods valued by the local citizenry.

Tax breaks also open the door to rent-seeking and corruption: large companies threaten to locate elsewhere unless they receive special treatment and even bribe officials with campaign funds in exchange for favoritism.

Instead of tax breaks, governments should create a good business climate with reasonable tax rates and regulations, and pro-growth public expenditures, such as for infrastructure development. States and cities can better satisfy this goal by broad-based tax cuts than by discriminatory and wasteful tax breaks where they play the role of picking winners and losers.

If governments continue to offer handouts to businesses, they should at least do a cost-benefit analysis. Experience has shown that officials often understate the true costs of the tax breaks and overstate the benefits, which should be no surprise.

Of course, one can imagine situations where a tax break could contribute to the economic well-being of the local or state citizenry net of the subsidy cost. But government officials should make that determination before offering tax breaks to any company.

What we frequently observe is the failure of government officials to provide the public with a transparent accounting of the actual costs of the tax breaks offered to businesses. New Mexico, like most other states, neglects to fully disclose all the details of its tax break packages.

Its time either to stamp out tax breaks to businesses or to make government officials more accountable for their decisions. New Mexico taxpayers deserve no less.

Kenneth W. Costello, of Santa Fe, is a regulatory economist and independent consultant.
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The Italian airforce played Pavarotti singing Nessun Dorma as they put on an incredible air display to lift the spirits of their nation during the coronavirus lockdown.

In a performance which the airforce reportedly does on a regular basis, a set of jet fighters used coloured smoke to paint the Italian flag while the emotional song played.

The clip was shared by the Aeronautica Militare who said: 'Unity and teamwork have always been the principles on which our Armed Force is based and, at this moment more than ever, are fundamental.'

Footage of the event has gone viral on social media, with even Donald Trump sharing the video, declaring 'the United States love Italy.'

In a performance which the airforce reportedly does on a regular basis, a set of jet fighters used coloured smoke to paint the Italian flag while the emotional song played

Many online praised the use of the song which has lyrics such as 'watch the stars that tremble with love and with hope' - saying it was fitting for the current circumstances.

Coronavirus deaths in Italy rose by 368 overnight to bring the total to 1,809, while 24,747 people have tested positive for the deadly bug.

Italian officials confirmed the jump today, as the national lockdown imposed by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte earlier this month rumbles on another week.

Many online praised the use of the song which has lyrics such as 'watch the stars that tremble with love and with hope' - saying it was fitting for the current circumstances

The shocking development comes as chilling footage shows the obituary of one local newspaper expanding from a single page to 10.

It comes as thousands of Italians in Rome, Milan, and Naples applauded healthcare workers from their balconies and windows yesterday as they raised spirits with a flashmob during the draconian coronavirus lockdown.

Families and neighbours also sang and crashed pots and pans together for the performers in cities across the country, organised through messaging service WhatsApp for noon yesterday.

Footage of the event has gone viral on social media, with even Donald Trump sharing the video, declaring 'the United States love Italy'

Rejoicing spectators exclaimed patriotic and uplifting phrases including 'Viva l'Italia' (Long live Italy) and 'Vinceremo' (we will win). The few cars on the street joined the chorus by blaring their horns.

Many also waved banners decorated with rainbows and the phrase 'Andra tutto benne' (everything will go well).

The heartwarming sight follows Friday's flashmob, where Italians sang in chorus for a rousing rendition of the national anthem Fratelli d'Italia. Currently 60million people are in lockdown in the Mediterranean country.

'I received a circulating message, forwarded to me by a friend... which is basically encouraging Italians to participate in a kind of flashmob on Friday 13 at 6pm,' said Rome resident Yemi Adeyeye.

'My street came alive at that time. It was a euphoric moment.'

Jessica Phelan, 34, who has lived in Rome for two years, said neighbours were waving and saying ciao to each other, and called out 'a domani' (see you tomorrow) afterwards.

'I think it shows that people will continue to seek community,' she said, 'even if they can't socialise.

'It's a way to say we're all in it together'.

Residents on balconies sing 'Azzurro' during a flash mob to raise morale as the coronavirus lockdown in Italy continues

A man, next to an Italian flag, takes part in a flash mob to raise morale as Italian government continues restrictive movement measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak, in Rome

People applaud Italians doctors during a flash mob to raise morale as the deadly coronavirus rips through Italy

People applaud Italians doctors during a flash mob to raise morale, as the Italian Government imposes coronavirus lockdown

People sing from their home window during a flash mob launched across Italy to bring people together in Rome

People sing from their home window during a flash mob launched across Italy to bring people together in Rome

Italians cheer and sing a rousing rendition of Fratelli d'Italia from their balconies in Naples today during coronavirus lockdown

People were also seen applauding Italy's doctors and healthcare workers as they sung during the flashmob in Rome today

Italians sit on their balconies in Rome and clap for healthcare workers in the flashmob organised through social media

People cheer and sing from their balconies in Rome today. The country has been placed on lockdown due to the virus

Two women applaud healthcare workers in the Gabriella neighbourhood of Rome this morning

Residents on balconies sing 'Azzurro' during a flash mob to raise morale as the coronavirus lockdown in Italy continues

A family waves and sings from their balcony in Rome's Gabriella district today. The Italians are aiming to lift the national spirit

A man watches from an apartment balcony with a banner reading 'Andra Tutto Bene' - 'everything will be alright' - a phrase that has become symbolic of hope in Italy's coronavirus crisis

People pictured standing on their balconies with pets, and one with a dog, in Rome yesterday

Banners reading 'Andra tutto benne' and the Italian flag are shown on this balcony in Rome's Gabriella district

People wave and clap their hands during the flashmob in Rome's Gabriella district

Two women applaud from their balconies in Milan, Italy, as their country remains in lockdown

A girl smiles and claps as she joins in the flashmob in Milan, Italy. It was organised by musicians through Whatsapp

A pair hold up a banner reading 'everything will go well' as they remain stuck in their house in Naples, Italy

A woman in Turin smiles as she poses in front of her sign reading 'everything will go well' on her balcony yesterday
The relevant information was posted in the electronic database of the U.S. Federal Register.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has blacklisted Russian companies Avilon Ltd. and Technomar.

The relevant information was posted in the electronic database of the U.S. Federal Register, TASS reports.

The two firms were put on the sanction list because they "are acting on behalf of a listed entity in circumvention of licensing requirements by procuring U.S.-origin items for Technopole Company, which was added to the Entity List on September 7, 2016," the report says.

Read alsoU.S. sanctions another subsidiary of Russia's Rosneft over Venezuela oil

As UNIAN reported earlier, the EU Council on Friday, March 13, decided that current sanctions in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine should be extended for a further six months until September 15, 2020.

"These restrictive measures provide not only for a freezing of funds, but also a prohibition against making funds or other economic resources available to the listed persons," the statement reads.
The Pentagon launched airstrikes Thursday targeting an Iranian-backed Shia militia group believed to be responsible for a rocket attack that killed and wounded American and British troops stationed at a base north of Baghdad.

Multiple U.S. strikes targeted a Kataib Hezbollah weapons facilities inside Iraq. The strikes were joint operation with the British.

Two Americans and a British national were killed in a rocket attack on Wednesday at the Iraqi base, where U.S. military personnel are housed.

The U.S. Defense Department named the two Americans on Friday as Army Spc. Juan Miguel Mendez Covarrubias, 27, of Hanford, California and Air Force Staff Sgt. Marshal D. Roberts, 28, of Owasso, Oklahoma.

While Iran or its proxies have not claimed responsibility, Iran's firing of ballistic missiles into two Iraqi military bases in January where American soldiers were based brought Washington and Tehran to the brink of war.

The U.S. has about 5,000 troops supporting Iraq's security forces and American troops regularly come under fire in Iraq from Iran-backed militants such as Kataib Hezbollah or another Shia militia group.

However, the attack came on the same day the House approved a resolution that would bar President Donald Trump from launching a military attack against Iran without explicit congressional authorization.

The measure follows increased tensions between the U.S. and Iran after the Pentagon killed senior Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike in January, leading to a retaliatory strike by Iran on another military base in Iraq hosting U.S. troops. That attack left dozens of U.S. soldiers with brain injuries.

Wednesdays attack coincided with what would have been Soleimani's birthday.

Two U.S. Marines were killed Sunday while advising and accompanying Iraqi security forces. The military said the two were killed during a mission to eliminate a stronghold for the Islamic State group in a mountainous area of Iraq.

Story continues

Iran claims revenge for Qasem Soleimani's killing. US Navy is still a target

The House resolution now goes to the White House, where Trump is expected to veto it. The president said it would undermine U.S. security and "show weakness."

Supporters do not have the two-thirds supermajority needed to override a veto.

But Wednesday's 227-to-186 vote still marked a rare bipartisan effort to curb Trump's war powers and underscored lawmakers' lingering concerns that U.S. tensions with Iran could escalate into a full-fledged war. Six Republicans joined 220 Democrats in supporting the war powers resolution. The measure cleared the Senate last month with eight Republicans and all Democrats voting yes.

"The American people don't want war with Iran. The Congress has not authorized war with Iran. That should be crystal clear," Rep. Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said during the House debate.

Engel, D-N.Y., and other Democrats said Trump brought the United States to the brink of war with Iran when he green-lighted a deadly strike targeting Tehrans most powerful military leader, Gen. Qasem Soleimani, on Jan. 2. Iran responded by launching ballistic missiles at an Iraqi air base housing American troops, which left more than 100 service members with traumatic brain injuries.

"This isn't deterrence," Engel said, noting that Iran has also increased its uranium enrichment stockpile. "We're now closer to a war with a country that's closer to possessing a nuclear weapon."

The Trump administration and its Republican allies said the measure was unnecessary and would undermine Trump's ability to respond to Iranian aggression.

"This political war powers resolution is based on a false premise," said Rep. Michael McCaul, the top GOP lawmaker on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

He said Trump has shown "remarkable restraint" in using military force and has made it clear he doesn't want war with Iran.

"Iran and its proxies are watching right now as we spin our wheels," McCaul said. "And what they see ... (is) a divided America that does not fully support the ability of our commander in chief to adequately respond to threats against Americans."

The White House has blasted the war powers measure as "untimely and misguided."

In a statement threatening a veto, the White House said the U.S. "is not currently engaged in any use of force against Iran, in part because of the sound policies and decisive, effective actions of this administration."

The chief author of the resolution, Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, hailed Wednesday's vote as a long overdue assertion of congressional authority on matters of war.

For years, Congress has abdicated its responsibility on matters of war, but now a bipartisan majority in both the Senate and House has made clear that we shouldnt be engaged in hostilities with Iran without a vote of Congress," Kaine said. He said his legislation doesnt prevent Trump from defending America against imminent attack.

"Rather, the resolution demands that the decision of whether or not we go on offense and send our troops into harms way should only be made after serious deliberation and a vote of Congress," he said. "If President Trump is serious about his promise to stop endless wars, he will sign this resolution into law.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Two Americans, British national killed in Iraq rocket attack
An Egyptian taxi driver has been jailed after a viral clip showed the cabbie bullying a Chinese passenger and dumping him in the middle of a busy road over coronavirus fears.

In the video, the taxi driver is seen covering his face with a tissue as the Chinese man sits in the back of his cab. Fellow motorists start cruelly chanting CORONA! CORONA! at the Chinese national.

Other motorists encourage the cabbie to eject the passenger over fears that the man has coronavirus. One of the drivers is heard yelling "Throw him out, throw him out... he has corona.

Shortly afterwards, the cabbie dumps the passenger in the middle of the busy highway and drivers are heard laughing as the Chinese man desperately tries to hail another taxi to no avail.

The video then shows the terrified Chinese passenger standing in the middle of the road after being abandoned by the driver.

In a panic, he tries to re-enter the cab but is prevented from doing so by the taxi driver  and jeers of CORONA! CORONA! are heard in the background by other motorists.

The disturbing incident was filmed on a ring road in Cairo, Egypt, on March 11.

An Egyptian taxi driver covers his face with a tissue because of the Chinese passenger in the back of his cab. Source: News Dog Media/Australscope

The passenger was identified as a Chinese engineer, who had recently arrived in Egypt to work for a construction company.

The footage quickly went viral and has been widely condemned online as bullying and racism  prompting Egyptian police to arrest the driver in the video.

The driver claimed he had not intended to offend the Chinese passenger and attributed his actions to fears over coronavirus. Prosecutors ordered the driver be remanded pending further questioning.

The Chinese taxi passenger is left looking confused and startled on a busy ring road after he was dumped by his taxi driver. Source: News Dog Media/Australscope

Chinas Ambassador to Egypt, Liao Liqiang, visiting the Chinese passenger at his hotel in Cairo and personally expressed his apologies for the incident.

Egypt has recorded a total of 67 confirmed coronavirus cases. Eight of them have recovered.

Australscope

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Two sailors have been allowed to remain in the Royal Navy without being disciplined despite being named as members of a white nationalist group.

Mike Lynton and Kenneth McCourt were reported to have been members of Generation Identity, whose great replacement ideology was a key inspiration for the Christchurch massacre and other terror attacks.

An undercover journalist said they were serving together at a naval base in Plymouth, where they believed fellow sailors held similar views.

The journalist claimed Mr Lynton was the regional organiser for Generation Identity in southwest England at the time, and Mr McCourt was one of his recruits.

After his story was published in August, the Royal Navy promised an investigation but The Independent has learned that they were not disciplined.

The far right in the UK Show all 10 1 /10 The far right in the UK The far right in the UK British Union Jack flags are reflected in the sunglasses of a protester during a protest on April 1, 2017 in London Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images The far right in the UK A man holds a St George's Cross flag at a demonstration organised by the far-right group the English Defence League in central London on June 24, 2017 Tolga Akmen/AFP The far right in the UK A man is pictured with police officers at a demonstration organised by the far-right group the English Defence League (EDL) in central London on June 24, 2017 Tolga Akmen/AFP The far right in the UK A Neo-Nazi chats amicably with a police officer at a demonstration organised by the far-right group the English Defence League in central London Tolga Akmen/AFP The far right in the UK Supporters of the far-right group Britain First wave flags as they march and rally in central London on April 1, 2017 following the March 22 terrorist attack on the British parliament Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP The far right in the UK Police walk ahead of supporters of the far-right group Britain First marching in central London on April 1, 2017 Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP The far right in the UK Protesters hold placards and British Union Jack flags during a protest titled 'London march against terrorism' on April 1, 2017 in London Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images The far right in the UK A woman wearing a Donald Trump campaign hat hugs another woman during a protest titled 'London march against terrorism' on April 1, 2017 Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images The far right in the UK A protester waves a British Union Jack with an 'England' tattoo on his arm during a protest on April 1, 2017 in London Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images The far right in the UK Anti-Semitic demonstrators attend a rally on Whitehall in central London on July 4, 2015 Jack Taylor/AFP

The case was dealt with administratively and the men were not put to a court martial.

They remain serving members of the Royal Navy after being referred to the governments Prevent counter-extremism programme.

Generation Identity calls for a remigration of Muslims from Europe and spreads a conspiracy theory claiming that white people are being eradicated.

The theorys name  the great replacement  was the title of a manifesto posted by Brenton Tarrant before the Christchurch shooting, which itself inspired several other terror attacks.

Tarrant donated money to the Austrian branch of Generation Identity and exchanged friendly emails with its leader Martin Sellner, who has been banned from entering Britain on security grounds.

At a briefing in September, police said far-right terrorism was the fastest-growing threat in the UK and named Generation Identity among groups able to inspire attacks, although it is not banned.

Ben van der Merwe, a journalist, said he met Mr Lynton and Mr McCourt while spending five months undercover in Generation Identity last year and described both men as committed activists.

They werent dabbling, he told The Independent. Mike recruited Kenny on the base while they were serving, and Kenny told me about the lower-down ranks had sympathy with all of their views.

Mr Van der Merwe, who conducted the investigation with campaign group Hope Not Hate, said Mr McCourt disclosed their roles to him at Generation Identity UKs annual conference in July.

Kenny told me that his superiors were aware of his involvement with Generation Identity, and said this meant if he got [a new posting] it was a good sign for the group in terms of future activity in the navy, he said. He said all the officers were racist, including his diversity officer.

 Shami Chakrabarti attacks BBC live on air over Newsnight platform for far-right Generation Identity

Mr McCourt also allegedly claimed to be friends with a neo-Nazi YouTuber called Eternal Reich.

Mr Lynton was more senior in Generation Identity and organised events and recruitment, according to Mr Van der Merwe.

He is said to have targeted meetings of Ukips Young Independence youth wing looking for potential members.

Mr Van der Merwe said he had not been contacted by the navy with any request for information, despite possessing detailed notes of conversations and other evidence that had not been published.

He said that relying on publicly available material for the internal investigation amounted to a whitewash, adding: It doesnt give off the impression that it was a serious attempt to get to the bottom of what their activities were or the extent of far-right extremism in the navy.

The revelations follow the imprisonment of a British Army soldier who was a member of the banned neo-Nazi terrorist group National Action.

Through his work as an army trainer, Lance Corporal Mikko Vehvilainen tried to bring what he called committed Nazis over to the organisation.

But his conviction in 2018 is not known to have sparked proactive attempts to detect and root out far-right extremism in the armed forces.

Mr Van der Merwe called the situation a time bomb, warning: These are people with military skills, access to weapons and the ability to commit attacks.

Generation Identity UK rebranded itself to become the Identitarian Movement late last year following infighting over speakers at the conference.

Leaders of European factions publicly distanced themselves over the appearance of alt-right YouTubers at the event, and defended its activism as legitimate concern over the alleged cultural and ethnic replacement of indigenous Europeans.

Former UK leader Ben Jones claimed the Identitarian Movement was free of violent tendencies and has never committed any violent acts.

But a statement released last August admitted: Certain people associated with our organisation serve in the navy and indeed, on submarines.

The British branch continued publicity stunts, including mock executions of anti-racist activists, until it was dissolved in January.

Rather than being the end of a story, it represents the beginning, Mr Jones wrote in a message to supporters.

A navy spokesperson said: Extremist ideology is completely at odds with the values of our armed forces and we take allegations of this nature very seriously.

While it would be inappropriate to comment on specific allegations, we would always carry out investigations into claims against service personnel and work with the Home Office to implement the Prevent programme where necessary.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 15

By Sadraddin Agjayev  Trend:

Make the Difference with Coca-Cola program has been launched as a result of partnership among Coca-Cola Azerbaijan company, SUP VC startup accelerator and INNOLAND Incubation and Acceleration Center since March 10, Fidan Rustamli, PR manager of SUP VC startup accelerator, told Trend.

The goal of the program is to reveal the modern technological solutions in accordance with global trends to better meet the requirements of consumers and customers in the soft drinks industry and train national young staff in the country, PR manager said.

"This project will play a big role in the business ecosystem of the country as there have not been any startups like this with the participation of such giant companies as Coca-Cola in Azerbaijan, Rustamli said. The winners of this program will have the opportunity to participate in Coca-Cola companys further projects and collaborate with it in the future.

The initiator and direct sponsor of this project is the global business giant Coca-Cola company, Tariyel Aghazade, program manager at the SUP VC startup accelerator, said.

The SUP VC startup accelerator and INNOLAND accepted this project as part of an order from Coca-Cola company and will realize the objectives of the project.

The teams will be chosen for participation in the program on the basis of individual applications till April 1, 2020, Rustamli added. After appropriate training, the chosen teams will work on a business prototype in four spheres from April 1 through June 26, 2020. This process will be implemented through the support of SUP VC startup accelerator and specialists of INNOLAND."

The deadline for submitting applications for the program is March 29, 2020. The teams will be chosen by Coca-Cola company from March 30 through March 31, by INNOLAND from April 1 through June 26. The presentation will be held on June 27, 2020. As a result, the teams accepted into the program must develop a working prototype before the end of the program.

----

Follow the author on Twitter: agdzhaev
YEREVAN, MARCH 15, ARMENPRESS. The entire staff of ArmAeroNavigation (HayAeroNavigacia), the state-owned company in charge of air traffic control over the Armenian airspace, have gone into self-quarantine at the companys head office in the territory of the Zvartnots airport after one of their employees tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The self-quarantine decision was made jointly with the Healthcare Ministry, the Civil Aviation Committee and the air traffic control company. The company described the move as a mandatory precautionary measure.

ArmAeroNavigation Director General Artur Gasparyan is personally among the self-quarantined staff. The company said it is resuming normal operations and all necessary conditions have been ensured for their employees for a 14-day isolation at the office.

The office building of the company has been sealed off.

This decision will ensure the uninterrupted air traffic in Armenian airspace, as well as the two international airports in the country, the company said.

As of Sunday morning, there are 20 confirmed COVID19 cases in Armenia. It is understood that the ArmAeroNavigation employee who contracted the virus is a resident of Etchmiatsin city.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
The mayor of a Bergen County town, seemingly at the center of the coronavirus outbreak in New Jersey, urged residents to self-quarantine on Saturday, according to a report.

Reported first by NorthJersey.com, Teaneck Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin called the town ground zero and called for the self-quarantining after consulting with the townships manager and emergency management coordinator, according to the report.

There are people that dont understand that this is something we havent seen since World War II, he said, NorthJersey.com reported. We dont have enough test kits, every day more and more people will be getting sick.

Bergen County has a total of 31 positive cases, according to a statement released on Saturday by Bergen County Executive James Tedesco. Teaneck has 18 of those 31 cases, according to Tedesco.

According to U.S. Census data, Teaneck has an estimated population of 40,600.

The mayor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Brianna Kudisch may be reached at bkudisch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @briannakudisch. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

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An Israeli court on Sunday postponed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's graft trial over the coronavirus outbreak, as the premier relaunched his appeal for an emergency unity government to tackle the crisis.

Netanyahu, the first Israeli prime minister ever indicted in office, had been scheduled to stand trial from Tuesday over alleged bribery, fraud and breach of trust, charges he denies.

Jerusalem's District Court said in a statement that, given the coronavirus pandemic, it had been instructed to hear "only urgent matters". "In Netanyahu's trial, we have decided to postpone the first hearing until May 24," the court said.

Israel has 200 confirmed cases of the virus, and tens of thousands of people are in home quarantine.

Netanyahu has been charged with a range of offences, including receiving improper gifts and offering a media mogul lucrative regulatory changes in exchange for favourable coverage.

Despite the indictments, Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party won the most seats in March 2 elections and he is aiming to form a new government.

But Likud and its allies fell short of the 61 seats needed for a majority in the Knesset, or parliament. It was Israel's third inconclusive vote in less than a year.

Netanyahu, ahead of a cabinet meeting on Sunday, to be held by teleconference in response to the virus, reissued his appeal to form a unity government with main challenger Benny Gantz, who heads the centrist Blue and White Party.

He urged Gantz to join a six-month alliance, which Netanyahu would lead. "We must unite forces and form a strong and stable government that will be able to pass a budget and make tough decisions," Netanyahu said.

Ministerial posts would be split evenly between Netanyahu's right-wing bloc and the centre-left faction that backs Gantz, the prime minister said.

"When the six months expire, we will return to the currently existing situation," Netanyahu added, presumably referring to a divided parliament with neither camp holding a majority.

Gantz, a former military chief, had ruled out serving in a government, led by a premier facing corruption allegations after September elections.

He, however on Thursday said he was open to discussing a unity government now, given the global COVID-19 emergency. But on Sunday he criticised the manner in which Netanyahu delivered his offer.

"Someone who wants unity does not send his 'emergency plan' to the press, but sends negotiators to meet," Gantz tweeted. "Unlike you, I'll continue to back any correct government action without any political considerations. When you're serious, we'll talk," he said.

Negotiations on the new government were however expected to ramp up behind closed doors on Sunday. Gantz was due to meet President Reuven Rivlin, a largely ceremonial figure tasked with mediating the political talks.

Netanyahu also floated a proposal to rotate the premier's job between him and Gantz, an offer similar to one he made following September elections.

"I would serve as prime minister for the next two years, and during this period Benny Gantz would be deputy prime minister," Netanyahu said. "In two years, Gantz would take up the post of prime minister and the government would exist for four years," he added.

There was no indication as to whether Gantz would consider that arrangement.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom on Sunday directed all "non-essential" businesses such as "bars, nightclubs, wineries and brewpubs and the like" be closed in the state.

"We believe this is a non-essential function  And we believe this is appropriate under the circumstances," Newsom said during a press conference.

Newsom did not ask all restaurants in the state to close down as Ohio and Illinois have done.

"We have more concerns and considerations ... We don't believe ultimately we need to shut them down," Newsom said.

Newsom called for restaurants to socially distance patrons within establishments. "We're directing we reduce current occupancy by half and require social distancing," he said.

Newsom also called for the home isolation of all seniors in California as well as those with chronic health conditions.

newsom tweet

He added that the state of California was partnering with organizations across healthcare, including Verily, Google's sister company, to expand access to reliable screening and testing of the coronavirus.

verily

According to Newsom, 335 people have tested positive for coronavirus in California and there have been six deaths so far. "We are working very collaboratively ... We are trying to solve problems in real time," Newsom said.
Africa is seeing a steady spread of the coronavirus across the continent, with six new countries confirming cases on Saturday.

It means 25 of the continent's 54 countries have COVID-19 patients, with the Republic of Congo being the latest country reporting a case, late Saturday.

Eswatini, Equatorial Guinea, Mauritania, Namibia and Rwanda also confirmed their first cases Saturday.

All were brought to the continent by travelers from overseas, as with almost all the other cases reported in Africa, according to health authorities.

Kenyan health workers dressed in protective suits walk after disinfecting the residence where Kenya's first confirmed coronavirus patient was staying, in the town of Rongai near Nairobi

A fan wears a face mask during a Super Rugby match as it was announced that Super Rugby will be put on hold after this weekend's matches over the coronavirus outbreak in Durban, South Africa

The Republic of Congo government reported its first case of the coronavirus on Saturday and said that a duel French and Republic of Congo citizen returned from Paris on an Ethiopian Airlines flight on March 1.

After recently showing symptoms, they alerted authorities. The government asked that others on that flight come forward.

African governments and health officials are racing to try to contain the spread of the new virus on the continent of 1.3billion people.

If the disease spreads locally within the continent, health officials warn that several countries with fragile health systems could see higher mortality rates.

Namibia, which confirmed two cases of people who arrived from Spain, canceled its independence celebrations planned for March 21.

The funds that were to have been spent on the independence festivities will now be used to fight the further spread of the coronavirus, said officials.

President Hage Geingob will be sworn into a second term of office, but all other large gatherings have been suspended for the next 30 days.

Flights linking Namibia to and from Qatar, Ethiopia and Germany have been suspended for 30 days.

In response to two cases it confirmed on Saturday, Mauritania closed schools for a week, reduced border crossing points, placed a ban on public gatherings and called for travelers from countries at risk to voluntarily confine themselves at home.

Passengers wait to be screened after arriving at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Naiobi, Kenya, after arriving from China in January

Rwanda has placed washing basins with soap and sanitiser on streets for commuters to use before boarding buses (Nyabugogo Bus Park in Kigali pictured on March 11)

In South Africa, 14 new cases were confirmed Saturday, bringing the country's total to 38.

A South African military plane repatriated 121 South African students who had been stranded in Wuhan, China, where the outbreak first became a crisis. The South African jet landed at the Polokwane airport in the country's north.

All passengers had tested negative before the flight back from China but as a precautionary measure the group, including the crew, will be in quarantine for 21 days at a nearby hotel.

The roads leading to both entrances of the Ranch Resort are being patrolled by the army and police, authorities said.

Africa's hospitals may not be adequately prepared to care for large numbers of people who may need intensive care and ventilators, say health experts.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leaders of eight South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations spoke to each other through video conference on Match 15, 2020, for a joint strategy to fight the coronavirus outbreak. The deadly respiratory illness has claimed over 5,845 lives worldwide and infected over 1,52,000 across the globe.

Apart from PM Modi, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Health Zafar Mirza participated in the SAARC video conference.

Also Read: COVID-19 cases rise to 107; India faces shortage of ventilators, ICU beds

PM Modi, in his opening address, said, "As we all know, COVID-19 has recently been classified by the World Health Organisation as a pandemic. So far, our region has listed fewer than 150 cases. But we need to remain vigilant". Modi added, "I propose that we create a COVID-19 emergency fund. India can start by contributing $10 million."

He added, "Prepare, but don't panic' has been India's guiding mantra in dealing with coronavirus outbreak. We started screening people entering India from mid-January itself, while gradually increasing restrictions on travel."

The step-by-step approach helped avoid panic and India made special efforts to reach out to vulnerable groups, Modi said.

India also responded to the call of its citizens abroad and evacuated nearly 1,400 Indians from different countries, he said.

India helped some citizens of neighbouring countries by evacuating them from coronavirus-hit nations, said Modi.

Meanwhile, Modi's proposed formulation of a joint strategy was backed by all the member states. PM Modi said, "it is clear we have to work together; we can respond best to coronavirus by coming together, not growing apart".

Zafar Mirza, Pakistan PM's Special Assistant on Health, said, "No nation can afford to be unresponsive to situation in wake of coronavirus outbreak".

Bhutanese PM Lotay Tshering said, "Important for all of us to be on same page to combat coronavirus.

Nepal PM K P Sharma Oli said, "Our collective efforts will help us devise a sound and robust strategy for SAARC region to fight coronavirus"

Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina said, "Health ministers of SAARC nations can hold video conference to discuss specific issues related to COVID-19".

Lankan President Rajapaksa said, "I propose setting up of SAARC ministerial-level group to deal with issues related to coronavirus".

The SAARC conference came a day ahead of a similar conference requested by France for the G-7 countries -- Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States -- held on March 16, 2020.

Also Read: YES Bank Q3 net loss spikes to Rs 18,564 cr, its worst ever

Also Read: YES Bank was on the verge of going belly up; here's what Q3 results reveal
President Donald Trump, 74, and first lady Melania Trump, 50, tested positive for COVID-19, the president tweeted early Friday, just hours after Trump announced that Hope Hicks, one of his closest advisers, tested positive for the new coronavirus.

From Washington to Madrid, politicians across the globe have been exposed to the virus, and in some cases caught it. Here's our watch list of presidents, prime ministers and supreme leaders who have been tested or may be at risk for infection.

President Trump tests positive for COVID: Heres what we know

Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko

Lukashenko, 66, claimed he contracted the new coronavirus in July but was asymptomatic. He has dismissed concerns about the virus as "psychosis" and recommended drinking vodka to stay healthy. Belarus is one of the few countries that has not taken any comprehensive measures against the virus. Lukashenko is accused of rigging a recent election and has cracked down hard on peaceful protesters.

What is happening in Belarus?: We explain the historic pro-democracy protests

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko listens to the head of the Investigative Committee Ivan Naskevich during their meeting in Minsk, Belarus, Monday, Sept. 7, 2020.

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro

Bolsonaro, 65, tested positive for the new coronavirus in July after months of downplaying the virus. He said he had mild symptoms and continued working while he was sick. Bolsonaro often appears in public to shake hands with supporters and mingle with crowds, at times without a mask. He said his history as an athlete would protect him from the virus and it is nothing more than a "little cold." After announcing his illness, Bolsonaro said he would be taking hydroxychloroquine, the unproven malaria drug that he and Trump have promoted as a treatment for COVID-19.

Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro: He followed Trumps COVID-19 blueprint. Cases are surging

In this March 7, 2020, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, center, stands with President Donald Trump, second from left, Vice President Mike Pence, right, and Brazil's Communications Director Fabio Wajngarten, behind Trump partially covered, during a dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson

In April, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson became the first major world leader to publicly acknowledge having COVID-19. Johnson started off with mild symptoms when he tested positive on March 27. He was rushed to the hospital on April 6 and not long after placed in intensive care. He recovered after spending several days in intensive care. Not long afterward, Johnson, 55, became a new father.

Story continues

In this Thursday, April 2, 2020 handout photo provided by 10 Downing Street, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson claps outside 11 Downing Street to salute local heroes during Thursday's nationwide Clap for Carers NHS initiative to applaud workers fighting the coronavirus pandemic, in London.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, 45, tested positive for the new coronavirus in March, according to Cameron Ahmad, communications director for the prime minister. She later recovered. Canada's leader, 48, self-isolated at home for 14 days with the couple's three young children but did not test positive. He was the first major world leader to go into quarantine.

This handout photo released from the Twitter account of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and taken on March 13, 2020, shows him in self-isolation working from home in Ottawa, Canada after his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, tested positive for coronavirus (COVI-19).

German Chancellor Angela Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, 66, tested negative for the new coronavirus, her spokesman said on March 23. The German leader went into self-isolation after she came into contact with a doctor who tested positive for coronavirus. German media reported Merkel had received an unrelated vaccination from the doctor.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel makes a press statement on the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 at the Chancellery, in Berlin on March 22, 2020.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez

Hernandez, 51, tested positive in June and then spent more than two weeks in a hospital with pneumonia symptoms. His wife, Ana Garcia, 52, and two of his aides also tested positive for the virus.

Honduras' President Juan Orlando Hernandez, accompanied by his wife, Ana Garcia, arrives for the swearing-in ceremony for Guatemala's new President Alejandro Giammattei at the National Theater in Guatemala City on Jan. 14, 2020.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has self-isolated on at least two occasions after an aide and his health minister tested positive for the virus in March and April. His office said the 70-year-old leader remained in quarantine both times until he was cleared by Israel's Health Ministry and his personal doctor.

In this March. 1, 2020 file photo, people walk next to election campaign billboards showing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Benny Gantz, left, in Bnei Brak, Israel.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Irans utmost authority for all domestic and foreign policy has seen several of his closest aides diagnosed with coronavirus. It's not known whether Khamenei, 81, and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, 71, have ever tested positive. But more than 10% of Iran's lawmakers have fallen ill with the disease and it has also not spared top officials, including its senior vice-president, Cabinet ministers, Revolutionary Guard members and health ministry officials. Several lawmakers have died.

Iran, North Korea, Russia:: America's adversaries emboldened to flex their muscles amid coronavirus

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte

At one point, Italy was one of the hardest-hit countries in Europe. At least two politicians have publicly disclosed positive infections: Nicola Zingaretti, 54, the leader of the countrys Democratic Party, and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, 84. There's no indication Italy's prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, 56, has contracted the disease.

Lockdown in Italy: My quarantine, a worried wait for a test result  and relief

People wear protective mask just after disembarking from a ferry boat, in Venice, Monday, April 6, 2020. The government is demanding Italians stay home and not take the leveling off of new coronavirus infections as a sign the emergency is over, following evidence that more and more Italians are relaxing restrictions the west's first and most extreme nationwide lockdown and production shutdown.

Powerful chief of staff to Nigerias President Muhammadu Buhari

Abba Kyari, 67, died from complications related to coronavirus on April 17. Kyari was the trusted chief of staff to President Buhari, 77, and widely viewed as one of the most powerful people in Africas largest economy. It is not known if Buhari has been tested.

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari is seen after a meeting in Bamako on July 23, 2020.

Prince Albert II of Monaco

Albert, 62, tested positive in March, making him the first reigning monarch to publicly announce a diagnosis for the disease. He later recovered. Britain's Prince Charles, the 71-year-old son of Queen Elizabeth II, also fell ill with the virus, in March. He said he experienced only mild symptoms.

Prince Albert of Monaco: Grace Kelly's son tests positive for coronavirus

Prince Albert II of Monaco speaks in a pre-recorded message which was played during the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Thursday Sept. 24, 2020, at U.N. headquarters, in New York.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin

Mishustin, 54, confirmed he was infected with coronavirus on May 1. He later recovered. Mishustin's prime minister role is considerably less powerful than Russian President Vladimir Putin's. Putin, 67, has praised a coronavirus vaccine that Russia approved for use earlier this month as effective and safe despite international skepticism because the vaccine has only been studied for two months in a few dozen people.

Putin opponent Alexei Navalny: Poisoned with Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok, Germany finds

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on May 19, 2020.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un

There are no officially confirmed coronavirus cases in North Korea. This is not because there aren't any but because the secretive nation has resisted calls to share its public health information. When Kim Jong Un, 36, disappeared from public view earlier this year for more than two weeks, there was speculation he could be hiding from the virus.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a politburo meeting of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea on April 11 in Pyongyang.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez

The wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, 48, tested positive for the new coronavirus, Spain's government announced on March 15. Begona Gomez, 45, has since recovered.

Two members of Sanchezs cabinet, the minister of equality and the minister of regional affairs, have also tested positive. Other members of the cabinet had tested negative.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump joins small group of world leaders who caught COVID-19
Its never a dull day in the world of the Kardashian-Jenner family. Whenever fans are not being kept entertained with the familys various scandals, there are often funny social media antics to talk about.

Recently, Kylie Jenner decided to do something lighthearted by naming her toes on Instagram, and fans are loving the young stars sense of humor. Read on below to find out why Jenner did this and how fans have reacted.

Some people on the internet recently took an interest in Kylie Jenners toes

Kylie Jenner | Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Last week, Jenner took to Instagram to share some photos of her and her sisters on vacation in the Bahamas. In one picture with older sister Kendall, Jenners bare feet could be seen. Although the photo did not look anything out of the ordinary, some fans with keen eyes started taking an interest in Jenners feet  most notably, the fact that one of her toes is shorter than the rest.

So nobody gone notice her short toe? one person commented.

Her toe is jacked up, another person said.

Kylie Jenner decided to tell her backstory and name her toes

Jenner could not ignore all the comments about her toes, so she took to Instagram story to post a video about her feet.

Okay so everyone wants to come for my fucking toes by the way I have cute ass feet, Jenner said before talking about her noticeably short toe. I broke this middle toe in middle school and theres nothing you can do for a broken toe, so I just had to let it heal how it wanted to heal.

Jenner also took things further by naming all ten of her toes: Tess, Teague, Tia, Trix, Toby, Tony, Tahnee, Tasha, Talia, and Tina. She made a point to note that the big toes are boys, so they have male names.

Fans praise Kylie Jenner for her sense of humor

Throughout all this, fans found it great that Jenner was able to laugh along with internet commenters instead of letting their negativity take over her life.

Im glad she has a sense of humor about it, one Reddit user said.

Meanwhile, another person commented: Honestly I feel like Kylie has a great sense of humor but she gets shy or doesnt express it to the public.

Kylie Jenner has consistently shown that she could have the last laugh

When my insomnia and sleep paralysis kick in at the same time @KylieJenner @KimKardashian pic.twitter.com/tAhkLGFxpL  Saint Hoax (@SaintHoax) October 16, 2019

This was not the first time that Jenner showed the internet whos boss.

Last October, Jenner became a meme when a clip of her singing to her daughter, Stormi, gained traction on YouTube. In the clip, Jenner was waking Stormi up from a nap by singing rise and shine.

People everywhere started taking notice of the way she sang, and soon enough, Jenner was being memed all over social media.

However, instead of hiding away in embarrassment, Jenner joined in with the crowd. She retweeted several posts that make fun of her on Twitter. Meanwhile, on Instagram, Jenner posted a photo of herself as the sun in Teletubbies and even changed her description to rise and shine for some time.

Being a businesswoman, Jenner also thought of ways to make money from the attention. She started selling sweatshirts with rise and shine on them for $65 each on her website.

While some people applauded Jenner for having a sense of humor, others thought she was taking things too far, especially when she started trying to profit off of the meme.

In any case, its clear that Jenner is not one to get offended when she is at the receiving end of a joke. Rather, she has become an expert at turning peoples attention into something positive for herself.
Bamboo rat meat, a once profitable commodity Chinas poor traded for quick returns, now risks pushing those farmers back into poverty.

Many local governments had encouraged impoverished citizens to breed the animal, offering financial incentives as part of poverty-relief measures. But Beijing has now clamped down on trading wild animals due to the coronavirus, potentially destroying the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of farmers.

Many breeders are poor farmers living in mountainous areas, and have no other income, said Cheng Bujun, who runs a rat farm in the Guangxi region. Some of them are disabled or elderly who can hardly find jobs in cities.

His company buys baby rats from these farmers who were given parent rats for free by local authorities, Cheng said. Breeding the rats is the only source of revenue for his contract farmers who live in a poor village in the southwest province of Guizhou, and the ban will return them to poverty, he said.

China has a target of lifting more than 5 million people in rural areas out of poverty by the end of this year, but the coronavirus epidemic, which is widely believed to have spread from a wild animal and seafood market in the city of Wuhan, could derail those plans. Stopping the bamboo rat meat trade alone puts an end to an annual business worth $1.4 billion.

Some parts of China have been breeding bamboo rats for the last 30 years, said Liu Kejun, a senior researcher with the Guangxi Animal Husbandry Research Institute. Artificially-bred bamboo rats are different from wild ones and should be strictly monitored, but not banned, he said.

GOOD PROFITS

The rats provide quick returns due to their low investment costs, and are the most effective way of getting farmers out of poverty, Liu said. The animals only eat bamboo and sugarcane and can be bred in small spaces. A rural family that rears 20 rat pairs can make 10,000 yuan to 15,000 yuan ($1,430 to $2,150) the following year, he said, way above the countrys poverty level and enough for a rural family to live on.

Since China last month moved to ban all wild animals for consumption, the agricultural ministry has been updating a list of exempt animals. Liu and large breeders sent a proposal to Beijing to ask the government to include bamboo rats on the list, according to a document seen by Bloomberg.

There are about 66 million artificially-bred bamboo rats in China. In Guangxi, the annual market value of the animal is about 2.8 billion yuan. Of the 180,000 breeders in the region, nearly 20% are from low-income rural families, according to the proposal.

VIRUS CONCERNS

Still, the prospect of bamboo rats being added to the list is slim given that the countrys top infectious disease expert, Zhong Nanshan, said in January that bamboo rats and badgers are among the wild animals that could be the source of the new coronavirus.

Farms that are breeding animals on the banned list will be shut down or compensated to switch to other businesses, Liu Yongfu, head of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, said at a press conference on Thursday. Closing down the artificial breeding business wont have a major impact on the countrys poverty relief target, he said.

Bamboo rat meat is popular in the southern Chinese provinces of Guangxi, Guangdong, Hunan and Jiangxi, and was once promoted as a top 10 delicacy for tourists to try when visiting the Jinggang Mountains.

A rat can produce 1.5 to 2 kilograms of meat, Guangxi Animal Husbandrys Liu said. The meat can be stewed in soy sauce, or used in soups or barbecued.

A table filled with bamboo rat meat dishes only costs about 300 yuan for six or seven people, Liu said. It tastes very delicious.

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Aleks Markovic and Ivan Sarakula quit Married At First Sight on Sunday night.

And despite leaving the show separately, Daily Mail Australia can reveal the couple reconciled afterwards and are believed to still be together now.

After filming their emotional exit in early November, Aleks, 26, and Ivan, 30, were photographed kissing at Sydney Airport two months later, on January 14.

They're back together! Married At First Sight's Aleks Markovic and Ivan Sarakula were pictured kissing at Sydney Airport on January 14, proving they got back together after quitting the show

In Daily Mail Australia's exclusive pictures, Ivan picked up Aleks from the airport after she'd flown into Sydney from Perth to film the MAFS reunion episodes.

He gave the newly-blonde real estate agent a kiss, making no secret of their reunion.

It's believed they then surprised their co-stars by arriving together to film the cast reunion the following day.

Love is real! After filming their emotional exit in early November, Aleks, 26, and Ivan, 30, were photographed kissing at Sydney Airport on January 14, before they filmed the MAFS reunion

Not hiding! Ivan gave Aleks a kiss upon greeting her, making no secret of their reunion

New woman! Aleks looked very different in January, debuting her new blonde hair

Before their reunion in Sydney, Ivan had spent New Year's Eve with his girlfriend in her home city of Perth.

Daily Mail Australia understands the couple spent several weeks apart after splitting during filming, before Ivan's make-or-break trip.

Following their exit on Sunday's episode, Aleks shared a statement to Instagram.

She wrote: 'The pressures and expectations of the experiment got the better of us. Ivan and I stayed together the evening of our exit and he even saw me off at the airport to be with my family. It was an emotional moment for the both of us.

'Let's see if being outside does our relationship any more justice without the pressure and judgements of our peers. That being said, regardless of what pans out over the next few days and weeks, we are forever grateful for all of the wonderful people we have met along the way.'

What a gentleman! Ivan wheeled Aleks' luggage for her as they strolled through the car park

Surprise! It's believed the couple then surprised their co-stars by arriving together to film the cast reunion the following day

Going the distance: Before their reunion in Sydney, Ivan had spent New Year's Eve with his girlfriend in her home city of Perth

Aleks and Ivan quit the experiment after they found themselves facing multiple accusations from their fellow cast members at last week's dinner party.

Michael Goonan and Josh Pihlak accused Aleks of telling them she had slept with Ivan, but she denied saying anything of the sort.

Aleks then accused Ivan of encouraging the other grooms to discuss their sex life, which he also denied.

In yet another bombshell, Michael claimed he'd seen Aleks with another man in the lobby of their apartment building - which she strongly denied.

Happy New Year! Daily Mail Australia understands the couple spent several weeks apart after splitting during filming, before Ivan's make-or-break trip to Perth

Emotional: Aleks and Ivan quit the experiment after they found themselves facing multiple accusations from their fellow cast members at last week's dinner party

During her final scenes, Aleks said: 'I'm feeling a little bit betrayed by some of the other couples in this experiment. I thought they were friends, nobody had my back.

'At this point I need to leave. I know my worth, I know who I am and I know that I don't have to justify myself to anybody in this experiment.

'I didn't come here for friends. I came in here to find love and to find a soulmate.'

Ivan said: 'I came here for an experience, I got that, and it's time for me to check out. I need to look after myself and Aleks, and I'm getting the f**k out of here.'




(Reuters) - Several African countries on Sunday closed borders, cancelled flights and imposed strict entry and quarantine requirements to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, which has a foothold in 26 nations on the continent as cases keep rising.





The government is suspending travel for all persons coming into Kenya from any country with reported coronavirus cases ... only Kenyan citizens, and any foreigners with valid residence permits will be allowed to come in provided they proceed on self quarantine, President Uhuru Kenyatta told the nation in a televised address. The government is suspending travel for all persons coming into Kenya from any country with reported coronavirus cases ... only Kenyan citizens, and any foreigners with valid residence permits will be allowed to come in provided they proceed on self quarantine, President Uhuru Kenyatta told the nation in a televised address.





Anyone entering Kenya in the last 14 days should self-quarantine, he said. The ban would take effect within 48 hours and remain in place for at least 30 days, he said.





Schools should close immediately and universities by the end of the week, he said. Citizens would be encouraged to make cashless transactions to cut the risk of handling contaminated money, he said.





In west Africa, Ghana will from Tuesday ban entry to anyone who has been to a country with more than 200 cases in the last 14 days, unless they are an official resident or a Ghanaian national.





In southern Africa, Namibia ordered schools to close for a month following two confirmed cases of coronavirus announced on Saturday.





Other nations have also shuttered schools, cancelled religious festivals and sporting events to minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission. Some 156,500 people worldwide have been infected and almost 6,000 have died.





Kenya and Ethiopia have now recorded three and four cases respectively, authorities in each nation said on Sunday, two days after they both reported their first case. All the new cases were discovered through tracing the contacts of the first case in each country, authorities said.





Djibouti, which has no confirmed case of COVID-19, announced on Sunday it is suspending all international flights. Tanzania, which also has no cases yet, cancelled flights to India and suspended school games.




STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- With Mayor Bill de Blasio holding firm on his decision not to close New York City public schools next week, some teachers are taking matters into their own hands in an attempt to sway his decision making.

City teachers are planning a mass sickout for Wednesday, Mar. 18, where droves of employees will call out sick to show their disapproval of the mayors decision, multiple teachers told the Advance.

One teacher from Staten Island, who works at an elementary school in Manhattan, said that her school has already seen numerous faculty members decide to stay home, with approximately 20% of school staff not showing up for work on Friday.

Teachers arent the only ones staying home despite schools remaining open, with citywide school attendance dropping to 68% on Friday. Some Staten Island schools saw attendances as low as 7.71%.

The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) continues to vehemently oppose the mayors decision to keep schools open, with a Change.org petition encouraging the closure of New York Citys public schools garnering over 75,000 signatures within a days time.

New York City should follow the example of affected jurisdictions around the region, the nation and even the world and close public schools. We understand the immense disruption this will create for our families. But right now more than a million students and staff crisscross the city every day on their way to schools, putting themselves and others at risk of exposure and increasing the likelihood of bringing exposure into their homes and communities, the petition reads.

We must find ways to keep our children safe and to see that they are fed. We must do all we can to help ensure that our students can continue to learn. But we have reached the point where continuing to keep our classrooms open poses a greater lasting threat than the disruption that will result from school closings, the petition continues.

SCHOOLS REMAIN OPEN

On Saturday afternoon, de Blasio said that, as of now, theres been no change in the citys plans to keep public schools open next week, which will ultimately be determined by a day-by-day examination of all the facts.

I think we have a lot to balance, but Im holding where we are right now, de Blasio said during a Saturday afternoon press conference.

The mayor again referenced guidance 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.

It expresses the sheer complexity that attends to this, particularly when youre talking about such a vast number of kids in such a densely-packed city, de Blasio said. When you close, you create a series of additional new problems in terms of health and safety.

When you close, you potentially compromise the hospital system and the health care system by the impact it has on health care providers who would hold back and not go to work to stay home with their families and with their kids. Let alone, of course, the impact it would have on childrens education, he continued.

The mayor also cautioned that closing the citys school could create another issue of hundreds of thousands of students wandering the city without adult supervision.

I think a very sobering fact is hundreds of thousands of teenagers without adult supervision. I think thats not just about health, it is, but its about all the other impact that has on their life, he said.

He also said that if the city closed the largest school district in the country, it might not reopen for the rest of the school year.

My tremendous fear here is when we shut down, if we shut down, we will not see this school year again. So now were saying the kids are going to have these months and then the summer, and then we dont know when schools come back, de Blasio said.

So what are they [students] going to do? Theyre going to go out into their neighborhoods, theyre not staying indoors, theyre not staying in isolation, guaranteed. Theyre going to go out and create all sorts of new social networks, all sorts of opportunities for spread, he continued.

If conditions around the outbreak change, the mayor said that all decisions regarding closures are subject to change.

That doesnt mean that at some point I might not say, at any point, Now Ive factored in all the equations and Ive decided weve reached that tipping point,' he said. But Im not there today."

TEACHERS REACT

Multiple teachers told the Advance that, while they understand the mayors reasoning to a degree, they dont believe that keeping schools open is doing any good at this point.

My initial thought is that he [de Blasio] is not doing anyone any favors. I understand his point of view of not wanting kids to run wild in the streets, but I think that role has to fall more on the parents at this point, said one elementary school teacher.

I think that its not the right decision, said a high school teacher, whose class was missing two-thirds of its students on Friday. I understand why he made the decision, but ultimately, I dont think its the right one at this moment.

The high school teacher said that students who have continued to attend have been on edge, taking safety precautions, and in some cases, leaving school midday to ensure their safety.

Its been a little chaotic. Ive seen a lot of students wearing masks. I noticed a lot of people leaving school early. Theres just a lot of uneasiness among the students, the teacher said.

Meanwhile, at the elementary school level, many students dont have a firm grasp on exactly whats happening, but understand the cause for concern based on the reactions of their families.

A lot of our kids dont know what the virus is called. They dont know what it is still. But they do know that their parents are concerned and that something is going to change soon, the second grade teacher said.

To voice their collective frustration, the high school teacher said that many staff members at their school have been calling 311 to express their belief that closures are needed.

When I called 311 yesterday to put in a complaint and say the school should be closed, the woman who was handling the call told me that many teachers have been calling throughout the day, the teacher said.

One point of contention, specifically for teachers working outside of their home borough, is the need to commute to work in large crowds despite advisories from top elected officials to avoid crowded mass transit.

A lot of us are obviously commuting back and forth to school. Were in a state of emergency when were being told to stay put and stay safe and not put yourself in these crowds. But the DOE and the mayor are essentially telling us to go to school and take the subway, take the ferry, take the buses with all these other people and then go teach all of these kids within a confined classroom. Its contradictory so people are getting very angry, said the elementary school teacher, who commutes via bus, ferry and subway on a daily basis.

Teachers have also grown frustrated with the mayors continued insistence that schools need to remain open simply to provide food and supervision to the students.

Its frustrating and I think the general consensus among teachers is were being asked to encompass a role that we definitely didnt sign up for, the high school teacher said. It all goes back to the job description. Were there to educate and thats the one thing that de Blasio is pushing, classroom instruction. But if the attendance rate continues to trend the way it is, its counter-intuitive to have face-to-face classroom instruction.

I understand what theyre saying regarding that the kids need food and there needs to be someone to watch them, but as an educator, my job is to teach your child, not to make sure they are fed, although I often do that too if the students dont have food," the elementary school teacher said. Im also not a babysitter. Thats what it turns into when half your class or half the staff is absent. It turns into a babysitting job. Kids are coming to school to watch a movie or play games because there is no way to provide academic learning when so many people are absent.

CONFIRMED CASES IN S.I. PUBLIC SCHOOLS

On Friday, New Dorp High School closed its campus after a student in the Hungerford School Program, which operates out of the building, 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.

On Saturday it was announced that a student at Prall Intermediate School (I.S. 27) tested positive.

The Department of Education sent a letter to parents at the school confirming that a member of the I.S. 27 community has a positive test result for COVID-19.

We are handling this situation with the utmost seriousness. At this time, it is important to listen to facts and not respond to fear, the letter, which was shared with the Advance/SILive.com, states.

According to the letter, the school will be cleaned and disinfected over the weekend.

We anticipate that we will have school open on Monday, March 16, pending confirmation from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the letter continued.

DOE PREPARING FOR OFF-SITE SCHOOLWORK

Despite the mayor 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.

Citing concerns about student and staff safety and the need for preparation, the DOE has developed grade-level-specific instructional resources in English for students ranging from Pre-K to 12th grade. The supplementary learning resources are now available on the DOE website.

The health and safety of our students and staff comes first, and it is our responsibility to be prepared for everything and for learning to continue. We have developed grade-level instructional resources for grades Pre-K through 12 so that our students can engage in educational material in the event that they need to be home from school," said DOE spokeswoman Danielle Filson.

Due to the inconsistent availability of access to internet-enabled devices among the citys student population, the work will not be graded, but rather used to prevent the loss of learning during a potential closure, according to the DOE.

NON-ESSENTIAL SCHOOL ACTIVITIES CANCELLED

The city has also announced that all non-essential, non-instructional school activities will be cancelled or moved online, if possible.

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, de Blasio said Thursday.

That includes PSAL activities, games and practices, assemblies, parent-teacher conferences, PTA meetings and school plays and recitals, the mayor continued.

CATHOLIC 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.

In addition, various Catholic high schools have announced they will be shifting to virtual learning beginning Monday.

Principals and teachers have been preparing educational materials for ongoing home-based learning to ensure students continue to be academically challenged.

CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE

Staten Island Catholic schools to schedule early dismissal for coronavirus prep

Coronavirus: Staten Island family cancels vacation, could lose thousands

Coronavirus closures: Staten Islands latest cancellations, postponements (March 12, 2020)

CUNY, SUNY classes will move online

Second confirmed coronavirus case on Staten Island

Man with coronavirus on Staten Island is an EMS worker, source says

Coughs, sneezes, surfaces. Heres how coronavirus is and isnt spread.

Broadway ticket prices discounted amid coronavirus outbreak

Can I get my money back? Travel insurance, airline changes in wake of coronavirus.

Cuomo: Insurers cant charge New Yorkers for coronavirus testing

SIUH exploring the possibility of using external medical tents for coronavirus response

Labor Dept. issues workplace guidelines for coronavirus outbreak

When to contact a doctor: Coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms

Coronavirus: What Staten Island businesses are doing to protect customers

Coronavirus: St. Johns University closes all campuses until March 27

First coronavirus case confirmed on Staten Island
The Police Commissioner of Lucknow, Sujit Pandey has come up with 'Namaste Lucknow' initiative, wherein people are encouraged to greet each other with a 'Namaste' instead of a handshake, as the country grapples with the coronavirus pandemic.

The government of Karnataka also launched 'Namaste over Handshake' campaign recently in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Several Indian leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have asked people to greet others with a 'Namaste.'

Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared it a pandemic. Globally, at least 145374 confirmed cases have been reported and more than 5400 people have lost their lives due to the disease.

So far, India has detected 93 positive cases of COVID-19 and out of these 93 cases, 12 are from Uttar Pradesh.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Boris Johnson may give his Attorney General the final say over prosecutions of UK troops to end the witch-hunt of veterans who served in Northern Ireland.

It would extend the chief legal adviser's powers after former soldiers, now in their seventies, were dragged to court over deaths during the Troubles half a century ago.

The Government is committed to announcing a system for historic military cases by Wednesday, 100 days after the general election.

Handing the say on prosecution to Attorney General Suella Braverman will let the Government end prosecutions that aren't in the public interest, ministers believe.

Handing the say on prosecution to Attorney General Suella Braverman (pictured) will let the Government end prosecutions that aren't in the public interest, ministers believe

It would allow her to overturn decisions made by Northern Ireland's prosecuting authority if there was no new evidence and the killing had previously been investigated, The Sunday Telegraph reported yesterday.

A source told the paper: 'The Prime Minister is committed to ending the prosecutions. One way is to take the final decision out of the hands of the prosecutors in Northern Ireland.'

There is a belief inside Downing Street and the Ministry of Defence that the prosecutions of soldiers have become too politicised, the source said.

But this claim has been denounced by the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland (PPSNI), which insists it is fiercely independent.

Former soldier Dennis Hutchings, 78, is due to face trial next week accused of attempting to murder a man with learning difficulties who was shot and killed running away from an Army patrol in County Armagh in 1974

Northern Ireland has its own attorney general, but he is not involved in decision-making on prosecutions. The issue of historic cases has become a difficult one for the Government.

Former soldier Dennis Hutchings, 78, is due to face trial next week accused of attempting to murder a man with learning difficulties who was shot and killed running away from an Army patrol in County Armagh in 1974. Mr Hutchings, from Cawsand, Cornwall, denies any wrongdoing. He is having kidney dialysis and the trial will have to be halted every two or three days for his treatment.

Up to 200 former soldiers are under criminal investigation over allegations of murder and other crimes in the Troubles.

Patrolling British soldiers pass a memorial to IRA hunger strikers in Crossmaglen, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, in September 1985

Attempts to end historic prosecutions of troops have been resisted by the Northern Ireland Office, which fears it could risk peace and cause the collapse of the Assembly, which was only restored in January after a three-year suspension.

It is thought that giving a veto to the Attorney General could be enshrined in law in weeks.

But it could face a legal challenge because it threatens to undermine independent prosecutorial decision making.

The PPSNI has insisted that decisions are taken purely on the evidence it is presented with. In six years to 2017, it took 'prosecutorial decisions' in 19 legacy cases, of which nine involved republican paramilitaries, four concerned paramilitary loyalists, three involved former soldiers and the rest concerned ex-police officers.

A spokesman said it took 'all of its decisions in accordance with the code for prosecutors'.

A source said: 'It seems very odd to take decision-making away from prosecutors in Northern Ireland because Westminster thinks the process has become too political, to then give the decision to a politically-appointed lawyer.'
BGMEA to provide 1 lakh t-shirts for 'Mujib Year' celebration

Economic Reporter :

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has given one lakh pieces of t-shirts and polo-shirts for the celebration of the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

BGMEA president Rubana Huq on Sunday handed over the t-shirts and polo-shirts to the Chief Coordinator of the National Implementation Committee for the Celebration of the Birth Centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury at the International Mother Language Institute (IMLI) in the city.

Speaking on the occasion, Chowdhury hoped that everybody would continue efforts for the successful celebration of Bangabandhu's birth centenary.
If youre feverish with a cough, or someone close to you is, you should be able to go nearby and get a free test for coronavirus, just like the flu. But not in America, folks.

Instead, doctors all over our country, including in New Jersey, have been turning away people who should be tested. This invites an explosive spread of the virus, since we have no clue how far its reached or where.

The point of adequate testing, as weve seen in South Korea, is that we can surveil the problem  where the epidemic is, and the danger lies. And right now, were not even close. Were flying blind.

Even Senegal, with its widespread poverty, has been giving out test results within hours, while many Americans wait days. And South Korea is drastically outpacing us  testing about 210,000 since Jan. 3, compared to the roughly 6,500 tests the U.S. had done by early Tuesday.

The federal governments top expert on infectious diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, is defying President Trump and telling the truth: The coronavirus has a mortality rate 10 times as great as that of the flu. And when it comes to widespread testing, our government is failing.

The idea of anybody getting it easily the way people in other countries are doing it, we are not set up for that, he said Thursday. No, the process isnt very smooth, as Trump says, and the wall will not protect us. Its striking how powerless Trump is to fix this, and reassure people.

Instead, hes left it to school superintendents and bagpipe parade bookers and Disneyland to call for emergency social distancing measures. Now we are really going to pay the price.

It can take weeks for infected people to show symptoms. They walk among us, without realizing theyre infecting others, as we ration our tests to the most obvious patients.

Our access to testing was entirely based on what the state would allow, as Daniel Varga, chief physician executive at Hackensack Meridian Health, told a Washington Post reporter.

Now, private labs must step up and fill the void in rolling out tests, where the feds have lagged. We desperately need to ramp it up, and break through all the barriers, including cost.

Gov. Phil Murphy deserves a lot of credit so far on that front. He did the right thing by making coronavirus testing free for everyone under his jurisdiction, the public workers, those on Obamacare and Medicaid. So did private insurers like Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, in waiving copays for this screening and testing. Murphy also ordered hospitals not to charge fees to the uninsured for any visit that leads to a coronavirus test.

On Friday, he noted that the state is moving quickly toward closing every school district for an extended period (It is a when, not an if, he said)  another smart mitigation step. Among the hurdles: About 15 percent of districts are not ready with lunch programs, and 259,000 kids dont have computers.

And theres still another group missing, stuck outside his dragnets  the undocumented or citizens who are uninsured, but dont qualify for Medicaid or charity care because their income is too high. He needs to bring them under his wing, too, and innovate.

Other steps are urgently needed. Expand telemedicine so we can get medical advice while staying home. Plan for drive-through testing and separate tents outside of ERs, to minimize contact with those who might be infected.

Murphys charging in the right direction, but theres far more to be done. A coronavirus test in the ER can cost the uninsured as much as $1,331 out of pocket, and we dont want anyone to forgo it for fear of that. If theyre sick, and so much as open the door to the mailman, we are all at risk.

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H undreds of scientists are calling on the government to implement stricter coronavirus measures, or risk many more lives than necessary.

More than 245 British and international experts have signed an open letter expressing their concern about the Prime Ministers current course of action.

They urge Boris Johnson to impose more restrictive rules, warning that otherwise the number of infected will be in the order of dozens of thousands within a few days.

The letter reads: Under unconstrained growth, this outbreak will affect millions of people in the next few weeks. This will most probably put the NHS at serious risk of not being able to cope with the flow of patients needing intensive care."

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 continues: Going for herd immunity at this point does not seem a viable option, as this will put NHS at an even stronger level of stress, risking many more lives than necessary.

By putting in place social distancing measures now, the growth can be slowed down dramatically, and thousands of lives can be spared.

We consider the social distancing measures taken(...) as insufficient, and we believe that additional and more restrictive measures should be taken immediately, as it is already happening in other countries across the world.

Their message comes as the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases continues to surge across the UK.

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As of 9am Saturday, the countrys infection count stands at 1,140 cases, with 21 patients dead.

The 10 latest victims were being cared for in Buckinghamshire, Sandwell & West Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Leicester, Barts, London, north Middlesex and Chester, NHS England said.

A number were over 60 and had underlying health conditions.

Professor Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, said earlier on Saturday: I am sorry to confirm 10 further patients who have tested positive for Covid-19 in England have died.

All 10 individuals were in the at risk groups. I understand this increase in the number of deaths linked to Covid-19 will be a cause for concern for many.

The public should know every measure we are taking is seeking to save lives and protect the most vulnerable.

Every single one of us has a role to play in achieving this. If you have a new continuous cough or high temperature, please stay at home for seven days.

I also encourage everyone to be washing their hands for 20 seconds regularly.

I offer my sincere condolences to the families and friends who have received this difficult news. I ask that their privacy is respected at this time.

On Saturday evening, The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) indicated that further measures to stop the spread of Covid-19 will be needed soon.

The expert panel has also agreed to publish the modelling and data considered by Sage in future.

After reviewing the latest data at a meeting on Friday, Sage has advised that the next interventions  shielding the vulnerable and household isolation  will need to be instituted soon, officials said.

Health bosses set out who will get priority for testing as the country moves from contain into the delay phase of the outbreak.

Public Health England, NHS England the Department of Health and Social Care have agreed to prioritise testing for those most at risk of severe illness from the virus, adding: Our aim is to save lives, protect the most vulnerable, and relieve pressure on our NHS.

They say: Those in hospital care for pneumonia or acute respiratory illness will be priority. This will mean those most at risk will be identified as early as possible, speeding up access to the right care and treatment.

People who are in the community with a fever or cough do not usually need testing.

The first person in the UK to die after being diagnosed with coronavirus was announced on March 5, and Saturdays announcement of 10 deaths is by far the largest number of deaths announced on a single day in the UK since the outbreak took hold.

It comes as plans get under way to ban mass gatherings from next week as the Government looks to implement more extreme measures in the fight against Covid-19.

Boris Johnson had faced criticism for not taking such actions, despite similar steps being taken by other European countries as the pandemic worsens.

Emergency legislation bringing in beefed-up powers will be published next week and there could also be a move towards more people working from home, a Whitehall source said.

Meanwhile, a newborn baby in England who has tested positive for coronavirus is likely to be one of the worlds youngest patients with the disease.

The infant and its mother both tested positive at a north London hospital and staff who had contact with the pair have been advised to self-isolate.

The mother was rushed to hospital days earlier with suspected pneumonia and she and her child are being treated at separate hospitals, The Sun reported.

The newspaper said the woman was tested at North Middlesex Hospital but the result was not known until after the birth.

North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust said: Two patients at North Middlesex University Hospital have tested positive for coronavirus.

One has been transferred to a specialist centre and one is being treated in an isolation room.

Care minister Helen Whately said the evidence was that children were less at risk compared to older people or those with underlying health conditions.

But my thoughts are completely with the family of the baby because it must be truly really worrying when you have a newborn baby thats ill, she told ITV News.

Other developments in the spread of Covid-19 include:

A second death has been confirmed in the Republic of Ireland, as well as 39 more cases, bringing the total of confirmed cases of Covid-19 to 129

WHO said Europe has become the epicentre of the pandemic

Jet2 planes from the UK to Spain turned back in mid-air as the airline announced it was cancelling all flights to the country

The largest education union in Europe has written to the Prime Minister asking for full disclosure over his decision not to shut schools amid the coronavirus pandemic

The US banned all travel to and from Britain

Apple said it was closing all its stores outside China

Meanwhile, the UKs approach to developing herd immunity against Covid-19 has been called into question by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Spokeswoman Margaret Harris said not enough is known about the science of the coronavirus, and that while theories can be talked about, the current situation requires action.
A medical superintendent of a hospital was placed under suspension for disclosing the identity of a suspected coronavirus patient in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Sunday.

District Development Commissioner (DDC), Rajouri, Mohammad Nazir Sheikh ordered the suspension of Medical Superintendent of the Associated Hospital, Government Medical College (GMC), Rajouri, Raghuvir Singh on Saturday, the officials said.

The action against the doctor followed violation of guidelines by revealing the identity of a suspected case.

One person with travel history to Saudi Arabia and suffering from fever and cold and being symptomatic was brought to Associated Hospital, Rajouri on Saturday and doctors decided to keep him in isolation ward, as a suspect case of novel coronavirus, the officials said.

"Due to the disclosure of privacy of the suspect case, panic spread among his relatives, who met him after his arrival, residing in the area where the suspect belongs to," the officials said quoting the order of the DDC, Rajouri.

Pending enquiry, the officials said the medical superintendent was placed under suspension for sharing details of the patient and not maintaining privacy, which is sheer violation of charter of patients rights, issued by the Union ministry of health and family welfare and professional conduct rules of Medical Council of India and dereliction of duties.

"He shall remain attached with the office of the Chief Medical Officer, Rajouri, during the period of suspension and principal GMC Rajouri shall make alternate arrangement, so that work may not suffer at the Associated hospital, GMC Rajouri," Sheikh said in his order.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 05:10:35|Editor: huaxia

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CAIRO, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday hailed Iranian government's efforts to combat the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, which has claimed the lives of 611 people in the Islamic republic.

During a visit to Iran, the worst-hit country by the epidemic in the Middle East, WHO Emergency Director for the Regional Office Richard Brennan praised the "comprehensive and coordinated approach" implemented by the Iranian government, especially in the areas of patient management, laboratories, and risk communication.

On Saturday, Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education announced that 12,729 Iranians have so far been infected with the viral respiratory disease, of whom 611 have died and 4,339 have recovered.

Iran's fight against the raging epidemic has been hindered by the U.S. sanctions which have caused severe shortage of medical supplies. Tehran has repeatedly called for lifting what it called the "inhuman" sanctions imposed by the United States, which has so far turned a deaf ear to Iran's calls.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Saturday that President Hassan Rouhani has sent letters to his counterparts around the world, urging them to stop following the U.S. sanctions against Iran.

In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia announced 24 new COVID-19 cases, bringing to 86 the total number of confirmed cases. The kingdom's health ministry also urged all citizens to follow the anti-coronavirus measures to prevent infection.

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority also announced a 13.3 -billion-U.S.-dollar program to cushion the private sector from the impact of the epidemic.

In Cairo, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said the total number of COVID-19 cases in Egypt soared to 109, after 16 more were confirmed on Saturday.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi decided to suspend school and university classes for two weeks starting Sunday, over concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. Sisi also allocated 100 billion Egyptian pounds (6.36 billion U.S. dollars) to finance the anti-COVID-19 fight.

In Israel, 35 more people tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, bringing the total number of cases to 178, two of whom are in serious condition.

In Palestine, three new cases of COVID-19 infection were reported, all from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 38.

Speaking at a special cabinet meeting, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye said Palestine was the first to follow China's example by taking timely measures to fight the deadly disease, and has been successful in controlling it thus far.

Ibrahim Melhem, spokesman of the Palestinian Authority, said Palestine follows in China's steps to stop the spread of COVID-19, which has largely been controlled by China about two months after its outbreak.

"The full cooperation between the Chinese government and its people and securing food that was sufficient for two weeks have all contributed to limiting the spread of the virus," Melhem said.

In Algiers, Algerian Health Ministry announced the third death from COVID-19 infection, as well as 10 new cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 37. The third victim is a 51-year-old woman living in the province of Blida.

In Kuwait, the Health Ministry reported four new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 104. The four patients included three Kuwaitis and one Indian national.

Kuwaiti Minister of Health Bassel Al-Sabah announced that two coronavirus patients recovered, bringing the total number of the cured in the country to seven.

In Beirut, Lebanon's Health Ministry announced that the country's total confirmed cases of COVID-19 increased to 93. Lebanon informed Syria that it will close its land borders with Syria starting Monday as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

In Rabat, Moroccan Ministry of Health announced nine new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 17. Moroccan Minister of Equipment, Transport, Logistics and Water Abdelkader Amara, who just returned from Europe, was in self-isolation at home after testing positive for COVID-19.

To contain the spread of the virus, Morocco took new measures, including a ban on mass gatherings of more than 50 people. A ban on flights was extended to Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal, in addition to Italy, France, Spain and Algeria.

In Tunis, Tunisian Health Ministry announced two new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 18.

Oman on Saturday announced one-month suspension of all schools and universities starting Sunday amid concerns over the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

Jordan, which has only reported one COVID-19 case who has recovered, also decided to suspend all schools, universities and educational institutions for two weeks starting Sunday.

All flights from and to Jordan will be suspended from March 17 until further notice. All sea and land borders are closed except for commercial movement and shipping, while gatherings and large events, including prayers at mosques and churches, are also banned.

In Syria, one of the only two countries in the Middle East that are reportedly unaffected by COVID-19, President Bashar al-Assad ordered the postponement of the parliamentary elections from April 13 to May 20 to prevent the spread of the virus.

In Yemen, another country reportedly free of any COVID-19 case, the internationally-recognized government decided to suspend all flights to and from Yemeni airports for two weeks, starting Wednesday. The flights for humanitarian purposes and relief aid will be excluded from the ban.

The Yemeni government also ordered the temporary closure of the country's border crossings, with exception for the commercial, relief and humanitarian shipping traffic.

Meanwhile, the Houthi militia that controls northern Yemen announced the suspension of international flights for two weeks, while deciding to end the school year this month, ahead of schedule, in the cities under its control.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in a press statement signed by its National Communication Officer, Sammy Gyamfi has asked government to reduce the prices of fuel with immediate effect.



According to the statement, in line with current happenings on the international and local market, we call on the President to as a matter of urgency, ensure an immediate and drastic reduction of minimum 20% in the pump prices of fuel. Anything short of this should be fiercely rejected by the Ghanaian people. This, we believe, will reduce the extreme economic hardship in the country and ameliorate the plight of suffering Ghanaians.



The NDC says per prices on the global market, it will be insensitive for government not to reduce fuel prices.



The NDC is appalled by this display of gross insensitivity by President Akufo-Addo who has consistently flattered to deceive on his promise to reduce fuel prices and all his flagship campaign promises, the statement added.



However, the Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper disagrees.



Speaking on Friday's edition of Peace FM's morning show 'Kokrokoo', Kwesi Pratt said: "I dont agree with those saying fuel prices should be reduced, because I think the problem is with the formula for calculating the price rather than the price itself. So what is important is to look at the formula and not the price itself. If you tinker with the price, if care is not taken, in the next six months, it can escalate . . . so it is not the price we should be worried about but the price formula."



Listen to him in the video below





Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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New Delhi: The number of novel coronavirus cases in the country rose to 93 on Sunday, which includes two persons who died in Delhi and Karnataka, the union health ministry said.

Seven persons who tested positive, including five from Uttar Pradesh and one each from Rajasthan and Delhi, have been discharged after treatment, a senior health ministry official said.

Delhi has reported six positive cases and Uttar Pradesh 11 so far. Karnataka has six coronavirus patients, Maharashtra 14 and Ladakh three while Jammu and Kashmir reported two cases.

Besides, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab have reported one case each. Kerala has recorded 19 cases, including three patients who were discharged last month after they recovered from the contagious infection.

The total number of 84 confirmed cases includes 17 foreigners  16 Italian tourists and a Canadian, the ministry said.

The number of coronavirus positive cases in India has risen to 84, Special Secretary in the health ministry, Sanjeeva Kumar, said, adding more than 4,000 people who had come in contact with those testing positive have been identified through contact tracing and are under surveillance.

He further said there have been cases of people not willing to be quarantined despite coming in contact with those testing positive.

A few states have also utilised the enabling provision for infectious disease management as provided under Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897. Under the law, the states may take, or require or empower any person to take some measures and by public notice prescribe such temporary regulations to be observed by the public, Kumar said.

He said a Mahan Air flight bringing back Indian passengers from Iran will land in Mumbai on Saturday midnight. A special Air India flight is also being sent to Milan in Italy on Saturday to bring back Indian students, he added.

Kumar said all essential facilities like community surveillance, quarantine, isolation wards, adequate Personal protective equipment, trained manpower, rapid response teams are being strengthened further in all states and Union Territories.

The government on Friday declared masks, including the N95 variety, and hand sanitisers as 'essential commodities' under the Essential Commodities Act 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 and black marketeers.

Under the Essential Commodities Act, states can ask manufacturers to enhance their production capacity of these items, to make the supply chain smooth, he said.

Kumar also said, Under the Disaster Management Act, states and Union Territories can now draw funds from the State Disaster Response Fund, in addition to the funds from the state government and the National Health Mission. The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued detailed guidelines to states and UTs in this regard.

Also, 12,29,363 passengers have been screened from 11,406 flights at the 30 designated airports. Additionally, instructions to enforce quarantine for all incoming passengers according to the guidelines are being implemented, he said.

Even as the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared novel coronavirus a pandemic, the health ministry officials on Friday 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.

The Centre as part of its measures to contain the spread of the disease has announced that people will be allowed to travel through 19 of 37 land border 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 had said.

He also said the decision on closing the Kartarpur corridor is under consideration.

The government had on Wednesday suspended all visas, barring a few categories like diplomatic and employment. It also asked Indian nationals to avoid all non-essential travel abroad.

All international passengers returning to India should self-monitor their health and follow the required do's and dont's as detailed by the government.
Irish tourists in Spain have been advised to come home before Thursday at midnight.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said the Government have reached a deal with airlines to facilitate the passengers.

Minister Coveney has held talks with his Spanish counterpart as well as the Chief Executives of Ryanair and Aer Lingus.

Information on mainland Spain and Canary Islands operations.



To change bookings visit https://t.co/wnhy6bGKXT pic.twitter.com/XRa5sqxwcP  Aer Lingus (@AerLingus) March 15, 2020

The two airlines are now waiving booking and seat fees for anyone who wants to change flights, and they are allocating bigger planes to impacted routes.

It comes amid a partial lockdown in Spain over coronavirus, as cases continue to rise. The country has recorded more than 6,000 cases and over 190 deaths.

Customer Notice: Ryanair Group reduces flights to/from Spain from Monday 16 March to Thursday 19 March.



All affected customers will receive an email notification informing them of their options: pic.twitter.com/0R1Ib65tKb  Ryanair (@Ryanair) March 15, 2020

Mr Coveney said that he has been assured that Spanish airports will remain open and that the country would not be introducing a flight ban.

Mr Coveney said: "My Spanish Foreign Affairs and Transport counterparts have assured me that Spanish airports remain open and the country is not bringing about a flight ban.

"They further assure me that Spanish airspace remains open for Irish airlines to bring citizens home. I reaffirmed Ireland's solidarity with Spain at this difficult time and thanked their frontline authorities for dealing with this unprecedented challenge"

The Department of Foreign Affairs is continuing to advise any Irish citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Spain.

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Housing advocates and tenants are calling for a halt on evictions and Landlord Tenant Board (LTB) hearings amid the outbreak of COVID-19 in the province.

I had three different phone calls (this week) from people reaching out to the York South-Weston tenant union about having been recently evicted, and theyve shown up to their home with the doors locked, said Chiara Padovani, a social worker and one of the founding members of the union.

Immediate action needs to be taken if the city and province are serious about enforcing social distancing, which she says is difficult if evictions force people to move into shelters or into crowded homes. On Friday, the group launched a petition backing the demands, which has garnered roughly 400 signatures.

Its safer for everyone in the city, in the province, to have a place to live.

York University student Ali Ali, who was evicted along with his mother and two sisters from their apartment on Eglinton Avenue West on Feb. 27, agrees.

After their eviction, Ali and his family were able to move in with relatives, though the situation is far from ideal, with five people sharing a two-bedroom apartment.

God forbid if our aunt couldnt have taken us in, we could have ended up in a shelter or living on the streets, where the chance of us getting coronavirus could have been a lot greater, said Ali.

He said his family had been late on paying rent at their apartment on Eglinton Avenue West between August and October, though he said they still succeeded in paying what was owed for each month. From November onwards the rent was paid on time, he said, but that didnt prevent their eviction, which was ultimately approved after a hearing at the LTB in October.

On Friday the LTB announced in-person hearings would be cancelled to slow the spread of virus, however some hearings will continue by phone when feasible.

(Evictions) definitely should be put on hold with the coronavirus outbreak, Ali said. By evicting someone, you could be putting those tenants at risk.

The call to halt evictions is also being supported by Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam (Ward 13, Toronto Centre), who issued a statement Saturday demanding that federal compensation packages include an immediate freeze on rent and mortgage payments.

We will ultimately come out of this global health crisis a nation that is stronger and more resilient than ever before, but we cant do it if people are facing forced evictions, Wong-Tam told the Star.

Im hearing from my constituents and theyre very worried about making their rent payments, especially for those who work in hospitality, she said. I have residents who are taxi drivers, who do overnight shift work, who are apartment and office cleaners, or who work in convention centres ... A whole group of individuals who I believe are going to fall through the cracks.

She hopes to see a freeze on evictions and mortgage and rent payments across the country, none of which are under municipal jurisdiction.

Housing courts in New York City have already announced they wont be issuing any eviction orders for one week starting on Monday.

In the meantime, housing rights lawyer Caryma Sad said tenants should keep in mind that the Residential Tenancies Act states evictions should only be granted with a full regard of the circumstances.

All of the circumstances would include something like a pandemic, and that would entitle the board member to either delay or refuse an eviction, Sad said.

Tenants could also appeal for a postponement of their hearing if they are taking precautions that prevent them from making contact with a lawyer, she said.

There are no perfect solutions, Sad said. From a utilitarian standpoint, we really want to ensure were not feeding into a crisis by putting people out at a time when (they) may not be even be able to go to work.
NC president on Sunday appealed to all political leaders in the erstwhile state to unite in appealing to the Centre for bringing back all detainees lodged in jails outside the union territory on "humanitarian" grounds.

In his first statement after being released on Friday, the 82-year-old leader, who is at present a Lok Sabha member, said, "Before we allow to divide us, I appeal to all political leaders in the state to unite behind the call to the union government to bring back all detainees from from prisons outside the state pending their release."



"While we would like to see them all released as soon as possible, pending that they should be shifted to JK. This is a humanitarian demand and I hope others will join me in placing this demand in front of the government of India," the former chief minister said.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP)  The election commission in oil-rich Guyana has declared that the governing coalition won the country's disputed vote, despite international concerns about the credibility of the process.

The commission said late Friday that it will move this weekend to verify vote totals in the March 2 general election as international observer groups said the tallying was flawed and not transparent.

Barring any successful court challenges, the governing coalition led by retired army Gen. David Granger, 74, would begin a second five-year term in office. Coalition officials said they plan to swear in Granger on Monday.

Joseph Harmon, a campaign manager of the governing coalition, appealed for calm and said the government hopes that the "country can return to normal."

Not a single finger has been lifted against the president and the coalition regarding fraud, Harmon said. The people of Guyana came out based on the message from our campaign.

However, the main opposition Peoples Progressive Party, or PPP, led by former housing minister Irfaan Ali, along with some observer groups have complained about their inability to verify numbers provided by election officials.

An observer team from the Washington-based Organization of American States, headed by former Jamaican prime minister Bruce Golding, withdrew from the monitoring process on Friday and said its final report in the coming weeks will reflect dissatisfaction with the system. It earlier called for an abandonment of the manual, vote-tallying system because of its vulnerabilities to fraud.

The U.S. and several other Western ambassadors who were monitoring the counting as accredited observers also walked out of the counting late Friday, saying they were unhappy with the lack of a verification system.

In a statement, the ambassadors warned that a president sworn in under a process deemed to be flawed could not be considered legitimate.

The betterment of Guyana and its people has always been our interest. In that spirit we urge all parties to not do anything which could lead to Guyanas isolation, the ambassadors said.

Story continues

The final tallying process was held up by disputes over results for a district including Georgetown, the capital, and nearby areas. Whichever political group wins this key district by at least 40,000 votes is usually the winner of the national election. The results released overnight Friday gave the governing coalition 136,057 votes for the district and 77,231 to the PPP, amounting to a coalition lead of two seats over the opposition in the 65-seat congress.

The election dispute comes as the South American country of fewer than 1 million people faces the prospect that oil revenues in the next decade could make it one of the wealthiest in the hemisphere.

Guyana recently sold its first million barrels to markets in Asia and southern U.S. states. It will get four more shipments this year worth about $300 million as part of production-sharing arrangements with a consortium led by ExxonMobil, along with Hess Oil of the US and Nexen of China.
Death toll from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Philippines has climbed to 12, with four additional deaths reported by the Department of Health (DOH) on Sunday (March 15).

Meanwhile, the DOH reported a total of two patients who fully recovered from the viral disease identified as PH1 and PH3.

Overall, the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country is at 140, based on DOHs bulletin.

Details of COVID-19 deaths in the Philippines

12th  Case# PH12

56 | M | Filipino

Admitted at Makati Medical Center on March 7

Confirmed positive for COVID-19 on March 9

Had history of exposure to Cases 41, 42, and 43

Expired on March 15 due to acute respiratory syndrome secondary to COVID-19

Had pre-existing pneumonia

A resident of Manila City

11th  Case# PH39

34 | M | Filipino

Initially admitted to Ace Dumaguete Doctors, Inc., Dumaguete; later transferred to the Silliman University Medical Center

A municipal councilor of Tayasan, Negros Oriental; went to Greenhills in San Juan City

Known case of chronic renal disease

Expired on March 15

10th  Case# PH54

40 | M | Filipino

Admitted at the Ortigas Hospital and Healthcare Center

Had no travel history 14 days prior to onset of symptoms

Considered as high risk, tested positive on March 12

A resident of Pasig City

Expired on March 15

9th  Case# PH9

86 | M | US National

Admitted at The Medical City

Had travelled to the US and South Korea

Had preexisting medical conditions (hypertension)

A resident of Marikina City

Expired on March 14

8th  Case# PH79

68 | M | Filipino

Admitted at an undisclosed health facility

Had no history of travel and exposure to any known COVID-19 case prior to onset of symptoms

Died of acute respiratory failure due to pneumonia; hypertensive

A resident of Makati City

Expired on March 13

7th  Case# PH89

67 | M | Filipino

Expired on March 11 but confirmed positive of COVID-19 on March 13

Died of acute respiratory failure; diabetic, hypertensive, chronic kidney disease

A resident of San Fernando, Pampanga

Story continues

6th  Case# PH40

54 | M | Filipino

Admitted at the Northern Mindanao Medical Center

First case in Mindanao

Had no history of travel

Expired on March 13 from Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome and acute kidney injury

5th  Case# PH5

62 | M | Filipino

Admitted at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine

No travel history abroad; a frequent visitor of a Muslim prayer hall in San Juan City

Had hypertension and diabetes

Husband of Case 6

A resident of Cainta, Rizal

Expired on March 12

4th  Case# PH6

59 | F | Filipino

PH first confirmed case of local transmission

Admitted at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine

A resident of Cainta, Rizal

Wife of Case 5 Expired on March 12

3rd  Case# PH37

88 | F | Filipino

Admitted at the Philippine Heart Center on March 6

Onset of symptoms experienced on February 28

Hypertensive

No travel history outside the country

Expired on March 12

2nd  Case# PH35

67 | F | Filipino

Admitted at Manila Doctors Hospital

First death of a Filipino due to COVID-19

Symptoms began appearing on February 29

No travel history outside the country

Expired on March 11

1st  Case# PH2

44 | M | Chinese national

Admitted at San Lazaro Hospital

Husband of Case 1

Had travel history to Wuhan, China and Hong Kong

Expired on February 1

The post COVID-19 deaths in PH climb to 12 appeared first on UNTV News.
"Serving in the military changes you. The shades and degrees of change vary for everyone, but no one is ever the same as...
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Chairman of the House Select Committee on Intelligence Committee, speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Oct. 8, 2019. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Rep. Adam Schiff Says Former Staffer Contracted Coronavirus

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) announced on Sunday that a former staffer has contracted the new coronavirus.

We have received notice that a former staff member has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the Wuhan coronavirus, said Schiff in a statement. He did not identify the person in question.

Although doctors believe the staffer contracted the virus after leaving my office, Im taking additional distancing precautions, including postponing meetings and teleworking, he wrote in a Twitter statement.

Schiff said that the former staffer is feeling better, adding that none of his staff have reported any flu-like symptoms.

Throughout this health crisis, I feel that the job of elected officials is to push out the best information possible, listen to the advice of public health professionals, and scientists, and be cautious, the California Democrat wrote.

I was informed that a former staffer who left our office 10 days ago has tested positive for COVID-19. Although doctors believe the staffer contracted the virus after leaving my office, Im taking additional distancing precautions, including postponing meetings and teleworking: pic.twitter.com/EfwsDo1BZG  Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) March 15, 2020

Other congressional staffers have tested positive for the coronavirus in recent days, including a staff member of Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash), who is now in isolation, according to a statement last week. Her office was cleaned and disinfected, and employees are working remotely.

Several other members of Congress have said they would self-quarantine after interacting with individuals who tested positive for the new virus, which emerged late last year in Wuhan, China. They include Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Rep. Don Breyer (D-Va.), Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and several others.

President Donald Trump last weekend also came into contact with a Brazilian official who was later found to have tested positive for COVID-19. The president was tested for the virus before the White House physician confirmed that Trumps COVID-19 result was negative on Saturday.

Last night after an in-depth discussion with the President regarding COVID-19 testing, he elected to proceed, Dr. Sean Conley wrote in a memo to news outlets.

It came after Trump was photographed with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaros communications secretary, Fabio Wajngarten, who tested positive. He met with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence last week in Mar-a-Lago.

President Donald Trump gives a press briefing about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) alongside members of the Coronavirus Task Force in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington on March 14, 2020. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Friday announced he doesnt have COVID-19 after doctors evaluated him. On his Twitter account, Bolsonaro made the confirmation. His son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, also wrote that the result for [Bolsonaro] for coronavirus  was NEGATIVE.

Also, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel began showing flu-like symptoms and was tested, according to the RNC.

Last night, Chairwoman McDaniel began experiencing a fever and flu-like symptoms, and she went to her local hospital in Michigan for treatment. Flu and strep tests were administered and came back negative, Communications Director Michael Ahrens said in a statement on Saturday.
The Supreme Court on Sunday decided to suspended the largely popular guided tours of the apex court complex and closed its museum for visitors till further orders in view of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

In a fresh circular, the top court issued several precautionary measures based on the Centre's advisory cautioning against mass gatherings to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

The apex court said non-essential visits to the Supreme Court premises are discouraged and entry of casual visitors shall remain restricted until further orders.

The circular directed all stakeholders including lawyers, court staff and vendors to vacate the apex court premises preferably by 5.30 PM every day to facilitate sanitisation of rest rooms, corridors, staircases and other areas by 6 PM.

It advised all entrants to the apex court premises including lawyers, litigants and clerks to not crowd at any spot and to exit the premises as soon as their official business gets over.

The circular said lawyers and litigants from across the country who would like to avoid travel or visits to the Supreme Court may email the Registry apprising them of such information and details of their case(s) with the request that their matter(s) may not be listed until the aforesaid restrictions remain in force.

The guided tours of the top court are held every Saturday, except on declared holidays, in two groups of 40 people each, allowing visitors to view the grand interiors of the Supreme Court building, judges' library and court rooms.

The guided tours are popular among the common people who during normal court hours do not get to see the court rooms and other parts of the apex court due to restricted entry. These tours are booked for free well in advance through online bookings.

The apex court had on Saturday said only six benches will on March 16 take up 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 the 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.

The apex court, which had on March 13 announced that only six of the 15 benches will hold court to hear only urgent matters, issued instructions for the staff, including thermal screening of all employees and closure of cafeterias, as part of precautionary measures.

On March 6, the top court had extended till March 16 the protection from arrest granted to civil rights activists Navlakha and Teltumbde, while hearing the appeal against last month's order of the Bombay High Court rejecting their anticipatory bail pleas. The matter will be taken up on Monday.

The top court will also hear the plea of Mukesh Singh, one of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case who has sought restoration of all his legal remedies, alleging that his lawyers had misled him.

The plea, filed through advocate ML Sharma, has sought a CBI probe into alleged "criminal conspiracy" and "fraud" by the Centre, Delhi government and advocate Vrinda Grover, who is the amicus curiae in the case.

The top court cause list for March 16 said the six benches will first take up hearings in only six matters and then judges will take a break for half an hour and then resume hearing for the other six matters.

In a circular issued on March 13, the apex court had said no persons except lawyers concerned will be allowed inside its courtrooms.

It said 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, and Justices S K Kaul and Sanjiv Khanna.

The judges will be sitting in court numbers 2, 3, 6, 8, 11 and 14 to avoid overcrowding of court corridors. On Monday and Friday of every week, the apex court usually functions with 15 benches and takes up mostly miscellaneous matters.

A circular issued by the apex court on Saturday said all the cafeterias, including the departmental canteen of the apex court, are being advised to remain closed until further orders and all the staff members shall make their own arrangements in this regard.

It pointed out that all staff members may be required to subject themselves to thermal screening and persons detected with high body temperature would be denied entry and further, they may be subject to the SOP prescribed by the Government of India, Ministry of Health from time to time.

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 March 12 and 13, 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'.

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.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Queensland Police have charged two teenage boys with murder following the stabbing death of a 15-year-old boy in a carpark at Redcliffe north of Brisbane.

Angus Beaumont, 15, was leaving the fast food store at around 8.10pm on Friday when he was attacked.

Police allege three boys confronted Angus and his three friends in the carpark outside the McDonald's store.

During a fight between the groups, Angus was stabbed once in the chest.

He was taken to Redcliffe Hospital where he died a short time later.

Angus Beaumont, 15, died after being stabbed in the chest in a car park outside a McDonald's

Police have charged two 14-year-old boys with murder and attempted robbery over the death of Angus (pictured)

On Sunday police arrested two 14-year-old boys and charged each of them with one count of murder and one of attempted armed robbery.

Police are still investigating the involvement of a third male.

In a statement to The Sunday Mail, Angus's parents Michelle and Ben Beaumont said they wanted justice for their 'best mate.'

'Words can't express the feelings we have. We don't wish this on anybody and only now have memories,' they said.

'Angus Richard Beaumont  We love you so much and will always cherish our time together. Love Mum and Dad.'

Police are still investigating the involvement of a third boy in the fatal stabbing attack (scene pictured)

On Saturday teenagers gathered near where Angus was killed to pay their respects.

Detective Senior Sergeant Michael Hogan said 'it's very difficult to understand what the motivation is. It would appear it's unprovoked.'

'The family is devastated. They've lost their 15-year-old son.'
(Natural News) For at least the past week weve been treated to stories from Chinese media about how hero leader President Xi Jinping has managed to thwart the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).

In fact, as The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, there is quite the propaganda blitz underway in state-controlled media (well, all media in China is state controlled) to portray the Chinese leader-for-life as legendary for his vision and quick actions.

The paper reports:

As Chinese authorities voiced confidence they were containing the countrys coronavirus outbreak, the official Xinhua News Agency meticulously chronicled President Xi Jinpings personal battle against the epidemicfrom visiting front-line medical workers to fielding calls from foreign leaders.

In a glowing article published this past week, the state-run media organization concluded that Mr. Xis dedication proved he has a pure heart like a newborns that always puts the people as his number one priority.

Well then, if the great Xi has corralled coronavirus, why would his Communist government be shutting down flights and train schedules to the countrys largest urban centers?

Because thats whats happening, according to The Epoch Times, which has led the way in Western media circles with its honest, accurate virus reporting.

According to the paper, two major cities in Guangdong province recently cancelled most of their flights to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou, which drew new speculation that the cancellations were in response to the ongoing viral outbreak. Also canceled, according to the paper, were a large number of passenger train routes in several large cities around the country.

While the airlines claimed public security issues are what caused the cancellations, as usual there were no further details. That said, state-run media did quote an Air China staffer who said that the cancellations could be related to coronavirus outbreak.

Most people will never see the virus coming

If thats accurate, the only reason we can think of that the great Xi would order such actions is because the virus spread isnt quite as contained as Beijing is leading the world to believe.

Flight-tracking websites noted that nearly all flights from Shenzhen and Guangzhou to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou were canceled after 5:15 p.m. local time March 5. Additional flights to Tianjin, Nanjing, Shenyang, and other big cities were also canceled.

Meanwhile, The Epoch Times reported that a top Chinese railway ticketing website published information noting that all passenger trains leaving from Hangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing city, Chengdu in Sichuan province, Zhongshan in Guangdong province, and several other major cities ceased operations March 6.

Granted, one could make the assumption that these efforts, while tied to the virus outbreak, are merely prudent acts aimed at preventing further spread. But that seems extreme, given that Chinese factory production and economic output has already been severely impacted by COVID-19.

Restricting travel is going to further reduce economic activity, so its most likely an extreme measure in reaction to the continued spread of a virus that has already infected tens of thousands of Chinese citizens (if not more).

Also, China hasnt been honest and open about the virus and its various impacts on society and the economy, especially trade and the global supply chain. Its one thing for China to claim its getting back to work and factories are operating at capacity, but its another to be walking into stores around America and see signs placed by workers that you cant buy more than a few of certain items because there is a limited supply.

The fact is, the coronavirus could still explode into a massive global pandemic, but thanks to the opaqueness of China and its coronavirus hero, Xi, most people will never see it coming.

Sources include:

NaturalNews.com

WSJ.com

TheEpochTimes.com
Unlike North Korea, South Korea does not believe in shooting COVID-19 infected patients and for good reason. (Good reason: humanity)

Anyway, the situation in South Korea wasn't as bad in February as it is presently. As the country is battling to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the involvement of a religious group has come under the radar. The East Asian nation has reported a total of 123 new confirmed coronavirus cases while a fourth death due to the virus took place. This has brought the country's total of infected cases to be 556.

AFP

The bizarre reason to get suspicious was that more than half the latest cases were found to be linked to a Shincheonji Church of Jesus congregation in the southeastern city of Daegu. What makes it even weirder is that a 61-year-old woman known as 'Patient 31' attended services at the church and tested positive for the virus later. However, the woman has no record of any overseas travel.

Authorities have termed her as 'super spreader' and the locals have dubbed her 'crazy ajumma' (Korean for aunty). She was initially diagnosed with pneumonia-like symptoms, but the elderly woman resisted doctors advice to get tested for the virus twice.



The woman went on to live her daily life which was, of course, full of coming in contact with other people. After rejecting to get tested while being admitted in a local hospital, the woman stepped out in the public on multiple occasions.

AFP

According to reports, she went on to visit a buffet restaurant, a Korean-style public bath and the church, during all of which she was carrying the coronavirus. She has reportedly come in contact with at least a thousand people since then.

The shady Shincheonji church blamed the woman for the spread of the disease and claimed no involvement in the same. Shincheonji founder, Lee, commented on coronavirus and said, "It is an act of the devil who saw the rapid growth of Shincheonji and wants to destroy our advancement."

However, a former member of the Shincheonji church told CNN that illness was never accepted as a valid reason to miss services and the infected woman had left the hospital to the attend the church's service. Since the drastic rise in the number of infected cases has made the country very worried, the church was forced to give up its 'secret' list of over 240,000 members to the authorities, so that each one of them can be tested for the virus and prevent further damage.

Reuters (Founder of the Church)

There are rumours and online conspiracy theories which accuse the church's conservative leaders of intentionally spreading the coronavirus, to put President Moon's liberal administration's April 2020 general elections in jeopardy.




A woman died in a five-car collision early Sunday morning.

Margarita Bailey, 29, of Ellerslie, Ga., was killed when the 2018 Toyota Corolla she was driving collided with a 2008 Chrysler Town and Country van.

Three other vehicles - a 2003 Chevrolet Tahoe, a 2013 Lincoln MKX and a 2012 Dodge Ram - struck Baileys car after the initial collision, according to Alabama State Trooper Benjamin Carswell.

Bailey was pronounced dead at the scene.

The crash occurred around 6 a.m. Sunday on I-85 near mile marker 13, about two miles east of Montgomery.
For a successful guy, David Rosenfelt does precious little planning.

Yet for the Paterson native whose 32nd book, The K Team, (Minotaur Books, 304 pp, $29.99) publishes next week, that works just fine. He didnt plan on becoming a novelist, and he doesnt plan the plots.

Reading them, including Leader of the Pact to Deck to the Hounds, Andy Carpenter solves the mysteries. Rosenfelt has given us a lovable hero, almost aggressive in his laziness. Carpenter is a lawyer who can afford to not work. Yet his wife, Laurie Collins, a former cop, makes sure he takes on cases that need a champion.

Rosenfelt has penned 20 Andy Carpenter novels, nine other thrillers and two non-fiction books. The premise for this was introduced in his last novel, Dachshund Through the Snow. Laurie and a retired K-9 cop and his dog  there are always dogs  now team up to tackle new cases.

Rosenfelt spoke with New Jersey Authors about his work, dogs and a process that may befuddle other writers, but has landed him on the bestseller list. What follows is an edited version of that interview.

Lets begin with dogs. How many do you have right now and what kind?

Fifteen in our house, which is an all-time low for us. Were trying to head for normal. When we lived in California, for 15 years, we never had less than 30. Right now we have three goldens, three mastiffs, a lab, an Italian white shepherd, a Newfie and the rest are mutts.

Since you now live in Maine, can they be outside?

Thats not a factor. They want to be in the house. The only time they want to be outside is if its snowing or really cold. They are everywhere. It is a rather unusual lifestyle. The house feels empty with 15. We got to 42 at one point in L.A. Anything over 40 is slightly eccentric.

The difference now  and why we were able to get down low, for us  is in New England, there is no rescue problem. They bring thousands of dogs up every week from the South to be placed here. We have taken a bunch of dogs from St. Huberts (in Madison) and from Memphis. We only take dogs that cannot be placed. Dogs that are too old or blind or epileptic.

Do you have a background in veterinary sciences?

No background  almost as little in writing, actually.

David Rosenfelts latest novel features his longtime protagonist, Andy Carpenters wife, Laurie, teaming up with a retired K-9 police officer and his trusty canine pal.

Where did you go to school and what did you study?

NYU in the late 60s, the University Heights campus (in the Bronx). I got a full scholarship there, and I got there and didnt do any research. And everything I wanted to take they didnt have  journalism or film or advertising  they only had downtown, and the scholarship wasnt transferrable. I spent my whole four years going to Yonkers Racetrack.

But there was a degree and a career in Hollywood. How did that happen?

The history degree was just a place-filler. In my junior year, I went to California and I worked for my uncle, who was the head of United Artists. I spent the summer working in Beverly Hills and decided the movie business was for me, and it didnt matter at that point. I was extraordinarily impressive in the interview with my uncle, and I blew him away.

But you had a career in Los Angeles?

I started at United Artists. Then I was at a movie ad agency. And then I went back to United when MGM bought us, and then I became president of marketing at TriStar.

What were some of your hits?

I didnt have any. Thats why I am not at it anymore. I worked on the Rambo movies, The Natural. I worked on the Rocky movies.

How did writing come about?

They were moving us to New York, and I didnt want to move. A friend who is a director talked me into writing a screenplay, and it sold. None of them got made. I sold probably 10 of them. You can be a successful writer in Hollywood  I wasnt  and never get a movie made. It is a weird situation. Then I started writing TV movies. I sold 10 of those and three got made. Nothing that changed American culture. To Love Honor and Deceive (ABC), Deadlock (TNT) and Deadly Isolation (Lifetime). Three epics.

David Rosenfelt is never far from one of his many dogs.

How did this lead to novels?

I wanted to write a courtroom drama. They dont make them in TV movies, then or now. I decided to write a novel, and I wrote about 50 pages and gave it to my wife to read and she liked it. And I gave it to my film agent, who sent it to a book agent, and she sent it to a publisher  Warner Books at the time, and now Hachette. The whole process from when I started writing to when they bought it was seven weeks. Now all of a sudden, I was a novelist, more unlikely than me being a screenwriter.

How did Andy Carpenter come about?

I wrote a TV movie called Snapshot. The producer thought it would sell to the networks, and it didnt. The star was Andy Carpenter, a lawyer from Paterson, New Jersey. And a year later, he called me. Tyne Daly wanted to do it if I made it a woman, and I put in some jokes about being overweight, so it became Andrea Carpenter. And it never sold. Six months, a year later, a call from the same producer, and Cheryl Ladd wants to do it and take out the overweight jokes. So I did it, and it never sold. And then I decided to write a courtroom drama. I took it out of the drawer and that became the basis for the first novel called, Open and Shut, and I turned him back into a man. Andy has a little identity crisis going on here.

How does New Jersey inform your work?

I dont know other than it made me the person I am, for however good that is. Paterson was a terrific place to grow up. It made Ozzie and Harriet look dark and edgy.

Where did you get your first library card?

The 33rd Street branch, off Park Avenue in Paterson, but I honestly dont have great recollections. I always thought of libraries as a place you go to do research. I was surprised when I started writing novels, at how many people get their fiction through libraries.

What is your process?

I can go for weeks at a time and not write, and then I binge write. I really have a scattershot process. It depends on how many times I have to go to the vet that day. Ive already been to the vet today. Its hard to explain. I dont know anything until I am writing it. I have no idea where the story is going. I cant think three pages ahead. I cant outline. I would be paralyzed trying to outline. I am writing a book now, and I dont know what the crime is, who did it. I dont know anything about it. It just goes where it goes. For the first 150-200 pages, it is a struggle because I dont know what comes next. If I knew what comes next, I could write a book in a week. At the point it clicks in, I can do 50 pages a day.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 15, 2020 18:40 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206acfb91 1 National Jokowi,Budi-Karya-Sumadi,Sri-Mulyani-Indrawati,ministers,COVID-19,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,coronavirus,outbreak-in-Indonesia Free

President Joko Jokowi Widodo said he would have himself tested for COVID-19 on Sunday afternoon, in the wake of the announcement that Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi had tested positive for the disease.

This afternoon, Jokowi said at a press conference in regard to whether he would undergo a medical check-up.

He said all other members of his Cabinet had already been tested for COVID-19 earlier on Sunday morning.

Please ask Health Minister [Terawan Agus Putranto] for the results.

On Saturday night, State Secretary Pratikno announced that Budi had tested positive for COVID-19 and had been labeled as Case 76.

Prior to testing positive, Budi had attended a Cabinet meeting led by Jokowi on Wednesday.

The meetings other attendees included State Secretary Pratikno, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD, Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani, Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar, State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir, Home Minister Tito Karnavian, Attorney General ST Burhanuddin, Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Air Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, National Police chief Gen. Idham Azis, as well as North Sumatra Governor Edy Rahmayadi and acting Medan mayor Akhyar Nasution, among others.

Jokowi has called on all Indonesians to practice what epidemiologists call social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

Under the current conditions, its time for us to work from home, study from home and worship at home, Jokowi said at a press conference at Bogor Palace in West Java on Sunday. Its time for us to work together, to help each other, to unite and cooperate. We want this to be a community movement, so that the COVID-19 problem can be addressed to the fullest.

As of Sunday afternoon, Indonesia had announced 117 confirmed COVID-19 cases, resulting in five deaths. Regional heads in a number of areas  including Jakarta, Banten and West Java  have decided to temporarily close schools and public areas in an effort to contain the coronavirus. (rfa)
The minister believes the government should take more pro-active preventive measures.

Minister of Health of Ukraine Ilya Yemets recommends considering the possibility of restricting operations of public catering establishments over the threat of coronavirus Covid-19 spread.

The measure should be taken before the epidemic situation in the country worsens, Yemets said during a discussion of the bill on battling coronavirus, currently being drafted by the Ministry of Health.

"The experience of foreign countries says that shutting down public catering establishments is an effective measure in the fight against coronavirus. I believe that we need to be proactive, and act clearly and decisively. That is why it would be advisable to consider the possibility of restricting operations of public catering establishments due to the coronavirus," said Ilya Emets.

Read alsoQuarantine in Ukraine: PM urges citizens to refrain even from domestic travel

As UNIAN reported earlier, in Ukraine today there have been three lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus infection, while one of those patients died.

On March 11, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to introduce quarantine across Ukraine from March 12 to April 3. Educational facilities will be closed for three weeks, and all public events in the country have been canceled.

The terms of quarantine may change depending on the epidemic situation in Ukraine.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) clarified the items and norms of assistance from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) in the backdrop of coronavirus pandemic.

MHA has laid down the norms of assistance and measures for quarantine, sample collection, screening, procurement of essential equipments for response to COVID-19.

The measures for quarantine, sample collection and screening include, "provision for temporary accommodation, food, clothing, medical care etc for people affected and sheltered in quarantine camps (other than home quarantine) or for cluster containment operations. Cost of consumables for sample collection. Support for checking, screening and contact tracing."

According to the Norms of Assistance, "As per actual expenditure and as per the assessment of need by State Executive Committee (SEC) to ensure the effective containment of outbreak for a period of up to 30 days. The SEC will decide the number of quarantine camps, their duration and the number of persons in such camps. This period can be extended by the SEC beyond the prescribed limit subject to the condition that expenditure on this account should not exceed 25 percent of SDRF allocation for the year. Medical care may also be provided from Health Mission (NHM)."

For the purpose of the procurement of essential equipments and setting up additional testing laboratories, "the expenditure is to be incurred from SDRF only as assessed by the SEC to strengthen the surveillance and control measures against COVID-19 virus outbreak."

There is also a provision for the cost of personal equipment for healthcare, municipal, police and fire authorities and the cost of thermal scanners, ventilators, air purifiers and consumables for government hospitals.

"Total expenditure on equipment should not exceed 10 percent of the annual allocation of the SDRF," it added.

The SEC has been instructed to ensure there is no duplication with reference to government schemes and it adds that any amount spent by the state for COVID-19, over and above the ceiling, would be borne out of the state government's resources and not from SDRF.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases across India reached 107 (including foreign nationals), according to the Ministry of Family and Health Welfare on Sunday.

The disease which originated in China's Wuhan city in December last year, has so far spread to more than 100 countries, infecting over 1,30,000 people.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared coronavirus a pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The good news for Biden is that there are many issues on which outreach to Sanderss supporters could also help the likely Democratic nominee with the broader electorate, too. A commitment to increasing the power of workers in an economy that has seen unions weaken sits well with both Sanderss objectives and Bidens Scranton, Pa., working-class roots. More vocal and aggressive moves on climate change would help reassure younger voters. Strong pledges to limit the power of big money in politics would reinforce the message House Democrats sent with their comprehensive elections and ethics bill, H.R. 1. Biden could also take some steps closer to Sanders on universal access to public universities and job training. And while Biden would be ill-advised to change his position on health care, he could shift from bashing Medicare-for-all to giving Sanders credit for moving the broader health-care argument in a more progressive direction.
The Foreign Office is advising people not to travel to Spain unless its absolutely essential.

On Saturday the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez declared a Nationwide State of Emergency and imposed drastic restrictions to try to eradicate coronavirus.

Buses and trains are operating reduced services, public gatherings are banned, all schools and universities have been shut down and most shops and businesses are also closed.

Residents have been told to stay at home, except if they need to buy food or other essential items, or need to care for others and to work from home if at all possible.

The measures being taken to beat the Covid-19 virus are changing every day and British nationals are advised to register on the Foreign Office website so that they can receive the very latest travel advice.

Anyone who has booked flights to Spain is advised to check with the relevant airline or tour Operator to find out what the latest situation is.

British people who are resident in Spain or tourists who are on holiday in the country must follow the instructions of the local Authorities.

The British Ambassador to Spain, Hugh Elliott, recorded a video message for UK nationals explaining the implications of the State of Emergency for both residents and tourists and has thanked the Spanish authorities for doing all they can.

A big thank you to the Spanish authorities, in particular the Healthcare Professionals, for all the great work they are doing to help keep everyone in Spain, of all nationalities, safe, in circumstances that are very challenging indeed.

You can view Ambassador Elliott's video at www.facebook.com/britsinspain.

For more details about the latest travel restrictions log on to https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/spain

And for more information on coronavirus, please follow the advice of the Spanish government at https://www.mscbs.gob.es/ or on the British Government website at - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus.
MANILA, Philippines  The Department of Health (DOH) on Saturday advised all travelers going out of Metro Manila, who are without symptoms of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), to undergo strict home quarantine for 14 days.

In a statement, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that those who traveled from the National Capital Region (NCR) going to other provinces will be considered as persons under monitoring (PUM).

Travelers from Metro Manila experiencing fever, dry cough, or any respiratory symptoms will be considered as patients under investigation (PUI), and are advised to seek medical attention from a health facility.

The DOH issued the statement following reports of hundreds of residents from Metro Manila rushing to return to their home provinces before the month-long community quarantine declared by President Rodrigo Duterte to combat coronavirus takes effect on Sunday, March 15.

During the quarantine period, travel by land, domestic sea and air to and from Metro Manila will not be allowed. Residents are also advised to stay in their homes and avoid unnecessary movements within the region.

Let us cooperate with our healthcare workers and local government authorities to stop the spread of this disease to other communities. The department is issuing guidelines for the health and safety of all Filipinos, Duque said.

Let us follow these stringent infection prevention interventions without fail. Only through the genuine help of all Filipinos will we be able to stop this health emergency, he added.

The community quarantine was declared in Metro Manila with the hoisting of the Code Red Sub-level 2 alert.

The Philippines has been placed under a state of public health emergency due to rapidly increasing cases of coronavirus infections.

To date, the country has recorded more than 100 cases of COVID-19 with eight fatalities.

Worldwide, the virus which originated in Wuhan City in China, has infected more than 130,000 people and killed over 4,000 in 122 countries based on the latest data from the World Health Organization.

The post DOH tells travelers from NCR to undergo strict 14-day home quarantine appeared first on UNTV News.
Mr Hans-Helge Sander, the Deputy Ambassador of Germany to Ghana, has touted Ghana as the anchor of security in the sub region.



Ghana has shown leadership in border security which is one of the key areas in national security, he said.



This was contained in a statement signed and copied to the Ghana News Agency by superintendent Michael Amoako-Atta, the Head of Public Affairs, of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS).



The Deputy Ambassador, according to the statement made the remarks on Wednesday, when the Federal Police of Germany donated state-of-the-art document fraud detection equipment to the Training Centre of the Document Fraud Expertise Centre (DFEC) of the GIS.



The equipment included electronic microscope, modular stereo microscope and mobile microscope, among others which would aid in document forensic training of Officers of the GIS.



Mr Sander, the statement said, lauded the Service for achieving significant successes in the area of border security, saying: the Embassy is happy to support Ghana in the fight against document fraud.



He advised the GIS not to renege on its capacity building of Officers towards effective scrutiny of travel documents.



Mrs Judith Dzokoto-Lomoh, the Deputy Comptroller-General of Immigration (DCGI) in charge of Finance and Administration, who received the items on behalf of the Comptroller-General of Immigration, expressed gratitude to the German Government and the Federal Police of Germany for the kind gesture.



She gave an assurance to the donors that the equipment would be put to good use for the benefit of Ghana, comity of nations and other stakeholders in the migration industry.



It will help bolster activities of the Training Centre, she added.



The DCGI, according to the statement, indicated that the donation was just on time to help arrest the dynamism in migrant crime, adding that the support was a demonstration of international cooperation in tackling transnational crime.



More needs to be done to ensure neighbouring countries receive only desirable immigrants, she added.



She called on the personnel to go beyond just detecting fake documents and prosecute offenders and secure conviction.



She also advised personnel to take good care of the equipment and utilise it to deliver positive results.



Superintendent of Immigration Frank Apronti, the Second-in-Command of Document Fraud Expertise Center, explained that all migration-related crimes, including drug trafficking, human trafficking, smuggling and terrorism, were rooted in fraudulent documents, the statement said.



These devices will simplify document examination and their mobility will prove very useful in training officers across the borders, he added.



Present at the ceremony were DCGI in charge of Command Post and Operations, Mr Laud Kwesi Afrifah, Officer-in-Charge of DFEC, and Chief Superintendent of Immigration (CSI) Kwabena Somuah Amponsah.



Others were Regional Capacity Building Officer, Alistair Rushton, Police Liaison Officer of the Federal Police of Germany, Dirk Kattlun and the Visa and Document Advisor at the Federal Police of Germany, Frank Dukpe, the statement added.





Source: GNA









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Tel Aviv [Israel], Mar 15 (ANI): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday announced the closure of all shopping centers, restaurants, cafes, theaters, and cinemas as part of the efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.



According to the decision, all gatherings in Israel were limited to 10 people from 100, Xinhua news agency reported.

It was also decided to close all kindergartens after all schools were already closed in Israel.

Netanyahu said grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations would remain open but that all leisure activities are banned starting Sunday.

The prime minister also urged those who can stay home and work remotely to do so.

Workplaces will not be closed at this point with each company determining itself which employees could work at home.

Israel also decided to digitally follow paths taken by coronavirus patients in the days before they were diagnosed in order to quarantine those who were at the same places.

So far, 193 coronavirus cases have been reported in Israel, of whom four have recovered. (ANI)


The number of cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba is growing.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 15/3/2020 (667 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The number of cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba is growing.

Manitoba's chief provincial public health officer, Dr. Brent Roussin, said Sunday there are three presumptive positive cases of COVID-19, in addition to four confirmed cases.

The additional cases involve a man in his 70s, a woman in her 70s who had recently travelled, and a woman in her 50s.

The only other details provided are that one of the new cases involves a person from the Interlake and a person in Winnipeg.

Roussin advised all Manitobans, including health providers, to cancel or postpone non-essential international travel.

"By cancelling or postponing our international travel plans, we're limiting the importation of this virus back into Manitoba," he said.

He said travellers who are abroad should strongly consider returning to Manitoba as soon as possible.

"People without symptoms: there is no need for you to be tested."

"There are growing travel restrictions in many parts of the world. You could become ill when you are away, or be forced to quarantine, so consider all of these when travelling," Roussin said. "Now is not the time to travel outside of Canada."

He also said anyone who had returned to Manitoba after travelling internationally in the last 14 days, should self-isolate.

"We know in Canada, the vast majority of cases are travel-related," Roussin said.

The province said plans are being made to screen health care workers who return to Manitoba from international travel.

900 tests done

Nine-hundred people have been testing for the novel coronavirus at four testing sites in the city in the last three days, said chief nursing officer Lanette Siragusa.

Health Links, a telephone line, received more than 1,000 on Saturday.

International travellers who have cold or flu symptoms within two weeks of coming back to Canada should contact Health Links at 204-788-8200 or toll-free at 1-888-315-9257, the province advised.

Lanette Siragusa, chief nursing officer and health system integration lead with Shared Health. (Daniel Crump / Winnipeg Free Press)

"Now is not the time to travel outside of Canada."

Roussin said there are two groups of people who should be tested: those who have returned from international travel who have symptoms  respiratory problems such as shortness of breath, a fever or cough  and those who are symptomatic and have been in contact with a known case.

He emphasized that people who have no symptoms, should not ask to be tested.

"People without symptoms: there is no need for you to be tested," Roussin said. "There is a growing demand on our lab. We want to make sure we can test as many eligible people as possible."

Health Sciences Centre

Health Sciences Centre in downtown Winnipeg is restricting the number of public entrances beginning immediately, so visitors can be screened for COVID-19.

These restrictions will protect patients who may have underlying medical conditions that put them at greater risk of severe illness due to COVID-19.

Patients will only be allowed one visitor at a time. Exceptions will be made at a managers discretion for special circumstances, such as visitors who require an escort or those seeing patient nearing the end of their life.

At the entrance at 700 William Ave. on Sunday, members of the public were allowed into the building and directed to stand in line so they could be questioned about their health, including whether they had recently returned from travelling internationally. Once cleared, they were asked to use hand sanitizer before visiting a patient.

"I strongly discourage Manitobans from being fearful, and panicbuying and hoarding of supplies."

Scrap sick notes

Roussin stressed that businesses must allow workers to call in sick without having to produce a sick note. Requiring such a note, he said, puts an unnecessary burden on health care professionals.

"Our system needs to focus on this pandemic, not on signing notes for individuals right now," he said.

Siragusa said Sunday the Access Centre in Thompson would accept patients for testing starting on Monday. It will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Other centres in rural Manitoba will open next week, she said.

Similar measures are being considered for other health-care facilities throughout the province and at long-term care homes.

Stop panicking

Roussin cautioned Manitobans to stay calm and understand there is no evidence of community-wide transition of COVID-19. He said Manitoba is being proactive by taking measures so quickly.

"I strongly discourage Manitobans from being fearful and panic-buying and hoarding of supplies," he said.
Travellers returning from Europe queue for hours as new health screening measures are introduced.

Passengers arriving at Chicago O'Hare were having to wait for hours

US airports have been thrown into chaos as new coronavirus health screening measures for people returning from Europe come into force.

Long queues formed as travellers waited for hours for the screenings before passing through customs.

The US is banning the entry of people travelling from the UK and Ireland from midnight on Monday (04:00 GMT Tuesday).

As a result, the UK Foreign Office is now advising against all but essential travel to the whole of the US.

The US has more than 2,700 confirmed cases, with 54 deaths.

Correspondents say there is a growing sense of unease and confusion in the US, with fears of a run on hospital beds and concern about childcare as tens of millions of students are sent home from school.

In other developments:

American Airlines says it plans to cut 75% of its international flights until 6 May

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt has come under fire for a tweet, since deleted, showing selfies with his family at a crowded restaurant

French voters are going to the polls for local elections which are controversially going ahead despite the coronavirus outbreak

Australia announces that all travellers arriving in the country from midnight on Sunday local time (13:00 GMT on Saturday) would need to self-isolate for two weeks

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock says moves are being planned in the coming weeks to isolate anyone over the age of 70

What has been happening at the airports?

At Chicago O'Hare and Dallas DFW airports, passengers reported long queues as travellers returning from Europe waited to be screened as part of measures to combat coronavirus.

The US administration has imposed a ban on non-Americans travelling from the 26 European countries in the Schengen free movement zone, which will be extended to the UK and Ireland as of Tuesday.

US citizens are allowed to return but face screening.

Ruth Procopi, who has lived in the Chicago area for 20 years, returned on Saturday from the UK, where she had been visiting family.

"I arrived at [O'Hare airport] from Heathrow at about 3.30pm yesterday. It was chaos. Nobody explained anything," she told the BBC.

"And I was one of the lucky ones - I had no checked bags to try to find and because I had not been to a Schengen country, I did not have to undergo additional screening (still not sure what that was), but I didn't find out until I got to the front of this line.

"We were told there was additional screening while on the plane, but no details. We were not told anything at any stage. It took me two hours to get through."

Paige Hardy, a US graduate student returning from London, told the New York Times there was alarm on her flight to Dallas after a series of confusing announcements.

"It truly felt like an apocalyptic scenario," she said.

In New York, there were reports of a flight from Paris being boarded by customs agents wearing masks.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said his office was working with airlines to improve screening times.

Some public health experts have noted that waiting in crowded terminals could potentially lead to more people becoming infected with the virus.

On Friday, President Trump declared a national state of emergency to release $50bn (40bn) to fight the spread of the virus. BBC
Indonesia's transport minister is in intensive care after testing positive for the novel coronavirus, an official said Saturday, as schools and tourist attractions were ordered to close over the health threat. Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi was receiving treatment at an army hospital in Jakarta, according to State Secretary Pratikno. A hospital spokesman said Sumadi was encountering difficulty breathing but that his condition was improving. Pratikno said Sumadi was involved in virus mitigation efforts, particularly the evacuation of Indonesians from epicenters of the outbreak, and that President Joko Widodo had called for tests to be carried out on other ministers. Cases of the virus in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, have jumped from zero two weeks ago to 96, with five deaths, according to government spokesperson Achmad Yurianto. He also said the virus has spread outside Greater Jakarta to Bandung in West Java, Solo in Central Java, Manado in North Sulawesi, Pontianak in West Kalimantan, as well as holiday havens Yogyakarta and Bali. Following the increase, the government on Saturday established a task force on COVID-19 mitigation. Jakarta's Governor Anies Baswedan announced that schools would close for two weeks starting Monday, and ordered the closure of city-owned tourist attractions, such as Ragunan Zoo and Ancol beach. He emphasized that Jakarta would not be locked down but urged people "to be responsible" and called for social distancing when possible. Similarly, the administration of Solo, Central Java, Friday announced that schools and tourist attractions would close after a coronavirus patient died in the region. The World Health Organization has said it is particularly concerned about high-risk nations with weaker health systems, which who may lack the facilities to identify cases. A day after declaring the coronavirus outbreak to be pandemic this week, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called Indonesia's president Widodo and both agreed to "scale up cooperation."
External Article

15 March 2020

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the world, former Man United star Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly made a generous move to help in the fight against the disease.

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According to Spanish publication Marca, the 35-year-old Juventus forward will transform his hotels in Portugal into hospitals to help fight coronavirus.

The makeshift hospitals will be available free of charge and the Portuguese icon will be the one to fund the doctors and workers there, as per the source.

As all European top leagues were postponed until at least the end of the month due to coronavirus concerns earlier this week, Cristiano also took to social media to warn everyone about the growing threat of the virus.

"The world is going through a very difficult moment which demands the utmost care and attention from all of us," he tweeted on Friday.
Neighbourhood buddy systems are springing up across Melbourne as the coronavirus pandemic brings out the best in human nature.

While scenes of fighting over toilet paper and empty supermarket shelves have shown people at their worst, acts of kindness are becoming more common as people reach out to help the elderly and others in need.

Kate Adamson and her sons; Banjo 11, Rupert 9 and Alastair 6, pin posters up around Elwood's streets offering help to the elderly during the coronavirus pandemic. Credit:Chris Hopkins

People are offering to do shopping, run errands, collect medicine, borrow library books and DVDs and other support during periods of COVID-19 self-isolation or supermarket shortages caused by panic buying.

When Elwood's Kate Adamson put up a Facebook post offering to help people with shopping, the response snowballed - but not the way she expected.
In the last three months, the world has been battling the new coronavirus outbreak which has reached over 155 countries and infected 157,844 people.

The World Health Organisation on Friday declared Europe as the epicentre of the disease as cases have been slowing down in China where the disease originated. The outbreak has affected every sector globally.

Meanwhile, Nigeria is also battling other diseases, in particular Lassa and yellow fevers.

Here is the round up of some of the stories which made the headlines last week.

Coronavirus: Europe now new epicentre for Covid-19

Europe has now become the new epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Health Organisation declared on Friday.

As of Friday, new confirmed cases in China where the disease originated from in December have dropped. But the disease has spread across the world, having been reported in every continent except Antarctica.

The virus, which emerged from Wuhan, China, less than three months ago, has infected more than 132,000 people in 123 countries and territories with over 5,000 people dead. Over 70,000 have also recovered from the disease.

Lassa Fever: Nigerias death toll reaches 144

Nigeria reported that the death toll from the ongoing Lassa fever outbreak had risen to 144.

Vector of Lassa fever

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Wednesday said since the onset of the 2020 outbreak, the country has recorded 855 confirmed cases and 144 deaths.

WHO declares Coronavirus a pandemic

The Covid-19 outbreak was, on Wednesday, classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation.

WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus [Photo: Scrol.in]

The WHO chief, Tedros Ghebreyesus, at a briefing on the status of the disease in Geneva, said the declaration was made after careful assessment of the outbreak and severity of its spread across the world.

Coronavirus: 168 die in Italy under 24 hours

Italy on Tuesday reported 168 deaths from the coronavirus in just 24 hours, the highest single-day toll since the appearance of the deadly disease last December.

The disturbing death toll came on Italys first day under a nationwide lockdown with public events cancelled, movement restricted and schools and universities closed. All these were put in place in a drastic bid to slow the pace of Covid-19 in Europes worst-hit country.

British Airways to cut jobs over coronavirus

British Airways will cut jobs after the coronavirus pandemic devastated demand for global air travel, its chief executive Alex Cruz said on Friday.

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 in an internal memo confirmed by the group.

Global airlines have cancelled thousands of flights worldwide, as COVID-19 decimates demand for passenger travel, with destinations to China and Italy in particularly hit hard.

Formal sector retirees to retain NHIS benefit till age 70  FG

The federal government has promised that formal sector retirees will soon have the benefit of retaining their National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) up till the age of 70 years before switching-over to the National Non-Contributory Health Insurance Scheme.

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Osagie Ehanire [PHOTO CREDIT: @TheglobalhintC]

The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, said at the first International Training of Trainers in Geriatric and the launch of the Elderly Friendly Hospitals Initiative (ELDFRHI), at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH).

Mr Ehanire said the federal government is working with the National Pension Commission, Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) and National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in achieving the promise.

In four years 494 health facilities attacked in Syria  WHO

In the past four years, about 494 health care facilities have been attacked in Syria, leading to the death of 470 patients and health staff, the World Health Organisation has said.

WHO while condemning the attacks on health care said that has been the hallmark of the complex humanitarian crisis in Syria that this month enters its tenth year.

WHOs Regional Emergency Director in the Eastern Mediterranean, Richard Brennan, said the data we can now reveal on attacks on health in Syria is a grim testament to a blatant disrespect for international humanitarian law and the lives of civilians and health workers.

Coronavirus pandemic could be over by June if countries act, says Chinese adviser

The global coronavirus pandemic could be over by June if countries mobilise to fight it, a senior Chinese medical adviser said on Thursday, as China declared the peak had passed there and new cases in Hubei fell to single digits for the first time.

Zhong Nanshan, the governments senior medical adviser, told reporters that as long as countries take the outbreak seriously and are prepared to take firm measures, it could be over worldwide in a matter of months.

My advice is calling for all countries to follow WHO instructions and intervene on a national scale, he said. If all countries could get mobilized, it could be over by June.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister



Kamal Nath has called a cabinet meeting here on Sunday, in the wake of state Governor Lalji Tandon's direction to his government to seek a trust vote in the Assembly on Monday.

The meeting is likely to be begin at 11 am, sources said.

The cabinet is likely to discuss the governor's letter sent on Saturday night, in which he asked the government to seek a trust vote in the Assembly soon after his (governor's) address on March 16, they said.

Meanwhile, the Congress MLAs, who were camping in Jaipur, are likely to return to Bhopal by noon, sources added.

On Saturday, the Assembly Speaker had accepted the resignations of six ministers, out of the total 22 rebel Congress legislators. With this, the strength of the House has come down to 222, with the majority mark 112.

The resignations of 16 other rebel legislators, who are in Bengaluru, have not been accepted yet.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A delegation of National Conference (NC) leaders from Jammu led by its provincial president Davender Singh Rana on Sunday called on party president Farooq Abdullah who has been released after seven months in detention.

The NC leaders from Jammu called on Abdullah at his Gupkar residence here and the meeting lasted for around half-an-hour, a NC leader said.

He said the leaders enquired about the party president's well-being and discussed several issues pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir.

Speaking to reporters outside Abdullah's residence, Rana said all political detenues should be released so that genuine political activities take place in the Union territory.

Farooq Abdullah is a symbol of mainstream of J-K and his release is a welcome step. Our demand is that all political detenues be released so that genuine political activities are started. NC has always believed in democracy and democratic values and its stand remains the same (which is) to make democracy stronger and the party represents the wishes and aspirations of the people of J-K and will continue to do so, Rana said.

Asked about the emergence of a new political party -- 'Jammu Kashmir Apni Party' -- led by former Finance minister Altaf Bukhari, the NC leader said, In a democracy, the more the merrier. But people are supreme and they will decide who will rule here.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By PTI

HARDOI: Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh on Sunday said around 700 doctors appointed in government hospitals have not reported for duty and will be dismissed soon.

Singh, who was here to inspect Mukhayamantri Jan Aarogya Mela at a community health centre, said nearly 700 doctors appointed in government hospitals have gone to other places or have started pursuing higher education without informing the department.

He said, "The process for dismissal of these doctors has started, and their services will be terminated in one to one-and-a-half months."

On the coronavirus outbreak, the health minister said, "There is no need to feel afraid. This virus can be tackled through proper prevention. India is ready to combat it."
The Australian Government has launched its $30million advertising campaign aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus.

The campaign, called 'Good Health Starts Here', includes television and newspaper ads reminding people to wash their hands.

There is also a letter from Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Health Minister Greg Hunt and Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy warning about the virus.

The number of coronavirus cases in Australia has soared over the weekend to more than 200. Three people have died as a result of the illness.

The Australian Government has launched its $30million advertising campaign aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus. (Pictured: A woman wearing a protective face mask boards a bus in Sydney)

The campaign warns of possible symptoms, which includes a sore throat, fever, cough and shortness of breath.

It also advises people to wash their hands frequently with soap and water and to avoid contact with other people when feeling unwell.

Four videos have been released as part of the campaign using animation to explain hygiene and reduce the risk of spreading the disease.

The advertising blitz is part of the government's $2.4 billion healthcare package which has been designed to ease the pressure on the healthcare system amid the pandemic.

The package includes 100 pop-up respiratory clinics and a tele-health service which allows people to be assessed without having to go into clinics and risk spreading the disease.

A security guard wears a face mask as a preventative measure against COVID-19 in front of the Sydney Opera House

A man is seen wearing a protective face mask while doing his grocery shopping in Queensland

The campaign warns of possible symptoms, which includes a sore throat, fever, cough and shortness of breath

The advertising blitz is part of the government's $2.4 billion healthcare package which has been designed to ease the pressure on the healthcare system amid the pandemic

It also includes $101.2 million to go towards educating and training aged care workers about infection control and provide additional staff if an urgent health response is needed.

The government has announced drastic measures to prevent a further outbreak, effectively banning 'non essential' public gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday.

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 ban will have stunning consequences for sporting codes, such as the NRL and AFL. Festivals, religious services, concerts and plays - even school assemblies - will be called into doubt.

Sydney's Royal Easter Show will be cancelled in the wake of the PM's statement as have further Melbourne Fashion Festival shows.

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.

Last week Scott Morrison unveiled a $17billion coronavirus stimulus package to prevent a recession amid the crisis.

A quarter of Australians will be given $750 as part if the package which is aimed at saving thousands of jobs and companies as the world grinds to a halt.

Since the outbreak the Australian stock market continued to plunge.

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.

People wear face masks as a preventative measure as they explore tourist hotspots in Sydney

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.

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.
The coronavirus is a threat that the U.S.  and the entire world  is facing at the moment. This problem is much broader than a public health issue; from our perspective, it is above all a political, social, and economic issue that demands resolute action. From an overall perspective, I do believe that President Trump has dealt well with this unfortunate event, which the Chinese Communist Party offered to all of us.

The most relevant aspect to stress is that President Trump decided according to the mandate he received from the American people  first and foremost, all the measures to be taken aim to protect the people. American safety first. Secondly, President Trump announced some protective measures to tackle the economic side-effects provoked by the COVID-19 outbreak, which includes some tax measures to internalize the negative externalities the virus has caused in American people's lives. Some might argue that these measures are not philosophically ideal or what we would select as our best option  however, under such circumstances, there are no best solutions. We are limited to determining the possible least worst solution on the table.

Therefore, regardless of our political standing and core beliefs, the calibration of tax mechanisms to help American families getting through this rough challenge is a positive and bold step forward made by the Trump administration to fulfill the goal of American well-being. The important thing here is, from our perspective, to make sure that this exceptional moment is not used as a justification to revive  or even expedite  old formulas of big government at the expenses of individual liberties. Taking into account President Trump's record on fighting red tape, useless bureaucracy, and coercive power structures, there is plenty of evidence to make the American people comfortable enough knowing that the destruction of the Chinese Communist Party virus will not mean a resurrection of a communist-like (viral) administrative state.

Having said that, everyone should be aware of the substantial changes that must be adopted in social life (in a broad sense) in the next weeks and months, following the health authorities' always wise advice. However, this does not mean at all a major or complete transformation of who we are, and it definitely does not mean a capitulation of freedom and democracy to this epidemic. I cannot stress enough that there are many dimensions of this virus yet to be fully investigated and proficiently explained to American citizens and to the entire world, especially concerning the facts behind the outbreak of this new coronavirus and its political-international dimensions.

Let me be crystal-clear on this point: we must know the truth, and only the truth, about the Chinese authorities' inertia in reacting to the first manifestations of the virus, as well as the motivations behind the Chinese Communist Party authorities (there is absolutely no difference between Chinese state and the Chinese Communist Party) in propagating deliberate misinformation and overt lies. What is the Chinese endgame here? Why did the Chinese refuse to host American scientists, medical doctors, and health experts to assess the virus at an early stage? Why did they decide, at first, not to cooperate with the World Health Organization? These are the kinds of questions that law enforcement and military agencies should ask (and efficiently investigate).

Even today, the Chinese communists are alleging that the USA created the virus as a biological weapon. This is a very strange allegation, but not unfamiliar or even unpredictable (it is a spin exercise by the Chinese). I highly recommend that you read the book Unrestricted Warfare, written by Colonels Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui, which shows President Xi's strategy to destroy America  or, more accurately put, how the ruling class of the Chinese Communist Party redefined its military and diplomatic strategy in a globalized world in order to replace the United States as the international superpower. This concept of "unrestricted warfare" involves supranational elements, and it has totally to do with the combination of biological; economic; and, especially, information-based warfare tools  much more so than the traditional, conventional type of war strategy. At first glance, the so-called coronavirus appears to fit into this strategy of unrestricted warfare adopted by the Chinese Communist Party. The burden of proof to the contrary rests on the Chinese Communist Party's ruling class shoulders. Explanations by the Chinese communists must be given to all of us.

Most important now is to appeal to the resilience of the American democracy and system of liberties. As opposed to what some have been claiming, the American electoral process must go on as normally as possible. Democracy does not capitulate to any threat, let alone to a virus that the Chinese communists could have avoided if they had been willing to do so. The ongoing primaries both in the Democrat party and in the GOP (with President Trump getting astonishingly high scores for an undisputed election!) cannot be stopped, for the sake of the sanctity of the American constitutional system of republican government. Otherwise, all the tyrants and enemies of freedom around the world will learn how to disrupt American democratic devices and mechanisms. This would be real collusion aimed directly at the heart of the government by "We, the People."

Do not ever forget that authoritarian regimes  like that of China  want democratic states to doubt themselves, to make us have second thoughts on the value of democratic self-government. They want to persuade everyone that a centralized totalitarian regime with a brutal coercive command structure is far better than democracy and individual self-determination. Let's not play their game  democracy and individual liberties are not up for debate. American democracy  due to the resilience, the ingenuity, and the bravery of American people  is immune to any virus. Chinese, Russian, Iranian, you name it  viruses will always stop at nothing in their efforts to undermine the government by the people.

Liberty is always better than coercive authoritarian governments. And for those who says China handled this coronavirus crisis very well because they have a lot of command and discipline, please don't try to fool us. That is a shamefully fallacy. The reality is that if China were not a deceitful and lying regime, the virus would have never had such terrible impact, and thousands of lives would have been saved. So China is not an example because it succeeded in containing the virus; rather, China is a failure because its regime originated  intentional or unintentionally  the virus. Communist regimes do not give any lessons to free and democratic societies.

In short: American democracy must not be put into quarantine. That would be the ultimate victory for Chinese communist tyrants and their proxies. The campaign and election days must be protected at all cost.

Please be safe and always proud of American republican democracy. Take care, God bless you, follow the health authorities' instructions, be free and brave  in one word: be American! I am positive that this coronavirus will be remembered in the future as nothing more than the coronation of the unmatchable and undefeatable resilience of the American people!
US official says reports of tug-of-war between Washington and Berlin over German firm CurVac are wildly overplayed.

Berlin is trying to stop Washington from persuading a German company seeking a coronavirus vaccine to move its research to the United States, prompting German politicians to insist no country should have a monopoly on any future vaccine.

German government sources told Reuters news agency on Sunday that the US administration was looking into how it could gain access to a potential vaccine being developed by a German firm, CureVac.

Earlier, the Welt am Sonntag German newspaper reported that President Donald Trump had offered funds to lure CureVac to the US, and the German government was making counteroffers to tempt it to stay.

Responding to the report, a US official said: This story is wildly overplayed. The US government has spoken with many [more than 25] companies that claim they can help with a vaccine. Most of these companies already received seed funding from US investors.

We will continue to talk to any company that claims to be able to help. And any solution found would be shared with the world, the US official added.

A German Health Ministry spokeswoman, confirming a quote in the newspaper, said: The German government is very interested in ensuring that vaccines and active substances against the new coronavirus are also developed in Germany and Europe.

In this regard, the government is in intensive exchange with the company CureVac, she added.

The Welt am Sonntag quoted an unidentified German government source as saying Trump was trying to secure the scientists work exclusively, and would do anything to get a vaccine for the US, but only for the United States.

CureVac issued a statement on Sunday, in which it said: The company rejects current rumours of an acquisition.

The firm said it was in contact with many organisations and authorities worldwide, but would not comment on speculation. It rejected allegations about offers for acquisition of the company or its technology.

A German Economy Ministry spokeswoman said Berlin has a great interest in producing vaccines in Germany and Europe.

She cited Germanys foreign trade law, under which Berlin can examine takeover bids from non-European Union, so-called third countries if national or European security interests are at stake.

Experimental vaccine

Florian von der Mulbe, CureVacs chief production officer and co-founder, told Reuters last week the company had started with a multitude of coronavirus vaccine candidates and was now selecting the two best to go into clinical trials.

The privately-held company based in Tuebingen, Germany hopes to have an experimental vaccine ready by June or July to then seek the go-ahead from regulators for testing on humans.

On its website, CureVac said CEO Daniel Menichella early this month met Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and senior representatives of pharmaceutical and biotech companies to discuss a vaccine.

CureVac in 2015 and 2018 secured financial backing for development projects from its investor the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, working on shots to prevent malaria and influenza.

In the field of so-called mRNA therapeutics, CureVac competes with US biotech firm Moderna and German rival BioNTech, which Pfizer has identified as a potential collaboration partner.

Drugs based on mRNA provide a type of genetic blueprint that can be injected into the body to instruct cells to produce the desired therapeutic proteins. That contrasts with the conventional approach of making these proteins in labs and bio-reactors.

In the case of vaccines, the mRNA prompts body cells to produce so-called antigens, the tell-tale molecules on the surface of viruses, that spur the immune system into action.

Companies working on other coronavirus-vaccine approaches include Johnson & Johnson and INOVIO Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
More terrifying

Re: Like Katrina, White House owns COVID-19, by Michael Gerson, Other Views, Wednesday:

Michael Gerson should know  he was George W. Bushs policy adviser in 2005 when Katrina devastated the people of New Orleans.

In 1986, Ronald Reagan famously said, The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: Im from the government, and Im here to help.

I dont know when the extreme distrust of the federal government began, but this statement made the attitude explicit. Ever since that time, the Republican Party has engaged in a never-ending assault on our federal resources, in large part to drain money from the government to give tax breaks to the wealthy, as well as impair government regulation  again, to benefit corporations over the public.

A vicious cycle has continued: The federal government is impaired for spurious desires in the name of governmental distrust, then the government functions poorly, which causes more distrust of the government, which then leads to less government funding.

Further, in 2018, Trump disbanded the U.S. Pandemic Response Team to save money. We have seen lower EPA standards, corporate development of public land, devastation of the social safety net, private takeovers of public schools (profits, anyone?); and the list goes on and on. All in the name of smaller government, while Republicans dont bat an eye. The rest of us may not notice the changes unless they affect us directly.

This deliberate plan to make our federal government ineffectual only becomes obvious when a national event is too large to ignore. Then we all realize that, yes, the government does serve legitimate purposes.

From Katrina to the coronavirus, the Republican Party owns the failure of the federal government to respond effectively.

Deborah McNabb

Whos idea was it?

I would like to know who is responsible for deciding to quarantine coronavirus patients on military bases. Although I personally think the situation is being blown way out of proportion, I think it is a very real threat to national security. What if it becomes necessary to quarantine an entire base?

Take Lackland Air Force Base for example. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people visit the base daily. It is the only basic training base in the U.S. Air Force, and hosts schools for other training specialties as well. The graduates of these programs may end up going all over the world. Already, visitation for basic training graduation has been halted  disrupting the lives of not only the trainees, but their families as well.

I put this decision on par with whoever had the idea of using Agent Orange to defoliate the jungles of Vietnam. I dont think the planners looked at the possible short-term consequences or long-term impact of either program.

George W. Hollis

On ExpressNews.com: Air Force tells families not to attend Lackland graduations because of coronavirus risk

Sanders not for me

I think Sen. Bernie Sanders just sealed his fate with a lot of Americans in their mid-40s and older.

Im 72 years old, and his recent speech made it clear to me he doesnt want to be my president. He pointed out that his progressive (socialist) movement overwhelmingly appeals to the future population. Those of us who have been taxpaying citizens for more than 50 years probably dont matter to those attracted to his movement.

This radical idea turns its back on the generations who built the United States into the worlds leading nation, but still isnt good enough for his supporters  many of whom have never paid taxes or held responsible jobs, but accepted college loans and have now decided they dont want to pay them back.

What a shame it has come to this, but it is really our fault for spoiling this generation, which supports Sanders and expects to have everything handed to them without making the effort and paying the price.

Joe Caddel

On ExpressNews.com: Sanders not dropping out but where does he go from here?

Obsessed with time

Re: Lets fall back but not spring forward again, Editorial, Tuesday:

Concerning the rationality of national clock changing, I dont believe anything beneficial was accomplished, and we can sigh with relief that only two changes were mandated.

With but a single stove clock running on electricity and the rest of my clocks using batteries, it took me over an hour to get the time changed and batteries replaced.

Falling back and springing forward should be reserved for circus clowns, not imposed on rational Americans whose lives are too much controlled by an irrational obsession with time.

David Stanley
Chaos gripped major US airports on Sunday as Americans returning from coronavirus-hit European countries overwhelmed authorities attempting to process the surge.

Frustrated passengers complained of hours-long lines, crowded and unsanitary conditions and general disarray in the system for screening people for symptoms of the virus.

"Very close quarters," Ann Lewis Schmidt told CNN, describing conditions at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD). "So if we didn't have the virus before, we have a great chance of getting it now!" Schmidt said.

US airports have been hit with a flood of Americans, many of them students, since restrictions on travel from Europe ordered by US President Donald Trump took effect at midnight on Friday.

The United States on Saturday extended the ban on travel from Europe, South Korea and China to Britain and Ireland. Only US citizens and legal residents are being allowed in from those countries, and they are then supposed to self-quarantine for 14 days.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said the crowds and lines at O'Hare were "unacceptable and need to be addressed immediately," in a tweet directed at Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, who is coordinating the administration's response to the pandemic.

"@realDonaldTrump @VP since this is the only communication medium you pay attention to, you need to do something NOW," he said.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was equally scathing. "The reactionary, poorly planned travel ban has left thousands of travelers at ORD forced into even greater health risk," she tweeted.

"@realdonaldtrump and @CBP: no one has time for your incompetence. Fully staff our airport right now, and stop putting Americans in danger." CBP stands for Customs and Border Patrol.

Similar conditions were reported at New York's JFK Airport and in Dallas.

Chad Wolf, acting Homeland Security secretary, acknowledged the long lines in a tweet and said his department was trying to add screening capacity.

"It currently takes 60 seconds for medical professionals to screen each passenger. We will be increasing capacity but the health and safety of the American public is first & foremost."

The airport bottlenecks were the latest evidence of turbulence in the administration's response to a pandemic that started in China in December and has since spread worldwide.

President Donald Trump, who had played down the risks early on, was himself tested for the virus on Friday night, days after potentially being exposed to it during a visit by Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro.

"This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative," the president's physician Sean Conley said in a Saturday memo.

Contrary to medical advice, the president was seen on Friday shaking hands all around as he gathered his coronavirus response team at the White House, a practice he said he owed to long-time habit as a politician but which he said would have to change.

The White House announced earlier in the day that "out of an abundance of caution, temperature checks are now being performed on any individuals who are in close contact with the president and vice president."

Before Saturday's briefing, a member of the White House medical team took the temperature of all journalists wishing to attend.

One of them was excluded after a high reading.

In announcing the extended travel ban on Saturday, Pence said the returning Americans would be "funneled through specific airports and processed."

Trump meanwhile advised against non-essential travel, and said officials were considering imposing travel restrictions within the United States.

"If you don't have to travel, I wouldn't do it," Trump told the news conference. "We want this thing to end. We don't want a lot of people getting infected."

Trump spoke to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday about the new restrictions, according to the White House press office.

European officials have reacted angrily to Trump's sweeping travel ban, which also caused widespread consternation among travelers.

The original 30-day US ban on travel from the 26 countries in Europe's Schengen border-free zone took effect on Saturday, but notably excluded Britain and Ireland.

A senior administration official said he believed that the new limits on travel from the UK and Ireland would be for the same period of time as the restrictions already imposed on continental Europe.

The administration had hoped to stop anyone from the continent using the UK and Ireland as transit points en route to the United States, the official told reporters in a background briefing, "but that is proving operationally very difficult for us."
Actor Richa Chadha and filmmaker Ekta Kapoor exchanged some important words about the coronavirus outbreak in India, specifically a tweet by comedian Aditi Mittal about people who are bolting out of hospitals despite being put under quarantine.

On Sunday, Richa retweeted a tweet by Aditi In which she had written that people running away from hospitals could also be a marker of their lack of trust in authorities. All these people running away from hospitals and medical authorities in India when they have symptoms of #Covid19 is the best indicator of the relationship and trust that the average Indian citizen has with the state and government, the tweet read. Reposting it, Richa had written Though no one condones this behaviour.

Cant possibly politicise this Ekta, cuz the political parties in each state are different, and people have been infected pan-India. Those who ran away, evaded quarantine are irresponsible, but if you ask them why, its a general mistrust of authorities. Not making this up. https://t.co/NbzhuqdJvp  TheRichaChadha (@RichaChadha) March 15, 2020

However, Ekta said she didnt agree with Aditi. I dont agree! Its not d time to politisize a pandemic !ths has less to do with d authorities that are risking their own lives ...n more to do with irresponsibility!wanna see if they would run if they were getting a reward, she wrote in a tweet.

Richa replied, Cant possibly politicise this Ekta, cuz the political parties in each state are different, and people have been infected pan-India. Those who ran away, evaded quarantine are irresponsible, but if you ask them why, its a general mistrust of authorities. Not making this up.

Also read: Amitabh Bachchan cancels Sunday meet at Jalsa amid coronavirus crisis: I am not going to come, take precautions

On Saturday, five people suspected of coronavirus escaped from a hospital in Nagpur city of Maharashtra and were traced later by the police. Last week, Karnataka police launched a hunt for a man who escaped from a hospital in Managluru where he was admitted on suspicion of coronavirus. Also last week, an Irish man suspected to be infected with coronavirus fled from government hospital in Odishas Cuttack.

The number of COVID-19 positive cases has gone up to 107 in the country. Coronavirus, which originated in Chinas Wuhan city in December last year, has so far spread to more than 100 countries, infecting over 1,30,000 people. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared coronavirus a pandemic.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
SMSD parent tests positive for coronavirus LENEXA, KS (KCTV) - The Shawnee Mission School District said in a letter on Saturday that an elementary school student's parent has tested positive for COVID-19. The parent's child attends Lenexa Hills Elementary School and the family is currently in self-quarantine.

Right now Johnson County is the hardest hit in the COVId-19 crisis. Here's a school update and more info about Golden Ghetto community spread:
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Ghana has increased to six, according to the Director of Public Health at Ghana Health Service, Dr. Badu Sarkodie.



All the six confirmed cases were imported into the country.



Briefing the press on the current status of COVID-19 in the country at the Information Ministry, on Sunday, March 15, 2020, Dr Badu Sarkodie indicated that four more cases have been recorded.



It would be recalled that on Thursday, Ghana recorded its first cases after two men from Turkey and Norway tested positive.



According to him on Friday, 13th March 2020, two cases were recorded; one in the Ashanti Region and the other in the Greater Accra Region.



"The first is a 56-year-old Ghanaian who returned from a trip in the United Kingdom on the 4th of March. He stayed in the UK for 10 days. He developed symptoms on the 12th of March and reported to a health facility in Obuasi," said Dr. Sarkodie.



The second case in this batch was a 41-year-old Ghanaian male. He reported to the Tema General Hospital on the 14th of March with fever and acute respiratory illness. He had travelled to Turkey and Germany within the past 14 days. Results from Noguchi came back positive.



Both cases had no symptoms on arrival.



Dr. Badu however assured that all four cases are very stable and under observation. They are receiving treatment under isolation conditions.



Saturday



On 14th March 2020, two cases were again confirmed.



The first case was a 42-year-old man who had returned from Switzerland and the UK. The second was a 41-year-old man who had returned from Germany and Turkey.



"This brings to a total of six confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ghana, there are no deaths and this is the situation as at March 14, 2020. All the 6 cases were imported into Ghana," he added.





Listen to Dr Sarkodie 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.

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My Argentinian husband and business partner, Diego, introduced me to Buenos Aires during the economic crisis. I have seen it rise and prosper since. It's a vibrant city, with influences from Spain, Italy, and even Ireland.

Stay at the Nuss Buenos Aires Soho, in the Palermo area of the city. Divided into Soho and Hollywood districts, it was historically a run-down residential area. Revitalised in recent years, it is now buzzing with boutique hotels, restaurants and nightlife.

On arrival in Argentina, I crave a traditional parilla restaurant, for asado [Argentine barbecue]. Try La Posada, in the Belgarno area.

Breakfast on a terrace in the Palermo district is lovely, followed by a browse through the amazing shops. Have lunch at Morelia, for authentic Italian pizza, cooked Argentina-style on the parrilla [barbecue].

Saturday afternoon is about exploring the unique neighbourhoods. Recoleta and Retiro in the city centre are like Paris, with architecture echoing the heyday of Argentina.

Visit the famous Teatro Colon on Avenue 9th de Julio with its 14 lanes of traffic, and see the Casa Rosada on Plaza de Mayo, home to the balcony made famous by Evita Peron.

Sunday is the time to visit San Telmo, the original bohemian area and home to tango. Plaza Dorrego is the spot to sit and have lunch and enjoy street performers, artists and live tango shows.

Evan McAuliffe is co-owner of Peperina Bistro, Dunville Ave, D6, see peperina.ie
Seven people have been displaced by an electrical fire that damaged two adjacent homes Saturday in York.

According to the York City Department of Fire and Rescue Services, the fire was reported on the 300 block of Carlisle Avenue Saturday.

In the first home, the fire was confined to the basement with smoke and damage throughout the property, causing $10,000 worth of damage.

In neighboring home, there was damage to the electrical panel, totaling $2,500.

The Red Cross of Greater PA says it is providing financial assistance for food, comfort kits, clothing and pet care to seven adults.

No injuries were reported.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 15) Three more local governments in Metro Manila have declared a state of calamity as coronavirus disease cases in the capital region continue to rise.

The city councils of Manila, Pasay and San Juan have passed resolutions placing their respective areas under a state of calamity. The move will give authorities access to the local quick response or calamity fund.

Speaking to CNN Philippines, San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora said the budget will help the local government procure the essentials in the campaign against COVID-19, including medicines, food, testing kits, emergency tents, and ventilators for the hospitals.

Quezon City, the region's most populous city, earlier also declared a state of calamity after it recorded 6 positive COVID-19 cases.

Makati City Mayor Abby Binay said her government is also expected to pass a resolution for the calamity fund by Monday.

There are now 140 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in the Philippines, including 11 deaths. Globally, the infectious disease has infected more than 156,000 people in 142 different countries and territories, including China.
Uttarakhand on Sunday reported its first confirmed case of coronavirus with a probationer at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) testing positive for the virus.

The probationer had returned from Spain on March 11, Director (Health) SK Gupta told PTI.

A designated laboratory in Haldwani confirmed he is suffering from coronavirus, he said.

He has been admitted at the isolation ward of Doon Medical College and Hospital, the official said.

Originally from Agra in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, the probationer's swab samples had been sent along with that of another person to Haldwani for testing as they had both returned from Spain recently, he said.

The second person has tested negative, he said quoting, reports from Haldwani that arrived on Sunday.

Swab samples of the two had been sent after they showed coronavirus symptoms, he said.

Reports of four others with a travel history to Russia and Finland are awaited from Haldwani, he said.

They were part of a 28-member batch of trainees/probationers who had returned from a trip to different foreign countries recently, the official said.

Parts of the FRI's new hostel where the trainees stay has been divided into quarantine and isolation zones, he said.

Uttarakhand has declared coronavirus as an epidemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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
One of Britain's most respected Army regiments, which boasts Prince William as its Colonel-in-Chief, is facing embarrassment after a high-profile supporter was accused of child sexual abuse.

Ben Baker, a wealthy American, forged such close links with the Irish Guards that an annual trophy awarded to cadets was named in his honour. The Irish Guards cadet branch is known as the 'Mini Micks' and recruits children aged as young as 12.

Baker often wore a distinctive Stetson bearing an Irish Guards badge and is also thought to have sponsored dinners, gifted items of silverware to the Sergeant's Mess, and made donations to regimental associations.

Allegations: Ben Baker forged close links with the Irish Guards

He also acquired a pedigree wolfhound from a breeder in County Tipperary that became the regiment's mascot in 2006, and has attended a string of functions, including the presenting of shamrocks by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the annual St Patrick's Day parade. But The Mail on Sunday can reveal that the 64-year-old recently stood trial for the alleged abuse of underage boys. The jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict on the charges against Baker, a US military civilian contractor, leading to the judge declaring a mis-trial.

Police in Concord, New Hampshire, who brought the case, are now awaiting a decision from the county attorney over whether there will be a retrial.

Following Baker's trial, the Regimental Sergeant Major of the Irish Guards, Andy Hughes  an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran  sought to dampen speculation in the regiment about the American's alleged misdemeanours, for the sake of the Guards and their Colonel-in-Chief.

In a WhatsApp message to senior colleagues, he wrote: 'There are lots of stories doing the rounds about Ben Baker. Whether or not he is guilty, we need to minimise and ensure the story doesn't get shared on social media by anyone [from] guardsman up. Bearing in mind he [Baker] has a strong affiliation with the Sergeant's Mess, not only do we need to protect ourselves and the regiment but also the Duke of Cambridge, as the last thing the Royal Family need now is another story in the papers.'

Last night, Kensington Palace said that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had not been formally introduced to Baker at any Irish Guards events. However, he is understood to have attended ceremonies at which the Duke and Duchess were guests of honour.

In 2018, Baker attended the traditional presenting of shamrocks to the regiment's soldiers by their Colonel-in-Chief. However, there is no way the Duke of Cambridge could have any idea about his alleged crimes.

The Ministry of Defence declined to answer detailed questions about Baker's involvement with the regiment. A spokesman said: 'This individual has no formal affiliation with the Irish Guards.'
To the City of Stamford, its officials, residents and visitors:

I would like to thank former Mayor Michael Pavia and Mayor David Martin for the incredible privilege to serve Stamford. I was fortunate to work alongside talented and dedicated public servants. I enjoyed learning from them, sometimes challenging them and growing with them to benefit this great city.

As a father of five, I am extremely passionate about children and public school education.

Despite my children not attending Stamford schools (they are in public schools where we live), I worked tirelessly on behalf of the students, teachers and administrators to ensure that they were provided with a suitable environment in which to learn and thrive. As chief financial officer of the city, I was even more passionate about finding a way to do it with the lowest burden possible to taxpayers.

My work on behalf of Stamford students and teachers was not finished. I recognized, as most will soon come to realize, that several of our school buildings require major capital investment or physical replacement. To accomplish what our city deserves requires dynamic leadership and action. It was and remains my conviction that our traditional model of designing, constructing and maintaining our public school buildings cannot effectively address our needs.

I developed a potential plan  sure it might have been unconventional, but it was certainly innovative and had a logical premise. It was met with skepticism and resistance, both anticipated and warranted on some level. Subsequently, the Board of Representatives made it abundantly clear that this concept would not be explored further. Meanwhile, our problems are only getting worse and we have seen no viable alternative.

I cannot speak to the motivations of our legislators. I can only speak to mine which was to find a solution to a major problem. Because I believe my public/private partnership approach has significant merit, I made the personal choice to explore possibilities of how to effectively implement this transformative concept, albeit somewhere other than Stamford. My decision to join Building and Land Technology will allow me to pursue my idea with an organization that shares the same vision of how to deliver a smarter method of ensuring the best facilities for our childrens education.

I am certain that I made a positive difference in the city and encourage the mayor and his administration to thoroughly review any and all of my work. The only thing I am more certain of is the integrity with which I executed my position. I am extremely proud of my tenure in Stamford and grateful for the opportunity to have served.

Michael Handler is the former director of administration for the City of Stamford. He resides in New Canaan.
The death of 10 more coronavirus patients across the UK on Saturday and a surge in the number of people confirmed to have been infected prompted Boris Johnson to announce radical plans for a national effort to tackle the epidemic.

After the UK death toll nearly doubled in 24 hours, the prime minister is to urge manufacturers to step up production of new ventilators and other medical equipment to prepare for increased pressure on the NHS.

In a conference call with firms on Monday, Mr Johnson will confirm that the government is to buy up stocks of the new equipment.

The partnership between the public and private sectors will also extend to hospitals, with the negotiations between the NHS and private health firms to boost capacity. Downing Street indicated that the NHS would pay for access to beds in private hospitals.

Last night pressure on the government to act increased as hundreds of scientists warned that the official response to the coronavirus epidemic is risking many more lives that necessary.

In an open letter, more than 295 academics living and working in the UK backed calls for immediate measures to restrict the spread of Covid-19. They criticised the UKs strategy of delaying restrictions in a bid to achieve herd immunity, arguing that it would put the NHS under even more stress.

The criticism from scientists follows the latest guidance from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) that household isolation would soon be needed to shield the vulnerable.

In another unprecedented move, people aged over 70 will be told to stay at home for four months under one proposal likely to be introduced within the next 20 days, according to reports.

Mr Johnson had come under increasing pressure to announce more restrictive steps to halt the spread of Covid-19, after France and Spain both announced partial lockdowns.

The government indicated it was preparing to introduce new measures to ban mass gatherings next week, followed by the closure of schools, pubs and restaurants.

All 10 patients who have died since Friday were in at risk groups, said Englands chief medical officer Chris Whitty. They were being cared for at NHS Trusts in Chester, Buckinghamshire, the West Midlands, Leicester and London.

I understand this increase in the number of deaths linked to Covid-19 will be a cause of concern for many, Mr Whitty added.

The public should know ever measure we are taking is seeking to save lives and protect the most vulnerable.

As the total number of confirmed cases in the UK rose from 798 to 1,140, it was reported that a mother and her newborn baby had tested postive at North Middlesex Hospital, in Edmonton. Doctors are trying to establish whether the infant was infected during birth or while in the womb.

Two hours after the UK confirmed its largest daily increase in cases, US vice president Mike Pence confirmed the ban on travel to Europe would be extended to the UK and Ireland.

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 new restrictions will go into effect on Monday evening at midnight. Chad Wolf, the the acting secretary of homeland security, said Donald Trump made the decision because of the rising number of coronavirus cases there.

Spain, which has 5,753 confirmed cases and 193 deaths, declared a 15-day state of emergency on Saturday night, effective immediately.

People will only be allowed to leave their homes to buy food and medicine, travel to work, go to medical centres and banks, or care for the young and the elderly. All restaurants, bars, hotels, schools and universities were closed nationwide and Jet2 planes from the UK turned back in mid-air as the airline announced it was cancelling all flights to the country.

Meanwhile France announced that cafes, shops, restaurants and cinemas would be shut down from midnight. Food stores, pharmacies and gas stations were exempted from the closures.

Italy, the worst affected nation outside China, is already under total lockdown in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus which has caused 1,441 deaths and infected at least 21,000 people. Belgium has also closed schools, restaurants and bars as well as cancelled sporting and cultural events.

In China, which first introduced city-wide quarantines on 23 January, the number of daily new cases has continued to fall, with just 11 confirmed infections, 17 suspected infections, and 13 deaths reported for Friday.

Additional reporting by agencies
(CNN)  The three coalition members wounded when rockets struck a military base in Iraq on Saturday were US personnel, a US military official told CNN.

It was not immediately clear whether they were military personnel or civilian.

The al-Taji base was hit by its second rocket attack in a week early on Saturday local time, Col. Myles B. Caggins III, a spokesman for the international Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), confirmed on Twitter.

Caggins said three coalition troops and two Iraqi troops were wounded and authorities were assessing the damage.

Iraq's Baghdad Operations Command said earlier on Saturday that several Katyusha rockets landed inside the airbase.

In a statement, the Operations Command said they knew where the rockets were fired from.

"Our security forces have discovered the location of the firing of Katyusha rockets that targeted al-Taji airbase north of the capital Baghdad this morning. We discovered 7 rocket launchpads inside a parking garage in the area of Abu al-Ezzam," it said.

The statement added that the owner of the parking garage, employees and all those present were taken in for questioning by Baghdad police.

The Joint Operations Command described the attack as "brutal" and said the injured Iraqis were "all in a critical condition."

There have been multiple rocket attacks in Iraq in recent weeks. Two US service members and one British coalition service member were killed and around a dozen others injured in an attack on the same base on Wednesday.

The US said Thursday it had assessed that an Iranian-backed group was responsible for the rocket attack.

The two Americans were the first to die in Iraq since December when a US contractor was killed in a rocket attack on a base near Kirkuk.

The December attack prompted retaliatory US airstrikes against militia targets in Iraq and Syria. Trump administration officials pointed to the contractor's death as their justification for air strikes that killed Iran's second most powerful leader, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, and spiked tensions around the world.

The latest attack on the al-Taji base comes after the US carried out retaliatory airstrikes on Thursday against multiple Iranian-backed militia sites in Iraq, according to the US Defense Department.

At least six people were killed -- five of them military personnel -- and 11 others were injured by the US-led coalition air strikes, Iraqi military said in statement.

The Iraqi military said the US-led coalition attack violated the partnership agreement.

"The joint operations command strongly condemns this attack that targeted the Iraqi military establishment, which violates the principle of partnership and coalition between the Iraqi security forces and the party that planned and executed this treacherous attack."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Several Americans were injured when rockets hit Iraqi base for second time in a week."
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 15

Trend:

Citizens of Azerbaijan residing in Saudi Arabia are given a number of recommendations, Trend reports.

Azerbaijani embassy in Saudi Arabia addressed fellow citizens.

In connection with the rapid spread of a new type of coronavirus, it is necessary to carefully monitor the official information released by the government of Saudi Arabia and observe personal hygiene.

The recommendations are as follows:

"Do not use public transport if it is not particularly necessary, and do not visit crowded places. In case of having any doubt about coronavirus infection, undergo an early medical examination, and contact the embassy hotline for this purpose (+9966 11 419 2382, +988 54 567 2583)"
Spains death toll from coronavirus more than doubled in 24 hours to 288 as the country entered a partial lockdown.

The health ministry said the total number of confirmed cases had also risen from 5,700 to 7,753, with around half of all infections concentrated in the capital of Madrid.

It follows the declaration of a 15-day state of emergency and restrictions on movement to commuting to work and necessary errands.

Restaurants, bars, and most retail shops are closed and public transport has been reduced.

The new cases in Spain bring the total across Europe to more than 44,400, as of midday on Sunday. There are now more than 152,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 worldwide, although the true total including as-yet-undiagnosed infections is likely to be far higher.

Spains prime minister Pedro Sanchez, whose wife has tested positive for the virus, described the partial lockdown as a new phase. He added: We wont hesitate in doing what we need must to beat the virus. We are putting health first.

After the public broadcast, residents in cities across the country cheered and applauded from their balconies to show their appreciation for health workers.

Footage of the unprecedented show of appreciation was shared widely on social media, captioned with the words aplauso sanitario, (I applaud the health services) and quedate en casa (stay at home).

In Barcelona, people who ventured out on quiet streets to buy bread at a bakery on Sunday formed long lines with a metre between each person to reduce the risk of contagion.

Police patrolled parks and told people who were not taking their dog on a quick walk to go home.

The citys mayor Ada Colau said the state of emergency is necessary to unify our efforts so we can all go in the same direction.

If we show solidarity and think about one another we can get through this, she said.

Additional reporting by agencies
In response to Pakistan raking up Kashmir in the important SAARC COVID-19 meet, Indian government sources on Sunday, state that it has been called 'unwarranted and out of context'. Moreover, government sources have also commented that Khan's Special assistant on Health sent by Pakistan was uncomfortable in speaking and was given a slip (to recite from) - which the government sources believe was 'churlish approach'. Slamming the unwanted politicisation, sources said that it was a humanitarian issue that was politicised by Pakistan.

Pakistan raises Kashmir at SAARC COVID-19 meet, demands lifting of 'lockdown in J&K'

Pakistan rakes up Kashmir at COVID-19 meet

Earlier in the day, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's special assistant Dr. Zafar Mirza took a shocking political jibe at the SAARC Conference on COVID-19 by raking up Kashmir while discussing the seven countries' efforts to battle the epidemic. Mirza expressed his 'concerns' that 19 cases have been detected in Jammu-Kashmir. Demanding India remove the 'lockdown in J&K immediately', he said it was imperative in the face of the emergency. The Pakistan Prime Minister was the only country leader who did not attend the meeting.

Coronavirus Outbreak: ISIS advice terrorists to 'cover mouth while yawning, sneezing'

"We hope that during this COVID-19 our member countries will provide access to all the regions. In this regard, it is a matter of concern that COVID-19 has reported from Jammu and Kashmir. In the view of emergency its imperative that all lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir must be lifted immediately, opening up communication and movement," said Mirza. Moreover, reports state that Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is probing into Mirza's alleged involvement in smuggling 20 million face masks abroad.

PM Modi announces 'COVID-19 Emergency fund'; pledges $10 mn to battle pandemic in SAARC

Pakistan locks down POK

Incidentally, the Pakistan administration has imposed a health emergency across Pakistan Occupied Kashmir on Friday as 'a precautionary measure' in spite of allegedly reporting no cases of COVID-19. The Pakistan government has announced that all the schools, colleges and universities across PoK will remain shut till April 6 and has installed strict screening mechanism at all 11 entry points. Meanwhile, in Pakistan, the tally of Coronavirus cases has risen upto 34, as of date.

PM Modi leads SAARC conference on Coronavirus, shares 'Prepare, don't panic' mantra
(FPIs) have withdrawn a whopping Rs 37,976 crore on a net basis from the Indian in March so far amid the pandemic triggering fears of a global recession.

Overseas investors pulled out a net sum of Rs 24,776.36 crore from equities and Rs 13,199.54 crore from the debt segment between Mar 2-13, depositories data showed.

This translates into a total net outflow of Rs 37,975.90 crore during the period under review.

Prior to this, foreign investors were net buyers for six consecutive months since September 2019.

"The spread of outbreak, which has now been declared a pandemic, and continued slowdown in the global economy, has created a vicious cycle which is consuming investors worldwide," said Himanshu Srivastava, senior analyst manager research, Morningstar Investment Adviser India.

Global reeled last week after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a pandemic, and expressed deep concern over the "alarming levels of inaction".

Given the ongoing scenario, foreign investors have taken a flight to safer investment options, such as dollar denominated asset classes and gold as against fixed income securities of emerging like India, he added.

Going forward, as coronavirus crosses boundaries and affects other countries, it may have a more serious impact on the already slowing global economy and on foreign flows into emerging markets such as India, Srivastava said.



"The markets have been very volatile all over the globe. Many countries are expected to announce stimulus packages and tax breaks to support various industries as they deal with the effects of this virus' outbreak. When such announcements are made, investors' sentiments are expected to change," said Harsh Jain, co-founder and COO at Groww.
Former Home and Away actress Isabel Lucas was the envy of many Australian stars in 2017 when she landed a recurring role on US television series, MacGyver.

But after two seasons on the show, filmed in Los Angeles, Isabel quit and abruptly moved back to her hometown of Melbourne.

On Sunday, the 35-year-old explained why she chose to give up a promising career overseas to relocate Down Under from California.

'It wasn't healthy': Former Home And Away star Isabel Lucas has revealed why she quit her US role in MacGyver and left her Hollywood life behind to relocate back to her native Australia. Pictured at Melbourne Fashion Festival in March 2020

Isabel told the Herald Sun that working on the show was exhausting, and often consisted of working up to 15-hours a day, six days a week.

'You'd start at 5am and wrap around 9.30pm and six days a week. I feel exhausted just talking about it,' she recalled.

Even on her days off, Isabel felt the pressure to use her downtime to prepare for her week ahead, learning lines and honing her accents as part of her MacGyver role as secret agent Samantha Cage.

Hard work: Isabel told the Herald Sun that working on the show was exhausting, and often consisted of working up to 15-hours a day, six days a week in LA. Pictured: Isabel playing secret agent Samantha Cage on MacGyver

In addition to exhausting working conditions, Isabel said she didn't feel a strong sense of community in Hollywood and would prefer to live in Australia and travel abroad for specific projects only.

'It's just like being in a little fishbowl and over a long time it's not healthy. It's not a natural, healthy sense of community, we don't function naturally that way.'

On her IMDB account, it shows Isabel is currently in pre-production for movie The Ogilvy Fortune - which is due to be filmed in America.



Throwback! Isabel played Tasha Andrews on Home and Away between 2003 and 2006, during which time Chris Hemsworth also appeared on the show

Isabel played Tasha Andrews on Home and Away between 2003 and 2006, during which time Chris Hemsworth also appeared on the show.

She shot to international stardom in 2009 after she landed a role as a robot shapeshifter disguised as a college student in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Visiting Byron Bay regularly, she remains good friends with the Hemsworths and even comforted Liam after his split from Miley Cyrus last year.
Dozens of revelers dressed in green defied health experts coronavirus warnings to use social distancing to protect themselves and still went out for a night on the town in downtown Harrisburg.

Still, it appeared none of the citys most popular bars on 2nd Street were packed with as many patrons as one would normally expect for St. Patricks Day Weekend 2020.

Gov. Tom Wolf and Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine have held daily press conferences updating commonwealth residents on the number of reported cases of the novel coronavirus here.

As of Saturday, there are 47 people who have tested positive for the coronavirus in Pennsylvania, including three from Cumberland County.

Wolf and his administration continue to communicate that its best to reduce the risk of getting the virus by practicing good hygiene and avoiding large gatherings.

The governor has called for tougher measures in the Philadelphia suburbs. Wolf has asked for non-essential businesses - including bars, clubs and concert venues - to shut down in Montgomery, Delaware, Chester and Bucks counties.

So far, he hasnt called for such sweeping measures throughout the commonwealth, although he has asked residents to limit trips and stay away from big crowds to protect themselves and limit the spread of the virus.

Restaurant owners around the Harrisburg area are taking measures to protect their staff and customers. At Mangia Qui and Rubicon restaurants in Harrisburg, groups of diners are being spread out to avoid close contact in dining rooms, said Staci Basore, co-owner.

Basore told PennLive food writer Sue Gleiter that about 17 scheduled event such as fundraisers have been canceled at the restaurants. Other restaurant owners say they are seeing consumers postpone planned events.

I really anticipate it to be difficult through March and April, and quite frankly my concern lies with my staff, Basore said.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PENNSYLVANIA: Click to see where cases of the coronavirus are in Pennsylvania are located.



Text PennLive to 717-745-7532 to sign up to have breaking news and essential updates about the coronavirus delivered right to your mobile device. Data and messaging rates may apply.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 15

Trend:

Azerbaijans embassy in Georgia continues to render necessary assistance to Azerbaijani citizens, who want to return from Europe to the country through Turkey and Georgia, Trend reports.

Azerbaijans embassy in Georgia organized the transportation of 30 more Azerbaijani citizens, who have returned from Europe, from Sarp customs checkpoint on the border of Turkey with Georgia to Red Bridge customs checkpoint on special buses, Trend reports.

They will pass special check-up and in the case of necessity, will be quarantined for 14-28 days.

Previously, 30 Azerbaijani citizens returned to the country with the assistance of the embassy.

A hotline has been created at the embassy: +995 577 06 50 50
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With 22 charges against BJP, SP to hold protests in UP Image Source: IANS News

Lucknow, March 15 : Armed with 22 charges against the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party will now hold demonstrations and rallies on the 22nd of every month in the state.

The protests and rallies will be held at tehsil level and will be led by the Samajwadi Party (SP) MLAs, MPs and other senior leaders.

A decision to this effect was taken at the party's national executive meeting in Lucknow on Saturday where the leadership also discussed a 'charge-sheet' against the BJP government at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh.

Significantly, party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, his estranged younger brother Shivpal Yadav (who continues to be a SP member despite having floated his own party) and senior SP MP Mohammed Azam Khan, who is in jail, were missing. All three are founder members of the party.

The party, however, passed a resolution lambasting the BJP government for its politics of hate and cited police action against Azam Khan as an example.

The party condemned the manner in which police cases were lodged against Azam Khan. The party described FIRs as baseless and unfounded.

Senior SP spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said: "We will highlight 22 issues through these protests. A 'cycle yatra' will also be held on March 23 to mark the birth anniversary of socialist ideologue Dr Ram Manohar Lohia. We will reach out to people and tell them how BJP has failed on all fronts and is trying to portray development works of the SP government as its own achievements."
Germany will close its borders with France, Austria and Switzerland from Monday, according to the German newspaper Bild.

Free movement of goods will remain and commuters will be allowed to cross borders for work.

However, closing borders was not only to contain the Covid-19 epidemic but also to prevent panic bulk purchases by foreigners, which was reportedly causing supply problems in areas around the borders, Bild said.

Germany has 5,426 coronavirus cases, with 11 deaths, according to official figures.

Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed the move, which police will enforce, with the countrys regional leaders.

Berlin and Cologne decided on Saturday to close all bars, clubs, cinemas, theatres and concert halls with immediate effect in at attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The capital and many states are shutting schools next week until the end of the Easter holidays.

Ms Merkel says 70 per cent of the countrys population is likely to become infected.

She has already urged people to reduce social contact, including children stopping visiting their grandparents.

Everyone can contribute with his or her personal behaviour ... so that the speed at which people become infected slows down so that our healthcare system is not overburdened, she said.

Neighbouring Austria is asking people not to leave the house unless for work or food shopping.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-16 05:42:35|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BELGRADE, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Sunday announced a state of emergency in the country to suppress the outbreak of coronavirus.

Speaking at the presidency building this evening after meeting government members and medical experts, Vucic revealed that measures within the state of emergency will include closure of schools and kindergartens, while hospitals will be secured by the army.

He said that the country wishes to protect the elders (older than 65), who are most vulnerable to the COVID-19, and called on them to stay at home.

The president also announced controlled measures of isolation, saying people who don't respect the measures could face up to three years jail term.

According to Vucic, Serbia has so far purchased 5 million masks from China, and is looking to other medical aid, such as respiratory ventilators, to prepare for the imminent rise in the number of serious cases. Currently, only two patients out of 48 infected in Serbia are on ventilators, according to the president.

Vucic said that foreigners won't be allowed to enter Serbia, while all returnees will be quarantined no matter where they are from. All arriving Serbian citizens will be quarantined for at least 14 days, while those from infection hotbeds for 28 days.

According to the president, "the only ones allowed will be Chinese doctors" who were asked to come to help treat patients in upcoming days.

Vucic said that China is the only country in the world that can help Serbia at this point.
Even as students are ordered to stay home by the governor, Livingston Parish school employees have been ordered to come to work Monday and Tuesday to help work out plans to continue some level of instruction and other services for the districts 26,000-plus students over the next month.

Livingston Parish Superintendent Joe Murphy issued the directive Saturday afternoon. He said he intends to share publicly a blended instruction plan by Tuesday, which will employ a mix of online instruction and printed take-home resources.

Livingston Parish schools ask for patience as they develop academic plan for monthlong closure Livingston Parish School Superintendent Joe Murphy on Friday asked students, parents and employees to remain patient and understanding as th

Livingston Parish and every other public school district in Louisiana have been scrambling since Gov. John Bel Edwards on Friday ordered that they all close until April 13 in order to combat the coronavirus. The order, however, said they may continue instruction via distance learning as well as offer other services, including providing meals for needy students.

Murphy said Livingstons food service staff will finalize the details early this week but said the student feeding program would involve limited, altered services.

Not every district has ordered all staff to return to work Monday. East Baton Rouge Parish, for instance, is requiring only 12-month employees to come to work Monday.

Invoking the school districts work recovering from the August 2016 floods  Livingston was among the worst-hit parishes  Murphy said Livingston will recover from this crisis as well.

I remain confident, that as we work together, supporting one another, we will overcome whatever circumstances confront us, he added. Livingston Parish has a strong track record of turning challenges into opportunities.
A section of around 10,323 Tripura government teachers, facing termination of jobs due to court orders, continued their uninterrupted 48-hours demonstration on Sunday demanding alternative arrangements to keep their jobs, a leader of the teachers body said.

Leader of the agitating teachers Bimal Saha and other teachers told the media on Sunday that they would intensify their agitations if the states BJP-led government does not take steps to protect their jobs.

Saha, who is the President of the All Tripura 10,323 Ad-hoc Teachers Association told the media that so far 50 teachers had died or committed suicide. He said the state government should provide a job to the family members of those 50 teachers who have died.

The teachers said the BJP leaders before the 2018 assembly elections had promised in their Vision Document and electoral campaigns to protect the jobs of the government teachers.

Over 10,323 government teachers with graduate, post-graduate and under-graduate educational qualifications were inducted into the Tripura government schools in different phases since 2010 when the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left Front government was in power.

The recruitment of these teachers subsequently went to litigation and the Tripura High Court in 2014 terminated all the 10,323 teachers, saying the selection criterion contained discrepancies.

Thereafter, Special Leave Petitions were filed in the Supreme Court by the then Left Front government and a section of teachers. But the apex court upheld the High Court verdict on March 29, 2017.

Following an appeal by the previous Left Front government, the apex court extended their services up to June last year.

After coming to power in March last year, the BJP-led government had filed a fresh appeal in the Supreme Court and the apex court had granted them one-time final extension of their services till March 2020.

An official of the Education Department said though several teachers have been absorbed in other government positions and through separate recruitment processes, including Teachers Eligibility Tests (TET), most of them are facing job losses.
This story was produced by FairWarning, a nonprofit news organization based in Southern California that focuses on public health, consumer and environmental issues.

Deborah Murray was the new economic development director of Caldwell County, North Carolina, when Robert Leslie Stencil came calling in early 2012.

The county, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was hurting: Unemployment was mired in the double digits. Some 10,000 jobs had evaporated in the previous decade, and 6 million square feet of buildings sat vacant  most of them furniture factories, closed by the mass migration of manufacturing jobs overseas, she said.

We were at our most vulnerable time as a community back then, Murray said.

Then along came Stencil, a Charlotte man peddling hope with a 21st century pitch to open an auto manufacturing plant for electric cars and plans to convert regular vehicles to run on compressed natural gas. Murray said Stencil, the founder of Niyato Industries, told her he needed a building for his enterprise that could create 200 to 300 highly skilled jobs.

We wanted to diversify our economy, and here comes this fellow talking about very exciting battery-operated cars, said Murray, a former newspaper publisher.

I wanted to be the one to land the great big fish.

What could go wrong?

ROBERT LESLIE STENCIL (Mecklenburg County Public Records)

Everything, according to federal prosecutors, who eventually exposed Niyato Industries as a $2.7 million investment scam built on the hype, hope and promise of the green energy industry. In January, following a three-week trial, Stencil and an associate were sentenced to a combined 17 years in federal prison for their roles in bilking investors, many of them elderly.

Caldwell County escaped without losing a dollar  just wasted time and dashed hopes, Murray said. But thousands of investors in similar schemes havent been so lucky.

While the U.S. Department of Energy declares America to be in the midst of a clean energy revolution  one that is generating hundreds of billions in economic activity  fraudsters, too, are cashing in.

Story continues

Its very evident that green energy scams are truly evergreen, said Gerri Walsh, senior vice president of investor education at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The not-for-profit organization, supervised by the Securities and Exchange Commission, is authorized by Congress to oversee registered brokers and broker-dealer firms nationwide, helping to protect investors from fraud.

In December, the authority published an article aimed at investors wanting to put money where their values are, such as environmental or socially responsible arenas. Among other things, the agency warned to be on the lookout for green scams and noted that investors should be especially wary of pitches that dangle the prospect of large gains involving small, thinly traded penny stocks.

Niyato Industries, for instance, had promised that its 50-cent-per-share stock would yield 10- to 16-fold returns when the company went public.

I kicked myself all over the place for being so stupid, said Ernie Friesen, 79, of Yuba City, California, who lost $300,000 to Niyato and a related green scheme. Honestly, I think I got greedy.  I learned my lesson.

Walsh and other fraud experts said it is hard to quantify the prevalence of green scams. They do not appear on top 10 scam lists, which feature more familiar money grabs such as Nigerian prince emails, get-rich seminars or Social Security and IRS impostors.

But a review of federal indictments, along with media accounts, reveals the breadth of schemes that recently have seized on alternative, renewable or waste energy products:

In a federal courtroom in Alabama, a father and son were found guilty last year for their roles in a $10 million scheme involving a company that supposedly could convert garbage into ethanol. Donald Watkins Sr. of Atlanta and Donald Watkins Jr. of Birmingham, whose victims included former NBA star Charles Barkley and other sports figures, were accused of using victims money to pay for such things as alimony, back taxes, a private jet and clothing. On the elder Watkins website, an August 2019 post states that he has reported to federal prison where he will be held until the appeals process rightfully overturns this sentence.

The executive of a Florida video surveillance and security company was charged last year in a multimillion-dollar stock and carbon credit scheme, which allegedly targeted victims in the United Kingdom, many of them elderly. The indictment, in the Southern District of New York, accused Roger Ralston of using telemarketers to sell carbon credits, or permits granting the right to emit certain amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The government contends the victims were falsely promised that their environmentally friendly investments were risk-free, could be easily sold and would yield a significant, short-term return  but were, in fact, fake. Ralstons attorney said his client declined to comment.

A Southern California man was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in federal prison in 2018 for multiple investment scams, two with audacious environmental claims. Peter Heinrich Conrad Reinert touted, among other things, a product to increase gas mileage for any car up to 150 miles per gallon, federal prosecutors said. In another ploy, he told investors his company was developing technology to convert used tires to oil. Reinert, who falsely claimed to be a Secret Service agent and Marines intelligence officer, took in more than $7 million  much of which went to luxury cars, purchases at Apples iTunes store and wire transfers to an account in Poland, prosecutors said. Reinerts attorney had no comment.

Fraudsters can turn on a dime when it comes to changing their pitches, Walsh, of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, said. Whatever the hot new industry  theyre able to shift their focus to pitch frauds that capitalize on those themes.

A $1 billion scheme

Individual investors have not been the only targets of green energy scams.

Last year, federal prosecutors in Northern California announced a $1 billion solar energy fraud scheme that ripped off the U.S. Treasury and big institutional investors through the manipulation of federal tax credits, along with bogus equipment sales and rentals. Instead of retirees, the front-line victims of this scheme  besides the IRS  included the paint manufacturer Sherwin-Williams, the insurance giant Progressive Corp. and Warren Buffets conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

The government was absolutely harmed by this, McGregor Scott, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California, said. The government was out a billion dollars in tax revenue.

Described as the biggest criminal fraud case in the history of the Eastern District of California, based in Sacramento, the investigation into DC Solar revealed a complex plot from 2011 to 2018 involving mobile solar generators, false financial statements and phony lease agreements. For the vast majority of investors, the big attraction was the federal tax breaks they would receive for investing in renewable energy, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Andre Espinosa.

In January, the companys husband-and-wife owners, Jeff and Paulette Carpoff, pleaded guilty to the scheme, in which investors agreed to buy generators manufactured by DC Solar, which had touted their versatility and environmental sustainability. The units were mounted on trailers and could be moved around to provide emergency power to cellphone towers and lighting at sporting events. Investors agreed to have the company lease their solar units to third parties to give them a revenue stream, on top of their tax breaks.

McGregor Scott, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, discusses the plea deal reached with Jeff and Paulette Carpoff, the owners of a San Francisco Bay Area solar energy company, in Sacramento Calif., on Jan. 24, 2020. (Rich Pedroncelli / AP file)

Except at least half of the 17,000 mobile solar generators didnt exist, and many were never deployed to the places described in the so-called lease contracts. Investors were given fraudulent reports supposedly tracking their generators and who was leasing them, Espinosa said.

The false periodic reports helped lull the investors into believing, OK, everythings on the up and up, he said.

William Portanova, a Sacramento attorney representing Paulette Carpoff, said the company began legitimately, but over time, corners were cut, then concealed, then lied about to investors.

As with most investment fraud cases, everyone had a good time until the music suddenly stopped and there were not enough chairs, Portanova said in an email. Paulette deeply regrets her involvement and has done everything in her power to make amends.  She does not ask for sympathy.

The break in the case came by way of a whistleblower in July 2018, Espinosa said. The investigation revealed the astonishing proceeds from the scheme headed by the couple from Martinez, a city near San Francisco. According to the government, the Carpoffs used victims money to pay for a minor-league baseball team, a NASCAR race car sponsorship, luxury real estate around the world, a subscription private jet service and a collection of some 150 antique and exotic vehicles.

McGregor Scott (Rich Pedroncelli / AP file)

The Carpoffs are scheduled to be sentenced in May; four others also have pleaded guilty. And, several companies have initiated paybacks to the IRS, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Khasigian.

Malcolm Segal, a Sacramento attorney representing Jeff Carpoff, said his client had a tremendous product, and investors flocked to the table because of the tax advantages. Ultimately, though, DC Solar couldnt keep up with investor demand for generators or find enough customers to sublease the units  and the troubles began, he said.

Carpoff forfeited his many properties and cars because what he wants is for all that money to go to the investors, Segal said. His desire is to see them made whole, if that is possible.

Scott, the U.S. attorney, said that $500 million has been returned to the U.S. Treasury and $120 million has been collected so far in forfeited assets.

The anatomy of a green energy scam

John Smirnow, general counsel for the Solar Energy Industries Association, said that other than the high-profile DC Solar case, the trade group is not seeing much investor fraud at all within the solar industry.

We dont see any unique attributes of solar that would lead to investment fraud, said Smirnow, who oversees the groups consumer protection program.

Solar is increasingly recognized as a mainstream energy choice, he said. Trade group data show that the number of installed residential systems increased more than 13-fold from 2010 through 2018.

Investor fraud doesnt really seem to necessarily target specific industries, Smirnow said.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, however, saw the need in 2009 to issue a green energy scam alert, warning investors to beware. It was the early days of the Obama administration, which had vowed to create a new energy economy and made it a cornerstone of the stimulus package that year. In its alert, the authority cited solar and wind-power companies that made aggressive, dubious claims.

A decade later, the authority executive Walsh said theres no reason to believe the threat is over.

The change of administrations, the passage of time, has not changed the reality that there are still people seeking to capitalize on green energy, she said.

According to the regulatory authority, green investment frauds typically follow one of two paths: the classic Ponzi scheme, or a so-called pump-and-dump stock fraud.

In a Ponzi scheme, such as the Carpoff solar generator case, the scammer promises high rates of return with little risk, then uses funds from new investors to pay supposed returns to early investors. A pump-and-dump ploy involves fraudsters who inflate their stock prices through overly optimistic or false or misleading statements, then sell off their own shares while leaving investors with worthless stock.

Among other things, the authority urges prospective investors to be wary of grandiose claims that this is the next big thing, guarantees of big returns, unsolicited communications from salespeople, and press releases or other statements whipping up unwarranted demand for stock.

I thought I knew better

James G. Bohn, a Massachusetts-based economist who has studied green energy fraud, said that emotions can motivate investors, who have a desire to do good. Others are lured strictly by visions of exorbitant returns, he said.

Both factors came into play in the Niyato Industries case, a scheme from 2012 to 2016 in which Stencil and at least nine others conspired to bilk some 140 investors out of more than $2.7 million, according to federal prosecutors.

The pitch was enticing: Invest in Niyato Industries, a so-called leader in alternative fuel technology, government documents show. According to its executives, the company that was incorporated in Nevada had state of the art facilities, patented technology and lucrative contracts lined up for its electric car manufacturing business  a pitch that later morphed into a supposed business to convert gasoline vehicles to run on compressed natural gas.

People hear about green cars, electric cars or CNG-run vehicles, and they say: That sounds like a good idea. Thats something we should do. I like it, said a Justice Department official who worked on the case, asking not to be named because he is not authorized to speak on the record.

Having a good idea is really critical to these schemes, because its what gets people to think that they should part with their money.

Stencil and his associate, Michael Allen Duke of Richardson, Texas, were sentenced in January; five others have pleaded guilty, while another defendant from Beverly Hills, California, remains at large.

Federal defenders for Stencil did not return phone calls for comment. Stencil recently filed a notice of appeal and asked for an appointed lawyer because he is indigent. Duke also is appealing.

The investors, many of them over 55, were told Niyato was on the verge of an initial public offering of its stock. They were urged to hurry up and get in on the ground floor for just 50 cents a share of the limited stock supply, then watch its value soar to at least $5 a share after the IPO, according to the 2017 indictment in North Carolina.

The promise that theres going to be a high rate of return paid out in a short period of time  that is the hallmark red flag, the Justice Department official said. Legitimate companies who are going public through a legitimate process  they do not make those types of representations.

Niyato salespeople targeted elderly victims because they believed they were more likely to forge a special relationship with them that could develop almost into a friendship, the Justice Department official said.

Ernie Friesen, who will turn 80 in April, said he sank $50,000 into Niyato and $250,000 into another green investment that the government described as a scam with some of the same players. A former food company executive, Friesen left that industry 35 years ago to open an RV dealership in Yuba City, a community of about 67,000 north of Sacramento. He still works every day at the family business, alongside his son and daughter; his wife of 59 years, Irene, has retired.

Ernie and Irene Friesen of Yuba City, Calif. Ernie lost $300,000 about a decade ago after investing in Niyato Industries and a related green-energy scam. (FairWarning)

As owner of All Seasons RV Center, Friesen said he believed his Niyato investment would enable him to open a filling station for customers who bought the companys so-called modified vehicles.

The pitch to me was how successful the company was in signing up government agencies and counties, and that the stock was going to go ballistic, he said.

Friesen said the scam took away a lot of our available cash. Irene Friesen, 79, said she began to grow wary of the aggressive pitchman who continuously called the home number.

And then the calls stopped. Today, the Friesens money is gone, and the couple is left with a manila file folder full of stock certificates.

I dont blame anybody but myself, because I know better, he said. My wife was opposed to it, and we generally dont do anything that were not in complete harmony on. In this case, I thought I knew better.

In the end, there was no Niyato IPO. There were no electric cars, no lucrative contracts, no patented technology, no facilities  and no ability to manufacture vehicles at all. The companys stock was worthless. Stencil had paid a guy in Austin to convert his truck to compressed natural gas, then he wrapped it in the Niyato logo, the Justice Department official said.

Caldwell County rebounds

As for plant locations, Caldwell County was not the only target. According to the Justice Department official, Niyato representatives also paid visits to cities in California and Nevada, similarly talking up a proposed manufacturing plant and seeking an incentive package. The company then issued press releases to stoke investors.

In these kinds of cases, its unlikely that victims will recover much, if any, of their money, the Justice Department official said.

Back in North Carolina, officials grew wary of Niyato in 2012 and backed away, said Deborah Murray, who is still executive director of the Caldwell County Economic Development Commission. She is pleased to report that the countys fortunes have greatly improved since Robert Leslie Stencil and his team blew through  unemployment is way down, the economy is diversified and the furniture industry has made something of a comeback.

When youre new in your job, you want to have a win. And this sounded like a tremendous win, Murray said.

Instead, she said, the dream was empty.
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Editor's note: A number of foreigners living in Vietnam have offered their opinions on smoking habits in Vietnam, as well as suggestions on how to curb smoking in prohibited areas, following a request from Tuoi Tre News.

The following comments have been edited by Tuoi Tre News for better clarity, consistency, and coherence.

A 'smoking-friendly' country

Before coming to Vietnam I chose to research on the Internet whether cities in Vietnam are polluted and what the local behavior is. Surprisingly, I read that Vietnam is a smoking-friendly country and a lot of Vietnamese smoke.

I've been living in the southern province of Tra Vinh for a month, however I have not seen too many people smoking here. Those I do see are mostly men in their forties and fifties who seem to enjoy smoking while talking to their friends on the sidewalk. I saw more people smoking at the airport in Saigon when I arrived than I have seen in a whole month here in Tra Vinh. I assume there are more smokers in bigger cities.

I think non-smokers shouldn't have to endure smelling and breathing second-hand smoke when we go out. People's health is already considerably affected by car and motorbike pollution, there's no need to add another carcinogen to the list, especially when such a huge number of people dying from lung cancer each year.

As for smoking in prohibited places, I assume its mostly due to a combination of minimal law enforcement and here, also negligible penalties. Ive learned that smoking in prohibited places in Vietnam warrants a fine of just VND100,000-300,000 (US$4.3-13)  a sum that seems unexpectedly low. Not that people wouldn't mind being fined, but this amount doesn't seem high enough to dissuade people from smoking in places where they shouldnt be.

Nowadays, everyone should be made aware of the risks incurred to smokers and second-hand smokers' health, so smoking in banned places must be due to ignorance of the law, a disregard of one's or others health, or an addiction to cigarettes. Sadly, there are some smokers who want to stop but cant and others who simply just dont care about their own health.

In France, people are not allowed to smoke indoors unless it's in their home. Theyre also not allowed to smoke in some outdoor spaces, such as parks and train stations. Some places have specific smoking areas so that people who need a cigarette can have one, but those areas seem to be slowly disappearing.

People smoking in banned places throughout France can be fined up to 450 ($501)  approximately 1/4 of the average monthly French salary. If someone smokes in a vehicle (e.g. a car) while a child is inside, that fine can rise as high as 750 ($836).

Business owners can also be fined up to 750 if a patron smokes in a smoke-free area they manage. These steep fines are a serious incentive for people to obey the law and for business owners to strictly prohibit smoking in their bars and cafes.

The French government also includes specific classes about these laws in its school curriculum and our education system raises awareness of what is forbidden, what is not, and the penalties you could incur if you break the law. I can only assume its the same over here.

Historically speaking, there was a time when you could smoke everywhere, but a law passed one day and everything changed drastically.

Moreover, prohibition signs are everywhere. You can't miss them! There's always a sign, security guard, or staff member around to remind people that they cant smoke. There are also more and more cameras (CCTV) in public places which makes it easier for the police to find offenders. Also, French don't mind telling others when their behavior is annoying, and that habit definitely applies to smoking. Simply put, in France, if you dont obey the law, you get into trouble.

Thomas Vaillant from France

A man smokes on the sidewalk in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Quang Dinh / Tuoi Tre

A prominent smoking culture

Though I often see people smoking in public areas, may people here seem to respect the laws and avoid smoking in places where it is prohibited. Whenever I am inside a restaurant that does not permit smoking, people always obey the rules. I personally consider people who choose to disregard those rules as defiant, apathetic, and disrespectful. People should respect smoking prohibitions. If they really need a cigarette, they can go outside. There is no valid reason to smoke in non-permitted areas.

People smoke in banned spaces because they feel there are no real consequences. They know they will not be arrested and little will be done to stop them. Another major reason for people disobeying smoking bans is because smoking culture is so prominent in Vietnam. People smoke everywhere and feel they have the right to smoke whenever they want because there are so many places that allow it. To dissuade people, the current fine for smoking in prohibited places should be increased. Smoking fines in Canada are much higher and its very rare for people to ignore smoking bans.

I believe there are other possible solutions to this issue besides increasing fines. The government could post more signs banning smoking in certain places and advertise the fines. They could also provide more public ashtrays and designated smoking areas near places where smoking is banned. That way, people have somewhere nearby where they can smoke.

In Canada, people who are caught smoking are fined. Fines can be given by either a police officer or a bylaw officer. If Vietnam had officers or security in locations where smoking is banned, officials would have an easier time enforcing regulations. In Canada, people learn about smoking from their parents, television commercials, advertisements, and schools. By the time Canadians reach adulthood, the dangers of smoking are common knowledge. Signs are also posted anywhere smoking is not permitted.

Matthew Stanton Young from Canada

Young Vietnamese seem to smoke less

It is important to follow smoking regulations because second-hand smoke can be a serious invasion of others personal space. It's not just a question of etiquette, but also a question of health.

Non-smokers dont want to feel suffocated by smoke in public areas, especially when theyre with their kids. For these reasons, being a responsible smoker is very important in order to maintain sociability and courtesy, otherwise conflict is bound to arise.

Living in Vietnam, I can see that an important part of the population is smoking. I cant cite any figures or statistics but that is my personal impression. To be more specific, Vietnamese men smoke a lot and a large number of them throw their cigarette butts on the ground. I think throwing cigarette butts in restrooms, apartment hallways, and parking lots here is considered the status quo, however it seriously lowers the hygiene and cleanliness of these places, while enhancing the possibility of social conflict.

Id like to share about a situation that happened in the apartment block where I live. It is a new condominium with mostly Vietnamese families and only a few foreigners. One of the main problems we have is smokers throwing their cigarette butts in the corridors or in the common areas. Though not too many people do it, just a few residents engaging in such behaviors really dirties the place. Moreover, in spite of the clear announcements, banners, and social network complaints in groups, people still smoke in and around the building. The worst part is that we know that throwing cigarettes can start fires and endanger the lives of others.

So, how can we tackle the problem? Its a difficult to question, but we can begin by figuring out whether its a generational or educational matter. Surely littering habits need improvement because most people live close to each other in Vietnam. Cigarette butts and smoking are just a symptom of that larger problem.

Young Vietnamese seem to smoke less than older generations so this issue may subside in the future. I do believe that new generations in Vietnam are less likely to smoke because lifestyles here are changing so drastically. I am not sure that fines can fix the problem, it is public pressure that will result in more significant changes.

In Europe we do have fines for smoking in banned places but people usually respect the restrictions because of the public pressure. For example, if you smoke in a banned area, others will ask you to stop or you will be considered as rude and become socially isolated. I believe social pressure is an efficient solution for Vietnam. Education can be a part of raising social awareness but it is group pressure that will make smokers more responsible.

Regarding my country, I would say that the high price of cigarettes combined with a negative impression of smokers discourages smoking.

Christopher Denis-Delacour from France

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 15) Members of the Senate minority on Sunday called for a special session to pass the supplemental budget for the government's campaign against the coronavirus disease.

In view of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, we in the Minority call for a special session of Congress to pass a supplemental budget to address the pandemic and help affected Filipino households, workers, and businesses," the joint statement of Senators Franklin Drilon, Leila de Lima, Risa Hontiveros, and Francis Pangilinan read.

The House Committee on Appropriations last week approved a 1.65-billion supplemental budget to address the issues brought by the infectious disease pandemic. This is lower than the Health Department's proposed amount of 2.35 billion to procure personal protective equipment for about 5,000 health workers.

READ: Health workers, frontlines appeal for masks and alcohol donations in fight vs. COVID-19

The budget, however, failed to reach the plenary before Congress adjourned for the lawmakers' Lenten break.

The minority solons said the budget should cover essentials in the country's campaign against COVID-19 including test kits for massive testing, relief goods, additional health personnel, health equipment and medicine, cash grants for daily wage earners and the unemployed without sick and vacation leaves. They added the funds should also "keep afloat" businesses especially those from the micro/small sectors during this global situation.

A member of the House of Representatives also backed this move, saying a virtual session should be mounted so that the chamber can approve the additional funding for COVID-19 response. Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said a special session done through video conferencing may work, so as to avoid a mass gathering which could further the spread of the disease. President Rodrigo Duterte may initiate the special session while Congress is on a break, as the funds are urgently needed, he added.

The Legislative branch will return to work on May 4, which is more than a month away. The supplemental budget must be approved by both the House and Senate before it can be signed into law and disbursed.

RELATED: ADB extends $3-M grant to the Philippines for COVID-19 response

COVID-19, now considered by the World Health Organization as a pandemic, has infected more than 156,000 people in 142 different countries and territories, including China. Over 5,800 people have been killed by the disease as of Sunday, according to the Johns Hopkins University's global tracker.

The Philippines has meanwhile recorded over 100 cases of COVID-19, including 11 fatalities as of Sunday afternoon.
The Netherlands is to close all schools, bars and restaurants as it steps up measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus, national broadcaster NOS reported.

The government agreed the measure during crisis meetings after officials in the country reported eight more deaths due to the virus, taking the total to 20.

The Dutch National Institute for Public Health said the number of infections had risen by 176 to 1,135.

Meanwhile, the finance minister, Wobke Hoekstra, said the government would do everything it takes to keep Air France-KLM and Amsterdams Schiphol airport operating.

Mr Hoekstra would not give any details about a possible bailout but stressed that Air France-KLM was vital for the economy and said he was in close contact with his French colleagues and the Air France management.

Countries across Europe including France, Belgium and Ireland have also closed schools, while Italy and Spain are in lockdown, asking people not to go out unless essential.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says Europe is now the epicentre of the pandemic.

WHO head Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has urged countries to use aggressive measures, community mobilisation and social distancing to save lives.

The pandemic is forcing Dutch flower growers to compost millions of blooms at what should be the pre-Mothers Day demand peak, their industry association said, warning that many members could go bankrupt within weeks.
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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.
Pence Says Trump-backed Emergency Relief Plan Protects Vulnerable Americans

'If you're sick, stay at home,' Pence said. 'You need not be concerned if you're an hourly wage earner in America.'

Vice President Mike Pence, who heads the nations coronavirus response task force, told reporters Saturday that the emergency relief plan backed by President Donald Trump and passed by the House early Saturday will protect the most vulnerable American workers during the outbreak.

You need not be concerned if youre an hourly wage earner in America, Pence said at a March 14 press conference. You need not be concerned about staying home. If youre sick, stay home. Youre not going to miss a paycheck.

Pence said the bill, called Families First Coronavirus Response Act (pdf), contains a range of measures to shield Americans from the economic fallout of the pandemic.

This also provides funding and flexibility to ensure that senior citizens, women, children, and low-income families have access to emergency nutritional assistance, and it incentivizes states to ease access to employment benefits, Pence said.

The bill, which passed the House 363-40 early Saturday, includes a range of initiatives to aid in response efforts, including free coronavirus testing for all Americans and enhanced food assistance programs for those in need, and additional funds to states that experience a 10 percent increase in unemployment.

President Donald Trump said at the March 14 press briefing that the bill was the result of a very, very bipartisan process, adding that the new legislative package [] will provide strong support for American families and communities in dealing with the coronavirus.

The bill now heads to the Senate, which could vote on it as early as Monday.

Protection for American Workers

The bill reimburses smaller businessesdefined in the legislation as those with 500 or fewer employeesfor providing 14 days of emergency leave to workers impacted by COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

After the two weeks of paid leave, employees who qualify will continue to receive a benefit from their employers that will be no less than two-thirds of the employees usual pay for the remainder of the 12-week leave.

The paid leave applies to workers diagnosed with the coronavirus, to those caring for a family member with the disease, or to those looking after a child or other dependent due to closure of a school or care facility.

In a Friday interview, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the bill seeks to help more vulnerable, smaller businesses, and that larger companies would be expected to foot the bill for their employees on sick leave.

Obviously, we expect the bigger corporations to pick up these costs, Mnuchin told Fox News, noting that the two weeks of emergency paid leave would be just for companies that are 500 and smaller.

The 110-page bill is the product of extensive negotiations between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Mnuchin, the presidents point person on the issue.

Broadly, Mnuchin pressed for tax cuts, while Pelosi pushed to expand safety-net spending.

We have an agreement that reflects what the president talked about in his speech the other night, Mnuchin told Fox News. Hes very focused on making sure that we can deal with the coronavirus, that people who have to be home quarantined, that hard-working Americans dont lose their compensation because they have to be home quarantined.
President Donald Trump gives a press briefing about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) alongside members of the Coronavirus Task Force in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington on March 14, 2020. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump Tests Negative for COVID-19

The White House physician has said that President Donald Trumps test result for COVID-19 has come back negative, according to a memo released to the media.

Last night after an in-depth discussion with the President regarding COVID-19 testing, he elected to proceed, Dr. Sean Conley wrote in a memo.

This evening, I received confirmation that the test is negative.

Conley said the president remains symptom-free.

I have been in daily contact with the CDC and the White House Coronavirus Task Force, and we are encouraging the implementation of all their best practices for exposure reduction and transmission mitigation, he added.

President Trumps physician says the President tested negative for the coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/Vv94hgC0Co  Emel Akan (@mlakan) March 14, 2020

Trump decided to take a test on Saturday after questions arose about his health because he had come into contact with two infected individuals at Mar-a-Lago last week.

Conley said on Friday that it was his professional opinion that the president did not need testing.

The Presidents exposure to the first individual was extremely limited (photograph, handshake), and though he spent more time in proximity to the second case, all interactions occurred before any symptom onset [in those individuals], Conley said at the time.

Emel Akan contributed to this report.
The Haryana government on Sunday ordered shutting down of cinema halls, gyms, clubs, night clubs and all schools till March 31 as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection.

Haryana's Home and Health Minister Anil Vij said restriction has also been imposed with immediate effect on gathering of more than 200 people at all social, political, cultural, religious, sports, personal or family events in the state.

Schools, both government and private, will remain closed till March 31 across the state. However, students will appear for board examinations, annual exams and assessment exams as per schedule, Vij said.

He said a decision to this effect was taken after a high-level meeting which Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar held with the senior officials to review preparedness of the health department in arresting the spread of coronavirus.

The state's Department of School Education had earlier decided that all government and private schools in five districts of the National Capital Region -- Gurgaon, Sonepat, Rohtak, Jhajjar and Faridabad -- will remain closed till March 31. The state government had on Thursday declared coronavirus an epidemic.

"All schools, cinema halls, clubs, night clubs, gyms, swimming polls and theatres will remain closed till March 31," Vij said, adding the Haryana government has made adequate arrangements to prevent spread of the infection in the state.

Notably, none of the citizens has tested positive for coronavirus in Haryana. The samples of a 29-year-old woman from Gurgaon, who returned from Malaysia and fell sick, have been sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune, a senior health official from Gurgaon said on Sunday.

About the measures taken by the health department to prevent spread of the infection, Vij said all districts have been attached with a nearby medical college so that in case the need arises, ventilators can be made available.

"In all districts, buildings have been identified for quarantine purposes," he said.

The AYUSH department will hold 100 health camps from Monday in across the state and people will be distributed free medicines to help boost their immunity, the state health minister said.

According to an official statement giving details of Sunday's meeting, the chief minister directed officials that 2,500 to 3,000 beds (minimum 100 in each of the 22 districts) should be identified in the isolation wards set up in government hospitals of the state.

At present, 1,328 beds have been identified in 298 isolation wards in government hospitals. District-wise arrangement of quarantine facility has been made for 3,000 persons, it stated.

It was also decided that hand sanitisers would be kept in those government offices which people visit in large number for their day to day work. The meeting was informed that the director general of health services has been asked to inform all private hospitals in the state that their services can be availed if such a need arises.

Chief Secretary Keshni Anand Arora, Additional Chief Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Rajeev Arora, Additional Chief Secretary of Revenue and Disaster Management Dhanpat Singh, health experts from PGIMER Chandigarh and PGIMS Rohtak and other senior officers of the health department were among those present in the meeting.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
ST. JOHNS, N.L.A woman who was recently on a cruise ship has become Newfoundland and Labradors first COVID-19 patient, the provinces top public-health doctor announced on Saturday.

Dr. Janice Fitzgerald said the womans case is presumptive until results of local tests can be confirmed by the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg.

Public health has notified the patient and she is currently self-isolating, Fitzgerald told reporters in St. Johns. She said she wouldnt release further details about the womans whereabouts or her recent travels due to privacy concerns.

Fitzgerald added theyve begun contact tracing  getting in touch with anyone who had recently been in close contact with the patient.

She said public-health officials were prepared for this development and have plans in place to respond to any future spread of the virus.

Fitzgerald also echoed the advice of her federal counterparts: dont travel abroad unless absolutely necessary, avoid large social gatherings and practice good hygiene.

She said recent travellers who develop symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever or difficulty breathing should call 8-1-1, but all other recent travellers should self-isolate for 14 days just in case.

And she added the province is not currently considering closing schools as a result of the pandemic, as provinces, including Ontario and Quebec, have done, citing the low number of cases in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Emir of Machina

Machina is one of the remotest towns in Yobe State. Located about 300 kilometres north of Damaturu, the state capital, it is an emirate that prides itself of a rich cultural and historical background.

One of the unique things about the historical town is that snakes and human beings are friends and do not harm each other.

It is not clear when the fraternity between Machina Kingdom and snakes began. But one thing that is very clear is that the people of the kingdom do not joke with the relationship or take it for granted.

The enmity between man and snake may date back to creation, but the people of Machina are not ones to ever harm a snake.

At his palace in Machina, the Emir, Alhaji (Dr) Bashir Albishir Bukar Machinama, OON, explained the origin of the fraternity and the consequences of violating it in an interview with our correspondent.

He said: The fraternity between human beings and snakes is one of the many things people want to know about Machina. It is based on some historical facts.

Our parents used to tell us that snakes are not killed in Machina because in this palace, there was a time one of the Emirs wives gave birth to a human being and a snake, and the snake stayed for about 3 days in the palace.



Because it could not cope with human activities, it crawled into the rocks. You know the palace is just near the rocks. So as we human beings have generations up to my own age and maybe my children, grandchildren great grandchildren, we thought also that snakes too have their generations and we have a relationship with them.

People should not misunderstand this. I am not the person who was born with the snake. Neither was it my father or my grandfather. But it was one of the rulers of Machina.

If we are celebrating, no matter what type of celebration, whether it is naming ceremony or there is going to be a birth in this palace, sometimes we see snakes coming out and we would wonder what is happening and pray that it is a thing of joy not of sadness.

So if we are going to experience something good or bad, snakes will come out. And there have been many occasions when snakes came out to celebrate with us.

Normally, when you come, you might not see them. But sometimes if you are lucky, you will see them moving around the palace.

There is a place I normally rest in the evening; sometimes snakes will just come under my chair, stay for some minutes and go. They will not do any harm. They will just move round and round and go. That is why we consider snakes as part of us, our blood relations. So, we dont allow people to kill snakes in Machina.

Asked if there are consequences for killing a snake in the town, the Emir said: I can give three instances that I am a witness to. We had one gentle man who was at his tender age.

They were clearing farm with my father just behind the rocks. A snake came out and the gentleman took a stick and killed it.

Then all of a sudden, he started shivering and he was rushed to his house. At sunset, snakes started trooping into the gentlemans house to the extent that he could not sleep in his house that night.



His body became weak as if he had no bones in it, and he started crawling like a snake, moving his tongue like them.

They came and reported the incident to my father. My father ordered that the young man should be brought to the palace. He was brought into the palace and they gave him some medicine, prayed and begged for forgiveness. He recovered and after some weeks went back to his house.

But one thing is that whenever that particular period of the year comes, the gentleman would fall sick and would not get better unless they gave him the medicine.

Since he was like a house boy to my mother, the medicine was put under the custody of my mother. Anytime he fell sick, they would just come to my mother, get the medicine and go administered it on him and he would be fine again for the year.

Up until the period when my father died, he was suffering from that illness for over 40 years, and I continued with him. I appointed him as one of my village heads. He was posted to Karigide village.

Even in Karigide village, once that season comes, he will fall sick and luckily, my mother is still alive. She would send the medicine to him, and once he took it, he would be okay again.

About three years ago, he died and we appointed his son to the throne of the village head. So this is one typical example of killing snakes and its consequences.

In the second instance, my father bought a tractor for farming and employed a driver from Jigawa State. That driver came with his family and settled in Machina. He married another woman from Machina, so he had two wives.

The one he came with was at her tender age, so she was not out of giving birth. One afternoon, a snake came into their house and they were shouting, Snake! Snake! Then the woman from Machina said they should forget about it, that it would not harm anyone.

But the husband and the older wife said how can we be living in the house with snakes? Before they could do something, the snake had already entered a hole in the house.

A snake charmer

He ordered his wife to boil water. With the help of his pregnant wife, the one he came with from Jigawa, they poured the hot water in the hole where the snake entered.

When the wife gave birth to a baby girl, the baby she gave birth to was as if she had no bones in her body. She was just like a snake. She stayed up to 14 or 16 years before she died.

When you heard her speaking behind the scene, you would think it was an able human being. She could speak with her mouth, she could hear and see, but she cannot use her hands and legs. If she must move, they must use a basin to carry her up until that age or she would just be crawling like a snake.

That is another example of the implications of killing snake in Machina.

In the third instance, there was a time, just about sunset, a snake came out from that gentlemans house and they were shouting snake! Snake! The family said, Leave it; it wont harm anybody.

You know about snake charmers. The man thought he had charms and he could do anything with snakes. He started following the snake. As the snake ran up to the outskirts of the town, he matched on the snakes tail to take it.

But just as he was about to pick it, the snake retaliated and bit the snake charmer. The man rushed to his master for rescue, and he was given oral medicine and the one he would use to bathe. But before he could even remove his clothes in the bathroom, he gave up.

After sometime, he did not come out of the bathroom. When the master went to check, he saw the dead body of the boy and the snake beside the dead body. Both the young man and the snake died.

These are the three typical examples of the implications of killing a snake. So a snake does not harm anybody if you dont touch it. And it is dangerous for someone to touch it or try to kill it. If you dont touch it, it will go its own way and you will go yours.

But what happens if you are a stranger and mistakenly harm a snake?

To this, he said: Well, in most cases, the state of nature made certain animals in such a way that once you see them, you will have fear for them. Immediately you shout snake, snake, people would say leave it.

So you will get that particular notice unless it is on the outskirts of the town. You know Machina has developed beyond its boundary. Where the snakes are is within the old city and near the palace.

But there are some dangerous snakes outside Machina which people do kill; even we do kill them on our farms. Not all the snakes. But there are specific species that we dont kill. Even if it is black cobra, we know them and we dont kill them.

The more they grow, the more they change their colours from this whitish silver colour to brownish to black and the rest, so we dont kill them.

And then there are certain species normally that are dangerous to be killed because they are not harmful, but we dont have such cases.

In most cases, anybody who comes to Machina, they know that snakes are not killed in Machina.

So we dont have that experience of killing snakes by accident. But doing so intentionally, it is very dangerous.

How then would visitors to Machina know about the taboo of killing snakes if they are not sensitized?



Well, we dont tell them. But one thing is that many people are aware of it. If you asked we will tell you the story. But if you dont aske, we dont tell the story, and people who stay in the town they would hear people saying they dont kill snakes in Machina.

They may hear the story before even getting to Machina. Most people who come to Machina know the story.

But how old is this tradition of fraternity between snakes and human beings in machine?



Well, I dont have the specific date of the Emir who was the twin brother to the snake. So it is very difficult to give the specific date. But what I can tell you is that I, the present Emir of Machina, I am the 77th traditional leader of Machina.

Out of the 77 traditional leaders, only one is not from our blood linage. He was brought from Damangana Zingri in Niger Republic when the Sultan of Zingri came surprisingly and captured Machina Nguru and some part of Potiskum area; that is Mai Potiskum area.

So the leader of Machina was taking to Zingri for six years. Then later he was freed and came back and took over his leadership. And that was my fathers grandfather, Maina Maila Idrissa. So that was the only person whose tenure had two breaks.

The first one was as a result of Zingri Damangana engagement in Machina and the second one was as a result of the coming of the Europeans. He fled and he came back about two years or so later.

He ruled Machina in three subsequent times and later died on the throne, and his son, Mai Ali Idrissa, inherited the throne and later my father Mai Bukkar Aliyu Idrissa, then myself. So out of the 77, only one is not from the linage of the founder of Machina.

So, this year, Machina is over 1,400 years, because it started its reign when the Kanem Borno Empire was under the Sifawa Dynasty. You know we have two dynasties in Kanem Borno. We have the Shehu Dynasty, which is currently the ruling family from the Shehu Elkanami.

So the present Shehu is the 20th Shehu of Borno while ours, I am the 77th Mai Machina. You can look at the historical variation. So it is very difficult to give you the exact date or era when the snake thing started.

***

Source: The Nation
Robert Pattinson-starrer "The Batman" has shut down production for two weeks over the coronavirus scare.

The Matt Reeves directorial is the latest Hollywood film to suspend shoot in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The crew was shooting on a sound stage in London since January and was planning to change locations to Liverpool and amid the virus scare, studio Warner Bros thought it was best to go on hiatus during the location change, reported Variety.

It is uncertain when the shoot was going to end and whether it will impact the June 2021 release date of the film, which also stars Zoe Kravitz, Paul Dano, Colin Farrell, Jeffrey Wright and Andy Serkis.

Previously, Warner Bros halted production on untitled Elvis Presley film in Australia after Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson attracted the coronavirus.

Other to films from the studio -- "Matrix 4" and "King Richard" -- have not been put on hold as of yet.

"The Batman" has joined a long list of Hollywood films currently in production that have been put on temporary hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Disney Studio suspended production on its live-action movies -- "The Little Mermaid", "Home Alone", "The Last Duel", "Nightmare Alley", and "Peter Pan & Wendy" and "Shrunk" -- amid the outbreak.

Universal also announced that "Jurassic World: Dominion" and "Flint Strong" would also be taking a hiatus while Sony's Kevin Hart picture "The Man From Toronto" also followed suit Saturday morning.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Erik Garcia, 50, a day laborer in Chicago since arriving from Guatemala more than a decade ago, said he is extremely concerned about his health. If he gets sick, he wouldnt be able to go to the doctor because he doesnt have health insurance, he said. But what he fears most is not being able to send money to his two sons in Guatemala if he cant work. One of them is finally starting college, so we try not to think about whats going on and just focus on finding a job for the day, Garcia said.
Lightfoot attributed problems at OHare to several flights that landed at the same time, overwhelming staffers available to process them. In addition to calling for more Customs and Border Protection staff, she said she asked the Federal Aviation Administration to keep people on planes rather than having them queue in the airport.
Four Islamist extremists were sentenced to death in Bangladesh Sunday for the 2016 decapitation of a senior Hindu priest during a spate of attacks targeting religious minorities in the Muslim-majority nation.

The Islamic State group had claimed responsibility for the attack in the northern district of Panchagarh, but authorities blamed militants from Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

"The court... sentenced all four to death over the murder. They are JMB members," Abdur Rafique, a court official in the capital Dhaka, told AFP.

The priest was a prominent member of Bangladesh's Hindu community, which makes up nearly 10 percent of the South Asian country's population of 168 million.

JMB was blamed for the murders of minorities, secular writers, publishers and foreigners between 2013 and 2016.

Among them was a savage attack at a Dhaka cafe in 2016 that killed 22 people, mostly foreigners.

Seven Islamist extremists were sentenced to death in November over the assault that was claimed by the IS.

Bangladesh security forces launched a nationwide crackdown after the cafe siege, killing more than 100 members of the JMB including its top leaders, and arresting hundreds of suspected militants.
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Linkedin Dinesh Kumar Maganathan (The Star/Asia News Network)  Sun, March 15, 2020 13:04 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206abe9fb 2 Books Book,epidemic,coronavirus,COVID-19,outbreak Free

With the World Health Organization declaring the Covid-19 outbreak as a global pandemic, who knows whats going to happen after this.

With infections on the rise, people are crippled with fear. Travel plans are cancelled, many cities around the world are close to becoming ghost towns and many are living in self-imposed home quarantine.

Let's not forget a shortage of face masks, hand sanitizers and toilet paper (what's next?).

Here's our selection of seven deadly novels about virus outbreaks. Just make sure you're wearing your Hazmat suit.

Read also: 5 ways to read free books online

The Stand, by Stephen King (1978)

There is an obscure and remotely vague similarity between the pandemic in King's novel and the Covid-19 outbreak. Well, King is no doomsday prophet but as a master of horror, he does know how to make fiction realistic.

In The Stand, King's longest published standalone novel, a strain of influenza that had been modified for biological warfare is accidentally released, causing an apocalyptic pandemic that wipes out almost all of the world's population. Let's hope that's not the fate of our world with this outbreak.

The Strain trilogy, by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro (2009-2011)

A new take on the vampire myth, The Strain horrifically shows what happens to the world when a virus, carried by silver capillary worms, turns their human hosts into bloodthirsty vampires.

Moving away from the run-of-the-mill vampire stories, this trilogy treats vampirism as a deadly virus spread by an ancient vampire called The Master who wants to take over human civilization.

Epidemiologist Dr Ephraim Goodweather races against time to find a cure to this pandemic as the world slowly turns into the Twilight Zone. Pun intended.

Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood (2003)

Canadian author Margaret Atwood spins a story of love and friendship set in a post apocalyptic world ravaged by a plague. Set in the future, Oryx And Crake follows the journey of Snowman who is probably the last human on the planet.

As he mourns the loss of his best friend Crake and the beautiful Oryx whom they both loved, Snowman embarks on a journey in search of answers with the help of primitive human-like creatures called Crakers.

Severance, by Ling Ma (2018)

In Chinese American author Ling Ma's debut novel, the protagonist Candace Chen is blissfully stuck to her routine at work, designing Bibles for teens. So much so, she barely notices when a plague called the Shen Fever spreads like the wrath of God. Candace, in the early stages of pregnancy, then ends up as one of the last survivors to escape the city.

Now close to death, Candace is saved by a group of survivors, led by a former I.T. guy called Bob. She follows them to the Facility, an abandoned shopping mall and together, they struggle to make a new home there under Bob's tyrannical leadership.

The Andromeda Strain, by Michael Crichton (1969)

This is not an alien spinoff of The Strain. When one of the satellites sent into outer space to collect organisms and dust for study crashes in Arizona, a team is deployed to recover it.

When contact is abruptly lost, an aerial surveillance shows that everyone in a town closest to the crash site is apparently dead. It's all up to a team of scientists to investigate the outbreak of this deadly extraterrestrial strain.

The Plague, by Albert Camus (1947)

French Algerian philosopher and author Albert Camus could not have known how current his novel about a deadly plague would remain.

Set in Algeria, the novel tells the story of a plague ravaging the city of Oran, which tests human resilience and brings out the best and worst in people.

This existentialist novel is a study of the human condition and the effects a pandemic of this scale has on a populace.

Pale Horse, Pale Rider, by Katherine Anne Porter (1939)

This is a story that has a personal resonance as the writer herself was stricken with the flu pandemic when she was younger and almost died.

Set around the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918, Pale Horse, Pale Rider revolves around Miranda who falls in love with Adam, a soldier.

Miranda ends up sick after being infected by the Spanish flu and when she recovers, she discovers that Adam has died of the disease, which he likely caught while tending to her.

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This article appeared on The Star newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-16 04:22:36|Editor: huaxia

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MUSCAT, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Two new cases of coronavirus infections were detected in Oman on Sunday, according to the Omani health ministry.

One new case is a foreign resident who is currently being hospitalized, and the second is an Omani woman who had traveled to Italy and now is under home quarantine, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry said that the total number of cases registered in Oman has reached 22, of which 18 are related to traveling to Iran and two cases to Italy.
Several United Nations diplomats claim New York City officials warned them that everyone in the city should assume they've been exposed to the novel coronavirus and threats of proliferating cases are projected to last until the fall.

On Saturday New York City commissioner Penny Abeywardena in the Mayor's Office for International Affairs and officials with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene led a briefing for foreign delegations in the city.

'Everyone in New York should assume that they have been in contact with COVID 19,' a read-out of the conference call obtained by Foreign Policy from a representative of a diplomatic mission who listened in said.

In the Saturday briefing officials stressed that the city is 'in the mitigation phase of the outbreak' and the virus could threaten the health of residents until as late as September, four diplomat sources said.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Mayor's Office for International Affairs for comment.

On Saturday Mayor Bill De Blasio's office held a briefing for foreign diplomats in NYC amid the coronavirus outbreak where health officials said: 'Everyone in New York should assume that they have been in contact with COVID 19'

New York City commissioner Penny Abeywardena (above in 2016) in the Mayor's Office for International Affairs and officials with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene warned diplomats no special measures would be set aside for them amid the oubreak

'This means that all individuals should assume that they have had some contact with the virus and practice maximum-possible social distancing,' health officials warned in the Saturday briefing. A couple pictured wearing protective masks on Fifth Avenue on Friday

'This means that all individuals should assume that they have had some contact with the virus and practice maximum-possible social distancing; most cases will be mild and medical care should only be sought in urgent, worsening, or vulnerable cases,' the read-out said Saturday.

Some health experts have projected that the novel coronavirus will rapidly spread then ebb for the warmer spring and summer seasons just like the common cold and flu, however some researchers point out that the virus is still spreading in warmer parts of the globe despite higher temperatures.

On Saturday the number of confirmed cases in New York state hit 729 with 329 cases reported in New York City.

The city saw two tragic deaths on Saturday - a 65-year-old man from Rockland County and an 82-year-old woman from Brooklyn.

In the Saturday briefing officials said the city is not offering special services to foreign diplomats exposed to the virus in New York.

Instead diplomats and dignitaries were given the same warnings to stay at home and practice social distancing.

'There are no particular measures. If you're sick, stay home - this is how we save New York,' a read-out from the briefing said.

While diplomats said they welcomed the city's honestly, some said the lack of measures was startling.

With no special procedures in place, delegations are responsible for disinfecting their own mission's in the event of an outbreak because the city lacks supplies for them.

'Its your responsibility not to get infected, and your responsibility to stay home if you do. Your odds of not dying are rather great  if you get close "give us a call,"' one senior diplomat said on the New York's standoff policy.

On Saturday New York City commissioner Penny Abeywardena in the Mayor's Office for International Affairs and officials with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene had a briefing for the UN diplomatic community. The outside view of United Nations Headquarters, which is closed to the public to do the outbreak, pictured in Manhattan above

When asked if the city will have widely available testing and if a list of testing centers would be made available to foreign missions the briefers said 'No.'

'You will be tested if a doctor advises; calling 311 can give access to a provider if a patient doesnt have one. Testing should be reserved for the sickest (hospitalized) patients,' briefers said.

In the call briefers said the city is less focused on testing and is now honing on on minimizing exposure.

'Testing is now less important  the danger of transmission is much higher as many people have now been exposed and the majority of people will only have mild symptom,' they said.

The people most at risk of being hard hit by the killer coronavirus are the vulnerable including those over 70 years of age and individuals who are over the age of 50 with underlying health conditions.

In a startling move the briefers said that New York will not focus on contact tracing - the process of identifying people who may have come into contact with an infected person - a strategy encouraged by the World Health Organization to combat the spreading virus.

In the US there are over 2,900 cases and at least 58 deaths reported as of Sunday morning

Bill de Blasio shared this notice warning the public to stay home sick and limit exposure to the virus

He shared this post mourning the passing of New York state's first coronavirus death on Saturday after an 82-year-old woman passed away

'Interviews with confirmed cases and contact tracing is not a good use of our resources when the virus is widespread. There will be little emphasis on tracing,' briefers said at Saturday's meeting.

Contact tracing is a strategy that has helped South Korea get their coronavirus outbreak under control.

The symptoms associated with the disease include fever, dry coughs, and difficulty breathing.

Health officials said that people infected with the coronavirus remain infectious for about 72 hours after their initial fever subsides - and they should remain in isolation for an additional seven days after those symptoms wane.

'We are hopeful that exposure to COVID will make people immune, but too early to say definitely,' the briefers added.

Now de Blasio's office is scrambling to slow the fast-spreading crisis.

While he has resisted adamant calls for him to close down public schools, he announced his administration is moving forward with plans to 'offer telecommuting or a staffer work schedule for about 100,000 city employees'.

On Friday President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency as the national toll case hit over 2,900.
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
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.
As long as caste in India does exist, Hindus will hardly intermarry or have any social intercourse with outsiders and if Hindus migrate to other regions on earth, Indian caste would become a world problem.  Dr B.R. Ambedkar

Most 'honour killings' reported in our newspapers are caste killings, or killings in the name of caste. The issue of 'honour' involves not just dominant caste families but also others. The construct of 'honour' is meant to control women and curb their liberty, especially with respect to the right of choosing their life partners.

Marriage is an institution which has strengthened the caste system. Caste underpins marriage and anyone who challenges it faces torture and nasty, brutish violence, frequently resulting in death. This even as the Constitution declares caste discrimination and untouchability offences.

Since formation in 2014, Telangana has witnessed at least 50 murders related to inter-caste love liaisons and marriages. In many cases, one of the partners was dalit. Desidisa, Kula Nirmulana Porata Samithi, Kula Vivaksha Porata Samithi and Kulaantara Vivahaala Vedika documented these cases. Several others went unreported.

A few weeks ago, US President Donald Trump and his family visited the Taj Mahal. One wonders whether Trump, multiple instances of whose sexual misconduct are well-known, or Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who reportedly deserted his wife, will ever understand the language of love. As of the moment, India is fast becoming a global symbol of hatred and bigotry.

On the eve of International Womens Day, news began to break about the suicide of Maruthi Rao at Arya Vaishya Bhavan, in Hyderabad. Maruthi Rao had been accused of murdering Pranay Perumalla, a young Ddalit, in September 2018. He allegedly killed Perumalla for marrying his only daughter, Amruta Varshini. Amruta belongs to the Vaishya community. Pranays murder had sparked outrage almost equal to that caused by Rohith Vemulas suicide in 2016.

While Pranay was killed, Amrutha was trolled on social media by Vaishyas. She was condemned for having been an unfaithful daughter. Even though Pranay was dead, the trolls did not spare him either, accusing him of covetousness. Not a word was said to Maruthi Rao for having so viciously ended a young life.

Maruthi Rao, his brother Shravan and five other accomplices in Pranays murder were in jail for some time. After coming out on bail, Maruthi Rao tried his best to bring his daughter home. He was rebuffed by Amrutha. She was committed to raising her newborn child in the company and care of her in-laws.

That rebuff drove Maruthi Rao to suicide. And the trolling started again. This time, Amrutha was held responsible for her fathers death. Clearly, the trolls had not been chastened by the depth of the tragedy.

Police reports, meanwhile, say that another body had been found, this time at Maruthi Raos farmhouse, a month back. Pranays murder case was also coming to trial after police filed a 1,600-page charge-sheet. Relatives say there was also an ongoing property dispute between Rao and his brother. Perhaps, Rao sought solace in Amruthas return, but she was steadfast and that did not come about.

The problem is the fact that no one shamed Rao right at the start. This is the reason why caste murders are so common in our society. In 2018, Gaddi Kumar, belonging to the Yadav community, was found dead in Shankarapatnam of Karimnagar district. It is said that he had been in love with a Goud girl. The girl went on to reveal that her relatives had killed him.

In 2017, Manthani Madhukar, a dalit man, was killed; sparking off outrage and resulting in a second post-mortem after politicians and relatives of the Munnuru Kapu girl he had been dating tried to pass off his death as suicide. Till date, the post-mortem report hasnt come out.

A few days after Pranays murder, Sandeep, a dalit man, was attacked for marrying Madhavi, an upper caste woman, by Madhavis father, Manohara Chary near Gokul Theatre in Hyderabad. Both suffered injuries. Madhavi is still undergoing surgeries. Sandeeps mother, a widow, is taking care of her despite financial stress.

In February 2019, there were two other murders  those of Shushruta, a dalit pharmacy graduate, and her four-month-old, Devansh. They were burnt alive by Ramesh, the husband, who belongs to a backward class. The incident happened at Ghatkesar near Hyderabad. Shushruta had been tortured from day one by her in-laws. She had been driven out of her marital home. Shushruta struggled for justice, knocked on the doors of every institution, including the state human rights commission. She had wanted to challenge her husband who said, dalit women do not stick to one person, they have loose morals.

If we collect data nationwide, we will find more people dying of honour killings than on the border or of an epidemic. These days, parents match the financial status of the bride and groom before agreeing to a marriage. But when it comes to marrying dalits, women are deserted and men murdered.

There is another difference when it comes to dalit men and women. When a dalit man marries a dominant caste woman, it is called an Ambedkarite marriage. If something similar is done by a woman, it is still seen as betrayal by the family.

The important question is, how successful are parentally arranged marriages?

It is shocking to hear a woman police officer say that children who marry of their own choice are being unfaithful to their parents. India boasts of being a progressive society and now with the visit of Trump, the Indian diaspora, too, wants us to believe that we have reached the pinnacle of progress. But we are utterly wrong in treating marriage as a family affair, outside the purview of the courts and the law.

The fact is that we have failed to understand simple truths necessary for the success of the family. No family will survive unless we respect the individuals freedoms. Love, failed or successful, erases the man-made gap between castes and religions, gives hope to a society.
With less than three years left for this administration, we are heading in the wrong direction. My beloved President had better start singing, it is time for him to take full charge of his government...if not two things will happen - 1. He will have very negative legacy or 2. Even worst - threat of military intervention again. On the latter I almost whispered impossible, but in Nigeria, tell me what is impossible, and this is not inciting, and I mean no harm, so let me quickly quip in, Allah forbid.

Whether the President was attacked in Kebbi state or fifth columnists twisted the video, whether SLS and El-Rufai are best of friends, friends in need or deed, whether the deposed Emir is on his way to Lagos to see Jagaban or his family, whether this is about 2023, or a prep coup targeted at the cabal, another cabal cometh.

And the irrefutable fact is that, this is not about the ordinary Nigerian, because whether it is Ganduje, or Sanusi, these are elite men, their drama takes centre stage pushing even the corona virus in Nigeria to second place, their dog fight is more important than the ASUU warning strike, their elephant tango; the grass suffers drama, makes film trick of Obasanjo's weighty letter.

We refuse to notice how in just few days state resources have just been thrown away, in all the theatrics of moving former Emir Sanusi to Nasawara state, all the security details, helicopter movements, our lack of rule of law and respect for human rights.

As up till writing this, no one has owned up to who was responsible for the banishment of the Emir, so I dare ask, if it wasn't a Sanusi would an ordinary Nigerian be able to muster an assemblage of lawyers to regain freedom, would he have the resources available to the Prince, would he get the expedited court order SLS was availed, all these are pointers to the erosion of freedoms guaranteed under the constitution and the state of our democracy, and the further pointers to how all these theatrics are crafted to further push citizenry from the real issues.

So you ever had an encounter with the Nigerian Police, they have this favorite phrase, has the suspect started singing?

To Mr. President, this is it. These are miserable times. The statistics of deprivation and death are gruesome. Far too many people struggle with hunger, deprivation and insecurity than when you took over, the gimmicks of your administration strains the successes it has recorded.

Many of journalists, writers and us development practitioners have become actuaries of suffering. The general mood is despair; the general conditions of life are bare. The gap between the rhetoric of hope and the condition of despair is vast. There is no bridge between them. We live in the wound. This is a letter from that wound.

Everywhere you look, the news is startling. The keywords for the present are fairly straightforward: Insecurity in all shades, COVID-19, financial crisis, climate change, No great depth is needed to be terrified by what is happening as the great wound spreads across the planet. Panic is a natural reaction, hastened by the general demise of social bonds. Nigeria is not immune, as we may want to think.

The idea of social bonds or even of society is so compelling in our time. It is getting harder and harder to experience society in a civil manner: political discourse seems to have emerged from the sewers, and a general compassion for suffering seems to have evaporated as neo-fascists propagate the hard steel of toxic machismo with all sorts of Oshimole APC induced fictions and Sanusi factions to distract us from the painful songs of reality..

The above is not merely a problem of the political class  it is a problem associated with the erosion of State and social institutions that would otherwise make individual lives richer. If people have a hard time getting a job, if jobs themselves are more stressful, if commute times increase, if medical care is hard to attain, if pensions deteriorate before higher expenditures (including taxes), and if it just gets harder and harder to deal with everyday life  well, then it is easy to expect tempers to fray, anger to rise, and a general social misery to be on display. And in all these the people dont hear songs of freedom, hope and beliefNigerians are angry and stressed..

The song, Mr. Integrity, and anti-corruption is lacking rhythm, all that corona civility is fast loosing beat. Civility is not just a matter of attitude. Civility is also a matter of resources. If we used our considerable social treasure to ensure a decent livelihood for each other, to ensure medical and elder care, to ensure that we tackle our pressing problems in a collective way, well, then there would be the leisure time to rest amongst friends, to volunteer in our communities, to get to know one another, and to be less stressed and angry. Neither is hope an individual feeling; it has to be produced by people doing things together, building communities, fighting for their values.

Mr. President, let me end this way...Are birds born knowing how to sing? Actually, no. Unlike cats that are born knowing how to meow and dogs that know how to bark, birds have to learn their songs. They learn by listening to their mom, dad, and other birds. And it takes a lot of practice. Some of their songs are pretty complicated!

So why do birds sing? Its not really for conversation. Birds use single words, or calls, for things like warning other birds of danger, telling where to find food, and simply saying hello. But when it comes to their full songs, it turns out birds sing for a lot of reasons! If you hear a bird singing in North America and Europe, its probably a boy bird  and hes usually singing to impress a girl (or maybe warn another guy to stay away). But if you live in Australia or the tropics, that bird you hear singing is probably a girl, and shes usually putting on a show. But sometimes birds sing when theyre all alone.

And in most of Africa are those with the most complex songs. Species with flashy plumage didnt sing much in Africa, but those that are dull in colour  and, hence, for whom singing plays a bigger role in attracting a mate  did sing a lot. This suggests that birds sing in Africa to improve their singing and develop more complex songs ahead of the breeding season.

For species with complex songs, we would expect that song complexity is very important for reproductive success in those species. But for species with very simple one or two note songs, perhaps song doesnt matter so much, and it could be more about plumage characteristics.

My President you said recently that you found out that Nigerians are difficult people to govern, and I do agree with you, but like the birds in Africa, you have just three years, you need to start singing and sing hard too, will you sing and sing great songs that you will be remembered forOnly time would tell
Bui Vien Street, a popular hangout spot for both locals and backpackers, is locked down March 15, 2020, soon after a Latvian tourist who stayed in the vicinity is confirmed positive with the Covid-19 virus. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.

A 33-year-old Latvian man visiting HCMC and Phu Quoc Island has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, becoming Vietnams 54th Covid-19 patient.

The Latvian tourist and his wife had arrived in HCMC on March 8 from Spain on Turkish Airways flight TK162, the Health Ministry confirmed Sunday.

The couple travelled to Phu Quoc on flight QH1512 and stayed at a hotel in the island until March 13. They returned to HCMC on flight QH1524 and stayed at a hotel in District 1s Bui Vien Street and another in District 4. The hotels have not been named.

On March 14, the husband developed a fever and went to the city's Hospital of Tropical Diseases, where he was quarantined. Test results released Sunday showed that he was Covid-19 positive.

The man is Vietnams 54th patient and Saigons 8th. He is being treated at the Hospital of Tropical Diseases while his wife has been quarantined and awaiting her test results.

Medical officers are contacting and checking on people whod come into close contact with the patient. Local authorities are asking passengers on the three flights that 'patient 54' was on to contact the nearest medical facility for a health check.

The hotline for HCMCs Center for Disease Control is 086957 7133.

Vietnam is treating 38 Covid-19 patients, including 14 foreigners. The country had earlier discharged 16 patients from hospital.

HCMC has recorded five Covid-19 cases since Friday last week. Previously, three patients in the city had recovered and been discharged.

The Covid-19 outbreak has thus far spread to 156 countries and territories around the world, with the death toll climbing to over 6,000.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 08:50:10|Editor: Xiang Bo

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ISLAMABAD, March 15 (Xinhua) -- A disease does not have any border or belong to a certain nation, and associating it with any country, race or ethnic group is very unfortunate, Pakistani public health specialist Shimail Daud Arain told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"Such disease like coronavirus has resulted into epidemics, and now pandemic. The only way to really overcome such a challenge is to work together hand in hand," Arain said in an interview with Xinhua on Friday, in reference to racist propaganda by some mainstream factions of western community against Chinese and Asians.

"An attempt by any head of state or any nation, in trying to demonize or create this understanding amongst the global citizens of this world that any disease is specific to an ethnicity or any region is definitely very despicable," he said while responding to the racist remarks by some U.S. senior officials including vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Arain said recently a lot of experts are sharing their findings of the genomic or structure of the viruses which they found to have more than one.

"A lot of questions need to be answered. In some of the countries where the spread is being transmitted, some of the patients have not even traveled internationally. They are locally placed, they did not have any contact with anyone but sometimes it has been seen that they were tested and they were found to have positive coronavirus."

He is of the view that these findings must lead scientists and experts to research in-depth to explore why certain discoveries signify the fact that this virus might have been in circulation even before getting identified and diagnosed in China's central province.

Daud believes that experts all over the world should collectively try towards resolving this crisis as they are impartial to the political biases, adding that utilizing Chinese experience in this regard would be extremely beneficial since the country's successful countering strategy has been acknowledged by the World Health Organization.
Countries With Major Coronavirus Outbreak Clusters Delayed Response Due to Strategic Ties with China: Experts

Italy, South Korea, and Iran have emerged as epicenters of the coronavirus outbreak that started in Wuhan, China. Experts said these countries economic and political ties with China facilitated the spread of the virus that has now emerged as a global pandemic, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Wuhan virus appeared at the end of the year and has now infected over 142,000 people around the world, with the number very likely to increase, according to the March 14 situation report of the WHO.

The vast majority of cases reported after Feb. 25 have come from outside China, with Italy, Iran, and South Korea emerging as the major clusters and contributing to the bulk of deaths.

What was initially seen as a largely China-centric shock is now understood to be a global crisis, said CSIS experts, Stephanie Segal and Dylan Gerstel in an analysis posted Wednesday.

As the crisis increases uncertainty and leads to what Segal and Gerstel call financial market volatility last seen during the global financial crisis, those concerned with the situation in Italy, Iran, and South Korea discussed the China-linked cause with The Epoch Times.

Medical workers carry a box in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, on March 10, 2020. (Stringer/Getty Images)

Italys Dependence on China

China is one of Italys biggest trading partners and the Chinese are one of the largest immigrant communities inside the country. Experts and politicians believe that Italys economic and political relationship with China has contributed to the coronavirus crisis inside the country.

Italys civil protection authority said 1,441 people had died due to the Wuhan virus, while 21,157 were infected as of Saturday, reported the Reuters.

Andrea Delmastro Delle Vedove, an Italian politician from the national-conservative Fratelli dItalia (Brothers of Italy) party, told The Epoch Times that the current crisis shows that interdependence on China can be problematic.

Of course the coronavirus opens a disturbing scenario, it tells us that interdependence from China can be a problem not only from an economic or industrial etc. point of view, but also from a national security, national health prophylaxis, said Delle Vedove, a member of the foreign affairs commission of his party.

Delle Vedove has cause to worry, over 3 million Chinese tourists visited Italy in 2018, according to Reuters. The first three cases of coronavirus appeared in Italy at the end of January, with two of them being Chinese tourists, according to The Guardian.

This propelled the country to close transport links with China. As the virus and the anti-Chinese sentiment intensified, Chinese companies inside Italy also increased their attempts to change public opinion.

The Chinese consumer electronic company Xiaomi donated tens and thousands of FFP3 masks to Italy last week, according to a March 5 Facebook post on the companys page. But Delle Vedove said the act contributed to growing fears.

A tourist visits Milans Duomo cathedral, as it reopened to the public for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak in northern Italy, in Milan, Italy, on March 2, 2020. (Yara Nardi/Reuters)

We also fear them when they bring us gifts, also because if the coronavirus had not arrived we did not need their masks, and we could have faced the coronavirus if they had immediately told the truth of this demon, born in China, said the politician.

Corroborating Delle Vedove, two Carnegie experts, Paul Haenle and Lucas Tcheyan, wrote in an analysis last month that Beijings continued opacity has only fueled further speculation over the true origins of the crisis and the extent of its spread.

While Delle Vedove expressed concerns about the demon born in China, Italian President Sergio Mattarella visited a Rome school with largely Chinese students early last month to calm down the anti-Chinese sentiment and show friendship toward China, according to Reuters.

Following Matharellas gesture of friendship toward China, Chinese leader Xi Jinping thanked him in a message read by Chinas ambassador to Rome, Li Junhua, at a concert at the presidential palace a few weeks later, reported ANSA, an Italian News Agency.

This is another concrete gesture that shows real friendship is seen in moments of need and I am deeply moved, said Xis letter.

For Delle Vedove, this is a cause of worry. He accused China of not being a safe and transparent country and said that China doesnt respect any rules, only using them to its advantage, despite being a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Irans High-Level Contacts With China

While the virus continued to spread from Italy around Europe, in the Middle East it spread from Iran. Experts say the coronavirus outbreak there indicates high-level contacts between the Iranian and Chinese regimes.

Reports say Iranian Mahan airways was continuing to fly between various Iranian and Chinese cities despite the ban declared by the Iranian regime on Jan. 31, thereby jeopardizing the public health inside Iran and the entire Middle East.

A Feb. 2 release on the airlines website said that the flights to and from China were stopped at the end of February.

As @khamenei_ir knows, the best biological defense wouldve been to tell the Iranian people the truth about the Wuhan virus when it spread to #Iran from China. Instead, he kept Mahan Air flights coming and going to the epicenter in China, and jailed those who spoke out, U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo said in a message on Twitter on March 13.

Mahan airlines were sanctioned by the U.S. treasury in 2011 for its links with Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the Iranian military that was declared a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the Trump administration last year.

Manjari Singh, a Middle East expert from the Middle East Institute in New Delhi, told The Epoch Times in an email that Irans case is curious because it is isolated due to economic and political sanctions but was still hit by the pandemic.

Thereby, meaning that it is not so isolated as it is thought to be! she said.

Workers disinfect the shrine of the Shiite Saint Imam Abdulazim to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus in Shahr-e-Ray, south of Tehran, Iran, on March 7, 2020. (Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)

A report by Radio Farda, a Persian-language broadcaster supported by the U.S. Congress, corroborated what Manjari said. It reported that despite the ban a Mahan flight (W578) flew from Beijing to Tehran on Feb. 21.

Moreover the first outbreak was in the city of Qom, which is a religious city, so a lot of pilgrimage takes place but it is also the city where most of the Chinese projects are set up. So the Chinese link is there, said Singh.

Nicole Robinson, a research assistant for the Middle East with the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, also told The Epoch Times in an email that hundreds of Chinese students and junior clerics study in the Iranian seminaries in Qom.

Singh said there has been a massive coverup and lack of transparency about the Wuhan virus outbreak in Iran since the beginning.

Probably Iran didnt want its trade with China to be disrupted and thats why it took the spread of the virus very callously and did not reveal it. Cautionary measures were not taken and traveling to and fro to China was not checked, said Singh.

A report by The Atlantic heightens Singhs and Robinsons concerns. It said on March 4 and 5, two evacuation flights carrying Chinese citizens were allowed to leave Tehran for Chinas Gansu province and 11 out of 311 tested by the Chinese authorities at the airport were found to be infected.

While Iranian state media, The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), said 724 people had died due to coronavirus as of March 15, Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an anti-regime group said in a release on March 14 the number has exceeded 4,500.

Radio Farda, also reported coverup by the Iranian regime on March 9 and quoted the pro-Rouhani Entekhab news website that said the coronavirus death toll is over 2,000 in the country.

Anger in South Korea Over Conciliation with China

As the coronavirus crisis intensified inside South Korea, anti-Chinese sentiment inside the country also intensified, with people blaming the government for not imposing travel restrictions on China during the early days of the outbreak.

Senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation for Northeast Asia, Bruce Klinger, said that while South Korean President Moon Jae-in wants China to facilitate its dialogue with North Korea ahead of the National Assembly elections looming on April 15, people are not happy with it.

The coronavirus has had a devastating impact on the South Korean economy. Critics accuse Moon of being overly conciliatory to Beijing by hesitating to impose travel restrictions on Chinese visitors in the early stages of the outbreak, Klingner told The Epoch Times in an email.

The South Korean public got very angry with President Moon after he sent medical equipment worth $5 million to Wuhan in the early days of the outbreak. Matters got worse after that when the virus spread rapidly inside South Korea and the public, seeking health services, blamed China.

Medical staff, wearing protective gear, move a patient infected with the novel coronavirus from an ambulance to a hospital in Seoul, South Korea on March 9, 2020. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Over 1.4 million South Koreans signed a petition on the Presidential website as of March 11, demanding that President Moon be impeached over his handling of the coronavirus and his pro-China policies.

The more President Moon Jae-in responds to the pneumonia (new coronavirus) problem in China, the more likely he is to be seen as the president of China, not the president of South Korea, said the petition.

In Korea, the price of masks soared more than 10 times and sold out, so it was difficult for people to buy masks due to mask shortages, it said.

The petition also blamed the South Korean government for not restricting Chinese from entering their country. After the outbreak, 5 million Chinese entered South Korea before the blockage was placed on Wuhan.

Epoch Times staff contributed to this report.
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.
US, Germany vying to produce virus vaccine

An employee of German biopharmaceutical company CureVac, demonstrates research workflow on a vaccine for the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease at a laboratory in Tuebingen, Germany. Internet photo

AFP, Berlin :

The United States and Germany are vying to produce an exclusive vaccine against the coronavirus which is being developed in a German laboratory, Die Welt daily reported Saturday According to the paper, US President Donald Trump is trying to "poach" German scientists working on an experimental vaccine against a global health threat that has now killed some 5,500 people-with a view to having an exclusive licence rolled out in the United States.

Such a vaccine would be "only for the United States", a source close to the German government told Die Welt, though Berlin would reportedly be looking to make offers of its own to biotech firm CureVac, based in the German state of Thuringia.

The company, founded in 2000, has other sites in Frankfurt and Boston.

The firm markets itself as specialising in "development of treatments against cancer, antibody-based therapies, treatment of rare illnesses and prophylactic vaccines."

The lab is currently working in tandem with the Paul-Ehrlich Institute, linked to the German ministry of health.

It specialises in vaccine research.

"The German government is very interested in having the development of vaccines and active substances against the novel coronavirus undertaken in Germany and Europe," a health ministry spokesman told Die Welt, adding that the government was in "intensive" talks with CureVac.

As CureVac CEO, Daniel Menichella found himself invited on March 2 to the White House to meet with Trump, his vice-president Mike Pence and representatives of pharma companies working on how to respond to the pandemic, the company revealed on its website without indicating if financial offers had been put on the table. "We are very confident that we will be able to develop a potent vaccine candidate within a few months," CureVac quoted Menichella-who has since given way to founder and incoming CEO Ingmar Hoerr-as saying following his Washington visit.




When President Donald Trump delivered his prime-time televised address to the country last week, he was walking the tightrope of leadership. The stock market had already tanked, and the next days numbers would reflect whether his words would calm the financial waters. The address was also essential to give hope and reassurance to citizens who have watched the coronavirus invade their country just as menacingly as a hostile army.

In this war-like setting, it falls to a president to take charge.

In the minutes after the teleprompter address, the verdict from news anchors and pundits was in: the president had failed to calm the waters and we headed to another market meltdown. One writer put it this way: The speech was riddled with errors, nationalist and xenophobic in tone, limited in its empathy, and boastful of his own decisions.

The delivery itself was disconcerting. The first rule of crisis management is honesty. No matter how bad the news is, people understand and appreciate getting the facts. Trump continued to tout the availability of tests  even though his own experts affirmed to Congress that our testing supplies are woefully inadequate. Another rule of crisis management is calmness. Words delivered with calm sincerity and empathy reassure citizens and stabilize markets. The demeanor and substance of the Presidents remarks did neither.

As things go from bad to worse with the Coronavirus, it may be that the Presidents speech will be remembered much like President George W. Bushs fly-over of the Katrina disaster. Julian Zelizer, a Princeton Presidential historian said: People want to see a leader who has a commanding presence. In some ways, the country is worse off with a message like President Trumps.

When the president finally declared a state of emergency, he made sure to bring the vice president, key scientists, and administration officials with him. It was telling that most of the questions were directed to the professionals. They had less tendency to equivocate and blame others. They were there to get the facts out. While the president deflected some of the questions, his demeanor and message was much more focused on the $50 billion that could be mobilized under the emergency declaration to fight the pandemic.

With all of that said, here is a wake-up call for all Americans: we only have one president. In a period of crisis for the country, we need and expect him and all our leaders to make good decisions. We need to lay down the normal political hostilities and to deal with the stark reality that faces us  without partisanship and without rancor.

While it was disappointing that the president chose not to engage directly with Speaker Nancy Pelosi on a complete stimulus plan, Vice President Mike Pence and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin did. Leaders from both parties put together a bold plan to accelerate testing and to help pay for coronavirus care.

Both Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders called for paid sick leave, relief for hard-hit workers, expanded unemployment insurance benefits, and enhanced funding for schools and services for low income families and children. Much of their proposals have found their way into the package now before the Congress.

The immediate priority in the package is to call for free testing and distributing those tests as widely as possible. This is the crucial action required to stop the pandemic. The plan also builds up our health care response capabilities and directs funding to state and local governments to help affected localities.

These kinds of non-partisan actions speak louder than misinformation and political posturing.

While it is likely that Presidential leadership and character will be a major topic of discussion in the fall, we should all be focused on the here and now.

In a particularly silly sidebar during the early discussions of Covid-19, President Trump managed to assign blame on a familiar target  Barack Obama. This, despite the former presidents capable handling of Ebola, SARS, H1N1 and similar crises. This, even though President Trump eliminated the very health crisis management office in the West Wing that had been set up specifically for our current circumstance.

It is time to move past missteps and misstatements and reaffirm that we are all in this together. Covid-19 is the enemy. America has the ingenuity and the capacity to tame it and to destroy it over time.

Let us give the president the resources he needs to move beyond the coronavirus and let us support him fully in that fight.

Mark S. Singel is a former Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania. He and Republican Charlie Gerow can be seen at 8:30 a.m. each Sunday on CBS21s Face the State.
Labour has called for the government to release people held in immigration removal centres because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The shadow immigration minister backed an open letter by charities warning of the risk of an uncontrolled outbreak of Covid-19 in immigration detention.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy said detainees should be released and monitored using bail conditions and electronic tagging instead.

We already know prisons of all kinds are a very high-risk area for transmission with people kept in close proximity, she added.

The Home Office has suggested that nobody in immigration detention centres has caught the disease yet, but how can they know that given the wider absence of community testing and the asymptomatic nature of the disease? We need urgent clarity on this.

Ms Ribeiro-Addy said many of the people currently being held will only be detained for a short time and then freed when they prove their right to citizenship, adding: Its completely unfair to put them at heightened risk in this way.

As the government draws up its emergency plans for prisons, they must do the right thing and put human life before their commitment to arbitrary net migration targets.

Several inmates have died during prison riots linked to coronavirus quarantine measures in Italy, and Britain is among several countries attempting to guard against similar disorder.

Up to 2,000 people are held at any one time in seven immigration removal centres across Britain, which are mostly run by private outsourcing firms.

 Government's research chief says coronavirus vaccine may take up to a year

A letter signed by 10 migrants rights organisations called for the government to act before coronavirus could spread through the population and potentially cause deaths.

At least two detainees have so far been tested for coronavirus at Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre, near Heathrow Airport.

The men, originally from Iraq and Nigeria, tested negative but said at least seven others had been quarantined and tested.

The men reported that officers moved freely between the quarantined area and other parts of the centre, and that their cellmates were not isolated.

Bella Sankey, the director of Detention Action, said: We are gravely concerned that governments coronavirus plan makes no mention of detention and deportation.

The government must prepare to release everyone being detained. Mass detention without adequate healthcare is a risk to public health and detention is only lawful if there is a prospect of imminent removal.

While detainees are being tested for a deadly virus of pandemic proportions, deportations should be suspended.

A Home Office spokesperson said: The health of people in these centres is of the utmost importance and we have robust contingency plans and are following all Public Health England guidance.

We remain committed to removing foreign national offenders or those who violate our immigration rules.

On Sunday, the government announced 35 people with coronavirus had died in the UK and 1,372 cases had been confirmed.

The health secretary, Matt Hancock, said elderly people will be asked to self-isolate for up to four months as part of the plan to tackle the virus.

Ministers are also seeking to give police powers to arrest and forcibly quarantine people who are sick with the virus but are not self-isolating, and mass gatherings could be banned from next weekend.
Amid the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak, one more person tested positive on Sunday in Aurangabad. A 59-year-old woman with a travel history to Russia and Kazakhstan tested positive making the total number of cases in Maharashtra 32. Earlier on Saturday, new cases were detected in Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur, and Yavatmal.

Maha records 32 cases

Late Saturday night, State disease surveillance officer Dr Pradip Awate informed that five persons from the Pimpri-Chinchwad area near Mumbai had tested positive for the virus. Four of them had come in contact with a group that had returned from Dubai. Some members of this group have already tested positive. Another person had visited Thailand recently, Dr Awate added. It took the number of coronavirus patients in the Pune area to 15.

READ | Amitabh Bachchan's Blog Entry On His Coronavirus Precautions Can't Be Missed; Read Here

Four new patients of coronavirus were confirmed in Mumbai on Saturday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. 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 and their condition is stable, BMC deputy director, health, Daksha Shah said. Earlier in the day, two persons who had recently returned from Dubai were confirmed to have contracted the Coronavirus in Maharashtra's Yavatmal city.

Thus, so far across the state, fifteen Coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Pune, eight in Mumbai, four in Nagpur, two in Yavatmal and one in Thane, Ahmednagar and now Aurangabad. Some of the persons who tested positive have a history of travelling to the United States, Dubai, France, the Philippines, and Qatar, a health department statement said. A 71-year-old man, who had returned from Saudi Arabia and was suspected to have Coronavirus infection, died during treatment in Buldhana district on Saturday afternoon. He was suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure.

READ | Congress MP Singhvi To Move Population Control Bill In Rajya Sabha; Seeks 2-child Policy

Maha govt shut down Schools, colleges, malls, etc

Health Minister Rajesh Tope earlier on Saturday evening announced that shopping malls across the State will remain closed till the month-end. Grocery stores that sell commodities of daily need will remain open, he said.

The State government also issued a directive that all schools and colleges in areas of municipal corporations, municipalities and Nagar panchayats shall remain closed till March 31. Tope also said that examinations of classes one to nine will be postponed if they are being held currently, only the std 10th and 12th board exams will take place as per the schedule.

READ | Coronavirus Outbreak Live Updates: Total Number Of Positive Cases Rise To 93

READ | Coronavirus Count In Maha At 31; Malls, Schools To Be Closed

(with PTI inputs)
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Authorities around the world turned to increasingly drastic measures to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus on Sunday, with lockdowns, curfews and travel restrictions spreading.

Soldiers and police sealed the densely populated Philippine capital from most domestic travellers in one of south-east Asias most drastic containment moves.

The move mirrored a lockdown Spain announced just hours earlier for its 46 million citizens.

France ordered the closing of just about everything the rest of the world loves about it  the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the cafes and restaurants  as governments took increasingly desperate measures to put more space between people and contain the virus.

At US airports, travellers returning from Europe have been greeted with hours-long waits for required medical screenings.

While US citizens, green card holders and some others are allowed to return to the US amid new European travel restrictions, they are being funnelled to 13 airports where they are subject to health screenings and quarantine orders.

President Donald Trump announced that the US, which days ago barred travellers from most of Europe, will extend the ban to Britain and Ireland.

In China, where the virus was first detected in December, those arriving on overseas flights were routed to a converted exhibition centre for initial checks before being shuttled off to their homes or other quarantine locations.

It was clear, however, the way the centre of gravity in the crisis has shifted westward toward Europe and North America.

The virus has infected more than 150,000 people worldwide and killed over 5,600.

In a nationally televised address Saturday, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez detailed the battery of exceptional measures put in place as part of a two-week state of emergency to fight the sharp rise in infections.

Later Saturday, Spains government said Mr Sanchezs wife had tested positive for coronavirus. Begona Gomez and the prime minister are in good health, the government said.

In a lockdown similar to the one already imposed in Italy, people will be allowed to leave their homes only to buy food and medicine, commute to work, go to hospitals and banks, or take trips related to the care of the young and the elderly.

All schools and universities were closed, along with restaurants, bars, hotels and other non-essential retail businesses.

From now we enter into a new phase, Mr Sanchez said. We wont hesitate in doing what we must to beat the virus. We are putting health first.

Spanish authorities said the number of infections climbed past 5,700, half of them in the capital, Madrid.

That represents a national increase of over 1,500 in 24 hours. The country had 136 deaths, up from 120. Spain has the fifth-highest number of cases, behind China, Italy, Iran and South Korea.

We had to close and remain shut for 15 days, restaurant owner Rachel Paparardo said in Barcelona, which was already under regional restrictions.

But this is nothing. It is just so more people dont get infected and we can recover from this.

In the Philippines, new restrictions for Manila, home to more than 12 million people, that came into effect Sunday mean the suspension of domestic travel by land, air and sea to and from the capital region.

Large gatherings are prohibited and most government work in executive department offices will be suspended for a month. School closures at all levels were extended and a curfew was also announced.

In the Middle East, Muslim authorities announced that Jerusalems Al-Aqsa mosque, Islams third-holiest site, would be closed indefinitely, with prayers continuing to be held on the sprawling esplanade outside.

Paris followed other cities in shut major tourist attractions, and France announced the closing of all restaurants, cafes, theatres and non-essential shops starting Sunday.

France has recorded at least 3,600 infections. It has banned all gatherings of more than 100 people, ordered all schools closed and asked companies to allow workers to stay at home.

In Italy, the worst-hit European country, the number of deaths climbed past 1,400 and infections surged roughly 20% overnight to more than 21,000, because of what authorities called irresponsible behaviour by people still socialising despite the nationwide lockdown.

Many Italian cities, including Rome and Milan, decided to close playgrounds and parks, too.

Greeces infection total approached 230 with three deaths, and police there arrested 45 shopkeepers Saturday for violating a ban on operations.

The US has seen 60 deaths and more than 2,100 cases. In hard-hit Washington state, where 40 have died and and more than 550 have been infected, officials said the disease is straining the supply of protective gear available to medical providers despite shipments from the federal government.

Mr Trump tested negative for coronavirus, the presidents personal physician said Saturday.

European countries took steps to isolate themselves from their neighbours.

Denmark closed its borders and halted passenger traffic to and from the country.



Poland planned to close is borders at midnight and deny all foreigners entry unless they lived in Poland or had personal ties there. The Czech Republic and Slovakia took similar action.

Russia said its borders with Norway and Poland will be closed to most foreigners beginning Sunday.

In the Pacific, Australia and New Zealand announced that incoming travellers will be required to isolate themselves for 14 days, with few exceptions.

In New Zealand, passengers aboard a cruise ship in the South Island tourist town of Akaroa were not being allowed off the vessel Sunday, while three passengers are tested.

SOURCE: Associated Press
The coronavirus doesn't discriminate but around a fifth of those infected with it have a higher risk of becoming seriously ill.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has put the case fatality rate at 3.4pc worldwide, although this varies between countries, from 2.3pc in China to 5pc in Italy. Projections by Irish public health officials suggest that between 20pc and 40pc of Ireland's 4.8 million population could get the coronavirus.

Most will get mild symptoms, and some won't even know they are carrying the virus. Older people are no more likely to catch the virus than anyone else but if they do catch it they are at greater risk, particularly those over the age of 80.

In China, 14.8pc of people with the virus who were over the age of 80 died, compared with 8pc of people in their 70s, according to data collected by WHO.

Age is not the only risk factor.

People with diabetes, high blood pressure, respiratory disease and cancer also have a greater risk of dying if they contract the virus. The same data from China found that 13.2pc of Covid-19 patients who had underlying heart disease died, and 7.6pc of people with cancer and 8pc of those with respiratory disease.

The data also showed a higher risk to men - 4.8pc of men died compared with 2.8pc of women. Experts have pointed out that this could be because more men than women smoke.

The Department of Health in Ireland says that smokers are at greater risk of getting the infection, and at greater risk of it lasting longer and becoming more serious than for non-smokers. It has also posted advice on its website for pregnant women, even though the numbers of reported cases of pregnant women with the virus is low.

But the stark advice from the Department of Health is that the virus is new, and we still don't know how it affects expectant mothers and their babies.

Expectant mothers who test positive may have to give birth in an isolation room, with only one other person present outside of their medical team, the advice says. Once the baby is born, the mother must consider her options: "One option may be to arrange for someone else to care for the baby while you wait for coronavirus to pass. This is to protect your baby from catching the virus," the health advice says. If the mother chooses to care for her baby, there are risks. In that case, mother and baby will have to be isolated in a single room. The baby will be in an enclosed incubator. Visitors will be restricted and need to wear protective masks. When holding, bathing or breastfeeding the baby, the mother is advised to wear a long-sleeved gown and surgical mask. Mothers are encouraged to breastfeed, depending on medical advice, but they must wash their hands before touching their baby.

Parents will be relieved to know that children seem to escape the worst symptoms of the coronavirus. Data collected from the World Health Organisation's fact-finding mission to China found that teenagers and children accounted for 2.4pc of all reported Covid-19 cases. When the virus was detected in children, it was usually through contact tracing, not because they presented with medical symptoms. But experts believe they are key vectors - hence the urgency in shutting down schools and creches.
A total of 135 people with travel history to coronavirus-hit countries have been put in home isolation in Mizoram, a senior health official said on Sunday.

Most of them were undergoing self-quarantine and did not show symptoms of the deadly virus, state health principal director Dr F Lallianhlira said.

The self-quarantined people have travel history to coronavirus-hit countries such as Saudi Arabia, Italy, Iran and France and have been quarantined as a precautionary measure, he said.

"Though Mizoram has not yet reported any positive case of novel coronavirus, we have to remain alert. The health department is closely monitoring them," he said.

One person has been quarantined at a hospital in Thenzawl near Aizawl, he said.

The state government is screening commuters along the Mizoram-Assam border for COVID-19, an official said.

About 1,300-1,400 people are being screened every day at three counters in Vairengte near the Assam border, he said.

The government is also planning to deploy more medical teams and the matter would be discussed at a meeting on Monday.

Meanwhile, responding to an appeal made by Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee (MKHC), all churches held mass prayer programmes since Saturday night seeking divine intervention to contain the pandemic, sources said.

A church leader told PTI that special prayer programmes were held by some churches on Saturday night while others also held similar programmes on Sunday.

Church members were also instructed to avoid spreading fake on novel coronavirus and refrain from hoarding essential commodities and hike commodity prices.

On Thursday, the MKHC had appealed to all churches across the state to hold mass prayer.

The MKHC is the conglomerate of church leaders committee involving at least 15 major churches in the state, including Mizoram Presbyterian Church and Baptist church of Mizoram.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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European broadcasting giant RTL Group on Friday reported a 10% increase in 2019 profit as revenue reached a record 6.65 billion ($7.44 billion), driven mainly by higher sales from global content unit Fremantle and its digital business.

With sales up 3.2%, 2019 marked the fifth consecutive year that RTLs revenue reached record levels.

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The groups earnings grew 10.1% to 864 million ($966.3 million) year on year, due largely to the capital gain from the disposal of film distribution unit Universum Film, which was bought by U.S. investment firm KKR last year and merged into Munich-based studio Leonine, which also includes the former assets of Tele Munchen Group. Lower impairments also contributed to RTLs profit boost.

With regard to the coronavirus crisis, RTL CEO Thomas Rabe said it was currently too early to quantify its impact on RTL Groups results. The group has already seen the first cancellations of advertising bookings and impacts on productions, Rabe added, but stressed that he nevertheless expected the first quarter to be stable and in line with expectations.

Rabe, who also serves as CEO of RTL parent group Bertelsmann, said the group was boosting its streaming services and global content businesses. Driven by the strong performances of our three largest business units, RTL Group achieved all financial goals in 2019.

RTLs strategy builds upon three priorities: strengthening its core businesses, including consolidation across its broadcasting footprint; boosting its streaming services and content division Fremantle; and fostering alliances and partnerships in the European media industry, Rabe said.

Within this framework, we put a particular focus on becoming national streaming champions in the countries where RTL Group has leading families of channels and on building an open European tech platform for streaming services, the CEO added.

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Over the next five years, RTL aims to grow the number of paying subscribers for streaming services TV Now in Germany and Videoland in the Netherlands to between 5 and 7 million, with streaming revenue expected to reach at least 500 million ($560 million) and break even by 2025, Rabe added.

TV Now and Videolands paying subscribers grew 37% to 1.44 million last year while their streaming revenue grew by 46.7% to 135 million ($151 million) in 2019. Overall, RTL Groups digital revenue increased by 8.9% to 1.07 billion ($1.20 billion), accounting for 16.1% its total revenue.

Fremantles revenue was up 12.6% to nearly 1.8 billion ($2 billion) as its drama business continued to grow, with the second season of American Gods, the first commission for Norway with Exit, and the second seasons of The New Pope and My Brilliant Friend: The Story of a New Name. As a result, Fremantles drama revenue increased by 36.2% to 414 million ($463.4 million).

In France, Groupe M6 and its technology unit Bedrock are building SVOD streaming service Salto, which is also backed by Groupe TF1 and France Televisions and set to launch later this year.

The companys German and French divisions, Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland and Groupe M6, saw higher audience and TV advertising market shares, while Fremantle reported revenue growth of 12.6%.

Mediengruppe RTL Deutschlands channels slightly increased their combined audience share in the key 14 to 59 demo to 28.1%, due largely to the positive performance of flagship channel RTL Television, which increased its audience share for the first time since 2011.

Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland also outperformed Germanys net TV advertising market. The company last year launched its latest free-to-air German channel, Vox Up, which shares its advertising breaks with affiliate Vox while broadcasting different programs and offering more net reach for advertisers.

Groupe M6 completed the acquisition of Gulli, Frances leading free-to-air digital channel for children, and five pay-TV channels from Lagardere, leading to greater audience and TV market shares for the unit.

RTL Groups revenue remains well diversified, with 44.2% generated from TV advertising, 21.6% from content, 16.1% from digital activities, 5.5% from platform revenue, 4.1% from radio advertising and 8.5% from other revenue.

Looking forward, RTL Group expects 2020 revenue to grow organically by 2 to 3%, with TV advertising revenue slightly down and Fremantles revenue up by between 4 and 6%.

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(Bloomberg) -- For a week, he patiently waited in the shadows as Malaysias two political giants -- Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim -- vied for the numbers to become the nations prime minister.

But when the dust settled earlier this month, it was little-known Muhyiddin Yassin who bested his former allies to emerge on top, shifting power back to Malay-dominated parties that have ruled Malaysia for most of its 63-year history. Now hes bought more time to consolidate power, delaying parliament -- and a potential leadership challenge -- for at least two months.

It was a stunning turn of events for Muhyiddin, who survived cancer two years ago and has managed to keep a relatively low profile despite holding some of the countrys top jobs during a political career that began nearly 50 years ago. Mahathir appeared shocked by the move from a man who served at his side for much of the past three decades, saying he felt betrayed.

In fact, Mahathir couldve seen this coming: Muhyiddin had publicly split with Malaysias previous two prime ministers after serving in their cabinets. That he didnt do so speaks volumes about Muhyiddins personality. Those who know him personally describe a calm, composed and meticulous man who easily works across the political aisle -- a stark contrast with Malaysias more outspoken, high-profile politicians.

Born into a family with dozens of children led by a prominent Muslim cleric in Johor, Malaysias second-most populous state bordering Singapore, Muhyiddin had to learn from a young age how to build alliances and stand out from the pack. Those skills allowed him to continue developing relationships with the opposition even while he served as a minister in Mahathirs government.

As long as Ive known him, hes been very humble, not at all arrogant -- approachable and easy to talk to, said new Environment Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, deputy president of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party or PAS, one of the former opposition parties that joined Muhyiddins coalition.

Story continues

He was easy to negotiate and discuss with, he would listen to other peoples opinions, Tuan Ibrahim said. Even though we were from different political sides, there was no gap.

Challenges ahead

Muhyiddin will need to summon all of those political skills to get Malaysia through one of its most tumultuous periods in recent memory. His own coalition barely has the numbers to command a majority in parliament, and Mahathir has vowed a confidence vote when lawmakers reconvene on May 18.

And if the political headaches werent enough, Muhyiddin is facing the weakest economic growth seen since 2009. The coronavirus outbreak, now entering its second wave, has punished the ringgit this year while dragging trade and investment.

One of his biggest challenges will be convincing investors that his administration wont simply mimic the corruption-tainted former government he helped oust in 2018. The biggest party in his new coalition is the United Malays National Organisation once led by former leader Najib Razak, who faces dozens of charges linked to a scandal involving billions of dollars siphoned from state fund 1MDB.

The perception is that this government coup was undertaken to save Najib and UMNO leaders currently on trial from being convicted, said Ong Kian Ming, former deputy international trade and industry minister.

Hell also have to fight concerns that his government will only cater to the majority Malay population. Muhyiddin is remembered for his infamous pronouncement 10 years ago that hes a Malay first, and the composition of his coalition signals a return to policies favoring the countrys conservative Malay majority -- a stark departure from the multiracial coalition under Mahathir.

So far in his two-week tenure, Muhyiddin has largely kept to his predecessors policies. He plans to increase, rather than overhaul, Malaysias 20 billion ringgit ($4.7 billion) stimulus package while also continuing with Mahathirs 2030 vision for more equal distribution of wealth in Malaysia.

Still, compared to the blunt and acerbic former prime minister, Muhyiddin is seen as rather quiet and unlikely to openly opine on the plight of Muslims in Palestine or India, said Ahmad Martadha Mohamed, a professor of government at Universiti Utara Malaysia in the northern state of Kedah. Mahathir had lambasted India for its new law that discriminates against Muslims, while also taking Muslim countries to task over rising negative views of Islam.

I dont think he will venture into something that is quite radical from what the previous prime minister has done, especially with regard to foreign policy, Ahmad Martadha said. He will not be very expressive, forthright and will not be as critical, even as hes likely to keep Malaysias existing foreign policy stance.

Relations with Singapore may also improve: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was quick to invite the new premier for a visit, saying they have much to discuss. Under Mahathir, the neighbors had bickered over water supply and airspace.

Political rise

Part of that has to do with Muhyiddins upbringing in Johor. After obtaining an economics degree from the prestigious University of Malaya, he spent a few years in the corporate sector before joining UMNO. His ascent up the ladder was slow and steady, with 15 years holding small leadership roles before being named Johor chief minister, his first cabinet post.

During his time as chief minister, Muhyiddin was involved in talks that led to Malaysia allowing Singapore to build a water reservoir while overseeing other agreements on gas and transport links. After nine years on the job, in 1995 he was appointed to federal roles in Mahathirs cabinet.

He continued his rise even after Abdullah Badawi succeeded Mahathir in 2003. Five years later he stirred controversy, calling on Abdullah to step down earlier than planned after leading the coalition to its smallest election victory since independence. Abdullah had promised to hand over to then-Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2010.

Im surprised that a member of my cabinet came out with that kind of statement, against what has already been agreed, Abdullah said in response. He later wrote in his biography that Muhyiddins actions were tantamount to disloyalty.

The move foreshadowed the end of Muhyiddins time with UMNO. As deputy to Najib in 2015, he publicly questioned the prime ministers role in the 1MDB scandal. That July, while celebrating Eid -- traditionally a month of forgiveness and joy -- the two men sat across the table from each other and barely made eye contact. The tension was palpable. The next day, Najib fired Muhyiddin.

Muhyiddins willingness to speak out over 1MDB shows he is a man of some principle, said Wong Chen, a lawmaker with Anwars Peoples Justice Party, or PKR, which is now in the opposition coalition.

Taking a stand turned out well for Muhyiddin. He made a political comeback a few years later, joining forces with Mahathir to successfully oust Najib from power through the new party they jointly set up, Malaysian United Indigenous Party, or Bersatu.

Even after Mahathir resigned abruptly on Feb. 24, Muhyiddin had publicly backed him. A split only emerged after Mahathir refused to work with UMNO lawmakers, opening the door for Muhyiddin to take power.

While Mahathir saw it as a betrayal, others close to the two men sided with Muhyiddin. Rais Hussin, a senior member of Bersatu, called him a father-like figure who stepped up out of a sense of duty.

He hasnt been controversial, always taking a step back, trying to do what is necessary, Rais said. And this time thats what he has to do.

Muhyiddin still wants Mahathirs endorsement of his government. Days after his inauguration, he sent the former leader a letter to apologize and to ask for a meeting. Mahathir declined, saying its not yet the time.

In his first televised address, Muhyiddin had sought to fight the notion that hes just another power hungry politician.

I know there are some who are angry with me, he said. As expected, some quarters are calling me a traitor.

He paused briefly.

Listen carefully, he continued in his measured baritone. I am not a traitor.

Hell find out soon whether the nation agrees.

--With assistance from Yantoultra Ngui.

To contact the reporters on this story: Anisah Shukry in Kuala Lumpur at ashukry2@bloomberg.net;Philip J. Heijmans in Singapore at pheijmans1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Yudith Ho at yho35@bloomberg.net, Daniel Ten Kate, Muneeza Naqvi

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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A day before the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh is to face a floor test in the assembly, a minister flagged the threat of coronavirus and suggested that proceedings in the House could be put off.

Minister for public relations PC Sharmas comment came at a briefing after a cabinet meeting on Sunday.

The cabinet discussed how corona virus outbreak has led to postponement of state assemblies in several states. However, whether it should be replicated in MP will be decided by the House only when it meets on Monday, he said.

The minister spoke at length on how coronavirus outbreak has affected 113 countries and that it has been declared as an epidemic worldwide.

Even in Lok Sabha there was a demand to postpone the proceedings in view of coronavirus outbreak, he said.

The number of coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 107 even as the Central and state governments scaled up their response to stop the virus from spreading. Two persons have died of the disease in Delhi and Karnataka.

Late Saturday night, Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon directed chief minister Kamal Nath to seek a trust vote in the assembly on Monday, days after 22 Congress legislators resigned en masse leaving the government staring at a collapse.

With 19 rebel MLAs ensconced in Bengaluru, the Congress had taken about 80 of its legislators to Jaipur to prevent poaching by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress lawmakers who returned from Jaipur on Sunday have been taken to hotel where they will stay till the floor test on Monday.

Sharma insisted that the MLAs who are in Bengaluru were kidnapped and hypnotized.

Our MLAs have been kidnapped and held captive in Bengaluru. On seeing them it appears they have been hypnotised and subjected to tantra-mantra (black magic).

The Congress lawmakers who returned from Jaipur, insist that the government will survive the floor test despite the resignations of the 22 MLAs.

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It is always amazing to see the Bexar County community rally around the most vulnerable during a time of need.

We witnessed this at its grandest scale following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when San Antonio opened its doors to 35,000 people who had lost their homes during that devastating storm.

And we have continued to see that enduring community spirit over the last 10 years as local residents have opened their homes, hearts and wallets to more than 10,000 refugees fleeing famine, war and persecution in their native countries.

As the community takes precautions against the spread of COVID-19, its been reassuring to see local civic and business leaders taking steps to serve and assist those with limited resources.

Wednesday CPS Energy halted the practice of disconnecting services for residents who cannot pay their bills. The action was taken after District 1 Councilman Robert Trevino and Mayor Ron Nirenberg called on the local utilities to make special accommodations while the community addresses the public health concerns, and the economic fallout that is accompanying the outbreak.

We were equally glad to the San Antonio Water System followed suit on Thursday. This is crucial for ensuring access to clean water and much-needed handwashing.

The San Antonio Housing Authority has placed a moratorium on evictions. We are certain more housing assistance will be needed from local leaders.

As we continue to anxiously monitor the COVID-19 situation, its paramount we remain mindful of the needs of those least likely to ask for help.

The elderly and sick will need assistance with food deliveries. At a time of social distancing, it might be best to skip that haircut, but still pay your barber or stylist.

With schools extending spring break as a precautionary public health measure, its paramount districts adopt plans to ensure children dont go hungry.

A high percentage of students in Bexar County are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals and suffer from food insecurity in their homes.

Public health officials are advising we practice social distancing to keep the coronavirus at bay, but we are still a community. We must remain mindful of those around us who could use our assistance or benefit from a wellness check or financial assistance.

Let your benevolence and compassion for others burn brightly, San Antonio.
Tracy Stettner, 44, of Hillsborough, Calif., said it was difficult to explain to her two children why the younger sons school  which is private  had suspended in-school classes, to guard against spreading infection, while her older son left every morning, spent the day in close quarters with 1,200 other teenagers, and returned home.

It needs to be all or nothing, or else how do we stop the spread? said Ms. Stettler. The most confusing thing to my kids is, why is the N.B.A. canceling, and Disneyland, but my school is still open? It doesnt make sense.

She, too, was eager for a higher level of government to step in  in her case, Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Our public schools are waiting for him to say something, she said. They need him to say, any kid thats pulled out is an excused absence. And even more, they need him to say, no mass gatherings, which would trigger the closings of schools.

In Bellevue, Wash., Geng Tan, 48, wondered why her childrens schools remained open, when the schools in the next county over had already closed as a precaution.

Ms. Tan, an architect who grew up in China, concluded that the hesitation was really related to the American social structure.

I think, under special circumstances, we do need a higher level to make dramatic decisions, she said. Basically, the school hesitated to make that hard decision themselves.
Unfortunately, as one would expect while living in the United States, during times such as these, sales of firearms and survival equipment have expanded enough to ensure a bunch of headlines.

Face masks, disinfectants, and paper goods are not the only things that shoot off supermarket shelves, but as well as purchases of emergency equipment such as ready-to-eat meals, firearms and ammunition have also increased as people prepare for the coronavirus outbreak.

The sales were reported to have increased multiple times more in year-to-year supply for long-term food products, water and air filters, gears and even bunkers.

Consumers who are concerned about the safety hazards that are associated with the pandemic outbreak and the probability of quarantines temporarily cutting off accessibility to supplies are now seeing significant growth in the survival and preparedness sales industries.

The search for "survival" peaked to its highest in five years between February 23-29, once reports of coronavirus beyond China were found, and since then only approximately 25% since then have tapered.

Although the survival and preparation industry relies on taking rational measures to be ready against adverse circumstances, owners say that seeing certain purchasing in department stores is the consequence of panic-buying.

Texas-based Rising S Company retailer and luxury bunker factory has reported that 50% more calls have been received since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak.

Although each bunker contains an air filter, filters are also being sold for homes separately by the company. Two to three of them are usually sold every year, but recently, they now sell over thirty days a week, with extremely strong international sales, said Gary Lynch tha General Manager.

Throughout the past three months, sales of the emergency supplies, such as food bars, water bags and water purification tablets have risen by about 200% to 1,700%, as reported by Brian Houser, LHB Industries Marketing Director, who supplies emergency kits and equipment. The company had sold 75 N95 respirator masks for that same three-month duration last year.

Two months ago, the inquiries started and that only raised interest. They had sold approximately 13,000 this year alone.

TheEpicenter, a survival equipment and food supply site has mostly stopped receiving its phone because of an influx of demands. Consumers are then led to the website by a tired message from their voicemail, which sells out the entire selection of MRE, prepackaged military shelter-food are being sold out.

President of My Patriot Supply, a food emergency manufacturer and retailer, Keith Bansemer, had said that the business has tripled its operations in the last month and opened a new distribution center in order to increase production. Consumers not only buy for the next two weeks, but also store them for fall and winter season. However if all advertising is halted, orders continue to come in.

The spike in customer requests is not surprising, when people are uncertain as to how long the pandemic will last, according to Praopan Pratoomchat, University of Wisconsin-Superior Assistant Professor of Economics.

While being prepared isn't a bad thing, and could actually save your life, we must leave some for others.
Theres a repeating motif in David Simons passionate, gutting adaptation of Philip Roths 2004 novel The Plot Against America. A Jewish boy in early 1940s Newark is sitting in his bedroom when he hears an airplane overhead. Maybe its a warplane. Maybe its the president. Neither is a comforting thought.

The president is Charles Lindbergh (Ben Cole), the famous aviator who, in this alternative past, defeated Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 on a platform of antiwar isolationism laced with anti-Semitism, made nice with the Nazis and began a gradual program of persecuting American Jews in the name of assimilation.

That airplane motoring overhead is a symbol of what Simon and Ed Burnss dazzling mini-series so mightily conveys: the ominous approach of history from a vantage where you can hear and see it but cant touch it. It can only touch you.

Plot, beginning Monday on HBO, asks the audience to imagine the outlandish idea that the presidency might have been won by a celebrity demagogue new to politics who appeals to bigotry and fear, who ran on the slogan of America First, who boasts of having taken our country back, who sees fine people on the most reprehensible side of history, who cozies up to despots and behaves as if he were their puppet.
CONCORD (BCN)

The City of Concord has declared a local state of emergency spurred by the coronavirus pandemic, which will allow the city to reallocate city resources as needed, and to access state and federal emergency resources.

The Concord City Council is expected to ratify the declaration at its next meeting. The next regularly scheduled meeting is March 24, but the council could call an emergency meeting this upcoming week to do so.

"Our community is facing an unprecedented public health crisis that requires swift action," Concord Mayor Tim McGallian said in a city statement. "We are working closely with our local and state partners to determine how best to keep our residents and our staff safe.

"Although these measures may feel burdensome, we must do our part to encourage the social distancing that is required to slow the spread of this disease and preserve critical care capacity for those who need it most," McGallian said.

Among the measures included in this order are canceling all indoor and outdoor city-sponsored programs, classes, activities and events through May 1; suspending all preschool programs through May 1; canceling all indoor and outdoor city facility rentals through May 1; closing facilities including Centre Concord, Willow Pass Center and Concord Community Pool to the public; limiting access to other public buildings, including the police department, City Hall and the senior center; adhering to six-foot "social distancing" mandates for the health and safety of the public and city employees; canceling the farmers' market at Todos Santos Plaza through May 1; and canceling all non-essential public meetings.

City Council and Planning Commission meetings will continue, city officials said, but agendas will be limited to "essential business" only, and access to the council chamber will be limited in order to adhere to the six-foot "social distancing" mandates.

The full press release can be viewed here: https://www.cityofconcord.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/684

Copyright  2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
The heavy toll coronavirus has taken on northern Italy has been highlighted in devastating footage of a newspapers obituary section.

A reader of the LEco di Bergamo  a daily in the Lombardy region where some 10 million inhabitants are currently quarantined  decided to compare the papers recent obituary pages to those at the outbreaks onset.

First, the narrator holds up a copy of the Bergamo papers 9 February issue, published when the country had confirmed just three cases. The obituaries section takes up one and a half pages.

He then opens a copy dated 13 March, by which point the number of confirmed infections had risen to more than 17,600 and 1,266 people had lost their lives.

Slowly turning the pages of the local paper, he reveals that just over a month later the number of obituaries takes up 10 full pages.

Giovanni Locatelli shared the video to social media, where it has been viewed millions of times and lauded as a poignant rebuttal to those seen as putting lives at risk by downplaying the seriousness of the pandemic.

Bergamos good ICUs are now pushed to the brink, doing wartime triage, deciding who can be saved. This is real, guys, Rachel Donadio, a writer for The Atlantic, said in response to the footage.

Entrepreneur Balaji Srinivasan added: Thats not a bad flu season. Not an imaginary threat. Its a real thing, which will accelerate further unless arrested with quarantine, drugs, vaccines.

Italy is the worst-hit European country so far, and the UK government appears to have used the countrys outbreak as something of a benchmark for what our own outbreak could look like.

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 governments chief scientific advisor Sir Patrick Vallance said on Friday, as he revealed there could then have been up to 10,000 people infected in the UK.

However, while Italy has enforced a lockdown across the entire country  which appears to only be tightening a week on from its introduction, with ferries halted to Sardinia and overnight train journeys recently banned  the UK appears to be opting for a less restrictive approach, initially at least.

While the government is set to tell over-70s to self-isolate, an open letter from mathematicians and analysts accused ministers of risk[ing] many more lives than necessary.

Whitehalls approach  which stands in stark contrast to other nations  appears to rely on the virus moving through the population at a semi-controlled pace in order to develop herd immunity, although the Department of Health now disputes this.

On Sunday morning, health secretary Matt Hancock said the government would unveil a cross-party package of emergency powers on Tuesday, including telling over-70s to self-isolate.

Last week, Italian doctors warned European medics to get ready for coronavirus, sending a letter revealing up to 10 per cent of all those infected need intensive care, placing huge pressure on the countrys health services.

An Italian intensive care specialist working in Bologna also told The Independent that UK hospitals should plan now for the influx in patients, stressing some of those who needed care were young and healthy, forcing overwhelmed hospitals to make difficult choices.

However, comparisons with Italy may no longer be truly helpful.

The UKs cases appear to be more spread out geographically than in Italy, which could place less pressure on health services. Italy is also thought of as having seen more untraced transmissions at the start of the outbreak, placing authorities on the back foot.

Speaking to the BBC, epidemiologist Adam Kucharski criticised simplistic comparisons of case numbers, but warned that without efforts to control the virus we could still see a situation evolve like that in Italy, although possibly further into the future than four weeks.
Syria's bloody civil war enters its 10th year with the government of President Bashar al-Assad appearing to be consolidating his hold on power, backed by crucial military and political support from Russia and Iran.



The conflict began when Syrians took to the streets on March 15, 2011, to protest against Assads government, which then launched a brutal crackdown that has led to a conflict that has killed more than 370,000 people and displaced millions.



Geir Pedersen, the UN special envoy for Syria, said on the eve of the anniversary: "The suffering of the Syrian people during this tragic and terrible decade still defies comprehension and belief."



UN chief Antonio Guterres wrote on Twitter this week that a decade of fighting has brought nothing but ruin and misery.



The conflict at times has resembled a proxy war among world powers, with Moscow and Tehran backing Assad while the United States and Turkey have supported differing rebel groups.



The Islamic State (IS) militant group also entered the fray and were opposed by all other sides. They have been driven from most of their strongholds, although some extremists continue to hold out in Idlib Province in the northwest of the country.



"Nine years of revolution illustrates the extent of the suffering we have known, between exile, bombings, and deaths," Hala Ibrahim, a rights activist who lives in Idlib Province, told AFP news agency.



"I left my university, my house, which was bombed. We've lost everything," the woman in her 30s said.



Syrian forces, backed by Russian warplanes, have heavily bombarded in the province, targeting the remaining rebels, but they have also killed an estimated 500 civilians -- along with dozens of Turkish forces, who are attempting to create a buffer zone in the border region, raising the possibility of an armed conflict between Damascus and Ankara.



The United Nations says that a million people have been forced to flee, creating a humanitarian disaster and threatening to ignite a new migrant crisis in Europe.



A cease-fire came into effect this month in the northwest, with Turkish and Russian forces set to carry out joint patrols in Idlib, but violations of the truce are often reported.

Russian state-run TASS news agency reported that the first joint Russian-Turkish patrol of the M-4 Highway connecting Al-Hasakah and Aleppo in northern Syria will take place on March 15.

The UN has brokered talks among warring parties, while Russia, Turkey, and Iran have held simultaneous negotiations -- often in Kazakhstan -- but a wide-ranging solution remains difficult to find.



The so-called "Astana format" talks have been held in the Kazakh capital since 2015. A new round was scheduled for March, but Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi said it is unlikely they will take place as planned.



"[The suggestion to hold the talks in March] was made in December, but now the situation has changed.... It is very likely that the talks will not be held [in March]," Tileuberdi told reporters on March 10, without giving any other details.

With reporting by AFP, dpa, and TASS
Irish trade is at risk over the spread of the coronavirus in the US, writes John Whelan.

The European Commission stepped in at the end of last week to try and stop the chaos in medical supply lines arising from bans or export controls by governments on medical protective equipment and certain medical supplies to favour their own populations.

Since the beginning of this year, 24 nations have imposed export restrictions on medicines and medical equipment in response to the Coronavirus, 16 of them in the first 10 days of March.

Experts in the sector have said the pace at which governments are resorting to export restrictions is accelerating.

In Europe, where Italy remains in lockdown with the largest number of infections outside China, it has already had to deal with the lack of supplies from the usual sources.

Germany and France had imposed limits on exports of medical equipment such as respiratory masks, gloves and protective suits, but now promise to reverse this decision under pressure from the Commission.

Russia, however, has imposed its export ban until June and the Czech government, which has placed a price cap on local sales of face masks, is banning exports of respirators and will monitor local sales.

Italy, which has more than 15,000 confirmed cases and where the death toll has exceeded 1,000, does not make face masks and has had to arrange emergency supplies from South Africa, but needs at least 10 million more, according to officials.

Limerick-based Irema, a major manufacturer of surgical and respiratory masks for world markets, gives the Irish health service a level of comfort in this virus pandemic.

However, Irema advises that demand for masks far outweighs supply, partly due to the scale of the threat, but also because of overreliance of the industry on one geographical source of supply  China  which made half the worlds masks before the coronavirus emerged there.

But it has retained the vast majority of mask factory output for itself, as well as purchasing large chunks of the worlds supply from elsewhere.

As the global spread of the virus escalates, worries about mask supplies and other vital equipment are rising due to the restriction of exports of protective gear by governments around the world which experts say could worsen the pandemic.

Early this month, Turkey imposed stringent restrictions on exports of medical protective gear in a pre-emptive measure. South Korea has banned the export of masks and materials used to make respirators while Taiwan and Thailand have banned exports to meet soaring demand.

India, the worlds main supplier of generic drugs, has restricted the export of 26 pharmaceutical ingredients and the medicines made from them, including paracetamol.

Meanwhile, Peter Navarro, the US trade adviser, has criticised countries like Germany, Russia, and Turkey for rushing to impose export controls to limit trade in medical supplies.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in announcing, last week, a range of emergency financial measures to help countries tackle the economic fallout from the corona-virus, said the commission is taking action to deal with the shortage of protective equipment such as masks.

And, in a veiled reference to action by Germany and France to hold onto masks and other protective equipment for their own use, she stated: 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.

Ultimately, it amounts to reintroducing internal borders, at a time when solidarity between member states is needed.

She added that France and Germany are willing to adapt their national measures, as we requested.

The commission announced on Friday that it will be providing guidance for member states on how to put in place adequate control mechanisms to ensure security of supply, and by launching an accelerated joint procurement procedure for these goods and issuing a recommendation on non-CE-marked protective equipment.

The latter measure will allow supplies from a wider range of global suppliers.

A further problem for the EU is that, because Italy is a member of the Schengen Agreement which allows free movement of people between most European countries, Italy and its neighbours have no permanent border controls.

Thus, there was concern that the coronavirus could spread rapidly across Europe if it is not contained in Italy.

Imposition of border controls would be hugely disruptive to the European economy.

However belated, many countries across the EU have closed their borders, Poland and the Czech Republic being the latest. Switzerland and Austria had earlier taken steps to limit rail travel from Italy.

Most airlines have stopped flights to Italy. Meanwhile, authorities are so far unable to determine how and why the virus suddenly spread so quickly in Italy. Without this information, fighting the outbreak will be more difficult.

The sudden spread of the virus far from China demonstrates the potential for global ramifications. Italy had already faced economic recession before the coronavirus reared its ugly head, and with the abrupt halt to the economy over the past few weeks is now certain to collapse.

This will present the many Irish companies who export to the market with sudden and extensive loss of sales. Italy is one of the top ten trading partners for Irish exporters who supply the market with a range of products ranging from medical devices to dairy products and telecommunications equipment to transport equipment.

The impact of the loss of the Italian market is likely to be the tip of the iceberg, as other countries around the globe affected by the coronavirus move into lock-down mode.

Most worrying is the damage to Irelands trade from a spread of the virus across the US, our biggest trading partner.

This would create a supply and demand shock, and will hit the Irish economy where it already hurts  manufacturing.

In light of the US announcement to suspend all flights from Europe for 30 days, this may come sooner than expected.

The question is not so much when the impact of the US shutdown will hit us, but how hard.

The European Commission has indicated that it expects the eurozone to go into recession this year. The IMF indicates that the economic impact is already visible in the countries most affected by the outbreak.

For example, in China, manufacturing and service sector activity declined dramatically in February.

While the drop in manufacturing is comparable to the start of the global

financial crisis, the decline in services appears larger this time  reflecting the large impact of social distancing.

The World Trade Organisation focuses on the major uncertainty in the global economy due to the progressive spread of the virus, with the potential to trigger a worldwide recession.

And it concludes that, most likely, the world will see rolling recessions as the disease spreads to different areas, with economic recovery emerging as the local epidemics die down.

John Whelan is managing partner of international trade consultancy The Linkage-Partnership
Narendra Modi on Sunday proposed setting up a COVID-19 emergency fund with India committing USD 10 million initially for it

New Delhi: Making a strong pitch for SAARC nations to jointly combat coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday proposed setting up a COVID-19 emergency fund with India committing USD 10 million initially for it, and asserted that the best way to deal with the pandemic was by coming together, and not growing apart.

Apart from Modi, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza, participated in the video conference.

The underlying message of the video conference was unitedly taking on the pandemic, but Pakistan used the occasion to raise Kashmir, with Mirza calling for the "lockdown" to be eased in Jammu and Kashmir to deal with the coronavirus threat.

In a significant message, Modi asserted that it was important for the SAARC member countries to work together and said the region can best respond to the coronavirus pandemic by "coming together, not growing apart".

Modi said it was important to focus on collaboration, not confusion, and preparation, not panic.

Mirza, in his remarks, also hailed China for its efforts to deal with the coronavirus and urged other SAARC nations to learn best practices from it.

After initial remarks by the leaders, Prime Minister Modi made a series of suggestions which were hailed by the SAARC leaders and representatives.

"I propose we create a COVID-19 Emergency Fund. This could be based on voluntary contributions from all of us. India can start with an initial offer of 10 million US dollars for this fund," Modi said.

"We are assembling a Rapid Response Team of doctors and specialists in India, along with testing kits and other equipment. They will be on stand-by, to be placed at your disposal, if required," Modi told the SAARC leaders.

India had set up an Integrated Disease Surveillance Portal to better trace possible virus carriers and the people they contacted and it could share this disease surveillance software with SAARC partners, Modi said.

"Looking ahead, we could create a common research platform, to coordinate research on controlling epidemic diseases within our South Asian region. The Indian Council of Medical Research can offer help coordinating such an exercise," he said.

In his opening address, Modi said the South Asian region has reported less than 150 coronavirus cases, but "we need to remain vigilant".

"Prepare, but don't panic" has been India's guiding mantra in dealing with coronavirus outbreak, he said.

"We started screening people entering India from mid-January itself, while gradually increasing restrictions on travel," Modi said. Step-by-step approach helped avoid panic and India made special efforts to reach out to vulnerable groups, he said.

India also responded to the call of its people abroad and evacuated nearly 1,400 Indians from different countries, he said.

Modi also said India helped some citizens of neighbouring countries by evacuating them from coronavirus-hit nations.

Maldivian President Solih backed coordinated approach to deal with COVID-19, asserting that no country can deal with the situation alone.

Lankan President Rajapaksa said SAARC leaders should formulate mechanism to help the economies of the region to tide over problems posed by coronavirus. He also proposed setting up a SAARC ministerial-level group to deal with issues related to coronavirus.

Hasina hailed Modi's suggestions to deal with the pandemic and called for taking the initiative forward by more such video conferences, including one with health ministers of SAARC nations participating.

"Our collective efforts will help us devise a sound and robust strategy for SAARC region to fight coronavirus," Nepal prime minister Oli said.

Bhutanese PM Lotay Tshering said that it was important for all countries of the region to be on same page to combat coronavirus.

Mirza, in his initial remarks, said no nation can afford to be unresponsive to situation in wake of coronavirus outbreak. "We share common regional concerns on COVID-19. While hoping for best, we have to prepare for worst," the Pakistan prime minister's Special Assistant on Health said.

Modi on Friday had proposed formulation of a joint strategy by the SAARC nations to fight coronavirus, a suggestion that was backed by all the member states.

Calling on the SAARC nations to set an example for the world, Modi had reached out to the eight-member regional grouping and pitched for a video-conference among its leaders to chalk out a strong strategy to fight coronavirus, which has killed more than 5,000 people globally.

His appeal got a prompt response from Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister Oli, Bhutanese premier Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Hasina and the Afghan government, all of whom welcomed the proposal.

Pakistan's response to the proposal came in after the rest, with the country's Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui saying Mirza will be available to participate in the video-conference.
Prime Minister Ludovic Orban has announced on Sunday evening that there currently are no problems regarding the funding of Romania's public expenditure.

Referring to the possibility of a loan from the International Monetary Fund, Orban has said there hasn't been any such talk so far.
YEREVAN, MARCH 15, ARMENPRESS. Three new novel coronavirus (COVID19) cases have been recorded in Armenia, bringing the total number to 26.

Minister of Healthcare Arsen Torosyan said two of the new cases are related with the Etchmiatsin case and were under quarantine.

The other case was diagnosed in our citizen in Meghri who recently returned from Italy, he said.

Torosyan said the number of direct contacts under quarantine is 300.

He said the direct contacts of the latest case are being traced and quarantined.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) and its affiliated colleges and educational institutes in Pune and neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad, will set up a separate quarantine ward at their premises to combat the Covid-19 (coronavirus) outbreak as a precautionary measure, varsity officials said on Saturday.

A notification, which was released on Saturday, by SPPU said that all academic departments of the varsity, affiliated colleges and educational institutes in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad will remain closed from March 14 till further orders. Examinations, though, will take place as per schedule, according to officials.

A precautionary protocol has been issued by the SPPU health centre to all departments and colleges.

Praful Pawar, registrar, SPPU, appealed to students in the notification that they should not roam around unnecessarily during this period in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.

Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, students, college staff and research faculty who have travelled abroad and have come back to the campus after February 15, must be sent for home quarantine for a minium of 15 days. A separate quarantine ward will be established on the college premises with the help of government medical staff. If students or staff have Covid-19 symptoms they would be sent to Naidu Hospital, stated Pawar in the circular.

We are taking precautionary measures. We have appealed to students staying at the SPPU hostel, to go back to their home towns if they do not have examinations. We are abiding by the orders of the state government, said Pawar.

Protocol to set up wards at SPPU

- Student, faculty and staff should be inquired for symptoms of fever, sore throat or dry cough.

- lf anybody is found to have the above symptoms, he/she should be immediately referred to the health centre.

- lf he/she is not willing, then, please contact the medical officer, health centre.

- After the patient is referred to the health centre, the ward and other places where the patient may have visited, must be cleaned using disinfectants. All contaminated surfaces must be throughly washed with soap, water and sanitiser.

- Advise faculty and staff to stay at home and avoid coming to the department if they are unwell.
(UPDATE: 2 women killed in Saginaw shooting, 2 other people injured)

SAGINAW, MI - Police are investigating a quadruple shooting that took place late Saturday night in Saginaw.

An alert was sent out by Saginaw County 911 around 11:30 p.m. Saturday, March 14, regarding the shooting in the 4100 block of Gallagher Street, between Cumberland and 23rd streets.

There was no further comment immediately available from Saginaw police on the incident.

Michigan State Police Lt. David Kaiser said troopers provided assistance at the scene, but Saginaw police is the lead investigative agency.
Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who has battled with Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in the past over the issue of bankruptcy, now supports a plan by Ms. Warren to make changes to the bankruptcy system, his presidential campaign confirmed on Saturday.

Mr. Biden would work toward putting in place her bankruptcy plan as president, and he could address the issue at greater length in Sunday nights debate, Biden advisers said.

It is the latest sign that Mr. Biden, fresh off a string of victories, is looking for ways to engage younger and more liberal voters who have remained skeptical of his candidacy, and it reflects a recognition among his allies that he will need enthusiastic support from progressives in a general election should he become the Democratic nominee.

The move also comes amid speculation over whether Ms. Warren, who dropped out of the race this month, will issue an endorsement of Mr. Biden or of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, his chief rival for the nomination, or whether she sits out the primary entirely.
Married At First Sight's Aleks Markovic and Ivan Sarakula failed to appear at Sunday's commitment ceremony and decided to quit the show instead.

Their decision to end their relationship and leave the experiment follows last week's dramatic dinner party, where Aleks denied 'cheating' on Ivan with another man.

Similarly, Ivan denied encouraging their co-stars to quiz Aleks about their sex life.

Home time! Married At First Sight's Aleks Markovic (pictured) and Ivan Sarakula failed to appear at Sunday's commitment ceremony and decided to quit the show instead

As she packed her bag, Aleks said: 'I'm feeling a little bit betrayed by some of the other couples in this experiment. I thought they were friends, nobody had my back.

'At this point I need to leave. I know my worth, I know who I am and I know that I don't have to justify myself to anybody in this experiment.

'I didn't come here for friends. I came in here to find love and to find a soul mate.'

Ivan said: 'I came here for an experience, I got that, and it's time for me to check out. I need to look after myself and Aleks, and I'm getting the f*** out of here.'

'I know my worth, I know who I am and I know that I don't have to justify myself to anybody in this experiment,' said Aleks as she left alone

The end! Ivan said, 'I came here for an experience, I got that, and it's time for me to check out. I need to look after myself and Aleks, and I'm getting the f*** out of here'

Aleks and Ivan were slammed by the other couples for deciding to quit.

After the relationship experts revealed the news at Sunday's commitment ceremony, Stacey Hampton and Michael Goonan led the backlash.

'Do they think they're better than us or something? I don't know,' said Stacey.

'It's gutless, absolutely gutless,' added Josh Pihlak, with Mishel Karen saying: 'That's just cowardly.'

'Do they think they're better than us?' After the experts revealed the news at Sunday's commitment ceremony, Stacey Hampton and Michael Goonan (pictured) led the backlash

At Wednesday's dinner party, Aleks stormed off and seemingly ended things with Ivan after admitting she didn't have romantic feelings for him.

'I love this man, but not in a romantic way,' she screamed in front of the group.

Their relationship became a talking point after Michael Goonan and Josh Pihlak claimed Aleks had told them she'd slept with Ivan, which she denied.

Aleks later accused Ivan of briefing Josh and Michael about what to say beforehand - which he also denied - and told him she could no longer trust him.

'I, by no means, staged for any of that s**t to come out,' Ivan said, insisting he had not encouraged the dinner table discussion about their sex life.

Drama! At Wednesday's dinner party, Aleks stormed off and seemingly ended things with Ivan after admitting she didn't have romantic feelings for him

'Not in a romantic way': Their relationship became a talking point after Michael Goonan and Josh Pihlak claimed Aleks had told them she'd slept with Ivan, which she denied

Michael then dropped another bombshell by claiming he'd seen Aleks with another man in the lobby of their apartment building, which she strongly denied.

However, it appears Aleks and Ivan managed to reconcile away from the cameras.

Weeks after filming their final scenes and splitting in November, Ivan flew to Perth to visit Aleks and the pair managed to put their differences aside.

Married At First Sight continues Monday at 7.30pm on Channel Nine

Over.. for now! Aleks later accused Ivan of briefing Josh and Michael about what to say beforehand - which he also denied - and told him she could no longer trust him
Were going to get back to living life, even if it kills us
Iran on Sunday urged its citizens to stick to guidelines and stay at home to stop the new coronavirus spreading, as it announced another 113 deaths from the outbreak.

The latest death toll announced by the health ministry took to 724 the official number of people to have been killed by the disease since last month.

People should cancel all travel and stay at home so that we may see the situation improving in the coming days, ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in a televised news conference.

Jahanpour also reported 1,209 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the total to 13,938.

The good news is that more than 4,590 of the overall confirmed cases have recovered and the patients have been discharged from hospitals, he added.

Tehran province had the highest number of new infections with 251 fresh cases.

Khorasan Razavi province, home to the holy Shiite city of Mashhad, followed with 143 cases.

The cases there will probably increase, the official said, calling on everyone to cease from travelling to the northeastern province.

Mashhads Imam Reza shrine receives many devout Iranians every year, especially around the countrys New Year holidays which start on March 20.

The outbreak in Iran is one of the deadliest outside of China, where the disease originated.

Jahanpour called on Iranians to take the coronavirus seriously and especially be mindful of elderly relatives who are most vulnerable to the infection.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 05:03:20|Editor: huaxia

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File photo taken on Feb. 20, 2020 shows Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arriving for a special meeting of the European Council at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

MADRID, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez confirmed on Saturday a 15-day partial lockdown for Spain in a bid to control the spread of the coronavirus.

The nationwide lockdown, which requires all citizens to stay at home unless purchasing food, going to work with no option, or seeking health care, is one of a series of measures applied after Sanchez declared the application of a state of alert in the country which will come into effect at 8 a.m. local time on Monday morning.

Other measures agreed during Saturday's emergency cabinet meeting include mobilizing the military to assure food and medical supplies, closing schools, restaurants and bars on a nationwide level, promoting work from home and reducing the number of inter-city trains and buses.
Israel's president said on Sunday that he will give Benny Gantz the chance to form a government, but will first hold talks on a possible interim alliance involving Prime Minister

Reuven Rivlin made the announcement after Gantz secured recommendations to lead a government from 61 lawmakers in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament, in the wake of a March 2 election -- the third national poll in less than a year.

"Tomorrow, around midday, the president will assign the task of forming the government to (the) head of Kachol Lavan... Benny Gantz," Rivlin's office said in a statement Sunday, using the Hebrew name for Gantz's centrist Blue and White party.

But there is no guarantee that the disparate forces who supported Gantz on Sunday will agree terms on a stable coalition, something that proved impossible following the two inconclusive elections last year. Rivlin has also said that the severity of the coronavirus pandemic means a government should be formed "as soon as possible".

He therefore summoned both Gantz and Netanyahu "for an urgent conversation this evening (Sunday)... regarding the possibility of immediately establishing a government."



A political analyst at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Gideon Rahat, told AFP that despite the fact that Gantz secured the most recommendations, the president may be seeking "to pressure both sides to consider a unity government." He may try "to propose a specific path to it," Rahat said.

On top of support from Blue and White and a smaller centre-left alliance, Gantz was also recommended by the mainly Arab Joint List and the secular, nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party.

Aside from being anti-Netanyahu, the Joint List and Yisrael Beiteinu have almost no political common ground.

Netanyahu's alliance, seen as more cohesive, includes his right-wing Likud as well as its religious, nationalist ally Yemina and two ultra-Orthodox party.

Both Netanyahu and Gantz had previously voiced support for an interim unity government to beat back coronavirus.

The premier had earlier on Sunday specifically proposed a six-month arrangement that he would lead.

"We must unite forces and form a strong and stable government that will be able to pass a budget and make tough decisions," Netanyahu said. Gantz blasted the prime minister for floating that offer to the media, before discussing ideas in private negotiations.

"Unlike you, I'll continue to back any correct government action without any political considerations," Gantz said.

"When you're serious, we'll talk," he added.

has 213 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with tens of thousands in home-quarantine.

Authorities have banned gatherings of more than 10 people and ordered schools, universities, restaurants and cafes to close, among other measures.

Netanyahu was in January formally charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, becoming the first Israeli premier ever indicted in office. Gantz has previously refused to serve in a government led by someone facing criminal charges, but that was before the coronavirus crisis.

Netanyahu's trial had been due to open on Tuesday, but Jerusalem's District Court said that given the severity of the pandemic it had been instructed to hear "only urgent matters".

In Netanyahu's trial, "we have decided to postpone the first hearing until May 24," the court said.

Netanyahu is accused of a range of offences including receiving improper gifts and offering a media mogul lucrative regulatory changes in exchange for favourable coverage. He denies wrongdoing.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.-- The YMCA in Eltingville welcomed a steady flow of members entering its facility Sunday afternoon after being temporarily closed due to one confirmed case of coronavirus (COVID-19).

A group of gym-goers were spotted entering the facility with face masks and gloves. Those who worked out inside the South Shore location claim members have taken steps to ensure they are keeping distance from each other.

We followed the CDCs most recent guidelines and used disinfectants proven to kill the human coronavirus, Erik Opsal, a spokesperson from the YMCA, said in an emailed statement to the Advance/SILive.com. "Beginning this weekend, weve also modified our classes and programs to align with current recommended health guidelines. The YMCA will continue to follow all information and guidance from federal, state, and city health officials and take all necessary actions to keep our facilities clean and our communities safe.

The YMCA relayed to the Advance that Diane Schirripa, South Shore membership director, greeted members this morning and reported they were very thankful for the Y looking out for their well-being.

Its fine in there, everything is fine," said one member of the YMCA, who appeared to be in the age range that is most at risk of catching COVID-19. This is the cleanest gym in Staten Island right now. If I feel well enough to work out, I should be here."

YMCA in Eltingville reopens after confirmed coronavirus case March 15, 2020. (Staten Island Advance/ Victoria Priola)

The South Shore YMCA will reopen tomorrow morning at 6am following a thorough cleaning and disinfecting. We look forward to seeing you!  SI South Shore YMCA (@SISouthShoreY) March 14, 2020

The parking lot of the YMCA was nearly full. However, some YMCA members said they have reservations about going to the gym at this time.

I wouldnt feel comfortable going to the gym because no matter how clean they keep it, its not their fault, but its a place that breeds germs, said Joe Ralko of Tottenville, a member of the YMCA for more than 20 years. I dont blame the gym, I blame the people.

*** CLICK HERE FOR FULL COVERAGE OF THE CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

A spokesman for the YMCA confirmed that an adult member tested positive at the Eltingville location and that the site will be closed until Sunday out of an abundance of caution.

It is not yet clear if the person who got positive results is an employee or a member of the gym and if this case is among the Staten Island cases announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Across all YMCA branches in New York City, we have taken several actions to keep our facilities clean and our communities safe  including significantly increasing our cleaning frequency of high-traffic areas and high-touch items and making disinfectant wipes available for cleaning equipment, Erik Opsal said in an emailed statement to the Advance/SILive.com.

YMCA in Eltingville reopens after confirmed coronavirus case March 15, 2020. (Staten Island Advance/ Victoria Priola)

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 15, 2020

The management of several tourist destinations will focus on cleaning and sterilization during the two-week closure imposed by the Jakarta administration in the bid to curtail the spread of the novel coronavirus in the capital.

We will take advantage of having no visitors for the next two weeks to focus on the cleanup. Therefore, by the time the closure is over, we can ensure that our place is safe to visit, Berkah Sadaya, the head of technical management at the Maritime Museum and Onrust Island, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

Berkah said he had asked his 131 employees to focus on cleaning up the area to make sure the locations were not vulnerable to the virus spread.

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British-American actress Emily Blunt shares two young daughters - Hazel, six, and Violet, three - with actor husband John Krasinski.

And on Sunday, the Mary Poppins star said she hopes her children won't have the desire to follow in their famous parents' footsteps.

Speaking to Australian publication The Sun-Herald, the 37-year-old revealed the reason most professional actors would not want their offspring to enter the industry.

'You have to wear a helmet': Emily Blunt (pictured) has revealed that she doesn't want her children to work as actors... after relocating to New York City with husband John Krasinski

'I think if you ask any actor "Would you want your kids to do it?", they will all say "no", because of how difficult and cutthroat and deeply personal it is,' she said.

The A Quiet Place actress went on to say that she would always support her children, and if they were willing to 'leap into the great unknown and wear a helmet' she would reconsider her stance.

'As a parent, Id have to support them, obviously. But Id love them to find something else.'

Supportive! The Mary Poppins star went on to say, should her children be willing to take 'leap into the great unknown and wear a helmet' then she would support their choices

Emily also spoke about living a normal life with her family since relocating from Los Angeles to New York's city of Brooklyn in 2015.

The Devil Wears Prada star said she and her husband often walked their children to school without being stopped for photos or autographs.

The actress was promoting her new film, A Quiet Place II, written and directed by her husband, which has now been postponed because of the coronavirus.

The film, originally slated for release in Australia on March 19, has been pushed back until further notice.

Low key: Emily said that she's able to live a normal life in New York with her family, telling The Sun-Herald, 'We walk our children to school. No one bothers you. No one wants a picture'

Emily and John embarked on their romance in November 2008 and announced their engagement in August of the following year.

The lovebirds eventually married in a private ceremony in Como, Italy, at the former home of George Clooney in 2010.

They share two daughters together, Hazel and Violet, six and three.
Arvind Adigas novel feels pertinent and timely in a moment when the immigrant experience has become the story of our time

In Arvind Adigas tense, bruising new novel, Amnesty, the most physically striking thing about the protagonist Danny, short for Dhananjaya Rajaratnam, is the blond highlights in his hair. Or so he imagines, with his own attention often drawn to his coloured hair to consider the ways in which it presents him to the world and makes him stand out.

But Danny is trying hard to fit in, to be less visible, by adopting distinctly Australian ways, to master the Australian tongue, to say I reckon generously and tie his sentences with ridiculous at the end. He slips up occasionally and immediately fears the consequences, for he has plenty to lose. Danny is a Sri Lankan immigrant working as a legendary cleaner in Sydney, with a loyal clientele thanks to his careful, efficient housecleaning skills. But his secret is this: he came to Australia on a student visa four years ago, dropped out of the college that turned out to be more a racket than education, and with refugee status denied, is now living in the country illegally. Hes at the mercy of a grocery store owner who knows his vulnerable status and allows him to live in the backroom of his shop as long as he gets a cut of his pay.

The suspenseful, often breathless, novel unfolds over a day, with events in the present packed into the precise brackets of a ticking clock. At 8.46 am, Danny has a seat by the window in the train, running his fingers through his golden hair, tensing when he feels someone watching him. By 9.47 am, as Danny goes about his day cleaning homes, he hears theres been a murder, and the victim was one of his clients, Radha Thomas. And if hes to be perfectly honest, the murderer, too, is likely one of his clients, who was having an affair with Radha. Danny should be calling the police, telling them what he knows. But if he does make the call, he is sure to get deported, and worse.

By 11.43 am, Danny is having uncomfortable phone chats with the client he suspects to be the murderer, and a strange, eerie cat-and-mouse game begins. Meanwhile, detailed flashbacks take us to Dannys past: his early years in Sydney and the struggles back home in Sri Lanka, and this is where the novel derails, slowing down, loosely written, but mercifully pulled back to the tracks as it races to the finish.

This sharply observed immigrant story hinges on that time-tested, devastating moral question: should you save yourself or do the right thing? This choice acquires even graver tones given Dannys situation living on the margins. The White Tiger author is obviously intensely invested in telling the underdog story several times over, but it is his ability at being able to tell them afresh from varied angles operating within entirely different universes that shines. Sydney as it swings between the lives of those who are made to belong and those who don't is acutely captured through Danny's eyes. As Amnestys narrative dives deeper into the toxic, exploitative nature of Dannys association with Radha and her lover, whose messy affair Danny becomes an unwitting witness to, Adiga craftily peels away the psychology of a man in search of his rightful place in the world, a man frequently mocked even by those his own colour as he maintains a powerful dignity.

As Danny tastes the difference between living as a minority in Sydney, with a steady Vietnamese girlfriend, Sonja, versus his life back in the mysterious, lagoon-lined Batticaloa in Sri Lanka with its stories of singing fish and mermaids, he wrestles with the affliction of a deep dichotomy. Adigas novel feels pertinent and timely in a moment when the immigrant experience has become the story of our time, and how its told and who tells it is in question.

There is no doubt that in Amnesty, Dannys uniquely magnetic, sharply witty voice is doing the telling. Adiga gets under his skin and inhabits the city as he would, a city Danny views as divided in two kinds of suburbs, thick bum and thin bum  the former occupied by the working class, the latter by the thin, fit, rich youngsters who get their homes cleaned by people like Danny. For his survival, Danny is at the mercy of others, in a matter of universal social injustice. But when its in his power to bring justice to another, he is once again made powerless by the system. By 2.46 pm, the detective from Homicide is on call with him, asking what he knows. How much should he tell?

There is a difference, believes Danny, between him and the other illegals. For them, shame was an atmospheric force, pressing down from the outside; in him, it bubbled up from within. Even if I were granted citizenship in this country, I would still be ashamed of myself. By 7 pm, Danny would perhaps see himself a little differently. The reason Amnesty works is because it has a golden heart, like the tips of Dannys hair. And a hero who isnt invisible at all.

Neha Bhatt is an independent journalist and book critic based in Delhi. She tweets @nehabhatt70 and @bookishbadish on insta
Just when you thought this political year couldnt get any weirder, along comes the entire Democratic Party establishment rushing en masse to the cliffs edge, hurling itself headfirst into the presidential contest. What has spurred this gaggle of political operatives, fat-cat donors and former presidential hopefuls is a collective impulse to unite behind the very worst candidate the party could possibly put up against President Donald Trump in Novembers election: Joe Biden.

While practically everyone in the political swirl admits privately that the former vice president is pretty slow, awfully corporate and practically bent double with a bag full of very bad political positions hes taken during his decadeslong career as a Washington insider, his establishment cohorts are now resurrecting his dormant campaign by ecstatically proclaiming that hes a winner.

When pressed, their main pitch for Biden is that hes decent. Well, even Melania Trump would probably like to see something better than Donalds in-your-face, gross-out indecency in a president, but every contender for the Democratic nomination met this minimal threshold of suitability (and before the establishment hoists Gentle Joe onto a pedestal of decency, it might check with Anita Hill about his ugly political abuse of her).

A winner? How enthusiastic will seniors, low-income families and others be when they realize Biden has spent 30 years (including during his vice presidency) trying to cut spending for the peoples crucial safety net, declaring: I meant Social Security as well; I meant Medicare and Medicaid; I meant veterans benefits. ... I not only tried it once. I tried it twice ... a third time ... a fourth time.

Also, how excited will young voters be to find that kindly, old Joe has constantly backed efforts by big bankers to make it harder for students to get out from under the bankers price-gouging loan payments? And how thrilled will hard-hit manufacturing workers be that Biden has been a constant cheerleader for NAFTA and other job-killing, wage-busting trade scams?

At a time when big majorities are clearly sick and tired of business-as-usual politics and are demanding bold policies for grassroots progress, why would Democrats put up the poster boy of corporate-purchased, inside-the-beltway status quoism? Biden would be uniquely vulnerable to Trump this fall and lose the political future for Democrats by turning off voter turnout  especially among young people and others who feel abandoned by the establishment.

Cynically, the Democratic Partys moneyed and political elites have rushed to hug up Joe Biden, not because hes the best the partys got but because of what hes not: Hes not Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The party powers are ganging up on Bernie and, more specifically, ganging up in a political panic against the growing grassroots insurgency of young activists, women, Latinos, Asian Americans, working-class whites and others whore fed up with the partys same-old, same-old politics thats knocking down the middle class and holding down the poor. Funded by the uber-rich, the elites are colluding in a blatant power play to cut off this rising democratic majority inside the Democratic Party, pushing old Joe forward not because he has any appeal to those theyre trying to shut out but simply because hes one of the inside clique  a trusty whos no threat to the corporate order thats suppressing Americas democratic possibilities.

Of course, they dont have the integrity to say this. Instead, they claim Sanders and his supporters are advocating free health care-for-all and other ideas that scare voters  even most Democrats. Hello. In the 12 states where it was specifically polled in this election, that overdue reform has won handily, including getting 94.3% Hell Yes support in the recent Democratic primary in my state of Texas!

Still, the money boys are pressing a Bernie Panic Button, saying hes too hot, too progressive  too Democratic  to beat Trump. The clueless plutocrat billionaire Mike Bloomberg (who even stooped to calling Sanders a communist) is setting up a one-man super PAC to enthrone Biden as the nominee. Yet, recent polls in key swing states, and in supposedly red states like Texas, confirm that the Vermont anti-establishment populist is the strongest candidate of all Democrats against Trump.

What if the people were to have a candidate in November who is not controlled by big campaign donors, who has the authenticity to stand unequivocally for what he believes in and who will fight the corporate powers  as former President Franklin Roosevelt once put it, to restore America to its own people? It could be a landslide for progress.

Populist author, public speaker and radio commentator Jim Hightower writes The Hightower Lowdown, a monthly newsletter chronicling the ongoing fights by Americas ordinary people against rule by plutocratic elites. Sign up at HightowerLowdown.org.

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Hyderabad, March 15 : Southern superstar Allu Arjun on Sunday shared a photograph of his son Ayaan from his pre-school graduation celebrations.

Allu Arjun took to Twitter, where he shared an adorable photograph of his son.

"Pre School Graduation Celebrations. Ayaan, I am so proud of you for excelling so well. I wholeheartedly Thank @bodhivalleyschool for teaching the foundation of life to my son. I am so glad as parents we made a good choice by enrolling in this school," he captioned the image.

The actor then thanked the teachers for making his son grounded.

"Thanks to all the Teachers for making him grounded, and all the helpers for taking care all these years. Thanks to Bodhi Valley School once again. Proud and Memorable Day!" he wrote.

On the professional front, the actor was last seen on screen in "Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo", an action drama directed by Trivikram Srinivas. The film also features Pooja Hegde, Tabu, Jayaram, Sushanth, Navdeep, Nivetha Pethuraj, Samuthirakani, Murali Sharma, Sunil, Sachin Khedekar and Harsha Vardhan.
Northrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/13/2020 -- According to the new market research report "Variable Frequency Drive Market by Type (AC, DC, and Servo), End-Users (Industrial, Infrastructure, Oil & Gas, and Power Generation), Application (Pumps, Fans, Compressors, and Conveyors), Power Range, Voltage, and Region - Global Forecast to 2023", The variable frequency drive market is expected to grow from an estimated USD 20.73 billion in 2018 to USD 27.57 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 5.87%, from 2018 to 2023. Increase in industrialization and urbanization and rising need of energy efficiency across various industries such as oil & gas and power generation are likely to drive the variable frequency drive market.



The low-voltage segment is expected to hold the largest share of the VFD market, by voltage, during the forecast period.



The low-voltage segment led the VFD market in 2017 and is projected to have the largest market share during the forecast period. Low-voltage VFDs are used in various industrial applications such as building automation, pulp & paper, power, water & wastewater, and oil & gas, and especially in process industries, which would drive the low-voltage segment during the forecast period.



Browse and in-depth TOC on "Variable Frequency Drive Market"



90 - Tables

43 - Figures

183 - Pages



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The pump segment is expected to hold the largest share of the VFD market, by application, during the forecast period.



The pump segment led the VFD market in 2017. Pump is one of the most important equipment in most industries such as oil & gas, chemical & petrochemical, and pulp and paper as it provides huge potential for energy savings, improved performance, and reliability. Increase in oil and shale gas productions are driving the pump market.



The infrastructure segment of the VFD market, by end-user, is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.



The infrastructure segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2018 to 2023. Rapid infrastructure development in the developing companies and growing concerns over energy efficiency in the developed countries are likely to drive the infrastructure segment. For instance, in December 2017, the government of Japan planned to invest USD 57.97 million on development projects, including housing and commercial facilities, as per Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation. Such investments toward the infrastructure activity would boost the VFD market during the forecast period.



Asia Pacific: The leading market (by volume) for VFD



In this report, the VFD market has been analyzed with respect to 6 regions, namely, Asia Pacific, North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Asia Pacific led the global VFD market in 2017. China and Japan are the largest markets for VFD in the region. The government of China plans to invest heavily on clean energy production, which would drive the VFD market in the country. In order to accomplish its target, the Chinese government planned to invest about USD 361 billion in clean energy by 2020, as China aims to supply 20% of power from non-fossil sources by 2030. Meanwhile, Japan is actively focusing on infrastructure development. For instance, as per the Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation, Japan planned to invest USD 57.97 million for development projects, including housing and commercial facilities. Therefore, factors such as increasing investments in renewable energy and infrastructure development in China, Japan, and India are driving the VFD market in the region.



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To enable an in-depth understanding of the competitive landscape, the report includes the profiles of some of the top players in the variable frequency drive market. The key players include ABB (Switzerland), Siemens (Germany), Schneider Electric (France), Danfoss (US), and Rockwell (US). The leading players are adopting various strategies to increase their shares in the VFD market.



Please Explore Relevant Report:



Distribution Automation Market by Component (Field Device (Smart Meters, Voltage Regulators, and Smart Sensors), Software & Services, Communication Technology (Wired, and Wireless)), Type of Utility (Public, Private), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023



Gas Insulated Transformer Market by Type (Instrument Transformer, Others), Voltage (Medium Voltage, High Voltage, Extra High Voltage), Installation (Outdoor, Indoor), End-User (Utility, Industrial, Commercial), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023



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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.
The novel coronavirus is here in metro New Orleans. The number of people testing positive is growing exponentially. Without widespread testing, it is impossible to know the exact numbers of people who are infected.

With a lengthy incubation period and varying symptoms among those infected, people who have no intention of spreading the virus do so anyway. This reality demands a response from all of us, especially those who gather people, and chief among them are religious leaders.

That is why, on March 11, Touro Synagogue, the oldest Jewish congregation in the country outside the original 13 colonies, made the difficult decision to suspend all congregational events including, most painfully, Sabbath services.

We cherish our institutions role as a shelter for people to seek closeness to one another, their religious tradition, and the Divine. We believe these are among the most important human experiences. We also understand that, were we to gather, there is a near surety that COVID-19 will spread among those who came to share love and prayer, endangering everyone present, everyone they might later encounter, and the staff who made such a gathering possible.

The ancient rabbis of the early Common Era wisely anticipated times when religious observance would conflict with other important priorities, and they addressed it directly. Nearly 2,000 years ago, they wrote, Potential danger to human life overrides the Sabbath. (Mishnah Yoma 8:6). This declaration comes at the end of a discussion about caring for those with medical ailments, the treatment of which might interfere with religious observance. This teaching and later ones that echo it clarify that though observance of the Sabbath, and by extension other sacred obligations, is extremely important, the possibility of saving human life takes precedence.

If we accept that saving human life is fundamental, then the question put before us as people of faith and conscience is whether we accept that gathering in large numbers for religious reasons is a risk to human life. To answer this question, we need only look to Italy which is, in this very moment, in the throes of a crisis. Hospitals are overloaded, running out of beds and ventilators, and an endangered and exhausted medical staff is being forced to decide who will live and who will die because resources are so scarce. Italy has shown us that the spread of this virus can overwhelm a health care system with too much need at one time, and when that happens, lives are at risk.

This is a moment when we feel vulnerable and desperately in need of the healing balm of prayer and communion with God and with one another. When we are afraid, we want companionship and reassurance, want to know that our eternal truths and sacred practices are still there. It is upon us as religious leaders to honor that need by creatively revisioning prayer and empowering our congregants and to do the same. Social distancing, even in its most dramatic form, need not eclipse or impede spiritual closeness.

But our first step must be to cease gathering. As Dr. Martin Luther King, one of the greatest humanitarians of our world, wisely said, Take the first step in faith. You dont have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.

Suspending religious gatherings is a gesture of love for those we lead and work with and a leap of faith that the next step will be revealed to us.

Katie Bauman is senior rabbi at Touro Synagogue in New Orleans.
The empty world language room is shown at Orange High School, Thursday, March 12, 2020, in Pepper Pike, Ohio.

AP Photo/Tony Dejak

Schools across the country will be closed in the coming days, weeks, and in some cases, months over attempts to slow the spread of COVID-19.

While some states have left it up to districts to decide, 22 states and Washington, DC have announced the closure of schools statewide.

In addition to public schools, some state leaders have suggested or demanded private K-12 schools also close.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

The spread of novel coronavirus has triggered a national state of emergency in the US as health officials encourage "social distancing" to slow the spread of COVID-19  a process known as "flattening the curve."

In response, states 21 states and Washington DC have all announced the closure of K-12 schools in the state for varying lengths and to varying degrees.

Even in states like California, where schools haven't closed statewide, individual districts have announced complete shutdowns.

The Los Angeles Unified, San Diego Unified, Fresno Unified, and Long Beach Unified school districts  the four largest in California  announced on Friday they would be closed as a result of COVID-19, according to The New York Times. In total, more than 1,000,000 students from California are not in school as a result of the virus, the NYT reported.

New York City, for example, which has the largest has K-12 population in the country  Los Angeles Unified accounts for the second-largest  was the latest state to has shut down its schools, after teachers threatened a "sick-out" and schools with potential COVID-19 exposure remain open.

Here are states that have shut down schools in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Alabama schools will close from Wednesday, March 18 until at least April 6.

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Alabama State Superintendent Eric Mackey announced on March 14 schools will close in the coming days and will remain closed until April 6, according to the Alabama News Network.

Mackey said schools would remain open for three days next week in order to give parents added time to prepare for the closure.

"That gives parents three days extra to begin working on and thinking about child care," Mackey said. "We didn't want to do something that was too quick because we know parents need some time to make those decisions for their children."

Alaska officials closed all public schools to students until March 30.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy

AP Photo/Mark Thiessen

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced Friday, March 13 that students in the state wouldn't return to school until March 30.

"What we're basically doing is expanding spring break," he said according to Alaska Public Media. "So during that time, there will be no students in the public schools. And there will be teachers and staff doing in-service, and doing work days during that time."

New York announced on March 15 that schools will close.

FILE PHOTO: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo delivers remarks at a news conference regarding the first confirmed case of coronavirus in New York State in Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., March 2, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

Reuters

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Sunday that Westchester, Nassau, Suffolk & New York City schools will close in the coming week.

Mayor Bill de Blasio also said in a press conference on Sunday New York City schools will close Monday, March 16 and remain closed at least until April 20.

Delaware Gov. John Carney announced schools would be closed until March 27.

John Carney

AP Photo/Randall Chase

In a letter sent to Deleware school districts, Carney said there had been no instances of community spread in the state, though schools would be closed for at least two weeks "out of an abundance of caution."

"We will specifically prepare for the potential impact of extended school closures on Delaware children and their families," he wrote. "Public school leaders should also undertake a deep cleaning of their facilities during the two-week closure."

All Florida schools will be closed through March 30.

Ron DeSantis

AP Photo/Bobby Caina Calvan

The Florida Department of Education announced schools would be closed for two weeks  from March 16 to March 27  and classes would resume on March 30, Fox 13 News reported.

Illinois schools must be closed by Tuesday, March 17.

AP_20073562426756

AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced March 13 that all schools in the state must close by Tuesday, March 17, and remain closed until March 30, the Chicago Tribune reported.

"Let me be clear, I understand the gravity of this action and what it means for every community in our great state," Pritzker said. "None of the decisions we have had to make over the last week have been easy or simple."

Louisana schools will be closed until April 13.

Louisiana schools

AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

Gov. John Bel Edwards on March 13 announced all schools in Louisiana would close beginning Monday, March 16. Classes aren't scheduled to resume until Monday, April 13, effectively closing schools for an entire month, KATC reported.

Maryland public schools will be closed through March 27.

Larry Hogan

AP Photo/Brian Witte

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on March 13 announced public schools in the state would close from March 16 to March 27.

Hogan also said private schools should close, CBS Baltimore reported. He added that public schools would be cleaned while they are closed.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz closed public and private schools from March 18 to March 27.

Tim Walz

AP Photo/Steve Karnowski

"My top priority as governor is the safety of Minnesotans. As a former teacher, and father of two teenage kids, I'm especially focused on the safety of our children," Walz said, according to The Star Tribune. "Closing schools is never an easy decision, but we need to make sure we have plans in place to educate and feed our kids regardless of what's to come."

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer closed schools in the state until April 6.

Gretchen Whitmer

AP Photo/David Eggert

Whitmer announced March 13 that schools in Michigan would be closed for three weeks until April 6.

"This we feel is a necessary step to protect kids and teachers and families and our overall public health," Whitmer said, according to WOOD TV8. "I know this will be a tough time for our parents and educators, and I urge businesses to do everything that they can to support employees at this time."

New Mexico public schools will shut down for three weeks.

Michelle Lujan Grisham

AP Photo/Morgan Lee

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, the New Mexico Public Education Department and the state Department of Health announced the decision to close schools for three weeks on March 12, according to The Albuquerque Journal.

Schools are currently scheduled to open back up on April 6.

K-12 schools are closed in North Carolina for at least two weeks.

Roy Cooper

AP Photo/Gerry Broome

"I do not make this decision lightly," North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said at a press conference, ABC 11 reported. "We know that it will be difficult on many parents and students. These measures will hurt people whose incomes are affected by the prohibition of mass gatherings, particularly the people who are paid by the hour."

Schools in the state will be closed until at least Friday, March 27.

Ohio closed schools until April 3.

ohio school empty

AP Photo/Tony Dejak

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced on March 12 the closure of all public, private, and charter schools in Ohio until April 3.

"We thought long and hard about that, and we understand the sacrifice this is going to entail, but this is the best medical advice we can get from people who study viruses," DeWine said, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown ordered all K-12 schools in the state to close from Monday, March 16 through Tuesday, March 31.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown

AP Photo/Andrew Selsky

"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 in a news release.

Students aren't expected to return to classrooms until Wednesday, April 1, according to the press release. Teachers will use the final two days of March to prepare classrooms for "operating schools under updated measures," the governor said.

Pennsylvania schools will be closed for two weeks.

Tom Wolf

AP Photo/Marc Levy

"First and foremost, my top priority as governor  and that of our education leaders  must be to ensure the health and safety of our students and school communities," Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said in a news release March 13.

"As such, I am ordering that all schools in the commonwealth close for the next two weeks. Be aware that no school district will be penalized if it fails to meet the 180 day or school hours requirements."

Schools in Rhode Island will be closed for one week.

AP_20072639426520

AP Photo/David Goldman

Gov. Gina Raimondo announced March 13 all schools in the state would be closed for one week from March 16 to March 20. She said she was moving students' school break  originally planned for April  up so that they were still on track to finish the school year on time, according to WPRI.

South Dakota schools will also close for one week.

Kristi Noem

AP Photo/James Nord

Gov. Kristi Noem announced all public schools would be closed for one week, from March 16 through March 20 so that they could be deep cleaned.

She advised private schools to do the same, KOTA reported.

All K-12 schools in Utah will participate in a "soft closure" for two weeks.

Gary Herbert

Rick Egan/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP

"This is prudent," Gov. Gary Herbert said at a March 13 news conference. "We want to make sure that we have safe environments for our kids to learn."

Students will continue instruction over the next two weeks using online learning practices and printed packets, Herbert said, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

The governor said he would later re-evaluate whether schools should remain shut down past March 27.

Virginia schools will close for two weeks.

Ralph Northam

AP Photo/Steve Helber

Public schools in Virginia will be closed until at least March 27, Gov. Ralph Northam announced on March 13, according to NBC Washington.

"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," he said. "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."

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced public and private schools would close until at least April 24.

Jay Inslee

AP Photo/Rachel La Corte

Inslee on March 13 announced schools  both public and private  would be closed beginning on March 17 and remain closed through March and April.

"We have COVID-19 cases in the counties that represent fully 75 percent of the population of the state of Washington," Inslee said according to The News Tribune. "It is unfortunate, but it is true that this virus is going to spread to other counties, and it is spreading very rapidly. We have concluded that a county-by-county approach to this epidemic is not sufficient."

West Virginia schools will be closed for the time being.

Jim Justice

AP Photo/John Raby

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice closed schools in West Virginia after the end of the school day on March 13. He did not say when it planned to allow schools to re-open.

"West Virginia is a low-risk state because there isn't much international travel here. The governor is being proactive in closing the schools," Bill Crouch, WV Department Health and Human Resources, said according to WBOY.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers ordered public and private schools closed until April 6.

Tony Evers

AP photo/Scott Bauer

Evers said schools in the state must be closed by Wednesday, March 18, and would not re-open until at least April 6.

"Keeping our kids, our educators, our families, and our communities safe is a top priority as we continue to work to respond to and prevent further spread of COVID-19 in Wisconsin," Evers said, according to WBAY.

Washington, DC schools are closed until at least April 1.

Muriel Bowser

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

DC schools will be closed until at least April 1, Lewis D. Ferebee, Chancellor of DC Public Schools, said. Students will continue learning through "distance learning," he said, according to WUSA.

"We recognize the significant impact this extended closure will have on our entire community," Ferebee said in a letter. "Closing DCPS for two weeks due to a citywide health emergency mid-year is unprecedented. We acknowledge the anxiety this may cause our students, especially our seniors who are focused on graduation and those students who depend on DCPS for critical services."

Read the original article on Insider
The cases of the new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in India rose to 107, with 23 more people testing positive for the infection on Sunday as the country recorded its highest single-day jump from a day before, while the central and state governments ramped up measures to avoid community transmission of the outbreak.

At least four other people  two in Maharashtra, and one each in Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh  were diagnosed with the illness in preliminary tests, which, if confirmed, will take the total infections to 111 in the country.

Experts have previously warned that the number of cases in the country is likely to surge as authorities keep a close watch on at least 4,000 people who came in contact with those infected. About 45,000 more are under community surveillance and the figure is expected to rise as more patients are confirmed.

Experts say that if a more stringent pre-emptive lockdown is not enforced across the country, the public health system could struggle with an exponential spike in the number of patients. Among other measures, they have called for an aggressive ramping up of testing to stave off the deadly infection, pointing out that the current capacity to screen people may prove to be inadequate in case of a sudden surge in infections, even as self distancing remained key.

Social distancing is one of the best-known measures to reduce virus transmission. The virus is transmitted through respiratory droplets... By maintaining a distance, we can reduce the virus transmission, the World Health Organization (WHO)s South East Asia Region director Poonam Khetrapal Singh told Hindustan Times.

Maharashtra, which reported 17 new infections on Sunday, now has the most number of Covid-19 cases in the country at 31. It is followed by Kerala, which recorded three new cases on Sunday, taking its total to 22. The remaining new Covid-19 cases were reported in Telangana (2) and Rajasthan (1).

Special secretary at the Union ministry of health Sanjeeva Kumar said: Twenty-three new cases have been detected since the last update... there are now 107 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country.

India saw a sharp rise in infections in the first two weeks of this month, an over 35-fold increase from March 1, when there were just three confirmed cases in the country. The developments prompted the Union government to declare Covid-19 a notified disaster on Saturday to free up resources and funds to tackle the contagion that has been termed a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The outbreak, which has infected over 160,000 people and killed at least 6,000 globally, originated in China late last year but rapidly spread to at least 142 countries and territories. The epicentre of the contagion has since shifted to Europe, with Italy bearing the brunt of the viruss spread and recording the second-highest number of deaths (at least 1,800) and cases (more than 21,000) after China. Iran and South Korea are the other worst-affected countries.

Though most patients in India appear to have contracted the disease in foreign countries, authorities are working on a war footing to avoid community transmission of Covid-19, which was among the primary reasons for the rapid spread of the illness in Italy, Iran and South Korea. On Sunday, Indias apex biomedical research body, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), began its second batch of random testing of samples to keep a track of the outbreak in the country.

The confirmed 107 cases in India include 17 foreigners  16 Italian tourists and a Canadian national  and the two deaths in Delhi and Karnataka.

In Maharashtra, 15 people in Pune were diagnosed with the disease, five in the countrys financial capital Mumbai, four in Nagpur, two in Yavatmal and one each in Thane, Kalyan, Kamothe, Navi Mumbai and Ahmednagar. Two other cases  in Pune and Aurangabad  were yet to be confirmed, according to state officials.

With the state activating laws that give it special powers to quarantine and impose a lockdown among other measures, the Mumbai Police on Sunday invoked Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code to prohibit tour operators from organising any gatherings till March 31. Pune, too, is considering similar measures to limit the spread of the virus.

More states, including Assam, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu, on Sunday ordered the closure of schools and public areas such as cinema halls and malls.

India has already suspended most visas to the country and shut many land borders with neighbouring countries in a wide-reaching attempt to tackle the outbreak.

Extending the restrictions, the Centre suspended travel through the Kartarpur Corridor for pilgrimage to the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan from Sunday midnight. It further barred movement of all passengers to the neighbouring country through international border points.

On Sunday, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan reviewed containment measures taken by states and Union territories and directed officials to scale up the capacity of round-the-clock helpline to address peoples queries, according to a statement.

The government has also asked Indian nationals to avoid all non-essential travel abroad and advised all incoming international passengers to monitor their health and consider self-isolation as a precaution.

Several countries have imposed bans on mass gatherings, cancelled or delayed sporting events as medical experts across the world have urged people to practice social distancing. France and Spain on Sunday joined Italy in imposing lockdowns on tens of millions of people, Australia ordered self-isolation of arriving foreigners and other countries extended entry bans as the world sought to contain the spreading virus.
San Antonio hospitals are preparing for the worst  a high tide of patients sick with COVID-19 in the coming weeks and months.

Thats exactly what we need to be worrying about: worst-case scenarios, said Dr. Paul Hancock, chief medical officer at Methodist Healthcare System.

Administrators are working overtime. In many of the facilities, its like a military operation: theyre hammering out protocols, setting up command centers and working out logistics. Chief concerns are the availability of beds, staff and supplies.

Are they ready for what threatens to be the most severe pandemic in generations?

The hope is that we wont have to find out  that the measures public health and elected officials are struggling to implement will be enough to contain the novel coronavirus. But it took weeks to understand the challenges of the global outbreak, and the scant availability of coronavirus tests remains a problem.

Either way, attention is turning to the hospitals, the last lines of defense against the disease.

At Methodist, which employs a full-time emergency operations manager, officials have set up a 24-7 incident command center. The team does tabletop exercises to gauge whether the hospital is ready to treat a surge of COVID-19 patients and protect employees from the virus.

Methodist officials have contracted with outdoor tent companies in case the number of patients exceeds available space. Spokeswoman Palmira Arellano said theyre also discussing how to handle child care for nurses and lab technicians while schools are out.

Methodist, which operates nine hospitals in the San Antonio area and is co-owned by Tennessee-based HCA Healthcare, is following the lead of other HCA facilities around the country. Some have dealt with the aftermath of California wildfires, and others currently are treating COVID-19 patients.

Administrators at University Health System  Bexar Countys public health care system, which includes a 700-bed teaching hospital for UT Health San Antonio  plan to cordon off an area of the hospital for patients with the illness.

Officials at Childrens Hospital of San Antonio, a Christus Health-owned facility, said theyve done the same thing so they can treat patients without transmitting the virus to other parts of the hospital.

University spokeswoman Shelley Kofler said local hospitals went through flu response plans during a monthlong, citywide drill in the fall. University also relies on Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council, an organization designated by the state health department to maintain the regional trauma and emergency health care system.

We have a successful track record of coordination and collaboration, including our community response to the evacuees from hurricanes Harvey, Katrina and Rita, and our preparation and response to H1N1 and Zika, Kofler said.

First case

City officials have confirmed San Antonios first two cases of coronavirus unrelated to evacuees at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. Both were travel-related. The second person had made a recent trip to Japan.

On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases

Mayor Ron Nirenberg declared a public health emergency Friday, ushering in sweeping measures to guard against further spread of the virus. The city is prohibiting most gatherings of more than 500 people for at least seven days.

Metro Health reports that there have been no cases of person-to-person infection in San Antonio. But anxieties have been running high since Thursday, when the World Health Organization declared the respiratory virus a pandemic.

President Donald Trump also has declared the situation a national emergency. He authorized the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to suspend non-emergency regulatory inspections and relax rules to allow providers to focus on current health and safety threats.

San Antonio hospitals and nursing homes have drastically restricted visitor access to patients. Theyre also controlling points of entry to screen for symptoms of COVID-19, which include fever, cough and shortness of breath. At most facilities, visitors cant get in if they have those symptoms or have recently traveled to a coronavirus hot spot.

Symptoms may appear two to 14 days after exposure, the CDC says. The majority of COVID-19 deaths are among older patients and those contending with chronic diseases such as diabetes.

Hancock said the best way to keep patients and staff safe is to have a clear idea of whos coming into the building. Methodist hospitals are not allowing in any children under age 10.

Baptist Health Systems San Antonio hospitals, owned by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare Corp., allow children in the facilities but not in patients rooms.

Stress on system

In the past few weeks, hospital administrators have taken careful inventory of supplies on hand and made efforts to conserve them amid a global shortage of medical supplies, particularly masks.

University Hospital ordered extra personal protective equipment, such as masks, gowns and gloves, when the number of coronavirus cases spiked in China, Kofler said.

But short supplies are a growing concern as the number of cases climbs around the globe.

The stress on the health care system is another reason why its so important that we take drastic measures to suppress the spread of this virus, Hancock said. We still have people in our community who are having heart attacks and strokes. Theyre developing bacterial pneumonia and falling and breaking their hips.

The nations inventory of hospital beds has been declining for the past two decades, the American Hospital Association reports. The main reason has been hospital mergers and closures.

San Antonio lost one of its hospital systems a month before the first cases of coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China, in December.

Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings shut down Nix Medical Center, a 208-bed hospital downtown, and several other Nix Health medical facilities amid financial struggles. The hospital building was sold to a hotel developer, and much of its medical equipment sold at auction.

Dr. Gerard Anderson, professor of health policy and management at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said officials are worried COVID-19 could overload the U.S. health care system.

Some of us would not get care in that event, said Anderson, who testified Thursday before a U.S. Senate subcommittee about the effects the spread of the coronavirus could have on companies supply chains.

We only have a certain number of ventilators, which are critical for the treatment of a severely ill person, Anderson said. So we need to make sure that theyre not all used at the same time.

According to an industry estimate, between 100,000 and 150,000 ventilators are available in the U.S. The daily cost of using them is about $5,000 per patient.

Its a serious economic problem for society, but also for an individual hospital that is not sure theyre going to get paid the full cost of some of the services that theyre going to need to provide, he said.

Financial pressure can overburden hospitals when they provide care to uninsured patients or those with high-deductible health plans they cant afford.

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Hospital officials say staying home in order not to contract or spread the virus is the only way to ensure already-strained hospitals dont become overburdened.

If you have mild symptoms, stay home, Hancock said.

They dont need to come to the emergency room to get a test, he said. Weve got to be very careful about overwhelming our emergency rooms.

And weve got to be very careful about people who are sick being out in the communities spreading their illness.

A new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation warns more than 36 percent of Texas adults  either because of their age or underlying chronic diseases  are at high risk of serious illness if they become infected with the coronavirus.

Public health experts believe 1 percent to 4 percent of infected people will become seriously ill.

We just dont have a good handle on that, Anderson said. But thats anywhere from 10 to 40 times more deadly than the normal flu.

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
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are likely to be feeling 'fearful' of their future outside The Firm, a royal expert has claimed.

Royal commentator Omid Scobie told how the Duke, 35, and Duchess of Sussex, 38, will be feeling anxious now they have officially completed their royal duties, and said their final farewells to their royal staff.

'They helped them fend off attacks from the tabloids and helped them organize tours and the amazing engagements,' he said, speaking to US television show Hollywood Access.

'It is that team that make all of that happen. For Harry and Meghan to leave all that behind there is probably going to be a sense of fear.

Omid Scobie has claimed Prince Harry, 35, and Meghan Markle, 38, are likely to be feeling 'fearful' of their future outside of The Firm, Pictured, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend the Commonwealth Day Service 2020 at Westminster Abbey on

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and their baby son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor meet Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his daughter Thandeka Tutu-Gxashe at the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation during their royal tour of South Africa on September 25, 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa

The couple will officially take a 'step back' from their role as senior royals on March 31, where they will start a new life in Canada with their son Archie, 10 months.

'For Meghan Markle saying goodbye to her staff didn't just represent a sad ending for the relationship that they had working together, it also represented the end of her time as a working member of the Royal family,' explained Omid.

'The emotions were really heightened and there were tears and hugs.

'I think for Meghan she really appreciates the work that this very small team, that has become like a family to the couple, have done for them.'

The royal commentator went on to say the couple's decision to step back as senior royals hasn't been without its sacrifices. Pictured, attending a reception and dinner hosted by the President of Fiji at the Grand Pacific Hotel, Suva Prince Harry and Meghan Duchess of Sussex tour of Fiji on 23 October 2018

He added: 'They will be starting with an entirely new group of people once they are fully out of the Royal Family.

'That is going to take some time to really get used to.'

However, the royal expert went on to say that the couple's decision to step back in a bid to become financially independent also means they will lose some of their privileges.

'While they may be making sacrifices of their own, they are losing a lot of privileges as non-working members of the Royal Family,' he said.

'Harry gave up his honouree military titles which has probably been the toughest pill to swallow for them.'
All contact teaching postponed for Monday, staff to continue with work

Wits announces measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The Senior Executive Team of the University of the Witwatersrand met on Sunday, 15 March 2020, and made the following decisions:

All contact teaching and University activities involving face to face interaction are postponed, including tests, for Monday, 16 March 2020. All students are requested to remain at home or to confine themselves to their rooms in residence. Students are encouraged to follow the social distancing policy and to limit interaction where this is possible. Special arrangements are being made for students who usually eat in dining halls. Employees are expected to come to work in order to ensure that operations continue. Employees are requested to maintain social distance, and where possible meetings and group work should be conducted telephonically, online, or via video conferencing. We continue to follow the NICDs protocols in this regard. All graduations will be postponed until further notice. New arrangements will be communicated in due course. A temporary moratorium has been placed on all travel, both outbound and inbound, and applies to both local and international travel. This also means that people who have travelled into South Africa, should not be allowed to enter the University.

Remember to also make use of the NICDs Coronavirus Emergency 24-hour hotline number and to visit the NICDs website at www.nicd.ac.za if required. For those who are tested at independent laboratories, remember that these are preliminary results. All positive results must be verified by the NICD.

We will keep the Wits community informed as to plans from Tuesday onwards after consultation with the Department of Health and the Department of Higher Education and Training. In the interim, student queries should be directed to the Dean of Students via Jerome.September@wits.ac.za whilst employees with queries should email their line manager, Head of School or respective Senior Executive Team member.

Thank you

SENIOR EXECUTIVE TEAM

15 MARCH 2020 (20:00)






OTTAWA  The Canadian Parliament rushed through ratification of the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade pact on Friday before taking a three-week break to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, a top government official said.

Canada was the last of the three signatories to formally adopt the pact, prompting congratulations from the United States and Mexico.

The House of Commons lower chamber, which had weeks of deliberations left, agreed the instant approval on Friday after opposition legislators dropped their objections. The upper Senate chamber backed the pact later in the day, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters.

"(This) was entirely within the power of Canadian legislators to do, something we were able to do to help the Canadian economy at this challenging time, and I would like to thank legislators from all parties," she said.

The only remaining step is formal approval by the governor-general  the representative of Queen Elizabeth, Canada's head of state  which is a formality.

The USMCA was designed to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, which President Donald Trump strongly opposed on the grounds it had cost hundreds of thousands of American jobs.

"Now that the USMCA has been approved by all three countries, an historic new chapter for North American trade has begun," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said in a statement.

In a letter to the U.S. Congress on Wednesday, Lighthizer sent notice of an entry-into-force date of June 1 for USMCA, according to a spokesman for the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees tax and trade issues.

Groups representing U.S. and foreign automakers  including General Motors, Toyota and Volkswagen  as well as auto dealers and suppliers  said they were "gravely concerned" by the June 1 date, including the new automotive rules of origin.

"We are in the midst of a global pandemic that is significantly disrupting our supply chains, and the industry is throwing all available resources into managing production through this crisis," the groups said in the letter, adding that none of the three nations have drafted uniform automotive rules-of-origin regulations.

Story continues

Automakers, they said, also need time "to solicit the necessary information throughout the supply-chain to certify that our cars and trucks qualify under USMCA."

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the approval was good news for Mexico at a time of economic and financial instability.

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Coronavirus concerns have led the Appalachian Trail Conservancy to issue guidance for hikers already on the Appalachian Trail  like thru-hikers who started their 2,180-mile treks before or despite guidance on self-confinement and social distancing.

For Appalachian Trail hikers, distancing yourself from other hikers and maintaining good hygiene is the best defense for reducing your chances of contracting any illness, suggests a letter by Sandra Marra, president of the ATC, posted on the organizations website.

Wash your hands frequently with biodegradable soap at least 200 feet from water sources. When soap is not available, use hand sanitizer that contains 60-95 percent alcohol.

Avoid sharing food. Do not eat out of the same food bag, share utensils or drink from other hikers water bottles.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PENNSYLVANIA: Click to see where cases of the coronavirus are in Pennsylvania are located.



Cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing. Use the crook of your arm (inner elbow) or use a tissue and dispose of it using Leave No Trace Principles.

Keep some distance between you and other hikers whenever possible, especially if anyone shows signs of being sick. Avoid shaking hands or other close contact  instead, elbow bumps or waving are safer ways to greet others.

Avoid congregating in groups along the trail.

If you are an older adult or have serious chronic medical conditions like heart disease, diabetes or lung disease, you are at a higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19 contraction. Hike and camp away from others to minimize the likelihood of infection.

If you begin feeling sick, stay away from others and get off the trail until examined and cleared for return to the trail by a medical professional.

If you are diagnosed with COVID-19 while on the AT, please submit an incident report at appalachiantrail.org/incidents detailing when you got sick, when and where you got off the trail and any other helpful information.

For the many volunteers who maintain the trail, the ATC recommends, in addition to the above:

Minimize carpooling to work locations. While this is not ideal regarding environmental impacts, personal safety and health take priority.

Work in groups of no more than 12 people in any location.

Avoid sharing tools and equipment whenever possible.

In addition, the Visitor Center at ATC Headquarters in Harpers Ferry will be closed until at least March 20.

And, ATC staff members and volunteers will postpone all non-essential travel and conduct meetings and conferences digitally whenever possible. Any in-person meetings or work trips  including volunteer trail maintenance projects  will be limited to no more than twelve people in one location to reduce the risk of infection.

Text PennLive to 717-745-7532 to sign up to have breaking news and essential updates about the coronavirus delivered right to your mobile device. Data and messaging rates may apply.

Any staff member or volunteer who displays the symptoms of COVID-19 infection will be asked to stay home until cleared to return to work by a medical professional.

We are also encouraging staff members and volunteers to work from home whenever possible. While we do not anticipate this will significantly reduce our ability to quickly respond to emails, phone calls, membership requests, donor acknowledgements and other important communications, we appreciate everyones understanding and patience as we transition to this new structure.

For more information visit the Appalachian Trail Conservancy website.

For more coronavirus coverage: https://www.pennlive.com/coronavirus/

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.
The world watched the royal wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on May 19, 2018. The expectation was that they would spend decades as public royals; however, this was not what they wanted.

While lots of people would probably love to move farther away from their in-laws, most people dont move to another country. This is just what Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry announced they would be doing in a surprise Instagram post in January. From recent photos, it looks like their move to Canada is going well.

Meghan and Prince Harrys move to Canada

Meghan and Prince Harry met in London in 2016 before getting engaged in November 2017. They married on May 19, 2018, and their son, Archie, was born a year later.

In early January, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they planned to step back as senior members of the royal family. They would split their time between the United Kingdom and North America, focusing on their family and their financial independence.

Theyve now given up their royal titles and are spending time on Vancouver Island. They spend their time with charity work, hiking, and cooking. Theyve been enjoying hanging out with Baby Archie and their dogs.

Analysis from two body language experts says theyre relaxed and happy

Prince Harry and Mehgan Markle | Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

To compare the effects on the couple between life in the palace versus life in Canada, Womens Health worked with two experts to analyze Meghan and Prince Harrys body language in photos. The experts were Jane Greer, Ph.D., a marriage and family therapist and the author of What About Me?, and Terri Orbuch, PhD, the author of 5 Simple Steps to Take Your Marriage From Good to Great and a professor at Oakland University in Michigan.

Both noticed that while Meghan and Prince Harry look happier in Canada, theyve had a strong relationship all along. In a photo from their first public appearance after moving to Canada, Orbuch says they look relaxed and happy.

Prince Harry looks less stiff than he used to. Theyre also moving together as though toward the same goals. Theyre both stepping forward while smiling and holding hands.

Experts say they have a strong and happy realtionship

While they may be more comfortable in Canada than they had been before, the experts point out that the two have always had a strong, loving relationship. In a photo from just before they moved, Meghan looks at Prince Harry lovingly, listening carefully as he speaks. Orbuch says her body language shows their move wasnt a result of any difficulties in their relationship.

In other photos, Meghan holds Prince Harrys arm with both of her hands. Orbuch says this demonstrates how much she trusts him. Prince Harry especially is always looking to make sure Meghan is near him.

In one photo, he looks back toward her as they walk a few paces apart. In others, he keeps his hand on her back as they walk. Greer says when Prince Harry is slightly behind Meghan, he is showing hes her support system. And, when he walks slightly ahead of her, hes there to absorb the burden for her.

Theyve always looked happiest when theyve been on their own, away from protocols. In a photo from South Africa, the two stand close enough together that their bodies are touching. They are often seen touching, holding hands, or walking in step, something Greer says shows their compatibility, harmony, and matching goals.

The two have also looked happy when focused on Baby Archie. In a photo from a polo match, both Meghan and Prince Harry gaze at Archie. Prince Harrys feet both point toward Meghan and Archie, showing he is focused on them.

With their strong foundation, it looks like their move to Canada and away from the strains of palace life and the British tabloids will only serve to strengthen their family and bring them happiness.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Tihar Jail authorities said on Sunday that they had asked the hangman to report three days ahead of the scheduled hanging of the Nirbhaya case convicts this week.

The four convicts -- Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) -- are to be hanged together at 5.30 am on Friday, according to an order by a Delhi court earlier this month.

The execution of their death warrants has been deferred thrice so far due to delays by them in exhausting legal remedies.

READ MORE | Nirbhaya death row convict's last-ditch to skip rope

The Supreme Court will hear on Monday the plea of Mukesh Singh, who has sought restoration of all his legal remedies alleging that his lawyers had misled him.

After the fresh death warrant was issued, the Tihar Jail authorities wrote to their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh, requesting for the service of hangman Pawan Jallad, a jail official said.

"Pawan Jallad, a hangman from Meerut, has been asked to report at Tihar Jail on March 17 (Tuesday), three days ahead of the scheduled date of hanging," Director General of Prisons Sandeep Goel said.

According to the jail authorities, dummy executions would be conducted after the arrival of Jallad.

Health check-ups of the convicts is being done once in a day.

They are also being counselled on regular basis, the authorities said.

Out of the four convicts, Mukesh, Pawan and Vinay have had their last face-to-face meetings with their respective families.

The authorities have written to the family of Akshay about the date for final meeting before the scheduled date of execution.

The jail authorities have also not stopped the convicts' weekly meetings with their families yet.

A 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya' (fearless), was gang-raped and savagely assaulted in a moving bus in south Delhi on December 16, 2012.

She died a fortnight later.

Six people, including the four convicts and a juvenile, were named as the accused.

Ram Singh, the sixth accused, allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail days after the trial began in the case.

The juvenile was released in 2015 after spending three years in a correctional home.
The University of Pennsylvanias Lia Thomas competes in a swim meet against Dartmouth and Yale on Saturday. (Kylie Cooper)

After undergoing hormone replacement therapy, Thomas has posted fast times for the University of Pennsylvania's women's team, sparking debates from the starting blocks to online message boards to cable news networks.
- Ghana has implemented measures at its border with Togo to detect the coronavirus among travellers

- It is expected to follow up with travel restrictions to and from the country

- Measures introduced at the border include a thermal scanner and training for border officials

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Ghana has taken steps to fortify security around its border with Togo in a bid to detect the virus in time.

This comes after both countries confirmed cases of the coronavirus which has resulted in the loss of lives around the world.

Briefly.co.za understands that the measures were confirmed by the Aflao Sector Commander of the Immigration Service, Chief Superintendent Fred Duadu.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: Mkhize explains quarantine site as cases rise to 38

Speaking to Accra-based Joy FM, he indicated that "a thermal scanner has been installed at the border health post to help identify travellers who may be infected with the virus.

Border officials have also been trained to handle people who may have been infected.

Per a Business Insider report, he added that everyone who travels from Togo to Ghana would be subjected to a screening process at the border.

Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the minister of Information, has meanwhile stated that the government would soon impose travel restrictions to and from Ghana.

This comes after restrictions were placed on all foreign trips by public officials.

According to him, a meeting to be chaired by President Akufo-Addo would reach a decision on the matter shortly.

In other news, the health minister, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu has announced two confirmed cases of the deadly coronavirus otherwise known as COVID-19 in Ghana.

According to the Health Minister, the two persons tested positive after laboratory tests from the Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research on Thursday, March 12.

A statement sighted by Briefly.co.za from the Ministry of Health indicates that the two confirmed cases were reported as imported cases since both individuals returned to Ghana from Norway and Turkey.

He made this revelation while addressing an emergency press briefing organized by the Information ministry, Yesterday, March 12, 2020.

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Source: Briefly News
He did none of those things.

Ive reviewed all of his public statements and actions on coronavirus over the last two months, and they show a president who put almost no priority on public health. Trumps priorities were different: Making the virus sound like a minor nuisance. Exaggerating his administrations response. Blaming foreigners and, anachronistically, the Obama administration. Claiming incorrectly that the situation was improving. Trying to cheer up stock market investors. (It was fitting that his first public comments were from Davos and on CNBC.)

Now that the severity of the virus is undeniable, Trump is already trying to present an alternate history of the last two months. Below are the facts  a timeline of what the president was saying, alongside statements from public-health experts as well as data on the virus.

Late January

On the same day that Trump was dismissing the risks on CNBC, Tom Frieden, who ran the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for eight years, wrote an op-ed for the health care publication Stat. In it, Frieden warned that the virus would continue spreading. We need to learn  and fast  about how it spreads, he wrote.

It was one of many such warnings from prominent experts in late January. Many focused on the need to expand the capacity to test for the virus. In a Wall Street Journal article titled, Act Now to Prevent an American Epidemic, Luciana Borio and Scott Gottlieb  both former Trump administration officials  wrote:

If public-health authorities dont interrupt the spread soon, the virus could infect many thousands more around the globe, disrupt air travel, overwhelm health care systems, and, worst of all, claim more lives. The good news: Theres still an opening to prevent a grim outcome.  But authorities cant act quickly without a test that can diagnose the condition rapidly.

Trump, however, repeatedly told Americans that there was no reason to worry. On Jan. 24, he tweeted, It will all work out well. On Jan. 28, he retweeted a headline from One America News, an outlet with a history of spreading false conspiracy theories: Johnson & Johnson to create coronavirus vaccine. On Jan. 30, during a speech in Michigan, he said: We have it very well under control. We have very little problem in this country at this moment  five. And those people are all recuperating successfully.

That same day, the World Health Organization declared coronavirus to be a public-health emergency of international concern. It announced 7,818 confirmed cases around the world.
Spain's tally jumps to 4,209 cases, 120 dead

MADRID, Reuters :

The Spanish health ministry said the number of coronavirus cases in the country jumped to 4,209 on Friday from Thursday's 3,004 e 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.
Those exemptions could potentially exclude nearly 20 million workers. About 59 million Americans work for companies with 500 or more employees, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and about 6.5 million of them do not have any paid sick days. Another 12 million work for companies with fewer than 50 employees and do not have paid sick days. (Some large companies have announced since the outbreak began that they will provide paid leave for workers who get the virus. Walmart said it would give up to two weeks of pay; Target said it would give 14 days.)
New Delhi: In the wake of coronavirus pandemic, the Andhra Pradesh local body elections have been postponed for six weeks.

According to the State Election Commissioner, N Ramesh Kumar, the new dates for the Andhra Pradesh local body polls will be finalised after normalcy is restored in the state.

Asserting that the decision had been taken after a high-level review of the situation, Kumar also mentioned that the process of election will not be cancelled.

Notably, the number of coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 93, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare today.

So far, two deaths due to the COVID-19 have been reported in the country.

Coronavirus, which originated in China's Wuhan city in December last year, has so far spread to more than 100 countries, infecting over 1,30,000 people.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared coronavirus a pandemic.
Gov. Mark Gordon and state Superintendent Jillian Balow announced Sunday that theyre recommending all Wyoming schools be closed through the first week of April because of concerns related to the novel coronavirus.

After Gordons statement, the Natrona County School District said that it would follow the governors recommendation and close its schools. The shutdown will begin Monday and run through April 5.

Earlier Sunday, school districts in Laramie and Teton counties announced they would temporarily close.

This is Wyoming, where we are all neighbors, Gordon said in a statement, in which he said the state was facing unprecedented circumstances. While social distancing should be a priority for all of us, it should not keep us from helping out our neighbors. I am thinking of our first responders and healthcare workers on the frontlines who may be without child care. This is a time, if the risk is low, to help one another out.

Around the same time early Sunday evening, Montanas governor went a step further, ordering all schools there be closed through the last week of March, according to a Billings Gazette reporter.

In Wyoming, the closures vary by district. Laramie County School District No. 1 said late Sunday afternoon that it would close until April 7. Its neighbor, Laramie County School District No. 2, announced a closure through April 5. So did Converse County School District No. 2. All three Sheridan school districts will close temporarily.

Fremont County School District No. 14 announced a two-week closure Sunday evening. Fremont County No. 1 is closed through April 6. Fremont County No. 6 also announced a closure.

Sweetwater School District No. 2 and Johnson County School District No. 1 will also close, according to local media reports.

Gordon, who declared a state of emergency on Friday, and Balow recommended closures through at least April 3.

The governor has had multiple conversations with the superintendent, education officials and other individuals since Friday, said his spokesman, Michael Pearlman. He is a strong believer in local control and felt that this recommendation allowed local communities to make the decision that works best for them. Given that multiple school districts in the state announced closures prior to his recommendation, it is clear that local education officials have been moving in the same direction.

Closures follow confirmed cases

Earlier Sunday, Teton County School District was the first to announce that it will close its buildings beginning Monday to limit the spread of the coronavirus, which has sickened at least three people in Wyoming and thousands nationwide. The potential spread of the illness here has sparked a response from institutions across Wyoming, from the university and community colleges to hospitals and cities.

As of Sunday evening, there were still three confirmed cases in Wyoming. Two had been reported within 24 hours of each other, on Friday evening and late Saturday afternoon. The first and third patients  both Sheridan County residents  are tied to each other. The first patient contracted it after traveling domestically.

The case of the second patient, an older man in Fremont County, is murkier. Hes a resident of an assisted-living facility in Lander, and officials remained unclear as of Sunday evening how he had contracted the disease. The lack of information sparked concern that it was the result of community spread in the area, meaning there may be other cases there that officials dont know about.

Also concerning is the fact that the man lived in an assisted-living facility; the diseases potential exposure of others there is unclear. A Health Department spokeswoman said Sunday that the follow-up effort (in Lander) is substantial.

A spokeswoman for the state Health Department said that she had no updates on any test results as of 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

Districts decide

Gordon wrote that his and Balows statement was just a recommendation and that individual school boards and districts will have to make the final decision on whether to close or not.

This recommendation is not necessarily based on epidemiological best practices, the governors office wrote, but is an attempt to allow schools and communities to prepare to operate in a way that mitigates community spread of COVID-19 and minimizes negative economic impacts locally and statewide.

Gordon said that even if school boards decide to close schools, they will also have to choose whether any staff will have to continue working during that period. The governor and state superintendent will continue to monitor COVID-19 developments throughout this three-week period, with the goal of getting students back to classrooms as soon as safely possible.

In its statement, the Cheyenne district says plans for closures beyond that time will depend on how this situation unfolds in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Teton County superintendent Gillian Chapman said plans for cloud or distance classroom learning and other services will be sent to families and posted on the district website on Monday.

The Teton County district made the closure decision one day after a person tested positive for COVID-19 in nearby Teton County, Idaho.

It is our opinion that being proactive rather than reactive at this time is the best way we can support our community, said Betsy Carlin, the chairwoman of the districts school board. Even if it saves one life, it will be worth it.

Teton schools were scheduled to begin spring break on March 23.

Teton County was the first district in Wyoming to close in light of the coronavirus. The University of Wyoming and most of the states community colleges have opted to extend their spring breaks to slow the virus spread. Several are also planning to use the extra time off to prepare to move most of their coursework online for the foreseeable future.

The Natrona County School District had previously said it was monitoring the situation but did not plan to close yet. On Saturday, it announced that children with coughs, shortness of breath, or temperatures of 99.5 degrees or higher should not come to school. The district also said it would be proactively monitoring NCSD student and staff groups that traveled out-of-state within the past week.

Sunday night, the district announced it will provide free daily takeaway meals to people 18 and under, starting Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. They can be found at Verda James Elementary, Paradise Valley Elementary, Midwest School, Lincoln Elementary and the Casper Recreation Center.

District officials in Casper have scheduled a Monday press briefing at City Hall. There were several news conferences in Natrona County last week in which officials broadly urged residents to remain calm while warning them that there would be more cases and that there were likely COVID-19 patients in Wyoming that have yet to be identified.

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.

Gordons announcement is the most significant response to COVID-19, but it isnt the first. On Thursday morning, hours after the state confirmed its first case of the illness, Natrona County health officials ordered the cancellation of the state basketball tournament in Casper. Gordon recommended against holding events of 250 or more people. Several school districts said they would adhere to that recommendation.

In Natrona County, Wyoming Medical Center is opening a clinic that will deal directly with respiratory and COVID-19 cases. The plan there is to funnel potential cases into that clinic, rather than have those people who think they may have the disease flock to the emergency room or to primary care offices.

Officials across the state have said for days now that they feel prepared to handle any spread of the virus. Doctors from both WMC and Cheyenne Regional have also said their facilities are capable of handling an influx of cases and that there are special rooms and ventilators at the ready.

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Conor McGregor has paid an emotional tribute to his deceased aunt, Anne Moore, on Instagram.

The Irish MMA fighter learned of the news before a live television interview in Dublin for a US audience.

The Dubliner said: "Sitting in the chair about to beam live to all the U.S morning talk shows, I get a phone call telling me that my lovely little auntie Anne had passed away."

He said: "I couldnt go live anymore. My poor little friendly loving auntie."

My mothers sister. This stupid fucking virus. What the fuck is happening. I took my family to bull island. Looked out at the sea. Took a deep breath.

In the same Instagram post, McGregor discussed the outbreak of the coronavirus in Ireland.

He said: "Ireland you amazing, amazing country. I believe we have this virus contained."

"And through this containment, we actually may have gone and contained them all," McGregor added.

The MMA fighter described when training how he is more susceptible to colds and flu due to his heavy schedule and that he has changed his own personal hygiene habits as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health announced today that a second person has died from the coronavirus in Ireland.

It also announced that there are 39 new cases bringing the total number of cases in Ireland to 129.

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Premier Gladys Berejiklian says NSW Police will have the power to enforce existing laws if people break self-isolation bans when returning home from overseas.

The national cabinet, which includes Prime Minister Scott Morrison and state leaders, on Sunday agreed on strict new border restrictions forcing all arrivals to Australia to self-isolate for 14 days.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says the state's police will have powers to enforce mandatory self-isolation. Credit:AAP

Non-essential mass gatherings of more than 500 people will also be banned as part of the rules aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus through the community.

Ms Berejiklian's warning came before two more coronavirus deaths were confirmed on Sunday evening. A 77-year-old woman from Queensland died in Sydney on Friday, while a 90-year-old woman died at a Macquarie Park aged care facility on Saturday, NSW Health confirmed.
Neolix, a Chinese autonomous driving vehicle company, raised nearly RMB 200M in Series A+ funding.

Backers included Li Xiangs Lixiang Automotive, Addor Capital and existing shareholders Yunqi Partners and Glory Ventures.

The company intends to use the funds to launch its AI autonomous driving vehicles.

Founded in 2018, Neolix began as a autonomous driving vehicle company focused on autonomous vehicle delivery, and now has more than 160 employees. Its initial intent was to be engaged in end-delivery automation, but they soon realized that replacing couriers and delivery people with autonomous driving vehicles would be difficult in the short term, and far from cost-effective. Hence, Neolix transformed in 2019.

Its launch scenarios now include:

Autonomous vehicle delivery, which supplements manual delivery, is focused on developing delivery of group meals which are heavier;

Mobile retail: uses autonomous driving vehicles to sell fast food, coffee and other retail products;

Neolix Patrol: this model requires collaboration with local governments. During the epidemic, 18 Neolix autonomous driving vehicles took part in the battle against the epidemic, and were deployed in Leishenshan Hospital, other hospitals as well as in communities. Elsewhere, dozens of autonomous driving vehicles were working at the frontline in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen for the purpose of epidemic prevention, spraying, disinfection and autonomous vehicle delivery.

Earlier, Neolix built the worlds first Level 4 autonomous driving vehicle smart manufacturing plant in Changzhou, with an annual capacity of 10,000 vehicles.

The company has entered into partnerships with numerous renowned local enterprises such as Baidu, JD.com and Meituan, as well as local governments, and officially went abroad last year. A comprehensive partnership with JD.coms e-commerce platform, Noon, has seen Neolix autonomous driving vehicles for retail, express delivery and various other products deployed in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. These vehicles will also be deployed in phases to Saudi Arabia and other Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, establishing the worlds largest autonomous driving service array.

Founder and CEO Yu Enyuan said that Neolix had produced and delivered 225 autonomous driving vehicles over the last two years. Their goal this year is to fulfill an order of 1,000 vehicles so that they can break even for the year.

FinSMEs

15/03/2020
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-16 00:39:48|Editor: huaxia

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CHANGSHA/SHANGHAI, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese companies have mobilized to aid the anti-coronavirus battle in Italy by donating medical supplies, winning the recognition of Italians.

Nutritional formula manufacturer Blue River Dairy, based in central China's Hunan Province, on Saturday donated medical supplies worth 2.4 million yuan (about 343,000 U.S. dollars) to Italy.

Alessandra Zedda, vice president of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, said on a video call that the company's donation reflected its social responsibility and proved the solidarity of the two peoples to fight the virus.

Consisting of 40,000 N95 respirator masks, 1,800 protective suits and 250,000 pairs of medical gloves which all comply with EU criteria, the medical supplies will be distributed to designated hospitals in Sardinia after arrival.

The company completed in 2016 the first cooperation between Chinese and Italian dairy enterprises by acquiring Italian dairy manufacturer Alimenta. It built a formula factory and sheep milk ingredient factory in Sardinia last year.

Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Co., Ltd., a leading construction gear maker based in Hunan, on Friday shipped to Italy its first batch of 50,000 masks which will be distributed to the front line by the Lombardy regional government. The masks were manufactured by companies across Hunan, and comply with EU standards.

Zoomlion has also sent 20,000 masks to CIFA, a Milan-headquartered concrete machinery manufacturer it acquired in 2008, to help some 600 employees there fight the epidemic.

Li Bin, director of international business management at Zoomlion, said the company had received positive response from CIFA when the epidemic broke out in China, and is now willing to help.

More medical protection supplies, including 5,500 protective suits and 40,000 N95 respirator masks, have arrived in Milan.

The supplies were jointly donated by Fosun Foundation of the Shanghai-based Fosun Group, Longfor Group and Beijing Taikang Yicai Foundation.

Fosun had also donated 5,000 face masks to Milan's municipal government early this month, the foundation said.

"As a global corporation, we hope to be able to play a part in helping the world win this battle against the coronavirus as soon as possible," said Fosun International's chairman Guo Guangchang.

In early March, Guo called for the donation of medical supplies to some key countries facing increasingly serious epidemic situations via the Yabuli China Entrepreneurs Forum, receiving warm response from a number of Chinese firms.
WASHINGTON  With the Democratic nomination race now down to a one-on-one contest between former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Democratic primary voters now back Biden  who was a distant second to Sanders just one month ago  by an overwhelming 2-to-1 ratio, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

The survey found that 61 percent of Democratic voters support Biden, while just 32 percent back Sanders. Four percent choose Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who has not yet dropped out of the race despite failing to finish in the top three in any state primary or caucus.

Biden's surge of more than 45 percentage points in four weeks shows how quickly he became the consensus choice of Democratic voters as the field narrowed to just two major candidates. The NBC News/WSJ poll in February, which was conducted before Biden's decisive win in the South Carolina primary changed the trajectory of the race, found Sanders besting Biden, 27 percent to 15 percent, while candidates who have since dropped out  former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota  divided the rest of the vote.

All of those candidates except Warren have since thrown their support behind Biden.

Democratic voters are also significantly more likely than they were last month to say they are enthusiastic about Biden's campaign. In February, just 13 percent said they were enthusiastic about him, while 43 percent said they were merely comfortable, and a combined 43 percent said they had reservations or were uncomfortable. Now, 37 percent say they're enthusiastic about Biden, 37 percent say they are comfortable, and just 25 percent express reservations or discomfort.

For Sanders, less has changed since February. This month, a combined 66 percent of Democratic voters say they are either enthusiastic (27 percent) or comfortable (39 percent) with him. Last month, it was a combined 65 percent.

Story continues

The former vice president has significant leads among almost every key Democratic voting group; he has the support of 60 percent of white voters, 77 percent of African-American voters, 64 percent of women and 79 percent of voters over 50.

But, as Sanders noted Wednesday when he announced his intention to stay in the race, Biden's performance with young Democratic voters remains a glaring weak spot. Among voters under 35, just a quarter chose Biden, while 7-in-10 pick Sanders.

Biden leads Trump by 9 points in a one-to-one matchup

Among all registered voters, Biden leads President Donald Trump outside the poll's margin of error in a head-to-head contest. In a hypothetical one-on-one general election contest, 52 percent of all voters say they would choose Biden, while 43 percent say they would choose Trump.

For Sanders, it's 49 percent saying they would support him, while 45 percent back Trump.

In the matchup between Biden and Trump, Biden has the backing of a majority of independents (59 percent), women (63 percent) and white voters with college degrees (53 percent). He is also the overwhelming choice of nonwhite voters, getting support from 70 percent of Latinos and 84 percent of black voters.

Trump receives majority support from white voters (51 percent), men (53 percent) and white voters without college degrees (57 percent).

Among suburban voters, Biden gets 49 percent, while Trump gets 45 percent.

And among voters in 2016 swing states, Biden gets 50 percent, while Trump gets 42 percent.

Still, Trump continues to enjoy the most fervent support from his backers. Among all voters, 27 percent say they're enthusiastic about his candidacy, compared with 15 percent for Biden and 13 percent for Sanders.

But nearly half of all voters  48 percent  say they're very uncomfortable with his run. That's compared with 31 percent who say the same of Biden and 42 percent who say the same of Sanders.

The NBC News/WSJ live-caller poll was conducted March 11-13, 2020. The poll surveyed 900 registered voters, including 438 Democratic primary voters. The margin of error for all voters is +/- 3.27 percentage points. The margin of error for Democratic primary voters is +/- 4.68 percentage points.
Amid the political tug-of-war in Madhya Pradesh, Congress MLAs who returned from Jaipur Sunday morning were herded into a hotel where they will stay till Mondays floor test in the state assembly.

Despite the resignations of 22 MLAs, the Congress lawmakers insist that the government will survive the floor test.

Minister Sajjan Singh Verma said, We have numbers. Thats why chief minister Kamal Nath and all of us are confident.

Congress government is safe. We are all with the government, said MLA Kantilal Bhuria. Another MLA, Kunal Chaudhary said, Its prerogative of Speaker of the House to decide when to conduct a floor test. Whenever it happens, we will prove our majority.

Hours before the legislators arrived from Jaipur, Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon had asked Chief Minister Kamal Nath to seek a trust vote on Monday.

Kamal Nath, who is fighting with his back to the wall, summoned his cabinet for a meeting at his residence in the morning. Several ministers who returned from Jaipur also attended the meeting.

Congress functionaries said Nath is likely to meet the MLAs later in the day. According to party leader, the MLAs have been asked not to leave hotel and communicate with outsiders on phone.

Independent MLA Surendra Singh Shera who returned with Congress MLAs said, I am with the government and it will prove its majority.

Congress MLA and son of senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, Jaivardhan Singh said, We will prove our numbers on the floor of the House.

Congress members refused to say how many MLAs had gone to Jaipur but insist that all is well.

I cant disclose the number but all is well, said Brajendra Singh Rathore, minister for commercial tax.

Minister for Panchayat and Rural development Kamleshwar Patel said the Congress could also get the support of some BJP MLAs. There are certain BJP MLAs too who are with Congress, he said.

There are at least six BJP MLAs who are in touch with us, Bhuria claimed.

The Congress has accused the BJP of holding its MLAs hostage in Bengaluru and has asked the Governor to rescue them ahead of the floor test.

BJP legislature party chief whip Narottam Mishra issued a three-line whip for its MLAs stating that voting along the party during a floor test is mandatory.

The BJP claims that the Congress which had 114 MLAs in the House with an effective strength of 228, has been reduced to a minority government following the resignation of the 22 lawmakers. The BJP has 107 legislators. There are two MLAs from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), one from the Samajwadi Party (SP), and four independents who support the Kamal Nath government.

The Speaker had accepted the resignations of six ministers on Saturday. With this, the strength of the House has come down to 222 and the majority mark is now 112. The resignations of 16 other MLAs have not been accepted so far.
There was widespread power cut in Ghana.

The lights went off a few minutes after 9 pm on Saturday, March 14, 2020, in parts of the country including Greater Accra, Central, Northern, Eastern, Upper East, Upper West, Volta and Oti Regions.

citinewsroom.com understands that the issue has to do with challenges being encountered by the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo).

Bono, Ahafo, Bona East, Ashanti and Western Regions have light, according to Citi News correspondents in those regions.

Some Ghanaians in the affected regions have taken to social media to voice out their displeasure:

Power outages in Volta and Oti Regions

There were blackouts in the Volta and Oti Regions earlier this week.

Engineers at the Electricity Company of Ghana attributed the power cuts to interrupted supply from the Ghana Grid Company Limited at Akosombo.

The Volta Regional Public Relations Officer of the Electricity Company of Ghana, Benjamin Antwi in an interview with Citi News on Monday, March 9, 2020 said the situation was subsequently stabilized.

Recent intermittent power outages over  Amewu

The Minister of Energy recently stated that 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.

citinewsroom




Haiti - Politic : Muscular arrest of Senator Augustin, the Government apologizes





Eddy-Jackson Alexis Secretary of State for Communication deplores the unfortunate incident of which Senator Kedlaire Augustin was a victim, in the Fragneau-Ville area, Thursday March 12, 2020, https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30262-haiti-security-senator-kedlaire-augustin-victim-of-a-muscular-arrest.htmll during a routine check by some police officers.



"The Senator that we had on the phone for ten minutes told us that he had indeed identified himself with the police. Despite everything, he was forced to get out of his vehicle, jostled, hit and taken to the Delmas police station before being later released thanks to the diligence of a Police Commissioner who demonstrated leadership and efficiency [...]"



The Government via the Office of the Secretary of State for Communication "expresses its deepest regrets for this act and wishes to apologize to the members of the Grand Corps and in particular to the Honorable Senator Kedlaire Augustin, injured in his prerogatives as a parliamentarian in office.



The Government, by the same token, would like to invite all the actors concerned to remain calm and show self-denial, while informing them that an investigation has been carried out with a view to determining the responsibilities [...]"



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30262-haiti-security-senator-kedlaire-augustin-victim-of-a-muscular-arrest.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















(Natural News) The steady spread of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) turned much more serious for lawmakers and government officials working on Capitol Hill Thursday after a Senate staffer was diagnosed with the disease.

As anxiety levels rise around the country and uncertainty about the spread of the virus grips Wall Street, the discovery of a sick Hill staffer wont help.

According to Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, the positive came from a staffer in her office  the first known case of the virus in Congress, which prompted her to close her doors for at least the remainder of the week, Zero Hedge reported.

The individual who tested positive for COVID-19 has had no known contact with the senator or other members of Congress, a statement said. The senator is requesting that testing be done on any other staffers who have been in contact with the individual and show symptoms.

Another seven members of Congress have self-quarantined out of what they said was an abundance of caution after possible incidents of exposure. That includes six Republicans: Sens. Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham, Reps. Matt Gaetz, Doug Collins, Paul Gosar and Mark Meadows, the latter of whom is now President Trumps chief of staff.

The caution comes from attending the annual Conservative Political Action Committee conference at National Harbor, Md., in recent days; an attendee of the conference has tested positive for the virus as well, and its possible that these lawmakers may have also been exposed.

Two Democrats, meanwhile, have also self-quarantined; they are Reps. Julia Brownley of California and Don Beyer of Virginia.

By mid-day Thursday, The Associated Press reported: Congress is shutting down the US Capitol building to the public until April 1, along with all House and Senate offices over concerns of the coronavirus spreading. (Related: Denmark locks down ENTIRE COUNTRY in response to coronavirus pandemic.)

Average age of lawmakers is 60

The news service added:

Both chambers will continue to conduct business, but without a public, in-person audience.

The Democratic-led House will vote Thursday on a novel coronavirus response package that would provide support to families affected by the pandemic, including paid sick leave, free testing and funding increases to food security programs.

There is at least some concern, however, that the effort may have been too little, too late. Before the lockdown, the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms announced the suspension of all tours of the Capitol in order to limit lawmakers exposure. But given that the average age of lawmakers is 60  close to or within the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions guidelines to avoid exposure  then its possible we could be looking at a sort of mini-pandemic in Congress.

As Zero Hedge notes, at the beginning of March some 10 percent of members of the Iranian parliament were confirmed to have been infected with the virus, and while the real power in that country is vested in the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the countrys supreme leader, the fact is that a nations top-level officials are obviously not immune from COVID-19.

For their part, President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are also beginning to take new precautions. After the White House said earlier this week that the president had no plans to cancel campaign events, Trump nevertheless did so on Thursday.

CNN reported that Trump canceled a number of public events following his nationally televised speech addressing the coronavirus outbreak. In a statement, White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said that the president canceled events in Colorado and Nevada at the end of this week, again out of an abundance of caution.

No doubt the decision was made in large part to avoid having the president of the United States  who may be healthy but is nevertheless 73 years old  stricken by a virus that could kill him.

Sources include:

TheNationalSentinel.com

CNN.com

ZeroHedge.com

TheHill.com
We should always be prepared for any type of short-term emergency, be it a flood, tornado, blizzard, or any other thing, he added. He recommends keeping about a couple weeks worth of food at home and that those with special medications should have two to four weeks of medicine on hand.

In Southwest Virginia, Karen Shelton, the health director of the Mount Rogers Health District, said its a good idea to keep a two-week supply of routinely used products. If the virus spreads into the community, having extra items limits the number of times someone has to go to the store and be out in public if they might be infected, she said.

Still, we dont want people to panic, to feel like theres never going to be any products in the stores again, she said.

Some patrons in area stores were seen wearing masks, but both May and Shelton said the only people who should wear masks are those who are ill and need to stop the spread of droplets.

Another concern local health officials have heard is about whether members of the public should buy heavy duty N95 respirator masks.
Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health Dr. Anthony Fauci listens as Vice President Mike Pence speaks about the coronavirus alongside members of the Coronavirus Task Force in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, on March 9, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Possibly A Few Months Until Life Returns to Normal, Top US Health Official Says

The top infectious disease expert in the United States on March 15 said that it may take several months before life returns to normal in the United States because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Its going to be a matter of several weeks to a few months, for sure, Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told ABC News on March 15 after he was asked when life will return to normal, as states announce the closure of schools, stores are shut, and public gatherings are banned in order to implement social distancing policies recommended by health experts.

He pointed to South Korea as an example of what might happen in the United States.

South Korea is starting to flatten, Fauci said, adding that the trend in new cases occurred at around a month and a half.

Although you cant predict accurately, the way you interfere with that and not only diminish the peak of the curve but even perhaps the duration depends on the effectiveness in which you do the kinds of controls that weve been talking about, the containment and the mitigation, he said.

Fauci and other Trump administration officials spoke on several interview shows on March 15. On CNN, Fauci said he wouldnt rule out a national lockdown on places such as bars and restaurants.

People wait in line to go through the customs at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in Grapevine, Texas, on March 14, 2020. (Austin Boschen via AP)

Whatever it takes to do that, thats what Id like to see, Fauci told the network.

Obviously, whenever you have crowds, thats the thing weve been talking about that we really want to implement is to have that kind of social separation that is countermanding that, and hopefully people understand that you dont have to rush back, he told Fox News Sunday.

Fauci, a key member of the White House task force to combat the virus, said that people need to realize that life is going to be different in the interim.

For a while, life is not going to be the way it used to be in the United States, he said. We have to just accept that if we want to do whats best for the American public.

During the ABC interview, Fauci said that administration officials dont believe a domestic U.S. travel ban is needed in the immediate future.

I mean, theyve been discussed, but not seriously discussed, he said. I dont see that right now or in the immediate future. But remember, we are very open-minded about whatever it takes to preserve the health of the American public.

Shoppers browse barren shelves at a supermarket in Larchmont, N.Y., on March 13, 2020. (John Minchillo/AP Photo)

According to Johns Hopkins University, around 3,000 cases of the virus, which first emerged late last year in Wuhan, China, have been confirmed in the United States. COVID-19 can include symptoms such as shortness of breath, a cough, a fever, and other respiratory problems, while officials have warned that elderly people and individuals with underlying health problems are most at risk.

Over the weekend, several cities in New Jersey, including Hoboken and Teaneck, imposed curfews and travel restrictions to curb the spread of the epidemic.

Last week, President Donald Trump declared the pandemic a national emergency and freed up billions of dollars in funding and more resources to curb the spread of the virus. Before that, he banned travel from most European countries.
Lucknow, March 15 : Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Sunday that his party would win 351 seats in the next state Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

"The BJP can win 300 seats on a false propaganda, then we will win more than 350 seats on the strength of truth," he said at a press conference here.

Mounting a scathing attack on the BJP, Akhilesh said that the constitution provides equal rights to all citizens but the BJP obviously does not believe in the constitution and is differentiating on the basis of religion.

He said that the laptops distributed during his regime were still working while toilets constructed by the BJP government had started collapsing.

Akhilesh welcomed former BSP MP Balihari Babu and several former MLAs from BSP into the Samajwadi fold.

He said that this was an indication that the Samajwadi Party was on the comeback trail in the state.
WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI  The Washtenaw County Sheriffs Office is warning residents they can be fined and jailed for attending gatherings with 250 people or more.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer banned all gatherings of more than 250 people last week to fight the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. She also recommended canceling events with 100 or more people. There were 33 reported cases of COVID-19 in Michigan as of late Saturday, March 14, state officials said.

The sheriffs office is encouraging people participate in social distancing. Anyone attending gatherings with 250 people may be subject to misdemeanor charges that carry up to 90 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $200, the sheriffs office said.

Coronavirus maps show cases and exposure sites in Michigan

For some, the threat of the virus may seem insignificant, Sheriff Jerry Clayton said in a news release. However, were asking for your help in slowing the spread. The sooner the virus is subdued, the sooner we can get back to our normal way of life. One way to do so is to keep your distance and follow the direction of our health experts.

In Oakland County, where nine residents have tested positive for COVID-19, officials have ordered restaurants and bars cut in half the number of customers allowed in their establishments. The countys nine cases are the most in Michigan.

Washtenaw County has four confirmed cases, and each of those patients are in self-isolation, Washtenaw County Health Department Officer Jimena Loveluck said in a news release.

The people with confirmed cases are working with the health department to provide information on who theyve been in contact with and the places they visited before being diagnosed, Loveluck said.

We understand this is a difficult time, she said. We are working tirelessly to do all we can to protect health. We ask for everyones continued cooperation and support.

The ban on large gatherings of people in a single shared space is in effect until April 5. It includes, but is not limited to rooms, halls, cafeterias, auditoriums, theaters or galleries. It does not apply to gatherings for industrial or manufacturing work, mass transit, and the purchase of groceries or other products.

MORE MICHIGAN CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE HERE.

Sunday, March 15: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

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Detroit Pistons Christian Wood tests positive for coronavirus, but agent says he feels fine

MSU extends virtual classes through semester, postpones commencement due to coronavirus

Governor clarifies coronavirus-related hospital visitation restriction, allows parents

Coronavirus concerns change Kroger store hours, Meijer deli service in Michigan

With 9 coronavirus cases, Oakland County orders restaurants, bars to cut customer capacity

Drive-through coronavirus testing available in Jackson

Coronavirus has Michigan spring-break travelers scrambling: Its all up in the air

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.
Cleve Dantron Marcel Franklin, 26, of Austin, was in custody Thursday in connection with a deadly weekend shooting at a Harker Heights nightclub.

He was arrested Wednesday in Austin on a warrant charging murder.

He was held Thursday in the Bell County Jail in lieu of $1 million bond.

The shooting, which occurred at around 3:25 a.m. Sunday at Club Krush at 201 West Veterans Memorial Blvd., in Harker Heights, left Michael Anthony Hackney, Jr., of Killeen dead.

A second person was injured in the shooting and was taken to Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

The second victim has not been identified.

Authorities are asking anyone with information to call the Harker Heights Police Criminal Investigation Division at (254) 953-5440 or Crime Stoppers at (254) 526-TIPS.

Tips may also be submitted online.
As more and more Connecticut residents test positive for COVID-19, stay informed with all the latest information below.

Beyond local and statewide updates, this story will be updated with major regional, national and global information about the coronavirus.

SIGN UP: Get our coronavirus newsletter delivered directly to your inbox

5/28/20

2:42 p.m. - The 124th Boston Marathon, that was rescheduled for September, has now been canceled over COVID-19 concerns, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced Thursday.

12:52 p.m. - Cromwell Mayor Enzo Faienza says he hopes the declaration adopted by the Town Council Tuesday will encourage Gov. Lamont to speed up the re-opening of small and medium businesses in the state.

12:22 p.m. - Stop & Shop is extending a pandemic pay bump through July 4, with the Massachusetts-based chain among Connecticuts largest employers with more than 90 supermarkets statewide.

11:38 a.m. - As independent contractors unleashed a flood of new unemployment claims in May, the Connecticut Department of Labor has now processed well over a half-million applications with more pending, approaching a third of state residents holding jobs entering March.

Under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program created through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, solo entrepreneurs have been able to seek jobless compensation, denied in the past save for those who contribute payroll taxes that underwrite state unemployment trust funds. Read more here.

9:40 a.m. - The retail industry, in turmoil for years, is facing its biggest test yet as the coronavirus crisis pushes some of the nation's most vulnerable brands to the economic brink.

Pandemic-motivated closures and stalling demand left many prominent retailers looking for ways to preserve cash. Some stopped paying rent. Others furloughed workers, cut executive pay and canceled orders for new inventory. But as the economy begins sputtering back to life, bankruptcy attorneys and analysts say a growing number of companies will find they just don't have enough cash to keep going. Read more here.

8:33 a.m. - The U.S. surpassed a jarring milestone Wednesday in the coronavirus pandemic: 100,000 deaths. That number is the best estimate and most assuredly an undercount. But it represents the stark reality that more Americans have died from the virus than from the Vietnam and Korean wars combined. Read more here.

8:04 a.m. - Wearing masks during the COVID-19 pandemic is intended to protect the people who have them on and everyone around them. However, experts said one popular kind of mask may not protect others from potential infection. Read more here.

7:10 a.m. - Some hotel workers wonder and worry about what a June 20 reopening will look like and what safety measures will be in place when they return to work. Read more here.

6:22 a.m. - Town officials have decided to cancel the Fourth of July fireworks show, according to First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick, who also said more restrictions at the beach were being rescinded. Read more here.

5:47 a.m.- Three of Gov. Ned Lamonts top agency leaders on Wednesday got first-hand looks at the preparations for a partial reopening at Foxwoods Resort Casino on June 1.

While the trio of commissioners was non-committal toward the early reopening and declined comment, Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, took the visit as a positive sign in the tribes nearly 30-year relationship with Connecticut. Read more here.

5/27/20

8:21 p.m. - Connecticut State Police Special Licensing and Firearms Unit announced Wednesday the reopening of services at headquarters, Troop E in Montville and Troop G in Bridgeport for processing new pistol permit applicaitons starting June 15. By appointment only. Click here for more information.

8:05 p.m. - Ansonia police will resume civilian fingerprinting for pistol permits, employment background checks and vendor permits starting June 1, the department announced Wednesday. All fingerprinting applicants must wear a mask while inside the police department.

The fingerprinting will be done by appointment only from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Mondays and 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays. Fingerprinting is only open to Ansonia residents and non-residents applying for an employment background check for a business based in Ansonia or a vending permit from the city. Police said fingerprinting will be offered on an appointment-only basis. Call 203-735-1885 to schedule an appointment.

5:30 p.m. - The staff at the Connecticut Department of Public Health removed 356 cases and 808 tests from the states overall COVID-19 numbers in the past 24 hours after they were identified as duplicates in the system.

There have been 341 new positive cases since Tuesday and 5,215 new tests, putting both totals at 4,1288 and 229,769 respectively.

Ten more COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals, with 684 current virus patients hospitalized across the state. There were 34 more deaths, putting the statewide total at 3,803.

2:25 p.m. - Yale New Haven Hospital and the city of New Haven announced Wednesday plans to open a COVID-19 testing site at the Strong School at 130 Orchard St. This will be the citys ninth testing location.

A doctors referral is required for this testing site, and YNHH will schedule a time for the appointment. If a New Haven resident needs assistance with testing or needs a doctors referral, they can call the New Haven Health Department at 203-946-4949.

2:01 p.m. - The Federal Reserve projects that nearly 100,000 Connecticut homeowners and more than 170,000 renters are at risk of missing at least one payment mortgage or rent payment, raising a specter of pandemic-led homelessness, especially when federal unemployment benefits end. Read more here.

1:40 p.m. - The Connecticut Judicial Branch is targeting the partial resumption of operations in three courthouses starting Monday, June 8, guided first and foremost by the overarching goal of protecting the health and safety of the public, bar, staff and judges, Chief Court Administrator Patrick L. Carroll III said today.

The three courthouses are: the Middlesex Judicial District Courthouse in Middletown, Rockvilles Geographical Area No. 19 Courthouse, and the Litchfield Judicial District Courthouse at Torrington.

Carroll cautioned, Given the nature of the pandemic, plans can change but our current expectation is to resume limited operations on June 8.

Judge Carroll cautioned, Given the nature of the pandemic, plans can change but our current expectation is to resume limited operations on June 8.

Ten courts have remained open through the pandemic: the Supreme and Appellate Courts, the Judicial District courthouses in Bridgeport, New Britain, New Haven, New London and the Geographical Area Courthouses in Hartford (No. 14) and Waterbury (No. 4); and the juvenile courts in Hartford and Bridgeport. Beyond these locations and the three courthouses resuming partial operations effective June 8, all other courts will remain closed until further notice.

1:20 p.m. - A Danbury man threatened a bus driver with a gun after he was reprimanded for not wearing a face mask inside the public transport, police said.

12:36 p.m. - The Archdiocese of Harford announced that in-person weekday Masses can resume June 8, but parishioners are under no religious obligation to attend Sunday services until at least September.

Officials said no more than 50 people will be allowed attend a given mass, in keeping with the limitation currently set by the civil authorities, and attendees will be required to observe social distancing and wear masks.

Wedding and funeral masses will also be allowed to resume June 8 with the same precautions, officials said. Read more here.

11:59 a.m. - Walt Disney World will reopen this July, after the Orlando, Fla., theme park was forced to close for several months due to the coronavirus pandemic. Read more here.

11:11 a.m. - Fitness clubs rocked by covid-19 closures face a swell of bankruptcies with more than $10 billion of revenue wiped out as clients ditch memberships, according to investment bank Harrison Co. In a Harrison survey of 1,000 fitness club users, more than a third said they have canceled or plan to terminate existing memberships. Read more here.

10:30 a.m. - A 60-year-old male is the seventh offender under the supervision of the state Department of Correction to pass away from complications related to the novel coronavirus. Read more here.

9:51 a.m. - Sewage may help guide us through the coronavirus pandemic.

Researchers from Yale analyzed sewage from the East Shore Water Pollution Abatement Facility between March 19 and May 1 for a recent study.

They found the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in each sample, present in the stool of COVID-19 patients, was correlated with admissions and coronavirus cases at Yale New Haven Hospital days later. Read more here.

8:21 a.m. - Eight local businesses will receive a total of $15,150 in grants in the third of the Valley Community COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund award round. The announcement was made Tuesday by fund representatives from the Valley Community Foundation, the Valley United Way, the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Valley Council of Health and Human Services. Read more here.

7:45 a.m. - While Connecticut forges ahead with plans to reopen, touting increased testing and capacity to trace new coronavirus cases to control the spread, the systems launch has been delayed.

Originally set to be fully operational by May 18, two days before the first phase of reopening began, the statewide contact tracing system is now pushed back into June, state Department of Public Health epidemiologist Kristen Soto said. Read more here.

7:11 a.m. - Begining today - Wednesday, May 27 - Metro-North is expanding service with more train service on the New Haven, Harlem and Hudson lines.

The expanded service represents an overall increase of 26 percent in peak train availability since its essential service schedule went into effect on April 13. Read more here.

6:21 a.m. - For places like bars and clubs to reopen when Connecticut reaches Phase 3 of its return to business in late July or August, residents will have to retain the good habits that most people are following when it comes to social distancing, mask wearing and hand-washing, according to the report released Tuesday by Gov. Ned Lamont and his Reopen Connecticut Advisory Group. Read more here.

5:48 a.m. - The Bethel municipal center will reopen to the public on June 1, with limited access and new procedures in place.

Appointments are required by calling departments in advance, the town said on its Facebook page. Entry will be permitted only through the front entrance near the general purpose room. This entrance has a handicap-accessible ramp.

5/26/20

9:17 p.m. - High school graduations at Bridgeport Public Schools will be virtual, with schools holding campus car parades for students to pick up their diplomas.

8:34 p.m. - Mystic Seaport Museum has reopened. Click here to read more about how the museums reopening went.

7:21 p.m. - Gov. Ned Lamont has released the full report on reopening Connecticut after the pandemic. Click here to see the full report.

5 p.m. - Gov. Ned Lamont on Tuesday reported that another 27 COVID-19 patients died since Monday, bringing the total in the pandemic to 3,769. In addition, there was a net reduction of 12 hospitalizations, for 694 patients statewide, equal to the total of about April 1. Click here to read more.

2:35 p.m. - Now that the peak of COVID-19 hospitalizations appears to have passed in Connecticut, people who have been waiting for non-emergency surgeries are beginning to be seen. In a health system that was as hard-hit as Yale New Haven Health, with seven hospital campuses from Greenwich to Westerly, R.I., it will take months to take care of all the patients whose procedures were postponed. Click here to read more.

11:15 a.m. - Gov. Ned Lamont will hold his regular press briefing about the coronavirus at 4 p.m. today, according to his office.

West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor and Greenwich First Selectman Fred Camillo will also participate in the briefing, officials said in a release.

10:20 a.m. - The Dow Jones industrial average rose by nearly 600 points early Wednesday, as as the national shutdown continues to unwind, more drug companies chase coronavirus vaccines and the New York Stock Exchange reopened its floor to traders for the first time in two months, according to the Washington Post.

9 a.m. - The Rotary Club in Milford has canceled the annual Lobsterbake, its largest fundraiser of the year, because of coronavirus-related concerns.

It is with great regret that we will not be having this extraordinary event this summer, an announcement from Milford Rotary read. We, like so many other organizations and nonprofits in town, have so much fun doing these events for the community but it is not worth risking the safety and health of our loved ones, friends, neighbors and our own fellow Rotarians.

7:30 a.m.  As of Tuesday morning, there were approximately 5,515,109 cases of coronavirus worldwide, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. This includes roughly 1,662,768 in the United States, where 98,223 people have reportedly died of the disease.

5/25/20

2:40 p.m. - In a state report on Monday, officials report an additional 405 confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the total to 40,873. The report also said 3,742 people had died after contracting the virus, up by 49 from the day before. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 grew for the first time since April 22, up by five to 706.

1:50 p.m. - Residential summer camp directors, campers and families were all disappointed when Gov. Ned Lamont announced theyd be closed for the summer. But when Lamont later said hed reconsider, their reaction wasnt exactly jubilation. Read the full story.

1:11 p.m. - Grocery store employees are looking for protections during the coronavirus pandemic. Read more here.

5/24/20

6:39 p.m. - As the state reopens, nursing home residents make up 69 percent of coronavirus related deaths. Read more here.

4:23 p.m. - In a tweet, Governorn Ned Lamont said 40,486 Connecticut residents had tested positive for coronavirus as of Sunday, up by 446 from the day before. He said 18 more people had died after contracting COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 3,693. Hospitalizations continue to decline in the state, Lamont said, and 701 people are currently being treated in medical centers for the virus.

9:48 a.m. - As the Bridgeport Diocese works to reopen churches for the public celebration of Mass, Bishop Frank J. Caggiano said the prime reason to suspend services was our common moral obligation to protect human life.

He said given all the misinformation that exists in the media, we must never forget that the decision was rooted in a commitment to remain faithful to a central tenet of our Catholic faith. Read more here.

8:15 a.m. - Millions of Americans have emerged from coronavirus lockdowns and venture outdoors to celebrate Memorial Day weekend at beaches, cookouts and family outings, raising concern among public health officials that large gatherings could cause outbreaks to come roaring back.

Medical experts warn that the virus wont take a holiday for the unofficial start of summer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people stay home, avoid crowds and connect with family and friends by phone or video chat. Read more here.

7:22 a.m. - As Connecticut continues to slowly reopen following the COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed the lives of over 3,000 state residents since March, there will be a lot more things to do - but plenty of restrictions are still in place.

Here are five things you can and can't do this summer based on current state and local guidelines. Read more here.

5/23/20

8:43 p.m. - Although the Memorial Day parade in Trumbull was canceled because of COVID-19 concerns, the Nichols Fire Department has planned a Ride for Pride in celebration of the holiday instead. Click here for more details on Mondays event.

6:31 p.m. - Click here to check out a list of whats open in Fairfield since the May 20 reopening.

4:15 p.m. - There have been another 382 Connecticut residents confirmed to be infected with COVID-19, putting the statewide total at 40,022. Another 38 residents have died with the virus, putting statewide fatalities at 3,675. Sixteen more virus patients were discharged from hospitals, with 724 patients currently hospitalized. There were another 6,039 tests performed, with 208,367 tests performed overall.

2:15 p.m. - Mystic Pizza has been granted a state permit to provide outdoor dining, according to Gov. Ned Lamonts office.

The permit, which allows the business to use a state highway right-of-way to provide seating, represents the first of its kind that the administration has issued during the coronavirus crisis, according to Lamonts office.

We want to do our best to partner with businesses to make any adjustments we can to help commercial operations resume while also maintaining the necessary health standards that will keep customers and employees protected, Lamont said. This is going to require some creative modifications that weve never had to do before, but working together we can find solutions to many of these obstacles.

12:45 p.m. - Thinking about going to the beach for Memorial Day? Here are the rules during the pandemic.

12 p.m. - Spain is expected to restart its major soccer league and re-open to tourists in July, according to the Washington Post.

9:45 a.m. - Hertz filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Friday, citing the slowdown in travel prompted by the pandemic.

7 a.m. - As of Saturday morning, there were approximately 5,231,328 confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. This includes 1,601,434 in the United States.

5/22/20

5:08 p.m. - Nursing homes in Connecticut have reported 7,875 confirmed cases of the virus, representing about 20 percent of the states 39,017 cases as of Wednesday, according to data from the state. Confirmed cases of the virus at assisted living facilities account for about 2.5 percent of the statewide total with 973 infections.

Data provided May 14 had showed 6,947 confirmed cases of the virus in nursing homes and 872 in assisted living facilities. There were 1,927 deaths in nursing homes and 276 in assisted living facilities associated with the virus.

Confirmed and probable virus-linked deaths among nursing home residents reached 2,190 as of Wednesday, the data shows. There have been 306 virus-related deaths among assisted living facilities residents.

Together, the deaths represented roughly 70 percent of the 3,529 coronavirus-related fatalities reported statewide as of Wednesday. On Friday, the state said Covid-19 related deaths have reached 3,637.

Click here to read more.

5:15 p.m. - There have been another 55 fatalities linked to the coronavirus pandemic in Connecticut, for a total of 3,637. There were 432 more state residents confirmed positive for the virus, for a total of 39,640. But hospitalization continue to fall, down another 76 since Thursday, putting the total number of hospitalized coronavirus patients in the state at 740  the lowest since March 31.

3:12 p.m. - Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said the citys unemployment rate is curerntly at 17.3 percent.

1:20 p.m. - The Connecticut Restauarant Association is lobbying Gov. Ned Lamont to allow people to dine indoors at restauarants beginning June 3.

Scott Dolch, executive director of the association, noted that Rhode Island would begin restricted indoor service June 1.

This date would be two full weeks after many other Connecticut businesses were allowed to begin operating indoors, and two days after Rhode Island. This won't be a return to normal -- like Rhode Island, Connecticut can take this next step with many added safety precautions, such as limiting overall capacity to 50 percent, no standing room or bar seating, added use of gloves and masks, and much more, said Dolch.

Moving restaurants to restricted, safe indoor dining on June 3 will be a critical point in Connecticut's recovery, and a great thing for our state economy. After all, Connecticuts restaurant industry employed more than 160,000 people before this pandemic hit, and we need to get all those people back to work if we want to restart our economy. We look forward to continued productive and cooperative work with Governor Lamont, Commissioner David Lehman, and others in the administration to ensure that Connecticut remains competitive as we reopen.

11:30 a.m. - The Navajo Nation is enacting a 57-hour curfew beginning Friday night in an effort to combat the coronavirus, according to the Washington Post.

The nation has reported more than 4,250 cases of covid-19 among a population of about 173,600  a higher per capita infection rate than New York state, according to the Post.

9:32 a.m. - RegalCare at New Haven was cited for the incorrect use of PPE, for not having enough PPE, and for not checking staff members temperatures before allowing them to enter the work area after being inspected during the pandemic, according to the Connecticut Health I-Team.

The nursing home was one of several found to have deficiencies during recent inspections. Issues included failure to separate COVID-positive residents from residents who do not have the virus, improper use or no use of personal protective equipment, failure to practice good hygiene and hand washing and the improper sanitation of equipment.

None of the facilities were fined.

8:21 a.m. - Gov. Ned Lamont announced that U.S. flags in Connecticut will be lowered to half-mast until sunset on Sunday, May 24 as a mark of solemn respect for the victims of the coronavirus pandemic, as President Donald J. Trump has signed a proclamation directing it.

Accordingly, since no flag should fly higher than the U.S. flag, all other flags - including state, municipal, corporate, or otherwise - should also be lowered during this same duration of time, officials with Lamonts office said in a release.

8 a.m. - In updating its guidance to the American public, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasized that the coronavirus primarily spreads from person to person and not easily from a contaminated surface, according to the Washington Post.

CDC spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund told the Post Thursday that the revisions were the product of an internal review and usability testing.

7 a.m. - As of Friday morning, approximately 5,125,612 coronavirus cases had been confirmed worldwide, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. This includes 1,577,758 confirmed cases in the United States.

5/21/20

6:32 p.m. - Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said the annual carnival in the parking lots surrounding the Danbury Fair Mall has been cancelled for this summer.

3:10 p.m. - The Connecticut State Police Headquarters in Middletown is expected to announced plans regarding a limited reopening in the near future.

2:35 p.m. - Connecticuts fatalities in the coronavirus pandemic rose to 3,582 on Thursday with 53 new deaths, the state Department of Public Health announced.

For the 29th consecutive day, net hospitalizations declined, which Gov. Ned Lamont said was another encouraging sign that the state is on track for its slow reopening. The reduction of 71 hospitalizations brought the total to 816, the lowest since April 1.

1:41 p.m. - Stamford Downtown announced it has cancelled the 2020 Alive@Five and Wednesday Nite Live concert series. The move came on the day the state was taking initial steps toward reopening after a long shut-down to slow the spread of COVID-19. But large gatherings like the summer evening performances in Columbus Park are still not allowed. Read more here.

1:22 p.m. - Norwalk is installing concrete barriers on Washington Street to block off parking spaces on the south side of the road and allow more space for outdoor dining and retail. Read more here.

1:01 p.m. - Q&A: Gov. Ned Lamont answers your questions about reopening Connecticut amid coronavirus. Watch the video here.

12:20 p.m. - A lack of federal and state guidance, coupled with limited availability of protective gear, is inhibiting Connecticuts nursing homes residents from getting to shower, with workers instead sponge-bathing many residents in their beds.

Thats according to the union representing front-line staff at 69 nursing homes in the state, the operator of 24 long-term care facilities, and the leader of the state association representing providers of for-profit nursing homes. Read more here.

11:45 a.m. - Connecticut shed 266,300 jobs in April, a record single-month loss that highlighted the devastating toll of the coronavirus crisis, according to preliminary numbers released Thursday by the state Department of Labor.

At the same time, Connecticuts unemplloyment rate spiked to 7.9 percent, but that rate appears severely underestimated due to data-collection challenges, according to labor officials. Read more here.

11:15 a.m. - For Lindsey Carley, Wednesdays reopening of the Westfield Trumbull Mall came just in time. Someone needs a new bathing suit, she said gesturing toward her 11-year-old daughter, Emma. The Carleys live on Canoe Brook Lake in Trumbull, and Emma has been looking forward to having a friend over on Thursday. Itll probably be too cold to swim, but they can play outside. Read more here.

10:47 a.m. - The same day thousands of workers across the state are returning to work, around 300 showed up at the state Capitol to claim that Connecticut wasnt reopening quickly enough because their businesses were left out of the first phase.

Stylists and barbers, whose opening was pushed back to June 1, made up a bulk of the protesters. Read more here.

10:17 a.m.

Gov. Ned Lamont and DEEPs news briefing this morning on the opening of state parks and beaches. Lamont also answers more reopening questions.

10 a.m. - For hair service providers, Wednesdays partial reopening of restaurants, retail shops and other facilities was an emotional day, after learning Monday that they wont be allowed to open yet  just two days before they were due to take clients. Read more here.

9:34 a.m. - Connecticut restaurants could open for indoor dining on June 20 and bars could reopen a month later under new state recommendations announced Wednesday.

The list of reopenings set for June 20 includes gyms, hotels and motels, movie theaters, museums and aquariums, nail and tattoo salons and amusement parks. All of it would be worked out with specific rules that have yet to be written. Read more here.

9:10 a.m. - When Aleks and Phyllis Gjeka opened La Fortuna Bar & Restaurant in Stratford in November, they figured much of their time would be spent preparing the food they planned to serve.

They hadnt anticipated that, just four months later, a pandemic would force them to spend more time figuring out how to get that food to customers.

After a more than two months of a ban on sit-down service, Wednesday marked the first day the state allowed establishments like La Fortuna, an Italian restaurant and wine bar, to provide more than just delivery and takeout. Read more here.

8:44 a.m. - UConn is preparing for severe cuts to the athletic, administrative and academic budgets due to the impact of the coronavirus, officials said at a Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday.

A fiscal working group assembled to identify potential savings has recommended pretty deep cuts to the whole university, Chief Financial Officer Scott Jordan said. The board is expecting to consider spending plans for the 2020-21 school year next month, with significant uncertainty about whether students will be able to return to campus or remain online. Read more here.

8:19 a.m. - Gov. Ned Lamont takes your questions about the first and second phases of reopening Connecticut amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Hows Connecticut doing on the reopening? Too fast? Too slow? Are the rules clear enough? Join the governor and Hearst Connecticut Media Group Columnist and Editor Dan Haar on Thursday, May 21 at 11:30 a.m. The governor is scheduled to join for the first 30 minutes, then Haar will host a roundtable discussion with local business owners  David Lewis of Operations Inc. in Norwalk and Judith Roll of Judys Bar & Kitchen and the Tabouli Grill, both of Stamford  and continue taking questions for the second half hour. Details here.

7:57 a.m.

7:31 a.m. - In Photos: Phase 1 reopening day around Connecticut. Click here to view.

7:06 a.m. - On Thursday, May 21st, 2020 the Stamford Police and Stamford Fire and Rescue will be conducting two mask drives. One will serve the Southend community which has been hit the hardest by the coronavirus pandemic. The other will serve the Glenbrook and Springdale communities.

The locations will be at the South End Community Center, 34 Woodland Street, and we will also be located at Dolan Middle School, 51 Toms Rd, between the hours of 5 to 7 p.m.

6:46 a.m. - The Town of Ridgefield has announced that the DOG PARK and TENNIS COURTS will NOT open until June 1st as they put protocols into place. An earlier announcement that the dog park would open May 20 has been rescinded. Other reopening dates include: Martin Park: June 13; Rec Center: June 20; and Camps: June 29.

6:33 a.m. - Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino will reopen on June 1, a move Gov. Ned Lamont discouraged and called incredibly risky. Read more here.

6:01 a.m.- Health concerns with the COVID-19 virus and with much regret, the Board of Directors of the Milford Oyster Festival has decided to cancel the 2020 Oyster Festival scheduled for Aug. 15. Read more here.

And, the Norwalk Oyster Festival has also been cancelled for the same reasons. Read more here.

5/20/20

7:32 p.m. - State Rep. Steve Stafstrom says if the casinos wont agree to wait to reopen, the state should pull their liquor license, according to a tweet.

Its not right that the casinos would be permitted to serve indoors when our mom and pop restaurants are not allowed to, Stafstrom said.

7:27 p.m. - In Monroe, fire stations remain closed to non-firefighters and visitors. Birthday parties and similar visitations are currently on hold; the hall is not available for rent right now. The 2020 carnival in town is canceled.

6:50 p.m. - Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signed an executive order Wednesday that allows all eligible state residents to vote by absentee ballot in the Aug. 11 primary elections.

Nobody should need to make a decision between their health and their right to vote, Lamont said. Our state has taken every responsible step to this point to ensure that our residents are safe, and the next step we must take is to mitigate the risk of the spread of COVID-19 when Connecticut residents cast their ballots. We must guarantee access to the ballot, and this is a way to do that during these extraordinary circumstances. I do not take this decision lightly, and it is with the public health and welfare of residents in mind.

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill announced that she plans to mail every registered voter in the state an application they must fill out and return in order to get an absentee ballot. The application will be sent via U.S. Postal Service and will include a postage paid return envelope.

The states 2020 presidential primary was initially scheduled for April 28. It was then rescheduled to June 2 as the coronavirus pandemic continued before Lamont pushed it back further to Aug 11, the same day the state has primaries for other federal, state and local offices.

6:29 p.m. - In response to Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamonts comments during his COVID-19 briefing Wednesday in relation to the reopening of casinos, Mohegan Tribal Chairman James Gessner issued the following statement:

This afternoon, Governor Lamont and his reopen team expressed two general concerns about Connecticut casinos opening on June 1. First, they worry about the regional impact, specifically referencing buses coming from New York or other states. We completely agree, thats why the plan we put forward today made clear that both casinos will not accept any buses and clearly not from New York or Massachusetts, nor will we do any marketing to those states at this time. Second, they are concerned about older customers who may have increased health risks. Again we agree, thats why the plan we put forward today made clear that we will advise older customers to take specific precautions and to stay home if they are part of an at-risk group. We appreciate the Governors concerns, and we appreciate that he also made clear the tribal nations are being thoughtful about reopening. We look forward to working with him further as the state continues to reopen.

6:27 p.m. - Easton Parks & Recreation said the tennis courts and the Veterans lower field are open while playgrounds at the basketball court at Helen Keller Middle School remain closed.

6:20 p.m. - David Cruz of Norwalk, dining at Public Wine Bar: Its a beautiful day. Im here to support the local businesses, which I consider great people  Theyre out there risking it all to create a better city for us and I want to support that.

* * *

Yeceida Gonzalez of Norwalk, dining at the Burger Bar & Bistro in SoNo: It feels absolutely liberating to be out and slowly find our way to getting back to normal  Its not good for the kids to be inside. Youve got to get back into the world.

Abram Gonzalex of Norwalk: Plus were taking advantage of the fast service. It pays to be out  You just cant allow fear to dictate every single thing in our lives  We just took advantage of the beautiful day.

* * *

Raquel Lagan of Norwalk, dining at Donovans: We want to get out and support the local community. Its hard that they had to stay closed (and) we just want to help them out.

* * *

Lindsay Green of Darien, walking by outdoor diners in SoNo, said: It feels like seeing a teacher outside of school, as it was so strange to see them. This is great. I love it.

* * *

Andrew Greenberg of Stamford, dining at Washington Prime: Ive got to support the economy. Ive got to support the local businesses.

* * *

Christian Dunlay of Stamford, dining at Washington Prime: Our friend owns the restaurant and we wanted to give them some support on the first day.

* * *

Mersini Foustellis of Norwalk, dining at Bandido Mexican Restaurant: Were sick of being locked up.

And her friend, Ricky Landuburu of Norwalk said, Not only that, weve got to support our friends and local businesses.

* * *

Dave Studwell, co-owner of Washington Prime, speaking of thermometer testing: I think a lot of people are going to be adverse to it  but were doing anything we can to be safe (and offer comfort to patrons)  As much as you can comfort someone at this time. (Thermometer is infrared) Anybody who has a 104-degree temperature or higher is not allowed to dine  Its CDC guidelines.

Everything is touchless, including the menu, or you can get a disposable one (or use app on phone)  So its a totally contactless dining experience.

Were just kind of hoping everything kind of gets back to normal as soon as possible Weve been closed since March 15, and no takeout or curbside at all since.

* * *

Nick Alvarez of New York City: We were just hanging out and I just see in the news that Connecticut, parts of it, are slowly opening up, and I was like, Weve gotta get over there.

His friend Taylor Giacco of New York City: Weve been quarantined for too long, so the minute I heard, I was out the door.

-Jarret Liotta

5:58 p.m. - Bridgeports Brewport has been planning for Wednesdays reopening, managing partner and brewmaster Jeff Browning Sr. said, since it closed. Theyre already working on the next step for next month.

We started on the 18th of March, Browning said as staff served the first two tables Wednesday a little after 3:30. We obviously knew reopening was going to be different, so we immediately started acquiring things like hand-sanitizer machines, putting in different sinks in the bathroom, changing our booth backs inside the restaurant.

Browning said an architect designed the layout of their outdoor space, built in the parking lot, to maximize capacity (around 75 people) safely. Smaller round tables, built atop old newspaper boxes, are eight feet apart. Long tables in the back are six and a half feet apart and bolted down so customers cant combine them and violate the executive order against parties of over five.

Inside, Browning swiped from a place in Nashville the idea of a claw in the bathroom, allowing a customer to pull the door open with her foot and not have to touch the handle. Outside the bathrooms, Brewport is installing a long three-bay sink with swan necks and touchless sensors, combining the old with the new and allowing patrons to wash their hands without entering the rest rooms.

Safety and comfort are big for Browning, even if its rough knowing that the groups of 10 or 15 who might congregate there in normal times cant do that.

We need people who are understanding and that care about other people, about their surroundings. If you go out, you need to observe safety standards not for yourself, but for everybody else, Browning said.

That needs to really be pushed that youre being kind to humanity by wearing your mask, and if you want to go outside your own backyard, you need to take some precautions that we didnt have to take (before).

Among changes for the next round of reopening, when diners can get inside  around June 20, Gov. Ned Lamont said Wednesday  are glass dividers for some downstairs booths and wood risers above the others; some booths in spots where tables had been; and some still bigger booths, when bigger groups are allowed.

In the meantime, Browning wanted to remind people that takeout is still available.

If youre not comfortable coming to a place like this, you can still bring it home. Im sure every other restaurant wants people to know that their to-go business didnt end because were allowed to have 25 people under a tent, he said. We need both businesses.

There was some decent turnover over the first couple of hours, about 15 tables in and out, Browning guessed.

Fred Daniele and his friend, just Jim, joked that they werent Brewport regulars but hold many business meetings there. They had come to pick up over the past couple of months but were glad to be back.

Its perfect timing, right before the holiday weekend, Daniele said.

Everybodys out trying to support everybody they can, right? I think this is great.

Gotta pass those bucks around, Jim said.

Cash flow is important, Browning said.

I trust our great business will come back when were allowed, he said. We just want to make enough money to pay our staff so that they can pay their bills.

-Michael Fornabaio

5:42 p.m. - Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino will reopen on June 1, a move Gov. Ned Lamont discouraged and called incredibly risky. Click here to read more.

5:15 p.m. - J. Lawrence in Bethel was fully booked for reservations of its 13 to 14 tables on Wednesday evening, co-owner Kelly LaReau said.

She said she had not known what turnout to expect.

I was a little surprised, LaReau said.

The restaurant was already zoned for one patio, but added another, she said. Normally, the restaurant has 100 seats, but is down to 48. Menus are available through a QR code, with some paper ones available, she said.

We put in a lot of time and effort the last week or so, LaReau said.

Two servers cover and stay at each patio, which have designated bathrooms. Restrooms are checked and sanitized every hour, with a log hanging in the bathroom so customers know they have been cleaned, LaReau said.

Employees undergo a health check before starting their shift and were trained on new cleaning procedures.

On the Sunday before restaurants and bars were shut down, Brenda Hunt and her friend went to Broken Symmetry Gastro Brewery in Bethel.

They returned on Wednesday afternoon, the first day they were allowed back.

Im so excited that things are opening, said Hunt, a Danbury resident.

The two were among about five groups of people on the patio at the brew pub. Everyone was in seating at least six feet apart.

Among them was Amy Mannion and her three sons. Her brother is one of the co-owners of the brewery, and she wanted to go to support him and because she knew it would be a clean and safe environment.

The experience has totally felt that way, Mannion said. And they have really good food.

Since the pandemic began, her family has been purchasing one lunch and one dinner from a local establishment to support area businesses.

-Julia Perkins

4:38 p.m. - On the day the state began reopening in the coronavirus pandemic Gov. Ned Lamont announced another 57 deaths, bringing the total to 3,529. The net decrease of hospitalizations was 27 for a total of 887, in the 28th straight day of declines.

On Tuesday, the state Department of Public Health reported 23 new fatalities in the lowest single-day death toll since April 6. It brought the total to 3,472. The total hospitalized was a net decrease of six, to 914, the lowest since April 3.

4:36 p.m. - Rosy Tomorrows in Dan

Jarret Liotta /For Hearst Connecticut Media

Jarret Liotta /For Hearst Connecticut Media

Jarret Liotta /For Hearst Connecticut Media

John Nickerson /Hearst Connecticut Media

Patrick Sikes /For Hearst Connecticut Media

Patrick Sikes /For Hearst Connecticut Media
The Queen attended church at Windsor Castle yesterday and will return to Buckingham Palace today to carry on her duties in defiance of the coronavirus epidemic.

The 93-year-old monarch spent the weekend as normal at Windsor Castle but is expected to return to London as early as today to continue with her programme of meetings and audiences as head of state.

One senior aide, categorically denying reports that the Queen had quit Buckingham Palace over coronavirus fears, told the Mail last night: 'I fully expect the royal standard will be flying at Buckingham Palace tomorrow as it does usually.'

The 93-year-old monarch spent the weekend as normal at Windsor Castle but is expected to return to London as early as today to continue with her programme of meetings and audiences as head of state

Palace officials were irritated by a newspaper report which claimed the Queen had 'quit' her official royal residence and been 'whisked' to Windsor Castle.

It quoted a 'royal source' saying: 'She is in good health but it was thought best to move her.

A lot of her staff are a bit panicky over coronavirus. The Palace hosts a constant stream of visitors, including politicians and dignitaries from around the world.

'But she is weeks away from her 94th birthday and advisers believe it is best to get her out of harm's way.'

The Queen was photographed leaving All Saints Church in the Grounds Of royal lodge Windsor Today after attending Sunday service

A deserted Buckingham Palace in London today as coronavirus sweeps the nation

Buckingham Palace has been taking what officials describe as a 'sensible approach' to the Covid-19 threat.

Two weeks ago the Queen was seen wearing gloves as she conducted an official investiture at the palace.

She has since decided as a matter of 'personal preference' to stop shaking hands.

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall have cancelled their spring tour to Bosnia, Cyprus and Jordan this week on the advice of the Government.

They are hoping to schedule in some small-scale UK engagements.
Morocco will set up a $1 billion (10 billion DH) special fund for the management of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Royal Office said in statement issued this Sunday that King Mohammed VI gave his high instructions to the government to create immediately a special fund dedicated to the management of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The earmarked amounts are destined to cover the costs incurred by the upgrading of medical equipment, in terms of adapted infrastructure and purchase of additional devices that need to be urgently provided, the statement explained.

The amounts will also serve to support the national economy, through a series of measures that will be proposed by the government, particularly to support sectors most vulnerable to shocks induced by the Coronavirus crisis, such as the tourism sector, to preserve jobs and to mitigate the social repercussions of this crisis, the statement added.

Morocco, which has so far recorded 28 coronavirus cases, took a series of measures to prevent the spread of the virus, cancelling trade, cultural, sporting, and artistic event. Morocco has also closed schools, universities and all educational institutions, and suspended all international flights to and from the country.

It has already been stated that the pandemic, combined with this years drought, will impact Moroccan economy. The high commission for planning Ahmed Lahlimi said that Moroccos economic growth could sink to as low as 2% in 2020 from a previous estimate of 3.5%.

As part of the efforts to anticipate the direct and indirect economic impact of the coronavirus, an Economic Monitoring Committee was set up last week to assess the impact of the pandemic.

The committee will monitor closely the development of the economic situation through evaluation mechanisms and identify appropriate measures to provide support for the affected sectors.
Twenty Dubai-bound passengers were not allowed to go further from the international airport in Keralas Kochi after a UK national among them tested positive for novel coronavirus shortly before takeoff on Sunday, officials said.

A spokesperson of the Cochin International Airport Limited said the person, who tested positive on Sunday, has been taken to an isolation facility at a nearby government hospital.

This takes the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Kerala to 20 so far.

The flight left for Dubai in the afternoon after the 20 passengers were detained. The spokesperson, however, did not mention the number of passengers on board the flight when it left.

Also read: Coronavirus cases in India touch 107; Maharashtra, Kerala have most numbers

Earlier, at least 289 passengers of the Dubai-bound Emirates flight were offloaded at the airport after the UK national was found to be infected by the coronavirus.

The UK passenger belonged to a group of 19 people holidaying in the hill resort town of Munnar in Kerala and was under surveillance, the spokesperson had said earlier in the day.

The passenger joined the group to reach the Kochi airport without informing authorities in Munnar, he said. The authorities came to know that he was at the Kochi airport and travelling by the Emirates flight when the test result came.

It was later decided to offload all the 19 passengers of his group, the official said.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijaray has ordered a probe to find out how the United Kingdom national reached the Kochi international airport.

Kerala had pressed the emergency button announcing a series of measures to check the spread of the virus after several imported to local transmission cases of coronavirus was reported from the state.

Also read: Fleeing patients pose a huge risk

The state health department has called for strict community surveillance, scaling up of contact tracing and tapping local bodies to check the spread of the deadly disease.

Two important shrines, Guruvayoor and Sabarimala, have scaled down their daily grind. The Nair Service Society has also asked people to avoid big gatherings.

Cinema halls have also announced closure and film units also suspended their shooting. Hotels and resorts have been asked not to entertain foreign guests until further notice.

The state had reported Indias first three cases of coronavirus in January this year. They have now recovered fully.
This year's Cork International Choral Festival has been cancelled.

This year was the 66th festival and it was scheduled to take place from April 29 to May 3, but it has now been cancelled because of the Covid-19 virus.

The festival board said it came to the decision "with considerable regret" since it will impact more than 5,000 choir members who would have taken part in the festival, 800 of whom were travelling from abroad.

The board said in a statement: "These choirs have been involved in a year-long process of planning and preparation with the festival, and we are particularly conscious of the large financial implications for the foreign choristers who were travelling to the Festival from Canada, Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Sweden and USA.

"The Board is particularly aware of the major effect this cancellation will have on the cultural, economic and social life of the city.

"The Board wishes to acknowledge the huge commitment given by its professional administrative and voluntary support teams who have worked so diligently since last year to ensure that this years event would have been a Festival of memorable quality.

"Finally, the Board wishes to thank all those groups who have financially supported the planning of this years event."

Meanwhile, MCD Productions has said it is working with artists and venues to reschedule dates for all events cancelled until Sunday, March 29.

MCD said all tickets for the affected events, such as Aslan at the Olympia and the Who at 3Arena, will be valid for the rescheduled dates.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 13:14:21|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Beijing reported five newly confirmed cases of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) imported from other countries Saturday, the Beijing Municipal Health Commission said Sunday.

The five imported cases included three from Spain, one from Italy and one from Thailand, according to the commission.

The city also reported one newly-added local suspected case and eight imported suspected cases, with three from Spain, and each one from the United States, Norway, Japan, Italy, and Britain respectively, the commission said.

As of Saturday, a total of 415 confirmed cases had been reported in Beijing. Of the total, 353 have been discharged from hospital after recovery and eight have died. The national capital now has 37 suspected cases.

No newly confirmed cases have been reported in 12 out of the 16 districts in the city for more than 14 consecutive days.
Some disasters, like hurricanes and earthquakes, can bring people together, but if history is any judge, pandemics generally drive them apart. These are crises in which social distancing is a virtue. Dread overwhelms the normal bonds of human affection.

In The Decameron, Giovanni Boccaccio writes about what happened during the plague that hit Florence in 1348: Tedious were it to recount how citizen avoided citizen, how among neighbors was scarce found any that shewed fellow-feeling for another, how kinfolk held aloof, and never met  nay, what is more, and scarcely to be believed, fathers and mothers were found to abandon their own children, untended, unvisited, to their fate.

In his book on the 1665 London epidemic, A Journal of the Plague Year, Daniel Defoe reports, This was a time when every ones private safety lay so near them they had no room to pity the distresses of others.  The danger of immediate death to ourselves, took away all bonds of love, all concern for one another.

Fear drives people in these moments, but so does shame, caused by the brutal things that have to be done to slow the spread of the disease. In all pandemics people are forced to make the decisions that doctors in Italy are now forced to make  withholding care from some of those who are suffering and leaving them to their fate.

In 17th-century Venice, health workers searched the city, identified plague victims and shipped them off to isolated hospitals, where two-thirds of them died. In many cities over the centuries, municipal authorities locked whole families in their homes, sealed the premises and blocked any delivery of provisions or medical care.

Frank Snowden, the Yale historian who wrote Epidemics and Society, argues that pandemics hold up a mirror to society and force us to ask basic questions: What is possible imminent death trying to tell us? Where is God in all this? Whats our responsibility to one another?

Pandemics induce a feeling of enervating fatalism. People realize how little they control their lives. Anton Chekhov was a victim during a TB epidemic that traveled across Russia in the late 19th century. Snowden points out that the plays he wrote during his recovery are about people who feel trapped, waiting for events outside their control, unable to act, unable to decide.

Pandemics also hit the poor hardest and inflame class divisions.

Cholera struck Naples in 1884, especially the Lower City, where the poor lived. Rumors swept the neighborhood that city officials were deliberately spreading the disease. When highhanded public health workers poured into Lower City, the locals revolted, throwing furniture at them, hurling them down stairs.

The city thought the disease was passed on by people eating unripe or overripe fruit. The peasants responded by bringing baskets of fruit to City Hall and gorging on it in public  a way to hold up a defiant middle finger against the elites who were so useless in the face of the disease.

The Spanish flu pandemic that battered America in 1918 produced similar reactions. John M. Barry, author of The Great Influenza, reports that as conditions worsened, health workers in city after city pleaded for volunteers to care for the sick. Few stepped forward.

In Philadelphia, the head of emergency aid pleaded for help in taking care of sick children. Nobody answered. The organizations director turned scornful: Hundreds of women  had delightful dreams of themselves in the roles of angels of mercy.  Nothing seems to rouse them now.  There are families in which every member is ill, in which the children are actually starving because there is no one to give them food. The death rate is so high, and they still hold back.

This explains one of the puzzling features of the 1918 pandemic. When it was over, people didnt talk about it. There were very few books or plays written about it. Roughly 675,000 Americans lost their lives to the flu, compared with 53,000 in battle in World War I, and yet it left almost no conscious cultural mark.

Perhaps its because people didnt like who they had become. It was a shameful memory and therefore suppressed. In her 1976 dissertation, A Cruel Wind, Dorothy Ann Pettit argues that the 1918 flu pandemic contributed to a kind of spiritual torpor afterward. People emerged from it physically and spiritually fatigued. The flu, Pettit writes, had a sobering and disillusioning effect on the national spirit.

There is one exception to this sad litany: health care workers. In every pandemic there are doctors and nurses who respond with unbelievable heroism and compassion. Thats happening today.

Mike Baker recently had a report in The New York Times about the EvergreenHealth hospital in Kirkland, Washington, where the staff showed the kind of effective compassion that has been evident in all pandemics down the centuries. We have not had issues with staff not wanting to come in, an Evergreen executive said. Weve had staff calling and say, If you need me, Im available.

Maybe this time well learn from their example. It also wouldnt be a bad idea to take steps to fight the moral disease that accompanies the physical one.

David Brooks writes a syndicated column for the New York Times.

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Photograph: Charles Krupa/AP

Bernie Sanders had just dominated the Nevada caucuses, after strong showings in Iowa and New Hampshire, when the Vermont senator thundered on stage at the Cowboy Dance Hall in San Antonio to declare victory before a crowd of thousands.

His speech that night was hardly different from the hundreds of speeches he had made before  and all the speeches he would make after. But he looked different. Famously irascible, Sanders smiled deeply and laughed easily. The future of his political revolution was as bright and clear as the big Texas sky.

Related: Bernie or Bust: the Sanders fans who will never vote for Biden

Dont tell anybody. I dont wanna get them nervous, the 78-year-old democratic socialist boasted, dropping his voice as if sharing a secret. We are gonna win the Democratic primary in Texas.

But the next 10 days would wipe away every trace of that optimism. Sanders not only lost Texas but a string of other contests that stripped him of his briefly held status as frontrunner, returning him to a more familiar role: long-shot insurgent chasing the establishment favorite.

In frank but defiant remarks on Wednesday, Sanders acknowledged that he was losing to Joe Biden after a stunning reversal of fortune. Biden, snatched only days before from the jaws of defeat, had just racked up four more victories, including in Michigan, a state that revived Sanders presidential bid four years ago and where he had pinned his hopes of a comeback.

Later that evening, Sanders folded himself into an armchair on the set of NBCs The Tonight Show in New York City.

How you feeling? host Jimmy Fallon asked gingerly.

Im feeling good, Sanders sighed. Could feel better.

***

Bernie Sanders had promised to build an unprecedented multi-generational, multi-racial coalition of young people and working-class voters that would sweep this country and transform American politics.

You cannot beat Trump with the same old same old kind of politics, he told supporters at a Super Tuesday rally in Vermont, where he had expected a celebration.

Story continues

But that night, voters in 10 of the 14 states holding primary contests disagreed, choosing instead a candidate who represents a return to the pre-Trump years. It was Biden, not Sanders, who expanded the Democratic electorate, bringing in non-voters and suburban voters while boosting turnout among African Americans.

Sanders commanding support among Latinos helped him notch two consequential victories in Nevada and California. But his appeal among young people, liberals and politically independent voters was not enough to realize the revolution he envisioned.

Bernie Sanders challenge always in the race was to expand his support, said Mark Longabaugh, a lead strategist on Sanders 2016 team who split with the campaign early last year. And he just never found a way electorally to attract voters outside of his coalition.

In the criticaldays between his victory in Nevada and Super Tuesday, Sanders continued to rail against old foes  the Democratic establishment and the corporate media  instead of reaching out to the members of the party he hoped to lead.

In a 60 Minutes interview the day after the caucuses, Sanders told host Anderson Cooper that he didnt have an estimate for the total cost of his sweeping economic agenda. In the same interview, he reiterated past remarks that were complimentary of certain aspects of Fidel Castros communist government, sparking backlash among Democrats in the battleground state of Florida.

One of Bernies strengths is his consistency  hes been delivering the same message to some degree since the 70s, Longabaugh said. But it also inhibited him in the sense that it limited his potential for growth.

Sanders said many people had told him they agreed with his policies but thought that Joe Biden was better placed to beat Donald Trump. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Sanders ascent set off panic among party officials and leaders. Swing-district Democrats warned Sanders would hurt their chances of re-election, while members of the Democratic National Committee plotted to stop him if he arrived at the convention shy of the delegates needed to win the nomination outright.

From the beginning, we knew this was going to be the fight of our lives, said Jennifer Epps-Addison, president of the Center for Popular Democracy, which endorsed Sanders. Were taking on not only the corporate elite of this party but the billionaire class, the pharmaceutical industry, the prison industrial complex, Wall Street, the insurance companies.

Even so, the rapid alignment behind Biden, first by his former rivals and then by millions of voters, caught the campaign off guard. In a matter of days, the field shrank from seven top contenders to just two.

Moderates, once paralyzed over which candidate to support, suddenly rallied behind the former vice president. On the eve of Super Tuesday, Biden won the endorsements of three former opponents and more followed in a dramatic show of force that his team compared to the Avengers assembling. Notably, Elizabeth Warren, Sanders closest ideological ally, has not yet backed anyone.

In candor, the consolidation of candidates behind Biden happened sooner than anyone expected  said congressman Ro Khanna, one of Sanders national co-chairs. There was simply not enough time to build more broadly.

***

Bernie Sanders entered the primary with more built-in advantages than any of his rivals. His name recognition was sky high, he had an enviable list of small-dollar donors, an unshakable base of support and the experience of having just run a presidential campaign. Little changed from 2016, not the message nor the mission, not even the Bernie logo. It would be a class-conscious campaign for people who felt left out of the political process.

He represents the people who have been written off for much of their lives, Khanna said. For the people who feel they havent been heard, who feel marginalized, who feel the system hasnt been working for them, he is their voice.

A heart attack in October nearly derailed his presidential bid. With Warren on the march and Sanders slumping, his candidacy appeared to be in freefall. But his loyal troops rallied to his side. A strong debate performance and a coveted endorsement from congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez paved the way for a remarkable comeback.

It proved to be a clarifying moment for the campaign. Sanders used the experience to connect more deeply with his supporters. At intimate town halls and on social media, his team elevated the economic struggles of people who couldnt afford medical treatment or prescription drugs. It was the foundation of the campaign ethos, Not me, us.

But political reality set in after voting began. Despite his successes in the first three contests, Sanders struggled in a fractured field to retain the support he garnered four years ago. After the centrist vote coalesced behind Biden, he lost state he had won in 2016, when he was far less of a political force than he is today.

Democrats overriding priority in 2020 was to defeat Trump. And on that front, Sanders was losing to Biden.

I cannot tell you how many people our campaign has spoken to who have said  and I quote  I like what your campaign stands for, Sanders said soberly from his hometown of Burlington last week. I agree with what your campaign stands for. But Im going to vote for Joe Biden because I think Joe is the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump.

***

Black voters have decided the Democratic nominee in every primary election since 1992. And this year, as in 2016, African Americans overwhelmingly chose Sanders opponent. In South Carolina, black voters propelled Bidens triumph and set in motion a turnaround that greatly narrowed the senators path to the nomination.

Supporters believe that Sanders effort to make inroads with black voters over the past four years was obscured by Bidens longstanding ties to African American communities and his eight years as Barack Obamas loyal lieutenant. After being walloped in the south on Super Tuesday, Sanders campaign released an ad that featured Obama praising the senator and saying emphatically Feel the Bern! But it did not yield the results he hoped.

Theres a fundamental disconnect if folks still dont feel like hes the one who they can put their faith in after four years, said Cliff Albright, a co-founder of Black Voters Matter Fund.

Sanders visits custodian Davonta Bynes, from left, principal DaRhonda Evans-Stewart and social worker Kim Little outside a polling location in Detroit. Photograph: Paul Sancya/AP

Ahead of the Michigan primary, Sanders earned the endorsement of the Rev Jesse Jackson, in what those close to him said was a deeply meaningful moment. In 1988, Jackson became the first black presidential candidate to win millions of votes on a similar platform of universal healthcare, a federal jobs guarantee and taxing the rich. Sanders, then the mayor of Burlington, was one of the few white public officials to endorse him.

The ideas resonate with black folks, Albright said. Medicare for All, free college, debt forgiveness, criminal justice reform, on those issues black folks are far closer to Bernie than to Biden. So its not the ideas. Its this issue of electability.

***

Sanders now faces a legacy-defining decision: does he stay in a race that has become increasingly difficult for him to win or does he bow out now to begin the delicate process of unifying the party?

Many supporters are not ready to see Sanders exit. Larry Cohen, a longtime Sanders confidant and chairman of his political non-profit, Our Revolution, acknowledged the senator faces long odds but urged him to keep competing. Every delegate Sanders accumulates in the primary, he argued, will be critical to negotiations over the rules and party platform at the convention in Milwaukee this summer.

If he drops out now, those ideas are left with the delegates that hes won, Cohen said. Theyre the voice for these issues.

Further complicating the course ahead is a new challenge: running for president in midst of a global health emergency. The coronavirus outbreak has forced Sanders to abandon the stadium-size rallies that are a feature of his campaign.

This coronavirus has obviously impacted our ability to communicate with people in the traditional way and thats hurting us, he told reporters during a brief press conference in Burlington, where he has spent his time since cancelling an election night rally in Cleveland last week amid concerns about the virus.

Yet the senator has signaled in recent days that he is unlikely to battle Biden to the bitter end. But he also made clear that there are issues on which he still intends to confront his opponent  and on which has the leverage to do so.

On Sunday Sanders will appear at the next presidential debate, a long-sought one-on-one with Biden. At a press conference, he previewed a litany of policy questions that he planned to press Biden on: Joe, what are you gonna do? he intends to ask on issues from income inequality to student loan debt.

When Sanders launched his campaign in February 2019, he was asked what would be different this time. Were gonna win, Sanders replied, with the blunt assurance that thrills so many of his supporters.

By his own admission, he is falling short of that goal. As Sanders fights for the future of his candidacy, there is also the sense that he has already accomplished more than he could have imagined in his nearly 50-year political career.

Sanders speaks during a rally in St Louis, Missouri, last week. Photograph: Lucas Jackson/Reuters

Michael Kazin, a historian and co-editor of Dissent magazine, said Sanders has already achieved what many nominees and presidents never do: he has fundamentally shifted the ideology of the Democratic party on everything from healthcare and climate change to raising the minimum wage and taxing the rich. Sanders, Kazin said, was likely the most leftwing candidate to make it this far in American political history.

That a 78-year-old democratic socialist has come within striking distance of the nomination is an astounding success in its own right, marveled Bill Press, a progressive talkshow host who helped launch Sanders 2016 campaign from the living room of his Washington home.

In a very real sense, he said, Bernie has already won the primary.
Ministers have been warned coronavirus could rip through Britains jails  because inmates drink hand sanitiser.

The alcohol-based germ-killing gel cannot be placed in prisons after previous attempts to distribute it were blighted by dangerous levels of intoxication.

The Ministry of Justice is also working to avoid the jail riots sparked in Italy last week (above) over health moves to suspend family visits

The Ministry of Justice is also working to avoid the jail riots sparked in Italy last week over health moves to suspend family visits.

A similar clampdown will happen in the UK, but inmates will be given warnings and explanations first.
The spread of COVID-19 across the world, apart from being a severe health crisis, can have wider economic consequences. This was reflected last week in the heightened level of volatility in financial markets and the flight to safety, which pushed US government bond yields to record lows. The Indian markets also witnessed significant volatility.

While the main focus at present should be on checking the spread of COVID-19, it is also vital that the economic impact of the crisis is contained to the extent possible. The present situation is being compared with the 2008 financial crisis. This ...
(Bloomberg) --

Europeans faced increasingly draconian restrictions on public life, as governments tightened border controls to check the spread of the coronavirus and moved to limit damage to the continents fragile economies.

With Europe now the epicenter of the outbreak, countries in the Schengen free-travel zone were considering restricting access to foreigners and asking residents to refrain from leaving, effectively sealing external frontiers, three officials familiar with the matter said. France may intensify its national lockdown, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in a television interview.

Italy was weighing new measures for Europes hardest-hit nation, including increased spending for its stricken health-care sector, aid to airlines and postponing some tax deadlines. France is considering additional spending of as much as 40 billion euros ($44 billion) to counter the economic impact, Les Echos reported.

Germany will partially close its borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Luxemburg and Denmark on Monday, though goods and commuter traffic will still be allowed to flow, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told reporters.

While one focus is checking the spread of the disease and limiting the strain placed on medical facilities, another is addressing the impact on economies. The European Central Bank unveiled a series of monetary measures Thursday that failed to pacify investors concerned that the euro area is heading for recession.

Markets recovered Friday as Germany pledged to spend whatever it takes to protect its economy and the European Commission said its ready to green light widespread fiscal stimulus.

Still, HSBC Holdings Plc economists are among those declaring that a euro-area recession looks unavoidable. Italy and France were already contracting before the health emergency, while Germany had stalled.

For the broader European Union, the European Commission last week said there could be a 1% contraction this year, which would be more severe than the downturn experienced during the sovereign debt crisis a decade ago.

Story continues

Earlier on Sunday, Austria banned gatherings of more than five people and said it will close restaurants from Tuesday. France announced cuts in domestic air, rail and bus links, a day after closing restaurants, cafes and non-essential stores.

Thats after Italy and Spain went into lockdown. Many other governments have followed suit or are poised to.

The next weeks will be challenging, difficult and painful, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told an emergency session of parliament. Were hoping that we, our society and our economy will be resurrected after Easter, and our life can go on as we love and cherish it.

Irish Bars

Irelands government asked pubs to close for at least two weeks after footage of bars filled with drinkers in defiance of guidelines appeared on social media. Industry groups say it proved impossible to police social distancing guidelines. The government also pleaded with citizens not to replace pub visits with house parties.

The Dutch government, falling in line with restrictions in much of the rest of Europe, ordered schools, gyms, restaurants and bars closed for three weeks. At Amsterdams coffee shops, known more for selling joints than java, lines stretched around the block when it was announced theyd have to close.

In other developments:

- Deaths in Italy from the new coronavirus rose to 1,809, an increase of 368 from Saturday, officials said in Rome. Authorities are attempting to halt an exodus of people from lockdown in the north to second residences or toward their families in the south, La Repubblica reported.

- A 75-year-old man became Hungarys first fatality from the virus.

- Spains confirmed cases jumped by 2,000 to 7,753 on Sunday and the death toll more than doubled to 288 from 136.

- Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis pledged to announce a financial aid package of no less than 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) on Monday.

- Estonia will bar everyone except for residents and their family members from entering the country from Tuesday.

- Latvia will close borders, airports and ports to non-residents on Tuesday and ban all official events, with unofficial events capped at 50 people.

- The Swiss government may provide additional economic support on top of its $10 billion Covid-19 aid package if the crisis worsens.

- Slovenia suspended public transport from Sunday and the government is expected to close all bars and restaurants.

- Poland has implemented full border controls and international flights are suspended. Cafes, bars, restaurants and shopping malls are closed.

- The Czech government may place the entire nation into quarantine, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said.

- Bulgaria will use its state-owned development bank to provide liquidity to businesses, Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov said in Sofia.

- Greece closed its land borders with Albania and North Macedonia and stopped flights and sea arrivals from the two nations.

- Cyprus announced measures worth 700 million euros, or 3% of its gross domestic product, to support companies and workers.

(Updates with measures by Germany, France, Ireland and the Netherlands. A previous version corrected day of Estonia border closing.)

--With assistance from Zoe Schneeweiss, Boris Groendahl, Simon Kennedy, Milda Seputyte, Joao Lima, Jan Bratanic, Marek Strzelecki, Peter Laca, Jerrold Colten, Macarena Munoz, Stephan Kahl, Aaron Eglitis, Zoltan Simon, Ott Ummelas, Slav Okov, Georgios Georgiou, Bryce Baschuk, Sotiris Nikas, Dara Doyle, David Rocks, Joost Akkermans, Geraldine Amiel and Hailey Waller.

To contact the reporters on this story: Nikos Chrysoloras in Brussels at nchrysoloras@bloomberg.net;Viktoria Dendrinou in Brussels at vdendrinou@bloomberg.net;Alberto Brambilla in Milan at abrambilla5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Iain Rogers, Andrew Davis

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

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French voters cast their ballots Sunday in municipal elections that appear headed for the lowest turnout in decades, after the mounting coronavirus toll saw the government close bars, restaurants and schools and limit long-distance travel.

Anti-infection precautions were in place at the country's 35,000-odd voting stations, with bottles of hand sanitiser at entrances and floors marked with tape to ensure people stay one metre (3.3 feet) from one another.

Several voters turned out sporting surgical masks or disposable gloves and clutching their own pens or bottles of gel.

The streets of Paris -- the main battleground for President Emmanuel Macron's LREM party against Socialist Mayor Anne Hidalgo and right-wing heavyweight Rachida Dati -- were eerily empty, its usually bustling restaurants and cafe terraces shuttered under emergency measures announced hours before polls opened.

France is one of the European countries hit hardest by the virus, with some 4,500 out of 150,000 confirmed global infections and 91 of more than 5,700 deaths worldwide.

Three hours after voting stations opened at 8:00 am (0700 GMT), turnout was just over 18 percent -- nearly five percentage points lower than the previous municipal vote in 2014, government data showed. The capital had a notably low tally at just 12.6 percent. But some voters were unfazed.

"One must vote," Bernard Gallis, 66, told AFP upon leaving an otherwise empty polling station in Aulnay-Sous-Bois outside Paris in the morning.

"There is no one here, and the risk is low," he said, gesturing towards the balloting station where his wife and six officials seated at tables laden with political party pamphlets were the only other people.

But Gallis said his children, aged 40, 36, and 32, were not planning to vote because of the virus risk.

After casting his ballot in northern France, Macron insisted that "it is important to vote in these times," provided people respect the personal protection measures recommended by scientists.

But many people questioned the wisdom of maintaining the vote for mayors and some half-a-million local councillors, especially if the crisis worsens ahead of the second round of voting next Sunday.

The country has indefinitely closed creches, nursery schools, schools and universities, banned gatherings of more than 100 people, and urged residents to limit their movements in a bid to curtail the spread of the virus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 20:13:03|Editor: huaxia

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HONG KONG, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) reported four additional confirmed COVID-19 cases on Sunday afternoon, bringing the total number to 145 in Hong Kong.

The first case involves a 35-year-old man who had been in Japan during his incubation period. The patient started coughing upon his arrival in Hong Kong on March 11, and had a fever on March 14 before being sent to hospital, head of the CHP's Communicable Disease Branch Chuang Shuk-kwan said at daily press briefing.

The second case involves a 29-year-old man who visited Germany and Austria in early March. He lived at a hotel in Wan Chai, Hong Kong Island, since his arrival in Hong Kong on March 13. The man contacted a confirmed patient during his visit to Austria.

A 37-year-old man of the third case and his friend, a 39-year-old man of the fourth case, together traveled to France during the incubation period before returning to Hong Kong.

Of all 145 confirmed cases, four have passed away, 58 remain hospitalized.
I write in response to the Minister for Special Development Initiative, Hon Hawa Koomson.

I want to unequivocally state that Builsa (The honourable Dr Clement Abasinab Apaak's constituency) has no dam under the government's 1V1D that has meaningful water in it.

I will like to categorically state that, the general public should disregard the comments made by the sector minister and treat it and its content as false and fabrication. It has no iota of truth in it.

The hon Hawa Koomson should go by her earlier statement that, 256 000 cedis is woefully inadequate to construct meaningful dams.

On page 64, chapter 5 of the NPP 2016 manifesto they promised to provide small earth dams for irrigation during the dry season and so far as I'm concerned, none of their dugouts contained any water for its intended purpose.

I want to put it in the records that the Naadema dugout has dried up, the Gbedema dugout is also about drying up.

For the three years of the NPP government, no single useful dam has been constructed by them in the Builsa South constituency.

It is only the Logvogsa dam which is is not under their one village one dam, that one is an old Dam that was desilted not quite long ago.

The office of the honourable member of Parliament was contacted for financial assistance in connection with the desilting of this same dam by the Logvogsa development youth association.

The dam used to have water all year round.

If the minister for Special Development Initiative, indicates that, the honourable Dr Clement Apaak should be contacted on the state of the dugouts in Builsa, I Samari wish to state it clear that, their dugouts are only seasonal ponds and are nothing but complete land degradation. Why can't the ministry of Special Development Initiative prove to Ghanaians that they have constructed nothing but seasonal ponds?

The Ministry of Special Development Initiative should tell Ghanaians that, the contractors are not at the site of the so-called yet to be completed ones.

The Nana Addo led government has performed abysmally and has nothing again to offer Ghanaians than lies and fabrications.

The minister and her ministry should have been ashamed of totally failing Ghanaians.

Were the dams meant to hold water only during raining seasons?

What are the impacts and state of their so-called completed dams?

I want to conclude by saying there is no useful dam under their current 1V1D in the Builsa South constituency.

I remain a citizen.

Sign....

Samari Samson Eliasu

Aide to Hon Dr Clement Abasinab Apaak
Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured the Apni Party delegation that Centre will work towards giving statehood to Jammu and Kashmir at earliest.

"Prime Minister engaged with the delegation on various issues like concerns on demographic changes, delimitation exercise, and grant of state domicile. Referring to his statement in Parliament, Prime Minister underlined that the Government will work with all sections of the population to realize the hopes of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir at an early opportunity," according to a release by the PMO on Saturday.

During the course of the interactive session with the 24-member delegation led by Altaf Bukhari, the Prime Minister engaged with the delegation on various issues like concerns on demographic changes, delimitation exercise, and grant of state domicile.

The delegation thanked PM Modi for his 'unstinted' support and 'untiring' efforts towards the development of Jammu and Kashmir. They also appreciated the efforts of the government, security agencies and the people of Jammu and Kashmir towards maintaining peace and security in the region.

Speaking on youth empowerment, Prime Minister Modi said: "Youth should act as catalytic agents for the development of Jammu and Kashmir."

He highlighted the importance of skill development and creating new employment opportunities for the youth to bring in an overall transformation of Jammu and Kashmir.

Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari noted that August 5, 2019, when the decision to abrogate Article 370 and Article 35-A was taken, was a watershed moment in the history of Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier after the meeting at Lok Kalyan Marg, Bukhari on Saturday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's heart beats for the people of J-K and he understands what the people of the Union Territory aspire for.

"PM said no demographic change will be done. He is a man of commitment. His heart beats for people of Jammu and Kashmir," Bukhari told ANI.

"He understands what the people of Jammu and Kashmir want. He appreciated when we said that we want the same laws as the rest of the country," added Bukhari.

Aiming to provide relief to the people "facing challenges since August 5 last year," Bukhari, formerly with the People's Democratic Party (PDP), launched his own party on March 8, which is also the International Women's Day.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hotel Business News and Analytics

Important! This article is written by orangesmile.com editors and is protected by copyright law. The article can only be re-used with a direct link to www.orangesmile.com

NEWS BLOCKS:

A New Hotel in Luxembourg by Mama Shelter Opens

Mama Shelter is going to open its 13th property in the world. This time, it is a hotel in Luxembourg, a small country in the heart of Europe. The hotel is also the first property with a Mama Works, a brand new co-working area. Mama Luxembourg will open its doors very soon, already in May 2020.



The key idea behind Mama Shelter hotels is to create a comfortable and stylish home away from home for both leisure and business travelers. While being a boutique hotel brand, Mama Shelter tries to offer a less formal and more playful atmosphere to its guests. The new Luxembourg hotel enjoys a great location on the Kirchberg plateau. Proximity to the train station and the city center with its dining and shopping options make the hotel attractive for most travelers.



While Luxembourg is not a top tourist choice when it comes to choosing a vacation in Europe, it is host to several European Union institutions. This means that Luxembourg is an important business travel destination. Finally, the countrys location close to Germany, France, and Belgium created a unique atmosphere that is a mix of different cultures and traditions. It is safe to say that Luxembourg is a truly cosmopolitan country.



Just like in other locations, Mama Luxembourg tries to reflect the traditions and culture of the destination in its design. This time, much attention was paid to the classic culture of Luxembourg with some nods to the contemporary culture. Mamas Design Studio is responsible for the look of both public areas and 145 guest rooms. Upon arrival, guests cannot fail to notice a graffiti ceiling that is a work of French artist Beniloy. The hotel offers free Wi-Fi, organic skin amenities created together with Absolution (a French cosmetic brand), and a collection of films in each room.



The hotels 1,500-square-meter restaurant offers mostly homemade food. Mama hotel in Luxembourg will also have one of the biggest bars in the country. The beautiful pink marble design of the venue is sure not to be missed. There is one more restaurant at the roof of the building. The rooftop area also features a bar and an area to play various games such as ping pong and boules. As many of the hotels guests may be on business in Luxembourg, they will find it useful to book Atelier rooms ranging from 95 to 560 square meters that have the conjoined Mama Works area with comfortable working spaces.

15.03.2020Stay in touch with the latest news of a worldwide hotel industry. All up-to-date analytics, reports , and news about hotel business trends on OrangeSmile.com.
Richard Wilkins has split from his girlfriend, Virginia Burmeister, after two years.

The Weekend Today host, 65, told The Australian on Friday that his break-up with the dancer, 52, happened 'some time ago' and was 'very amicable'.

Two months ago, Richard had denied their relationship was on its 'last legs' after several alleged 'heated arguments' over money.

It's over! Weekend Today host Richard Wilkins has split from his girlfriend, Virginia Burmeister, after two years. Pictured together in Sydney on November 15, 2017

The Sunday Telegraph reported in January that the couple were having 'heated arguments' because he didn't want to invest money into her property in France.

Several days later, they silenced these rumours by sharing a photo to Instagram of themselves together at the Australian Open in Melbourne.

Virginia has not posted a picture of Richard since then.

Separate ways: The Weekend Today host, 65, told The Australian on Friday that his break-up with Virginia, 52, happened 'some time ago' and was 'amicable'. Pictured in November 2017

Richard and Virginia went public with their relationship in October 2017 and were regularly seen at red carpet events together.

Meanwhile, the Channel Nine star opened up about his coronavirus diagnosis on Sunday, after he'd come into contact with Tom Hanks' wife, Rita Wilson, a week earlier.

Richard, who had briefly met Rita during her visit to the network's studios last Monday, tested positive to the virus that has left more than 5,000 people dead globally.

Richard tweeted: 'Hey... sincere thanks for all the messages... I really appreciate it. It's actually a bizarre feeling to have tested positive to this thing we've all been talking about. I feel 100 per cent... no symptoms at all! Thanks again... love to all.'

Tom and Rita, both 63, announced they had tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday.

Claims: Two months ago, Richard had denied their relationship was on its 'last legs' after several alleged 'heated arguments' over money. Pictured in Melbourne on January 13, 2019

His son Christian Wilkins addressed the shock diagnosis on Sunday evening.

'I was not aware of my dad's positive diagnosis for the coronavirus,' he said, before confirming he would be getting tested himself on Monday morning.

Christian is currently competing on Channel 10's Dancing with the Stars.

'I feel 100 per cent': Richard opened up about his 'bizarre' coronavirus diagnosis on Sunday, after he'd come into contact with Tom Hanks' wife, Rita Wilson (left), a week earlier. Tom and Rita, both 63, tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday
The Australian Medical Association will pressure anti-fluoride councils ahead of Queensland and NSW local government elections, and have warned a mid-NSW council against a proposed move to remove fluoride from the water supply.

Port Macquarie Hastings Council will consider on Wednesday whether to proceed with a vote at the next council election in September to remove fluoride from its water supply.

'Poison'

Mayor Peta Pinson last month told council her research and meetings with anti-fluoride campaigners over the years had convinced her that fluoride is a "poison". Her deputy mayor Lisa Intemann is a long-time campaigner to have fluoride removed.

NSW AMA president Dr Kean-Seng Lim said he would be "very disturbed to see the health of the population being used as a political playing card".
The Fire Department received a call around 6:15 p.m. about a fire at a 1.5-story building to the 7100 block of South Artesian Avenue in the Marquette Park neighborhood, District Chief Juan Hernandez said, citing preliminary information. The fire occurred in the rear of the building and was put out before 7 p.m.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 15) Love conquers all even in the time of the coronavirus disease.

Celebrity couple Sarah Lahbati and Richard Gutierrez on Saturday pushed through with their wedding, despite concerns on the COVID-19 outbreak. The two exchanged "I dos" in a seemingly simple ceremony, with their families and loved ones in attendance.

"I have you. And its enough. Its everything," the two wrote on their separate Instagram accounts, accompanying the posts with the hashtag "#MrAndMrsGutz.

"The big gathering to celebrate with all our loved ones, friends and colleagues will have to wait because we care more about everyones safety and health," they added.

Gutierrez and Lahbati first met in a television drama in 2012 when they were still artists of GMA Network. The following year, Lahbati gave birth to their first son Zion.

The two were supposed to tie the knot at Shangri-La at the Fort Hotel in Bonifacio Global City this weekend, but decided to hold off the ceremony amid COVID-19 concerns.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 12:12:25|Editor: huaxia

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A staff member of a hot pot restaurant delivers takeout food in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, March 13, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Chan)

The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 80,844 by the end of Saturday, including 10,734 patients who were still being treated, 66,911 patients who had been discharged after recovery, and 3,199 people who died of the disease.

BEIJING, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese health authority said Sunday it received reports of 20 newly confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection and 10 deaths from novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the Chinese mainland Saturday.

All of the four newly-confirmed indigenous cases and all of the deaths were reported in Wuhan, the provincial capital and epicenter of the outbreak, according to the National Health Commission.

Meanwhile, 39 newly-added suspected cases were reported, said the commission.

Also on Saturday, 1,370 people were discharged from hospital after recovery, while the number of severe cases decreased by 384 to 3,226.

The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 80,844 by the end of Saturday, including 10,734 patients who were still being treated, 66,911 patients who had been discharged after recovery, and 3,199 people who died of the disease.

The commission said that 113 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.

The commission noted that 10,189 close contacts were still under medical observation. On Saturday, 1,409 people were discharged from medical observation.

Sixteen imported cases were reported on the mainland Saturday. Among them, five were reported in Beijing, four in Zhejiang Province, three in both Shanghai and Gansu Province, as well as one in Guangdong Province. By the end of Saturday, 111 imported cases had been reported, said the commission.

By the end of Saturday, 141 confirmed cases including four deaths had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), 10 confirmed cases in the Macao SAR, and 53 in Taiwan including one death.

A total of 81 patients in Hong Kong, 10 in Macao and 20 in Taiwan had been discharged from hospital after recovery. 
The MSM does not report news. It simply uses news as a coat stand to hang its propaganda upon.

The West = good. China = bad.

This rank hypocrisy, borne of a desperate liberal need to unnecessarily politicize everything, including the Covid-19 outbreak, has revealed an unflattering truth about The Gray Lady, its sobriquet that once conveyed the impression the paper possessed of high virtue. No longer.

China May Be Beating the Coronavirus But At a Painful Cost, the NYT tweeted one day last week, flagging up its report that the Chinese lockdown and quarantine, which covered 60 million people, coincidentally the same as Italys entire population, has come at great cost to peoples livelihoods and personal liberties.

Then just 20 minutes later, up popped the same publications tweet on the European situation, announcing Italy Locks Down Much of the Countrys North Over the Coronavirus. So, did the Times condemn this as an attack on civil liberties by a nasty totalitarian regime?

Not quite. Because while at the time of the report, last Saturday, when only the north of Italy was affected (since expanded to include the entire country), there was a clear change of tone.

According to The Times: By taking such tough measures, Italy, which is suffering the worst outbreak in Europe, sent a signal that restrictive clampdowns at odds with some of the core values of Western democracies may be necessary to contain and defeat the virus.

So, lemme get this right. Restrictive clampdown in Italy? Necessary. Restrictive clampdown in China? A cure worse than the disease.
SAN DIEGO  At 9:12 a.m. on April 12, 1963, the nuclear-powered submarine Thresher issued its final coherent message.

Experiencing minor difficulties, it began. Have positive up angle. Am attempting to blow. Will keep you informed.

The first and last sentences were unduly  and tragically  optimistic. After a garbled message from the boat at 9:17 a.m., none of the 129 aboard Thresher were ever heard from again. The difficulties had not been minor. They had been fatal, taking the vessel and her crew to a watery grave in the North Atlantic.

Almost 57 years later, this remains the U.S. Navys worst undersea disaster. Its also one of the most mysterious. While there are numerous theories about what caused the Threshers sinking, the official story is still under wraps.

The Navys investigation resulted in a 1,700-page report. Only 19 pages have been publicly released.

Capt. Jim Bryant, a submarine skipper retired in Point Loma, wants the public to see the other 1,681 pages.

I feel a responsibility to the men who were aboard, he said, and their families.

Last year, Bryant went to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking to pry loose the report.

On Feb. 10, a federal judge ordered the Navy to release its report in monthly 300-page segments, beginning May 15 and continuing until Oct. 15. When the Navy requested more time to review documents and redact classified information, Bryants lawyer noted that the Navy already had promised to do this  22 years ago. Then, in 2012, the Navy announced it had nearly completed its declassification review but wasnt going to release anything.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden noted that history this month, while rejecting the Navys plea for more time. Normally I defer to the government, he said during a hearing, but I cant say I have a lot of confidence in how this looks now.

Bryant, who was in the courtroom for this ruling, is not declaring victory.

Im not winning, he said. Ive had a small victory in a very large battle.

Bryant, 72, is an unlikely foe of the Navys silent service. Raised in Pasadena and educated at the U.S. Naval Academy, he was a young officer when Adm. Hyman Rickover, the nuclear navys demanding leader, tabbed him for submarine duty. Before his retirement in 1994, Bryant served aboard three Thresher-class subs, commanding one, Guardfish, from 1987 to 1990.

These boats were part of the same class as the ill-fated Thresher, yet they were significantly different. Bryant left Annapolis as a young ensign eight years after Thresher had departed Portsmouth, N.H., on its final mission. By the time he was partaking in undersea patrols, the Navy had adopted a new safety program  the acronym: SUBSAFE  and updated the boats engineering and nuclear propulsion plants.

Still, Bryant felt a kinship with Thresher, her crew and the loved ones they left behind.

In retirement, Bryant studied archeology at San Diego City College, piecing together artifacts to understand the native peoples of San Diegos pre-colonial past. In 2017, he brought the same analytical mindset to a more recent page of history: Thresher.

Early Indian societies proved to be more of an open book than the Navys nuclear-powered submarines. Even officially declassified material on these propulsion systems are locked away, out of the publics sight.

For example, Bryant said, the textbooks they use in Nuclear Power School, with basic physics and basic math, are all classified. For good reason, because you dont want some other country to come in and steal that information and translate that into Russian or Chinese.

In 1963, a naval court of inquiry blamed Threshers loss on catastrophic flooding from a ruptured pipe. Among those who dispute this theory is Bruce Rule, a former naval officer who eavesdropped on Soviet subs via SOSUS, a top secret network of hydrophones installed on the ocean floor. Now retired, Rule analyzed acoustical data for a 42-page monograph, Why The USS Thresher (SSN-593) Was Lost.

Rule concluded that the sub lost power for unknown reasons, then plunged helplessly from 1,300 feet to 2,400 feet below the surface. At that extreme depth, he maintained, the pressure hull collapsed in the blink of an eye  1/20th of second.

The crew members, Rule wrote, although they knew the event was imminent, never knew it was occurring.

Bryant found this analysis compelling, but still wanted to see the Navys official report. In June 2017, he filed a Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, request to see Thresher documents. He was ignored. Bryant then pleaded his case in Declassify Thresher, an article for the July 2018 issue of Proceedings, the U.S. Naval Institutes journal. In April 2019, he filed another FOIA request. No response.

On July 5, he sued in federal court.

Thresher was not on a secret mission, Bryant said. Were talking here about engineering procedures and a mindset that allowed that submarine to sink. So why is the Navy circling the wagons?

This quest is controversial, even among Bryants peers.

I admire Jims persistence,  said Charles MacVean, a retired Navy captain who commanded the nuclear-powered submarine Seawolf in the 1970s. But its a terrific amount of energy being spent by him and the Navy. Im not sure its going to get us any further up the knowledge chain.

The Navy, MacVean added, had thoroughly studied Threshers loss and corrected the problems: The lessons learned were taken to heart and inserted into our ships and our methodology.

Why bring this painful episode back to the surface?

Thats like asking, Why should we know anything more about the Challenger disaster in 1986? Bryant responded. Its like saying, NASA knows everything, so we dont need to know why NASA killed those astronauts when what happened was silly and avoidable. Was that a lesson learned?

Robert Eatinger, Bryants attorney, was once a lawyer for the CIA. In that capacity, he was involved in hundreds of Freedom of Information Act appeals, but on the opposite side, seeking to maintain government secrets. Still, hes unsure why the Thresher report is so sensitive. Even pre-hearing meet and confer conferences with the Navys lawyers failed to shed light on their concerns.

The only things they would express, Eatinger said, is they need to protect their undersea warriors.

While Eatinger and Bryant won a court order to see the official Thresher report, its unclear whether this victory was large or small. Thats because material deemed essential to national security will be redacted.

Are the records going to be a lot of blacked-out pages, or a lot of text with very limited redactions? Eatinger asked. We dont know until we see it.

It may be awhile before these pages can be perused by other interested parties. Bryant, who expects to receive the documents in digital form, plans to review them with an informal committee hes assembled of retired nuclear submarine experts.

And then, he said, well release it to the public.

Thresher was lost in a different era, when John F. Kennedy occupied the White House, the Beatles released Please Please Me, J.D. Salingers Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters topped bestseller lists and, in the tense aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Washington and Moscow created a hotline for direct communications. With the Cold War at its frostiest, submarines patrolled the front lines.

But the Cold War is over, Bryant said. That technology is all obsolete. You know, the Soviets knew what we were doing, so why are we so worried now? The Thresher was a self-inflicted casualty.

Still, some question whether we should probe this wound. They argue that the fatal errors, whatever they were, have been corrected.

The best people in the country looked at all that data and made changes, MacVean said. The country did the best they could at the time they were doing it.
By John Miller

ZURICH (Reuters) - Germany and Italy spearheaded a national scramble for ventilators as manufacturers warned on Friday that hospitals everywhere face a lack of vital equipment needed to treat coronavirus patients.

Germany's Draegerwerk said its government placed an order for 10,000 ventilators for intensive respiratory care, the medical gear maker's largest order ever and equivalent to a year's normal production.

Hard-hit Italy, with more than 10,000 infections and 1,000 deaths from the virus so far, tendered for 5,000 ventilators and other desperately needed medical equipment.

Italy may have less than a quarter of the breathing machines necessary to help patients as infections fill their lungs with fluid, Andreas Wieland, chief executive of the world's largest ventilator maker Hamilton Medical, told Reuters.

"There's a huge discrepancy between available ventilators and the need," Wieland said in an interview, adding that the U.S. Army is among customers looking to order more. "Turkey has ordered many ventilators, China has ordered many devices, the United States  actually, everyone is ordering."

"In recent years, countries have been building up their supply of ventilators, to prepare for a potential problem situation," Wieland added. "But nobody expected such a situation to take on such dramatic proportions."

Privately owned Hamilton Medical, a Swiss company which usually makes 15,000 ventilators a year, has ramped up its production by 30-40%, Wieland said.

Draegerwerk also plans to boost production at its factory in the north German city of Luebeck as the worldwide death toll from coronavirus topped 4,900.

NATIONS STOCKPILE

Draegerwerk's massive German order departs from typical buying by hospitals.

"It's unusual for a government to order medical gear directly," a spokesman told Reuters. "Normally customers in Germany are hospitals and clinics."

Story continues

The national scramble for equipment raised concerns about possible export restrictions, setting back cooperative efforts to tackle the disease.

Without mentioning specific governments, Swedish Enterprise Minister Ibrahim Baylan said at a news conference that some nations were circumventing the European Commission to block exports. "We must find our way back to cooperation," Baylan said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters that limits placed on exports by countries including France and Germany undermined the EU single market at a time it had to function.

"I have been in very close contact with Germany, with France and with other member states and I am happy to report that they are willing to adapt their national measures as we requested," Von der Leyen said on Friday.

The World Health Organization, whose officials on Friday warned the coronavirus outbreak in many countries "will get worse before it gets better," has also warned of global equipment shortages - and fears of exploitative pricing - as resources grow scarce and nations look to slow the virus's spread on their home turf.

In Italy, the health ministry acknowledged efforts to increase critical care beds with ventilators may fall short of what is needed.

"All regions are increasing the beds in intensive care by 50% and the places in sub intensive care by 100%," a health ministry source said. "Obviously in regions like Lombardy, if the infection does not stop, this risks not being enough."

Hamilton, a unit of U.S.-based Hamilton Company, along with Swedish rival Getinge, which makes more than 10,000 ventilators a year, said no single manufacturer could fill Italy's order alone.

"I don't think there's any supplier or med-tech company that would be able to supply 5,000 units just like that," Getinge spokeswoman Anna Appelqvist said. "It will probably be a mix."

Getinge's production was going "full speed," she said, though reliance on subcontractors for components plays a role in how much it can boost production.

Hamilton's ventilator plant, in the village of Bonaduz in the Alps, stocked up in January on the components it needs after Wieland heard from Chinese associates of a mysterious new respiratory virus.

"They told me, 'There's something quite bad afoot. We don't know exactly what's going on, but there's a virus, and it's spreading'," Wieland said. "We bought supplies necessary for about a half a year."

($1 = 0.8957 euros)

(Reporting by John Miller and Oliver Hirt in Zurich, Edward Taylor and Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt, Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels, Johan Ahlander in Stockholm and Angelo Amante in Rome; editing by Thomas Seythal and Elaine Hardcastle)
Milan [Italy], Mar 15 (ANI): A special Air India flight carrying 211 Indian students, who were stuck in Italy after flights were cancelled due to coronavirus outbreak, departed for India on Saturday (local time).



The flight which took off from Milan also has seven compassionate cases.

"211 students & 7 compassionate cases departed by AI flight #Milan. All those who helped us through this difficult situation, special thanks to @airindiain team & Italian authorities. Consulate will continue to ensure the welfare of all Indians in northern #Italy," Indian Consulate in Milan tweeted.

The evacuation by India was carried out after the World Health Organisation declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and said that Europe is the new epicentre of the lethal virus.

Italy on Saturday (local time) reported 175 deaths from coronavirus, raising the toll to 1,411.

Earlier, Air India had announced the cancellation of all flights to Kuwait and Italy till April 30.

India has carried out evacuations from several countries in the past few weeks. It has brought back its citizens from China, Japan and Iran as the number of cases of coronavirus continue to rise in these countries. (ANI)
According to what is known as of now, infected persons are cooperating with the authorities in reporting all of the locations they have visited, said Avner Pinchuk, a lawyer for the association. Even if we assume that here and there a person might forget of a particular meeting or location, the marginal benefit obtained by technologically tracking locations does not justify the severe infringement of the right to privacy.




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Linkedin Ni Nyoman Wira (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 15, 2020 11:26 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206ab9ce6 1 Environment bulk-store,zero-waste,zero-waste-lifestyle,eco-friendly,surabaya,#Jakarta,#Bali,#Surabaya,waste-management,waste-reduction Free

Buying groceries or other necessities in bulk has become a trend among eco-conscious consumers who want to produce less waste by avoiding single-use plastic packaging and food waste.

In general, the activity involves customers bringing their own containers to be weighted in, filled with content and charged based on the amount.

Itching to get on this eco-friendly bandwagon? Here are some stores in Indonesian cities that implement such a zero-waste concept:

Saruga Pack-Free Shopping Store

Where : Bintaro, South Jakarta

Established in November 2018, Saruga Pack-Free Shopping offers various items, from food ingredients to personal care and home care products.

Owner Adi Asmawan said he built the store out of concern over waste in his neighborhood. For years, my house had been polluted by smoke from burned garbage. I had done various things [to solve the problem] but to no avail, Adi told The Jakarta Post on Friday. So I decided to learn about waste and it turns out that the issue is very complex.

Adi later realized that retailers did little to solve the problem. He added that the bring-your-own-container culture had long been applied in Indonesia through traditional warung (sidewalk shop). People used to bring bottles to buy cooking oil [at the warung], so we want to bring the culture back, but in a modern way."

Though the store currently provides containers for those who don't bring their own, Adi plans to no longer do so. It wont educate them, he said. If we provide them with containers, while at the same time they already have reusable ones at home, it also means I let them hoard those containers.

Saruga Pack-Free Shopping Store plans to open a new branch in Jakarta this year.

Naked Inc.

Where : Kemang, South Jakarta

Open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Naked Inc. allows people to bring their own jars, mesh bags, bottles or other containers to buy various items -- ranging from food ingredients like pasta, rice and seeds to personal care products.

The store also provides workshops that educate people on an eco-friendly lifestyle, such as how to make kombucha, jamu (herbal drinks) and organic tempeh.

Naked Inc. also has an online store that sells almost the same range of items.

Read also: Unilever Indonesia provides refill station in Bintaro

The Bulkstore & Co.

Where : Menteng, Central Jakarta and Kemang, South Jakarta

The Bulkstore & Co. provides various items for eco-conscious buyers, including food ingredients, personal care products, home care items, kitchen utensils and ready-to-eat meals. Items are either sold per piece or per gram.

A list of the store's items and prices is also available on its Instagram account.

This year, The Bulkstore & Co. is said to open its third branch in the SCBD area, South Jakarta.

Alang-alang Zero Waste

Where : Surabaya, East Java

Alang-Alang Zero Waste is said to be the first zero-waste outlet in Surabaya. Located at Ruko Este Square Kav A2, the store is open every day except Mondays.

Established in 2019, Alang-Alang Zero Waste provides a wide array of organic food, ready-to-eat meals, personal care goods and wooden cutlery. Customers are encouraged to bring their own containers, but those who don't can also buy glass jars available at the store.

The store also offers an eco-friendly delivery service using a bike to locations within a maximum distance of 20 kilometers.

Zero Waste Bali

Where : Kerobokan and Ubud, Bali

Founded by Silvija Rumiha, Zero Waste Bali can be found in Kerobokan subdistrict and Ubud town in Bali.

Said to be the first zero-waste store on the island with the aim to help people enter a zero-waste lifestyle one step at a time, the store offers food, eco-friendly containers, organic clothes and personal care items.

Those who prefer to shop online can do so through its website. Zero Waste Bali also provides a refill service for delivery to customers houses. (kes)
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured the Apni Party delegation that Centre will work towards giving statehood to Jammu and Kashmir at earliest. "Prime Minister engaged with the delegation on various issues like concerns on demographic changes, delimitation exercise, and grant of state domicile.

Referring to his statement in Parliament, Prime Minister underlined that the Government will work with all sections of the population to realize the hopes of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir at an early opportunity," according to a release by the PMO on Saturday.

During the course of the interactive session with the 24-member delegation led by Altaf Bukhari, the Prime Minister engaged with the delegation on various issues like concerns on demographic changes, delimitation exercise, and grant of state domicile.

The delegation thanked PM Modi for his `unstinted` support and `untiring` efforts towards the development of Jammu and Kashmir. They also appreciated the efforts of the government, security agencies and the people of Jammu and Kashmir towards maintaining peace and security in the region.

Speaking on youth empowerment, Prime Minister Modi said: "Youth should act as catalytic agents for the development of Jammu and Kashmir."

He highlighted the importance of skill development and creating new employment opportunities for the youth to bring in an overall transformation of Jammu and Kashmir.Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari noted that August 5, 2019, when the decision to abrogate Article 370 and Article 35-A was taken, was a watershed moment in the history of Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier after the meeting at Lok Kalyan Marg, Bukhari on Saturday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's heart beats for the people of J-K and he understands what the people of the Union Territory aspire for. "PM said no demographic change will be done. He is a man of commitment. His heart beats for people of Jammu and Kashmir," Bukhari told ANI.

"He understands what the people of Jammu and Kashmir want. He appreciated when we said that we want the same laws as the rest of the country," added Bukhari.

Aiming to provide relief to the people "facing challenges since August 5 last year," Bukhari, formerly with the People`s Democratic Party (PDP), launched his own party on March 8, which is also the International Women's Day.
Coronavirus has turned what had been shaping up to be good year for airlines into one of the aviation sector's worst-ever crises as nervous passengers put travelling plans on hold.

As the world finds itself in the throes of the worst pandemic in more than a century, the airlines are among the first businesses to feel the impact of Covid-19.

Lufthansa - Europe's second-largest airline after Ryanair by passengers carried - has gone cap in hand to the German government.

In a message to the airline's staff on March 6, CEO Carsten Spohr said Lufthansa would be applying for assistance under the Kurzarbeit (short-time work) programme, under which the German government picks up the tab for the wages shortfall of staff whose hours have been cut.

"The impact [of coronavirus] on our booking situation is immense. We must assume that it may take months before we will see the first signs of stability," he told staff.

The German flag carrier followed this up with a series of brutal capacity cuts which will see the airline slash the number of flights by up to 50pc in the coming weeks and temporarily take its entire fleet of long-haul Airbus 380s out of service.

Analysts are bracing themselves for even more bad news when Lufthansa releases its full-year 2019 results on Thursday.

Lufthansa isn't the only airline to have been knocked sideways by the coronavirus.

Closer to home, Ryanair has cancelled all flights to and from Italy, the European country worst affected by coronavirus, until April 8. This will reduce the number of passengers flown by the airline in the year to the end of this month from the previously projected 154 million to 151 million.

IAG, the owner of British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus, has warned that coronavirus will hit its 2020 profits, with chief executive Willie Walsh cautioning that it was still too early to quantify the full extent of the damage. On Friday the head of British Airways said coronavirus was causing an unprecedented crisis, warning that aircraft would be parked like never before and staff laid off, in a hardhitting staff message to address "the worsening situation".

"It is a crisis of global proportions like no other we have known," BA Chief Executive Alex Cruz told staff in a video message,

It is not just European airlines which have been hit by the virus. Australia's Qantas has suspended deliveries of long-range A350 aircraft and scrapped its forecasts, while both its chairman and chief executive, Tallaght-born Alan Joyce, are waiving their salaries.

In the United States, both Delta and American have also scrapped their 2020 forecasts and unveiled deep capacity cuts while United announced a $2bn cash call.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents most of the world's airlines, is predicting coronavirus could knock up to $113bn off global aviation revenues this year.

By early last week the global aviation industry had lost about a third of its total value, $70bn, as airline shares plunged on the deluge of coronavirus-related bad news.

And that was before The Donald had his say. Last Wednesday, President Trump announced a 30-day ban on flights from most European countries - but not yet from the UK and Ireland - to the United States. This follows the previous US ban on flights to and from China announced on February 1.

News of the US flights ban piled further pressure on airline shares. Shares in Ryanair - which doesn't fly to the United States - which had already fallen by almost 30pc since the beginning of February, dropped by a further 5pc and are now down by a massive 5.14 or 33pc to just 10.63 over the past six weeks.

It's a similar story with IAG, whose share price is down by 36pc over the same period.

Ryanair and IAG are both financially strong airlines which will ultimately successfully weather any turbulence coronavirus throws at them.

Other airlines might not be so lucky. Already British regional airline Flybe has gone bust. While it had long-standing financial problems, it was the coronavirus outbreak which finally tipped it over the edge into insolvency.

It almost certainly won't be the last airline to bite the dust. Compared to the United States, the European aviation sector is very fragmented. Stateside, the top five airlines have a combined market share of almost 70pc while the top 10 control more than 90pc. Europe's top 10 have a 50pc market share with more than 100 carriers sharing the rest of the market between them.

"Companies that were very strong coming into this will be even stronger coming out of it", says Davy aviation analyst Stephen Furlong.

"We're probably going to get more consolidation of the sector. We're probably going to see more Flybes."

One of the most vulnerable European airlines is Norwegian. Investors have signalled their concern by marking its share price down by 80pc since the beginning of February.

However, it is an ill wind that blows no good. At the same time as customers have been cancelling their bookings and airline share prices have been plunging, oil prices have also nosedived with a barrel of Brent crude that had been changing hands for $60 a recently as the beginning of February was down to just $33 late last week.

The collapse in crude oil prices has pulled aviation fuel prices down as well, with IATA estimating that globally jet fuel prices have fallen by 18pc over the past month. Jet fuel prices are down by 21pc in Europe and by almost one-third over the past year.

IATA reckons this will knock $19bn off airlines' 2020 fuel bills, a reduction of 22pc. Goodbody aviation analyst Mark Simpson calculates that lower jet fuel prices could be worth as much as 900m to Ryanair in the 12 months to March 2022. "Anybody looking to buy the sector is now looking at next year. Next year is going to be great for some airlines," he said.
German Marshall Fund: It Is not too early to think about political change in Turkey

Armenian Foreign Ministry: We call on Azerbaijani authorities to refrain from provocations

Armenia's Geghamasar community head: The situation is stable now

Queen Elizabeth II's favorite fast food revealed

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World Economic Forum: Cybersecurity and space pose new risks to the global economy

Defense Ministry confirms Armenian side has 2 victims

Satanovsky on sending Armenian servicemen to Kazakhstan

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WHO thinks it's too early to consider COVID-19 pandemic

European Commission to require Poland to pay fine of nearly EUR 70 million

White House announces $308 million humanitarian aid for Afghanistan

Erdogan angry at minister after efforts to strengthen lira failed

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India imposes one-week quarantine even for vaccinated tourists

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Traction Programme to showcase 8 startups during the Digital Demo Day

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ANCA urges President Biden and Congress to hold Azerbaijan and Turkey accountable for war crimes

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

New commander elected of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh

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Millionaire Robert Durst dies aged 78

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

Great Armenian poet Razmik Davoyan dies

2 new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh

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

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

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

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

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

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

Arab foreign ministers to visit Beijing

Azerbaijanis stoned an Armenian car on the Stepanakert-Goris road

Armenian FM has a phone call with his Polish counterpart

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US COVID-19 cases reach 60 million

European Parliament President hospitalized due to immune system dysfunction

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WHO excludes emergence of deltacron strain

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Blast in eastern Afghanistan kills nine children

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

Internet cut off in Kazakhstan

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The federal government has told the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) that it has no records of the exact amount of public funds stolen by a former military head of state, Sani Abacha and no records of the spending of about $5 billion recovered loot for the period between 1999 and 2015.

The governments response followed SERAPs Freedom of Information (FoI) requests sent to Abukabar Malami, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice and Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, requesting: information on the exact amount of public funds stolen by Abacha, and details of spending of about $5 billion recovered loot since the return of democracy in 1999.

According to SERAP, only Mr Malami has sent a reply to its FoI requests. In the reply dated February 26 but which SERAP said it received March 9, Mr Malami said: We have searched our records and the information on the exact amount of public funds stolen by Abacha and how recovered loot was spent from 19992015 is not held by the Ministry.

Mr Malami also said: However, a total of $322 million was recovered from Switzerland in January 2018 and the funds were used for Social Investment Project. Also, $308 million was recovered from the Island of Jersey in collaboration with the USA. While awaiting the transfer of the money to Nigeria, it has been designated for the following projects: LagosIbadan Expressway; AbujaKano Expressway, and Second Niger Bridge.

Dissatisfied with Mr Malamis reply, SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare said: The failure to provide information on the exact amount stolen by Abacha and on spending of recovered loot for the period between 1999 and 2015 implicitly amounts to a refusal by the government. The government also failed to provide sufficient details on the spending and planned spending of the $630 million it said it recovered since 2018.

In the statement dated March 15, SERAP said: in the circumstances and given that Mrs Zainab Ahmed has failed and/or refused to response to our FoI request, we are finalising the papers for legal actions under the FoI Act to compel the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to fully and effectively comply with our requests.

Mr Malamis reply with reference number MJ/FOI/REQ/035/11/34, was signed on his behalf by Hamza Omolara, Principal Counsel at the Ministry of Justice.

It would be recalled that SERAPs FoI requests expressed: concerns that substantial part of the estimated $5 billion returned Abacha loot since 1999 may have been diverted, re-stolen or mismanaged, and in any case remain unaccounted for.

The FoI requests dated February 14, read in part: the Federal Government should disclose details of projects executed with the Abacha loot and their locations, details of companies and contractors involved in the execution of any such projects, details of all the agreements on the loot, the roles played by the World Bank and other actors, as well as the implementation status of all projects since 1999.

Publishing the details of projects on which Abacha loot has been spent would allow the public to know the specific projects carried and the areas of the country in which the projects have been implemented as well as the officials that may be responsible for any alleged diversion or mismanagement of the loot.

READ ALSO:

According to our information, a special panel set up on 23 July 1998 by the former head of state General Abdulsalami Abubakar to probe the late military dictator General Sani Abacha stated that he stole over $5 billion between 1993 and 1998 when he was in power. Much of the stolen public funds have been returned to Nigeria.

The report by the panel shows that the government recovered some $635 million, 75 million, DM 30 million and N9 billion as well as several vehicles and properties in Abuja, Lagos and Kano together with 40% interests in West African Refinery in Sierra Leone. Other assets were recovered from the Abacha family and associates.

Furthermore, former president Olusegun Obasanjo administration also reportedly recovered over $2 billion of Abacha loot. Mr Obasanjo would seem to confirm this fact when he stated in the second volume of his book titled My Watch that: by the time I left office in May 2007, over $2 billion and 100 million had been recovered from the Abacha family abroad, and N10 billion in cash and properties locally.

Similarly, former president Goodluck Jonathan administration reportedly recovered $226.3 million and 7.5 Million from Liechtenstein. Some 22.5 million was also recovered from the Island of Jersey while $322 million and 5.5 million from the Abacha loot were reportedly returned to the government.

The government of president Muhammadu Buhari has also recovered several millions of dollars of Abacha loot since assuming office in May 2015, including $321 million from Switzerland, and $300 million from the US and Jersey.

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Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra, an avid social media user expressed her happiness of spending quality time with her German shepherd on Sunday.

Sharing pictures along with a caption, she wrote, "Staying home during this time is the safest thing to do. @ginothegerman giving mommy hugs makes it so much better.. @Cavanaughjames"

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In pictures, the 37-year-old actor is seen hugging her dog and made sure to spend her precious time out of her busy schedule.

Scores of fans poured in their compliments for Priyanka's expression of her love towards her pet.

On the work front, Priyanka Chopra was last seen in 'The Sky Is Pink' along with Farhan Akhtar and Zaira Wasim and will be next seen in several projects such as 'The Matrix 4', 'The White Tiger' and 'We can be Heroes'.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vineet Upadhyay By

Express News Service

DEHRADUN: A group of 56 Hindu pilgrims from Pakistan,who arrived from the neighbouring country last week, does not want to go back. Members of the group told that they will request the government of India to extend their visa limit of one month and provide citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019.

Narayan Das, a pilgrim from Badeen area of Karachi said, "We are in no position to go back. The Pakistani authorities did not allow us to bring enough money as they think we would not go back. We face ruthless persecution in that country and were snatched of everything. We have pleaded to the Indian government to provide us shelter."

Locals after realizing the plight of the group collected money, clothes and other essentials and gifted to the group for their trip to Ahmedabad. Hira Bai, another pilgrim from Pakistan said, "Our family members have been killed, daughters snatched away for religious conversion and properties taken over. It is worse than death over there. We have some hope under the new law by the Indian government."

State government officials refused to comment but stated on the condition of anonymity that they are keeping close eye on the situation. "Once the application is filed, then only the state government can do anything," said an official from state home department.

Earlier, in January this year, the state government has identified total 200 Hindu refugees from Pakistan who will be granted citizenship under newly passed Citizenship Amendment Act.

Mostly residing in Haridwar, Dehradun and Udham Singh Nagar districts, majority of these refugees cling to odd jobs and charity for survival. They hope as they will become citizens of this country, it will enable them to live a life of dignity.

They can apply for jobs and start their own business say the now state less people from the community.
Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini addressing the media yesterday where he announced the external ban for politicians and government officials in light of the coronavirus disease outbreak. On his left is Deputy Prime Minister Themba Masuku.



MBABANE  Grounded! Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini yesterday announced an external travel ban for politicians and government officials in light of the deadly coronavirus disease outbreak.



During a media briefing at Cabinet offices around noon, the Premier did not state the time period the ban could tentatively come to an end except to state that the travel prohibition was for the next couple of weeks.

This ban comes just after government, through the Ministry of Health, on Friday night issued a statement to the effect that the country had registered its first coronavirus case on March 13, 2020.



The case is a 33-year old woman who is said to have returned from the United States in the end of February, proceeded to Lesotho for a business meeting and only returned to Eswatini on March 7, 2020.





circumstances



The prime minister said this case has heightened our level of risk as a country.

Responding to questions from the Times SUNDAY, the PM said: External travel has been suspended by government for all politicians and government employees. It is only on very, very exceptional circumstances that travelling can be allowed.

This is a big blow to some politicians and senior officials who are hugely dependant on the lucrative per diem that comes with external travel to replenish their salaries.



Before this announcement, the PM, in his statement, had reiterated governments position to restrict external travel unless it is of absolute necessity.

We appeal to emaSwati to avoid travelling to the affected countries and to consult the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation if travel cannot be avoided. EmaSwati who have travelled abroad are encouraged to seek medical advice upon their return and to self-isolate until they have been cleared, Dlamini said.



Reacting to the external travel ban, the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA), which is the major union mother-body in the kingdom, said it would appear that government has taken a decision that is seeking to protect itself against liability as opposed to a decision that is seeking to protect the country from COVID-19.



Mduduzi Gina, who is TUCOSWA Secretary General, said what this meant was that the State was saying people could go to China or Italy or anywhere else but not in governments name. They are saying go and get the virus but not under the impression that you were carrying out our (government) responsibilities because that would cause us to be liable for your sickness. That is not a position that should be taken by a State. In a country, the taxpayer should be the most important stakeholder to government than themselves.



It appears they have said they would not approve trips among themselves but people who want to travel outside of governments ambit can do so. That then says the government is running away from a situation where they would be held liable if a person was to contract the disease while on foreign travel. Gina said.



He said government should have taken a decision in the interest of every citizen, not just government employees and politicians.

They should have just banned travelling in its entirety. When a government takes a decision that deals with the exit and entry of people into a country, it should take a universal decision and posture.



decision



We very much recognise that our economy can barely survive two days if we were to shut down our borders, but we need that kind of leadership; that is exactly where we need decisive actions to be taken by those that are in leadership; not to take decisions that will show a government that is running away from liability as the employer, the union leader said.



Gina said the country was not about contracts of employment because a majority of the people of Eswatini were not employed.

Therefore, he said, a decision that was taken by the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini should not be a decision that is taken to protect only those that are employed by the government.



Even the government employees are not protected because they are allowed to go but not under governments name. We are inviting government to take a decision that will be seen to be a decision that will protect all the citizens of the country against contracting or being exposed to the virus, he said.



He added: For citizens to take a decision, they must be guided by government and government has all necessary means. As things stand, government has not taken a decision but has shielded itself from liability that could arise from someone who travels under its name.



One of Eswatinis counterparts in the Southern Africa region, Lesotho, has allegedly sealed its borders in an attempt to prevent the Covid-19 pandemic from crossing to the Mountain Kingdom.



The Lesotho Government has reportedly taken drastic measures to close all its borders. On Tuesday, Lesothos Principal Secretary and national contact point Tsolo Motena is said to have sent communication to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to inform it on the decision to close its borders.

This correspondence serves to inform the SADC secretariat that the Lesotho Government has suspended all travel from and into Lesotho, the statement read.

She added that this was imposed as a precaution against risk of infection by the coronavirus. The United States, on the other hand, has also issued travel bans on 26 European countries.

The ban will now include the United Kingdom and Ireland after initially being exempted.



statement

Meanwhile, the PM said besides the external travel ban, Cabinet would be announcing other key decisions today (Sunday) regarding the coronavirus outbreak.

He said these decisions would be with regard to schools (whether they are closed or allowed to continue operating), nightclubs (the hosting of shows and gigs) and churches (whether people should continue to attend).



In his statement, he mentioned governments appreciation to organisations that had made the tough and costly decision to cancel events that draw large crowds.

He conveyed gratitude to the MTN Bushfire, the Football Association of Eswatini and the University of Eswatini for taking the patriotic decision to cancel their planned events, in collaboration with government, in the interest of the safety of the public.



May I appeal to all other organisations planning events that have the potential to draw large crowds, thus increasing the risk of spreading the virus, to follow suit, the PM said.



Deputy Prime Minister Themba Nhlanganiso Masuku echoed these words and stated that the onus was on members of the public to value their lives by not attending events of mass gatherings, such as those hosted in nightclubs.

Minister of Health Lizzy Nkosi also added her voice to this call by urging people to stay away from mass gatherings; its not wise to attend these. On the issue of schools, Nkosi said in the case of the first confirmed case, the school in which the children of the woman who has tested positive for the COVID-19 are enrolled will be contacted.



She said the school might be shut down if it is found that the risk of contamination due to contact among the womans children and their colleagues is high.

With regard to the womens condition, the PM gave an assurance that government was taking all the necessary steps and interventions to monitor and assist her to fully recover while intensifying all preparedness and response measures to ensure Eswatini remained alert, safe and ready to tackle the global health threat.



season



Dlamini said government was working in collaboration with different stakeholders, including United Nations agencies and international friends and partners to strengthen our capacity and response plans as we continue to confront this virus whose cure is still not available.



Over and above the confirmed case, government is also awaiting the laboratory results of 12 other suspected cases.

Yesterday, Nkosi said there could be more tests that could be conducted on suspected cases but this should not cause any panic because it would be mainly caused by the fact that the region is entering its cold winter season, which usually results in cases of flu.












GRAND RAPIDS, MI  The United Ways 211 hotline continues to operate during the coronavirus pandemic, and officials and community organizations are working throughout West Michigan to ensure crucial needs are met.

The Heart of West Michigan United Way offers the 211 phone line as a central location for community resources and information regarding the coronavirus outbreak, according to a March 15 news release from the organization.

As of Sunday, March 15, there have been 33 coronavirus cases reported in Michigan, up from 25 reported cases on Friday, March 13, according to a report from state health leaders late Saturday.

Related: Coronavirus cases in Michigan climb to 33

Community members in need of assistance are encouraged to call 211, where a team of information specialists are available 24/7, the release said. Staff members are equipped to take questions and provide resources in the area for those impacted by changes such as school closures.

The United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region also encourages those in need of assistance to dial 211 to receive updated information and service referrals. Community leaders in the region are also currently working to identify needs and find ways to address them as they arise, according to the organizations website.

Heart of West Michigan United Way officials are working with the Kent County Health Department and said there are a number of things the organization is doing to help the community during the outbreak, the release said.

The Essential Needs Task Force, a partnership with a number of community service committees, gathered community leaders on Friday, March 13, to discuss issues of food security given all the cancellations in response to the outbreak, according to the release.

United Way is also working with school districts and compiling information and updates to food distribution plans on hwmuw.org/coronavirus-updates.

West Michigan residents looking for ways to help can visit volunteergr.org to find volunteer opportunities from area agencies. United Way is also encouraging donations to its disaster relief fund to tackle COVID-19 effects on the community, the website said.

There are a number of small ways to help out in the community, the news release said. Community members are encouraged to check on at-risk neighbors, friends or family members and make sure they have a 30-day supply of necessary medications, stay in touch with those unable to leave home, buy extra groceries for families in need and suggest calling 211 to anyone who needs assistance.

Following guidance from health officials, many United Way offices across the state have announced plans to close offices and cancel or postpone scheduled activities in the coming weeks.

Kalamazoo and Battle Creek area United Way offices will close starting Monday, March 16, and reopen April 6. The organization will remain operational throughout that time and staff members will work from home, the website said. All events scheduled in that time frame will be postponed, and staff can be reached via email or through the websites contact feature.

Also on MLive:

Sunday, March 15: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

Michigan urges bars and restaurants to limit crowds to fight coronavirus spread

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer bans gatherings of more than 250 people as coronavirus spreads
In order to help prevent the spread of coronavirus the Roman Catholic Church in Goa on Saturday issued advisory asking people to not kiss the Holy Cross and urged priests to purify their hands with sanitisers.

The advisory issued by Archbishop of Goa Daman and Diu, Filipe Neri Ferrao also urged people to not shake hands and offer a Namaste instead.

"On Good Friday, at the Veneration of the Cross, discourage people from kissing the Cross. The blessing with a raised Cross would be adequate. Those who desire could come in a queue, make reverence with a bow and go back. Holy water stoops may be kept dry," the advisory stated.

"I exhort the clergy, the religious and the faithful of this archdiocese to constantly and earnestly pray to the almighty, both for the deliverance of those affected by the disease and for the protection of the rest of the population against the looming virus," said Ferrao.

Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared it as a pandemic. Globally, atleast 145374 confirmed cases have been reported and more than 5400 people have lost their lives due to the disease.

So far, India has detected 93 positive cases of COVID-19.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amid a controversy over the cremation of the 68-year-old woman who died in Delhi after being infected with the novel coronavirus, the Union health ministry has begun working on framing guidelines for handling the bodies of those who die of the disease.

IMAGE: Medics screen patients as part of a precautionary measure for novel coronavirus outbreak at a government run hospital in New Delhi. Photograph: PTI Photo

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.

"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 the 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," the health ministry official said.

Cremation of a person who died due to coronavirus has no side effect by any methods -- using fire or electrical, gas or by burial, said Sudhir Gupta, head of the forensic medicine department of the AIIMS, New Delhi.

In case of burial, the surface of the grave should be cemented, he said.

Meanwhile, the AIIMS forensic department has drafted guidelines for workers in mortuary.

Mortuary and death care workers who have contact with human remains known or suspected to be contaminated must be protected from exposure to infected blood and body fluids, contaminated objects, or other contaminated environmental surfaces, the guidelines said.

They also said the number of people allowed in the autopsy room should be limited.

"Use of an oscillating bone saw should be avoided for confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19. Consider using hand shears as an alternative cutting tool. If an oscillating saw is used, attach a vacuum shroud to contain aerosols," the guidelines said.

"This virus is most often spread from a living person, occurs with close contact via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how influenza and other respiratory pathogens spread. This route of transmission is not a concern when handling human remains or performing post-mortem procedures," Gupta said.

Post-mortem activities should be ideally waived to avoid aerosol generating procedures, and ensuring that if aerosol generation is likely that appropriate engineering controls and personal protective equipment (PPE) are used, he said.

These precautions and the use of standard precautions should ensure that appropriate work practices are used to prevent direct contact with infectious material, percutaneous injury, and hazards related to moving heavy remains and handling embalming chemicals.

The World Health Organisation guidelines on 'Infection prevention and control of epidemic and pandemic-prone acute respiratory infections in health care' recommend proper use of PPE in accordance with standard precautions to avoid direct contact with body fluids while moving a body from isolation room or area.

About mortuary care and post-mortem examination, WHO recommends packing and transporting a body with acute respiratory infection to a morgue, crematorium or burial by ensuring it is fully sealed in an impermeable body bag before being removed from the isolation area to avoid leakage of body fluid.

"When properly packed in a body bag, the body can be safely removed for storage in the mortuary, sent to the crematorium, or placed in a coffin for burial," it said.

The global health body advises using personal protective equipment such as disposable, long-sleeved, cuffed gowns for handling bodies; if the outside of the body is visibly contaminated with body fluids, excretions, or secretions, it has to be ensured that the gown is waterproof.

It further recommends that mortuary staff and burial team apply standard precautions like proper hand hygiene and use appropriate personal protective equipment, including facial protection, if there is a risk of splashes from the patient's body fluids or secretions onto the body or face of the staff member.

"Transmission of lethal infectious diseases associated with mortuary care has been reported... manage each situation on a case-by-case basis, balancing the rights of the family with the risks of exposure to infection," the WHO said.

Respiratory pathogens which are transmitted through large droplets, include adenovirus, avian influenza A (H5N1), human influenza and SARS-CoV.

"During an influenza pandemic, the circulating human virus is expected to be transmitted in the same manner as seasonal influenza viruses. Hence, droplet precautions should be applied in addition to standard precautions," it said.

The cremation of the 68-year-old west Delhi resident was performed on Saturday under the supervision of medical authorities.

Doctors from the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital and from civic bodies oversaw the cremation after the crematorium staff reached out to the authorities seeking directives on ensuring that the infection didn't spread from the body, delaying the last rites by a few hours.

"The situation across the world is sensitive. We had to seek instructions first from MCD and medical authorities. They said the cremation will be done using CNG and the officials had come to supervise the process," Suman Gupta of the Nigam Bodh Ghat Sanchalan Samiti said.

The number of coronavirus positive cases in the country has risen to 84 which includes the two deaths in Delhi and Karnataka, according to the Union health ministry.
Phillipsburgs mayor and three area business owners are stepping up to help children in need as schools shut down in response to the coronavirus.

Daniel Risis, the new owner of the Phillipsburg Antique Mall and Tobys Cup in Lopatcong Township, is offering free hot dog lunches for the next two weeks for students in the Phillipsburg and Lopatcong areas. Children can visit Tobys Cup and receive the lunches from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday and Wednesday to Friday -- no questions asked.

The lunch includes two hot dogs and a drink, Risis said. All the student has to do is sign in with the name of their school to receive the meal.

The same is being done from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday to Friday at Roccos Pizza and Italian Restaurant, 360 S. Main St., Phillipsburg. Owner Michael Moossa said children with proper Phillipsburg School District identification or who sign in with their school name will receive a slice of pizza and drink -- no questions asked.

Additionally, Garas Pizzeria, 200 Strykers Road, Lopatcong Township starting Tuesday will provide any child with a Phillipsburg school ID with two slices of pizza and a drink from noon to 2 p.m. and again at dinner time, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Owner Chris Gara plans to offer the free meals for the next two weeks, he said.

The effort is being done in conjunction with Mayor Todd Tersigni. Risis said he personally will pay for any child who needs a lunch and asks more community members to band together to help others.

During these difficult times, it is important to recognize the issues that will arise from the lack of services offered from public-school systems," Risis stated in a Facebook posting Saturday evening. One of the most important ones in the school lunch program. Many kids in the Lehigh Valley rely on school lunches and breakfasts for their nutritional value and financial assistance.

Michael Burke, president and founder of the charitable organization, Brothers Before Others, said his organization is donating $1,000 to Phillipsburg toward helping those in need. The funds can include the free lunches. The group is made up of retired and active law enforcement officers who help aid the communities they serve.

Gara matched the organizations donation and also gave $1,000 toward the cause, Burke said.

We will run this program until the funds are depleted, he said.

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.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (L) jokes with retired Gen. Michael Flynn at a rally at Grand Junction Regional Airport in Grand Junction, Colo., on Oct. 18, 2016. (George Frey/Getty Images)

Trump Strongly Considering Pardon for Former Adviser Gen. Flynn

President Donald Trump said hes considering a pardon for his former national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, while criticizing the Justice Departments (DOJ) handling of Flynns case.

Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI. In recent months, however, hes asked District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who presides over his case, to allow him to withdraw his plea, saying his previous lawyers provided him ineffective assistance. Flynn also has repeatedly accused the government of misconduct related to his case.

So now it is reported that, after destroying his life & the life of his wonderful family (and many others also), the FBI, working in conjunction with the Justice Department, has lost the records of General Michael Flynn, Trump said in a March 15 tweet. How convenient. I am strongly considering a Full Pardon!

So now it is reported that, after destroying his life & the life of his wonderful family (and many others also), the FBI, working in conjunction with the Justice Department, has lost the records of General Michael Flynn. How convenient. I am strongly considering a Full Pardon!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 15, 2020

General Flynn is honored by the Presidents concern and awareness of this egregious injustice against him, his family, and the American people, Sidney Powell, a former federal prosecutor and Flynns lead lawyer, responded in an email to The Epoch Times.

Lost Records

It isnt clear what lost records Trump was talking about, but it might have been a reference to the original FBI report from the Jan. 24, 2017, interview, in which Flynn allegedly lied about his conversations with then-Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak.

FBI agents are required to complete an FD-302 report of their interviews within five days. But the earliest 302 draft provided to Flynn is from Feb. 10, more than two weeks after his interview.

Powell previously said she found a witness who saw an earlier draft of the 302.

Ive now found a witness who says the original 302 did, in fact, say that Flynn was honest with the agents and did not lie, she told Larry OConnor on his WMAL radio show on Jan. 16.

The prosecutors previously said any earlier drafts were not in their possession. Sullivan sided with them, saying sometimes documents go missing.

But Powell rejected that idea.

Neither the bureau nor its digital document system loses the most important of its reports that is supposed to support the federal felony of the Presidents National Security Adviser, she said in a court filing.

Tip of the Spear

Powell has argued that the FBIs investigation of Flynn was a pretext to target Trump.

The bureau opened a case on Flynn in August 2016 on suspicion that he may wittingly or unwittingly be involved in activity on behalf of the Russian Federation which may constitute a federal crime or threat to the national security.

According to Powell, that was nonsense.

Flynn used to head the Defense Intelligence Agency and kept the agency informed of his foreign contacts, including a paid interview he gave in Russia in 2016.

Former FBI Director James Comey alleged that on Feb. 14, 2017, Trump told him: I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.

Comey said he interpreted it as Trump asking him to drop an active investigation.

Based on this, the FBI probe of Flynn and several other Trump associates was handed over to a special counsel, former FBI head Robert Mueller, who then hired former prosecutor Andrew Weissmann to lead his team.

Weissmann was one of the chief villains in Powells 2014 bestseller, Licensed to Lie, a critique of prosecutorial misconduct within the DOJ.

The Mueller probe scoured Trumps presidency for nearly two more years before he concluded that the evidence was unable to establish that any alleged TrumpRussia collusion occurred.

But Mueller shouldnt have been appointed to begin with, Powell said during a March 11 speech at Hillsdale College.

Not only did the FBI agents think Flynn didnt intentionally lie during the interview, but less than a week later, the DOJ produced a memo that cleared Flynn of the suspicion that he was a Russian agent, Powell said.

According to an internal DOJ memo dated January 30, 2017, after the Jan. 24 interview, the FBI advised that, based on the interview, the FBI did not believe Flynn was acting as an agent of Russia, Muellers team wrote to Flynns previous lawyers in a 2018 letter obtained by Just the News.

When Trump allegedly talked to Comey about Flynn, the investigation was already supposed to be over, according to Powell.

The Mueller-Weissmann team and evil actors in the FBI and DOJ had to concoct the case against Flynn to keep their obstruction hoax alive against the President, Powell said.

Thats what it was really about. Flynn was the tip of the spear to try to destroy Trump. This persecution is an outrage and a blight on the entire justice system. No one can have any trust in the FBI or DOJ until this is corrected.
OTTAWAGen. Jonathan Vance says he still has a lot of work to do.

Its been nearly five years since former prime minister Stephen Harper first appointed Vance as chief of the defence staff, making him one of the longest-serving military commanders in Canadas history.

The ensuing years have been busy for the military as it has fought the Islamic State group, stood guard against Russia in Latvia, rescued injured peacekeepers in Mali and helped Canadians with natural disasters at home.

The Forces have also grappled with sexual misconduct, aging equipment, including fighter jets, and significant upheaval in the top ranks over the failed prosecution of vice-admiral Mark Norman.

Vance, 56, has been one of the few constants throughout, weathering both criticism and praise.

The Liberal government itself has expressed its continued confidence in him and there are persistent reports it plans to recommend him to become NATOs top military official in the fall.

Vance will not speak to those reports, but the four-star general, whose father Jack Vance served as vice-chief of the defence staff in the 1980s, says he has no plans to step down as Canadas top military commander.

I serve entirely at the pleasure of the government and will continue to do so and to the very best I can, Vance told The Canadian Press.

We have a pandemic we have to deal with, weve got troops overseas and Ive got an institution that Im trying to do my part to make certain is competent in war-fighting deep into the 21st century. Thats what Im focused on.

Vances first act as chief of the defence staff in July 2015 was to launch Operation Honour, the militarys effort to stamp out sexual misconduct.

It was an attempt to undo some of the damage caused by his predecessor general Tom Lawsons ill-advised remarks about biological wiring and restore the militarys credibility on an issue that threatened to turn public opinion against it.

It was also the opening gambit in an effort to attract and retain people of different backgrounds, education and skill sets to address the realities of 21st-century warfare and Canadas own changing demographics.

Vance set an ambitious target to have women represent one in four Forces members by 2026. He actively reached out to the LGBTQ community and eased rules around beards, ponytails, boots and cannabis.

Meanwhile, the military has been called upon to respond to more events around the world over the past five years.

Canadian troops were already in Ukraine helping train local forces following Russias annexation of Crimea when Vance took command in 2015. They were also helping the Kurds in Iraq fight ISIL.

Those missions continue five years later, but Canadian troops now also lead a NATO battle group in Latvia and a NATO training mission in Iraq. There was also the yearlong contribution to UN peacekeeping efforts in Mali.

There was also a change in government before the Liberals developed a defence policy that provided a broad vision for the military for the next 20 years  including tens of billions of dollars in promised investments for new equipment.

Vance has been at the helm throughout.

I have been continuity in the institution, Vance said when asked about his future, before pointing to the work ahead, including a major review of North Americas defences.

As we try to go into the detail of Norad modernization, continental defence and so on ... I want to continue to lead there and certainly want to continue on all aspects of the force development so were the right force for the future.

Yet while the general has received praise for his leadership and vision through what has been a period of constant change, including from the government, he has not sailed through the past five years without criticism.

There were questions early in his tenure over whether the general was tailoring the definition of combat to suit the needs of his political masters when it came to Canadas mission in Iraq.

Some also took issue with Vance appearing on stage with several Liberal ministers in November 2016 to support the governments decision to punt a competition to replace Canadas aging CF-18s and buy 18 Super Hornet fighter jets.

This past week, Lt.-Gen. Jean-Marc Lanthier announced his surprise retirement after less than a year as vice-chief of the defence staff, citing a desire to spend more time with his family.

Lanthier was only the latest officer to serve as the militarys second-in-command since Vance suspended Norman in January 2017 due to an RCMP investigation into whether the vice-admiral and former navy commander had leaked cabinet secrets about a shipbuilding project.

Normans supporters have heavily criticized Vance for suspending then replacing Norman after the vice-admiral was charged with breach of trust. Prosecutors dropped the charge last May before Norman received a settlement from the government and retired.

Vance said he does not regret how he handled the situation, saying the rules governing the military are clear on what needed to be done.

If people want to be pointing their fingers at me, that its somehow to do with my leadership, they really dont know what theyre talking about, said Vance.

The last Canadian general to serve as chairman of the NATO military committee, the third-most powerful position in the alliance, was Ray Henault from 2005 to 2008. Getting the job would represent the culmination of Vances nearly four decades in uniform.

But he wont talk about that, noting that decision is up to the government. Besides, with Russia and China flexing their muscles, the Islamic State group and Iranian-backed militia active in Iraq, more natural disasters in Canada and now the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, he says he has enough to worry about.

Until they make a decision, it does not exist, its not a factor, Vance said of the NATO job. And so right now I am focused on this job and will continue to focus on this job. ... Im not focused on the future. Im not focused on my legacy.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 15

Trend:

Four more cases of coronavirus infection have been detected in Azerbaijan, the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers told Trend.

Coronavirus infection continues to spread worldwide. Although many countries are taking intensive preventive measures, it is still impossible to stop the spread of the infection.

Currently, patients who are being treated in special treatment clinics and monitored feel normal. Their health is stable.

The health of other patients being treated in special treatment clinics is strictly controlled, and appropriate measures are being taken to treat them.

"Given that coronavirus infection has been declared a global pandemic, as well as the tendency for the virus to spread widely, we urge our citizens to be more attentive, follow the recommendations of the World Health Organization, in order to reliably protect health and ensure the safety of the population, fully comply with the decisions taken by the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers and the rules established by it, reads the statement of the Operational Headquarters.
Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Sunday said that one country cannot succeed in combating the coronavirus pandemic on its own, saying the SAARC members come together "in times of crisis."

"In times of crisis, we do come together ... No country on its own can succeed in combating the virus. It requires a shared responsibility at an unprecedented scale," Solih said in a video conference with all SAARC member countries.

The President of Maldives also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a "timely call for regional initiative" to combat the "increasing threat of COVID-19" in the SAARC region.

"In 2003, for example, when the region faced the threat of SARS, the Maldives took the initiative and hosted an extraordinary meeting of SAARC Health Ministers that adopted a regional common strategy for tackling the virus," Solih said.

"The first COVID-19 case was confirmed in the Maldives on March 7. To date, there are 13 confirmed cases and fortunately no death so far. Since January this year, Maldives has been taking steps for a possible outbreak. Our priority now is to use precautionary measures to contain the virus as much as possible so as not to overburden our limited resources," he added.

Solih said that the unique geography of Maldives always presents itself as both an opportunity and a challenge as the "dispersed islands make it easier to isolate communities whenever there is a suspected case but, in the event that a person tests positive on the outer islands and is seriously ill requiring special care, the person has to be transported to the capital, which is extremely costly and puts enormous pressure on an overstretched team of healthcare workers."

He said that the Maldives is fortunate to have received general assistance from India and conveyed his government's appreciation to Prime Minister Modi and the people of India.

Earlier, Modi said that the countries that are members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) should "prepare, act and succeed together" against COVID-19.

"As developing nations, all of us have significant challenges in terms of access to heal care facilities. Our people-to-people ties are ancient and our society deeply interconnected. We must all prepare, act and succeed together," he said.

He stressed the importance of vigilance since the region is densely populated.

"COVID-19 has recently been classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a pandemic. So far, our SAARC region has listed fewer than 150 cases but we need to remain vigilant. SAARC region is home to nearly 1/5 of all humanity. It is densely populated," said Modi.

Prime Minister Modi briefed the SAARC member countries about India's experience of combating the spread of coronavirus so far.

"Prepare, but don't panic has been our guiding mantra. We started screening entry into India from mid-January itself, while also gradually increasing restrictions on travel. The step-by-step approach has helped avoid panic. We have made special efforts to reach out to vulnerable groups," he said.

The Prime Minister said that "we have worked to quickly ramp up capacity in our system including through training our medical staff across the country. We have also increased diagnostic capabilities. Within two months, we moved from one major facility for pan-India testing."

Modi said that the country has developed protocols for each stage of managing the pandemic.

"We also responded to the call of our people abroad. We evacuated nearly 1,400 Indians from different countries. We also similarly helped some of the citizens of our neighbouring countries," he said.

Underlining the concern of other countries for their citizens in India, Modi said that the foreign ambassadors are being updated about the situation in the country on a regular basis.

"We cannot predict with certainty how the situation will unfold despite our best efforts. You must also be facing similar concern," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Linkedin Gemma Holliani Cahya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 15, 2020 13:09 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206abf829 1 National COVID-19,COVID-19-Indonesian-patients,Singapore,coronavirus,Foreign-Ministry,health-ministry Free

An Indonesian Health Ministry official confirmed that the ministry had received information from Singaporean authorities regarding Indonesian citizens being treated for COVID-19 in the city-state, saying that authorities at home had started tracing the patients close contacts.

[We] have received the information from the Foreign Ministry, the Health Ministrys disease control and prevention director general, Achmad Yurianto, said on Saturday. We have started tracing.

However, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Sunday that the standard protocol implemented worldwide was that information sharing was supposed to be conducted through inter-ministerial communication  by the ministries in charge of public health in each country or between officials in charge for handling such a communicable disease.

That is the information being shared by the Health Ministry with the Foreign Ministry, said the ministry's spokesman, Teuku Faizasyah.

The Indonesian government claimed that Singapore had insisted 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.

At least eight people with COVID-19 in Singapore are believed to have contracted the virus in Indonesia, two of whom are Singaporean citizens with a history of travel to the archipelago.

Yurianto claimed the Health Ministry had asked for the identities of the Indonesian citizens from Singapore but authorities in the country rejected the request, saying that such behavior had hindered the Indonesian government from conducting tracing at home.

In a separate statement Friday, a spokesperson for the Singaporean Health Ministry denied the allegation, saying that Singapore and Indonesia are state parties to the World Health Organization International Health Regulations (IHR), and that Singapore has promptly shared information with Indonesia through the official IHR channel on all the confirmed COVID-19 cases involving Indonesians, to facilitate contact tracing in Indonesia.

The Indonesian IHR national focal point (NFP), who is an official from the Indonesian Health Ministry, has acknowledged receipt of all correspondences on these cases sent by Singapores IHR NFP, the spokesperson added.

As of Sunday, Indonesia has recorded 96 confirmed cases, resulting in five deaths. Meanwhile, Singapore has recorded 212 cases and zero deaths.

The WHO stated in its report on Saturday that the pandemic had reached 136 countries, with 13 new countries having reported their first cases. At least 5,393 people have died from the lethal virus but more than 73,900 have recovered worldwide. (asp)
The United States Government has indicted the Nigerian Army and the Department of State Services (DSS) over the 2019 general elections.

The US government in a report released on Wednesday by the Department of State, also said it has evidence that the Army and the DSS intimidated voters, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission and even election observers during the general elections, concluding that this fueled the impression that the Army worked for the success of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at the polls.

The report, the 2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in Nigeria, also noted that the Nigerian judiciary was still susceptible to intimidation by the executive and the legislative arms of government, contending that there was corruption in the judiciary, which made it not to be able to function independently.

During the year (2019) INEC conducted the presidential election, National Assembly elections, state House Assembly elections, and local elections in all 36 states plus the FCT, as well as governorship elections in 30 states.

There was evidence military and security services intimidated voters, electoral officials and election observers. In addition violence in several states contributed to lower voter participation and added to the sentiment the army is a tool of the ruling party in many parts of the country, particularly in the South.

For example, widespread violence and military involvement in electoral processes, including during the vote collation process, significantly scarred the governorship election in Rivers State. Additionally, several of INECs resident electoral commissioners reported DSS operatives intimidated them when the RECs attempted to protect voting materials. Some RECs reported security service personnel visited them multiple times prior to the elections.

There were reports that corruption, including vote-buying, were historically high during the 2018-19 electoral season. Examples of vote-buying were apparent in the re-run of the Osun (State) gubernatorial election in September 2018, and during the Kano (State) gubernatorial election on March 9 (2019), the report stated.

On the judiciary, the US contended that it has been unable to function optimally due to executive and legislative intimidation as well as corruption, adding that court officials were also poorly paid thereby making them susceptible to manipulation.

The US said: Although the constitution and law provide for an independent judiciary, the judicial branch remained susceptible to pressure from the executive and legislative branches. Political leaders influenced the judiciary, particularly at the state and local levels.

Understaffing, underfunding, inefficiency, and corruption prevented the judiciary from functioning adequately. There are no continuing education requirements for attorneys, and police officers were often assigned to serve as prosecutors. Judges frequently failed to appear for trials. In addition, the salaries of court officials were low, and they often lacked proper equipment and training.

There was a widespread public perception that judges were easily bribed and litigants could not rely on the courts to render impartial judgments.

The constitution and law provide for an independent judiciary in civil matters, but the executive and legislative branches, as well as business interests, exerted influence and pressure in civil cases. Official corruption and lack of will to implement court decisions also interfered with due process.

Highlighting the high rate of human rights abuse perpetuated by security agents against journalists, rights groups and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, the US Government said that President Muhammadu Buharis government had not taken action against any of the military officials that killed over 300 Shiites in 2015.

The US explained the aspect of the panel of enquiry set up by Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State that indicted military officers in the killing of Shiites in the state had not been implemented though the recommendation for IMNs proscription had been implemented.

As of September (2019) there were no reports of the Federal Government further investigating or holding individuals accountable for the 2015 killing and subsequent mass burial of members of a Shia political organisation, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, and other civilians by Nigerian Army forces in Zaria, Kaduna State.

A 2016 report by the government of Kaduna State included acceptance of the commissions recommendation to investigate and prosecute allegations of excessive and disproportionate use of force by the Nigerian Army. As of September, there was no indication that authorities had held any members of the NA accountable for the events in Zaria, the report further stated.

On the state of the prisons in Nigeria, the US Government noted that conditions in prison and detention centres remained harsh and life threatening.

Prisoners and detainees reportedly were subjected to gross overcrowding, inadequate medical care, food and water shortages, and other abuses; some of these conditions resulted in deaths, the report stated.
US President Donald Trump has tested negative for the coronavirus, the presidents personal physician confirmed on Saturday (March 14).

Trump decided to undergo test after coming in contact with several members of a Brazilian presidential delegation which met him at his resort in Florida and some members of the delegation ha now tested positive for the deadly virus.



"This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative," the president's physician Sean Conley said in a memo. "One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation at Mar-a-Lago, the President remains symptom-free," he added.

Earlier on Saturday, President Trump had announced that he took the test for the coronavirus. "I had my temperature taken coming into the room and I also took the test for the coronavirus," President Trump had said after his meeting with the Coronavirus Taskforce in the White House.

Whether President Treump would be tested had been a matter of speculation since it first emerged that a member of a Brazilian delegation that visited Mar-a-Lago had tested positive. Two other people who were with the president at Mar-a-Lago have tested positive.

President Trump started the press briefing with "We just completed a very good meeting on the Coronavirus and we are really doing a great job."

He added, "We're using the full power of the federal government to defeat the virus," said Trump.

On Friday, US President declared a state of emergency over the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in order to make more funds available for fighting the fallout of the disease while reflecting symbolically the seriousness of the situation.
Interest will be waived for borrowers who are in income-driven repayment plans, which includes everyone seeking to have their loans erased by the public service loan forgiveness program. People in that program, which covers all sorts of workers, including health care professionals and emergency medical workers, will still have their monthly payments count toward their 120-payment goal, even if they arent required to pay anything at all because their income is very low.
Spain on Monday begins a nationwide lockdown to keep people at home, just as Italy has done, as it tries to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez  whose wife Begona Gomez has tested positive for the virus  said Spaniards would be barred from leaving home for the next two weeks, except for buying food, medicine or if they had to go to work.

The country of 46 million people has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in Europe after Italy  the worst-hit nation outside China, where the outbreak began. Europe is now the epicentre of the pandemic which has claimed over 5,900 lives worldwide since it began in December.

In Spain, more than 5,700 people have tested positive for the virus, with over 180 deaths. Meanwhile in Italy, more than 21,000 cases have strained the hospital system  especially in the Lombardy region, where more patients were admitted to intensive care wards on Saturday than any other day since the outbreak began.

The death toll in Italy stood at 1,441 as of Sunday, almost half the number killed in China. One of the countrys most celebrated architects, Vittorio Gregotti, whose work includes Barcelonas Olympic Stadium, died from the disease in Milan on Saturday at the age of 92, Italian media reported.

In France, Britain and some parts of Germany, social distancing measures have been imposed or are planned, with policymakers seeking ways to help elderly people in need and businesses struggling to cope with the widespread economic disruption.

Cafes and restaurants in France  central to social life in the country  have been told to close, along with most other non-essential businesses.

In Germany, reservists were called up to assist with the coronavirus situation on Saturday, Die Welt newspaper reported. The European Unions biggest economy now has the third most serious outbreak in the region, with more than 4,500 cases.

Meanwhile, Denmark, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have sealed off their borders, with almost all non-citizens barred from entering.

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After Spain announced a state of alarm, imposing tight restrictions across the country, the usually bustling capital Madrid is now a ghost town.

Resident Guillermo Plaza Aguado, who works in the insurance industry, said it was very calm with empty streets.

There was some panic buying in the previous days, when the closing of schools in Madrid was announced, but it was overall under control and there have been no supply shortages of any products, besides very few exceptions, he said.

Declaring the state of alarm on Saturday, Sanchez said the Spanish government would use all the resources at our disposal to combat the curve of contagion. The measures that we are going to adopt are drastic and will have consequences.

For now, Spaniards can still go to work if doing their jobs from home is not an option.

Some in the region are under fire over their handling of the crisis, including France for its decision to go ahead with nationwide local elections on Sunday, and the British advisers promoting a strategy of herd immunity  allowing as many people to get infected as possible and potentially becoming immune as a result.

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock was quick to reject the idea as a government policy, though he would not say when the government planned to introduce measures to encourage elderly and at-risk people to stay at home.

I would not go into the timing, Hancock told the BBC. We will be taking further measures.

The British government plans to introduce emergency laws this week to ban mass gatherings.

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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.

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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
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 a possible surge in coronavirus patients on Feb. 27, 2020. Federal officials this week urged Americans to get ready for the likely spread of the virus, known as Covid-19, in the United States. State officials said the risk for people in Massachusetts remains low, but they are preparing for the possibility widespread infection.

Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

US hospitals are using a variety of tactics to deal with the growing coronavirus outbreak with limited supplies and hospital beds.

Some of the measures, like pulling doctors out of retirement, have been used in other COVID-19 impacted countries like Italy.

The US only has 2.8 beds for every 1,000 people, while Italy and China have a slightly larger capacity.

Some experts estimate that millions of Americans may need hospitalization and that the US is short on needed ICU beds and ventilators.

Several hospitals have already started setting up "COVID Cabanas" to treat suspected coronavirus cases.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Hospitals across the country are using multiple approaches to deal with the new coronavirus pandemic as more cases are expected in the US.

According to the Associated Press, hospitals have looked to measures like calling doctors out of retirement, setting up tent units outside their main facilities, and even canceling elective surgery procedures. Governors of New York and Colorado have called on "former" health care professionals to be on reserve if other workers should get sick on the front lines.

The number of cases in the US surpassed 2,300 but some estimates project that millions of Americans could potentially be infected with the new virus that causes COVID-19.

A leaked presentation obtained by Business Insider's Lydia Ramsey showed that one expert estimated 96 million Americans could be infected, with 4.8 million needing hospitalization and a little less than 500,000 deaths from the virus.

At least 50 people have died from COVID-19 in the US as of Friday.

Douglas Wise, a former deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told Newsweek the US could expect to see a spike in cases similar to what happened in Italy, which could overwhelm the healthcare system.

Italy's Lombardy region, which is the epicenter of the outbreak there, was so strained it began pulling doctors out of retirement and pushed up the graduation date of nursing students so they can help combat the outbreak.

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Italian doctors have had to prioritize saving the young and relatively healthy COVID-19 patients because they don't have the capacity, supplies, or hospital beds to treat everyone.

There have been close to 18,000 infections and more than 1,200 deaths in Italy.

Back in the US, experts also said hospitals are short on needed ICU rooms and supplies.

The US has 2.8 beds for every 1,000 people, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reported, compared to Italy's 3.2 and China's 4.3.

"What is happening in Italy can happen here. There is no question," Juliette Kayyem, former assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, told Newsweek.

According to a Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins report from last month, the US has 160,000 ventilators ready for use in hospitals, and another 8,900 held in a national reserve. However it's estimated that almost one million Americans may need a ventilator during the course of the outbreak.

Some hospital doctors are worried they'll have to "ration" medical care if the outbreak gets worse, the AP reported.

The US has 95,000 ICU beds but Dr. Irwin Redlener, director of Columbia University's national center for disaster preparedness, told Reuters that if a "full-blown outbreak" were to occur, the US would be short 75,000 to 100,000 ICU beds.

"Normally they wouldn't pay attention to available beds and personnel in civilian hospitals, but they would during a global medical crisis," Wise told Newsweek.

According to the AP, some patients could end up waiting on stretchers in the hallways of emergency rooms as they wait for an open bed or sharing rooms with other COVID-19 patients.

Canceling things like elective procedures can reduce the strain on the hospital. According to The New York Times, most hospitals have disaster preparedness plans in place for several situations including new infectious disease. Other initiatives they may take to expand their ability to meet the demands of this outbreak include sending patients home earlier or renting space in other facilities for makeshift hospital rooms.

Hospitals are already facing shortages of supplies and other obstacles in providing care for the anticipated growing number of COVID-19 cases, the Times reported.

C. Ryan Keay, the medical director of the emergency department at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington, where the largest outbreak in the country is unfolding told The Times that their hospital is always full, and "it doesn't take much to tip us over the edge."

Keay explained that other medical procedures in the hospital could be affected by the influx of coronavirus patients. For example, x-ray rooms have to close for 30 minutes after a someone gets a chest x-ray so they can be sanitized. When a lot of patients need x-rays, there are delays.

Keay also told The Times that the need to sanitize facilities used by suspected COVID-19 cases to CDC standards also slows down the process.

Gabrield Cade, a doctor at Blue Ridge Regional, told the AP that what happened in Italy was a "huge eye-opener."

"We've really got to ... expect that this is going to be bad," Cade told the AP.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang (Photo: VNA)

She said the Vietnamese government on March 13th decided to temporarily deny entry of foreigners coming from or transiting through Schengen countries, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland within 14 days preceding their expected entry into Vietnam with the purposes of travelling, visiting relatives, studying, or personnal matters.

The government also decided to suspend visa-on-arrival at border gates to all foreigners regardless of their countries and territories amid the complicated developments of the COVID-19 epidemic, she added.

This decision will be effective from 12:00 on March 15th, 2020, and not be applicable to entrants for diplomatic or official purposes, she said.

Foreigners who are experts, business managers and highly-skilled workers entering Vietnam must undergo medical checks and quarantine measures at their enterprises and residential areas as required, the spokesperson added./.
Assurances of restoration of statehood at "early opportunity", no demographic change and release of all political prisoners in "due course" were the takeaways from Union Home Minister Amit Shah's meeting with a political delegation of the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party here on Sunday.

Expressing confidence that "visible changes will be seen on the ground in the next few months, the home minister also assured the delegation that the NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take all steps for the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir".

The political delegation, which is the first one after the abrogation of special status on August 5 last year by the Centre, had called on the prime minister on Saturday.

Engaging with the delegation on about 40-odd issues raised by them, the home minister emphasised that there is no intention of the government for demographic change in the region and "all such talks have no basis at all".

In a similar assurance as given by the prime minister to the delegation, Shah said the government will work with all sections of the society to realize the hopes of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir at an early opportunity, an official statement said.

Shah referred to the prime minister's address to the nation after the abrogation of Article 370 and said that and even he, himself in his speech in Lok Sabha on August 6, 2019 expressed the same.

The home minister said this is also good for India's interest, as the region is a border area, the statement said.

He assured the delegation that Jammu and Kashmir will have a better domicile policy than other states in the country and also said that a reasonable economic development policy will be drafted soon after widespread consultation.

Shah said his government is open to suggestions and feedback from all political parties and individuals for overall development of Jammu and Kashmir.

Allaying the apprehensions of the delegation on restrictions, Shah said all decisions on relaxations are based on ground realities and not due to any pressure.

He referred to steps like release of people from detention, restoration of internet, relaxation in curfew and said that "even political prisoners will be freed in times to come as the main objective of the government is that not a single person should die, be it a common Kashmiri or security personnel".

Many political leaders were detained after August 5 last year when the Centre revoked special status of Jammu and Kashmir and Divided it into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

He emphasised that there is no discrimination in implementation of central laws in Jammu and Kashmir and interests of all sections will be taken care of.

He said that a land bank had been created in the union territory and the government would soon come out with an industrial policy to ensure rapid economic development.

He expressed hope that in next four years, Jammu and Kashmir will have three times more investments than Rs 13,000 crore that it has received in last 70 years.

There is a huge potential and investors are also willing to come forward. This will also solve the problem of unemployment in the region, he added.

On the issues of reservation, the home minister said that a commission will be set up soon and reiterated that no injustice will be done to Gujjars, nomads and other communities.

On the issues concerning JK Bank, he assured the delegation of personally looking into the issues.

Shah said that he will also ask the Lieutenant Governor to appoint a senior nodal officer to meet the people twice in a week to address their grievances. He also asked the delegation to provide feedback to the nodal officers in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Emerging after the nearly two-hour meeting with the home minister, Altaf Bukhari, a businessman-turned-politician who led the delegation of the party, said the home minister allayed fears of demographic changes in Jammu and Kashmir and also assured of early return of statehood.

The JK Apni Party chief also raised various other issues, including autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir Bank, age relaxation of youths from union territory appearing in Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams, relief in horticulture and agriculture, besides the tourism sector.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
UPDATE (3/16/20): 13 new coronavirus cases including in Bucks, Poconos put Pennsylvania at 76

UPDATE (3/15/20): Lehigh County coronavirus case is an LVHN employee from Bethlehem

The coronavirus has appeared in a second Lehigh Valley patient as Pennsylvanias total jumped to 63, the state health department announced Sunday.

A Lehigh County case, that countys first, was among the 16 new cases of COVID-19 reported in a noontime news release. Northampton County recorded its first and so far only patient on Thursday.

The other positive tests for the novel coronavirus reported Sunday: one in Allegheny County; one in Bucks County; two in Cumberland County; one in Delaware County; one in Luzerne County; three in Monroe County; four in Montgomery County; and two in Philadelphia County.

The health department says all new patients are in isolation at home or being treated at a hospital.

There have been 446 Pennsylvanians tested. Results in 183 cases are pending.

The state health department did not release any more details about individual cases.

There is no treatment for this coronavirus, which causes COVID-19. Health officials are urging residents to stay isolated from large crowds to prevent its spread, particularly among older people and those with compromised immune systems.

Pennsylvania schools have been ordered closed for 10 days and counties south of the Lehigh Valley have been asked to close non-essential businesses.

These are the main symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.CDC

Anyone who experiences symptoms of COVID-19  cough, fever and shortness of breath  should contact their healthcare provider to see if a test is necessary.

For more information on the coronavirus, consult your state health department at health.pa.gov and the CDC website.

Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Follow him on Twitter @SteveNovakLVL and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 15) - The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) assured the public that there will be no human rights violations by the government forces, particularly the police, as the month-long community quarantine n Metro Manila starts today.

Despite this assurance, Interior Secretary Eduard Ano asked everyone to report any abuses by the police if there is so.

"Wala pong human rights na maba-violate sa pagpapairal ng community quarantine na ito. Mayroon po tayong protocol na sinusunod at magalang po kayong kakausapin ng ating mga kapulisan kung saan kayo papunta, ano ang inyong pakay, at iba pa," he said in a statement.

[Translation No human rights will be violated throughout the implementation of the community quarantine. We have protocols to be followed and the policemen will politely ask you about your destination, purpose of travel, and others.]

The police and the military will guard the 56 checkpoints in the region as part of the community quarantine  that will end on April 14  amid the coronavirus pandemic which have infected more than 100 individuals in the country.

This is a global public health emergency not martial law," added Ano. Hindi lang po ang Pilipinas ang gumagawa ng ganito, buong mundo po (Its not only the Philippines that is doing this, but also other parts of the world).

Countries like Spain and Italy are currently in lockdown as the Europe is now the new epicenter of coronavirus disease.

DILG noted that the police will question and seek proof of identification from people seeking entry to Metro Manila and will advise them to go home if they fail to show proper documentation.

"Sa pagkakataong mag-resist ang ating mga kababayan, doon pa lang ipapatupad ng ating kapulisan ang batas ng walang nilalabag na karapatang pantao. Samantala, atin din namang parurusahan ang mga pulis na mapapatunayang nang-aabuso ng ating mga kakabayan," he says.

[Translation: If any of our citizens resist, thats the only time that the police will implement the law without violating any human rights. On the other hand, we will also punish any policemen caught abusing the rights of our citizens.]

Meanwhile, Interior Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said that any alleged abuses by the police can be reported to DILG through Hotline 8888, 911 and the DILG-Public Assistance and Complaints Center at 8925-0343.
A bench of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) is being constituted in Chennai to handle matters arising from Southern states.

The government has notified the constitution of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, Chennai Bench, which will come into effect from March 18, 2020.

The Chennai-based bench wouldhear the appeals against the orders of the benches of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) having jurisdiction of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Lakshadweep and Puducherry, the notification said.

"The Bench of the NCLAT at New Delhi shall be known as the Principal Bench of the NCLAT which shall continue to hear appeals other than those in the jurisdiction of Chennai Bench of the NCLAT," it said adding This notification shall come into force with effect from the 18th March, 2020.

The NCLAT was constituted under Section 410 of the Companies Act, 2013 for hearing appeals against the orders of National Company Law Tribunal(s) (NCLT), with effect from June 1, 2016.

It is also appellate tribunal for hearing appeals against the orders passed by NCLT under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

Besides, 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).

Last week, the government appointed Justice Bansi Lal Bhat as the officiating chairperson of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). Incumbent chairperson Justice Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya retired on Friday.

Besides, it has also strengthened the number of judges by appointing more members for the appellate tribunal.

In a separate notification, the government informed to appoint Justice Anant Bijay Singh as judicial member and Shreesha Merla and Alok Srivastava as technical members of the appellate tribunal.

After this, the number of members has gone up to 11, which includes Judicial and Technical Members of the appellate tribunal.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MANILA, Philippines  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reiterated that there are no registered COVID-19 diagnostic test kits that are now available to the public yet.

In a statement issued on Sunday (March 15), the FDA said this is so because no company has complied with the minimum set of requirements.

The FDA added that they are only asking for a License to Operate (LTO) as a distributor and a Certificate of Product Registration (CPR) from a reliable and mature national regulatory agency (NRA) such as FDA counterparts in the United States, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Europe, among others, from those who want to import test kits.

In the absence of such, a Certificate of Prequalification or Emergency Use Listing from the World Health Organization (WHO) is also admissible.

As of Sunday, the FDA said, no company has submitted these.

The agency also denied that there is a delay in the approval of the test kits, adding that as soon as proper documents are submitted to the FDA, the certification will be immediately released.

The FDA stressed that the submission of proper documents relative to the test kits will safeguard the public interest and ensure that the available test kits for use are safe and will give useful results.

Many companies have been marketing test kits since the start of the COVID outbreak, however, the source and reliability of these devices are yet to be verified, the statement reads.

Director-General Eric Domingo explained, We cannot vouch for its safety and efficacy by merely accepting the stated claims of a testing kit without the proper regulatory certification from the country of origin and a reliable NRA. These kits may give false positive and false negative results which may affect the response to this pandemic. They may also be counterfeit products that will not test for the novel coronavirus at all.

The FDA added that the only COVID-19 diagnostic test kits used now are PCR based lab kits at the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) which were donated by the WHO, and the University of the Philippines National Institutes of Health (UP NIH) and Department of Science and Technology (DOST) developed test kit which is scheduled to start field testing on Monday, 16 March 2020.

Story continues

The FDA ensures that it is committed to staying true to its mandate of safeguarding public health.

During these difficult times, we strongly request everybody to cooperate and to be vigilant. This is not the time to take advantage of the scarcity of resources by allowing unregulated items into the system. Let us continue to look after each others safety. DG Domingo concluded.  /mbmf

The post No available COVID-19 test kits in Phl yet  FDA appeared first on UNTV News.
Im very, very concerned that we see a rapid spread of this disease, and its time to take more dramatic measures, Mayor Bill de Blasio said late Sunday afternoon. This is a decision I have taken with no joy and a lot of pain.

The mayor also announced on Sunday night that he would order all bars and restaurants to close, limiting them to takeout and food delivery.

Public schools in Long Island and Westchester County will also close this week, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said on Sunday.

The governor ordered New York City school officials to develop a plan within 24 hours on how to offer child care to students of parents who work in essential industries like health care and to provide food to students who will need meals.

In New York City, the schools will be closed on Monday for all students and staff, but teachers will be asked to report to work later in the week for training on how to provide remote learning, Mr. de Blasio said.
Taking a shocking political jibe at the SAARC Conference on COVID-19, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's special assistant Dr. Zafar Mirza on Sunday, raked up Kashmir while discussing the seven countries' efforts to battle the epidemic. Mirza expressed his 'concerns' that 19 cases have been detected in Jammu-Kashmir. Demanding India remove the 'lockdown in J&K immediately', he said it was imperative in the face of the emergency. The Pakistan Prime Minister was the only country leader who did not attend the meeting.

PM Modi announces 'COVID-19 Emergency fund'; pledges $10 mn to battle pandemic in SAARC

Pakistan rakes up Kashmir at COVID-19 meet

"We hope that during this COVID-19 our member countries will provide access to all the regions. In this regard, it is a matter of concern that COVID-19 has reported from Jammu and Kashmir. In the view of emergency its imperative that all lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir must be lifted immediately, opening up communication and movement," said Mirza. The video conference was led by PM Modi and was attended by Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, Maldives President Ibrahim Solih, Sri Lanka president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bhutan Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's assistant - Dr Zafar Mirza.

MHA suspends passenger movement through all immigration check points at Indian borders

Pakistan locks down POK

Incidentally, the Pakistan administration has imposed a health emergency across Pakistan Occupied Kashmir on Friday as 'a precautionary measure' in spite of allegedly reporting no cases of COVID-19. The Pakistan government has announced that all the schools, colleges and universities across PoK will remain shut till April 6 and has installed strict screening mechanism at all 11 entry points. Meanwhile, in Pakistan, the tally of Coronavirus cases has risen upto 34, as of date.

Australian PM Scott Morrison lauds PM Modi's 'G-20 link-up' efforts to battle Coronavirus

Imran Khan and Kashmir

Imran Khan has repeatedly meddled into the Kashmir issue since the Indian Parliament abrogated article 370. He has repeatedly fearmongered and peddled fake news on Kashmir's ground situation, in spite of India releasing restoring internet connection and releasing political detainees in a phased manner. He has also faced defeat on an international scale after he called for global mediation into the bilateral issue.

PM Modi leads SAARC conference on Coronavirus, shares 'Prepare, don't panic' mantra

After facing defeat at the UNHRC, UN informal meeting, European Parliament, G7 Summit, Khan also dragged up Kashmir at the UN General Assembly meeting. India has all the while maintained its stance that the abrogation of article 370 is an internal matter while any other disputes regarding Kashmir will be solved bilaterally. His allies China and US too have maintained the same.
Editors note: This story has been updated with information from the Hunterdon County Health Department and state officials.

Early Sunday morning, Hunterdon Healthcare reported the first positive case of coronavirus in Hunterdon County, according to the hospital.

By 3:30 p.m., county health officials confirmed the case.

A 54-year-old woman was admitted to the Hunterdon Medical Center several days ago and tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. The hospital said the woman was doing well Sunday morning and had already been discharged for home isolation.

Hunterdon County Health Officer Karen DeMarco said in a statement Sunday afternoon that the county health department is conducting a full public health investigation. She said the county is working to identify and notify the people the woman came in contact with before she was hospitalized and advising them to self-quarantine for 14 days.

Health professionals advise that the public should not be alarmed by the positive test result  officials have expected and planned for positive cases in Hunterdon County, DeMarco said in the statement. As testing becomes more available, more positive cases expect to be identified.

Kathleen Seelig, a spokeswoman for the hospital, said the woman had been in the hospital for four days while testing for the virus was conducted. It was not immediately clear why the person was initially admitted.

DeMarco also said the county health department recommends residents practice social distancing and use proper hygiene.

Hunterdon Healthcare said its hospital had been prepared for the case ahead of time and acutely followed all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for both the patient and our staff.

Individuals in 13 other counties have also tested positive for the virus and one man and one woman have died as a result. Bergen County remains the states epicenter with at least 32 positive cases.

State officials announced Sunday that New Jersey now has 98 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

The man who died was from Bergen County and the woman who died was from Monmouth County, where at least 12 people have tested positive.

Judy Persichilli, commissioner for the state health department, said the deaths were connected through a family gathering in Monmouth County. A sibling of the woman is friends with the man who died in Bergen County. Persichilli said other people at the gathering also tested positive.

Murphy said he expected to announce a full statewide closure of schools on Monday. In addition, state workers are being authorized to work from home.

Reporting by USA Today found that if the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. continues to climb at the current rate, the country will face a shortage of hospital beds.

Nationwide, more than 3,000 people tested positive while 62 died, according to CNN.

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NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed reporting.

Follow the CDC website for more and updated information. For coverage of coronavirus in New Jersey, follow www.nj.com/coronavirus.

J. Dale Shoemaker is a reporter on the data & investigations team. He can be reached at jshoemaker@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JDale_Shoemaker.
 Flash

U.S. Department of Defense said Saturday that three U.S. service members were injured from the latest rocket attack on Iraq's Camp Taji military base, days after a similar rocket attack that caused U.S. casualties.

Two of the three wounded U.S. soldiers were seriously injured and sent to a military hospital in Baghdad, according to a Pentagon spokesman.

On Wednesday, a similar rocket attack on Camp Taji killed two U.S. soldiers and one British service member, and wounded 14 others. The next day, U.S. military conducted strikes against five facilities of Kata'ib Hezbollah (KH) across Iraq, saying the strikes could degrade their ability to conduct future attacks against coalition forces.

In the latest attack on Saturday, at least 25 rockets impacted Camp Taji hosting Coalition troops, some 20 km north of Baghdad, the U.S.-led coalition force said earlier in the day.

Commander of U.S. Central Command Kenneth McKenzie told the press at a Pentagon briefing on Friday that the threat to the United State in the region remains very high, and that the tensions have not gone down.

The tit-for-tat between the U.S. military and the Shia militia group might lock them into a cycles of attacks and reprisals.

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 for training and advisory purposes.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 15

Trend:

Military units of the armed forces of Armenia violated ceasefire 30 times throughout the day in various direction of the front, using large-caliber machine guns, Trend reports referring to Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

Armenian armed forces, located in Shavarshavan, Voskevan villages of Noyemberyan region, in Berkaber village and on nameless hills in Ijevan region, and on nameless hills in Krasnoselsk region subjected to fire the positions of the Azerbaijan Army located in Ferehli, Gushchu Ayrim, Gizilhajili villages and on nameless hills in Gazakh region, in Zamanly village and on nameless hills in Gadabay region.

The positions of Azerbaijan Army were also fired from the positions of Armenian military units located near the occupied Marzili village of Aghdam region, Horadiz village of Fuzuli region, as well as from the positions located on nameless hills in Terter and Aghdam regions.
WINFIELD  The Town Council took the preliminary steps Tuesday toward financing the expansion of the town's sewage treatment plant.

"It is in desperate need of improvements," Council President Gerald Stiener said.

The town plans to double the plant's capacity and make improvements that will make it operate more efficiently and cheaply as well as vastly improve the water quality. The project is estimated to cost about $5 million, but Stiener said the plans are still being finalized by the town's engineering consultant, Jeremy Lin.

To finance the work, the council voted unanimously to form a building corporation, which will technically own the treatment plant and lease it back to the town. Sewer fees collected by the town will pay off the bonds, at which point the building corporation will cease to exist. The corporation board of directors will be Trisha Smith, Terry Clark and Pete Metlov.

The council also approved the hiring of two appraisers to determine the value of the plant for the purposes of the loan. Town Administrator Nick Bellar said appraising a sewer plant is rather specialized work, but he found Nick Tillema, of Access Valuation, and Carl Heckman, of Integra Realty Resources.
The Assam government on Sunday ordered the closure of all educational institutions, cinema halls, gymnasiums and swimming pools with immediate effect till March 29 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

All exams, except board examinations, have been cancelled till the specified date, Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna said at a press conference in Guwahati.

"Even though no positive case of coronavirus has been detected in the state so far, we are taking all precautionary measures," Krishna said. "The order will cover all schools, colleges, universities, gyms, swimming pools and movie halls across the state. We have asked them to close down till March 29."

"All programmes scheduled at government auditoriums have also been cancelled. We hope those owned by private firms will also follow," he said.

All the deputy commissioners have been asked to discourage any public gathering in their districts. The officials and municipal authorities have been asked to keep the market places clean and sanitised on a regular basis to prevent the spread of the disease, according to the chief secretary.

Krishna said the Northeast Frontier Railway had been asked to take necessary precautions at its facilities, including stations.

"The chief minister is reviewing the situation regularly and we have decided to issue a daily bulletin on the coronavirus scenario in the state," he said, adding that the state government was fully equipped to handle any crisis arising out of the pandemic.

Quarantine facilities for over 800 people and isolation centres for over 100 people have been prepared at different locations in the state. Two-bedded isolation wards are established in all district civil hospitals for the same, Krishna said.

"We have also kept ICU facilities ready with more than 50 beds in medical colleges. Private hospitals have assured us of 50 beds in such unit," he added.

Samir Sinha, the principal secretary of the health and family welfare department, said the state currently had two blood-sample testing facilities for COVID-19 in Guwahati and Dibrugarh, while the third one would be active in Jorhat from Monday.

"Six medical colleges and 25 district hospitals are equipped to handle any situation. There is no need to panic," Sinha said. "Only the people need to follow the basic precautionary measures like social distancing and reporting to doctor if one is suffering from cough and fever."

M Angamuthu, the commissioner and secretary of the tourism department, said the business was down by 30-40 per cent in the past month as tourists, both international and domestic, had cancelled their trips amid the outbreak of the deadly disease.

"This is the peak tourism season. On a day, 400-500 foreign and 32,000-35,000 domestic tourists come here as they also use the state for transit," Angamuthu said. "Sadly, we have got reports that foreign travellers are being treated differently over coronavirus threat. That we should not do."

In a presentation, the health and family welfare department showed that 1,075 passengers had been screened at six airports in the state so far.

A total of 253 travellers from COVID-19-affected countries were quarantined. Eleven blood samples were collected and 10 of them have tested negative and the report of one is awaited.

Till date, over 10,600 people have been screened and 599 people, who came in contact with positive cases, were kept under home surveillance though they did not show any symptoms.

The border districts of Baksa, Chirang, Kokrajhar and Udalguri are on surveillance and the state government has set up a control room, which has so far received more than 300 calls.

According to the Union Health Ministry, the number of novel coronavirus cases in the country rose to 107 on Sunday, with Maharashtra reporting the highest, followed by Kerala. The cases include two persons who died in Karnataka and Delhi.

Also Read: COVID-19 cases rise to 107; India faces shortage of ventilators, ICU beds

Also Read: YES Bank Q3 net loss spikes to Rs 18,564 cr, its worst ever

Also Read: YES Bank was on the verge of going belly up; here's what Q3 results reveal
Two years ago, just after the Chester County school superintendent filed a lawsuit against the school board's chairwoman and its attorney, Travis Jenkins did what any good journalist would do.

The editor of the Chester News and Reporter submitted a Freedom of Information Act request seeking copies of emails to and from the superintendent. It was a routine request for messages that could provide insight into a breakdown in leadership  no different from other requests Jenkins has sent during his 17 years at the paper.

What was different was the bill he got back.

They said they could accommodate my request for the low, low price of $29,000, Jenkins said. I didnt have the money.

Thats just one example of the eye-popping fees S.C. government agencies have levied for public records in recent years, even after state lawmakers changed the law in 2017 to speed up records requests and rein in charges for retrieving and turning over the documents.

Just before passing the General Assembly, that new law was stripped of a key section that would have made it easier and cheaper for members of the public to challenge fees they cant afford. Also slipped in was a sentence allowing government agencies to charge the public  for the first time  for the costs of redacting documents.

Since then, newspaper editors and First Amendment lawyers say they have seen a surge of exorbitant FOIA costs, especially from local police agencies, school boards and city and county councils.

They are the most inclined to set exorbitant fees to prevent people from seeking information that might be embarrassing to the local government, said Jay Bender, a longtime First Amendment lawyer who also represents The Post and Courier. Im firmly of a mind that that its an effort to discourage citizens from looking into what government is doing.

A few South Carolinians and news outlets have sued over hefty FOIA fees. But most don't have the money. More often, news editors say, high fees have led them to postpone stories and find workarounds, greatly narrow their requests for information or give up on stories altogether.

The smaller papers cannot afford to challenge these charges in court, said Bill Rogers, president of the South Carolina Press Association. They just cant afford to do it anymore. Government agencies know they can do whatever they want to do and nobody is going to challenge them.

'They work for the public'

Such records are crucial to newsgathering, the public's understanding of government and the democratic process. They include spending receipts, government contracts, officials emails and police arrest records. Stories written from those documents have altered the outcome of elections, prompted new laws and sent powerful officials to prison.

Dan Johnson, the former 5th Circuit solicitor, is currently behind bars in part because of 2018 newspaper stories that stemmed from open records requests. Richland and Kershaw counties collectively charged more than $4,000 for the documents that detailed Johnsons spending of more than $44,000 in taxpayer money on lavish trips to Las Vegas, Chicago and other locales.

The states Freedom of Information Act was written in 1976 to guarantee public access to that kind of information. But it was riddled with loopholes and exceptions that agencies have worn out in denying access to potentially embarrassing information.

Public bodies receive thousands of FOIA requests each year, many of them from private citizens, businesses, researchers and political activists as well as news outlets.

The law allows government bodies to charge for the reasonable costs of researching and retrieving requested documents. Those requests can take time and cost money to complete, especially if they seek documents that are older or scattered among different departments, said Kent Lesesne, director of government relations for the S.C. Association of Counties.

Lesesne said he advises counties to clearly spell out how they calculated a FOIA fee, especially with larger amounts that could come with sticker shock.

"I try to advise them on what the law says," Lesesne said. "It has to be reasonable. It has to be the actual cost."

But critics contend some agencies have abused that part of the law, jacking up fees to avoid turning over damaging information that could lead to critical stories.

Last year, Horry County sought to charge the Myrtle Beach Sun News $75,500 for records related to lawsuits it has settled over the past five years, and it refused to explain why the request would be so expensive. The Sun News reported that other local governments in the area fulfilled the same request for less than $50.

In 2018, the Horry County Police Department told the Sun News it would cost more than $23,000 to provide a breakdown explaining how sex crimes with minors have been investigated over the past five years. An Horry County police officer recently paid a $300 fine after pleading guilty to misconduct in office related to failing to investigate child abuse and other crimes.

They constantly need a reminder that they work for the public and they work for the citizens, said Sun News Executive Editor Stephanie Pedersen. Charging those enormous amounts really contradicts their jobs.

A small fraction of the disputes has led to litigation.

A Port Royal resident sued Beaufort County last year after it requested $12,000 to release County Council members emails, saying it would take 167 work hours  at as much as $72 an hour  for county employees to compile the electronic records and redact them.

The Charleston Police Department tried to charge The Post and Courier $200,000 in 2015 for access to the agencys field contact records, which include personal information from thousands of people who crossed paths with officers but were not charged with a crime. The agency eventually agreed to settle a legal fight with the newspaper.

But not everyone can pay the thousands of dollars necessary to file a lawsuit and take their case to the states circuit court. That leaves them with little recourse if a public agency demands an extraordinary sum for records.

The State newspaper in Columbia recently had to pay $350 for the personnel records of two Lexington County sheriffs deputies it reported were involved in a controversial death investigation. Sheriff Jay Koon said the department was charging $22 per hour for the records but declined to explain why it would take nearly 16 hours to turn over two personnel files.

But a similar fee was too much for the Independent Voice of Blythewood and Fairfield, two newspapers that share one full-time editor and several freelance writers.

Barbara Ball, the publisher, said the outlet recently abandoned a story because the public body at the center of it requested more than $300 to provide critical records.

Were so shorthanded, Ball said. When they asked for that much money, we cant sue. So it didnt go any further than that.

In 2018, Ball said, Richland County charged her paper $309 to provide council spending records it had already retrieved and provided to The State newspaper. Ball said her paper wound up getting the documents from The State instead of paying the county for them.

Even South Carolinas largest papers arent immune.

The Greenville News has seen a series of pricey FOIA estimates while researching for recent projects, news director Steve Bruss said.

The paper has shelled out hundreds of dollars for a few requests and as much as $1,200 for one set of documents. But it couldnt afford an $8,000 charge from the Greenville County Sheriffs Office for internal affairs reports on disciplinary actions for deputies, Bruss said.

We passed and looked for other ways to get the information, he said.

Changes on the way?

The first draft of the 2017 FOIA law change included a possible solution: Let S.C. residents quickly and cheaply dispute those charges in a special administrative law court.

But at the tail end of a seven-year push for the new law, state Sen. Margie Bright Matthews, D-Walterboro, successfully argued to strip out that section. She said it makes no sense to require local governments  and the people challenging them  to drive to Columbia for hearings that can be held locally in circuit court.

She instead proposed an amendment that requires FOIA cases to be heard in circuit court within 10 days of a case being filed and settled within six months.

Bright Matthews said this week she doesn't believe moving the cases to administrative law court would have been less costly. She said the new law aims to drive down costs for municipalities as well as the public.

"I believe in transparency, and I also believe in keeping costs down for taxpayers," she said.

But the new law isn't working well enough, said state Rep. Bill Taylor, an Aiken Republican who helped write it. Taylor, a former television news reporter, has filed separate legislation to move FOIA cases to administrative law court, but that proposal has yet to gain traction in the General Assembly.

The circuit court is a poor process in that it is extremely expensive and time-consuming, Taylor said. People wont use that as an avenue for FOIA. The administrative law court would have been an easy solution to that.

In lieu of those changes, S.C. reporters and researchers have relied on government bodies to fill records requests in good faith. Sometimes that works. Other times, news outlets have written stories and columns publicly shaming agencies for their fees.

Jenkins', for example, wound up getting most of the emails he wanted from Chester County School District after writing a series of stories and editorials about the fees. Others outlets haven't been as fortunate.

"The 2017 amendments (to the FOIA law) had the right goal in mind," said Desa Ballard, a West Columbia attorney who has sued several S.C. agencies for public records. "The compliance has continued to be as spotty as it was before the 2017 legislation."

Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly attributed a $75,500 fee to the Horry County Police Department. The story has been corrected to note that fee was assessed by Horry County.
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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 20:20:39|Editor: huaxia

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SHANGHAI, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Medical protection supplies donated by several Chinese private enterprises have arrived in Milan, Italy, a foundation of Shanghai-based Fosun Group, which initiated the donation, said on Sunday.

The supplies including 5,500 protective suits and 40,000 N95 respirator masks were jointly donated by Fosun Foundation together with Longfor Group and Beijing Taikang Yicai Foundation.

Fosun had also donated 5,000 face masks to Milan's municipal government early this month, the foundation said.

"As a global corporation, we hope to be able to play a part in helping the world win this battle against the coronavirus as soon as possible," said Fosun International's Chairman Guo Guangchang.

In early March, Guo called for the donation of medical supplies to some key countries facing increasingly serious epidemic situations via the Yabuli China Entrepreneurs Forum, receiving warm response from a number of Chinese firms.
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse)  Sun, March 15, 2020 10:06 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206ab3a14 2 Entertainment The-Killers,rock-band,music,Lindsey-Buckingham Free

The rock band is gearing towards the release of their sixth studio album, "Imploding the Mirage," which will arrive on May 29 via Island.

The Killers are now promoting the long-awaited follow-up to 2017's "Wonderful Wonderful" with the single "Caution."

The flirty song features a guitar solo by none other than Lindsey Buckingham, who is best known as the lead guitarist of British-American rock ensemble Fleetwood Mac.

"Let me introduce you to the featherweight queen/ She got Hollywood eyes, but she can't shoot what she see/ Momma was a dancer, and that's all that she knew/ 'Cause when you live in the desert that's what pretty girls do," frontman Brandon Flowers sings in "Caution," which was produced by Shawn Everett and Jonathan Rado.

Everett and Rado also co-produced "Imploding the Mirage" in conjunction with The Killers, with Flowers revealing in the past that the band experimented with more synthetic sounds for the album.

"We've been in Utah doing it. That's where I fell in love with music for the first time; so it's interesting to be there again and hear some of that music with the geography matching the sensation. Some of that stuff is starting to resurface and a lot of that had to do with synthesiser music. It's always been part of our DNA but it's definitely creeping up," he told NME at the time.

Read also: Billie Eilish's 'Bad Guy' named top global song of 2019

In addition to Buckingham, "Imploding the Mirage" will feature contributions from Weyes Blood, the War on Drugs' Adam Granduciel, k.d. lang, Blake Mills and Lucius.

While they are preparing for the release of their sixth opus, The Killers have recently announced additional tour dates in support of "Imploding the Mirage."

The veteran rockers will kick off their UK and European tour on May 26 with a concert at Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, England.

They are set to appear at various summer festivals around the European continent, including Lollapalooza (Stockholm), Mad Cool Festival and Bilbao BBK Live.

The Killers will embark in mid-August on a North American tour with Johnny Marr serving as their opener, with the trek wrapping up on October 10 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
European countries are tightening restrictions as the number of coronavirus cases rises.

There has been criticism of the decision to allow elections in France

Austria is to ban gatherings of more than five people from Monday, as efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus in Europe step up.

Romania is set to declare a state of emergency, and the Czech PM said he was likely to declare a quarantine for the whole country.

The moves follow draconian measures taken by France and Spain on Saturday.

But France is holding local elections, despite the shutting of cafes, restaurants and most shops.

Italy, which has recorded more than 1,440 deaths, began a nationwide lockdown on Monday.

The Czech Republic and Slovakia have already closed their borders.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that Europe was now the "epicentre" of the pandemic.

WHO head Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has urged countries to use aggressive measures, community mobilisation and social distancing to save lives.

France veers towards the Chinese model

Debate is raging in France about what is the better model for tackling Covid-19 - the Chinese or the British. The Chinese have taken a radical system of confinement for limiting the spread - the UK is adopting a "herd immunity" approach, according to which infection of a majority is inevitable and even, if properly handled, to be welcomed.

Up until a couple of days ago, it seemed France leaned more to the "herd" philosophy. As in Britain, the official view favoured a controlled propagation - buying time so that the wave of infections is drawn out over a long period, and hospitals are not overwhelmed.

But now, suddenly, there is a shift in the other direction. First schools, then cafes, restaurants and all non-essential shops are to be closed. It seems the government now thinks Chinese- and Italian-style - draconianism is more appropriate. Except when to comes to the municipal elections, which are going ahead as planned.

If it all feels not a little improvised, that is perhaps excusable. We have, after all, never seen anything like this before.

What are the latest measures?

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz urged people to self-isolate and banned gatherings of more than five people as of Monday.

He added the UK, the Netherlands, Russia and Ukraine to a list of countries, entry to whose citizens is restricted.

Schools and most shops will be closed from Monday, following an earlier announcement.

Meanwhile, the prime minister of the neighbouring Czech Republic, Andrej Babis, said in a TV interview he would propose to government that the entire country should be put under quarantine.

He said the number of cases in the country had risen from 214 to 231, with no fatalities.

Romania, which has 123 cases, is set to declare a state of emergency on Monday.

On Saturday Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said citizens should not leave home, except for buying essential supplies and medicines, or for work.

The state of emergency there will last for two weeks - more if deemed necessary and parliament approves.

With 191 deaths, Spain is Europe's worst-hit country after Italy.

In France the closure - which went into force at 23:00 GMT on Saturday - applies to restaurants, cafes, cinemas and nightclubs as well as non-essential businesses.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe also asked people to reduce their travel, especially between towns.

France, with a population of 63.5 million people, has reported more than 4,400 confirmed cases after a sharp rise on Saturday. It recorded 12 more deaths, bringing the toll to 79. BBC
Police seen ordering a person off the beach in the Costa del Sol

Spain and France went into lockdown last night as the struggle to contain the coronavirus intensified.

With 193 deaths and 6,046 infections, Spain is the worst-hit country in Europe after Italy. Under draft new measures all public transport would be cut back and people must stay home except to buy food or medicine, go to the hospital, go to work or other emergencies.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced the restrictions following a huge spike in the number of infections in this nation of some 46 million people.

"The prohibition to circulate in the streets... must be followed starting today," he said in a televised address after a cabinet meeting that lasted more than seven hours.

It left British tourists and students scrambling to get home before some of Europes most draconian restrictions came into force. There was chaos in the skies with flights from the UK to Spain being turned back mid-air.

France meanwhile announced the closure of all non-essential businesses, starting at midnight, including restaurants and cafes as the country reported 12 new deaths from coronavirus taking the total to 91.

Elsewhere Denmark, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, Kosovo and Cyprus all closed their borders. Russia and Georgia followed suit.

With Spains lockdown only hours away Britons voiced fears of being unable to leave the country.

Maureen Green, 57, from Lancashire, who owns a holiday home in Torrevieja, on the Costa Blanca, said she has been in Spain for two weeks getting ready to put her house on the market  but now she fears she wont be able to get home with her 84-year-old mother.

She said: I believe the army are now joining forces with the police to make sure people stay indoors except for absolutely necessary visits to the supermarket, work or for medical care. My biggest nightmare at this time is that the airports will close and Ill be trapped here.

Story continues

Sarah Cowie, 20, an Erasmus student who has been living in Granada since September, told The Sunday Telegraph flights were filling up rapidly.

Ms Cowie, from Aberdeenshire, said: All the flights are getting booked up ... and there are so many students trying to leave.

As the country braced itself for the lockdown Madrid, the epicentre of Spains outbreak, was emptying out as residents fled to second homes on the coast before restrictions were brought in.

Malaga, Marbella and Benidorm were among many towns to close their beaches yesterday after thousands of Madrid residents swarmed to the coast, ignoring advice to stay in their homes.

The region of Murcia has also attempted to seal off its coastal towns, as traffic jams built up on the major exits out of the capital. Fernando Lopez Miras, the regions president, said: This drastic action is necessary because of peoples irresponsibility.

Residents in Madrid and north-east Catalonia awoke yesterday to shuttered bars and restaurants and other non-essential commercial outlets as ordered by regional authorities the day before.

Authorities and public healthcare workers, as well as television and radio news anchors, are making pleas for people to stay at home in order to reduce the spiking contagion curve.

Earlier this week, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued advice against all but essential travel to certain parts of Spain, including Madrid, La Rioja, and the municipalities of La Bastida and Vitoria.

The new restrictions and spiralling death toll raised questions for British expats in Spain who may not be able to access care in an overwhelmed hospital system.

On Saturday, airline Jet2 cancelled all flights to mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands and TUI told customers that holidays booked to Spain between yesterday and tomorrow have been cancelled, prompting fears that British holidaymakers will not be able to leave the country.

A spokesman for Jet2, which operates out of nine UK airports, said the company was acting off the back of Spanish authorities, which has introduced emergency measures to close bars, restaurants and beaches.

A number of Jet2 flights to Spain turned back in mid-flight. A statement from the company said: We are contacting our customers who are currently in these destinations, and who are due to travel, to advise them of their options, so we urge customers not to call us.
BARCELONA, Spain  Spain locked down its 46 million citizens Saturday and France ordered the closing of just about everything the rest of the world loves about it  the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the cafes, restaurants and cinema  as governments took increasingly desperate measures to put more space between people and contain the coronavirus.

China, meanwhile, where the scourge first appeared late last year, continued to relax its drastic restrictions, illustrating the way the center of gravity in the crisis has shifted westward. The virus has infected more than 156,000 people worldwide and killed more than 5,800.

In a nationally televised address, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Snchez detailed the battery of exceptional measures put in place as part of a two-week state of emergency to fight the sharp rise in infections. Later, Spains government said Sanchezs wife had tested positive for coronavirus. Begoa Gmez and the prime minister are in good health, the goverrnment said.

In an echo of the far-reaching measures already imposed in Italy, people will be allowed to leave their homes only to buy food and medicine, commute to work, go to hospitals and banks, or take trips related to the care of the young and the elderly. Those limitations are effective immediately.

Spain also closed all schools, universities, restaurants, bars and hotels nationwide along with nonessential stores.

Spanish authorities said the number of infections climbed past 5,700, half of them in the capital, Madrid. Some flights bound for Spain turned around as word spread of the lockdown.

In Italy, the worst-hit European country, the number of deaths climbed past 1,400 and infections surged roughly 20 percent overnight to more than 21,000 because of what authorities characterized as irresponsible behavior by people still socializing despite the nationwide lockdown.

Paris followed other cities in shuttering major tourist attractions, and France announced it was closing all restaurants, cafes, theaters and nonessential shops starting Sunday.

In the Middle East, Irans death toll reached 611, with nearly 13,000 infections.

In the Philippines, police, backed by the army and coast guard, started sealing the capital of Manila from most domestic travelers Sunday in one of Southeast Asias most drastic containment moves against the virus.

The measures increasingly mirror those taken by China, which in January quarantined more than 60 million people. The spread of COVID-19 in China has slowed dramatically, according to the National Health Commission. After reporting thousands of new cases per day only a month ago, the commission said Saturday that there were 13 new deaths and just 11 new cases.

Joseph Wilson and Geir Moulson are Associated Press writers.
Hong Kong: Hotel to be disinfected: CHP

The Centre for Health Protection today said a hotel in which a confirmed COVID-19 case stayed in will be disinfected.

The centres Communicable Disease Branch Head Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan made the statement at a media briefing this afternoon.

The 29-year-old male patient arrived in Hong Kong on March 13 from Frankfurt, Germany, by air and stayed at The Harbourview hotel.

Dr Chuang said: We have asked the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department to help to disinfect the hotel, especially the room that he stayed in.

In case if there are any hotel staff who helped to clean the room, we will regard them as close contacts and send them to a quarantine centre.

Dr Chuang also noted that there have been many imported cases in Hong Kong recently, adding they have been quite difficult to control.

We are not sure we have caught all the imported cases - there may be some that have gone unnoticed or have not been detected.

Well try to enhance our surveillance system to try to catch all the cases, but not all surveillance systems are foolproof.

For information and health advice on COVID-19, visit the Government's dedicated webpage.

This story has been published on: 2020-03-15. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The infection of Corona has reached the United Nations after making 128 countries of the world its victims. The first case of coronavirus has been reported in the UN-based in New York. A female Philippines representative working in the institute has come test positive. This woman works under the Philippines Permanent Mission. This is confirmed by a note sent to the UN mission. After this case came to light, the Philippines' mission has been closed for today ie Friday. Instructions have been given to provide medical facilities to all the employees. So that this infection cannot spread to people.

US President Trump conducted Corona's test, said this on the information of the reports

According to the media report, UN Ambassador Kira Ajusena wrote in his note that we have all been infected with this virus. According to the online UN diplomatic staff directory, there are about 12 diplomats in the Philipino mission, on 5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan. The politician who has been infected with this virus, he represented the Philippines in the U.N. During this time he participated in many meetings.

Coronavirus: Donald Trump's big statement says, 'So far 50 people have died from China.'

On this virus, Kira Ajusena told that the representative who has been infected with this virus was in the UN headquarters on Monday. After this, he was shown to the doctor on Tuesday after having the flu. After investigation, it was revealed that he is infected with Covid-19. After this, there has been no statement from the UN on this case so far.

Kim Jong Un supervises another round of artillery drills
The European Union will introduce temporary restrictions on non-essential travel to the EU, as part of its efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced Monday.

This follows the United States' decision to suspend travel into the US from 28 European countries.

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 updating this story as the situation develops.

The European Union

Von der Leyen said in a video statement shared on her Twitter account that the upcoming restrictions on non-essential travel to the European Union 'restrictions should be in place for an initial period of 30 days, which can be prolonged as necessary.'

She added that that there will be some exemptions, including family members of European nationals, essential staff, such as doctors and nurses, and people transporting goods to the European Union.

Until more details of the EU action is confirmed, the guidance below will cover the existing restrictions imposed by individual EU countries.

United States

On Saturday, US Vice President Mike Pence announced that travel from the UK and Ireland will be suspended starting Monday night.

This is in addition to the previous US ban applying 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.

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

Australia requires 'all people' arriving in the country to self-quarantine for 14 days, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said at a news conference on Sunday. He also announced a ban on all cruise ships from docking in Australia.

Passengers who have been in China, Iran, South Korea or Italy in the last 14 days are not allowed to enter or transit through Australia for 14 days, from the time they exited those countries. This does not apply to airline crew, Australian nationals and their immediate family members, or New Zealand nationals resident in Australia, 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.

Cambodia

Cambodia is imposing a ban on foreign nationals arriving from Italy, Germany, Spain, France and the US for 30 days. The ban will take effect on March 17, the Prime Ministers' office said in a Twitter post.

Canada

Canada will deny entry to people who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced at a news conference in Ottawa on March 16.

China

Effective March 16, all passengers arriving in Beijing from destinations abroad will undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine at designated facilities starting Monday, Beijing's municipal government announced. This process will be at the traveler's own expense.

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.

Colombia

Passengers arriving from China, France, Italy or Spain are required fill in a health registration form on arrival and self-isolate for 14 days.

President Ivan Duque also announced on Twitter that the country would close its border with Venezuela on March 14.

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.

Denmark

A border closure is in effect in Denmark until April 13. Danish citizens and those transporting goods will still be able to enter the country.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced the measures, saying: 'We are in uncharted territory. We are doing something we've not done before.' Adding 'I'm sure we'll get through this together.'

Egypt

Egypt will suspend all flights in and out of Egyptian airports for two weeks starting March 19, state media reported.

Germany

Germany has shut its borders with Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Denmark.

Goods and commuters will be exempt from the ban, said German interior minister Horst Seehofer on March 15.

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.'

Haiti

Beginning midnight local time on March 16, Haiti is suspending flights from Europe, Canada, the Dominican Republic and Latin America for the next two weeks, Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe announced on Twitter.

Flights from the United States will still be permitted, 'after an agreement with American authorities,' Jouthe tweeted.

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.

As of March 16, Hong Kong's government will enforce self quarantine for travelers entering from Ireland, the United States, the United Kingdom and Egypt.

Hungary

Iran nationals, other than airline crew, are not allowed to enter the country.

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.

Jordan

Jordan's Prime Minister Omar al Razaz on Saturday announced the suspension of all air travel of incoming and outgoing into the kingdom starting March 17 until further notice with the exception of air cargo.

Razaz announced the closure of all the land, sea and air borders to travelers except the members of diplomatic missions and international organizations who will be exempt as long as they abide by the Ministry of Health stipulations for the 14 days of self-quarantine.

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.

Morocco

Morocco has decided to suspend all international flights to and from its territory 'until further notice' as part of measures to tackle the coronavirus, its Foreign Ministry said in a statement Sunday.

It came a day after the north African kingdom said it was suspending all flights to and from Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and Belgium. It was not immediately clear if the suspension went into immediate effect.

New Zealand

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced March 14 that all travelers entering the country will be required to 'self-isolate' for 14 days.

The new measures went into effect at midnight March 15 local time and apply to nearly every traveler, regardless of nationality, including New Zealand citizens and residents.

The only exemptions are the Pacific Islands -- but travelers from there will also need to self-isolate if they show symptoms.

The measures would be reviewed in 16 days, she added.

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.

Peru

Starting March 16, Peru is temporarily suspending flights from and to Europe and Asia for a 30-day period.

Russia

Nationals of China, Hong Kong, Macau, Iran and Italy are now allowed in Russia, but exemptions are made for airline crew and foreign nationals resident in Russia.

Passengers who have been in China, France, Germany, South Korea or Spain and are planning to stay in Moscow must report themselves to the authorities by phone and stay self-isolated for 14 days.

Russia will close its border with Belarus because of the pandemic, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said March 16, following the earlier closure of its land border with China.

Saudi Arabia

Apart from Saudi nationals, passengers who have transited through or have been in Bahrain, China, Taiwan, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Kenya, South Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, Macau, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Turkey or the United Arab Emirates in the past 14 days are not allowed to enter.

Umrah pilgrimages to Mecca and Medina are also under a temporary ban, unless the pilgrims are nationals of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and United Arab Emirates who have obtained permits.

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.

All travelers from Europe will be required to go through temperature checks, a medical survey, and download an app so their temperature can be monitored daily.

All travelers are also required to submit their reachable phone numbers upon arrival.

Spain

A state of emergency has already been declared in Spain and strict lockdown policies including restrictions on travel in and out of the country are expected.

On Saturday at least five Spain-bound airplanes belonging to low-cost carrier Jet2 turned back to the UK midair. The company said it was acting in response to measures introduced by the Spanish government.

Borders between Spain and Portugal will be closed by the end of Monday March 16, leaving only nine active crossings open to allow for the transit of products and workers who are required to cross the border.

Singapore

From midnight on Monday local time, all travelers entering Singapore with recent travel history to ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, Japan, Switzerland or the United Kingdom within the last 14 days will be issued with a 14-day 'Stay-Home Notice' and will have to provide proof of the place where they will stay.

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.

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

Turkey has halted travel to and from nine European countries: Germany, Spain, France, Austria, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands. Nationals of those countries are not allowed to enter the country.

Passengers who have transited through or been in Austria, Belgium, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, South Korea or Sweden in the past 14 days are not allowed to enter or transit through Turkey.

Turkish nationals and residents are exempt.

Ukraine

Ukraine International Airlines has suspended all international scheduled flights starting March 17 through March 31, following the Ukraine's government decision to temporarily ban entry to people who are not Ukraine citizens or residents.

Vietnam

Travelers who have been in the 26 European countries in the Schengen Area, plus the UK, within the past 14 days will not be permitted to enter or transit through Vietnam.

Visas upon arrival will also no longer be issued for all foreign nationals, according to a government statement issued Saturday.

The travel restrictions come into effect at midnight Sunday local time, and will last 30 days.
It started several weeks ago: shoppers piling baskets high with toilet paper interspersed with cleaning wipes and other household necessities, thinning the shelves at major retailers of those products.

Now, as many major retailers in Albuquerque see their stock of toilet paper emptied by consumers worried about COVID-19, those in the manufacturing industry are saying rumors of a true toilet paper shortage are false.

Theres no ongoing concern or shortage that anyone is aware of, said Larry Sonntag spokesman of the New Mexico Business Coalition in a Friday interview.

Sonntag, whose organization is New Mexicos affiliate for the National Association of Manufacturers, said that, although shelves are empty amid the panic surrounding the new coronavirus, toilet paper manufacturers have reported no shortages.

The lack of product available for purchase is largely due to consumers hoarding and purchasing the toilet paper in large quantities, Sonntag said.

Sonntag said its a matter of weeks, not a matter of months for shoppers to start seeing toilet paper back in stock.

While this may not be the first time retailers have seen their inventory of toilet paper depleted, Sonntag said this is the first instance he knew of that has to deal with a health issue.

Nobody can put the nail on the head with what this has to do with coronavirus, he said.

Symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough and shortness of breath, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms that would lead sufferers to increase their use of toilet paper dont appear on the CDCs symptom list.

Several toilet paper manufacturers have announced they are working to meet demand.

Georgia-Pacific, a major U.S. manufacturer of toilet paper and other paper products, has taken to social media to assure customers it is working to adjust. In a Twitter post this week, the company said it was not experiencing production issues and would be ramping up production to meet the increased demand.

Procter & Gamble said that it is still manufacturing and shipping of Charmin, and it is working to fix availability problems, The Washington Post reported Friday.

Despite the assurances, local retailers are seeing their shelves emptied. Walmart said it is working to restock high-demand items and would be diverting items to areas in the greatest need.

And its not just toilet paper. In recent days, other staples such as pasta and frozen meals have been harder to find, with some stores running out completely.

Friday afternoon, the Walmart Market on Cutler near San Mateo was completely emptied of flour, rice, boxed meals, dish soap and eggs.

The hoarding of necessities prompted both Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller to issue statements urging people to stop hoarding items.

The hoarding of cleaning supplies, soap, food and water or other basic goods is also inappropriate and detrimental to the communitys ability to respond as needed to this crisis, Keller said in a news release.
Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government (MBRSG) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dubai Health Authority (DHA) to enhance academic cooperation and the exchange of knowledge with regards to policies, strategies, and management consulting.

The agreement also seeks to train employees, hone their skills, develop research and studies, and organise discussion panels and workshops. It was signed in the presence of Humaid Mohammed Al Qatami, Director General of the DHA, and Dr Ali Sebaa Al Marri, Executive Director of MBRSG, along with leading officials from both entities.

Dubai Health Authority is committed to training and increasing the skills of its human capital, in order to make quality advances and generate excellence in healthcare, said Al Qatami, Chairman of the Board.

We strive to implement the best training programs to empower our employees working in all sectors so that they are able to take care of their responsibilities and serve people and society perfectly. We are always keen to cooperate closely with local and international academic, scientific and vocational institutions, in order to create performance enhancement in our team.

We are delighted to build a strong partnership with the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government  a prestigious institution of learning. This relationship will lead to fruitful cooperation and enable us to enrich our knowledge with the schools first class training programmes, many of which aim to qualify future government leaders, he continued.

The partnership between Dubai Health Authority and Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government has created much success, with our project Health Pioneers for example having achieved significant accomplishments. We value the efforts of the schools staff in empowering the authoritys human capital and appreciate the efforts of our staff in Dubai Health Authority, who are always keen to do what is required to improve capabilities and enhance professional, academic and personal standards, he concluded.

Al Marri said: We are delighted to be signing this agreement with the Dubai Health Authority, with whom we share an ever-growing, fruitful partnership,. He added: Our objective from signing the MoU is to strengthen the strategic cooperation with various government entities and help drive the UAEs journey towards the next 50 years.

The document reflects our commitment to train outstanding national leaders and professionals and to empower decision makers capable of addressing the challenges of the future and transforming them into opportunities, working in accordance with forward-thinking plans, Al Marri added. We look forward to seeing this partnership achieve its objectives, train national professionals, and arm them with the expertise they need to ensure continuous development and leadership in corporate performance.

The MoU is valid for a period of three years; it stipulates that the Dubai Health Authority would nominate a number of its employees to join the academic programmes offered by MBRSG.

The agreement calls on the two parties to cooperate and exchange knowledge on specialised policies and strategies, institutional governance, risk management, knowledge management,

research and studies, and data analysis, in addition to nominating speakers to participate in seminars and workshops organised by both entities, and sharing knowledge resources such as library content and electronic information sources of the two parties.

The two parties will also commit to cooperating on management consulting, scientific field trips, and government best practices, in order to enhance the competitiveness of government and private entities and help them improve the quality of their services. The DHA is preparing a draft manual for developing specialised strategies, a directory for committees and governance taskforces, and a guide for setting general and institutional health policies. For its part, MBRSG will review the publications, provide feedback and recommendations, in accordance with its regulations and procedures.

The MoU highlights MBRSGs role, through its training programmes and workshops, in preparing the Authoritys employees and enhancing their capabilities in various fields, including specialised knowledge management and exchange. It also provides for cooperation in research

and development, including studies on health systems and ways to link their results to health policy development and decision-making procedures. It also calls for publishing, documenting, and exchanging experiences, best practices, and services in areas of mutual interest.

As per the agreement, the two parties will cooperate on organising dialogues, workshops, seminars, and conferences to exchange ideas, proposals, and innovative programmes, in addition to nominating speakers to participate in these events.-- Tradearabia News Service
Washington Increases Scrutiny of CalPERS Over Chinese Investments

Does supporting Beijings agenda serve the best interests of US retirees?

Commentary

The novel coronavirus pandemic has hastened U.S. companies efforts to decouple their supply chains and operations from China.

Companies were already assessing their dependency on Chinese manufacturers and customers amid the U.S.China trade war, concerns around intellectual property and corporate espionage, and efforts by Beijing to wean itself off U.S. technology.

But theres been little momentum around financial decoupling. U.S. investment funds and pension fundswhich manage the retirement savings of millions of public employeeshave even increased their investments in Chinese companies.

At the center sits the biggest public pension fund in the United States, the $400 billion California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) and its Chinese-born Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Ben Meng.

Pension funds investments in China could put American retirees at risk and have attracted the attention of the Trump administration. Its something we are looking at, U.S. national security adviser Robert OBrien said at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based think tank, on March 11.

Some of the CalPERS investment policies are incredibly concerning, OBrien said at the event.

Weve got folks who are going to rely on their pension for their retirement and putting those investments into companies that dont have GAAP [generally accepted accounting principles]and they dont have the same reporting requirements that American companies dois scary.

His comments followed earlier calls by Congressman Jim Banks (R-Ind.) that Meng should be fired, citing Mengs ties to the Chinese communist regime and his association with a secretive Chinese program to recruit overseas talentwhich The Epoch Times outlined in a July 2019 report.

Questionable Investments

At the minimum, pension funds should provide more transparency around their exposure to international markets.

In the CalPERS 2018-2019 Annual Investment Report, the pension fund did not aggregate exposure by country. A search found that CalPERS held 240 individual positions with China in the security name as of June 30, 2019, a 40 percent increase from the 172 names in the previous year. The positions span corporate bonds, domestic and international securities, and private investments.

Some of these investments are directly or indirectly supporting the Chinese regime.

As of June 30, 2019, CalPERS held 5.7 million shares in China Communications Construction Co., a state-owned engineering and construction company that has built naval and military bases in the disputed South China Sea.

CalPERS also owns shares in several Chinese state-owned enterprises that are involved in Chinas controversial Belt and Road initiative (also known as One Belt, One Road), which has been criticized by Washington as a way for China to spread influence abroad and burden developing countries with unsustainable debt.

The pension fund held 63.1 million shares in China Unicom, a state-owned telecommunications operator providing landline and mobile communication networks. China Unicom provides internet service to the communist regime in North Korea.

CalPERS, as of June 30, 2019, also held shares in Hikvision, a state-owned company that builds surveillance equipment used in concentration camps holding Uyghur Muslim minorities. Hikvision was added to the Trump administrations blacklist late last year, barring U.S. firms from doing business with the company without government approval. It is unclear whether the fund still invests in Hikvision.

Fiduciary Duty Question

CalPERS has been at the forefront of many pension fund innovations, including a large allocation to alternative asset classes and its fight to lower fees and expenses paid to investment managers.

The pension extols its sustainable investment program advocating for ESG (environment, social, and governance) investing and actions to deal with climate change. CalPERS dedicates a webpage to sustainable investing. Its own investment policy states that investments should avoid human rights violations.

Its difficult to square these touted virtues with CalPERS extensive investment activity in China.

This is an inconvenient truth for all asset managers. CalPERS has defended its China investments by referring to a legal fiduciary duty to provide retirement security to Californian pensioners.

In other words: we dont care about ESG if we think its a good investment.

Pensioners need to know that their retirement coffers may be at risk. Every major Chinese company, especially those involved in areas of key interest to Beijing, like military, security, and cyber, must answer to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The Party agenda and its politics are as deeply ingrained in business as profit-making.

Corporate governance, shareholder rights, and compliance standards are lax in China. Companies arent subject to the same stringent financial regulatory standards as U.S. companies.

For example, all corporate records must remain in China. Want to examine a companys books and records, and its audit work papers? Tough luckthose are deemed state secrets according to Beijing. What about internal-control compliance, such as abiding by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which U.S. companies are subject to? Nope, doesnt apply there either.

An example is China Forestry Holdings. CalPERS held 5.3 million shares in the Chinese timber producer but was forced to write off the positiontaking a massive lossafter the company was found to have falsified its assets and revenues figures, defrauding investors of the Hong Kong-listed company. The company has now been liquidated.

Enron and WorldCom-type accounting frauds are far more common among Chinese companies and pose a significant risk to investors.

If pension funds simply dismiss these governance risks, what fiduciary duties are they upholding?

Increasing scrutiny led CalPERS to create a webpage on Feb. 19 to further explain its expanding Chinese investments.

Amazingly, CalPERSone of the most sophisticated institutional investorspassed the buck to stock index operators.

CalPERS cited MSCI and FTSE Russell, two of the most tracked international index operators, for increasing the allocation of Chinese companies in their indices.

The pension argues that its increase in China investments is due to passively tracking the emerging markets indices published by MSCI and FTSE Russell. This was not an active decision made by us, the CalPERS page states.

But that defense is problematic. Investment managers tracking an index dont need to mimic the index 100 percent of the time.

And thats also not what CalPERS did. An analysis by Yves Smith of finance blog Naked Capitalism on Feb. 25, based on CalPERS own records, found that contrary to its statement, the pension fund did not just passively follow the index. It constructed its own portfolio away from the index.

In addition to index rebalancing, CalPERS increased Chinese allocation during the second half of 2019 is also a conscious decision made by the fund.

Thousand Talents Program

Then theres the issue of current CIO Ben Mengs background. In a July 2019 report, The Epoch Times documented how Meng, the person overseeing CalPERS investments, had extensive ties to the CCP.

After several years working at CalPERS, Meng was hired by Beijing in 2015 as deputy CIO of Chinas $3 trillion State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

Meng was recruited under the CCPs headhunting program Thousand Talents Plan (TTP), which aims to enlist prominent science, tech, and finance talentboth foreign and those of Chinese descentto work in China. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee called TTP one of Chinas non-traditional espionage against the United States and the program is widely recognized as a danger to U.S. national and economic security.

In a 2017 article in the Peoples Daily, the CCPs official mouthpiece, Meng was quoted as saying, In human life, if there is an opportunity to serve the motherland, such responsibility and honor cannot be compared to anything.

This is no simple job switch. One doesnt become a high ranking official at SAFE for simply being a good investor. SAFE is far more politically sensitive to China than CalPERS is to the United States. As deputy CIO of SAFE, Meng was privy to sensitive information of the CCP and was charged with managing the investments of Chinas vast foreign reserves, a duty that Beijing does not bestow upon anyone but the most loyal. In other words, Meng was an important component of the CCPs national financial apparatus.

After a three-year stint at SAFE, CalPERS hired Meng back as CIO in 2018.

The pension fund and Meng have not responded to a request for comment.

In a statement to the media, Meng acknowledged he was recruited to China via TTP but claims that his ties to the program were severed when he was named the pension funds new CIO. But so far, those defending Meng have largely missed the point.

Oaktree Capital Management founder Howard Marksa legendary Wall Street figureaccused Banks of targeting Meng unfairly, to impugn someones character on the basis of their familys national origin. Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzmana Trump advisercalled Meng accomplished and a talented investor.

Marks is right. And Meng may be a very competent and talented investor. But neither defense addresses concerns about the fact that a former CCP insider runs Americas largest public pension fund.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Suspected bandits over the weekend attacked travellers on the Birnin-Gwari  Kaduna highway killing, kidnapping and injuring travellers.

The attacks took place on Saturday evening and on Sunday evening.

Some of the kidnapped victims of the Saturday attack were said to be students who were on their way back to Birnin-Gwari from Kaduna after writing the university matriculation examination, UTME.

According to witnesses, one of the victims killed by the bandits was Ibrahim Idris, the driver of a former House of Representatives member, Adamu Shekarau.

Mr Idris boarded the same commercial vehicle as the kidnapped students, his relative said, adding that a fourth person, a little girl, was also kidnapped.

Mr Idriss relative, Abubakar Garba, confirmed the incident to PREMIUM TIMES via telephone.

Mr Garba said Mr Idris was returning to Birnin-Gwari from Kaduna when the vehicle was attacked.

He said two of the kidnapped students were young men while the third was a young woman. They were all heading to Birnin-Gwari, he said.

He said the bandits returned to the highway on Sunday evening at about 4 p.m. and killed three other persons.

An unconfirmed number of people were also kidnapped in the second attack, he said.

When contacted, the police public relations officer in Kaduna State, Mohammed Jalige, only confirmed the Saturday attack. He, however, said the police is still trying to get the exact figures.

Yes we got the information about the yesterday incident where a driver of a vehicle was shot to death, we are still waiting for the accurate figures of those kidnapped, Mr Jalige told PREMIUM TIMES.

Birnin-Gwari has witnessed frequent attacks from bandits in recent years, despite the high security presence in the area. Bandits are regularly suspected in the attacks, but occasional skirmishes between warring villages have also been reported.

It is not clear whether the attackers came from within the state, or from neighbouring Katsina or Zamfara, where hundreds have been killed by rampaging armed bandits.

President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 ordered a ban on mining activities in Zamfara after Nigerians held a protest in Abuja to condemn his seeming helplessness amidst a gloomy security situation that had prevailed for several years.

The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, stated then that the government gave the mining directive because it observed a relationship between banditry and illegal mining in the state.

Earlier in November 2017, the president reacted to a similar outrage about the killings by ordering the creation of a new army battalion for Zamfara.

In order to further secure the area, an army brigade was also moved from Sokoto State to Zamfara, while Sokoto received a new division.

But little appeared to have changed years on, even though the military reported frequent assaults on bandits hideouts.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 13:49:32|Editor: zyl

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PHNOM PENH, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Sunday banned entry of visitors from Iran for a month in a bid to curb the spread of the COVID-19.

The 30-day ban on foreigners will take effect from March 18 at midnight, said a Ministry of Healths statement.

Recently, the Kingdom of Cambodia has subsequently detected the COVID-19 on foreigners in different nationalities, which requires immediate measures to prevent the spread and importation of the COVID-19 into Cambodia, Minister of Health Mam Bunheng said in the statement.

Therefore, the Ministry of Health takes measures to ban foreigners from Iran from entering the country for 30 days, effective on March 18, 2020, he added.

On Saturday, the Southeast Asian country also barred the entry of visitors from five countries, namely Italy, Germany, Spain, France and the United States, for a month, starting from March 17 at midnight.

Bunheng said, according to the World Health Organization, the COVID-19 is present in 117 countries and regions as of March 12.

For Cambodia, the country has so far recorded a total of seven COVID-19 patients, including a Chinese man, a Cambodian man, three British nationals, a Canadian man, and a Belgian man.

The Chinese patient had recovered and returned to China, as the Cambodian victim has been receiving treatment at the Siem Reap provincial hospital, and the rest are being treated at hospitals in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia.

On Saturday, the government allowed all public and private school students in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap City to take an early vacation in order to curb the virus spread.
No Minor Sale, the tobacco prevention community partner of the New Mexico Department of Healths (NMDOH) Tobacco Use Prevention and Control (TUPAC) program, was busy at the state capitol during the 2020 legislative session advocating for statewide tobacco retail licensing, a policy that has been proven extremely effective in reducing the illegal sale of and access to tobacco products to minors.

Speaking of this policy, on March 5 Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the Tobacco Products Act, which becomes effective Jan. 1 and contains statewide tobacco retail licensing. The No Minor Sale campaign and the numerous Evolvement youth advocates who have worked on the campaign are thrilled about this news.

Evolvement is a national award-winning movement empowering teens to work toward meaningful change, which includes hundreds of New Mexico high school students being trained about tobacco prevention campaigns, including No Minor Sale.

During N.M. Allied Council on Tobaccos (NMACT) Day at the capitol on Jan. 28, Evolvement youth from across the state visited the capitol to discuss the No Minor Sale campaign and advocate for its mission of statewide tobacco retail licensing. Capital High School senior and Evolvement leadership staff student Karina Tarango was one of 10 Evolvement youth who traveled to the capitol to talk to legislators. Karina and fellow Capital High School senior and fellow Evolvement leadership staff student Elena Pearson led a group activity at American Cancer Society Cancer Action Networks (ACS CAN) Day at the Capitol on Feb. 10 to support ACS CANs mission: working every day to make cancer issues a national priority.

On NMACTs Day at the Capitol, Karina met with three state representatives and one state senator and when asked of her overall experience, Karina replied she, felt accomplished as well as proud of having the opportunity to speak to legislators about the important issue being tobacco. When asked how the legislators reacted when discussing statewide tobacco retail licensing, Karina replied, The legislators I spoke to were very supportive and were happy to see youth advocating for change in our tobacco laws.

Speaking to the importance of youth communicating with policy makers on tobacco prevention, Karina stated, It is crucial for youth, such as myself, to communicate with our legislators because when they see just how passionate youth are about a topic like tobacco, they are more likely to listen and help make change happen and youth should not have access to tobacco especially at such a young age because unfortunately it leads to addiction and health problems in the future. Elena added, it is incredibly important for youth to contribute to policymaking because we are the future and we should be able to say what we want our future to look like and that she had seen so many friends, family and peers get addicted to tobacco products and didnt want future generations to suffer the same consequences. Affirming the importance Evolvement youth have in policy change, Sen. Sander Rue, R-Albuquerque, stated to Karina during their meeting, you may not think youre making an impact now, but in the future, your message will save lives. Your message will touch someones heart.

Since the No Minor Sale Campaign began in fall 2017, more than 6,500 handwritten messages of support from residents of 177 different New Mexico localities and 31 of 33 New Mexico counties have been collected in support of ending illegal tobacco product sales to New Mexico youth and for statewide tobacco retail licensing. Given that one in six New Mexico tobacco retail stores sell illegally to minors, the role Evolvement youth advocates, including, Karina and Elena, have played in youth tobacco prevention has proven and will continue to prove vital even after tobacco retail licensing becomes effective. Much work remains to improve the health of New Mexico youth from the dangers from tobacco and nicotine-containing products.
The Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group has issued a travel advisory for its operatives to steer clear of coronavirus-hit Europe, described as "the land of the epidemic".

According to The Sunday Times, the latest issue of the ISIS 'Al-Naba' newsletter refers to a new set of "sharia directives" warning against travel to Europe.

The Middle East-based terror outfit, which has in the past encouraged operatives to plot attacks in Europe, also instructed those of its followers who may have become ill with coronavirus not to leave the region, in order to prevent the disease spreading.

The newsletter says that the "healthy should not enter the land of the epidemic and the afflicted should not exit from it". It also instructs followers to "cover their mouths when yawning and sneezing" and to wash their hands regularly.

The newsletter refers to a "plague" described as a "torment sent by God on whomsoever He wills", adding: "Illnesses do not strike by themselves but by the command and decree of God."



ISIS has lost a lot of ground in the Middle East after a series of defeats, but it remains active in Iraq and Syria in a fragmented form. The Middle East has also been hit by the coronavirus outbreak, with Iraq reporting 101 cases and 10 deaths from COVID-19.

Europe is now the epicentre of the worldwide pandemic, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), with Italy, France and Spain all banning public gatherings and the UK set to follow suit as the virus claimed over 5,300 lives around the world.

In Italy, 2,547 new novel coronavirus cases were reported and 252 deaths on Saturday, the highest number of deaths in a single day since the outbreak began.

Italy has now confirmed 21,157 cases, second highest in the world after China.

As of Saturday, in Spain the number of coronavirus infections have reached 5,753 people, half of them in Madrid.

The deadly virus has claimed over 5,300 lives and infected more than 142,000 people across 135 countries and territories, with the World Health Organisation describing the outbreak a pandemic on Wednesday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By PTI

BHOPAL: Jyotiraditya Scindia, whose move of quitting the Congress has pushed the Kamal Nath-led government in Madhya Pradesh to the brink, is likely arrive in Bhopal on Sunday night or early Monday, a leader said.

The rebel Congress MLAs, who have been camping in Bengaluru, are also scheduled to return to the Madhya Pradesh capital by Sunday night, sources said.

Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon had late Saturday night directed Chief Minister Kamal Nath to seek a trust vote in the Legislative Assembly on Monday, the first day of the budget session.

"Scindia ji is scheduled to arrive Bhopal on Sunday night or early on Monday morning," said Pankaj Chaturvedi, a close confidante of Scindia.

ALSO READ: Scindia, BJP and the endgame of Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh

However, he did not reveal anything about Scindia's plans after arriving in the city.

Scindia had gone to Delhi on Friday after filing his nomination paper for the upcoming Rajya Sabha election as a BJP candidate.

Sources said that on his arrival, Scindia would meet his loyalist MLAs, who resigned from the state assembly and Congress after he left the grand old party.

These rebel Congress MLAs are likely to reach Bhopal on Sunday night or early Monday morning from Bengaluru, they said.

Meanwhile, BJP MLAs, who have been staying at a resort at Gurugram (Haryana), are also likely to return to Bhopal by Sunday night or early Monday morning, party sources said.

ALSO READ: Buckle up - Madhya Pradesh Assembly to face floor test on March 15

On Saturday evening, the Speaker N P Prajapati had accepted the resignations of six Scindia loyalist MLAs, who were ministers in the Kamal Nath cabinet.

On the other hand, Governor Lalji Tandon directed Chief Minister Kamal Nath late Saturday night to seek a trust vote in the assembly soon after his (governor) address on March 16.

Congress MLAs, who had been camping in Jaipur since Wednesday, returned to Bhopal on Sunday morning.

They were taken to Hotel Courtyard Marriot in MP Nagar locality, about a km away from the state assembly complext and the state secretariat.

Twenty-two Congress MLAs loyal to Scindia had resigned on Tuesday, pushing the 15-month-old Kamal Nath government into a crisis.
A second person has died from Covid-19, the Department of Health announced this evening.

The man, who in the east of the country, is reported to have had an underlying health condition.

It also announced that there are 39 new cases bringing the total number of cases in the Republic to 129.

This is the biggest single increase in the country since the virus arrived on our shores.

Of the new cases, there are 29 males and 10 females. Twenty-one of the cases are in the east of the country, 13 are in the south, three in the north west and two are in the west of Ireland.

The HSE is working to identify any contacts the patients may have had, to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread.

It is believed that six people have been admitted to ICU with Covid-19 - no change since yesterday.

This afternoon, five new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in the North bringing the total number of cases there to 34 and the total on the island to 163.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan extended his sympathies to the family and friends of the patient who lost his life.

Dr Holohan said that the increase in cases today reinforces the necessity of the measures that have been put in place.

Members of the public were once again urged to follow the measures which include hand and respiratory hygiene, social distancing, school closures and limiting the size of mass gatherings.

It is up to every one of us to play our role in slowing down the spread of this disease.

People were reminded that the measures are in place to limit the spread of the virus and to protect others in the country, especially those who are the most vulnerable.

Dr Holohan said that he feels some young adults have not been complying with the measures, citing those aged between 20 and 40 in particular.

"Social distancing applies to all age groups, all people in Ireland.

"We need our younger generation to follow social distancing measures to protect their grandparents, parents or family members who may have underlying health conditions."

He added that social distancing does not mean that people are being confined to their houses.

Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer added to this saying that there are many anecdotal stories of people ignoring the social distancing guidelines.

"We are in an unprecedented global situation. Everyone in the country must play their part in protecting the most vulnerable and slowing down the spread of this disease.

Dr Holohan noted the pressure on emergency service phonelines today and explained that 112/999 is not an advice line.

"If you have flu like symptoms, self isolate at home until Monday and visit hse.ie for advice.

"You can call your GP on Monday morning and they will decide if you need a test. Please only call 999 or GP out of hours for emergencies."

Yesterday, the case definition for the virus was updated.

Symptoms of new onset fever of 38 degrees or more, or chills and/or symptoms of respiratory tract infections including cough are now considered when assessing the requirement for testing.

Thank you to all our incredible health staff, scientists, dedicated officials in @roinnslainte & @HSELive & across all departments & agencies & voluntary groups & every person working flat out on #coronavirus in Ireland. Please help them by doing your bit - follow their advice! pic.twitter.com/hZN9L8ie5H  Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) March 14, 2020

Members of the public who have normal cold and flu symptoms or who believe they may have been in contact with Covid-19 are being asked to self-isolate and call a GP on Monday.

The Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) has advised that from Monday GPs will be able to order the test electronically through their IT system, Healthlink.

GPs will not undertake the tests themselves to help protect their staff and other patients.

The ICGP said the HSE will have enhanced capacity for testing from Monday.

The HSE plan to have community COVID-19 testing centres established to enable testing at local level.

Officials say they are working through the weekend to make sure enough testing facilities are in place by Monday to meet increased demand.

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WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

India under lockdown: Confirmed coronavirus cases jump to 107

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Mar 15: The number of novel coronavirus cases in the India rose to 107 on Sunday, which includes two persons who died in Delhi and Karnataka, the Union Health Ministry said. This figure includes foreign nationals tested positive in India.

While a 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi who had recently returned from Saudi Arabia died on Thursday, a 68-year-old woman in Delhi who had tested positive for coronavirus passed away at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital on Friday night.

Delhi has reported seven positive cases and Uttar Pradesh 11 so far. Karnataka has six coronavirus patients while Maharashtra 19, Ladakh three and Jammu and Kashmir 2. Besides, Rajasthan also reported two cases.

Coronavirus: Two more new cases found in Yavatmal; Maha count 22

Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab have reported one case each. Kerala has recorded 22 cases, including three patients who were discharged last month after they recovered from the contagious infection with flu-like symptoms. The total number of 93 confirmed cases includes 17 foreigners -- 16 Italian tourists and a Canadian, the ministry officials said.

Amid rising coronavirus cases in India, 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 and that it is "not a health emergency" in India at present.

With the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaring COVID-19 a pandemic, a Health Ministry official said over 4,000 people who had come in contact with the 93 positive cases have been identified through contact 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 personal protective equipment (PPEs), trained manpower, rapid response teams are being strengthened further in all states and union territories.

The Centre as part of its measures to contain the spread of the disease on Friday announced that people will be allowed to travel through 19 of 37 land border checkposts from Saturday midnight and services of the 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, the official said. The government on Wednesday suspended all visas, barring a few categories like diplomatic and employment, in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus. It has asked Indian nationals to avoid all non-essential travel abroad.

2 suspected coronavirus patients flee from hospital

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.
TOLEDO, Ohio - Curt La Haise has put up with plenty of razzing from friends over the years who have called him paranoid for stockpiling an eight-month supply of food in his basement and having enough fuel to power his generator for almost an entire winter.

Theyre not laughing anymore amid panic buying that has cleared store shelves across the U.S. and growing fears that the new coronavirus will force many Americans to self-quarantine for weeks in their homes.

Now my friends are like, What should I do, what should I get? said La Haise, who operates a firearms and safety training business near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. Prepping doesnt look so bad now.

For those in the often-mocked prepper community, this is quickly becoming their I told you so moment. But many are resisting saying that, even if its in the back of their minds. What they hope is that theyll finally be taken seriously and that more people will follow their lead.

Were not laughing. Were not saying, I told you so, when people are out there fighting over toilet paper and hand sanitizers, said Paul Buescher, of Northfield Center Township, Ohio.

Buescher is one of 32 members of a group in northeastern Ohio that shares a farm packed with enough canned and dehydrated food and water to last for years. He said he is now getting calls all day long asking for advice.

Survival supply stores cant keep up with the demand for food kits and medical supplies.

Every single business that has to do with emergency preparedness is overloaded, said John Ramey, founder of a Colorado-based prepper website called The Prepared.

Most preppers say they are about self-reliance and common sense and are quick to distance themselves from the doomsday preppers who are depicted on television shows awaiting the day most of the worlds population is wiped off the map.

The vast majority of this is beans and Band-Aids, not bullets and bunkers, Ramey said.

Jim Cobb, a disaster readiness consultant and editor-in-chief of Prepper Survival Guide magazine, said he has seen a few fellow preppers gloating on social media about people who are crowding stores in search of disinfectants.

I hate the thought of alienating any of them because they think were a bunch of elitist goofballs. he said. Were trying to take advantage of the opportunity that for once theyre not laughing and pointing fingers at us.

While most people who have tested positive for the virus experience only mild or moderate symptoms, theres a greater danger and longer recovery period for older adults and people with existing health problems.

Experts say its most important to practice safe hygiene: Wash hands frequently, cover sneezes and coughs, and stay home if fever or other symptoms arise.

As for the preppers, they have their own recommendations for anyone who is unsure of what to do next:

 Be ready to stay at home for at least two weeks. Have plenty of food and water. Dont forget about your pets and medicines. That includes over-the-counter products for fevers and coughs.

 Yes, toilet paper is important, but so are hand sanitizers, disinfectants, sanitation wipes, eye protection and gloves.

 Get your finances in order. Make sure you can pay your bills and have cash on hand.

 Maybe most important, relax and dont panic. And pay attention to the news and whats happening around you.

___

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.
India will be able to forecast extreme weather events like cloud bursts at least two days in advance from 2022, the ministry of earth sciences (MoES) has informed a parliamentary committee.

The ministry (MoES) stated that unlike cyclones, forecasting a cloudburst is very difficult due to the dynamics of the rapidly developing clouds over a very small area. However, they could make a probabilistic forecast on the possibility of cloudburst events over a specific area 48 hours in advance with an enhanced computing facility, the parliamentary committee stated in its report submitted to the Rajya Sabha earlier this month.

Cloud bursts are extreme weather events in which an area registers more than 100 mm rain in just one hour. The Uttarakhand flood of June 2013 triggered by cloud bursts killed a few thousand people and many more were reported missing apart from causing a massive loss to property and infrastructure.

At present Indias weather forecasting system depends on high-performance computing (HPC) system with a capacity of 10 PetaFlops. Plans are, however, afoot to augment the current HPC from 10 PFlops to 40 PFlops by 2022 and to 100 PFlops by 2024.

With the facility being upgraded, we will be able to forecast extreme weather events such as cloud bursts at least two days in advance by 2022. Also at present, our forecasts have a resolution with a precision up to 12 km. With such advanced computing system we will be able to give forecast up to 5 km, or maybe even up to 3 km, with far more detailed predictions, said Madhavan Nair Rajeevan, secretary of MoES.

Experts said that this will allow authorities a period of at least two days to initiate pre-emptive actions to save lives and property. At present cloudbursts are predicted two to three hours in advance in terms of heavy rainfall using Doppler Weather Radars and Satellite Data.

At present science is not the limiting factor. Computing facility is the limiting factor. To forecast extreme events like cloud bursts and very heavy rainfall, highly localized phenomenon, we not only need to increase our horizontal resolution to less than one kilometre but also increase our vertical resolution, said KJ Ramesh, former director-general of the India Meteorological Department.

With an upgraded HPC system of 100 PFlops, meteorologists will be able to analyze the fast-changing microphysical characteristics of clouds and better will be our forecast, he said.

India has witnessed an increase in extreme weather events like extremely heavy rainfall leading to floods, severe heat waves and cyclones in the recent past, the Lok Sabha was told earlier this month. In the changing climate scenario, central and northern India and the western Himalayas have become more prone to extreme rainfall events, whereas north, northwest and neighbouring central India are prone to heat waves. In 2019, at least eight cyclonic storms formed over the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. Usually, five cyclones develop in the Indian seas in a year.

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Linkedin (Xinhua) Beijing  Sun, March 15, 2020 12:50 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206abdeaa 2 Food restaurant,health,coronavirus,COVID-19 Free

Diners will not be allowed to sit face-to-face in restaurants and canteens in Beijing during the coronavirus outbreak, according to the latest government notice.

The guidelines issued by the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau also asked outlets of catering firms and canteens of government units and institutes to place dining tables at an interval of at least 1 meter.

Restaurants must strictly limit the density of diners and check their temperatures at the entrance, said the guidelines, which also demand timely disinfection of tables, doorknobs, faucets and other facilities that are regularly touched by customers.

In particular, it advocates the use of QR codes for placing orders and paying bills, a technological innovation that has already entered many Chinese eateries to raise efficiency and reduce contacts.

Catering companies are also asked to promote the use of serving chopsticks, which are still not common in many smaller eateries.

Read also: Spending millions on a meal: Indonesian patrons 'collect moments' in restaurants

Restaurants, among others, have borne the brunt of the epidemic's economic fallout as many Chinese follow the official instructions to stay indoors and avoid gatherings. In response, many outlets have beefed up disinfection or focused on online take-out services.

The Chinese mainland has seen single-digit daily increases of indigenous COVID-19 infections for four days. Still, big cities like Beijing and Shanghai are on high alert for the increasing numbers of imported cases from abroad.
SAARC nations on Sunday vowed to jointly combat coronavirus as Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed an emergency fund with an initial offer of USD 10 million from India and asserted that the best way to deal with the pandemic was by coming together, and not growing apart.

The underlying message of the video conference was unitedly taking on the virus, but Pakistan used the occasion to raise Kashmir issue, calling for immediate lifting of the "lockdown" there to allow disease containment measures.

Apart from Modi, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza, participated in the video conference.

In his opening remarks, Modi said India's guiding mantra to deal with the virus was "prepare, but don't panic".

"We were careful to not underestimate the problem, but also to avoid knee-jerk reactions," he said.

In a significant message, Modi asserted that it was important for the SAARC member countries to work together and said the region can best respond to the coronavirus pandemic by "coming together, not growing apart".

Modi said it was important to focus on collaboration, not confusion, and preparation, not panic.

Mirza, in his remarks, also hailed China for its efforts to deal with coronavirus and urged other SAARC nations to learn best practices from it.

Raising Kashmir, he said, "Equity in health is a fundamental principle of public health. In this regard, let me say that it is a matter of concern that COVID-19 has been reported" from Jammu and Kashmir.

"In view of the health emergency, it is imperative that all lockdown" there must be lifted immediately, he said.

"Opening up communication and movement would facilitate dissemination of information, allow distribution of medical supplies and allow containment...to proceed unimpeded," Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Mirza said.

After initial remarks by the leaders, Prime Minister Modi made a series of suggestions which were hailed by the SAARC leaders and representatives.

"I propose we create a COVID-19 Emergency Fund. This could be based on voluntary contributions from all of us. India can start with an initial offer of 10 million dollars for this fund. Any of us can use the fund to meet the cost of immediate actions," Modi said.

He said the member nations' foreign secretaries, through embassies, can coordinate quickly to finalise the utilisation of this fund.

"We are assembling a Rapid Response Team of doctors and specialists in India, along with testing kits and other equipment. They will be on stand-by, to be placed at your disposal, if required," he told the SAARC leaders.

India had set up an Integrated Disease Surveillance Portal to better trace possible virus carriers and the people they contacted and it could share this disease surveillance software with SAARC partners, Modi said.

"Looking ahead, we could create a common research platform, to coordinate research on controlling epidemic diseases within our South Asian region. The Indian Council of Medical Research can offer help coordinating such an exercise," he said.

Modi also thanked Oli for participating in the video conference almost immediately after his recent surgery and congratulated President Ghani for his recent re-election. The new Secretary-General of SAARC also joined in but did not speak.

Modi also highlighted the steps taken by India to combat the virus.

"We started screening people entering India from mid-January itself, while gradually increasing restrictions on travel," Modi said.

Step-by-step approach helped avoid panic and India made special efforts to reach out to vulnerable groups, he said.

India also responded to the call of its people abroad and evacuated nearly 1,400 Indians from different countries, he said.

Modi also said India helped some citizens of neighbouring countries by evacuating them from coronavirus-hit nations.

Maldivian President Solih backed coordinated approach to deal with COVID-19, asserting that no country can deal with the situation alone.

Lankan President Rajapaksa said SAARC leaders should formulate a mechanism to help the economies of the region to tide over problems posed by coronavirus.

He also proposed setting up a SAARC ministerial-level group to deal with issues related to coronavirus.

Hasina hailed PM Modi's suggestions to deal with the pandemic and called for taking the initiative forward by more such video conferences, including one with health ministers of SAARC nations participating.

"Our collective efforts will help us devise a sound and robust strategy for SAARC region to fight coronavirus," Nepal PM Oli said.

Bhutanese PM Lotay Tshering said that it was important for all countries of the region to be on same page to combat coronavirus.

Mirza, in his initial remarks, said no nation can afford to be unresponsive to the situation in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

"We share common regional concerns on COVID-19. While hoping for the best, we have to prepare for the worst," the Pakistan PM's Special Assistant on Health said.

Modi had on Friday proposed formulation of a joint strategy by the SAARC nations to fight coronavirus, a suggestion that was backed by all the member states.

Calling on the SAARC nations to set an example for the world, Modi had reached out to the eight-member regional grouping and pitched for a video conference among its leaders to chalk out a strong strategy to fight coronavirus, which has killed more than 5,000 people globally.

His appeal got a prompt response from Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister Oli, Bhutanese premier Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Hasina and the Afghan government, all of whom welcomed the proposal.

Pakistan's response to the proposal came in after the rest, with the country's Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui saying Mirza will be available to participate in the video-conference.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The explosion that rocked parts of Lagos on Sunday occurred when a truck hit some gas cylinders in the area, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said.

The corporation made this known in a statement by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, Kennie Obateru.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the explosion occurred at the Abule-Ado Area of Lagos State, in the early hours of Sunday.

Scores of residents, including school children, were trapped in buildings as the explosion shook the area and nearby places.

NNPC said on sunday that the incident occurred after a truck hit some gas cylinders stacked in a gas processing plant located near the corporations system 2B Pipeline Right of Way.

As soon as the incident occured, the corporation said it quickly halted ongoing pumping operations on the Atlas Cove-Mosimi pipeline which was active at the time.

Mr Obateru noted that the temporary shutdown of the critical System 2B pipeline would not affect the supply of petrol across the country.

He disclosed that the NNPC had already mobilized its in-house combined team consisting of health, safety and environment experts, medical and security personnel from its nearby Satellite Depot in Lagos, even as Lagos State Fire Service was also rallied to extinguish the fire.

The statement added that more fire firefighting personnel and equipment were mobillised from the NNPC Mosimi Area Office to provide extra fillip to the ongoing operation.

According to him, preliminary findings indicated that the impact of the explosion was so huge that it led to the collapse of nearby houses. He disclosed further that the explosion caused damage to NNPC pipeline.

NNPC boss, Mele Kyari, and other top management of the corporation departed to Lagos Sunday evening for an on-the-spot assessment at the scene of the incident.

The NNPC Group Managing Director, Mallam Mele Kyari, commiserated with the victims of the incident, praying that God provides them succor at this hour, the statement said.

While assuring members of the public and residents of the affected communities to remain calm, the NNPC explained that the temporary shutdown of the petroleum products pipeline would not affect the normal supply of products to the Lagos and its environs.

Neither the NNPC nor the fire service and the police have provided a figure on the casualty from the fire.

At least five people were confirmed dead, residents earlier told PREMIUM TIMES.

President Muhammadu Buhari has since commiserated with families who lost loved ones, and all those affected by explosion.

The president condoled with the Lagos State government and all residents affected by the unfortunate incident, which left many injured and destroyed property.

I have received with sadness the news of this unfortunate incident which caused loss of lives and property.

A misfortune of whatever scale anywhere is a tragedy to the country, and while the NNPC makes efforts to determine the cause of the incident, I send my deepest and profound sympathises to the victims, their families, government and people of Lagos State, Mr Buhari said, according to a statement by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (L) and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio during a press conference to discuss Amazon's decision to bring a new corporate location to New York City in New York City on Nov. 13, 2018. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

New York City Closing Schools Over Pandemic Until at Least April 20: Mayor

Mayor Bill de Blasio says schools may be closed for the rest of the academic year

New York City will close public schools starting this week, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, in the citys most disruptive measure yet to curb the spread of the new coronavirus. Schools in nearby Westchester County and Long Island will also be shuttered.

De Blasio told reporters on Sunday that school in the city will be closed until April 20 and possibly for the remainder of the academic year. We will make a first attempt to restart our schools on Monday, April 20th, he said, adding that meal services will be implemented within five days.

I believe the facts, unfortunately, have given us no other choice, de Blasio stated. But there are three things that we are trying to protect. Most importantly our public health system, our hospital system, our clinics, everywhere that people go for health care, and two things that feed that system are public transit system, and, of course, our schools.

He added that officials will have to come up with alternatives as parents often rely on schools as a child-care function and for food.

We hope between the remote learning and the specialized sites for the children of essential workers that we can keep enough going to support our health care system, but it will not be easy, he said.

Cuomo said that other schools will be shuttered in New York Citys suburbs.

We will be closing schools in New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester Country. Thats all of downstate New York, the governor told reporters.

Shelves previously filled with pasta and canned food are seen empty at a Trader Joes grocery store in Encinitas, Calif., on March 12, 2020. (Reuters/Mike Blake)

The governor didnt say when the New York City schools would close, adding it would happen early this week. And they must have a plan in place in the next 24 hours for childcare for essential workers and a plan to make sure kids will continue to get the meals they need, Cuomo said.

He explained that its necessary to reduce the density of people and curb the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the Wuhan coronavirus.

For schools in Westchester, Nassau, and Suffolk counties, school closes for two weeks starting Monday, March 16, according to the governor.

Join me at City Hall for an important update on our citys response to COVID-19. https://t.co/TOVCtB9naf  Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) March 15, 2020

Several states have already announced school closures over the coronavirus pandemic. And cities such as Los Angeles, Houston, Seattle, and Washington D.C. have done the same in recent days.

But you have to anticipate and correct for any negative consequences, Cuomo said during the press conference. Especially child care needs of essential workersfocusing on health care workers, and making sure children get their meals, he added.

There are currently 329 cases, including five deaths, in New York City, said de Blasio.
MADHUKHALI (Faridpur): A workers\' meeting of Jubo Dal, Madhukhali Upazila and Poura Unit was held at Madhulhali Press Club on Friday.
Editors note: This story has been updated with new details from police.

A 51-year-old man died after an ATV crash Sunday afternoon, New Jersey State Police said.

The man, who has not yet been identified, was pronounced dead at Pocono Medical Center in East Stroudsburg shortly after the 12:23 p.m. crash, said Warren County Prosecutor James Pfeiffer.

The man was the lone person riding the four-wheel vehicle that crashed on his property at 29 Upper Sarepta Road in White Township, police said.

Video surveillance captured the entire incident. It showed the man suffered some type of medical episode just prior to the crash and fell off the ATV, Pfeiffer said. The man was found unconscious on the ground by his son, Pfieffer said.

There was no reckless driving, no intoxication and speed was not a factor, he said.

New Jersey State Police in Washington and the Warren County Prosecutors Office oversee the investigation.

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.
Given its name, you might expect "Devs"  which launched earlier this month on the new FX on Hulu  to be a "Silicon Valley"-style sitcom about the tech industry. And there are indeed some delightful moments where "Ex Machina" writer-director Alex Garland pokes fun at San Francisco and tech culture.

But the prevailing mood is one of mystery and dread. The show takes place largely at a fictional quantum computing company called Amaya, run by its brooding CEO Forest (played by Nick Offerman), which employs Lily (Sonoya Mizuno) and her boyfriend Sergei (Karl Glusman) . Amaya is also home to a division known as Devs  a group that's mysterious enough that most employees don't even know what the team is working on.

On the latest installment of the Original Content podcast, TechCrunch Events Director Emma Comeau joins us to discuss the three episodes that have aired thus far.

While it's too early to evaluate how the show will answer its big questions, we're all fans, thanks to its eerie visuals, impressive performances (particularly from Offerman and Mizuno) and the tantalizing way that it lays out its mysteries  during the spoiler discussion, we spent most of our time puzzling over clues about the ultimate goal of the Devs team.

And although the show is certainly tense, it's actually something of a relief to spend a few hours worrying about sinister tech companies, rather everything else happening in the world outside.

You can listen in the player below, subscribe using Apple Podcasts or find us in your podcast player of choice. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review on Apple. You can also send us feedback directly. (Or suggest shows and movies for us to review!)

If you want to skip ahead, here's how the episode breaks down:

0:00 Intro

3:26 "Devs" review (mild spoilers)

26:20 "Devs" spoiler review/speculation
Tampa, FL - A minor league player for the New York Yankees has become the first known league player to contract coronavirus.

Accoridng to a team spokesman, the unidentified player was isolated Friday after developing a fever. He did not spend anytime on the major league side of the Yankees Spring Training facility in Tampa, Florida.

The results were shown as positive Sunday morning. Yankees player development director Kevin Reese states that the player is recovering well and that the organization is in contact with Department of Health officials to figure out next steps.

The MLB cancelled Spring Training but teams, like the Yankees, decided to stay at their spring training facilities and continue to workout. On Sunday the league sent out a memo stating that players would be allowed to stay in camps "but we anticipate that may change in the coming days as events continue to unfold and players become better educated about current conditions."

The league has banned group workouts.
Large religious gatherings have been cancelled and churches plan to video-stream services from this week to help contain the coronavirus.

Mosques, along with Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, Pentecostal and other churches, have banned gatherings of more than 500 people, in line with government directives to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Pope Francis was seen wiping his nose during the Ash Wednesday Mass last month. Credit:AP

Hillsong Church will stream all services online. Pastor Brian Houston told parishioners via video message that "this will be the last weekend that we will be able to gather in full".

"Next week, we are going to be meeting online," he said.
In 1900, Bayer, the German pharmaceutical company that had developed aspirin, introduced a much stronger brand of pain killer in the United States. The new drug was called heroin, a name derived from the German word for heroic. The company promoted it as a treatment for an array of ills: colds, coughs, asthma, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, stomach cancer, schizophrenia. It also advertised heroin as safe for children. And anyone over 18 could buy it, Gerald Posner notes in a new book, Pharma: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America. Bayer was hardly the only company at the ...
Kaley Cuoco has moved in with husband Karl Cook, 29, after living separately for the first two years of their marriage

'Home,' captioned the 34-year-old actress on a portrait she shared on Instagram Sunday of herself and Cook relishing in the long awaited move-in day in

The celebration continued on Cuoco's Instagram story, where she documented every moment from the flight to Los Angeles to a full on house tour of the couple's Hidden Hills mansion.

Finally: Kaley Cuoco took to Instagram on Saturday to share that her and husband Karl Cook had moved into their $12million mansion

In one clip, Cook, who wed Cuoco in 2018, can be seen carrying the Big Bang Theory alum in his arms as they gallivanted from room-to-room.

'Carrying me over the threshold for the first time lol,' captioned Cuoco in the clip shared with her nearly 6million Instagram followers.

'We're home! We're home!,' exclaimed the star before planting a kiss on her adoring husband.

'First #KarlFashioned in our new home,' wrote Cuoco who later captured footage of her hubby concocting his own rendition of the old fashioned cocktail.

Her prince: In one clip, Cook, who wed Cuoco in 2018, can be seen carrying the Big Bang Theory alum in his arms as they gallivanted from room-to-room

He had to do it: 'Carrying me over the threshold for the first time lol,' captioned Cuoco in the clip shared with her nearly 6million Instagram followers

Celebratory smooch: As they made their way around the home, Cuoco and Karl made sure to stop and share a smooch

The couple clanked glasses on the couch in their living room before heading back to the kitchen, where Karl was brewing up an 'exotic' dinner for himself and Cuoco.

'What are you making us for dinner,' asked Cuoco.

'Something real exotic...popcorn,' answered Cook, before letting out a soft chuckle.

Cuoco showed off the pair's exquisite kitchen that featured a ginormous royal blue stove with gold detailing.

Custom: Kaley made sure to feature the custom art she had hung about the walls in their home

Living room: Cuoco showed of the couple's spacious living area surrounded by glass windows giving the star a clear view of the LA rain

Homage: Kaley paid homage to Cook's equestrian life by hanging a giant picture of his horse in the home

Kaley had given fans a glimpse at the unique appliance back in January, when she shared a picture of herself and Karl posing in front of it.

'My dream,' captioned Cuoco at the time.

The California native did not just stop at showing off her kitchen, she also gave viewers a glimpse of her home's modern staircase, vast backyard, and spacious living areas.

The Flight Attendant actress caught an early flight in NYC on Saturday morning en route to Los Angeles with her sister Bri.

Special treat: 'First #KarlFashioned in our new home,' wrote Cuoco who later captured footage of her hubby concocting his own rendition of the old fashioned cocktail

Cheers: The couple clanked glasses on the couch in their living room before heading back to the kitchen, where Karl was brewing up an 'exotic' dinner for himself and Cuoco

Cuoco took a moment to remark on the coronavirus pandemic and marveled at the lack of panic present at the busy airport.

'We will see what happens when we get back to LA,' said Kaley who later made fun of sister Bri for obsessively wiping down surfaces on the airplane.

Kaley donned throw away latex gloves for the morning flight and urged her followers to wash their hands.

Kaley and Karl began dating in late 2016 and got engaged on her 32nd birthday, November 30, 2017.

Cooking with Cook: 'What are you making us for dinner,' asked Cuoco of her husband playfully, while showing off her spacious kitchen

Her dream: Back in January, Kaley shared a photo of the couple's enviable kitchen on Instagram

Since marrying in June 2018 the couple has been dedicated to building their dream home in Los Angeles with plenty of land for their dogs, rabbits, goats and horses.

But Cuoco has been busy filming her upcoming HBO Max show, The Flight Attendant, which she optioned, executive produces and stars in.

According to Kaley, who sat down with Access Hollywood last week, Karl, who has been residing in Los Angeles, refused to be in the home without her.

Staying safe: Before boarding her flight to Los Angeles, Cuoco took a moment to remark on the coronavirus pandemic and marveled at the lack of panic present at the busy airport in NYC

Gloved up: Kaley rocked throw away latex gloves in flight, while sister Bri wiped down the surfaces surrounding the pair

'Karl's been at home and I said "why don't you go stay at the house?" but he's waiting for me to get there and have all of the animals there.'

When she revealed they continued to live separately, back in August, fans were quick to jump in calling out the unconventional nature of their relationship.

'Everyone was so crazed that we didn't live together, they couldn't believe [it]. I didn't understand it.'
In war, you never want to let the enemy cut your supply lines, as an army can't fight without arms, food, fuel, medicine, and other necessities. Yet, in "peacetime," the United States (and the West as a whole) has simply allowed a foreign power to become our supply source for critical parts, technologies, and life-saving drugs. This is a potentially disastrous situation, as recently evidenced by a threat China's Communist Party made with regard to the coronavirus pandemic. Xinhua, the state-run media agency that is the voice of the party, published a piece in which Beijing bragged about its handling of COVID-19, a virus that originated in the city of Wuhan, and noted that China could restrict pharmaceutical exports, thereby plunging America into "the mighty sea of coronavirus." The Food and Drug Administration has already announced a shortage of an undisclosed coronavirus drug due to the inability to access enough raw components from China.

What kind of a government would threaten to withhold the life-saving drugs its nation manufactures during a worldwide pandemic? Sick doesn't begin to describe it.

Though the U.S. is the clear global leader in medical research, it has effectively allowed the outsourcing of most critical pharmaceuticals to China. This would be as if the Allies had allowed Germany to make their ships, planes, tanks, and ammunition in World war II. We are dangerously, absurdly reliant on the communist government of China for vital goods. China currently supplies nearly 90 percent of the antibiotics the United States needs, roughly 70 percent of the acetaminophen, and a significant percentage of many other important drugs as well.

Even as a new report surfaced, suggesting that the Chinese government knew about the existence of the coronavirus a month earlier than it has admitted and chose to cover it up, China has arrogantly and preposterously attempted to portray itself as a global hero. Angered that the U.S. had the temerity to point out that the virus originated in China, it has demanded a thank-you for containing it as long as it claims it did. An editorial in Xinhua stated, "We should say righteously that the U.S. owes China an apology, the world owes China a thank you." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian went so far as to tweet: "It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!" Well, that's an interesting take, though Lijian failed to say how the Wuhan virus could be the work of the U.S. Army. Maybe China's borders are more porous and undefended than we've been led to believe.

There are several key takeaways here. First off, that we can never let this happen again should be an existential lesson for the U.S. and the West, though it likely will go unheeded. (Progressives are far more worried about the possibility of deplorables avoiding Chinese restaurants. And far more angered by Trump and Republicans calling COVID19 "Wuhan Virus" and asserting that it is Chinese in origin, though it is, as was SARS.)

Secondly, progressives are wrong in thinking we're all just the same inside, or that the U.S. should model itself after Marxist, authoritarian governments. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Yet Bernie Sanders recently lauded China, averring: "They have made more progress in addressing extreme poverty than any country in the history of civilization, so they've done a lot of things for their people." The only positive thing they've done for their people is allow them more economic freedom, even as they've abused and enslaved them in every other way. Historically, governments have differed in the amount of power they allocate to their citizens. The Founders designed the government of the United States in the reverse, delegating all but specifically enumerated powers to the people. That made all the difference. It is the United States that has alleviated more poverty, extreme or otherwise, than any country in the history of civilization.

Lastly, though leftists claim that Trump is an authoritarian at heart, he is anything but, and he is the only one truly fighting for the U.S. and its people in matters such as this. He knows the leverage China has accrued over the nation he loves and is committed to reducing it.

Whenever any other nation is afflicted by tragedy, the United States is there to help out, physically and monetarily. Always. Historically, this is undeniable...and unprecedented.

China's leaders can threaten to cast the U.S. into "the mighty sea of coronavirus," but they should proceed with caution. For though they may sow the wind, they shall reap the whirlwind.
Over 1,800 killed so far in Italy, the worst-hit country after China, with total number of cases hitting nearly 25,000.

Italy on Sunday reported 368 new deaths from the coronavirus outbreak as the countrys death toll hit 1,809 while the number of positive cases rose to 24,747 from 21,157 on Saturday, the countrys civil protection authority said.

Governments around the world have stepped up restrictions on the movement of their citizens to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed nearly 5,800 people with over 153,000 infected globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Spain became the second European country to impose a nationwide lockdown after 2,000 new cases were confirmed and the number of reported deaths doubled.

Iran announced more than 100 people have died in the past 24 hours, with the confirmed cases nearing 14,000. Tehran said its fight against coronavirus is being severely hampered by US sanctions.

In the Philippines, the capital Manila has been sealed off, with its 12 million residents told to avoid travel for a month. Schools in the city have been closed and large events banned.

In the United States, increased screening measures for people returning from Europe have caused chaos at airports.

This live blog in now closed. Click here for updates of Monday, March 16.

Here are the updates of:

Sunday, March 15

20:50 GMT  Coronavirus pandemic: Which politicians, celebrities are affected?

The coronavirus pandemic has spread to 123 countries with the worldwide death toll from the virus nearing 5,800.

Among the more than 152,000 cases recorded globally are government officials, celebrities and sports personalities as authorities around the world grapple to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Hollywood actor Tom Hanks and his wife, actress and singer Rita Wilson, and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, wife of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, are some of the most well-known faces to be infected so far.

Who are others affected?

Read more here.





20:32 GMT  Serbia declares state of emergency over coronavirus: president

Serbias president declared a state of emergency to halt the spread of the coronavirus deploying soldiers to guard hospitals and shutting down many public spaces.

From tomorrow, there is no more school, no nurseries, no universities, everything closes, no training, sports  We will close down to save our lives, to save our parents, to save our elderly, said President Aleksandar Vucic.

20:20  France reports its biggest jump in coronavirus deaths, total at 120

France recorded 29 additional coronavirus deaths, the biggest one-day increase in the country since the outbreak, bringing the total death toll to 120, Health Minister Olivier Veran said.

Around 900 more infections were recorded in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 5,400 since January, Veran told France 2 television.

Separately, the national health agency Sante Publique France, which has been updating its tally daily, put the new toll at 127 deaths

20:15 GMT  Dutch queue for cannabis as coronavirus closes cafes

Cannabis smokers queued up outside Dutch coffee shops after the government ordered their closure to beat the coronavirus outbreak.

Customers lined up in their dozens as they tried to beat a deadline for the closure of the marijuana cafes and stockpile weed supplies for what could be weeks of lockdown.





19:55 GMT  Restaurants, health clubs to close in Qatar

All health clubs such as spas and restaurants in hotels in Qatar will be effectively closed, the Qatar National Tourism Council announced in a statement.

The statement said: Closure of all restaurants in the hotel establishments except for providing room services, catering services outside the hotel establishment, and takeaway services.

19:44 GMT  Iran reports 113 new virus deaths as containment concerns mount

The official leading Irans response to the new coronavirus acknowledged on Sunday the pandemic could overwhelm health facilities in his country, which is battling the worst outbreak in the Middle East while under heavy US sanctions.

Irans health ministry reported another 113 deaths, bringing the countrys total death toll to 724 with nearly 14,000 confirmed cases. It was the biggest single-day jump in fatalities since the virus was first reported in the country.

Read more here.

19:30 GMT  Qatar suspends entry of non-Qataris in moves to shield

Qatar said it would ban non-Qataris from entering the country for two weeks as of Wednesday and announced measures to support the economy including providing 75 billion riyals ($20.5bn) in financial incentives to the private sector.

The government will also instruct state funds to increase their investment in the local bourse by 10 billion riyals ($2.8bn) and the central bank will provide additional liquidity to banks and encourage them to provide a six-month grace period on loan payments and private sector obligations.

The government said it would ban inbound flights, with the exception of cargo and transit flights, starting Wednesday night for 14 days as part of measures to contain the spread of the infection. The entry ban does not apply to Qatari citizens.

18:51 GMT  Ukraine Railways to halt international trains from March 17

State-run Ukrainian railways company Ukrzaliznytsia will suspend all international passenger trains from March 17 in an attempt to contain the spread of the coronavirus, the company said.

The Ukrainian government announced said on Friday that it was banning all international passenger flights and foreign citizens from entering the country until April 3.

18:05 GMT  US tries to lure German firm working on virus vaccine: Report

Berlin is trying to stop Washington from persuading a German company seeking a coronavirus vaccine to move its research to the United States, prompting German politicians to insist no country should have a monopoly on any future vaccine.

German government sources told Reuters news agency on Sunday that the US administration was looking into how it could gain access to a potential vaccine being developed by a German firm, CureVac.

Read more here.

17:55 GMT  Coronavirus in Gulf states: No warm greetings, no mosque prayers

No shisha sessions, deserted streets, mosques and shopping malls, drones in the sky broadcasting public health warnings  the new coronavirus has turned life upside down in the Gulf societies.

More than 870 cases of COVID-19 have been recorded so far across the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), but so far no deaths related to the virus have been reported.

Read more here.

17:50 GMT  Irish government asks all pubs to close until March 29

The Irish government called for all bars in the country to close until March 29 to help curb the spread of coronavirus.

The government is now calling on all public houses and bars (including hotel bars) to close from this evening until at least March 29, the government said in a statement.

17:24 GMT  Italy coronavirus deaths rise 25 percent to 1,809

Italy recorded 368 new deaths from the COVID-19 outbreak as the total rose to 1,809 from 1,441 a day earlier, the countrys civil protection authority said.

The number of positive cases rose to 24,747 from 21,157 a day earlier as Europes worst outbreak of the deadly virus continued to expand.

16:58 GMT  Qatar coronavirus cases rise to 401

The Qatar Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) announced 64 new confirmed cases of coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19) in the Gulf nation, taking the total number of cases to 401.

So far 7,950 people have been tested for Covid-19 in Qatar, while four people have reportedly recovered, according to MoPH.

Nearly 8,000 people have been tested in Qatar for COVID-19 [Sorin/ Furcoi/Al Jazeera]

16:18 GMT  Kenya blocks entry as virus cases, closes schools

Kenya unveiled a series of strict measures to curb coronavirus on Sunday, blocking entry to the country to all except citizens and residents and shutting schools as the number of confirmed cases rose to three.

In an address to the nation, President Uhuru Kenyatta said two people who had come into contact with a 27-year-old Kenyan patient have tested positive and been moved into an isolation facility.

The government is suspending travel for all persons coming into Kenya from any country with reported coronavirus cases, he said. The restrictions excluded Kenyan citizens and foreigners with valid resident permits.

In addition to these measures, from Monday, all primary and secondary schools are to close, with boarding schools and universities to shut by the end of the week. All companies have been urged to allow employees to work from home.

16:15 GMT  Coronavirus deaths in Britain jump by 14 to total 35

The number of deaths of Britons with coronavirus jumped by 14 in the last 24 hours to 35, while the number of people diagnosed rose by 20 percent to 1,372, health authorities said.

The British government said earlier it would step up its response to the crisis, including isolating older people in the coming weeks.

Britain has to date taken less stringent steps to slow the virus than elsewhere in Europe.





15:54 GMT  Pakistan coronavirus cases rise to 52  health official

The State Minister of Health of Pakistan Zafar Mirza confirmed that the total number of cases now stands at 52.

Weve increased our diagnostic capacity, and are now able to carry out #coronavirus test in 13 labs across the country, he added.

There are now 52 confirmed cases, of which effective contact tracing is being carried out. Weve increased our diagnostic capacity, and are now able to carry out #coronavirus test in 13 labs across the country <257>  Zafar Mirza (@zfrmrza) March 15, 2020

15:50 GMT  Dutch schools to close as coronavirus spreads  broadcaster NOS

The Dutch government has announced to close all schools as it steps up measures to combat the spread of coronavirus, national broadcaster NOS reported.

NOS said the measure was decided on during crisis meetings and would be revealed later at a government news conference.

15:40 GMT  Germany tries to stop US from luring away firm seeking vaccine

Berlin is trying to stop Washington from persuading a German company seeking a coronavirus vaccine to move its research to the United States, prompting German politicians to insist no country should have a monopoly on any future vaccine.

German government sources told Reuters news agency that the US administration was looking into how it could gain access to a potential vaccine being developed by a German firm, CureVac.

Earlier, the Welt am Sonntag German newspaper reported that US President Donald Trump had offered funds to lure CureVac to the United States and the German government was making counter-offers to tempt it to stay.

There was no comment immediately available from the US embassy in Berlin when contacted by Reuters over the report.

15:21 GMT  South Asian nations discuss ways to tackle virus outbreak

Leaders of South Asian countries discussed ways to cooperate in tackling the spread of the new coronavirus in the region with India offering to contribute to an emergency fund.

Over a video conference, the leaders from the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) were able to discuss their plans.

The group includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. These countries together are home to about a fifth of the worlds population.

14:15 GMT  Morocco government suspends all international flights

Morocco suspended all international passenger flights to and from its airports as a protective measure against the spread of coronavirus, the foreign ministry said.

Morocco has confirmed 28 coronavirus cases, including one death and one recovery.

14:00 GMT  Most Malaysia coronavirus cases linked to Islamic gathering

Malaysia said more than half the countrys 428 coronavirus cases were linked to an international Islamic gathering held last month.

The Southeast Asian nation announced a spike of 190 new infections over the weekend, mostly linked to a global Islamic event attended by almost 20,000 people.

Of the 428 cases, 243 are participants from the religious event in Sri Petaling mosque, Noor Hisham Abdullah, director-general of the Health Ministry, told AFP news agency.

Authorities said participants at the gathering from February 27 to March 1 came from Bangladesh, Brunei, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. About 14,500 of the participants were Malaysian.





14:00 GMT  Chaos at US airports amid medical screenings

Chaos gripped important US airports as citizens returning from coronavirus-hit European countries overwhelmed authorities attempting to process the surge.

Frustrated passengers complained of hours-long lines, crowded and unsanitary conditions and general disarray in the system for screening people for symptoms of the virus.

The United States on Saturday extended the ban on travel from Europe, South Korea and China to the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Attention travelers: customs processing is taking longer than usual inside the Federal Inspection Services (FIS) facility owing to enhanced #COVID19 screening for passengers arriving from Europe. Thank you for your patience.  O'Hare Intl. Airport (@fly2ohare) March 15, 2020

13:57 GMT  Hungary government confirms first death from coronavirus



Hungarys government communication centre confirmed the central European nations first official victim of the new coronavirus, state news agency MTI reported.

A 75-year-old Hungarian national died shortly after being hospitalised with severe pneumonia and a suspected coronavirus infection.

Hungary has 32 confirmed coronavirus cases and 159 people in quarantine, according to government data. The government closed all schools and introduced restrictions on public gathering this week.

13:50 GMT  Six more cases confirmed in Jordan

Jordan confirmed six new coronavirus cases, among them four are French tourists and two Jordanians, one of whom had recently returned from the United Kingdom.

All six people who tested positive were admitted to Prince Hamzah Hospital for treatment.

Previously, Jordan had reported just one case in a man who has since recovered.

Abdel Razzaq al-Khashman, manager of Prince Hamzah Hospital, described the condition of the French tourists as ranging from good to moderate.

13:40 GMT  Equatorial Guinea reports first case

Equatorial Guinea has reported its first case of coronavirus, a 42-year-old woman who flew back to the capital Malabo from Spain on March 13, the health ministry said in a statement.

13:30 GMT  Spain reports 2,000 new cases, more than 100 deaths

Spain reported about 2,000 new coronavirus cases and more than 100 deaths over the last 24 hours.

The new figures raise Spains number of COVID-19 infections to 7,753  and its death toll to 288  after the government imposed a near-total nationwide lockdown, banning people from leaving home except to go to work, get medical care or buy food.

This is Usaid Siddiqui taking over from my colleague Tamila Varshalomidze.

12:48 GMT  Key Shia tomb closed for pilgrims in Irans Mashhad

The tomb of Imam Reza in Irans holy Shia city of Mashhad has been closed to pilgrims until further notice in line with measures to stop the new coronavirus, a spokesman said.

Currently, the porches of the mausoleum and generally all the covered spaces of the holy shrine are closed, the spokesman for the shrine told AFP news agency.

12:32 GMT  UK advises against all but essential travel to US

The UK has advised against all but essential travel to the United States due to US government restrictions on travellers from countries with a high incidence of coronavirus infection, which will include the UK and Ireland from 03:59 GMT on March 17.

12:21 GMT  Italian architect of Barcelona stadium dies

Vittorio Gregotti, an Italian architect who designed the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics stadium, died at the age of 92 after catching the novel coronavirus, Italian media said.

Gregotti died of pneumonia after being taken to a hospital in Milan having contracted COVID-19, the AGI news agency and the Corriere della Sera newspaper reported.

His wife Mariana Mazza has been admitted to the same Milan hospital, Corriere della Sera said, without providing details on why.

#QuarantineLife got you down? This is how Italy is boosting morale during the coronavirus lockdown. pic.twitter.com/qS8CjhgYtB  Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 15, 2020

12:16 GMT  Brunei bars residents from leaving as cases reach 50

Brunei said its citizens and foreign residents in the country are barred from leaving the Southeast Asian nation due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The health ministry also said it had confirmed 10 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total tally to 50.

12:14 GMT  Greece bans all links with Albania, North Macedonia

Greece said it would ban road and sea routes, as well as flights to Albania, North Macedonia. It has also decided to ban flights to and from Spain to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

It extended travel restrictions to Italy, saying it was banning passenger ship routes to and from the neighbouring country.





12:12 GMT  Nike to close all stores in US, many other countries

Nike Inc is closing all of its stores in the US and several other countries in a move to curb the spread of coronavirus, CNBC reported.

Nike stores in Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand will be closed from March 16 to 27, CNBC said.

However, the company was still keeping open its outlets in South Korea, Japan, most of China and in many other countries, based on daily assessments of the COVID-19 pandemic, CNBC added.

12:09 GMT  Turkey sets up quarantine locations for pilgrims

Turkey has set up quarantine locations for more than 10,300 people returning from pilgrimages to Islams holy sites in Saudi Arabia.

The youth and sports ministry said beds had been made available in university dormitories in the capital, Ankara, and the central Anatolian city of Konya for those returning from Umrah, a pilgrimage that can be made at any time of the year.

Returnees will be quarantined for 14 days in an effort to combat the coronavirus.

12:03 GMT  Vietnam introduces compulsory testing for arrivals

Vietnams health ministry said all passengers coming from or through China, South Korea, the UK and Schengen countries will be compulsorily quarantined and tested for coronavirus.

The compulsory quarantine applies to arrivals from March 14, the health ministry said in a statement. Those whose tests are positive will get immediate treatment while the rest will be quarantined for 14 days.

In a separate statement, the ministry said people, including foreigners, were required to wear face masks in public places.





11:03 GMT  Austrias Tyrol orders weeklong lockdown

Austrias Tyrol province is ordering a lockdown to fight the coronavirus, initially for one week.

The provincial governor, Gunther Platter, announced that people will be allowed to leave their homes only for reasons such as buying food and medicine, visiting the doctor, getting cash or walking the dog.

Tyrol, an Alpine region popular with skiers, borders northern Italy and is one of the worst-hit areas of Austria, which already has largely shut down public life.

10:50 GMT  Irans death toll reaches 724

Irans death toll from the new coronavirus has reached 724, with 113 new deaths in the past 24 hours, an Iranian health official said, adding that 13,938 people have been infected across the country.

In the past 24 hours, 1,209 new cases have been confirmed  with 113 deaths in the past 24 hours, the death toll has reached 724, Alireza Vahabzadeh, an adviser to Irans health minister, tweeted.

10:47 GMT  Afghanistan confirms 5 new cases, total 16

The Afghan health authorities announced that the number of COVID-19 infections in the country has risen to 16.

The Afghan Health Ministry spokesman, Wahidullah Mayar, said four new positive cases of coronavirus have been recorded in Herat province and one other in Daikundi province.

10:28 GMT  Israel to use anti-terror technology to counter coronavirus

Israel plans to use anti-terrorism tracking technology and a partial shutdown of its economy to minimise the risk of coronavirus transmission, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.

Read more here.

10:25 GMT  Your coronavirus emergency kit: Preparation, symptoms, tips

How to prepare or deal with COVID-19 as well as survive a virus-related lockdown.

Read more here.

10:18 GMT  Mayor of an Italian town dies from coronavirus

Giorgio Valoti, the 70-year-old mayor of Cene, a town in the Italian province of Bergamo, died from the new coronavirus in hospital as his condition worsened on Thursday.

Valoti was a member of the far-right League party. Its leader Matteo Salvini offered condolences on Twitter: A life spent for his own community [] we will miss you.

Ciao Giorgio Valoti, storico sindaco di Cene (Bergamo), una vita spesa per la propria Comunita: fino allultimo si e occupato di proteggere i suoi concittadini.

Ci mancherai. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/nVapdJNN8h  Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) March 14, 2020

09:35 GMT  Kazakhstan declares state of emergency

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak which has reached the Central Asian nation that has eight confirmed cases of COVID-19.

The decree published by the presidents office restricts entry to and departure from Kazakhstan for everyone except diplomats and those invited by the government. It also introduced a nationwide quarantine.

09:33 GMT  Austria imposes major restrictions on movement

Austria introduced major restrictions on movement in public places, urging Austrians to self-isolate, banning gatherings of more than five persons and further reducing entries from other countries.

It was not clear whether the restrictions were meant to come into force immediately, although restaurants were ordered closed from Tuesday.

Austrians are being summoned to isolate themselves, Chancellor Sebastian Kurzs office said in a statement. That means only making social contact with the people with whom they live.

Visitors from Great Britain, the Netherlands, Russia and Ukraine would not be allowed into the country, the chancellors office said in a statement, unless they undertook two weeks of home quarantine or had a current health certificate.





09:30 GMT  Philippines reports 3 more coronavirus deaths, 29 new cases

The Philippines recorded another three coronavirus deaths and 29 new cases, bringing the domestic tally of infections to 140 and the death toll to 11, as authorities placed the entire capital Manila under community quarantine for about a month beginning on Sunday.

The latest deaths include an 83-year-old American male with a travel history from the United States and South Korea, the Department of Health said in an advisory. The other two are Filipinos.

09:25 GMT  Jerusalems Al-Aqsa Mosque shuts: Islamic Waqf

Jerusalems Al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock have closed their doors as a precaution against the coronavirus, Islamic religious authorities have said, while outdoor prayers will still be allowed at the complex that houses Islams third holiest site.

The Islamic Waqf department decided to shut down the enclosed prayer places inside the blessed Aqsa mosque until further notice as a protective measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus. All prayers will be held in the open areas of the Aqsa mosque, Omar Kiswani, the director of Al-Aqsa mosque, told Reuters news agency.

Read more here.

09:13 GMT  Malaysia reports 190 new coronavirus cases

Malaysia reported 190 new cases of coronavirus, most linked to a religious event at a mosque that was attended by more than 10,000 people from several countries.

The new cases bring the total number of infections in the country to 428, the health ministry said in a statement.

09:08 GMT  Kuwait confirms eight new cases

The Kuwaiti Health Ministry announced it registered eight new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 112 cases.

Health Ministry spokesman Abdullah Al-Sanad said six of the latest cases were of Kuwaiti citizens returning from the United Kingdom and those who came in contact with those infected, according to the Kuwaiti news agency (KUNA).

One case was of a Kuwaiti returning from France via the United Arab Emirates and the other was of a fellow citizen returning from Iran, Al-Sanad said.

Kuwaits Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled al-Sabah, second from right, Health Minister Sheikh Basel al-Sabah, second from left, and Interior Minister Anas al-Saleh, right. [KUNA/AFP]

09:00 GMT  Republic of Congo reports first coronavirus case

The Republic of the Congo has reported its first case of coronavirus, a 50-year-old French-Congolese man who arrived on an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Paris on March 1, the government said in a statement.

08:45 GMT  Jordan announces six new cases of coronavirus, total 7

Jordan confirmed six new cases of coronavirus, including one from an American tourist coming from Egypt, the health minister said.

The kingdom had previously reported only one case of the virus. It took measures to fight the outbreak on Saturday, including a tighter lockdown that closes all borders and a ban on all incoming and outgoing flights as of Tuesday.

08:40 GMT  Indias coronavirus cases at 107 as Modi plans regional response

India reported that the number of coronavirus infections had risen to 107, an increase of 23 from the day before, with a western state home to the countrys financial capital the worst hit.

Data from Indias federal health ministry showed that there were now 31 confirmed coronavirus cases in Maharashtra state, where local authorities have closed down schools, colleges and shopping centres in most cities, including in the financial hub of Mumbai.

The number could go up as we are waiting for test reports of people who were in close contact with patients who have tested positive, a state health official said, declining to be named since he is not authorised to speak to media.

Members of two religious orders in Rome already tested positive for the virus [AFP]

07:50 GMT  Vatican to hold Easter celebrations without congregation

The Vatican said its traditional Easter week celebrations would be held this year without worshippers.

Because of the current global public health emergency, all the liturgical celebrations of Holy Week will take place without the physical presence of the faithful, the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household said in a statement.

The Vatican also said: Until April 12, the general audiences and the Angelus presided over by the Holy Father will be available only in live streaming on the official Vatican News website.

07:02 GMT  Coronavirus crisis delays opening of Netanyahu trial

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus corruption trial has been delayed for two months, until May, due to the coronavirus crisis.

Israels Justice Ministry said the trial, due to open on March 17 with the reading of an indictment against Israels longest-serving leader in three corruption cases, would begin on May 24 due to developments related to the spread of the coronavirus.

Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing.

An employee sprays disinfectant inside a train at the Senen train station in Jakarta, Indonesia. [Tatan Syuflana/AP]

07:00 GMT  Indonesia reports 21 new coronavirus cases

Indonesia reported 21 new coronavirus infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 117, CNN Indonesia reported, citing health ministry official Achmad Yurianto.

Of the new cases, 19 were detected in Jakarta and two in the Central Java province, Yurianto reportedly said.

06:55 GMT  Taiwan reports six new coronavirus cases

Taiwan reported six new cases of the coronavirus, all imported and marking the biggest daily rise in infections, in people who had returned to the island from countries including Spain and Japan, bringing its total tally to 59.

The other countries those infected had travelled to were Greece, Turkey, Egypt and Thailand, while two of the patients had transited in Dubai, the government added.

Taiwan has only reported one death from the virus, while 20 people have recovered and have been discharged from hospital. The other cases are all in a stable condition.

06:50 GMT  Thailand reports 32 new cases, brings total to 114

Thailand reported 32 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total infections in the Southeast Asian country to 114, health officials said.

It was the biggest daily jump in cases in Thailand, which was one of the first countries outside China to report coronavirus infections that have since swept much of the world.

06:00 GMT

Tamila Varshalomidze, my colleague in Doha, will be taking over the blog shortly.

Heres a summary of what has happened over the past few hours:

Australia has said it will require everyone arriving from overseas to go into quarantine for 14 days.

The Philippines is sealing off Manila, its capital, from the rest of the country and roadblocks have been set up around the city. We will be bringing you more on the situation there later.

The US president, Donald Trump, has tested negative for coronavirus.

Begona Gomez  the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez  was diagnosed with coronavirus shortly after her husband announced sweeping new restrictions to daily life in Spain.

People are transferred to a hospital in Jiquilisco, El Salvador. [Marvin Recinos/AFP]

05:50 GMT  El Salvador declares state of emergency over coronavirus

El Salvador has not reported a single confirmed case of coronavirus, but congress there has declared a state of emergency and approved a partial suspension of the countrys constitution to tackle any outbreak.

The measures include a restriction on free movement and assembly for a period of 30 days, allowing health officials to ban public gatherings.

We have given the government legal mechanisms to deal with this serious health situation, congressional President Mario Ponce said after Saturdays vote.

05:45 GMT  Uzbekistan confirms first case of coronavirus

An Uzbek citizen has tested positive for coronavirus after returning from France, Uzbekistans health ministry said on Sunday, marking the first case of the virus in the Central Asian country of 34 million.

05:30 GMT  Passengers held on cruise ship in New Zealand

Passengers on the Golden Princess cruise liner were barred from disembarking at a New Zealand port on Sunday because of a suspected coronavirus case on board, health officials said.

There were 2,600 passengers and 1,100 crew members on the boat docked at Akaroa near the South Island city of Christchurch, according to the ports cruise ship schedule.

New Zealands director-general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, said the ships doctor had quarantined three passengers. One of them has developed COVID-19 symptoms and is being treated as a suspected case.

All on board are not being allowed off the ship until results are known, Bloomfield said.

The Golden Princess, lying off Akaroa on New Zealands South Island, is the latest cruise ship to face concerns about the spread of coronavirus on board. [Mark Baker/AP Photo]

Princess Cruises, which operates the vessel, announced three days ago it was suspending voyages worldwide for two months in response to the coronavirus pandemic

05:15 GMT  Tycoon who criticised Xi over coronavirus goes missing  Reuters

An influential former Chinese property executive who called President Xi Jinping a clown over a speech he made last month about the governments efforts to battle the coronavirus has gone missing, three of his friends told Reuters.

They said they had not been able to contact Ren Zhiqiang, a member of Chinas ruling Communist Party and a former top executive of state-controlled property developer Huayuan International real estate group, since March 12.

Many of our friends are looking for him, his close friend Wang Ying said in a statement to Reuters, describing them as being extremely anxious.

Ren Zhiqiang is a public figure, and his disappearance is widely known. The institutions responsible for this need to give a reasonable and legal explanation for this as soon as possible, she said.

Calls made by Reuters to Rens mobile phone went unanswered.

Beijing police did not immediately respond to requests by phone and fax for comment on Sunday. Chinas State Council Information Office did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.

Al Jazeeras Mia Swart took a closer look at human rights in China in the context of the coronavirus outbreak in a story we published last week.

04:30 GMT  Philippines sealing off Manila to all domestic travellers

In the Philippines, thousands of police, with the help of the army and coast guard, are sealing off Manila in one of the most aggressive moves against the virus anywhere in Southeast Asia.

Roadblocks have been set up at major entry and exit points to the sprawling Metropolitan Manila, or Metro Manila area, home to 12 million people.

Richard Heydarian, a professor at De La Salle University, told Al Jazeera Manila felt surreal at the moment and he expected the so-called community quarantine could be in force beyond one month, as currently planned.

A lot of us have had to cancel flights, our classes are suspended for the next month, thousands of police have been deployed across the city, Heydarian said. This is progressively going to look like a lockdown (and) this could actually be extended beyond one month if the situation on the ground doesnt improve.

A checkpoint is set up in Quezon City, part of Metro Manila, Philippines early in March as police, backed by the army and coast guard, started sealing off the densely-populated capital from the rest of the country. [Aaron Favila/AP Photo]

Residents have been told to stay home except for work and urgent errands. All domestic travel  by land, air and sea  to and from the capital has been suspended and large gatherings prohibited. A night curfew is also expected.

03:40 GMT  Australia to require self-isolation of all international arrivals

Australias prime minister Scott Morrison says the country will require everyone arriving from overseas  Australians or nationals of other countries  to go through 14 days of self-isolation.

We are going to have to get used to some changes in the way we live our lives, Prime Minister Scott Morrison told a press conference. The measure is due to come into effect from midnight on Sunday (13:00 GMT).

Morrison also said all cruise ships would be banned entirely and that he expects visitor traffic will dry up very very, very quickly.

If your mate has been to Bali and they come back and they turn up at work and they are sitting next to you, well, they will be committing an offence, Morrison said.

03:35 GMT  Japan cases rise to 780

Japans Health Ministry has announced 64 new cases of the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 780. The country also has 697 other cases from a cruise ship that was stranded in the country.

The ministry said the death toll has risen to 29, including seven former cruise ship passengers.

The new cases come from 13 prefectures, including Hokkaido, Tokyo and Osaka.

03:30 GMT  South Korea to declare special disaster zones over virus

South Korea is expected to declare Daegu and the nearby province of North Gyeongsang special disaster zones on Sunday, to enable authorities to channel more support to them.

Some 90 percent of cases in the country have been in those two areas.

South Korea is also stepping up travel restrictions on arrivals from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom, which will require them to be tested for fever and share their health data via a specially created app.

02:50 GMT  Lebanon to announce a state of medical emergency over virus

Lebanon is expected to announce a state of medical emergency on Sunday, shutting down all public and private institutions except hospitals, pharmacies and bakeries, a presidential palace source told Al Jazeeras Timour Azhari, who is in Beirut.

Supermarkets will open within specific times, not all the time while banks will be ordered closed.

You can read more about whats expected to happen here.

02:25 GMT  Face mask shortages lead to resale bans and crackdowns

A law banning the resale of face masks has gone into effect in Japan as the government tries to address severe shortages as a result of the outbreak.

Those who violate the law that came into effect on Sunday risk a prison term of up to one year or a fine of up to one million yen ($9,260).

In Hong Kong, meanwhile, authorities are telling retailers to stop selling four types of surgical masks because their bacterial counts exceeded maximum legal limits.

The masks are sold in boxes of 50 pieces each and two of the samples listed Nepal and Turkey as the countries of manufacture, Hong Kong customs said in a statement. The others were unlabelled, but are thought to have come from Southeast Asia.

02:20 GMT  Mexico brings forward Easter holidays in coronavirus fight

Mexicos Education Minister Esteban Moctezuma says schools and universities will start their Easter holidays early as the government steps up its efforts to tackle the coronavirus.

The Easter break will start on Friday, March 20, and last for 30 days instead of 15, Moctezuma said.

People in Mexico have been stocking up on basic supplies since more cases were announced. [Henry Romero/Reuters]

Other measures include additional education on hygiene and sanitation.

We dont want that students leave for vacation and all stick together, Moctezuma said during a news conference, adding that students should avoid close contacts with others. We want this to be preventative isolation.

On Saturday, Mexico had 41 confirmed coronavirus cases, from 26 on Friday and 15 the day before that.

02:10 GMT  Wife of Spains prime minister confirmed to have coronavirus

Begona Gomez  the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez  was diagnosed with coronavirus shortly after her husband announced sweeping new measures designed to keep people off the streets and contain the spread of the virus.

As Al Jazeeras Graham Keeley writes from Barcelona, the restrictions are something of a shock in a country where life is lived outside in bars, restaurants or on the beaches.

01:30 GMT  Korea cases continue to slow

South Korea reported 76 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its morning update on the countrys coronavirus outbreak, down from 107 on Saturday.

The country now has 8,162 confirmed cases of the virus, with 75 deaths.

01:15 GMT  China imported cases exceed local infections for second time

China recorded more imported cases of coronavirus than locally originated ones for a second time on Saturday, according to data released by the National Health Commission (NHC) on Sunday.

Mainland China had 20 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections on March 14, up from 11 cases a day earlier. Of Saturdays cases, 16 involved travellers entering China from overseas, it said.

The remaining four cases were recorded in the city of Wuhan. Saturday also marked the 10th consecutive day in which Hubei province recorded zero new infections outside Wuhan, its provincial capital.

A man wearing a protective mask stands at a fence surrounding Beijing Capital International Airport. The country is now seeing more imported cases than ones that have originated locally. [Thomas Peter/Reuters]

Of the 16 imported cases, five were found in the capital Beijing and three in Shanghai. The provinces of Zhejiang, Gansu and Guangdong respectively reported four, three and one cases.

00:30 GMT  Australia national cabinet to meet on Sunday on coronavirus

Australias new national cabinet is set to meet on Sunday, as the countrys cases of coronavirus topped 250, to discuss its response to the outbreak.

The national cabinet, which includes federal, state and territory leaders, will hold its first meeting via teleconference on Sunday.

The government has already advised against non-essential gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday.

The meeting is expected to discuss whether schools should be closed and border controls further tightened to contain COVID-19.

We are, rightly, keeping all options on the table, whether its in relation to travel or whether its in relation to schools. The schools question will be very much guided by the medical advice, Health Minister Greg Hunt told ABC television.

One of the things that they have talked about is not moving too early on something like that.

00:15 GMT  US president tests negative for coronavirus

US President Donald Trump was tested for the coronavirus and the result was negative.

Read more here.

00:00 GMT  Iranians ignoring calls to stay home, Qom shrines ordered shut

Iran has ordered the closure of religious shrines in the holy city of Qom, where the countrys coronavirus outbreak is thought to have begun.

It is also urging people to limit their movements and stay off the streets and has announced all construction work in the capital, Tehran will stop.

Al Jazeeras Zein Basravi, who is in Iran, says there is much scepticism about the governments response.

Certainly, [the closures] are better later than never, he said. But critics will say its too little, too late, the damage has already been done, the virus has already spread throughout the country from Qom.



Hello and welcome to Al Jazeeras continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

Im Kate Mayberry in Kuala Lumpur.

It is the morning of March 15.

A summary of the latest developments:

You can read all the latest updates from yesterday (March 14) here.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 15)  A total of 444 Filipinos aboard the MV Grand Princess are set to be repatriated Sunday afternoon, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

The Grand Princess, which carried some 3,500 people, has been held off the coast of California and put under quarantine after a passenger onboard a previous trip died from the coronavirus disease or COVID-19. The 71-year-old man, who reportedly had underlying medical conditions, is the first death from the viral disease confirmed by the state of California.

Out of the 444 Filipinos to be repatriated, 438 are crew members, while 6 are passengers, the DFA said in a press release. All underwent health screening upon disembarkation facilitated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, it added.

Meanwhile, 13 Filipinos from the ship are in United States health facilities after testing positive for COVID-19.

The repatriates are expected to arrive at the Haribon Hangar in Clark Airbase, Pampanga and will undergo, upon arrival, a mandatory 14-day quarantine at the Athletes Village in New Clark City. There, the DFA assured they will be given full medical attention of health professionals from the Department of Health.

A total of 91 Filipino crew members volunteered to remain onboard the ship to comprise the Minimum Safe Manning and Minimum Operational Manning teams, the DFA added.

Princess Cruises, the company that owns Grand Princess, also owns another cruise ship previously docked in the port of Yokohoma, Japan and quarantined for nearly a month after passengers were found to be infected with COVID-19. An estimated 700 people on board the ship eventually tested positive for the virus, with seven resulting in death. Of the estimated 3,700 passengers aboard the ship, 445 Filipinos were repatriated and quarantined in Tarlac.
- Selina crew was out enjoying themselves in what they termed as a wrap party

- The Swahili drama has been airing on Maisha Magic East for four seasons

- It focused on the life of a girl from a humble family who fell in love with a young man from a rich family that has a lot of drama

Local series, Selina, seems to have come to an end after the cast took to their social media pages sharing videos of their wrap party.

The series which had many fans had been on the screens for four seasons non-stop.

READ ALSO: No more binging: Netflix stops production of movies due to coronavirus outbreak

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Posting on their Instagram stories, Peter Kamau alias Biko and Celestine Gachuhi, shared snippet videos of the team enjoying their meet up.

According to the post, the casts were out celebrating their time after coming to an end shooting the long series.

READ ALSO: Mtakabiliana na Wakenya mkijaribu kunibandua uongozini, DP Ruto awaambia wakosoaji wake

The Swahili series stars the life of a young woman who falls in love with a young man from a rich family.

The main actors in the series are Celestine Gachuhi who plays the role of Selina and Pascal Tokodi who plays the role, Nelson.

The crew were out having fun both the supporting cast and the main cast.

Among those who were part of the Selina Crew was Lenana Kiriba alias Regan, Peter Kamau alias Biko and Brenda Wairimu.

Recently Pascal was nominated to participate in Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCs) which will be going down in Lagos, Nigeria.

The awards will be held on Saturday, March 14 and will be hosted by Kenya's radio presenter, Amin Abdi Rabar and Nigeria's radio personality IK Osakioduwa.

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I was his punching bag for four years and he tried circumcising me with his teeth- Carole | Tuko TV

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WASHINGTON>> President Donald Trump incorrectly stated in his address to the nation that the health insurance industry has agreed to waive patient co-payments for treatment of COVID-19. The industry has not made such a commitment.

Instead, insurers agreed to cover the full cost of diagnostic tests to see whether people have the disease. That step does not shield insured people from potentially high medical bills as a result of getting sick from the coronavirus.

Trumps misstatement on health insurance was one of a number of claims in his prime-time address that were at odds with the facts. He inaccurately described part of his own plan to restrict travel from Europe and appeared to hold out false hope that people infected in the current outbreak will see new treatments to hasten their healing.

On Thursday, he misrepresented another aspect of U.S. defenses against the virus, saying inaccurately that everyone coming into the country is being tested for it.

A look at his remarks Wednesday night and Thursday:

TRUMP: Earlier this week, I met with the leaders of (the) health insurance industry, who have agreed to waive all co-payments for coronavirus treatments, extend insurance coverage to these treatments, and to prevent surprise medical billing.

THE FACTS: No, they did not say they will cover co-pays for treatment. And Trumps statement about surprise medical billing is questionable.

As Vice President Mike Pence stated more accurately, the insurers agreed to cover coronavirus testing with no cost sharing  so no co-pays or deductibles. That assurance applies to tests that can confirm or rule out the virus, and doesnt extend to treatment or to other tests that the patients doctor may order. Consumers should check with their insurance company because policies may vary on this. They should not count on the presidents word.

Whats more, in the process of diagnosing COVID-19, other tests may be ordered. Insurers have not pledged to waive cost-sharing for those. Co-pays and deductibles may apply for imaging tests such as X-rays or CT scans of the chest, for example, and hospital stays are also subject to cost-sharing.

Federal programs including Medicare, Medicaid, childrens health insurance and Obamacare all cover the coronavirus tests. Of particular importance, clinical diagnostic tests are covered under Medicare with no cost-sharing, a longstanding policy. However, cost-sharing may apply for other tests, such as imaging.

When people get sick from the coronavirus, there currently is no antiviral treatment that can cure the disease. Instead, the current treatment is geared to relieving patients symptoms and helping them to recover. For those who are very sick, that can involve using machinery to help them breathe. Insurers cover such treatment based on the terms of the individuals health plan, including any applicable deductibles and co-pays.

As for surprise billing, thats not something insurers can waive because theyre not the ones who do it. Doctors and hospitals generally spring those surprises.

Overall, says Karen Pollitz of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation: We dont have a rule yet that says all insurers must do x, so flip your insurance card over and call the 800 number.

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.

___

TRUMP: If an American is coming back or anybody is coming back, were testing. We have a tremendous testing setup where people coming in have to be tested. Were not putting them on planes if it shows positive, but if they do come here, were quarantining. Theres going to be a pretty strong enforcement of quarantine.  remarks Thursday.

THE FACTS: Thats not true. All people coming to the U.S. are not subject to mandatory, universal testing, nor are they being forced to quarantine.

As well, his proclamation detailing the broad travel ban that takes effect midnight Friday night on visitors from most of Europe does not specify that everyone allowed in will have to be tested. Trump was probably referring to plans that are expected to be put in place soon to channel those arriving from many European countries to certain airports, where they will receive screening and be subjected to quarantine instructions, just like visitors from China.

___

TRUMP: 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.

THE FACTS: People suffering from COVID-19 or those who get it in the current outbreak should not expect those therapies to be available to them. Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health told a congressional committee Wednesday that while antivirals are being tested, we dont know if it works. I dont want to promise anything.

An antiviral is a medicine that specifically attacks a virus to hasten recovery. An experimental drug named remdesivir, which was being developed to fight Ebola, is being tested in COVID-19 patients in the U.S. and abroad. There also are studies underway using combinations of some HIV-attacking drugs.

___

TRUMP: We will be suspending all travel from Europe, except the United Kingdom, for the next 30 days.

THE FACTS: Thats not exactly his plan.

First, the restriction does not apply to legal permanent residents of the U.S. or their families when they are returning from Europe. It also does not apply to U.S. citizens coming back from Europe, as Trump acknowledged.

As well, it apparently does not apply to Ireland, Romania, Croatia, Ukraine and several other European states. The proclamation released by the White House says the travel ban will affect the 26 European states in the Schengen Area. Thats most of Europe, but not all.

___

TRUMP: These prohibitions will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo, but various other things as we get approval.

THE FACTS: That is also wrong. The White House quickly clarified that the restriction on movement from Europe only applies to human beings, not goods and cargo.
He was dubbed the luckiest man on television for hosting Miss World for 14 years  but BBC bosses once hired a bodyguard for Michael Aspel amid fears that anarchists had hatched a plot to abduct him during a live broadcast.

Documents discovered in the BBC archives reveal how Corporation chiefs feared for the safety of their star presenter at the 1970 Miss World contest, which saw protests from anarchists and the newly established Womens Liberation movement.

Details of the security scare emerged with the release of Misbehaviour, a film starring Keira Knightley, Jessie Buckley and Keeley Hawes. The movie explores events surrounding the competition which was broadcast live from the Royal Albert Hall on November 20, 1970.

Michael Aspel, pictured leaning against a 1973 Alfa Romeo GTV was once described as the luckiest man in television, however BBC bosses once had to hire him a bodyguard over threats against him

Aspel, pictured interviewing the United Kingdom entry to Miss World Veronica Ann Cross, right, had been threatened by anarchists and the Women's Liberation Movement

In an internal memo, BBC outside broadcast boss Derek Burrell-Davis highlighted the need for extra protection for both Aspel and the shows producer, Phil Lewis, just hours after members of the anarchist Angry Brigade had exploded a bomb under a BBC truck parked outside the venue.

Writing on the morning of the competition, he warned another executive: Following on the bomb explosion you will recollect that you telephoned me expressing some concern about the safety of both Phil Lewis and Michael Aspel. You felt that if either was abducted from the scene of operations, this could successfully ruin the broadcast.

We both agreed that the bomb explosion was evidence of a determination to stop the broadcast and under these circumstances it would be best for Lewis and Aspel to have someone at the Royal Albert Hall to watch their movements and keep them within sight at all times.

In the light of protests directed against the event, BBC bosses also looked again at the security arrangements for the judges, who included actress Joan Collins. A memo dated November 19, 1970, stated: As in the previous year, the judges of Miss World were supplied with safety helmets in case any rioting or such should occur during the competition.

In the event, Aspel and the judges were left unscathed, even though the event was targeted by protesters. Members of the Womens Liberation movement interrupted proceedings during a speech by Aspels co-host, Bob Hope, and pelted the stage with flour bombs and leaflets. The demonstration almost overshadowed the win by Grenadas Jennifer Hosten, who became the first black contestant to be crowned Miss World.

In the highly charged atmosphere created by the protests, even the result came in for criticism, with some making unfounded claims that Hosten had only won because her countrys prime minister was on the six-strong judging panel.

In a BBC documentary to be broadcast tomorrow, Hosten defends the contest and expresses her disappointment that feminists did not come to her defence when she faced allegations of a fix.

She says: There is nothing wrong with beauty contests. If feminism is all about choice, surely we had a choice of entering a contest and of using the contest as a stepping stone to anything else.

Hosten, who later became a diplomat, claims the media had whipped up the fix claims because it couldnt cope with the fact that two black contestants  her and South Africas Pearl Jansen  had been named winner and runner-up.

She says: They thought that couldnt happen. It had to be fixed. The Womens Liberation movement did not address that issue.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A second person has died from the coronavirus (COVID-19) in New York, according to published reports.

After it was announced Saturday morning that a New York City women succumbed to the illness, reports surfaced that a Rockland County man died from the sickness earlier this week.

Sources told the NY Post the man died this week in the Village of Suffern. He posthumously tested positive for the virus, the report said.

Earlier on Saturday, the Advance reported that an 82-year-old woman was the first New York City resident confirmed to die from coronavirus complications. It was announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio during an interview with MSNBC host Joy Reid.

The woman, who had had pre-existing conditions, died in Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn, de Blasio said.

Today, we are confirming our first death due to severe complications from COVID-19. The patient, an elderly woman with advanced emphysema, was admitted to the hospital last week as one of our first cases, and had been in critical condition ever since," said de Blasio.

"Weve known from the outset that these people are the most at risk in this pandemic, and todays news is a sad confirmation of that reality. I want to thank the staff of Wyckoff Medical Center for their efforts to save this womans life, and all the medical professionals on the front lines protecting our most vulnerable. We all have a part to play here. I ask every New Yorker to do their part and take the necessary precautionary measures to protect the people most at risk, he added.

Said Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot: We are deeply saddened to learn of the first fatality in New York City from coronavirus. This is a painful moment and one we furiously worked to avoid. We urge all New Yorkers to continue to take the necessary precautions to keep themselves and their fellow New Yorkers safe and healthy. We never for a moment lost sight of how serious this situation is, but this tragedy reflects how critical and dire the spread of the virus really is. Our hearts go out to the family during this difficult time.

STATEN ISLAND CASES

As of Saturday, there were at least five confirmed cases of the virus on Staten Island.

A spokesman at Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton told the Advance/SILive.com that the hospital has yet to record any positive cases of coronavirus.

A spokesman at Staten Island University Hospital said that they are currently treating one patient for COVID-19 at the North Site in Ocean Breeze.

The patient is in isolation and in an area of the hospital where protective measures will ensure the safety of our other patients and our front line staff who are caring for these patients, the spokesman said.

The spokesman couldnt not provide further information about the patient currently at the Ocean Breeze location.

No coronavirus-related deaths have been reported at either SIUH locations, a spokesperson for the hospital said.

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JACKSON  Wyoming Supreme Court justices say they agree with the lower Teton County courts about a 2018 interference conviction stemming from a man refusing a judges warrant for his blood after a suspected DUI traffic stop.

But the defendant in the case still believes his conviction is unjust, and he may take further action to fight it.

We are disappointed in the result, Jackson defense attorney Alex Freeburg said Tuesday. We are considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Freeburg made his case before the Wyoming Supreme Court in November 2019, arguing that his client Christian Garza was peaceful and didnt resist or try to fight with the arresting deputy.

Mr. Garza does not dispute the facts in this case, justices wrote in their order filed March 4, but instead contends that his respectful refusal to comply with a search warrant is not the type of verbal conduct that can constitute interference with a peace officer.

But justices said a verbal refusal of an officers orders or a judges search warrant can still be criminal interference.

Interference does not require physical resistance or force, but it requires more than mere disagreement with or criticism of a peace officer, they wrote.

Under Wyoming law, officers can ask a judge to sign a search warrant for a defendants blood if they refuse a breath test.

A paragraph in the search warrant presented to Garza in December 2018 reads:

You are hereby authorized and ordered, in the name of the state of Wyoming  to obtain and remove the above-named defendants blood, breath or urine, at the choice of the law enforcement agency executing this warrant, the warrant states in part.

Garza was charged with interference after refusing the blood draw. He was also charged on suspicion of driving drunk.

A jury later found him guilty of interference. Because he refused the breath and blood tests there was no physical evidence to prove he was driving drunk.

Some defense attorneys say its not fair to expect a layperson to understand the process because suspects have a right to refuse the portable breath test in a DUI stop. They also have the right to initially refuse the blood test.

But the Wyoming Supreme Court said that in Garzas case the deputy clearly explained that he would be charged with an extra crime if he refused the warrant.

Nonetheless, when the time came to perform the draw, Mr. Garza stated, Im not allowing you to take any blood from me, the order states.

Garza was sentenced to serve 75 days in jail but it was suspended pending the justices ruling.

A hearing will likely be set in Teton County Circuit Court regarding the jail sentence, where Freeburg said he will ask the court to reduce.

Garza said during interactions after his traffic stop that he felt discriminated against and didnt trust the officers or hospital staff, which is addressed in a footnote on the last page of the Wyoming Supreme Court ruling.

While Mr. Garza made statements that he felt he was being discriminated against and did not trust the officers, the record contains no evidence that he was charged with interference in response to those statements, the opinion says.

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The most important thing it seems the average person can do to prevent the coronavirus is to use common sense.

Wash your hands regularly, use hand sanitizer and stay home when you are not feeling well.

In 1913, while a portion of Syracuse University was under quarantine for smallpox, Charles Nourse, of Chittenango, was seriously lacking common sense.

He ran a grocery store in the village, which was popular among schoolchildren because of the ice cream and school supplies it sold. He also acted as a distributing agent for the Syracuse Laundry, transporting clean and dirty clothing between Chittenango and Syracuse.

He awoke on the morning of April 18, 1913, badly broken out with smallpox. Doctors would later surmise that he must have started feeling the effects of the disease days before.

What should he do he thought to himself?

Since he was going to Syracuse by train that morning anyway, he thought he would kill two birds with one stone. He would do his laundry duties and then visit Syracuse doctor Dr. W.W. Jamieson on Hawley Avenue.

He got onto to a train loaded with passengers and headed west, exposing an unknown number of people.

The train arrived at the Syracuse terminal at 10 a.m.

Although badly broken out, the Syracuse Journal reported, it is said that Nourse walked the streets for some time and called at the laundry before going to Dr. Jamiesons office.

He entered the doctors office and asked, What is wrong with me?

It was obvious to the doctor that Nourse had smallpox.

The patient asked to be taken to the City Hospital but instead he was put into an ambulance.

The Journal wrote:

There was no great sympathy expressed for Nourse. Municipal health authorities were indignant and felt outraged. Instead of being admitted to the City Hospital, as Nourse suggested, he was placed in an ambulance and started for home. Health Officer Totman sent a guard along to see that he didnt make any stops on the way.

Orders were made to vaccinate all the employees at the laundry and to fumigate the railroad car he traveled in.

Nourse, his home and grocery store were all quarantined.

His diagnosis caused a small panic in Chittenango after it was learned that several teachers from the villages Yates High School, on their way to a teachers conference, were on the train car with him.

Their clothes were fumigated, and they were vaccinated. Schools were closed as was the Citizens Club where Nourse was a member.

By the beginning of May, Nourse was declared cured and the panic he had caused, ceased.

READ MORE

Cholera, smallpox, scarlet fever: Epidemics which swept through 19th century Syracuse

1925: To halt the spread of disease, Syracuse declares a war on spitting

This feature is a part of CNY Nostalgia, a section on syracuse.com. Send your ideas and curiosities to Johnathan Croyle at jcroyle@syracuse.com or call 315-427-3958.

Thanks for visiting Syracuse.com. Quality local journalism has never been more important, and your subscription matters. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work.
Canada's top public health officer raised the risk level associated with the growing COVID-19 pandemic on Sunday as one province warned it had evidence the virus was circulating locally.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 15/3/2020 (667 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canada's top public health officer raised the risk level associated with the growing COVID-19 pandemic on Sunday as one province warned it had evidence the virus was circulating locally.

Alberta reported 17 new cases of the novel coronavirus Sunday and announced that two of its 56 patients were sickened by an "unknown source."

The news came hours after the country's chief public health officer stopped describing the situation as low-risk.

"Our window to flatten the curve of the epidemic is narrow," Dr. Theresa Tam said at a news conference. "We all need to act now. COVID-19 is a serious public health threat."

Tam's new assessment did not immediately trigger fresh advice to prevent the spread of the pandemic. Tam repeated previous government messages about avoiding large public gatherings, practising social distancing and avoiding travel outside of Canada.

She did clarify, however, that Canadians returning from trips abroad should immediately go into self-isolation for 14 days rather than simply self-monitoring.

Meanwhile, Alberta ramped up its efforts to curb the virus's spread as the province's chief medical officer of health said that the two people who caught COVID-19 from people who hadn't left the province changed the landscape.

"Until now, all cases in Alberta had been travel-related or close contact with a returning traveller," Dr. Deena Hinshaw said. "These two cases mean that there are other cases in the community that we haven not identified, increasing the likelihood that Albertans may be exposed within their communities."

The province cancelled classes for students in kindergarten through Grade 12, shuttered licensed daycares and asked religious institutions to stop holding large gatherings.

Health authorities in Quebec reported 11 new cases, prompting Premier Francois Legault to call for the closure of public places in the province such as bars, gyms, libraries and movie theatres.

Legault did not include stores or restaurants in his message, but urged eateries to operate at 50 per cent capacity in order to promote social distancing.

"We have to limit outings," he said at a briefing. "We should go out only to work, buy bread, go to the pharmacy, get health care, take a walk or go help people age 70 and up."

The more stringent assessments of the evolving situation received a strong endorsement from the head a prominent group of hospitals in Toronto.

Dr. Kevin Smith, CEO of the University Health Network, said bold action at every level is necessary to stem the tide of the virus.

He said he too believes the risk is significant and would like to see more businesses and public spaces shut down to limit the potential for community spread.

"In every public health challenge in the history of mankind, ... it's what we didn't do we regretted," he said. "If the worst that happens is someone says after this, 'oh, they overreacted',' I'll consider that a success."

Fears associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have triggered a rush on drug and grocery stores across the country as people flocked to buy basics en masse.

While the Retail Council of Canada said the current high demand for food, toilet paper and other staples is understandable as the number of positive cases continues to climb, it urged Canadians not to succumb to panic.

Marc Fortin, president of the council's Quebec chapter, said supply chains continue to function as normal and goods will continue to flow even if major trading partners close their borders in a bid to curb the spread of the virus.

"Groceries and pharmacies are considered essential services, so they will remain open," he said. "We have plenty of food, plenty of goods."

Fortin said about 70 per cent of commonly purchased items are produced domestically, ensuring their continued availability in Canadian stores. He acknowledged the situation is more precarious for fresh produce and other items being imported at this time of year, but said retailers have suppliers in a variety of countries and have contingency plans in place.

Near empty shelves are pictured at a grocery store in North Vancouver, B.C. Saturday, March 14, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also urged retail restraint on Sunday during a television interview with CTV's Question Period conducted outside his home, where he is currently in self-isolation along with his family.

He said Canada's supply chains to date have not been affected by the tightening border restrictions around the world, merchandise is still coming across the border and there's no need to start hoarding supplies.

"Yes, stock up a little bit so you don't have to go to the store every two or three days like we usually do, but make sure that you're not taking more than you need," he said. "Your neighbours, or vulnerable people, will need to access supplies as well."

U.S. President Donald Trump made similar comments on Sunday, saying he has spoken with leading grocery store executives and that the food supply chain remains healthy.

Trudeau said a measured approach will be important in all aspects of life as Canadians navigate the outbreak, which has so far infected more than 340 people in the country and caused one death.

The number of cases continued to climb on Sunday, with Ontario reporting 42 new cases, bringing the total to 145.

The province announced Sunday it planned to table a bill to offer protections for workers affected by the outbreak and wave the requirement for doctors' notes, but offered no timelines. The province's Superior Court said it would stop operating on Tuesday for all but the most urgent of matters, as Ontario also shuttered casinos and urged hospitals to start postponing elective surgeries.

The Manitoba government reported three more cases in that province, bringing the total to seven.

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And authorities in Nova Scotia said COVID-19 had officially reached that province after three people tested positive for the virus. Premier Stephen McNeil responded by announcing schools and day-care centres would be closed for two weeks following March break, which is set to begin Monday.

Most people diagnosed with COVID-19 experience mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, and the vast majority of those who contract the virus recover.

However, for some, including Canadians aged 65 and over, those with compromised immune systems and those with pre-existing conditions, the illness can be much more severe. Among the Canadians diagnosed with the illness so far, fewer than 15 per cent have required hospitalization.

The growing number of cases has prompted widespread closures of schools and universities, mass cancellation of large-scale events, multimillion-dollar economic stimulus packages from governments, and the suspension of the Parliament until April 20

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 15, 2020.

 With files from Stephanie Levitz in Ottawa, Morgan Lowrie in Montreal, Keith Doucette in Halifax and Hina Alam in Vancouver.
Board staff and volunteers cant guarantee each touch screen is wiped down in between voters but will do so at a voters request, Allen said. However, most voters will use paper ballots, and some have been asking about bringing their own pens. Voters may use their own pen, provided its black or blue and is a Sharpie or felt tip, but not ballpoint, Allen said.
As the number of COVID-19-infected people continues to go up, we can only imagine how daunting it must be, for the people on the front lines - doctors and nurses who are working hard day and night, to quarantine and cure people.

Health officials are possibly most at risk of contracting the virus from a patient, and a photo of an Italian nurse slumped over her desk is proof of the mental and physical toll it is taking on them. The photo was shared by Francesca Mangiatordi on Facebook. The nurse in the photo is Elena Pagliarini, who works in the northen region of Lombardy - the worst-hit city by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Facebook

According to AFP, Italy has recorded over 1,400 deaths and 21,000 infections till now. A quarter of the country's ICU beds are filled in by those who are infected with the virus. Fortunately, Lombardy is home to one of the world's best health systems, and health officials are working day and night to help those who are suffering from the illness.

Pagliarini, the nurse in the photograph told the Corriere della Sera newspaper, an Italian newspaper, "On one hand I was annoyed to see my photo everywhere, I was ashamed of showing my weakness. But then I was happy because I got beautiful messages from people who empathised with my story."

AFP

Since they are also human, treating the patients is not the only thing on their mind and having to stay away from their own families is taking a toll on them too. Doctors and nurses are not able to meet their family members for the fear of infecting them with the virus. The only solace is that they're able to talk to their families using video calls, but that's not nearly enough.



Pagliarini also spoke about how the exhaustion isn't just physical but also mental. She said, "I actually don't feel physically tired, I can work for 24 hours straight if it's necessary but I won't hide the fact that right now I'm anxious because I'm fighting an enemy that I don't know."

AFP

The world needs to bow down to those who are selflessly working towards putting an end to this pandemic that has taken over our lives. These people are the true heroes of our time.
Erica Uleski fought to save her fellow service members as an Army medic in Iraq, working under brutal conditions to stanch bleeding, save limbs and bring back lives teetering on the edge.

But when she returned to Virginia Beach, Va., in 2007, after three tours in Iraq, she found her extensive combat medical experience had little relevance in the civilian health care world, largely because she lacked the required licenses. She was able to utilize her language skills to shift to another career instead.

You can tell all the stories you want, Uleski said, but if you dont have the credentials, you dont get work.

In his State of the Union address to Congress last month, President Trump made a significant economic boast that did not garner much attention: the historic decline in veteran unemployment, which now rests around 3%.

Like other Americans, veterans have benefited from a roaring economy and a robust labor market. But as a group, they are often hampered by the difficulty of converting skills gained in wars to private-sector jobs, a lack of strong professional networks and a culture of treating veterans as charity cases.

Underemployment is one of the greatest issues faced by returning veterans  and by their spouses, who often lose ground through constant relocations. Veterans are 37% more likely to be underemployed than nonveterans, a recent study by LinkedIn found.

Underemployment with this group is very concerning, said Sarah Roberts, the companys head of Military and Veteran Programs.

Unlike students, many of whom choose their majors, a majority of people enlisted in the military are assigned their tasks and points of focus. When they leave, many veterans are eager to shift gears but lack clear pathways to do so.

About 55% of vets in transition want to do something totally different than what they did in the military, Roberts said. Officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which has put together several programs to help place veterans in jobs, concede this is among the chief obstacles.

Veterans, particularly those without college degrees, are often pushed toward low-skill jobs even though their training and the culture of the military might well translate into other types of positions. A clear pipeline to those jobs, however, does not exist for veterans.

The employers are saying, Its not our job to train them, said Joan Lynch, chief content and programming officer at WorkingNation, a nonprofit campaign that focuses on labor in the United States. So whose job is it to train veterans for the workforce? The military? No; they teach them to defend our nation. Employers arent doing it, either.

Many jobs require licenses and training for skills that veterans learned in combat, particularly in health care. Many veterans who acquired deep knowledge and specialized emergency response techniques, for example, would have no immediate access to the long credentialing process to become a physician assistant.

Lynch said she had encountered many returning medics who were unable to immediately translate their skills into jobs  even when they had privately tutored medical residents on skills like suturing  because they lacked a license. At the same time, those extensive experiences may not apply in other, often lower-wage jobs for which they are vastly overqualified.

These people have about $1 million of training that the government has put into them, Lynch said. But they dont have one credit toward a professional degree, and they end up being turned down for jobs delivering dry cleaning. It breaks your heart.

Under the most recent Defense Department budget bill, Congress authorized the military to conduct a pilot program to assess a possible partnership among Special Operations forces, colleges and health care systems in which veterans can earn credit toward a masters degree in physician assistant studies for their military operational work and medic training.

Dr. David Callaway, an emergency physician at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C., started a program in 2015 to teach veterans to translate their military medical training for civilian hospital settings.

His team spearheaded a partnership among Atrium Health, Wake Forest School of Medicine and the Defense Department to create a program that allows Special Operations combat medics to earn masters degree credit toward a physician assistant license while serving in operational units.

The program relied on private donor funding, even a local high school fundraiser. Congress has authorized the military to conduct a pilot program to assess expanding the partnership among Special Operations forces, colleges and health care systems.

State governments, however, are best equipped to take on this issue, experts said.

We need to reform the occupational licensing laws, said Rebecca Burgess, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. This could help veterans and military spouses, whose unemployment rates have skyrocketed.

Indeed, the unemployment rate for military spouses is 24%, in large part because of frequent relocations and an inability to transfer occupational licenses from state to state.

Veterans leave the military with educational benefits coveted by most American high school students. In addition to the GI Bill, which provides 36 months of tuition payments and housing allowances, veterans have many other programs to draw on, such as an additional nine months of subsidized education for those pursuing STEM-related degrees and extensive new transition training programs.

Because of all these programs, veterans are better equipped to reach the American dream than their nonveteran counterparts, said Margarita Devlin, principal deputy undersecretary for benefits at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

But there are often complications, especially for those who have served for many years and now have families to support.

Some people think if you have the GI Bill, you should be in school full time, said William Hubbard, chief of staff for Student Veterans of America, an advocacy group. That is true if you are a 25-year-old single person with no obligations. But most people have families, work full time and are nontraditional students.

Many veterans also lack strong networks outside their own community to help them navigate the workforce.

Roberts of LinkedIn looked at veteran networks that were composed of about 28% other veterans and compared them with nonveteran networks, which were made up of less than 2% veterans.

About 70% of job seekers find employment through a referral or someone in their network, she said. So trying to be intentional about connecting with people outside their networks is important.

Certain industries have discovered a set of veterans skills that transfer from across service branches, such as the defense and security sectors; various technology companies are also catching on.

For many years, policies and public campaigns meant to increase veteran employment focused on trying to appeal to a mix of patriotism and pity for a group that was believed to be damaged by conflict and set back by years out of the civilian workforce, said Hubbard and several other experts. Tax incentives also helped.

For a long time, fundraising was centered around the idea that this is a struggling population, Hubbard said.

There were a lot of organizations that were able to use the opportunity to say that veterans are broken or damaged or need our support, he said. But this is actually counterproductive, because the country sees the veterans in that image. This, he said, makes some employers reluctant to hire them.

Other experts agreed, saying this often led veterans to gravitate toward jobs that were easily secured but below their skill and experience levels.

There used to be this corporate concept that We are going to hire veterans, said Lynch of WorkingNation. What that did in reality is turn hiring vets into a charity case, and their retention rate was very low.

She said the veterans and private-sector cultures both needed to adjust. Good companies are getting smart about the training, she said.

Jennifer Steinhauer is a New York Times writer.
Youve probably received one: A recorded call warns of a problem with your Social Security number. To fix it and avoid legal action, youre told, you must call back immediately  and pay up.

Many people know to ignore these calls. But the criminals can be so convincing that some people fall victim to the schemes and end up losing money  often by buying gift cards and revealing their PINs.

Its not clear whether the volume of calls is increasing, but the government is getting thousands of complaints about them, Gail Ennis, the Social Security Administrations inspector general, said in a call this week with reporters. The office has received about 250,000 online complaints since unveiling a new, dedicated digital reporting form in November.

Other regulators report a flood of reports as well. The Federal Trade Commission says its fraud network received more than 166,000 complaints last year about Social Security calls, with individual losses averaging about $1,500. And the Senates Special Committee on Aging said Social Security impersonation schemes were the most-reported fraud on its fraud hotline last year.

In January, the committee heard testimony from a Utah woman who was bilked out of $150,000 in a Social Security phone scheme.

This is a massive problem, said Andrew Saul, the Social Security commissioner, who also participated in the call with Ennis.

The Justice Department took legal action in January against two telecommunications companies that serve as gateways for illegal robocalls by funneling them to the United States from overseas.

But stopping the calls is challenging. There are many gateway companies, Ennis said, so cracking down on two may just mean the criminals will take their business elsewhere.

Congress last year passed the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act, which requires telecommunications companies to adopt technology to identify spoofed calls  calls that criminals make using phone numbers that mimic legitimate calls on your phone. But the Federal Communications Commission must set rules for how the law is carried out, which will take time. So relief is probably a year or more away, said Maureen Mahoney, policy analyst for Consumer Reports.

Here are some questions and answers about fake Social Security calls:

Q: What should I do if I think a call is fraudulent?

A: Dont answer calls from unfamiliar numbers. Instead, let them go to voicemail  or an answering machine, if you still use one, advised Kathy Stokes, director of fraud prevention programs with AARP. Then listen to the message and delete it if its suspicious.

If you do answer the phone and the caller demands money, hang up  dont give out personal information. You dont want to engage with the scammer, Saul said.

Report the call to the inspector generals office at the Social Security Administration, online at https://oig.ssa.gov. The form asks you to create a unique identification number, so if the agency contacts you, you can ask for the number to verify that the call is authentic.

The agency also offers a voice verification service to people who call Social Securitys toll-free number. Callers can record their first and last name. Then, when they get a scheduled call back, they will hear their own voice and know it is legitimate.

Be aware that because of spoofing technology, an apparently legitimate phone number may be fake. Anyone can get a Social Security fraud call, but older people may be more vulnerable because they are more likely to rely on benefits for living expenses, and some schemes threaten a suspension of benefits, said Randal Wolverton, a former FBI agent and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Fraud Task Force.

Q: Do the schemes always involve a phone call?

A: Sometimes, criminals email official-looking documents purporting to be Social Security papers, and more recently they have started sending text messages that appear to be coming from the agency, urging people to call a number to resolve a legal problem with a Social Security number. But the administration wont send unsolicited texts asking you to return a call to an unknown number, Ennis said.

The agency sends texts only if you have agreed to receive them and then in limited situations  if, for instance, you have a disability claim that is being reviewed or have signed up to have authentication codes sent to your phone when logging into your account.

Q: How can I avoid getting spam calls?

A: Its hard to eliminate robocalls, but some tools may help reduce them. Contact your cellphone company about screening tools or filters that can help block or reduce spam calls, the FCC suggests. Consumer Reports suggests trying apps like Nomorobo, which charges a monthly fee for cell phones. Free apps are also available, Consumer Reports notes, but they may require access to your personal contact lists. You can also register your phones on the FTCs Do Not Call List, which wont stop illegal calls but can help reduce calls from telemarketers.

Ann Carrns is a New York Times writer.
Some Montgomery County facilities are taking extra precautions to keep seniors safe from the spread of the new coronavirus pandemic, including lockdowns.

Conroes disaster declaration issued on Thursday made clear that special consideration should be given to cancel or postpone events that would include any population at severe risk of severe illness and states the population at greatest risk is anyone older than 65 and those with severe medical conditions as defined by the CDC.

It also states nursing homes and senior living centers should limit visitation of the public within their facilities.

Take caution when visiting retirement homes and nursing facilities, even if you feel fine Mayor Toby Powell said in a statement on Friday. Your elders needs your love more now than ever, just not your germs.

Retirement Center Management operates more than 35 senior communities in Texas, Oklahoma Arkansas  including Carriage Inn in Conroe where the company confirmed it has implemented new visitor restrictions among other changes.

RCM President David Keaton said there are about 100 seniors at Carriage Inn in Conroe and the average age of the seniors at all the facilities is about 85.

We have taken a very aggressive approach, Keaton said. Based on CDC recommendations, they are suggesting that all senior living facilities whether independent, skilled nursing or assisted living are certainly higher risk than the general public. Retirement Center Management, which operates Carriage Inn in Conroe, has implemented fairly aggressive tactics to make sure we try to keep the virus out of the community.

Aside from visitor restrictions and screenings, which includes questionnaires, logs and temperature checks. Anyone who has a temperature that exceeds the guidelines are not allowed to enter and will be reported to the Montgomery County Public Health Department.

Additionally, Keaton said outside community activities have been stopped and social distancing is being practiced within the community, including with staggered mealtimes. For engagement, the seniors will be participating in alternative activities, by playing scrabble and board games online within apartments instead of normal group activities to reduce interaction. There are some exceptions to restrictions, such as for seniors who are on hospice care. Under those circumstances, family visits are limited to one member who is still subject to being screened.

RCM said the current recommendations are moving in the direction of mandatory requirement. He explained that the federal declaration given by the president requires the steps in skilled nursing facilities. As of Friday, the steps were not required for assisted living or independent living facilities. The governor of Texas also declared an emergency requiring the steps for skilled nursing facilities.

We are anticipating that he will extend that requirement to assisted living next week, Keaton said. At this point, although we dont operate any skilled nursing, we knew these kinds of practices and policies were something that were important to put in place.

Because even in independent living our folks their average age is in their mid-80s and in assisted living it is late 80s and early 90s and we know that is the most vulnerable of the population, he added. So, we decided several days ago to try to get a jump on it and put all these restrictions in place rather sooner than later.

A reader reached out to The Courier with concerns about The Conservatory Senior Living on Alden Bridge, which the reader said has residents that are 70 to 100 years old. The reader claimed the facility allowed outside people to enter for different functions, including for a talk with approximately 20 people and a plan to host an artist show on March 19. He worried about the risk of exposure to the residents.

The Executive Director of the facility, John Googer, said the mass meeting was held to discuss COVID-19 and communication was sent out to the residents. He confirmed the artist show has been canceled along with other outside events, activities, and transportation.

Googer said the independent living facility understands the gravity of the situation and that several changes have been made and precautionary steps taken to keep the residents safe, including sanitizing, visitor restrictions and questionnaires.

He said some individual entertainers, who must go through a screening process, are being allowed to perform at the facility. However, Googer has asked a pastor not to lead Sunday service due to his interaction with large crowds. Googer and a residents family member will lead instead. Next week, the seniors will be learning about how to order groceries online to be delivered to their homes.

We want to keep things as normal as possible because sometimes panic is far worse, Googer said. If there are any services that we dont disrupt through our protocols like Sunday service, we are going to be doing those internally.

Multiple other facilities who care for seniors confirmed they are on a lockdown, but either declined to comment or did not immediately respond to requests for comment, including the rehab hospital BrightPointe at Rivershire where Conroe resident Mello Buchanan said her 79 year old mother, who has dementia, is temporarily staying to recover from surgery after a fall in January and expected to be released in April.

Buchanan, who visits with her mother nearly every day, said the rehab facility called her on Wednesday night to inform her that the facility would be implementing some precautions for the safety of their patients. At first, she was OK with it. But when she arrived at the facility, where she thought she would be able to explain the situation to her mother in person, she said she was denied entrance and informed that her mother would not be allowed out.

Now I have to talk to her over the phone, Buchanan said noting her mom has a hard time understanding conversations over the phone due to her condition. It took me 45 minutes of going over it, and over it, and over it with her before she, I hope, retained enough of it to know that this is about the virus. Today, again I will be on the phone after work talking to her over the phone, I wont be able to actually see her.

I understand that it is to protect everybody in the building, she continued. But ultimately, I have to worry about how my mom is handle everything to and all I asked was to bring my mom out to the patio and make sure she understood, and it was just a flat no.

Buchanan does her mothers laundry due to a sensitivity to certain detergents that can cause her mother to itch. Due to the dementia, her mother may not realize why she itches. She worries it could make her itch, bleed, and miserable.

Despite the lockdown, she said she has observed other people being allowed to enter and leave the building, including with bags for patients and fast food. But as of Friday, she still has not been able to see her mother, who is now there is a virus based on what she has seen on television. She wants to see improved communication to families.

She misconstrues activity in the home, at the facility, she calls and tells me, they are up and down the hall, I think somebody has the virus, so it is kind of delusional thinking, its not really logical, Buchanan said. They could just be taking care of someone elses needs and she just perceives it as they are all a buzz, somebody must be sick. So, I try to explain to her that no mom, they are just taking care of somebody else, they have an issue, they need some extra attention,

But no one has told me either whether anyone there has been exposed or not so I dont know, she added without knowing how long the lockdown will last. Theres a lot of I dont know and that shouldnt be the case when you have family members in a facility.

mellsworth@hcnonline.com
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 23:25:42|Editor: huaxia

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RAMALLAH, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Palestine on Sunday condemned the significant increase of the settlers' attacks against Palestinian lands, properties and vehicles in the West Bank.

"The increase of settlement organizations' attacks against the Palestinians is a direct result of the encouragement they are received from the political leadership in Israel," the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"Israel seeks to intimidate the Palestinians and prevent them from reaching their targeted lands," the statement added, noting an Israeli preparation to control and allocate the lands to expand the settlement.

The ministry called on the international community to condemn the crimes of the settlers and the occupation forces and make Israel obey the relevant UN resolutions, especially the Resolution 2334.

Earlier in the day, settlers broke windows of 20 vehicles in the northern West Bank town of Huwara, official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

The West Bank is home to around half a million Israeli settlers in 120 settlements and 2.7 million Palestinians, where confrontations between the two sides often turn violent.
Three people, including the father-in-law and brother-in-law, have been arrested in connection with the headless body of a woman that was found in Arhgarha village here on March 9, police said on Sunday.

Bahraich Superintendent of Police Vipin Mishra said, "Five persons including the husband of the deceased were made accused in the case. Of the five, three have been arrested on Saturday. Riyaz, the husband of the deceased, is living in Saudi Arabia for the past three years. The deceased was later identified as Hasreen."



The SP informed that Hasreen was not on talking terms with her husband and in-laws and was living at her father's place.

"Riyaz was planning for a second marriage but Hasreen was not willing to divorce her. To get rid of Hasreen, Riyaz plotted a conspiracy from the foreign country with his father, mother and brothers to kill her. Riyaz sent his brother Meraj from Mumbai to Bahraich and convinced Hasreen to return to her in-laws place," Mishra said.

On the way to her in-laws place, Hasreen's father-in-law Sadiq Ali and Sadiq's nephew Nanhe murdered her in Arhgarha village. To hide the identity of the deceased, her head was cut off and thrown in Saryu Canal, the SP said.

Sadiq, Nanhe and Meraj have been arrested while efforts are on to arrest Saira (mother-in-law of the deceased) and her husband Riyaz, the SP added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Russia and Saudi Arabia clashed over the oil price, both trying to keep or increase their share in the market. The coronavirus outbreak was at least the official beginning of the conflict. As millions of people are in quarantine, and traveling is reduced to a minimum, oil has faced a sharp decrease in demand. Tensions escalated when Russia decided not to extend the production cut of 1.8 million barrels a day, caused by the stated decrease in demand.

Saudi Arabia promptly reacted by announcing a production boost and offering price discounts. Both actions led to a sharp oil price decrease. Russia did not withdraw here but declared its oil industry can survive the price battle in order to keep the current market share.

What Is The Fight Really About?

The open price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia strongly hit the U.S. oil industry. WTI dropped to $31.13 per barrel, which is a decrease for $10.15 or 24.59%. International benchmark Brent crude had a similar fate. It settled at $34.36 per barrel, which is a decrease for $10.91 or 24.1%. Since there are not many options that the open price war could cause, analysts and experts are thinking that Russia is targeting the U.S. shale companies. And that is not all.

This might be an opportunity for Russia to fight back against the sanctions passed by the U.S. Among other segments, sanctions were aiming to stop Russia in completing its Nord Stream 2 pipeline. This pipeline is supposed to transport natural gas from Russia to Europe across the Baltic Sea. Many oil companies' stock was hit once the tensions escalated, like Exxon Mobile (NYSE: XOM), Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX), PetroChina Company, Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A), BP Oil (NYSE: BP), and others.

Exxon Mobil Corporation

Exxon Mobil had an Investor Day a week ago, where it announced some heavy spending in the following years. Its forecast is to spend $33 billion on capital spending this year, and an additional $35 billion in the following years. Having in mind the oil price collapse, it is a question of how this energy giant will be able to support such aggressive spending.

Story continues

Chevron Corporation

Chevron Corporation, a $175 billion oil giant, which has one of the lowest dividends among the oil giant group, is the company with an impressive asset portfolio that can ensure good financial margins which can make substantial returns for its shareholders, a secure yield of more than 5.5%.

PetroChina

PetroChina issued the force majeure notice to at least one of its LNG suppliers and its suppliers of piped gas and suspended some liquefied natural gas (LNG) and natural gas imports. This was all characterized as a seasonal plunge in demand increased with the effect of the coronavirus outbreak.

Royal Dutch Shell

Royal Dutch Shell stock crashed around 18% on Monday. This was quite a hit for this well-known, blue-chip FTSE 100 company, all because of the oil price plunge caused by the Russian and Saudi Arabian open price war. On the other hand, this might be a nice buying opportunity.

BP Oil

As investors started ditching the energy stocks, after the oil continued to drop, BP has lost almost 20 billion of its value on Monday. BP Oil and Royal Dutch Shell pulled the FTSE 100 to one-day losses, which was not seen since the 2008 global financial crisis.

Conclusion

This open price could result in another 10% decline, or even lead to detrimental losses. This will be a big additional hit to the U.S. oil sector, as companies are already facing tough decisions like cutbacks, forced mergers, and even some bankruptcies. And let's not forget that we're talking about a non-renewable source so its future is anything but guaranteed.

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One of the greatest stories in Greek mythology is that of the Judgment of Paris. It is in a way a simple story, but beneath the seemingly obvious veneer of who is the fairest of them all? there are profound implications that speak to us today, for this story will always resonate so long as human beings reflect on their lives.

First, though, what exactly is the story? It is the prelude, or the cause celebre, of the Trojan War. Homer does not exactly deal with it, but his masterpiece The Iliad and the death of Achilles directly follow from the Judgment of Paris, as do the wanderings of Odysseus once Troy is sacked. Put another way, a whole civilization, Troy, and 10s of thousands of people on both sides are destroyed as a result of the judgment. What seems inconsequential proves to have massive implications.

To illustrate this in relatively modern terms, we might think of Gavrilo Princip, a 19-year-old nobody, yet a terrorist, who in 1914 shot Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. This triggered World War I, the death of millions, and the fall of at least three major empires: the Russian, the Austrian-Hungarian, and the German.

Paris himself was the son of King Priam of Troy. He was especially handsome, though it had been prophesied before his birth that his life would lead to Troys destruction.

At the wedding of the man Peleus and his bride, the goddess Thetis, all the gods were invited except Eris. She was the goddess of strife and too disagreeable to invite to such a lovely wedding. Eris gets her revenge by throwing into the wedding party the prize of a golden apple that is inscribed with the words for the fairest (or, to the most beautiful). Immediately, three major goddesses claim the prize as their own.

The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis, 1636, by Peter Paul Rubens. The Art Institute of Chicago. (Public Domain)

And so begins the saga. First thing to notice is that no male seeks to claim to be the fairest. The Greeks clearly understood that this was a feminine thing; if the apple had said for the strongest of them all, then a fight between males would almost certainly have ensued, and probably immediately! What women (typically) wantto be beautifulis not what men (typically) want. Their psychologies, like their physiologies, are different. 

Three senior goddesses of Mount Olympus claim the prize as their own. (Poor Thetis, the bride on her wedding day doesnt enter in.) These goddesses are Hera, queen of heaven and wife of Zeus, who as king of the gods is by far the most powerful; Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war strategy, or more succinctly put, of victory, and also Zeuss favorite daughter; and finally, Aphrodite, goddess of love and sex, and whose origins are more complex, being in one sense Zeuss own aunt.

Even for the king of the gods, a decision would be impossible in such a situation: his wife versus his daughter, to highlight only one conflict of interest. And so, Zeus decrees that the young, handsome prince Paris, who is tending flocks on Mount Ida, will be the arbitrator and decide which goddess is the most beautiful and will receive the golden apple.

Three Greek goddesses are directed by Zeus to let Paris judge who is most beautiful. A detail from Judgment of Paris, circa 1480, by Master of the Argonaut Panels. Fogg Museum. (Public Domain)

The Young, Inexperienced, and Bribable

The young, inexperienced Paris is suddenly confronted by the three goddesses and, unsurprisingly, is terrified. Ancient vase paintings depicting the scene show Paris trying to escape in fear at the approach of the goddesses. Nevertheless, he is asked to judge, and then a very human thing happens: Each of the three goddesses attempts to bribe him, to make him an offer he cant refuse.

A detail from The Judgement of Paris 1812, by Guillaume Guillon Lethiere. (Public Domain)

Hera offers him imperial power: his scepter to extend over Asia and Europe tooto be a great emperor therefore. Athena offers him victory in battle: He will lead a Trojan army that will overthrow Greece, a reverse of Alexander the Great, as it were. And what about Aphrodite? She offers him the most beautiful woman in the world as his consort and wife. Political power, military success, or great romance.

The point about the Greeks and their philosophies, of course, was that the god Apollos maxim was writ large as proverbial wisdom, and that was moderation in all things, or not too much of any one. Excess in any of our choices can lead to unexpected consequences that can potentially destroy us. I like to think of Pariss choice here as analogous to those facing the Greek philosopher Plato.

Plato and his successors wrangled over what we call three transcendental realities, namely, goodness, truth, and beauty. In a sense, the choice Paris must make is between these three: goodness (Hera, as queen of heaven), truth (Athena, as goddess of wisdom), and beauty (Aphrodite, as goddess of love, sex, and attraction). And oftentimes, it is these three criteria (transcendentals, if you will) that determine our choices. Indeed, the best example, and fullest-blown catastrophe where all three of these criteria come into play comes at the beginning of our time.

Eves Excesses

In verse 6 of chapter 3 of the book of Genesis, we find the temptation of Eve framed in these terms: When the woman saw that the tree was good for food [goodness], and that it was a delight to the eyes [beautiful], and that the tree was desirable to make one wise [truth], she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

Adam and Eve, 1504, by Albrecht Durer (14711528). Engraving, The Frick Collection; Henry Clay Frick Bequest. (Milene Fernandez/The Epoch Times)

Here, of course, there is no moderation at all. Eve and subsequently Adam are entirely seduced by an overwhelming desire to possess all three properties, rather than restrict or limit their appetites. But the thing to note is the unintended consequences of bad choices.

So, to return to the really important point about Pariss decision, we need to keep in mind that, as Jung observed, the gods or goddesses we ignore are spiritual entities that have not been integrated into our personalities. Therefore, we are not whole or healthy, and these gaps will manifest themselves in ways that we cannot foresee.

Take the wedding of Peleus. If we consider this congregation as one person, and all of the gods, goddesses, humans, and other guests as subpersonality types, then we see that they were all there. Allexcept one.

The gods of our human psychology did not accept the presence of Eris, the goddess of strife. And what was the consequence of not integrating her into the party, as it were? Strife of unimaginable intensity breaks out across the whole known Greek world. The destruction of nearly everything valuable occurs, and the greatest heroes go down to death while still in the bloom of their youth.

What is happening on the world stage then mirrors what happened long before at a simple wedding reception: The important and powerful goddesses are now at war with each other and will take sides in the conflict to come, based on Pariss choice.

Again, Jung: A neurosis is an offended god. In our times of trouble, who are we offending? Which god or goddess has not been given his or her due in our psyche? And who has been repressed and will exact revenge in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead? What we have denied within will return as outward fate, and there is no escaping it, so Jung thought.

Loving Aphrodite, Ignoring Eris

Aphrodite (or Venus) with the apple awarded by Paris, 18131816, by Bertel Thorvaldsen. The Thorvaldsen Museum, Copenhagen. (Public Domain)

This story is relevant today as we see conflict everywhere. And as in Pariss day, we see the same choice for Western society: We choose Aphrodite and ignore other important gods and goddesses. Robert Johnson in his We: Understanding the Psychology of Romantic Love remarks that Romantic love is the single greatest energy system in the Western psyche. In our culture it has supplanted religion as the arena in which men and women seek meaning, transcendence, wholeness, and ecstasy.

This seems profoundly true today. Notice also the suppression of Eris, or strife, which of course only produces more strife. In secular efforts, we try to create a brotherhood and sisterhood where everyone is equal, and we sing along with John Lennon to Imagine a world without conflict. (Ironically, of course, he was shot).

Anyone notice the upsurge in recent years of memes on Facebook, Twitter, and others about Be kind and the idea that one must not contradict another human being for fear that the person might suffer some irreversible shock or trauma? How shocking! We want, we insist upon, we must have diversity, for everyone must be included without strifeexcept diversity of opinion. We cant have that.

And so, we see from our obsession with Aphrodite and our exclusion of Eris that we too are heading where Paris wentto a place of individual and collective destruction. That is what the choice of Paris tells us.

Its a matter of tremendous irony that the survivors of the holocaust caused by Pariss decision turned out to be Menelaus, the cuckold and rather nondescript king and husband of Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world; and Helen herself, of whom it may be said that while she may have been beautiful, she was hardly interesting, wise, or goodand so also nondescript.

Menelaus wants to kill her for her betrayal, sees her in the ruins of Troy, and then falls in love (or is that lust?) all over again and forgives her infidelity! After all, why not? Was she responsible? Of course not. It was the gods who did it, and who gainsays them?

And, of course, once we are not responsiblethe gods did it!we are transported back to our modern world again, where few seem able to take responsibility for their actions, and we revel in a victim culture where others have caused all our problems and we demand compensation.

To avoid this fate, it seems to me that we have to return to those seminal choices we make, and take responsibility for them. Conscious responsibility asks: Which gods are we excluding from the depths of our own self?

The Bible quote is from the New American Standard version.

James Sale is an English businessman whose company, Motivational Maps Ltd., operates in 14 countries. He is the author of over 40 books on management and education from major international publishers including Macmillan, Pearson, and Routledge. As a poet, he won the first prize in The Society of Classical Poets 2017 competition and spoke in June 2019 at the groups first symposium held at New Yorks Princeton Club.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo confirmed Saturday night that there are an additional 187 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) in New York since Friday. This brings the total number of cases in the state to 613 and 269 in the city.

Two people in the state have died of the virus.

Cuomo addressed the death of a 65-year-old man from Rockland County who posthumously tested positive for the coronavirus. The governor said he had pre-existing health conditions.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

Earlier on Saturday, the Advance reported that an 82-year-old woman was the first New York City resident confirmed to die from coronavirus complications. It was announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio during an interview with MSNBC host Joy Reid.

The woman, who had had pre-existing conditions, died in Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn, de Blasio said.

Today, we are confirming our first death due to severe complications from COVID-19. The patient, an elderly woman with advanced emphysema, was admitted to the hospital last week as one of our first cases, and had been in critical condition ever since," said de Blasio.

STATEN ISLAND CASES

As of Saturday, there were at least five confirmed cases of the virus on Staten Island.

A spokesman at Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton told the Advance/SILive.com that the hospital has yet to record any positive cases of coronavirus.

A spokesman at Staten Island University Hospital said that they are currently treating one patient for COVID-19 at the North Site in Ocean Breeze.

The patient is in isolation and in an area of the hospital where protective measures will ensure the safety of our other patients and our front line staff who are caring for these patients, the spokesman said.

The spokesman couldnt provide further information about the patient currently at the Ocean Breeze location.

No coronavirus-related deaths have been reported at either SIUH locations, a spokesperson for the hospital said.

Be the first to know: Sign up for our newsletters; and get breaking news and top stories pushed to your phone with the SILive.com mobile app.

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Australia's coronavirus death toll has risen to five.

Queensland Health on Sunday confirmed a woman from Noosaville on the Sunshine Coast died after arriving in Sydney on Friday.

The 77-year-old was rushed to hospital but died that day.

The elderly woman is believed to have caught the deadly disease from a relative who had returned recently from the US.

A 90-year-old woman - a resident of Sydney's Dorothy Henderson Lodge who was confirmed to have COVID-19 - also died on Saturday.

People wearing face masks pictured in front of the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney on Sunday. Australia's coronavirus death toll has risen to five

A masked pedestrian is pictured in Sydney on Sunday. The 77-year-old confirmed to have died from the virus is believed to have caught the disease from a relative who had recently returned from the US

The confirmation a fifth person had died from the deadly coronavirus on Sunday came as the number of infections nationally reached nearly 300

It comes as Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Sunday that from midnight all people coming to Australia will have to self-isolate for 14 days.

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 prime minister also announced cruise ships will be banned from docking in Australian ports for at least 30 days.

The drastic measures come as the number of confirmed cases in Australia climbs to almost 300.

'This is very important. What we have seen in recent weeks is more countries having issues with the virus and that means that the source of some of those transitions are coming  transmissions are coming from those countries,' he said.

Penalties for not self-isolating will be determined by states and territories.

Social distancing measures are also now required, Mr Morrison said.

From Monday, gatherings of more than 500 people have been banned.

Limitations on large gatherings in enclosed areas such as theatres are expected to be made later in the week.

Mr Morrison said the measures were to restrict social interactions and lower the risk of widespread outbreak.

'There will be no more handshakes...which was something that was not needed a few weeks ago. It is a precautionary step,' he said.

'There will be further intrusions and there will be further restrictions on peoples movements.'

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Sunday that from midnight all people coming to Australia will have to self-isolate for 14 days

Symptoms of the virus include a fever, cough, sore throat and shortness of breath

Mr Morrison insisted schools will remain open.

'When you take children out of schools and put them back in the broader community, the ability for them to potentially engage with others increases the risk.'

A travel ban has already been put in place for mainland China, Iran, South Korea and Italy.

Last week the government banned 'non essential' public gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday.

The ban will have stunning consequences for sporting codes, such as the NRL and AFL. Festivals, religious services, concerts and plays - even school assemblies - will be called into doubt.

Some calm amid the chaos: Shoppers form an orderly line at a Coles supermarket as staff hand out one pack of toilet paper to each customer Video has emerged of a line of Australian shoppers queuing in a calm, orderly fashion as supermarket staff hand out packs of toilet paper. In the video, posted to Reddit on Saturday, a line of people can be seen stretching the length of the entire aisle of a Coles supermarket as they patiently wait. People from around the world commented on the video saying this was being done the correct way. 'Australia doing it the right way,' one person said. The footage makes a contrast with other videos that have emerged from Australian supermarkets showing customers arguing and fighting with each other over toilet paper. A video posted this week, understood to have been filmed at an Aldi store in Western Sydney, showed customers stampeding into the toilet paper aisle as soon as the shop's doors opened. Video has emerged of a line of Australian shoppers queuing in a calm, orderly fashion as supermarket staff hand out packs of toilet paper Commenters on the orderly queue video observed that people waiting to buy the item were likely running low rather than people hoarding or panic-buying. 'When you need toilet paper and you feel like a moron because you know it is stupid to stand in line and yet here you are,' one person said. Supermarkets across the country have been cleaned out of toilet paper in the last week due to panic-buying amid coronavirus concerns. Shoppers are now arriving at stores hours ahead of deliveries of the product. Coles, along with Woolworths and Aldi have implemented a one pack per customer limit for the item. Advertisement

Sydney's Royal Easter Show will be cancelled in the wake of the prime minister's statement, as have further Melbourne Fashion Festival shows.

The move has been hailed by infectious disease experts, who say it will be critical in slowing the virus's spread and help prevent overloading hospital intensive care units.

Coles has meanwhile stepped up restrictions on its products to include limits on mince as supermarket shelves in Australia are stripped bare amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The new restrictions on the meat were announced by the supermarket giant on Sunday afternoon to combat panic-buying as the disease spreads globally.

It follows limits being extended beyond toilet paper on Friday to items including flour, paper towels and paper tissues.

Empty shelves pictured at a Coles supermarket in Waterloo in southern Sydney. The supermarket has brought in new restrictions to items including mince and flour and paper towels

The pandemic has seen the world grind to a halt as fear and uncertainty grips the globe.

'As the situation around Coronavirus continues to develop, we want to ensure you have the most up to date information on product availability,' Coles said in a statement on Sunday.

'The purchase of mince, pasta, flour, dry rice, paper towels, paper tissues and hand sanitisers is limited to 2 items per customer.'

Italy became the first country in Europe last week to impose a lockdown to combat the spreading Covid-19 illness as more than 17,000 people are infected.

The Mediterranean country's death toll hit over 1,200 - making Italy the worst-hit country outside of China, where the disease first incubated.

Last week the government banned 'non essential' public gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday (pictured a Sharks and a Rabbitohs fan sit in the stand before Saturday's round one match between the two sides)

Under current lockdown rules, shops - except pharmacies, supermarkets, and newsagents - are to remain closed at all times.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF THE CORONAVIRUS? Once someone has caught the virus it may take between two and 14 days for them to show any symptoms. If and when they do, typical signs include: a runny nose

a cough

sore throat

fever (high temperature) The vast majority of patients  at least 97 per cent, based on available data  will recover from these without any issues or medical help. In a small group of patients, who seem mainly to be the elderly or those with long-term illnesses, it can lead to pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection in which the insides of the lungs swell up and fill with fluid. It makes it increasingly difficult to breathe and, if left untreated, can be fatal and suffocate people. Advertisement

Schools and universities, which closed on March 4, are expected to remain shut until April 3.

Spain and France are also now on lockdown to stop the spread.

America has also shuts its doors to travellers from Europe.

The virus has already caused wide-spread panic in Australia with shoppers stripping supermarket shelves of toilet paper and other essential items.

People have also been queuing for hours to be tested for the deadly virus.

The 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.

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.

Some schools and workplaces have closed their doors amid coronavirus scares.

Globally, the infection has spread to more than 150,000 people across 112 countries, and killed at least 5,500 people.
Chahid El Hafed, March 03, 2020 (SPS) - Units of the Saharawi People's Liberation Army thwarted on Sunday an attempt to smuggle an estimated 725 kg of cannabis hashish from the Moroccan-occupied territories of Western Sahara, near the Moroccan military Wall of shame in the Auserd region, according to a source from the Ministry of Defense.

"The operation took place thanks to patrols carried out by units of the Saharawi People's Liberation Army based near the wall to protect the liberated Saharawi territories and restore security," the source added.

"It is not the first time, says the same source, that the Moroccan regime deliberately tried to flood the region with drugs, despite the vigilance exercised by the Saharawi army units specializing in the fight against crime and drugs.

In fact, more than 1,500 kg of cannabis from Morocco were seized last July in the liberated territories of Western Sahara in operations to combat drug trafficking, as well as a machine gun with 1,100 ammunitions and two (2) Kalashnikovs with 200 ammunitions and arrested four (4) drug traffickers aboard a Toyota 4x4 in the region of Rous Timelouza.

A few days earlier, the SPLAs units arrested another group of five (5) individuals with 100 kg of cannabis in the region of Gleibat Aguaya.

Within the framework of its national and regional responsibilities, the Saharawi State fights daily against the Moroccan systematic plan of drug trafficking through the Moroccan military wall of shame, but the special units are patrolling this wall to combat this crimes.SPS

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Mentor Graphics, one of Oregons largest technology employers, has closed its 53-acre Wilsonville campus for two weeks because an employee working at the site is suspected of having contracted the coronavirus.

Mentors 1,500 Wilsonville employees will work from home while the campus undergoes a deep cleaning, according to Noah Cole, director of global communications for Siemens Digital Industries Software, which owns Mentor.

The employee apparently hasnt tested positive for the virus yet, according to Cole, but he said Mentor opted not to wait for confirmation before responding. He did not say what triggered the suspicion the employee has contracted the virus.

Engineers use Mentors software to design sophisticated electronics, from semiconductors to airplanes. Founded 1981 by Tektronix alumni, Mentor eventually became the largest tech company based in Oregon before its $4.5 billion sale to German industrial giant Siemens in 2017.

Mentor has long operated a daycare on its campus, one of few Oregon businesses that does so. Cole said that facility is closed, too, in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Many Oregon companies have already asked their employees to work from home during the coronavirus outbreak and a few, like Mentor, have shuttered their local offices.

An employee working in downtown Portlands largest building, the Wells Fargo Center, tested positive for coronavirus last week and some tenants in the 40-story tower temporarily closed their offices for cleaning.

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Thirty-six people in Oregon have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to state health authorities, who reported the states first death due to the outbreak on Saturday. The victim was a 70-year-old man hospitalized at Portlands Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Gov. Kate Brown ordered a halt to large gatherings last week and shut down schools in hopes of containing the outbreak. While she maintained such measures are essential for public health, she cautioned they will also take a heavy toll on Oregons economy.

-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699

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_WebHeadline>EXCERPT: Written in 1947-48 while the Soviet government denounced the composer, it premiered after Stalins death in 1953.

South Korean violinist Yoonshin Songs Chinese first name translates into whole trust and belief.

It means I can be trusted by everyone and everything and I trust and believe in everything everywhere, she said in a telephone interview from Detroit, where she was the concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony before being appointed to the same position at the Houston Symphony Orchestra.

Song will display that trust when she perform Shostakovichs First Violin Concerto with the New Mexico Philharmonic on Saturday, March 21, at Popejoy Hall.

Written in 1947-48 while the Soviet government denounced the composer, it premiered after Stalins death in 1953. A sonic journey, it unfolds from an eerie opening and dazzling scherzo to a Baroque passacaglia with one of the longest and most challenging cadenzas written for the violin.

Like all of Shostakovich, it has a very unique voice, Song said. Its very scary but beautiful, the sarcasm of it I really enjoy. Obviously, Shostakovich was going through a very difficult time. He was oppressed, but he still wanted to show the many expressions of human beings.

It has humor, it has dance, she added. It finishes almost like a crazy person dancing.

Song began playing the violin at the age of 5. Her mother loved classical music.

My brother and I started playing because her dream was for us to play one line of Mozart, she said.

Encouraged by her teacher, Song began taking the instrument seriously by the time she reached 9 or 10.

I guess when I was playing I really liked the register of the violin and the sound, she said. It is a very difficult instrument; you have to stand in an awkward position. At the same time, youre having fun on stage. I enjoy wearing a puffy dress.

Song moved to Boston in 2015 to study at the New England Conservatory of Music, then to New York to study at the Manhattan School of Music. She is the top prize winner of many competitions, including the Stradivarius International Competition in the U.S., Polands Lipinski Wieniawski Competition, the Lipizer in Italy and the Henri Marteau in Germany.

The New Mexico Philharmonic will perform selections from Prokofievs Romeo and Juliet.
If you were thinking of treating your stress about conronavirus with some retail therapy, then you should know that a few retailers have shuttered some of the most popular stores.

Some have taken it upon themselves to protect workers and customers from the virus by closing down shop, at least temporarily.

Apple announced that its closing all of its stores until March 27. This applies to all stores outside of Greater China, where COVID-19 infections have dramatically decreased, allowing stores to reopen.

One of the lessons Apple learned in Chinas experience with the infection, is that the most effective way to minimize risk of the viruss transmission is to reduce density and maximize social distance. As rates of new infections continue to grow in other places, were taking additional steps to protect our team members and customers, the company said in a statement on its website.

Online stores are open at www.apple.com, or you can download the Apple Store app on the App Store. For service and support, customers can visit support.apple.com.

Nike on Sunday said it will close its stores in the U. S., Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand beginning Monday, March 16 through Friday, March 27, according to its website. Customers will still be able to shop the brand through Nike.com and the Nike app.

Abercrombie & Fitch, which also owns abercrombie kids and Hollister, closed all of its stores outside of the Asia-Pacific region on Sunday for an unspecified period of time, according to a statement on its website.

We just want you to know that were monitoring the situation closely and responding to the rapid changes every day, because the safety and well-being of our customers and associates remains our top priority, Fran Horowitz, CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch said in the statement.

The brands online stores remain open.

But at outdoor clothing and gear company, Patagonia, you cant even shop their website. To do our part to protect our community, we are temporarily shutting down our operations, a message on Patagonias homepage says. This means we are unable to accept orders on this website.

Theyre asking customers to check back on Monday, March 16th at 7 p.m. for an update or to visit one of its local dealers, of which there are more than a dozen in New Jersey, including Dicks Sporting Goods and independent ski and surf shops.

Malls and shopping centers throughout most of the state remain open amid calls from officials for people to practice social distancing to stem the spread of coronavirus.

But Gov. Phil Murphy warned on Sunday that more draconian measures are coming.

Hoboken has taken steps to close parks, gyms, movie theaters, bars and is ordering restaurants to only do take-out or delivery. And Teaneck is asking its residents to self quarantine as it racks up 18 of Bergen Countys 30 coronavirus cases.

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B oris Johnson is facing calls to be more transparent with the British public in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak.

The Prime Minister has faced criticism from two of the potential leaders of the Labour party - as well as former Cabinet Ministers and past Downing Street employees - over his communication around the spread of Covid-19.

Number 10s messages around public gatherings, quarantining the vulnerable and the next steps being taken have also been called into question, with the PM under increased pressure to publish the scientific data behind the decisions.

There has also been concern that the Government's plans are not being announced to the wider public in a formal process. Mr Johnson last spoke to the public on Thursday.

Sir Keir Starmer, the favourite to lead the Labour Party, called for a daily press conference over the virus to be hosted by the PM or a minister.

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I am deeply concerned that over the past 48 hours ministers have been failing in their responsibilities to provide consistent and transparent public health advice, Sir Keir said.

To allow anonymous and speculative briefings to journalists about a significant step-change in the Governments response to the outbreak is irresponsible.

The calls came as it emerged that over-70s could be told in the coming weeks to stay at home for up to four months.

In a televised interview on Sunday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed the proposal, as well as another move to give police powers to arrest sick citizens who are not self-isolating.

Both proposals had already been reported by individual journalists while Mr Hancock wrote an article on tackling the pandemic for the Sunday Telegraph.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock Says Elderly Could Be Asked To Self-isolate In 'Coming Weeks' To 'Shield' Themselves From Coronavirus

Theresa Mays former chief of staff Lord Barwell added: I cannot say this strongly enough: Ministers need to stop anonymously briefing journalists and start speaking directly to the public.

Trust in government is going to be vital during the difficult months ahead and it is best fostered by transparency, not off-the-record briefing."

Some in the scientific community have criticised Government plans not to quickly impose stringent restrictions to limit the diseases spread.

Labours shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth called for the Government to publish its modelling so a wider pool of experts can scrutinise the plans.

I just need to understand better why the Government is taking a different approach, based on its science, from other countries and I think thats why it is so important that all the scientific modelling, for example, is published, he told Skys Ridge On Sunday.

If things have changed since the Prime Ministers press conference on Thursday, then the Prime Minister should be doing another press conference today and explaining why things have changed.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock Says Elderly Could Be Asked To Self-isolate In 'Coming Weeks' To 'Shield' Themselves From Coronavirus

Another candidate for Labour leadership, Lisa Nandy, was also critical of the Government. She accused the Government of being in a shambles over its response to the coronavirus outbreak.

This is causing serious concern out in the public. People just dont know what to do for the best, she told the Andrew Marr Show on the BBC.

This is a public health crisis and so the public must have confidence in the strategy the Government is following.

Mr Hancock said ministers will publish modelling over the pandemic in the coming days but said scientists had been extremely busy when pressed on the delay.

Of course theres a lively debate about whats the best course of action. The scientific evidence is absolutely critical in underpinning our response, he told Ridge.

Andy Burnham, the current Mayor of Greater Manchetser, shared his experience as health secretary in 2009 during the Swine Flu outbreak.

He said that mixed messaging from politicians and experts caused confusion in the public, and it was calmer and easier to manage once the Chief Medical Officer took over the messaging.

Mr Burnham tweeted: My time as Health Secretary was spent less on fighting media storms & more on plans for the vaccine.

He added: I think weve hit the same moment as I hit in the summer of 2009. Bear in mind, there was little social media then & that was hard enough.
Kolkata: A student wearing a mask as a precautionary measure against Coronavirus, arrives to appear for her first exam as the West Bengal Class 12 Board Exams commenced from today, in Kolkata on March 12, 2020. (Photo: Kuntal Chakrabarty/IANS) Image Source: PK

New Delhi, March 15 : As schools, colleges and universities remain closed in several states due to fear of coronavirus spread, more and more students in India are taking to digital tools to continue their education from safe distance of their homes.

The tools that are helping remote learning range from a growing number of mobile apps to digital learning management systems and collaboration tools such as Blackboard, Microsoft Teams and Zoom, among others.

According to Microsoft, as schools move to a remote learning environment, Teams can provide an online classroom that brings together virtual, face-to-face connections, assignments, files and conversations in a single platform accessible on a mobile device, tablet, PC or browser.

While Blackboard says its portfolio of products and services support learners at every level throughout the student lifecycle from kindergarten to the workplace, Zoom also has several offerings for educators, learners, as well as those working from home.

The Shiv Nadar University in Greater Noida said it has encouraged all students (undergraduate and postgraduate/doctoral) who are not on campus to stay away until March 31, and beyond if necessary in view of the spread of Covid-19 in India.

"During this time, we will move all courses to online mode. This may happen through Blackboard, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or other means. Any assessment planned for this period will either be postponed or adapted to online mode. Instructors will send students course-specific instructions remotely," the university said in a statement, adding that the online classes will start from the online classes will start from March 16.

To encourage remote learning during this challenging period, global communication solution provider Avaya Holdings Corp. announced that it will provide its Avaya Spaces collaboration software for free to educational institutions, including colleges and universities along with non-profit organisations in India till August, 2020.

A cloud meeting and team collaboration app that seamlessly integrates voice, video, tasks, sharing and more, Avaya Spaces offers the tools required to deliver lectures and schoolwork safely and securely over the web, the company said.

"We know there is an especially immediate need in the education sector as school and university administrators consider the safety of their students while ensuring continuity of their classes, engagement with their students and delivering on their educational objectives," said Vishal Agrawal, Managing Director, Avaya India and Saarc.

"We are actively engaging with universities and schools to help them coordinate remote worker/education strategies leveraging our expertise and solutions like Avaya Spaces," Agrawal said, adding that since January, the company has seen a 200 per cent increase in video collaboration traffic on the Avaya Spaces platform.

Similarly, ed-tech company Byju's on March 11 announced that it will be providing free access to its complete app to school students till the end of April so that students can continue their learning even when schools remain closed.

Students across classes 1-12 can download and access Byju's learning programmes for free until the end of April.

As of 13 March, 61 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America have announced or implemented school and university closures, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which added that 39 countries have closed schools nationwide, impacting almost 421.4 million children and youth.

A further twenty-two countries have implemented localised school closures and, should these closures become nationwide, hundreds of millions of additional learners will experience education disruption, UNESCO added.

With 250 million school-going students in India, it is important to ensure that their health is protected while also making sure that their learning does not get interrupted.

With a flurry of digital learning management systems available, educators may find it a lot easier today to teach their students remotely than ever.
The Incredible Dr. Pol has been running on National Geographic Wilds network now for sixteen seasons. Its almost exhausting watching Dr. Jan Pol do his rounds on farms, calfing cows or castrating bulls or horses.

Dr. Jan Pol of The Incredible Dr. Pol | Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

Hes tireless, with everyone on staff scrambling to keep up with him.

Dr. Pols start in the Netherlands

Born in the Netherlands, Dr. Pol attended Utrecht University Veterinary College in the 1970s and studied hard to become an animal practitioner.

I was the youngest of six children on a dairy farm in the Netherlands during World War II, told NatGeo Wild in 2016. When I was 12 years old, the local veterinarian had me come along to my brothers farm to help with some small sows that were farrowing.

That was the beginning of my interest in veterinary practice and I subsequently worked toward pursuing a veterinary medicine degree.

In 1954, my youngest sister moved to Ontario, Canada, and I became an exchange student in Michigan during 1961 to 1962, which allowed my parents to visit my sister in Canada. When I began studies . . . , we were told that it would be impossible to practice in that country. As it turned out, of a dozen classmates, I am one of two that actually went into veterinary practice.

Dr. Pol looks back on his career

The father of three looked back on his impressive career in his book, Never Turn Your Back on an Angus Cow and sounds pretty amazed at how well its gone for him. He has an optimistic mindset thats informed how he approaches his practice.

I have spent my whole life being with animals, as a vet and as an owner. Until they start inventing new animals, I think I can say there isnt a type of animal I havent looked in the eyes and wondered how it was feeling.

My wife, Diane, and I once estimated that Ive handled more than a half-million patients, without one of them ever complaining about me!

Dr. Pols age and how he got his start as an American veterinarian

Dr. Jan Pol is 77 years old and began his work as a vet almost forty years ago, starting his own practice in 1981. Before that, he had been working with another established vet for ten years.

When I opened my practice outside the small town of Weidman, Michigan  which is about twelve miles from the larger and better known Mount Pleasant  in 1981, it was about 80 percent large animals, farm animals, and about 20 percent pets. It was mostly family dairy farms when we started, with several pig farmers. . . 

The vets practice has changed over the years to reflect the greater number of pets and small animals in the area.

Now my practice is about 60 percent small animals, he said. . . . That difference doesnt matter at all to me; I treat all animals with the same concern.

I love animals; believe me, I dont remember a day of my life that I havent loved animals. My whole family has always been comfortable with all kinds of animals.

Read more: The Incredible Dr. Pol: The Scariest Thing Thats Happened In Taping the Show
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

The internet is increasingly being used as an avenue to plant computer viruses and hijack entire computer networks, locking out users who are then extorted for a ransom to obtain a digital key or code that will return control of the system to the victims  hence the name, ransomware.

Virus detection programs can sometimes intercept the encrypted code before it spreads throughout the system, but its an ongoing struggle to keep up with the cyber thieves who send out the sophisticated malware, said Mary Adkins, supervisory special agent of the cyber squad in the Federal Bureau of Investigations Albuquerque field office.

The FBI offers these practical measures to mitigate the risk of being a victim:

 Educate employees about the practice of phishing and how to recognize and avoid opening suspicious emails that may contain encrypted code.

 Be aware that scammers often go to a website or social media platform to gain information about a person or an organization, then tailor emails to sound as if they are coming from credible and familiar sources, increasing the likelihood the emails will be opened.

 Use good password hygiene. Strong passwords often have a minimum character length as well as inclusion of a number, special character and an upper case letter.

 Where possible, use two-factor authentication, so if somebody tries to use a stolen user name and password, they cant gain immediate access, but must also have access to a phone or email attached to the account and where a code will be sent and must be used to complete the login.

 Install the latest anti-virus software, but be aware that cyber thieves often find a way to breach these.

 Backup data regularly to a server that is air gapped and not directly connected to the rest of the computer system.

 Do not pay a ransom. There is no guarantee that the hackers will provide the code to unlock the computer system, even if you do pay. Further, paying a ransom conveys the message that your system is weak and creates a precedent for future attacks.

 If you are a victim of a ransomware attack, report it immediately to local law enforcement as well as the FBI. In addition, report any kind of cyber attack to the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov, which also provides tips about the latest internet scams as well as measures to take to avoid being a victim.
Azad said the Bhim Army will run parallel to the party and continue to fight for Dalit rights and enrol new members.

New Delhi: Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad launched his political outfit the Azad Samaj Party on Sunday  the birth anniversary of BSP founder Kanshi Ram.

Before launching his party at an event held in Noida, the 37-year-old Dalit leader made Kanshi Ram's photograph his Twitter profile picture. He also launched the party flag  a white band between two blue strips with Azad Samaj Party written in the middle.

Azad said the Bhim Army will run parallel to the party and continue to fight for Dalit rights and enrol new members.

Earlier in the day, Bhim Army members claimed that police have locked the gates of the venue and pasted a notice: "Event cannot be held as large gatherings are prohibited in view of coronavirus".

The gate was, however, opened later.

Azad, who rose to prominence during clashes between Thakurs and Dalits in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur in May 2017, had filed nomination against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi during the 2019 general elections, but withdrew later.

In December 2019, the Bhim Army chief was arrested by the Delhi police, when violence erupted during an anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act march in old quarters of Delhi after his address to protesters from the stairs of Jama Masjid. He was granted bail by a Delhi court in January.

The advocate-turned-politician has been critical of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, "for not doing enough for the Dalits". Mayawati had earlier termed Azad a "BJP agent" and cautioned her supporters not to ''fall prey to his designs".

The Bhim Army had earlier said that it would contest the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls along with Om Prakash Rajbhar's Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party as part of a larger alliance -- the Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha.
Peter Antwi Boasiako

15.03.2020 LISTEN

Gradually, the life of former President John Dramani Mahama is becoming a constitutional entanglement on the neck of Ghana as has been argued.

"Mahama appears to be taking advantage of all the juicy loopholes in the constitution of Ghana" says the Aspiring MP of Afigya Kwabre North Constituency, Engineer Peter Antwi Boasiako.

Mr Antwi who's a UK resident and a an Authorised High Engineer argues that, the constitution makes it possible for Mr John Mahama to receive a salary as a sitting President and also as a former President if he is ever re-elected as president again.

The aspiring MP opined that, the constitution makes the salary of the former President permanently fixed, payable to any former President till the end of his life and cannot even be varied to his disadvantage.

Explaining this point on NET2 TV political show -The Seat - on last Monday, Mr Peter Antwi Boasiako cited portions in the constitution to support his argument. He quoted the relevant portions in Ghana constitution as follows; Article 68 (2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9):

(1) The President shall not, on leaving office as President, hold any office of profit or emolument, except with the permission of Parliament, in any establishment, either directly or indirectly, other than that of the State.

(2) The President shall receive such salary, allowances and facilities as may be prescribed by Parliament on the recommendations of the committee referred to in article 71 of this Constitution.

(3) On leaving office, the President shall receive a gratuity in addition to pension, equivalent to his salary and other allowances and facilities prescribed by Parliament in accordance with clause (3) of this article.

(4) The salary, allowances, facilities, pensions and gratuity referred to in clauses (3) and (4) shall be exempt from tax.

(6) The salary and allowances payable to the President and any pension or gratuity payable to him on leaving office shall be charged on the Consolidated Fund.

(7) The salary, allowances, facilities and privileges of the President shall not be varied to his disadvantage while he holds office.

(8) The pension payable to the President and the facilities available to him shall not be varied to his disadvantage during his lifetime.

The Afigya Kwabre North Aspiring MP concluded that, former President John Mahama is a greedy character and wants to take advantage of this loophole to receive double salaries just as he was sworn in as president after the mysterious demise of President Atta Mills.

The Deputy Attorney General, Mr. Joseph Dindiok Kpemka, who was also on the programme together agreed with the issue raised by Engineer Peter Antwi Boasiako. The Honourable Deputy Attorney General corroborated that, the issue raised is going to be a complex issue for Ghana. "It is going to be a complex issue. You see, he is going to receive the salaries in two capacities, one as a former President and secondly as sitting President". Mr Kpemka added that, perhaps no ones mind has gone to that complex constitutional issue if the situation ever happens to re-elect the former President as substantive President again.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that his government will work to restore the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir at an early opportunity, seven months after moving to divest its special status under the Constitution and reorganise it into two Union territories.

The Prime Minister made the statement at a meeting with a 24-member delegation of the newly formed Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party, led by its leader Altaf Bukhari, a day after setting free former chief minister Farooq Abdullah from detention under the tough Public Safety Act (PSA).

At the meeting at his residence on Saturday evening, Modi engaged with the delegation on issues including concerns on demographic change, a delimitation exercise in the newly formed Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and grant of state domicile.

Referring to his statement in Parliament, the Prime Minister underlined that the government will work with all sections of the population to realize the hopes of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir at an early opportunity, said an official statement released after the meeting.

At the interactive session with the delegation, the Prime Minister also called for Janbhagidari (peoples participation) in transforming Jammu and Kashmir and emphasised the importance of an administration that gives the people of the region a voice. He also said democracy in the region could be strengthened through rapid political integration, the statement said.

The formation of the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party and the recent release of some detained political leaders including Abdullah have been seen as a possible prelude to the initiation of a political process in the erstwhile state, where a coalition government between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) collapsed in June 2018 after the BJP ended the alliance.

Bukhari told Hindustan Times that the meeting with Modi was encouraging.

We are satisfied and positive after this meeting.I told PM Modi that there are apprehensions among the people that their land and jobs will be taken away and the PM assured us that nothing will happen to the land and jobs of people and bills will be passed to safeguard both very soon. I also raised issue of leaders and common people who are in different jails in the country, Bukhari said.

In August last year, the BJP-led government at the Centre pushed through provisions nullifying Article 370 that limited Parliaments powers to apply laws in the region except in the domains of defence, foreign affairs, finance and communications. Issues like ownership of property, fundamental rights and citizenship were covered under a separate law for Jammu and Kashmir. The government also decided to bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories -- J&K and Ladakh -- that were created on October 31.

Many political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir including three former chief ministers were detained, restrictions imposed on public movement and a communication blockade imposed on the region together with the nullification of Article 370

In another significant statement, Union minister of state for home affairs G Kishan Reddy on Saturday said the government had no intention to keep Jammu and Kashmir leaders in detention..

We have no intention to keep anyone in jail but in Jammu and Kashmir, some people had to be kept inside to continue the smooth running of the state. All people will be released soon, Reddy said.

To give equal rights and development to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the central government eradicated Article 370. Now the state is leading into a peaceful path, he said in Hyderabad.

In Srinagar on Saturday, Abdullah, 82, had an emotional reunion with his son Omar Abdullah after a gap of seven months, following his release from detention the previous day, and also met Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who called for the return of democracy to the erstwhile state.

Accompanied by wife Molly and daughter Safia, the National Conference president visited Hari Niwas in Srinagar to meet Omar Abdullah, who has been under detention since August 5, the day the Centre moved to end Kashmirs special status and strip it of its statehood. Abdullah and his son greeted each other with an embrace.

Farooq Abdullah, and fellow former CMs Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, president of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), were all detained the same day along with many other mainstream and separatist politicians to forestall the possibility of them leading protests against the Centres move.

The NC patriarch, a member of the Lok Sabha, was released on Friday from detention under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA), which allows for detention for two years without trial. Omar Abdullah and Mufti remain detained under the PSA, which was invoked against them in February.

He came to see Omar at Hari Niwas today. It was the scheduled meeting day for the family, said Safia Abdullah, expressing relief at the release of her father and adding that the family was looking forward to the release of her brother.

She said the family was limiting the number of visitors her father receives because of the coronavirus outbreak and his surgery for cataract earlier in the week.

After meeting his son, Farooq Abdullah straight way drove to his Gupkar residence in the neighbourhood. In the afternoon, leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad also visited Gupkar for a meeting with the NC president that lasted more than one hour.

Azad told reporters that he had told Abdullah that the people had bee anguished over his detention.

Kashmir witnessed the worst cold this winter in many years and also keeping in view his health, it was wrong on the part of the government ...But nobody can harm a person who is protected by the Almighty, Azad said.

Azad called for the restoration of democracy in Jammu and Kashmir and release of all detained political leaders.

First and foremost, democracy should be restored in J&K for any political process to start, Azad said.

...Democracy can be restored once all the leaders behind bars -- either in jails or in guest houses or under a particular Act -- are released. Let every individual of J&K be released from jail. Let the political process start... Let democracy prevail and then we can pick up other fights, he said, also seeking restoration of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir.

On Friday, soon after his release, Farooq Abdullah refrained from making any political statement, saying he will speak for the people in Parliament.

I am grateful to all the people of the state and to all the leaders of the country who spoke for our freedom. I am also grateful to every individual who prayed for us. But this freedom is not complete when Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and other leaders are either in prison in the state or outside or under house arrest. I hope the government will take action soon to release everyone if they want the people of the state to enjoy freedom. I am grateful to you, Abdullah told reporters.

(With inputs from agencies)
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, has explained reasons for the delay in the payment of cooks engaged in the National Homegrown School Feeding Programme (NHSFP).

In a statement signed by the special adviser on media to the ministry, Salisu Dambatta, on Sunday, she said the delay arose from the change of payment process from Remita to the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS).

The minister further explained that the change would enhance accountability and transparency in public financial management.

Ms Farouq said that once the process is done, the payment for the cooks would begin.

With the conclusion of migration to GIFMIS, all pending payments will be effected within days, the minister said.

The statement did not indicate the number of benefiting states that are being owed salaries and the number of months owed.

Remita is an electronic payment platform that enables businesses and individuals to receive and make payments to government, while the GIFMIS, launched in 2003, is an IT-based system being implemented by the federal government to enhance accountability and transparency in public financial management.

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The minister noted that the aggregators in the programme have been paid along with the cooks that were captured by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), while the payment is outstanding for cooks that were not captured by the NBS.

The aggregators are companies contracted by the government to provide proteinous supplements like fish, beef, eggs, fruits and vegetables.

However, PREMIUM TIMES understands that not all states have the aggregators initiative, some states like Katsina prefer to give their cooks money to buy the foodstuff themselves and cook the food.

In some states, the food items are purchased and supplied to the vendors by the state governments, through the aggregators. Under such an arrangement, the cooks are only paid salaries as their role is to just cook and serve the meals.

School Feeding

The HGSF programme was introduced in 2016 as part of the Social Investment Programme of the President Buhari administration. It was projected to provide 1.14 million jobs across the country, including community women who would be engaged as cooks.

The programme, with the partnership of state governments, aims to support states to collectively feed over 24 million school children, which will make it the largest school feeding programme of its kind in Africa. The goals include tackling poverty and improving the health and education of children and other vulnerable groups.

According to a 2019 government document titled Investing in Our People, the programme is feeding over nine million pupils in 52,604 schools across 30 states and has empowered 101,913 cooks with bank accounts.

PREMIUM TIMES July last year published a special report on how the programme has impacted financially including rural women in Katsina State.

A survey done by this newspaper revealed that many of the HGSF programme beneficiaries never had bank accounts before. Many also narrated their vulnerability before they found placement in the programme.
WASHINGTON  Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee and a Michigan resident, has been tested for coronavirus and is at home waiting for the results, a party spokesman said in a statement Saturday.

McDaniel, 46, lives in Northville and went to a local hospital after coming down with symptoms on Friday.

"Last night, Chairwoman McDaniel began experiencing a fever and flu-like symptoms, and she went to her local hospital in Michigan for treatment," RNC spokesman Michael Ahrens said. "Flu and strep tests were administered and came back negative."

"Her doctor determined a test for COVID-19 was necessary given her symptoms."

Ahrens said the party is attempting to contact everyone she has come in contact with in recent days and that upon the advice of her doctors she and her family are self-quarantining at home while they await the test results.

Last night, @GOPChairwoman's doctor determined a test for COVID-19 was necessary given her symptoms.



We will provide an update when the test results are available. pic.twitter.com/oLla7pLaDH  Michael Ahrens (@michaelahrens) March 14, 2020

McDaniel was present for several events over the past week with top Republican and government officials. An RNC official told USA TODAY she went to a Mar-a-Lago event with President Donald Trump on March 6, attended a lunch event with Vice President Mike Pence on March 7, went to an event in Orlando with Trump on Monday before flying back to Washington, D.C., on Air Force One. She also attended Republican senators' lunch meeting on Tuesday.

Coronavirus: Here's how Trump and his top advisers who may have been exposed to coronavirus are handling it

As of Saturday afternoon, McDaniel was still active on social media, however, tweeting out video from a news conference given by President Donald Trump.

Story continues

Trump said Saturday he has been tested for the virus after interacting last weekend with two Brazil officials who later tested positive for coronavirus.

RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel was tested for coronavirus today after not feeling well. She was at MAL for some of last weekend.  Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) March 14, 2020

McDaniel is married and has two children. During Trump's 2016 campaign, she was the chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party and was made chairwoman of the RNC after Trump became president. She is also the daughter of G. Scott Romney, a prominent attorney in Michigan, and the niece of Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah. Her grandfather was the late George Romney, a three-term Michigan governor.

Contact Todd Spangler at tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Coronavirus: RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tested for coronavirus
The floor test in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly will be held on 16 March, state Governor Lalji Tandon said

Bhopal: The floor test in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly will be held on 16 March, state Governor Lalji Tandon said.

This comes after a BJP delegation met the Governor on Saturday and requested him to conduct a floor test in the Assembly. BJP leaders Gopal Bhargava, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Narottam Mishra, and Bhupendra Singh were part of the delegation that met the Governor.

"Our delegation comprises up of fellow partymen met Governor, 22 MLAs have resigned. We have submitted a letter to the Governor and demanded a floor test for Kamal Nath-led government before the commencement of the Budget session of the Assembly," Chouhan told reporters.

"Kamal Nath-led government is in minority now. The government does not have any constitutional authority to run the state. They are not having the power to take decisions. They should first pass the confidence motion in the Assembly," he said.

As many as 22 Congress MLAs, including six ministers, tendered their resignation from the legislative Assembly on 10 March. The legislators sent their resignation letters soon after Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned from the Congress. Scindia later went on to join the BJP.

Congress has been witnessing an internal turf war in Madhya Pradesh since the party formed a government in the state in 2018.
American actor Gwyneth Paltrow and her 'Goop' lifestyle brand has come under fire for flaunting an expensive fashion ensemble amid growing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Fox News, the since-deleted post that first appeared on Goop's Instagram page on Friday (local time), Paltrow shared a selfie modelling a white shirt, tan skirt and white sneakers.

After receiving criticism from fans for being "tone-deaf" and "irresponsible" for her Instagram post at the time of the severe health crisis, the actor deleted the post.

According to Page Six, the caption to the post read, "Most days you'll find GP wearing G.Label with a pair of sneakers--which is one reason we make it an annual tradition to put together a fresh sneaker guide each year. Get ready to cover some serious ground (run, don't walk)."

The post was immediately flooded with comments from fans who criticised the 'Iron Man' actor for being 'tone-deaf' and 'irresponsible' for promoting outrageous designer prices given the current health crisis.

According to the outlet, the 'Contagion' actor's outfit included a G. Label 'Alexander' skirt with a price tag of 450 USD and Alexandre Berman's 'Clarita' sneakers that sell for 425 USD.

Paltrow and her lifestyle brand received backlash from a fan, that commented, "We're in the middle of a world-wide pandemic, y'all really think anyone's gonna buy an ugly a-s $450 skirt?"

Another called the lifestyle brand to act more 'sensitive' during a time in which thousands are contracting COVID-19 and are forced to being quarantined as a means of restricting the rampant spread of the virus.

This called Goop to take action, for which they put up a post on Saturday informing readers how to "self-soothe" and "reconnect" through meditation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
I was taken on the pretext that I was going for a fun outing, says Masooma Ranvali. Little did I know that it would turn out to be one of the most horrible moments of my life. It was done very surreptitiously.

Ranvali, who was seven years old at the time, says her grandmother took her to a dark, dingy building in India where she was immediately ordered to lie down on the floor by an elderly lady.

I remember it very clearly, she tells The Independent. I was like, Why should I lie down? But my grandmother pulled me down. She opened my legs and pulled down my panties. I was sobbing. It was brutal. The woman then took a blade or a knife to cut a part of me. It was painful. I know I came home and cried with my mother. I was small and innocent. I was in pain for about a week after.

The 52-year-old, who is a survivor of female gender mutilation (FGM), says she blocked the memory out for many years due to being expressly forbidden from talking about the issue and there being a shroud of silence around it in her community.

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Her warnings come as Equality Now, a non-government organisation which promotes the rights of women and girls, found official data on the global prevalence of FGM released by Unicef, which claims it affects at least 200 million women, woefully underestimates both the nature and scale of the issue.

The report, shared with The Independent ahead of its release date, found there is growing evidence that FGM takes place across the world, in numerous countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, North America and Latin America.

Divya Srinivasan, who conducted the report alongside End FGM US Network and End FGM European Network, says: We are missing out on counting large groups of women and children who have undergone FGM. For example, after Indonesia conducted a national survey to estimate FGM prevalence for the first time, Unicefs global estimates jumped from 125 million to 200 million.

Srinivasan, an Indian lawyer who specialises in womens rights and works for the south Asia branch of Equality Now, argued a dearth of accurate data can lead to governments being reluctant to tackle FGM and ignoring the issue.

FGM, internationally recognised as a human rights violation, refers to any procedure that intentionally alters female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The procedure, which can cause a lifetime of severe health problems and pain, is often carried out without anaesthesia.

Recommended Honour crimes convictions plummet amid national police crackdown

It is a very painful, bitter, and scary memory, Ranvali adds. I did not speak to anyone. That includes my mother and sisters. As a child, it was very isolating. As a child, it was an inexplicable and horrible phenomenon. It has to do with the genitals which is something nobody talks about. It is that part of your body which is hush hush. It is a shameful area. It makes you feel like your genital area is dirty and like there is something wrong with you which had to be cut and removed.

Ranvali is from the Bohra community, which has a population of around 2 million dispersed around the UK and a number of other countries worldwide.

In my thirties, I read about the practice in Africa, she adds. It rang a bell in me. I thought, Isnt this what we also do? Isnt this what happened to me? That was a horrible and painful moment. In my forties, I decided to break my silence. I had a young daughter who was not cut but I had the realisation that not everyone is as lucky as her. My daughters generation is also being cut.

Ranvali, who says 100 per cent of her generation has been cut, argues FGM is carried out to control womens sexual urges to ensure they do not have premarital sex or extramarital affairs due to the procedure making sex more painful.

The clitoris is the part of female anatomy where sexual pleasure is, she adds. To control your daughter you have to do it. There is this unsaid fear. It is fear sold to parents of girls that you have to be careful and if you do not do this then you will have trouble in your hands. It is part of patriarchal notions.

Dr Tasneem Perry, who is also from the Bohra community, says she has hazy memories of the day she was subjected to FGM in a private GP clinic in Sri Lanka but can recall that her father accompanied her to the doctor.

It was unusual for my father to come, the 42-year-old explains. I was seven. I have had a year of counselling and I still have not got this memory back.

Dr Perry, who says the procedure was carried out in a medical setting despite the practice being illegal, did not become aware of the fact she had been cut until she turned 16 or 17 and asked her mother about what had happened to her.

She adds: My need to talk about it is to prevent another girl from going through what I went through. If you belong to the Bohra community FGM is a requirement. The dichotomy is the community is very open, liberal, educated and well-integrated.

Dr Perry, who now works as a teacher, says as she got older she started to question what normal sex would be like and started to feel a profound sense of loss. Her mother would cry when she brought it up with her as she got older, she adds.

I remember feeling that whatever had been done to me had been done to make me a suitable wife, she says. It fuelled my desire not to conform or marry within the community. I had confused feelings of anger and discomfort. It was all this buried emotion  unarticulated frustrated rage. The year before last I finally had a physical examination at the doctors and a specialist said I have no visible clitoris. I feel like a part of me that makes me completely whole was taken away from me. I have lost something I can never replace. The grief will never go away.
"The staff of the Center for Disaster Medicine will be on board the aircraft. The entire crew will also be provided with protective masks and disinfectants, in accordance with the general recommendations by the Ministry of Health to workers of the transport industry," the government said.It is also noted that medical examination of passengers will be carried out in Italy before boarding the plane, in accordance with the algorithms. Doctors will conduct health surveillance during the flight. Upon arrival in Ukraine, all evacuated are required to carry out 14-day self-isolation (home quarantine)."We have carried out all the necessary studies in order to understand the state of health of passengers. People without symptoms of acute viral diseases and with a negative test result for Covid-19 will be sent to self-isolation," the government said.
Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell, adviser to Obama and Bush, pleads guilty to fraud

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After denying any wrongdoing on his part for nearly two years, prominent Houston pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell, who served as a spiritual adviser to former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, has admitted to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection to his role in a multimillion investment scheme that preyed on the elderly.

Last summer, Caldwell, who was indicted in 2018 for defrauding investors  including elderly members of his Windsor Village United Methodist Church  of more than $1 million, maintained his innocence as his co-defendant, Gregory Alan Smith, pleaded guilty to wire fraud.

These defendants used their positions as religious leaders and investment advisors to defraud Louisiana residents  many of whom are elderly and retired, U.S. Attorney David C. Joseph said in a release Wednesday. In doing so, the defendants abused the trust and respect of their victims for the sole purpose of stealing their money. This type of deceit can be devastating for victims, especially when life savings are lost. My office will continue to vigorously prosecute those who use confidence schemes to prey upon the elderly and people of faith.

Caldwell and Smith, who is an investment adviser based in Shreveport, Louisiana, were both charged with 13 counts, including conspiracy to commit money laundering when they raised around $3.5 million in Historical Chinese bonds from 29 investors between 2013 to 2014.

Caldwell and Smith reportedly tricked investors into believing that they were buying the Historical Chinese bonds through a Shreveport-based company called Smith Financial Group LLC. The Department of Justice noted that the bonds were issued by the former Republic of China prior to losing power to the communist government in 1949.

They are not recognized by China's current government and have no investment value. Smith and Caldwell promised high rates of return, sometimes three to 15 times the value of the investments. Instead of investing the funds, the defendants used them to pay personal loans, credit card balances, mortgages, vehicle purchases and other personal expenses," the DOJ said.

Caldwell received $760,000, which he used for personal expenses, including mortgage payments. His limited liability company also received $1 million, of which $175,000 was transferred to the pastor. Smith received $1 million of the funds invested which he splurged on luxury vehicles, the DOJ said.

According to a KTBS report, a woman who was a victim of the pastors scheme lost her entire life savings of $200,000 and is now living as a "hovel." She is so destitute she struggles to pay her utilities.

In court on Wednesday, Caldwell entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Maurice Hicks who allowed him to remain free on bond until sentencing on July 22.

He reportedly showed no outward emotion as he admitted he was guilty.

The megachurch pastor had attempted to get a continuance for his case but it was denied and his trial was set for April 6.

Caldwell, pastor of the 16,000-member Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston, had previously pleaded not guilty. Earlier this month, his request for a third continuance in his case was denied. His trial was set for April 6.

And some of these victims have been without hundreds of thousands of dollars since 2013. For many of them, it represents their life savings, and the dragging out of this prosecution compounds their loss, the government argued in opposing the continuance request.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, Caldwell faces between five and seven years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release, the DOJ said. The pastor, who has already made partial restitution to the victims, has agreed to pay the remaining balance, $1,951,478.00, before sentencing.

The DOJ further noted that Caldwells case was included in their largest-ever nationwide elder fraud sweep in 2019, which included hundreds of enforcement actions in criminal and civil cases that targeted or disproportionately affected seniors.

A recently launched National Elder Fraud Hotline provides services to seniors who might be victims of financial fraud. The Hotline will be staffed by experienced case managers who can provide personalized support to callers.

When applicable, case managers will also complete a complaint form with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) for internet-facilitated crimes and submit a consumer complaint to the FTC on behalf of the caller. The Hotlines toll-free number is 833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311).
Though Spotify (NYSE:SPOT) and AT&T (NYSE:T) are profoundly different companies, their businesses somewhat intersect. Spotify offers a music and podcasting service, while AT&T is a content provider in its own right. However, they differ in that wireless communication is AT&T's main driver.

For this reason, they also differ significantly from an investor's perspective. Spotify is a relatively young company with a market cap of over $26 billion as of this writing and tremendous growth potential. AT&T's market cap of over $257 billion is supported by a massive communications infrastructure that the company built and rebuilt over the decades to accommodate ever-changing, improving technologies. It typically relies on a low-growth but reliable customer base that should soon be bolstered by a 5G wireless infrastructure. Hence, when choosing between Spotify and AT&T, investors have to choose between growth and stability.

The state of Spotify

Spotify stock has held up well amid intense pressure. At the time of this writing, it trades at about $142 per share, well below the opening price of $165.90 per share for its April 2018 IPO.

While Spotify is available on iOS and Android, it faces a significant disadvantage in that it lacks a direct tie to an ecosystem. Spotify has 124 million premium subscribers. This compares to the 60 million subscribers that Apple's Apple Music claimed as of last June.

Spotify investors have to worry that Apple might sideline Spotify within Apple's ecosystem. To address this challenge, Spotify partnered with Samsung. Under terms of the deal, Spotify became the "go-to music service provider" for all Samsung devices.

Also, to further stand out from Apple Music, Spotify needed a differentiator. Spotify addressed this issue by moving into podcasts. By owning proprietary content that consumers desire, Spotify has made itself essential to many of its users. This may help to explain why analysts forecast average profit growth of 118.5% per year over the next five years.

With that growth, analysts had expected Spotify to turn profitable in 2021. However, its anticipated move to profitability has suffered some setbacks. In its fourth-quarter earnings report, the company missed estimates by 0.78 euros ($0.88) per share and also fell short of revenue estimates. The company blamed "social charges," or payroll taxes associated with stock-based compensation, for the revenue and earnings misses. Moreover, the company guided toward a loss of between 150 million and 250 million euros for the current year. Consequently, the previous consensus estimate for a profit in 2021 disappeared soon after.

Still, analysts expect revenue growth to remain above 20% per year through 2021. Additionally, they forecast that Spotify will turn profitable in 2022.

Time will tell how these forecasts will fare. The fact that Apple has not publicized an Apple Music subscriber number since the middle of last year could indicate that Spotify has gained. Whatever happens, Spotify looks poised to continue posting continued revenue and subscriber growth.

Where AT&T stands

AT&T has also chosen to participate in the content game. However, instead of focusing on homegrown content, it bought the Time Warner content library and rebranded it WarnerMedia.

However, acquisitions such as Time Warner and the 2014 purchase of DIRECTV helped to leave AT&T with a massive debt load. The Time Warner merger also occurred as the buildout of 5G across the United States was costing AT&T billions per year.

This 5G investment could ultimately profit AT&T. The 5G network will give AT&T, along with Verizon and T-Mobile, a 5G oligopoly. It will also enable faster speeds and help to run applications in the artificial intelligence and virtual reality realms.

However, all of these costs left AT&T with long-term debt of $151.31 billion. Considering that AT&T holds equity of $201.93 billion (after subtracting liabilities from assets), that obligation places a significant burden on the company.

Furthermore, AT&T has struggled to grow profits for years amid intense competition in the wireless industry. Due to this slow growth, Wall Street expects the company to register average earnings growth of just 5.05% per year over the next five years.

All of this weighs on AT&T stock. It trades at a forward P/E ratio of only about 10. Moreover, the stock has not gained traction for decades. It trades at around $34.50 as of this writing, a price level it first reached in 1997!

Furthermore, the company has become trapped by its dividend. Despite a yield of around 6%, AT&T has hiked its payout every year for the last 35 years. The dividend payout ratio of about 108.5% shows that the cost of the dividend exceeds the company's profit levels.

However, stocks like AT&T that hold Dividend Aristocrat status tend not to cut or hold steady their dividend and lose that status unless financial circumstances force their hand. Cutting the dividend, or merely suspending increases, could devastate a stock that has struggled to gain traction over the last several years as funds that hold Dividend Aristocrats would be compelled to sell AT&T. Other institutional sellers could follow. For this reason, AT&T will probably choose to maintain its streak of dividend increases despite the cost.

Spotify or AT&T?

Even when considering AT&T's challenges, the telecom giant looks like the safer of the two tech stocks. This call comes down to infrastructure. Though the network places heavy costs on AT&T, it also gives the telecom giant control over its destiny. While investors should not expect rapid growth, the potential demand for 5G should make it a safe bet. Also, the desire to maintain Dividend Aristocrat status likely protects the dividend despite the high yield.

Conversely, Spotify holds no control over the platforms on which it operates. It faces constant pressure to produce enough compelling content to maintain and grow its base of premium subscribers. Moreover, if its alliance with Samsung ends, it would have no direct partnership with any major ecosystem.

While Spotify holds tremendous growth potential, the lack of control over its destiny means that potential comes with deep uncertainty. Despite AT&T's significant challenges, it remains the more likely of the two to generate positive long-term returns.
Democratic presidential hopefuls former US vice president Joe Biden (L) and Senator Bernie Sanders (R) greet each other with an elbow bump as they arrive for the 11th Democratic Party 2020 presidential debate in a CNN Washington Bureau studio in Washington, DC on March 15, 2020.

Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders will face off on Sunday in the first one-on-one debate of the Democratic presidential primary, a key milestone in the 2020 race that will take place in the shadow of a raging public health crisis.

The rapid spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, has already re-shaped the race, absorbing a panicked nation's attention and throwing both Biden and Sanders off the campaign trail. Both men have ordered campaign staffers to work from home, canceled rallies and shifted campaign events to virtual formats.

Coronavirus also caused a last-minute change of plans for the debate itself. Originally scheduled to be hosted before a live audience in Phoenix, Arizona, CNN moved the event this week to Washington, where there will be no public spectators. Arizona, Illinois, Ohio and Florida will each host Democratic primaries on Tuesday.

The event will be broadcast on CNN and Univision from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET on Sunday evening.

Even in the absence of a crisis, the debate between the two elder statesmen was likely to be an essential moment in the battle for the Democratic nomination that has now gone on for more than a year.

Biden and Sanders each represent competing factions of a deeply divided party that has struggled for more than a year to pick a nominee to take on President Donald Trump in November. The two men, both in their late 70s, are the final serious contenders left from a historically crowded and diverse Democratic field.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is also competing for the nomination, but the Hawaii lawmaker has not won delegates in any contest outside of American Samoa and polls at less than 3% in national surveys. Gabbard has not qualified for a debate since November.

Biden, the face of the party's moderate wing, is once again the front-runner for the nomination after temporarily losing that status after finishing outside the top three in Iowa and New Hampshire and in a distant second place in Nevada.

The former vice president found his turnaround in South Carolina, where black voters powered him to a dominant victory. In a whirlwind, Biden picked up endorsements from vanquished rivals ahead of Super Tuesday, which voted just three days later.

Biden emerged from Super Tuesday with a strong delegate lead, notching victories in Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Minnesota, Maine and Massachusetts.

Sanders, the only other candidate to win a state on Super Tuesday, effectively dispatched with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the other main progressive candidate.

Sanders carried the biggest delegate prize of the night, California, as well as Vermont, Utah and Colorado, but failed to perform up to expectations in Texas as well as in several of the northeastern states, giving Biden a possibly insurmountable advantage.

Biden solidified his advantage a week later, defeating Sanders in Michigan, where the self-described democratic socialist had scored an upset victory four years before. In a sign of the race being all-but-over, Biden has expanded his lead in national polls to 20 points, the highest since he launched his campaign.

In a significant demonstration of the state of the race, Warren has not endorsed either candidate after dropping from the race, withholding support that could entrench Sanders as the progressive standard bearer.

Speculation grew after it looked like Biden would carry Michigan on Tuesday that Sanders would exit. But in an address in Burlington, Vt., on Wednesday, Sanders vowed to press on, saying he looked forward to the debate "with my friend, Joe Biden."

"And let me be very frank as to the questions that I will be asking Joe," Sanders said, before listing off a range of questions about health care, climate change, student debt and childhood poverty.

"Are you really going to veto a 'Medicare for All' bill if it is passed in congress?" Sanders asked, referring to comments Biden made on MSNBC earlier in the week.

With just two candidates on stage, Sanders will likely be able to direct the conversation to a greater degree than in past debates. Biden, who is likely to carry the nomination unless the race's trajectory changes dramatically, will be looking to defend his record and policy stances without creating too many headlines.

That could be a challenge for a candidate who typically performs better in one-on-one interactions with voters than on the national debate stage. But Biden, who has criticized the previous formats for being full of "one-minute assertions," may also welcome the chance to have more time to speak on a less crowded debate stage.

All-in-all, it would take something momentous to knock Biden from his position. Going into the debate Biden had won 854 delegates compared to Sanders' 701 as of Saturday, according to an NBC News tally, and the states yet to vote look likely to be in his favor.

Candidates must win at least 1,991 of a total 3,979 pledged delegates to be named the party nominee in July.
An American Airlines plane at left, leaves a gate area near an Alaska Airlines plane, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle. Ted S. Warren | AP

The coverage on this live blog has ended  but for up-to-the-minute coverage on the coronavirus, visit the live blog from CNBC's U.S. team. Global cases: More than 152,000, according to the latest data from the World Health Organization

Global deaths: At least 5,393, according to latest data from the WHO All times below are in Beijing time.

7:23 pm: Nike is closing all of its stores in the US

Nike is closing all of its stores in the U.S., along with other parts of the world, to try to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, the company said Sunday morning. Its locations across the U.S., Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand will close from Monday through March 27, the company said. Thomas

7:12 pm: Health official says Iran's death toll at 724

Alireza Vahabzadeh, an advisor to Iran's health minister, has reportedly said the new coronavirus has killed a further 113 people in the last 24 hours. The death toll now stands at 724 with total infections at 13,938, according to Reuters. Clinch

5:42 pm: Philippines confirms three more coronavirus deaths, 29 new cases

The Philippines added three new victims to its death count from the coronavirus Sunday, bringing its total fatalities from the virus to 11. The deaths include an 86-year-old American citizen who had traveled in the U.S. and South Korea. It also announced 29 new infections, bringing the Southeast Asian island nation's total cases to 140. Authorities have placed the entire capital of Manila under quarantine for a month starting Sunday.

5:34 pm: Malaysia reports 190 new cases, mostly linked to large mosque gathering

Malaysia's health ministry on Sunday announced 190 new cases of the coronavirus, most of which authorities believe are linked to a mass religious gathering at a mosque that attracted some 16,000 attendees, about 14,500 of which were Malaysian. The event took place near the capital Kuala Lumpur between Feb. 27 and Mar. 1, authorities said, and the attendees and their close contacts will be put under mandatory quarantine for two weeks. The new cases bring Malaysia's total to 428.

5:32 pm: Kazakhstan declares state of emergency over coronavirus

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared a state of emergency on Sunday, which imposes a nationwide quarantine over the central Asian state and restricts movement into and out of Kazakhstan for everyone except for diplomats and people invited by the government.

5:18 pm: Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque to shut as precaution

Some of Jerusalem's holiest sites of worship, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock, will close as a precautionary measure to limit the spread of coronavirus, mosque authorities announced Sunday. Prayers will still be held in the open areas of the mosque, its director told Reuters.

4:29 pm: Jordan reports six new cases, including an American traveling from Egypt

Jordan announced six new coronavirus cases Sunday, included one American tourist who is reported to have come from Egypt, according the country's ministry of health. Reuters

4:27 pm: Republic of the Congo announces first coronavirus case

The Congo Republic announced its first case of the new coronavirus in a government statement on Sunday, Reuters reported.

4:21 pm: Russia to suspend trains to and from Ukraine, Latvia and Moldova

Russia will suspend trains coming from and going to neighboring Ukraine, Latvia and Moldova over the coronavirus crisis, state news agency Tass reported Sunday. The halt in transport is to begin March 17.

3:23 pm: Pope's Easter services to be held without faithful attending: Vatican

Pope Francis' Easter services in April will be held without any faithful in attendance in an effort to limit coronavirus spread, the Vatican said Sunday. The pope's weekly Sunday blessings will continue to be held over the internet and television until April 12, the Vatican said on its official website. The Easter services typically attract tens of thousands of attendants to Rome and the Vatican.

2:53 pm: Coronavirus crisis delays Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu's trial

A long-awaited corruption trial for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's has been delayed for two months until May, the country's Justice Ministry announced Sunday, due to the coronavirus. The trial was initially scheduled to begin on March 17, on the back of indictments against the prime minister, Israel's longest-serving leader, for graft cases.

2:50 pm: South Korea declares disaster zones in areas hard hit by virus

South Korean President Moon Jae-in declared the country's hardest-hit areas from the coronavirus as "disaster zones" on Sunday, announcing 76 new cases and three deaths in what was a decrease in new cases to double-digits for the first time in three weeks, Reuters reported. The declaration was the first to happen in South Korea under the context of a disease, and allows the government to subsidize up to half of restoration expenses and clears residents of their requirement to pay taxes and utility bills. The country has 8,162 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus and 75 deaths, the highest in Asia after China.

2:23 pm: Thailand announces 32 new cases

Thailand's health officials announced 32 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, bringing its total cases to 114. The number represented the biggest single jump in one day for the country.

1:48 pm: Wife of Spanish prime minister tests positive

The wife of Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez has tested positive for the new coronavirus, Reuters reported citing the PM's office. Both Sanchez and his wife, Begona Gomez, are doing fine, the news agency said. The news comes as Spain imposed a 15-day nationwide lockdown that began on Saturday as part of emergency measures to contain the spread of the virus, which has infected at least 6,391 people in the country so far, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University. Spain now has the second highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Europe, after Italy. Joanna Tan

1:35 pm: Uzbekistan announces first coronavirus case

Uzbekistan has announced its first coronavirus case. The infected individual is an Uzbek citizen returning from a visit to France, the central Asian nation's health ministry said Sunday.

1:14 pm: Australia to impose 2-week self-quarantine on anyone arriving from overseas

Australia will impose a two-week quarantine requirement for anyone arriving from overseas, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Sunday. The new measures, taken as the country battles to contain the highly contagious coronavirus, will take effect from midnight. "All people coming to Australia will be required  will be required, I stress  to self-isolate for 14 days," he said. In addition, the country will be barring all cruise ships from foreign ports for an initial 30 days before further decisions are made, he said. There were 249 confirmed cases, including 3 deaths, in Australia as of 10:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, the health ministry said in its latest update. Joanna Tan

11:32 am: American Airlines to suspend nearly all long-haul international flights

American Airlines will start a phased suspension of almost all its long-haul international flights from the U.S. starting Monday, the airline said in a statement. The flights affected include those in Asia Pacific, Europe and South America. The latest move will be implemented from March 16 to May 6, and will reduce international capacity by 75% year-on-year, the carrier said. It comes as the U.S. government imposes travel restrictions over the coronavirus outbreak that had already dampened demand.

American Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft. Nicolas Economou | NurPhoto | Getty Images

"These changes to long-haul flying will result in the airline parking approximately 135 widebody aircraft  nearly its entire widebody fleet  during this time," the company said. "In addition to the international changes, the airline anticipates its domestic capacity in April will be reduced by 20% compared to last year and May's domestic capacity will be reduced by 30% on a year over year basis." Joanna Tan

11:19 am: Japan's cases rise to nearly 1,500, including those from cruise ship

The number of COVID-19 infections in Japan rose to 1,484 on Sunday, Reuters reported citing public broadcaster NHK. Of the the total of people infected, 697 were from the Diamond Princess cruise ship and 14 had returned on charter flights from China, Reuters said quoting data from NHK. The report said the total number of deaths in the country now stands at 29, with 7 of those who died from the cruise ship. Joanna Tan

10:30 am: Credit card issuers are helping consumers affected by the virus

A number of top credit card issuers  including Chase, Wells Fargo, Capital One, Citi and U.S. Bank  have posted information on their websites to address customer concerns and promote readiness amid the widespread disruptions caused by the outbreak. It comes as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation encouraged financial institutions to prepare for more American consumers experiencing financial hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic. Here are a few tips on what support your card issuer may be able to offer during these turbulent times: Mobile banking is more important now, as card issuers encourage customers to take advantage of digital resources

Promotional financing can be helpful  as long as you have a plan

Ask your card issuer about temporary relief Megan DeMatteo

10:06 am: China says 10 more deaths and 20 new cases were reported

China's National Health Commission said there were 20 new confirmed cases on March 14, bringing the cumulative number of cases to 80,844. There were 10 additional deaths and all of them came from Hubei, the central province where the disease was first reported. The mainland has now reported 3,199 deaths in total. Joanna Tan

South Korean soldiers wearing protective gear, spray antiseptic solution against the coronavirus in Guryong slum on March 3, 2020 in Seoul, South Korea. Chung Sung-Jun | Getty Images

9:52 am: South Korea reports 76 new cases and 3 more deaths

South Korea reported there were 76 new cases at the end of Saturday, bringing the total number of known infections in the country to 8,162. The latest number of new cases fell below 100 for the first time in at least 5 days. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3 more people died, taking the death toll nationwide to 75. Joanna Tan All times below are in Eastern time.

7:48 pm: Trump tests negative for the coronavirus

President Donald Trump has tested negative for the coronavirus, according to the White House physician.



Trump opted to take the test after the press secretary for Brazil's president tested positive for the virus. Trump dined with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his press secretary at Mar-a-Lago. Bolsonaro said Friday that he tested negative for the virus. According to the note from the White House physician, "last night after an in-depth discussion with the President regarding COVID-19 testing, he elected to proceed." "This evening," the White House physician said, "I received confirmation that the test is negative." Lauren Hirsch

4:39 pm: Spain imposes nationwide lockdown

Spain's government is placing tight restrictions on movements and closing restaurants and other establishments in the nation of 46 million people as part of a two-week state of emergency to fight the sharp rise in coronavirus infections. According to the government decree, people will only be allowed to leave their homes to buy food and medicine, commute to work, go to medical centers and banks, or take trips related to the care for the young and the elderly. Those limitations are effective immediately. Effective immediately, Spain is also closing all restaurants, bars, hotels, schools and universities nationwide, and other non-essential retail outlets, a move some of the hardest-hit communities have already carried out. Associated Press

3:19 pm: France closes restaurants, cafes, movie theaters, other nonessential shops

France will close all nonessential stores in order to stop the rapid spread of the coronavirus in Europe, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced in a press conference.



The order applies to restaurants, cafes, movie theaters and nightclubs, Philippe said. Grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations will remain open to the public.



There are at least 3,667 confirmed cases of coronavirus in France, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Spencer Kimball

12:56 pm: US extends travel restrictions to UK and Ireland
By PTI

MUMBAI: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Sunday called off his weekly meet and greet with fans amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The 77-year-old actor, who sees his admirers every Sunday at his house Jalsa in Juhu since past 37 years, took to Twitter to share the update.



Coronavirus LIVE UPDATES | Five more test positive in Pune suburbs, cases in Maharashtra rise to 31

"To all Ef and well-wishers an earnest request! Please do not come to Jalsa gate today...Sunday meet (I) am not going to come!" Bachchan wrote on the microblogging site.

The veteran actor also urged his fans to take precautions in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, which has led to more than 5,000 deaths globally.

T 3470 - To all Ef and well wishers an earnest request !PLEASE DO NOT COME TO JALSA GATE TODAY .. SUNDAY MEET am not going to come !

Take PRECAUTIONS .. be safe

Sunday   Jalsa  cancel  ,          

  pic.twitter.com/USm4kZBEYo  Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) March 15, 2020

"Take precautions...be safe," he added.

The coronavirus outbreak, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday.
In Houston, the second week of March usually marks a highlight on the city's business calendar, a few days when the city hosts political and business leaders from around the world at what is arguably the most important energy conference of the year.

This year, organizers pulled the plug on CERAWeek  just days before it was set to begin  because of fears of the spread of COVID-19.

It was a sign of things to come.

The last week has been devastating for many oil producers in North America.

An oil price war launched between Saudi Arabia and Russia  combined with growing coronavirus fears  rattled markets to the core and sent energy prices spiralling to their lowest levels in years.

While Canada's energy sector has struggled in recent years, Texas has been a haven as the home to one of the hottest oil plays in the world, the Permian Basin. Companies from Alberta have shifted resources to the state in a bid to keep going.

But now it seems few can hide from a price collapse that no one seems certain about how long, or deep, it can go  even in the Lone Star state.

Here's how the last week unfolded as people in the oilfields reacted to one of the worst periods in the industry with oil markets in a free fall.

Kyle Bakx/CBC

Sunday, March 8

All 76 seats were full on a regional jet flight from Houston to the airport nestled between the cities of Midland and Odessa in West Texas. There was little conversation on the late Sunday evening journey. Asian markets had already opened for trading and oil prices were tanking, falling by as much as 31 per cent.

This part of Texas is the heart of the Permian Basin, the largest and hottest oil play on the continent. This area isn't a tourist attraction but rather communities solely focused on the oilpatch. People here either work in the oilfield or cater to the sector by selling trucks to oil companies and teaching oilfield kids.

That's why everyone on the flight knew the week ahead was going to be grim.

Story continues

Monday, March 9

Around 9:30 in the morning, half a dozen trucks are waiting their turn to fill up on mud. The substance is used in drilling oil wells throughout the area.

Hour after hour, oil prices keep falling and it is the talk all around the plant. Otherwise, operations are unchanged at the AES Drilling Fluids facility in the town of Kermit as business remains brisk.

The parent company is Calgary-based CES Energy Solutions, which has shifted more of its focus to Texas in recent years as oilpatch activity has flowed to the Permian.

Kyle Bakx/CBC

Gary Lankford is busy checking in with clients to gauge their attitudes and get a sense of their potential plans. Lankford is the company's vice-president of Permian Basin development. He grew up in Texas and this is his 40th year working in the oilfield.

By his guess, he's experienced seven significant price crashes in the industry, but he admits the wisdom earned does little to anticipate what this depression will be like.

"I think every one is different. This one is going to be a little different because it's dropping so fast. The fact that you think you're prepared for it  nah, you never are," he said.

With every spare minute he has, Lankford calls another client to check in. There is little panic on the other end of the phone, he said. Still, the two big questions are how bad will this be and how long will it last.

"Several years ago my wife and I were in Las Vegas when Frank Sinatra passed away. I said it was kind of like being in the Vatican when the pope passed away. They actually turned the lights off on the strip for two minutes," Lankford said. "Being here in Midland with what we're seeing with OPEC, Russia and oil prices, this may be the equivalent of Frank Sinatra dying. I hope not."

By day's end, oil prices fall by as much as 30 per cent, while Exxon Mobil and Chevron stock are down more than 12 per cent.

Canadian oilsands companies are blasted, too. Suncor losing more than 17 per cent of its value. Cenovus closing down 51 per cent.

Kyle Bakx/CBC

Tuesday, March 10

It's before 9 a.m. and Dave Hoffman is driving through foggy west Texas oilfield backroads. The Permian Basin extends into New Mexico and that's where one of its drilling rigs is working around the clock.

Hoffman is from Camrose, Alberta, but spends two-thirds of his time in Texas overseeing operations for Calgary-based Citadel Drilling. Traffic is heavy with workers and heavy trucks navigating the area.

He is convinced the company can withstand a period of depressed oil prices after surviving through several years of tough prices in Western Canada, before all of Citadel Drilling's rigs were moved to Texas two years ago.

"We've overcome a lot. We've come here and really done a good job and made a name for ourselves," said Hoffman.

Kyle Bakx/CBC

The 2,000 horsepower drilling rig, named "The Commander," is hard to miss outside the town of Jal, New Mexico, with little vegetation in the desert to hide the towering red, white and gold machine.

The majority of the workers are Canadian. They fly in from across Canada to work rotations of 20 days on, 10 days off. Depending on what decisions the oil producers make, drilling activity could be impacted. For now, at least, there aren't any signs of disruption on the rig.

"No, I don't think we've recognized any real change." said Hoffman. "Everyone is trying to feel out the process and see what's happening."

Kyle Bakx/CBC

That evening, the crowd at the PNG Stadium in Houston is glaringly sparse. The annual rodeo is in full swing, but the majority of people are staying far away as the coronavirus threat increases.

Still, competitors like bareback rider Pascal Isabelle from Okotoks, Alberta, bring some life into the giant 72,000 seat arena.

"That's a buckin' son of a gun," yells the announcer.

Jeremy Thompson watches the rodeo event from one end of the arena and sees parallels to what the oilpatch is going through, especially the bull riding.

"You do a lot of work in the chute to get that bull where you want it to go. and then you come out and it turns the wrong way and you're in the dirt. You're picking your hat up, dusting it off and wondering what's next," he said.

Thompson regularly travels to different parts of the U.S. to meet with clients and show off the software developed by the company he works for, Calgary-based Spira Data.

With the majority of the American oilpatch focused in Texas, he easily knows his way around Houston and other cities in the state.

For him, this week has been eventful as some customers are too preoccupied with the price meltdown and cancel their meetings with Thompson, while others seem more eager to move ahead with projects as they see technology as a way of being more efficient in their operations.

The following day, the rest of the rodeo is cancelled due to rising coronavirus concerns, marking the first shutdown of the Houston Rodeo in its nearly 90-year history.

Kyle Bakx/CBC

Wednesday, March 11

At this point, oil prices are 40 per cent lower than they were a month ago.

It's the middle of an incredibly tumultuous week and at the Houston office of research and consulting firm Wood Mackenzie, analysts are looking into the financial health of companies to see which are best suited to survive a prolonged downturn, while also revising their forecasts and models for oil production and demand.

After returning from a meeting with Exxon Mobil earlier in the day, analyst Brandon Davis sits down for an interview to explain all the developments he is seeing in the sector.

"We've talked to a lot of clients, both from the company side and investor side as well, hedge funds and things like that. I think the only thing everyone can agree upon is they don't know. It's an uncertain situation. Who knows what will happen with the Middle East and Russia. Maybe something will emerge."

In a sustained low-cost scenario, the larger producers are likely better off, while most distressed companies will likely be either junior or mid-sized firms. The oilfield service sector is going to have a rougher ride too.

At this point, the safest thing for the oilpatch is to plan for low prices for the rest of the year, said Davis. Then if prices do recover, companies "have excess inventory you can bring online in that scenario."

It's another tough day for stock market investors who are awash in red ink with major stock markets down by between three and five per cent.

Thursday, March 12

As stock markets open, there is red across the board again, this time as investors reel from U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement the night before to restrict travel from Europe.

It's another blow to the oilpatch as it "just adds to the negative demand impetus," said Ken Medlock, from inside his office at the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University in Houston.

Medlock already knows of several people who have cancelled flights and plan to drive to their spring break ski trips. Still, he anticipates even vehicle traffic will decline in the near future as anxiety grows about being near crowds.

On the production side, OPEC and Russia continue to pump more oil and sink prices further. Medlock says they are hoping to force oilpatch bankruptcies in the U.S. and restore more control over the global sector.

"That's the classic market share game. That's what that is," he said.

Medlock expects consolidation in the Permian and for production to fall to the basin this year.

The depths of the oilpatch's woes, though, are difficult to predict. Medlock describes it as a perfect storm with countries like Russia and Saudi Arabia pumping oil with all their might and the coronavirus sapping away demand more and more every day. The virus, in particular, seems to be the greater unknown for the sector.

"Any time you get into a discussion about fear that just embeds massive uncertainty in terms of how consumers are going to respond and what governments are going to do, etc.," he said.

Kyle Bakx/CBC

Friday, March 13

The headlines spread across the Wall Street Journal, which arrives at corporate head offices and hotel doorsteps, all focus on the coronavirus, including "Virus Batters Economy," "In U.S., Threat Upends Daily Life," and "U.S. Hospitals Face Major Challenges."

The week ultimately ends just like it began  in surprising fashion. Trump declares the coronavirus a national emergency, the Federal Reserve pours $1.5 trillion into the American stock market and the Bank of Canada makes an unexpected interest rate cut.

Stocks jumped across the continent with the Dow up nine per cent and the Toronto Stock Exchange up 10 per cent. Still, the upward swing wasn't enough to salvage one of the worst weeks in the North American stock market's history.

Oil edges up slightly to $33.38 US a barrel. It still represents about a 25 per cent drop in one week and there are few clues about what the next week, month or year have in store for the Permian or oilfields across the continent.
The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to form a tribunal to claim compensation from those who damage government and private property, said officials on Sunday.

The tribunal designated for looking into compensation claims will be headed by a retired district judge.

According to state government officials, the decision taken by the claim tribunal will not be challenged in any court.

The tribunal will have the power to attach the property of the accused and publicised their photograph so that common people do not buy property belonged to them.

The tribunal will be able to deploy claim commissioner for damage assessment.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 'menacing' architect has been struck off for making up disfavourable web reviews of his ex-partners' businesses.

Andrew Guy, 41, used a string of pseudonyms to post fictitious one-star write-ups on Google.

The Hampshire designer was booted from the profession after a watchdog found him guilty of 'intimidatory behaviour'.

Andrew Guy, 41, has been struck off by the Architects Registration Board after he was found guilty of 'intimidatory behaviour'

The Architects Registration Board heard how he targeted eight businesses with the aggressive posts, including rivals and companies run by two women he had dated.

The watchdog revealed how one guest house owner - who went on just two dates with Guy - suddenly received a string of negative reviews in late 2018.

Four lowly one-star ratings appeared under different names, claiming that her B&B was 'absolutely shocking', with 'rude owners' and 'small, noisy and dirty' rooms.

Under the name 'Chris Ede', the review stated: 'I cannot believe this so-called b+b has so many good reviews.

'Take a look under the bed for a collection of stunning dust! AVOID..'

Guy, under the name Karen Oman, added in another post: 'Dirty poor quality b+b. Bathrooms are filthy!!'.

A third fake review, from 'Jane Baker', warned: 'I have stayed there and it's dirty, poorly insulated...and the shower was filthy! Let's see if the owners pretend I did not stay there*.then I'll post my invoice and photos online.'

Another woman, who dated Guy for three months in 2004, also suffered three scathing reviews from 'Karen Oman'.

Her 'little market' cake stall was blasted for its 'terrible, cheap quality products'.

Fake reviews left on other Google profiles included one for an architecture firm where Guy used to work and a letting agent he reportedly owed money to.

The Architects Registration Board (pictured) struck off Guy after finding his 'dishonesty was deliberate, repeated and intended to cause reputational harm to eight businesses'

He branded the agency 'corrupt', 'arrogant' and 'rude'.

Guy, who ran Besprak architects in Havant, Hants, did not appear at the hearing.

In previous correspondence with the regulator he insisted he had been 'maliciously targeted' and that his accusers had 'perfectly crafted' their complaints.

The watchdog could not categorically prove the fake posts were made by Guy, but said it was 'more likely than not' that he was behind them.

The ARB said a number of factors pointed to the architect - including that he was the only common link between the eight otherwise unconnected targets.

The panel said Guy had 'a connection to each of the parties' and in a number of cases the relationship 'did not end positively'.

It added: 'The language, tone and style of the postings were similar, making it more likely that the postings were made by the same person.

'A number of witnesses also stated that the tone was similar to language Mr Guy had previously used. The committee noted that the tone was also similar to the tone of Mr Guy's correspondence with the ARB.'

The architects' regulator described its witnesses as 'credible and reliable'.

It decided to remove Guy from the register for his 'serious dishonesty' and 'entrenched integrity issues', which it said were 'fundamentally incompatible' with being an architect.

Striking him off for unacceptable professional conduct, chairman Julian Weinberg said: 'Mr Guy's dishonesty was deliberate, repeated and intended to cause reputational harm to eight businesses and was demonstrative of a serious lack of integrity.

'The negative postings continued over a period of approximately 10 months and only stopped when he was notified of possible action being taken against him.

'Clients must be able to have trust and confidence in architects. That is an essential element of what it means to be a professional.'

'[His] conduct was menacing and intimidatory and was directed towards other architectural practices and two women with whom he had had a relationship.'

Guy was approached for comment, but failed to respond.
A top Shi'a cleric in Iran has denied approving the purchase of a possible anti-coronavirus vaccine from Israel, which Islamic Republic considers as its top enemy.

In a statement on March 14, the office of an officially-recognized "Grand Ayatollah", Nasser Makarem Shirazi, reiterated that he was never asked about an anti-coronavirus vaccine produced by Israel.

"The Q&A on the subject never took place, and it is absolutely fake news," the office asserted.

Following reports on Israeli scientists' progress toward producing an anti-novel coronavirus vaccine, a daily in Iran, Hamdeli (Empathy), published the opinions of Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi and parliaments Legal Committee Chairman Jalil Rahimi Jahanabadi.

Affiliated with the so-called pragmatic conservative camp in the clergy-dominated Iran, Hamdeli cited Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi as approving the purchase of a vaccine from Israel, if it is the only vaccine on the market.

"Is it permissible to use a coronavirus vaccine discovered and manufactured by Israel?" Hamdeli claimed to have asked the Ayatollah on March 11.

Makarem Shirazi responded, "It is forbidden to purchase or sell the vaccine if we know for certain that the profit made by the companies [producing it] will go to the Zionists and Israel unless this is the only medicine [available] and there is no other alternative."

A few days after the article, the ayatollahs office issued the denial.

Nonetheless, the statement has stopped short of reflecting Makarem Shirazi's opinion on the initial case, whether it is permissible for the Islamic Republic of Iran to buy vaccines manufactured by Israelis or not.

Meanwhile, Hamdeli also published the response of Rahimi Jahanabadi, to the same question.

"Not only we but everyone, will be delighted when some country manages to [develop a vaccine] and save human lives. If some country, including America, with whom we have no relations, and the 'Zionist' regime, which we do not [even] recognize as a state, discovers the vaccine, it will surely [place it] on the global market, and we too will be able to purchase it via go-betweens or other countries", the parliamentarian said.

Rahimi Jahanabadi has not denied his comments, so far.

During the deadly and destructive eight-year war between Iran and Iraq (1980-88), the Islamic Republic, on several occasions, managed to clandestinely by Israeli manufactured weaponry.

The Jerusalem Post (JP) reported on February 28 that scientists at the Galilee Research Institute, known as MIGAL, were adapting its vaccine against the avian coronavirus infectious bronchitis virus, or IBV, to work for the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19.
United States President Donald Trump has tested negative for the novel coronavirus, the White House physician said.

Trump had taken the coronavirus test on Friday night. The results came out in less than 24 hours.

"Last night, after an in-depth discussion with the President regarding the COVID-19 test, he elected to proceed. This evening, I received confirmation that the test is negative," Dr Sean Conley, the presidential physician, said in a memorandum to White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham on Saturday.

"One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation in Mar-a-Lago, the President remains symptom-free," he said.

"I have been in the daily contact with the CDC (Center for Disease Control) and the White House Task Force, and we are encouraging the implementation of all their best practices for exposure reduction and transmission mitigation," Conley added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The specialized quarantine zone at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi, where Covid-19 patients are treated. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa.

Vietnams 55th, 56th and 57th coronavirus patients are a 35-year-old German and two Brits, one 30 and the other 66, all male.

"Patient 55", the German, came in on Vietnam Airlines flight VN0018 from Paris to Hanoi Saturday. He tested positive the next day at the Hanoi Center for Disease Control.

While the patient undergoes treatment, all the people who hed come into close contact with are being tracked to be taken to the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanois Dong Anh District for quarantining.

"Patient 56" traveled on a flight from the U.K. to Hanoi's Noi Bai airport on March 9. He met two British women and stayed at the Hanoi Paradise Center Hotel on Hang Voi Street, Hoan Kiem District.

He traveled to the northern highlands town of Sa Pa and stayed there from March 10-13. He was staying at Oriental Suiter Hotel on Hanois Hang Dao Street, Hoan Kiem District on returning to the capital city on March 13.

Shortly after "Patient 56" checked into the hotel, the peoples committee of Hang Dao Ward had decided to place him in quarantine. On Saturday evening, test results showed he was Covid-19 positive. He is being treated at the Hospital of Tropical Diseases and is in stable health.

"Patient 57" was on Vietnam Airlines flight VN54 from London that landed in Hanoi on March 9. This was the flight on which "Patient 46" was a flight attendant. The British man, 66, is now being quarantined and treated in the central province of Quang Nam.

Earlier Sunday, HCMC had confirmed its eighth Covid-19 infection, a Latvian tourist, who became "Patient 54."

With the latest additions, Vietnam has 41 active Covid-19 patients, including 17 foreigners. The previous 16 patients have been discharged.

The Covid-19 outbreak has thus far spread to 156 countries and territories around the world, with the death toll climbing to over 6,000.
An explosion, suspected to be from crude oil pipelines, has occurred in Abule Ado, Lagos.

The incident, which happened at about 9 a.m. Sunday, sent residents scampering to safety.

Several houses were affected, including a girls Catholic boarding school. It is still unclear if there is any fatality.

When contacted, Nosa Okunbor, the spokesperson of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), said an emergency team was heading to the location of the explosion.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was said to have shut down the pipeline and its officials were heading to the scene of the explosion.

PREMIUM TIMES recently reported a pipeline explosion at Eroko road, also in Abule Egba, where not less than three persons lost their lives.

That explosion which happened in January, was as a result of a vandalised NNPC pipeline in Abule Egba, LASEMA said.

More details later

========================================================================

Many feared killed as officials battle Lagos pipeline fire

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Lagos State Fire Service have said that the fire incident that occurred in Lagos on Sunday morning was not as a result of pipeline explosion as earlier circulated.

No official casualty has been announced, although residents of the area said five people have been killed.

Some residents of the area also provided alternative views on the cause of the fire different from the official stance.

Shakiru Amodu, the spokesperson of LASG Fire Service, told PREMIUM TIMES that the incident was an implosion and not an explosion. He said combined efforts were ongoing to quell the fire.

It has even extended to the pipeline. We are managing the situation, but it is massive here. All agencies are working harmoniously to put out the fire, Mr Amodu said.

Ibrahim Farinloye, the Acting Coordinator, Lagos Territorial Office of NEMA, also said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the explosion was not connected to pipeline vandalism.

From the information given by officials of the Lagos State Fire Service who are currently on the ground, the implosion is not connected to pipeline but might have occurred in a factory located in the Abule Ado area.

Emergency responders are on ground while others are still on their way to the scene. The situation is under control and we hope to get more information soon to ascertain its cause, he said.

PREMIUM TIMES reporter at the scene of the fire incident confirmed the spread of the fire to neighbouring communities as many houses have been destroyed.

About 10 fire trucks had arrived at the scene while men from the Lagos State Fire Service, Federal Fire Service, Nigerian Navy, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, and others were making efforts to quell the fire.

The number of casualties cannot be ascertained as at the time of this report, but no fewer than five people have died while many others are trapped in the collapsed buildings in the fire, PREMIUM TIMES learnt.

Dele Fasan, a stakeholder in Amuwo Odofin area, told PREMIUM TIMES that the true cause of the incident had not been ascertained.

There is an opinion that there was an explosion either racketed by bomb which we are not quite sure of, it is only the bomb experts that can tell you that. Physically, when you look at the impact of the explosion, it is possible because the impact of that explosion is enormous, he said.

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This area, as we know, is a very volatile area. Based on the tunnels of petroleum products, there is a possibility for the explosion to have also been caused by pipeline vandalism, he said.

Mr Fasan said that given that the radius of the impact of the explosion got to Mile 2, there was a possibility that it could be a bomb.

He added that the agencies deployed to the scene had not been able to quell the fire.

Stephen Mgboru, a resident, said he went for exercise on Sunday morning and on returning around 9 a.m, heard a thumping sound, which shook his house and he fell on his bed.

At first, I thought it was that thing that happened in 2002, January 30 when a bomb exploded in Ikeja. I felt Ojo barracks might blow, the ammunition they packed there Then I got information that it was this area and I came in.

Mr Mgboru said the fire incident was as a result of pipeline explosion.

One tipper climbed the pipeline and it exploded.

I saw many dead bodies and many children were trapped in Bethel School, a public school in the area, he said.

Mr Mgboru said the fire service and other responders arrived on time but the equipment they brought could not quench the fire.

Emmanuel Umeh, another resident, said when the firefighters arrived at the scene, the fire had not affected his house. But they have no equipment to combat the massive fire which is now spreading rapidly.

We told them to go down to help, they said they dont have enough equipment, that if they can bring helicopter or something to quench the fire. You see what they are doing?  Mr Umeh said, his voice shaking.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Fire Service has assured citizens that the fire, although massive, was under control.
The art he began creating as a boy was shown off at funerals, then buried. In recent years, Ghanaian coffin artist Eric Adjetey Anang has taken the family business to new heights above ground.

Anang, who has called Madison home for the past four years, creates artistic coffins, which are being exhibited and sold across the country and around the world.

He grew up in his grandfathers workshop helping make coffins, but said he didnt realize until he was 14 how prized the coffins were becoming.

I knew private collectors were buying them, but of course when they go out of the country, nobody knows the whereabouts and nobody talks about that, Anang said. We were already used to that because when they are used for burials, they just bury them under the ground and they are gone.

As he got older, he realized that when the coffins became art pieces, they stayed where people could see them.

His favorite designs include a seahorse for an aquarium owner in Florida, a vodka bottle he made as social commentary for the owner of a crematorium in Siberia, and a Leinenkugels bottle for a Delaware man who loves that beer brand.
Billionaire Brexiteer Peter Hargreaves has invested hundreds of millions back into the stock market  just weeks after cashing in 550million of shares while prices were riding high.

The co-founder of Hargreaves Lansdown sold 34.3 million shares in the investment broker on February 7  before coronavirus hit the UK and the markets tanked.

Shares stood at 16.05 at the time and the FTSE 100 stood at 7,467. By Friday, the shares were 13.20 and the FTSE 100 closed at 5,366.

Peter Hargreaves, the co-founder of stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown

But the Tory donor predicts the British economy will suffer only a temporary set-back as tourist numbers fall and leisure firms struggle. He said investors will see a rebound in the FTSE 100.

He told The Mail on Sunday: The huge falls were probably to be expected  albeit not to anything like this extent. I think people will eventually get on with their lives when the knowledge of the severity of the crisis is better known.

The FTSE 100 ended last week down 17 per cent, falling 11 per cent on Thursday alone in the worst crash since Black Monday in 1987. But Hargreaves warned: The volatility is not over, the market will remain nervous.
Xbox Live has stopped working, leaving gamers unable to play.

Outages on the console's online service are especially dramatic because they leave players unable even to sign in and play games.

The problems come as more players than usual are at home practising social distancing to avoid spreading coronavirus, and so the outage probably hit even more players than usual.

Microsoft's Xbox Live status page appeared to be affected by the outage, leaving players unable to even check whether the service was down.

But the company confirmed the problems in a tweet and tens of thousands of people complained that they had been left unable to get onto the service.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

"We understand some users may be experiencing errors with sign in or matching making on Xbox Live, and are currently investigating," the official Xbox support page posted.

Outage tracking website Down Detector showed a vast number of issues.

Recommended Xbox Series X will let players jump straight back into games

Most of the issues were seen in the UK and US, though that might simply be a consequence of timezones meaning that players from those area are most likely to be online.

Problems began around 9pm UK time, according to Down Detector.
On June 1, the votes of state Rep. Allen Skillicorn on two dozen bills and resolutions that came before the House that day were placed into the legislative record, and the East Dundee Republican was listed as present at the 12:15 p.m. roll call. But Skillicorn was nowhere near Springfield at noon on June 1. He had attended the Harvard Milk Days Parade more than 200 miles away that morning and didnt make it to Springfield, he now says, until sometime after a 3 p.m. recess.

So, how to explain the discrepancy, which would suggest a serious breach of legislative rules that require state representatives and senators to be on the floor of their respective houses when they issue a vote on a measure?

An Illinois inspector generals report and an apology from Skillicorn carefully skirt a direct answer to that question. Legislative Inspector General Carol Pope simply found that a formal complaint that Skillicorn was not present for the votes was substantiated. Skillicorn himself merely acknowledged a mistake, without directly explaining what the mistake was or how it was made.

It was a mistake, and we as a legislative body should clearly define what the protocol should be so that the rules are clear and mistakes like this will not be made, he said in a prepared statement.

Skillicorn has filed a letter with the House clerk correcting the record, but his statement nine months after the fact implies that there is some confusion among lawmakers about what constitutes protocol for a vote that is supposed to be made in person on the floor of the House.

The expectation seems pretty clear, but Pope said her inquiry found it is common for lawmakers to ask a seat mate or staff member to flip their voting switch for them if they need to temporarily step away. Whether even that practice satisfies protocol is a reasonable question. Pope is surely correct to note that lawmakers should not be allowed to ask someone to vote in their place while they are absent or out of town. Can they step outside for a bathroom break and have a staff member cast their vote? Where, then, between the carpet of the House or Senate floor and a parade 200 miles away is an acceptable distance from the voting switch?

In her statement, Pope said rules exist but many lawmakers have not totally familiarized themselves with the particulars. She said she will call for a written protocol to be given to legislators and staff so there is no question about the procedures to be followed when a member is going to be absent. Skillicorn said he strongly supports that suggestion. The rest of the General Assembly should, too, for if Pope is correct, any other lawmaker might well look at his situation and issue the famous admission that there but for the grace of God go I.

Falsifying the official legislative record is a serious infraction. A written policy on the voting rules would help ensure that no lawmaker commits it  and that if one does, there will be no question about what mistake occurred.

 Daily Herald, Arlington Heights
SANTA CLARA (BCN)

A 36-year-old woman was arrested recently in connection with approximately 100 pieces of mail, credit cards, California driver's licenses and other forms of identification belonging to more than 40 potential victims found during a search of her home, Santa Clara police said.

Kari Rios was arrested on Feb. 26, the same day SCPD detectives conducted a probation search of her home and found the stolen IDs and other items there, police said.

Police said they identified Rios last month as a possible suspect in some of the "numerous" vehicle burglaries reported in Santa Clara over the past several months. Police found Rios was on probation for a previous identity theft charge. After police searched her home, detectives learned many of the victims of the stolen IDs were Santa Clara residents.

The affected victims have been contacted and their property has been returned, police said. Some victims suffered thefts from their vehicles, police said, while others lost their IDs and other documents via mail thefts. Numerous victims had their credit cards used at various retail locations, and also used in some cases to set up fraudulent accounts, police said.

Rios was booked into the Santa Clara County Jail on six counts of suspicion of possession of stolen ID documents for unauthorized use, one count of suspicion of drug possession and one count of possession of a stun gun by an ex-felon. She remained in jail Saturday in lieu of $206,000 bond.

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.
New Delhi: In the wake of coronavirus, Bhojpuri star Rani Chatterjee has sent out an important message on the precautions to take during this time. In a video from the airport, Rani said that it is important for everyone to wear a mask at public places and keep a check on personal hygiene. The video was shared by Rani soon after she realised that she forgot her mask at home while on her way to Kolkata.

While sharing the video, Rani urged people not to forget their masks and not to commit the mistake she did. "Be safe... Love you all," she wrote. Take a look at the video here:

The coronavirus has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Various events, award functions, interviews, shooting schedules and matches have been called off amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Cinema halls, shopping malls and clubs have been closed in parts of India.

Several actors from all the industries have urged everyone to stay safe and follow all the precautionary measures. Social media is flooded with dos/dont's regarding COVID-19.

'Nazar 2' actress Monalisa also shared pictures of herself and co-stars wearing masks on the sets. She captioned the post as: "Please Be Safe... Please Take All Precautionary Measures .... And Smile ... Don't Panic."

The number of novel coronavirus cases in India rose to 107 on Sunday, which includes one death each from Delhi and Karnataka. It first emerged in China's Wuhan city and has now spread across the globe.
The Lakewood Public School District will remain open Monday while administrators await a statewide order to close all public schools and minimize the spread of the coronavirus.

The districts decision not to shut down and hold classes Monday is based on a survey that found 40 percent of its students dont have access to a computer, chrome book or iPad needed for remote learning, said Lakewood Public Schools attorney Michael Inzelbuch.

In the land of inequity, that would mean that our students would suffer. ... When our students are not in school, they are often in conditions that are not the best. They are often at home with no parents because their parents are working, Inzelbuch said.

So far, an estimated 400 districts in New Jersey have closed and turned to at-home learning plans or forced breaks.

But until Gov. Phil Murphy directs all public schools to close, Lakewood administrators are maximizing social distancing in school buildings and taking steps to make remote learning easier, Inzelbuch said.

All lunch meals will be served in classrooms instead of cafeterias and gym classes will be cancelled Monday in order to limit close interactions between students, he said.

In addition, Inzelbuch said the district received 200 chrome books on Friday for those in need, on top of the existing 2,800 chrome books owned by the district. Inzelbuch has also committed $20,000 personally to purchase 50 iPads, which he hopes will be reimbursed by the board of education.

Parents can borrow a device by filling out a loan agreement form on the districts website and showing proof of ID.

Inzelbuch said the district has made arrangements with local businesses to open access to WiFi hot spots to students in need, he said.

Im not going to let our public school students suffer without iPads, he said.

On a telephone briefing with reporters Sunday, Gov. Phil Murphy said he expects to announce Monday that New Jersey will order all of its public schools be shut down until further notice to minimize exposure to the coronavirus.

The move will affect 6,200 students who attend public schools in Lakewood. It would also extend to the 37,000 non-public students in the township who are mostly enrolled in private yeshivas.

The Board of Education and Superintendent dictate only for public schools when they close and when they do not," Inzelbuch said. But we are asking the Township of Lakewood to enforce or impose some sort of closure for the entire Lakewood and, or the governors office to do that which would allow equity to occur so our parent body can be home with their students or their children.

Were not debating whether there should be closure or not. Were asking our governor and our representatives to do as they have and continue to see best, he continued.

Lakewood schools will have a 30-minute delayed opening on Monday to allow students to head straight to their classrooms.

There are no reported cases of coronavirus in Lakewood currently, but Ocean County has two reported cases.

Avalon Zoppo may be reached at azoppo2@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Parson of Tourism says infection will be as awful, if not more awful, than SARs was for industry  Nitin Atmaram Sisode

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Parson of Tourism, Thong Khon, has drawn examinations between the current COVID-19 flare-up to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARs) pandemic that happened in 2003 and crushed the travel industry in Asia."Cambodia encountered an emotional decrease in outside vacationer appearances during the 2003 SARs flare-up and we are seeing a comparative response with the current COVID-19 infection," he said.The service has anticipated that that Cambodia will encounter a decrease of one million voyagers this year, bringing about a 10 percent loss of income for the part.Cambodia invited 6.6 million sightseers in 2019, a 7 percent expansion from the prior year. The division produced roughly $5 billion and represented 12 percent of the nation's GDP.The service additionally said that the Kingdom faces added outer weights because of the China and US exchange war and a general worldwide monetary log jam that may likewise add to the decrease."In 2003, with the SARS episode, the travel industry division was seriously harmed, despite the fact that this time we are working with the private area to set out vital measures to keep up the solidness of the segment during this emergency. Measures incorporate the consolation of residential travelers through extraordinary offers," Chuk Chumnor, the Ministry of Tourism representative as of late disclosed to Khmer Times.He included the infection has caused worry all through the worldwide the travel industry division, refering to a downturn in Chinese voyagers as a central point."Chinese nationals make up countless worldwide voyagers, so the administration's forbidding of numerous outbound visits has truly influenced the world's travel industry," Chumnor said.A report by the Asian Development Bank, sketching out the financial effect of COVID-19, backs this worry up, expressing, "The travel industry appearances in many creating Asian economies are relied upon to decrease strongly, because of various travel bans just as prudent conduct." "A significant contrast between this [COVID-19] episode and the SARs flare-up is that the Chinese economy is a lot bigger and increasingly incorporated with other Asian nations. Hence, travel limitations may bring about a significantly more prominent financial effect than previously," Yasuyuki Sawada, ADB boss market analyst clarified.The report laid out one gauge where the expense of the infection could run from between $77 billion to $347 billion, speaking to 0.1 percent to 0.4 percent of worldwide GDP.
Published on 2020/03/15 | Source

As coronavirus infections surpassed 7,000 in Korea, the number of people in self-quarantine at home has risen to over 100,000 if their families are included.

Advertisement

In Daegu and surrounding North Gyeongsang Province, a hotbed of the infections, some 3,000 confirmed cases are staying in half-way houses due to a lack of hospital beds.

Kindergartens and schools there are closed until March 22, keeping some 5 million families at home with their children. Many senior citizens, children and housewives with kids in other parts of the country are also effectively confined to their homes.

As the paranoia over the virus remains high, the self-imposed house arrest makes people feel increasingly depressed and anxious, and mental health experts say the situation requires counseling.

The Korean Neuropsychiatric Association (KNPA) has offered a set of guidelines to stay sane during these times. It includes avoiding total immersion in news about the epidemic and relying on credible news sources for accurate information.

It also recommends accepting uncertainty and refraining from hateful feelings. This is especially important for children.

Jeon Hong-jin at Samsung Medical Center said, "People tend to go to bed and wake up later if they stay at home for prolonged periods, which increases appetite and leads to weight gain. As people get heavier they can become depressed, so it is vital go for walks and exercise".

Park Yong-cheon, the head of the KNPA, said, "Depression and anxiety could become pronounced if people stay isolated or remain at home for long periods".

And Paik Jong-woo at Kyunghee University said, "People need close communication ties with their family, friends and coworkers and support each other to keep a sense of community".
Inmates of a jail in



Madhya Pradesh will supply 2,000 masks they have manufactured to the state health department in view of the novel coronavirus outbreak, a senior official said on Sunday.

The inmates of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Central Jail in Jabalpur started making the masks after a request from the state health department, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Jails)(Jabalpur range) Gopal Tamrakar told PTI.

"A team of 50 inmates are engaged in making 2,000 masks. These will be supplied by March 16. The cost per piece is Rs 7. The cotton cloth used for preparing the masks has been made in the powerlooms installed in the jail itself," he said.

He said the chief medical and health officer inspected a few mask samples made by the inmates and certified that they conformed to World Health Organisation specifications.

"We received the approval on Friday and a thousand masks are ready presently," the DIG informed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Govt endeavours to clear up visa entry confusion

BANGKOK: The Foreign Ministry on Saturday (Mar 14) reiterated that the cancellation of visa on arrival (VOA) for 18 countries and visa exemption for three highly-infected countries came into effect on Friday.

tourismimmigrationCOVID-19Coronavirushealth

By Bangkok Post

Sunday 15 March 2020, 03:10PM

A traveller is seen at Suvarnabhumi airport on Thursday. Photo: Pornprom Satrabhaya / Bangkok Post

The cancellations are in place temporarily until Sept 30, said Cherdkiat Atthakor, director-general and spokesman of the Foreign Ministrys Information Department.

However, citizens of Russia, South Korea, Hong Kong and Macau that have signed bilateral agreements on free visas with Thailand are exempted from these two new visa policies, which means they can enter Thailand without having to apply for a visa.

The Foreign Ministry yesterday held a press briefing to clear the air after the government and state agencies provided confusing and contradictory messages.

Earlier, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha announced the cancellation had been enforced.

Yet, shortly after, government spokeswoman Narumon Pinyosinwat told media outlets the cancellations were impractical because existing bilateral agreements had not expired.

Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda and Gen Prayut insisted the visa changes had gone into effect since last Thursday and would last to the end of September. Nevertheless, the director-general of the Department of Consular Affairs, Chatri Archjananun, said the existing agreements over the exemption needed to be studied before any changes were enforced.

The countries with cancelled VOA are Bulgaria, Bhutan, China (including Taiwan), Cyprus, Ethiopia, Fiji, Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Malta, Mexico, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Vanuatu. Russia, however, is exempted, thanks to a bilateral agreement.

Hong Kong, Italy and South Korea will have the visa exemption policy cancelled. In practice, only Italians need to apply for a visa to enter Thailand. Citizens of South Korea and Hong Kong can still enter Thailand without visas because of a bilateral agreement.

Read original story here.
All India Trinamool Congress on Sunday said that it will request the Election Commission to postpone the Municipal elections in view of the coronavirus spread.

"We will appeal to the state Election Commission to defer upcoming Municipal/Corporation elections," All India Trinamool Congress said.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases across India reached 107 (including foreign nationals), according to the Ministry of Family and Health Welfare on Sunday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that Europe has become the new 'epicenter' of the global coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than 15 lakh people with over 4,000 deaths globally.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
We cannot doubt people of goodwill. If you ask an average African what is the definition of Civilization, he would tell you they belong to the exclusivity of liberal folks, that insist on freedom and democracy in the Western world of civilized climes. The hypocrisy has been exposed as the preachers of idealism and democracy lose to conservatives who would tweak democracy and do anything to remain in or grab power as in theocracy.

Immigrants there got hooked on idealism since Hypocrites were preaching due process, the rule of law and order in Africa. The brutalities they display against their minorities, the weak and the poor with Emergency Power is no different from those used during the Slave Trade to restore their version of Peace and Sanity to the World. If they use privilege of power as a deadly force to quell protests against injustice at home, who are immigrants?

When God distributed talents, those with less helped those with more utilized theirs or those with more used those with less. We must learn how to utilize what we loot and launder as talents and resources abroad to those God gave less. Use God-given talents to develop our home and demonstrate our accomplishments to the world in Africa.

Democracy was convenient when they were in absolute majority. However, the equation changed as the number of minorities are becoming a threat to the power of the majority. The most motivating factor driving Western liberals in the world to join conservatives is Immigration. So, right wing parties that are supposed to be smaller in number are being elected in Europe and America with the coalition of other parties to form a government.

Charity begins at home. Democracy was a charade to placate us but never intended to apply to those intolerant civilizations in the Western world. It worked fine as long as the majority is unthreatened in self-created nations. Democracy, freedom and liberalism that were used to conquer and fool Africans and Asians were not the product of popular votes to elect their Leader. They ensured that as a choice of Party and Electoral votes?

On the other hand, immigrants from Africa, South America and Asia were flooding the Western borders looking for the promised Freedom and Rule of Law preached in their countries. Since Westerners had explored, baptized and forced Protectorate on them in order to steal their natural and human resources that fueled Western economies.

When Slave Trade and riots became threats, they institutionalized color bar to divide the poor whites from native Indians, Asians and African free men in Europe and America to suppress their revolts. It was a master stroke because its been working ever since.

Note that every continent traded one another within as slaves and serfs. The southern Europeans were colonized by Africans and it took a combination of Arabs to overcome the African sharpshooters in Basra, Iraq. But those are ancient history today. Nobody forced the Queen of Sheba or Mansa Kankan Musa to launder African gold beyond the Continent as a measure of goodwill while beneficiaries saw a good opportunity to trace, strike and seize fortune from the source. Our politicians have followed Mansa Musa.

The big difference started in1619 Virginia, United States. By 1676, Nathaniel Bacon was able to recruit the serfs and African free men to suppress American Indians riot. Though opposed by Gov. William Beckley, both saw the opportunity to divide and rule people that united against exploitation of the poor. There was no white, black or yellow. Never saw themselves along skin color or differences as they mixed freely with one another .

"Early colonial Virginia was very much a 'melting pot' of peoples, and before slavery hardened as a racial caste, white and black working-class people often lived and worked in close quarters and formed relationships and marriages. Some of these early multiracial families were ancestors of the later Melungeon.

In 1639/40 Virginia General Assembly barred Blacks from possessing firearms

In 1642 Tax was put on Black women not English women

In 1662 Virginia General Assembly decided that any child born by an enslaved woman was also a slave.

The laws changed the world into colors and gave the poor whose skin color was closer to the oppressors some privileges over the rest of their fellow poor and oppressed. It has been working since then to preserve the privilege of the rich. The color lines spread around the world and everyone trample on the rights of the other to climb the color line.

In Africa and Asia, they used what Nkrumah called Neo-colonization which is basically the same as Colonization but without Responsibility. Just as they divided poor whites and minorities in Europe and America, they divided Africans within. The Africans whose mentality and tastes were conditioned to Christianity, just as to Islam, were the civilized ones. The rest of other Africans were the non-believers that were good as dead.

If you do not love yourself, who will love you? Africans complain that Whites and Asians discriminate against them to preserve their privilege in their native countries but Africans hate Africans more in Africans countries. They even allow the same Whites and Asians to discriminate against them at home: beg for Visas and Foreign Investments as African politicians and businessmen launder out two or three times more. It is called Self-hate!

The Europeans woke up against German domination, the Chinese woke up against Japanese domination, even USSR dissolved since they woke up to Russian domination. But Africans beg for foreign domination as Investments and countries to escape to, in order to avoid their own demons at home. Agents open professional routes of escape.

Africans must stop to being (copy-copy, follow-follow and) a shame to those that share our heritage in Diaspora. It is preposterous for Africans in Diaspora to blame the Blacks they met there as victims for their own predicament after your chiefs that sold them out, were also sold and you are absconding and selling yourselves out of where you could have built a better place for world Blacks to be proud of.

Those of us famous for beating our chests as conspicuous spenders and consumers of vanities but with no substantive production exports or accomplishments at home, must stop consoling ourselves with our under-employed and wasted talents abroad. We collect statistics of those working jejely in hostile environments as the most educated and appreciated. You only expose them to more discrimination by dividing Diaspora Blacks into tribes. Dont you know they are dwarfed by Asians doing better?
Tom Hanks thanked his carers at the Gold Coast University Hospital on Sunday, where he and wife Rita Wilson are being treated for coronavirus.

But the 63-year-old actor's Twitter post grabbed the attention of fans for all the wrong reasons - namely the very thick spread of Vegemite Tom applied to his toast.

In the photo accompanying his tribute, the Forrest Gump actor showcased his breakfast, featuring a tube of Vegemite, with a kangaroo toy nearby.

In isolation: Tom Hanks (left) thanked his carers at the Gold Coast University Hospital on Sunday, where he and wife Rita Wilson (right) are being treated for coronavirus

He captioned the post: 'Thanks to the Helpers. Let's take care of ourselves and each other. Hanx' - but all anyone could talk about was his thick Vegemite.

The yeast sandwich spread is a household staple in Australia, but most consumers use just a thin smattering across buttered bread.

And that had fans up in arms, with many gently mocking the actor for his over-application of Vegemite despite his current medical condition.

A lot of spread! But the 63-year-old actor's Twitter post grabbed the attention of fans for all the wrong reasons - namely the very thick spread of Vegemite Tom applied to his toast

A little less! The yeast sandwich spread is a household staple in Australia, but most consumers use just a thin smattering across buttered bread, as pictured

One person Tweeted: 'That's enough Vegemite to kill a horse. Hanx don't play. #usesparingly'.

Another added: 'Tom, I mean this with all the respect and love in the world, but that is too much Vegemite.'

Someone else Tweeted: 'That Vegemite is so thick I am SHAKING' while another added: 'Mate, what's going on with that Vegemite ratio?'

Yet one more chimed in: 'Tom... the amount of Vegemite... you're scaring me, Tom'.

Funny: The spread thickness had fans up in arms, with many gently mocking the actor for his over-application of Vegemite despite his current medical condition, but others praised him

Others were amused that Australian fans were so outraged by Tom's incorrect use of Vegemite that they were even mocking him while he's ill.

One fan Tweeted: 'Imagine getting COVID-19 then being roasted on Twitter for using too much Vegemite!'

Another said: 'I so love this... most replies: 'hey, love youse! But dead set too much Vegemite!''

Some fans however insisted that a lot of Vegemite is best - and in fact is the 'professional level' amount, supporting his choice.

Sense of humour: Others were amused that Australian fans were so outraged by Tom's incorrect use of Vegemite that they were even mocking him while he's ill

Others still think the spread may be therapeutic, with one person writing: 'That much Vegemite is going to destroy the coronavirus'.

Tom and Rita first announced their positive diagnosis last Wednesday, listing the symptoms that led to them being tested.

'We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches. Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers too,' Tom shared in a social media post.

Unwell: Tom and Rita first announced their positive diagnosis last Wednesday

Since then they have been sharing updates on their health, as well as the activities they've been doing to get through this tough time.

The couple have been married since 1988, and share two sons together, Chester and Truman.

Tom also has a son and daughter, Colin and Elizabeth, from his first marriage to Samantha Lewes.

Globally there have been more than 156,054 cases of coronavirus, with the death tally already surpassing 5,000.

In Australia, as of Sunday afternoon, there were 280 reported cases of coronavirus, including three deaths.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has warned of the heavy financial penalty that awaits any person who arrives from overseas and does not self-isolate.

From midnight all people coming to Australia will have to self-isolate for 14 days, while cruise ships will be banned from arriving at Australian ports for an initial 30 days.

Ms Palaszczuk said on Sunday that laws were in place to deal with those who fail to follow a direction to self-isolate.

'In relation to legislation around that ... it's under our Public Health Emergency Act,' she said.

'That bill was passed in early February and there are penalties for not complying with the notification and that is around $13,000,' she said.

'We have random police checks to make sure people are compliant with that notice.'

Australians who refuse to self-isolate after returning from overseas could be hit with massive fines and even jail time (people wearing face masks outside St Vincents Hospital)

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.'

The warning came as Queensland had its biggest single-day jump in coronavirus cases, taking the number of people detected with the COVID-19 to 61.

There were 15 people confirmed on Sunday as having contracted the viris.

People were also being discouraged from kissing, hugging or even shaking hands.

'We are asking Queenslanders, when you are out and about no hand shaking ... and no kissing or hugging in public. Let's all minimise the risk,' the premier said.

Queensland's chief health officer warned that now may not be the time for children to visit their grandparents.

'I implore people if you have parents ... or grandparents in that older age group think about how you can help them. Maybe it's not the time for your young kids to see their grandparents,' she said.
According to rental site Zumper, median rents for a one bedroom in Forest Crest are hovering around $1,094, compared to ann $838 one-bedroom median for San Antonio as a whole.

So how does the low-end pricing on a Forest Crest rental look these days  and what might you get for the price?

We took a look at local listings from Zumper and Apartment Guide to find out what budget-minded apartment seekers can expect to find in the neighborhood, which, according to Walk Score ratings, requires a car for most errands, isn't particularly bikeable and has minimal transit options.

Read on for the cheapest listings available right now. (Note: Prices and availability are subject to change.)

Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions.

Interstate 10

Listed at $799/month, this 705-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, located at Interstate 10, is 27.0% less than the $1,094/month median rent for a one bedroom in Forest Crest.

The apartment features a mix of hardwood floors and carpeting, a dishwasher and a walk-in closet. Pet owners, you're in luck: This rental is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. There isn't a leasing fee associated with this rental.

(See the complete listing here.)

23910 W. Interstate 10

Next, here's a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment, situated at 23910 W. Interstate 10. It's listed for $1,050/month for its 719 square feet.

The unit includes a walk-in closet and hardwood flooring. Building amenities include a swimming pool and an elevator. Pet owners, rejoice: This property is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. Future tenants needn't worry about a leasing fee.

(See the complete listing here.)

Rim Drive

Then, there's this one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment at Rim Drive. At 689 square feet, it's going for $1,068/month.

When it comes to building amenities, expect assigned parking. In the unit, the listing promises in-unit laundry, a renovated kitchen, a mix of hardwood floors and carpeting and a dishwasher. Good news for pet lovers: This rental is both dog-friendly and cat-friendly. The rental doesn't require a leasing fee.

(See the full listing here.)

18102 Talavera Ridge

Finally, there's this 672-square-foot apartment with one bedroom and one bathroom at 18102 Talavera Ridge, listed at $1,083/month.

The apartment comes with a mix of hardwood floors and carpeting, a dishwasher and a walk-in closet. For those with furry friends in tow, this rental is pet-friendly. Amenities in the building include garage parking. There's no leasing fee required for this rental.

(See the listing here.)

This story was created automatically using local real estate data from Zumper and Apartment Guide, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Additionally, 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.
In move to address growing outbreak, Qatar shuts down incoming visitors and implements moves to support private sector.

Qatar has announced a series of measures, including the suspension of all incoming flights for a preliminary two-week period, as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

The moves were announced on Sunday following a meeting between Qatars Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and the Supreme Committee for Crisis Management.

An economic and financial package will provide incentives amounting to 75 billion Qatari riyals ($23bn) to help support the private business sector during the outbreak.

The statement from the committee included, Stopping all incoming flights to Doha, starting Wednesday evening, which corresponds to March 18, for a 14-day period that can be extended, adding cargo and transit flights would be exempted from the ban.

It said Qatari citizens would continue to be allowed into the country after they quarantine for two weeks.

The announcements came after Qatars health ministry announced 64 new confirmed cases of coronavirus in the tiny Gulf nation, taking its total number of cases to 401.

So far 7,950 people have been tested for COVID-19 while four people have reportedly recovered, according to the ministry.

The committee announced all forms of public transport, including buses and its newly launched metro system, would be suspended starting Sunday night.

To limit physical interaction, the committee said all government employees above the age of 55, pregnant women, and people suffering from long-term illnesses, such as diabetes or chronic heart disease, would be allowed to work remotely.





The directive reiterated a government decision made earlier this week that attendance at all schools would be suspended with government and private schools continuing through remote education.

The committee said final year high-school students will still have to sit their end-of-year exams.

Although not included in the committees statement, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced in a tweet on Sunday that dining in restaurants and cafes would also be banned until further notice as part of the efforts to contain the spread of the virus. Ordering food deliveries home would still be allowed.

People wearing protective masks in Souq Waqif as the number of coronavirus cases rises in Doha, Qatar [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera/Al Jazeera]

Economic measures

A series of moves focused on the banking sector were also announced, including the encouragement of banks to postpone loan instalments from the private sector by extending grace periods to six months.

Other measures included exempting food and medical goods from custom duties for a six-month period, as well as exempting electricity and water bills from taxes.

Other sectors on the exemption list included tourism, small and medium-sized businesses, and logistics.

Many of the initial cases diagnosed in Qatar  one of the richest nations in the world with a population of about three million  were from a group of citizens and their foreign staff repatriated from Iran.

Qatars health ministry previously temporarily banned the entry of travellers from 18 countries: Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Thailand, Italy, Germany, Spain, and France.
In this weeks deep dive into the archives of The Birmingham News, Huntsville Times and Mobiles Press-Register, we find the fruits of a successful fishing trip Bear Bryant took near Tuscaloosa in July 1963.

Theres also a photo of Alabama Pitts, an Opelika native and convicted felon turned professional athlete, who met a tragic end in 1941. Theres six generations of African-American females -- the youngest a baby -- in Selma in 1893.

Theres a Bonus Army of unemployed World War I veterans bound for D.C. in 1932, Alabama Power mascot Reddy Kilowatt, the Florence Nightingale of the South and an old man missing some fingers in 1939.

This weeks installment also includes photographs from the Associated Press, Library of Congress and Getty Images.

For more historic Alabama photographs, visit our Alabama Vintage Instagram account and the AL.com vintage photos page.

Any topics youd like us to explore on our Vinatage Insta or an old photo you would like us to find? Drop me a line at jgray@al.com.
When Parker Gunn was introduced to the school board last week as the new communications and community outreach coordinator for Martinsville City Public Schools, at least two members needed no introduction.

Neither did the pair vote to approve the personnel report presented after reconvening closed session on Jan. 13, when Superintendent Zebedee Talley hired Gunn to fill this newly created position.

Emily Parker and Yvonne Givens are the newest members on the board. Parker is also Gunns mother, and Givens is Gunns stepmother-in-law.

They [the General Assembly] changed the laws so there is nothing wrong, Talley said about the process that led to Gunns hiring. He was hired according to the rules, and that is all I have to say.

Talley said an adjustment was made in the current budget to accommodate the increase in payroll and the position was funded in the budget for the next fiscal year.

Gunn is paid $20 per hour and limited to less than 32 hours per week, based on information provided by the school division.

State law, as Talley cites, did change in 2019 to allow school boards to hire relatives, but the process of Gunns hiring raises questions about whether the MCPS followed all the required steps specified in that new law.

Virginia law had stated that it was unlawful for the school board or the superintendent to employ someone who was the father, mother, brother, sister, spouse, son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law or brother-in-law of the superintendent, or of any member of the school board.

In Augusta County, Rebecca Williams applied for a teaching position in 1988, and the Augusta County School Board refused to consider her application because she was the sister-in-law of the chairman of the board.

Williams sued the board, and a trial court ruled in favor of the board. Williams appealed, and in 1994 the case went to the Supreme Court of Virginia, which affirmed the trial courts decision with a comment that the General Assembly has restricted the authority of a school board to employ relatives of its members since 1928.

That longstanding law changed on June 10, when the hiring of a family member of the superintendent or a school board member would be allowed if it was provided that the member certifies that he had no involvement with the hiring decision; and the superintendent certifies to the remaining members of the school board in writing that the recommendation is based upon merit and fitness and the competitive rating of the qualifications of the individual and that no member of the board had any involvement with the hiring decision.

Talley was attending a National Conference on Education in San Diego for three days in February when he was asked about Gunns hiring, and he referred further questions by the Martinsville Bulletin to his executive assistant and Clerk of the Board Janie Fulcher.

Under the Freedom of Information Act the Martinsville Bulletin requested a copy of the certification from Parker and Givens that they had no involvement with the hiring decision of Gunn, but Fulcher responded for Talley and said, The requested documentation does not exist.

When asked for a copy of the written certification from Talley to the other members of the school board, Fulcher refused on the grounds the request was for personnel information, and the school system was entitled to withhold it.

The Bulletin asked for details as to when and how the written certification from Talley was distributed to the board members, and Fulcher again refused on the basis that the board is not required to share information that is conducted during their closed meeting session.

Fulcher did say an advertisement for the job was posted to the MCPS Talent Ed Applicant Tracking website, where other job-related vacancies are posted.

That advertisement states the part-time duties for the new position include serving as the key contact for public information and media relations, managing the school systems social media and be the Webmaster over all the division and school websites.

Other duties include writing press releases, implementing community outreach activities, developing and distributing all publications and serve as the photographer for relevant school events. Fulcher wrote that seven people applied for the job, and three were interviewed.

An evaluation matrix used to rank the candidates does not exist, according to Fulcher, and she declined to provide any of the approximately 55 pages of applicants interviews on the basis that it was a request for a personnel record.

Asked how Gunn found out about the job, Fulcher wrote: I will share that Martinsville City Public Schools has no information in response to your request.

Although Fulcher would not provide details of conversations between Talley and board members about Gunns applying for the job, she did write that both Parker and Givens were excluded from those discussions.

Gunn graduated from Roanoke College in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies. He worked at Ferrum College as an admissions counselor and communications coordinator, and in addition to working for MCPS, is pursuing a masters degree in Communications with a concentration in public relations online from Purdue University since 2019.

Talley called Gunn to the podium to introduce him at last Mondays school board meeting.

Thank you for this opportunity, Gunn said.

Thank you, Talley said. A parent [sent a] text [to] me about how excited she was that one of our events was being streamed on Facebook.

Thank you for using those various forms of media, and thank you for what you are doing.

Parker and Givens smiled approvingly.

Bill Wyatt is a reporter for the Martinsville Bulletin. He can be reached at 276-638-8801, Ext. 236. Follow him @billdwyatt

Bill Wyatt is a reporter for the Martinsville Bulletin. He can be reached at 276-638-8801, Ext. 236. Follow him @billdwyatt

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Germany, France, the US, and the UK made a joint statement on Syria on Sunday amid the ninth anniversary of the outbreak of civil war in Syria, DW reported.

Assads regime must be held accountable for his atrocities, the statement said.

According to them, military offensive of the Syrian regime with the Russian and Iranian support leads only to further suffering and an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.

Germany, France, the US, and the UK required Syria to comply with UN Security Council resolution 2254: to declare a national ceasefire, carry out constitutional reform, release arbitrary detainees and hold free elections. The donor countries of the settlement process in Syria are ready to consider the issue of humanitarian support for the country's reconstruction only after the start of the irreversible, credible, real political process.

The statement recalls that nine years ago, tens of thousands of Syrians spoke out against state corruption to defend their dignity and human rights, and the authorities responded with arrests, torture, and violence. As a result, 11 million people, almost half of the Syrian population, were forced to leave their homes, more than half a million Syrians were killed, the countries said in a joint statement.

Germany, France, the US, and the UK note that Assad must stop the ruthless killings, accept the will of the Syrian people, and not justify violence and massive violations of international law by the fight against terrorism.
Meaning 'dream' in Turkish, Ruya in Mayfair is certainly a place to head to for some culinary dreams to come true. This tucked away luxe lair is a delight for the senses, from the sultry interiors to a salivating meze of scents wafting over from the open kitchen. Settle in for a feast that will turn your vision of Turkish food on its head. The menu features a wide selection and the staff will be more than happy to recommend a mix of dishes. Dont leave without trying the moreish truffle cheese pide, the melt in the mouth 24-hour slow cooked short rib and the traditional Kekek risotto dish punctuated with wild mushrooms. To wash it all down, there is a sommelier on hand to recommend regional and international wines, while the cocktails go down a treat with the Turkish coffee infused negroni being a standout mix. To finish, theres a tempting tipple of desserts, with the bergamot ice cream and hazelnut baklava scoring the thumbs up. A top date spot or restaurant for group dining.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 11:50:59|Editor: huaxia

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People walk past a closed Barca store in Barcelona, Spain, March 14, 2020. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Saturday confirmed the "State of Alarm" in Spain, announcing that the country will go into lockdown for 15 days from 8 a.m. on Monday morning in an attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus. (Photo by Zhou Zhe/Xinhua)

BEIJING, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Countrie around the world are beefing up control and prevention measures to contain further spread of the novel coronavirus.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday in Geneva that Europe has now become the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.

During an address on Saturday evening, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez confirmed the "State of Alarm" in Spain, announcing the lockdown of its 46 million citizens for 15 days from 8 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Monday morning.

All shops (except those selling "essential goods"), bars, restaurants, cinemas and schools will be closed and travel restrictions imposed on the whole population, in an attempt to combat "a worldwide pandemic, and a social and health crisis," he said.

This is only the second time such a situation has been decreed in Spain, with the first ordered during a wildcat strike by Spanish air-traffic controllers in December 2010.

Just three hours after Sanchez approved the imposition of a "State of Alarm" for Spain, the Prime Minister's Office said Begona Gomez, the wife of the Spanish prime minister, has tested positive for the coronavirus.

The number of confirmed cases in Spain has spiraled to over 6,300, with an increase of around 1,500 in just 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Welfare.

In Italy, the caseload has reached 17,750 as of Saturday, the Italian authorities said.

The figure, which did not include recoveries or fatalities, marked an increase of 2,795 cases over the previous day. Some 527 people were dismissed in the day, bringing the total to 1,966, while the death toll also grew by 175 cases to 1,441, according to the Civil Protection DepartmAent that is coordinating the national emergency response.

According to the department's data, a total of 9,059 cases have been reported in the hardest hit northern Lombardy region, whose capital is Milan.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Wednesday evening announced new measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus, including the closure of all retailers and businesses except providers of basic necessities, such as supermarkets, pharmacies, public transportation, post offices, and banks.

The measures came after the government placed the entire country on lockdown beginning on March 10, which restricted the movement of the country's some 60 million residents.

U.S. President Donald Trump, whose test turned out late Saturday to be negative for the novel coronavirus, announced earlier in the day that the U.S. travel ban on Europe is extending to the United Kingdom and Ireland, which will be effective Monday midnight eastern standard time (0400 GMT Tuesday).

The travel ban Washington imposes on 26 European nations has been effective since Friday midnight.

Trump has declared a national emergency on Friday to open up 50 billion U.S. dollars in federal aid to help combat the spread of COVID-19 across the country.

The United States has reported 2,726 cases as of Saturday night with at least 54 deaths, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Iran, the worst-hit country by the epidemic in the Middle East, announced Saturday that a total of 12,729 people have been tested positive for the novel coronavirus since its outbreak, some 4,339 patients have recovered from the disease, while another 611 have died.

Iranian authorities are considering an imposition of partial lockdown on 11 provinces in the country to fight against the spread of novel coronavirus, state Press TV reported on Saturday.

Iran's army announced on Friday that it would begin to empty shops, streets and roads nationwide within 24 hours as part of measures to fight the virus.

According to Johns Hopkins University's tally, up to 8 p.m. Saturday Eastern Standard Time (0000 GMT Sunday), the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has exceeded 150,000 globally.
Sudhir Suryawanshi By

Express News Service

After the resignation of five Gujarat Congress legislators, the second seat of the Congress has come in trouble as the grand old party will have to either withdraw one nominee or face defeat in the Rajya Sabha polls scheduled on March 26.

Congress has fielded senior leaders Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki while the BJP nominated Abhay Bhardwaj, Ramila Bara and Narhari Amin for the four RS seats.

As per the total strength of 182 in the Gujarat assembly, the Congress with 73 MLAs and the BJP with 109 MLAs were in comfortable positions to elect two nominees each for the Rajya Sabha polls on March 26. However, BJP spiced the race by fielding the third candidates and poaching the Congress legislators.

The five Congress MLAs have submitted their resignations to Assembly Speaker Rajubhai Vakil who is likely to accept it on Monday. With this, the strength of the Congress party in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly will come down to 69 from 73.

To avoid further damage and horse-trading, the Gujarat Congress shifted their legislators to Rajasthan. The Congress party needs the first preference of 73 votes for the first nominee while the second nominees need the total 74 votes.

Senior Congress leader and state party observer Rajeev Satav said that the BJP have always indulged in horse-trading during the elections.

"But the people of Gujarat are with us. Earlier also they poached our six legislators including OBC leader Alpesh Thakor but won three seats giving a tough fight to BJP. As long as people of Gujarat are with us, we are not concerned. This crisis is an opportunity for Congress to bounce back once again like we did in 2017 and gave a tough contest to BJP in the state assembly elections where we were close to power," Satav said.

However, sources in Congress said that the party may withdraw its second candidate after defections of their five MLAs. Senior journalist Mayur Parikh, who tracks Gujarat politics closely, said that the BJP is not only fighting to get its third candidate to win the Rajya Sabha polls but planning for the next state assembly polls.

"BJP does not want Congress to grow in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah in Gujarat at all. Therefore, all sort of efforts is taken by the BJP leadership to reduce the electoral strength of the Congress by some or other way. Besides, Shah wants to take the sweet revenge of 2017 where Congress leader Ahmed Patel had defeated the BJP leader by one vote only," Parikh pointed out.
Hindu philosophy discusses what is known as Karma theory , which means that every act of human beings in life are pre destined and will occur at the appropriate time , which is unpreventable. The Hindu philosophy virtually ask the people to reconcile themselves to the pre destined situation.





by N.S.Venkataraman





When caronavirus attack happened in Wuhan region in China, many governments and people around the world thought it was a localized affair and Chinese government would tackle it. However, when Caronavirus started spreading across the world , a sense of vague fear gripped the people. Further, when several governments including USA declared national emergency to tackle the crisis, a world wide alarm and fear amongst people all over the world set in. Today, the world community is under the vice like grip of fear psychosis, making people extremely anxious and restless about their own safety and that of relatives and fiends.













Even after a few months, after the death of around 5000 people due to coronavirus attack and several thousand more being treated , still there is no conclusive evidence as to why the virus occurred, how long it would last and what could be the drug/vaccine to treat the virus attack.





Countries are closing the borders , denying visas to foreigners and many suggestions have been made such as hand washing , wearing of mask and avoid shaking hands etc.





However, at the bottom of heart everyone knows that panic is not prevention.





Situation has now become so grave that everyone looks at others with suspicion. Even slight fever or cough are being looked at as possible indication of coronavirus attack and such people are treated as untouchables. The fact that fever and cough have been happening to people all over the world for several thousands of years when coronavirus was not known, is not enough reason for people not to fear simple cough or running nose, today.





While the scientists and medical industry are striving hard to find drug for treating coronavirus attack, no one seems to be thinking of strategies to tackle the mental attack that people are facing nnow due to coronavirus. It appears that no religious heads or non governmental organisations or activists have thought about the need to build proper mindset amongst people in facing this coronavirus crisis.





Today, while a fraction of world population has been identified as suffering from coronavirus attack, billions of people around the world are shivering with fear about the impending coronavirus attack on them from anywhere or nowhere.





In this difficult situation, the Hindu philosophy has an answer and shows the way.





Hindu philosophy discusses what is known as Karma theory , which means that every act of human beings in life are pre destined and will occur at the appropriate time , which is unpreventable. The Hindu philosophy virtually ask the people to reconcile themselves to the pre destined situation.





At the same time, Hindu religion does not advocate inactive or action less life. It calls for every one to do his/ her duty and strive for achievements at every time and opportunity. It certainly does not ask people to go to sleep, while facing problems in life.





While advocating the concept of destiny and at the same time leading an active life, the Hindu philosophy further advocates the concept of detachment. This implies that everyone should work and strive and at the same time accept the developments as the Will of God wherever He is and whatever He is.





This Hindu philosophy is very apt in todays conditions of coronavirus attack, where the scientists and medical industry should strive to develop drug for treatment of the virus and every individual should observe all suggested precautions to safeguard himself / herself. At the same time, the individuals should not allow themselves to get into a psychosis of fear and develop a panicky mindset as if coronavirus attack is on the doorstep.





Strive hard to prevent unhappy development and develop a mindset of reconciliation ,if any unfortunate event were to happen.
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VATICAN CITY (AP)  Pope Francis left the Vatican to make a surprise visit Sunday to two churches in Rome to pray for the end of the coronavirus pandemic  a move that came even as Italian health authorities insisted people stay home as much as possible to limit contagion in the heart of Europe's outbreak.

Francis who recently had a cold, headed first to a Rome basilica, St. Mary Major, where he often stops to give thanks after returning from trips abroad. There he prayed before an icon of the Virgin Mary dedicated to the salvation of the Roman people.

With his prayer, the Holy Father has invoked the end of the pandemic that is striking Italy and the world, implored for healing for the many sick, recalled the so many victims of these days and asked that their family members and friends find consolation and comfort,' Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement.

After that, the 83-year-old pope left the basilica, near Rome's central train station, and headed toward central Piazza Venezia, strolling along a brief stretch of Via del Corso, a noted shopping street for Romans. He then ducked into a church that most tourists pass by, St. Marcel on the Corso.

The church keeps a "miraculous crucifix that in 1522 was carried in procession through the neighborhoods of the city so that the Great Plague of Rome ended,'' Bruni said.

Some 90 minutes after he left Vatican City, Francis was back.

In ordinary times, the Via del Corso would be thronged with Sunday strollers and window-shoppers, but very few Romans are on the streets these days. A national lock-down allows people to go out to work, to purchase essentials like food or medicine or to take care of those in need.

A sole cyclist was pedaling down the street when Francis, in his white robes and with a security detail walking behind, approached the St. Marcel church.

The pope's prayerful foray across town came just hours after the Holy See announced that the Vatican's Holy Week ceremonies will go ahead without the public Italy tries to contain its coronavirus outbreak.

Story continues

Bruni said as far as Holy Week liturgical celebrations are concerned, I can specify that all are confirmed.

But Bruni added: As things stand, understudy are the ways they would be carried out and who would participate while respecting the security measures put in place to avoid spread of the coronavirus. He added that in any case, faithful will be able to follow the ceremonies on TV, radio and through online media.

Vatican media added "until April 12 the General Audiences and the Angelus presided over by the Holy Father will be available only in live streaming on the official Vatican News website.

Easter Sunday is April 12 this year, when normally tens of thousands of faithful would fill St. Peter's Square for an outdoor papal Mass, listen to the pope's speech and receive his blessing, delivered from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica.

Although Easter itself wasn't specified in the Vatican statements, it appeared likely restrictions on large gatherings might well continue in Italy. The Italian government has said it would decide whether measures, now in effect through April 3, would need extending or tightening.

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday on April 5, with tradition calling for an outdoor Mass in the square also on that day, when faithful clutch palm fronds and olive branches.

COVID-19 for most people causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some, like the elderly and the fragile, it can cause more severe illness.

At 83 with one lung partially compromised, Francis is both. After he was seen sniffling and coughing and sounded congested a couple of weeks ago, the Vatican said he had a cold.

Italys virus cases surged again Sunday, with 3,590 more in a 24-hour period for a total of 24,747 cases. Deaths also jumped, with 368 more, bringing the country's overall death toll to 1,809. The additional infections reported Sunday represented the biggest day-to-day increase so far in Italy.

With St. Peter's Square closed to the public, and one case of infection reported by the Vatican recently, Francis on Sunday delivered his traditional weekly commentary and blessing from the Apostolic Library instead of from a window overlooking the vast square.

Francis praised Catholic priests for creativity in tending to their flocks, especially in the region of Lombardy, northern Italy, where thousands of people have been hospitalized or are in quarantine. He said their efforts demonstrated there are a thousand ways to be near to the faithful, if not physically.

Some churches in Italy are being allowed to stay open for individual prayer, but all public Masses are forbidden during Italy's lockdown to discourage crowding.

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Luca Bruno in Giussano, Italy, Geir Moulson in Berlin, and Iain Sullivan in Madrid, 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
Twenty new case of the novel coronavirus surfaced in Pakistan on Sunday, bringing the total number of COVID-19 infections in the country to 53.

The number of coronavirus cases have doubled in Pakistans southern Sindh province, with 18 new positive cases detected on Sunday.

The Punjab province also reported its first two cases in Lahore and Islamabad.

Murtaza Wahab, a spokesperson of the Sindh Government, said 13 of the cases surfaced when a group of pilgrims were tested for the virus after they reached Sukkur city from the Taftan border.

Pakistan saw a sudden increase in coronavirus infections on Tuesday when a dozen new cases were reported across the country.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday said that he was personally monitoring measures to deal with the coronavirus in the country.

Khan announced on twitter that he would soon address the nation to take the people into confidence about measures to combat pandemic.

"I want to inform the nation I am personally overseeing measures to deal with COVID 19 and will address the nation soon. I would advise people to follow safety instructions issued by our govt. While there is a need for caution there is no need for panic," he said.

He said Pakistan government was fully aware to the dangers and taking steps.

"We are alert to the dangers and have put in place sufficient protocols for the safety and health of our people. The WHO has commended our efforts as being amongst the best in the world, he said.

The deadly virus that first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year has claimed over 6,000 lives and infected more than 150,000 people across 135 countries and territories.

China remains the hardest-hit with more than 80,000 infections and 3,199 deaths.

Pakistan's high-powered National Security Committee on Friday took several decision to boost efforts to defeat the threat posed by the virus.

Among other things, it decided to close down the western border with Afghanistan and Iran.

It also ordered the closure of all education institutions in Pakistan till April 5 in view of the virus outbreak.
(Fixing dropped words par 9)

* French Polynesia reports first Sth Pacific case

* Marshall Islands suspends all incoming air travel

* Most Pacific island nations cannot test for coronavirus

* Cruise ships denied access to several Pacific ports

By Jonathan Barrett

SYDNEY, March 13 (Reuters) - Pacific islands are imposing strict lock-down measures to combat the coronavirus, denying access to supply vessels and prohibiting human-to-human contact during aircraft refuelling, amid fears their small healthcare systems could be over-run.

The region recorded its first case of coronavirus this week, in French Polynesia, although most island nations cannot screen for Covid-19 cases onshore which is potentially masking its spread.

One of the wealthiest Pacific nations, Fiji, this week opened its first facility capable of testing for the coronavirus, one of only four such facilities in the region, Radio New Zealand reported.

Brad Ives, senior captain on the supply vessel Kwai, said the sailing ship was loaded with supplies for five populated coral atolls in the northern Cook Islands, in the South Pacific, when it received word it would be refused entry.

"Fortunately, we got notice that they were going to refuse the ship before we departed our last port," Ives told Reuters.

"There's cargo on it that will expire. It's a bit of a problem for us that we are solving as we go."

Kwai is now in the Line Islands reorganising its route.

While all Pacific nations have introduced wide-spread restrictions on international travellers over the past several weeks, some are now completely isolating their island populations.

The United States-backed Marshall Islands, while those on aircraft landing to refuel are being restricted from human-to-human contact.

Cruise ships have been denied port calls in New Caledonia, Tonga, Cook Islands and Samoa, among others, over the past fortnight, as local authorities tighten controls.

The island of Pukapuka, a tiny coral atoll in the Cook Islands with a population of 500, has been left short of foods like sugar, flour and rice after turning away the Kwai supply vessel.

Island residents understand that coronavirus infection could be catastrophic due to a lack of medical facilities, said Pukapukan community member Kirianu Nio, who now lives on the more heavily populated island of Rarotonga.

"They are short in processed foods which are the main supplies they normally order in bulk - but that's a small price to pay," said Nio. (Reporting by Jonathan Barrett in Sydney; Editing by Michael Perry)
With a private island in the Bahamas, a fleet of flash cars and offices in London, New York and Hong Kong, entrepreneur Luke Wilson would appear to be the epitome of self-made success.

Except all may not have been as it seemed at the 37-year-old's luxury watch company.

The Mail can reveal Mr Wilson is being chased by at least 17 people who are allegedly owed more than 2.3million for bespoke timepieces which never arrived.

His business, formerly known as Luxure Global Citizen, had helped him bag an apartment overlooking the Thames and a lifestyle to rival his idol Jordan Belfort  the Wolf of Wall Street.

But creditors are chasing money paid to Mr Wilson's company for dozens of rare watches between 2016 and 2018.

Luke Wilson is being chased by at least 17 people who are allegedly owed more than 2.3million for bespoke timepieces which never arrived

With a private island in the Bahamas, a fleet of flash cars (Two Lamborghinis pictured) and offices in London, New York and Hong Kong, entrepreneur Mr Wilson would appear to be the epitome of self-made success

His business, formerly known as Luxure Global Citizen, had helped him bag an apartment overlooking the Thames and a lifestyle to rival his idol Jordan Belfort  the Wolf of Wall Street. Pictured: beside his Rolls Royce

Action Fraud has been approached by at least one of the creditors and Mr Wilson's company was liquidated following a compulsory winding up order at the High Court in London in January last year.

A progress report, released last month by liquidator Richard Cacho, said claims totalling 2,324,298.26 had been received from 17 creditors.

Mr Wilson states the terms and conditions of sale allowed orders to be cancelled if it became clear the watches were to be sold on.

But Mr Cacho said he interviewed Mr Wilson accompanied by a barrister and he 'mainly gave non-committal answers' and then cut the interview short and has since refused to be interviewed again.

To convince collectors to pay up, the former furniture maker and Harrods employee was said to have claimed he was close to Thierry Stern, head of prestigious Swiss watchmakers Patek Philippe.

Mr Wilson states the terms and conditions of sale allowed orders to be cancelled if it became clear the watches were to be sold on

On several occasions, his firm produced letters on Patek's headed paper, allegedly signed by a director, prom- ising delivery of prestigious timepieces.

But a spokesman for the company said: 'Patek Philippe has never had any relationship, association or affiliation with Luxure Global Citizen or Mr Wilson.'

Watch collector Stephane Valsamides paid Mr Wilson's company 336,144 for a rare Patek Philippe 6002G 010 Grand Complication Sky-Moon Tourbillon (pictured) which was not produced

Watch collector Stephane Valsamides paid Mr Wilson's company 336,144 for a rare Patek Philippe 6002G 010 Grand Complication Sky-Moon Tourbillon and three other watches.

They were not produced and he has not received his money back.

In 2018 Mr Wilson claimed to have purchased a nine-acre island in the Bahamas.

At one stage, he also had access to five luxury cars  two Lamborghinis, a Bentley and two Rolls-Royces.

And he has registered a British Virgin Islands-based company called Straton Oakmont Ltd named after the business established by Jordan Belfort  The Wolf of Wall Street  who was immortalised by Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2013 film.

Mr Wilson's company offices on Wall Street, in London's Mayfair and in Hong Kong turned out to be paid-for postal addresses  or 'virtual' offices.

His empire was in fact operated out of his flat in Vauxhall, south London.

Mr Wilson offered at least one client a refund in a mixture of cash and a cryptocurrency he had created himself  which was refused. He said he had offered full refunds to other clients.

Mr Wilson said: 'As a brand Patek Philippe has... 355 authorised retailers globally, some of which we had contractual commission agreements with.

'In regards to the letters, these were provided by an authorised retailer outside the UK through one of our sales managers which was later shared with the clients in question... The 2.3million figure is total nonsense. I know what the figure is and how many people there are.'
Pubs and clubs in Irish tourist hotspot Temple Bar are to close with immediate effect amid Covid-19 fears.

Publicans in Dublins Temple Bar have announced a complete shutdown of all bars and nightclubs with immediate effect.

The move means no bars will be open in the area for St Patricks Day, one of the busiest days in the Irish tourism calendar.

Martin Harte, of the Temple Bar Company, said the decision was taken voluntarily, adding this is the owners of all pubs sitting down and deciding this is the best thing to do in terms of public health and safety.

No indoor mass gatherings of more than 100 people applies to pubs & clubs. Have asked NPHET for further expert guidance on this. May seek enforcement powers from Dail/Seanad.  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) March 15, 2020

Mr Harte said the problem is that social distancing and limiting of numbers is impossible to enforce in bars.

It comes as the Irish government may seek enforcement powers to ensure that the ban on indoor mass gatherings of more than 100 people applies to pubs and clubs.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has urged people who socialised in pubs and clubs at the weekend to avoid the elderly and people with chronic diseases, to stop the spread of Covid-19.

He tweeted: No indoor mass gatherings of more than 100 people applies to pubs & clubs. Have asked NPHET for further expert guidance on this. May seek enforcement powers from Dail/Seanad.

His message comes despite restrictions on mass gatherings in the Republic of Ireland and guidelines on social distancing.

On Saturday night, Health Service Executive chief executive Paul Reid also urged pubs to wise up quick after videos showed people crowding into them.

The Quays Bar in Dublin (PA)

Some pubs and bars across the country have voluntarily opted to temporarily close as the Department of Health advised people should try to keep two metres between themselves and others.

Photos emerged on social media of crowded pubs in Dublins Temple Bar on Saturday.

In a tweet, Health Minister Simon Harris said crowds gathering in small spaces was an insult to the efforts of healthcare workers.

On Sunday morning, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said: The advice on what each of us needs to do is clear, we all need to follow that advice, not just for our own health, but for the benefit of all those around us.

Each one of us needs to think of vulnerable people in our midst and ask ourselves what we can do to help them through this.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald urged people to avoid socialising in pubs and to keep all social contact to a minimum.

Publicans have tried their best to implement social distancing guidelines, but for many it's proved an impossible taskPadraig Cribben, Vintners' Federation of Ireland

The Vintners Federation of Ireland will meet government officials on Sunday to discuss the new guidelines on social distancing, amid growing calls for pubs to shut.

Publicans have tried their best to implement social distancing guidelines, but for many its proved an impossible task, said Padraig Cribben, chief executive of the federation.

He said: While we fully support the governments health guidelines, our members do require urgent clarity about how to manage the current situation.

We hope today will bring some certainty about the immediate future. Business supports are essential if the trade is to make a comeback.

Hospitality Ulster chief executive Colin Neill called on the industry to introduce social distancing in Northern Ireland to limit the spread of Covid-19.

The health of the nation is paramount, as is the health of our staff, but it is also important that we try and ensure people will have jobs to return to once this crisis is over, he said.
As cases of coronavirus continued to spread across South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster on Sunday ordered all public schools and colleges closed until March 31 and urged communities to limit all public gatherings to 100 people or less.

Nine new cases of the virus have been identified in the state, bringing South Carolina's total to 28. No deaths have been reported, but the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control said it is not tracking the conditions of patients with confirmed cases.

Three new cases were identified in Kershaw County, which now accounts for half of the state's cases. Three cases were found in Horry County, two in Anderson County and one in Greenville County  the first cases reported in those areas.

So far, 263 tests for the virus have been conducted in South Carolina with 235 negative results. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday night that he tested negative for the coronavirus after coming into contact with two individuals who had tested positive.

McMaster said Sunday that there is no shortage of testing capabilities in state and private labs. The DHEC lab will be resupplied with more tests this week, and the Medical University of South Carolina has been authorized to begin testing for the virus by the end of this week, he said.

The Trump administration said Sunday the federal government is ramping up both the availability and analysis of testing this week. According to the Associated Press, the first doses of a potential vaccine were to be delivered Monday for clinical trials.

South Carolina's governor continued to stress people remain calm in the outbreak.

While he cautioned against large gatherings, with the exception of businesses or government offices, McMaster said he had no plans to tell South Carolinians to avoid restaurants or bars. He said people should use common sense in going to malls or movie theaters. Many popular attractions said they would close until the end of the month, including Riverbanks Zoo and Garden.

The public school closings alone impact one-fifth of South Carolina's population. McMaster's declaration came a day after North Carolina's governor closed schools in the Tar Heel State.

Around 730,000 children attend 1,250 public pre-K-12 schools in the state, taught by around 55,000 teachers. Some 200,000 students attend 33 four-year, two-year and technical colleges.

Private schools and day-care centers are not covered in the governor's order, but they were asked to follow the state's closing schedule and some already have.

"School closings are inconvenient. We know that," McMaster said. He asked parents to tell their children the importance of personal hygiene and social distancing.

All students statewide will be able to get free breakfasts and lunches, regardless of whether they normally eat for free. But not every school will prepare the meals.

Where parents and caregivers can go to pick up meals should be posted on each district's website. The meals could be available as early as Monday, when all public schools will close. Kershaw County is one district that's ready to go. But most districts will probably make them available starting Tuesday, state education officials said.

Around 3,000 school buses equipped with Wi-Fi will be made accessible in remote areas for students who do not have internet access. Many public library systems, which offer free internet access, announced they will close for the rest of the month, including the Charleston and Richland county systems.

There may not be any high-stakes, end-of-year testing in public schools this spring. State education superintendent Molly Spearman said she will ask the federal government to waive the requirement for state-standardized testing because of the disruption.

"Theres no need for teachers and students to have the added anxiety of whats going to happen in testing," Spearman said.

Whether the school year will be extended remains to be seen. Schools districts are working to submit 10-day plans to state education officials, outlining how they will handle the closures and temporarily transition to virtual learning.

At an emergency board meeting on Sunday, Richland One School District Superintendent Craig Witherspoon said mounting requests by district teachers, parents and others led him to consider shuttering schools for their 23,000 students independently of a state government order.

The states education department has already approved Richland Ones distance learning plan, which could avoid the need for lost classroom days. Richland One plans to use its website as tool for teachers to communicate with students and parents, including uploading lesson plans, research materials and other information.

We are starting to have a lot of new normals, and this, too, in the short term, will be a new normal, Witherspoon said.

Many public colleges already announced plans to push classes online and asked students to avoid campus, including the University of South Carolina.

Meanwhile, healthcare centers have rushed to add more collection sites for those possibly exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19.

Roper St. Francis Healthcare will add a drive-thru collection site Monday at its North Charleston clinic at 5133 Rivers Ave. Patients with a testing order can visit the site 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. MUSC began a drive-thru collection site in West Ashley on Thursday.

For those worried they should be tested, allergies may cause a cough and shortness of breath, but a fever in conjunction with other symptoms is the best indication someone may have contracted the virus, DHEC officials said Sunday.

Religious leaders also struggled on how to best protect their congregants.

Some places of worship closed their doors to physical gatherings and chose to stream services online. Others determined that since the state had not recommended or mandated the canceling of public events, religious services should continue as planned.

Many agencies are taking precautions to limit the spread of COVID-19.

The Charleston County Sheriff's Office announced late Saturday that going forward, deputies would respond as single units to non-emergency service calls at high-risk locations such as nursing homes, events with large crowds or medical facilities. Some non-emergency calls will be handled by telephone. Other law enforcement agencies released similar policies.

The latest coronavirus cases in South Carolina show the different ways people are becoming infected  some by those already battling the virus and those with no known source.

The two new cases in Kershaw County are household contacts of a previous case, DHEC officials said. Another new case from Kershaw County is a middle-aged day-care worker with no identified source of exposure.

Two cases in Horry County are elderly individuals with exposure to a confirmed case of COVID-19 from another state. No further details were available on the third new patient, who is also elderly.

In Anderson County, two middle-aged individuals without an identified source of exposure have tested presumptive positive for the virus. They are currently hospitalized in isolation. A young adult who recently traveled to Spain is isolated at home in Greenville County.

The outbreak led McMaster to postpone all special local and municipal elections until after May 1. Candidate filing will start Monday as normal.

South Carolina Democrats are being asked to postpone their 2020 county conventions, a mandatory part of selecting delegates for the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee. Thirty-eight counties need to hold conventions. Two were scheduled to take place Monday.

In a memo sent to South Carolina Democratic county party chairs on Sunday afternoon, state party officers announced the remaining 2020 county conventions would be postponed.

"We have already begun discussions about options for conducting county conventions if they are not able to be held in a physical location. We will provide further guidance in the middle of this week," the memo obtained by The Post and Courier stated.

MK Wildeman, Andy Shain, Seanna Adcox, Caitlin Byrd, Adam Benson and Glenn Smith contributed to this report.
LETTERS: No to ADUs in single-family zones; get rid of the new parking fees
Congregants at First Baptist Church in Nederland traded in their usual greetings of handshakes and hugs for holy fist-bumps during a downsized service Sunday, as houses of worship joined the ever-growing list of organizations that have taken precautions to minimize large gatherings and prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The church offered online streaming of services, and the staff set up automatic dispensers of hand sanitizer for the relatively few who did show up for services. Fewer than 200 people  about half the size of a typical crowd  were in the pews.

We have a reduced crowd, and our electronic greeters are sanitizing people, the Rev. Jason Burden said. But it is really a day-by-day, hour-by-hour event.

Worshippers at St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Churchs earliest service on Sunday were greeting by a number of empty pews, following a decree issued on Friday by Catholic Bishop Curtis Guillory of the Diocese of Beaumont that formally granting parishoners older than 60, those with chronic health conditions and their caregivers permission to skip services until the healthy crisis is past.

At Cathedral in the Pines, the Rev. Randy Feldschau delivered a sermon to a largely online audience, then live-streamed a fact versus fiction panel discussion of coronavirus that was viewed by more than 100 people on Facebook and other platforms. Feldschau, who is also a Beaumont city councilman, and local leaders spent about an hour addressing the virus.

Topics included public and mental health, school and city preparedness and changes to the financial market.

Related: Steps taken for seniors, others vulnerable to coronavirus

Speakers largely emphasized messages that have been repeated widely, such as wash your hands and stay home from work if youre sick. They also reiterated that the elderly and the ill are at the highest risk to contract the virus and experiene severe symptoms.

They also addressed assertions from some people that the stocking up on supplies, social distancing and cancellation of events may be an overreaction.

Feldschau said the state of emergency thats been declared and other precautions arent so much for where we are now, but as a precaution to avoid the U.S. outbreak from getting much worse in the future.

If we ever lose control, were going to have a serious problem, he said.

While no cases of the deadly COVID-19 coronavirus strain have been confirmed in Jefferson County, widespread precautions have ramped up in recent days, coming to a head with a disaster deceleration by Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick.

Some of the areas larger churches, including Praise Church on North Major Drive on Beaumonts northwestern edge, made the decision to broadcast online and forgo an in-person service entirely. Creative pastor Will Gallagher said church leaders also had to cancel a youth retreat they had just finished setting up Thursday.

I dont think it was a surprise for people, he said. The way everything else around them is making a similar call, I think that everyones hope is that it is temporary.

At First Baptist Nederland, 96-year-old Johnnie Warner said he will continue coming to church as long as he is able.

I have been coming to this church since 1951, Warner said. There is no substitute for faith during these times.

Related: Southeast Texans take coronavirus interruptions in stride

During their morning greetings, some members struggled with the new guidelines.

I wish I could hug, one member said. This is really difficult.

Bruce Stracener, a member since 1973, said he was not overly concerned.

I think we in this church, and all Christians can take a lot of comfort in knowing Gods in charge, Stracener said. Regardless of what happens, he is in control. I am not afraid. I am not worried. I dont think any Christian should be.

Still, he stressed the importance of good hygiene.

I think this is a very dangerous thing, this virus. It can be deadly, he said. But the whole world is in a state of panic. I think it is better to be safe than sorry, but to some extent it has been overblown.

The global pandemic has continued to hit the U.S. in recent days. Italy reported its biggest one-day total coronavirus deaths yet on Sunday.

Worldwide, the disease has infected more than 150,000 people and killed more than 5,700.

Burden said church leaders will meet Monday to discuss what happens next week and after.

If we can limit the crowd to something like this we may continue to have worship on a small scale, he said. And if the online services are meaningful to people, I think we will be emboldened to be able to tell people to just stay home and catch it online.

Related: SETX stores respond to increased demands amid coronavirus

Journey Community Church in Lumberton also planned to hold services Sunday, the Rev. Jeb Airey told The Enterprise.

Our services will be oriented toward prayer, although I will be giving a devotional, Airey said. We have taken special measures to make sure that everyone is safe. We are making sure everything is clean and setting up special stations for cleaning.

Grayburg Baptist Church in Sour Lake, which has about 20 members, planned to enhanced cleaning ahead of Sundays service.

The Rev. Brandon Tribble of First Christian Church of Sour Lake said services would continue there as long as schools in the region remained open.

If they close we will move to a Facebook live service where most members can watch at home, Tribble said. We will also encourage everyone to refrain from shaking hands and hugging for the time being.

During the panel hosted by Feldschau, Beaumont ISDs Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education Anita Frank told viewers that the district plans to return from next weeks spring break as normal, but she encouraged parents to follow the districts social media pages to get updated information should things change.

Top hits: Get Beaumont Enterprise stories sent directly to your inbox

Golden Triangle Church on the Rock also broadcast their online, citing Branicks order as the reason.

Pastors Burden and Gallagher said their flocks would adapt to the coronavirus scare just as they have with other recent calamaties.

I think for us, it is an opportunity to be a blessing to our community, Gallagher said. Of course we had Harvey and then Imelda. This is a little different, but we are already used to changing gears to, It is going to look different but it is the same thing that we do.

And for Burden, the transfer to online  which saw about twice as many people as usual watching on Facebook live, is a test-run for the next disaster, pandemic or flood.

This really is good practice for us for the next hurricane, Burden said. In the event of an evacuation where everybody is displaced? We are going to know how, and have the infrastructure to get everyone together from this event.

isaac.windes@hearstnp.com

kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com
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Linkedin Hamza Mekouar with Sophie Pons in Rabat (Agence France-Presse) Fnideq, Morocco  Sun, March 15, 2020 09:34 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206ab166d 2 News morocco,tourists,Europe,travel,coronavirus,COVID-19,tourism Free

Thousands of tourists were stranded in Morocco on Saturday after the kingdom suddenly announced strict border restrictions in response to the coronavirus, leaving travelers stuck at borders, ports and airports.

"We are lost!" said David, an Italian tourist waiting at the closed border with the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in northern Morocco.

Late on Saturday, Rabat announced a suspension of air links with 21 countries including Austria, Denmark, Greece, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland in Europe, as well Turkey and Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Africa's Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal, and Canada and Brazil were also in the list.

Morocco had already suspended air, sea and land links with European countries and Algeria on Friday, as well as taking measures to confine citizens to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Flights to and from Algeria, Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal and Italy were suspended "until further notice", while sea links for passengers and Morocco's land borders with Ceuta and a second Spanish enclave, Melilla, were closed.

But France announced that Rabat had agreed to allow repatriation flights for French nationals.

"New flights are being organised to enable (stranded French tourists) to return to France," President Emmanuel Macron tweeted Saturday.

The first flights back to France had already taken off that day, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said earlier.

The closure of the only land border between Africa and the European Union at Cueta and Melilla saw Spaniards rushing to leave on Thursday evening, as Moroccan day workers hastily returned in the opposite direction.

The land borders are busiest in summer and the border sees regular traffic throughout the year. Now though a Moroccan police roadblock bars the road towards the border with Cueta.

Read also: Virus spread starts to hit Indonesian tourism as foreign arrivals cool

'Who will pay?'

David said he tried to go to Spain because links with Italy, a hotspot of the disease, are suspended.

After arriving in Morocco for a motorcycle tour with his partner earlier this month, the 33-year-old Italian was stuck at a service station outside Cueta.

The border at Cueta, like that at Melilla, was reopened Friday only for Spaniards.

The Spanish embassy in Morocco tweeted Saturday that ferries were still operating between the enclaves and mainland Spain.

Its French counterpart also tweeted that "passage (into Ceuta and Melilla) is open to French ferry ticket holders with vehicles."

But except for a few travelers, the normally busy border post near the Moroccan town of Fnideq was deserted.

At the service station, camper vans bearing various European license plates were parked waiting.

"We don't know how long this will last, no one has told us anything," said Rene, a 71-year-old French man, speaking before Le Drian and Macrons' announcements.

"The weather is good here, there's surely fewer cases of coronavirus in Morocco than in France," he said.

Moroccan authorities have reported 17 cases of COVID-19, including one death. France and Spain have together announced more than 210 COVID-19 deaths.

Morocco's Transport Minister Abdelkader Amara has tested positive for the disease after an official visit to Europe, his ministry announced Saturday.

On the Spanish side at Cueta, stuck Moroccans were wondering why their country would not let them back in.

"If I need to get a hotel, who will pay?" asked a man hoping to return home.

At Tangiers port some 30 kilometers to the west, containers and trucks were unloaded as usual but the passenger terminal was closed.

The busiest port in North Africa, the facility welcomed 568,000 foreign tourists in 2019, while some 473,000 entered from Cueta and Melilla, according to official figures.

The travel restrictions are causing panic in the kingdom's tourism sector, which accounts for 10 percent of GDP and is a key source of foreign revenues.
Maharashtra has reported 32 positive cases of novel coronavirus so far, state Health Minister Rajesh Tope said here on Sunday.

He announced that the laboratory capacity to test samples of suspected novel coronavirus will be expanded to 350 per day from the present 100 per day at the civic-run Kasturba hospital in Mumbai in the next two days.

Tope said another laboratory will be set up at KEM hospital in Mumbai in the next two days. New laboratories will also come up at JJ Hospital, the Haffkine Institute--also in Mumbai, besides at BJ hospital in Pune in the next 15-20 days.

He said a decision has already been taken on this regard. Orders will be issued either on Monday or Tuesday and the facility will be ready within 15-20 days, he added.

ALSO WATCH | Coronavirus: India cases cross 105; restrictions in more states like Assam, MP

Maharashtra has 32 confirmed positive cases of novel coronavirus as of now including nine people who are admitted at Kasturba hospital, the minister told reporters after reviewing the quarantine facility and other infrastructure at Kasturba hospital.

Tope said that 250 samples can be tested at the new facility at KEM hospital.

250 samples with new machines and around 100 with old existing set up can be tested from Wednesday, he said, adding that another lab will be set up at KEM hospital by Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the state government has appealed to the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) to postpone its upcoming exams till March 31, apparently in view of rising cases of viral transmissions.

The chief minister has appealed to the MPSC, which is an autonomous body, to conduct exams after March 30. I am confident the MPSC will conduct the exams after March 30, he said.

Tope said he reviewed wards in Kasturba Hospital where COVID-19 cases as well as the suspected patients are being treated. He also visited the OPD facility.

Presently, nine Coronavirus positive patients are being treated at the hospital while 80 other suspected cases are kept in isolation.

The hospital has capacity of 80 beds, which we are increasing to 100, he said.

The minister further said facilities like television, WiFi are being provided to patients at the hospital, along with newspapers, food and fruits.

Tope said the hospital has sufficient number of N95 masks, Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and other gears for its staff and doctors.

The minister said that police protection will be provided to the hospital as 350 patients visit its OPD per day.

Tope said the quarantine facility at the SevenHills Hospital in Mumbai will be expanded to 1000 within a week. The hospital currently has the capacity of 400 beds.

He said the testing facilities at semi-urban Dhule, Aurangabad, Solapur, and Miraj will be established within one month.

The Health Minister further said the state government has taken adequate steps to contain the coronavirus infection.

He said district collectors are being empowered to take necessary actions about locking down rural areas, depending upon the situation.

Tope directed officials to cancel all social, political, government and other gatherings where people come into contact with one another.

Viral diseases can be cured automatically with our immunity. Hence I will appeal and request people to not panic and dont get scared. At the same time, it is necessary to follow instructors of doctors like adhering to respiratory etiquettes and washing hands repeatedly, he said.

Tope later told reporters at Mantralaya that 18 of the 32 people who tested positive to novel coronavirus had visited the USA, France, and the Philippines while a big group of people had visited Dubai.

These infected people further infected 14 others who came into their contact, he said.

Replying to a question on the forthcoming elections to civic bodies, the minister said the Election Commission will take a call.

Stating that operations of buses and trains cannot be suspended, Tope said that people should travel only if it is necessary.

Maharashtra has already invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 that gives wide-ranging powers to officials to enforce measures, including that of lockdown and quarantine, required to tackle an outbreak.

The state government has ordered the closure of educational institutions, theatres, malls, parks, swimming pools, gymnasiums etc to stop the spread of coronavirus.

The COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur, Yavatmal, Thane and Ahmednagar. PTI KK NSK NSK
Temple senior Francesca Furey walks to her last face-to-face class at Temple. Class started at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, March 12, 2020. Read more

For many college seniors, the spring before graduation serves as a last hurrah, as one Temple University student called it.

Its a time to congregate and savor accomplishments with classmates, cherish final lessons with beloved professors, and prepare to celebrate an achievement with family members.

Not this year.

The coronavirus has ruined that for thousands of college seniors across the country. And frankly, students are sick about it.

I wish I were a junior, said Villanova senior Oliver Sperans, 22, of Rosemont. I want this thing to pass. I want to enjoy college the way its meant to be. Its devastating.

Almost all colleges in the region have moved to online learning for at least the next few weeks. Many, including the University of Pennsylvania and Temple, West Chester, Rowan, and Lehigh Universities, are among those that have gone even further, taking the unprecedented step of ending in-person instruction for the rest of the semester.

 READ MORE: More colleges move to, plan for online classes as coronavirus spreads

Worse yet, colleges might not be able to hold commencement in May, which typically brings thousands of students, family members, and college staff together.

Thats honestly the biggest thing. Thats making me very anxious, said Francesca Furey, 21, a Temple University senior from Rockland County, N.Y. I worked so hard over the last four years.  My grandmother is 85, and I really wanted her to see me get my diploma. And now, I dont even know if that is happening anymore.

Furey, a journalism and history major, was preparing to attend her last in-person classes Thursday. Temple will move to remote instruction Monday.

Its kind of surreal, just not knowing when I will see my professors that I love so much next, said Furey, who intends to remain in her off-campus apartment, or when Ill see some friends that I know are graduating.

Sperans, the Villanova senior, also lives near campus. He agrees with Villanovas decision to move classes online through April 16 and thinks the school actually should have done so sooner and been more forthcoming with information.

 READ MORE: Colleges are going completely online amid coronavirus spread. How will that even work?

Everyone was confused and scared, said Sperans, a political science major.

Mia Fowler, 22, a Yale University senior, is sad, too, that her final year at the Ivy League school has been interrupted. Yale will shift education online after spring break. The university on Saturday said that someone in the Yale community tested positive for the virus on a preliminary test.

Everything that is exciting about senior year doesnt happen until after break, she said, noting that students are focused on midterms and papers before. The last month is the time we spend together.

Theres senior week, beach week, and senior traditions she said shes probably not even aware of.

But she also has kept her personal loss in perspective.

All these things are a very big deal personally, said Fowler, a graduate of Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, but you know, there are much more serious things going on, and Im obviously aware of that.

 READ MORE: Drexel will conduct all final exams remotely because of coronavirus

Joel Chacko, a senior at the University of Pennsylvania, also acknowledged the university was responding to a time of crisis.

Some things do have to disappear, said Chacko, 21, of Philadelphia.

But, like Sperans, he would have liked more information from the university, more quickly. A material science and engineering major, he still worries that the online courses Penn shifts to wont be rigorous enough for him to get enough credit for graduation, though the engineering department assured him they would.

He said he used to spend five to six hours in a lab a week; now, professors will record experiments and send them to students, he said.

Hell also miss the week between the end of classes and graduation, when seniors can savor their four years of hard work and what it has led to.

Victoria Gilstrap, 21, of Voorhees, a senior business supply chain major at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., tried to remain optimistic that her classmates would be able to return to campus to end with a bang.

Were just all hoping that we will be back to enjoy our senior year on campus, Gilstrap said.

Many schools havent figured out yet how they will handle commencement.

West Chester University president Christopher Fiorentino left no doubt.

He said he feels awful that the school has had to end all in-person instruction through the end of the semester, and is determined to do what he can to ease that disappointment for seniors. The university will have a commencement, he said, but may have to delay it until a safer time.

We cant fix everything, he said, but we can certainly make sure their college career ends with the kind of celebration and dignity that they deserve.

Staff writer Melanie Burney contributed to this article.
Two things are necessary to analyze information: (1) perspective; and (2) recognizing source bias. These tools have never been more useful than now, in a time of coronavirus.

We are not the first to suggest that Democrats in and out of the media are exploiting coronavirus for political benefit. Having failed to take President Trump down with the Russia hoax and the faux impeachment, theyre grabbing on to coronavirus, with none more openly virulent than MSNBCs Lawrence ODonnell, a grinning jack-o-lantern of doom.

Heres some perspective:

On March 13, 2020, when President Trump declared a national emergency and mobilized the entire government to fight coronavirus, there were 1,629 cases and 48 people had died. As Sharyl Attkisson detailed, all but five were over 70, with several over 80. Four others were younger but with underlying medical conditions. Seventy-seventy percent of the deaths were in Washington State.

The data were different on October 26, 2009, when President Obama declared a national emergency because of H1N1, which had then been ravaging America for seven months. For a direct comparison to coronavirus, two months after H1N1 got its start, 43,677 people were infected and 302 people had died. By the time Obama announced a national emergency, CNN reported even higher numbers albeit in a calm, rational fashion:

President Obama has declared a national emergency to deal with the rapid increase in illness from the H1N1 influenza virus. [snip] Since the H1N1 flu pandemic began in April, millions of people in the United States have been infected, at least 20,000 have been hospitalized and more than 1,000 have died, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

H1N1 originated in Mexico, but Obama left the border open  and did so with media encouragement.

In China, there were 156,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in a country of 1.4 billion people, with an unknown, but probably higher, number of unconfirmed cases. China admitted to only 5,800 deaths. Proportionately, Italy's situation is more concerning. Coronavirus exploded there, with 21,157 confirmed cases and 1,441 deaths now reported.

Both Italy and China have underfunded, third-world style socialized medicine; heavy pollution; aged populations; and large numbers of smokers. Both had slow reactions when the illness appeared.

In America, we have a first-class, well-funded, proactive medical system, clean air, relatively few smokers, and our population is not disproportionately elderly. Trump closed our borders to China months ago and closed our borders to Europe (including the UK) this weekend. American infections and deaths are still low.

Coronavirus could be an emergency here, but it isnt yet, and Trump has been proactive.

That gives a sense of perspective.

For bias, look at the pass the media gave Obama for his dilatory reaction to H1N1. America ultimately had 60.8 million H1N1 cases, with deaths disproportionately affecting working adults and children. There were an estimated 12,469 deaths, but the media never complained about Obama. This contrasts with the medias drumbeat that, with 48 deaths, Trump failed to address the problem.

But if you really want bias, nothing equals Lawrence ODonnells smirking statement that Trump is a mass murderer:

ICYMI: MSNBC's @Lawrence O'Donnell peddles the worst kind of fearmongering, claiming that "more people are sick... dead and dying" because Donald Trump is president. pic.twitter.com/Xt6SGJW7Tx  MediaResearchCenter (@theMRC) March 15, 2020

The most incompetent and uninformed president in history has led the federal government into the worst emergency response to a pandemic that we have ever seen in this country. One of our guests will tell us that its one of the worst responses by any government in the world today. More people are sick in American tonight because Donald Trump is president. More people are dead and dying in America tonight because Donald Trump is president. More people are losing more of their life savings and retirement accounts today because Donald Trump is president. As we will discuss later in this hour, the Presidents ten-minute speech from the Oval Office last night directly provoked more loss of stock market value, which is to say retirement funds, than any other speech by any other president in history. If Donald Trump had just said nothing last night, where would we be today?

In answer to O'Donnell's last question, if he'd possessed a crystal ball, he would have seen that Trumps press conference two days later caused the market to go up by almost 2,000 points.

Media bias is so extreme and unbalanced, and so manifestly contrary to coverage during the H1N1 era, that reasonable people must discount media hysteria. Yes, theres something serious going on here; yes, we should be proactive to flatten the curve; but no, President Trump has not been a disaster. Instead, hes been on top of things and its the Trump deranged media thats the disaster.
Sending people to be in home quarantine is a sure way of spreading deadly virus

After daylong drama about quarantining people returning from Italy, the authorities on Friday night allowed 142 of them to go home and asked them to be in self isolation.







However, 59 other Italy-returnees who arrived at Dhaka airport in the Saturday evening were sent to a makeshift quarantine centre in Gazipur's Pubail.





According to government statistics, over 1200 expatriates have so far been asked to be in home quarantine, but many of them are reportedly not following the directive.







Although the government is repeatedly requesting people who are returning home from abroad to be in home quarantine for 14 days to prevent spread of novel coronavirus, many of them are seen walking freely in their localities.





We do not expect anything from the government to be assured as such because there are so many people around them who are too incompetent that they are accustomed to lies to misguide the government and come to think that lies always succeed.





We say do not play politics with the lives of the people threatened by a world-wide pandemic disease that has already taken more than five thousand lives. And the disease is highly contagious. Yet it has no medicine for cure.





By protecting oneself only one can help himself. There is need for the government to be properly equipped and get international help. For sure, the government has very poor stock of ventilators.





We shall ask the health officials to behave responsibly in these days of human crisis. Let others in the government remain complacent about unpreparedness.





There was an incident of anger and fury among a section of the returned people who were taken to Hajj Camp in Dhaka as they found the place unclean and uncared for.







Police and Ansars had to be called in to bring the situation under control. However, they are sent homes to be in self-quarantine.





The two incidents of mishandling with incoming passengers from badly infected countries could not be offered proper quarantine facilities. The few others were sent to a makeshift quarantine facility in Gazipur.







In this kind of unpreparedness, it is just difficult to believe that huge number of our people will not die helplessly without any care.





It was terribly wrong to send 142 people home came from Italy -- the most severely spread coronavirus country -- for self-confinement knowing fully well that most of them do not know what it is required to be in self-quarantine.







In developed and more educated countries also incoming people from abroad, even if their own people returned from other countries, require to stay in official confinement for 14 days.





Such irresponsible advice of self-quarantine for incoming passengers who have received no earlier training and where there is no assurance that they will be kept under watch of trained health officials, will only help the spread of the deadly disease.
By Kim Sun-ae



In "Little Women," the movie directed by Greta Gerwig, Aunt March leaves Jo her big house in her will. Looking at the empty house that Jo's aunt left, I came to wonder what I would leave when I died.



American writer Louisa May Alcott is best remembered for her novel "Little Women." About 150 years has passed since she wrote the story but it still inspires many readers today.



When we die, we can't take our bodies, money, or social status with us. The only things we can take with us when we die are our thoughts, words and actions during our lives. What really matters is how we live, not what we have. Even if we have wealth and fame, they just stay temporarily.



I don't want to have too many things to discard when death comes. My friend once told me that she cleans her house before she travels. She said she can't be sure if she will be able to return from the trip. So she organizes her possessions before travelling.



I want to have necessary things only. When I go to the bank, the staff members recommend that I get a credit card. If I get a new credit card, I can receive more interest. Nevertheless, I already have one credit card and don't need another. So I politely but firmly decline their suggestion. I don't want to possess something I don't use. If I have something I don't use, it's a waste of resources.



If we feel that we have too many superfluous things, we can donate or sell them. We can also give them to our friends or acquaintances who need them. If we have time, we can organize our things in one day. If it is difficult, we can organize them one by one gradually  throwing away at least one item or giving one to someone every day.



My grandmother died last autumn. When I think of her, I remember the way she talked and her warm heart. She didn't say unnecessary things and her actions matched her words.

She always found the merits of people she met and complimented them on those merits. With encouraging words, she supported others. When she lived in the countryside before moving to Seoul, she cooked for her neighbors who couldn't cook, and shared the food with them. I remember her as a wise and compassionate person.



I hope that my life is a journey in which I realize my potential and in which I help other people realize their own. I hope that my writing will be able to help people recognize their own potential and to live fully.





Kim Sun-ae (blog.naver.com/dancinglf) wrote a book of illustrated essays, "Old Potato, New Potato."


Jammu: The security forces on Sunday (March 15) killed at least four terrorists in a gunbattle in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir. According to the police, the encounter broke out in the wee hours today at Dialgam area in Watrigam in Anantnag.

According to sources, one of the four terrorists is believed to be linked to the Pakistan-backed Hizbul Mujahideen while the other three were associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba outfit. The police said that the security forces received a tip-off about the holed-up terrorists in a hideout when they launched a cordon and search operation in the area.

(This is a developing story and more details are awaited.)
Loading  Loading 

Immediately Dr Isah Ali Pantami, the Minister of

Communication and Digital Economys statement to the effect that, the Nigerian

Postal Service (NIPOST), should be allowed to collect stamp duty, just like the

Customs collects duties; gained traction in Nigeria, Federal Inland Revenue

Service (FIRS), which has been seeking to impose itself as the sole agency

responsible for tax collection in Nigeria became jittery and desperate.

FIRSs desperation which is a function of its inordinate

effort to become a Rent seeking organization in Nigeria, can easily be seen in

the number of poorly scripted articles they apparently sponsored in the media,

particularly, the social media against NIPOST. A situation whereby an

establishment of government, collects 4% on the amount accrue-able to

government in a year from stamp duty, as expenses it incurred in the course of

collecting such, without dissipating energy whatsoever, amounts, to rent

seeking. What this simply means is that FIRS desperately wants to be collecting

4% from government without work. In the light of this fact, one can clearly see

where the desperation to monopolize stamp duty collection by the agency is

coming from. The danger in this type of rent collection by government agency is

that it promotes corruption.

Perhaps, another reason behind FIRSs blind ambition to see

at all cost, that the right to collect stamp duty is ceded to it by government,

is the ease at which the duty can be collected now. It could be recalled that

on 15th January 2016, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), directed all

commercial banks in Nigeria, to start deduction of N50 for any transaction

above one thousand naira (N1000); in accordance with the Stamp Duty Act of

2004. This development made it easy to track and route stamp duty proceeds to

the federation account. So, what the FIRS intend to profit from this easy

method, is just that 4%, nothing more. It is doubtful FIRS would have bothered

itself with stamp duty collection, if they are to perform the task of affixing

N50 stamp on transactional documents as required by law.

On February 19, 2020, Dr Adewusi led NIPOST management team

paid a visit to Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) to explore areas of

collaboration on digital financial services. The visit was widely publicized by

national dallies in Nigeria; however, one online newspaper,

busnesshighlights.com.ng, probably commissioned by interest sympathetic to

FIRS, to attack Dr Adewusi-led NIPOST management team, elected to add mischief

to its own version of the report of the visit. In the online opening paragraph,

it has this to say: Following the recent loss of the battle to control the

collection of Stamp Duty to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (NIPOST) has

stepped up efforts to find relevance of existence.- . Although, this writer

should not have joined issue with this online newspaper, as other reputable

dallies had reported accurately, what transpired between NIPOST and NCC, but

for Nigerians who deserve to know the real issues in contention as regard the

stamp duty. In the first place, FIRS now knows that Nigerians are aware Customs

collects tax on behalf of federal government too. The Court (Judiciary)

collects stamp duty fee on deeds. In perfecting deed of assignment, partnership

etc, the Court collects fees for that, yet, FIRS says they are the only agency

saddled with the responsibility of collecting tax in Nigeria. Isnt it obvious

that the argument of tax collection monopoly by FIRS has collapsed?

Secondly, even if the two chambers of National Assembly pass

a law that allows FIRS collect stamp duty on behalf of federal government, the

President and Commander -in- Chief, Muhammadu Buhari, may not sign such bill to

law because such arrangement is not economically viable based on the most

important principles of taxation (the cost of collecting tax most not outweigh

the benefit). Unless, NASS was heavily

compromised, it can never enact a law that takes away the right and custodian

of Stamp from NIPOST. The question on the lips of Nigerians is, even if FIRS is

given the go ahead to collect stamp duty, how will it go about it, will it buy

stamps from NIPOST and then, administer it, according to the law? If this

scenario should be the case, what happens to the principles of taxation? It is

obvious that if FIRS is allow to collect stamp duty, the revenue accrue-able to

federal government from the sale of stamp will be wiped out because it will be

far more costly.

Apart from FIRS insistence and desperation to collect 4% as

the expenses for collecting stamp duty from structured sources, how will the

agency collect stamp duty from unstructured sources? Will FIRS take over the

custodian of stamp too, appoint or commission agents that will sell stamps to

Nigerians for transactional purposes?

In the lager interest of Nigeria, whoever is sponsoring

attack on Dr Adewusi-led NIPOST on stamp duty collection right, should desist

from such action because it is doomed to fail, not because NIPOST has the

financial muscle to fight back; but simply because economically, it is, and

will not be in the interest of federal government for FIRS to collect stamp

duty on her behalf, for the simple reason that the cost of collecting such tax

will far outweigh the benefit!

Emeka Oraetoka

Information Management Consultant & Researcher

Wrote in from Abuja

e-mail: giltsdaimension@gmail.com.

GSM: 08056031187 09039094636.
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.
One look at an anglerfish, and you want to forget all about it, let alone learn seven interesting facts about it. However, if you are still here, we are going to talk about what many consider to be the ugliest animal on Earth. The anglerfish is a bony fish that got its name because of its specific method of predation. The fleshy growth that comes out of its head has the function of a lure that the anglerfish uses to catch other fish.

These fish can be found all over the world, most of the time dwelling near the seafloor. However, despite popular belief, some swim closer to the surface, so do not be frightened by its looks if you run into one while swimming. The anglerfish has plenty of exciting things about it, and we will delve deeper into several of them in this article.

They Are Close To Being Endangered

Certain subspecies of the anglerfish are starting to be recognized by Greenpeace, and added to their red list.

During El Nino phases, groups of anglerfish can rise to the surface, which can sometimes result in large groups of them being found floating dead. Certain subspecies of the anglerfish are starting to be recognized by Greenpeace, and added to their red list. This means that they are commonly sold for consumption, but are most likely sourced from unsustainable fisheries.

The meat of the anglerfish is consumed in several parts of the world, most notably in Korea and Japan. However, given its current situation, the anglerfish might become endangered very soon.

They Have A Big Mouth

Certain subspecies of the anglerfish are starting to be recognized by Greenpeace, and added to their red list.

When we say that the anglerfish have a big mouth, we mean that literally. Their mouth is so wide it extends all over the entire circumference of their head. Both jaws are lined with inwardly inclined small teeth. The teeth of an anglerfish can be depressed, which serves two equally scary purposes.

The first one is that they cannot create any resistance to the food that is gliding towards the stomach of the anglerfish. The second purpose is to prevent the food from escaping its mouth. Yeah, that is incredibly creepy. The anglerfish also have thin and flexible bones, which allows it to extend its jaw and stomach to enormous sizes. Using this ability, it can swallow prey that is twice as large as the body of the anglerfish itself.

They Can Swim Fast If They Want To

The anglerfish can be extremely fast swimmers when they feel like they are in danger.

The anglerfish can be extremely fast swimmers when they feel like they are in danger; however, they are known to passively drift most of the time. This is possible because the environments they live in are quite harsh, so they need to conserve energy due to the lack of food.

Once they do decide to swim, they can reach speeds of up to 0.24 body lengths per second, which is considered to be notably fast. They are also known to swim sometimes inverted, with their angler hanging downwards, which is a method of enticing their prey.

They Have Symbiotic Relationship With Bacteria

They cannot synthesize the chemicals necessary for this luminescence by themselves.

Lets talk more about the light the anglerfish use to hunt for prey, because it is interesting, to say the least. We have previously noted that the source of this light is the bacteria that dwell around the fleshy tip used as bait. This tip is called the esca, and it is believed the bacteria and the anglerfish have developed a symbiotic relationship.

The reason for this is because this bacteria is usually unable to create the luminescence if it is not connected to the anglerfish. They cannot synthesize the chemicals necessary for this luminescence by themselves. These bacteria can only survive in seawater, and the deep-sea habitat of the anglerfish is most suited for their survival. The exact way how the anglerfish finds these bacteria is still unknown.

The Male Fish Are Parasites

The male anglerfish are notably smaller than the females, and they do not use the same bait females do to hunt.

The male anglerfish are notably smaller than the females, and they do not use the same bait females do to hunt. They are constantly in a search for females to mate with and have evolved in a sort of a parasitic life partner to them. When a male anglerfish encounters a female, he latches onto her using his sharp teeth. What happens next is quite fascinating.

As time passes, the male starts to fuse with the female physically. He attaches to her skin and bloodstream and begins to lose his eyes and internal organs. Eventually, all that is left of the male is the testes. A female usually carries around six males on her body, although there are cases when it is even more than that.

They Use Bait To Hunt Prey

The tip of this fleshy growth is luminous, so it serves as a bait to lure the prey.

The feature that anglerfish are most known for is a piece of their dorsal spine they use to catch prey. This is only worn by females, and it sticks out above their mouths, resembling a fishing pole. This is why they are called the anglerfish. The tip of this fleshy growth is luminous, so it serves as a bait to lure the prey.

The glow of this bait comes from the bacteria living in it. After the prey is close enough, the anglerfish can eat it. What is especially impressive is that they can swallow fish that is almost twice their size, since their mouths are so humongous.

Their Body Type Is Determined By Habitat

Anglerfish, Island Bali, Tulamben, Indonesia

The anglerfish species have more than 200 subspecies, and the majority of them live in the depths of the Antarctic and Atlantic oceans. They usually stay almost a mile below the surface, but some are known to habituate the more shallow, warmer environments. Believe it or not, the shape of their bodies largely depends on where they can be found.

We describe the anglerfish that live near the surface as being pelagic, while those that dwell close to the seafloor are benthic. The pelagic forms of anglerfish are laterally compressed, meaning they are wider on the sides. On the other hand, the benthic forms are dorsoventrally compressed, meaning their backs and lower parts of their bodies grow longer, and they often have moths that point upwards.
Texas based American Airlines Inc on March 14 announced that it plans to cut 75 per cent of its international flights through May 6 and ground nearly all of its widebody fleet, a news agency reported. This comes in response to the coronavirus outbreak that has resulted in a global collapse in the travel demand.

The airlines cuts include suspending nearly all long-haul international flights to Asia, Australia, Europe, New Zealand and South America, a news agency reported. According to reports, it will now operate only two flights to London every day and one flight to Asia every week. However, all the short-haul flights will continue as usual. Commenting on its widebody fleet, the airlines also confirmed that it had already parked almost all its widebody aircraft. It added that the organisation is anticipating its domestic capacity to reduce by 20 per cent in April and 30 per cent in May versus the same period in 2019.

Read: Coronavirus: Indian Domestic Travel Industry Sees Sharp Decline In Bookings Amid Scare

Read: How 'Food For Hungry' Is Helping Poor Patients & Kin Who Travel From Afar For Treatment

Coronavirus hits US

This comes as coronavirus continues to hit the US with President Donald Trump declaring that March 15 would be a National Prayer Day for people affected by coronavirus. Donald Trump while sharing the tweet of senior pastor Jentezen Franklin wrote that he will be tuning in to the online experience of worship that is being conducted at the Free Chapel Church in Gainesville, Georgia at 11 am on March 15.

Tomorrow I have called for a National Day of Prayer. I will be tuning in to Pastor @Jentezen at the @FreeChapel Church in Gainesville, Georgia at 11:00 AM EDT. God Bless the USA! https://t.co/mWYWOGJ1ye https://t.co/EWcHzEjFLH  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 14, 2020

The development came hours after Donald Trump declared a state of national emergency in the United States. "To unleash the full power of the federal government in this effort, today I am officially declaring a national emergency. Two very big words. The action I am taking will open up access to up to $50 billion of very importantly - very important and a large amount of money for states and territories and localities in our shared fight against this disease," Trump said in his declaration speech.

Read: Donald Trump Declares National Day Of Prayer For Coronavirus-affected People

Read: COVID-19: China Eases Travel Restrictions After Two Months Of Lockdown

(With inputs from agencies)
Tehran province has the highest number of new infections with 251 fresh cases.

Tehran: Iran on Sunday urged its citizens to stick to guidelines and stay at home to stop the new coronavirus spreading, as it announced another 113 deaths from the outbreak.

The latest death toll announced by the health ministry took to 724 the official number of people to have been killed by the disease since last month.

People "should cancel all travel and stay at home so that we may see the situation improving in the coming days," ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in a televised news conference.

Jahanpour also reported 1,209 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the total to 13,938.

"The good news is that more than 4,590 of the overall confirmed cases have recovered" and the patients have been discharged from hospitals, he added.

Tehran province had the highest number of new infections with 251 fresh cases.

Khorasan Razavi province, home to the holy Shiite city of Mashhad, followed with 143 cases.

"The cases there will probably increase," the official said, calling on everyone to cease from travelling to the northeastern province.

Mashhad's Imam Reza shrine receives many devout Iranians every year, especially around the country's New Year holidays which start on March 20.

The outbreak in Iran is one of the deadliest outside of China, where the disease originated.

Jahanpour called on Iranians to "take the coronavirus seriously" and especially be mindful of elderly relatives who are most vulnerable to the infection.
Israel plans to use anti-terrorism tracking technology and a partial shutdown of its economy to minimise the risk of coronavirus transmission, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.

Cyber monitoring would be deployed to locate people who have been in contact with those carrying the virus, subject to cabinet approval, Netanyahu told a news conference in Jerusalem on Saturday.

We will very soon begin using technology  digital means that we have been using in order to fight terrorism, Netanyahu said.

He said he had requested Justice Ministry approval because such measures could infringe patients privacy.

In an escalation of precautionary measures, Netanyahus government announced that shopping centres, hotels, restaurants and theatres will shut down from Sunday, and said employees should not go to their workplaces unless it was necessary.

However vital services, pharmacies, supermarkets and banks would continue to operate.

Health officials urged people to maintain social distancing.

There is no choice

The Shin Bet, Israels domestic security service, confirmed that it was examining the use of its technological capabilities to fight the coronavirus, at the request of Netanyahu and the Health Ministry.

Avner Pinchuk, a privacy expert with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, said such capabilities could include real-time tracking of infected persons mobile phones to spot quarantine breaches and backtracking through metadata to figure out where they had been and who they had contacted.

I am troubled by this announcement. I understand that we are in unique circumstances, but this seems potentially like overreach. Much will depend on how intrusive the new measures are, said Pinchuk.

The Shin Bet, however, said in its statement that quarantine enforcement was not on the table.





There is no intention of using said technologies for enforcement or tracking in the context of isolation guidelines, it said.

Netanyahu said it was not an easy choice to make and described the virus as an invisible enemy that must be located.

He said Israel would follow similar methods used by Taiwan.

In all my years as prime minister I have avoided using these means among the civilian public but there is no choice, Netanyahu said.

The latest announcement follows a series of ever-stricter restrictions imposed by Israel to contain the virus.

The Israeli military said earlier on Saturday that it had ordered all troops to return to their bases by Sunday morning, and that combat soldiers should prepare for a lengthy stay with no leave for up to a month.

Last week anyone entering Israel was ordered to self-isolate for two weeks and schools have been shut. Tens of thousands of Israelis are presently quarantined.

Israels Health Ministry said 193 people have tested positive, with no fatalities. Many had been on international flights in the past two weeks.
Republican Devin Nunes on Sunday slammed China's response to the coronavirus pandemic as 'inefficient', arguing the 'communist dictatorship downplayed' the outbreak in an escalating war of words between the two nations.

Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, pointed to the whistleblower doctor who died of the disease as evidence of the cover up in an interview with Fox News Sunday.

He told Sunday Morning Futures: 'They're inefficient. They have people that are under authoritarian control. 'If you look back to what the Chinese did, they probably had this in the late fall, especially early winter.'

'Instead of like calling people in and learning how to help and develop a way for us to know how to treat this, they downplayed it.' China has already 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.

Republican Devin Nunes on Sunday slammed China's response to the coronavirus pandemic as 'inefficient'

He told Sunday Morning Futures: 'They're inefficient. They have people that are under authoritarian control. 'If you look back to what the Chinese did, they probably had this in the late fall, especially early winter'

A spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry suggested on Thursday the U.S. military might have brought the coronavirus to Wuhan, which has been hardest hit by the outbreak, doubling down on a war of words with Washington.

But Nunes, referring to Dr Li Wenliang, said Sunday: 'Think about it, the doctor that actually was the whistleblower on this ended up dead.'

Dr Li was punished for sounding the alarm over the coronavirus outbreak before it spread and then died of the infection last month. Four more medics at Wuhan Central Hospital where he worked have since lost their lives to the fast-spreading contagion in the space of a month or so. COVID19, the disease caused by the virus, has killed 60 people in the United States and infected more than 3,200 people as of Sunday afternoon.

Nunes also said the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has been 'looking at China for a very long time' adding: 'We are building legislation now that is based off of our investigation.'

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has already referred to coronavirus as the 'Wuhan virus', prompting Beijing to reject the term as 'despicable' and 'disrespecting science'.

Nunes argued the 'communist dictatorship downplayed' the outbreak in an escalating war of words between the two nations (Chinese President Xi Jinping dons a mask on March 10)

People line up to get nuclei testing for SARS-COV-2 at a hospital designated to test the discharged COVID patients and people from the isolation facilities in Hongshan district in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Saturday

While Kevin McCarthy, a US congressman, called the virus the 'Chinese coronavirus' on Twitter. In a tweet on Monday, he wrote: 'Everything you need to know about the Chinese coronavirus can be found on one, regularly-updated website.'

He was sharing the link to the website of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 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.

'Unfortunately, rather than using best practices, this outbreak in Wuhan was covered up,' O'Brien said Wednesday during an appearance at the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation.

O'Brien added that as a result 'it probably cost the world community two months to respond.' 'There's lot of open-source reporting from China, from Chinese nationals, that the doctors involved were either silenced or put in isolation or that sort of thing,' he said at Heritage. 'So that the word of this virus could not get out.'

'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.

A medical worker (L), who took care of COVID-19 patients in the hospital, embraces a colleague after a 14-day quarantine at Hebei Chest Hospital on March 14, 2020

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. '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.

He added: 'We hope certain US officials could focus on domestic response & international cooperation instead of trying to shift the blame to China by denigrating Chinese efforts to fight the epidemic. This is immoral & irresponsible, & will not help mitigate COVID-19 in US.'

Zhao's fellow Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang also criticized 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.

Zheng Yongheng receives a body test before donating plasma in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, March 12

Chinese Ambassador to South Africa Lin Songtian also tweeted on March 7: 'Although the epidemic first broke out in China, it did not necessarily mean that the virus is originated from China, let alone "made in China".'

The coronavirus emerged in December in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and surrounding Hubei province. 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 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.

China's richest man Jack Ma, worth 31.6billion, announced Friday he is donating one million face masks and 500,000 coronavirus test kits to the United States to help the world's largest economy fight the outbreak, which has killed at least 5,000 people worldwide. The WHO warns against naming infectious diseases in a way that encourages discrimination against ethnic groups.
A townhouse hanging a sign looking for new tenants in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.

Saigon landlords are cutting short-term rents for businesses by up to 50 percent as demand becomes sluggish during the Covid-19 epidemic.

Several landlords leasing out town houses to restaurants are foregoing up to one month of rent to keep their tenants, while those leasing space to convenience stores are discounting short-term rents by between 30 and 50 percent, says a report by real estate consultant Savills.

Landlords in famous culinary neighborhoods like Phan Xich Long street in Phu Nhuan District, or Ho Tung Mau and Ngo Duc Khe streets in downtown District 1 have also lowered rents by 10-20 percent compared to last year.

They are also offering more flexibility, letting tenants rent a desired area instead of requiring that the premises as a whole be leased, as they were doing earlier, the report says.

The novel coronavirus (Covid-19) epidemic has been a key reason behind these changes. The epidemic has kept customers away and made it very difficult for businesses in the F&B and retail sectors.

Many have been forced to reconsider their business strategies. While some renewed their leases or tried to renegotiate rents down in order to keep favorable locations, many have decided to end their tenancy altogether.

Long standard leases in areas outside District 1, in some cases for up to 10 years, were also a reason many prospective commercial tenants were hesitant to enter new contracts, the consultancy added.

Businesses in the food and beverages sector have been particularly hard hit. For them, the Covid-19 epidemic has been a double whammy alongside a government decree that came into force at the beginning of the year, doubling drink-driving fines.

Some businesses in the sector have reported that their February income has fallen by half over the previous month, Savills said.

As a result, major commercial landlords such as mall operator Vincom Retail and real estate developer Hung Thinh have also began to offer more favorable payment terms to commercial tenants, including rent discounts of 20-40 percent depending on the extent to which these business have been adversely affected by Covid-19, Savills said.

The epidemic is also expected to accelerate the consumer shift to online shopping from personally visiting brick-and-mortar stores at both malls and townhouses, a phenomenon that was already happening in the retail market, she added.

The novel coronavirus has left many restaurants, popular food streets and street eateries deserted for the most part, serving only a few customers even during peak hours. Many owners have been forced to lay off staff to reduce costs.

Vietnam had recorded 53 Covid-19 infections as of Sunday evening.
By Francois Murphy

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria is making 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) immediately available to deal with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the conservative-led government said on Saturday as it ditched a central pledge to balance its budget.

The government is ready to provide more financial resources to keep companies afloat, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said.

Austria has closed its borders to most arrivals from neighbouring Switzerland and Italy because of the coronavirus outbreaks there and is in the process of implementing measures to slow the disease's spread, shutting schools and most shops other than those selling food and medicine from Monday.

"A balanced budget is always important, but Austrians' health, jobs and a stable economy is more important," Finance Minister Gernot Bluemel told a government news conference, referring to his and fellow conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz's top economic target.

The initial 4 billion euro "corona crisis fund" would cover items such as bridge loans and credit guarantees to shore up businesses' liquidity, Kurz said. Help with shortening working hours for staff and deferring taxes would also be provided.

Asked on ORF TV whether the government had a limit on financial aid, or whether it would provide as much money as necessary, the chancellor said: "There is no limit to what is necessary. In this respect, everything possible is being done to secure the economy, and the jobs in Austria."

The government had the big ambition to maintain liquidity in the affected companies and to make sure that as many people as possible could keep their jobs, Kurz said.

Bluemel is due to give a budget speech on Wednesday. He said that instead of focusing on balancing the books his budget would spell out "the bitter truth of this crisis", and be aimed primarily at helping the country overcome it.

In the past, Bluemel and his party have opposed any move towards more flexibility on the European Union's deficit rules.

In January, the month in which Bluemel's conservatives struck a coalition deal with the Greens and returned to power, he said he opposed any loosening of those EU budget rules, even to enable spending on climate measures.

Story continues

But in light of the coronavirus pandemic the European Commission, which enforces those rules, has said it will give member states flexibility on budget deficits and state aid.

Austria has had 602 confirmed coronavirus cases and one death so far, and the disease is spreading fast. Italy, across the border, has more than 17,000 cases and 1,200 deaths.

The disease first reached Austria from Italy, and the mountainous west of the country wedged between Italy and Germany has been hardest hit. The ski resort of St Anton am Arlberg and the whole valley of another top resort, Ischgl, were put under quarantine on Friday because of clusters there.

Hundreds of Norwegian and Danish tourists were infected in a bar in Ischgl, where a bar keeper had carried the virus, local Austrian media reported.

Another resort town, Heiligenblut, was put under quarantine on Saturday. Anyone who has been to those towns since Feb. 28 or has been in contact with those people must self-isolate for 14 days, Kurz said.

($1 = 0.9005 euros)

(Reporting by Francois Murphy, Additional reporting by Kirsti Knolle,; Editing by Edmund Blair, Kirsten Donovan, Frances Kerry, William Maclean)
CLEVELAND, Ohio  The Summit County Public Health department announced Sunday that it confirmed the countys second case of the novel coronavirus.

The patient is a woman in her 40s, the department said in a news release. Officials believe her case is community-spread, meaning she did not have any history of travel to an area of risk or contact with anyone suspected of having the virus.

Summit County Health Commissioner Donna Skoda said that the county will not release any additional demographical information about the patient to the public. The department is working to track down anyone who might have come into close contact with the patient, the news release says.

The Ohio Department of Health confirmed the first Summit County coronavirus case Friday and the second in its media Saturday briefing.

The Summit County Public Health department is also urging all Summit County residents to comply with the state governments requests to limit unnecessary exposures to the novel coronavirus.

While challenging, limiting the communitys exposure to this disease will make a lasting impact on reducing deaths associate with the virus, the news release says.

Related news:

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine: State looking at closing bars and restaurants over coronavirus

Coping with coronavirus: Guide aims to ease fear of pandemic disease

Americans return to long waits for coronavirus screenings at US airports
By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 14, 2020 | 06:12 PM | MAYFIELD

The current covid-19 emergency has forced numerous changes to the Graves County Court system.

Circuit Court: All criminal cases currently set for March 16, March 23, March 30, and April 6 will be continued to Tuesday, April 14, 2020, at 9:00 a.m. It would be impossible to actually have all of those cases heard in one day. Therefore, attorneys should confer with opposing attorneys to attempt to find a different date in the future, if possible, and reschedule cases by agreed order where appropriate. All civil and domestic cases set for March 16, March 23, March 30, and April 6 will be continued to Wednesday, April 15, 2020, at 9:00 a.m. Again, attorneys should attempt to find a suitable date to re-scheduled these cases where appropriate to a different date via agreed order. In sum, there will be no Circuit Court cases heard from Monday, March 16, through Friday, April 10, except for emergency matters. Judge Stark is aware of the Kentucky Supreme Courts March 13, 2020 Amended Order and will be entering a more detailed Order re: proceedings involving incarcerated defendants and other matters.

District Court: Arraignments only for incarcerated defendants will be Monday, March 16, at 10:00 a.m. Arraignments only for incarcerated defendants will also be held Wednesday, March 18, at 10:00 a.m. Preliminary Hearings only for incarcerated defendants will be held Wednesday, March 18, at 1:00 p.m. All bench trials set for Monday, March 16, will be continued. All probate and/or other civil hearings or trials scheduled before Friday, April 10, shall be rescheduled to a later date. Attorneys should confer with opposing attorneys to attempt to find a different date in the future, if possible, and reschedule cases by agreed order where appropriate. Attorneys can also contact the clerks office regarding rescheduling proceedings. In sum, there will be no Court proceedings in Graves County District Court until after Friday, April 10, except for emergency juvenile hearings, time-sensitive hearings involving an incarcerated defendant, and temporary removal hearings. Attorneys should confer with opposing attorneys to attempt to find a different date in the future, if possible, and reschedule cases by agreed order where appropriate.

Probate Court: Attorneys can still file Petitions to Dispense with Administration, as parties rarely need to attend Court for these anyway. Also, attorneys can file Affidavits of Oath and Affidavits to prove a Will to have an Executor/Administrator appointed without appearing in Court.

The judges want us to resolve as much as possible via Agreed Order so that time will be preserved when motion hours resume for the cases that must be heard. In the meantime, the goal is to have as little person-to-person contact as possible.

The Circuit Court Clerks office will be open during normal business hours. However, electronic filings are encouraged.
You can see these tensions on full display in the new production at Drury Lane, directed by Alan Souza, whose last endeavor here was Joseph. Anything but relaxed, this tense, invulnerable show fights many of the fantasy aspects of the title: There is no storybook castle, relatively little humor and only minimal romance. With the exception of the terrific Bri Sudias Mrs. Potts (a real bright spot), few of the characters ever smile  even Cogsworth the clock (Nick Cosgrove) and Lumiere the candlestick (Tony Carter) mostly are serious souls. Mark David Kaplan, who plays Maurice, fights this mood, but hes often undermined. There are some momentary exceptions. But the show takes its main cue from the cover art on the program, an image dominated by gilded darkness.
38th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting announced

AMSAT is pleased to announce that the 38th Annual AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual General Meeting will be held on Friday, October 16th - Sunday, October 18th at the Crowne Plaza Suites: MSP Airport - Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.

The Crowne Plaza Suites is conveniently located adjacent to the American Blvd station on the Metro Blue Line, providing easy access to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, downtown Minneapolis, and the Mall of America.

The AMSAT Board of Directors will meet on Wednesday, October 14th and Thursday, October 15th at the hotel.

Further details, including hotel reservation information, tours, and other events will be shared in the coming months.

2020 AMSAT Symposium Committee
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As the coronavirus continues to spread through New Jersey, with the states latest numbers at 69 presumed positive for the virus, people are growing anxious, wondering where they can get tested.

By many accounts, the process to even try to get tested is an arduous and even harrowing task. And many health officials recommend you only ask to get tested if you have certain symptoms.

So where can you get tested? And should you even bother?

State, county and local officials have begun rolling out plans for temporary testing facilities all over New Jersey.

In Bergen County, which continues to have the most cases of the virus in the state with 31 as of Saturday, hospitals already have begun setting up testing facilities and developing quicker tests to combat the spread of the virus.

The states first widespread coronavirus testing center, at Bergen County Community College in Paramus, is set to be opened by Monday, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said during a telephone briefing with reporters.

The Bergen County site will be only for collecting specimens. The actual testing will be done elsewhere, officials said.

Holy Name Medical Center, in Teaneck, has opened up tents at the entrance to the emergency room to serve as triages for testing, said Jessica Griffin, spokeswoman for Holy Name Medical Center.

The two tents outside of our emergency department are solely being used to test patients who have been screened by their physicians via phone or in-office visit and meet criteria for testing that triggers a referral to our infectious disease team, Griffin said in a statement.

She said its infectious disease team will assess the information provided by the patients physician and the patient will be called in for testing if they meet our screening criteria.

She added that the tents are designated for testing only, not to treat patients.

Those with mild or moderate symptoms will be sent home to be isolated as they await test results, Griffin added.

Patients who have serious complications will be placed in a negative pressure room in our emergency department to be monitored and cared for while awaiting results, Griffin said.

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop announced on social media on Saturday that the city is working with our Federally Qualified Health Centers to facilitate testing if you are uninsured ... or insured.

Fulop added: However, you MUST CALL, speak to a Health Care Professional, and set up an appointment."

The mayor also posted a graphic for people to follow as an initial assessment of what steps to take.

We understand the community is anxious for more testing locations and many of you have read about the national challenges around that - We have been working with our Federally Qualified Health Centers to facilitate testing if you are uninsured. pic.twitter.com/vNPalaKeqg  Steven Fulop (@StevenFulop) March 14, 2020

Fulop provided these numbers to assist residents:

Alliance Community Healthcare (115 Columbus Dr.)  201-451-6300

Metropolitan Family Health (935 Garfield Ave.)  201-478-5800

North Hudson Community Action (324 Palisade Ave.)  201-459-8888

The escalating outbreak has people scared  many want to be tested, maybe just to be safe. But does that mean they should be tested?

The ambiguous symptoms that resemble the flu  dry cough, fever, shortness of breath  have many thinking its better to be safe and get tested than sorry. But the slow rollout of testing in the U.S. has complicated matters.

Compounding the uncertainty is the fact that emergency rooms could find themselves all but overrun from an influx of those wanting  and those actually needing  a COVID-19 test in New Jersey.

Its already been occurring in emergency rooms throughout the state  the so-called worried well coming in, fearing theyve been infected, demanding a test.

The New Jersey Department of Health is aware of spikes of worried well in hospital emergency departments, said Donna Leusner, a spokeswoman for the department said. Emergency rooms are busy.

Heres how Holy Name is handling the matter:

Patients who are believed to be asymptomatic or lack first-level exposure" should not be brought in for testing at this time, spokesperson Jessica Griffin said.

This can clog up labs and delay test results for people who meet the stringent criteria for testing, she said.

And even if your symptoms do resemble coronavirus, its best practice to call a doctor or medical facility first and abide by their instructions.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Sign up for text message alerts from NJ.com on coronavirus in New Jersey:





Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon.

Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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At a time when many pharmacies are charging exorbitant prices for the face masks and hand sanitisers in the backdrop of high demand due to the coronavirus pandemic, a surgical shop owner here is selling masks just for Rs 2.

The supplies of masks and sanitisers have been limited and are being sold at higher prices than normal due to inflated demand following a surge in COVID-19 cases in the country.

However, the surgical store in Kerala has decided to stick to the original costing and has so far sold over 5000 masks in the last two days.

Nadheem, the co-owner of a surgical shop in Kochi, told ANI: "We have sold around 5000 masks at Rs 2 each in two days. We decided to sell masks at a reasonable price especially to the common people like hospital staff and students."

Thasleem PK, co-owner of Cochin Surgicals, said: "We have been selling masks at Rs 2 for the last 8 years. But now, the rate has gone up everywhere. We bought the masks at Rs 8 or Rs 10 and are selling at Rs 2, while others are selling at Rs 25."

The government has declared face masks and hand sanitisers as essential commodities for the next 100 days to prevent hoarding of these items in its fight against coronavirus.

The central government has invoked the Disaster Management Act 2005 to allow the Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to regulate the availability and prices of surgical and protective masks, hand sanitisers and gloves.

Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared it as a pandemic. Globally, atleast 145374 confirmed cases have been reported and more than 5400 people have lost their lives due to the disease.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 16:10:36|Editor: yhy

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A woman wearing mask is seen in a street in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on March 15, 2020. Uzbekistan on Sunday reported its first COVID-19 case, with an Uzbek man testing positive after returning from France. (Photo by Zafar Khalilov/Xinhua)

TASHKENT, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan on Sunday reported its first COVID-19 case, with an Uzbek man testing positive after returning from France.

The Agency for Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance under the Ministry of Health said that it is taking measures to prevent the virus' spread in the Central Asian country.

"Currently, epidemiological studies and preventive measures to prevent the spread of the disease are being carried out in full," it said in a statement.

Passengers who were on board the plane from Paris to Tashkent with the infected person and everyone who was in contact with him have been identified, and measures to find them and put them under medical supervision are under way, agency director Bahrom Almatov said in a statement broadcast on state TV.
Zimbabwe's defence minister has called the coronavirus pandemic a "punishment" of the US and Europe for imposing sanctions against members of the ruling regime over human rights abuses.

Coronavirus has infected more than 150,000 people worldwide and killed almost 6,000 since it was first detected in China last December.

"Coronavirus is the work of god punishing countries who imposed sanctions on us," said Zimbabwe's defence minister Oppah Muchinguri on Saturday, speaking at a rally in the northern town of Chinhoyi.

"They are now staying indoors. Their economies are screaming just like they did to our economy." The United States and the European Union first imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe during the despotic rule of the country's late ex-president Robert Mugabe, ousted by the military in November 2017.

The measures were aimed at high-ranking officials and government institutions, including travel bans on Mugabe and his inner circle.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been battling to re-engage with the West since he took office in 2017.

But the US extended sanctions this month to two security officials accused of orchestrating a violent crackdown on protests over a delay in election results in 2018, killing six.

Muchinguri said the novel virus would teach US President Donald Trump that "he is not God".

"They must feel the effects of coronavirus and understand our pain," she said. Trump declared a national state of emergency on Saturday. At least 2,700 people have tested positive in the US and more than 50 have died.

Sub-Saharan Africa has so far escaped the worst of the pandemic, with fewer than 100 cases confirmed in more than 20 countries.

Zimbabwe has not yet detected any cases.

Neighbouring South Africa announced 13 new cases on Sunday, bringing the country's tally up to 51.

On Twitter, many Zimbabweans said they were appalled by Muchinguri's words.

"To say I'm gobsmacked is an understatement," tweeted law professor Alex Magaisa.

"How does a senior minister utter such rubbish?" Others criticised the government for not taking the pandemic seriously enough.

"Namibian President... has cancelled Independence Celebrations," tweeted journalist Hopewell Chin'ono.

"Yet in Zimbabwe the regime is pushing ahead with Independence celebrations... whilst hospitals are dilapidated!" To date only government officials and staff have been banned from foreign travel in Zimbabwe.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The announcement came hours after Pritzker said on a Sunday morning television program that he was considering closing bars and restaurants, following crowds of St. Patricks Day revelers being out at bars. Lightfoots administration also issued a directive that caps any Chicago establishment that serves liquor to 100 people, or half their regular capacity, to help limit the spread of coronavirus, but Pritzkers order will go further.




By Baek Byung-yeul







Hyundai Motor has signed a contract with Turkmenistan's transport ministry to supply 400 buses, worth around $60 million, the automaker said Sunday.







The company said it would supply its 27-seat New Super Aero City buses to the Central Asian country in conjunction with Hyundai Corporation.







The contract is the second-biggest deal since the company supplied 500 buses to the country in 2016. Since Hyundai Motor first supplied 500 buses to Turkmenistan in 2008, the automaker has sold 1,200 buses there.







As a result of the deal, every city bus on the streets of Ashgabat, the capital city, is a Hyundai Aero City bus, according to Hyundai Motor.







The New Super Aero City buses have improved safety features such as rear cameras and rear warning systems. According to Turkmenistan news outlets, engines on Hyundai's new buses comply with Euro-4 emission standards, which the European Union set in 2005.







The company will begin manufacturing the buses in May and will complete delivery before December 12, the 25th anniversary of the country's Day of Neutrality.







Hyundai Motor said it had contributed greatly to the development of the public transport infrastructure of Turkmenistan because Hyundai also offered bus components, consumable items and maintenance services.







"The deal is an honor for Hyundai Motor because the contract shows the superior quality of Hyundai's Aero City buses is recognized by the citizens of Turkmenistan," a Hyundai Motor official said.







"We will continue our efforts to extend the supply deal that has continued since 2008."


Swivel chairs and standing desks are now in short supply as thousands of employees scramble to set up home offices amid efforts by workplaces to pre-empt widespread self-isolation measures.

At an Officeworks store in the Melbourne CBD, customers were told there was only a single computer monitor left for sale in the entire store by Monday afternoon. Backorders were not expected to arrive until April.

Ryan Byrne was one of the lucky ones as he readied himself to work from home for more than a week.

"The screen I wanted was actually sold out, and I think I got the second last one left of another model," he said. "I expected it to be this busy, really. I think with what's happening with the world at the moment, everyone will be working from home soon."

Read the full story here
BEIJING, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said the Chinese government and its people firmly support Italy's fight against the COVID-19 outbreak.

In a message of sympathy sent recently to Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Xi said that at this difficult time, China is willing to cooperate with Italy and offer assistance.

On behalf of the Chinese government and people, Xi expressed sincere sympathies to the Italian government and people on the recent COVID-19 epidemic in Italy.

Xi stressed that mutual support and win-win cooperation have always been the main theme of the China-Italy comprehensive strategic partnership.

The Chinese president said that mankind is a community with a shared future and that only through unity and coordination can humanity tackle various global risks and challenges.

As long as the two countries and the broader international community make joint efforts, they will certainly overcome the current difficulties and prevail over the epidemic at an early date, so as to protect the well-being of people in both countries and across the world, Xi added.

Noting that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Italy, Xi said he believes that in the joint fight against the epidemic, the traditional friendship between China and Italy will grow stronger and their cooperation broader.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 09:42:40|Editor: zyl

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Editor's note: The decree of the Italian government putting the country under lockdown went into effect on Tuesday, in a bid to prevent the ongoing coronavirus epidemic from spreading.

China has sent a team of experts to Italy, together with medical supplies. The following is a diary adapted from a team member's account to Xinhua of their busy schedule. His name is Yang Huichuan, vice-president of China National Biotec Group Co Ltd and an expert in blood products.

ROME, March 14 (Xinhua) -- I've come to Europe many times, but it is very different this time. My first impression in Rome is the Italians' overwhelming hospitality: from the airport, the customs to the hotel.

After entering my hotel room, a note in Chinese, English and Italian, with pictures of both Italian and Chinese national flags, on my desk, which read: "Italy, Rome and Trilussa Palace Hotel welcome you and thank you for your support. We stand together, we fight together, we win together."

Two local restaurateurs came to greet us near the hotel after seeing us wearing clothes with Red Cross logo. It really made us feel at home as they offered to help whenever we need.

In the last two days, we've been exchanging with different Italian institutions, including hospitals. We feel strongly that they really hope to have such exchanges with us.

We are sharing with them our latest prevention guidelines, diagnosis and treatment plan, as well as the convalescent plasma therapy.

The Italians were very interested in China's experience in fighting the virus -- from those working on technical details, those involved in diagnosis and treatment, to Red Cross members and diplomats -- they were all eager to meet us, as Italy is now at a stage of a rapid contagion.

For COVID-19, it all comes down to two things. One is prevention and control against its spread, which mostly depends on early detection, reporting, isolation and treatment, as well as pooling resources and expertise for centralized treatment of patients at centralized locations.

The other is diagnosis and treatment, e.g. how to diagnose? What treatment methods should be adopted for patents at different stages of the disease, depending on their their mild, ordinary or severe symptoms? What kind of drugs we have explored (in China) for treatment, including using traditional Chinese medicine, and convalescent plasma therapy.

Everyday, we get up early and have our own meeting at seven o'clock in the morning. After work, we return to the hotel at around six or seven o'clock in the afternoon. We also hold meetings at night, usually wrapping up around 10 p.m.

Today as we passed through the streets of Rome, which used to be lively and bustling, we saw almost no one and very few vehicles. I think this is a good thing, in some sense. Reducing the flow of people is a way of quarantine to curb the spread of infection. We underline the need for further quarantine for better containment.

We have brought with us medical supplies to Italy, including dozens of sets of intensive care equipment. Now the Italian side hopes to get more of these from across the world. They've realized that the key is to prevent the spread of the disease by making full and effective use of limited medical resources.

In the next two days, we might visit some hospitals in Rome, and plan to go to Lombardy region in the north, which has been hardest hit by the epidemic. We want to get a full picture of the situation in Italy, and after that it's possible to engage in more in-depth exchanges.
The father of a woman, whose husband tested positive for coronavirus in Bengaluru, has been booked by Agra police for misleading authorities about the whereabouts of his daughter, a suspected COVID-19 patient, officials said on Sunday.

An FIR was registered at the Sadar police station on a complaint by the health department under sections 269 (unlawfully or negligently doing any act which is, and which he knows is likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life) and 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), district administration officials said.

According to the officials, the woman and her husband returned from their honeymoon in Europe earlier this month and landed in Mumbai. From there they went to Bengaluru, where her husband who works for an IT company tested positive for novel coronavirus and was hospitalised.

The woman then left for Delhi and later came to her parents' house in Agra. She allegedly did not cooperate with the health department officials for a coronavirus test despite being "highly suspected".

"When a health department team reached the residence of the woman on March 13 for query, her father told the officials that she was not there and had left for Delhi in a train and would eventually fly back to Bengaluru.

"Officials immediately tried to track the concerned train and also informed the district administration about the situation and the matter was also reported to Uttar Pradesh government officers," according to the FIR.

"Meanwhile, the officials suspected that the woman was still in Agra and the information given to them was only to mislead and unnecessarily trouble them. The woman was eventually tracked down in the city," the complaint stated, adding that it is a widely known fact that coronavirus is highly contagious.

The woman's test report is awaited, the health department officials said.

Eleven others with suspected exposure, whose samples were collected in Agra on March 12, have tested negative for coronavirus, they said.

The number of coronavirus cases in the country rose to 107 on Sunday. Uttar Pradesh has reported 11 positive cases so far, the Union Health Ministry said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
When Etowah County Sheriff Jonathon Horton and his assistant chief of corrections Mark Bullock entered a womens cellblock in the countys jail in downtown Gadsden Friday afternoon, they didnt wear masks, gloves or other personal protective equipment.

Their decision not to take such steps to protect themselves from disease while no confirmed cases of novel coronavirus have been reported so far inside Alabamas county jails is in keeping with the current approaches in jails in other small cities and towns across the state, according to interviews with sheriffs about their preparations for the disease.

In a time when President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency and Alabama is beginning to see its first confirmed COVID-19 cases, rural sheriffs say that they are closely monitoring the situation and taking preliminary precautions, but that they still remain largely in wait-and-see mode.

"Right now it's blue sky because we really don't know what to anticipate," Wally Olson, sheriff of Dale County in southeast Alabama, said Friday.

Etowah County Sheriff Jonathon Horton stands inside a locked-down cellblock at the Etowah County Jail on Friday, March 14, 2020. (Connor Sheets | AL.com)

Sheriffs are formulating and beginning to roll out plans for how to keep their staff and other inmates healthy if cases of coronavirus are identified within the walls of their jails. Some sheriffs offices plans are more robust than others.

For instance, Cherokee County Sheriff Jeff Shaver said Friday that he had already set up an isolation unit in his jail in northeast Alabama.

"We have emptied one unit in our jail to prepare for if we have to isolate anyone. We have a backup plan in case we have a large number of people who test positive," Jeff Shaver said Friday.

"Right now we're screening everyone who comes into the jail, including employees."

Etowah County's precautionary measures begin at intake, when all new inmates are required to fill out a symptoms questionnaire to determine if they are potentially infected by COVID-19.

If they have a [potentially] positive result from a particular average of yes answers to these symptoms, then we do have an isolation area where we can put someone until the diagnosis is confirmed and they can get treatment, Horton said.

All new Etowah County Jail inmates are now required to fill out COVID-19 screening forms during the intake process. (Connor Sheets | AL.com)

On Saturday, Keith Peek, the Etowah County Sheriffs Offices chief of corrections, sent out an email announcing new restrictions at the countys jail. For at least the next 30 days, all non-essential personnel are barred from entering the facility other than for some legal visits, the email said. All outside inmate work crews will be suspended, all essential inmate workers will undergo medical checks before beginning work each day and all jail staff will have their temperature checked when they enter the facility.

Sheriffs are also ramping up sanitation efforts and beginning to distribute low-grade protective gear and preventative items to their deputies and correctional staff.

Olson said that cleanliness is his top concern in Dale County.

"We do have some masks, but the number one thing is the hand sanitizer, the washing your hands, keeping everything Cloroxed, wiping everything down," he said. "The number one thing for us right now is just making sure to keep everything clean."

Shaver is also requiring that his employees be vigilant about cleanliness, in keeping with what he said were already standard practices in the Cherokee County Jail.

"We clean our jail every day," he said. "We distributed hand sanitizer to all of our people and typically we wear gloves when we deal with people because we dont want to get blood and fluids on us."

And sheriffs are assessing how to update their action plans and equipment to keep deputies safe and healthy out on the streets.

Horton said he has worked with the Etowah County Emergency Management Agency to provide his employees both in the field and in the jail with kits that include basic protective items.

"The EMA helped us provide each patrol deputy and unit with a kit with mask and hand sanitizer and those kinds of things to protect us," he said. "And we're making sure we keep as much distance as we can, that kind of stuff."

Sheriff's deputies who work in the field in Etowah County have been given COVID-19 kits including gloves, masks, hand sanitizer and wipes. (Connor Sheets | AL.com)

Olson said that though his deputies will "still have to respond to calls in the field," he is waiting on recommendations from state officials and analyzing what other states like California and Florida have done to help determine what new protocols his employees should follow while out in the community.

If [deputies] go out and take a complaint from someone whos affected by the virus, then theyre susceptible to it, he said. So were going to have to look at how we do that too, eventually, if it does spread like theyre predicting.

Shaver said he looks at the current outbreak from a historical perspective:

This could go on for several months, and while there have been a lot of deaths, its similar to, like, a flu pandemic. Its one of those things that go on in the world sometimes.
Anti-CAA stir: Protesters blocked from taking out march at AMU against youth's who died of gunshot

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Aligarh (UP), Mar 15: Student protesters tried to take out a candlelight march at Aligarh Muslim University to mourn the death of a youth who had died of gunshot injuries sustained in violent clashes during protests over the amended citizenship act last month, but were blocked at the main gate itself, police said.

Sixty students including 50 unnamed persons have been booked by police at the Civil Lines police station in connection with the protests at the AMU campus on Saturday night. Ten students were named for violating Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code.

Anti citizenship law posters: Is there a law to back UP governments action

The protesters tried to march towards the collectorate, which is located close to AMU, to submit a memorandum to senior district officials but were thwarted from doing so by police personnel who reached the spot and blocked them at the Sir Syed Crossing, the main university campus gate, according to Civil Lines Circle Officer (CO) Anil Samania.

Earlier in the evening, a group of protesting students had announced that they were going to hold a candlelight march to mourn the death of Mohammad Tariq Munawwar, a youth who was injured on February 23 at Upper Kot and succumbed to his gunshot injuries late on Friday night at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College Hospital inside AMU, where he was being treated.

The protesting students were demanding the arrest of two persons who were booked in the case but are still at large. CO Samania told media that the main accused Vinay Varshney has already been arrested and the police were following up on the matter.

"The protesters were insisting on proceeding towards the collectorate and they were not ready to hand over their memorandum at the Babey Sir Syed gate where senior district officials were ready to accept the memorandum," he claimed.

Couple with IS links detained from Delhi, they allegedly instigated anti-CAA protests

Later, the memorandum was handed over to officials, he said. Samania denied that the police had baton charged the students or had used any force to disperse the mob. Police had beefed up security measures in the old city as a precautionary measure following Tariq's death on Friday night. On Wednesday, police had arrested Varshney, a prominent BJP leader from the city, who was the main accused in the shooting incident that left Tariq injured.

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Story first published: Sunday, March 15, 2020, 13:39 [IST]
(Newser)  Spains royal house said Sunday that King Felipe VI has renounced any future personal inheritance he could receive from his father, King Emerit Juan Carlos I, over the alleged financial irregularities involving the former monarch, the AP reports. The royal house said in a statement that in addition to renouncing his inheritance, Felipe is stripping Juan Carlos of his annual stipend. The decision comes amid an ongoing investigation by Swiss prosecutors into an offshore account allegedly operated for Juan Carlos. The account allegedly received $100 million from Saudi Arabia's late King Abdullah in 2008, which prosecutors believes could be kickback payments, according to a Swiss newspaper.

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On Saturday, British newspaper the Telegraph reported that Felipe was named as a beneficiary of an offshore fund that controls the Swiss account with an alleged $72 million gift from Saudi Arabia given to his father when he was on the throne. Felipe denied any knowledge of the fund in Sundays statement.

(Read more inheritance stories.)
The UK's renowned Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford is focussing its annual fundraising drive on rare manuscripts this year, with a 17th century Mughal miniature collection from India at the heart of the conservation efforts.

Known as The Douce Album', the manuscript of exquisite miniature paintings and calligraphy was assembled for a member of the imperial family of Shah Shuja, the second son of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and wife Mumtaz Mahal most famous for the Taj Mahal in Agra.

It is described as an album of unrivalled artistic quality from an age that represented the high point of the Mughal dynasty and contains a varied collection of 41 of the highest-quality miniature paintings and exquisite calligraphy within a contemporary lacquered binding.

The Bodleian hopes to raise between GBP 40,000 and 50,000 as part of its Annual Fund campaign to go towards the conservation of Bodleian's historic manuscript collection, including the album.

Since its creation for a Mughal prince in the 17th century, this unique album's exquisite art works and calligraphy have continued to be viewed, admired and studied, said Hannah Litvack, Development Officer at the Bodleian Libraries.

After four centuries of handling, its condition has become a cause of concern with evidence, amongst other things, of flaking paint and broken sewing threads, which cause the text-block to slide' every time the album is browsed and closed.

"We need to conduct a full assessment to investigate the condition of the paint layer, the lacquered binding, the sewing structure and the paper substrate," Litvack explains.

This will be followed by conservation treatments to stabilise all the parts in order to safeguard the treasure from the Mughal court, bequeathed to the Bodleian Libraries in 1834 by distinguished antiquary and bibliophile Francis Douce.

It was designed for royal viewing and represents the work of some of the finest artists and calligraphers of the time.

According to the library, the album has long been the subject of study by art historians and, because of its beauty and provenance, it is frequently requested for major exhibitions.

Alongside the pages of calligraphy in beautiful Nasta'liq script bordered by palmate and floriate designs in lapis and gold, most of which are signed by the master calligrapher Mir Ali of Herat, are intricate pictures executed in opaque watercolour and gold with some showing scenes from the Persian epic Shahnamah'.

The Mughal court's fascination with Western art is also expressed in other paintings in the album, which employ Western motifs including a portrait of St. Matthew, and another of the Virgin Mary.

Conservation of and access to these manuscripts is key to the Bodleian's mission. The scope of our work is huge: we conserve thousands of collection items yearly, host increasing numbers of scholars who wish to carry out research on them, and display them in around 15 different exhibitions for over 60,000 visitors each year, said Librarian Richard Ovenden in his fundraising appeal.

The Bodleian Libraries are seeking donations from people who share its commitment to preserving and understanding the rich, illuminating history bequeathed to the present from the past, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As Americans struggled with changing their daily habits, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a dramatic recommendation: Because large events can fuel the spread of the disease, it said gatherings of 50 people or more should be canceled or postponed throughout the country for the next eight weeks. It added that, at any event, people should take proper precautions, including handwashing and keeping one's distance.
: The Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission on Sunday ordered the immediate transfer of the Collectors of Guntur and Chittoor districtsfollowing complaints of "large-scale irregularities" and outbreak of violence in the process for conduct of elections to rural and urban local bodies.

Acting on complaints from opposition parties, the SEC cracked the whip, even as the elections, slated for later this month, were put off in view of the threat of coronavirus.

The SEC also ordered the transfer of Guntur Rural and Tirupati Urban Superintendents of Police with immediate effect.

A release from the SEC said State Election Commissioner N Ramesh Kumar ordered the suspension of Macherla police inspector for 'failure' to discharge his duties effectively.

The SEC ordered the transfer of Palamaneru sub-divisional police officer and circle inspectors of Punganuru, Tadipatri and Rayadurgam, the release added.

Opposition parties in the state have filed a series of complaints with the SEC about the alleged biased actions of the officials concerned in the backdrop of violence in several districts and 'denial' of opportunity to opposition candidates to file their nominations for the local bodies elections.

On March 11, violent incidents were reported from different districts, the last day for filing of nominations for the local body elections.

It was alleged that ruling YSR Congress workers were involved in the attacks in which TDP, BJP and Jana Sena leaders were injured, a charge rejected by the ruling party.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
STAMFORD  If you walked in the front door of Stamford High School over the last few years, you might have noticed a large unfinished mural greeting you. But thanks to members of the National Art Honors Society, thats all going to change very soon.

On Feb. 25, members of the NAHS resumed work on the almost-completed mural, which they expect to finish by graduation, that was started in 2015 by a student.

NAHS member Nada Moudamane said the project represented the resolution of a four-year endeavor.

Its a four-year project; it was started in 2015, Moudamane said.

Art teacher Ali Alter has advised the club for the last three years.

This mural is actually a student-made artwork, Alter said. We took it and turned it into a scantron, and enlarged it, and we actually put it up here, and everyone is putting pieces together to make it their own.

The NAHS was established in 1978 by the National Art Education Association for high school students grades 9-12. The organization recognizes high school students who demonstrate an outstanding ability and interest in art. It also promotes the highest standards in art scholarship, character, and service by bringing art education to the attention of the school and community.

Alter went on to explain the clubs main purpose.

We do a lot of fundraising to raise money for our club, Alter said. So all of the little crafted and handmade things that we sell, the money goes towards different things and different fundraisers such as raising money for students who are going to college for art. So at the end of the year two, students get a scholarship, which is really awesome.

Another NAHS member, Ebony Martinez, jokingly characterized the way she feels about the clubs activities: Its fun  and its stressful at the same time.

Kate Hogan and Sarah Wargo are juniors at Stamford High School.
President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with banking industry executives about the coronavirus, at the White House, Wednesday, March 11, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Associated Press

The Trump administartion is moving ahead with rule changes to the food stamp program that could boot 700,000 Americans from public assistance as the spread of the coronavirus continues damaging the US economy.

The new guidelines are set to take effect on April 1, and most adults without disabilities or children will need to work at least 20 hours to qualify.

Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the administration had decided to move forward with implementing the guidelines and any change would require approval from Congress.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The Trump administration is moving forward with rule changes to the nation's food stamp program that could kick 700,000 Americans off the rolls, even as coronavirus takes a toll on the US economy.

The new guidelines for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) are set to take effect on April 1. They will tighten the ability of states to provide access to food stamps and implement new work requirements for people seeking them.

Adults without children or disability will need to work at least 20 hours to qualify for the program.

At a Tuesday congressional hearing, Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop called the scheduled rule change "particularly cruel" as more Americans stay home from work to avoid the virus or lose their jobs.

Over a quarter of American workers  or 32 million people  don't have paid sick leave.

Sonny Perdue, the secretary of the Department of Agriculture, told lawmakers that states would be granted leeway to determine "good cause" and exempt people from the rules.

"Obviously if your job says you can't come to work or you're sick in that way, that good cause would eliminate need for work requirements under this rule," Perdue said. "That will be under the discretion of the states to determine that good cause."

Perdue said that the Trump administration had decided to move forward with implementing the new regulations  and any changes in the timeline would require approval from Congress and the White House.

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The Department of Agriculture did not return requests for comment.

Experts say that the timing of the new regulatory changes could end up hurting people who lose their jobs as a result of the virus. Both consumers and companies are forecasted to cut their spending, and gig workers are starting to lose their jobs, The Washington Post reported.

"Requiring SNAP participants to find 20 hours of work or training a week at the same time that officials are urging the public to take drastic steps to protect themselves and their communities puts SNAP participants in an impossible situation," Ed Bolen, senior policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told Business Insider in an email.

Bolen added: "They are being pushed to take a risk to their own health and to others in order to maintain access to food assistance they need to stay healthy."

He said it's likely many people wouldn't know they could claim "good cause" and what life situations qualify under the provision. Being laid off, Bolen noted, wouldn't be one of them as missed work must be temporary in the new guidelines.

The move echoes the White House's efforts to put similar requirements in place for Medicaid back in 2018. That met fierce legal challenges that ultimately blocked many states from enacting them after people lost their health insurance coverage.

House Democrats unveiled an economic stimulus package on Thursday that includes emergency food stamp assistance, The Hill reported.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A fire burnt through multiple buildings in Central Falls, Rhode Island, on Saturday, March 14, warranting a response from nearly a dozen firefighting crews, according to local reports.

Nathalie Tejada, who captured this footage, was awakened with her family in the early hours of Saturday by a policeman who told them they needed to evacuate.

It looked like the whole city was on fire, Tejada told Storyful, There was debris flying onto roofs and on the ground, nearly hitting bystanders on its way down.

According to Tejada, the fire engulfed several buildings in town and sent out an orange glow so bright that it made it seem as though we were standing on the sun.

The fire, which sparked along the border between Central Falls and Pawtucket, caused the closure and evacuation of Dexter Street and Weeden Street, local news site Valleybreeze.com reported, and the cause of the blaze was under investigation. Credit: Nathalie Tejada via Storyful
Some investors rely on dividends for growing their wealth, and if you're one of those dividend sleuths, you might be intrigued to know that Countplus Limited (ASX:CUP) is about to go ex-dividend in just 4 days. If you purchase the stock on or after the 19th of March, you won't be eligible to receive this dividend, when it is paid on the 15th of April.

Countplus's next dividend payment will be AU$0.013 per share, and in the last 12 months, the company paid a total of AU$0.025 per share. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Countplus has a trailing yield of approximately 2.8% on its current stock price of A$0.9. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Countplus's dividend is reliable and sustainable. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.

Check out our latest analysis for Countplus

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Countplus is paying out just 19% of its profit after tax, which is comfortably low and leaves plenty of breathing room in the case of adverse events. That said, even highly profitable companies sometimes might not generate enough cash to pay the dividend, which is why we should always check if the dividend is covered by cash flow. It paid out 104% of its free cash flow in the form of dividends last year, which is outside the comfort zone for most businesses. Cash flows are usually much more volatile than earnings, so this could be a temporary effect - but we'd generally want look more closely here.

Countplus does have a large net cash position on the balance sheet, which could fund large dividends for a time, if the company so chose. Still, smart investors know that it is better to assess dividends relative to the cash and profit generated by the business. Paying dividends out of cash on the balance sheet is not long-term sustainable.

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While Countplus's dividends were covered by the company's reported profits, cash is somewhat more important, so it's not great to see that the company didn't generate enough cash to pay its dividend. Cash is king, as they say, and were Countplus to repeatedly pay dividends that aren't well covered by cashflow, we would consider this a warning sign.

Click here to see how much of its profit Countplus paid out over the last 12 months.

ASX:CUP Historical Dividend Yield, March 14th 2020

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. This is why it's a relief to see Countplus earnings per share are up 2.7% per annum over the last five years. Earnings have been growing somewhat, but we're concerned dividend payments consumed most of the company's cash flow over the past year.

Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Countplus has seen its dividend decline 12% per annum on average over the past nine years, which is not great to see. It's unusual to see earnings per share increasing at the same time as dividends per share have been in decline. We'd hope it's because the company is reinvesting heavily in its business, but it could also suggest business is lumpy.

To Sum It Up

Should investors buy Countplus for the upcoming dividend? Countplus has seen its earnings per share grow steadily and paid out less than half its profit over the last year. Unfortunately, its dividend was not well covered by free cash flow. In summary, while it has some positive characteristics, we're not inclined to race out and buy Countplus today.

If you want to look further into Countplus, it's worth knowing the risks this business faces. To help with this, we've discovered 4 warning signs for Countplus (2 are concerning!) that you ought to be aware of before buying the shares.

If you're in the market for dividend stocks, we recommend checking our list of top dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Former Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar on Sunday congratulated the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Lahore Qalandars for securing a semifinal spot after defeating Multan Sultans by nine wickets.

"What a wonderful win by @lahoreqalandars over the strongest team of the tournament @MultanSultans. Comprehensive #LQvsMs #PSL2020 #LahoreQalandars," Akhtar tweeted.

Chasing 187, opener Chris Lynn's unbeaten century guided the side a comprehensive victory over Multan with seven balls to spare.

Lynn scored 113 runs off 55 balls studded with eight sixes and 12 fours. Fakhar Zaman amassed 57 in 35 balls while Sohail Akhtar remained unbeaten on 19 runs.

The semifinal will be played in Lahore on March 17 while the summit clash will be played on March 18.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Junta President Confirms that he has NOT Called for Frontier Closure

Her Majesty's Government of Gibraltar notes the headlines appearing in regional online reporting outlets that suggest that the President of the Junta de Andalusia, Snr Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla has called for the closure of the frontier between Gibraltar and Spain.

The Chief Minister, the Hon Fabian Picardo QC MP, has a few moments ago this evening once again spoken to the President of the Junta.

Snr Moreno Bonilla has confirmed that those reports are UNTRUE and that he does not believe there is any reason for the border between Spain and Gibraltar should close now. The President of the Junta reminded Mr Picardo that he spoke highly today of the measures being taken by Gibraltar as a result of Covid-19 and in the context of the Spanish Government's own declared State of Emergency. He said that in his call with President Sanchez, he had called for a plan to address issues with other borders, but it was a misinterpretation of his words to suggest that this was a reference in any way to the border with Gibraltar.

Snr Moreno Bonilla insisted that the Chief Minister should make this clarification clear and that he would also seek to ensure, himself, that the misinterpretation of his words should be corrected.

The Chief Minister said: "I am very grateful for the very kind words from the President of the Junta during the course of his press conference and for his express clarification when I asked to speak to him again this evening. The suggestion that Snr Moreno Bonilla had called for the closure of the frontier was contrary to his express statements of support for the attitude Gibraltar is taking in relation to dealing with slowing the inevitable spread of Covid-19. The relationship we have established in these past days is a positive one that enables us to address problems of this sort when they arise."
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(Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

By Kyle Stokes and Carla Javier

The Los Angeles Unified School District has announced plans to cancel in-person instruction starting Monday as the coronavirus spreads worldwide. For the next two weeks, all 472,000 students will continue their coursework online.

In an email to LAUSD staff, Superintendent Austin Beutner said the two-week closure will give district leaders a chance to "evaluate the appropriate path forward."

Technically, the order to close only covers LAUSD's district-run schools. But many charter schools within LAUSD's boundaries -- which serve an additional 115,000 children -- are likely to take cues from the district and may close as well.

The decision is another high-profile example of how mounting concern about COVID-19 is affecting daily life in Los Angeles. LAUSD is not only the largest K-12 district in the U.S. to shut down so far, but also one of the largest employers in the region to suspend normal operations.

"We're in uncharted waters as we work to prevent the spread of the illness," Beutner said.

Beutner has promised the district's 70,000 employees will continue to receive paychecks even if they are unable to provide direct services to students.

In a Friday morning press conference, Beutner said there are still no known links between any virus cases and LAUSD schools.

L.A. Unified announced its plans to close in a joint statement with California's second-largest district, San Diego Unified, where schools will close until April 6.

Beutner said the joint announcement was meant to send a "signal" to state leaders. So far, state and local public health officials have said schools don't need to close unless there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 among the students or staff.

"This is something the state needs to be with us," Beutner said, "as we pursue not only this chapter but what comes from here."

DISTRICT TO OPEN 'FAMILY RESOURCE CENTERS'

LAUSD leaders also announced 40 "family resource centers" will open to provide care for children on district campuses next Wednesday, March 18.

Once they're open, the centers will be staffed on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. There, children "will be able to have a warm meal, engage with their peers and pursue their different studies," Beutner wrote. The centers will serve as many students who have need for them, Beutner added.

A mix of Red Cross volunteers, L.A. County employees and district staff will operate the centers, district leaders said. LAUSD employees will be paid "extra" to staff these centers and will be "kept safe," Beutner told reporters Friday.

In addition, LAUSD food service workers and perhaps instructional aides "will be among those staffing these centers," said Blanca Gallegos, a spokeswoman for their union, SEIU Local 99.

Any adults and children who come to these centers will be asked to wash their hands and screened using thermometer guns to ensure anyone using the centers doesn't have the coronavirus -- a decision Beutner acknowledged Friday wasn't without risk.

In addition, while schools are closed, Gallegos said it's "possible" LAUSD's custodians may be "called in to do deep cleaning of schools while students are out."

"This is all still being finalized," Gallegos added.

THE BACKSTORY

L.A. Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner takes the podium during a press conference on Fri., March 13, 2020, to announce the school district's closure for two weeks due to the coronavirus. (Carla Javier/LAist)

Until now, leaders of the nation's second-largest school district had resisted closing campuses. District officials had feared for the welfare of the nearly 80 percent of LAUSD students who depend on the district for free or reduced-price meals and other social services.

LAUSD officials have asked schools to prepare for the possibility a case might appear on their campus. In recent days, though, more drastic steps have begun to look more inevitable.

District officials urged teachers to prepare to deliver lessons online and asked the state for $50 million in emergency funding to ensure all students had devices and internet access at home. District officials also announced plans to partner with three local public television stations to broadcast "standards-based instructional content" for the duration.

On Thursday, United Teachers Los Angeles -- the union which represents school nurses in addition to LAUSD's classroom teachers -- urged LAUSD to halt the preparations and "proactively" close schools. Some parents have already pulled their children out of class.

WHAT THE DISTRICT IS DOING

For special education students: Beutner said regional service centers are shifting to become the "primary daily place" for services; he highlighted in particular students with moderate to severe disabilities. "These are some of our most vulnerable students. A spread [of the virus] among that cohort" would be serious, he added. According to a statement from the Special Education Principals' Organization, families of particularly vulnerable children can access services at regional centers "as they normally do during winter break, spring break and the summer." Other services, such as speech therapy or occupational therapy might be made available at the family resource centers: "There are a thousand questions we've asked ourselves and a thousand questions we haven't yet."

Beutner said regional service centers are shifting to become the "primary daily place" for services; he highlighted in particular students with moderate to severe disabilities. "These are some of our most vulnerable students. A spread [of the virus] among that cohort" would be serious, he added. According to a statement from the Special Education Principals' Organization, families of particularly vulnerable children can access services at regional centers "as they normally do during winter break, spring break and the summer." Other services, such as speech therapy or occupational therapy might be made available at the family resource centers: "There are a thousand questions we've asked ourselves and a thousand questions we haven't yet." For students who need devices: LAUSD has said they only have devices for roughly 330,000 of the district's 487,000 students. To fill this gap, the district has spent $10 million to purchase a large number of devices "similar" to a Google Chromebook. Beutner told reporters those could be delivered to students as early as the middle of next week.

LAUSD has said they only have devices for roughly 330,000 of the district's 487,000 students. To fill this gap, the district has spent $10 million to purchase a large number of devices "similar" to a Google Chromebook. Beutner told reporters those could be delivered to students as early as the middle of next week. For students who need internet access: LAUSD had hoped internet service providers might step forward to help provide internet to the estimated 25 percent of district students who lack access at home. The district will rely heavily on online platforms, including some that require data-intensive plans that will likely max out students' or parents' data plans. But Beutner said there hasn't been progress made at reaching a deal with service providers to cover this gap.

REACTIONS TO THE CLOSURE

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti: "I know that LAUSD leaders did not arrive at the decision to close schools lightly. This will be a challenging time for families and put a strain on teachers and students -- and each of us can play a part in supporting them. The city will work closely with the school district to help ensure our kids are healthy, safe, and fed during this closure. Employers should give workers the job security and flexibility they need to protect the wellbeing of their children."

"I know that LAUSD leaders did not arrive at the decision to close schools lightly. This will be a challenging time for families and put a strain on teachers and students -- and each of us can play a part in supporting them. The city will work closely with the school district to help ensure our kids are healthy, safe, and fed during this closure. Employers should give workers the job security and flexibility they need to protect the wellbeing of their children." UTLA president Alex Caputo-Pearl repeated a call he issued Thursday night asking for a drastic expansion of the social safety net -- including an eviction moratorium, debt forgiveness, additional paid leave -- to meet the growing emergency: "We have hotel workers who are the parents of our students," Caputo-Pearl said, "who are facing being fired because of lack of business at hotels or whatever the case may be." On Thursday, the teachers union also issued demands to suspend penalties for schools that miss standardized tests -- which could have begun in LAUSD schools as early as this week -- and to ensure all students have internet access at home home.

repeated a call he issued Thursday night asking for a drastic expansion of the social safety net -- including an eviction moratorium, debt forgiveness, additional paid leave -- to meet the growing emergency: "We have hotel workers who are the parents of our students," Caputo-Pearl said, "who are facing being fired because of lack of business at hotels or whatever the case may be." On Thursday, the teachers union also issued demands to suspend penalties for schools that miss standardized tests -- which could have begun in LAUSD schools as early as this week -- and to ensure all students have internet access at home home. SEIU Local 99 president Max Arias says the LAUSD employees his union represents -- including custodians, bus drivers and food service workers -- "are ready to continue to work" through the closure. "Our members tend to live in the communities in which they work," Arias added, "so it's also their families that are being impacted by this. We are ready to support our communities."

HOW WE REPORTED ON THIS

Reporter Carla Javier was at L.A. Unified headquarters covering the board meetings and press conferences. K-12 reporter Kyle Stokes was the lead writer on this story and gathered reaction throughout the day. Reporter Mariana Dale spoke to parents and staff at local schools. Digital producer Ryan Fonseca kept this story updated.

MORE ON CORONAVIRUS:


Christy Schwartz, her husband and two daughters are scheduled to leave April 1 for a 10-day vacation to France and Germany as the younger daughters high school graduation gift.

But the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic has upended the travel world, especially after President Donald Trump announced restrictions on flights to Europe.

Im wondering if we can go, Schwartz said. Im hoping we can go. But its all up in the air.

While Trumps travel ban does not include U.S. citizens, Schwartz worries the airlines may start canceling flights. Moreover, the travel ban stipulate that Americans returning from Europe need to self-quarantine for 14 days. That would tough, Schwartz said about self-quarantine.

Across the country, individuals and families planning spring-break trips are scrambling.

The U.S. State Department is advising against travel outside the country, and specifically warns against taking a cruise. Americans returning from China and Iran could be quarantined by the government, and those returning from Europe are being asked to self-quarantine for 14 days.

Even beyond the State Department advisories, the situation has become fraught. Airlines are canceling flights as ridership plummets. Mulitple cruise lines have temporarily shut down or are not serving U.S. ports.

Even domestic travel has become more complicated. Disney World and Disneyland are temporarily closing their doors, as have many other popular U.S. tourist attractions, from Broadway plays to Smithsonian museums.

This remains a very fluid situation, with things changing every day, sometimes multiple times a day, said Adrienne Woodland, spokeswoman of AAA of Michigan. Travel providers are adjusting everything from policies to pricing, many of which could benefit travelers."

The good news for travelers: There are some extraordinary values out there, Woodland said.

The bad news: The fast-changing environment means travelers need to be flexible.

Woodland said people should be work with a travel agent to see what your options are before rushing to make any potentially costly changes on your own.

Doctors with expertise in infectious disease are saying that families dont have to cancel spring-break plans, but they may want to rethink them.

The big thing in a pandemic is to avoid places where people are crowded together in confined spaces, doctors say. Thats what makes cruises and plane travel so problematic.

The best bet: A car trip to places where there arent crowds, they said.

Dr. Teena Chopra, an infectious disease specialist in Detroit, said shes telling her patients to look at a map of the United States that shows the areas of outbreak -- and avoid those regions.

And with any travel plans, she said, keep in the mind the risk involved to you and your community and your family by having social interactions.

Dr. Dennis Cunningham, an infectious disease specialist in Flint, said traveling isnt a good idea right now for senior citizens and those with chronic medical conditions.

The people who really should step up their precaution game are those older people with co-morbid medical conditions -- they have high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease," he said. "Those are the people who should really stay home as much as possible.

And getting sick isnt the only concern, he added.

I think the big thing about a cruise is not that youre going to get horribly sick from coronavirus, but the chances you could end up in quarantine on the boat," Cunningham said. I would not want to be crammed in with my kids and wife in a small cabin on a cruise ship.

And, you know, its not a bad thing to have a staycation, where you watch movies with your kids and play board games," Cunningham said.

Julianna Kyle is among those taking the better-safe-than-sorry approach.

She was planning to drive to Texas with a friend this weekend, then fly back to Michigan. She canceled Thursday.

Its so sad, but I dont want to get sick," the 30-year-old Kalamazoo resident said.

Even beyond the risk of getting infected, theres the possibility of her flight getting canceled or her getting caught up in a situation where she needs to be quarantined, she said.

Theres a number of things that could happen," Kyle said. And I dont want to risk it at all.

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:

Complete coverage at mlive.com/coronavirus

Saturday, March 14: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan.

Friday, March 13: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan.

Thursday, March 12: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan.

Is Michigan overreacting to coronavirus concerns or protecting public health?

State hotline created for coronavirus questions

Michigan doctors offer their best tips on preventing coronavirus

Whitmer bans gatherings of more than 250 people

Were going to get through this,' Whitmer says as she orders schools to close

Meijer working to addresss inventory issues related to coronavirus
Two persons, including a 25-year-old woman, were allegedly shot dead here on Sunday by aides of Samajwadi Party legislator Kamlesh Patahk and his brother over a land dispute, said police.

Six persons, including SP MLC Kamlesh Patahk, have been arrested for their alleged roles in the killings, Kanpur zone's Additional Director General Jai Narayan Singh said.

District Police Superintendent Suniti said the incident took place on Sunday afternoon in Narayanpur area of the city, when advocate Manjul Chaubey, 37 and his sister Sudha Chaubey were fired at by aides of SP MLC Patahk and his brother.

Sudha died on the spot, while Manjul succumbed to his injuries in a hospital, SP Suniti said.

A case has been registered against six persons including the SP MLC, she added.

Kanpur zone's ADG Singh said, "Six persons including SP MLC Kamlesh Pathak have been arrested. The land dispute was in connection with a religious site."



"The Gangster Act and NSA will be slapped on the accused persons, and their arms licence will be cancelled," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

The cancellations of local music performances has taken a toll on musicians.

Enter Matt Greer.

The director of music and worship ministries at St. Johns United Methodist Church in Albuquerque is taking steps to help out the affected entertainers.

On Saturday, Greer began reaching out to local musicians to perform at St. Johns.

In a letter, Greer says St. Johns has been trying to find ways to get good music out to the congregation during this unsettling time.

Since the church isnt having worship services or concerts, he and St. Johns wanted to do something to help friends and colleagues.

Heres the idea: St. Johns is hiring musicians to perform in videos that can be shared with the St. Johns congregation  and beyond.

We hope to share two videos a day for the next couple of weeks (longer, if necessary), Greer said.

The videos will begin streaming Monday at the St. Johns Music Ministry Facebook page.

In addition, Thomas Goodrich has set up a relief fund for musicians in New Mexico and is putting together a committee to administer it.

Goodrich set up the GoFundMe page, which can be found by searching New Mexico Musicians Relief Fund Amid COVID-19.

Goodrich said the campaign is modeled after a similar one in Seattle, which has already raised over $100,000.

Although theirs was open to all workers of the arts, and weve limited ours to musicians, Goodrich said. So far Matt and I are the only two on the committee to administer the fund. Im reaching out to folks in Farmington and Las Cruces to join so we have a statewide committee.

Greer says each musician will be paid $100 for performing in a video.

Musicians will be paid within 10 days.

Some musicians slated to perform are: Bradley Ellingboe, Kristin Ditlow, John Yuan, Ivan Conrad, Joel Becktell, Diana Hughes and Robert Law.

Part of the rationale for doing this is to provide work to musicians, Greer said.

Videos will be no longer than five minutes, so hes recommending that entertainers choose repertoire accordingly.

Those interested in doing a video shoot can email Claudia Giese at cgiese@stjohns-abq.com.

Giese will be scheduling and coordinating with musicians, Greer said.

Its fine if the repertoire is more on the reflective side, but dont feel you have to limit yourself to that, Greer said. Were needing fun and joy right now, too.
Even in a rebounding scenario, the VN-Index on the Hochiminh Stock Exchange is expected to experience wild volatility and revisit a support range of 710-740 points next week, according to Bao Viet Securities.

The bull and bear statue is seen outside the Hochiminh Stock Exchange building in District 1, HCMC

The brokerage said in a daily report that market uncertainties would remain given the coronavirus pandemic and the net-selling pressure from foreign investors.

As of late Saturday, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health reported four more coronavirus infections in Hanoi City, the northern province of Quang Ninh and HCMC, bringing the countrys total to 53.

Bao Viet said the benchmark index successfully retested the support zone of 710-740 points on Friday. Stocks have become oversold on a large scale, reinforcing the possibility of a short-term recovery.

The firm added the maturity of March 2020 futures contracts and exchange-traded funds portfolio review session will take place during the second half of next week. Therefore, the market may suffer strong volatility in the last sessions of the week.

Stock exposure should be maintained at 10-20% of the portfolio. Investors with a high stock proportion may consider lowering their exposure during the rising sessions, said the firm.

It also advised that investors with a high cash proportion should refrain from chasing such rallies and only consider buying stocks within the support zone of 700-740 points with low proportions, prioritizing portfolio-existing positions.

Viet Capital Securities reported that mirroring other Asian markets that traded wildly following Wall Streets biggest drop since 1987, the VN-Index plunged 6% in early trading on Friday before climbing back in the rest of the session to close down by roughly 1% at 761.78 points.

The index ended the week down 14.5%, the largest weekly decline since August 2017. In addition, foreign investors net sold around US$28 million worth of shares on the southern bourse, the 24th consecutive net-selling session, according to Viet Capital.

Lender BID (-4.6%), the biggest drag, finished the week down more than 25%. Another bank, VCB, fell 1%, becoming one of the days top decliners. Conversely, STB gained 4.5%, TCB 1.7%, CTG 0.7%, MBB 0.9% and HDB 0.9%.

Gas and oil firms GAS and PLX lost 4% and 5% on Friday, taking their weekly losses to 26.5% and 27.3%.

Financial service provider TCH continued to nosedive.

Other notable decliners included insurer BVH (4.7%), mobile phone retailer MWG (2.8%), and dairy producer VNM (1.8%).

On the positive side, Vietnams largest private firm VIC and power firm POW were the top two gainers, up 0.8% and 6.1%. Investment firm NLG surged 6.8%, easing off its five-session losing streak.

On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index lost 0.52% from a day earlier to end Friday at 101.38 points. More than 84 million shares worth around VND831 billion were transacted on the northern bourse that day. SGT

Vietnams stock market has tough time in February The Vietnamese stock market had a tough time throughout February with most stocks weakening amid concern about the global spread of the coronavirus disease(COVID-19).
Philippines' national capital region Manila on March 15 was officially placed under partial lockdown, suspending all land, air, domestic sea travel to and from the area till April 15. The implementation came after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on March 12 during a live televised address announced that Metro Manila will be put under partial lockdown from March 15. The decision to place Manila under a month-long lockdown was taken in order to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus that is raging havoc in the rest of the world.

Read: Coronavirus: Kerala CM Urges Locals To Treat Tourists In The State With 'respect & Care'

According to reports, all schools, colleges, government offices will largely be shut and a curfew from 8pm to 5am will be implemented during this period, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority General Manager Jose Arturo Garcia Jr. said. As per reports, the new measures will require passengers in taxis, shuttles, and buses to seat more than 1 seat apart, while attendees of religious activities must maintain a 1-metre radius between them. The movement of cargo won't be affected by the new measures, while workers will be allowed to travel to and from Manila by showing proof of employment or business at checkpoints.

Read: Coronavirus Can't Keep Fans From Going To Nebraska Racetrack

According to recent data, the total number of coronavirus cases in the Philippines has reached 111, of which 101 are still active and are placed under observation. As per data, so far 8 people in the south-east Asian country have lost their lives, while 2 patients have recovered fully from the disease.

Read: Donald Trump Declares National Day Of Prayer For Coronavirus-affected People

Coronavirus outbreak

The novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has claimed more than 5,800 lives across the world and has infected over 1,56,000 people globally since it first broke out in December 2019. China is the most affected country in the world as experts believe that the virus originated from a seafood market in Wuhan city, the epicentre of the disease, where animals were reportedly being traded illegally.

According to the latest reports, the virus has spread to 152 countries and territories so far, which makes it the worst disease outbreak of the 21st century. Italy, Iran, South Korea, and Spain are the worst affected countries outside mainland China, where a combined death toll stands at 2,323 as of March 14.

Read: French Minister Tests Positive For Coronavirus As Nationwide Toll Rises To 4,469
Two men were killed when a low floor bus hit their motorcycle here on Sunday, police said.

The incident took place on the busy Tonk road here. The bus driver fled after the accident but was later apprehended, said Station House Officer, Bajaj Nagar, Manvendra Singh.

The deceased have been identified as Ronak Thakkar (24) and Samarth Singh (21). Singh was the son of rights activist Nisha Sidhu, he said.

The bodies have been sent for post-mortem, the officer added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
All 289 people on board Dubai-bound flight from Kochi were asked to deplane right before take-off after it became known that a passenger tested positive for the highly contagious coronavirus, said news agency PTI quoting airport officials.

The passenger, who is a UK national, belonged to a group of 19 holidaying in the hill resort town of Munnar in Kerala and was under surveillance, a Cochin International Airport Limited spokesman said.

He joined the group to reach the Kochi airport without informing authorities in Munnar, said the spokesman.

Also Watch | Coronavirus: Evacuated Indians from Iran reach Jaisalmer, to be quarantined

When the test result came, the authorities came to know that he was at the Kochi airport and travelling by an Emirates flight.

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.

From imported cases to local transmission, Kerala had pressed the emergency button announcing a series of measures to check the spread of the virus. The state health department has called for strict community surveillance, scaling up of contact tracing and tapping local bodies to check the spread of the deadly disease.

Two important shrines, Guruvayoor and Sabarimala, have scaled down their daily grind. The Nair Service Society has also asked people to skip big gatherings. Cinema halls have also announced closure and film units also suspended their shooting. Hotels and resorts have been asked not to entertain foreign guests till further notice.

The state had reported Indias first three cases of coronavirus in January this year. They have now recovered fully.

The coronavirus outbreak has the government working on a war-footing to minimise the spread of the disease.

Union Minister of State for Health Ashwini Choubey said the government has issued an advisory asking civil hospitals and medical colleges to set up isolation wards.

We are trying our best to contain the spread of coronavirus which has spread to 12 states, said the minister.
Jackie Ceren has seen a lot in 41 years working in the travel industry, but she's never seen anything like what's happened to the cruise industry since the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus.



Passengers have fallen ill and died as cruise ships become the sites of epidemics. In response, ports have denied vessels entry, travelers have canceled trips and the largest cruise companies in the world have suspended operations.

"I've only ever seen them close cruise ports for like hurricanes or earthquakes," said Ceren, a travel agent based out of Florida. "And I've been through SARS, Ebola, Swine Flu. I've seen it all."

Every booking she had has now canceled. "This is like a travel apocalypse," Ceren said.

Two of her clients were actually stuck at sea. Ray Cutro, 73, and his wife Arline ultimately made the decision to abort their four-month Viking cruise trip around the world.

They were just over two months in, Cutro said, and the ship was sailing around Australia trying to re-chart a course that avoided China, then the epicenter of the new coronavirus pandemic. It was the end of February, he said, and ports around Southeast Asia were turning the ship away, fearing a situation similar to that which occurred earlier in February when an outbreak spread aboard the Diamond Princess in Japan.

The captain called an all-hands meeting with the passengers, Cutro said, adding that the captain and company handled the situation well. The message was, "you can get off or you can stay on, but we don't know where we're going," Cutro recalled. His mind was already made up.

"We were fooling ourselves to stay," he said, so he and his wife flew home to Florida last week.

Cutro said he paid $100,000 for the four-month cruise that was supposed to be a celebration of him and his wife's 50th anniversary. The Viking Sun voyage was supposed to set a record for the longest continuous passenger cruise trip ever. Cutro said the company is compensating them for at least some of the trip, but the decision to cut the trip short wasn't easy, he said. As the virus continues to sweep across the world, he thinks he made the right decision.

"The whole world feels like a cruise ship now," he said.
The Hemsworth brothers, Luke, Chris, and Liam are all successful actors in their own right. Luke Hemsworth, the oldest at 38 is best known for playing Ashley Stubbs on HBOs Westworld.

The middle brother, Chris Hemsworth, is 36 and has been playing Thor in Marvel films for almost a decade now. Liam, the youngest of the family is 30 and was most notably Gale Hawthorne, in The Hunger Games series.

Thanks to their many roles in Hollywood and Australia, theyre all quite wealthy, but which brother has the highest net worth and why?

The Hemsworth brothers were a rowdy bunch

Liam Hemsworth, Luke Hemsworth and Chris Hemsworth | Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images

The Hemsworth brothers were all born in Melbourne, Australia but eventually, the family moved the Australian Outback when Liam was still a child. Much like the regions reputation, the boys were a bit wild. According to Luke Hemsworth, theyd be up and out each day, say goodbye to their mom and then disappear into the bush.

The three were also quite prone to good-natured fighting. Luke Hemsworth once said of his little brothers: Theyre really tall, but theyre actually quite softand they cry a lot. I take great joy in making them cry.

He wasnt the only one to make mention of their rowdy natures. Liam Hemsworth once told Conan: I feel like thats when you really get to know each other, when you give someone a good punch in the face. Its one way of expressing love.

Their fighting did go a little too far from time to time. Liam Hemsworth once threw a knife at Chris Hemsworths head. Luckily only the handle hit him. He defended himself in the aftermath saying, It was just a warning!

The Hemsworth brothers all started acting in their teens

By the time the Hemsworth brothers were in high school, they took an interest in acting one by one. Chris Hemsworth had financial goals in mind going into the business: he wanted to help pay off his parents house. However, he said he may have been more relaxed in auditions if he hadnt put that pressure on himself.

He did miss out on some parts that he wanted early on, like the role of GI Joe that went to Channing Tatum, but it all worked out when he eventually was cast as Thor.

Liam Hemsworth once told GQ that Chris Hemsworth is his hero and that he goes to him when hes on the fence about what projects to take. The two are very open in interviews about how picky they are about which film projects they participate in. They wont take just any role, they want the script to be solid, and they want to know they can bring something to the part.

The three brothers are close. Liam Hemsworth lived just five minutes away from Luke Hemsworth in Malibu before his mansion with then-wife Miley Cyrus was lost to the fires. If the aftermath of losing his home and separating from Cyrus, Liam Hemsworth then decided to move back to Australia, less than a mile away from Chris Hemsworth and his family.

Chris Hemsworths work with Marvel made him the richest Hemsworth

When it comes to the net worth of the Hemsworth brothers, there really is no contest. According to estimates from The Richest, Chris Hemsworths net worth is $90 million. He made over $64 million in 2018 alone, thats more than double Liam Hemsworths total net worth of $26 million.

Despite their similar looks, Thor was one of the only parts that the two brothers have competed for. Were not generally looked at in the same age bracket, Liam Hemsworth told GQ Australia, Thor was the only time when we were really up against each other. He went on to say being just 18 at the time, he didnt really want to do the role and thought he was too young when compared to the other actors up for it.

As for Luke Hemsworth, his net worth is somewhere around $3 million, a more than respectable amount for any actor. Regardless of who makes the most, Chris Hemsworth and his brothers achieved their financial goals, and then some. Their parents must be very proud.
Health educators at UAB say a series of measures announced by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama will help its members deal with the possible effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Monica Aswani, assistant professor in UABs School of Health Professions, said the companys response should prove to be beneficial to their customers at a time of great uncertainty and concern.

Heres where you can get tested for coronavirus in Alabama

The company, which is the largest insurance provider in Alabama, has announced several steps:

*Waiving prior authorizations for diagnostic tests and covered services that are medically necessary and consistent with CDC guidance for members diagnosed with COVID-19.

*Covering medically necessary diagnostic tests, consistent with CDC guidance, at no cost to members with fully insured individual, employer-based, Federal Employee Program, and Medicare Advantage plans. For self-funded employer plans, the company says members cost share for diagnostic tests will be based on their benefit plan.

*Waiving early medication refill limits on prescriptions and encouraging members to use their 90-day refill or mail order benefit.

*Expanding access to telehealth and nurse/provider hotlines to prevent further spreading of the virus.

*Dedicating staff to be specifically available to address inquiries related to medical services.

On covering diagnostic tests, Aswani said about 60 percent of all employees are covered in a self-funded plan. These plans are still subject to cost-sharing, such as deductibles, which are unlikely to have been met this early in the year, she said.

The prescription medication access, especially using 90-day refill or mail order, should aid in minimizing exposure to the virus. The only difficulty may come if theres a glut of large refill orders.

Since many drugs are manufactured in countries severely impacted by COVID19, there are already concerns about potential shortages, which may be unintentionally heightened by an influx of 90-day refills though, Aswani said.

Eric Wallace, medical director of eMedicine at UAB, said encouraging more use of telemedicine will save lives.

Furthermore, it will ensure that patients have access to healthcare while lowering the risk of infection by keeping patients at home. We hope all other insurers do the right thing with this threat and help providers care for their patients in the best way we can under the current situation. Telehealth is part of the solution, Wallace said.

Earlier this week, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama announced that it was moving to a telework plan so that, if needed, 100 percent of its workforce could maintain staffing. The company says that about 99 percent of its claims are already processed electronically and it does not anticipate disruption.

We will continue to do what is necessary to support the health and well-being of our members and the community, Dow Briggs, executive vice president of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, said.

Members with questions can call the customer service number of their ID cards.
S ince 15 March 2011, the Syrian civil war has destroyed some of the oldest cities in the world, killed upwards of half a million people, and created the greatest refugee crisis since WWII.

Nine years on, the fighting continues. Here is a breakdown of who is involved, why they are fighting, and what to watch as the war enters its tenth year.

How did the war begin?

The war began as an internal affair, when a peaceful uprising against the countrys authoritarian ruler - Bashar al-Assad - escalated after a brutal government crackdown.

Protests were sparked by the arrest and alleged torture of 15 schoolchildren, who graffitied revolutionary phrases in the southern city of Daraa, inspired by the so-called Arab Spring.

But the war is no longer a conflict between those for and against Assad. It quickly became a proxy battleground for foreign powers, and a site of religious and ethnic conflict, as well as a civil war.

Who is involved?

1. The Syrian government and its allies

Since 2015, Russia has provided President Assad with strong military support, as well as protection within the UN. An ally of Syrias since the Cold War, Russia claims to target terrorists only, but activists have exposed attacks against mainstream rebels and civilians.

Iran is also a long-standing supporter of Syrias Shia, Alawite ruler. It has provided elite soldiers, weaponry and intelligence to his war, as well as training Shia militiamen from groups such as Hezbollah.

This alliance has been ruthless, cornering the opposition over a nine-year assault that has included mass-tortures, airstrikes and chemical weapon attacks.

2. The opposition and their allies

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) was founded in 2011 by Syrian Army defectors. It is now an umbrella for various rebel groups, united in their opposition to Assad but not much else.

They range from pro-democracy fighters to more conservative factions such as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly connected to the Salafist Al-Nusra Front.

The opposition has had military support from Turkey, plus financial aid from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, who fear Irans growing influence in the region.

They have also received support from the US, UK and France, but this has weakened over time, particularly since President Trumps administration in the US.

3. The Kurds

Kurds are a Middle Eastern ethnic group populating the mountainous borderlands of Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Armenia. Although they count around 30 million, they have never had a country of their own, and have often suffered as minorities.

When civil war broke out in 2011, Kurdish forces known as the Peoples Protection Units (YPG) took control of Syrias north-eastern, majorly Kurdish region, called Rojava.

Today, it is defended by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF): an alliance between the YPG, YPJ (the Womens Protection Units) and Arab, Turkmen, Armenian and Chechen militiamen.

But rather than warring with Assad, the SDF became engaged in another conflict:

4. Islamic State

In 2014, IS expanded from Iraq into the Syrian city of Raqqah, initiating a long war. The SDF recovered Raqqah in 2017, and finally declared victory over IS in March 2019, in the city of Baghuz.

They did not fight this battle alone, but were supported by a global alliance of 79 countries.

5. America

The US led this global alliance, and American troops fought alongside the Kurds for years.

But after ISs defeat, President Trump ended military support for the SDF and announced a withdrawal of troops. Although US troops remain in Syria, their former allies were left exposed and a new front in the war was initiated.

6. Turkey

Three days after Trumps announcement, in October 2019, Turkey attacked Rojava.

Turkey has supported Syrian rebels since the start of the war, including military enforcement since 2017, but this has not extended to the SDF.

Turkey has a turbulent history with Kurds, who constitute 15-20% of its population. Since the 1970s, The Kuridstan Workers Party (PKK) has pursued an armed struggle for independence in Turkey, resulting in 40,000 deaths and many more displacements.

President Erdogan fears Kurdish autonomy will fuel separatism within Turkey, something the government has fought for decades.

7. Israel

In the south, the Syrian government faces further threat from Israel.

Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes from the occupied Golan Heights, targeting Syrian institutions and Iranian military bases. As well as regional rivalry, one of Israels major concerns is Irans support of Hezbollah, a Lebanese group formed to fight Israeli occupation.

To sum up:

Assad and his allies fight rebels in the northwest The Kurds and a global alliance fought IS further east, but the former have since faced intervention from Turkey D own south, Israel launches its own attacks

Layers of foreign involvement in the once revolution have created a highly complex and protracted situation, with no foreseeable resolution.

What to watch in 2020

1. Idlib

The north-western province of Idlib remains the rebels final stronghold.

President Assads attempts to liberate the region has resulted in almost a million displacements since December alone. Its the biggest exodus the war has ever seen.

Displacement camps are overflowing and, as a result, many children have died from the cold. Even aid workers have become displaced, with the UN urgently calling for donations.

Turkey is heavily involved in supporting the rebels, who seem to be primarily Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. They have successfully beat back the Syrian Army in spite of its strong Russian enforcement.

On 5 March 2020, a ceasefire was agreed between Presidents Erdogan and Putin. It is not, however, the first of its kind.

2. Rojava

Since Turkey invaded its Kurdish neighbours, up to 300,000 people have been displaced.

Turkey says it wants to establish a 300-mile safe zone across its border. The goal is not only to neutralise Kurdish fighters, but to repatriate some of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees Turkey currently plays host to.

Houses cleared of Kurdish families are being used to resettle Syrians, a move that has been criticised as an attempt to ethnically alter the region. Many Syrians, meanwhile, fear it is unsafe for them to return to their country.

3. The diaspora

Besides the 6.3 million Syrians internally displaced, 6 million have scattered across the globe. But borders are tightening, and it is increasingly difficult to find refuge.

On 1 March 2020, Turkey reopened its border with Greece. This reverted a 2016 deal in which Turkey had agreed to contain the flow of refugees in exchange for EU support, which Turkey feels did not materialise. This move has resulted in violent clashes between Greek border forces and crossing migrants. Possibly contravening international law, Greece has stopped processing asylum claims.
India's first canine training centre comes up at Attari; Dogs to be trained on narcotics detection

Punjab man travelling from Malaysia declared dead after his flight landed in Amritsar

India

oi-PTI

Amritsar, Mar 15: A 41-year-old Punjab native, returning to Amritsar from Malaysia, was declared dead after his flight landed here, officials said on Sunday.

Hukam Singh's flight reached here late Saturday night. Singh belonged to Gande village of Gurdaspur district. Amritsar's Civil Surgeon Parbdeep Kaur Johal said Singh's body has been kept in the government hospital here.

It will be handed over to his family after postmortem, she said. Dr Johal said immediately after landing of the flight, the passenger was shifted to a hospital near the airport, where doctors declared him "brought dead".

The exact cause of his death will be known only after the postmortem, she added.

According to the family of the deceased, during travel in the flight, Singh is believed to have suffered a sudden chest pain and subsequently a message was conveyed to the international airport authorities here and an ambulance was kept ready before the flight landed.

Immediately after the landing of the flight, the family members shifted him in an ambulance to a private hospital near the airport where Singh was declared "brought dead".

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 15, 2020, 17:42 [IST]
King Felipe VI of Spain moved to distance himself from his scandal-hit father, stripping him of his palace allowance and renouncing what he was due to inherit from him.

A statement from the palace on Sunday announced that he had stripped the former king Juan Carlos, of his allowance and was himself renouncing what he was due to inherit from him.

The announcement came after media reports that Juan Carlos had received 100 million dollars (90 million euros) from Saudi Arabia via an offshore account -- and that King Felipe himself was also a beneficiary.

The money was lodged in a Swiss bank account in the name of a Panamanian foundation.

In the palace statement, the reigning king said that in April he had made it clear to a notary that he would accept no money from the foundation in question.

He also that he had absolutely no knowledge of having been named as a beneficiary to another foundation, which according to press reports paid millions of euros towards his father's flights in private jets.

On Tuesday, the Spanish parliament decided against launching an investigation into suspected money laundering by the former king Juan Carlos.

Spain's hard-left Podemos party had called for it after reports earlier this month that in 2008 Juan Carlos received USD100 million from Saudi king Abdallah via the Swiss account of an entity listed in Panama.

The Swiss daily Tribune de Geneve added that in 2012, USD65 million of that sum was given by the king to his former mistress, Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.

Then a report in Britain's Daily Telegraph said that 52-year-old King Felipe was also a beneficiary of the fund, which it said had been set up when Juan Carlos was still on the throne.

Juan Carlos, now 82, came to the throne after the death of the military dictator Francisco Franco in 1975 and is widely respected for having favoured a transition to democracy.

But he lost his immunity from prosecution after handing power to his son, Felipe, in June 2014 following a 39-year reign.

He resigned from public life last year after a series of scandals about his private life.

In 2012, he outraged Spaniards by going elephant hunting in Botswana at the height of the country's recession.

Spanish reports say Juan Carlos has until now received an annual allowance from the state of more than 194,000 euros.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
MBABANE  If a Cabinet minister who is responsible for two different portfolios confirms the venue for an interview to be my office, which conundrum suddenly faces you?



Obviously, it has to be: which office is he referring to?

Well, for me to answer this question I first thought of the portfolio which the interview would focus on; and it was on Information Communication and Technology (ICT).



So, I asked myself: does this mean the minister was referring to the office of the Minister of ICT when he said my office?

With the interview barely 30 minutes away, I had to come up with an answer, and quickly. It suddenly hit me; the minister cannot say my office in reference to the Minister of ICTs office because he is only the acting minister in that portfolio.



His substantive position is Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade and his name is Senator Manqoba Khumalo, the former General Manager at the multinational Coca Cola Company where he was based in Dublin, Ireland.



Communications



Having deduced that my office was the Commerce Industry and Trade office at the inter-ministerial building, I quickly called a taxi to fetch me from the office.

Its Friday and the department car is out on another assignment hence the taxi; other departments vehicles are also unavailable.

With the interview scheduled for 3pm, I am running late because its 2:58pm when the taxi eventually picks me up. But because the inter-ministerial building is not far from the Times offices, I am at the ministers office by 3:06pm.



To my relief, his Personal Assistant Patience Ramanamane, whom I find with the Ministrys Communications Officer Thabile Mdluli, tells me that he is still at his second wife  the Ministry of ICT, which is in the adjacent building just a stones throw away.



So I am offered the comfortable sofa to relax as I wait. It is not long before the minister emerges from his office, having come in through another entrance, carrying a piece of what I deduced to be Kentucky Fried Chicken. Good afternoon Mr. Dlamini, I am sorry I am still having my lunch and I will be with you shortly. These people (pointing at Thabile and Patience) work my socks off; they dont give me time to rest, he says.



And it is indeed not long before he is done with his KFC and invites me to his office.



challenge



He offers me a seat in his portable round table and Thabile has also been invited to sit in throughout the interview.

Shes here to call me to order should I digress, says the minister.



After manoeuvring the chitchat, we then get to the nitty-gritty of the interview, starting with the challenges he has encountered since he began acting in the position of Her Royal Highness Inkhosatana Sikhanyiso, the incumbent Minister of ICT.



The first challenge was workload because the Ministry of Commerce is in itself a very demanding job, like all ministries. You feel you dont have enough time in the day to do what youre supposed to do. If you go to a ministry as hectic as ICT, trying to find a balance was the number one challenge, Khumalo says.

Secondly, he touches on the backlog of issues that he says needed to be addressed, particularly initiatives that Her Royal Highness had started and were already in motion and needed to be brought to fruition but, for one reason or another, were lagging behind.



He tells me that these issues include the probe at the countrys two State-owned broadcasting stations  the Eswatini Television Authority (ETVA) and the Eswatini Broadcasting and Information Services; the obsolete infrastructure at ETVA; growing the television station and ensuring network coverage; reducing the cost of mobile phone data; and putting into place Boards at two public enterprises, namely the Royal Science and Technology Park and the Eswatini Communications Commission. As he juggles the two ministries responsibilities, Khumalo gives the assurance that he has been able to find the balance.



The minister then answers my questions regarding the long-dragging process to terminate the 22-year old Joint Venture Agreement between MTN Eswatini and Eswatini Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (EPTC). EPTC holds a majority 41 per cent shares at MTN Eswatini but now wants out so as to operate its own mobile telecommunications company, which they were granted a licence for  the third in the country.



At least three previous ministers have had to deal with this issue but they had not seen the divorce through by the time they exited office.

But what has Khumalo done to address this issue in the less than two months he has been with the ICT portfolio?



destination



Ive worked on this very hard over the last month and I think I even surprised myself. I think I understand the issues very well at this stage and, to be fair, Her Royal Highness had kept us as a Cabinet team updated on that issue.



So, I did have some basic, rudimentary understanding of what she had done up until the point she left. But Ive then had to get on to the next level of detail and the next level of detail and the next level of detail, the senator says.



To show the level of progress he has made, he even presents what is on his schedule: Before the end of April, I will be presenting a proposal to Cabinet for EPTC to divorce from MTN because that is a destination that Cabinet has approved in the Strategic Road map; it is a destination that the regulator has recommended to Cabinet; it is a destination that the ministry wants to pursue; and it is a destination that EPTC has also embraced. So there is no issue with that.

It is known that the stumbling block has been the value of the shares that EPTC holds at MTN Eswatini; so what action has the minister implemented in this regard?



The terms of the separation in terms of recovering your value in the investment have been an issue for some time and I dont know really what the hold-up was. But weve just finished the valuation of the shares and we would be able to convey that to government and ask for permission to sell the shares.

The valuation of the shares wont be a holdup now. Were not there yet (at the stage where all parties can express their happiness on the value of the shares). Weve just completed the process. I cant share as to who conducted the valuation of the shares because thats proprietary information and Ive to share it with Cabinet, he explains.

He appears to be so sure of the April time frame; hence he is probed further on this.



confidence



I am very confident of delivering the report to Cabinet by end of April. I am not saying the report will be accepted; I am not saying weve a buyer for the shares; Im not saying MTN is happy or not; Im just saying weve finished the valuation process and I will be presenting the report to Cabinet to decide whether to continue with the sale or not, on the basis of what we will be presenting to them as the ministry.

To me its a very important milestone because weve never been to this point. So the next point is to say here are the shares and they cost so much and if you disagree with the valuation you would have to tell me why, the minister states with added confidence.



Khumalo states that the other shareholders at MTN Eswatini, namely; MTN International, Swaziland Empowerment Limited and Esteemed Shareholder, have not yet been engaged regarding the report and the sale of the shares.



The first person that we will engage with is the owner of the shares, which is Eswatini Government. They will give us direction to engage with all of these people (MTN, SEL and Esteemed Shareholder). I can confidently say there is enough appetite for these shares but what we dont know is whether they would still be interested once they know their value because people have a concept of what the value should be.

Once they see the actual value I dont know whether the appetite will still be the same. But Ive every reason to believe that we will find a buyer for these shares, he continues. I ask him what he has done differently from his predecessors such that he has been able to overcome what has been their stumbling block all along.



I need to give credit where it is due; it has mostly been Her Royal Highness, working on what needs to be done. We had a good handover, she told me where this was and my role was just to make sure that I encourage the people that were doing the work to actually finish it, he acknowledges.

He reiterates this point: We did a handover; as soon as I was announced we did a proper handover of what she was working on. She had done a lot of heavy lifting, so to speak; my job was just to complete the play, which I have.



decision

As all these things are happening, Khumalo says he cannot honestly answer with confidence what the feeling of the other shareholders is towards the divorce and having more players in the mobile telecommunications industry.

I think our guiding principle here is mostly the view of government in terms of the destination of the industry. The second guiding principle is the recommendation by the regulator in terms of making sure that free market economics are at play in this industry and, thirdly; consumers are paying fair value for the service, he states.

The senator understands that some people will have a favourable impact after this happened but is also cognisant of the fact that others may perceive this as not a good thing.

However, ultimately those guiding principles are what are driving us. So we obviously will engage once government, as owner of the shares, has made a decision to say this is how we want to proceed. We will engage all stakeholders and ensure that we are not making the environment worse off; but we want the environment to be free market economics. Thats what we are trying to do, he elucidates.



density

He then refers me to a study that was conducted while he was still at Coca Cola, which he makes me aware, however, that he is not sure of its accuracy today, but it was then. We found that the speed of internet in Eswatini, in terms of the applications we were using, was 10 times slower than the global average and it was four times more expensive. And I am sure businesses will relate to this problem and I am sure individuals will relate to this problem, he tells me.

He goes on: His Majesty the King, in his Speech from the Throne, gave us, as the Ministry of ICT, the mandate of free Wi-Fi in high density areas and at Tinkhundla, which is something we will deliver because the King has ordered that we do. Without fixing this, its impossible because we cant fix the business environment in terms of accessibility and affordability of data at a global standard level. We said we are open for business, so this is one of the things we need to fix.



The minister further tells me that if Eswatini is to realise its future prospects of being an export-driven economy, then it means the country needs to be trading on e-commerce platforms and using basically data as the new oxygen for the economy.

So how do you get there if you dont do this? The players need to understand the bigger goal and adapt their businesses accordingly, he says.

He draws my attention to what he says is the biggest challenge towards this, that of EPTC being able to survive after the unbundling process, which will see the corporation being separated into three companies; one for infrastructure, another for mobile telecommunications and the third being postal services. This moves the minister to address me about the second aspect he is working on regarding EPTC, which he says was being worked on by Her Royal Highness and he is just accelerating it.



This, I am told, involves the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which I learn has agreed to work with government in drafting a strategy of how to successfully unbundle EPTC, by looking at best practices by other countries which have been through a similar process.



engagement strategy



They (ITU) will also give us the best strategy of how to get there. There are two things that need to happen then; firstly we need to embrace the recommendation they are going to make. Once we embrace that then we also embrace the strategy they will propose to get there as government. I am expecting that work to be finished in April. And again, before the end of April I will have presented both things because I think both things have to go together; doing one without the other does not make too much sense, so the best thing is that its dovetailing nicely to the end of April. So, April is a big month for us in ICT, I am informed.



I am also told that in the May/June timeframe, if things go according to plan, the expectation after a very consultative process once Cabinet sort of aligns on the concept, destination and the strategy, lobbying of parliament, senate, industry players, the regulator and others will commence.

Khumalo says they will then need to have an engagement strategy where they will speak to all different players and influencers.

Having said all these, the minister, as a parting shot, then reminds me of the big elephant in the room; EPTC has a big struggle with a huge deficit in its pension fund.



The minister says a big part of the solution has to answer this question: how will EPTC fund their pension fund?

Its now heavily underfunded and part of the solution has to answer that question. And I think that liability will grow even bigger because if you unbundle and dismantle an organisation like EPTC you have to pay the employees their benefits. So not only does EPTC have to solve the underfunding of the pension fund but also has to solve the problem of how they fund the redundancies that will come from the unbundling. So, all those calculations have to make sense.

The ITU proposal puts all of that into perspective, so that by the time we present were presenting a business case really and were not presenting a wish-list of things we could or may do. But I have confidence that the numbers are moving in the right direction and we hope all will be implemented, he adds.

The interview has taken almost 26 minutes, which then gives the minister much time to prepare for his next meeting, which he tells me is at 4:30pm at Cabinet office.

As we say our goodbyes, Khumalo asks if I now have hope that the EPTC/MTN divorce will finally happen.

Of course, from what I heard today, it looks promising, I respond as I am led out of the office by Thabile.








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Ahmedabad: Amid the political crisis in Madhya Pradesh, sources claimed on Sunday (March 15) that at least four Congress MLAs resigned in Gujarat, in a big jolt to the grand-old party ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections.

The four Congress legislators, who have resigned from the party are  Mangal Gavit, JV Kakadiya, Somabhai Patel and Pradyuman Jadeja.

Fearing poaching attempts by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress had whisked away its 20 legislators to a secluded place in Rajasthan on March 14. According to sources, among the 20 Gujarat Congress MLAs, 15 were flown on Saturday while the rest were said to be driving to the resort a day later, on Sunday. Sources said another pack of legislators will be leaving Gujarat on Sunday and only 15-20 legislators will stay back to attend the budget session.

In the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, the BJP has 103 MLAs and the Congress 73. As to win a Rajya Sabha candidate will need 37 votes, both the parties have adequate strength to win two seats each. The Congress expects Jignesh Mevani, the Independent MAL, to vote for it.

As three BJP members are retiring from the Upper House on April 9, it wanted to keep its tally intact and thus on Friday fielded Narhari Amin as the third candidate. It set the alarm bell in the Congress and hence the move to shift MLAs out of the state.

The BJP is banking on three votes from other parties, like the Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP) and one from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

To get the required 37 votes for Amin, the BJP will need support of 5 Congress MLAs, which it feels confident of acquiring.
WICKLIFFE, Ohio  When Lubrizol Corp. employees in Shanghai, China, saw that hospitals there needed supplies to fight the novel coronavirus outbreak, they asked their company for help.

Lubrizol answered the call.

The Wickliffe-based corporation purchased and donated in late February 10,000 units of hand sanitizer and sanitizing spray, 5,000 medical gowns and 48,000 IV tubes, and distributed them to hospitals in Wuhan and Ezhou, as well as the Wuhan COVID-19 Preventative Management Center. The supplies had a retail value of about $325,000, the company said.

Lubrizol also donated $10,000 to the Singapore Red Cross; that city also has been hit hard by COVID-19.

All of the donated items were made with ingredients manufactured by Lubrizol, said Julie Edgar, Lubrizol corporate vice president, innovation and chief sustainability officer.

Because many shipping companies are no longer shipping to China, Lubrizol purchased and transported the relief products within that country, she said.

Its a nice example of marrying what we do with philanthropy, Edgar said. We enabled the local team to do this very quickly.

Since COVID-19 first emerged in China more than two months ago, the city has experienced weeks of widespread travel restrictions, government-enforced lockdowns and economic stress. There have been tens of thousands of confirmed cases of the virus and hundreds of deaths.

But the outbreak has showed signs of slowing in China recently. On Tuesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first visit to Wuhan since the outbreak.

In the past, Lubrizol has contributed to relief efforts mostly in the United States, such as for victims of Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Lubrizol saw its China relief project as an opportunity to expand into a part of the world where Lubrizol employees live and work.

We like to be a good neighbor, Edgar said. Lubrizol owns and operates manufacturing facilities in 17 countries, with 9,000 employees globally and 500 in China.

Lubrizols donation highlighted how its materials are essential to medical products. The company makes ingredients and additives for home care, personal care and skin care products, as well as polymers for pharmaceutical use and medical devices. These additives and polymers are sold to other companies that manufacture the final product.

Many common brands contain our product, Edgar said, declining to name the specific brands.

The company has no plans to make a second relief donation at this time, but is monitoring Chinas need for supplies, Edgar added.

Lubrizol invented a polymer that gives hand sanitizer its gel-like consistency and clear appearance, Edgar explained. The polymer also keeps the moisturizing agent and alcohol uniformly dispersed throughout the hand sanitizer.

This container of hand sanitizer was mixed inside a laboratory at Lubrizol in Brecksville. Lubrizol invented a polymer that gives hand sanitizer its gel-like consistency and clear appearance.The Plain Dealer

The company also makes a thin polymer film that is laminated to fabric medical gowns to act as a germ barrier, but allows body heat to escape, Edgar said.

Intravenous tubes made from Lubrizols medical-grade polymers are flexible and can be sterilized.

Hospitals in China were grateful for Lubrizols donation of IV tubes and other supplies, Edgar said.

The COVID-19 outbreak disrupted many aspects of daily life in China, but Lubrizols China plants have stayed open during the outbreak and are currently operating with full staff, according to a Lubrizol spokeswoman. Employees are given masks to use at work and at home, and the company is doing regular temperature monitoring for employees and visitors.

As COVID-19 cases have spread across the globe, the corporation has restricted all international travel, is encouraging virtual meetings with contacts from other countries and is limiting participation in trade shows and large meetings, the spokeswoman said.

Read more coronavirus coverage:

Ohio Department of Health confirms fifth coronavirus case in state: ODH update

County opens emergency operations center

Jewish Education Center employee tests positive

4 Hawken students quarantined after exposure on bus trip

Ohio coronavirus hotline offers information, advice

Cleaning products that kill the coronavirus

Should I cancel my trip? Experts say it depends.

Masks not necessary, hand washing is best
Four Congress MLAs in Gujarat have tendered their resignation to Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi ahead of the election to the four Rajya Sabha seats in the state to be held on March 26, prompting the opposition party to shift at least 24 MLAs to Jaipur on Sunday.

While the Congress said not a single "honest" MLA has resigned, state BJP president Jitu Vaghani said if the four legislators have indeed quit, the saffron party will win three seats in the RS elections.

Later, the Congress shifted around two dozen of its MLAs to Jaipur fearing poaching.

These moves come as Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi confirmed on Sunday that four Congress MLAs had tendered their resignations on Saturday, all of which had been accepted.

Trivedi said he would disclose the names of the four MLAs during the Assembly session on Monday.

"Four Congress MLAs tendered their resignation to me on Saturday, and I will announce their names in the Assembly tomorrow," the speaker told PTI.

Vaghani said he was informed about the development by the speaker.

"Trivedi said that the names of the MLAs who have resigned will be announced in the Assembly on Monday which is in session. MLAs of the Congress have resigned it seems. It means the BJP is winning three seats (in the upcoming Rajya Sabha election)," Vaghani told reporters.

He said the Congress can withdraw its candidates form the RS election fray till Monday.

BJP Minister in the state government, Kunvarji Bavaliya, claimedthat several Congress MLAs who are not happy with their party are in touch with the BJP. He said several such MLAs are likely to join the ruling party in coming days.

"After the announcement of the Rajya Sabha election, several Congress MLAs who have been in touch with us say they are not happy (with their party). Even the MLAs whom the Congress high command could not contact (for shifting them outside Gujarat) are also preparing to join the BJP," he said.

In a tweet in Gujarati, Congress leader Paresh Dhanani said not a single "honest" Congress MLAs has resigned so far.

With resignation of four MLAs, the strength of the Congress party in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly has come down to 69 from 73.

The Congress had on Saturday shifted its 14 MLAs to Jaipur fearing horse-trading by the ruling BJP ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls.

The BJP has fielded Abhay Bhardwaj, Ramila Bara and Narhari Amin for the RS election.

Given its number in the Assembly, the ruling party can only win two seats unless it manages cross-voting from the opposition camp or ensure defection of Congress MLAs to win the third seat.

The Congress has fielded senior leaders Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki.

The BJP has 103 MLAs in the House. The Bharatiya Tribal Party has two MLAs, followed by one MLA of the Nationalist Congress Party and an Independent.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A violent clash has occurred in Imasai town of Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State leading to the death of an official of the Nigeria Customs Service.

Several properties were also destroyed in the late Saturday night violence.

The customs blamed the violence on suspected smugglers who resisted arrest.

The Public Relations Officer of the Ogun State Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, Abdullahi Maiwada, who confirmed the incident on Sunday, said the customs operatives were on routine anti-smuggling operations and had an encounter with some suspected smugglers.

Its confirmed that the operatives of the National Border drill went on routine anti-smuggling operation and had an encounter with some suspected smugglers. In the melee that ensued, one of the operatives was brutally murdered by some unscrupulous elements. However, investigation is ongoing and details shall be communicated as soon as practically possible, the official said.

On Sunday morning, some residents of the community were reported to have fled their houses, while others locked themselves up in their homes to avoid arrest and retaliatory attack from the customs officials.

A resident of the community who spoke on phone with our correspondent from hiding said the situation was still tense at the time of this report.

He said armed customs officials arrived the community in five Toyota Hiace buses on Sunday morning.

Details later
On Sunday, Republic TVs Consulting Editor Major Gaurav Arya slammed Pakistans attempt to rake up the Kashmir issue at the SAARC conference on COVID-19. He highlighted the irony of Pakistan showcasing its concern for Kashmir when it had ignored the plights of its own citizens stuck in Wuhan, Iran, and Europe. Moreover, he observed that Kashmir was the cornerstone of Pakistans existence. Major Arya also stressed that the common person in Kashmir had nothing to do with Pakistan.

Read: Pakistan Raising Kashmir In SAARC COVID-19 Meet Was 'churlish & Unwarranted': Govt Sources

Major Gaurav Arya remarked, See Pakistan does not care about its citizens. They are stuck in Wuhan for a long time. They are stuck in Iran for a long time. They are stuck all over Europe. Pakistan has not brought anybody back. Pakistans single focus has always been Kashmir. It uses every single international platform- big or small whether it is the SAARC video conference which is started by Prime Minister Modi or the Union Nations, it has to bring up Kashmir. Kashmir is the cornerstone of Pakistans existence and their foreign policy. We should have seen this coming a while ago. What is the point of talking to Pakistan on coronavirus? They are not bringing back their own people. This country has disowned its own citizenry. And now this country says that we are worried about Kashmir. So, this is Pakistans character all along.

He added, There was a time when there was a section of society in Kashmir who had a great deal of hope from Pakistan. But today, no one really cares about Pakistan. People in Kashmir are getting along with their lives. And it is only a very small community of the Hurriyat because they are sponsored and funded by Pakistan- the people who are saying Pakistan Zindabad in Kashmir. The common person in Kashmir has nothing to do with Pakistan.

Read: Pak Attends SAARC Conference Led By PM Modi; Elaborates On Coronavirus, Brings In J&K

'Lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir must be lifted'

Instead of Pakistan PM Imran Khan, his Special Assistant on Health Dr Zafar Mirza took part in the SAARC conference. The latter expressed concern over the outbreak of COVID-19 in Jammu and Kashmir. Moreover, he called for the lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir to be immediately lifted in the wake of the novel coronavirus crisis.

Dr Zafar Mirza remarked, "We hope that during this COVID-19 our member countries will provide access to all the regions. In this regard, it is a matter of concern that COVID-19 has reported from Jammu and Kashmir. In the view of emergency its imperative that all lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir must be lifted immediately, opening up communication and movement."

Read: Pakistan Raises Kashmir At SAARC COVID-19 Meet, Demands Lifting Of 'lockdown In J&K'

Read: Sri Lankan President At SAARC Conference: Our Economy Has Taken Serious Blow
Pope holds his first ever virtual general audience, amid Italy's coronavirus epidemic, at the Vatican, on March 11, 2020. (Vatican Media/Handout via Reuters)

Vatican to Hold Easter Celebrations Without Congregation Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

The Vatican announced that its traditional Easter week celebrations, led by Pope Francis and normally attended by thousands, will this year be held without the presence of worshippers due to the coronavirus pandemic.

All the Liturgical Celebrations of Holy Week will take place without the physical presence of the faithful, the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household, which, among other things, organizes official audiences with the pope, announced in a March 15 statement.

Furthermore, this Prefecture informs that until April 12, the General Audiences and the Angelus presided over by the Holy Father will be available only in live streaming on the official Vatican News website.

Pope Francis was scheduled to begin Holy Week on April 5, with Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peters Square, followed by Chrism Mass on April 9 in St. Peters Basilica, and the Mass of the Lords Supper, which he has typically held in detention centers or with asylum-seekers.

Good Fridays commemoration of the Lords Passion; and the Easter Vigil on April 11, will all be celebrated by the pope without the public, according to Catholic News Agency.

As the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread across Italy, Pope Francis has significantly reduced his public appearances, instead live streaming early morning Mass, Wednesday General Audiences, and Sunday Angelus. The Vatican Museums have also been closed until April 3 as a precautionary measure.

The Vaticans decision to livestream Easter week celebrations comes after health officials in Italy on March 13 announced that 250 people had died of coronavirus in a single day across the country, bringing the death toll to 1,266. They also confirmed 15,000 cases of the virus, making it the worst-affected country in the world outside of mainland China, but noted that 1,439 people have recovered so far.

Silvio Brusaferro, the head doctor in the countrys health agency, said the majority of the patients who have died from COVID-19 are over the age of 80.

The peak of mortality is between 80 to 89 years, he said, according to state-backed ANSA. As of March 15, 24,747 cases of the virus have been reported along with 1,809 deaths, while 2,335 are said to have recovered.

In recent weeks, Italy has extended its emergency coronavirus measures in an effort to slow the spread of the virus, placing more than 60 million people under lockdown and introducing travel restrictions. The country has also put a ban on all public gatherings, including funerals and weddings, while theaters, gyms, and pubs have been shut down. Schools and universities also will remain closed until April 3, according to The Guardian.
The official leading Iran's response to the worst coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East on Sunday acknowledged that the pandemic could overwhelm health facilities in the country, which is under severe US sanctions.

Iran is battling one of the worst outbreaks outside China, with nearly 13,000 confirmed cases and more than 600 fatalities. The real number of infections could be even higher, as questions have been raised about the government's transparency.

"If the trend continues, there will not be enough capacity," Ali Reza Zali, who is leading the campaign against the outbreak, was quoted as saying by the state-run IRNA agency.

Iran is believed to have around 110,000 hospital beds, including 30,000 in the capital, Tehran. Authorities have pledged to set up mobile clinics as needed.

Zali also acknowledged that many of those who have died from the COVID-19 illness caused by the virus were otherwise healthy, a rare admission by local authorities that the virus does not only prey on the sick and elderly.

The Health Ministry released figures showing that while 55 per cent of fatalities were in their 60s, some 15 per cent were younger than 40.

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.

Most people recover in a matter of weeks. But the virus is highly contagious and can be spread by individuals with no visible symptoms.

The virus has infected more than 150,000 people worldwide and killed more than 5,700. More than 70,000 people worldwide have recovered after being infected.

In Iran, the virus has even infected a number of senior officials, including the senior vice president, Cabinet ministers, members of parliament, Revolutionary Guard members and Health Ministry officials.

The country has struggled to respond in part because of crippling sanctions imposed by the Trump administration after it withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal. Last week, Iran asked the International Monetary Fund for a USD 5 billion loan, the first time it has sought help from the international lender since before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The US says it has offered humanitarian aid but that Iran has rejected it.

Countries across the Middle East have imposed sweeping travel restrictions, cancelled public events and in some cases called on non-essential businesses to close for the coming weeks. They have also pledged stimulus to try and contain the economic fallout from the pandemic.

The central bank of the United Arab Emirates, home to the skyscraper-studded city of Dubai, on Sunday announced a USD 27 billion stimulus package. The money will go toward supporting the country's banks, and regulatory limits on loans will be eased.

Dubai Parks & Resorts announced it would be closed through the end of the month. The sprawling amusement park, built at a cost of USD 3 billion, has lost hundreds of millions of dollars since opening.

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, shut down its amusement parks and museums through the end of the month, including Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Tiny, oil-rich Kuwait meanwhile shut down malls, salons and barbershops to slow the spread of the virus. Authorities allowed coffee shops to remain open, but said no more than five customers can wait in line at a time and must be a meter apart from each other.

Saudi Arabia separately announced its own USD 13 billion stimulus plan.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trial on serious corruption charges, which was supposed to begin this week, was postponed for two months due to restrictions on public gatherings.

Israel imposed sweeping travel and quarantine measures more than a week ago but has seen its number of confirmed cases double in the last two days, to around 200.

On Saturday, the government said restaurants, malls, movies, gyms and daycare centers would close. Schools and universities have already been shut down until next month.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- Flight507 was scheduled to arrive in Nairobi on the early morning of May 5, 2007, from Douala, Cameroon, but this never happened

- The plane only flew for one minute and 30 seconds before it crashed in a swamp south of Douala airport and rescuers located it after two days

- Detectives say the two pilots failed to turn on the autopilot while plane climbed to its cruising altitude and this saw it fly on its own

- Flight507 kept flying at an extreme bank angle of up to 45 degrees (right wing pointing down and the left one point to the sky)

- The 52-year-old pilot Francis Mbatia who commandeered the routine flight earlier served as a flight attendant at KQ but became pilot after training

- Detectives say he was an authoritarian man who shouted at his co-pilot and this saw 23-year-old Andrew Kiuru (first officer) assume a passive role

A freshly released investigative report has revealed that the May 5, 2007, crash involving a Kenya Airways (KQ) plane in Douala Cameroon was caused by an easy to correct mistake made by the crew at the helm of the routine flight.

The investigation conducted by a joint team of aviation experts from Africa, US and Europe and aired on National Geographic Channel said the pilot and the first officer failed to turn on the autopilot as they climbed to their cruising altitude from Douala International Airport.

READ ALSO: Kenyan newspapers review for March 9: Ruto allies insist Raila will attend Nakuru BBI rally as invited guest

Flight507 was scheduled to arrive in Nairobi early morning of May 5, 2007, from Douala, Cameroon but this never happened. Photo: KQ.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Msambweni MP Suleiman Dori dies aged 41

Flight507 left the airport at midnight on May 5, 2007 but crashed in a swamp south of the facility after flying for one minute and 30 seconds.

All the 114 lives aboard the modern breed of Boeing 737-800 were lost.

It was expected to land at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on the same day at around 6.15am.

READ ALSO: Watu 9 kuhojiwa na DCI kuhusiana na mauaji ya sajini Kipyegon Kenei

READ ALSO: Avoid choppers, be careful with your food and drinks - MP Moha advises Ruto

Before the Douala-Nairobi haul, Fligh507 had flown from Abidjan, Ivory Coast and landed at Douala at around 10pm on May 4, 2007.

According to the investigation, Flight507 was behind schedule by about an hour due to a big storm that was brewing above the skies of Douala.

READ ALSO: Francis Atwoli tosses his iPhone again during press conference, slams Ruto over fake arms deal

After about 20 minutes of waiting, Captain Francis Mbatia, 52, informed the control tower that his onboard weather radar indicated the storm had calmed.

The plane only flew for one minute and 30 seconds before it crashed in a swamp south of Douala airport. Photo: KQ.

Source: Facebook

He then requested to be granted take off permission. He told traffic controllers that he planned to take a right turn after liftoff to avoid the storm.

"Tower...Kenya507, it looks like there is a break in the weather, requesting take off," said captain Mbatia whose voice was captured by the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR).

Air traffic controllers cleared him for take off and directed to use runway 12.

Events recreated from the flight show the pilot giving his first officer Andrew Kiuru other sets of instructions and the plane later achieved liftoff speed and departed.

Douala International Airport in Cameroon. Photo: Eluk M O'Rock.

Source: Facebook

Data from the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) shows that despite having planned to fly right of the airport to avoid the storm, Captain Mbatia turned his control column on the left before he released it to allow the autopilot to kick in.

This, according to investigators, was supposed to correct some lift problem since the plane had a tendency of generating more lift on the left wing.

Mbatia expected the autopilot to fly the plane using coordinates and headings it was fed with earlier but unknown to him, First Officer Kiuru, 23, had not turned it on.

Flight507 was expected to land at JKIA on May, 5, 2007 at around 6.15am. Photo: JKIA.

Source: UGC

Aviation sleuths think the youngster was preoccupied with trying to navigate the plane safely around the heavy storm.

"Should I remain on this heading?" Kiuru asked Mbatia who gave him an okay but he (Kiuru) failed to turn on the autopilot.

The flight computer would have flown the plane through the preselected flight path.

The plane was now being pushed to the limit since it was flying itself at a very dangerous angle.

President Mwai Kibaki led the Nation in mourning 114 souls that were lost during the tragic crash. Photo: UGC.

Source: UGC

A few seconds later, Flight507 started banking to the right and the angle kept increasing and later crossed 35 degrees which is considered as critical.

Pilots can, however, recover from it by allowing the autopilot to fix it as long as they still have the advantage of altitude.

For the case of Flight507, the plane was flying with its left wing pointing almost directly to the sky at 90 degrees and the right wing nearly pointing directly to the ground.

Titus Naikuni was the KQ boss when the crash happened. Photo: UGC.

Source: UGC

Investigators say when the crew realised all was not well, Captain Mbatia erratically performed manoeuvres on the control column to try and fix the situation.

At this time, the plane was flying about 2,400 feet above the ground.

Mbatia, however, learnt that the plane was not responding to his inputs.

KQ has been acquiring newer Boeing planes to improve efficiency of its fleet. Photo: KQ.

Source: Facebook

He quickly figured out that the autopilot was off and swiftly turned it on to enable the plane to recover from the critical angle it was flying.

What, nevertheless, puzzles investigators is that instead of Captain Mbatia allowing the autopilot to kick in, he started fighting with the control column again with more erratic movements.

He overrode the autopilot since he felt it had taken long before correcting the dangerous bank to the right.

This allowed the brand new Boeing 737 to continue spiralling out of control.

In about a minute and a half, the plane slammed in a swamp south of the airport killing all 114 souls on board.

It was located by rescuers two days later after it was reported missing.

Detectives dug into Captain Mbatia's training and assessment history and found that despite accruing over 8,500 flying hours under his belt, he had serious issues with practice.

He was poor at system knowledge and also had poor cockpit skills.

The 52-year-old pilot Francis Mbatia who commandeered the routine flight earlier served as a flight attendant at KQ but became pilot after training. Photo: KQ.

Source: Depositphotos

They also realised that he was an authoritarian pilot who shouted at Kiuru and could hurl words like "stupid" at the 23-year-old ambitious first officer.

"Did you not hear the instruction...so stupid...shut up," some of the unkind words from the pilot could be heard on the CVR during the Abidjan-Douala flight.

The pilot's attitude, investigators said, made Kiuru take up a passive role and could sometimes just stay silent even when things were going wrong.

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The agony of underage mothers in Nairobi slums | Tuko TV.

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With Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, everything is meticulously planned, timed and executed to provide the most effect and the most benefit as he sees fit for the Conservative Party and the Nation. Nothing is left to chance, though hes often ridiculed.





by Victor Cherubim





Britain is nation of small shopkeepers. Trying hard to understand Britain and the way it works is like trying to pick up a needle in a haystack. What you see is not what you get. What you get is what is generally underestimated, never undervalued?













What is in the mindset of the British is always understatement rather than overstatement. The way of approach of most issues is not through hyperbole. Underplay any situation rather than overplay is a technique mastered by the British over centuries?





We saw this philosophy in practice in the recent Budget presented by the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak on Wednesday 11 March 2020,





The Budget





It was all about getting the balance right, levelling up the country, protecting the people of the four corners of the nation, called The British Isles, delivering on the Conservative Election Manifesto promises.





It was a measured approach about reducing taxation, boosting enterprise and giving what the people wanted. The sort of thing that Conservatism is all about.





Yet, it was different. Panic was not considered as preparedness. From the way the Coronavirus threat was actioned without much over anxiety and panic stations, the Budget and the half percentage point rate cut to 0,25^% by the Governor of the independent Bank of England in tandem, clearly made people at ease. It saw a new way to contain anxiety.





The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak,39 years old, P.C, M.P, a G. Ps son. a graduate of 42,000 per year private school Winchester and Baliol Oxford and of Harvard University, is believed to be, one of the richest members of Parliament for the safe Conservative seat, vacated by once Leader of the Conservative Party, William Hague in the constituency of Richmond, Yorkshire, in the 2015 General Election.





There was speculation that the new Chancellor Sunak would postpone the Budget to give himself more time, as he was not in the job for more than a month, with the bombshell departure of the previous Chancellor, Sajid Javid.





Besides, his critics wrote hm off as a Chancellor in Waiting, rather than an incumbent member of Boris Johnsons Inner Cabinet, when he took over as Treasury Secretary in January 2020.





Fortunes always favours the brave.





There is the saying that time and tide wait for no man. We know that when the tide turns it is sometimes, a flood. It appeared that Chancellor Sunak came at the right time. He was asked to do a difficult job. But to those in the know, he was being groomed for this position and his dizzying rise to power, was never in doubt, or by chance.





Sunak was the man who was prepared for some time to do the difficult job of turning the nation. It was never broadcast. Instead, it seems Sajid Javid, Sunaks former boss was brought in to lead as Chancellor of the Exchequer, to make way at the opportune moment?





Britain in Europe and a Free Britain





From the days of austerity of former Chancellor. George Osborne, to those of the Wet Chancellor Philip Hammond, during the office of Prime Minister, David Cameron and later Theresa May, respectively, the Labour Opposition Leaders in waiting, Ed Milliband and Jeremy Corbyn had been harping on the lack of investment in the NHS, in infrastructure, roads, railways, schools and education by the Conservatives over nine solid years. Their voices were unheard, their spending plans were discounted as unworkable and Labour was not fit to rule.





John McDonald the Labour Shadow Chancellor stated that: The Tories were trying to patch up problems they created without getting a grip on the underlying state of infrastructure in the country. The Tories had created a 192 billion infrastructure investment hole over the last decade, which they could never bridge.





The Tories were preparing to flex their true muscle when most needed





With Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, everything is meticulously planned, timed and executed to provide the most effect and the most benefit as he sees fit for the Conservative Party and the Nation. Nothing is left to chance, though hes often ridiculed.





Sunak today is standing ready not only for the Coronavirus pandemic, but also to unwind a decade of austerity. He has said that the Conservative Party is a low tax, strong economy party. He can preserve their flexibility for when it is needed most.





Sunak is so confident to give half of all UK business, SMEs and BAMEs a tax holiday with no rates for the next year to help them weather the storm, while at the same time focussing his attention on the threat posed by the Coronavirus. By pumping in 20billion, plus another 30 billion fiscal stimulus to boost the economic growth by 0.5% over the next two years, he has become the darling of the party for the present?





We are told UK Debt is set to top 2 Trillion by 2024/25. He is also ready to do even more. Would it be hard to imagine that he has made the people of Britain very pleased?





This is because he has now got the confidence of His Masters Voice (HMV) to support the financially vulnerable who are as fearful for their economic security and survival as they are for their health?





Historic Investment





The Chancellor has promised historic investment in roads, railways, broadband, scientific research, a funding of over 600 Billion over the 5 Year Parliament term. This is what the people wanted, and he is giving it to them on a platter.
Amid the ongoing political crisis in Madhya Pradesh where Congress-led government is staring at collapse, two MLAs of Gujarat Congress have gone incommunicado since Saturday (March 14).

The two MLAs who are 'missing' are Soma Patel from Limdi seat and G V Kakadiya from Dhari seat. Sources told Zee Media that these two MLAs are not in contact with anyone since Saturday evening.

It is learnt that Soma Patel is unhappy with the party as he wanted the Congress to give Rajya Sabha ticket to a Koli Patel candidate but the party refused to heed to his demand and nominated Shaktisingh Gohil and Bharatsingh Solanki as Congress' Rajya Sabha nominee from the state. Sources said that both these MLAs are likely to resign from the party ahead of the upcoming Rajya Sabha poll on March 26.

According to sources, five Congress MLAs are planning to vote against the party during Rajya Sabha poll and this is the reason why the party has shifted all its MLAs to Jaipur.

Notably, 15 out of 73 Congress MLAs have already reached Jaipur and it is expected that some more MLAs will be flown to Jaipur on Sunday.

The Congress will need 74 votes to win two seats in Gujarat and the party has already received the support of independent MLA Jignesh Mevani. "My vote will go to the Congress," Mevani said after meeting the two Congress candidates.
Delegates at the meeting (Photo: VNA)

Ambassador Tran Duc Binh, head of Vietnams Permanent Mission to ASEAN, attended the event.

At the meeting, both sides lauded positive achievements in their cooperation in the fields of politics-security, socio-economy and culture.

Two-way trade hit 19.8 billion USD in 2018, up 17.9 percent from 2017. Meanwhile, Russian investment in ASEAN reached 58.03 million USD in 2018, compared to 47.75 million USD recorded in the previous year.

Under the ASEAN-Russia Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) for the 2016-2020 period, 92 out of 139 lines of action were launched across politics-security, economy, socio-culture, connectivity and development gap narrowing.

As of January 31st, 2020, the ASEAN-Russia Dialogue Partnership Financial Fund (ARDPFF) had over 7.2 million USD, 1.5 million USD of which was contributed by Russia each year.

The two sides agreed to effectively use the fund in the near future.

Russia affirmed that ASEAN is one of the top priorities in its external policy, and pledged to support the blocs central role in maintaining regional peace and stability as well as actively join regional mechanisms led by ASEAN.

Russia also welcomed and vowed to support Vietnams initiatives and priorities during the Vietnam ASEAN Chairmanship Year 2020, including the organization of a meeting themed "Cooperation between the UN and regional and sub-regional organisations in maintaining international peace and security" for the first time at the United Nations Security Council in January.

ASEAN member states spoke highly of activities by ASEAN Centre and the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) over the past time, which they said have contributed to promoting exchanges and science research collaboration between Russian universities and research centres, and those of ASEAN countries.

In the near future, the two sides will further deepen bilateral strategic partnership by coordinating closely to complete the goals set in the CPA for the 2016-2020 period, determine focal cooperation areas to build the CPA for the 2021-2025 period, especially in trade and investment facilitation, science-technology, digital economy, connectivity, development gap narrowing, Smart Cities Network initiative, human resources development, support for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, education, youth exchange, epidemic prevention, disaster management and climate change response.

ASEAN and Russia also agreed to push for the early signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in disaster management in 2020./.
Three patients have tested positive for coronavirus at a hospital close to the Queens Norfolk estate, it emerged last night.

They were diagnosed at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Kings Lynn, just six miles from Sandringham  where the Duke of Edinburgh now lives after withdrawing from public life.

The three cases are believed to have been taken to hospital with symptoms  rather than develop them after being admitted  and it is understood that they were yesterday placed in isolation. The NHS trust that runs the hospital yesterday suspended visits to all wards and departments with the exception of childrens services, neonatal wards and patients approaching the end of their lives.

Three patients at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kings Lynn, pictured, have been diagnosed with coronavirus. The trio are not believed to have acquired the disease while in the facility

The Duke of Edinburgh, pictured with Queen Elizabeth, left, lives six miles from the hospital. He was treated in the unit following his car accident last year

Patients and relatives arriving at the front entrance to the hospital discovered a notice saying: Visiting is suspended across all wards/departments.

It added: We can appreciate this may be frustrating for the family and friends of patients, but we can assure you that is the safest precaution to take at this time.

As per usual practice, the ward staff will contact you if the person becomes seriously ill.

The trust said a contact tracing exercise had been launched to find anyone who might have had close contact with the three patients, including relatives and staff.

In a statement, the NHS trust added: We have asked our ward managers to use their discretion when giving access to visitors. Based on current evidence, Covid-19 presents with flu-like symptoms including a fever, a cough or difficulty breathing.

The QEHs chief nurse Libby McManus said: Patients with appointments or who need to attend for urgent or emergency care should still come to hospital unless they are informed otherwise.

Hospital bosses are believed to have texted staff with the news.

The QEH is the local NHS hospital for the Duke of Edinburgh, 98.

The Royal had a precautionary check-up there after his car accident on the Sandringham estate last year. His Land Rover overturned after Philip, who was at the wheel, pulled out of a side road and hit an oncoming car.

He was helped out of the stricken vehicle but suffered only cuts and bruises. The Queen Mother was also taken to the hospital in January 1998, when she was aged 97, after fracturing her hip in a fall at Sandringham.

She was later transferred to the King Edward VII Hospital in London. The Queen opened a 3million MRI scanner unit at the QEH in 2013.
ROHNERT PARK (BCN)

A worker at the Rohnert Park Health Center on State Farm Drive tested positive for novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on Saturday and is now in self-quarantine, Mayor Joe Callinan said Sunday.

The case is the first confirmed in Sonoma County.

The center "is identifying and notifying anyone who might have come in close contact with them, including patients and staff. We applaud the Rohnert Park Health Center for being forthright and transparent in sharing this information in a timely manner," Callinan said in a statement.

Test results are pending for a person associated with the positive case, he said.

"On behalf of the City of Rohnert Park, we want to share our concern and send our good thoughts to the employee who tested positive and to their family," Callinan said. "Our concern extends to all who may have had contact with the employee as well as our entire community."

The city has closed community centers and the senior center and on Friday suspended all recreation classes, activities, and programs, as well as private events at city facilities and performances at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center.

Sonoma County has established a central information source online at Socoemergency.org.

The public can also get information or ask questions by calling 211.

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.
Bangladesh will impose a 16-day ban from Monday on the entry of Europeans and travellers from several countries, including India, as part of measures to combat the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen announced the travel ban on Saturday in a desperate effort to limit the spread of the new coronavirus. He said the ban would be effective from Sunday midnight. But the country deferred the travel ban by 12 hours to evade a chaotic situation.

"The deadline has been extended to evade a chaotic situation as several Bangladesh-bound aircrafts are still in the sky," Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary M Mohibul Haque told PTI this evening.

The ban would exclude people travelling from Britain but those passengers must ensure that they did not visit any severely coronavirus-hit countries in the last 28 days.

The ban is meant for Bangladesh-bound travellers from all European countries except the UK and other nations which restricted Bangladeshi citizen's entry to their territories over coronavirus fears.

The countries which shut down their doors for Bangladeshi citizens are India, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.

"We will reciprocate their decision in an identical manner . . . but the ban will be imposed both for foreigners and Bangladesh nationals, the state-run BSS quoted Momen as telling Bangladesh's state-run BSS agency this evening.

The World Health Organisation earlier this week declared Europe as the new coronavirus epicentre.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The survivors of the Christchurch terror attack have opened up about the horrific mass shooting and revealed what life has been like one year on.

On March 15, 2019, Brenton Tarrant allegedly stormed two mosques in Christchurch, on New Zealand's south Island, killing 51 Muslim worshipers.

For those who miraculously survived the attack, which is the deadliest modern-day mass shooting the country has seen, the past 12 months have been a struggle.

The traumatic event has turned Temel Atacocugu's life completely upside down.

He has spent much of the past year in hospital after he was shot nine times.

Temel Atacocugu (pictured) has spent much of the past year in hospital after he was shot nine times

Scars run along his arm after he was shot multiple times during the deadliest modern-day mass shooting the country has seen

The first bullet smashed into his teeth, four more went into both his legs.

As he lay motionless on the ground he was hit four more time in his left arm and leg.

His physical recovery has been remarkable. While his scars still remain, he no longer needs a wheelchair or a cane to move.

It is his mental recovery which is taking longer. He is still haunted by the images.

He has been on antidepressants for a year, he expects he will be on them for another 12 months.

'Pretty much my whole life is upside down and changed,' he said.

'But spiritually, in a religious way, I'm much stronger than I used to be.'

Working at the kebab shop he co-owns has been a struggle since the attack, people often ask about his injuries, which makes Mr Atacocugu uncomfortable.

He now prefers working alone and is considering going back to work as a painter instead.

When the gunman walked into the mosque, Mr Atacocugu was kneeling for Friday prayers. He looked up into the man's face

For Mustafa Boztas (pictured left), the attack has prompted changes in his career and how he wants to live his life

For Mustafa Boztas, the attack has prompted changes in his career and how he wants to live his life.

The 22-year-old was praying when the gunman stormed the Al Noor mosque and opened fire.

He was part of a group that tried to break a window to escape but the gunman was too quick.

'Then we all got shot,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

Mr Boztas was shot in the leg. Injured and bloody, he lay motionless in a pile of bodies pretending to be dead.

After a few minutes the room went quiet - the shooter left.

The former University of Canterbury engineering student managed to flee out of a smashed window. However, outside was no safer. Shots continued to ring out across the city.

As he lay helpless in the street waiting for paramedics to arrive, a policeman came and offered help.

Sheikh Hasan Rubel, 35, (pictured) was shot twice in the pelvis and once in his leg

The harrowing moment has inspired him to change careers, he is now hoping to become a police officer himself.

However, he was turned down by the New Zealand Police Force in November as he has endured significant trauma and deemed medically unfit.

He can reapply next year after a 'comprehensive psychological assessment'.

And while March 15 was a horrific day, Mr Boztas is refusing to let it destroy him.

'Life is worth living, so I want to keep living my life. I don't like to be sad; I don't want to be depressed. I'm going to work towards my dreams and those dreams will become reality one day.'

Sheikh Hasan Rubel, 35, was shot twice in the pelvis and once in his leg.

The accountant now has to use a walking stick and still requires more surgery to his pelvis.

And while his body has been damaged, Mr Rubel says his mind was hit the hardest.

'I still remember the feeling when I was getting shot by one after one bullet ... at one point I was thinking that at any time I can get shot anywhere and Ill be dead.'

For many of the victims, they have found strength in their religion.

New Zealanders will commemorate those who died on the anniversary of the mass killing on Sunday.

Tarrant has pleaded not guilty to charges of terrorism, murder and attempted murder, and his trial is scheduled to start in June.

If found guilty, he faces life imprisonment.

The horrific terror attack in Christchurch, which left 51 worshipers dead, has been described as New Zealand's darkest day
COLUMBUS, Ohio -Gov. Mike DeWine announced that all Ohio bars and restaurants are being ordered to close -- except for carryout and delivery -- at 9 p.m. Sunday.

What we cant have is people congregating, and people who are sitting," he said. So carryout is fine. And delivery is fine.

Ohio may be one of the first states enacting such sweeping measures to food and beverage establishments. Shortly after DeWines announcement, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said they will close by the end of Monday.

DeWine said he was sympathetic toward small business owners and their employees losing business two days out from St. Patricks Day -- saying his family comes from a small-business background. But he said that if the state doesnt act now, an increased number of people will die.

We wish at the next St. Patricks Day, everyone is going to be there, everyone will have the opportunity to celebrate St. Patricks Day, he said. Not only that but celebrate they had the opportunity to have their life, and live their American dream. But if people are not around, they cant do that. So this is a very, very crucial time. Delay means more people will die.

He said on Sunday morning people all over the state -- including from the Cleveland area -- sent him concerning texts about people out on Saturday night.

DeWine is signing an executive order to enable workers who dont have paid leave benefits to access unemployment during the coronavirus emergency.

This also applies to companies that determine its temporarily necessary to shut down operations due to the emergency, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said.

More information is at unemployment.ohio.gov. Or 877-644-6562.

37 cases confirmed, but likely more unconfirmed

As of Sunday afternoon, 37 people across 11 counties have tested positive for coronavirus in Ohio. The age range is 31 to 86, with a median age of 53.

Thirteen are women and 23 are men. Eleven people are hospitalized.

The illness onset ranges from Feb. 7 through March 13, Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton said.

But she had caveats: Cases can be very misleading to the public," she said. "Because its a past historical event. Because of the lack of the testing. Cases are just the tip of the iceberg.

Public health experts believe the number of infected people is vastly higher -- possibly over 100,000 of Ohios 11.7 million residents. But there are shortages in available testing, as well as many people who are asymptomatic.

Acton said that hospitalization is often two weeks after a person gets infected. Deaths can be about four weeks after that.

One confirmed case is a firefighter. The firefighters entire station is self-quarantining and monitoring for COVID-19 symptoms, Acton said.

That means that firefighter was sick and asymptomatic for six to 14 days, she said.

Republican reaction

On Sunday morning, he said officials were considering closing bars and restaurants. That hint of an announcement drew criticism from other Ohio Republicans, including Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder.

There are over 22,000 food service locations in Ohio, said the Ohio Restaurant Association in a statement to its members.

The association statement said its leadership had been in contact with the DeWine administration recently.

We asked for and successfully received an exemption from the State to specifically allow restaurants and foodservice locations to continue to offer takeout, curbside pickup and delivery of food to customers, it said.

We know this difficult decision was made in consultation with leading health experts, including Dr. Amy Acton, who are recommending actions to keep Ohioans safe during this unprecedented time, said Andrew E. Doehrel, president and CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce in a statement. "We support Governor DeWines decision because we believe taking steps now to confront the coronavirus will ultimately benefit our state by limiting the spread of the disease and enable Ohio to get back to normal sooner.

Schools

Starting Monday at the end of the school day, all private and public schools will be closed at least until April 1, with many children engaging in e-learning from home. That announcement was made Thursday. Yet on Sunday, DeWine said he told school districts they should prepare for more than three weeks of no classes.

Certainly the odds are that three weeks are not going to do it, were not going to be far enough along in this pandemic.

Stats

Acton said in a moderate COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., 200,000 intensive-care unit beds will be needed. But only 45,000 are available and many are currently occupied.

There are roughly 160,000 ventilators available -- 60,000 that are considered full-service and modern and 100,000 that are older and more mechanical.

If we do these measures now, well greatly reduce the need for these, she said. Thats why its so important. So the actions we take now will have an effect in mitigating these kinds of numbers.

In a moderate outbreak, there will be more than one city hit hard at one time. There will be surges in several American cities at once, she said.

Broad community spread

The 36 cases -- and the unconfirmed and asymptomatic -- are likely a combination of people who have traveled to parts of the world where theres a high infection rate, as well as person-to-person spread within Ohio communities, Acton said.

Well continue to see cases that are travelers, she said.

There are 33 people from Ohio who are on a cruise ship docked in the San Francisco area, she said.

People are coming back from Europe, as you can see in the news today, she said.

But disease is rapidly spreading from person-to-person in Ohio.

We have broad community spread in the state right now, Acton said.

Small biz, nonprofit loans

The state is applying to the U.S. Small Business Administration for small businesses and nonprofits to get relief during the pandemic, Husted said.

Small businesses affected could apply for a low-interest loan of up to $2 million for lost revenue due to the coronavirus.

Nonprofits will also be able to borrow money, if the federal government OKs Ohios request, Husted said.

Bars can return liquor

Husted said that bars have undoubtedly purchased more liquor than theyd normally need for the crowds the owners expected for St. Patricks Day and March Madness.

Bar and restaurant owners can return unopened, high-proof liquor products to the agency where they bought them.

We hope this will receive some of the chronic economic strain that the businesses might be experiencing during this time, Husted said.

Other coronavirus coverage:

36 people in Ohio have confirmed coronavirus: Ohio Department of Healths Sunday update

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine: State could close bars and restaurants over coronavirus, extend school closures through rest of the year

26 confirmed Ohio coronavirus cases: Gov. DeWines Saturday briefing

Ohioans should postpone many elective surgeries because of the coronavirus, Gov. Mike DeWine recommends

Coping with coronavirus: Guide aims to ease fear of pandemic disease

How is coronavirus tested? A step-by-step explanation

Ohio health department chief regularly cites school study on hand-washing. What does it say?

Ohio is under a state of emergency because of the coronavirus. What does that mean?

French warn against anti-inflammatory drugs to treat coronavirus; Cleveland doctor wants more data
Christchurch marks anniversary of mosque shootings

Survivor of the Al Noor mosque shootings, Temel Atacocugu, center, exchanges a hongi with a member of the Tu Tangata motorcycle club outside the mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand on Sunday

AP, New Zealand :

People in the New Zealand city of Christchurch honored the 51 worshipers who were killed in a mass shooting a year ago in small but poignant ways Sunday, after a planned national memorial event was canceled due to fears it might spread the new coronavirus.

Outside the Al Noor mosque, dozens of leather-clad bikers from the Tu Tangata club performed a traditional Maori haka. They were welcomed by mosque imam Gamal Fouda, who said people of all beliefs and cultures were stopping to pay their respects, and they were all united as New Zealanders.

One of those who survived the shooting at the Linwood mosque was Mazharuddin Syed Ahmed, who said that marking anniversaries was not typically a Muslim tradition but they were doing it so the wider community could grieve and remember. He said the shootings had provoked an outpouring of love and compassion.

"Of course, we lost our loved friends, family, people and community," he said. "But we are also seeing so much good has come out of it. So looking at the positive part of that. Today, it is such a privilege to be in this country."

Temel Atacocugu, who survived after being shot nine times at the Al Noor mosque, said the anniversary had provoked strong feelings.

"We are sad more than we are angry," he said. "It's very emotional. When I woke up this morning, I'm speechless. I can't explain what I feel."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Saturday the decision to cancel the memorial event planned for Horncastle Arena was pragmatic and precautionary.

New Zealand has had eight confirmed cases of COVID-19. All of those cases have been connected to people returning from abroad and so far there haven't been signs of a local outbreak. Ardern has enacted strict border rules in an attempt to prevent the disease from taking hold in New Zealand.

Meanwhile, aliya Danzeisen rises before dawn every day to hear the news so she can prepare her school-age daughters for any harassment they may face for being Muslim.

"We don't feel any safer," the Muslim community leader says, reflecting on the 12 months since the Christchurch mosque attacks, in which a self-declared white supremacist killed 51 Muslims at Friday prayers.

The abuse experienced prior to the attacks on March 15 last year died down immediately after the killings, Danzeisen said, adding: "It felt the entire New Zealand population was rallying behind us."

But she says it is now on the rise again, a year on from the killings that rattled the normally peaceful South Pacific nation, with unease among the Muslim community amid ongoing vitriol and threats.




Leaders of the BJP on Sunday



sought Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon's directions to the Assembly Speaker that voting for a floor test on Monday be conducted by raising of hands.

In view of resignations of 22 MLAs of the Congress on Tuesday, the governor on Saturday late night directed Chief Minister Kamal Nath to seek a trust vote in the Assembly on March 16, the first day of the Budget session.

The speaker has so far accepted resignations of six MLAs.

Talking to reporters here after meeting the governor, Leader of Opposition Gopal Bhargava said they have demanded division of votes by raising hands since the electronic voting system in the Legislative Assembly was not operational.

"We came to know that the electronic voting system in the state assembly is not functional. So we have urged the governor that the division of votes in the house should be carried out by raising the hands," Bhargava said.

In his letter to CM Nath, the governor directed that the division of votes during the floor test should be conducted only by pressing the button (through the electronic voting system) and no other way should be adopted.

When asked about this, State Assembly Secretariat's Principal Secretary AP Singh told PTI that the Vidhan Sabha doesn't have the electronic voting system.

"We have a set procedure for conducting division of votes. As per the procedure, MLAs have to sign in a register placed in the lobby along with their names and constituencies. They sign in two columns separately for those in favour and against..," Singh explained.

In his letter to Nath, Tandon stated, "I came to know that 22 MLAs have sent their resignations to the MP Assembly Speaker and they have also informed about it on electronic and print media. I have seen the coverage on both media.

"They have also sent the letter to me separately on March 10, 2020 and the same MLAs have requested for the central security to present these resignation letters to the Vidhan Sabha speaker on March 13," it stated.

Under Article 174 and 175(2) of the Constitution, I am empowered to direct that MP Assembly session will begin on March 16 at 11 am with my address. Soon after that the only work to be done is voting on trust vote, the governor stated.

The Kamal Nath-led government in Madhya Pradesh was pushed to the brink on Tuesday when 22 MLAs resigned, immediately after senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the party. He later joined the BJP.

The Speaker has so far accepted resignations of six of the 22 MLAs, bringing down the effective strength of the House to 222 and the new majority mark at 112. The opposition BJP has 107 MLAs.

Before the political crisis, the Congress had 114 MLAs. The Kamal Nath government came to power in December, 2018 with the support of two MLAs of the BSP and one legislator of the SP.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India has seen a sharp increase in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the last two weeks, with the official number now at 107. As the number of cases rises, people as a preventative measure are buying face masks in large quantities, leading to a huge shortage. Amidst this, the Kerala government has come up with a unique way to deal with the mask shortage.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinararyi Vijayan on Saturday tweeted that his government had come up with a solution to the problem. The CPI(M) government in Kerala has deployed convicted prisoners in state prisons to manufacture masks, thus maintaining a steady supply, he said.

Tweeting pictures of the first batch of face masks manufactured by the prisoners at Thiruvananthapuram Jail, the CM said, "In light of the shortage, directions were given to engage the prisons in the state in manufacturing masks. He added the manufacturing of the masks has started on a "war footing basis".

#COVID19 | Solving The Mask Problem In light of the shortage, directions were given to engage the prisons in the State in manufacturing masks. It has commenced on a war footing basis. Today, the Prison officials of Thiruvananthapuram Jail have handed over the first batch. pic.twitter.com/QKgHWqYNOg - Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) March 14, 2020

Kerala has imployed manufacturing units in several state prisons. According to The Economic Times, the Kerala government has also attempted to increase the supply of hand sanitisers with the help of Kerala State Drugs and Pharmaceuticals (KSDP). The KSDP is expected to produce 10 lakh bottles of hand sanitisers in the next 10 days.

On January 30, Kerala became the first state in India to report a positive coronavirus case. Within a few days, two more cases popped up. All three were treated and discharged from hospitals by February 3.

The second wave of fresh cases started in March first week, a month after the first three cases. As of Sunday, 22 positive cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Kerala, the most in any state after Maharashtra. Among the cases is a 3-year-old boy who was confirmed positive on March 9. The virus has already claimed two lives in India.

According to the Health Ministry of Kerala currently, there are 7,677 people under observation for symptoms of coronavirus. The state government has opened care centres near airports for the screening of new arrivals. The state is also arranging facilities where a large number of people can be isolated for 14 days. Across the world, around 1,50,000 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed and the virus has claimed over 5,800 lives.

Also Read: Coronavirus impact: India's coal import declines 14% to 17 million tonnes

Also Read: Coronavirus in India Live Updates: Total number jumps to 107; Maharashtra tops with 31 confirmed cases
CAMEROUN :: Wildlife traffickers to appear in courts of Djoum and Mfou :: CAMEROON

The court of First Instance of Djoum and that of Mfou will each have the hearings of suspected wildlife traffickers on the 16th and 18th of March respectively. The case on the 16th at Djoum court of First Instance will be its 5th hearing concerning 2 traffickers arrested in December 2017 with 216 elephant tusks and 81 elephant tails aboard the vehicle of a colonel of Cameroon army in Djoum. This new court hearing comes after an insufficient and inappropriate sentence was passed taken into consideration the quantity of wildlife products seized.

Meanwhile, the court hearing on the 18th of March at the court of First Instance of Mfou will concern a Ghanaian nationality who was arrested in possession of 20 African grey parrots at Kienke. He had previously been arrested in 2015 trying to illegally ship African grey parrot but was released and caught again on March 2017 with a shipment of around 200 parrots that was about to arrive the Nsimalen international airport for export. Its on this count that he shall appear before the Mfou court of First Instance for a second hearing.

Cameroon law on wildlife is clear and the government is making effort in preserving the wildlife sector with much still expected to be done especially at the judiciary.

The trafficking of wildlife products by traffickers endangers wildlife resources of the continent and even of the world. Its often overlooked and under-prosecuted whereas, its ranked third crime after trafficking in drugs, arms and human beings. A call for an exemplary punishment is necessary to create deterrence. Therefore imposing weak sentences on wildlife traffickers only encourages them to engage more in wildlife crime.
In truth, I am more of a cat person. However, I admire the routine and enforced sociability a dog gives its owner. If I moved to the countryside, I would definitely want a canine chum to help me explore my new neighbourhood.

Two or three times a week I go for a run in Greenwich park, where I always enjoy seeing frisky, four- legged pooches taking their two-legged pals out for some exercise. Most hounds seem inherently sociable  and foist this on their owners. As I enter the park, there are always clusters of dog owners meeting to walk their pets together.

It is one of the most pernicious myths about London that it doesnt have much community. In fact, it has thousands of close-knit groups.

Literary expert Patricia Nicol shared a selection of books focused on dogs. Lily And The Octopus by American Steven Rowley (left). Saving Missy by Beth Morrey (right)

However, the crowded city can be a lonely place for those isolated without social networks. When the reader first encounters Missy Carmichael, the protagonist of Saving Missy by Beth Morrey, she has become a solitary old lady, who craves company but doesnt know how to admit that. Being asked to look after a female dog called Bob, and the welcome of her local community of dog walkers, changes everything; Missy flowers like a longed-for spring.

Christopher, the vulnerable 15-year-old narrator of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time, makes a terrifying trip to London from Swindon in Mark Haddons modern mystery classic.

Christopher, who describes himself as a mathematician with some behavioural difficulties introduces the novel as his investigation into how his neighbour Mrs Shears dog, Wellington, came to be stabbed with a pitchfork. However, in the course of his detective work, Christopher uncovers troubling information about his own family.

Lily And The Octopus by American Steven Rowley is a quirky tale of coming to terms with imminent loss. Ted and his dachshund Lily have been together for 12 years, but now something has come between them: an octopus on Lilys head (a metaphor for a tumour, in my reading).

If you dont have a dog to curl up at the moment, try one of these.
With the Madhya Pradesh governor directing Chief Minister Kamal Nath to seek a trust vote, the Congress MLAs, who were staying in two resorts here, are returning to Bhopal.

Nearly 90 Congress MLAs from Bhopal arrived at the Jaipur airport and are going back in a flight.

"We will prove majority in floor test. The Kamal Nath government will complete a five-year term," one of the MLAs told reporters at the airport.

The MLAs, who landed in Jaipur on Wednesday amid a political crisis in Madhya Pradesh triggered by former Guna MP Jyotiraditya Scindia's exit from the party, were staying in two luxury resorts on the Jaipur-Delhi highway here.

Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon directed Chief Minister Nath late Saturday night to seek a trust vote in the assembly soon after his (governor) address on March 16.

A letter from the governor was sent to the chief minister in this regard around midnight, a Raj Bhawan source told PTI.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Gov. Andrew Cuomo called Sunday for the Army Corps of Engineers to renovate military bases and college dormitories to serve as temporary medical centers in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

In an op-ed piece in The New York Times, Cuomo said the coronavirus outbreak has the potential to quickly overwhelm the nations medical system and urged President Trump to activate the Army Corps to help.

States cannot build more hospitals, acquire ventilators or modify facilities quickly enough, he said. At this point, our best hope is to utilize the Army Corps of Engineers to leverage its expertise, equipment and people power to retrofit and equip existing facilities  like military bases or college dormitories  to serve as temporary medical centers. Then we can designate existing hospital beds for the acutely ill.

Without immediate action, the imminent failure of the nations hospital systems is all but certain, Cuomo said.

According to one projection, as many as 214 million people in our country could be infected over the course of the epidemic, he said. Of those, as many as 21 million people could require hospitalization. This would crush the nations medical system.

He said New York has just 53,470 hospital beds, only 3,186 of which are intensive-care beds.

Our country as a whole has fewer than one million staffed hospital beds, fewer proportionately than China, South Korea or Italy, he said.

He said the use of active duty Army Corps personnel would not violate federal law because the coronavirus outbreak is a national disaster.

Doing so still wont provide enough intensive care beds, but it is our best hope, he said.

He also called for the federal government to authorize states to certify a wider array of testing labs and methods to test for the coronavirus and said the federal government should set a uniform federal standard for when cities and states should shut down commerce and schools or cancel events.

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For reasons still a little unclear, Mexico has avoided the disasters of the coronavirus. It barely exists in the country. Mexico has 26 cases, concentrated near the capital, meaning very likely that it came from exposure abroad. At the borderlands, there is nothing.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune:

TIJUANA  Relatively unscathed to date, Mexico is stepping up measures against the coronavirus pandemic as authorities brace for what they call the inevitable large-scale spread of the virus throughout the region.With zero confirmed cases of coronavirus in Baja California thus far, and its northern neighboring state of California nearing 300, Mexican health officials said they would consider limiting the southbound flow of people entering Mexico from the United States.The possible flow of the coronavirus would come from the north to the south, Mexican Deputy Health Secretary Hugo Lopez-Gatell said Thursday. If it were technically necessary, we would consider mechanisms of restriction or stronger surveillance.

That's good.

And they'd like to keep it that way, which is why they are mulling shutting the border. It makes sense, because thousands of Americans slip over the border for high quality Mexican medical treatment at lower costs.

Join the party, Mexico, we are all shutting down here, too. It's not good for business, but it's understood why this might be a good idea -- it's to protect the vulnerable, and to deprive the virus of travel that enables its spread, forcing it to die down. President Trump didn't hesitate for a minute to shut down travel with China once word got out about a deadly epidemic in its industrial center. The aim was the same: To protect the vulnerable, and to at least slow the spread of the virus through travel, leaving it only to die down.

Mexico knows that score, too.

Which calls to mind all the bad press coverage that has happened in the wake of this, the yelling and hollering about Trump being a xenophobic racist:

Don Trump, Jr. has just the right tweet:

Im sure CNN is in the process of writing up a Mexico is Racist segment. Am I Right?



I mean those are their rules. https://t.co/ghwKSFJ4RD  Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 15, 2020

Fact is, the press made such a stink about what turns out to have been President Trump's foresight that it now stands exposed as hypocrites. Where's their 'racism' yell about Mexico, given that any shutdown of a border is racism? Apparently, it's only racist if Trump does it. Which makes them look like jackasses.

This, incidentally, is the same sort of drivel the press tried to foist on the American public during the caravan surge from Central America through Mexico. Mexicans grew angry and protested in Tijuana when the caravan rackets, likely linked to the cartel smuggling operations, decided to make Tijuana a staging area and they took to the streets. So much for the raaaacism charges then.

Now, the same thing is happening with Tijuana again, with the coronavirus crisis.

It goes to show that Mexicans, who incidentally are some of Trump's most fanatic supporters, both on this side and across the border, are continuously discrediting and exposing as stupid the ridiculous charges of racism always being hurled at President Trump as nonsense. Call them the phony-racism-charge slayers.

And best of luck to them for acting responsibly in their own nation's interests.

Image credit: Twitter screen shot
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 12:39:55|Editor: Xiang Bo

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GABORONE, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Botswanan officials on Saturday praised China's continuous efforts in the fight against COVID-19 both within and outside China, expressing confidence that the end to the coronavirus epidemic is drawing closer.

Botswanan President Mokgweetsi Masisi commended preventive and treatment measures that China has been putting in place in combating the virulent disease across the globe.

"The spread of the virus is declining in China mainly due to the robust response measures the country has put in place," said Masisi when addressing health officials in Francistown, Botswana's second largest city.

Lemogang Kwape, Botswana's minister of health and wellness, told Xinhua in a phone interview that the dramatic decline in suspected and confirmed cases in Hubei province is a clear testimony that the battle is about to be won.

Briefing journalists online on Friday, Chinese Ambassador to Botswana Zhao Yanbo said China expounded on a variety of financial, fiscal and material policies to promote the resumption of work and production of enterprises in a bid to achieve socio-economic development goals.

He said China will send medical experts to more countries and regions in need and further strengthen communication and coordination with the international community.
A 48-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the theft of an ATM containing Rs 22 lakh cash in southeast Delhi's Badarpur area last month, police said on Sunday.

The theft was reported to police on February 13 and the accused, Tahir Hussain, a resident of Raipuri in Mewat district of Haryana, was arrested on Friday, a police official said.

"On Friday, we received information that Hussain was to go to Faridabad to settle a car loan with a finance company. Accordingly, a raid was conducted and the accused apprehended from Delhi-Faridabad border," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) R P Meena said.

Hussain -- a transporter -- has four trucks and a car. The monthly EMI of the vehicles was approximately Rs 3 lakh, which he was unable to pay, the police officer said.

During interrogation, it was revealed that Hussain had recently joined his cousin Shahid's gang. Shahid used Hussain's car to commit crime and gave him a share of the looted money to pay the EMI, Meena said.

Hussain told police that on the day the ATM was stolen, Shahid and some of his accomplices also stole a pick-up van from Ghazipur for commissioning the crime, the DCP said.

Shahid was involved in more than a dozen cases, including that of robbery, dacoity and ATM theft.

Following the arrest of Hussain, efforts were being made to trace Shahid and other gang members. A raid was conducted at Shahid's house in Raipuri village on Saturday and some parts of the stolen ATM were seized, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Roche Diagnostics Corporation CEO Matthew Sause delivers remarks during a news conference in which U.S. President Donald Trump announced the declaration of a national emergency in reaction to the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic in the Rose Garden at the White House March 13, 2020 in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

2 Companies on Track to Manufacture Millions of Coronavirus Tests

Two of the first companies to receive federal clearance for their tests for the Wuhan coronavirus are on track to produce millions of kits as early as April.

The Food and Drug Administration issued emergency authorizations this week for COVID-19 test kits by Roche, a Swiss pharmaceutical giant, and Thermo Fisher, a U.S.-based scientific instrument maker.

Roche has the capacity to manufacture up to 3.5 million tests per month, according to Karsten Kleine, a company spokesperson.

We are working around the clock to increase that quantity, as we recognize the importance that patients need access to these critical tests, Kleine said in an email to The Epoch Times.

Thermo Fisher will have 1.5 million tests ready to ship by March 16 and plans to ramp up production to 5 million tests per week by April 3, according to Ron OBrien, a company spokesman.

This will depend on a series of raw material and other manufacturing operations that need to scale successfully, OBrien said in an email to The Epoch Times.

The Roche test provides results in 3 1/2 hours. The Thermo Fisher test takes four hours. Both tests can be run on the companies diagnostic machines, which are already available at labs around the country.

President Donald Trump highlighted Thermo Fisher and Roche during a press conference on March 13.

Id also like to thank Thermo Fisher, the president said. The FDAs goal is to hopefully authorize their application within 24 hoursitll go very quickly; its going very quicklywhich will bring, additionally, 1.4 million tests on board next week and 5 million within a month.

I doubt well need anywhere near that.

The tests by Roche and Thermo Fisher are part of a publicprivate sector plan by the coronavirus task force led by Vice President Mike Pence. The plan will feature a website created by Google that will pre-screen patients. Those who are eligible for a test will be given a nearby drive-thru testing site, with Walmart, CVS, Target, and Walgreens pitching in by providing parts of their parking lots for test sites. The nations largest lab testing companies, LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics, are working to process the tests on a large scale.

The Roche spokesperson noted that the company ships tests all over the world, suggesting that not all of the output may be destined for the United States.

We are working with government organizations and regulatory bodies to ensure that the tests make the greatest patient and community impact, Kleine said.

Since the number of test kits that will become available is part of a larger operation, its effectiveness will depend on the rollout of the other components, including drive-thru sites and lab diagnostics.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, more than 80 test developers have applied for FDA approval. The FDA has approved four tests to date. The Thermo Fisher test was approved within 24 hours of request, according to the FDA.

The authorization of our diagnostic test for COVID-19 will help to protect patients and enable medical staff to respond swiftly to treat those who are ill and prevent the spread of infection, Marc Casper, president of Thermo Fisher, said in a statement.

Over the last weeks, our emergency response teams have been working hard to bring this test to the patients, Thomas Schinecker, the CEO of Roche Diagnostics, said in a statement. Providing quality, high-volume testing capabilities will allow us to respond effectively to what the World Health Organization has characterized as a pandemic.
GOP Fights Democratic Lawsuit to Relax Minnesota Voting Laws

Two arms of the Republican Party are trying to intervene in a state-level lawsuit filed by Democrats in Minnesota that they say aims to weaken state laws designed to protect electoral integrity.

The original legal complaint in the case, known as Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) v. Simon, was filed Jan. 17 in Ramsey County District Court in Minnesota. The Republican Party of Minnesota and the Republican National Committee filed a motion to intervene in the legal proceeding on March 10.

The legal move is part of a $10 million push by Republicans to combat Democrats current legal stratagem challenging election laws in battleground states important to President Donald Trumps reelection effort.

The RNC is aggressively fighting back against the Democrats attempts to sue their way to victory in 2020, said Ronna McDaniel, chairman of the Republican National Committee, as reported by The Washington Examiner.

Democrats know they cant beat President Trump at the ballot box, so they are trying to use our courts for partisan political gain, she said.

These Democrat lawsuits arent about making it easier to vote, but rather are an attempt to score cheap political points while watering down common-sense laws that bring order to our elections process.

The legal activity in Minnesota comes after Republicans in Michigan, a state Trump narrowly won in 2016, filed to intervene in a lawsuit launched by Priorities USA, a super PAC allied with Democrats, that seeks to strike down state laws Democrats argue create unnecessary obstacles to voting. Republicans claim that ending current Michigan laws preventing paid organizers from driving voters to the polls and assisting voters in submitting absentee ballot applications open the door to electoral fraud.

Both parties are keeping a close eye on Minnesota, traditionally a stronghold for Democrats.

Trump came a lot closer to victory in Minnesota in 2016 than most prognosticators thought possible, losing to Democrat Hillary Clinton by 1.5 percentage points, or 44,765 votes, out of close to 3 million ballots cast. By contrast, in 2012, incumbent Democrat Barack Obama beat Republican Mitt Romney by 7.7 percentage points, or 225,942 votes, out of more than 2.9 million ballots cast.

In the Minnesota litigation, Republicans are trying to protect the states ban on ballot harvesting and the states voter protection law.

Ballot harvesting, a pejorative term apparently coined by Republicans, is when organized workers or volunteers collect absentee ballots from voters and deliver those ballots to a polling place. They say the tactic helped Californias Democrats defeat many Republican candidates, including incumbents, turning the states congressional delegation deep blue in 2018.

Then-Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, signed a law in 2016 that allowed anyone to pick up a mail-in ballot from voters and deliver it to a polling station. Prior law allowed only relatives or those residing in the same household as the voter to deliver ballots.

The Epoch Times reached out to the litigants in the Minnesota case, the DSCC, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat, for comment, but had not received a reply as of press time.

DSCC Chair Catherine Cortez Masto, a U.S. senator from Nevada, said her organizations lawsuit was needed to protect voting rights.

These unfair and illegal obstacles to voting undermine the promise that every eligible voter can make their voice heard, and they do so in a way that discriminates against older Americans, people with disabilities, and non-English speakers, she said in a statement.

We are working to overturn these unconstitutional restrictions because we are committed to making it easier for every American to participate in our democracy.

The RNC, supported by the presidents reelection campaign, is also litigating ballot integrity issues in Arizona, California, and Florida.
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By Trend

The Armenian side is not entitled to blame Azerbaijan in connection with the issues of history and democracy, Spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva said.

Abdullayeva has commented on the statement made by the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Trend reports.

"This is the limit of cynicism and hypocrisy, the spokesperson said. A country which committed the Khojaly massacre, as well as guilty of death of tens of thousands of innocent civilians and hundreds of thousands of ruined lives as a result of its armed aggression and bloody ethnic cleansing, holding 1/5 part of the internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan under military occupation for decades and which does not allow the internally displaced people forcibly expelled from their native lands to return there, has neither moral nor legal grounds to speak about democracy and human rights."

The international community is well aware of Armenias gross violation of the fundamental norms of international humanitarian law and its numerous international obligations, not to mention the need to implement well-known UN Security Council resolutions, the spokesperson added.

"The Armenian Foreign Ministry is trying to accuse us of the lack of respectful tone, Abdullayeva added. Our tone will be respectful if the opposite side will inspire respect and show a serious attitude.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
The 119th Annual Meeting of the Chamber of Commerce of Northwest Connecticut on April 6 has been postponed. In spite of the cancellation, the chamber is honoring a number of individuals for its Hall of Fame.

In recognition of their volunteerism and dedication to the Chamber of Commerce, Timothy E. Pusch and John E. Seagrave, CRPC are the 22nd and 23rd inductees of the Chamber Hall of Fame.

Tim Pusch of Brooks, Todd & McNeil Insurance, has been an active member of our Chamber for over a decade. First involved with our Membership Committee as a member of its Hospitality Sub-Committee, Tim has assisted staff at countless special events ranging from the Home and Business Expo to Business After Hours.

After participating as a member of the Chambers Insurance Committee for many years, Tim took over the reins of the peer group in 2009. He continues to hold the position of Chairman of the committee and organizes informative speakers for the group. In addition, Tim represents the committee on the Chamber Board and provides vital updates to the Board of Directors on the many issues faced by the industry and business in general.

When the Chamber began its re-branding process in 2015, Tim volunteered to join the Rebranding Committee and proved to be a fabulous sounding board for ideas and a highly respected and contributing member of the group. Tim continues to serve on the Memberships renamed Marketing & Communications Sub-Committee.

John E. Seagrave, CRPC, Investment Advisor Representative with Barron Financial Group - A Registered Investment Advisor in Torrington, began his involvement in the Chamber the very same week he started his position at Barron. In three short years, John has become a regular at Chamber functions and has become an integral volunteer relied on by staff and board alike.

John began his involvement in the Northwest Chamber with the Memberships Hospitality Sub-Committee. His marketing experience made him the perfect fit for the Memberships Marketing & Communications Sub-Committee and he was instrumental in the launching of the Chambers Great Giveaway Business Showcase, now in its third year. His energy and excitement for the Chamber made John a perfect choice to co-chair our Ambassadors Committee. Our Ambassadors reach out to new members of the Chamber to make them feel welcome and provide an orientation on member benefits while seasoned members are contacted and asked for feedback.

Through his involvement in a number of chambers of commerce, John co-spearheaded the effort to begin a Leads Group at the Chamber. Members of Chamber Leads Groups form alliances with one another to identify prospects and to foster increased business; ultimately growing their customer base through a supportive network. The group John co-founded now has over 35 members and two additional groups have been launched.

John is also in the midst of his first three year term as a director of the Chamber and serves on its Finance Sub-Committee.

The Chamber also recognizes retiring board members: Karen Kuhl of Geer Village Senior Living Community, Timothy LeBouthillier of Charlotte Hungerford Hospital a Hartford HealthCare Partner, Maria Salomone of Webster Bank, Stephen Silver of Eversource Energy, Craig Snyder of BantamWesson and Kevin Sullivan of Northwest Hills Dealerships.

For information, call 860-482-6586 or online at nwctchamberofcommerce.org



Check out our website at www.nwctchamberofcommerce.org for more Chamber happenings. *This institution is an equal opportunity provider*
Whilst it may not be a huge deal, we thought it was good to see that the John Menzies plc (LON:MNZS) Deputy Chairman & Senior Independent Director, David N. Garman, recently bought UK51k worth of stock, for UK2.54 per share. While we're hesitant to get too excited about a purchase of that size, we do note it increased their holding by a solid 49%.

Check out our latest analysis for John Menzies

John Menzies Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Independent Chairman Philipp Joeinig bought UK4.7m worth of shares at a price of UK3.90 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of UK1.61. 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. It is generally more encouraging if they paid above the current price, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels.

In the last twelve months John Menzies insiders were buying shares, but not selling. You can see the insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

LSE:MNZS Recent Insider Trading, March 15th 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.

Does John Menzies Boast High Insider Ownership?

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Based on our data, John Menzies insiders have about 1.8% of the stock, worth approximately UK2.4m. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. We consider this fairly low insider ownership.

Story continues

What Might The Insider Transactions At John Menzies Tell Us?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. We would certainly prefer see higher levels of insider ownership but analysis of the insider transactions suggests that John Menzies insiders are expecting a bright future. 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. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for John Menzies (1 is potentially serious) you should be aware of.

But note: John Menzies may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

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.
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...
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-16 03:02:22|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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TUNIS, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Tunisia has risen to 20, the Tunisian health ministry announced on Sunday.

"Two new cases of the virus were confirmed Sunday," said Nissaf Ben Alaya, director general of the National Observatory of New and Emerging Diseases, at a ministry press briefing in the capital Tunis.

The new cases were imported from France, bringing to 20 the total number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Tunisia, including 11 imported and nine local cases, according to Ben Alaya.

Earlier, the Tunisian finance ministry said a fund will be set up to fight the coronavirus.
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, 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.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
The coronavirus is only partly about a killer illness that's taking down too many people.

It's also about the disruption of life  from the missing toilet paper on store shelves to the painful ending of church Masses and services to the cancelations of weddings and travel to the fears for the economy. Most of all, it's about the isolation, the forced "social distancing" that's exactly the opposite of our human desire to gather and be together in times of crisis. It's the right thing to do to protect each other (since none of us knows if he is a carrier), and the aim is right, too  to force the virus to die down for lack of opportunity to spread. But for human beings, isolation from one another in a crisis is a hard test of endurance.

The Italians, who are under a complete national quarantine and suffering the gravest losses probably anywhere now, have recognized this. They've also come up with something that enables them to be together while staying safely apart:

Despite Italy being on lockdown due to coronavirus, a nationwide flash mob event saw Italians singing the national anthem and other traditional songs from their balconieshttps://t.co/PbV1jBvphX pic.twitter.com/CF3O2cenHG  BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) March 14, 2020

During the coronavirus lockdown, people all over Italy took to their balconies playing instruments & singing together.



Italians are showing the best of humanity in bonding together yet staying apart!



Sending  our brothers and sisters at home and across the . pic.twitter.com/oT9nECiCuG  Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) March 15, 2020

Italians in lockdown all over Italy are keeping each other company by singing, dancing and playing music from the balconies. A thread to celebrate the resilience of ordinary people. This is Salerno: pic.twitter.com/3aOchqdEpn  Leonardo Carella (@leonardocarella) March 13, 2020

Youll love this! While Italy is under quarantine, Italian tenor Mauricio Marchini serenades the entire Florence singing this aria from his balcony. When youre locked up, you can still sing your lungs out! Thats the Italian spirit! #CoronaVirus https://t.co/yqgKnMsOnJ  Ulana Campbell (@ulana_campbell) March 15, 2020

Italians in lockdown are keeping each others spirits high in this time of crisis by singing and dancing on their balconies.  We commend their resilience  Its important to remember  were all in this together  #Mashion #Coronavirus #Italy : @redfishstream pic.twitter.com/gklj8aKmqN  Mashion (@Mashionpk) March 15, 2020

A whole Roman neighborhood singing a popular Italian song Volare from their balconies and waving at each other. An amazing flash mob to lift the spirit in these crazy times  #Italy #coronavirus #forzaitalia #roma #flashmob #love pic.twitter.com/xjeZTeO0GO  Jenna Vehvilainen (@jennavehvi) March 13, 2020

Italy. People locked inside turn to their windows and balconies singing so everyone feels less lonely. Here is #Naples singing "Abbracciame" (Hug me). #Coronavirus #CoronavirusUSA pic.twitter.com/DHVPvxbB8d  Ryan Meilak (@rmeilak) March 13, 2020

Notice that they're not playing many global pop hits  they are singing and playing explicitly Italian music and songs, one of which is, delightfully, opera. What is more Italian than opera? In some cases, the voice of the late Big Pav flows again across Italy, reminding them of their national greatness, reminding them that they are all in this together. In times of national crisis, it's natural to rally around the nation and flag, not the multilateral institution. The Italians are rallying around being Italian and, being Italy, trying to cheer and console one another.

It's a thing of beauty.

Compare and contrast to the cries of despair that came from the balconies of Wuhan in the earlier days of the coronavirus  communism has wrung the life out of the social capital of China, leaving only a sense of broken civilization. That's not true in Italy.

And sure enough, the national flag is being rallied, too  someone came up with the morale-booster for the Italians, showing the air force projecting the flag from the sky to make the people feel better.

President Trump is cheering:

Who doesn't love people who know how to make lemonade out of lemons? The Italians have shown us all something valuable, perhaps as valuable as medicine, given the circumstances and our human needs, as we prepare to hunker down and get through this, too.

Image credit: Twitter screen shot.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) DIRECTOR-GENERAL, TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, SAYING:

"We are continuing to recommend that all countries make containment their highest priority.

As the number of confirmed coronavirus cases globally continues to rise, the World Health organization on Friday urged governments around the world to unleash their full power to contain the outbreak of COVID-19.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) DIRECTOR-GENERAL, TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, SAYING:

We continue to call on countries to find, test, isolate and care for every case and to trace every contact."

The U.N. agency stressed that fighting the epidemic requires countries to work together.

This as the number of cases world-wide topped 100,000 - according to a Reuters tally amid signs that countries are struggling to get the outbreak under control.

Death tolls have passed 3400, most of those in China, where the outbreak began.

But the epidemic is now spreading faster elsewhere.

In the U.S. - the outbreak has now killed 15 people and it continues to spread.

On Friday, six states reported their first cases, bringing the total number of states with confirmed cases to 25

The rise comes as the Trump administration is facing widespread scrutiny over a lack of tests available for those in need.

Contradicting his officials, Trump said the government had the capacity to test everyone.

(SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

"Anybody who wants a test, can get a test."

Meanwhile Vice President Mike Pence - who the president appointed to lead the U.S. government's response to the outbreak - said people aboard a cruise ship off the coast of San Francisco - have tested positive for coronavirus

(SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) U.S. VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE:

"Twenty one individuals on the Grand Princess tested positive. Among those, were 19 crew members, and two passengers."

Pence said the cruise liner will be brought to an unspecified non-commercial port where 3,500 people - including passengers and crew, will be tested.

Story continues

Earlier in the day, President Trump - speaking about the cruise ship - said he preferred they stay on the ship.

(SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:

"Do I want to bring all those people on? People would like me to do that. I don't like the idea of doing that.

The steady spread of the virus has started to disrupt daily life for many Americans.

In Seattle, the epicenter of the nation's outbreak, there were school closures and people ordered to work from home.

And fearing concerns about the potential spread of COVID-19, South by Southwest, the music and tech festival in Austin, Texas,has been cancelled.
In a continued effort to crack down on price gauging during the coronavirus outbreak, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed an executive order banning retailers from pumping up prices on emergency supplies.

The executive order states that if a business or individual has acquired any product from a retailer, the business or individual must not resell that product in Michigan at a price that is grossly in excess of the purchase price of the product, according to a press statement.

Additionally, a business or individual must not sell any product in Michigan at a price that is more than 20% higher than what the business or individual offered or charged for that product as of March 9.

The exception is if the business or individual demonstrates that the price increase is attributable to an increase in the cost of bringing the product to market.

These enhanced restrictions go into effect 9:00 a.m. Monday, March 16, and will remain in place until 11:59 p.m. Monday, April 13.

In these challenging times, we need to come together as Michiganders," Whitmer said. "This order will help protect consumers from price gouging. Additionally, Im working jointly with the Attorney General to enforce these orders, to protect consumers, and to hold bad actors accountable. We will get through this together.

The governor signed the executive order Sunday, March 15, shortly before Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel gave an update on her offices handling of price-gouging complaints.

This order makes price-gouging a crime, Nessel said. The Consumer Protection Act can only mandate civil penalties, she said.

While its unlikely a business owner will be arrested on the spot, they may be subject to criminal penalties after the attorney generals office reviews the complaints, Nessel said.

Nessels office had received 75 price-gouging complaints related to the contagion as of 1 p.m. on Friday, March 13, according to a press statement.

Complaints included selling individual face masks for $10 each in Ziploc bags, cases of water priced at $35 and hand sanitizer priced at a 900% markup.

Four businesses were contacted by the Attorney Generals office to gather more information on their consumer-reported price-gouging, with the latest letters being mailed Friday. The businesses were not identified.

The Better Business Bureau created a Facebook page dedicated to reporting price-gouging across the state, said Melanie Duquesnel, President and CEO of Better Business Bureau Eastern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.

She asked that consumers post photos and receipts to the Price Gouging in Michigan Facebook page.

After reviewing complaints, the Better Business Bureau is finding that its not just small, independent stores increasing prices. Initial findings show some local stores part of large scale retailers that are acting in bad faith without the corporations knowledge, Duquesnel said.

Shoppers who see price-gouging can call the states Consumer Protection Hotline at 877-765-8388 or file a complaint online at michigan.gov/agcomplaints.

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:

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.

MORE MICHIGAN CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE HERE.

Below is a county-by-county map of Michigan tracking confirmed COVID-19 cases, followed by a map of possible exposure sites and a chart based on the states daily reports. The maps will be updated as more reports are released.

If you are reading this story on mobile and cant see the map, click here to view it on the web.

More coronavirus coverage on MLive:

Coronavirus maps show cases and exposure sites in Michigan

With 9 coronavirus cases, Oakland County orders restaurants, bars to cut customer capacity

Coronavirus has Michigan spring-break travelers scrambling: Its all up in the air

Coronavirus concerns change Kroger store hours, Meijer deli service in Michigan

Governor clarifies coronavirus-related hospital visitation restriction, allows parents
Better. Faster. Cheaper.

That was Fred Pappy Rohrs motto for manufacturing airplane parts, and it saturated Chula Vista from the early 40s through the 90s.

His business, Rohr Aircraft Company, played a major role in U.S. military aviation in WWII, and it changed the face of the city.

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By 1945, the company employed nearly 10,000 people in its 67 buildings on 162 acres along the Chula Vista bayfront from G Street to J Street.

More than 70 years later, Rohrs lifes work is being honored in an exhibit at the Chula Vista Heritage Museum, which is housed in the Civic Center library on F Street.

Attendees of the new Rohr Aircraft exhibit inside the Chula Vista Civic Center Library check out a display. (Chadd Cady)

The exhibit includes photographs, archives from the librarys local history collection, memorabilia from the Rohr family and anecdotes from retired employees.

Rohr died in 1965 at the age of 69.

Chula Vista historian Steven Schoenherr, who spent nearly a year collecting historical information for the exhibit, gave a presentation during Sundays grand opening.

A few dozen retired Rohr employees were among the nearly 200 that attended the event, including husband and wife Ray and Margie Inman.

Margie Inman, 76, worked at Rohr between 1968 and 1976, starting as a switchboard operator. Ray Inman, 71, began in 1963 in the computer room, stacking computer cards. He later ran the machine that stamped Rohrs name onto employee checks.

The reason I wanted to come was to send an email to my brother who worked for Rohr for 43 years and tell him all about it, Ray Inman said. This is wonderful to see.

Mary Cecena and her sister Susan Flesch attended the event to see their fathers pay stub, which they donated for a display along with a canvas bag that held his earnings that one time.

Mary said her dad, Arnold Cecena, was a spot welder at Rohr for 37 years, raising six children on a $54 weekly paycheck.

Being born and raised here in Chula Vista, Rohr is part of our life, Cecena said. At the time, it was our bread and butter.

On Dec. 10, 1954 it was silver dollar payday.

Rohr paid all of his employees in silver dollars fresh from the mint factory in San Francisco, which ended up filling registers all over town.

Several of Rohrs family members, including his granddaughter Jennifer Luther, attended the grand opening.

Frederick Hilmer Rohr was born in 1896 in New Jersey to the son of a German immigrant, and he worked with his father as an apprentice in his sheet metal shop.

Rohr served in the U.S. Navy during WWI and moved to San Diego in 1924, starting his own sheet metal shop.

While working downtown at the San Diego airplane factory Ryan Aeronautical Company, he met pilot Charles Lindbergh.

Rohr became one of the four members of the Night Hawk team that would build Lindberghs plane that got him across the Atlantic on the famous Spirit of St. Louis flight in 1927.

After Lindberghs flight, Rohr went to work at Solar Aircraft Company where he developed a drop hammer system, an important innovation created to shape complex airplane parts, making them thinner and lighter.

Today a drop hammer sits at Bay Boulevard Park as a historical landmark in Chula Vista.

The success of the drop hammer led to a job for Rohr as a sheet metal engineer at the Boeing Airplane Company in Seattle.

He started Rohr Aircraft Company on Aug. 6, 1940 out of his garage with four other men.

Mainly because of Rohrs growth, Chula Vistas population went from about 4,000 in 1940 to almost 30,000 people in 1955.

During WWII, thousands of women began working in factories at Rohr. They became known as Rosie the Riveters.

Equally as important were the spot welders. Chula Vista Mayor Mary Casillas Salas mother Paula Casillas worked as one at Rohr from 1942 to 1945.

Casillas Salas said her family owes their middle-class life to Rohr.

One thing my mother told me that was true of many of the Mexican-American families, was that working at Rohr took her out of the farm and into the factory, the mayor said.

The family had a living wage with benefits that allowed them to buy a home and become part of the American Dream.

Rohr was Chula Vistas largest private sector employer until the mid-90s.

Specifically it was responsible for building the engine pods or nacelles for the B-24 long range bomber and building a portion of the F-14 Tomcat.

Rohr also designed solid rocket motor casings, seals and nozzles for the space shuttle that launched in 1981.

Rohr was bought by B. F. Goodrich in 1997 and the Goodrich Corp. was acquired by United Technologies in 2012. The former Rohr company is now known as UTC Aerospace Systems-Aerostructures.

Today Aerostructures produces engine nacelles, the aerodynamic covering around an airplanes engines, for a variety of commercial airplanes.
In some of Indias most malnourished districts, voice messages, WhatsApp, and Facebook are emerging as the key mediums to reach out to women to teach them about nutritional values.

A study conducted by NITI Aayog, to assess the social and behavioural change communications taken up by government to change habits in women beneficiaries of the Centres key nutritional programme Poshan Abhiyan, has shown that voice messages, WhatsApp and Facebook showed the largest growth in reach in the women.

Voice messages showed a 13 percentage point increase in reach among the women between November 2018 and November 2019 from 26% to 39%. WhatsApp expanded its reach from 9% to 20% in the same period and Facebook doubled its reach from 6% to 12%.

The private nature of communication over these fast-emerging platforms, and with a wider

mobile phone penetration is likely to be the reasons why women prefer to use these platforms.

WhatsApp and Facebook were unavailable for comment.

The study was conducted among 1,901 women in 16 of the countries 112 so-called aspirational districts; which are underdeveloped and are selected for a concerted government push to boos their level of development in 49 parameters. The findings of the survey, reviewed by HT, were presented to officials of the union ministry of women and child development in February.

The 16 districts were chosen from five states, and include Damoh, Singrauli, Barwani, Vidisha and Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh, Katihar, Begusarai, Sheikhpura, Araria, and Sitamarhi in Bihar, Chitrakoot, Balrampur, Bahraich and Sonbhadra in Uttar Pradesh, Baran in Rajasthan, and Nandurbar in Maharashtra.

Yet, interpersonal communications and government-aided community events -- such as the Centres community programme to disburse health services Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Day (VHSND), home visits by care workers and television programmes -- continued to reach the women the most in 2019. In 2019, the VHSND and home visits had a reach of 65% respectively, while television programmes reached out to 46% of the beneficiaries of these districts.

Despite the push, only 24% of the women remembered hearing about the importance of the first thousand days, which as per nutritional experts is crucial for a childs health. Only a third of the women respondents, the study said, receive a diverse diet when pregnant and only 9% children in the age group of 6 to 23 months received an adequate diet.

Alok Kumar, adviser of health and nutrition at the NITI Aayog, said that the government carries out these surveys routinely to find out the progress, if any. Since we started in 2018, there has been a substantial change in nutritional habits. Many of the beneficiaries do not know that small changes can go a long way, he said.

The survey also showed that mothers-in-law were more responsive to receiving nutritional programming, while husbands continued to lag behind. However, positive changes were noted among the respondents on knowledge surrounding deworming or nutritious foods that prevents anemia, the intake of iron during pregnancy, breastfeeding a newborn within an hour of birth, the importance of handwash and the dangers of open defecation.
A total of 218 Indians, including 211 students, stranded in coronavirus-hit Italy arrived in India on Sunday, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said.

He said all of them will be quarantined for 14 days.

"218 Indians including 211 students from Milan landed in Delhi. All will be quarantined for 14 days. GoI (Government of India) is committed to reach out to Indians in distress, wherever they are," Muraleedharan tweeted.

"Appreciate Govt. of Italy for their support and team @IndiainItaly @cgmilan1 @airindiain @DrSJaishankar," he added.

The flight landed around 9.45 am at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here, an airport official said.

"Air India always spreads its wings to stand by the nation in its hour of need," an airline spokesperson said soon after the flight from Milan landed here.

The coronavirus outbreak, declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday, has led to more than 5,000 deaths globally.

The government has 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 90.

The government has been carrying out evacuation of Indians from countries, including Iran and Italy.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust on Sunday appealed to devotees to postpone their visit to Shirdi for a few days in view of coronavirus outbreak in the country.

"As per the directives of the government, I request the devotees to postpone their visit to Shirdi for a few days," said Arun Dongre, Chief Executive Officer of Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, Shirdi.

On Saturday, the Siddhivinayak temple located in Prabhadevi has instructed all its employees to wear masks, while hand sanitizers have been provided to everyone inside the temple.Speaking to ANI, Siddhivinayak Temple Trust Chairman, Adesh Bandekar had said, "We are providing sanitizers to all the devotees in the temple and where they stand in a queue holding the railings, are being cleaned in every 30 minutes.""We have provided masks to every security guard who comes in contact with people the most and we have taken all the important measures to prevent coronavirus," he had added.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had 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. In India, 107 persons, including foreign nationals were tested positive till March 15 at 12 pm.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Malaysia said Sunday that more than half the country's 428 coronavirus cases were linked to an international Islamic gathering held last month.

The Southeast Asian nation announced a spike of 190 new infections over the weekend, mostly linked to a global Islamic event attended by almost 20,000 people.

"Of the 428 cases, 243 are participants from the religious event in Sri Petaling mosque," Noor Hisham Abdullah, director-general of the health ministry, told AFP.

Authorities said participants at the gathering from February 27 to March 1 came from Bangladesh, Brunei, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Around 14,500 of the participants were Malaysian.

Brunei reported 10 new cases on Saturday, raising the total to 50, most in people who attended the Malaysia gathering.

Singapore has also announced cases linked to the event.

On Friday, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin warned Malaysia of a second wave of infections spread and urged people to avoid mass gatherings.

Ahmad Farouk, a lecturer at Monash University, told AFP that authorities should shut down mosques for at least two weeks to contain the spread of the virus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Things are getting much worse than before in our village, Amira* says. Womens circumstances have worsened a lot. Our husbands are constantly nervous and tense. They often curse us and use physical violence against us. They hit us, as well as being very violent during sex.

The pregnant 16-year-old, whose life has been dominated by war, lives in a village in the al-Qamishli area in northeastern Syria with her two children. Amira says women have been some of the hardest hit by the Syrian conflict.

As women, we have been severely affected by the crisis, Amira, who is in her third month of pregnancy, adds. We have a lot of anxieties and miseries. Men dont even think about us. They just want us to be pregnant again and again, and we cant refuse to be pregnant as we are terrified of being divorced.

Her comments come as Sunday marks the ninth anniversary of the Syria crisis  a catastrophe the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates has killed over half a million people, internationally acknowledged as one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time.

The crisis has created high levels of tension and instability, the mother-of-two adds. We are exceedingly afraid of the uncertain future due to the current situation. We are facing a distressing financial crisis due to the unavailability of employment and the Turkish invasion. We have been displaced from our villages, and are living nowadays in schools and temporary shelters that are by no means appropriate for living. We hardly obtain our daily bread and other basic means of living.

Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire Show all 24 1 /24 Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire Aftermath of an airstrike in a chicken farm in the town of Maarat Misrin, Idlib, Syria, March 2020. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire Six displaced families were living in the farm, at least 16 people died in the late night attack. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire Maarat Misrin attack in Idlib. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire Maarat Misrin attack in Idlib. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire Maarat Misrin attack in Idlib. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Yusuf Sayman Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire IDPs are seen in a central Idlib stadium. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire Hundreds of families live in the basement and car park of the stadium. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire IDPs in central Idlib stadium. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire IDPs in central Idlib stadium. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire IDPs in central Idlib stadium. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire IDPs in central Idlib stadium. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire IDPs in central Idlib stadium. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire IDPs in central Idlib stadium. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire IDPs in central Idlib stadium. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire A scene from the Idlib market. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire A scene from the Idlib market. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire A scene from the Idlib market. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire Suleyman Suleyman, a 24-year-old Arabic teacher, is seen in the al-Barayeem primary school, which was hit by an air strike on 25 February. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire The strike killed 3 adults, forcing the school to close. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire Assadollah, a fighter just returned from the battle to recapture Saraqeb, poses for a photograph in the town of Binnish. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire A building hit by an airstrike few days ago in the town of Binnish. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire Building in Binnish town. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire Yousef Ramadan and his son are seen in the rubble of their apartment complex that was hit by an airstrike in the town of al-Fua, north of Idlib four days ago. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman) Inside Idlib: Syrians caught in the crossfire Nine were killed in the attack. (Photo: Yusuf Sayman)

She continues: Ive heard from my cousin in the nearby village that she is suffering a lot from obstetric fistula, and her husband always complains about the bad smell. He always threatens her with divorce as he repeatedly feels disgusted by her and doesnt want to be close to her.

Her comments echo those of a leading United Nations official who says there is a growing problem of husbands abandoning their wives in Syria if they develop obstetric fistula, a medical condition that causes a hole to develop in the birth canal as a consequence of childbirth, leaving women incontinent and often leading to shame and social ostracisation.

Dr Luay Shabaneh, the regional director for Arab States for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) who goes to Syria frequently, says: Some women face the issue of obstetric fistula because there are delays in health treatment. Husbands refrain from having a sexual life with them. They just leave them. It is a recurrent problem. The family can be destroyed.

Gender-based violence increases when humanitarian crises become more difficult. Child marriage is becoming an economic coping strategy for families in order not to have the burden of protecting their daughters. Some women in Syria are married twice by the age of 18. Their husband may have died or they dont know where he is. She may have a little kid, no income and no support.

The suffering has a long-term impact  when you get an innocent girl to get married at the age of 12 or 15 then she will suffer for the rest of her life. The silence of bullets does not mean there is a silence in the suffering of women. We have to accompany women and girls until they are back in their homes and re-establish their own lives. On the anniversary of the crisis what we can see is the suffering is still there.

Dr Shabaneh explained that pregnant women are routinely taking high-risk journeys, not knowing if they will arrive safely or if the trip will result in death.

Some 960,000 people are estimated to have been displaced since December, 80 per cent of whom are women and children and approximately 25,000 are currently pregnant.

His warnings come as the UNFPA says it is gravely alarmed by the situation unravelling in northwestern Syria as we enter the 10th year of the crisis and hostilities carry on triggering mass displacements and damage to civilian services.

The UN organisation, which strives to improve reproductive health across the world, says the most recent displacement further exacerbated an already stark situation in northwest Syria, where 2.8 million people out of 4 million were already estimated to be in desperate requirement of humanitarian help.

Women and girls in Syria are bearing the brunt of the crisis due to not receiving proper reproductive health care and being at growing risk of gender-based violence, according to the agency.

Midwives in the country say violence against women has become routine.

While pregnant women are asking for caesareans due to being terrified of going into labour while on the move with no access to medical care, the agency says there has been a substantial increase in cases of early deliveries, miscarriages, and low-weight births.

Hostilities have damaged the agencys operations in northwest Syria  with the UNFPA, which currently estimates 13 million people in Syria need help, having been forced to close seven service delivery points serving 13,000 people since December 2019.

*Name changed to protect her safety
Dr. Kyle Abernathy, the principal of Cave Spring Elementary School near Rome, Ga., described in a Facebook post how he has been laid low by the coronavirus and how it has his wife, April, in a hospital in critical condition.

Amy Abernathy has since been transported to Emory Hospital in Atlanta, where her condition is said to have improved.

The Abernathys attend The Church at Liberty Square in Cartersville. The pastor there, Jacob T. King, is requesting that those who attended two recent services go into quarantine.

Kyle Abernathy wrote, I have tried to be quiet on social media and have enjoyed reading all of our friends and families posts for prayer. I am so encouraged and uplifted to know we have such a strong support team behind us. As of now, April and I remain hospitalized. She is critical but stable, requiring a ventilator and sedation. Her body needs strength. Please pray for this specifically. She is my bride and I miss her. I want to be able to see her when shes better.

"I am on oxygen now 24/7. I have a hard time breathing without it and get very winded moving around. I basically just lie down all day to keep from having breathing problems and coughing fits. I am on fluids and lots of meds. The nurses at Kindred are angels.

"As for the C virus, it is confirmed that both of us have it. But as quick as it came on us, it has to leave and bow down to the name of Jesus! Speak His name over our situation. We got the virus in a crowded place, no fault of anyones! We never traveled. I even had a positive case of Flu A and both of us had pneumonia. To us, C virus wasnt an option. We washed our hands. Trust me, I always tell my three at home to wash up!

"If you think the media is sensationalizing this, go ahead. But think about the 38-40 confirmed cases in GA, including us, before you check yourself safe. This is an opportunity for us to pray, to lift each other up, and stay vigilant.
By ANI

NEW DELHI: As many as 234 Indians who were among the people stranded in Iran amid the coronavirus outbreak have arrived in India, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in the wee hours of Sunday.

A Mahan Air flight carrying the Indians onboard landed in Mumbai. Among the 234 people, 131 of them are students and the rest are pilgrims.



ALSO READ: US President Donald Trump tests negative for coronavirus

Jaishankar thanked the Iranian authorities for facilitating the evacuations of Indians.

"234 Indians stranded in Iran have arrived in India; including 131 students and 103 pilgrims." the External Affairs Minister tweeted.



Iran is among the worst affected country from the coronavirus with 12,729 cases and 611 deaths so far.

In the past few days, India has carried out several evacuations of Indians nationals from Iran.

234 Indians stranded in #Iran have arrived in India; including 131 students and 103 pilgrims.

Thank you Ambassador @dhamugaddam and @India_in_Iran team for your efforts. Thank Iranian authorities.  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 14, 2020

The first batch consisting of 58 nationals were brought back in a C17 military transport aircraft on Tuesday followed by another evacuation of 44 individuals on Friday.

Meanwhile, 84 positive cases of coronavirus have been reported so far from across India.
By PTI

KOLKATA: Ten persons have been admitted to the isolation ward of the Beliaghata ID and BG Hospital here with novel coronavirus-like symptoms, a senior health department official said on Sunday.

All the 10 persons, who are from across the state, have a history of travelling abroad or coming in contact with foreigners, he said.

Coronavirus LIVE UPDATES | UK national tests positive for coronavirus; 20 passengers deboarded at Kochi airport

One of the two admitted persons from the city had travelled to Switzerland in the last week of February, the official said.

"The other city resident had recently travelled to Darjeeling with a British citizen. After returning from the hill town, he complained of fever and cold," he said.

Swab and blood samples of the admitted persons have been sent for medical examination, the official said.

In the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak, the West Bengal government had announced the closure of educational institutes till March 31.

Board examinations, however, will continue as per schedule.
Among the Jewish parties backing Mr. Gantz was the seven-seat, ultranationalist party Yisrael Beiteinu, led by Avigdor Liberman, a onetime ally of Mr. Netanyahu who has made it his mission to end the prime ministers career.

Both Mr. Liberman and leaders of the Joint List had kept their intentions in doubt right up until their meetings with Mr. Rivlin.

The most surprising support for Mr. Gantz came from the three lawmakers belonging to Balad, an Arab-nationalist faction in the Joint List that opposes the idea of Israel as a Jewish state. Mtanes Shehadeh, the partys leader, said Balad had initially planned to abstain from recommending Mr. Gantz, but endorsed him in order to topple the leadership of the largest generators of incitement against the Arab society and its leadership.

Mr. Gantz remains a great distance away from ousting Mr. Netanyahu. His ability to play hardball politics is constrained by the virus emergency and by an almost universal public aversion to a fourth election. And he will need to hold together his motley collection of supporters, who are anything but natural allies, in the face of an anticipated onslaught from Mr. Netanyahu and his defenders.

Still, in contrast to last fall, when he and Mr. Netanyahu each took a turn trying to form a government without success, Mr. Gantz holds important new advantages.

Crucially, he now has the backing of an absolute parliamentary majority, however thin. That gives Mr. Gantz the initiative, and his supporters say Mr. Netanyahu will have to either acquiesce to Mr. Gantzs becoming prime minister or stand in the way  at a time when the public health emergency has created grave political risks for any lawmaker seen as obstructing the response to it.
An aircraft of Vietnam Airlines prepares to take off from Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi. Photo courtesy of Vietnam Airlines.

National flage carrier Vietnam Airlines has reversed a decision made Saturday noon to suspend carrying passengers from Europe to Vietnam.

After it announced the decision as a Covid-19 prevention measure, the carrier received messages from many Vietnamese people in Europe wishing to return home, so it has reverted to its previous schedules, a Vietnam Airlines representative said late Saturday.

However, they will interview and measure the body temperature of passengers before boarding to ensure they are healthy enough to return. The airline will refuse to take on board passengers showing signs of a cough or fever, the carrier stated.

Passengers must also wear masks, gloves and have their health monitored on the flight. After landing, passengers will be quarantined for 14 days in accordance to regulations. All crew members will wear special medical protective gear to prevent contracting the novel coronavirus, it added.

Vietnam Airlines had announced Saturday it will stop carrying passengers from London, Paris and Frankfurt to Vietnam from Sunday onwards, but would continue operating Vietnam to Europe flights to transport passengers back to their home countries.

The move came after the Vietnamese government suspended entry for visitors coming from or going through the U.K. and Schengen countries in the previous 14 days, with Europe emerging as the new epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The only carrier in Vietnam with direct flights to European countries like England, Germany and France, Vietnam Airlines is set to reduce the number of weekly flights from Hanoi and Saigon to the continent by 14, starting March 25.

Vietnam has recorded 37 new active cases over the past week, raising the countrys total Covid-19 infections to 53. All the previous 16 patients had been discharged from hospitals by February 26.

The Covid-19 outbreak has thus far spread to 151 countries and territories, with the death toll climbing to over 5,800.
1.An organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.

2. Willingness to change is a strength, even if it means plunging part of the company into total confusion for a while.



3. Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.



4. Giving people self-confidence is by far the most important thing that I can do. Because then they will act.



5. If you pick the right people and give them the opportunity to spread their wings and put compensation as a carrier behind it you almost don't have to manage them.





Welch joined General Electric in 1960. He worked as a junior chemical engineer in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, at a salary of $10,500, which would be equivalent to approximately $90,000 in 2018 dollars. In 1961, Welch planned to quit his job as junior engineer because he was dissatisfied with the raise offered to him and was unhappy with the bureaucracy he observed at GE. Welch was persuaded to remain at GE by Reuben Gutoff, an executive at the company, who promised him that he would help create the small-company atmosphere Welch desired.[9] In 1963, an explosion at the factory which was under his management blew off the roof of the facilities, and he was almost fired for that episode.[10]

By 1968, Welch became the vice president and head of GE's plastics division, which at the time was a $26 million operation for GE.[6] Welch oversaw production as well as the marketing for the GE-developed plastics Lexan and Noryl. Not long after, in 1971, Welch also became the vice president of GE's metallurgical and chemical divisions.[6] By 1973, Welch was named the head of strategic planning for GE and he held that position until 1979, which involved him now working from the corporate headquarters, exposing him to many of the "big fish" he would one day be among.[11] Not long after his promotion to head of strategic planning, Welch was named senior vice president and head of Consumer Products and Services Division in 1977, a position he held until 1979 when he became the vice chairman of GE.[6]

In 1981, Welch became GE's youngest chairman and CEO, succeeding Reginald H. Jones. By 1982, Welch had dismantled much of the earlier management put together by Jones with aggressive simplification and consolidation. One of his primary leadership directives was that GE had to be No. 1 or No. 2 in the industries it participated in.[12]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Welch?
Photo credit: AGU

From Popular Mechanics

A bivalve fossil has surprised researchers by providing a look at daily life 70 million years ago.

Torreites sanchezi, the prehistoric bivalve, formed sedimentary bands along its shellsimilar to the rings we use to age trees. Using advanced analysis methods and technology, researchers were able to measure factor such as weather and water temperature.

The fossil also reveals changes in the relationship between the Earth and the moon.

Fossils are incredible gateways to the past, showing us what life was like many millions of years ago. One such find is Torreites sanchezi, a bivalve shell belonging to a group called rudists, thats 70 million years old and has been acting as a clock of sorts during the years it spent buried within the earth.

These ancient bivalves were similar to modern clams in that their shells had an impressive growth ratean entire layer per day. The laminaegrowth bands which are similar to tree ringsgrew in accordance with the weather giving researchers an unprecedented look at what a day looked like several thousand millennia ago.

But it wasnt just weather; T. sanchezi also captured snapshots of water temperature and chemical makeup, in essence, freezing several moments in time throughout the day. Niels de Winter, a geochemist and professor at Belgiums Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), told Science Alert that the bivalve offers a unique look at the past.

We have about four to five datapoints per day, and this is something that you almost never get in geological history. We can basically look at a day 70 million years ago, de Winter said in a press release . Its pretty amazing, he adds.

Exactly how does de Winter and his team able to effectively study this prehistoric fossil? The short answer is that they used several analysis techniques, including microscopy and x-rays. They also analyzed isotopes and ion charges in relation to ionic mass.

According to a study published in Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, a combination of layer counting, spectral analysis of chemical cyclicity and chemical layer counting shows that the rudist precipitated 372 daily laminae per year, demonstrating that length of day has increased since the late Cretaceous, as predicted by astronomical models.

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What else did the team learn? For one, they discovered that their specimen lived to be around nine years old and, in a surprising turn of events, found that they could use the bivalve to model the evolution of the Earth-Moon system.

The bivalve fossil explains the reason for the shorter amount of days in a year. The total amount has decreased from 372 to 365 dayssomething we can thank the moon, and subsequently, the ocean. The resulting friction from ocean tides has been ever so slightly slowing Earths rotation down.

The pull of the tides accelerates the moon a little in its orbit, so as the Earths spins slows, the moon moves farther away, shares an American Geophysical Union (AGU) press release. This means that the satellite is slowly moving away from earth at 1.5 inches a year. For now, this is one thing we dont have to be too worried aboutitll be billions of years before the moons distance begins to affect life on Earth.

As for de Winter and team, the plan is to apply these analysis methods on additional fossils in the hopes of catching more daily snapshots of what life on earth was like so, so long ago.



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Victoria's state-owned logging company doesn't comply with Australian requirements designed to stop illegal logging in developing countries, the state's Auditor-General has found.

Breaches recorded by the Auditor-General show paper companies buying logs from VicForests may not be meeting the conditions of the Illegal Logging Prohibition Act, which requires companies to minimise the risks of legal breaches in supply chains.

Logging in Victoria's Central Highlands Credit:Justin McManus

The act puts the onus on timber importers in wealthier countries rather than the regulators in poorer countries to carry out due diligence on their supply chains to prove timber has been sourced responsibly and in compliance with regulations.

Where risks of illegality cannot be reduced to a negligible level, logs cannot legally be processed.
 Flash

Iran's Foreign Ministry on Saturday summoned the Swiss ambassador, whose country represents the U.S. interests in Iran, over the U.S. president's allegations against the Islamic Republic after a recent attack on a military base used by the coalition forces in Iraq.

"The Swiss envoy was told that instead of accusing others, the U.S. president must accept the U.S. wrong policies on its illegal presence in Iraq and the killing of the Iraqi commanders and soldiers, which have become the main reason for the Iraqi people's hatred towards America," said Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi on Saturday.

"It was emphasized that U.S. wrong policies in Iraq have created the current tensions, and that the U.S. officials, Mr. Trump in particular, could not shirk responsibility by making groundless and dangerous remarks," he added.

The U.S. has claimed that Iranian-backed forces in Iraq have been behind the recent missile attack on the military base that killed a British and two U.S. service members in Camp Taji in Iraq.




President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday said the government is considering domestic travel restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic and added United Kingdom and Ireland to the Europe travel restrictions that went into effect late Friday.

They did not offer specifics on domestic flight restrictions but Trump said earlier in the week that they would be considered if "an area gets a little bit out of control'' in terms of coronavirus cases.

Pence said at a White House news conference Saturday that a "broad range of measures'' are under consideration.

"But no decisions have been made yet,'' he said.

Asked if people should be traveling, Trump recommended against it.

"If you don't have to travel I wouldnt do it,'' he said. "We want this thing to end. We don't want a lot of people getting infected.''

Extensive domestic flight restrictions would further cripple an already struggling U.S. airline industry and lead to more flight cuts. Southwest Airlines, the nation's largest domestic carrier, might face a disproportionate hit, though CEO Gary Kelly has already said the airline has seen a "9/11-like" drop in bookings even without serving Asia or Europe.

The talk of domestic travel restrictions comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday issued an unusual advisory on travel within the United States on its website. The headline: "Should I travel within the United States?''

The CDC said it doesn't generally issue advisories or restrictions for travel within the United States but is doing so because cases of COVID-19 have been reported in many states and some areas are experiencing community spread.

"Crowded travel settings, like airports, may increase your risk of exposure to COVID-19, if there are other travelers with COVID-19. There are several things you should consider when deciding whether it is safe for you to travel."

Story continues

Travel guidelines and alerts are usually issued for international destinations. Shortly after the coronavirus outbreak made headlines in January, the CDC issued a level 3 travel health notice, its highest, advising against non-essential travel to China, and has since raised Europe, Iran, Europe and South Korea to those levels because of coronavirus spread.

The CDC now rates the U.S. and most other countries a level 2 under a broad global coronavirus travel advisory. A level 2 alert means "practice enhanced precautions.''

New United Kingdom and Ireland restrictions

A British flag flies near the "Big Ben" clock tower of Parliament in London.

The United Kingdom and Ireland were excluded from the Europe travel ban announced last week but have been added because of a spike in cases there.

The broadened ban means residents of the U.K. and Ireland will not be allowed to travel to the United States for 30 days beginning late Monday.

U.S. residents won't be banned from flying to the United States but they will face airport screenings upon their return and will be asked to self quarantine for 14 days.

Officials said U.S. citizens in the U.K. or Ireland do not need to rush home ahead of the deadline because the ban does not apply to them.

"They will be allowed into the U.S.,'' Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security said.

In response to the broadened ban and the resulting falloff in travel demand, airlines are likely to sharply cut flights between the U.S. and London and Ireland. Delta and American Airlines, for example, suspended all flights between the United States and the 26 European countries covered by the initial ban.

Europe travel restrictions: Here's what you need to know

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus travel: President Trump considering domestic restrictions
A 59-year-old woman tested positive for coronavirus in Aurangabad city of Maharashtra, taking the number of such cases in the state to 32 on Sunday, health department officials said.

The woman is currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Aurangabad, they said.

"The woman has tested positive for Covid-19. She had travelled to Russia and Kazakhstan recently," an official said.

Aurangabad district health officer Dr Sundar Kulkarni said no severe symptoms of infection were found in the woman and her condition is stable.

"She is currently being treated at the private hospital and decision about whether she should be shifted to a government facility, will be taken by the local civic body and the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH)," he said.

With this case, the number of persons infected by coronavirus has now gone up to 32 in the state, health department officials said.

Apart from the case in Aurangabad, 15 coronavirus positive cases have been confirmed in Pune and nearby Pimpri Chinchwad area, eight in Mumbai and surrounding areas, four in Nagpur, two in Yavatmal and one each in Thane and Ahmednagar, they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two hundred and eighteen Indians, who arrived in the capital from Milan, were on Sunday morning quarantined at Indo-Tibetan Border Police's (ITBP) Chhawla camp.

The 218 Indians, comprising of 211 students and 7 compassionate cases, were airlifted by a special Air India flight on Saturday (local time).

Union Minister of State for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan, today confirmed that the 218 Indians landed in Delhi.

"All will be quarantined for 14 days. The government is committed to reaching out to Indians in distress, wherever they are," he stressed.

The evacuation by India was carried out after the World Health Organisation declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and said that Europe is the new epicenter of the lethal virus.

Italy on Saturday (local time) reported 175 deaths from coronavirus, raising the toll to 1,411. The country, which has been worst hit by the infection outbreak in Europe, also reported 3,500 new cases in the last 24 hours.

Earlier, Air India had announced the cancellation of all flights to Kuwait and Italy till April 30.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that Europe has become the new 'epicentre' of the global coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than 15 lakh people with over 4000 deaths.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
This is a very unfortunate situation, given the peace process that is very fragile and could get destroyed, said an adviser to Ghani, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive topic. The Taliban is next door, and the public is angry and fearful. But we think there is still room to bargain. Abdullah and his people know that if things get out of control, nobody can put them back. It will be a disaster for Afghanistan for many years to come.
Authorities in Vietnam have imposed restrictions on the number of guests at a wedding reception of a Vietnamese-South Korean couple to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The wedding reception is scheduled to take place in Lai Uyen Town, Bau Bang District, Binh Duong Province on Sunday, Le Khac Tri, chairman of Bau Bang, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Saturday.

The bride is Vietnamese while the groom comes from Daegu, South Korea, he said, adding that hundreds of guests, including foreigners, had been invited.

Daegu is a COVID-19 epicenter in South Korea, a country hard hit by the virus.

South Korea reported 76 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing the countrys total to 8,162 with 75 deaths, Reuters reported the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as saying.

The Bau Bang Peoples Committee said that almost 20 South Koreans invited by the groom had arrived in Vietnam in late January, now well past the 14-day threshold recommended for quarantine, and they are in goold health.

The grooms parents and other next of kin are currently in South Korea and will not join his wedding party in Binh Duong.

Vietnam requires that anyone coming from countries where there is a major COVID-19 ourbreak be isolated for 14 days  the advised incubation period of the coronavirus  upon entry into the Southeast Asian nation.

Local authorities asked that the bride limit the number of Vietnamese invitees and her family cooperated, providing them with a list of guests.

But about 300 guests have been invited to the wedding reception so they will all have their body temperature checked before participating in the party, officials said.

COVID-19 prevention personnel in Binh Duong have been required to closely monitor the wedding in order to stem any possible viral infection.

Locals had been worried about the wedding between N. and her groom Y.

Officials were then alerted, sending health workers to disinfect the wedding reception site in Lai Uyen Town and persuade the family to cooperate in curbing the disease.

Vietnam has confirmed 53 COVID-19 patients, 16 of them having fully recovered and been discharged from the hospital by February 26. The others are being isolated and treated in hospitals across Vietnam.

No infection has been reported in Binh Duong.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
It was an eerie scene Sunday morning at West Conroe Baptist Church as Senior Pastor Jay Gross preached to a room filled with over 600 empty chairs.

Members of the church were asked to stay home and watch the service on a livestream on the churchs website. This was a first for Gross and he asked for patience and understanding from the members watching along at home.

Theres not a win, Gross said of the choices that religious leaders face in reaction to COVID-19. Some folks are going to be saying Why arent we having service? Everythings okay. And if we did have service folks would be saying Why are you having services?

But the thought of a member of his church becoming sick and possibly infecting others was not something he could live with.

On a regular Sunday, Gross said there are more than 1,000 people at the church. The church has been discussing what to do for a while but following the declaration of emergency signed by county leaders last week, the church was ready to cancel worship at the church.

Following the lead of Conroe ISD, the churchs academy will be closed as long as the district is shut down. Numerous other activities, bible classes, and rehearsals have been canceled for the time being. A webpage on the churchs website will be devoted to COVID-19 updates.

Precautions and preaching

Religious organizations everywhere are taking different precautions in response to COVID-19. Many of them, like West Conroe Baptist Church, are streaming their services while asking members not to come to church. Catholic churches are placing communion into worshipers hands, not their tongue, and the chalice of wine is no longer being given.

The Hindu Temple of The Woodlands has made several changes: Theertha Prasadams or any edible prasadams will not be distributed by Priests, members are asked not to touch the idols or to shake hands or hug other members, and many of the usual activities (yoga, youth groups, music classes) have been suspended.

Sunday Hebrew school at Chabat of The Woodlands has moved online and when members attend service they are asked to wash their hands when they enter. But Shul services and upcoming public Seders have not been canceled.

As we watch the spread of this virus, many people in our community and beyond, are understandably scared. Fear comes from uncertainty; we fear that which we cannot predict nor control. So rather than trying to control the future as a means of feeling secure, we are better off learning how to live peacefully with uncertainty, read a message to the community from Chabad of The Woodlands and Chabad Centers of Greater Houston.

Faith through technology

Members of The Woodlands Church emanated a similar message on Sunday as they gathered in small groups at members homes to watch the regular church service on a livestream. No non-essential personnel were allowed at the church, but members still found a way to practice their faith together.

Members decided to fist bump or touch elbows as they entered Kyle Nixs house Sunday morning a little before the live stream of the service was scheduled to begin. Nix, the pastor on staff for the Life Groups of The Woodlands campus for the church, and his wife Christine, hosted about nine other adults and their kids.

The Life Groups typically meet throughout the week, but as the church chose to live stream the service the group took the opportunity to meet during the Sunday service.

What we want to do is to help people move forward and still, as we are able to, meet together in spaces, Nix said. Well see what it looks like in the future.

The church, he said, is not about a building, so its not important where they meet.

This is a space that functions for that, Nix said. The early church met in homes, so this is something the church is very accustomed to doing.

Pray instead of panic

With advances in technology, Nix said he believes the church is prepared to keep operating this way in while it is necessary. Sundays sermon was all about addressing anxiety, something that a lot of people may be experiencing these days. The message from The Woodlands Church, Nix said, has been not to panic, were to pray.

Each day Im praying for the understanding to know what today looks like and what Im being called to do today, said Amy Auld, a member of Faith Bible Church in The Woodlands who was attending the service watch at Nixs home. In times of crisis she wants to be useful, and being asked to stay home instead has been a struggle. Right now were all being called to be patient and to serve one another and unfortunately that means little impact. But its still a fight.

As COVID-19 continues to spread, religious organizations will evaluate the best way forward to meet the needs of their members, practice their faith, while still prioritizing the health and safety of the community.

jamie.swinnerton@chron.com
It was a bright, cold day in Oxford and everywhere I looked, rainbow flags flapped and fluttered in the sharp wind.

They flew from the ancient colleges along the High Street. They flew from the Town Hall.

And what they said to me was Your side has lost. There is nothing you can do about it.

As I write this, I know that an apprentice Thought Police officer will certainly copy and store my words, to use them against me at some point in the future.

Like the banners in Nineteen Eighty-Four proclaiming WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH, they dare you to object, even by a twitch of the jaw muscles. Pictured, this is a scene from 1984 in which Harold is taken into room 101, the torture chamber, by the thought police

The mere act of suggesting that there is anything oppressive about these banners will ensure that I am convicted of homophobia. Those who condemn me will not be even slightly interested in what I actually think.

It is startling to recall walking down the same street more than 50 years ago, when nobody had ever thought of rainbow flags and this was still a free country.

At that time, just as I am now, I was strongly in favour of maximum tolerance towards homosexuals, and thought it ludicrous and wicked that only a few years before, they were being arrested and prosecuted for actions that were wholly private.

But in the years that followed, a strange thing happened.

Tolerance, which still seems to me to be the best way of coping with our many differences, was no longer enough. In fact, it became positively bad. Nothing short of total acceptance of the new thinking would do.

A huge change in sexual morality of all kinds was cleverly presented as mainly being the liberation of homosexuals from persecution.

In truth, it had many other aspects, to do with abortion, stable marriage, fatherless families and other changes which mostly affected defenceless children.

But conservatives who had doubts about any of it could be  and were  instantly dismissed as crude bigots who were motivated largely by a hatred of homosexuals.

The new societies of both Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four begin with catastrophic wars after which people either no longer want freedom or no longer care about it

No doubt, some of them were, just as some opponents of mass immigration are racial bigots.

But most of them, including me, were not bigoted at all. The point was, it no longer mattered. While you were explaining, you were losing the argument. So better to leave it.

Privately, I still believe that my position is thoughtful and civilised. Publicly, I know it is now futile, and worse than futile, to defend it, so I have reluctantly chosen silence.

But even to explain how my freedom is limited by the flying of these flags is to risk being sniffed out by zealous heresy detectors, and that is enough.

Already, to my certain knowledge, cold and unsympathetic minds pore over my writings, often going back for decades, trying to find passages that they can claim have offended them. What actually offends them is the discovery that anyone disagrees with them.

Individuals like me must therefore be humiliated, silenced and, in the end, destroyed and forgotten.

People will travel long distances, and make great efforts, to be offended or insulted in this way.

They rifle through ancient archives to uncover remarks made in a less censorious age, so that they can repeat them and demand the punishment of their authors.

The claim to have been affronted in some way is now the unanswerable charge, by which people such as me will eventually be thrust out of society into a silenced and despised outer darkness, where we will be heard and seen no more.

We will, in my view, be lucky if we do not end up being led away in handcuffs, while former colleagues jeer at our humiliation.

You think this is exaggerated or alarmist? I am not so sure. Read on.

This crushing process happens in all revolutionary states. From the French Revolution onwards, half the purpose of the new regime has been to destroy  often physically  the idea that things might ever have been done differently.

I used to wonder, during my long years travelling in the Communist world, what the point was of the ever-present red banners proclaiming the mythical glories of socialism amid actual shortages and secret police repression. Who could be fooled by these crimson lies?

It was a bright, cold day in Oxford and everywhere I looked, rainbow flags flapped and fluttered in the sharp wind. They flew from the ancient colleges along the High Street. They flew from the Town Hall. And what they said to me was Your side has lost. There is nothing you can do about it' [File photo]

And then it was explained to me: the whole point of these banners and posters and portraits of Lenin and Marx was to demoralise and isolate the dissenter.

They proclaimed: We have won. We are in charge. Our lies are now the truth. You can do nothing about it. Nobody cares what you think.

And so it is with the rainbow flags.

Britain is full of people who have never wholly agreed with the great sexual revolution which has overtaken us in the past 30 years, and is now embraced by the Conservative Party and the churches.

But even in private they hesitate to say so  in fact, they may even say roughly the opposite of what they secretly think.

For they know a terrible thing. If they are denounced, they could lose their livelihoods, as dangerous a threat in its own way as the threat of imprisonment once was.

Fifty years ago it never really crossed my mind that this could happen here.

I have at my elbow twin Penguin paperbacks of George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four and Aldous Huxleys Brave New World, both bought and first read by me in 1967 when I was 15 or 16.

They are cracked and frayed from much rereading. Both, enjoyably, are priced at three shillings and sixpence, in the old unmodernised, monarchist currency which those of us who once used it all miss, as a symbol of a lost way of life.

We also have an embryonic Thought Police patrolling Twitter. And we have increasingly ferocious official lying  especially about who we are at war with at any given time [File photo]

Heavens  how free, and how carefree we were then. I wont even try to translate this price into todays tin coinage. It would be like trying to render Shakespeare into the babble of a Radio 1 DJ. It was a completely different thing from what we have now, like so much else from that time.

In the messy, unmodernised world of shillings and pence, you see, we felt quite safe from the horrors which Huxley and Orwell predicted. We had no idea what was coming.

Interestingly, both these horrible utopias  one a Communist police state, the other a drugged, family-free, religion-free pleasure dome  use the metric and decimal systems.

The vast laboratories in which Huxleys mass-produced babies are brought to life are measured in metres. Beer, in Orwells dismal totalitarian London, is sold only in litres, and paid for in dollars and cents.

I am sure both men did this quite deliberately. They knew that world-reformers have a passion for chilly neatness, and hate the irregular and the old.

So there is that. And there is the great question of which of these prophecies has come true, and which is the more frightening.

The unwelcome answer is that both are coming true together, and that they are equally frightening. The rainbow flags are supposedly there to mark LGBTQ+ history month.

But the real point of them is that they are everywhere, and also that anyone who tried to fly a banner of protest alongside them would be ordered, by authority, to haul it down. It may seem jaunty and cheerful, but only as long as it is obeyed and admired.

Like the banners in Nineteen Eighty-Four proclaiming WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH, they dare you to object, even by a twitch of the jaw muscles.

Go on, they taunt, see what happens to you.

Well, its defenders reply, so what? Nobody will put you in prison.

No, not yet, though they could quite easily force you out of your job and reduce you to penury, which is very nearly as bad.

But as we see so often, the police are quite keen to get involved in such matters, and I dont think this is going to let up, despite a recent case in which a judge declared that in this country we have never had a Cheka, a Gestapo or a Stasi. We have never lived in an Orwellian society. No, we havent yet. But we might.

Judges have made similar declarations before, but the police have continued (for instance) to arrest traditionalist Christian street preachers and the courts have found against such preachers.

They can see which way things are going.

Some sort of national emergency  a major terror attack, an economic collapse, perhaps even a devastating epidemic  will at some point speed up our descent into a semi-totalitarian dusk.

The Civil Contingencies Act already gives government astonishing powers to rule by diktat if it can think of a good enough excuse.

Theresa Mays creation of the National Crime Agency gives State-appointed civil servants the power of arrest, a power normally reserved for constables sworn to uphold the law without fear or favour.

This is something all previous British governments have striven to avoid. Anti-terror laws have more or less destroyed the protection against being locked up for long periods without the authority of an independent judge.

I used to wonder, during my long years travelling in the Communist world, what the point was of the ever-present red banners proclaiming the mythical glories of socialism amid actual shortages and secret police repression. Russian Communist Party supporters are pictured holding banners of Joseph Stalin in Moscow in 2019

They have licensed the surveillance of opinions and permitted punishment for the expression of opinions in the clauses about glorifying terrorism. Juries have been gutted by the introduction of majority verdicts.

You think youre safe? Wrong.

A few years ago, the sackings of unfashionable academics and politically incorrect public sector workers, and the no-platforming of dissident speakers would have been absurd. Now they are reality.

And remember it was a Tory government which immediately gave in to a disgraceful witch hunt against the philosopher Sir Roger Scruton, and Tory MPs who joined in the outcry when they didnt even have to.

There is no barricade of law which stands between us and the introduction of an unfree society.

There is no major party which can be relied to oppose such a change, provided it can be dressed up as being in the interests of security, of equality and diversity or of not offending people.

The new societies of both Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four begin with catastrophic wars after which people either no longer want freedom or no longer care about it.

For many years I have thought that Huxleys predictions were coming true. We are well on the way to the abolition of parents, to test-tube babies, the annihilation of religion, literature, history and culture.

We turn more and more to drugs to stifle discontent, though we are still some distance from Huxleys Soma, created by two thousand pharmacologists and biochemists, and a huge state subsidy with all the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects.

We have yet to abolish old age or end life by being compulsorily put down in scented dying rooms, stupefied into slack-jawed content by drugs and TV. But we are approaching both.

And we have created the throwaway consumer culture in which nothing is ever repaired, we constantly spend but never think.

Huxleys tyranny was beguilingly gentle. Those who protested were drugged into simpering submission or in rare cases exiled to the Falkland Islands.

As he explained: Government by clubs and firing squad is not merely inhumane it is demonstrably inefficient.

A really efficient totalitarian state would be one in which the all-powerful executive controls a population of slaves who do not have to be coerced, because they love their servitude.

I think of these words every time I am nearly knocked over by some zombie walking along while gaping at their phone.

Millions have opened the gates of their minds to the hidden persuaders of the World Wide Web, and are no longer independent, thinking beings.

Discontented? Worried? Dont be. Ignore the world. Buy something, take a drug, watch this, listen to this. Do it now. Do not think.

Some sort of national emergency  a major terror attack, an economic collapse, perhaps even a devastating epidemic  will at some point speed up our descent into a semi-totalitarian dusk [File photo]

The problem with Huxleys new world was that it was too perfect, too rich, too expensive, and took too long to eradicate all those inconvenient things about human beings that make them so hard to govern.

And so we find we increasingly have Orwells apparatus of camera surveillance, and it is almost popular.

We also have an embryonic Thought Police patrolling Twitter. And we have increasingly ferocious official lying  especially about who we are at war with at any given time.

I never cease to gasp at the way in which the British public, told for years that Al Qaeda was our most dangerous enemy, is now urged to support the same people in Syria.

But both these nightmares have one thing in common  the erasing of the past.

Hardly anyone under 60 knows what pre-revolutionary Britain was actually like, and broadcasters and film-makers are busily creating a new version of the past which millions believe to be true.

The 1960s world in which I first read those two books exists in my memory, but almost nowhere else.

The ideas they contain may soon be largely forgotten, too. Reading actual books is fast going out of fashion and I find, increasingly, that people worship them but have not read them.

How long before students all over Britain will note the appearance of rainbow flags each February, and think that it has always been so, and that there never was another opinion?
Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) while in Australia. Hanks is filming an Elvis Presley movie, directed by Australian Baz Luhrman. Austin Butler is playing Presley and Hanks plays his infamous manager Col. Tom Parker. Hanks first shared the news on his social media.

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson | Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Hanks has been keeping his fans apprised of his condition. On Saturday, March 14, Hanks shared a photo of his latest meal leading fans, both Australian and from around the world, to comment on his choice.

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are eating vegemite

Hanks photo revealed two slices of toast with vegemite spread over both and a simple glass of water. He thanked helpers for taking care of him and wished for others to do the same.

Thanks to the Helpers. Lets take care of ourselves and each other. Hanx pic.twitter.com/09gCdvzGcO  Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) March 15, 2020

Vegemite is a local Australian food spread made from yeast extract with vegetable and spice additives. Most people know vegemite from the Men Without Hats song Land Down Under. They sing that an Australian just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich.

Fans approve of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson vegemite consumption

ABC News Breakfasts Michael Rowland endorsed Hanks breakfast.

Gee, thats a lot of Vegemite..  Michael Rowland (@mjrowland68) March 15, 2020

This user admired Hanks commitment to the Australian spread. Respect to Tom Hanks Vegemite game, he wrote. I personally would need more butter, but he goes hard and Im proud.

ESPN Australia and New Zealands Steve Smith hopes vegemite proves to be the cure to coronavirus.

killing coronavirus with nuclear levels of vegemite might be our only hope https://t.co/AjCuOZilSx  Steve Smith (@stevesmithffx) March 15, 2020

This user wrote, OMG thats some HERO level Vegemite spreadage. #Respect

The Bachelor Australias Osher Gunsberg also vouched for Hanks.

I for one am proud of you Tom.

This is some local-thickness spreading mate.

Welcome to our country. https://t.co/1dDt7Ta6Jm  Osher Gunsberg (@oshergunsberg) March 15, 2020

Too much vegemite

This user shared a helpful infographic for Hanks. Tom, she wrote. What are you doing? No Australian puts that much vegemite on their toast.

Guardian Astraulias Greg Jericho issued an apology.

Cripes, we've given him coronavirus *and* Vegemite. https://t.co/5RdnsZVRb7  Greg Jericho (@GrogsGamut) March 15, 2020

This user joked, For the love of God, Australia, hes our national treasure. Has he not suffered enough?

This user worried vegemite would be more of a threat to Hanks than the coronavirus. Tom Hanks is going to die from Vegemite, isnt he, he wrote.

Proper vegemite ratio

Users started giving Hanks and Wilson specific instructions for adjusting their vegemite intake. This user wrote, Okay you need to scrape around 60% of that vegemite off, otherwise its gonna be nasty and hurt your mouth friend.

Author Jane Caro issued Hanks the proper vegemite to toast ratio:

Dear Tom, thats lovely but you spread the vegemite way too thick! The secret to vegemite toast is 1/3 vegemite to 2/3 butter maximum! And add smashed avocado for extra awesomeness.  Jane Caro (@JaneCaro) March 15, 2020

This user also shared a side by side of proper vegemite spreadage vs. too much vegemite. Dear Mr. Hanks, he wrote, Re: Use of Vegemite.

This user blamed the helpers Hanks thanked for not teaching him proper vegemite usage. WHERE WERE THESE HELPERS WHEN TOO MUCH VEGEMITE WAS BEING SPREAD ON THAT TOAST??? she wrote.

Rita Wilson | Tibrina Hobson/WireImage

This user disagrees. That is the correct amount of yeast-based spread, he wrote.

All the Tom Hanks movie quotes

Tom Hanks has been a movie star since 1984s Splash, so there are no shortage of memorable movie lines and references from his movies. Hanks fans have been quick to cite a few of Hanks movies back to him during this crisis. Australian journalist Sally Sara cautioned Hanks against eating too much vegemite, paraphrasing a famous line from Hanks movie Forrest Gump.

'Life is like a tube of Vegemite. Don't try it all at once.'  Sally Sara (@sallyjsara) March 15, 2020

Australian athlete Dylan Alcott went with a Cast Away joke.

Toms lathering on that Vegemite like he is about to be banished to that island with Wilson for another 5 years https://t.co/6cEaGIFB8d  Dylan Alcott (@DylanAlcott) March 15, 2020

This user went with Toy Story, writing, Youll still be living strong To Infinity and Beyond.


An NIA Special Court in Chennai has pronounced judgement in Thameem Ansari espionage case convicting Sri Lankan national Arun Selvarajan for all the charges. The accused has been sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment with fine of Rs 20,000.

The sensational case was originally registered on September 17, 2012 at Q Branch Police Station, Trichy, Tamil Nadu and police arrested Thameem Ansari, a native of Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu for conducting espionage at the behest of Pakistan Intelligence officers led by accused Amir Zubair Siddique posted at the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo, as part of the conspiracy to carry out terrorist acts in India.

NIA had re-registered the case and taken over the investigation from state police. Later, accused Arun Selvarajan was arrested in this case for engaging in similar espionage activities, at the behest of Pakistan Intelligence officers. The ensuing investigation had established that the accused persons Thameem Ansari and Arun Selvarajan pursuant to the conspiracy hatched with Pakistan intelligence officers had conducted espionage at various defence establishments and sensitive locations in Tamil Nadu besides transmitted such classified information to Amir Zubair Siddique thereby threatening the sovereignty and security of India.

Charges were framed against Thameem Ansari and Arun Selvarajan and trial had commenced then after. Accused Arun Selvarajn has now been convicted for all the charges against him. However, trial against Thameem Ansari continues.

An investigation is continuing against the absconding accused Mohammed Anver Mohammed Siraj Ali native of Sri Lanka besides the Pakistan intelligence officer Amir Zubair Siddique and others.
His readiness to join the Kremlins land giveaway has caused dismay among some like-minded critics of the Kremlin. Appearing last year on Ekho Moskvy, a radio station popular with Russias liberal intelligentsia, he faced repeated questions about how a dogged foe of the authorities like himself could join the settlement project.

I am not supporting Putins program, he said. I am using it. Im doing this for myself.

Aside from going online to apply for the land and filling in official forms testifying to his readiness to develop it, however, Mr. Lunin has so far done very little. He has hammered wooden stakes wrapped with red plastic tags into the frozen ground to mark the boundary of his territory but has done nothing substantial to develop it as required by the programs rules.

He planned to start last summer but, with only a tent to shelter in during a long and violent storm, he fell ill and retreated to his rented apartment in Blagoveshchensk, the nearest city. He said he will try again this summer and has grand plans to one day grow his own food, cultivate fruit and vegetables for sale, and build a two-story wooden house next to a small lake at the propertys edge.

To do this, however, he needs money.

With a monthly salary of 7,000 rubles, around $106, from his day job in Blagoveshchensk as a technician, Mr. Lunin gets by with support from his wife, who has a better-paying job at a medical institute. But even with their combined wages, they still have nowhere near enough cash to buy the equipment and materials needed to develop their land.

Unless he does something soon, the authorities can take back his property. To demonstrate that he is making some small progress, Mr. Lunin plans to build a small hut once the snow melts this year to shelter in and, he hopes, keep covetous officials away until he can save enough to start building something more permanent.

Describing himself as an optimist despite his dyspeptic view of Russia and its leaders, he said he learned long ago to never lose hope, or let officials get him down.

I was free under Brezhnev and am free under Putin, he said. I am free inside.
While the rise in the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in India has risen to 100, certain stories of the governments dedication toward containing the outbreak are bringing cheer on social media.

On Sunday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases rose to 107 with states like Maharashtra seeing a surge in cases. While the pandemic has forced several governments into panic mode, India seems to not be leaving any stone unturned to contain the spread of the virus. and one of the things it did to contain the spread of the virus was to set up extensive screening systems at international airports to test foreigners or Indians returning from abroad for coronavirus.

As the global pandemic surges, a special Air India aircraft carrying 211 Indian students and seven compassionate cases who were stuck in Italy after flights were cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak arrived in India today.

And thats not it, Indian government officials have allegedly been making personal calls on suspected persons to ensure they dod not have any symptoms. The proactivity of the government has impressed many who shared such stories on social media.

A journalist shared an account she had received on social media about how the Indian government was systematically working to contain the coronavirus outbreak" by going visiting suspected patients at their homes.

Sharing one of the many accounts Ive received of how Indian authorities are systematically working to contain the #CoronavirusOutbreak.Our healthcare apparatus has many flaws,but we must recognise the strengths & applaud the health workers who are on the frontline of this fight pic.twitter.com/ItVEVMdxBd Palki Sharma (@palkisu) March 15, 2020

The woman whose account was shared was called Veena who claimed to have returned from the United States to Delhi via Tokyo recently. Though she was screened at the hospital upon arrival in India, Veena received a call from a team of experts from Delhis Ram Manohar Lohia hospital and Airport authorities within four days of her return. She was told that though she herself had at the time been cleared of the virus, a flight from Italy had just landed at the time and the government wanted to ensure no one else was infected.

Veena was advised the prescribed two-weeks of self-quarantine at home. Unbelievable. Government officials working on a holiday to reach out to each one personally is simply unheard of till now," she wrote.

In yet another post on Facebook, Rajat Gupta described his experience at Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport upon his return from Dallas. Each individual is screened by health and airport officials just outside the gate of the airplane," he wrote. He added that the baggage belts had been cordoned off to prevent the intermingling of passengers from different flights. Airport officials lifted individual bags off the belt and placed them at convening locations to simply be picked up without involving any contact. This is in total contrast to airports in Dallas and New Jersey. Hats off to the Indian government," he wrote.

Many other such incidents appeared on social media.

When I landed from srilanka last week.the authorities at bang airport were very vigilantThe screening was very systematic .Sanitizers were placed at every nook and corner.Happy to see the response from ind authorities Sandeep Negi (@sandeep_negi) March 15, 2020

A friend of mine came back home, a couple of weeks back, after travelling to a few countries. The health minsitry had someone check on him on the 1st, 5th and 14th day to see how he was doing. Great to see the government, being so pro active in fighting this #coronavirus Kunal Kapoor (@kapoorkkunal) March 13, 2020

A police officer from Jammu and Kashmir, Imtiyaz Hussain, also took to Twitter to thank the Indian government for evacuating Indian citizens from high-risk COVID-19 countries.

Thanks to Ministry of External affairs Govt of India @MEAIndia for evacuating hundreds of Indian citizens from high risk COVID-19 countries.Some of the students & pilgrims from J&K evacuated from Iran with whom I have been in touch have expressed their gratitude to Union govt. Imtiyaz Hussain (@hussain_imtiyaz) March 14, 2020

Meanwhile, the country has reported two fatalities due to COVID-19 and another suspected death is also being looked into  a 71-year-old man who had returned from Saudi Arabia and was suspected to have coronavirus infection died during treatment in Buldhana district of Maharashtra.

(This story was originally published on March 15, 2020)

Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Staten Island elementary school teacher said she was denied testing for the coronavirus (COVID-19) after she traveled internationally last month and exhibited flu-like symptoms consistent with the virus.

The 28-year-old teacher, who requested anonymity, traveled to Spain and Portugal during the mid-winter recess last month, returning home on Feb. 21.

Last week, she developed a fever and a cough and visited her primary care physician to get checked. On Tuesday, the teacher was prescribed cough medication, but didnt get better. Her cough was getting worse and her temperature was manageable with Motrin and Tylenol, but never broke. On Friday, she went back to her doctor who wanted her to get tested for the coronavirus.

My doctor told me right away that she wanted me to get tested for coronavirus, she said.

However, she claims that when her doctor called Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC), the hospital said the symptoms werent severe enough.

I didnt have any underlying health issues and they had to save tests for the people with more severe symptoms. So my doctor had me self-quarantine, said the teacher.

A spokesperson for Richmond University Medical Center said it sends all possible COVID-19 specimens to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygienes Public Health Lab for diagnosis. For that reason, RUMC is required to first contact the health department, which determines if a patient meets the criteria for testing prior to specimen collection.

While she has been self-quarantined and not at work since March 9, she is worried that her students and staff members may be at risk. She said schools arent required to inform the school community that a staff member is self-quarantining due to the coronavirus.

And since she was denied testing, the school doesnt need to close for the standard 24-hour period to conduct a deep cleaning -- which is the requirement if faculty or a student tests positive for coronavirus.

My first concern was my students and the people who I work with because without a positive test they wont close schools, she said.

She added: If I had been able to get a test and test positive, then they wouldve been able to close my school, do a really thorough cleaning and then maybe keep school closed for however [long]. I wouldve been able to contribute towards that fight because the union [United Federation of Teachers] is really fighting for schools to be closed across the city.

The city Department of Education didnt respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

She explained that if she received a positive test, she can share her story that if youre young and healthy without underlying health issues, the coronavirus is just like a really severe cold and the worst cough of your life.

"That was really a struggle for me that I couldnt contribute to this data that seems to be skewed because were only testing people with certain conditions and symptoms.

On Sunday, she told the Advance/SILive.com that her fever broke on Saturday, but she still has a cough, has low energy and little appetite.

Earlier this month, a pregnant Westerleigh woman said her physician recommended she be tested for coronavirus (COVID-19) after exhibiting flu-like symptoms, but she said she was denied the test despite traveling domestically recently and being exposed to people who had traveled internationally.

WILL NYC SCHOOLS CLOSE?

The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) union is urging New York City parents to demand Mayor Bill de Blasio close public schools.

Because of his irresponsible decision to keep the public schools open, Mayor Bill de Blasio can no longer assure the health and safety of our students and schools communities," the UFT said in an email to its public parent lists on Saturday evening.

It is urging parents call 311 to demand the mayor close schools, according to the email.

The mayor is recklessly putting the health of our students, their families and school staff in jeopardy by refusing to close public schools. We have a small window of time to contain the coronavirus before it penetrates into our communities and overwhelms our health care systems capacity to safely care for all the New Yorkers who may become gravely ill," said the email.

The UFT also created a Change.org petition encouraging the closure of New York Citys public schools, which has garnered more than 130,000 signatures as of Sunday afternoon and counting.

De Blasio continued to defend his order to keep New York City public schools open during an appearance on CNN Sunday morning. He described the decision as one that could change any day.

It is literally a day by day reality, de Blasio said.

De Blasio didnt comment on reports that some New York City teachers are considering staging a mass sick out. New York City teachers are planning a mass sickout for Wednesday, Mar. 18, where droves of employees will call out sick to show their disapproval of the mayors decision, multiple teachers told the Advance/SILive.com.

He reiterated school closure concerns, such as ensuring first responders with kids can get to work, providing meals to students, and safety issues related to young students with nowhere to go for the day.

If our schools system does shut down at any point  my blunt fear is if schools shut down, they would be done for the year," de Blasio said. "At least for the school year, could be for the calendar year.

CONFIRMED CASES IN S.I. PUBLIC SCHOOLS

On Friday, New Dorp High School closed its campus after a student in the Hungerford School Program, which operates out of the building, 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.

On Saturday it was announced that a student at Prall Intermediate School (I.S. 27) tested positive.

The Department of Education sent a letter to parents at the school confirming that a member of the I.S. 27 community has a positive test result for COVID-19.

We are handling this situation with the utmost seriousness. At this time, it is important to listen to facts and not respond to fear, the letter, which was shared with the Advance/SILive.com, states.

According to the letter, the school will be cleaned and disinfected over the weekend.

We anticipate that we will have school open on Monday, March 16, pending confirmation from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the letter continued.

Per New York State, if a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19, that 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.

During the initial 24-hour closure, the school will immediately take steps to disinfect the buildings where the student or staff had contact prior to testing positive for COVID-19, and the state will perform an assessment to make a determination going forward in that particular school district.

DOE PREPARING FOR OFF-SITE SCHOOLWORK

Despite the mayor 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.

Citing concerns about student and staff safety and the need for preparation, the DOE has developed grade-level-specific instructional resources in English for students ranging from Pre-K to 12th grade. The supplementary learning resources are now available on the DOE website.

The health and safety of our students and staff comes first, and it is our responsibility to be prepared for everything and for learning to continue. We have developed grade-level instructional resources for grades Pre-K through 12 so that our students can engage in educational material in the event that they need to be home from school," said DOE spokeswoman Danielle Filson.

Due to the inconsistent availability of access to internet-enabled devices among the citys student population, the work will not be graded, but rather used to prevent the loss of learning during a potential closure, according to the DOE.

NON-ESSENTIAL SCHOOL ACTIVITIES CANCELLED

The city has also announced that all non-essential, non-instructional school activities will be canceled or moved online, if possible.

There are non-essential, non-instructional activities that we will alter. Theyll either be moved online if they can be, or they will be canceled, it depends on each activity, de Blasio said Thursday.

That includes PSAL activities, games and practices, assemblies, parent-teacher conferences, PTA meetings, and school plays and recitals, the mayor continued.

CATHOLIC 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.

In addition, various Catholic high schools have announced they will be shifting to virtual learning beginning Monday.

Principals and teachers have been preparing educational materials for ongoing home-based learning to ensure students continue to be academically challenged.

CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE

Staten Island Catholic schools to schedule early dismissal for coronavirus prep

Coronavirus: Staten Island family cancels vacation, could lose thousands

Coronavirus closures: Staten Islands latest cancellations, postponements (March 12, 2020)

CUNY, SUNY classes will move online

Second confirmed coronavirus case on Staten Island

Man with coronavirus on Staten Island is an EMS worker, source says

Coughs, sneezes, surfaces. Heres how coronavirus is and isnt spread.

Broadway ticket prices discounted amid coronavirus outbreak

Can I get my money back? Travel insurance, airline changes in wake of coronavirus.

Cuomo: Insurers cant charge New Yorkers for coronavirus testing

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.
Ive been following the push to increase the minimum wage, and a recent post via www.Newsweek.com caught my eye.

The article said that a study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, showed raising the threshold of the minimum wage by just $1 could cut the number of suicides among those 18 to 64 years old by between 3.4 percent and 5.9 percent, on average.

Although the effects appeared to be greatest during periods of high unemployment, the researchers looked at data on minimum wages, unemployment and suicide counts for all 50 states and Washington, D.C., between 1990 and 2015.

With the rise of suicides among teens drawing national attention, to me, anything that is within reach deserves plenty of attention by both the federal government and the individual states that have kept the minimum wage at $7.25 since July 2009.

More than 48,300 Americans died by suicide in 2018, up from 47,000 in 2017. The researchers of this study focused on those with a high school education or less, a group more likely than others to be affected by changes in the minimum wage.
With the number of positive coronavirus cases in India rising, face masks and hand sanitisers have perhaps become some of the most coveted properties that peole can currently own. And with union and state governments are scrambling to provide the utmost care and prcaustion to prevent the spread of the COVID-19, one state seems to have got the problem of lack of masks under control.

Even as the number of confirmed COVID-cases rose to over 90 in India, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan took to Twitter to Saturday night to share a novel solution his government has come up with to maintain a steady supply of masks. The government has got convicted prisoners in state prisons to manufacture masks.

Vijayan shared images of bundles of blue face masks with the caption, "Solving the mask shortage".

"In light of the shortage, directions were given to engage the prisons in the State in manufacturing masks," he wrote, adding, "It has commenced on a war footing basis. Today, the Prison officials of Thiruvananthapuram Jail have handed over the first batch.

#COVID19 | Solving The Mask Problem In light of the shortage, directions were given to engage the prisons in the State in manufacturing masks. It has commenced on a war footing basis. Today, the Prison officials of Thiruvananthapuram Jail have handed over the first batch. pic.twitter.com/QKgHWqYNOg Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) March 14, 2020

Kerala has employed tailoring units in state jails to produce the masks. It has even sought to increase its supply of hand sanitisers through the Kerala State Drugs and Pharmaceuticals (KSDP), which is set to produce 10 lakh bottles of hand sanitisers withing ten days, Economic times reported.

The decision brought a lot of cheer on social media with many praising the Kerala government's preparedness in dealing with the crisis.

Kudos to you and your entire team for wonderful work against Coronavirus outbreak Rishi (@SunoRishi) March 14, 2020

It is pretty impressive. The state government of Kerala decided to handle manufacturing masks and hand sanitizer, to cope with the huge demand, instead of just relying on existing manufacturers. Vaishali Dinakaran (@VaishDinakaran) March 14, 2020

Damn i feel so confident in my government. Feel proud to be living here. Proud to have you as our leader. Kiran K S (@KiranKSGatsby) March 14, 2020

Amazing  Gutta Jwala (@Guttajwala) March 14, 2020

This is a really good idea. Not just to get more masks, but also to give the prisoners the feeling that they can help fight this thing. This will combat despair and riots Thalia (@ThaliaCrafts) March 14, 2020

Not just face masks, Vijayan has been regularly tweeting updates regarding the spread of the pandemic in Kerala as well as precautions and tips for optimimumk benefits.

#COVID19 | Home Care Will intensify awareness efforts.  Government officials will visit the homes of those under observation. Health officials & volunteers to be part of this effort.  Provisions for food & medicines.  Police will keep track of the activities. Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) March 14, 2020

#COVID19 | Treating Others Kerala's a favorite destination of many; tourists, guest workers, entrepreneurs and so on. It is time of social distancing. Some restrictions are in place.But this shouldn't lead to any sort of discriminations. Our guests deserve respect & care. Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) March 15, 2020

Internet connectivity is a crucial aspect of business continuity plans during a pandemic. The Principal Secretary IT held talks with service providers to ensure this. Providers have informed that they can raise network capacity by 30% to 40% to meet the surge in demand. #COVID19 Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) March 12, 2020

With over 5,000 deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic, almost the entire world is on the brink of a global shortage of masks and sanitizers, which started to disappear off store shelves. With cases soaring, customers inc several places including Delhi and Noida have complained of masks being sold at exorbitant prices. N 95 masks were allegedly being sold at Rs 500 while masks that were previously sold at Rs 10 were being sold at Rs 40, PTI reported.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at Blair House, Washington DC, during a press conference on the status of coronavirus in the Republic of Ireland. Photo: Niall Carson/PA Wire

TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has said he "may seek enforcement powers" from the Dail to deal with pubs and clubs that are not complying with his advice against indoor gatherings of more than 100 people.

Mr Varadkar repeated the advice he issued on Thursday recommending no indoor gatherings of 100 people should take place, and that those that have been out socialising this weekend should avoid the elderly or people suffering with medical conditions.

His comments come after a clip of people socialising in a pub in Dublin was circulated online yesterday, leading the hastag #CloseThePubs to trend on Twitter.

"No indoor mass gatherings of more than 100 people applies to pubs & clubs. Have asked NPHET for further expert guidance on this. May seek enforcement powers from Dail/Seanad," Mr Varadkar wrote on Twitter.

"People who have been out this weekend should avoid physical contact with seniors or people with chronic diseases. You could make them very very sick."

Hundreds of Irish pubs, cafes and restaurants have opted to voluntarily shutdown over the Covid-19 crisis as the Government is expected to impose tougher social distancing measures over the coming days.

But one hotel and restaurant industry official warned that, without concrete Government support measures, operators will now face a

cash-flow crisis within four to six weeks such has been the level of collapse in business over the past six days.

Vintners groups and the Irish Hotels Federation are demanding immediate Government measures on VAT relief, PRSI delays, cash-flow

aid and Government-led relief from the banking sector.

The voluntary shutdowns took place nationwide as some operators said they were responding to both public and staff concerns.

Other pub and restaurant owners cited the virtual collapse in business amid Covid-19 fears.

In Dublin, dozens of high-profile pubs confirmed they were closing - while health officials admitting they were appalled by the scenes of revellery from a packed Temple Bar Pub on Saturday night.

The scenes - understood to involve a group from the UK attending a stag party in Dublin - prompted social media condemnation and messages of concern from Health Minister Simon Harris and Health Service Executive boss Paul Reid.

While some outlets have indicated they will attempt to stay open, a number of Dublin outlets had signalled on Friday they were closing for at least a fortnight.

Amongst the famous pubs were Copper Faced Jacks, Peadar Browns, Ohana and Zozimus.

Restaurants to temporarily close included Michael's Seafood Restaurant. In Cork, publican Benny McCabe, operator of the Heritage Pub group, opted to close on Saturday night.

The pubs temporarily closed include The Bodega, Mutton Lane and Crane Lane amongst others. Others said they may have to shutdown as some restaurants were only one-quarter full on Saturday night.

In Kerry, a flood of pub and restaurants confirmed they were closing in response to the Covid-19 crisis - just 48 hours before the hectic traditional start to the local tourism season.

The Dingle Bay Hotel and Paudie's Bar also confirmed they were closing from 5pm on Sunday. "Sincere apologies to all our loyal customers but we need to act accordingly - your health is your wealth."

Other high profile outlets to announce temporary shutdowns in the cradle of Irish tourism include Kane's in Ballyferriter, Paddy Bawn Brosnan's Bar, Kennedy's in Dingle and Spillane's Bar in Maharees.

In response to a video of pub goers in Temple Bar, Minister for Health Simon Harris urged the public to think of those of frontline health workers and those who are vulnerable.

He said: "Not far from here, nurses & doctors are working to prepare for the impact of a global pandemic. Everyone is working 24/7. This is an insult to their efforts. There is very clear public health advice. Follow it. All options will be kept under constant review #CoronaVirusUpdates."

Not far from here, nurses & doctors are working to prepare for the impact of a global pandemic. Everyone is working 24/7. This is an insult to their efforts. There is very clear public health advice. Follow it. All options will be kept under constant review #CoronaVirusUpdates https://t.co/XQvJ7tC13D  Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) March 14, 2020

Fianna Fail Micheal Martin urged people to exercise caution and said we must work together to stop the virus from spreading.

"A message to those in our pubs and restaurants who are ignoring #COVID19 recommendations on social distancing. You may think youre fit and healthy and unstoppable, but youre jeopardising people who arent. Please think of them and follow the advice. We can beat this together," he wrote on Twitter.

Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald echoed this as she pleaded with people to stay at home.

"Today we had a second #coronavirus death. The virus is here and spreading. This is a public health emergency.

"It is important to stay at home and keep all contact to a minimum.

"So no parties, no gigs, no pubs, no clubs.

"Stay apart from people. Stay in touch with people."

Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan earlier said he is concerned about people failing to adhere to social distancing measures introduced last week. He said he was particularly miffed to see pubs remained busy and people were socialising normally.

"Our message does not mean stay at home and hide. It can be appropriate for people to take walks and other exercise. Physical exercise is also important mentally. Reducing discretionary social activities does not mean necessarily hiding in the home.

"There are a lot of anecdotal reports of busy restaurants and pubs. It's important to get the message out: listen to the message, take personal responsibility... reduce as much as possible discretionary social activity.

"This is an opportunity for cigarette smokers to think about the role cigarettes have here and seeing now as the time to consider giving up cigarette smoking. We are starting to see some evidence emerging, which does not surprise us, that those with a history of smoking at a higher risk to serious forms of this particular illness," he said at a press conference this evening.

He later wrote on Twitter that people may feel fine to socialise but could inadvertently put their loved ones at risk.

He said: "Social distancing applies to all age groups, all people in Ireland. We need our younger generation to follow social distancing measures to protect their grandparents, parents or family members who may have underlying health conditions."
The South African Rand (ZAR) exchange rates were met by some extreme swings this week in response to chaotic market conditions.

This was most clearly seen on Monday as the Rand plummeted as much as 4% amidst the rout in oil prices and stock market crash.

Fortunately for ZAR investors the Rand was able to claw back much of these losses in the mid-week as a sense of calm returned to markets.

Not that this lasted long, with the Rand being met by fresh volatility on Thursday as US President Donald Trumps introduction of a European travel ban rocked markets to their core once again, sending investors scrambling back to safe-haven assets.

Stimulus Measures Fail to Buoy the Pound (GBP)

Meanwhile, the Pound (GBP) got off to a strong start against the South African Rand (ZAR) this week, with the GBP/ZAR pairing soaring to its highest levels since 2016 as Sterling emerged relatively unscathed from Mondays sell-off.

However the pairing was quick to fall off its best levels as the Pound was unable to sustain its gains as the markets began to calm.

Sterling was then met by some volatility in the mid-week as markets reacted to the Bank of Englands (BoE) emergency rate cut and the announcement of 30 billion of coronavirus stimulus in the UKs latest budget.

Investors welcomed the efforts by the BoE and Treasury coordinate the fiscal and monetary response to the coronavirus.

Kallum Pickering, senior economist at Berenberg Bank said: That the BoE chose to announce its stimulus on the same day as the budget is telling. Policymakers are clearly concerned about the risks ahead. The joint action reflects the intention to send a big message that policymakers are prepared to take aggressive and pre-emptive steps to support the economy.

However this cheer proved short lived, with the Pound collapsing in the latter half of the week as markets appeared to be disappointed by the UK governments apparent slow introduction of coronavirus countermeasures.

GBP/ZAR Exchange Rate Forecast: More Coronavirus Volatility Ahead?

Looking ahead to next week, it seems safe to assume that the main catalyst of movement in the Pound to South African Rand (GBP/ZAR) exchange rate will undoubted by driven by coronavirus developments.

This could prove particularly damaging for the Rand, with the emerging market currency likely to face pressure as global cases of the disease continue to rise and countries are forced to take more drastic measures to contain its spread.

Also influencing the Rand will be the South African Reserve Banks (SARB) rate decision on Thursday.

The SARB is widely forecast to cut rates next week in an effort to limiting the economic impact of the coronavirus, with ZAR investors eager to see if the bank will announce any other measures to help support South Africas struggling economy.

Meanwhile, the Pound is unlikely to be immune to coronavirus developments, with Sterling sentiment likely to take a hit if the government steps up its measures to combat the disease by shutting schools and restricting public events.

Other events likely to impact GBP exchange rates will be the publication of the UKs latest jobs report.

Will a potential fall in the unemployment rate in January offer some support to the Pound on Tuesday?
South Carolina officials announced six more cases of coronavirus Saturday, including in two counties with no previously known instances, bringing the states presumptive total to 19 cases in six counties.

As concern over the rapidly escalating pandemic reverberated across the country and the rest of the globe, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster instructed state institutions to allow high-risk workers to telecommute when possible, and to extend the flexibility to guardians of children affected by school closures. Non-essential travel will also be postponed.

Any employees considered essential to the states coronavirus response or continued state government operations may be directed to work as needed, the governor said.

Those considered high-risk to the virus include older adults, pregnant women, anyone with a compromised immune system or anyone with a serious chronic medical condition.

We emphasize the importance of practicing disease prevention measures and following recommendations for social distancing to protect our community, said state epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell.

Any South Carolinian showing symptoms  which include coughing, fever and shortness of breath  can visit MUSC.care for a free telehealth screening, officials said.

Three of the new South Carolina cases involve patients from Beaufort County, and one was a resident in a Lexington County nursing home. Neither county had previously recorded a positive test.

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control hasnt determined how the Lexington Medical Center extended care facility resident was exposed to COVID-19, but is working with staff to monitor other residents and caretakers.

That patient was transferred from the nursing home, which has just under 400 beds, to the main hospital Tuesday, hospital spokeswoman Jennifer Wilson said. Since then, national and state declarations of emergency have prompted nursing homes to restrict visits in an attempt to protect vulnerable residents.

Two of the Beaufort County patients are close contacts whod had exposure to the novel coronavirus out-of-state, and a third had traveled internationally, according to DHEC. All three are isolated at home.

Authorities havent yet identified a source of two new Kershaw County patients exposure, or rooted out a connection between them and nine other cases in the county.

Neighboring Lancaster County also has two cases, prompting McMaster to order schools in both counties to shutter their classrooms.

Yet some local businesses were offering day camps for affected children.

Southern Stars Academy, a Camden gym offering childcare from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., drew criticism from a few observers who questioned whether the camp was defeating the purpose of the school closings. But others said the Kershaw County facility was filling a need for working parents.

"We are not idiots trying to make a buck off a public crisis. Our children and their families needed us," a Southern Stars representative replied to a critical comment on Facebook. "They must work to keep their families flowing."

The state of emergency McMaster announced Friday also removes fees for out-of-state medical professionals to apply for expedited temporary licenses to practice in South Carolina, and it put the states price gouging law into effect.

He requested Saturday that utilities and cooperatives refrain from disconnecting South Carolinians who can't pay their bills during the state of emergency.

Publix and Harris Teeter have announced early closures and caps on in-demand items like toilet paper and disinfectants, saying theyre focused on sanitizing stores and restocking the items that are flying off shelves.

Harris Teeter will close at 9 p.m. beginning Sunday, while Publix closes at 8 p.m. until further notice and has suspended all food demonstrations.

Police were directing traffic at some grocery stores in Charleston and Goose Creek as shoppers stocked up.

The state's hospital system is preparing for a major outbreak to affect operations for five to six weeks, said Dr. Lee Biggs, chief medical officer for Trident Health. He said he expects a clearer picture of the pandemic's effect in South Carolina to emerge in the next 10 to 14 days.

Biggs said a sign of a worsening situation will be many new cases reportedly spread from person-to-person within communities, rather than through travel.

As of early Saturday evening, the virus had infected more than 156,000 people across the globe, killing more than 5,800.

In George, Gov. Brian Kemp announced a public health emergency after the state identified 66 cases. One person has died in Georgia.
Based on new information received from our Ector County ISD community, as well as new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) ECISD is making the decision to close all schools for a minimum of the next two weeks, March 16-27. School district leaders want to remind parents this situation is constantly evolving, and decisions made today may be adjusted as new information is received. To that end, District officials are advising parents to prepare as if the closure could last longer than two weeks.

While schools will be closed, the work of the district must continue. ECISD leaders are now working on plans to continue teaching and learning for all students, meal service, counseling and nursing support, graduation requirements, course selection for next years students, and business operations including payroll and hiring.

These are crucial functions, and will require innovative solutions keeping health and safety at the forefront of the work. All of our ECISD team members and our families will have a role in making sure the work is completed and our students are supported.

On Thursday, district leaders asked principals to begin to contacting their faculty and staff in an effort to gauge how many people had traveled out of the country or to areas with active Coronavirus cases. After yesterdays press conference, ECISD officials received an increase in responses from teachers, staff members, and families alerting them to the fact they had visited high-risk areas, that is areas considered by the CDC for the Level 3 Travel Health Notice. Others said they believe they had potentially been exposed to someone with the virus. This information, along with new CDC guidance that schools should consider closing as long as 8-20 weeks, led ECISD to alter its course and close schools beginning on Monday. We understand this decision will have major repercussions for businesses and families, but we believe it is in the best interest of our communitys health and safety.

As of Saturday afternoon, there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in either Ector County or Midland County but our communities are linked and ECISD leaders are in constant communication with Midland ISD. Both school districts are observing this two-week closure, a step that will allow our citizens the time to assess their own health, seek treatment if necessary, and track the presence of the illness in our cities.

We will continue to communicate plans and expectations frequently through phone calls and e-mails, media releases, social media and our website, www.ectorcountyisd.org.

ECISD Superintendent Dr. Scott Muri and MISD Superintendent Orlando Riddock will hold a joint press conference tomorrow, March 15, at the UTPB Engineering Building at 2:00 p.m.

Ector County Independent School District | Phone: (432) 456-0000 | P.O. Box 3912, Odessa, Texas 79760 | www.ectorcountyisd.org

For more information about this press release contact the ECISD Communications Department at 456-9019
Islamabad, March 15 : The IslamAabad High Court (IHC) has directed the Pakistan TelecommunicaAtion Authority (PTA) to submit rules proposed to regulate social media and warned that constitutional courts never allowed the government to ban the media.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, while hearing the case on media ethics and regulations on Saturday, said that constructive criticism was a prerequisite for nation building, reports Dawn news.

"Why should one (be) afraid of criticism?" asked the Chief Justice.

Well-known journalist Hamid Mir informed the court that the government has issued a notification to regulate social media. However, federal ministers were unaware of these regulations and they have openly admitted that it was issued without due deliberation of the federal cabinet.

Representatives of the PTA and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) informed the court that Prime Minister Imran Khan had constituted a committee to review these regulations after they received national and international criticism.

He further informed the court that these regulations had not been implemented so far since they had not been notified in the official gazette.

Chief Justice Minallah directed the PTA and Pemra representatives to submit details of these regulations and adjourned the hearing for two weeks.

Barrister Jahangir Jadoon, the lawyer who challenged the social media regulations, told the court that following the arrest of Jang Group's editor-in-chief Mir Shakilur Rehman, Pemra had allegedly asked cable operators to block Geo TV's transmission, adding that subsequently the channel had either been blacked out or its number moved to the tail end.
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Europe is moving deeper into lockdown today with 100million people retreating to their homes, borders being sealed and bars and restaurants closing across the continent.

Germany is imposing border checks today with new controls springing up on the country's frontiers with France, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Denmark.

People without a 'significant reason to travel' and anyone suspected of being a virus patient will be turned away in a bid to stem the coronavirus outbreak which has killed more than 2,000 people across Europe.

Austria is setting a very tough limit on public gatherings with no more than five people allowed to congregate unless they are working to tackle the outbreak.

The Swiss region of Geneva has also limited gatherings to just five people as it declared a 'state of necessity'.

Geneva city, home to many international institutions including the United Nations' headquarters in Europe and the World Health Organization, banned non-work gatherings of more than five people both indoors or outdoors.

Travellers faced chaos at the Polish border yesterday after Warsaw became the latest to ban foreign travellers, with hundreds of people denied entry from Germany and long queues at the border with Ukraine.

Portugal is also closing its border with Spain except for commuters and goods supplies, while Spain itself is deploying drones to broadcast warnings to stay at home.

In the Balkans, the coronavirus panic has reached Serbia, whose President declared a state of emergency to halt the spreading Covid-19 by shutting down public spaces and deploying the Army outside hospitals.

European stock markets were also plunging over virus fears today while the government in worst-affected Italy warned that the country had 'not yet reached the peak' of the crisis.

As the coronavirus fallout took a drastic turn:

Slovakia also declared a state of emergency, ordering the closure of all shops except food stores, pharmacies, banks, petrol stations, and post offices from tomorrow night;

Portugal will close its border with Spain to tourists for at least one month to curb the spread of Covid-19, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa revealed;

Coronavirus cases in Italy reached nearly 25,000, while the country recorded another 368 deaths - bringing the death toll to 1,809. Pope Francis prayed for the sick in two churches in Rome;

In Spain, long lines for food and police patrols marked the first day of a nationwide quarantine;

The Republic of Ireland ordered all pubs and bars to close for two weeks - including on St Patrick's Day on Tuesday - and urged people not even to hold house parties;

In the Philippines, soldiers and police sealed off capital city Manila from most domestic travellers;

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced plans to limit movement nationwide;

The Netherlands ordered all schools, day-care centers, restaurants and bars to close until April 6. The new restrictions cover the country's famed marijuana-selling 'coffee shops' and sex clubs;

In China, where the virus was first detected in December, those arriving on overseas flights were routed to an exhibition center for initial checks before being shuttled to their homes or other quarantine locations.

Coronavirus hysteria in Europe continued today on as Poland's shut frontiers cause huge traffic jams in Germany and Ukraine - while Serbia and Slovakia went into lockdown and Portugal closed its border with Spain

An aerial picture taken with a drone shows the border crossing between Poland and Ukraine in Korczowa, Poland

An aerial picture taken with a drone shows the border crossing between Poland and Ukraine in Korczowa, Poland

An aerial picture taken with a drone shows the border crossing between Poland and Ukraine in Korczowa, Poland

An aerial picture taken with a drone shows the border crossing between Poland and Ukraine in Korczowa, Poland

Vehicles stand in a long line to the border crossing between Poland and Ukraine in Korczowa, Poland, amid the lockdown

An aerial picture taken with a drone shows the border crossing between Poland and Ukraine in Korczowa, Poland

A man wearing a protective face mask stands on the Poland-German border crossing point in Frankfurt/Oder, Germany

People with travel trolleys are seen on the way to the Poland-German border crossing point in Frankfurt/Oder, Germany

A Polish police officer stands on the Poland-German border crossing point in Frankfurt/Oder, Germany

A man gets a temperature check on the Poland-German border crossing point in Frankfurt/Oder, Germany

Polish policemen talk to drivers at the closed border crossing near Hradek nad Nisou, Czech Republic

A man takes a photo of an information board with cancellations, John Paul II Krakow-Balice International Airport

An Easy Jet 'rescue flight' ready for departure at the John Paul II Krakow-Balice International Airport as flights are cancelled

Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic, a populist who has ruled the country since 2012, closed the country's borders as he declared the ongoing crisis a battle to 'save our elderly'.

He said: 'From tomorrow, there is no more school, no nurseries, no universities, everything closes, no training, sports... We will close down to save our lives, to save our parents, to save our elderly.'

The decree falls short of the lockdown seen in harder-hit countries like Italy and Spain, with the Government in Belgrade asking those over the age of 65 to self-isolate. So far, 48 infections have been recorded.

In Poland, once-bustling streets in Gdansk and Lodz - lined with bars, cafes, restaurants, and shops - were eerily quiet. Just handfuls of strollers risked walking along the beaches or pier in Sopot, Poland.

Travellers from the Czech Republic were turned away by Polish police in Hradek nad Nisou, while flights out of Warsaw Chopin Airport and John Paul II Krakow-Balice International Airport were cancelled.

Hundreds of vehicles lining the roads from Ukraine into Korczowa, southeastern Poland, were also denied entry, causing massive queues.

Passengers roamed empty departure lounges, though a small number of EasyJet and KLM 'rescue flights' were allowed to land to pick up foreigners as the country seeks to tackle the deadly contagion.

Germany announced that both its southern and northern land borders would close from today, while France said it would limit transport within the country - including trains - for the first time.

For traffic going the other way, France said it would implement tougher checks on people and goods at its frontier with Germany, but insisted this did not represent a border closure.

A view of the departures hall at the Chopin Airport in Warsaw, showing multiple cancellations amid coronavirus hysteria

Passengers waiting in the arrivals hall at the Chopin Airport in Warsaw, as flights are cancelled amid coronavirus hysteria

Passengers waiting in the arrivals hall at the Chopin Airport in Warsaw, as flights are cancelled amid coronavirushysteria

Passengers waiting in the arrivals hall at the Chopin Airport in Warsaw, as flights are cancelled amid coronavirus hysteria

An Easy Jet 'rescue flight' ready for departure at the John Paul II Krakow-Balice International Airport as flights are cancelled

Empty Freedom Square in Lodz, Poland, as the Government closed its borders and residents were spooked into self-isolation

Piotrkowska street in Lodz, Poland, as the Government closed its borders and residents were spooked into self-isolation

Piotrkowska street in Lodz, Poland, as the Government closed its borders and residents were spooked into self-isolation

Piotrkowska street in Lodz, Poland, as the Government closed its borders and residents were spooked into self-isolation

Piotrkowska street in Lodz, Poland, as the Government closed its borders and residents were spooked into self-isolation

Empty streets and closed shops in Gdansk Old Town, Poland, as the country confirms 119 cases and three Covid-19 deaths

Empty streets and closed shops in Gdansk Old Town, Poland, as the country confirms 119 cases and three Covid-19 deaths

Empty streets and closed shops in Gdansk Old Town, Poland, as the country confirms 119 cases and three Covid-19 deaths

A musician wearing a face mask in the middle of Old Town, Gdansk, Poland - clearly undeterred by pressure to self-isolate

Empty streets in Sopot, Poland, as coronavirus hysteria sweeps Europe, deemed the crisis 'epicentre' by the WHO

Empty streets in Sopot, Poland, as coronavirus hysteria sweeps Europe, deemed the crisis 'epicentre' by the WHO

Few strollers brave the outdoors on the pier in Sopot, Poland, as coronavirus hysteria sweeps crisis 'epicentre' Europe

Walkers on the beach in Sopot, Poland - clearly undeterred by the spread of the killer bug and the pressure to self-isolate

Walkers on the beach in Sopot, Poland - clearly undeterred by the spread of the killer bug and the pressure to self-isolate

Few strollers brave the outdoors on the pier in Sopot, Poland, as coronavirus hysteria sweeps crisis 'epicentre' Europe

Italy, the worst-hit European country, reported its biggest day-to-day increase in infections - 3,590 more cases in a 24-hour period - for a total of almost 24,747.

'It's not a wave. It's a tsunami,' said Dr. Roberto Rona, who's in charge of intensive care at the Monza hospital.

Italy's transport ministry banned passengers from taking ferries to the island of Sardinia and halted overnight train trips, which many in the north had used to reach homes and families in the south.

Even as authorities pleaded for people to stay home, Pope Francis visited St. Mary Major Basilica, near Rome's central train station, to pray for the sick, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said.

The pontiff then walked to another church with a crucifix that in 1522 was carried in a procession during a plague afflicting Rome. In his prayer, Francis 'invoked the end of the pandemia that has stricken Italy and the world, implored healing for the many sick, recalled the many victims of these days'.

The Vatican said it would close all Holy Week ceremonies to the public with the start of Palm Sunday on April 5.

Spain joined Italy on lockdown after the government declared a two-week state of emergency.

'From now, we enter into a new phase,' said Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, whose wife has tested positive. 'We won't hesitate in doing what we need must to beat the virus. We are putting health first.'

Vietnamese tourists wearing face masks and wedding clothes pose in front of the Eiffel Tower, closed during the lockdown

Metropolitan police officers halt a tourist strolling through Las Ramblas in Barcelona, Spain, during the lockdown

The Pariser Platz in front of the Brandenburg Gate is almost empty in Berlin, Germany, as bars and pubs are closed

People take pictures on the Hungary-Slovakia border bridge in Esztergom Hungary, after Slovakia went into lockdown

Empty parking spaces are seen in a shopping centre parkade, after Slovakia went into lockdown amid coronavirus panic

A view of closed stores at a shopping centre, after the Slovakian Government announced a lockdown amid coronavirus panic

A view of closed stores at a shopping centre, after the Slovakian Government announced a lockdown amid coronavirus panic

A police officer in a protective suit checks the temperature of a person inside a car at Slovak-Czech border in Drietoma

Police officers in protective suits check the temperature of people inside cars at Slovak-Czech border in Drietoma

Cars and trucks queue up towards the Bratislava-Jarovce border crossing between Austria and Slovakia

Cars and trucks queue up towards the Bratislava-Jarovce border crossing between Austria and Slovakia

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic addresses the public as he declares a state of emergency triggered by Covid-19

A Serbian medical worker checks the body temperature of a traveller at the Batrovci crossing between Serbia and Croatia

Pope Francis prays at the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica for the end of the coronavirus pandemic, in Rome

Residents on balconies sing during a flashmob to raise morale as the lockdown continues due to the coronavirus outbreak

Pope Francis walks in a deserted Rome to pray at two shrines for the end of the coronavirus pandemic

A view of the Duomo gothic cathedral in Milan, as hard-hit Italy endures a lockdown triggered by the coronavirus

A view of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele shopping arcade in Milan, as Italy endures a lockdown triggered by the coronavirus

An empty square is seen in Venice, as an unprecedented lockdown was imposed on Italy to tackle the coronavirus crisis

A man wearing a protective mask on an empty Rialto Bridge, as Venice appears deserted due to the coronavirus outbreak

Hundreds of thousands of British tourists stranded in Spain after country entered two-week lockdown - as country's death toll doubled overnight to 288 Hundreds of thousands of British tourists and expats are stranded in Spain today after the country entered an unprecedented two-week lockdown. Panicked holidaymakers were last night scrambling to escape after the Spanish Government declared a state of emergency over coronavirus. Denis Couzens (left) and his wife Margaret are on lockdown in a caravan and motorhome site near Puerto Duquesa The drastic action came as the country's death toll from the outbreak more than doubled overnight to 288 yesterday and the number of infections soared by a third to 7,753. Last night, city streets and beaches fell eerily silent as Spain's 47million citizens hunkered down in their homes and tourists were forced to stay in their hotels. On the Costa del Sol, home to 50,000 British expats, police in face masks and latex gloves patrolled beaches with megaphones, warning of prison time and on-the-spot fines of up to 25,000 for anyone caught breaching the lockdown. Retired British fireman Denis Couzens and his wife Margaret are staying on a caravan site near the Costa del Sol resort of Estepona. They arrived on January 8 after driving through France from their home in Kent, and had been due to stay until April 1 - but now face an anxious two-weeks under lockdown. Mr Couzens, 70, said: 'I take medication for a lung disease called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease which could be linked to my years as a firefighter so I'm in the risk category... we're probably not going to take the risk of leaving to try to get home if things are still so volatile. There's a good 150 holidaymakers on the site at the moment and around 70 per cent of them are British. 'Most are in their sixties and seventies.' In Madrid, shoppers kept a distance from each other as they formed an orderly queue outside a supermarket. A security guard in a face mask let them in two by two. Children's playgrounds in the Spanish capital were cordoned off with police tape, and in Benidorm, baton-wielding police officers ordered British revellers back to their hotels. The emergency measures mean all shops, restaurants, bars and cafes have been closed, but supermarkets and pharmacies are open for essential visits only. Spain is the UK's most popular holiday destination and welcomes 20million Britons a year. It is also home to 300,000 British expats, many of them elderly. Panic spread through resorts over the weekend as airlines including EasyJet, TUI, Jet2 and Ryanair cancelled flights to and from the mainland, the Balearics and the Canary Islands. Airlines such as Jet2 are flying empty planes to Spain over the next few days to repatriate holidaymakers on a handful of 'rescue flights'. EasyJet has warned seats for its rescue flights will be sold on a 'first-come-first-served' basis. Julia Spencer, 52, from Saddleworth, near Manchester, flew Jet2 on Friday for an all-inclusive four-day holiday on Tenerife's five-star Sandos San Blas Nature Resort. Mrs Spencer, who is holidaying with a friend, said: 'There are hundreds of British tourists here and most of us are really panicked. We have no idea what's going on. 'The hotel reception say that once the lockdown comes into force, we won't be able to leave the hotel for any reason other than to visit a pharmacy. But we've had nothing official from anyone. There are lots of scary rumours going round. One of the bar staff said we could get a 500 euro fine if we leave the hotel. We are in a fortunate position because our holiday is all-inclusive and we've been told our flight home on Tuesday is going ahead as planned.' In the same hotel is Mike Vidler, 69, of West Sussex. He said: 'I am pretty sure that if I got coronavirus, I would find it very difficult. I have had MS for 41 years and I have type 2 diabetes. There are a lot of people worried here but we're just carrying on with our holidays as normal and trying not to panic too much.' Advertisement

In Barcelona, people who ventured out formed long lines to buy bread. Police patrolled parks and told people who were not walking their dogs to go home. The Las Ramblas promenade, a tourist magnet, was eerily empty.

The state of emergency 'is necessary to unify our efforts so we can all go in the same direction,' Mayor Ada Colau said, as Spain's Health Ministry recorded 288 deaths - up from 136 on Saturday.

According to Spanish officials, the number of infections rose from 5,700 to 7,753 overnight.

Europe is gripped by a collective fit of panic as Covid-19 - the illness caused by the Wuhan coronavirus - rips across the mainland, from Italy and Germany to France and overseas to Ireland and the UK.

The Republic of Ireland has ordered all pubs and bars to close for two weeks - including on St Patrick's Day on Tuesday.

Governments have responded to the spread of the deadly bug in draconian fashion, emulating the Chinese response to the virus, after Europe was called the 'epicentre' of the crisis by the WHO.

In the UK, Boris Johnson is understood to have reviewed the Government's handling of the escalating crisis as shoppers rampaged through supermarkets across the country to stockpile amid fears of Covid-19.

His administration was accused of 'complacency' and 'playing roulette' with people's lives after a gloomy No 10 press briefing on Thursday where the Prime Minister warned of further deaths.

But Mr Johnson has now assembled a designated task force to deal with the coronavirus, involving Chief Medical Officer Prof Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK's Chief Scientific Adviser.

The Government has prepared emergency legislation which is expected to sail through Parliament next week that will greatly increase the powers of the Executive as it comes under huge public pressure to act.

Some people walk next to imperial Schoenbrunn palace in Vienna, Austria, as the country also goes into lockdown

Schoenbrunn Palace closed without tourists, as residents and travellers are spooked into self-isolation amid Covid-19 fears

Empty streets in Vienna as the coronavirus affects everyday life in Austria at District Meidling

general view of Innsbruck one hour before the curfew was enforced as part of restrictions imposed to tackle Covid-19

A man walks in front of the Golden Roof in the old town of Innbruck, as Austria goes into lockdown amid general hysteria

Two men play music at an open window in Innsbruck one hour before the curfew was enforced amid Covid-19 panic

The Republic of Ireland ordered all pubs and bars to close for two weeks and urged people not even to hold house parties

A man dressed up as Saint Patrick outside The Temple Bar pub in Dublin, as bars close to curb the spread of coronavirus

Waterlooplein plazza, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands is completely deserted as the country also goes into lockdown

Red Light District, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands is completely deserted as the country also goes into lockdown

Kalverstraat street in Amsterdam, the Netherlands is completely deserted as the country also goes into lockdown

Turkish citizens repatriated from the pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia wait prior to being placed quarantine to limit the spread

A worker of Istanbul's Metropolitan Municipality disinfects the Panagia Altimermer Orthodox Greek Church in Istanbul
An exterior view of public school P.S. 175 Henry H Garnet in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan as the coronavirus continues to spread across the United States in New York City on March 14, 2020. (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

First US Sailor Aboard a Warship Tests Positive: Coronavirus Updates From March 15

The novel coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China, and the disease it causes, COVID-19, has spread to more than 100 countries and territories around the world, killing thousands.

Below are March 15 updates. Click here for March 16 updates.

First US Sailor Aboard a Warship Tests Positive

A U.S. sailor aboard a warship ship tested positive for the coronavirus for the first time, the U.S. Navy said on Sunday, as it disclosed the case of a sailor assigned to an amphibious assault ship.

The Navy said the sailor was quarantined at home and that personnel that the sailor immediately identified having close contact with have been notified and are in self-isolation at their residences.

None of them is aboard the ship currently. U.S. Navy ships conduct routine, daily cleanliness procedures geared toward health, wellness and the prevention of communicable disease spread, the Navy said in a statement, adding the sailor had been assigned to the USS Boxer.

Oklahoma Declares State of Emergency

In order to provide our hard working public health officials, health care providers, state agencies & small businesses the ability to unlock additional resources as we respond to COVID-19, we have issued an emergency declaration for the State of Oklahoma: https://t.co/iXfGbZeni8 pic.twitter.com/UCYSbar7PN  Governor Kevin Stitt (@GovStitt) March 16, 2020

Gov. Kevin Stitt has declared a state of emergency for the next 30 days all 77 counties of Oklahoma state.

According to the executive order, the declaration is to to prepare for and respond to COVID-19 and to protect the health and safety of the public.

It said that an eight case of COVID-19 had been detected in the state. Earlier in the day, the Oklahoma State Department of Health had confirmed that the states total number of cases had risen from four to seven. The new cases were found in Cleveland County, Tulsa County and Payne County.

NYC to Close Schools

New York City will close public schools starting this week, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, in the citys most disruptive measure yet to curb the spread of the new coronavirus. Schools in nearby Westchester County and Long Island will also be shuttered.

De Blasio told reporters on Sunday that school in the city will be closed until April 20 and possibly for the remainder of the academic year. We will make a first attempt to restart our schools on Monday, April 20th, he said, adding that meal services will be implemented within five days.

I believe the facts, unfortunately, have given us no other choice, de Blasio stated. But there are three things that we are trying to protect. Most importantly our public health system, our hospital system, our clinics, everywhere that people go for health care, and two things that feed that system are public transit system, and, of course, our schools.

He added that officials will have to come up with alternatives as parents often rely on schools as a child-care function and for food.

Read more here.

Fed Slashes Rates to Near Zero

The Federal Reserve slashed rates back to near zero, restarted bond buying and launched other measures from its crisis-era toolkit, along with other central banks, to put the floor under a rapidly disintegrating global economy assailed by efforts to contain the escalating coronavirus pandemic.

The effects of the coronavirus will weigh on economic activity in the near term and pose risks to the economic outlook. In light of these developments, the Committee decided to lower the target range, the Fed said.

The Fed cut rates to a target range of 0 percent to 0.25 percent and said it would expand its balance sheet by at least $700 billion in coming weeks.

The Committee expects to maintain this target range until it is confident that the economy has weathered recent events and is on track to achieve its maximum employment and price stability goals, the Fed said.

In other moves, the Fed encouraged banks to use the trillions of dollars in equity and liquid assets built up as capital buffers since the financial crisis to lend to business and households whose balance sheets and lives have been upended by the virus.

The Fed and five other major foreign central banks also cut pricing on their swap lines to make it easier to provide dollars to their financial institutions facing stress in credit markets. The Fed, the Bank of Canada, European Central Bank, Bank of England, Bank of Japan and Swiss National Bank set up swap lines in the financial crisis.

Over 3,000 Cases, 62 Deaths Reported in US

As of Sunday, there were at least 3,155 coronavirus cases in 49 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Washington. At least 62 people have died. West Virginia remained the only state without any confirmed cases.

The United States can expect more cases and deaths, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at a White House briefing Saturday. We have not yet reached our peak.

For a while, life is not going to be the way it used to be in the United States, Fauci said on CNNs State of the Union Sunday morning. We have to just accept that if we want to do whats best for the American public.

New York City Could Go on Lockdown, Says Mayor

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said his office is considering locking down the city to contain the coronavirus outbreak after more than 200 cases have been confirmed.

Every option is on the table in a crisis, de Blasio told CNN on Sunday. Weve never seen anything like this, he said.

The COVID-19 coronavirus tally may rise to more than 1,000 cases in the next several days, he remarked.

Its changing every hour so were going to constantly make new decisions, de Blasio told the network.

The mayor didnt elaborate on what a lockdown might entail but elaborated last week when the city declared an emergency.

Read more here.

Teaneck, New Jersey, Told to Self-Quarantine

The mayor of Teaneck, New Jersey, asked all residents to self-quarantine on Saturday after 18 residents tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Teaneck, located in Bergen County, is located about 5 miles west-northwest of Manhattan. It has a population of about 40,000.

Residents in the township have been asked to stay at home and only go outside to get food or medicine, according to authorities.

Read more here.

Italy Reports 3,590 More Cases, 368 Deaths

The numbercases of COVID-19 in Italy has surged higher again.

Some 3,590 more cases of the coronavirus were reported in a 24-hour period, nearly 100 more than the increase as the day before. The additional infections reported Sunday represent the countrys biggest day-to-day increase.

Italys Civil Protection chief Angelo Borrelli announced the latest number of cases, bringing the total number of people with the new coronavirus to 24,747. The number of deaths increased by 368 to 1,809.

Italys national health institute chief, Silvio Brusaferro, said it is not known if Italy is reaching its peak and might start seeing the number of new cases decline.

Schiffs Former Staffer Tests Positive

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) announced on Sunday that a former staffer has contracted the new coronavirus.

We have received notice that a former staff member has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the Wuhan coronavirus, said Schiff in a statement. He did not identify the person in question.

Although doctors believe the staffer contracted the virus after leaving my office, Im taking additional distancing precautions, including postponing meetings and teleworking, he wrote in a Twitter statement.

Schiff said that the former staffer is feeling better, adding that none of his staff have reported any flu-like symptoms.

Read more here.

Netanyahu Takes Precautionary Test

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was tested for coronavirus as a precautionary measure, his office said on Sunday.

Netanyahu was asymptomatic before undergoing the test, which was also administered to officials working close to him, his office said in a statement.

Coronavirus testing takes time and no results were given in the statement.

Nike Shuts All US Stores

Nike announced on Sunday that due to coronavirus fears, the company is closing all of its stores in the United States and in some other parts of the world.

The well-being of our teammates and consumers is our top priority so we have decided to close our stores in multiple countries around the world including in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand to limit the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), the company said in a statement.

Read more here.

Iran Reports 113 New Deaths

The official leading Irans response to the new coronavirus acknowledged Sunday the pandemic could overwhelm health facilities in his country, which is battling the worst outbreak in the Mideast. Iran also reported 113 new deaths from the virus, bringing its official death toll to 724.

Iran is battling one of the worst outbreaks outside China. The 113 new deaths reported on Sunday by the Health Ministry were the first time a daily reported death toll exceeded 100. The fatalities brought the countrys death toll to 724 so far, amid nearly 14,000 confirmed cases. The real number of infections could be even higher, as questions have been raised about the governments transparency.

If the trend continues, there will not be enough capacity, Ali Reza Zali, who is leading the campaign against the outbreak, was quoted as saying earlier by the state-run IRNA news agency.

Iran is believed to have around 110,000 hospital beds, including 30,000 in its capital, Tehran. Authorities have pledged to set up mobile clinics as needed.

Italy Reports 175 Deaths in 24 Hours

Italian health officials confirmed that 175 people died from the new coronavirus in 24 hours, raising the death toll to more than 1,400.

The Italian Civil Protection Department said on Saturday the total number of cases currently confirmed in the country has risen to 21,157, according to Reuters. Italy is the worst-affected country in Europe, and globally second only to China, where the virus emerged last year before it spread to more than 100 countries and became a global pandemic after the Chinese regime failed to prevent its spread.

Italian authorities added that nearly 2,000 patients of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, have recovered. More than 1,500 people are in intensive care.

Read more here.

Taiwan Announces Traveler Quarantine, Detects 6 New Cases

Taiwan reported six new cases of the coronavirus on Sunday, all imported and marking the biggest daily rise in infections, in people who had returned to the island from mostly European countries, bringing its total tally to 59.

The government is working on tracking down all the people who had contact with the new cases, it said in a statement.

The infected individuals had traveled from Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Japan, and Thailand. Two of the patients had transited in Dubai, the government added.

While Taiwan has won plaudits from international experts for its early prevention measures to stop the spread of the virus, it has now stepped up measures to stop cases from overseas entering the territory.

On Saturday the island said it would begin requiring a 14-day quarantine for all people arriving from Europes Schengen border-free travel zone, as well as Britain and Ireland.

Taiwan has only reported one death from the virus, while 20 have recovered and have been released from hospital. The others are all in stable condition.

Taiwans health minister has advised people not to travel at all and to stay in Taiwan.

New Jersey City of Hoboken Announces Night Curfew, Restricts Bars, Restaurants

The city of Hoboken, across the Hudson River from New York City, on Saturday announced a night curfew starting March 16 and ordered bars and restaurants to conduct only delivery services amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

In a statement, Mayor Ravi Bhalla said all residents of Hoboken, New Jersey, will be required to remain in their homes between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., except for emergencies, or if you are required to work by your employer.

The mayor said that bars and restaurants in the city will not be allowed to serve food from Sunday, 11 a.m. local time. However, they will be allowed to conduct delivery services.

I received a call from our police chief Kenneth Ferrante notifying me of a bar fight in downtown Hoboken, with at least one person falling in and out of consciousness, and our police having to wait for over 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive, because our EMS is inundated with service calls, Bhalla said.

This is unfortunately a contributing factor why we cannot continue bar operations which can trigger calls for service that are delayed in part because of this public health crisis.

Hoboken reported its first case of coronavirus on Friday.

Uzbekistan Confirms 1st Case

An Uzbek citizen has tested positive for coronavirus after returning from France, Uzbekistans Healthcare Ministry said on Sunday, marking the first infection from the virus in the Central Asian country of 34 million.

It said it was taking the necessary measures to prevent the spread of the virus.

Uzbekistans state airline said on Sunday it was suspending or curbing flights to a number of cities in Western Europe, Asia, and the Middle East until the end of April.

Walmart Shortens Its Hours to Disinfect and Restock

Walmart, the largest retailer in America, said Saturday that it will will modify its store hours in response to the pandemic.

Beginning Sunday, all of Walmarts more than 4,700 U.S. stores will be open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. until further notice. The company said the shortened hours will help employees restock shelves overnight and clean stores. Thousands of Walmart stores are already operating under shortened hours.

Starting March 15, Walmart stores and Neighborhood Markets will be open 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. until further notice. This will help ensure associates can clean and stock products. Stores operating under more reduced hours will keep current hours of operation. https://t.co/xw5GuNFQ0F  Walmart (@Walmart) March 15, 2020

Walmart employees will keep their regular daytime or evening shifts, the company said.

Argentina Bans Entry to Travelers From Outbreak Countries

The government of Argentina has banned entry for all non-residents who have traveled to countries dealing local outbreaks of COVID-19 within the past 14 days.

The announcement late Saturday night said the ban will be in place for at least 30 days.

While it did not list the affected countries, Argentina has already stopped issuing visas for travelers from China, Iran, Japan, South Korea, many European countries.

Read more here.

Italian Tenor Maurizio Marchini Sings for His Neighbors During Lockdown

During Italys lockdown, tenor Maurizio Marchini sang for his neighbors from his balcony in Florence.

Italian tenor Maurizio Marchini singing for his neighbors in Florence  pic.twitter.com/jE7ZVxDT38  Tim Cates (@timcates) March 14, 2020

Oregon Reports First Death From New Coronavirus

A man in his 70s has become the first person in Oregon to die from the new coronavirus.

The Oregon Health Authority said the Multnomah County man was hospitalized at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center and died Saturday.

The man, who had underlying heath conditions, tested positive for COVID-19 on March 10, the authority said. He had no known contact to a confirmed case and had not traveled to another country where the virus is circulating.

Australia Announces Mandatory Self-Isolation for All International Arrivals

Australias Prime Minister has announced that all travelers arriving in Australia from overseas, including those arriving through airports and cruise terminals, will be required to undergo a mandatory self-isolation period of 14 days.

I just want to be clear about the travel restrictions I have just announced. All people coming to Australia will be required, will be required, I stress, to self isolate for 14 days. This is very important, PM Scott Morrison said on Sunday.

Its legal enforcement.

New Zealand announced similar measures yesterday.

Morrison has said that the extra measures were to ease the burden on the nations healthcare system.

The truth is that while many people will contract this virus, that is clear, just as people get the flu each year it is a more severe condition than the flu but for the vast majority, as I said last week, majority, around eight or 10 as is our advice, it will be a mild illness and it will pass.

However, as older Australians and those that are more vulnerable and those that are more vulnerable and those in remote communities and with pre-existing health conditions, it is a far more serious virus and that is our concern.

Our aim in all of this is to protect the most vulnerable. The most at risk.

We know that the virus cannot be absolutely stopped, no one can do that but we can slow the spread. And we anticipate that will be our task over the next six months.

No one can know for certain how long this will run. It could be shorter than that, it could be longer than that.

The measures that we are putting in place as a government is making those types of assumptions, but that is being updated on a daily basis, he said.

The government said that schools are to remain open for the time being.

Spaniards Fill Empty Streets With Applause for Their Medical Staff

Spains Ministry of Foreign Affairs shared the moment when the whole of Spain came together to thank the countrys heathcare workers in their efforts to help coronavirus patients, and contain further spread of the virus.

Today we pay tribute to the thousands of professionals who are fighting the #COVID19 front line, the ministry said in a tweet.

 #Espana tiene uno de los mejores sistemas sanitarios y es uno de los paises mas solidarios del mundo.  Hoy rendimos homenaje a los miles de profesionales que estan combatiendo el #COVID19 en primera linea.#EsteVirusLoParamosUnidos pic.twitter.com/j2Y8NoUlLO  Exteriores (@MAECgob) March 14, 2020

Spain announced a lockdown for its 46 million citizens due to the virus on Saturday.

Wife of Spanish PM Tests Positive

Pedro Sanchez, Prime Minister of Spain, and wife Maria Begona Gomez Fernandez arrive at number 10 Downing Street in London, England for a reception on Dec. 3, 2019. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)

The wife of Spanish Prime minister Pedro Sanchez, Begona Gomez, has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a government statement.

The tests carried out in the last hours in Moncloa [the prime ministers residence] on the people closest to the prime minister have tested positive in the case of his wife, Dona Begona Gomez, the statement read. Both Mrs. Gomez and the president are well, both remain in La Moncloa and follow the preventive measures established by the health authorities at all times.

No Cast or Crew Infected By Tom Hanks and Wife

Tom Hanks, left, and Rita Wilson arrive at the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Feb. 9, 2020. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Hospitalized Hollywood star Tom Hanks has not passed on the coronavirus to any cast or crew on the production set of an untitled Baz Luhrmann-biopic on Elvis Presley being filmed at Village Roadshow Studios on Australias Gold Coast.

Hanks and his wife, singer Rita Wilson, are quarantined in a Gold Coast hospital after testing positive to COVID-19 on Thursday.

A representative for the production said no cast or crew had come down with the virus although production had ceased for two weeks.

Read more here.

Australia Says Lockdown an Option in Face of COVID-19

Australias Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy at a press conference in the Blue Room at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on March 3, 2020. (Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images)

Australias Federal, state, and territory leaders will discuss developments in the spread of COVID-19 and the needed response during a phone link-up on Sunday.

The Morrison government has warned all options are on the table to help tackle the spread of the coronavirus, which my include school closures in the future and even a complete lockdown of the country similar to Italy, France, and Spain.

Everything is up for consideration, Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy told national broadcaster ABC televisions Insiders Program on Sunday.

Read more here.

4 More African Nations Confirm Coronavirus, New Controls Put in Place

In this Feb. 6, 2020, photo, a man tries on a face mask at a pharmacy in Kitwe, Zambia. (Emmanuel Mwiche/AP Photo)

Mauritania, Rwanda, Seychelles, and Central African Republic confirmed their first coronavirus cases on Saturday, bringing to 23 the number of African countries that have reported positive tests for the virus.

Moving swiftly to contain its spread, Rwanda, Senegal, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, and Kenya announced tougher control measures, including bans on public gatherings, halting flights, and closing schools and universities.

Three days after the World Health Organization (WHO) described the outbreak as a pandemic, there is concern among health specialists about the ability of some African nations to meet the logistical and financial challenges posed by the fast-spreading virus.

Borders are porous and many nations have extremely poor health infrastructure. Some countries, like Somalia, are fighting insurgencies while others, such as South Sudan, have high levels of malnutrition.

But governments are implementing preventative steps to try to keep the virus at bay.

To prevent the outbreak entering in Madagascar, all flights connecting Madagascar to Europe are suspended for 30 days, Madagascar President Hery Rajaonarimampianina said in a statement.

Madagascar, one of the worlds poorest nations where malnutrition is rife and outbreaks of deadly diseases are common, will also suspend air links to the nearby islands of La Reunion and Mayotte, he said.

The East African nation of Rwanda, which registered its first coronavirus case on Saturday, announced hours later that schools and universities would be closed for two weeks starting from Monday.

The Health Ministry also called for all places of worship to close their doors and for large gatherings such as weddings and sport events to be postponed.

In West Africa, Senegal announced schools and universities would stop classes and canceled all religious festivals. So far, Senegal has reported 21 cases.

Most cases reported on the continent so far are foreigners or locals who traveled abroad. Rapid testing and quarantines have been put in place to limit transmission.

Melanie Sun, Reuters, The Associated Press, The CNN Wire, and AAP contributed to this article.

For March 14 updates, click here.
A unicorn puppy who was born with one ear that is placed near its forehead is the latest social media star, attracting millions of views on TikTok.

Rae - ear spelled backwards - is a golden retriever who was disfigured after falling critically ill just after being born.

After being treated at a veterinary hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was adopted by a receptionist who worked there, Brianna Voorhees.

'I lost my precious golden retriever Loki to lymphoma last year at 4 years old, so I had a heart for golden retrievers to begin with,' Vorhees told CNN.

Breeders surrender (puppies) to vet techs often if they can't take care of them full-time.

Rae - ear spelled backwards - is a golden retriever who was disfigured after falling critically ill just after being born

After being treated at a veterinary hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was adopted by a receptionist who worked there, Brianna Voorhees

The breeder believes that Rae's mother was too aggressive in licking off the placenta, causing the deformity

Rae is seen above playing with another dog. She is able to hear normally and is not in pain

I said if a golden retriever ever comes in, I'm going to want to take care of it and raise it.

When they found out she'd need 24-hour care, I have a heart for golden retrievers, and I just knew that she was meant for me, essentially.

The breeder believes that Raes deformity was a result of his mother cleaning off the placenta or amniotic sack too aggressively.

Raes entire ear was gone, save for the canal with all of the skin peeled off.

The dog was rushed to hospital for surgery hours after being born. It was uncertain if the animal would survive.

She was really in a fragile state, we didn't know if she was even going to survive beyond 48 hours, Vorhees told CNN.

After round-the-clock care, she managed to make a full recovery.

Rae was left with one ear that sticks out of her head.

We're assuming because of the sutures is why the ear migrated to the top of her head, Vorhees said.

I think as her skin grew, and she started to grow, that it just kind of migrated up there.

Samantha Smith, a veterinary technician at Family Friends Veterinary Hospital, posted video of Rae on TikTok.

The dog became a viral sensation.

Samantha Smith, a veterinary technician at Family Friends Veterinary Hospital, posted video of Rae on TikTok. The dog became a viral sensation

One video from TikTok has been viewed 3.8 million times

One video from TikTok has been viewed 3.8 million times.

Rae, who is just 12 weeks old, is doing fine. Voorhees said she can hear normally and is not in pain.

She can hear and plays in day care here at work almost every day, Vorhees said.

She has best friends and is the most confident puppy ever. She's a normal puppy, just with one ear.

Voorhees credited Rae with reducing stress and providing inspiration.

She was a positive outlet for me, Vorhees said.

I was going through a terrible time with a lot of transitions in my life personally, and Rae was a very positive distraction from a lot of things that were taking place in my life.

She's actually the one who saved me.

I could focus on her to take care of her to love and get love back, and she was that for me, and kind of that's why she means so much to me.

Voorhees said that she lost her dog when she was pregnant with her now-two-year-old son.

Shes happy her son can now grow up with Rae.
Justice S Muralidhar, who was transferred from the Delhi High Court to the Punjab and Haryana High Court recently, has requested lawyers to avoid using terms such as "my lord" or "your lordship" while addressing him.

"It is for the information of respected members of the Bar that Hon'ble Justice S Muralidhar has requested that they may try and avoid addressing him as 'your lordship' or 'my lord'," according to a note attached to the cause list of cases issued for Monday by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Notably, a few years ago, the High Court Bar Association here had asked its members to prefer addressing judges as "sir" or "your honour", though many lawyers continue to use terms such as "your lordship" to address them.

Justice Muralidhar (58) took oath as a judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court on March 6.

He was transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on February 26, the day a Delhi High Court bench headed by him expressed "anguish" over the Delhi Police's failure to register FIRs against three BJP leaders for their alleged hate speeches.

At his farewell, Justice Muralidhar cleared the air over the controversy on his transfer. He said he had replied to Chief Justice of India (CJI) S A Bobde's communication, saying he was fine with the proposal and had no objection to it.

The Supreme Court collegium, headed by the CJI, had recommended Justice Muralidhar's transfer to the Punjab and Haryana High Court at a meeting on February 12.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Donald Trump made overhauling the federal judiciary one of his top priorities, moving with particular speed to infuse the highly influential appeals courts with reliably conservative judges.

Working with his Republican allies in the Senate, he installed 51 judges in just three years  appointing more than a quarter of the appellate bench at a record pace.

The New York Times conducted a deep examination of the new judges to obtain a collective portrait of the group. It included interviews with people close to the nomination process, a review of biographical information submitted to the Senate by Trumps appointees and those of his last two predecessors, former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, and an analysis of published decisions and dissents by the judges.

These are some of the takeaways about the new judges.

 They have deeply conservative credentials, and they arent shy about them

Much like Trump himself, many of the new judges break longstanding conventions and have backgrounds that differ significantly from those named by Obama and Bush.

They were more openly engaged in conservative causes important to Republicans, such as opposition to same-sex marriage and to government funding for abortion. They often have political experience on their resumes, including posts in the federal government. They also more typically donated money to political candidates and causes.

All but eight had ties to the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group that has been central to the White Houses appointment process and ascendant in Republican circles in recent years for its advocacy of strictly interpreting the Constitution.

 They are more likely to be young, white and male, and they have elite schooling

These are lifetime appointments, and Trump has put a premium on appointing young judges.

Thirty-three percent were under 45 when appointed, compared with just 5% under Obama and 19% under Bush. The median age was 5 1/2 years younger than it was under Obama, and 3 1/2 years younger than under Bush.

Trump has also reversed a trend of increasing diversity on the appellate bench under Obama. Two-thirds of Trumps appointees are white men.

Many of the appointees have elite credentials, with nearly half having trained as lawyers at Harvard, Stanford, the University of Chicago or Yale, and more than a third having clerked for a Supreme Court justice. That surpasses the appointees of both Obama and Bush.

 They made it to the bench because Republicans in the Senate sidelined Democrats

In less partisan times, many of the new judges, with their polarizing paper trails and histories of fighting for Republican causes, would have lacked a clear path to confirmation because of Senate customs meant to ensure bipartisan consensus over judicial nominees.

But some of those customs have been tossed aside, allowing Republicans, who control the Senate, to get their way even when Democrats object.

Two-thirds of the new appellate judges failed to win the support of 60 senators, historically a requirement of consensus that was first jettisoned by the Democratic-controlled Senate midway through the Obama administration.

When Republicans gained the majority, they followed suit and took the custom-breaking even further. They did away with a courtesy that allowed senators to sign off on nominees for courts in their home states. That meant Trump did not have to compromise on his picks in states with a Democratic senator; about a third of his appointees did not get the signoff.

 They can be disagreeable on the bench, but mostly when working with a colleague appointed by a Democrat

The Times analyzed more than 10,000 published decisions and dissents since Trump took office and found that his appointees continued to stand out after they joined the bench.

There is a culture of consensus in most appellate courts, and in the cases reviewed by The Times, judges appointed by presidents of both parties agreed with one another the vast majority of times. But when they did not, the Trump appointees made a difference.

They were notably more likely than their peers on the bench to agree with Republican appointees and to disagree with Democratic appointees  suggesting they are more consistently conservative.

On panels of three judges that had members appointed by presidents of the same party, dissent occurred just 7% of the time. The rate jumped to 12% on panels that included a mix of judges appointed by both Democrats and Republicans.

But when a Trump appointee wrote an opinion for a panel with a lone Democrat, or served as the only Republican appointee, the dissent rate rose to 17%.

That means the likelihood of a split decision was nearly 1.5 times higher when a Trump appointee heard the case.

 They are tilting the balance in courts in New York and elsewhere toward judges appointed by Republicans

About a third of the new judges have taken seats formerly occupied by appointees of Democratic presidents. As a result, the judges have forged new majorities of Republican appointees in three appellate circuits, including those based in Atlanta, New York and Philadelphia.

The Trump appointees have also significantly narrowed the edge held by appointees of Democratic presidents in the largest and most reliably liberal circuit, the 9th, based in San Francisco.

While federal judges of all stripes take an oath of impartiality and reject the notion that they do a presidents bidding, there is an ideological divide between liberal and conservative jurists about how best to interpret many laws and the Constitution. An unequal split between Democratic and Republican appointees can give a court a distinct reputation as liberal or conservative.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
The Married At First Sight cast don't appear too concerned about coronavirus.

On Saturday night, grooms Mikey Pembroke, Ivan Sarakula, David Cannon, Jonethen Musulin and Steve Burley united for their first personal appearance in Melbourne.

They happily took to the stage at nightclub Billboard Saturdays while shaking hands with viewers and getting up close and personal with them for selfies.

What coronavirus? MAFS' Ivan Sarakula (left), Steve Burley (centre), Mikey Pembroke (right), David Cannon and Jonethen Musulin did their first personal appearance on Saturday night

Mikey shared a video performing on stage at the event to his Instagram Story.

He crawled on the floor while appearing to hype the crowd, as Steve shook hands with revelers on the front row, with a smiling Ivan filming them both.

It is currently unclear what exactly the grooms did while on stage in the nightclub.

Giving back to his fans! Ivan (left) filmed Steve (centre) as he happily shook hands with fans while on stage at Melbourne club nightclub Billboard Saturdays, risking catching coronavirus

Is that hygienic? Mikey shared a video crawling across the stage at the event

The reality stars appeared to draw a huge crowd, with Mikey mobbed for selfies throughout the evening while posing with groups of fans.

This year, many of the MAFS cast have signed with agents, hoping to capitalize on their reality fame with personal appearances and Instagram endorsements.

It's believed the most popular stars can make up to $3,000 for a single appearance.

Centre of attention! They appeared to draw a huge crowd, with Mikey mobbed for selfies throughout the evening while posing with groups of fans

Cashing in! This year, many of the MAFS cast have signed with agents, hoping to capitalize on their reality fame with personal appearances. Pictured: The cast with a fan on Saturday

The casts' decision to mingle with fans comes as many Australians are now 'social distancing' to prevent catching coronavirus, and avoiding handshaking.

Similarly, a lot of people are avoiding crowded gatherings all together, with all events of more than 500 people strongly advised against as of Monday across Australia.

Globally there have been more than 156,054 cases of coronavirus, with the death tally already surpassing 5,000.

In Australia, as of Sunday afternoon [March 15], the total number of people in Australia diagnosed with coronavirus (COVID-19) was 280, including three deaths.

Risky! The casts' decision to mingle with fans comes as many Australians are now 'social distancing' to prevent catching coronavirus, avoiding handshaking and crowded events
CHICAGO  First reported by WGN Chicago, all bars and restaurants in Illinois must close to dine-in customers from the end of business Monday, March 16, through Monday, March 30, Governor J.B. Pritzker ordered Sunday, due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19.

This is a developing story. Check back for more updates.
An elderly couple from Georgia that was quarantined separately after their trip on board the Diamond Princess has been reunited after the longest time they've ever spent apart from one another.

Dale and Sherry Grizzle were parted for nearly three weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak on the cruise ship in Japan and they've said the distance between them was the worst part about being stricken with the illness.

A total of 350 passengers tested positive for coronavirus after a passenger who left the cruise in Hong Kong was found to be infected.

Dale and Sherry Grizzle were parted for nearly three weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak on the cruise ship in Japan last month

Dale, 69, was treated in Japan and said he was treated really well while he had COVID-19. 'I ran a fever for about two and a half weeks that I couldn't seem to get rid of, and I developed some pneumonia, a milder case of pneumonia, but pneumonia nonetheless, and it was stubborn, but thankfully it didn't turn into a real bad case so I was able to overcome it'

The decision to quarantine 3,700 passengers and crew on board the Diamond Princess in Japan was heavily criticized after more than 700 people eventually tested positive for the virus

The vessel docked at Yokohama near Tokyo and Dale had to stay there while Sherry was isolated in Washington after 300 Americans were brought back to the US before the initial quarantine onboard was complete.

'We've never been apart like this before, and it was pretty stressful. That may have been the worst part of the whole deal,' Dale Grizzle, 69, told Fox & Friends Weekend on Sunday.

The pair had mild cases of COVID-19 and Sherry only wondered if she had contracted the virus because her spouse was already a confirmed case.

Sherry said her symptoms initially resembled a common cold.

'When I first started having symptoms, it was just a mild sore throat and a headache and that lasted for several days. ... I didn't think anything of it, but Dale had already been diagnosed so I began to wonder if maybe I had the virus also,' Sherry added on the show Sunday.

'We've never been apart like this before, and it was pretty stressful. That may have been the worst part of the whole deal,' Dale Grizzle Fox & Friends Weekend on Sunday. They're pictured left wearing protective face masks and right on their travels

But her husband's symptoms were worse.

Dale added: 'I ran a fever for about two and a half weeks that I couldn't seem to get rid of, and I developed some pneumonia, a milder case of pneumonia, but pneumonia nonetheless, and it was stubborn, but thankfully it didn't turn into a real bad case so I was able to overcome it.'

Now looking a picture of health, Dale has praised the treatment he received and said he was 'very well-cared for'.

'I couldn't have asked for any better care. The team of doctors and nurses that took care of me were absolutely awesome, and I can never thank them enough for the care that I received,' he said.

Sherry said her symptoms initially resembled a common cold. Sherry said: 'When I first started having symptoms, it was just a mild sore throat and a headache and that lasted for several days'

Princess Cruises has already seen two of its vessels hit by the virus and quarantined: the Diamond Princess, which docked in Japan, and the Grand Princess, which docked in California.

The decision to quarantine 3,700 passengers and crew on board the Diamond Princess in Japan was heavily criticized after more than 700 people eventually tested positive for the virus.

'The Japanese experience was a sad lesson that keeping people aboard such a ship just spreads the infection through a large number of people, and the boat becomes, basically, an incubator for spread of the disease,' Brian Cox, a New Zealand public health specialist, Brian Cox from the University of Otago, opined to the Associated Press.

Removing passengers from the ship and placing them in self-isolation for two weeks was the safest option, he added, and it would be 'inhumane to just turn it around and send it back'.
WASHINGTON>> Americans normally hear from President Donald Trump when he is opining on Twitter, riffing from a rally stage or otherwise improvising. This past week was different as he sat in the Oval Office with a script laid out for him to read on a matter grave enough for a prime-time address to the nation.

He addressed the coronavirus crisis that is spreading germs and fear. But his words were as factually fraught as many of his tweets.

Most broadly, Trump hailed American exceptionalism in health care and science  The virus will not have a chance against us  even as the public health system failed in making diagnostic testing accessible to all who need it.

Its been more than a week now since Trump assured the country: Anybody, right now, and yesterday, anybody that needs a test, gets a test. Theyre there. They have the test. And the test is beautiful.

He persisted with that thought as recently as Thursday, a day after his Oval Office address, when he asserted the testing has been going very smooth. This, as the governments top infection expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, was telling lawmakers: It is a failing, lets admit it.

A review of Trumps recent rhetoric:

EXCEPTIONALISM?

TRUMP: No nation is more prepared or more resilient than the United States.  Oval Office address Wednesday.

THE FACTS: American resilience will be measured over time. But the U.S. is not more prepared than all other countries. Seven weeks since the first U.S. case of coronavirus was announced, the government cannot account for what could be thousands of additional infections because of continuing stumbles on testing.

Nearly a month after U.S. health officials promised 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.

Fauci told a congressional hearing that other countries grappling with the virus have been making it easy for people to get tested, but in the U.S., the system is not really geared to what we need right now.

For most people, COVID-19 causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover from it.

___

TRUMP: If an American is coming back or anybody is coming back, were testing. We have a tremendous testing setup where people coming in have to be tested.  Were not putting them on planes if it shows positive, but if they do come here, were quarantining. Theres going to be a pretty strong enforcement of quarantine.  remarks Thursday.

THE FACTS: Thats not true. All people coming to the U.S. are not subject to mandatory, universal testing, nor are they being forced to quarantine.

As well, his proclamation detailing the broad travel restrictions that took effect midnight Friday night on visitors from most of Europe does not specify that everyone allowed in will have to be tested. Trump was probably referring to plans that are expected to be put in place soon to channel those arriving from many European countries to certain U.S. airports, where they will receive screening and be subjected to quarantine instructions, just like visitors from China.

___

TRUMP: Taking early intense action, we have seen dramatically fewer cases of the virus in the United States than are now present in Europe.   Oval Office address.

THE FACTS: Seen so far may be true. But that does not mean Europe is being hit harder by infections than the United States. Because of test shortages in the U.S., many Americans with COVID-19 arent being diagnosed and counted.

___

TRUMP: The European Union failed to take the same precautions and restrict travel from China and other hot spots. As a result, a large number of new clusters in the United States were seeded by travelers from Europe.  Oval Office address.

THE FACTS: Thats a distorted account of travel restrictions in Europe.

By the time U.S. travel restrictions were announced on Jan. 31, many major European airlines had already cut service to China. While restrictions in some European countries were not as widespread, others were much broader.

The Czech Republic had stopped issuing visas to Chinese citizens. Germany issued a travel advisory urging citizens to postpone nonessential travel to China. Italy had declared a state of emergency for six months. Russia had shut down its land border with China, as well as almost all train traffic and most flights there.

Trump on Jan. 31 signed an order that would temporarily bar entry to the U.S. of foreign nationals, other than immediate family of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, who have traveled in China within the last 14 days. The ban took effect Feb. 2.

A recent study from the journal Science found Chinas internal crackdown modestly delayed the spread of the virus but it cast doubt that travel restrictions elsewhere will do much compared with other preventive measures.

Despite Trumps boast of early intense action, his former homeland security adviser, Tom Bossert, said restrictions on entry into the U.S. from Europe came too late. We have nearly as much disease here in the US as the countries in Europe, he tweeted.

___

WHATS COVERED

TRUMP: Earlier this week, I met with the leaders of (the) health insurance industry, who have agreed to waive all co-payments for coronavirus treatments, extend insurance coverage to these treatments, and to prevent surprise medical billing.  Oval Office address.

THE FACTS: No, they did not say they will cover copays for treatment.

As Vice President Mike Pence stated more accurately, the insurers agreed to cover coronavirus testing with no cost sharing  so no copays or deductibles. That assurance applies to tests that can confirm or rule out the virus, and doesnt extend to treatment or to other tests that the patients doctor may order. Consumers should check with their insurance company because policies may vary on this. They should not count on the presidents word.

Whats more, in the process of diagnosing COVID-19, other tests may be ordered. Insurers have not pledged to waive cost-sharing for those. Copays and deductibles may apply for imaging tests such as X-rays or CT scans of the chest, for example, and hospital stays are also subject to cost-sharing.

Federal programs including Medicare, Medicaid, childrens health insurance and Obamacare all cover the coronavirus tests. Of particular importance, clinical diagnostic tests are covered under Medicare with no cost-sharing, a longstanding policy. But cost-sharing may apply for other tests, such as imaging.

When people get sick from the coronavirus, there currently is no antiviral treatment that can cure the disease. Instead, the current treatment is geared to relieving patients symptoms and helping them to recover. For those who are very sick, that can involve using machinery to help them breathe. Insurers cover such treatment based on the terms of the individuals health plan, including any applicable deductibles and copays.

___

TESTS & TREATMENT

TRUMP: 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.  Oval Office address.

THE FACTS: People with COVID-19 or those who get it in the outbreak should not expect those therapies to be available to them. Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health told a congressional committee Wednesday that while antivirals are being tested, we dont know if it works. I dont want to promise anything.

An antiviral is a medicine that specifically attacks a virus to hasten recovery. An experimental drug named remdesivir, which was being developed to fight Ebola, is being tested in COVID-19 patients in the U.S. and abroad. There also are studies underway using combinations of some HIV-attacking drugs.

___

TRUMP: 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.. 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.  tweets Friday.

THE FACTS: His newfound disdain for the CDCs actions and his criticisms of the Obama administration are based on a faulty description of what happened in the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, initially called swine flu.

Then, the CDCs flu surveillance network actually sounded the alarm, spotting two children in California who were the first diagnosed cases of the new flu strain. About two weeks later, the U.S. declared a public health emergency and the CDC began releasing anti-flu drugs from the national stockpile to help hospitals get ready. Trump declared a state of emergency Friday, nearly two months after the first COVID-19 case in the U.S. was announced.

As for thousands dying, it actually turned out that the new H1N1 strain was less deadly than average seasonal flu. But even that comparison is problematic because regular flu years are deadliest for the elderly while H1N1 was riskiest for younger people.

___

TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS

TRUMP: We will be suspending all travel from Europe, except the United Kingdom, for the next 30 days.  Oval Office address.

THE FACTS: He inaccurately described his own plan.

First, the restriction does not apply to legal permanent residents of the U.S. or their families when they are returning from Europe. It also does not apply to U.S. citizens coming back from Europe, as Trump acknowledged.

As well, it apparently does not apply to Ireland, Romania, Croatia, Ukraine and several other European states. The proclamation released by the White House says the travel ban affects the 26 European countries in the Schengen Area. Thats most of Europe, but not all.

___

TRUMP: These prohibitions will not only apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo, but various other things as we get approval.  Oval Office address.

THE FACTS: That is wrong. The White House quickly clarified that the restriction on movement from Europe only applies to human beings, not goods and cargo.

___

CHEAP GAS

TRUMP: Good for the consumer, gasoline prices coming down!  tweet Monday after the price of oil fell nearly 20% and the stock market, already shaken by the coronavirus outbreak, took an even deeper dive.

TRUMP: So with gasoline prices coming down, thats like a tax cut. Frankly, thats like a big tax cut, not a little tax cut for the consumer. So theres something about that that I like.  remarks Thursday.

THE FACTS: His affection for cheaper prices at the pump is widely shared. Its just that cheaper gas increasingly comes at a cost. The price decline could hurt overall economic growth, which is probably a bigger negative on balance than saving at the pump.

A drop in oil prices is not as helpful to the U.S. economy as it was when the country was massively dependent on foreign oil. Thats because the fracking revolution has made domestic oil and natural gas production a major part of the U.S. economy. A drop in prices hurts that domestic industry. It leads to less drilling, fewer jobs, cuts in factory orders and a host of aftershocks that could leave the nation as a whole worse off.

The last time oil prices dropped by a comparable amount, in 2015-2016, it contributed to a slowing of economic growth from 2.9% to 1.6%.
All passengers 12 and over must have either a negative result from a P.C.R. laboratory test taken no more than 72 hours before they board their flight or a negative result from a rapid antigen test from the previous 24 hours. They must also present proof that they are fully vaccinated. Children 2 to 11 are exempt from pretesting if they are traveling with adults who present the required negative test results. Children under 2 are exempt from the test requirement. The C.D.C. risk assessment for Covid-19 is Level 3: High.

All arriving passengers 18 and over must show proof of full vaccination as well as a negative P.C.R. or antigen test result from the previous 5 days; they must also purchase travel insurance that covers the cost of Covid-19 hospitalization and quarantine accommodation, among other things. Fully vaccinated travelers can avoid testing on arrival by providing a P.C.R. or rapid antigen test result from no later than 48 hours before their arrival. Anyone who does not meet that cut-off  even if because of flight delays  will be required to test on the day of arrival. Children 17 and under must follow the testing requirements for adults; they will also be tested on arrival. Unvaccinated adult travelers will not be allowed entry unless they receive permission, which they can seek by applying through the BVI Gateway.

The United States is considered an orange zone country, meaning tourists arriving from the United States, regardless of their citizenship, may enter without quarantine if they provide a negative Covid-19 test result; proof of vaccination (C.D.C. cards are accepted); or a certificate of recovery from Covid-19. Unvaccinated travelers will be required to quarantine for 10 days; however, travelers may finish their quarantine early if they obtain a negative test result performed no sooner than 72 hours following their arrival in Bulgaria. The quarantine is considered terminated the day after they register the negative result in the National Information System for Combatting COVID-19. At least 5 percent of arrivals from the United States and other orange zone countries will be randomly tested upon arrival. Within the country, a certificate showing proof of vaccination, recovery, or a recent negative test (no more than 72 hours for a P.C.R. or 48 hours for an antigen test) is required for everyone 18 and over wishing to enter restaurants, shopping malls, hotels, concert halls and museums, among other indoor spaces. The C.D.C. risk assessment for Covid-19 is Level 4: Very high.

Visitors must present a negative P.C.R. test upon arrival that is no more than five days old. Those arriving without will be given a rapid test at the airport at a cost of $45 and will be detained until results are available. A negative P.C.R. test dated from the previous three days is also required to fly out from the airport. The C.D.C. risk assessment for Covid-19 is Level 4: Very high.

All arriving passengers 12 and over must present a negative Covid-19 test result from either a P.C.R. test taken no more than 72 hours before departure, or a rapid antigen test taken no more than 48 hours before departure. Upon arrival in Cabo Verde, travelers must complete a health questionnaire and have their temperature checked. Anyone displaying symptoms such as fever may be put in isolation and subjected to a test. Visitors should note that a negative P.C.R. test is required for all passengers 12 and up transiting Portugal. Inter-island travel requires visitors to present a negative test result or proof of vaccination or recovery. The C.D.C. risk assessment for Covid-19 is Level 3: High.

All travelers must obtain a visa before their arrival in Cambodia; tourist visas can be obtained online here. Fully vaccinated U.S. visitors will not have to undergo quarantine, but they must provide proof of vaccination and the negative results of a P.C.R. test taken 72 hours before departure. They must also undergo a rapid test upon arrival. Unvaccinated travelers must take a P.C.R. test upon arrival and quarantine for 14 days.

Fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and residents may enter Canada for nonessential reasons, including tourism. All travelers 5 and older must also have a negative result from a molecular test taken no more than 72 hours before travel. Unvaccinated visitors must quarantine for 14 days and should be aware that some places in Canada require proof of vaccination for many restaurants, events and domestic travel.
Shortly after the election of Barack Obama, his soon-to-be chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, told the Wall Street Journal, You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.

The quote was often referenced as an example of political cynicism and crass opportunism at the highest levels.

In fairness to Emanuel, he was suggesting that he believed the new Obama Administration could use the financial crisis of 2008 to help resolve the nations woes.

In fact, he wasnt even the author of the quote. He was paraphrasing a Stanford professor whod said essentially the same thing years before during another crisis.

Earlier, President John F. Kennedy had told us, The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word crisis. One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In any crisis, be aware of the danger-but recognize the opportunity.

My linguist friends tell me thats not exactly correct. It doesnt matter. The thought has been captured and repeated for over half a century by business leaders, politicians and motivational speakers.

Its a good way to look at our current crisis, the coronavirus pandemic.

Unfortunately, there are some politicians who cannot resist the urge to try to make political hay out of a public health crisis. They shame themselves and do the nation no good.

The recent comments of Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are ill-advised, misguided and unfortunate. Picking apart the administrations effort at this point does nothing to resolve the crisis or even advance the debate.

There will be plenty of time to debate the Trump Administrations response as well as Joe Bidens own history of dealing with public health crises, especially the swine flu pandemic when his own White House had to walk back his fear-mongering comments.

Now is the time for the deep divisions in our country to come together to fight against something that affects us all.

We truly are all in this together. We need to act like it.

There are plenty of examples of those setting aside partisan politics and the urge to grab some fleeting political gain for the sake of getting the work done that will save lives and calm concerns.

Californias Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom, hardly a Trump loyalist, showed us the way very early. He was unabashed in his willingness to work closely with President Trump and to unequivocally say he was pleased with what the Administration was doing.

Governors across the land, including our own, are making tough decisions and communicating the facts daily. They even performed admirably in the face of great stress. If you want something to be hopeful about in our political life, there it is.

Caution and concern, not panic or pandering should be our watchwords in the coming days. A new sense of community can be established despite our social distancing.

Political campaigns, which rely on physical contact, will change for a while. There will be a debate with no audience. Large rallies wont be held. Theres serious discussion about postponing primaries. It will all work out.

The presidential campaign will be reset. It will really be a post-coronavirus pandemic campaign. What happened prior to March will largely be a footnote. Yes, the president will be judged on how he leads us through this crisis. So will the actions and words of his opponents.

Charlie Gerow leads strategy development Quantum Communications.
Representative Devin Nunes, a California Republican, on Sunday encouraged healthy people to dine out at restaurants, contradicting public health advisories that strongly encouraged social distancing and discouraged Americans from attending mass gatherings.

In an appearance on Fox News, Mr. Nunes said Americans should stop fighting over groceries and toilet paper.

Theres a lot of concerns with the economy here because people are scared to go out, he said. But I will just say, one of the things you can do is, if youre healthy, you and your family, its a great time to just go out, go to a local restaurant. Likely you can get in easily. Lets not hurt the working people in this country that are relying on wages and tips to keep their small business going.

On Twitter on Sunday afternoon, he wrote that there was no food shortage and not to panic. If healthy, support local workers and economy  shop and eat local! he wrote.
Tehran: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has appealed to heads of other countries facing the sanctions imposed by the United States, to stop observing the stringent measures and informed how efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic in his country have been severely hampered by them.

"In a letter to counterparts, President Hassan Rouhani informed how efforts to fight the #COVID19 pandemic in Iran have been severely hampered by US sanctions, urging them to cease observing them," the foreign minister Javad Zarif said on Twitter.

"It is immoral to let a bully kill innocents. Viruses recognize no politics or geography. Nor should we," Zarif added.

According to local media reports, Rouhani, in a letter penned to a number of world leaders on Saturday, said that confronting the infection, officially known as COVID-19, required coordinated regional and international actions.

"No country can manage this huge, dangerous crisis alone, let alone if it has many difficulties accessing international financial markets and supplying its needed goods," the president wrote in the letter cited by Tehran-based Mehr news agency.

Meanwhile, in his recent letter to UN chief, Zarif said, "While the virus ravages our cities and towns, our population--unlike those of other countries affected--suffer under the most severe and indiscriminate campaign of economic terrorism in history, imposed illegally and extra-territorially by the US government since it reneged on its commitments under Security Council Resolution 2231 in May 2018."

On Saturday, the head of the Public Relations and Information Center of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education Kianoush Jahanpour said that 12,729 people have so far been infected with the deadly coronavirus in Iran, 611 of whom have died while 4,339 have recovered.

During a visit to Iran, the worst-hit country by the epidemic in the Middle East, WHO Emergency Director for the Regional Office Richard Brennan praised the "comprehensive and coordinated approach" implemented by the Iranian government, especially in the areas of patient management, laboratories, and risk communication.

The US sanctions on Iran have caused a severe shortage of medical supplies. Tehran has repeatedly called for lifting what it called the "inhuman" sanctions imposed by the United States, which has so far turned a deaf ear to Iran's calls.
Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders will meet for their first one-on-one debate Sunday night on a stage and in a political climate that is vastly different from their last encounter three weeks ago.

Fears about the spread of the coronavirus have transformed the event. Its location has been moved from a convention center in Phoenix, Arizona, to a soundstage in Washington D.C. where there will be no studio audience for the candidates to react to.

Additionally the candidates will stay six feet apart, as recommended as part of 'social distancing.'

'The podiums are placed 6 feet apart, in accordance with CDC guidelines,' CNN tweeted with a photo of the podiums on the debate stage.

Sanders and Biden have each offered their own responses to the coronavirus outbreak - making speeches outlining their plan after President Donald Trump's address to the nation failed to calm fears.

CNN announced the candidates' podiums will be six feet apart according to CDC guidelines

Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders will meet for their first one-on-one debate Sunday night; the two are seen together at the last Democratic debate in Charleston in February

The coronavirus has transformed the debate and both Democratic contenders have offered their plans after President Donald Trump failed to sooth fears in his Oval Office address last week

And both Democratic contenders have canceled campaign rallies in favor of virtual events to try and stem the spread of the disease.

The Vermont senator used his address to make another push for his universal healthcare - Medicaid for All - plan. He also called for free treatment for the virus and for expanded anti-hunger initiatives to help the poor.

Biden's plan calls for free testing and additional treatment options. He also called for paid sick leave for anyone affected by the virus. And he pushed for a 'health crisis food initiative' that would benefit children who receive free meals at schools, which have now closed.

Sunday's debate could be the last in the Democratic primary process.

The two white men in their 70s are the last candidates standing in a Democratic primary field that started out with more than 20 candidates that contained a mix of gender, race and age.

And the debate is the last chance for them to make their case before four states - Arizona, Ohio, Illinois and Florida - go the polls.

Biden leads in polling in those four states and a series of wins there would increase pressure on Sanders to drop out in order to allow the party to rally around a nominee to take on President Trump this fall.

CNN's Jake Tapper and Dana Bash are moderating along with Univision's Ilia Calderon - who stepped in after her colleague Jorge Ramos withdrew from moderating because of possible exposure to the coronavirus.

It begins at 8 p.m. ET.

Biden enters the debate as the front runner for the nomination and the pressure will be on the former vice president to give a commanding performance when he has flubbed in previous settings.

But Sanders faces his last chance to appeal to Democratic voters before Tuesday's contests.

Additionally, he has indicated he will push Biden hard on a number of issues that concern his progressive base of supporters.

Bernie Sanders indicated in the debate he will push Joe Biden on issues important to progressives

Joe Biden will be under pressure to act commanding and presidential in debate

The Vermont senator showed his hand last week when he said in a speech he'd like to question Biden on healthcare costs, immigration and climate change.

And, in a 'fireside chat' on Saturday night, Sanders, seated next to a fireplace with his campaign manager Faiz Shakir, said he would blast Biden for his support from wealthy donors, an attack line he has used effectively against other Democratic candidates.

'Joe has been part of the establishment for a very long time. Joe, what role have you played in trying to make sure we end this massive level of income and wealth inequality?' Sanders said.

Sunday's night debate will be a stark contrast to the last event.

There were seven candidates on stage at the last debate, which took place in Charleston, S.C., on Feb. 25.

Since then, five have dropped out: Mike Bloomberg, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Tom Steyer and Elizabeth Warren.

Bloomberg, Buttigieg, and Klobuchar have all endorsed Biden.

The former vice president has made a play for liberals - and the blessing of Warren - when, in a virtual town hall on Friday night, he announced his support for Warren's bankruptcy plan, which would simplify the bankruptcy process,

Biden pointed out the Massachusetts senator's' plan is 'one of the things that I think Bernie and I will agree on.'

Warren has yet to endorse but her blessing would give either candidate a major boost - giving Biden the support of liberals or Sanders more staying power in the race.

Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard remains in the Democratic primary race. But the Democratic National Committee tightened the qualifications for Sunday's debate and said a candidate needed at least 20 percent of the delegates that have been awarded to qualify.

Gabbard only has two delegates.
A British cruise ship is in limbo off the coast of the Bahamas, with one passenger and four crew members who have tested positive for coronavirus.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines said Sunday that another 20 passengers and 20 crew members, including a doctor, are showing flu-like symptoms. They and the five people who tested positive are in isolation.

There are 682 passengers on board the Braemar, the majority of them British nationals, the company said. None are Americans.

After the Braemar dropped anchor Saturday morning 25 miles southwest of Freeport, according to a statement from the company, it was restocked Monday morning with food, medication and ship supplies. At the same time, two doctors and two nurses joined the ship to assist the ship's medical team.

It will not, however, be permitted to dock. The country's transport ministry refused to allow the ship's passengers and crew to disembark "at any port in the Bahamas." The Bahamian government will provide humanitarian assistance to the ship.

Two British government officials were sent to Freeport to assist Bahamian authorities with the resupply operation.

The five people tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday while the ship was docked in Curacao.

The ship was denied permission to dock in Barbados and at other Caribbean ports. The Braemar is flagged in the Bahamas, leading the company to attempt to dock there and disembark passengers.

For now, the Braemar is effectively quarantined at sea. The ship left St. Maarten on March 2 and was due to disembark in Barbados on March 12.

On Friday, U.S. cruise operators agreed to pause their operations for the next 30 days in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Princess Cruises, which has two ships that have experienced coronavirus infections, halted its operations for 60 days. More than 700 passengers became infected with the coronavirus on the Diamond Princess, which sat off the coast of Japan for nearly two weeks. Eight of those passengers died.

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On Saturday, the company was winding down the process of disembarking the Grand Princess in California. At least two passengers and 19 crew members tested positive for the coronavirus.

A medical worker assists a passenger from the Princess Cruises Grand Princess cruise ship before boarding a charter plane at Oakland International Airport on March 10, 2020 in Oakland, Calif. Passengers are slowly disembarking from the Princess Cruises Grand Princess a day after it docked at the Port of Oakland.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: British cruise ship has 5 cases; doctors, nurses board
UPDATE: Sentencing was rescheduled to April 23.

Stacey Gala, wife of convicted Worcester restaurateur Kevin Perry Jr., had the opportunity to distance herself from her husbands lavish lifestyle funded by drug dealing, but instead, she chose to launder cash and tried to hide it from the government, a federal prosecutor said in a recent filing.

Gala, who pleaded guilty to a federal money laundering charge in Worcester federal court in November, is scheduled to be sentenced on April 23.

Federal prosecutor Greg Friedholm is asking a judge to send Gala to federal prison for 32 months followed by two years of supervised release.

The request for the sentence is listed in the prosecutors sentencing memorandum filed in federal court before Mondays hearing.

Galas lawyer filed paperwork pertaining to Galas Monday hearing, but the documents were sealed.

The governments memorandum details the couples relationship and notes Gala was never involved in Perrys drug dealing. Perry also filed a letter supporting Gala, which has since been sealed, and in it he states he is now estranged from Gala.

Perry was sentenced to serve 14 years in prison - a sentence he has since started to fight  in 2018 after he admitted to using drug money to buy two restaurants in Worcester and nine other properties.

He was sentenced on federal money laundering and fentanyl distribution charges.

Perry was arrested in March 2017 on the federal charges. Gala had the chance to distance herself from Perrys lifestyle and the illegal cash he gained through drug dealing, but instead laundered money and used it to renovate one of the Worcester restaurants purchased with Perrys ill-gotten cash, the prosecutor said.

Perry, in his letter to the government, paints Gala as a woman who was manipulated, overwhelmed and vulnerable. He accused Joseph Herman, Galas former business partner, of taking advantage of her both romantically and financially. MassLive obtained a copy of Perrys letter to the court before it was sealed.

Herman has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, false statements and attempted tampering with a witness. He is awaiting sentencing.

Gala, according to the prosecutors memorandum, took great pains to paint herself as a victim of her circumstances and the unwitting accomplice in a conspiracy.

Gala claims Perry tormented her from prison and pushed her into the waiting arms of Herman, the prosecutor wrote.

But Friedholm wrote that the reality is Gala was the wife of a significant drug dealer and enjoyed the lifestyle even though she wasnt part of the drug dealing.

The couple owned a home, rental properties and purchased two Worcester restaurants, The Usual and The Blackstone Tap. Perry spent just over $2 million to purchase the properties.

Both locations were seized and later purchased by new owners.

The money used to buy those properties was hidden from federal authorities by Perry after he was convicted in 2005 of selling and manufacturing ecstasy. He was ordered to forfeit all cash from illegal drug sales.

Perry also began manufacturing drugs again when he got out of prison.

There was a lavish wedding in Newport, Rhode Island, trips to the Caribbean and Europe, skydiving and snowboarding hobbies and the restaurants, the prosecutor wrote.

The lifestyle should have changed with Perrys arrest in March 2017, Friedholm wrote.

Gala, the prosecutor wrote, was young, well-educated and had family support. Gala has a college degree from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Services, authorities said.

She was well-positioned to distance herself from her husbands criminal activities and become a productive member of the community, Friedholm wrote. Instead  apparently enjoying the lifestyle to which she had grown accustomed  Gala conspired with Herman to launder Perrys drug proceeds in a manner that would go undetected.

Herman, the former manager at The Usual, and Gala used some of Perrys drug money to rebrand the restaurant under the name, The Chameleon, after Perrys arrest.

Prosecutors said they lied to Worcester city regulators about the money used to rebrand the restaurant. Herman claimed that his family helped him fund the endeavor.

When DEA agents arrested Perry, they seized more than $230,000 in drug money. Inside Galas purse was money used by a cooperating witness to buy 2,000 fentanyl pills from Perry in February 2017.

Perry had one person, who is not named in the court documents, hide $135,000 in drug money in case he needed to post bail.

Then, while in custody in April 2017, that same person and Gala visited Perry.

Like a scene from a movie, Perry wrote out coded messages on paper and pressed the paper against the glass partition in the federal prisoner visitation area.

Perry then chewed and swallowed the paper, prosecutors said. The unnamed person hid $250,000 of Perrys money after the meeting.

In May 2017, Perry told Gala and the same person he had another roughly $260,000 in a storage locker in Northborough. Gala told Herman.

That same month, The Usual was struggling due to Perrys arrest. Herman and Gala agreed to use money from the storage locker to rebrand the restaurant, the prosecutor wrote.

While Gala was planning to use the drug money to rebrand The Usual, she was also trying to purchase the governments interest in the restaurant and claimed her father would lend her the money, Friedholm wrote.

Herman and Christopher Slavinskas, the 33-year-old Worcester man who hid $300,000 of Kevin Perrys ill-gotten money in a church, retrieved the money from the locker.

Slavinskas, who was sentenced to two years of probation last month for lying to investigators, was given some of the money. Herman kept some of the cash as well.

In May 2017, The Usual went under renovations. New signs for The Chameleon, new graphics and new draft beer lines were installed.

The business, prosecutors said, was run using Perrys drug money.

Gala, in June 2017, retrieved the drug money being held by the unnamed person. The $385,000 was given to Herman and he had Slavinskas hide the money.

Slavinskas hid hundreds of thousands in cash in a church on Lincoln Street in Worcester. Slavinskas and Herman used some of the money so they could take two women on a vacation to Atlantic City.

The two men then gave the remainder back to Gala, who gave the remaining cash, about $215,000, to the DEA.

Gala spends considerable effort condemning Hermans expenditure of the drug proceeds, Friedholm wrote. She is right, and Hermans day before this court is coming. What Gala attempts to gloss over, however, is the fact that Herman would not have had any access to those drug proceeds without her agreement and active involvement.

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David Tennant and his wife Georgia enjoyed a refreshing stroll with their fifth child Birdie in west London on Saturday.

The Doctor Who star, 48, was every inch the doting father as he pushed their five-month-old in a buggy, while the actress, 35, walked their adorable pet pooch.

The couple were seen for the first time since confirming their baby's name, after their son Ty, 17, accidentally let the moniker slip during an appearance on Lorraine.

Family first: David Tennant and his wife Georgia enjoyed a refreshing stroll with their fifth child Birdie in west London on Saturday

Award-winning thespian David appeared to be sporting a new look as he ditched his stubble beard in a favour of a thick mustache.

The Hamlet star looked typically cool in a patterned brown coat, indigo jeans and a dark red jumper, which he accessorised with a baker boy hat and brown footwear.

Merlin actress Georgia, meanwhile, kept warm in a black longline black coat and wore her tresses in a straight fashion.

Downtime: The Doctor Who star, 48, was every inch the doting father as he pushed their five-month-old in a buggy, while the actress, 35, walked their adorable pet pooch

Earlier this month, blonde beauty Georgia shared a snap of her newest art piece created from scrabble tiles, which made up the names of herself, David and their five children.

The couple share Tyler, who David adopted in 2012, along with Olive, eight, Wilfred, six, Doris, five, and Birdie.

Georgia - who is yet to reveal Birdie's gender - captioned the post #teamtennant.'

She confirmed the arrival of her fifth child in October with a hilarious Instagram post, as she compared the birth to that of David's Good Omens co-star Michael Sheen's daughter Lyra.

Sweet: Earlier this month, blonde beauty Georgia shared a snap of her newest art piece created from scrabble tiles, which made up the names of herself, David and their five children

Funny: The star confirmed the arrival of her fifth child in October with a hilarious Instagram post comparing the birth to that of David's Good Omens co-star Michael Sheen's daughter Lyra

Tyler revealed the name of his youngest sibling during an appearance on Lorraine, excitedly telling the host he wanted to give a shout-out to his family.

He said: 'Hi mum, I love you mummy. Hi dad, Wilfred, Olive, Doris, Birdie I love you all. Sorry, I've always wanted to do that,' which led Lorraine to agree that he 'had all the family covered.'

During the interview, Ty also spoke of the moment he met his adopted dad on the set of Doctor Who when he was just five years old.

The budding actor spoke of his close bond with the sci-fi superstar whom he calls his father, and why he would love to be the third Doctor in the family.

David met Ty's mum Georgia when she had a guest role in the 2008 episode The Doctor's Daughter - and it was then when Ty met his TV hero.

Surprise! David's adopted son Ty, 17, accidentally let Birdie's name slip during an appearance on Lorraine, as he excitedly gave a shout-out to his siblings

'It was great, I was five when I first met my dad, my mum was working on Doctor Who at the time,' Ty said.

'I watched him on TV as the hero, and it was crazy how much your life can change.'

Ty has followed in his father and mother's footsteps, starring as Tom in H. G. Wells' War of The Worlds.

The talented teenager has also appeared in Casualty, and made his big screen debut with the role of young Christopher Wisemanin 2019's Tolkien.
Addressing the SAARC video conference on Sunday, State Minister of Health, Zafar Mirza said that Pakistan shares the common regional concerns on the coronavirus- as 'it is the most serious global health emergency in the last 100 years'. Highlighting that there is 'no room for complacency', he expanded on the response mechanics of his country, adding that PM Imran Khan is personally overseeing the efforts. He also said that movements have been restricted to an from affected countries, screening has started, quarantine facilities have been established. He added that Pakistan has shut educational institutions for 3 weeks, the entire western border for 2 weeks, restricted international flights to 3 airports only and has also banned all large public gatherings.

"WHO's advice offers a reasonable way forward - Prevent, Detect, Respond, Conduct research and Innovation. Pakistan has been involved in the containment right from the outset of the outbreak. We have been alert and have put in place appropriate public health measures and developed required protocols and guidelines for the safety of people. We have strongly advised against panic. Calm, calculated and deliberate response is the need of the hour," he added.

Pakistan raises Jammu and Kashmir

Prime Minister Modi had urged the SAARC nations to share the efforts and issues for tackling the pandemic. However, Pakistan also raised Jammu and Kashmir during the meet.

"We hope that during this COVID-19 our member countries will provide access to all the regions. In this regard, it is a matter of concern that COVID-19 has reported from Jammu and Kashmir. In the view of emergency its imperative that all lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir must be lifted immediately, opening up communication and movement," he said.

PM Modi leads SAARC conference on Coronavirus, shares 'Prepare, don't panic' mantra

Dr. Zafar Mirza @zfrmrza thanks PM @narendramodi and calls for sustained pro-active actions on behalf of member countries to combat the spread of virus #SAARCfightsCorona  PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 15, 2020

MHA suspends passenger movement through all immigration check points at Indian borders

PM Modi announces COVID-19 Emergency fund

Taking initiative to battle the pandemic Coronavirus (COVID-19), PM Modi, announced setting up a common 'COVID-19 emergency fund' and pledged $10 million as India's contribution to it, while addressing a SAARC conference to battle COVID-19. "I propose we create a COVID-19 emergency fund. This could be based on a voluntary contribution for all of us. India can start with an initial offer of USD 10 million and any one of us can use this fund for battling COVID19. We are assembling a Rapid action team of doctors in India along with testing kits to be on standby at your disposal if required," he said.

PM Modi announces 'COVID-19 Emergency fund'; pledges $10 mn to battle pandemic in SAARC

COVID-19 SAARC conference

The Prime Minister addressed a SAARC video conference to share each other efforts and issues as the seven countries battle the pandemic. The video conference was led by PM Modi and was attended by Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, Maldives President Ibrahim Solih, Sri Lanka president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bhutan Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's assistant - Dr Zafar Mirza. PM Modi highlighted the SAARC's ancient ties and said that 'we must work and succeed together'. As of date, the total number of positive cases in India has risen upto 107, with two deaths in the country.

Australian PM Scott Morrison lauds PM Modi's 'G-20 link-up' efforts to battle Coronavirus
The governors in five states  California, Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts and Washington  closed bars, restaurants and wineries in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus. In other parts of the country, mayors of major cities ordered similar restrictions.

In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine said bars and restaurants can stay open for carry-out and delivery but "what we can't have is people congregating and seated."

"I'm aware that this will impact many, many good workers," DeWine wrote on Twitter. "I can't tell you how sorry I am, but we will work to mitigate the suffering. It is our goal for everyone to get through this.

"Every day we delay, more people will die."

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom said all bars, wineries, brew pubs and nightclubs should close, and asked that those over 65 self-isolate. A few hours after Newsom's suggestion, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said he was closing bars, restaurants (except for take out and delivery), nightclubs and "entertainment venues," effective at midnight Sunday until at least March 31.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered that all bars, breweries, wineries and nightclubs in the state close. For now, restaurants remain open.

Across the country, counties in some states have taken similar precautions, all in an effort to stop people from congregating and unknowingly passing along the virus.

Illinois also shut down bars and restaurants to dine-in customers through March 30, a day after thousands gathered in downtown Chicago to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

You asked us tons of questions about the coronavirus: We're answering them.

There are no easy decisions left to make as we address this unprecedented crisis, Gov. JB Pritzker said Sunday, according to media reports. As your governor, I cant allow the gravity of these decisions from taking the measures that the science and the experts say will keep people safe.

Pritzker said he made the decision after so many state residents ignored the advice of the Centers for Disease Control to "social distance" and self isolate, and instead went out Friday and Saturday.

Story continues

"The time for persuasion and public appeals is over," he said. "The time for action is here."

In Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker ordered all bars and restaurants close starting Tuesday, March 17, and remain closed for a month.

Describing coronavirus as "incredibly contagious" at a Sunday news conference, Baker told reporters, "If we take decisive steps now and everyone plays their part by following the best medical guidance, we can slow down the spread."

In announcing his decision, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said "hours count and very strong measures are necessary to slow the spread of the disease."

New York City took similar action late Sunday, ordering all nightclubs, theaters and concert venues to close by Tuesday morning, a dramatic step in the nation's most populous city. Restaurants and bars in the city will also be limited to serving only takeout and delivery customers, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced.

Also Sunday, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf ordered all restaurants and bars across five counties (Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery) to close dine-in facilities to help control the spread of the virus, beginning Monday.

In Tennessee, Nashville Mayor John Cooper asked all bars to close on Lower Broadway, the city's epicenter of nightlife, and has severely restricted restaurant capacity.

New Orleans also set restrictions Sunday, as Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced all restaurants would need to close by 9 p.m., and bars and nightclubs by midnight; for all of these establishments, capacity will be limited to 50% of posted limits.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: Bars, restaurants ordered closed in at least 5 states
Barcelona star Lionel Messi is 'worried' over the coronavirus outbreak and said it is 'time to be responsible and stay at home'.

"These are difficult days for everyone. We are worried about what is happening and we want to help, putting ourselves in the position of those who are suffering the most, either because they are affected directly or their family or friends are, or because they are working on the front line in the fight in hospitals and health centres," Messi posted the message on Instagram in Spanish.

"I want to send them all my support. Health has to come first. It is an exceptional moment and we have to follow all the recommendations from the health authorities and public authorities. That is the only way that we can fight it effectively. It is time to be responsible and stay at home," the message added.

The Argentine also feels that the quicker they will manage to 'turn this situation' the better it will be.

"Furthermore, it is a great chance to spend time with your loved ones, the time you don't always have. My best to everyone and let's hope we can turn this situation around, the quicker the better," the message further read.

Barcelona on March 13 suspended all the activities until further notice.

"Given the current situation and following the recommendations of the medical staff at the Club, the first team has suspended all activity until further notice," the club said in a statement.

The virus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, last year, has spread to more than 100 countries across the world, infecting over 1,20,000 people.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
TWIN FALLS  The South Central Public Health District confirmed two coronavirus cases in its area Saturday, bringing the total number of cases in the state to five.

The first case in the region involves a woman from Blaine County over the age of 50 who is recovering from mild symptoms that did not require hospitalization, health district director Melody Bowyer said.

It was not known where the patient contracted the virus. Although she recently traveled to a neighboring state, the state did not have confirmed cases while she was there. Officials said they would not identify which state she traveled to.

The woman is self isolated at home, the department said.

The second case in the area is a female patient over the age of 70, the district said. She is hospitalized and recovering.

South Central Public Health District includes Twin Falls, Cassia, Jerome Minidoka, Gooding, Lincoln, Camas and Blaine counties in Idaho. The district did not say where the woman is from or what hospital she is in.

Where she contracted the disease is still under investigation, the district said.

The first Idaho case of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, was confirmed Friday. That case involves a woman in her 50s in Ada County.

Ada County had a second case confirmed Saturday, a man in his 50s with no identified underlying medical issues. He is recovering well in his home under isolation and was not hospitalized, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare said. The man likely got the illness while traveling.

The fifth case in the state is a woman under the age of 60 in Teton County. She contracted COVID-19 from contact with a confirmed case in a neighboring state, the department said. She is home recovering from mild symptoms and did not require hospitalization.

After the Blaine County announcement, Blaine County School District Board Chairman Keith Roark and Superintendent GwenGarol Holmes said that all schools and facilities are closed to the public beginning Monday. The closures will last through April 5.

We are working in coordination with (South Central Public Health District) and decided in an abundance of caution to close schools, Roark said in a statement. We realize this will cause hardship for many of our families in regards to childcare and daily nutrition. We hope to announce plans for providing nutrition services soon.

As of Saturday afternoon, 163 people have been tested through the Idaho Bureau of Laboratories, and 13 people have been tested in Idaho through private labs. There are only two lab-confirmed cases in Idaho. For up to date information on testing and COVID-19 in Idaho, go to coronavirus.idaho.gov.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare confirmed the states first case of the novel coronavirus on Friday afternoon. On Saturday, Idaho State University President Kevin Satterlee confirmed in a letter to the ISU community that the individual is a student attending the ISU-Meridian campus.

That case involves a woman in her 50s in Ada County, said Elke Shaw-Tulloch, administrator of public health for the Department of Health and Welfare. The woman has experienced mild to moderate symptoms that didnt require hospitalization, and shes recovering well, Shaw-Tulloch said.

The woman had returned from a conference in New York City, Shaw-Tulloch said. Three other attendees at that conference have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Out of an abundance of caution, our university took action Friday morning to close our Meridian campus for cleaning. The closure and cleaning decision was made before we had confirmation of the COVID-19 case, Satterlee said in a letter.

Satterlee explained that all potentially impacted individuals who had contact with the student have already been notified and are being monitored.

If you are not contacted by Central District Health or our University Health Center, then there is no reason for you to have elevated concern, Satterlee said. CDH has advised us that this is not an illness that is spread through brief, casual contact.

Boise State University will move instruction for more than 30,000 students online to combat the spread of the coronavirus and the rest of Idahos public higher education institutions will follow suit by April 1.

The state Board of Education voted unanimously to support presidents efforts to shift coursework online amid the growing pandemic.

For most people, the 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 within a few weeks.

The Idaho Statesman and Associated Press contributed to this report.
Local nursing homes and retirement centers continued to limit public access this weekend, and hospitals prepared to implement stricter measures should coronavirus be confirmed in Southeast Texas, officials said.

Anyone who wants to enter Beaumont Nursing and Rehabilitation, for example, now has to be checked for fever.

Their temperatures are documented on the sign-in sheet, activities director Octavia Walker said. We have restricted vendors from the building. Individuals cannot enter the building at all unless they are fever-free, have no sore throat or respiratory infection symptoms. If you have had to take medicine within 24 hours, such as Tylenol, Advil or aspirin, you cannot enter the facility.

Seniors, particularly those with underlying health conditions, are most vulnerable to the COVID-19 strain that has killed thousands worldwide.

The effort to protect seniors was reflected in Saturday mornings nearly empty parking lot at Jefferson Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, which is also restricting visitation. Buckner Retirement Services, which operates the Calder Woods retirement community, limited visitors to end-of-life situations and for essential well-being or care. It said the temporary visitation policy complies with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services guidelines.

Walker said her facility also takes cues from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

We have educated our staff, she said. We have taken all necessary precautions per the CDC. Our goal is to protect our residents and staff.

Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas is prepared to take extra precautions should a local confirmed case be reported, spokeswoman Mary Poole said.

All of the Houston hospitals are already taking these precautions because of the positive cases in their community, Poole said. Thats the nice thing. We can all follow the guidelines.

The Baptist hospital has begun limiting traffic in the most vulnerable and high-risk areas such as the neonatal intensive care units, labor and delivery, intensive care unit and the emergency department.

The hospital has already begun screening visitors and patients in the NICU and labor and delivery.

The hospitals website outlines protocols that would go into place if a case of COVID-19 is confirmed in the area. That includes dedicating the fifth floor of the north building for any patients who tests positive for the virus.

Poole said medical providers have increased communications with one another as confirmed cases have been reported closer to Jefferson County.

All of the medical facilities are working together, she said.

chris.moore@beaumontenterprise.com

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Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant



has said that his government would double the funds allocated to the Zilla Panchayats, which would be going to polls on March 22.

Addressing an election rally at Borim village in South Goa on Saturday, Sawant said the funds would be doubled after the polls.

"Zilla panchayat is an important institution. Empowering zilla panchayats will provide impetus to the rural development in the state. Our government has been focusing on rural development in a big way," he said.

Election for all the 50 ZP constituencies in Goa will be next Sunday. The BJP has fielded candidates in around 40 ZP constituencies. Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) have also thrown their hats in the ring.

Sawant said the "real Goans" still live in villages and they need to be served through the government-sponsored schemes.

The chief minister said the government led by him, which will soon complete a year in office, has been battling various issues concerning the state.

Sawant was sworn in as the chief minister of Goa on 19 March last year, following the death of Manohar Parrikar.

"We have been facing several issues, including ban on the mining activity and Mahadayi water dispute with Karnataka," he said.

He accused Congress leader and former chief minister Digambar Kamat, who is currently Leader of Opposition, of being responsible for problems like Mahadayi and mining.

"During his tenure, Kamat sold Mahadayi to Karnataka. He is also responsible for the mining crisis," Sawant alleged, referring to the M B Shah Commission's report, which had said that illegal mining to the tune of Rs 35,000 crore took place in Goa from 2005 to 2012.

The chief minister admitted that his government has failed to create jobs in the state in last one year.

"In the next two years, we will provide 8,000-10,000 government jobs to the youth through staff selection commission, besides providing 30,000-40,000 jobs in the private sector," he said.

He said a new law would be framed to make it compulsory for private industries to employ locals on priority.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Syracuse, N.Y. -- Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon will close schools at the end of Friday afternoon due to the coronavirus pandemic. For now, they will reopen April 14, he said.

If Onondaga County gets a COVID-19 case before then, then the schools will close Wednesday, McMahon said. All field trips, sporting events and any extracurricular activities are canceled as of now, McMahon said. Schools will be open until 4 p.m. Friday, McMahon said.

I fully support this decision, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh said. This gives us time to plan and prepare.

Soon after the announcement, three schools said they would close immediately: Fayetteville-Manlius, Jordan-Elbridge and Skaneateles.

McMahon also declared a state of emergency in Onondaga County. There are still no confirmed cases in Onondaga County. Twenty-six tests have come back as negative, McMahon said.

The decision to wait a week to close schools is to allow families and schools to prepare, McMahon said. Many students throughout the county only eat at schools and not at home, McMahon said. Plus, schools need to adjust to virtual learning. Parents need to adjust for daycare. Many parents work at hospitals, McMahon said. To have those healthcare workers at home could hamper the entire system, he said.

Parents can also keep their children home next week with no punishment about attendance. This will be a legal reason for absence," East Syracuse-Minoa Superintendent Dr. Donna J. DeSiato said.

Many schools already have computer devices that students can take home, she said. Others may have materials that go home with children. There are also plans to provide delivery or grab-and-go meals for students who qualify for free and reduced meals.

This is all uncharted territory, she said. Its a very rapidly evolving situation," adding that by April 14 officials will have more data to be able to make better decisions.

DeSiato said educators at the 23 districts in Onondaga County will work with needs about how to balance this time with schooling, work and family responsibilities. We will make it through this time, she said. We plan to make it through to graduation, she said.

Walsh also called on residents to step up. We all need to take care of each other here, Walsh said, adding that people should take care of the vulnerable.

McMahon and Walsh met with superintendents today, he said. DiSiato said she learned of the decision only hours ago. She said she supports it.

Every county is different, McMahon said, noting theres not a case within 60 miles of Onondaga County. This plan, he said, gives families, schools and especially parents who are healthcare workers the chance to prepare for having kids at home for at least two weeks.

The county executive also called on all county residents to help each other and limit shopping. When you do that, you create anxiety with your neighbors, he said.

The declaration of emergency allows county officials to buy more equipment and award contracts faster and easier, McMahon said. He said he might also make specific social distancing decisions going forward. For now, he said the county will follow the states orders to limit gatherings of more than 500. This is all evolving, he said.

Cayuga County and Monroe County announced today they would close schools starting Monday.

This is a breaking story. It will be updated.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 10:10:53|Editor: zyl

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BRAZZAVILLE, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The Republic of the Congo confirmed the country's first case of COVID-19 Saturday, authorities said.

The first case was confirmed after biological tests, said Thierry Moungalla, minister of communication and government spokesperson, on national television.

The 50-year-old patient, who is currently under the care of the health services, arrived in the country on March 1 from France, and his family was also isolated, according to a government statement.

The Congolese government called on the public to be vigilant and all travelers from high-risk countries to quarantine themselves for 14 days.

The search for those who had contact with the patient is underway, according to Moungalla.
Long lines and hours-long waits for medical screenings greeted travellers returning to some US airports on Sunday after the Trump administration imposed coronavirus-related travel restrictions.

The dense crowds on Saturday and Sunday at some of the 13 airports where travellers from Europe are being funnelled formed even as public health officials called for "social distancing" to stem the spread of the pandemic.

Lines were long at Chicago's O'Hare International, where Katy Rogers spent four hours in a tightly packed space with students, a basketball team, musicians and older people in wheelchairs.

"Everybody was nervous about it," she said. "Everyone working there was confused and frustrated."
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Linkedin Dyaning Pangestika (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 15, 2020 08:27 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206aaf179 1 World ACT,New-Delhi,riot,donation,India,citizenship-law,Narendra-Modi,sectarianism Free

Indonesian humanitarian organization Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT) has denied reports alleging it of sponsoring the recent deadly sectarian riots in the Indian capital of New Delhi surrounding the controversial citizenship law.

Indian media company indiatvnews.com reported on Thursday that the ACT had funded the violent riots.

It was said that the Indonesian NGO ACT tried to send Rs 25 lakh [US$33,802] to fund rioters through a Delhi-based organization. Reports also claim ACT is a highly radicalized Muslim organization. It provides money in the name of assistance to many Muslim countries, as written by indiatvnews.com.

The report also said the ACT had links to Hafiz Saeed, a firebrand cleric who has been declared a global terrorist by the United Stated and United Nations. It also alleged that the ACT had been involved in riots in Bangladesh and the establishment of Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh.

ACT supervisory council member Syuhelmaidi Syukur denied the allegations in a statement on Friday: As a humanitarian organization, we always maintain an independent stance upon implementing our programs. Our objective is to give humanitarian aid since it is our duty.

Regarding victims of the deadly riots in New Delhi, Syuhelmaidi said the organization had provided humanitarian aid to India since 2017. During the recent conflict, he claimed that the ACT had only delivered emergency supplies, such as clothing, food, water, medicine and financial aid.

Read also: Bukalapak denies allegations of supporting IS

Among the donations were hundreds of food packages and monetary aid for victims or families of New Delhi riot victims.

Our monetary aid recipients consist of victims whose houses have been damaged, widows who lost their children and people who lost their source of income due to the riots, said Syuhelmaidi.

The ACT, he went on to say, had reported its programs implementation through various media, including social and mass media. The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) had also awarded it the highest audit grade of unqualified opinion for 14 years straight.

Sporadic violence hit parts of the Indian capital of New Delhi as gangs roamed streets littered with the debris of days of sectarian riots that left more than 30 people dead, AFP reported.

The unrest is the latest bout of violence over Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's controversial citizenship law, which says that Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan are not eligible for citizenship, triggering months of demonstrations that turned deadly in December.
Prisons across the UK could be forced to release low-category inmates to control the spread of coronavirus across the British justice system.

General Secretary of the Prison Officers Association Steve Gillan this morning said that some prisoners across sites in the UK have already been forced to self-isolate within the prisons due to the virus.

So far in the UK there have been over 1,000 confirmed cases of the disease and 35 people have died and Mr Gillan said he wasn't aware of any prisoners across the system having tested positive but said that 75 were in isolation along with over 100 staff members.

It comes as leaked documents also showed that the police are currently drawing up plans to only investigate crimes involving loss of life if they become overwhelmed by the pandemic.

Speaking on Sophie Ridge on Sunday this morning, Mr Gillan was asked if the UK would introduce measures similar to that of places such as Iran, where the decision was made to release a small amount of prisoners.



'Not as yet, but previous governments have done executive release and it could come in the future to free up spaces, looking specifically at low risk category prisoners.

'For example, in category D there are about 4,000 prisoners, some are being isolated who have shown signs of the virus, no one to my knowledge has tested positive but they have been isolated in single cell.

'Staff as well, prison officers are sometimes not recognised for the valuable work we do, and this is a great opportunity to recognise how brave they are'.

He claimed he had also written to MP Robert Buckland offering him a round table meeting to discuss various options for the prison service, but said that he had not yet received a response.

According to The Sunday Times, army chiefs are also planning to deploy thousands of military police on the streets.

The move is said to have been discussed in order to prevent civil unrest. Armed forces will also be deployed to guard overcrowded hospitals and prisons.

Plans seen at the National Police Chiefs' Council last week indicated a traffic light system of red for 'severe' where 'demand was exceeding capacity'. With the worst case scenarios marked in black.

Such measures would focus on events and incidents to protect people across the UK under article 2 of the European convention on human rights.

Mr Gillan (pictured above) said more needed to be done to keep prisoners safe

Mr Gillan claimed that 75 prisoners were self isolating and that 113 staff members were also in self isolation

TROOPS ON STREETS TO FIGHT VIRUS Troops are to be deployed at hospitals and supermarkets By Glen Owen and Mark Nicol and Harry Cole for the Mail on Sunday Ministers have drawn up plans to put troops on the streets to help deal with the coronavirus crisis after the number of deaths almost doubled within 24 hours. In preparation for the worst-case scenario, defence sources told The Mail on Sunday that Army units were stepping up their training for public order roles  including the guarding of hospitals and supermarkets. The Royal Logistics Corps are preparing to be used to escort food convoys and the Royal Army Medical Corps is poised to build tented field hospitals next to care homes. Troops trained in chemical, biological and nuclear warfare will deep-clean empty public buildings in case they need to be turned in to hospitals or morgues. And the Army has also drawn up contingency plans to keep petrol stations topped up with fuel when the country reaches 'peak virus'. Defence sources told this newspaper that under the contingency plans, 38 military liaison officers would work with local councils to brief civil servants on how the Armed Forces could help combat the crisis. The most essential staff, such as RAF Typhoon pilots, would be quarantined at work to ensure the UK's continued protection and the SAS's stand-by squadron would be held in the UK, rather than be deployed overseas. If the crisis deepens, hundreds  possibly thousands  of troops could be deployed. Hundreds of members of the Armed Forces hold HGV licences and are trained in transporting hazardous loads such as fuel. Members of the Royal Military Police would also support local constabularies, while troops could also be used to drive ambulances and fire engines. Advertisement

Mr Gillan said discussions had not yet taken place as to whether or not other buildings may be used to house prisoners outside of the current facilities provided by the government.

It comes after 12 prisoners were left dead in jails across the country as violence and riots erupted.

16 prisoners also escaped while others also overdosed on drugs.

Mr Gillan added: 'We dont want a situation like Italy and communication with those in our care is paramount and we need to make sure everyone is safe.

'In the past when the prison service was overcrowded we had to get prison ships. The welfare of those in our care is paramount, we cant send prisoners home to self isolate.'

He added that there was 'no doubt in his mind' that the service needed more investment from the government.

'I dont want to make political points out of it but we are under re-sourced. In total 113 staff nationally and 75 prisoners are in isolation.'

Asked how prisoners with mental health issues would be assisted during this time he said there was also an increase in prisoners over 70 having mental health conditions.

'Of course no one wants to see disturbances like in Italy but thats why communication, proper screening and education is paramount.

'Things will get bad  but we need to prepare prisoners'.

As prisoners are primed for more guidance on the virus military personel are also said to be preparing to fill the holes of key public service workers.

This would include ambulance, police and fire units, the plans would be implemented if 20 per cent of staff were forced to be off work due to the virus.

In Italy troops were put on the streets and Simon Chesterman, a national spokesman on armed policing for the NPPC told the Times that more than 1,200 fire arms officers could be deployed along with 2,500 Ministry of Defence officers.

One chief constable also told The Times that he may be forced to try and call for military assistance if sickness rates across his force plummeted to less than 15 per cent.

Adding to Mr Gillan's concerns, one source also said that the way prisons are being run is also a major concern.

'Italy tried to stop coronavirus getting into their prisons and banned visitors, but the prisoners rioted.

'The military are required to help with prisons when the times comes, but we now have a very small military.
Facing mounting pressure, New York City officials announced on Sunday a sweeping shutdown of tens of thousands of bars and restaurants, and the closure of the citys public school system  the largest in the nation  in an effort to suppress the spread of the coronavirus.

From California to Washington, D.C., governors and mayors are grappling with how far government should go in constricting peoples daily lives to keep them home.

A patchwork of recent measures  mandatory curfews in Puerto Rico and Hoboken, N.J.; the closing of restaurant and bar dining rooms in Ohio and Illinois; and the closure of public schools in several states, including Minnesota, South Carolina and Rhode Island  was a sign that the restrictive interventions could soon become the norm nationwide.

New York provided another stark example on Sunday: Shortly before 10 p.m., Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city will close its bars and restaurants, except for delivery and pickup services, leaving waiters, bartenders and baristas uncertain about their next paycheck.
As virus-wary shoppers stayed home in the United States and Europe, apparel retailers braced for a blow to sales and a potential inventory glut. Some slashed orders at garment factories while others began discounting merchandise.

U.S. retailers including Macys Inc, Saks Fifth Avenue and Gap Inc.s Banana Republic sent notices to shoppers late Thursday saying they were open for business in a move to stem losses due to a steep decline in traffic.

In Europe, Zara owner Inditex said on Friday it would temporarily close stores in the areas of Spain worst affected by the coronavirus, including Madrid. In Italy, most shops were shuttered on Wednesday.

In New York, stores in some of the worlds most heavily visited shopping districts like Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue were practically empty on Friday despite pleas to customers.

Our stores are open for business and continue to be a safe place for you to shop, Saks President Marc Metrick said in an email to shoppers late Thursday.

Kohls Corp said it had experienced softer demand, especially in areas most affected by coronavirus. On Thursday, Gap Inc. said it expected a $100 million revenue hit this quarter due to the coronavirus outbreak.

LVMHs Sephora beauty chain, Ulta Beauty and MAC Cosmetics, owned by Estee Lauder Companies Inc, have all ordered employees to cancel makeovers of customers, to avoid touching faces with hands, which can spread the virus.

At specialty and fashion apparel stores in the United States, retail transaction velocity, a measure of sales, fell nearly 10% from Feb. 15 to March 9 from its year earlier level, according to a Customer Growth Partners LLC report.

In China, the worlds biggest apparel-buying market, consumer demand remains a major concern even as shoppers begin to venture out of quarantine.

No appetite

Further up the supply chain in Bangladesh, the worlds second-biggest apparel manufacturer after China, brands are asking for cuts in orders of up to 30% and seeking discounts, said Rubana Huq, head of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

Even as retailers begin to repair broken supply chains due to recently closed Chinese factories, they must now scramble to avoid a glut of unsold stock.

Our supply chain is not the issue and its not the concern. It is consumer demand in an environment where you have 80% of the stores being closed, Adidas Chief Executive Officer Kasper Rorsted told analysts on Wednesday.

Adidas, which makes nearly a third of its sales in Asia, said it would clear excess inventory in China by selling stock at a discount in outlet stores.

H&M said on Friday it was in close contact with its suppliers and evaluating the situation together with them.

I usually do shop half online and half in stores, but I am avoiding malls and stores for the last few weeks, said Sarah P., 42, of Rockville, Maryland, a legal assistant who requested that her last name not be used.

She said that prior to taking a break from going out and shopping, she spent most her dollars at Nordstrom Inc, Macys, J. Crew, Banana Republic, Sephora, and Zara stores.

It started because of flu and cold, but now it is non-negotiable with coronavirus. Too risky.

Luxury leather goods maker Salvatore Ferragamo, known for its Vara shoe and Ferragamo Studio bag, said it had started shifting products between regions.

Of course when the virus starts spreading everywhere that becomes much more difficult, Chief Financial Officer Alessandro Corsi told analysts on Tuesday, adding any discounts would be strategic so as not to tarnish the cachet of its star products.

The bottom line is that slump in demand for apparel and accessories that happened in China had now spread to the rest of the world said Siddiqur Rahman, a Dhaka-based garment exporter who supplies brands like H&M, C&A, Gap, Walmart and Mango.

There is no appetite for garments from European and American brands. Cities are locked down. Who will buy clothing? he said.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.)

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Ideas suggest that Vietnam should not offer free treatment for foreigners as it will cause financial burden.

Vietnam will charge foreigners who receive Covid-19 treatment in the country, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said at a recent meeting.

Ideas suggest that Vietnam should charge foreigners for Covid-19 treatment

The foreigners, however, will not have to pay fees for quarantine and testing, the PM said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Vietnam offers free treatment for its residents who are infected with the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), the PM affirmed.

Recently, a number of locals have expressed concerns about Vietnams free treatment and financial burden following the rising coronavirus cases of foreign patients.

Supporting ideas

Journalist Nguyen Cong Khe, former editor-in-chief of the Thanh Nien newspaper, wrote on Facebook that Vietnam seems to be becoming a shelter for foreigners who come to hide from the epidemic in their countries and benefit from free treatment.

A blogger was quoted by the Voice of America (VOA) as saying that he absolutely agreed with the PMs decision as the country will face an increase in the number of SARS-CoV-2 infections and foreigners form a major part. No need to cover all treatment costs for foreign patients in a poor country like Vietnam, even developed countries like the US or some European countries dont do that for their own residents, he said.

Doan Quang Viet, an admin of a webpage in South Korea (hanquocngaynay.info) living in Seoul said that Vietnam should charge foreign patients for Covid-19 treatment as the number of infected cases would rise ahead and cause financial burden for the government.

Pham Thi Oanh, a director of Mbluetourkorea Tourism Company in South Korea, was surprised at Vietnams free-of-charge quarantine for people coming from and traveling across epidemic-hit areas. She said that the huge number of people will cost the government a large amount of money.

Regional countries

Singapore from March 7 has charged all foreigners who are on short-term visit passes for their treatment for Covid-19 in the country, excluding the testing fee. The costs range between US$4,300 and US$5,800, Singaporean media quoted the Ministry of Health.

Thailand, meanwhile, has required a health/travel insurance with a minimum of US$100,000 cover in Thailand and a health certificate certifying they had no sickness related to Covid-19 in the past 14 days. The regulations are required for visitors from South Korea, China, Macao, Hong Kong, Italy, and Iran, according to Thai Airways.

Vietnam now has confirmed 53 cases infected with the new coronavirus, including 16 cured. Among those under the treatment, 13 are foreigners who include 10 Britons, one Irish, one Mexican, and one Czech.

Vietnam to test Covid-19 for visitors from Schengen countries

Vietnam has requested provincial governments to test all people coming from epidemic-hit countries and territories from March 14 for novel coronavirus detection.

Besides being quarantined for 14 days, those arriving in Vietnam from or through Schengen states will undergo Covid-19 tests for early detection, VnExpress quoted the National Steering Committee for the Prevention and Control of Covid-19 as saying.

It is expected that in the coming days, there will be an upsurge in the arrival of Vietnamese residing overseas who return to the home country from countries and territories hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The countries identified by Vietnam as epidemic-hit include 26 Schengen countries (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland), the UK, China, South Korea and Iran.

The National Steering Committee for Prevention and Control of Covid-19 has requested municipal governments to test all those returning from epidemic-hit countries and territories from March 14 for novel coronavirus infection.

Those testing positive for nCoV will get immediate treatment while others will be quarantined for 14 days.

The Ministry of Transport is responsible for timely checking the number of flights, passengers, their information and estimated landing time and airports of landing before informing other ministries and local authorities to prepare and manage quarantine zones.

Airlines have been instructed to inform their customers about Vietnams preventive measures and regulations.

The Ministry of Defense will arrange quarantine zones and transportation for people coming from or through these countries.

The Ministry of Public Security will speed up immigration procedures to prevent large concentration of people at the airports.

The People's Committee of Hanoi on March 14 also called on people coming from the epidemic-hit areas from March 1 to contact the health authorities for free nCoV testing.

As of March 15, the world recorded 157,233 infection cases in 148 countries and territories. Vietnam has detected 37 new cases over the past week, raising the total number so far to 53. Of them, 16 recovered and were discharged from hospital by February 26. Hanoitimes

Linh Pham/Anh Kiet
Zak Kirkup. Credit:Kate Hedley

Member for Dawesville and Shadow Health Minister Zak Kirkup has joined Member for Perth John Carey in setting up a volunteer-run scheme to help Mandurah's most vulnerable as the city copes with the impact of COVID-19.

"Mandurah has one of the most senior populations in the state," a statement posted to his website said.

"This means that during any COVID outbreak, there is going to be a number of older people who may need assistance. Many may be living independently or might not have family close by.

"I want to make sure that were looking out for everyone in our community, particular those who are older or have vulnerable health and might not be able to do as much due to the threat of coronavirus."

Mr Kirkup said his team would be ringing around those over the age of 65 in the area, and coordinating a team of volunteers to help them within the guidelines of the chief health officer.

Those interested in volunteering can sign up to help here.

Mr Kirkup has previously criticised the state government over failing to adequately respond to the coronavirus threat.

"People have a right to know in WA what's happening in our community when it comes to this so we can prepare and respond to it," he said last week.

"I don't understand why it took so much pushing from the media before we found out even a simple flight number.

"I don't think anyone in Western Australia would say they've done a good job thus far in communicating to us.

"We've got no doubt that on the ground, clinicians are doing the best job they can, but the reality is the government hasn't clearly communicated that and that's been a real issue."
As shoppers across the region flood grocery stores to stockpile food, toilet paper and cleaning goods as the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic grows, grocery store chains such as H-E-B, Walmart and others have had difficulty restocking. To make that task easier, officials in The Woodlands have issued an emergency waiver of the hours-of-deliveries restrictions that normally limit large truck drop-offs to late night hours.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston-area grocers rush to restock as coronavirus-related demand spikes

Walter Lisiewski, chairman of The Woodlands Township Development Standards Committee said on Saturday he had made the emergency decision on Friday night after consultation with various officials as well as Hennie Van Rensburg, the townships covenant enforcement director.

The 30-day lifting of the delivery restrictions will allow grocery stores to have large truck deliveries at any time of the day in order to help keep pace with the depletion of supplies of meat, frozen foods, toilet paper, cleaning and disinfecting supplies and other items residents are hoarding as the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic continues.

It began (Friday). I received an email stating that the stores were having problems restocking quickly because of delivery hour (restrictions) being enforced by the village center owners. Howard Hughes (Corp.) has indicated that they would relax the warranty deed restrictions regarding delivery hours if the township would agree, Lisiewski said. I wrote back, in light of the issues facing the community with COVID-19, I had no issues removing the warranty deed restrictions governing delivery hours for the next 30 days. After 30 days, or sooner, we can revisit it at that time. If things change, well put things back in place. If it doesnt, well have to revisit it again.

The Woodlands, one of the oldest master-planned communities in the nation, has a complex relationship with The Woodlands Development Co., a subsidiary of the Howard Hughes Corp., which developed most of the community. The Woodlands Development Co. has decades-old warranty deed restrictions that set guidelines for building usage and also other aspects of commercial business like the hours of deliveries.

The restrictions, now lifted until April 12, were developed to limit traffic issues big trucks may create at rush hour or to reduce noise pollution at those stores near residential areas.

Lisiewski said hed been to local grocery stores in The Woodlands over the past several days and he was surprised by how barren shelves were.

I was in the store tonight, the shelves were bare of meat and lots of other things, Lisiewski added. (Restocking faster was) Was the whole reasoning on relaxing the restrictions. I walked back to the meat section and there is hardly anything in the section; some of the other aisles I looked down, like canned goods and others, were empty.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Heres how to stock your pantry and fridge for coronavirus quarantine

Due to the onslaught of shoppers snapping up essentials, grocery chains like Kroger, Walmart and H-E-B have changed their hours of operation to be closed longer in an effort to allow staff to rest and have time off, clean stores more thoroughly and restock goods faster and more frequently.

Lisiewski said the previously scheduled March 18 meeting of the DSC has been canceled. The seven-member committee, which at the moment only has six members following the sudden resignation of Bala Iyer, will meet again in early April.

jeff.forward@chron.com
At least 289 passengers of a Dubai-bound flight were offloaded at the airport on Sunday shortly before takeoff after a UK among them tested positive for novel coronavirus, official sources said.

The passenger belonged to a group of 19 holidaying in the hill resort town of Munnar in Kerala and was under surveillance, a Cochin International Airport Limited spokesman said.

He joined the group to reach the Kochi airport without informing authorities in Munnar, he said.

When the test result came, the authorities came to know that he was at the Kochi airport and travelling by an Emirates flight.

Firstly, it was decided to offload all 19 passengers of his group, he said.

"Now, it is decided to offload the remaining 270 pax also and send them to hospital for further investigation", the spokesman said.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday said that he spoke to former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah and welcomed him after his release from detention.

"Spoke to Farooq Abdullah Ji on phone to welcome him back on his release from long detention and was happy to find him in good cheer. Hope his release is an important step towards an enduring and amicable resolution of the issue," Singh tweeted.

Conference leader and former Union Minister Farooq Abdullah, was on Friday released after being in detention for several months.

After his release, Abdullah told media persons: "Today I don't have words. I am free today. Now, I will be able to go to Delhi and attend Parliament and speak for you all."

He had said that he was grateful to the people of the state and all leaders and the 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 Government of India will take action to release everyone," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
PARADISE, Calif.- Paradise Police arrested two individuals Saturday night who they say vandalized property with graffiti known as tagging and for being associated with gang activity.



On Saturday, March 14 at approximately 6:44 p.m., Paradise Police Officials say their officers responded to the 6100 Block of Center Street on a report of two subjects vandalizing property at the location. Officers contacted witnesses in the area who described two male subjects spray painting a wall at the location.

Police say witnesses also provided officers with photographs and videos of the subjects defacing the property. Police say prior to arrival, the subjects fled the location in a white Nissan SUV. Officers located fresh spray-paint graffiti on a free-standing wall. The graffiti was consistent with gang activity also known as "Tagging."

Officials say a short time later, an officer located the vehicle on Skyway near Bille Road and conducted a traffic stop. Officers contacted the occupants, identified as Ceaser Gonzalez and Jose Uriarte, both Chico residents. A records check revealed both subjects were on Butte County Probation and officers conducted a search of the vehicle.

Police say their officers located numerous cans of spray paint, marker pens and other items which confirmed witness statements and evidence. It was further discovered Gonzalez was a known street gang member from the Chico area.

Officials say both subjects were placed under arrest for numerous violations related to the incident and booked into the Butte County Jail. The vehicle was impounded.
Longtime harness racing industry participant John Brennan passed away on Tuesday, March 10 at the age of 69.

According to harnessracing.com, Brennan was admitted to a New Jersey hospital last Friday (March 6) and was tested for coronavirus. SOA of NY President Joe Faraldo told Harness Racing Update that Brennan passed "due to coronavirus, which [sic] exasperated existing health problems."

A story posted on NJ.com Tuesday confirmed that a 69-year-old man who travelled back and forth to New York a lot had become the first person in the state to succumb to the virus.

A native of Rockaway Beach, N.Y., Mr. Brennan finished school in 1968 and worked as a steamfitter for four years before he began his career in harness racing in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

He trained horses for more than 40 years, racing stables in New York and New Jersey. He won the 1995 Merrie Annabelle with Missy Will Do It and was part-owner and trainer of Sugar Trader, winner of the 2003 Yonkers Trot and runner-up in the 2003 Hambletonian.

A director of the USTA for 23 years and chairman of District 12, Brennan was on the board of the SOA of New York for more than 30 years and an HHI delegate for more than 20 years.

At the time of his death, he was the horsemens representative at Yonkers Raceway.

A full obituary will be posted when available.

UPDATE

Brennans family has since sent out a statement on Johns passing. He contents of the statement appear below.

On March 10, 2020, a shining light went dim. John Brennan, beloved brother, uncle and great-uncle, passed away as a direct result of COVID-19. John was loved and adored by people all throughout the country. Due to the severity of the virus, and in an abundance of caution, funeral arrangements have not been made at this time. Per recommendations, a mass will be held in the definite future, once the spread of the virus calms. We will allow people enough time to plan accordingly. Thank you for your love, support and compassion during this most difficult time.

The adoring family of John Brennan.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of John Brennan.

(with files from USTA and harnessracing.com)
Tuesday night, Mt. Pleasant City Clerk Jeremy Howard said that he didnt know how many people registered to vote on Tuesday before casting a ballot, but that his office had processed them throughout the day.

Wednesday, he put a number to it: 33 people registered and then voted.

Same-day registration was one of the rights extended to voters under Proposal 3, a constitutional amendment that expanded access to the ballot approved by voters in 2018. Media reports from around the state said that in college towns that people were lining up to register and then vote, leading to long wait times and in at least one precinct more voters than ballots.

It wasnt the first election that Proposal 3 played a role. Another of the provisions eliminated the need for voters requesting an absentee ballot to provide a reason. Its a form of early voting in which voters can cast ballots well before the election without leaving their homes.

It was felt in localized elections throughout 2019, including the city election where voters elected two members of the city commission  Mary Alsager and George Ronana  and rejected a voter initiative on marijuana.

But no-reason absentees loomed large Tuesday for a couple of reasons. The first, was that participation by absentee ballot was, in Howards words, a dramatic increase over the 2016 primary.

More than a quarter  25.96 percent  of all ballots cast across the city were absentee ballots this year, up from 14.21 percent in 2016.

But the real eye-opener comes in terms of raw votes against raw votes. The biggest difference between 2016 and 2020 is that in 2016, both parties had contested primary contests during the Michigan primary. This year, while there were other Republicans on the ballot, it was for practical purposes a one-person show, incumbent President Donald Trump.

Some Republicans did turn out to vote for Trump and participate in non-partisan millage request races, but in the city of Mt. Pleasant that number was dwarfed by people voting in a hotly contested Democratic primary between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.

Sanders won in Mt. Pleasant 1,423-1,252 (Trump received 487 votes). In terms of what role absentee ballots played, the process goes as follows: a clerk sends an application for an absentee ballot to a voter on a list that office maintains. The person who receives the application can fill it out and send it back or apply for one another way. The ballot is mailed out, and the clerk counts votes on Election Day.

For this years primary, 960 applications were sent, 991 voters applied for ballots overall, 991 ballots were mailed out and 911 ballots were returned. In 2016, Howards office mailed 525 applications, 440 voters applied for absentee ballots, 440 applications were mailed out and 411 completed ballots were returned to his office. Thats an increase of 83 percent, 126 percent for the next two steps and a 122 percent in absentee ballots cast.

Some of those ballots returned were for candidates who dropped out. For instance, Elizabeth Warren dropped of the race the Wednesday before the primary but still received 64 votes.

Theres no way of knowing whether those votes were cast before she dropped out or were cast by die-hard Warren supporters. But voters who cast votes for candidates who dropped out were allowed to spoil their ballot and cast new ones.

By Tuesday, 54 voters had spoiled their ballots and cast new votes.

READ MORE:
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 15

Trend:

Charter flights will be launched on March 15, 2020 to return Azerbaijani citizens from Turkey, since mutual trips of Turkish and Azerbaijani citizens by air and land have been temporarily suspended to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Trend reports.

Two flights from Turkey and Azerbaijan and two more from Azerbaijan to Turkey will be performed on March 15.

TK 332 IST-GYD - 08:55 only for Azerbaijani citizens

TK 334 IST-GYD - 16:00 only for Azerbaijani citizens

TK 333 GYD-IST - 13:45 only for Turkish citizens

TK 335 GYD-IST - 20:50 only for Turkish citizens

XXX

01:35

Additional information on the mechanism of returning Azerbaijani citizens from Turkey will be provided, since mutual trips of Turkish and Azerbaijani citizens by air and land have been temporarily suspended to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers told Trend.

Reportedly, charter flights will be launched for the return of Azerbaijan citizens from Turkey. Those returning from Turkey will be screened and, if necessary, will be quarantined for 14-28 days.
In order to justify the effort of selecting individual stocks, it's worth striving to beat the returns from a market index fund. But its virtually certain that sometimes you will buy stocks that fall short of the market average returns. We regret to report that long term Jardine Cycle & Carriage Limited (SGX:C07) shareholders have had that experience, with the share price dropping 50% in three years, versus a market return of about -11%. And more recent buyers are having a tough time too, with a drop of 32% in the last year. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 26% in the last three months. Of course, this share price action may well have been influenced by the 18% decline in the broader market, throughout the period.

View our latest analysis for Jardine Cycle & Carriage

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

Although the share price is down over three years, Jardine Cycle & Carriage actually managed to grow EPS by 7.9% per year in that time. This is quite a puzzle, and suggests there might be something temporarily buoying the share price. Or else the company was over-hyped in the past, and so its growth has disappointed.

It's worth taking a look at other metrics, because the EPS growth doesn't seem to match with the falling share price.

We note that the dividend seems healthy enough, so that probably doesn't explain the share price drop. It's good to see that Jardine Cycle & Carriage has increased its revenue over the last three years. But it's not clear to us why the share price is down. It might be worth diving deeper into the fundamentals, lest an opportunity goes begging.

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

Story continues

SGX:C07 Income Statement, March 15th 2020

We know that Jardine Cycle & Carriage has improved its bottom line lately, but what does the future have in store? So we recommend checking out this free report showing consensus forecasts

What About Dividends?

It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. As it happens, Jardine Cycle & Carriage's TSR for the last 3 years was -45%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

A Different Perspective

We regret to report that Jardine Cycle & Carriage shareholders are down 30% for the year (even including dividends) . Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 15%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 7.9% 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. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Jardine Cycle & Carriage that you should be aware of.

But note: Jardine Cycle & Carriage 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 SG 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.
People in Spain staged a show of support for the country's doctors and nurses late Saturday to thank them for their efforts to protect the population from the coronavirus.

Residents of apartment blocks in Madrid and Barcelona came out onto their balconies and applauded. Some let off fireworks.

The tribute came in response to calls on social media for people to express their appreciation to Spain's medical professionals.

It followed Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's nationally televised address where he detailed a battery of exceptional measures to combat the spread of the virus.

All schools and universities have been closed, along with restaurants, bars, hotels and other non-essential retail businesses.

The number of infections has climbed past 5,700 in Spain, with half of them reported in the capital, Madrid.

That represents a national increase of over 1,500 in 24 hours and makes Spain the country with the fifth-highest number of cases.

The country reported 136 deaths on Saturday, up from 120 the previous day.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms.

For some, it can cause more severe illness, especially in older adults and people with existing health problems.
Lucknow, March 15 : The second confirmed case of coronavirus has been reported from Lucknow.

A 20-year-old man, resident of Indiranagar, was shifted to the isolation ward of the King George's Medical University (KGMU), on Saturday morning after the lab test confirmed the virus.

D. Himanshu, in-charge, Isolation Unit of the KGMU said that the patient was first admitted to in the isolation ward of the Civil Hospital on Friday night after health officials came to know that he came in close contact with the female doctor, who had tested positive on Wednesday and is, at present, undergoing treatment at the KGMU.

The 35-year-old woman, a doctor by profession, had come to Lucknow along with her doctor husband from Canada on March 1 and was living at her parents' house in Gomti Nagar.

The authorities had tested her husband as well as eight family members and two others with whom she had been in contact with during the stay.

All were found to be negative, but have been advised isolation at home for at least 15 days.

Later, 22 others who met the family and couple during this period were also traced and their swab samples were sent for testing one after another. They included the man who has now been tested positive.

The remaining 21 have been found negative but asked to isolate themselves for at least two weeks.

"We will now also test all those who have been in contact with the man," said Narendra Agarwal, chief medical officer, Lucknow.

"Besides, the health department has constituted 150 teams to undertake sanitisation, screening and awareness activities in Indira Nagar and Gomti Nagar areas", said nodal officer, communicable diseases, Vikasendu Agarwal.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Sunday the impact of the coronavirus pandemic was producing a "slowdown" in the American economy but that he did not expect a full-blown recession. Asked by an ABC interviewer if the country was already in recession, he replied, "I don't think so." "We're clearly going to have a slowdown," Mnuchin said, while adding that "later in the year, obviously the economic activity will pick up as we confront this virus." Peter Navarro, a top trade adviser to President Donald Trump, separately told the Fox Business network that "I think the decisions we make over the next week or two will determine whether we have a significant downturn or not." Several experts have predicted that the consequences of the far-reaching pandemic -- which has led to temporary business closings, travel bans and cancellations and a slowdown in consumer activity -- are likely to plunge the US into recession. For Mnuchin, however, "The real issue is what economic tools are we going to use to make sure we get through this. Because this is a unique situation. We have a situation where travel has been grinding to a halt." He said he was in continuing talks with Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives, about ways to support airlines, hotels, cruise lines and small and medium companies, by providing greater liquidity and some type of stimulus. - Intense negotiations - The House early Saturday overwhelmingly approved a series of measures aimed at alleviating the impact of the virus on the country's economy, following days of intense discussions between administration officials and Democratic leaders in Congress. Mnuchin said he had also been in talks with Federal Reserve officials ahead of their regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday and Wednesday. "They have certain tools. We have certain tools. Certain tools were taken away that I'm going to go back to Congress and ask for. "And again, we are fully coordinated," Mnuchin insisted, despite Trump's vocal criticism Saturday of the way Fed chief Jerome Powell has responded to the crisis. Mnuchin was also asked about a special website being developed by a Google subsidiary, Verily, to help ordinary Americans determine whether they should be tested for the coronavirus and, if so, how they can go about it. Trump said Friday that Google had made "tremendous progress" on developing the site and that it would be ready "very quickly." Google reportedly was blindsided by that announcement, and the following day Verily said the project was "in the early stages of development," and needed to be tested in the San Francisco area before being expanded more widely "over time." US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin speaking during a White House press briefing about the coronavirus on March 14, 2020; he expects an economic slowdown but no recession
Taking a strong pitch for SAARC nations to jointly combat coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 15 proposed setting up a COVID-19 emergency fund with India committing USD 10 million initially for it, and asserted that the best way to deal with the pandemic was by coming together, and not growing apart.

Apart from Modi, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza, participated in the video conference.

The underlying message of the video conference was unitedly taking on the pandemic, but Pakistan used the occasion to raise Kashmir, with Mirza calling for the "lockdown" to be eased in Jammu and Kashmir to deal with the coronavirus threat.

In a significant message, Modi asserted that it was important for the SAARC member countries to work together and said the region can best respond to the coronavirus pandemic by "coming together, not growing apart".

Modi said it was important to focus on collaboration, not confusion, and preparation, not panic.

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

Mirza, in his remarks, also hailed China for its efforts to deal with the coronavirus and urged other SAARC nations to learn best practices from it.

After initial remarks by the leaders, Prime Minister Modi made a series of suggestions which were hailed by the SAARC leaders and representatives.

"I propose we create a COVID-19 Emergency Fund. This could be based on voluntary contributions from all of us. India can start with an initial offer of 10 million US dollars for this fund," Modi said.

"We are assembling a Rapid Response Team of doctors and specialists in India, along with testing kits and other equipment. They will be on stand-by, to be placed at your disposal, if required," Modi told the SAARC leaders.

India had set up an Integrated Disease Surveillance Portal to better trace possible virus carriers and the people they contacted and it could share this disease surveillance software with SAARC partners, Modi said.

"Looking ahead, we could create a common research platform, to coordinate research on controlling epidemic diseases within our South Asian region. The Indian Council of Medical Research can offer help coordinating such an exercise," he said.

In his opening address, Modi said the South Asian region has reported less than 150 coronavirus cases, but "we need to remain vigilant".

"Prepare, but don't panic" has been India's guiding mantra in dealing with coronavirus outbreak, he said.

"We started screening people entering India from mid-January itself, while gradually increasing restrictions on travel," Modi said.

Step-by-step approach helped avoid panic and India made special efforts to reach out to vulnerable groups, he said.

India also responded to the call of its people abroad and evacuated nearly 1,400 Indians from different countries, he said.

Modi also said India helped some citizens of neighbouring countries by evacuating them from coronavirus-hit nations.

Maldivian President Solih backed coordinated approach to deal with COVID-19, asserting that no country can deal with the situation alone.

Lankan President Rajapaksa said SAARC leaders should formulate mechanism to help the economies of the region to tide over problems posed by coronavirus.

He also proposed setting up a SAARC ministerial-level group to deal with issues related to coronavirus.

Hasina hailed PM Modi's suggestions to deal with the pandemic and called for taking the initiative forward by more such video conferences, including one with health ministers of SAARC nations participating.

"Our collective efforts will help us devise a sound and robust strategy for SAARC region to fight coronavirus," Nepal PM Oli said.

Bhutanese PM Lotay Tshering said that it was mportant for all countries of the region to be on same page to combat coronavirus.

Mirza, in his initial remarks, said no nation can afford to be unresponsive to situation in wake of coronavirus outbreak.

"We share common regional concerns on COVID-19. While hoping for best, we have to prepare for worst," the Pakistan PM's Special Assistant on Health said.

Modi on Friday had proposed formulation of a joint strategy by the SAARC nations to fight coronavirus, a suggestion that was backed by all the member states.

Calling on the SAARC nations to set an example for the world, Modi had reached out to the eight-member regional grouping and pitched for a video-conference among its leaders to chalk out a strong strategy to fight coronavirus, which has killed more than 5,000 people globally.

His appeal got a prompt response from Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister Oli, Bhutanese premier Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Hasina and the Afghan government, all of whom welcomed the proposal.

Pakistan's response to the proposal came in after the rest, with the country's Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui saying Mirza will be available to participate in the video-conference.
Gwyneth Paltrow is one of the most controversial celebrities on the internet. Most of the time, the controversies are rooted in the effectiveness of the products she sells. Experts have accused her website, Goop, of promoting pseudoscience.

More recently, Paltrow sparked controversy for her perceived elitism. She posted advertisements for expensive clothing during the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19). And critics found her post tone-deaf.

Gwyneth Paltrow attending a screening of a documentary in Los Angeles | Rachel Murray/Getty Images

Gwyneth Paltrows controversial Instagram post

On March 13, 2020, Paltrow posted an image of herself modeling clothes. The image was captioned: Most days youll find GP wearing G.Label with a pair of sneakerswhich is one reason we make it an annual tradition to put together a fresh sneaker guide each year. Get ready to cover some serious ground (run, dont walk). Paltrows tan skirt was worth $450 while her white sneakers cost $425.

Maybe the reception of this post would be different during another time. Celebrities often wear expensive clothing on Instagram, and nobody bats an eye. However, we are living through a dangerous outbreak.

Thus, some people found Paltrows post insensitive. During this time, many people around the world are more concerned about spending money on supplies than buying a $425 pair of sneakers.

Did Paltrow or her company regret the post? Paltrow has not commented on the controversy and neither has Goop. However, the post was deleted following the immense backlash.

Gwyneth Paltrow attending a party in Dallas, Texas | Layne Murdoch Jr./Getty Images for goop

How Gwyneth Paltrow affected some peoples response to the coronavirus

Numerous celebrities have commented on the coronavirus in some way. Many have given their fans instructions on how to remain safe. And Paltrow seems to have discussed the outbreak, too.

The New Zealand Herald reported Paltrow had an effect on how some people reacted to the pandemic. Paltrow posted a picture of herself wearing a black face mask made by the Swedish company Airinum. The masks are worth between $100 and $475 in New Zealand. And thanks to Paltrow and other celebrities who posted photos of themselves wearing the masks, they sold out.

The World Health Organization has stressed that face masks are not necessary for everyone during this outbreak. Only those who have symptoms, are taking care of the infected, or are otherwise vulnerable to infection should consider wearing maks. But this instruction has not stopped many healthy people from wearing masks to make themselves feel safer.

On Instagram, Paltrow wrote, Paranoid? Prudent? Panicked? Placid? Pandemic? Propaganda? Paltrows just going to go ahead and sleep with this thing on the plane.

She also said shes seen this movie before. She was likely referencing her 2011 film Contagion, which is about a viral outbreak. Fans have been scrutinizing the film for the similarities between its plot and current events. Who would have thought a global catastrophe would result in Contagions resurgence?

Also see: Justin Bieber Changes a Major Tour Due to Coronavirus & Low Sales
Some men with trans women keep them in the shadows. Im lucky Max doesnt care

Juno Dawson has had a long, often heartbreaking struggle to become the woman she always knew she was. But she never dared to dream shed find a man whod love that woman. Eimear OHagan hears the story of a thoroughly modern romance

With just three months to go before they marry, Juno Dawson and her fiance Max Gallant are brimming with excitement as they discuss their wedding plans. The venue  an artists former home in the South Downs National Park  is booked, a vintage Vivienne Westwood gown hangs in Junos wardrobe and the guest list has been drawn up, ready for invitations to be posted.

Just one aspect of this visibly besotted pairs day sets them apart from thousands of other couples who will say I do this summer. When Juno walks down the aisle on her fathers arm, it will be a major milestone in the journey shes been on for the past nine years, which has seen her transition from the male body she was born in, to becoming a trans woman.

Before I transitioned, I wasnt interested in marriage, says Juno, 38, a bestselling novelist and journalist. I was really uncomfortable with any sort of traditional boy role and being a groom is one of the most gendered roles we place on any human. But after I began this journey in 2011, when I thought about being a bride it made much more sense, in the same way all of my life made more sense to me then.

For Max, 26, who proposed last November with a platinum and diamond ring at their home in Worthing, West Sussex, whats important is marrying the Juno he met 18 months ago, not the person she was in the past.

I would always have fallen in love with Juno, no matter when we had met, he says. But Im glad it happened at a time when we can live our life together, and love one another openly. Ive known since before I met her she was a trans woman, as she put it on her dating profile, but its just not something that matters to me.

Juno was 30 when she made the decision to begin transitioning, but there were clues long before that she was in the wrong body. When I was really young I used to ask when I would turn into a girl. I loved Barbie dolls and always had to be Daphne from Scooby-Doo when I played with my friends. But it went much further than that. When I imagined myself as a teenager or adult, it was always as a female. My internal vision of myself was never as a boy.

My parents took me to a doctor because they were concerned what I was saying wasnt normal. Nowadays its more likely a professional would question if I was transgender, but this was Bradford in the 1980s and there just wasnt the same awareness and education there is today. As I got older, I learned to hide those feelings because I was made fun of.

Aged 12, Juno came to the conclusion that she was gay after realising she was attracted to men. I fell in love with the actor Dean Cain, who played Superman in the 90s TV series at the time. It was a weight off my shoulders because Id struggled to see a future, not sure of who I really was. But at least now I could imagine love in my life, and I was excited. I came out to some friends when I was 15 and to my mum when I was 20, although she already knew. In fact, it was she who initiated the conversation.

Although she felt shed found her place, living as a gay man, Juno wasnt completely content. There was a sense of belonging and community. I knew who I fancied, could go on dates and have relationships, fulfilling that very human need to find love. But I couldnt stop the what if thoughts. If I was a girl I could do this, or go out with him. They were present in my mind through my teens and 20s. I figured out my sexuality very young  I like men and have never had a relationship with a woman  but what I didnt realise then is that sexuality and gender are two completely different concerns.

'It was more important to be Juno than to have a boyfriend'

Then Juno had her lightbulb moment. I was writing a book and for my research met lots of gay, bi and transgender people. Speaking to the trans women and trans men, they were retelling my childhood back to me. I could see all my thoughts and feelings in them. It hit me that my childhood experiences were more consistent with trans people than gay people.

I told friends, who were incredibly supportive, and urged me to see a professional  which I did. But telling her parents that she was transitioning was a far harder conversation than coming out as gay. They had assumed I was gay before I told them, whereas they didnt expect this at all. Although, once my mum had dealt with the shock, she did say she probably should have seen it coming after Id asked her, aged three, Am I a girl?

Juno has now had all her surgery (including a nose job and facial feminisation) but will continue to take hormone replacement therapy for life. She refuses to discuss whether she has had gender reassignment surgery, which changes genitalia from one gender to another. I always call it the Dame Judi Dench test, she laughs. Would you ask about her vagina?

Before meeting Max, a retail manager, Juno had relationships with mixed success. Some were lovely and we remain friends. But there were others for whom the attraction was the fact I am a trans woman, fulfilling some fantasy or curiosity on their part. A year before I met Max, I went on a date with a man who I later discovered had used a fake name and was married with a child. When I confronted him about it, he threatened to throw acid in my face. Its a huge regret of mine that I didnt report him to the police, she says.

When I began my transition, I didnt know of a trans woman in a successful relationship with a man so I didnt know if that would ever happen for me, but it was more important to be Juno than to have a boyfriend.

Like many modern couples, Juno and Max met on the dating app Tinder, in July 2018. I was drawn to Junos profile because shed written a bit about herself, whereas a lot of people just post photos and its impossible to get a sense of who they are, says Max. Ive only ever been attracted to women and she said she liked books, disliked mushrooms and that she was trans  so I wanted to get to know her.

They arranged to meet for a drink in Hove, East Sussex, where Juno lived at the time, but she admits she set off for their first date with fairly low expectations. I was excited about meeting this tall, handsome man with a big beard but Id also just finished dating someone whod completely wasted three months of my life. Its fair to say I was a bit jaded.

But that first date led to a second the very next day and, after a months separation when Juno flew to Australia and New Zealand for work, they reunited and havent looked back, buying a home together last year.

For Juno and Max, the meet-the-family milestone carried extra significance. I introduced Juno to my family within a couple of months of meeting her, says Max. Id already told them she was a trans woman and it wasnt an issue for them. Although some people would worry about their familys reaction, I knew they would support my relationship, especially once they met her and saw how great she is.

Juno and Max met on Tinder in 2018 and got engaged in November last year

Junos family also approve. They really respect how he has treated me, she says. He has committed and hasnt messed me around. When Max told his parents he was dating a trans woman I was worried as you never know how people will react. But I really admired his no-fuss approach, getting it out of the way quickly. His family has been so lovely and chilled about it, as have his friends.

We are not unique but there are men out there who want to be with trans women and keep them in the shadows. Im lucky to have found a man who doesnt care. When Max and I are out in public we are treated like any other couple. Its been around four years since anyone got my gender wrong.

Max and Juno first discussed marriage just five months after meeting but got engaged last November, when Max presented Juno with a ring theyd chosen together. Weve set the date in June and are having a very relaxed, humanist ceremony, says Juno. In the eyes of the law, their marriage will be viewed as between a man and a woman, after she gained a Gender Recognition Certificate.

I had to send evidence to the Gender Recognition Panel, including sign-off from the doctor who treated me at the gender clinic. Then all my previous documents were destroyed and I was issued with a new birth certificate. For legal purposes, I was never male and never called my old name.

For Juno, meeting Max has brought her happiness and a sense of serenity she was missing. Im not searching any more. I spent years looking for bliss in all the wrong places. Now Im with a man I love as the gender I was meant to be. I feel at peace.

Juno donated her fee for this feature to the Mermaids charity (mermaidsuk.org.uk). Hair and make-up: Annelie Bystrom at House of Juba using Nars and Maria Nila.
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Trumps doctor said that Trump, who potentially been exposed to coronavirus multiple times, has tested negative for the virus.

Here is the letter released by Trumps doctor:

If any other president had released a letter like this, their word would have been accepted at face value, but Donald Trump has destroyed his credibility by telling nearly 20,000 lies while in office, so everything that is released by the White House should be taken with a heavy dose of skepticism.

Trump has refused to release his medical records, made a strange and still unexplained and unplanned trip to Walter Reed, and had his previous physician lie about his physical health. Trump also wrote the letter that was released by his former doctor during the campaign himself.

Donald Trump has a long record of lying about his health, so there is no reason to accept his claim that he tested negative for coronavirus based on a note from his doctor.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
Meghan Markle's estranged brother Tom has urged the duchess to 'get off her high horse' and grant her father Thomas his 'dying wish' of meeting his grandson Archie.

Thomas Markle Jr, 54, spoke out to encourage the former actress, 38, to call her dad - claiming the 75-year-old is 'frustrated' by his inability to reach his daughter and 'only has a few good years left'.

He went on to predict that 'divorce is on the cards' for Meghan and Prince Harry - claiming his estranged sister will end up back Hollywood 'one way or the other'.

In another cutting remark, he said Meghan was just 'a character in a series' and 'not an A-list actress'.

Thomas Markle Jr told the Express: 'Meghan should actually just seriously get off her high horse, call her father, make amends.'

Meghan Markle's estranged brother Tom has called on his sister to 'get off her high horse' and grant Thomas Markle his 'dying wish' of meeting her son Archie. Meghan is pictured as a teenager with her father

The Duchess of Sussex, 38, was urged by her estranged brother to 'call her father'. She is pictured at the Royal Albert Hall in London last weekend

Thomas Markle Jr, 54, (pictured) said their father is getting 'frustrated' by his inability to reach his daughter and fears he'll 'blow off' the rest of his life if he's never able to contact her again

After apologising for the part he played in the recent turmoil that tore his family apart, he went on to insist that Meghan needs to contact her 'bewildered' father.

'My dad's dying wish, he tells me on the phone, is just so he can just make amends and see Archie. And have his daughter back in his life  I mean, we owe him that,' he said.

'He is so frustrated because he can't get a message to her. He is still bewildered, he is still lost, he is getting frustrated now to where he is just going to enjoy the rest of his life and he is just going to blow it off.'

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they were stepping down as senior members of the Royal Family in January and completed their final engagements in the UK last week.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they were stepping down as senior members of the Royal Family in January and completed their final engagements in the UK last week. Pictured at the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey

Tom Markle Jr has predicted that Meghan will return to acting, after she left her role in TV legal drama Suits ahead of her marriage to Prince Harry, 35. She is pictured as Rachel Zane in the series

While not much about their new life in North America has been confirmed, Tom has predicted that Meghan will definitely make a return to acting, after she left her role in the TV legal drama Suits ahead of her marriage to Prince Harry, 35.

Thomas Jr added that working on Suits 'changed' Meghan and 'went to her head'.

He also called their decision to give up being part of the Royal Family 'mind-boggling' and predicted the couple will suffer under the strain of Meghan's desire to be 'in the limelight'.

Thomas Jr added that he hopes they are 'madly in love' but claimed Harry has 'changed quite a bit' and they are both drastically changing their lives to 'suit her'.

'She walks in front of Harry. God forbid this ever happened, we really don't want to see Harry wallowing in the corner of a room with a bottle of gin,' he said.

Thomas Markle's relationship with Meghan broke down ahead of her wedding to Harry in May 2018, when it emerged he had posed for a paparazzi photographer.

Thomas Markle Jr said Meghan's father's dying wish is to be able to meet his grandson Archie (pictured with Harry and Meghan on the day of his birth)

In an extraordinary Channel 5 film released last month, Meghan's father revealed the details of his last phone call with the Sussexes on the eve of their wedding, saying the decision to plan the photos will 'haunt me for the rest of my life'.

He said: 'Harry said to me, "If you had listened to me, this wouldn't have happened to you." I said to him, "It's too bad I didn't die because then you guys could pretend you were sad" and then I hung up on them. I was done.'

Thomas said he has not spoken to them since or met Archie, despite sending texts and letters, and added: 'I don't think at this point they're thrilled to see me or want to talk to me. The last time they might see me is being lowered into the ground.'

In the 90-minute documentary, a visibly crestfallen Thomas described having to watch his daughter Meghan walk down the aisle on television as he recovered from a heart attack.

He admitted he was 'jealous' of the Prince of Wales walking his daughter down the aisle as that was something he 'really wanted to do'.

Thomas Markle was due to walk Meghan up the aisle for her wedding in Windsor, but offered to pull out when it emerged that he had made a secret deal with a photographer. Harry and Meghan are pictured on their wedding day in 2018

Yesterday it was reported Harry and Meghan have accepted an invitation from the Queen to join her at Balmoral this summer with baby Archie for the first time. Pictured: the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their baby son Archie in 2019 in South Africa

Thomas said: 'My daughter looked beautiful. I wish that I could have been there with her. I was certainly appreciative Charles was there. I admit I cried a bit about that. To this day I can't forget that moment.'

Mr Markle, who divorced Meghan's mother Doria in the late 1980s, said the last time he spoke to his daughter was during an emotional series of phone calls days before her wedding.

From March 31, the monarch's grandson and American former actress Meghan will no longer use their HRH styles as they pursue a new private life continuing to support charities close to their heart as they become financially independent.

Yesterday it was reported Harry and Meghan have accepted an invitation from the Queen to join her at Balmoral this summer - and they could bring son Archie along for the first time.

The Sussexes are also expected to spend time with the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at Birkhall, Charles's retreat on the Balmoral estate, according to Roya Nikkhah writing in The Sunday Times.
Close your eyes and imagine youre a college student who took out a $75,000 loan to pay for college this year and were expecting months of frolicking in the campus courtyard this spring, eating at the dining hall, attending greek parties and learning among your peers.

Now youre told to go home and flip open your laptop and to NOT to return to campus.

Ok, open your eyes and stop imagining. The scenario is real  in New Jersey, at one of the most prestigious colleges in the world.

Princeton University officials delivered the directive this week in response to the growing threat from the coronavirus pandemic when it announced all students would begin having classes online and students who are able to return must do so, and stay there.

Ben Chang, university spokesman, said details of whether it would consider reimbursements for student tuition for room and board were not immediately available. The estimated cost of attending Princeton this year is $76,420. Just over $21,000 of that is for room and board.

University settings like Princeton present unique challenges during a pandemic," university officials said in a statement. "We truly do understand how devastating this guidance will be for all of you. This is not how we expected Spring 2020 would unfold.

On Friday, President Donald Trump issued a freeze on collecting interest on federal student loan payments, which would address those who already have a degree in hand  not the ones on campus still attending college.

Schools across the state and nationwide announced plans to cancel in-person classes through spring break or beyond amid fears about the virus spread. Some are extending spring break by a week, like the three campuses of Rutgers University, while others are canceling in-person classes through the end of the term, including Stanford and Harvard.

Harvard undergraduates were told this week to leave campus by Sunday and stay home until the end of the semester. The abrupt order drew outrage from students who are also juggling midterm exams, senior projects and daily classes.

Silvana Gomez didnt know how she would afford to return on such short notice to her familys home in West New York, New Jersey. Gomez, a junior studying psychology at Harvard, also worries about the risk she could pose to her father, who is 66 and has a health condition that could make him more vulnerable to the virus.

Its terrifying. Im definitely very scared right now about what the next couple days, the next couple weeks look like, she said. I have to stay on campus and if Harvard doesnt allow me to stay on campus, then I really dont know whats going to happen.

Mike Sepanic, an associate chancellor for external relations at Rutgers UniversityCamden said Thursday, Were not there yet, when asked about what reimbursement students may receive as a result of closing on-campus housing.

Dan King, president of the American Association of University Administrators, predicted many, many more colleges will move learning to online as campuses work to contain the virus and the anxiety around it.

In New Jersey, 19 colleges announced plans to extend spring break and most planned online instruction when classes resume.

Thats what will happen at Rowan University in Gloucester County. The university with 15,000 students, half of whom are commuters, will extend spring break but keep campus housing and facilities like the library and student center open.

A question about refunds on a Rowan University website as a result of the extended spring break and reduced extracurricular campus activities was not fully answered.

An item in the Frequently Answered Questions section said: If I go home will I get a refund for on-campus housing and my meal plan?

Residence halls and dining facilities will remain open," the university answered. "If and when we move instruction online, our goal is to minimize risk by allowing students and faculty to access educational materials remotely, not to evacuate the campus.

University spokesman Joe Cardona said officials plan to purchase laptops to loan to students who dont have adequate equipment and internet access for online instruction.

Meanwhile, Arielle Gedeon, the Rowan student government president, said her classmates understand the sacrifice.

We are a little bit worried, Gedeon said. We dont want to put anyones health at risk. But in the long run, its better to be safe than sorry.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

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.

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Kolkata: The upcoming civic elections in West Bengal are likely to be postponed over the novel coronavirus pandemic as the ruling TMC appealed to the State Election Commission on Sunday to defer the polls, a demand that found resonance among the Opposition parties too.

A final decision will be taken by the SEC following an all-party meeting on Monday.

Elections to 107 municipal bodies of the state and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation are being viewed as a litmus test for the TMC and the BJP, a year ahead of the crucial Assembly polls.

Sources claim the state government was earlier was keen on holding the elections between April 12 and 26.

"The final decision will be taken after seeking opinion of all political parties and the state government on Monday," an SEC official said. "But with the ruling party itself demanding the polls to be deferred, it is most likely that the polls would be deferred."

In a statement, the Trinamool Congress said it would appeal to the SEC for postponing the upcoming civic polls amid the COVID-19 crisis.

"Elections will come and go, but politics must take a backseat when society is faced with such a threat," it said. "We urge all political parties to join hands and fight this together."

State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said the party would support any decision taken by the government keeping in mind the larger public interest.

"We are ready for polls, but in the wake of this crisis, if for the larger interest of the people, the state government and SEC takes a decision, we will support it," Ghosh said.

Senior Congress leader Pradip Bhattacharya said his party would always support a decision that had been taken considering public sentiment.

"In the wake of this crisis, if the elections are deferred by few days, there is no harm in it," Bhattacharya said.

CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty echoed him, saying it was for the state government and the SEC to take a call on the matter, but the party would support any "pro-people decision" regarding the matter.

The state government had on Saturday announced closure of all educational institutions till March 31 as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus, which has killed over 6,000 people globally. The board exams, however, will continue as per schedule.

According to Union Health Ministry, the number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in the country rose to 107 on Sunday, with Maharashtra reporting the highest positive cases, followed by Kerala.

Two persons have died in Karnataka and Delhi due to the coronavirus.
Three of the four patients who had earlier tested positive for COVID-19 in Rajasthan have tested negative and have been declared coronavirus-free, a senior official said on Sunday.

"A 69-year-old Italian man and an 85-year-old man based in Jaipur have tested negative twice. Both are now coronavirus-free," Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health, Rohit Kumar Singh said.

The 70-year-old wife of the Italian man, who was also infected by the virus, had tested negative a few days ago, after being treated at the state-run Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital here.

The Italian woman has been shifted to the Rajasthan University of Medical Sciences (RUHS) Hospital, while the two others are admitted to the SMS Hospital.

A total of four persons had tested positive for COVID-19 in the state and three of them have now become free from the virus.

The fourth patient, a 24-year-old man who tested positive on Saturday, is also admitted to the SMS Hospital.

Chief minister Ashok Gehlot complimented the doctors and staff of the SMS Hospital for their efforts.

"Happy to share, 3 corona patients including 2 senior citizens wd comorbid issues at SMS hospital,hv bn treated successfully & their test reports are now negative. My heartiest compliments to SMS doctors & staff for their commendable & dedicated service in treating corona patients (sic)," he said in a tweet.

The chief minister held a video-conference with district collectors and reviewed the situation.

He directed the officials to raise awareness on coronavirus through pamphlets, banners, hording, short films etc.

Gehlot said people should be encouraged to avoid crowded places.

He also said there should be no black-marketing of masks and hand sanitisers.

The Jaisalmer collector informed the chief minister that 236 people, who reached Jaisalmer from Iran on Sunday morning, were kept at the isolation facility of the Army.

He said the samples of two of them were collected after they showed coronavirus-like symptoms and the rest were healthy.

The 236 people, who were evacuated from Iran, reached Jaisalmer in two Air India planes.

Singh said a total of 418 samples were collected in the state so far, adding that of those, four tested positive, 406 negative and the test reports of the remaining eight samples were awaited.

Medical Education Secretary Vaibhav Galaria, School Education Secretary Manju Rajpal and other officials were present at the meeting.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 23:35:52|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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THE HAGUE, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Eight more people died of the novel coronavirus in The Netherlands, bringing the death toll to 20, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) announced on Sunday.

Meanwhile, a total of new 176 Dutch patients tested positive to COVID-19, with the confirmed cases standing now at 1,135. RIVM director Hans Brug said that not everyone with mild symptoms is being tested anymore and the total number of infected patients is probably higher.

The Dutch government meets with the Dutch Federation of Medical Specialists, hospital organizations and the RIVM on Sunday to discuss the latest developments. They might decide to close the schools as the pressure to close all schools amid the coronavirus crisis is rising in the Netherlands.

The Federation of Medical Specialists had called on the cabinet to close all schools immediately to prevent the current spreading of the virus.

Last Thursday, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that the closure of school was not necessary yet as he stated that children are less likely to spread the virus than adults.

More organizations are calling on the government to act to deal with pandemic crisis. The trade union FNV for the catering industry, the flower auctions, the aviation and travel industry already sounded the alarm as their financial conditions become worse.

Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra said that everything will be done to keep airline KLM and airport Amsterdam Schiphol standing. "We can do that, because public finances are doing very well," Hoekstra said in the TV program Buitenhof.
Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) organized journalists consultative meeting on Democracy, Journalism and Election in times of Disinformation in Mogadishu on Friday 13th March, 2020 to highlight the state of press freedom, access to information and to raise awareness challenges on Somalias current press freedom.

More than 50 senior journalists, editors and representatives from key media houses have attended the one-day consultative meeting which also made a call for Somali president to withhold the controversial media law currently awaiting presidents assent.

At his opening remarks, Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, the Secretary General of Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) stressed that free and fearless media is the central pillar of any democratic society and called for unhindered access of information be provided to the independent media and the need for the government to respect the press freedom and free editor of Radio Hiigsi, Mohamed Abdiwahab Nuur (better known as Abuuja) who is held in communicado in NISA prison for the 8th day.

We all know that Somalia is going to hold both presidential and parliamentary elections and we should also note free and fair media should be the only way in ensuring democratic elections, Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, the Secretary General of Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) said It is unfortunate that journalists in Somalia are continuously threatened, harassed and targeted due to their reporting, one of them still held in communicado in NISA prison for the 8th day.

Mr. Mumin further emphasized the critical role the media plays in promoting pluralism and called for authorities and all actors in the country to respect the work of the independent media by providing full access to information including framing electoral issues, informing the electorate about the main developments, and communicating the platforms, policies and promises of parties and candidates.

I call for President Farmaajo to act now and stop signing the draconian media law currently waiting his signature as this law is affront to the freedom of the press and is a restriction against the legitimate work of the journalists and should not signed into law, Mr. Mumin adds.

Nafisa Hersi Ogle, the Secretary of Gender Rights of Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) highlighted that women journalists need to boldly focus on issues related to women participation in the electoral process including to making sure that female candidates have the equal right to the male counterparts and also advocating for the 30% quota declared for the Somali women in the previous Somali electoral cycles, but with limited results.

SJS wishes to encourage women in the news to advocate for equal rights for women compared to their male counterparts in the politics. Similarly we have to admit that many female reporters are not able to report freely and this is a worrying trend but we have to come out. Press freedom should be respected by all sides, Nafisa told the participants of the conference in Mogadishu.

Abdul Aziz Billow Ali, a Mogadishu-based correspondent of CGTN TV has touched how lack of access to information affected the daily news coverage of the independent media.

Nowadays it very hard to find information. It is like nobody is willing to talk to the media and provide information that is of the interest of the public. I think reporting election will be even harder and countering fake news will be a challenge due to lack this sort of media blackout we are facing, Mr. Billow said.

Hussein Abdulle Mohamed, a senior news editor and producer of Radio Kulmiye and Universal TV has thanked SJS for organizing this conference as he has pointed out the need for an immediate change of the situation.

We are independent journalists and it is our work to ensure that all segments of the society are provided with accurate information so that the Somali people will have informed decision-making during the election period. To ensure this, we need also to be independent at all cost, Mr. Abdulle said.

Abdul Aziz Barrow, a senior broadcast journalist has encouraged journalists and editors in the newsrooms to invest in fact checking mechanisms to avoid misinformation. He added Many journalists in Somalia are self-censoring. We need to overcome this reality. No journalist should be threatened because of his/her reporting.

Abdirahman Hassan Mohamed, the Director of Nolol Awareness and Social Development Organization (NASDO), whose organization also supported this conference, has described the work of the independent media very vital and he underscored that disinformation and propaganda may mislead the population and interfere with the publics right to know, particularly during the elections.

We therefore like to support organizations like SJS and other media houses to do their work in a full capacity of autonomous, Mr. Mohamed emphasized.

At the end of the consultative conference, Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) honoured nine senior journalists and editors for their role as active press freedom defenders in Somalia.
The Punjab government has allowed the technical institutes and industrial training centres to hold their examinations as per the original schedule, two days after announcing closure of all educational establishments till March 31 over the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The technical department has revised the old order to clarify that the examinations in the universities/engineering colleges/polytechnic colleges/industrial training institutes would be held as per the earlier schedule.

"Earlier, the Punjab government had decided to close all technical educational institutes in the state till March 31 as precautionary measures to prevent spreading of coronavirus. But on Sunday, this order has been partially amended," an official spokesperson said in a statement.

The technical department has issued new amended orders, which are applicable to the all government/private engineering colleges and polytechnic colleges, the I K Gujral Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar; Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University, Bathinda.

Meanwhile, the state government closed heritage museum Virasat-e-Khalsa in Anandpur Sahib for the visitors till further orders, a spokesperson of the Tourism and Cultural Affairs Department said.

He said this decision had been taken as precautionary measure to prevent spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Only a positive case has been reported after man, who returned to Hoshiarpur from Italy, tested positive for COVID-19. He is currently admitted to the government medical college in Amritsar and his condition is stable, according to a statement.

Two facilities in Amritsar and Mohali with 500 beds have been established for quarantine of passengers coming from China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, France, Spain and Germany.

The state government had on Friday ordered closure of all universities, colleges and schools till March 31 as a precautionary measure against the pandemic. It also ordered closure of cinema halls and banned public gatherings, including cultural events, till further orders.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has assured the people of the state that there was no need to panic, adding that his government was taking all measures to prevent the spread of the disease.

According to Union Health Ministry, the number of novel coronavirus cases in the country rose to 107 on Sunday, with Maharashtra reporting the highest, followed by Kerala. The cases include two persons who died in Karnataka and Delhi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Medical workers dressed in protective suits check patients who recovered from COVID-19 as they arrive to be tested again at a hospital in Wuhan on March 14, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

After Wuhan Closes All Makeshift Hospitals, Ill Patient Is Denied Treatment

A patient with symptoms of the novel coronavirus in China told The Epoch Times that soon after she was released from a makeshift hospital, her condition worsened.

However, facilities refused to provide treatment.

Since March 10, when Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited the epicenter of the outbreak in the city of Wuhan, local authorities have shut down all makeshift hospitals. They claim that fewer patients were sick; thus, the facilities were no longer needed.

Meanwhile, the Chinese regime claimed the virus has reached its peak, and that it successfully contained the viruss spread.

But Ms. Fu said that she, her family, and other patients like her are still suffering.

No Treatment

Fu is in her 60s, and lives with her family in the Hanyang district of downtown Wuhan. She exhibited mild symptoms of the virus. But her diagnostic test came back negative, so she was placed at a quarantine center in early February.

When her condition worsened, Fu was transferred to a makeshift hospital set up at Wuhan International Expo Center in Hanyang district, on Feb. 11.

She said that over 900 patients were confined in the space. The beds were set up next to each other with no barriers22 beds counting as one unit.

One doctor took care of eight units, which means 176 patients, Fu said.

The doctor only screened our body temperatures. When we werent comfortable, we could get some medicine from the nurses station. But they didnt give us any treatment.

The makeshift hospital discharged her on Feb. 28. She was sent to another quarantine center, set up at a hotel, for medical observation.

Fu had to share her room with a 30-year-old fellow patient.

After moving into the quarantine center, Fu felt worse and worse. I am out of breath. To speak one sentence, I have to take a breath at least one time in the middle, Fu said.

On March 10, a doctor sent Fu to the Wuhan Puren Hospital, a designated hospital for treating COVID-19.

She paid for a CT scan and blood test.

The hospitals diagnosis report stated that Fu had thin film blurs in both lungs, which could be infected lesions. At the same time, Fus artery, liver, and gallbladder were damaged.

Many COVID-19 patients exhibit opacity in the lungs.

Despite Fus clinical symptoms matching those of COVID-19 patients, the hospital refused to treat her, saying that her diagnostic test came back negative.

The Wuhan No. 9 Hospital is a designated hospital that takes in patients from the quarantine center where Fu was staying. But that facility also refused her.

Released Patients

Fu said she was not the only patient being released who has not recovered.

After the city announced that all makeshift hospitals would be closed, the Wuhan expo center dispatched a bus to transport patients to quarantine centers. Patients in severe condition were transferred to hospitals. Others who were deemed healthy returned home.

Fu said that she spoke with about 20 other patients on the bus. They similarly had lung damage.

A 36-year-old man who was also at the makeshift hospital where Fu stayed died 36 hours after being discharged, according to Fu.

Fu said her husband, Mr. Fu, is also infected with the virus. After her son appealed on social media for help getting Mr. Fu hospitalized, he is being treated at the Xinzhou Peoples Hospital, located in a suburb outside Wuhan.

My husband is more sick than me. What should I do? she said.

The Epoch Times spoke with Ms. Fus son in February. The son said that his father had actually died on Feb. 8, but the family didnt want to let Ms. Fu know. Later, Ms. Fus 17-year-old grandson was also infected with the virus, and is being treated at the Wuhan Kangtai Hospital.

On social media, there was also evidence of other Wuhan residents facing a situation similar to Fus.

March 14, Yang Zhanqing, a Chinese activist based in the United States, shared a video on Twitter that displayed an audio recording of a conversation between him and a doctor surnamed Wei in Wuhan on WeChat, a popular app.

Wei said in the video, Here, we use a political diagnosis and political treatment. He said there were patients who didnt recover, but the hospital released them anywayin order to show authorities that there were large numbers of patients recovering.

As a doctor, Wei said he didnt feel it was ethical to discharge these patients, but he has no way to stop it. Because the specialists already signed the patients discharge papers, I have to release them. If I dont release them, other doctors will.

Yang posted that he heard from his contacts that several residential compounds in Hanyang district had mass infections in recent days, largely due to discharged patients who returned home and inadvertently spread the virus to their family members and neighbors.

On the evening of March 13, Wuhan netizen Zhang Yi live-broadcasted a video showing ambulances picking up patients from their homes. But upon stopping at a hospital, the facility refused to take them in due to full capacity.
A 60-year-old man was arrested for attempting to sexually assault a minor girl in Hyderabad.

According to Jagathgiri Gutta police, on Saturday morning the accused called a 9-year-old girl, who is his neighbour, to his residence and attempted to sexually assault her.

The cries of the minor were heard by other neighbours and they immediately rescued her and handed over the accused to the police.

A case was registered against him under relevant sections of POCSO Act. The accused has been sent to judicial remand today. Further probe is on, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A gate area at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is crowded with travelers awaiting Delta flight 1420 to Atlanta Saturday, March 14, 2020.

The Trump administration is weighing "all options" to curb the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., including an outright halt to domestic air travel, a senior official said Sunday.

Such a drastic step hasn't been taken since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and it would raise questions about U.S. airlines' chances for survival without government support.

"We continue to look at all options and all options remain on the table," said Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in a press briefing when asked about the possibility. He said the administration is following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Trump administration last week instituted a broad ban on foreign visitors from 26 European countries, which will be expanded to the U.K. and Ireland overnight.

The sudden change in rules sparked chaos at some of the country's largest airports, including Chicago's O'Hare, where returning Americans faced hours-long lines in cramped arrivals halls.

Wolf called those conditions "unacceptable" and that conditions have improved with staffing changes at the airports.
LUCKNOW Travel is uncertain, event managers are jittery and soon-to-be brides and grooms are in a situation where they have to take a tough decision  postpone their weddings.

The outbreak of Covid-19 has forced people to postpone social get-togethers in the state capital, leading to a dip in hotel occupancy in wake of mass cancellations. People are also avoiding non-vegetarian food in restaurants, said hoteliers

Hotels and marriage venue owners are flooded with calls to postpone or cancel events due to restrictions on arrivals of guests from other countries.

Several guests and corporate houses have cancelled their events. Room occupancy has been hit badly. We are taking all precautionary measures as per government directives, said Neelabh Pandey, accommodation manager in a posh hotel.

Manish Gupta, managing director of a hotel in Vibhuti Khand, said: Most of the rooms in our hotel are unoccupied as people cancelled their meetings and gatherings because of Covid-19 outbreak. The hotel industry has been severely hit.

In the current scenario, people are also avoiding non-vegetarian, he added.

Jamil Shamsi, a florist, said: Quite a few people have postponed their weddings due to coronavirus outbreak.

Khwaja Misbahuddin Ahmad, a city-based businessman, who postponed his sons wedding, said: We had lined up two events  at CSI Club on March 20 and at MB Club on March 22. Officials at both these venues have been requested to cancel bookings as we dont want big gatherings at a time when the health ministry has advised citizens not to do so.

Through cards, all invitees have been conveyed information regarding the cancellation of bookings. The message reads: In the light of the ongoing health concern and its impact, we have postponed wedding festivities that were to be held on March 20 and 22. We shall host the celebrations as soon as things settle down, said Misbah.

He said one of his relatives also postponed a family wedding in Lucknow, which was scheduled in March-end in a posh hotel. Wedding invites had been sent and bookings were done. But due to the outbreak of coronavirus, everything has come to a standstill, said a woman.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 21:53:33|Editor: Xiaoxia

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Chinese Consul General in Milan Song Xuefeng (L) and Luigi Genesio Icardi, councilor for health of the region of Piedmont, pose for a photo in Turin, Italy, March 14, 2020. About 26.4 tonnes of medical materials raised by eastern China's Zhejiang Province have arrived in the northern Italian city of Turin, according to the Chinese Consulate-General in Milan. (Xinhua)

ROME, March 15 (Xinhua) -- About 26.4 tonnes of medical materials raised by eastern China's Zhejiang Province have arrived in the northern Italian city of Turin, according to the Chinese Consulate-General in Milan.

The supplies, raised in cooperation with the Italian side and the overseas Chinese communities in Italy, were handed over to the Italian side at the presence of Chinese consul general in Milan Song Xuefeng on Saturday, a day after its arrival in the country.

Following consultations with the Italian side, the first batch of the supplies will be sent to the most affected region of northern Italy, where medical supplies are urgently needed, according to the Chinese Consulate.

At the distribution site of the medical supplies in Turin, Song said that China will provide assistance based on the needs of Italy within its capabilities and share experience in epidemic prevention and control.

Song said that with the concerted efforts of both sides, the epidemic will eventually be brought under control.

Luigi Genesio Icardi, health councilor of Piedmont, a region in northwest Italy with Turin as its capital, appreciated China for providing the timely help. He hoped that he could accompany the president of the region to visit Zhejiang and express his thanks in person after the epidemic.

Italy has witnessed rapid spread of COVID-19 over the past weeks, which stressed the country's medical materials.
Alan Halsall has revealed he will be taking at least a fortnight's break from the cobbles as he and his family go into self quarantine.

The soap star, 37, who has been playing Tyrone Dobbs in Coronation Street since 1998, told fans that he was ready to take action against the Coronavirus following a family dinner at Grill in the Park in Salford on Friday.

For the touching Instagram snap, Alan cuddled up with girlfriend and co-star Tisha Merry, 26, and daughter Sienna-Rae, six.

Prepared: Alan Halsall told fans that he was ready to take action against the Coronavirus following a family dinner at Grill in the Park in Salford on Friday

Touching: The actor, 37, ended the post with two loveheart emojis and smiled happily in the intimate photo as he wrapped his arms around his two beloved girls

He captioned the post: 'Got everything I need to self quarantine'.

The British actor ended the post with two loveheart emojis and smiled happily in the intimate photo as he wrapped his arms around his two beloved girls.

The trio put on a united front as they prepare to lock themselves away from the rest of the world as the virus sweeps the UK.

Enamoured: Alan publicly announced his relationship with Tisha in May 2019, and the inseparable pair regularly take to social media to share their special moments.

Fans were quick to express their concern for the star, not knowing if he had chosen to go into quarantine as a precaution or because he may have come into contact with someone with the virus.

One fan commented: 'Lovely picture Alan keep safe hope you're well (sic).'

Another added: 'Beautiful picture, keep well and keep smiling.'

Big role: Alan is best known for his role as Tyrone Dobbs in Coronation Street (pictured opposite Jennie McAlpine as Fiz in 2018)

Tisha, 26, who met Alan on the Corrie cobbles when she played Steph Britton beamed widely in the snap while Sienna flashed a toothy grin.

Alan shares his daughter Sienna with ex Lucy-Jo, 36, who he was married to for almost a decade before the actors parted ways in 2018.

Alan publicly announced his relationship with Tisha in May 2019, and the inseparable pair regularly take to social media to share their special moments.

The Corrie couple recently returned from a luxury break in the Dominican Republic where they soaked up the sun in scenic five-star resort Excellence El Carmen.

Alan recently revealed he's already feeling pressured to propose to Tisha, despite it only being months after the pair publicly confirmed their romance.

He told The Mirror he's still in the throngs of early love with his girlfriend, and is in no rush to pop the question.

He said: 'The pressure is there from day one but weve not been together that long, so I think well just enjoy ourselves for now.'
DALLAS - When single mother Lilla Haiddar arrived in the U.S from Afghanistan with her two boys to escape Taliban oppression, she embellished her story in her bid to stay.

Nearly 19 years later, she likely will be stripped of her U.S. citizenship due to those lies.

A federal jury in Dallas convicted the Arlington woman on Monday of three counts, including committing lies of omission on two passport applications by not listing a previous name. The more serious charge of obtaining citizenship or naturalization unlawfully carries with it mandatory denaturalization, officials say.

Haiddar, a former U.S. Army interpreter, raised two sons in the U.S. and had a job at DFW International Airport for over three years, helping travelers. Her conviction is punishable by up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $750,000. It also paves the way for Haiddar, 57, to be deported.

Her successful prosecution appears to be part of a stepped-up effort by the Trump administration to strip citizenship from naturalized Americans over a variety of infractions, including lying on government forms and to immigration officials.

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Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a court may revoke naturalization through a civil or criminal proceeding if their citizenship was "obtained through fraud or misrepresentation." The Justice Department has filed a total of 228 civil "denaturalization" cases since 2008. Of those, nearly 100 were brought since 2017 when President Donald Trump entered the White House.

Trump has made immigration a signature issue of his administration. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently said it would begin investigating the citizenship files of 700,000 naturalized Americans. And ICE has asked for money to hire 300 more agents as part of the effort. The U.S. has about 20 million naturalized citizens, according to the Pew Research Center.

In the past, denaturalizations were rare and usually reserved for terrorists, war criminals, human rights violators, sex offenders and violent criminals, according to government reports and immigration attorneys.

Critics say cases of fraud in citizenship applications are rare and not worth the resources the Trump administration is committing to combat it. They allege that the effort is part of a political agenda that has nothing to do with safety or security.

"They're being far more aggressive on denaturalization cases," said Lance Curtright, a San Antonio immigration attorney. "I hope it doesn't have a chilling effect on people naturalizing."

A White House press representative did not respond with comment.

The jury in Haiddar's case began deliberating last Friday and returned with its verdict after a four-day trial.

Prosecutors say the Afghan native flew to the U.S. in 2001 on a temporary transit visa and was supposed to leave for Canada the same day but never did. Instead, she applied for asylum under a different name, Lilla Haiddar, and told a false story of how she made it to New York, prosecutors said.

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Haiddar told immigration officials she flew from Pakistan to Mexico and then was secreted across the border into the U.S. with the help of an uncle to escape oppression in her native country. Haiddar listed two different names and dates of birth on U.S. documents, court records show.

"We have no idea who this woman is," Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany H. Eggers told a magistrate judge during an April 2019 detention hearing.

Haiddar was taken into custody following the jury verdict. Her sentencing is scheduled for July.

The Justice Department on Feb. 26 announced the creation of a "Denaturalization Section" in its immigration office to "bring justice to terrorists, war criminals, sex offenders, and other fraudsters who illegally obtained naturalization." A department official told The New York Times that those who commit serious violations of the law would be a priority.

Some cases, like Haiddar's, have involved lying on government paperwork. And the government is using high-tech methods to find violators. In Haiddar's case, facial recognition software snared her in 2018 when she applied to renew her passport.

When you lie, it can affect your "good moral character," which is a qualification for citizenship, Curtright said. A lie could also be material, or relevant, if it "cut off some lines of inquiry that might have disqualified you from asylum," he said.

Prosecutors say Haiddar obtained C-1 transit visas in May 2001 for herself and her two sons under the name Marufa Khashim Surgul. Transit visas allow travelers "safe passage" through an intermediary country, according to court records. She received the visas at the U.S. embassy in Uzbekistan, which borders Afghanistan, court records say.

The following month, she and her sons arrived by plane at JFK International Airport in New York with the visas. They were scheduled to leave for Canada the same day but never did, prosecutors said.

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Using the name, Lilla Haiddar, she applied for asylum in August 2001 and claimed to have fled Afghanistan "after Taliban soldiers came to her home," the federal complaint said.

She told U.S. officials she traveled to Pakistan and eventually flew to Mexico City, arriving in June 2001. From there, she said she was driven to New York by an uncle, according to court records. An asylum officer met with her and denied her application, deeming it "not credible," court records say.

Haiddar - a moderate Muslim from the Tajik ethnic minority - went before an immigration judge in Dallas in 2002 and testified under oath that she "feared returning to Afghanistan" due to a "well-founded fear of future persecution ... on account of her religious beliefs," according to court records.

The judge granted her application, and she later became a lawful permanent resident, as is permitted under asylum law, court records say.

Haiddar applied for citizenship in March 2011 and it was granted several months later, court records say. She applied for a U.S. passport five days after that, resulting in the first count against her of making a false statement in a passport application, records show. Specifically, Haiddar did not disclose in her application that she had used another name, according to the indictment.

After obtaining her passport, Haiddar "repeatedly traveled to the Middle East," to such countries as Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan, federal court records say.

Eggers said Haiddar traveled so frequently, her passport book filled up with visa stamps. So she applied to renew her passport early - in November 2018 - resulting in the second false statement count against her, according to court records.

She was caught when her 2018 passport renewal application was "flagged" for a match with her 2001 transit visa application under her previous name, according to a federal complaint. The Bureau of Consular Affairs' facial recognition software helped make the match using photographs from the applications, which bore a "very close resemblance," records said.

A federal complaint contains her photo for her transit visa with a different name, as well as more recent photos for her passport under the name, Lilla Haiddar. In her two passport application forms, she was asked to list "all other names you have used." She left both blank.

Haiddar was interviewed at the Dallas office of the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service on March 15, 2018 during which she denied ever using another name, the federal complaint said. Haiddar told agents her father paid her uncle $20,000 to smuggle her out of Afghanistan and into the U.S., the complaint said.

"Had the defendant not taken the steps prior to her interview for naturalization on October 20, 2011, she never would have been eligible to apply for citizenship in the first place," Eggers said in a court filing.

Haiddar began working at DFW International Airport in late 2016, after finding a job with an "aviation support company," prosecutors said.

Her duties included helping passengers who needed interpreters to navigate the airport. She was given an identification badge that allowed her access to areas not available to non-travelers, Eggers said in the court filing.

Courtney Stamper, a federal public defender, said during Haiddar's April detention hearing that her client was not a threat to anyone.

Haiddar, she said, helped prepare U.S. soldiers being deployed to Afghanistan to handle the customs and the culture there "in a time when our nation needed it the most."

"And so the notion that somehow she's the bogeywoman ... is false, and it's quite frankly bothersome," Stamper said.

Eggers said in court documents that no matter how "horrific" conditions were for women in Afghanistan under the Taliban, it didn't excuse Haiddar's lies on immigration and passport forms as well as lies to an asylum officer, an immigration judge and federal law enforcement officers.

A defense witness, a professor of Islamic history, testified during the trial last week about Haiddar's identification papers. The witness is an expert on "how the Taliban made it impossible for women to exercise control in their own affairs," according to a defense filing.

Defense attorneys wrote that the professor would tell jurors "about how a potential alias would be a necessary component of any attempt to smuggle an unmarried woman from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan."

---

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Linkedin (Kyodo News)  Sun, March 15, 2020 16:22 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206acab31 2 Health coronavirus,COVID-19,Kurabo,health Free

Textile and chemical product maker Kurabo Industries Ltd. said Thursday it will import and sell in Japan from next week test kits developed by a Chinese firm that can detect new coronavirus in 15 minutes, far shorter than the current method.

The kit, using a small blood sample and a reagent, is expected to reduce time and costs from the polymerase chain reaction test now widely used to detect the pneumonia-causing disease, which takes several hours before results are shown, according to the maker.

Read also: US, Germany battle for virus vaccine supremacy

Kurabo to sell kits to detect new coronavirus in 15 mins next week https://t.co/WbQRwzNrIM pic.twitter.com/0Hoaj5XedD  NE_sweN_odoyK (@Kyodo_News_EN) March 12, 2020

The kit, developed by the company's business partner in China and will be put on sale on Monday, is also effective in detecting the virus in patients in early stages of the disease, unlike the current PCR tests, it said.

Kurabo plans to sell the kits to research and testing institutions. One kit capable of testing 10 samples is priced at 25,000 yen ($240), excluding tax.

With the number of people screened for the virus growing, the demand for swifter testing is also increasing, prompting research facilities and pharmaceutical companies to step up efforts to develop new methods for diagnosis.

Among others, precision equipment maker Shimadzu Corp. has said it aims to develop a testing method that can detect the new coronavirus in one hour for release by the end of March.

Kanagawa Prefecture and the government-backed research institute Riken also said recently they have jointly developed a testing method to determine whether an individual is infected or not within 30 minutes.
Qatar will bar entry to arriving air passengers except citizens from Wednesday, the government said as it announced a USD 23 billion economic stimulus in response to the new coronavirus.

The country is the worst affected in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), with 401 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Sunday. It has not reported any fatalities but has closed universities, schools, gyms and cinemas as well as cancelling many public events including the MotoGP.

"We've taken a number of decisions, including suspending inward flights to Qatar starting from Wednesday evening for two weeks," assistant foreign minister Lolwah al-Khater told media in Doha.

The measure could be extended at the end of the initial two week period, she said, and will be accompanied by a USD 23 billion economic stimulus package that will include USD 2.75 billion to shore-up the stock market.

Khater said "transit flights, cargo flights and Qatari nationals who want to come back to the country" would be exempted from the new measures. Outbound flights will be unaffected.

Khater also said that all public transport in Doha would be suspended from 1900 GMT on Sunday.

The principal user of Doha's Hamad International Airport is state-run Qatar Airways, which mostly operates the transit flights exempt from the new measures.

Passengers of the airline will still be able to fly between third-country destinations but will be unable to enter Qatar during their transfer.

Visas on arrival had already been suspended for travellers from Italy, France, Spain and Germany as Qatar urged its citizens abroad to return home. Qatari health officials said on Saturday that four patients had made a full recovery after being diagnosed with the virus.

Many of Qatar's initial cases were from a group of citizens and their foreign staff repatriated to the country from Iran, where more than 700 people had died in the outbreak by Sunday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
University College Cork is to seek a meeting with Kylemore Services Group (KSG) after the company laid off catering staff at the campus following its closure this week arising out of the Covid-19 outbreak.

A spokesman for UCC said he was unable to comment on the specifics in relation to KSG.

However, it is understood that the restaurant and hospitality services company has laid off at least 20 to 30 people at the college.

In a statement UCC said that they couldn't comment on "operational matters pertaining to another company."

"However UCC has requested a meeting with KSG about their operations during this Government-directed campus closure."

KSG provides catering services at 115 locations across Ireland - including UCC.

Cllr Fiona Ryan of the Solidarity Party said that UCC must intervene to protect workers who have been laid off.

"Some of these people have worked at UCC for ten-plus years. A lot of this work is contracted out but UCC has a duty of care to staff.

Lots of hospitality and service staff are living in uncertain times with the virus and are facing in to lay offs and cuts to their hours and pay.

A spokesperson for KSG Catering was not available for comment.

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Former Union minister Vijay Goel visited the village areas of Laampur, Narela and Baakner here on Sunday to take stock of the damage due to the hailstorm and rain that lashed the national capital and urged the Delhi government to compensate the farmers, whose crops were destroyed, by paying them Rs 60,000 per acre.

Hailstorm and rain had lashed the national capital on Saturday.

Goel, a Rajya Sabha MP, saw the damage suffered by the wheat, mustard, sunflower crops that were to be cut in 15-20 days and interacted with the farmers.

He was accompanied by District Magistrate Neel Daman Khatri, farmers from several villages and the heads of various panchayats.

The BJP leader said at least 50,000 families in Delhi were dependent on agriculture and grew crops on land measuring a total of 1.25 lakh acres.

He assured the farmers that he will fight for them and ensure that they got due compensation for their loss.

In a press statement, Goel said he had spoken to farmers, village pradhans and sarpanches throughout the national capital and assessed that the farmers should be paid a compensation of Rs 60,000 per acre.

He said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi, which has been distributing freebies among people, should definitely compensate the farmers.

Goel added that at a time when everyone was scared of the coronavirus, it will be difficult for the farmers to make ends meet.

He assured the farmers that he will raise the issue of crop loss in Parliament.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Coronavirus fears hit Tucson festivals like a gut punch.

Over the span of just a few days, Southern Arizonas busy season for public events  generally between mid-January through April  evaporated. The Tucson Festival of Books. The Fourth Avenue Street Fair. Spring Fling. The Tucson Folk Festival. The St. Patricks Day parade. Most live theater events.

All canceled.

While thats a bummer for residents and tourists looking for fun weekend activities, its a critical blow to local nonprofits and organizations that rely on the money and awareness spring events generate.

Were not panicking, but its a serious loss, said Betty Stauffer, executive director of Literacy Connects. Her organization received about $140,000 last year from book festival proceeds, essentially underwriting literacy programs for 5,400 local children and adults.

After festival expenses are paid off, proceeds go toward literacy programs  about two-thirds to Literacy Connects, with the other estimated one-third toward University of Arizona literacy programs.

Festival organizers decided Monday, March 9, to cancel after roughly 100 authors canceled their planned appearances. The festival was slated to bring more than 100,000 people to the University of Arizona campus March 14-15.

Despite the financial hit, Stauffer said Literacy Connects will try to maintain its same number of programs by hopefully raising money from other sources and dipping deeper into our cash reserves than we would like.


Germany will close its borders with France, Austria and Switzerland from Monday, according to the German newspaper Bild.

The newspaper said free movement of goods would remain in place and commuters would be able to cross the borders for work.

Closing borders was not only to contain the Covid-19 epidemic but also to prevent panic bulk purchases by foreigners which was apparently causing supply problems in areas around the borders, according to Bild.



More follows
Dubai, March 15 : An Indian national was tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after he returned to the country following a leave, the Ministry of Health and Prevention announced.

In a statement late Saturday, the Ministry said it was taking all necessary measures to prevent the spread of the deadly disease including screening everyone who has come in close contact with the Indian patient, reports Gulf News.

This is the second time that an Indian national has been tested positive for the virus in the UAE.

Earlier this month, a 16-year student of an Indian school in Dubai had contracted the virus from the teenager's parent who had travelled overseas, according to the Dubai Health Authority (DHA).

The country has so far confirmed 85 coronavirus cases.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
- Mathew Nyamlori is now in his final year of study at Kenyatta University after tirelessly seating for KCPE exams 9 times

- He acquired marks that could enable him to join Maranda high school twice and once in Kapsabet high school

- He was still in class 8 when his sibling was born turning 14 years before he could get money to finance his secondary school education

- He could be expelled from school due to lack of fees and 2020 is the year that the now 36-year-old will be finishing his undergraduate degree

A burning desire is the starting point of all accomplishments and just like a small fire cannot give much heat, a weak desire cannot produce great results.

We have all groaned at the thought of having to go to school in the early morning and repeat the mundane process of government-issued education.

READ ALSO: Gertrude's Hospital to retain 13-year-old boy's body until family clears bill

The 36-year-old who is now a final year student at Kenyatta University, sat for the KCPE close to a decade, before attaining secondary education. Photo: The Standard.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: Nazarene, Riara universities suspend classes, postpone graduation respectively

But what if many of our peers did not get the chance to attend? This was the hardest thing Mathew Nyamlori ever had to do but did it eventually because his desire to learn was greater.

The 36-year-old who is now a final year student at Kenyatta University, sat for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) close to a decade, before attaining secondary education.

Growing up, Nyamlore who sat KCPE nine times, wanted to be a doctor and his dreams were almost realised in 1998 when he first sat for his KCPE.

He scored 478 marks out of a possible 700 while at Kipsimbol Primary School and got an admission letter to Kabianga High School.

READ ALSO: Pastor Ng'ang'a belittles govt preparedness for coronavirus: "You are not greater than America"

He had no hope of joining high school as his parents were not financially stable to further his education and this made his dreams to go south.

In 1999 he was back to standard eight at Rongo Primary School where he scored 559 marks and got an admission letter to Kanga High School.

But this time, things were a bit better as his aunt gave him a helping hand but it was short-lived. In his second term, he dropped from Kanga because his aunt stopped financing his education.

Nyamlori was out of school for two years, working as a casual labourer at a milling factory in Nairobi, before deciding to give education another shot.

READ ALSO: Court awards ex-Safaricom employee KSh 14.6m for unfair sacking, lets her keep KSh 46.2m bonuses

His salary which ranged from KSh 200 to KSh250 was his biggest motivation to go back to school for the umpteenth time.

I had to drop out of school, because I had no one to sustain me. I started working as a casual labourer but it was not easy for me, he recalls.

I had to move from one school to another to avoid humiliation. Also, some teachers thought that because I was older and I had gone through the classes before, I knew everything I needed to know.

READ ALSO: Donald Trump declares coronavirus a national emergency following 40 deaths in US

In 2011, from Oriri Primary Nyamlori scored 403 marks and got his admission letter to Nairobi School where Equity Bank sponsored his secondary education. Photo: Citizen TV.

Source: UGC

In 2002 he joined Kitere Primary School, where he scored 387 marks and received an admission letter to Rapogi High School but no one was willing to finance his education.

In 2003, he enrolled at Sony Sugar Primary scoring 399 marks and was called to Rapogi School, in 2004 he was in Rangwe junior academy scoring 434 marks and was admitted to Maseno High school but dropped in the second term.

In 2008, he was a candidate at Agoro Primary School and scored 397 marks that earned him a pace in Maranda High School.

In 2010 in Agape academy Kosele he scored 401 marks and was re-admitted to Maranda high.

READ ALSO: Spanish Flu: Flashback to coronavirus-like flu that nearly wiped out human race 102 years ago

Due to the nasty experiences, his dreams of being a doctor were crushed and so he opted to read public policy at the university.

All this happened because of my poor background. I did not have anyone to help me go to school

In 2011, from Oriri Primary Nyamlori scored 403 marks and got his admission letter to Nairobi School where Equity Bank through the Wings to fly scholarship program, sponsored his secondary education.

This time he was 29 years old.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: Government bans public servants from making non-essential foreign trips

The 36-year-old is now a final year student at Kenyatta University. Photo: Daily Nation.

Source: UGC

Being the eldest student, had its challenges. In fact, I was older than most teachers. It was a bit uncomfortable but I did not let that bother me. I chose to focus on myself and what took me to school

That excitement of finally joining high school was almost short-lived in 2013 when his mother lost her sight which affected his school performance but he kept moving.

In 2015, he sat for his KCSE in and scored a B-plus of 71 points.

READ ALSO: Nairobi woman narrates how she persevered four years of abusive marriage for the sake of her kids

After completion of KCSE, his sponsorship was over but he was admitted to Kenyatta University where he is pursuing a Bachelors Degree in Public Policy and Administration.

I have been getting Sh45,000 from the government sponsorship per year which has been helping me a lot with my upkeep. I also do online writing and some part-time job that help with my daily upkeep

Nyamlori who is set to graduate in July finds motivation in gospel music and is hopeful for a brighter future that will entail helping the needy.

Although his experience affected his social life, he is looking forward to having a family and giving his children the best education.

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Source: TUKO.co.ke
A patient refused a ground-breaking cystic fibrosis drug has condemned the postcode lottery stopping her gaining its benefits.

Megan Kellett-Jones, 28, hoped she would be given Trikafta on compassionate grounds, like many sufferers across the country whose lives have been transformed.

But the hospital which has been treating her for 20 years is waiting for the treatment to be approved by drugs regulator NICE. A decision is not expected until next year.

Mrs Kellett-Jones, a keen horse rider, has a lung capacity of just 25 per cent, making everyday tasks very difficult.

Megan Kellett-Jones, 28, (pictured with her husband Phillip Jones, 46) hoped she would be given Trikafta on compassionate grounds, like many sufferers across the country whose lives have been transformed

She depends on a variety of inhalers simply to speak and needs 20 minutes to recover after a shower.

Her husband Phillip Jones, 46, wants the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle to reconsider and warned that the couple may seek a judicial review.

They are expecting their first child in June through a surrogacy as Mrs Kellett-Jones is too ill to carry a baby herself.

Trikafta is already available in the US and has been submitted for safety and clinical analysis with the European Medicines Agency.

Its maker Vertex claims it is 'almost a cure' for cystic fibrosis and it is effective for 90 per cent of patients.

But drugs available on the NHS  Orkambi and Symkevi  work for only 50 per cent of sufferers. Mrs Kellett-Jones, of North Cowton, North Yorkshire, said: 'I'm not eligible for a transplant due to the complex bacteriology that grows in my lungs so I was really hopeful about this breakthrough drug.

The Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle (pictured) which has been treating her for 20 years is waiting for the treatment to be approved by drugs regulator NICE

'I was so disappointed to hear the Royal Victoria Infirmary, the hospital I have been attending for 20 years, wasn't going to apply to the drugs company for compassionate access despite many, many other hospitals doing so.

'Vertex were making the drug available for patients with less than 30 per cent lung function on compassionate grounds.

'It's just really sad that other people with cystic fibrosis who have been given Trikafta are really thriving and the patients at the RVI have effectively been left out.

'We don't have time to wait and are deteriorating all the time.

'It would just be nice to think that the doctors who are meant to be advocating for their patients were able to do so.'

Mr Jones, an equine surgeon, said the couple could be left with no option but to ask to transfer to a hospital in Leeds where the drug is available. 'It is a cruelty to withhold this drug from people who need it so desperately,' he added. 'It defies any kind of logic.

'This is a life-changing drug that has seen people go from an intensive care bed to leading a normal life.

'It's transforming the lives of sufferers around the world. It's available all over the UK but not to us. This affects dozens of patients and some are extremely ill.

'Megan has become a professional at hiding her suffering from almost everybody apart from those closest to her.'

He claimed: 'Six months after other hospitals started applying for and receiving the drug for free, RVI management are still denying their patients access.'

A hospital spokesman declined to comment on an individual case but added: 'Making decisions about requests for compassionate use of an unlicensed medicine is very complex.

'We endeavour to make these as ethically and fairly as possible with clinical and cost effectiveness taken into consideration.

'Clinicians can make individual requests for a specific drug if they believe the patient's circumstances are exceptional and they would gain clinical benefit from having the treatment and such requests are considered on a case-by-case basis.'
By exaggerating the scope and ambitions of the prospective deal, the US media is once again fanning the flames of war.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 15

Trend:

Azerbaijani state has enough resources to fully fulfill its social obligations, said 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 told Azerbaijan State Television (AzTV), Trend reports.

Moreover, Movsumov pointed out that the sharp decline in oil prices observed in the world market in recent days will not have a serious negative impact on Azerbaijans economy.

Movsumov pointed out that in accordance with the personal instructions of President Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani government has been working for a long time to reduce the dependence of Azerbaijani economy on oil.

It is the result of this successful work that today, the sharp decline in oil prices does not have a big impact on Azerbaijans economy. As a result of a sustainable and thought-out strategy, the dependence of Azerbaijani economy on oil is not the same as in 2014-2015. We lived through the agiotage, but this agiotage was eliminated in the shortest time. Azerbaijan has sufficient resources to withstand any crisis and quickly prevent any consequences.

Our fiscal stability is in place, our financial resources account for more than 106 percent of GDP. We can say that at present there is no country in the world with such indicators and this gives us confidence, he said.

Movsumov noted that certain anti-crisis measures, of course, should be taken in any case.

"First of all, today the state has enough resources to fully fulfill its social obligations. There should be no doubt about this. Secondly, the country has enough resources that create the opportunity for fiscal and monetary maneuvers, he added.
By Trend

Armenian provocations on the state border of Azerbaijan and Armenia are continuing, Trend reports referring to the press service of the Azerbaijani State Border Service on March 14.

Units of the Armenian Armed Forces, deployed near the villages of Berkaber, Lalagukh and Sevkar of the Ijevan region of Armenia, using large-caliber machine guns, have intensively shelled at residential buildings and civilian vehicles in the village of Abbasbeyli, Gazakh district of Azerbaijan.

The provocation was suppressed. The combat positions of the Armenian Armed Forces were suppressed by return fire.

Currently, the operational situation is under the control of the border-fighting points of Azerbaijan.
The country has not had a leader since November when mass protests forced Adel Abdul Mahdi from office.

Iraq is experiencing its worst political crisis since the death of former President Saddam Hussein.

The country has not had a leader since November when mass protests forced Adel Abdul Mahdi from office.

The former leader is due to select a new candidate on Tuesday.

But the anti-government movement, which demands radical change, appears to be losing momentum.

Al Jazeeras Simona Foltyn reports from Baghdad.
The COVID-19 virus hasnt just put some Americans flat on their backs. Businesses are also suffering, and perhaps the worst hit are the airlines, which are staring at a downturn unlike anything theyve seen post-9/11. The International Air Transport Association says the global industry could be more than $113 billion in the red this year.

Analysts agree that the government is likely to step in and help U.S. airlines as they slash schedules and lay off employees. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office, told Politico that the case for action on the airlines is urgent because they have a spillover value to the rest of the economy.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Congress last week that the administration is considering loan guarantees and tax deferrals for the industry. We are not looking for bailouts, he said. There may be specific industries that are highly impacted by travel that have issues with lending. . . . I would assume the airlines would be on the top of the list.

Larry Kudlow, head of the White Houses National Economic Council, recently said on CNBC that deferral or temporary repeal of some taxes  such as on fuel  paid by the airlines is on the table.

But now is also a good time to consider other long-term steps to strengthen the U.S. domestic airline industry, including those that have nothing to do with loans or bailouts.

U.S. carriers have long believed that foreign competitors  especially from Middle Eastern carriers  have violated the letter and spirit of the Open Skies agreement, which regulates which airlines get to fly to another countrys airports. The goal of Open Skies is to benefit consumers by providing open entry, with barriers raised only if a government-subsidized carrier is using an artificial advantage to compete unfairly with privately owned carriers.

U.S. senators across the political spectrum, from Democratic senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey to Republican senator Ted Cruz of Texas, have said that the subsidies for Middle Eastern carriers are costing U.S. jobs. They point to studies showing that more than 1,500 jobs are lost for every daily international aviation route lost to unfair subsidies.

Story continues

The Trump administration recognized the need to take into account changing patterns of trade and subsidies last year when it replaced the existing North American Free Trade Agreement. The recent United StatesMexicoCanada agreement (USMCA) contains new language that safeguards U.S. farmers, auto workers, and suppliers from unfair foreign subsidies. USMCA also includes strict enforcement mechanisms that will make it easier to ensure that future violations are dealt with in a timely fashion.

A similar approach is now called for to rebalance business in the struggling airline industry. This is not about threatening to add new tariffs as part of a trade negotiation, a process that the Trump administration has sometimes handled well and sometimes poorly. Instead, we should convince trading partners to level the playing field and make sure that we enforce existing agreements.

While its formulating its approach to the airline industry, the Trump administration should realize that once the COVID-19 virus has passed from the headlines, foreign governments will be under intense pressure to ramp up subsidies to their favored airline carriers in order to regain market share.

The way to stop such a subsidy race is for President Trump to make it very clear that, as far as the U.S. is concerned, it will insist on removing subsidies, not adding to them.

More from National Review
Toilet paper shelves lay empty at a supermarket in Saugus, Massachusetts on March 13, 2020. Joseph Prezioso | AFP | Getty Images

It's not all in your mind. The growing panic over coronavirus is real, and fear is a rational response. What's not a foregone conclusion is your own reaction. When markets tank, some people always want to flee to cash. When an illness threatens to spread to practically everyone you know, many people want to stock up  and it seems these two responses actually go hand in hand, according to Rick Kahler, a certified financial therapist and a certified financial planner. "There's absolutely a correlation between hoarding and selling out [of the market]," said Kahler, the founder of Kahler Financial Group in Rapid City, South Dakota. "They're emotional responses." Anyone who feels very emotional about an event wants to take an action that will relieve the anxiety, Kahler says. Whether someone has stockpiled food and paper goods or sold equities, it will bring a feeling of relief. The mistake, though, is in thinking you've made the absolute right decision. More from Invest in You:

Nail your financial goals the way an Olympic medalist does

Millennial women are learning that investing won't wait

Is social media dictating how you spend?

Brains still in beta-testing

Here's the biology behind hoarding. The primitive part of our brain wants us to stay alive. We respond to cues in our environment  we decide if they're risks or threats  and act on them. The human brain hasn't had an upgrade in about 150,000 years, says Dan Pallesen, chief of investor behavior at Keystone Wealth Partners in Chandler, Arizona. Yet we must cope with financial concepts and markets that are just about a few hundred years old. "It's a really old system engaging in a very new world," Pallesen said. A key point to remember is that our brains are simultaneously complex and simple, with a primary goal of keeping ourselves alive. "Every day we do that is a successful day," Pallesen said. Events like the spread of the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, propel us back to that safety mindset, Pallesen says, and the relentless news cycle makes many people conclude they need to hold onto everything and hunker down.

Fear is contagious

Shoppers buy toilet paper, food and water at a store, as people begin to panic buy and stockpile essentials from fear that supplies will be affected by the spread of the COVID-19, coronavirus outbreak across the country, in Los Angeles, California on February 29, 2020. Mark Ralston | AFP | Getty Images

People take note of what other people are doing. "The fear is contagious, like bank runs in the beginning of the Depression," Pallesen said. Even if you're not worried about running out of food, it may change your feelings about stocking up when you see people panic-shopping. "You don't want to be the one knucklehead who doesn't load up when you see everyone else doing it," Pallesen said. Take inventory of what you're hoarding. "Having a few weeks' worth of some canned goods for a worst-case scenario could be appropriate," Pallesen said. Much more than that is probably unnecessary. Pallesen doesn't believe people need a bunker or a year's worth of food and cash.

The downside to panic investing

When it comes to steering people away from financial mistakes, like getting out of the market, Kahler says the same techniques come into play. "We teach people to separate the emotional [response] from the action," he said. People may not even realize the extent of their anxiety. Over-supplying and fleeing the market are both attempts to calm their fears, Kahler says, and it can bring immediate relief: "I got out! At least I'm keeping the money I had."

That pit in your stomach

People's fear of loss, of making a mistake, is intense, Pallesen says. "When we think about the feeling of not having enough, we can feel actual physical pain," he said. Instead of denying your feelings or rushing to a solution that you think will alleviate the fear, acknowledge the pain as real. Next, says Kahler, examine your feelings and see what you can do that won't turn your fear into a hurtful action. Selling off your assets can hurt you. Stockpiling certain items, such as masks, could hurt someone else.

Talk it out
As coronavirus cases continue to grow, New Jerseyans can expect more draconian measures in the coming days and weeks to prevent its spread in the state, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Sunday morning.

He said people should look to Hoboken and Teaneck, where curfews and calls by local officials to self-quarantine have been put in place, as examples of what to expect as the numbers of people who test positive for the virus rise.

(Its) the notion of keeping population groupings low, Murphy said on a morning call to WBLS to discuss the states response.

We will be looking at more draconian steps, he said. These are things that we have to consider.

It includes the possibility of a statewide curfew.

The curfew is probably, of the two, is probably the more immediate one under consideration," he said.

He added state officials will inevitably shut down all of the states public schools.

As of Saturday, 400 of the states 600 public school districts had notified the state of planned closures, officials said.

In Teaneck on Saturday, Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin called the town ground zero and said its residents should all self-quarantine until further notice.

When I say stay home that doesnt mean go out to lunch with your friends across the street. That means no play dates, that means your nuclear family stays with your nuclear family. Im not visiting my sister, Im not visiting my parents. That is the best way to stop the spread of this, Hameeduddin told NBC News.

In Hoboken, meanwhile, gyms and movie theaters will shut down, and the citys mayor issued a city-wide daily curfew will in effect from 10 p.m. through 5 a.m. beginning Monday.

According to Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, all bars and restaurants are no longer allowed to serve food inside the establishments  only takeout is permitted.

If a bar does not currently offer food, they will no longer be permitted to operate and are no longer permitted to serve alcohol, effective March 15, Bhalla said in a statement on Saturday. According to (the Office of Emergency Management), any bar or restaurant establishment that currently offers food service will be permitted to conduct food takeout and food delivery service only.

The elevated steps to combat the virus come as the state announced Saturday 69 people tested positive for it and at least two have died.

Another update from the governor on the latest figures is slated for 2 p.m. Sunday.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Corrections is temporarily suspending visits at state prisons and halfway houses for the next 30 days.

And municipal court sessions in New Jersey will be suspended for two weeks to reduce exposure to the virus.

On Thursday, Murphy recommended all public gatherings with 250 people or more be canceled. He said Saturday he has heard of no blatant violation of the recommendation so far, but he reserves the right to make it a mandate if needed.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.
Global oil giants are facing ever-increasing public pressure and higher levels of scrutiny over their responsibility to curb harmful greenhouse emissions. Yet, in the sprawling oilfields of Texas, New Mexico and North Dakota, an industry-old practice of burning off unwanted natural gas has refused to die.

The burning off (flaring), as well as the intentional release (venting) of natural gas, is proving to be a black eye that Permian producers just cant get rid of.

But investors are paying attention, and ESG (environmental, social and governance) investing isnt just a passing fad--its a mega-trend now.

Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock--one of the worlds largest hedge funds, told CEOs around the world last month that climate change has become a defining factor in companies long-term prospects.

That, he said, would lead to a significant reallocation of capital--and its going to happen a lot sooner than anyone previously expected.

For the first time since WWII we sense a shift in which climate and the environment  not growth  will become the priority of governments and their citizens, as shortages of food, clean water and air become existential questions, Saxo Bank Chief Economist Steen Jakobsen said in his latest quarterly outlook report.

So what will these huge funds think of the excessive flaring thats going on in the Permian? Right now, theyre not thinking much of it, but they will--especially once the coronavirus vanishes and focus is once again on the industrys activities.

Texas: The Flaring Capital

Texas might be better known as home to the famous Permian Basin, the site of the worlds biggest oil boom. But its also quickly earning a dirty reputation as the epicenter of one of the countrys biggest energy wastes and associated air pollution.

Citing infrastructure limitations and safety issues, producers across some of the countrys largest oilfields are flaring natural gas at record levels, despite emissions commitments.

According to data from Rystad Energy via Reuters, the Permian basin flared a staggering 293.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas, more than 3x the amount of gas produced by the most prolific gas facility in the Gulf of Mexico and enough to power more than 7 million American homes for a whole year.

Flaring--the deliberate burning of unwanted polluting gas--has become an acute problem in Texas, home to most of the Permian reservoir, a sprawling 86,000 square miles (220,000 km2) oilfield straddling two states. Loose regulations in Texas compared to New Mexico means producers like Exxon, privately held BTA Oil Producers and Matador Resources burn significantly more gas in their Texas oilfields compared to those in New Mexico. Indeed, Rystad calculates that 83.5 percent of the gas flared in the Permian is done on the Texas side.

However, these companies risk flaring their way out of big money as investors latch on to environmentalism and ESG investing gathers momentum.

And then weve got the coronavirus and an oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Rystad noted in a February newsletter that the Permian keeps struggling and insufficient capacity for gas, its low-cost oil supply potential even at WTI of $50 per barrels has been proven across many parts of the basin.

But were not in a world of even $50 oil right now. $50, in fact, sounds smashing. Now, were in $30-$35 territory, and if excessive flaring doesnt put off ESG-bound capital, theres going to be even more because its the cheapest way to deal with it.

Small Producers Are Even Dirtier

Despite natural gas being a viable fuel commodity, low market prices and limited transport infrastructure means companies often opt to burn it or simply release it into the atmosphere (venting).

They are, after all, more interested in the crude oil concealed beneath the surface.

Venting is less common with producers burning 2.6x as much gas as they vent. However, its even more deleterious than flaring because it releases unburned, odorless methane which is many times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Still, the amount of natural gas many companies are flaring is simply inexcusable. Related: Why 2030 Isnt The Magic Year For Electric Vehicles

According to Reuters FactBox, Exxon flared around 6.6 percent of its natural gas production in the Permian last year. However, this is a tale of two states: It burned a lot more of that on the Texas side (17 percent) than it did on the New Mexico side (6.8 percent).

Likewise, Matador Resources went on a flaring binge in Texas (6.8 percent), but toned down its flaring in New Mexico (1.7 percent). And the list goes on in this fashion, with BP highlighted as the most prolific flarer, burning 13.5 percent of its natural gas in the Permian last year.

Apache Corp. has a practice of not bringing wells online before installing pipeline transportation first. However, third-party midstream operational issues have forced the company to increase its flaring rate according to a company spokeswoman. Apache flared less than 1 percent of its gas in three counties; however, it burned a staggering 24 percent of its gas in one Texas county, Reuters notes, based on Rystad data.

Royal Dutch Shell is probably the cleanest when it comes to flaring. The company only works in the Texas Permian where it burned off just 1.5 percent of its gas. Chevron Corp., EOG Resources, ConocoPhillips and Occidental Petroleum are all reported to have low flaring rates.

On average, companies operating in the Permian flared 6.6 percent of their natural gas last year.

Interestingly, smaller producers are actually more guilty of the practice than their bigger brethren. Indeed, a handful of companies that are nowhere near the top producers have an outsized role in the business of flaring.

(Click to enlarge)

Source: Environmental Defense Fund

Steward Energy II, for example, is the 60th largest producer in the Permian. However, the company was the fourth-largest flarer by volume (4.3 Bcf) in 2018. Steward actually flared more natural gas than XTO Energy, despite producing less than a tenth of XTOs natural gas. Steward flared an incredible 64.5 percent of all the gas it produced, according to the EDF.

Another small company, Surge Operating LLC, flared 4.4 Bcf of natural gas, good for 22 percent of its total production thus qualifying as the 3rd largest flarer. Meanwhile, Jagged Peak Energy flared more than 3.5Bcf, or 19 percent of all the natural gas it produced. Related: Oil Prices Rise As Trump Declares National Emergency Over Coronavirus Outbreak

The good news is that the biggest producers are actually flaring less. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, some of the largest Permian producers have lowered their flaring rates compared to five years ago. Thats encouraging because it demonstrates that individual companies are, in fact, capable of reducing flaring.

(Click to enlarge)

Source: Environmental Defense Fund

The potential good news, however, is overshadowed by the blatant and excessive wastefulness of many operators that flare exceptionally high amounts of natural gas. In some cases, companies are even flaring all of their produced natural gas volume.

Loose Regulations

Mounting pressure on the oil industry regarding its climate impact has forced some operators to pledge to reduce their flaring habits. However, recent research by Greenpeaces investigative unit has unearthed how the practice remains rampant across giant U.S. oilfields, with oil majors BP and ExxonMobil among the worst offenders.

A big part of it can be blamed on lax rules.

Regulation is the big difference between Texas and New Mexico, with Texas having approved every permit for flaring or venting since 2013, Reuters reported.

In New Mexico, applications for flaring require a clear plan to capture gas and must be renewed every 30 days as opposed to Texas where renewals are good for six months. This has led to wildly different rates of flaring between the two states even by the same companies.

Perhaps the State of Texas ought to consider applying the existing gas production tax (7.5 percent) to flared gas. Currently, flared gas is exempt from production taxes, leading to unacceptable levels of harmful burning and potentially millions of dollars in tax revenue going up in smoke.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Rick Carney of Langhorne was happy to get in and out of the Wine and Spirits Shoppe in Langhorne before they closed on Saturday. Gov. Wolf has called on nonessential businesses to temporarily close and announced a plan to begin closing state stores on Tuesday. Read more

Gov. Tom Wolf and the state Department of Health on Saturday strongly encouraged bars to close and restaurants to convert to carryout and delivery-only in the Pennsylvania counties surrounding Philadelphia.

The state asked food and beverage operations to act now before the Governor or the Secretary of Health find it necessary to compel closures under the law for the interest of public health, according to a letter addressed to business owners.

The recommendation to temporarily close nonessential businesses in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties is intended to contain the spread of the coronavirus and ensure the safety of all people in the county and beyond. Businesses in Philadelphia were not asked to comply.

The request stunned many suburban restaurateurs.

Asking [for us to close] vs. telling puts no liability on them, said Justin Weathers, a co-owner of Stove & Tap restaurants in Montgomery and Chester Counties. I have a responsibility to my staff and those who need to eat out to be open. Politely asking us to close without an action plan for businesses and employees is irresponsible.

Josh Lawler, who owns Farm & Fisherman bar-restaurants in Montgomery and Camden Counties, said he is trying to convert to takeout only. Im just worried about all the staff in the region, Lawler said. Its going to be really tough for everyone. ... We went from a short-staffing crisis to this in a week.

Asked about potentially closing his bars, John Brandt-Lee, who owns Avalon locations in the suburbs, replied: But alcohol kills germs.

The letter was signed by the secretary of health, Rachel Levine, and the secretary of community and economic development, Dennis M. Davin.

It said state wine and liquor stores in the four suburban counties would begin to close on Tuesday.

Individuals can still buy wine and beer at grocery stores with PLCB licenses, it stated. The decision marks a reassessment at the PLCB, which had said earlier this week that all liquor stores would remain open.

Medical marijuana dispensaries will remain open since they fall into the same classification as pharmacies, which makes them essential, said Nate Wardle, a Health Department spokesperson.

The state recommended that bars, liquor stores, and restaurants to curtail business until further notice. It also said restaurants should stay open only for carryout and delivery.

It is the first time the governor has invoked the states authority to compel closures if the businesses do not comply, citing Section 7301 of the Emergency Management Act. Whether the governor has the power to close businesses is still to be determined.

The following types of businesses, according to the Health Department, should temporarily cease operations:
People living in 70 per cent of Sydney suburbs have experienced a blowout in commute times over the past five years despite billions of dollars being spent on roads and transport.

A belt of suburbs extending from the city's west to its south and pockets in the northern suburbs experienced the biggest spike in commute times.

The average trip to work took 22 minutes longer in Rouse Hill, the area with the biggest blowout, last financial year compared to 2013-14, bringing the average journey to an hour and representing a jump of 60 per cent, Transport for NSW's latest household travel survey has found.
AL.com is offering a free service so you can receive the most urgent coronavirus updates on your cell phone. To sign up, subscribe to Alabama Coronavirus Urgent Alerts. You can follow our coronavirus live updates here.

This story has been updated Monday with comments from Jimmie Hale Mission and Firehouse Ministries concerning the cancellation of their volunteer programs.

A Birmingham homelessness advocate is concerned about the increasing vulnerability of her homeless neighbors as coronavirus cases are confirmed throughout Alabama.

All the people who have access to soap and water to wash their hands are buying up everything without thinking about the portion of the community who is extremely vulnerable right now, said Erica Star Robbins. Its an epidemic waiting to happen. If one person in the homeless community contracts it, it will spread rapidly.

As the founder of Be a Blessing Birmingham, Robbins has made sure those who are homeless have all the essentials they need, such as food and clothing items. Her goal Friday was to buy extra hygiene items to hand out to the homeless at the citys parks. But after traveling to six different stores, Robbins couldnt buy anything because customers emptied store shelves of hand sanitizer and other hygiene products.

An estimated 3,200 Alabamians were homeless on a single night in January 2019, according to an annual report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The National Center to end homelessness reports that Jefferson, Shelby and St. Clair counties have the most people homeless on any given night in the state with 901 people.

Experts say the homeless community is more susceptible to the disease because most of them have chronic medical issues, limited to no health care options and dont have access to facilities where they can wash their hands or isolate themselves if they do get sick. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the elderly and those with chronic illnesses are at higher risks of getting very sick from the novel coronavirus, or COVID19.

During a press conference Friday, Birmingham Mayor Randal Woodfin said his office is communicating with One Roof, an agency that connects with most homeless service providers in the Birmingham-area, to find ways to engage with what Woodfin identified as the second-most vulnerable population in the city when it comes to the coronavirus.

There are no concrete plans, but we are working through that, Woodfin said.

Having a city-level plan for the homeless will protect everyone from the infectious disease, Robbins said. The homeless community is a migrant community. Robbin said they still use public facilities libraries and are passing by other citizens every day.

If one person gets it and they move around, its very easy for those germs to be passed around to the rest of the city because they are constantly moving, Robbins said.

Robbins is asking people to either donate hygiene items at their drop-off locations, which can be found on Be a Blessing Birminghams website , or people can click here to donate funds to the nonprofit.

If it shows up in the homeless community and it starts to spread, its going to cause issues amongst the general population, Robbins said.

Organizations providing services for the homeless community throughout the state are increasing sanitation efforts to reduce the risk of contamination. Firehouse Ministries, which has been combating chronic homelessness in the Birmingham-area since 1983, shut down its volunteer program on Monday until April 6th. However, the shelter is asking for the following donations:

Milk

Cereal

Eggs

Bread

Sandwich meat

Brown bags for lunches

Individual bags of chips

Snacks

Easy to prepare meals, such as hot dogs, hot dog buns, frozen pizza, large quantities of soup or casseroles

Lysol

Financial Donations

Medical gloves

Cleaning wipes

Board games, decks of playing cards, art supplies

Donations can be dropped off from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. at the Firehouses loading dock located at 626 2nd Ave. North Birmingham, AL, 35203. Once donors have arrived at the dock, they will then need to call the shelter at 205-403-5587 and a staff member will come out to assist them.

The Firehouse shelter is handing out hand sanitizer throughout the facility. A notice telling visitors to avoid hugging or shaking hands and other hygiene tips are placed on entrances.

If you feel sick or have a fever, let your case manager know right away, the notice states.

Jimmie Hale Mission, a Birmingham-based nonprofit which helps people who are homeless through various programs, announced Monday afternoon it is no longer admitting new clients at the Mens Center, Jessies Place or Royal Pines until March 31. Overnight accommodations for guests, family visitations for current clients and all on-site volunteer activities have been suspended during this time frame as well.

Executive Director Michael Coleman said the nonprofit made the decision based on recommendations from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and the Alabama Department of Public Health. Both government entities recommended that events involving 50 or more people be cancelled or postponed.

Weve had no reported illnesses (at Jimmie Hale Mission) at this time and will continue to do everything possible to ensure that residents and personnel are monitored for any adverse health conditions and that they are separated from the general population and directed to the appropriate healthcare facilities if needed, Coleman said.

Warm, home-cooked meals are still needed for the Nourish the Needy program, which feeds the 20-25 homeless women and children who are being sheltered at Jessies Place. Although volunteers will not be allowed to serve the clients until the end of the month, hot meals can still be donated to the staff at Jessies Place. People can schedule their food donations by calling Jessies Place at 205-323-0170.

We are prayerful that this crisis will come to an end soon, Coleman said. We will continue to monitor the situation and remain in contact with health officials regarding best practices until that time.

Officials with the Salvation Army, which operates 10 shelters staffed by 265 employees in Alabama, are working with health officials at the local, state and federal level to protect the homeless from the coronavirus. Additional cleaning is occurring at the organizations residential facilities to prevent the infectious disease from spreading. If a staff member or a resident becomes sick, quarantine areas will be established and additional healthcare will be needed. The Salvation Army Emergency Response staff are on standby if staff must be increased.

In a statement issued Friday, Salvation Army said it expects an increase in rent/mortgage, utility and food assistance because of the possible economical side effects of the coronavirus. Multiple social and sporting events and all schools  both on the K-12 and higher education level  are preparing to close or move to online classes for weeks.

Several industries are at risk of financial hardship, such as travel and hospitality, the statement said. We anticipate a significant increase in emergency assistance for low-wage employees who may be temporarily laid off due to the coronavirus."
Laura Whitmore has been caught up in a hoax, in which fake TV producers have targeted wannabe reality stars to lure them into taking part in a show about sex.

The 'producers' have claimed they are working with Laura on the format, which asks contestants to 'explore each other's sexual interests' for a 25k fee.

In addition, the contestants could bag an addition prize of 200k.

Creepy: Laura Whitmore has been caught up in a hoax, in which fake TV producers have targeted wannabe reality stars to lure them into taking part in a show about sex (pictured on Sunday)

Emails have been sent to people by the culprits, stating that the Love Island presenter is a collaborator on the project, even citing her management, MC Saatchi Merlin, in the correspondence.

Laura took to Instagram to warn her followers about this, asking people to report the email if they get it.

She was informed of it by a concerned fan who was approached to take part.

The email read: 'Hello my name is Alex and currently work for mc saatchi merlin and represent Laura Whitmore.

Fake! The 'producers' have claimed they are working with Laura on the format, which asks contestants to 'explore each other's sexual interests' for a 25k fee

'Laura and I have been working on a new series for late night ITV2, which is based fully on a big brother kind of style house setting for 3 weeks in July but it's more of a sexual twist where contestants will be tasked with a series of sexual tasks that need to be competed for food and daily living products.'

The email goes on to say that 20 singletons are required for the show who will compete to find love.

It continues: 'So if you have a wild side, are open minded when it comes to sexual exploration, and want to find love sensually then this will be perfect for you!'

The email also talks about sex scenes on the show being blurred and about female empowerment, sexiness and sex.

Retro chic: Laura looked retro chic as she left her BBC Radio 5 live show on Sunday in London

The email added that there is also a second prize of 50k and that entries closed on March 10.

Laura said: 'This is a fake email. Please report to the authorities.'

MailOnline have contacted Laura's reps for further comment.

Laura took over from Caroline Flack as the host of Love Island's winter series in January - weeks before troubled Caroline then took her own life a few weeks later.

Laura has said recently that she 'hasn't thought' about the summer series of the show - which is thought to be returning in June.

Details: Laura completed her look with a pair of black velvet heel boots, a collection of gold necklaces and a leopard print bag

She was seen leaving her BBC Radio 5 live show on Sunday in London, wearing a pair of stylish flared jeans with a band T-shirt and a faux-fur jacket over the top.

Laura completed her look with a pair of black velvet heel boots, a collection of gold necklaces and a leopard print bag.

The Irish model styled her blonde locks into a sleek straightened hairdo, she added a slick of make-up to enhance her pretty features.

Laura has said that she needs time to 'reflect' and to look after herself following a 'difficult' series.

Speaking in a candid podcast interview, Laura admitted that it's nice to 'have a break' from the show and 'not talk about it' with her boyfriend Iain Stirling, who narrates Love Island.

Talking on JD In The Duffle Bag Podcast with Grazia, she said: 'I haven't even thought about the next series to be honest. I really enjoyed doing series 6 but it was very difficult. It had huge highs, huge lows.

Candid: It comes after Laura revealed earlier this week that she 'hasn't even thought' about the summer series of the ITV2 dating show after Caroline Flack's death (pictured in February)

'For a lot of people who worked, we all need a bit of time away from the show just to reflect and look after our own selves and self-care. It's very soon to be talking about the summer at the moment because we just need time to ourselves.'

Laura, who credits baths and yoga for reducing her anxiety, added that it helped working alongside beau Iain on the show as he 'understands this'.

She continued: 'It's nice to have a break and not talk about it, you know, for like, half an hour or an hour. Sometimes we'll go for dinner and not talk about Love Island.'

Reflect: The Irish presenter, 34, who took over presenting from Caroline Flack for the winter edition, added that she needs time to 'reflect' and to look after herself following a 'difficult' series (pictured with Caroline in 2019)

Her man: Speaking in a candid podcast interview, Laura admitted that it's nice to 'have a break' from the show and 'not talk about it' with her boyfriend Iain Stirling, who narrates Love Island

Laura added that despite working together they rarely saw each other due to separate rooms and different time schedules, with the Irish star often accidentally telling Iain spoilers.

It comes after Laura and Iain shared heartfelt tributes to Caroline the day after her funeral.

They honoured their late friend with moving messages on Wednesday, one day after the 40-year-old presenter was laid to rest following her tragic suicide on 15 February.

Laura shared: 'Beautiful send off yesterday for a life that ended too soon. See you on the other side Flack, have the pina coladas waiting x.'

Speaking out: Talking on JD In The Duffle Bag Podcast with Grazia , she said: 'I haven't even thought about the next series to be honest. I really enjoyed doing series 6 but it was very difficult. It had huge highs, huge lows.' (pictured, centre, with the winter cast of Love Island)

'See you on the other side Flack': Laura shared a moving tribute to her late friend Caroline the day after her funeral on Wednesday

Laura's beautiful words were accompanied by a picture of her posing with Caroline at a party, laughing together.

Iain also posted a message of his own, which the Love Island voiceover artist accompanied with a behind-the-scenes picture of him eating pizza with Caroline.

He wrote: 'Yesterday we said goodbye to Caroline. It was a small services filled with her friends and family.

'The day was spent sharing stories, singing songs and of course some tears were shed.

'You were so loved Caz': Love Island voiceover artist Iain Stirling also posted a tribute to the beloved presenter

Moving: The comedian shared some beautiful words about Caroline and how her close friends and family will remember her

'As someone who had the worst FOMO in the world I know Carrie would have hated missing it. And her infectious laugh was painfully absent.

'You were so loved Caz, by so many - I hope you knew that. And I hope you're now at peace. X.'

One of Caroline's closest friends, Lou Teasdale, shared pictures from the day on Instagram, as she remembered Caroline, along with the late star's boyfriend Lewis Burton, 27.

Lou, 36, wore a Choose Love T-shirt similar to one Caroline had worn before, as did the host's best friend Mollie Grosberg.

'Bye beautiful': Caroline's friends, including Lou Teasdale (second from left) rallied round late star's boyfriend Lewis Burton (second from right) on the day of her funeral on Tuesday

Bye beautiful: Lou, who always made sure she was there for Caroline, shared this poignant caption alongside the photograph on the sad day

Important message: She had also worn a Choose Love T-shirt, similar to the one Caroline had worn before

Lou also shared a picture of herself with Mollie in their matching tops.

Caroline's friends have been sharing pictures of the star at her most beautiful as they paid tribute to her following her shock death on February 15.

The star tragically took her own life at her home in Stoke Newington, a day after learning the CPS would be pursuing a case of assault against her following a row with Lewis at her home in December.

Lou wrote: 'Here's us like 5 days ago really happy lolling telling eachother we're really fit AND funny and 5 years ago, and 10 years ago. I love you. I hope you are at peace now. Til the end my beautiful friend, Caroline x'

Soulmates: Lou had been taking care of Caroline and they had been close friends for years

Caring Lou had been taking care of Caroline and had popped out to the shops when the star had taken her life shortly after she left the property.

Lou had previously shared a gallery of pictures of Caroline, writing: 'Here's us like 5 days ago really happy lolling telling each other we're really fit AND funny and 5 years ago, and 10 years ago. I love you.

'I hope you are at peace now. Til the end my beautiful friend, Caroline x.'

If you have been affected by this story, you can call the Samaritans on 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org
A meeting on the development of a political package on counteracting the negative consequences of the spread of coronavirus was held Saturday in the Armenian government. The meedin was led by the Deputy PM Tigran Avinyan, his office reported.

One single headquarters is being formed with the participation of employees of the health ministry, law enforcement agencies, and the inspection body that is involved in search operations.

Work aimed at identifying and assessing the full potential impact on the Armenian economy have also been discussed.

The participants submitted preliminary proposals, and it was decided to form an operational economic group at the Deputy PM's office to continue work on a daily basis and present a single package of actions.
A worker at Brigham and Womens Hospital tested positive for coronavirus, the Boston hospital said in a statement released Sunday.

As the novel coronavirus spreads across the globe, it is inevitable that health care workers will be infected, as is now the case at the Brigham, the hospital wrote in a statement.

Officials from the hospital said they are in the process of contacting patients and staff who may have been exposed.

The hospital has been in close contact with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Boston Public Health Commission.

We will continue to follow their and CDCs guidance, as well as the advice of our own infectious diseases experts as the situation continues to evolve, the hospital wrote in the statement. The Brigham Health community has been preparing for this eventuality and has taken every precaution to protect our patients, their loved ones and our staff during this unprecedented pandemic.

The hospital did not release any further information about the case.

Reported COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts rose to 138 as of Saturday afternoon, according to the state Department of Health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have confirmed 19 of the cases.

The cases in Massachusetts counties include:

65 in Middlesex County

28 in Norfolk County

27 in Suffolk County

9 in Berkshire County

5 in Essex County

2 in Worcester County

1 in Barnstable County

1 in Bristol County

On Saturday, officials in Worcester confirmed the citys first case and DPH confirmed the first case on Cape Cod.

Related Content:
MADRID - Spains King Felipe VI has renounced any future personal inheritance he could receive from his father, King Emerit Juan Carlos I, over the alleged financial irregularities involving the former monarch, the countrys royal house announced Sunday.

The royal house said in a statement that in addition to renouncing his inheritance, Felipe is stripping Juan Carlos of his annual stipend. In 2018, the former monarch received 194,232 euros ($216,000).

The decision comes amid an ongoing investigation by Swiss prosecutors into an offshore account allegedly operated for Juan Carlos. The account allegedly received 88 million euros ($100 million) from Saudi Arabias late King Abdullah in 2008, which prosecutors believe could be kickback payments, according to the Swiss newspaper Tribune de Geneve.

On Saturday, the British newspaper The Telegraph reported that Felipe was named as a beneficiary of an offshore fund that controls the Swiss account with an alleged 65 million euro gift ($72 million) from Saudi Arabia given to his father when he was on the throne.

Juan Carlos, 82, became king in November 1975 and reigned until his abdication in June 2014.

Felipe, 52, denied any knowledge of the fund in Sundays statement.

___

The name of the Swiss paper is Tribune de Geneve, not de Geneva.
The VN Health Ministry late Sunday announced that the results for two foreigners visiting Hanoi have returned positive, bringing the total number of COVID-19 patients in Vietnam to 56.

Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi.

The 55th case is a 35-year-old German national who arrived in Ha Noi Saturday morning on flight numbered VN0018.

The patient and all those coming into close contact with him have been sent to the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases for observation and their clinical samples sent to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology.

The patient was reportedly in a stable condition.

The 56th patient, also a male in his 30s, is from the UK. He boarded a flight from the UK to Ha Nois Noi Bai international airport on March 9.

After arrival, he reportedly met two of his female friends (one 28-year-old and one 24-year-old)  who also arrived in Ha Noi from the UK but on a different flight.

The patient registered for one-night stay at Hanoi Paradise Center Hotel on Hang Voi Street in the Old Quarter and checked out on March 10.

From March 10-13, the patient went to the mountainous township Sa Pa and stayed at Mountain River Homestay Sap (Ta Van Commune) and later returned to Ha Noi and stayed at Oriental Suites on Hang ao Street.

Hang ao Wards authorities have obtained the information regarding his stay and put him under quarantine.

Late Saturday, initial tests run by Ha Noi Centre for Disease Control (CDC) return positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus and his clinical samples were sent to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology for confirmation.

He is currently also being treated at ong Anh campus of the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases and is reportedly in a stable condition.

Sunday saw the addition of three new positive cases in Viet Nam  all foreigners from European countries.

Viet Nam starting on Saturday imposing a travel ban on all those from or transiting Schengen countries and the UK due to the rising number of cases and deaths in the region.

Hanoi police crack down on Covid-19 epidemic fake news

In order to contain misinformation, Hanoi police have made a list of people fabricating false information about Covid-19 to strictly handle in accordance with regulations.

Hanoi police have taken strong actions to prevent Covid-19 epidemic fake news, Kinh Te & Do Thi newspaper reported.

As the Covid-19 epidemic evolves unpredictably, fabricated news has sprung up out over social networks, creating unnecessary concern and panic among people.

In order to contain misinformation, Hanoi police have made a list of people fabricating false information about Covid-19 to strictly handle in accordance with regulations. As of March 11, 23 cases have been dealt with.

From January 31 to February 14, local police asked 11 individuals to remove fake contents they had posted on Facebook and YouTube. These people were fined up to millions of Vietnamese dong and were forced to commit not to repeat the offense.

Director of the Hanoi Department of Health Nguyen Khac Hien emphasized that junk news hinders tasks of health authorities and should be prevented so as not to affect the epidemic prevention.

Under the direction of the Hanoi People's Committee, information about the epidemic evolution such as the number infected cases is published promptly on mainstream media. Authorities encourage the people to get updated from official news sources.

Besides, the municipal government recommends people do not share unverified information to avoid causing public confusion.

Hanoi confirmed the first infection on March 6 evening and since then six other cases have been detected in the city. As of March 13, Vietnam reported 47 people positive with the coronavirus. VNS/Hanoitimes

Anh Kiet/Cong Tho
The health and wellbeing of our students, their families and our staff remains our priority, she said. Dr Stevens called it an "unprecedented situation" and said a further update would be provided to the school community on Monday. Carey Baptist Grammar School will remain closed until at least Friday, after a year 10 student tested positive for coronavirus. The diagnosis brings the number of cases at the school to three, after two teachers were previous diagnosed with COVID-19. Carey Grammar in Kew. Credit: In a letter sent to Carey families, principal Jonathan Walter said it was a "possibility" that the student contracted the virus from contact with their infected teacher.

It comes after Jewish school YeshivahBeth Rivkah College confirmed on Sunday it would extend its closure until March 23, after those in contact with a teacher with coronavirus started showing symptoms of the infection. The state's new cases include six men and two women, ranging in age from teens to 60s. From Monday, mass gatherings of more than 500 people will be banned across Australia. Schools are exempted from the ban. Several of Victoria's major events have already been cancelled, including the Melbourne Comedy Festival, the Australian Grand Prix and the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show. Jason Cooke, organiser of Melbourne's Anzac Day march, said it is awaiting a state government ruling about whether the march and the dawn service can go ahead on April 25, as they have for generations.

Daylesford Polo organisers announced the event's postponement and asked customers to retain tickets for when the event is held on a date to be determined. Westfield shopping centres said there were no changes to operations, despite thousands of people attending the larger centres across the country. A spokeswoman for Scentre Group, which owns Westfield shopping centres in Australia and New Zealand, said: "Our company is taking the necessary precautions and is operating as usual". She said the centres were "essential to their communities". They had increased the routine cleaning of frequently touched surfaces and were reminding customers to regularly wash their hands, use hand sanitiser and cover sneezes or coughs with their arm, not their hands.

Hand sanitisers were available at concierge desks and other locations around centres. A spokesman for Vicinity Centres - the part-owner of Chadstone, Emporium Melbourne, and Northland among many other shopping centres - said trading was proceeding as normal. "We know our centres play an important role in providing access to essential products and services for our community which is why we are continuing to trade as normal." The spokesman said: "We understand continuing community concerns about the spread of coronavirus, and we are continuing to act upon the information being shared from our federal and state health departments." Carey Baptist Grammar's Mr Walter said the further closure would enable the private school to ensure all students had experienced a 14-day isolation from the first confirmed report of COVID-19 at the school on March 9.

Loading "We realise this presents many challenges for families and staff, however the health and safety of the community is our first priority," Mr Walter said. "We have undertaken a thorough clean of the school and intend to maintain school operations at this time." A timetable has been devised for parents and students to return to Carey to collect books and electronic devices, with a staggered entry to minimise the number of people on campus at one time. The first confirmed case at the school was a teacher in her 50s, whose family member was confirmed to have coronavirus and was on the same flight from the US as Toorak GP Chris Higgins.

Another Carey teacher who tested positive for the virus shared an office with the first case. Updated health advice for Australians The symptoms of coronavirus include: Fever

Cough

Shortness of breath; and

Breathing difficulties If you suspect you or a family member has coronavirus you should call (not visit) your GP or ring the national Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080. YeshivahBeth Rivkah Colleges' principal Dr Shimon Waronker said all of the school's campuses would be shuttered, and "in light of worldwide events", those in the school community travelling back into Melbourne from overseas are required to undergo a 14-day 'casual contact' isolation. "The decisions made are precautionary measures based on new information that we have a number of 'casual contacts' who are now displaying symptoms," he said. "We understand the impact this has on families and we have taken all factors into consideration. However, the priority of our discussions is the need to protect our community, especially the vulnerable, and do all we can to reduce the spread of the virus."

Loading A teacher at the school in his 50s was diagnosed with coronavirus this week, after he flew into Melbourne from Los Angeles with three other families from the college. Geelong Grammar School announced on Saturday that its four campuses would close by the end of the school day on Wednesday, as a precaution against the coronavirus pandemic. In a letter to families and friends of the school, Geelong Grammar principal Rebecca Cody said the school council and executive and leadership teams had decided to bring term one to an early close as a pre-emptive measure. The school has more than 900 boarding students across two of the school's four campuses, with students from more than 16 different countries.
The NO campaign headquarters for the constitutional referendum in Armenia has issued a statement amid the spread of coronavirus in the country.

According to the statement, they will continue to formulate the proper tools for monitoring the referendum on constitutional amendments scheduled to take place on April 5, as well as the implementation of their mission to provide platforms for forces opposing the YES campaign, until the country declared a state of emergency.

We have characterized and are characterizing the whole process, initiated by the political authorities, as unconstitutional, so from the point of view of state interests it would be more reasonable to cancel the referendum, the said added.

Twenty-eight coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Armenia.
By Online Desk

Even as the coronavirus cases are rising by the day with a total of 110 people testing positive in the country, a major piece of good news has surfaced in Jaipur. Three out of the four COVID-19 patients have been cured with a novel combination of medicines given to Malaria, Swine Flu and HIV positive patients at the state's biggest government hospital, the Sawai Mansingh Hospital in Jaipur.

Earlier, an FIR was lodged in Agra against the father of a coronavirus positive person for resisting health officials and concealing information.

The woman had gotten married to the Google employee in early February, sources said. They went to Italy for their honeymoon and visited Greece and France before returning to Mumbai on February 27.

The couple then flew down to Bengaluru. On March 7, the man started showing COVID-19 symptoms and later tested positive. Consequently, the couple was placed in isolation.

Earlier today, PM Narendra Modi along with leaders and representatives from SAARC nations participated in a video conference to chalk out a joint strategy to fight the coronavirus outbreak that has killed over 5,000 people worldwide.

Meanwhile, ten persons have been admitted to the isolation ward of the Beliaghata ID and BG Hospital in Kolkata with coronavirus-like symptoms, a senior health department official said on Sunday.

All the 10 persons, who are from across West Bengal, have a history of travelling abroad or coming in contact with foreigners, he said.

Earlier 20 passengers of a Dubai-bound flight were offloaded at the Kochi airport on Sunday shortly before take-off after the UK national among them tested positive for novel coronavirus, taking the tally to 107 cases in India.

ALSO READ | 'Wasn't afraid after getting symptoms': How India's first coronavirus patient was cured

COVID-19: CHECK THE STATUS OF YOUR STATE HERE
Taking time out from emergency coronavirus duties, fretful civil servants have drawn up a two-page risk assessment for another pressing health-and-safety issue: the arrival of a dog  possibly to accompany a blind visitor  at a Government department.

Thankfully, there is a low chance of death or life-changing injury as a result of the pets visit, according to the ultra-cautious mandarins at the Department for International Trade.

However, control measures have been put in place in case of long-term psychological injury caused by accidental harm of dog or dog property.

On the day of the visit, a further email must be sent to staff to remind them of the dogs presence. Barking! A stock image is used above [File photo]

Further actions were ordered, with email reassurance to staff that they will not be held responsible.

Other risks included slips and falls on dog or dog property, meaning the visiting canine will be banned from bringing its favourite toys to Westminster.

Dog-causing injury through biting is also deemed a headache, along with any staff phobias.

Of course, there is the sensitive issue, too, of dog waste, with the jittery pen-pushers emailing yet another warning not to touch any unwelcome gifts left on the ministerial carpet.

On the day of the visit, a further email must be sent to staff to remind them of the dogs presence. Barking!

Jeremy Corbyn screams that the NHS is not for sale, but that has not stopped his son cashing in on the brand.

Last month I revealed Tommy Corbyn, 25, was resurrecting his rocky career as an entrepreneur after his cannabis business, the National Hemp Service, went up in smoke with debts of 100,000.

A new firm was launched and now Companies House documents show it has revived the NHS acronym.

The venture will also sell products containing the non-psychoactive components of cannabis such as cannabidiol (CBD).

But is Corbyn Cannabis Inc equally doomed? The Food Standards Agency is considering a ban on CBD-derived products.

Jeremy Corbyn screams that the NHS is not for sale, but that has not stopped his son (above) cashing in on the brand

Awkward scenes at the UK Picture Editors Guild Awards as Labour MP Jess Phillips tore into Boris Johnson for giving Andy Parsons a job as his personal snapper.

She appeared not to know the grumpy-looking photographer was in the audience as she branded him a shill (Brummie-speak for trickster).

What price freedom? Well, 902 to be exact. Thats how much I hear it cost to transport the 599-page EU Withdrawal Agreement from Brussels to London for Boris Johnson to sign and then be sent back again in January.

The weighty tome took the Eurostar and even hitched a ride in a ministerial limo to the station.

Has Lindsay lost his bite?

Westminster's enfant terrible blogger Guido Fawkes was hauled over the coals last week after publishing ground zero snaps of the sealed office of virus-hit Minister Nadine Dorries.

Commons bosses are jumpy about pictures taken on the parliamentary estate, and the sites editor Paul Staines was summoned for a dressing-down from Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

Warned that he would have his access pass removed if he did it again, Staines gently pointed out he had no such accreditation.

It seems Hoyle, who presented a trophy at Crufts last weekend, above left, has a bark worse than his bite
Latest News Sydney property prices might not drop yet, as planning problems persist NSW planning approvals have fallen off a cliff since October, showing that the supply crisis might yet continue

The key trends for property investment in 2022 analysed The key trends for property investment in 2022 analysed, with rentvesting and borderless investing likely to surge

The CEO of an aggregator group is urging all brokers to read ASICs 43-page regulatory guide to gain a better understanding of the regulator's approach to the Best Interest Duty (BID), the broker's personal obligations, and the compliant approach to keeping records and resolving conflicts.

PLAN Australia CEO Anja Pannek shared her thoughts at the groups recent professional development days around the country.

While Pannek described 2019 as being marked by significant uncertainty around the future, she believes 2020 has brought a new level of clarity to the industry through the provided roadmap for regulatory reform.

This is a great place for the broking industry to be. We continue to work with regulators and the government understands us. I think we have a fantastic future ahead, she said.

However, to fully benefit from the thorough direction provided, Pannek urged brokers to go through the entire regulatory guide themselves and spend time processing the 15 scenarios ASIC included to give their guidance more tangible shape.

This self-education is especially crucial given that a key element of BID is being able to educate customers.

As of 1 July, brokers must be able to demonstrate why a product they have recommended is in the best interest of their client.

For example, Pannek described a scenario where a customer approaches a broker with a credit product already in mind, such as a fixed-rate loan. Under BID, the broker must demonstrate they have educated the client on the pros and cons of a fixed rate loan, as well as have run through the different credit options also available.

Most brokers will already adhere to these principles. The key change from 1 July 2020 will be demonstrating how you go about it, said Pannek.

Echoing a sentiment already expressed across the industry, Pannek highlighted how requiring brokers to act in the best interests of their customers by law creates a significant advantage for the industry and a tailwind to broker market share.

Come July 2020, you will be able to say to your customers that you will always act in their best interest. Only mortgage brokers can give their customers that guarantee, she said.

Credit providers cant because Best Interest Duty doesnt apply to them. Thats a major unique selling proposition and will no doubt drive broker market share higher over the coming years.
Canada is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Spanning almost 4 million miles, it has everything from oceans and lakes to forests and prairies. It's also known for friendly people and delicacies including butter tarts, maple syrup, and the world-renowned "poutine" - the heavenly combination of fries, cheese curd, and gravy.

Travelling to the great white north, however, can get pretty expensive. Even if you already live there, getting around the huge landmass can really do a number on your bank account. Have you ever considered travelling the country for free? There are online contests to enter daily, including incredible Canadian vacation giveaways.

Visit your inside track at Contest Scoop - an online source for the best contests, giveaways, and sweepstakes that include exciting vacations to Canada and beyond. Consider your next escape and take a look at some recent online Canadian vacation giveaways.

A Canadian Cottage Getaway with Lucerne Milk

Swimming in the lake, eating s'mores by the fire, and getting away from it all in the beautiful Canadian wilderness: that is the definition of relaxation. The cottage getaway is a tradition that millions of Canadians embrace every weekend during the summer months, and now you can too without having to spend a dollar.

The cottage weekend tradition is also familiar to Lucerne Milk, based out of western Canada. They're committed to providing fresh milk made by Canadian dairy farmers without any harmful antibiotics or artificial growth hormones.

They're giving away a vacation prize worth $3000 CAD to a cottage in western Canada of your choice! Check out the Lucerne website to enter the contest, and to see any upcoming vacation prizes they'll offer in the future!

CTV Atlantic and the Rocky Mountaineer

If you live on Canada's east coast you'll want to get on board with this contest. CTV Atlantic is offering those who live in the Maritime Provinces and Newfoundland the exciting opportunity to see the other side of the country - by train!

The Rocky Mountaineer is a luxury Canadian Rail-tour Company that operates throughout the western provinces and the gorgeous Rocky Mountains. CTV Atlantic is offering a prize for two to experience Canada as they've never seen it before.

The lucky individuals will fly out of Halifax, Nova Scotia to Vancouver, British Columbia and travel (via the Rocky Mountaineer) to Kamloops, Lake Louise, Banff, and then finally land in Calgary. The prize pack also includes a once in a lifetime helicopter tour with Alpine Helicopters.

If you're a resident of Atlantic Canada, all you have to do is check out the CTV News Atlantic site for contest details. From one end of the country to another, you could experience a trip that is valued at over $9000 CAD.

Every day new vacation contests pop up online that give you opportunities to explore the world around you and all over the globe. A lot of people don't realize that these contests are just beneath their fingertips and can be found online every single day.

Don't wait for another second - start looking for your ideal Canadian getaway today.
The YWCA Greenwich announced Saturday that it will be closed until further notice.

All programs, with the exception of the Domestic Abuse Services, are suspended.

To reach the Domestic Abuse Services staff, call the 24/7 hotline at 203-622-0003, according to Mary Lee Kiernan, president and CEO of the YWCA.

The YWCA Greenwich Domestic Abuse Services will operate remotely, as it always does during holidays and weather events, she said.

Anyone in crisis should call the YWCA Greenwich Hotline at 203 622-0003 or the Connecticut Safe Connect Hotline to text or speak at 888-774-2900.

All the YWCAs services are available, confidential and free. If you are in immediate danger, dial 911.

Check ywcagreenwich.org for updates.

YMCA closed; clean out your locker

The YMCA of Greenwich is closed until further notice as of March 13.

With the exception of rental locker pickup, no members will be permitted in the building during the closure.

During the closure, the Y will be performing a deep cleaning of the building so that it will sanitized and ready for reopening.

It is our goal to as much (if not all) of our annual shutdown work so that we minimize/eliminate the disruption in August, the YMCA said in a statement. Further, we are going to begin the preparation work for our Aquatics Capital Campaign projects. Our Alumni Pool maintenance that was scheduled for April will be done during this closure.

As part of that process, the YMCA will be cleaning all lockers.

The YMCA has removed items from lockers and stored them in plastic bags with the locker identification number.

Between 10 a.m. and noon Tuesday, March 17, members can go to the underground garage where staff will deliver your bag to you. Provide your Member ID and drivers license to get the proper bag.

Greenwich Historical Society cancels tours, programs

The Greenwich Historical Society closed Saturday until further notice, it announced on its website. All public programs and tours are canceled.

Its office will remain open to staff and scheduled visitors. For information, visit GreenwichHistory.org.

Visitation policy tightened at Greenwich Hospital

Greenwich Hospital has taken further steps to limit visitor access to patients at the main campus as well as its outpatient facilities in Connecticut and New York, including Northeast Medical Group offices.

Effective immediately:

 No visitation allowed other than those visitors essential to care.

 All visitors who enter the hospital will be screened by the staff at the front desk. Should questions arise, front desk staff will contact nursing leadership for guidance.

Exceptions to this policy may be made at the discretion of the patients clinical team.

In addition, Yale New Haven Health, which includes Greenwich Hospital, has established a call center for anyone who has questions about COVID-19. Healthcare professionals from the health system are available to answer specific questions seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The call center can be reached at 833-ASK-YNHH (833-275-9644).

Neighbor to Neighbor gets emergency grant, seeks donations

The Greenwich United Way issued a $25,000 emergency grant to Neighbor to Neighbor to expand the organizations Food Pantry and its ability to provide groceries for town residents in need during the coronavirus outbreak.

The residents served by Neighbor to Neighbors Food Pantry are at extreme risk due to loss of income and increased food insecurity at this time. The nonprofit group anticipates a significant rise in neighbors needing assistance with food.

This is a critical time for our community and we are extremely grateful for the Greenwich United Ways emergency funds grant, said Margaret Tjimos Goldberg, executive director of Neighbor to Neighbor. We remain committed to providing food for our families in need, especially during this period of insecurity.

David Rabin, CEO of the Greenwich United Way, said, Greenwich is fortunate to have Neighbor to Neighbor in our town and we are proud to support their work during these uncertain times,

Goldberg is also appealing to Greenwich residents to make online donations to Neighbor to Neighbor to help feed families in need.

Donations can be made online at www.ntngreenwich.org. Because Neighbor to Neighbor buys in bulk, every $1 donated buys $2.50 in food.

Neighbor to Neighbor has halted collection and distribution of clothing to limit the potential of transmitting the coronavirus. The food pantry will remain open.

Greenwich Scouting cancels food drive

Greenwich Scouting has canceled its Scouting for Food townwide collection day that had been scheduled for March 21.

In addition, Scouts will not set up outside local stores to collect nonperishable foods items.

Instead, Scouts are seeking to support Neighbor to Neighbor by focusing on online donations, said Heather Lowthert, program director. There is so much uncertainty at this time and monetary donations will help N2N buy exactly the items they need for their food pantry.

The annual food drive is the largest Council-wide good turn effort supported by all Greenwich Scouting Packs and Troops.

To make a donation, visit greenwichscouting.org.
Libya's coast guard intercepted over 300 Europe-bound migrants off the country's Mediterranean coast and returned them to the capital, Tripoli, the UN migration agency said.

The International Organization for Migration tweeted that most of the 301 migrants, who were on three boats and intercepted Saturday, were taken to detention centers in Libya. It said that some managed to escape at the disembarkation point, as the boats were brought back to shore.

It is unacceptable for this to continue despite repeated calls to put an end to the return of vulnerable people to detention and abuse, said Safa Msehli, a spokeswoman for the IOM.

Libya, which descended into chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, has emerged as a major transit point for African and Arab migrants fleeing war and poverty to Europe.

Most migrants make the perilous journey in ill-equipped and unsafe rubber boats.

The IOM said earlier this month that its estimated death toll among migrants who tried to cross the Mediterranean past the grim milestone of 20,000 deaths since 2014.

In recent years, the European Union has partnered with the coast guard and other Libyan forces to stop the flow of migrants.

Rights groups say those efforts have left migrants at the mercy of brutal armed groups or confined in squalid and overcrowded detention centers that lack adequate food and water.

The EU agreed earlier this year to end an anti-migrant smuggler operation involving only surveillance aircraft and instead deploy military ships to concentrate on upholding a widely flouted U.N. arms embargo that's considered key to winding down Libya's relentless war.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Newser)  Think you've stocked up on toilet paper? Well, there's an Australian family that bought a 12-year supply back in February before coronavirus worries even struck the countryand they did it by mistake, USA Today reports. Haidee Janetzki says she made a slight error when ordering the TP online from the company Who Gives a Crap. "It asked for the quantity and I wrote 48 thinking I want a box with 48 rolls in it," she tells the Australian Broadcasting Co. "A couple of days later, I got an email saying the order was on the way, and that was all good." Sure enough, all 2,304 rolls arrived at their home in Toowoomba, roughly 80 miles west of Brisbane.

story continues below

"On a Monday there was a knock at the door at it was the courier. He said, 'I've got two pallets of toilet paper for you,'" says Janetzki. "We checked the credit card statement to try to figure out what'd gone wrong and turned out I'd ordered 48 boxes, so it was legitimately my mistake." As husband Chris puts it: "At the time I thought, 'Holy crap.'" But the family is offering some of the TP in a fundraising drive for their daughter's school, so the children can visit Canberra and Sydney later in 2020. Meanwhile, it's hard to resist a pun or two. "We are flying high, we are sitting pretty," Chris said in a Facebook post about their surprise delivery, while Reuters says they are "rolling in a much coveted commodity." (Read more toilet paper stories.)
MBABANE  It takes others months and some years after retirement as civil servants to move out of government houses.



With others, they even have to be forced out of these houses but there are those who resist vacating the structures such that they end up dying while still accommodated. However, with Percy Simelane, the now-retired long-serving government spokesperson, that is not the case.

Barely three weeks into his retirement, Simelane has already packed his belongings in readiness to vacate the four-bedroom house he has been occupying while serving as the countrys spin doctor.



On Thursday, the Times SUNDAY found Simelane busy with the packing but the unfavourable weather had an effect on his preparations to move out of the residence, which is situated at Queensgate in Mbabane.



In his usual jolly self, Simelane said he was ready to move out that day but his son, Mfanasibili, who works for the Eswatini Water Services Corporations communications department, advised him that he would not be able to access his homestead because of the muddy and slippery road owing to the wet weather conditions.



As he prepares to move, Simelane will now be lost to the capital city as he will be moving to Mbelebeleni under Chief Prince Gcokoma, where he said he had built his homestead.



He was born at Ntshanini. I dont want to be classified among those who refuse to vacate government houses. Yes, there is a period that is specified for a person to vacate a government house and I am only three weeks into retirement but Ive seen it proper to leave. I dont want to wait for this period.



But it also depends on how you have left office; whether you have been fired and they no longer want you in the house or youve been given another job it; the period could be more. I dont want to be under either, which is why I was intending on leaving today. All my belongings have been packed and ready; only the bed is remaining because it crossed my mind that it might happen that I dont eventually leave today, Simelane said.



Government General Orders, clause A.743 states that: in the case of an officer who is proceeding on leave pending retirement or on completion of service if employed on contract, resigns, or absconds from the service, shall be required to vacate his/her quarter not later than the last day of service.

It shall be the responsibility of the parent ministry or department to ensure that government keys of the house of the outgoing officer are taken to the appropriate authority, who could be the controller of government stores, the regional secretaries or others.

The outgoing officer shall be accompanied by an officer who has been delegated by the parent ministry/department, further reads the clause.

I found pupils in house



Simelane said when he moved into the house, he was shocked to find that it was occupied by pupils from one of the high schools situated just outside Mbabane. When I told them that I needed to use the house, they gave no resistance but simply left, which means they knew they were living in it illegally. But this is the general problem with government houses; government does not know all of them and doesnt follow up to see who lives in them, he said.



The house has a servants quarters but it remained unoccupied throughout the years Simelane lived there. This house has four bedrooms and its lounge is so big you can even ride a bicycle inside. The house is just too big; the garage also accommodates two cars. There is also a servants quarter which was not occupied because I chose not to rent it out like most civil servants do.



I didnt want the situation where I pay E150 rent but then rent out the servants quarters for E650 like what we see people doing. This just doesnt make sense, which is why I decided to leave it unoccupied, the former government press secretary said.



He said part of moving out of the house required him to clear any water and electricity issues, such as the metre number because the new occupant would have to use their own metre number.



Worried about vandals



Simelane said he might decide to, for now, leave the curtains because once people see that the house is vacant, they could vandalise it. For the first time, Simelane also briefly spoke of his exit from the position of government spokesperson yet, as reported by this publication, he had been offered a further three-year extension.



When people ask me about the contract that was renewed I tell them that no person under the age of 700 years can be certain of not changing his mind. The person who had given me the contract extension changed his mind. If only it was a different person who had told me that I will not continue in the job then I would have had a problem with that. But because it was the person who had given me the contract extension who later changed their mind, then Im fine with that, he said



He stated that people asked him about this and if he was sure about it and he told them there was nothing wrong with being fixed. You can even see for yourself that Im fine; others even say it looks like Ive gained weight, he said.

He said to show that his former job was a stressful one, he found himself having to wake up at night thinking his phone was ringing, only to find that it was just his mind playing games with him. When i realised this, I went back to sleep. Its the pressure of the job I was in, he said.



In July last year, the Times of Eswatini daily newspaper reported that the Ministry of Public Works and Transport had written to the office of the Attorney General seeking assistance with the eviction of about 60 individuals who were occupying government houses illegally.

The people who were wanted out were former civil servants who had retired, some were deceased while some were just occupying the houses illegally.
While most people struggle to find the cash to renovate the house of their dreams, its an entirely different story for the super-rich.

Im told that Jerry Hall and Rupert Murdoch have bought a doer-upper in the Cotswolds  an extensive project that will cost a staggering 30 million. The sprawling pad in Great Tew has been uninhabitable for many years and the painstaking renovation will include installing a stunning new domed roof.

Of course, Jerry and Rupert wont be able to stay in the house while the builders are working, so they will have to make do by slumming it at Holmwood House, their 11.25 million mansion near Henley, which I revealed they had bought back in November. The two properties are 40 miles apart, so just a quick hop in a helicopter then.

The couple will make do by staying in their home at Holmwood House, a 11.25 million mansion near Henley (pictured), while the works are carried out

Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall at the Vanity Fair Oscar party in Los Angeles last year

The new main accommodation is a 200-year-old manor house which has crumbling plasterwork, damaged masonry and a dilapidated roof. The refurbishment is expected to take years, which means the Henley bolt-hole makes more sense. A source tells me: It is an enormous project to take on but no expense is being spared in restoring the house to its former glory.

The total outlay will reach 30 million. It will be spectacular.

The pad is just a ten-minute drive from Chipping Norton, where residents include Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of Ruperts News UK. And A-list favourite Soho Farmhouse is a stones throw away.

The home Jerry and Rupert will stay in while work is carried out on their new doer-upper in the Cotswolds

Jerry ended her marriage to Sir Mick Jagger after he fathered a child with Brazilian model Luciana Gimenez in 1999. The Texan beauty queen remained at the couples mansion in Richmond, South-West London, and left only after marrying media tycoon Murdoch in 2016. A clause in her divorce settlement with Jagger stated she had to quit the property if she remarried.

Its a shame the new house will not be ready for the wedding of Jerry and Micks youngest son, Gabriel. Im told he has set a date in July to marry his Swiss girlfriend Anouk Winzenried and the pair will stage the ceremony in England.
People look at data on their mobiles as background with internet wire cables on switch hub is projected in this picture illustration

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. telecoms regulator said Friday that major internet providers - including Comcast Corp, AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc - agreed not to terminate service for subscribers for the next 60 days if they are unable to pay their bills due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said after calls with more than 50 companies that they also agreed to waive any late fees residential or small business customers incur because of their economic circumstances related to the coronavirus pandemic.

They also agreed to open Wi-Fi hotspots to anyone who needs them.

Millions of Americans are expected to work and study from home as employers and states urge people to stay away from workplaces and schools to reduce the potential to spread the coronavirus.

Others agreeing to take part include Alphabet Inc's Google Fiber, Charter Communications Inc, CenturyLink Inc, Cox Communications [COXC.UL], Sprint Corp, T-Mobile US Inc.

"As the coronavirus outbreak spreads and causes a series of disruptions to the economic, educational, medical and civic life of our country, it is imperative that Americans stay connected," Pai said in a statement. "Broadband will enable them to communicate with their loved ones and doctors, telework, ensure their children can engage in remote learning."

Many companies also agreed to waive data limits for the next 60 days.

Charter Communications said it would offer free broadband and Wi-Fi access for 60 days and waive installation fees to households with students without its service.

For customers with international long distance plans, Sprint will provide free international calling rates from the United States to countries with large coronavirus outbreaks.

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, praised the companies adopting the pledge, but said the FCC should do more.

She called on the commission to "provide hotspots for loan for students whose school doors have closed" and "work with healthcare providers to ensure connectivity for telehealth services are available for hospitals, doctors, and nurses treating coronavirus patients and those who are quarantined."

Story continues

Pai also said he had asked providers that offer low-income consumers lower-speed cheaper service to increase speeds and expand eligibility. Comcast said Thursday it was raising its speeds for all its low-income users, while AT&T said it was waiving data caps for home consumers that have plans with usage caps.

Internet firms expressed confidence that U.S. networks can withstand the predicted jump in traffic.

The trade group U.S. Telecom said in a letter to Congress on Friday that in areas where workers are being told to stay home the group has "not observed time shifted traffic exceeding peak network capacity."

Verizon said it had "not seen any measurable increase in data usage on any of its networks." More than 60% of U.S. network traffic is video and content streaming.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Dan Grebler and Rosalba O'Brien)
San Francisco, March 15 : Apple has suspended all active shooting on projects managed by outside studios, including "The Morning Show," "Foundation," "See," "Lisey's Story," "Servant" and "For All Mankind" due to coronavirus crisis.

"The Morning Show" earlier announced that it was shutting down production temporarily in an effort to prevent cast members and crew from catching the coronavirus, and now the temporary halt on production has now expanded to all other Apple TV?+ shows that are in the process of filming, The Hollywood Reporter reported.

Netflix and Amazon have also shut down all scripted TV and film physical production for two weeks.

Television Group, Paramount TV Studios, and the CW have postponed production on all or part of their TV content.

Several late night talk shows, including "The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon," "Late Night With Seth Meyers," and "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" are also on hiatus until at least March 30.

At least 9,751 new coronavirus cases were reported outside China in the past 24 hours, bringing the global number of infections to 142,539, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Outside China, 61,518 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported as of Saturday morning, among which 2,199 patients died, an increase of 424 deaths compared to the previous day, Xinhua news agency quoted the WHO as saying.

An additional 13 countries and regions have reported confirmed cases, increasing the number of affected countries and regions globally to 135.

The most affected European countries with over 1,000 cases each -- Italy, Spain, France, Germany and Switzerland -- have seen nearly 30,000 infections in total as of Saturday morning.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
As Wall Street regained some momentum last Friday after its worst day in over thirty years, and as President Donald Trump declared a national emergency with respect to the rapidly spreading COVID-19 (coronavirus), the House of Representatives passed legislation in a 363-40 vote that would make coronavirus testing free and provide paid sick leave to many of those affected by the pandemic spreading across the country. The Senate is expected to approve the bill this coming week before President Trump signs it into law, marking the second package in what Congress has telegraphed will be a broader effort to combat a fast-moving crisis.

As European countries continue to take ever more severe, though widely varying, measures to reduce contact among their citizens and slow the pandemic, China continued to ease up lockdown measures in its hardest-hit region. President Xi Jinping is now seen as a hero visiting the Hubei province  where the virus first emerged late last year  albeit, months after the virus "officially" was identified by the Chinese. The official story from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) state-run media is that the number of people infected with the COVID-19 has dropped immensely.

There is now a book, A Battle against Epidemic: China Combating COVID-19 in 2020, that compiles numerous state media accounts on the heroic leadership of President Xi Jinping, the vital role of the Communist Party, and the superiority of the Chinese system in fighting the virus. It has gotten rave reviews in Chinese media, not least because it was published by their ultimate boss  the Central Committee Publicity Department, formerly known as the Propaganda Department. Yet how can we trust a regime whose policy of brutality, censorship, and secrecy has offered, at best, nothing but half-truths and falsehoods about the coronavirus? Despite many of our politicians publicly placing their trust in them  I wonder if they also believe Beijing's accusation that the U.S. Army transports the COVD-19 to Wuhan  the CCP will do just about anything to maintain a new global hegemony.

As former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich stated in his latest book, Trump vs. China, the United States is currently engaged in a competition with the Chinese government unlike any other we have witnessed before. This is a competition between the American system  which is governed by freedom and the rule of law  and a totalitarian dictatorship that is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. These are two different visions for the future; one will succeed, and one will fail.

The CCP, whose atheistic and mob-like rule is responsible for its rapid growth, had done everything in its power to downplay the gravity of the coronavirus when it broke out late last year in Wuhan. It silenced the late Li Wenliang  the whistleblower who tried to raise the alarm about the coronavirus outbreak. Li, who contracted the coronavirus from one of the patients he was treating, had been arrested by police and accused of falsely "spreading rumors."

The coronavirus outbreak has given Beijing a new tool to suppress truth-tellers, as with the case of Chen Qiushi, a Chinese citizen-journalist who has been placed into a quarantine camp against his will in Wuhan. His crime was going to the Wuhan hospitals and mortuaries and the construction sites of a quarantine centers, exposing what's really going on: crowded hospitals, desperate patients, death, and body bags. China's draconian actions don't stop there.

According to the U.S. Senate Committee of Finance on August 7, 2019, nearly 80 percent of active pharmaceutical ingredients are produced in Communist China  compounds used in practically every essential medicine for high blood pressure, cancer, and Alzheimer's, not to mention our antibiotics. Essentially, China controls our health care system, and do not think the CCP will not use it to its advantage, as it already has.

Unlike what then-president Barack Obama said  "China's peaceful rise is good for the world and for America," and China got a foothold in the U.S. when then-president George W. Bush signed a proclamation granting the Chinese permanent normal trading relations (PNTR) in 2001  the CCP has to be taken on. This is not sinophobia, nor is it a green light to discriminate against Asians. It does mean, however, that our country must begin to manufacture our own pharmaceutical drugs, technological equipment, and the like so as no longer to rely on the economic and political whim of the CCP.

Newt Gingrich perhaps summed it up best: "We need a much such stronger U.S. government response on [the Chinese owned digital and global communications technology providers of] G5 and Huawei. We have been sitting around failing to act for about a year and a half. And every day we fail to act Huawei gains ground around the world[.] ... It's a vehicle for misinformation and a vehicle spying for China. And a anybody who doesn't think they're not going to use it that way has no concept of how China works."
Rachel Griffiths has urged her social media followers to go into 'total social isolation' for the next two weeks amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In an Instagram post on Sunday, the 51-year-old actress shared a screenshot of a Facebook post by Dan Suan, a specialist immunologist at Sydney's Westmead Hospital.

Mr Suan stressed the importance of 'complete interpersonal distancing' in containing the virus and saving 'countless Australian lives'.

Minimising contact: Rachel Griffiths, 51, urged her Instagram fans on Sunday to go into 'total social isolation' for the next weeks, amid the coronavirus pandemic. Pictured in November

'The next two weeks is absolutely critical to the direction of this curve [how Australia fares in comparison to other countries],' Mr Suan wrote.

'Total social isolation, complete interpersonal distancing, combined with massively increased testing will flatten this curve and save countless Australian lives.'

Mr Suan said this can be done without vaccines and antivirals, and said Australians need to make it their 'personal responsibility' to have minimal contact with others.

Expert advice: The actress shared a screenshot of a Facebook post by Dan Suan, a specialist immunologist at Sydney's Westmead Hospital. Mr Suan said the 'next two weeks is absolutely critical'

'To protect our health system, health workers and the vulnerable': Rachel revealed in her post's caption that she is following Mr Suan's advice and is going into social isolation

'Cancel all unnecessary things,' he insisted. 'We have a narrow window of opportunity to do this, this could not be more urgent.'

Rachel revealed in her post's caption that she is following Mr Suan's advice and is going into social isolation.

'Social distancing in the next two weeks to protect our health system, health workers and the vulnerable in our community, from a respected immunologist,' she wrote.

Critical issue: 'Cancel all unnecessary things,' Mr Suan (pictured) insisted. 'We have a narrow window of opportunity to do this, this could not be more urgent'

Cancel events: It comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured during a press conference on Friday) said non-essential gatherings of more than 500 people should not take place from Monday in a drastic step to halt the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19)

It comes after Prime Minister Scott Morrison said non-essential gatherings of more than 500 people should not take place from Monday in a drastic step to halt the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

'We will be advising against organised, non-essential gatherings of persons of 500 people or greater from Monday,' Mr Morrison said in a press conference on Friday.

The move has been hailed by infectious diseases experts, who say it will be critical in slowing the virus' spread and help prevent overloading hospital intensive care units.

Major sport and music events around the globe, including the Australian Grand Prix and Download Australia Festival, were cancelled on Friday amid the crisis.

No studio audiences: Channel Ten has also cancelled studio audiences for Dancing With The Stars, The Project, Studio 10 and Australian Survivor: All Stars Reunion, effective immediately. Pictured are The Project hosts from left to right: Peter Helliar, Waleed Aly and Carrie Bickmore

Channel Ten has also cancelled studio audiences for Dancing With The Stars, The Project, Studio 10 and Australian Survivor: All Stars Reunion, effective immediately.

Coronavirus is a respiratory illness accompanied by fever, coughing, sore throat, shortness of breath and fatigue. It can produce pneumonia.

The spread of the disease, which began in Wuhan, China, has seen over 156,000 cases worldwide and more than 5,800 fatalities.

As of the afternoon of Sunday March 15, the total number of Australians diagnosed with the virus was 298, including four deaths.
Apple Inc said it is closing all its retail stores, except those in Greater China, for the next two weeks to minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission, a move that was followed by several US retailers on Saturday.

The announcements escalated the global response to the outbreak, as most companies had previously kept stores open.

Apparel retailer Urban Outfitters Inc., which owns brands including Anthropologie and Free People, said on Saturday it was closing all of its consumer stores worldwide until at least March 28.

Verizon Communications Inc. said it was temporarily closing "a number of its stores" across the United States in order to expand its work from home policy to include some of its retail employees.

"We will be closing all of our retail stores outside of Greater China until March 27," Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in a letter posted on the company's website late on Friday.

Apple reopened all 42 of its branded stores in China on Friday as the number of new cases fell in the country where the coronavirus outbreak originated.

Some 153,000 people have been infected around the world and 5,788 have died, according to a Reuters tally.

Retailers are bracing for a blow to sales as virus-wary shoppers in Europe and the United States stay home. US retailers including Macy's Inc, Saks Fifth Avenue and Gap Inc.'s Banana Republic sent notices to shoppers on Thursday saying they were open for business in a move to stem losses due to a steep decline in traffic.

Apple's hourly workers will continue to receive pay in alignment with business as usual operation, Cook said, and online sales will continue as usual.

"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."

Philadelphia-based Urban Outfitters also said it would continue to pay its store employees while stores are closed.
Donatella Versace and her daughter Allegra have donated the money to San Raffaele hospital to support the fight against coronavirus.

Celebrated fashion designer Donatella Versace and her daughter Allegra Versace Beck, have donated 200,000 euros to a hospital in Milan, Italy, to help battle the coronavirus.

The Versace chief creative officer shared on Instagram that they have made the donation to the intensive care department of San Raffaele hospital in Milan.

"In times like this, it is important to be united and support however we can to help all those who are in the front lines, fighting every day to save hundreds of lives. This is why, Allegra and I have decided to make a personal donation of 200,000 euros to the intensive care department of San Raffaele hospital in Milan," Donatella said in the statement.

"Our hearts go out to all those who have been affected by this disease and to call the doctors and medical staff who have been working heroically non-stop in the past weeks in the effort to take care of our loved ones," she added.



View this post on Instagram  A post shared by Donatella Versace (@donatella_versace) on Mar 13, 2020 at 11:51am PDT

Italy is the second hardest-hit country after China, where the virus originated in December last year. No less than 1,260 people have died and more than 17,600 have been infected by COVID-19 in Italy.

Donatella is the latest addition to the list of Italian fashion brands and designers to offer financial assistance to help fight the pandemic.

Last week, Giorgio Armani donated USD 1.9 million to the Luigi Sacco and San Raffaele hospitals and the Istituto dei Tumori in Milan, as well as the Istituto Lazzaro Spallanzani in Rome.
Air Namibia on Mar. 14 announced that it had temporarily suspended the Windhoek - Frankfurt - Windhoek route effective Saturday night for a period of 30 days.

In a statement, Air Namibia's Acting Chief Executive Officer Elia Erastus said the Namibian national airline is complying with the directive of President Hage Geingob.

Erastus said, Air Namibia's Airbus A330 aircraft will be grounded for the next 30 days as a precaution to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

He said, all passengers on the affected flights will be offered two options, they will either be re-routed through alternative and partner airlines or they will be fully refunded.

"Passengers opting for re-routing will be offered one night accommodation only (where applicable), whilst finalizing their itinerary. Air Namibia's call centre is doing its best to inform all affected passengers about the immediate change," he said.
Season 1 of Black Monday offered an alternative history theory to what caused the 1987 stock market crash. It turned out, The Jammer Groups in-fighting and scheming crashed the whole market. Now Don Cheadle, Regina Hall, Andrew Rannells and Paul Scheer are back for another season.

(L-R): Regina Hall, Don Cheadle, Andrew Rannells and Paul Scheer | Kurt Iswarienko/SHOWTIME

Season 2 picks up with Mo (Cheadle) on the run for the crimes of Season 1. Dawn (Hall) is running her own brokerage firm. Blair (Rannells) is now married to Tiff (Casey Wilson) and Keith (Scheer) has come out. The cast and creators David Caspe and Jordan Cahan were on a Television Critics Association panel for Black Monday on Jan 13 discussing the new season. Season 2 premieres Sunday, March 15 at 10 p.m. on Showtime.

Black Monday Season 1 has a lot to answer for

Cahan and Caspe had their work cut out for them explaining the Black Monday crash with their fictional characters. Now they had to figure out what comes next.

I think Season 2 is kind of like who is going down for the crime? Cahan said. So we saw the how, and then I think the mystery really continues. Our show does have consequences and stakes, and its whos going to pay for that? So that guided the writing and the writers room.

Don Cheadle and Regina Hall have a tricky relationship

Mo and Dawn were constantly one upping each other throughout Season 1. In Season 2, Black Monday flashes back to their relationship prior to The Jammer Group. It was just as frought then, and it doesnt get easier when Mo returns.

Don Cheadle and Regina Hall | Nicole Wilder/SHOWTIME

I think that they are constantly trying to figure out the same question, Cheadle said. Like, where is this headed? What are we going to do? What part of us is the business part of us, and what part of us is the personal part of us that were trying to service at the same time? And can they coexist? I think that question is this season is rife with that question for these two characters.

Its even muddier for Dawn before and after Black Monday.

Can you trust someone in love who you dont trust in business? Hall asked.

Andrew Rannells says Blair is going to go dark after Black Monday

Blair married Tiff for a stake in her familys company. When Tiff found out about it, she agreed to the sham wedding as long as she was a partner. Now theyre married and the Black Monday crash occurred, and Rannells says things get even darker for Blair.

Andrew Rannells and Casey Wilson | Nicole Wilder/SHOWTIME

We sort of left Blair at the end of Season 1 on the precipice of making a lot of personal decisions, Rannells said. Then this season we really got to launch into them, and he gets dark real fast. Sometimes after these table reads, Jordan and David would be, This is still a comedy, right? We are still doing a comedy, right?

Paul Scheer on the new Keith

In Season 1, Keith hid his sexuality from his coworkers and tried to join in their aggressive heterosexuality, unsuccessfully. Now that hes openly gay, its a relief, but only a temporary one, Scheer said.

(L-R): Paul Scheer and Don Cheadle | Nicole Wilder/SHOWTIME

Hes out, and hes proud. Hes living in a world that he can shed everything that hes had to hold inside for all that first season, but at what cost? What consequences come with that? I think everyones kind of dealing with that in the show, like, Oh, I finally got what I wanted, but now where does that kind of pay off? And not quickly, but these characters do kind of come back towards each other, and old patterns have to come back into play. So hes happy and then he starts to be very unhappy again, based on situations that start to pile up. Paul Scheer, Black Monday Television Critics Association panel 1/13/2020

Black Monday could continue to the 90s

Season 2 picks up after the Black Monday crash of 1987, but it shouldnt take long for the show to catch up to the 90s. Caspe would love to go even further than that.

I would love to do the 90s and the 2000s, Caspe said. As long as theyll let us continue to make shows, I think well continue to make them. We dont have a lot of creative integrity up here.

Don Cheadle | Nicole Wilder/SHOWTIME

There was another stock market crash in 2008, and Caspe expects there to be infinite material for Black Monday.

Theres going to be another crash, Caspe said. The question now is will the stock market crash before the world explodes?


Though most state-run senior centers are still open amid the coronavirus, each Area Agency on Aging has been given the authority to temporarily close should the need arise.

But if they do close, they will still provide meals to older adults who rely on their services.

The Pennsylvania Department of Aging has released guidance to Area Agencies on Aging related to the operations of more than 500 senior community centers in the state.

The Wolf administration is committed to protecting Pennsylvanias most vulnerable citizens, and during this COVID-19 outbreak, older adults and especially those with underlying medical conditions are the most vulnerable, Aging Secretary Robert Torres said in a press release Sunday. We have been in regular communications with the Area Agencies on Aging relating to operation of their affiliated senior community centers, and we will continue to engage with them to meet their informational needs, receive input and offer guidance.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PENNSYLVANIA: Click to see where cases of the coronavirus are in Pennsylvania are located.



According to this guidance, the local agencies will decide if they will temporarily close, unless specifically told to do so by the governor.

There will be a contingency plan in place for some of their essential services, like meeting the nutritional needs of seniors, referrals and outreach to isolated senior citizens.

For providing meals, senior centers can offer meals as take out, package and deliver meals in some cases, or offer frozen or grab-and-go meals.

Participants are to be offered an alternative means to receive a meal and be provided information about contacting the center or the AAA if they need additional assistance or services, Torres said. We are committed to ensuring that the delivery of services to older adults, particularly in the vital area of meals, continues unabated, while protecting the health and safety of older adults who utilize the centers, and the center staff who interact with them.

The department has also provided sanitation and cleaning guidance to senior centers to minimize the spread of the coronavirus.

Text PennLive to 717-745-7532 to sign up to have breaking news and essential updates about the coronavirus delivered right to your mobile device. Data and messaging rates may apply.

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Lucknow, March 15 : Alarm bells are now ringing for the beleaguered Congress in Uttar Pradesh. After the expulsion of seniors, it is now the upper caste youths who are on the warpath, directly accusing the UPCC president Ajay Kumar Lallu of working on anti-upper caste policies.

Another section of the party is miffed over the growing dominance of "leaders imported from Left parties" in the Congress.

The party veterans have sent a letter to party's disciplinary committee chief A.K. Antony, demanding justice for themselves and action against UPCC office-bearers.

"It's an irony that at a time when powerful faces are deserting Congress and we want to stay and sacrifice ourselves for the party, we are not being heard," said Siraj Mehndi, one of the signatories.

Another expelled leader said, "It is unfortunate that leaders from outfits like AISA and Rihai Manch are being given preference in the party while staunch Gandhi loyalists who bore the brunt of the crackdown of anti-Congress regimes and stood by the party through thick and thin have been thrown out by Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Our efforts to meet Sonia Gandhi have also proved futile." The veterans are particularly upset with Sandeep Singh, said to be Priyanka Gandhi's 'personal assistant'. Sources said that Sandeep Singh was one among those who had shown black flags to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2005.

Singh, who now calls the shots in UP Congress, is a student leader from the All India Students' Association (AISA) -- a wing of the CPI (M-L) and comes from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

Others 'imported' leaders include Mohit Pandey, also a former AISA functionary who is the social media head of UPCC.

Shahnawaz Husain, formerly with Rihai Manch which is known for its advocacy of terror suspects, is now head of UPCC's minority cell.

Dinesh Singh, in-charge of party administration, is an old AISA hand. Besides, Yunus Baig, in-charge, social media, is also from Rihai Manch.

Meanwhile, a young Congress leader Konark Dixit has set up a WhatsApp group called 'Shoshit Congress Savarna UP'. The group regularly mounts a blistering attack on the state leadership.

"I have given a large part of my life to the Congress and will not allow some leaders to destroy the party. We believe in the party high command and want the leaders to see through what is happening in UP," he said.

Interestingly, members in the group include several senior Congress leaders and some media persons too.

Another Congress leader Vivek Upadhyay has even announced on the social media that if Ajay Kumar Lallu is not immediately removed, the party would face an exodus of leaders very soon.

Meanwhile, former UPCC president admitted that the situation in the state party unit was getting 'critical by the day' and said that the party leadership should immediately intervene 'before it is too late.' UPCC president Ajay Kumar Lallu did not respond to calls.
5 things to know about Joe Biden

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Correction Appended

Former Vice President Joe Biden is beginning to pull away as the frontrunner in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary election as he picked up key victories to extend his delegate lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in the March 10 primaries.

As of Thursday morning, the 77-year-old Biden holds a 864 to 710 lead over Sanders. On Tuesday, Biden picked up wins in four states, including the biggest prize, Michigan.

Along with Sanders and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Biden is one of just three candidates left vying for the partys nomination.

With several other candidates dropping their bids for the partys nomination in recent weeks, Biden is likely to pick up the support of more moderate liberal voters who dont embrace Sanders self-described Democratic Socialist agenda.

The following pages detail five things to know about Biden's background.

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Walmart on Saturday night became the latest in a string of major grocery store chains forced to reduce its hours amid the coronavirus pandemic as panic shopping continues and cases in the United States near 3,000.

The biggest chain store in America revealed it would cut hours from Sunday to allow for further cleaning and restocking as employees at several large grocery store chains voiced their anger on social media about the risk of getting infected and conditions in crowded stores.

Across the country people have been flocking to supermarkets in droves amid the coronavirus pandemic as increasing numbers of stores, bars and restaurants and public attractions announce they are closing.

President Donald Trump addressed the nation at a press conference yesterday afternoon and said that a domestic travel ban is being considered after banning all visitors to the U.S. from Europe.

The decision to scale back on store hours came as:

President Trump's tested negative for the coronavirus after coming in contact with at least three people who have since tested positive

The president announced in a press conference on Saturday that restrictions on domestic travel to 'certain areas' is being considered

He also extended the European travel restrictions to the United Kingdom and Ireland

Huge lines formed at the 13 American 'funnel' airports on Saturday night

American's returned from Europe were forced to wait in lines for as long as six hours

JFK Terminal 4, Chicago O'Hare Terminal 5 and Dallas/Fort Worth airport

Cases in the United States hit 2,951 with 57 deaths as of Saturday night

Two top doctors believe an experimental drug has helped save the lives of American patients

France and Spain began to lock down as cases worsened

Dr. Anthony Fauci revealed the United States has yet to hit the peak of its outbreak

Obama's Medicaid boss claimed American hospitals will soon be overrun

Eighteen states closed schools to reduce coronavirus spread

Miami's South Beach shut down and spring breakers were told the party's over

Shortly after announcing there may be a ban on domestic travel in 'certain areas' of the United States on Saturday, Trump's own coronavirus test was confirmed as negative.

His earlier ban on travel from Europe was also fully felt by travelers arriving at one of 13 'funnel' airports, designated by Trump as the airports Americans traveling from Europe must arrive into.

Customs and Border Protection Officers were completely overwhelmed as U.S. citizens rushed to get back into the country as Trump's European travel ban went into effect.

People waiting in line took to social media to voice concerns about the chaos.

Employees at grocery stores have also taken to social media to complain about the demands being put on them.

They have highlighted how being packed into a store goes against advice on social distancing and increases their risk of infection with their health being put as risk by the mobs of customers.

A gaggle of major grocery store chains will begin closing early daily or scaling back from 24-hour service in order to restock and clean stores, as the coronavirus pandemic drives panic buying.

As cases rose to over 2,900 on Saturday night, people continued to stock up in case they are forced to self-isolate or if further areas are quarantined but experts insist that there will be no food shortage.

Chains such as Publix, Giant, Harris Teeter and Wegmans are all scaling back hours, while retail titan Walmart decided Saturday to close 24-hour stores at night during the crisis.

People took to social media to show the long lines in Walmart stores as many filled their carts with goods in case they will need to self-isolate because of the coronavirus. The demand has forced Walmart to cut back its opening hours

Walmart employees hand out one item of toiletries to customers as people stock up on essentials as panic over coronavirus heightens at Walmart in Suffern, New York, on Friday. Walmart is now cutting down its hours to address the crowds

An armed guard for toilet paper! This Walmart store had an officer and employee guarding the toilet paper aisle

Shoppers line up to enter a Costco warehouse store in Alexandra, Virginia. The store was sold out of numerous items including toilet paper, paper towels and sanitizing wipes as customers hoped to find supplies in case they need to isolate

Empty shelves greeted this shopper in a Super Walmart in Wallingford, Connecticut. The biggest chain in America is now closing its 24-hour stores overnight to allow employees a break to restock products and clean against the virus

Shoppers walk through nearly empty shelves that usually hold toilet paper and paper towels in a Target in Washington on Saturday

President Trump announced in a press briefing Saturday that he had tested for the coronavirus and his results were revealed to be negative by his doctor a few hours later. Trump has been in contact with several people who have tested positive

Welcome home! Arriving passengers from Europe have faced lines lasting up to six hours as travelers are forced to enter through 13 designated 'funnel' airports. This was the scene arriving at Chicago O'Hare airport

Passengers were packed in tight at O'Hare airport with lines moving at snails pace. Customs and Immigration appeared to be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of passengers arriving back from Europe

On Saturday, Walmart revealed that it reduced the opening hours of its 24 stores overnight, cutting them back to 6am until 11pm. Stores that do not operate on a 24-hour schedule will likely maintain their current hours.

'This will help ensure associates are able to stock the products our customers are looking for and to perform cleaning and sanitizing,' Dacona Smith, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Walmart U.S., wrote.

'As we make this change, associates will continue to work the hours and shifts they are scheduled, and our supply chain and trucking fleet will continue to move products and deliver to stores on their regular schedules.'

'To our associates, thank you for your incredible work during this time. I know it hasn't always been easy, but your entire Walmart family is so proud of what you are doing and the important difference you are making, both for your neighbors and for your country,' Smith added.

Scenes in Walmart across the country on Saturday showed the shocking extents to which customers were going to get supplies.

One tweet revealed that there was at least a four-aisle line waiting to get toilet paper and no information given on how long the wait was expected to be.

Other social media posts saw police officers alongside an employee guarding the toilet paper line in one Walmart and even a line accompanied by security to purchase soup.

And toilet papers aisles were completely sold out in other stores but lines continued to grow for other products.

'Long lines, empty meat shelves, blink and you miss it toilet paper,' wrote Twitter user Coffee Me Please.

'And we're in a town of less than 50k with some smaller towns around.'

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The move on cutting back on opening hours comes as employees from Walmart, Trader Joe's and other chains begin to voice their concern over the conditions they are working in.

Workers claim they are being forced into crowded conditions where there is no hope of social distancing and are putting their own chances of staying safe from the virus at risk.

Posts of the Reddit thread Trader Joe's crew shared concerns about the 24-hour operation and workers being paid if stores were to shut.

'No one is advocating for the crew member,' one post read.

'The nation is being advised to social distance, and in at least one state banning gatherings of 100 or more. How many people are crowding into Trader Joes stores across the nation right now?

According to the post, employees were being told not to wear gloves even the more elderly members of staff who are most at risk: 'We are being told we are not allowed to wear gloves and masks at work, which is added protection for us. Who is looking out for us? We have several near-retirement aged crew members whose lives are literally at risk coming to work.'

Trader Joe's employees took to social media to voice they complaints and speak out about the conditions

Others claimed that workers were so rushed that they didn't even have time to wash their hands as others say they are physically and emotionally worn out and have been close to tears.

'I work at an NYC store and the amount of people that are in that store and that the crew is coming into contact with is unreal and becoming irresponsible on the part of the company,' one employee said.

'It's not a question of if crew members get sick, but when.'

In another post, an employee claims that they feel forced to come to work even when they have a 'deep cough that is painful in my chest'.

'Its times like these that the wealth disparity and expendability of the working class are so painfully obvious. Not only are we having to actively work during a PANDEMIC, we are also being worked twice as hard, for longer hours, with no end in sight.'

On the Walmart Reddit thread, posted before the 24-hours stores changed their operations, an employee called on the company to shut stores to the public overnight.

'I did not mean close the stores down to employees - I need my paycheck! I mean close all 24 hour supercenters to the public during the overnight shift so employees can recover from the day,' it said.

'Associates would still work, but without the constant disruption of angry customers so they could get the products on the shelf. I don't know about the rest of the stores, but I know our trucks have been close to double the size and freight is not even half way getting completed.'

'That stress is starting to take a toll on all of us,' it continued.

'Especially those taking on extra shifts or coming in on our days off to meet the demand. It would only be temporary overnight closures until the panic settles down.'

Experts say that supply chains are robust, and there is little to no chance of a food shortage in the U.S.

But grocery stores have struggled to keep up with demand, hiring more workers and doubling deliveries as items fly off the shelves in the virus frenzy and fights erupt between anxious customers.

West Virginia is the only state yet to report a case as of Saturday night but as yet, few places across the country have been asked to quarantine. This has not stopped the flow of customers eager to prepare just in case.

In response, grocery chain Publix, which has more than 1,200 stores in southern states, will begin closing two hours early, at 8pm, every day.

People wait as an employee restocks a shelf with disinfectant wipes as people shop at a Walmart Supercentre amid coronavirus fears spreading in Toronto on Friday

People wait in long lines caused by the coronavirus at Walmart in Suffern, New York, on Friday

Coronavirus-fearing masked shoppers panic buy in Miami Beach, Florida emptying shelves of toilet paper. Every roll of toilet paper was gone in Publix Superstore in South Beach and there was dwindling supplies of eggs, meat and pasta

Customers line up to check out at a Costco store on Saturday in Novato, California. Some Americans are stocking up on food, toilet paper, water and other items after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus (COVID-19) a pandemic

A customer carries a package of toilet paper at a Costco store on Saturday in Novato, California

The Florida-based chain said it wants to give employees time to restock produce and sanitize shelves.

'Publix will continue to focus on keeping our associates healthy  and our stores open and stocked  to serve and support all our communities,' Todd Jones, Publix CEO, said in a statement on the chain's website.

The Giant Company, which has nearly 200 stores across the mid-Atlantic, announced Saturday that its 24-hour locations would start closing at midnight and reopening at 6 am ET the following day.

The Pennsylvania-based chain cited the same reasons as Publix in a press release: 'The decision comes as part of the company's continued response to the COVID-19 pandemic and will allow store team members additional time to sanitize and restock shelves as daily deliveries arrive.'

A customer wears a protective mask as she picks up a box of diapers at a Costco store on Saturday in Novato, California

Costco customers wait in the rain to enter the store on Saturday in San Leandro, California

Hoards of shoppers rushed to stock up on toilet paper, paper towels and cleaning supplies at this Costco in Novato, California on Saturday as communities begin hunkering down as a result of coronavirus

Customers push shopping carts filled with supplies at a Costco store on Saturday in Novato, California

In the Northeast, Wegmans is also ending 24-hour service, to allow the stores to be cleaned and items to be restocked, the supermarket chain announced Friday.

'We are changing our hours of operation to better serve our customers and communities,' the New York-base company stated.

Except for Brooklyn, all Wegmans stores in New York will close at midnight, while its Brooklyn store will close at 11pm.

Stores in New England, New Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania (excluding Erie) and North Carolina will also close at 11pm, while the store in Erie will close at midnight. The Maryland stores will close at 10pm.

Harris Teeter, a large supermarket chain serving the Southeast, said Saturday that it will close its stores at 9pm each night in order to focus on cleaning and replenishing, and for the health of their employees

Harris Teeter's new hours go into effect starting Sunday night, the North Carolina-based store said.

Panic shopping hits Plano, Texas on Saturday as this Target limits the quantity of bottled water per customer

Shoppers lined up at this Target in Plano, Texas on Saturday as the frenzy of panic buying continues

Shoppers exit a Costco on Friday in San Leandro, California. Officials said Friday the Los Angeles Unified School District and San Diego school districts will close starting March 16 because of the coronavirus threat

This Publix in Miami Beach has placed signs inside their store saying hand soap and sanitizer items are limited to two of each item per customer. The meat, toilet paper and hand sanitizer sections were almost empty

View of empty shelves at Wegmans as patrons purchase supplies due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Alexandria, Virginia

Some employees have also been forced to cope with, at times, violent fights that have broken out in stores.

Disturbing footage has emerged on social media showing fights breaking out in stores across the country as panicked Americans rush to stock up on supplies amid the national coronavirus emergency.

Two separate videos were posted from New York and Georgia on Thursday which showed intense and brutal fights erupting between tense customers battling through the crowds flooding into stores.

A brawl erupted in a Georgia Sam's Club packed with shoppers during which two feuding men slashed each other with broken wine bottles.

A second incident in a Costco in Brooklyn saw an employee pleading with two women to calm down after a screaming match began when carts collided in the mobbed store.

In Fairfield, California, police were called when fights broke out over shopping carts at a Costco, according to KNTV reporter Jodie Hernandez.

At the same store, a fight also erupted when a man took a package of toilet paper out of someone else's cart, an employee told Hernandez.

Trump considers DOMESTIC travel restrictions to 'hotspot' areas amid coronavirus crisis as top White House expert Dr. Fauci admits the US has 'not reached its peak'

Trump announced in a press conference Saturday that he is considering restricting domestic travel to areas of the United States hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak.

A day after declaring a national emergency and throwing his support behind a coronavirus aid package that passed the House in the early hours of Saturday morning, Trump said that he was 'working with the states' on potential domestic restrictions.

The news came as Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, warned that the outbreak in the United States has not yet reached its peak with more deaths certain to come.

Trump extended his European travel restrictions to the United Kingdom and Ireland as he warned Americans 'if you don't have to travel, I wouldn't do it'.

Coronavirus cases in the U.S. are now over 2,900 with 58 deaths.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, warned that the outbreak in the United States has not yet reached its peak with more deaths certain to come

President Trump announced in a press conference Saturday that he is considering restricting domestic travel to areas of the United States hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak

Trump delivered a brief update on the national emergency on Saturday afternoon revealing that he has been tested and is negative for the coronavirus.

He also addressed the Europe travel ban and the stock market before handing over to Vice President Mike Pence, who was tapped by Trump to oversee the coronavirus response task force.

On Friday the Department of Defense restricted domestic travel for military and civilian personnel until May amid coronavirus concerns.

When asked if the American public would soon face similar domestic travel bans, Trump said that he was working with 'certain areas' as they consider the possibility but that no decision had been made.

'If you dont have to travel I wouldnt do it,' Trump said.

'If you dont have to travel, we want this thing to end. We dont want a lot of people getting infected. We want it to end and end as quickly as possible.'

When pressed further about domestic travel bans, the president responded: 'Yes, specifically from certain areas. Yes, we are and were working with the states. Were considering other restrictions yet.'

The idea of a domestic travel ban was first floated by Trump on Thursday when he said he was considering other major restrictions, such as limiting travel to hot spots like California and Washington state, without spelling out how he would manage such an extraordinary effort.

The news came as Fauci revealed the U.S. outbreak has not yet reached its peak and that more deaths and cases can be expected.

'We have not yet reached our peak, we will see new cases and more suffering and we will see more death, predominantly among the vulnerable in our society - the people with previous conditions and the elderly,' he said at Saturday's press briefing, speaking after Trump and Pence.

'But built within that is opportunity,' he added.

Shortly before the press conference, Obama's former Medicare boss revealed that he believes America's hospitals will be overrun with coronavirus patients in just eight days and face months of strain.

Andy Slavitt, former acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, issued the dire warning on Twitter on Saturday along with a string of advice for the public, governments and health workers.

'Last night I was on with state & local officials around the US well into the night.

'By March 23 many of our largest cities & hospitals are on course to be overrun with cases,' he wrote.

Slavitt then listed highlights from the memo he had prepared which included telling people to self-isolate now, closing bars and restaurants, frantically sourcing medical supplies 'even from the black market' if necessary and gearing up for the 'tsunami' of patients that will soon arrive at hospitals.

'The stakes are higher than any most of us have ever experienced: wars, 9/11, whatever,' he later added.

Dr. Marty Makary, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, said that reported case numbers are likely a gross under-representation of the true scale.

'Dont believe the numbers when you see, even on our Johns Hopkins website, that 1,600 Americans have the virus. No, that means 1,600 got the test, tested positive.

'There are probably 25 to 50 people who have the virus for every one person who is confirmed.

'I think we have between 50,000 and half a million cases right now walking around in the United States,' he told Yahoo Finance.

Makary urged people to be more vigilant.

'Im concerned when I hear a neighbor or a friend say that theyre planning to go to a kids swim meet in three weeks or going on vacation next week.

'No  were about to experience the worst public health epidemic since polio,' he said starkly.

Trump has already placed restrictions on travel from China, Iran and Europe

A worker disinfects the waiting area in international arrivals at Logan International Airport in Boston but many will be quieter for the next 30 days with travel restrictions in place

On Saturday, Trump extended the United States' coronavirus travel ban to people from the UK and Ireland.

The flight freeze will kick in at midnight Monday, scuppering work and holiday plans for Britons preparing to make trans-Atlantic trips.

The president had initially excluded the UK and Ireland from the European ban of 26 countries, but added it to the blacklist this afternoon as infection rates soared overnight.

Under the restrictions, American citizens and green card holders are still allowed to return home, but will be funneled to 13 airports and subjected to health screenings and quarantine orders.

Flanked by his advisers at a White House press briefing, Trump, who confirmed he had been tested for COVID-19, said: 'We're looking at it very seriously, yes, because they've had a little bit of activity unfortunately, so we're going to be looking at that.

'We actually already have looked at it and that is going to be announced.'

Shortly after, Pence confirmed the ban, saying: 'In our taskforce meeting today the President has made a decision to suspend all travel to the UK and Ireland, effective midnight Monday night, eastern standard time.'

He added: 'Americans in the UK or Ireland can come home, legal residents can come home ... they will be funneled through specific airports and processed.'

To prevent the deadly virus crippling the Oval Office, anyone in close contact with the President or Vice President will be subject to temperature checks.

Chaos at 13 American funnel airports that are still open to Europe as huge immigration lines of up to six hours form filled with returning citizens being put through 'enhanced screening'

Huge lines formed at the 13 American 'funnel' airports on Saturday night as American's returned from Europe were forced to wait in lines for as long as six hours.

The scenes were similar across the country - from Boston to Chicago, Atlanta to Dallas.

Lines were particularly bad at JFK Terminal 4, Chicago O'Hare Terminal 5 and Dallas/Fort Worth airport with passengers packed in tight, many of them wearing face masks.

Customs and Border Protection Officers were completely overwhelmed as U.S. citizens rushed to get back into the country as President Trump's European travel ban went into effect.

Some passengers reported that just six out of a possible 60 booths were staffed with agents at JFK Terminal 4.

Lines snaked around the corner of the terminal at Chicago O'Hare on Saturday evening as passengers waited patiently

Lines are taking far longer than usual due to 'enhanced COVID19 screening' where passengers are being asked a series of questions before being told to self-quarantine and follow CDC guidelines

At Chicago O'Hare airport, lines could be seen snaking along corridors and up escalators as passengers were given additional health screenings.

It was a similar picture at Dallas/Fort Worth airport with passengers waiting for hours and many resigned to sitting on the floor while passengers were processed.

Many were concerned about being so close to others during the coronavirus outbreak.

'Passengers stuck in long lines for immigration at @DFWAirport tell us there are no offers of hand sanitizer, gloves, or masks from U.S. Customs / Immigration. Travelers say theyve had no screenings of temp yet and no one following #coronavirus protocols,' wrote Jason Whitely on Twitter.

'DFW Airport passport control is over full. Thousands of travelers packed into the room for hours. Barely moving. Travelers from Europe being pulled out of line and taken... somewhere. It felt apocalyptic. Well all be sick in a week. I should add. Passport control asked no questions. Just scanned our passports and let us in. No screening of whatsoever coming from Mexico,' he continued.

DFW airport said: 'CBP officers and the CDC are following federal guidelines to conduct enhanced screening for passengers.'

Under the restrictions, American citizens and green card holders are able to return home to the U.S., but only through one of the 13 designated airports under the understanding that they may also be subjected to health screenings and quarantine orders.

Passengers are pictured waiting in line for up to six hours at Chicago O'Hare. They are not being tested for coronavirus or having their temperatures taken, but instead being asked a series of questions about their health and travel history

Lines lasted for several hours as passengers were packed in tight while they waited to pass through customs

It was a similar scene at JFK Terminal 4 as passengers were packed in tight while they waited to be processed

On Saturday, Trump announced the United States was to broaden its European travel ban and adding the United Kingdom and Ireland to its list.

After witnessing the lines at O'Hare, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker scolded the Trump administration on Facebook.

'President Donald J. Trump Vice President Mike Pence since this is the only communication medium you pay attention to  you need to do something NOW,' he tweeted.

'To the frustrated people trying to get home, I have spoken with the mayor and our Senators and we are working together to get the federal government to act to solve this. We will do everything within our power to get relief. The federal government needs to get its s@#t together. NOW.

Upon arriving in the country, passengers are subjected to 'enhanced screening' where they won't have their temperatures taken or be tested for COVID-19, but are asked a series of questions about their medical conditions and travel history.

Then, they'll be advised to self-quarantine and follow CDC guidelines.

'Upon arrival, travelers will proceed to standard customs processing. They will then continue to enhanced entry screening where the passenger will be asked about their medical history, current condition, and asked for contact information for local health authorities.

'Passengers will then be given written guidance about COVID-19 and directed to proceed to their final destination, and immediately home-quarantine in accordance with CDC best practices,' the announcement read.

Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad F. Wolf described the measures as 'aggressive'.

He added: 'To minimize disruptions to travelers, TSA, CBP, and air carriers are working to identify qualifying passengers before their scheduled flights.

'These passengers will be rerouted to one of the 13 airports by their airline at no cost to them,' he said.

The measures are far less severe than had been suggested by Trump in his address, or promised by him on Thursday.

The scene at Newark airport in New Jersey was also horrendous with passengers have no choice but to wait it out

It was no better at Dallas/Fort Worth. There were no offers of hand sanitizer, gloves, or masks. Travelers said they had no screenings of temperature and nobody was following 'coronavirus protocols'

Trump insisted that Americans would be tested for the virus before they got on planes in Europe and that if any of them tested positive for the virus, they would not be allowed to board.

He did not provide any context for such plans including who would provide the tests, where he would find them and what would happen to passengers who subsequently tested positive.

Thousands of Americans scrambled to get home on Friday, often paying thousands of dollars for their fare before the borders close.

US airlines like Delta have also begun pulling their flight schedules to Europe, raising the question that transatlantic travel may soon be entirely halted for the entirety of Trump's 30 day ban.

There remains an abundance of questions over how long the virus will last, how it will impact America and how Americans will be able to rid themselves of it.

There is currently no cure and no vaccine, and only the severely sick or people showing severe symptoms are being given tests due to a shortage and lack of lab staff.

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.

Trump tweeted on Friday morning that his 'strong' border policy helped stave off the crisis

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 Trump's 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 people's safety,' Coral McNary told ABC News on Friday.

'That's scary, especially if people can't afford it.'

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.

Trump tests NEGATIVE for coronavirus: Doctor says the president, 73, does not have the virus and is 'symptom free' as the White House starts temperature checks on staff and reporters after turning away journalist with a fever

Trump has tested negative for coronavirus, his doctor revealed Saturday, hours after the White House began temperature checks on staff and reporters who may come into contact with the president.

Trump said that had been tested on Friday night, after fielding questions about it during a press conference due to contact with at least three people who later tested positive for the virus.

On Saturday evening, the president's physician Sean Conley released a letter in which he confirmed the results of Trump's test had returned negative and that he remains 'symptom free'.

Conley claimed in a letter on Friday evening that the president, 73, is low-risk despite his age and his previous contact with people who tested positive.

Yet before a press briefing with the president on Saturday, journalists were screened for a high temperature with one being turned away.

President Trump has tested negative for the coronavirus, his doctor revealed on Saturday evening. The president confirmed he was tested Friday during a press conference, pictured

The letter from Trump's doctor Commander Sean Conley which confirmed his test negative

'This evening, I received confirmation that the test is negative,' Saturday's letter from Conley read.

'One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation in Mar-a-Lago, the president remains symptom-free.

'I have been in daily contact with the CDC and the White House coronavirus task force, and we are encouraging the implementation of all their best practices for exposure reduction and transmission mitigation.'

Trump's results were met with delight from his family with first son Donald Trump Jr. tweeting: 'Negative!!!'

Trump's surprise claim earlier on Saturday that he had been tested followed a confusing 24 hours in which he first suggested he might get tested, and then released a letter from the White House doctor saying that he was low risk and did not need a test at this time.

Coronavirus tests are usually conducted by nasal swab.

At the briefing on Saturday, all journalists were screened for fevers before entering the briefing room as part of a new policy of checking the temperature of anyone who comes in close contact with Trump or Vice President Mike Pence.

One journalist was reportedly barred from entering the briefing after showing a high temperature.

White House spokeswoman Katie Miller said in a statement that the reporter's temperature was taken three times within 15 minutes, and each time was above the 100.4 degree threshold that the CDC defines as a fever.

A member of the media gets their temperature taken over concerns about the coronavirus in the James Brady Briefing Room at the White House on Saturday

The White House announced earlier in the day that 'out of an abundance of caution, temperature checks are now being performed on any individuals who are in close contact with the president and vice president'.

Pence had been scheduled to lead the briefing but Trump led it off with a surprise appearance, touting his handling of the crisis and taking credit for a massive stock market rally as he delivered a press conference during the last 30 minutes of Friday's trading session.

Contrary to medical advice, the president was seen Friday shaking hands all round as he gathered his coronavirus response team at the White House  a practice he said Saturday owed to long-time habit as a politician but which he said would have to change.

At Saturday's briefing, Trump also revealed that his own temperature had been checked before he entered the room.

On his way out of the room, as reporters asked him what his temperature was, he turned and shouted, 'totally normal!'

Brazil's Acting Ambassador Nestor Forster pictured with President Trump and Ivanka. He has since tested positive for the coronavirus becoming the second Brazilian delegate to receive the diagnosis and leading Trump to take a test. Trump's test was negative for the coronavirus

From left: Vice President Mike Pence, President Donald Trump, and Fabio Wajngarten, the communications secretary for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who tested positive for the coronavirus sparking concerns for Trump. The president has since tested negative

Trump said Friday he'd 'most likely' get tested for the novel coronavirus, as he was grilled on his recent contacts with several members of a visiting Brazilian presidential delegation who have since tested positive.

On Friday, Brazil's Acting Ambassador Nestor Forster tested positive for coronavirus, making him the third person who visited Mar-a-Lago with Trump last weekend to be confirmed with the virus.

A letter from Conley sent on Friday night revealed that Trump had dinner with Forster on March 6 and both the president and his daughter Ivanka are pictured on the evening with the ambassador.

The president also came into contact with Brazilian Press Secretary Fabio Wajngarten on Saturday who tested positive and he attended a dinner on Sunday after which one of the attendees was also diagnosed. It's not clear who that attendee is.

Forster was the third person over the space of a weekend that Trump and members of the first family encountered who have since tested positive for the deadly coronavirus.

Ivanka has now had several brushes with the coronavirus including with Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton days before he tested positive.

She 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

Eighteen states close schools over coronavirus but De Blasio still resists pressure in New York as a student from Staten Island tests positive and teachers plan a mass 'sickout' on Wednesday

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has no plans to shut the city's schools despite a student on Staten Island testing positive for coronavirus and 18 other states announcing closures.

The pupil who attends Intermediate School 27 in the borough had already been off school since he had become sick, however it is not clear if others may also have been exposed at the school based in West Brighton.

I.S. 27 will be deep cleaned over the weekend and is expected to reopen Monday.

A student on Staten Island who attends Intermediate School 27 in the borough, pictured, has tested positive for coronavirus

New York City teachers are planning a mass walkout on Wednesday after Mayor Bill de Blasio defied pleas to shut down the city's public school system amidst the coronavirus outbreak

Two Staten Island public schools were also closed on Friday after a student who goes to both locations also tested positive for COVID-19.

New Dorp High School and the Richard H. Hungerford School are being 'deep cleaned' over the weekend according to the Daily News.

Meanwhile, the city's mayor is rejecting calls from teachers to suspend school.

'We are worried about a cascading effect,' de Blasio told MSNBC. 'You're not going to have a functioning health care system if health care workers are at home looking after their school age children. You're not going to have it if no one can get to work.'

The mayor also defended keeping the city's mass transit system up and running saying that it was crucial in order for patients to receive treatment and for health care workers to get to their jobs.

'You take out the subway and you just collapse the health care system,' he said.

On Saturday, de Blasio stated that the Big Apple's 75,000 teachers and 1.1. million students would still be required at schools, despite the soaring number of coronavirus cases in the metro area.

The states that have announced school closures are: Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

New York City teachers are planning a mass walkout on Wednesday after de Blasio defied pleas to shut down the city's public school system amidst the coronavirus outbreak.

Also on Saturday, several teachers from the elite public Stuyvesant High School in downtown Manhattan penned an article in The New York Times calling for the closure of all public schools in the metro area

Educators and their allies quickly took to Twitter to blast the mayor, and the hashtag #UFTStrikeMarch16 began trending on the site.

The UFT (The United Federation of Teachers) boasts more than 180,000 members, with many saying they're willing to call out sick on Monday in defiance of the mayor's order to keep schools open.

New York's public school teachers get 10 days of paid sick leave without a doctor's note.

Many teachers began sharing their anxieties about continuing to work - claiming that public transport commutes and the close proximity of thousands of students make schools vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19.

'I am a elementary teacher in the Bronx. I am pregnant. Being that I am pregnant my immune system is more susceptible to COVID-19. I do not feel safe returning to work. Why do I have to risk mine and my baby's well-being in order to keep my job?' one wrote.

Teachers and spouses shared their fears on Twitter as New York City becomes an outbreak hotspot

Another stated: 'I'm a kindergarten teacher that spend 3 hours per day to commute from Queens to deep Brooklyn on Long Island Rail Road and MTA (subway). If I got infected I will pass to my students and their parents and even kill their grandparents! Don't put our educators and kids in danger!'

Meanwhile, the concerned spouse of one educator wrote: 'My wife is a NYC teacher not a baby sitter. I have medical conditions that would make Covid-19 deadly for me. Please allow her to stay home so she won't have to risk killing me to keep her job.'

Also on Saturday, several teachers from the elite public Stuyvesant High School in downtown Manhattan penned an article in The New York Times calling for the closure of all public schools in the metro area.

'Our students are distracted and terrified,' they wrote, adding that coronavirus 'is a threat to our global mental health'.

'No amount of hand washing and extra cleaning can prevent our thousands of students and hundreds of faculty and staff members from transmitting germs as they move in and out of classrooms for 10 periods a day,' the teachers continued.

'Many of us worked through Sept. 11, 2001, as the World Trade Center was toppled across the street, walked to school during the transit strike, and did not miss a day during Hurricane Sandy. This is different'.

De Blasio's refusal to close the public schools comes despite new research from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control), which claim that long-term school closure could help stem the spread of coronavirus.

'Modeling data for other respiratory infections where children have higher disease impacts, suggests that longer closures (between eight and 20 weeks) may have greater impact in terms of reducing overall transmission. Provides substantial protection for older staff and students and staff with underlying medical conditions'.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew told The New York Post that he appealed Mulgrew to de Blasio to meet and discuss school closures - but the mayor has denied the request.

Earlier this week, de Blasio said he was trying to avoid closing schools city-wide because it was a 'slippery slope' to creating chaos in the city.

Many kids' parents are doctors, nurses or healthcare staff who would be unable to find childcare and therefore would be unable to work if he closed the schools.

Additionally, half of the city's children rely on school meals.

Gov. Cuomo also said on Friday that children, even when they get the virus, are not particularly susceptible to it.

Attendance fell from 85 percent on Thursday to 68 percent on Friday across New York City.

One parent told the Post they were not going to wait for public officials to tell them what to do.

'Sometimes you can't wait for other people to make decisions. You have to make them for yourself,' they said.

Some private schools have decided to close themselves.

Schools in L.A., San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia are closed or are due to close next week.

Have doctors found a coronavirus wonder drug? Two experts reveal how experimental antiviral remdesivir saved one woman who was in critical condition and helped 14 infected Diamond Princess passengers

Two top doctors believe an experimental drug has helped save the lives of American coronavirus patients

George Thompson, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California Davis Medical Center, was part of the team that administered the drug, remdesivir, to a sickly American woman who tested positive for the virus on February 26.

'We thought they were going to pass away,' Thompson told Science magazine Friday about the patient - who was the first known 'community spread' case in the United States.

However, 36 hours after the woman was admitted to hospital, doctors decided to treat her with remdesivir, which is administered by intravenous drip and 'cripples an enzyme named RNA polymerase - used by many viruses to copy themselves'.

Two top doctors believe an experimental drug has helped save the lives of American coronavirus patients. George Thompson, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California Davis Medical Center, is pictured at left. Richard Childs, an assistant surgeon general and lung specialist at the National Institutes of Health, is seen at right.

The patients were treated with remdesivir, which is given by intravenous drip and 'cripples an enzyme named RNA polymerase - used by many viruses to copy themselves'. A stock image is pictured

Because the patient was in critical condition, the doctors were able to get 'compassionate use permission' from the FDA to test remsdesivir outside a clinical trial setting.

Within a day, the woman saw a drop in her 'viral load' and her condition began to improve.

Thomson did not reveal whether the patient has been discharged from the hospital due to privacy concerns, but stated that she is 'doing well'.

Similarly, remsdesivir helped 14 Americans who tested positive for coronavirus after they traveled on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Richard Childs, an assistant surgeon general and lung specialist at the National Institutes of Health, told The Wall Street Journal Friday that the patients were treated with the experimental drug in a Japanese hospital.

Childs described the patients as 'critically ill people and their average age is 75'.

'Many of them were probably going to die in a short amount of time, and two weeks later nobody has died and more than half of them have recovered. It's just absolutely amazing,' he remarked.

Remsdesivir helped 14 Americans who tested positive for coronavirus after travelling on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship

However, both doctors concede that more testing needs to be done in regards to remsdesivir.

Thompson says the drug could cause liver toxicity in certain patients, and says other companies have also been coming forward with experimental drugs that could be effective.

Meanwhile, Childs says of remsdesivir: 'It's going to take us a while to figure out what the impact of the drug has been'.

However, a 'randomized, controlled clinical trial' to evaluate the safety and efficacy of remdesivir in hospitalized adults diagnosed with coronavirus has begun at the University of Nebraska, according to the National Institutes of Health.
President Trump tweeted Sunday that he is "strongly considering" a full pardon for his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who has had his sentencing postponed repeatedly over the last two years.

Why it matters: Flynn was the first Trump associate to be convicted or plead guilty in the Mueller investigation. The Justice Department recently appointed an outside prosecutor to review Flynn's case, a move that has triggered suspicions of political interference.

The state of play: Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to FBI agents about his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. In January 2020, Flynn and his new legal team moved to withdraw his guilty plea, accusing the government of "bad faith, vindictiveness and breach of the plea agreement.
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Facing down a global pandemic, Nuala ODoherty-Naranjo wields deceivingly simple tools: flyers and a Facebook group.

The longtime Jackson Heights resident is making sure her neighbors have what they need. Her quest started with an online post late on Thursday afternoon.

Many of our older and at-risk neighbors are frightened to leave their homes and to go out in public given the COVID-19 outbreak, she wrote on a local Facebook page. I live on 90th Street and am happy to run errands.

ODoherty-Naranjo posted her number and asked others to help. Within 24 hours, more than 30 people reached out to pitch in. The newly-formed group, COVID Care, is getting organized, matching volunteers with isolated people who need help.

When youre told that its scary to go outside, you can kind of feel incarcerated in your apartment, she told THE CITY. I think that connection to neighbors is really important  and good to know that there are people outside who care about you.

Until recently, ODoherty-Naranjo was petitioning to run for a state Assembly seat. But thats totally on pause, she said. Now, shes going door-to-door, dropping notes, to find out who else may need assistance.

A Positive Message

In Manhattan, Michael Tashji took it upon himself to run errands for vulnerable neighbors.

The Tudor City resident works from home and has some time  so why not help out?, he thought.

Tashji posted a message on Facebook suggesting others do the same. So far, hes picked up milk, bread and prescriptions for elderly and ailing neighbors.

People are going a little crazy and I wanted to put a positive message out there and remind everybody that were in this together and we should remain neighborly and not, you know, go full savage at the supermarket, he said.

If youre a spry, non-immunocompromised person who can help make a phone tree for your building, DO IT NOW. Even if you have some other way of getting in touch, not everyone uses email, message boards etc, esp elders. 5/x pic.twitter.com/AZDI2mNi2S  Adrien Weibgen (@AdrienWeibgen) March 14, 2020

In Brooklyn, Greenpoint resident Kevin LaCherra helped collect volunteers virtually  on a public Google Document created Thursday for neighbors on the North Brooklyn Civic Engagement Facebook page to offer services and remotely accessible resources without risking further spread of the virus.

Within a few hours, the list drew more than 50 responses, including translation and interpreting services, grocery delivery, transportation, flyer design, cooking and construction.

Im not surprised that the community stepped up because thats what north Brooklyn does, LaCherra told THE CITY.

Losing Volunteers

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, New Yorkers driven by the urge to help have options.

Healthy people willing to work are badly needed to fill in where volunteers have bowed out.

Karen Pearl, president of Gods Love We Deliver, said she lost 800 volunteers in the last week  about 30% to 40% of her usual crew. Thats because a steady flow of corporate volunteers shut off when many companies banned gatherings, including volunteer work.

Before social-distancing measures or quarantining rules get more strict, the group is looking for help preparing, packaging and delivering provisions like tuna, peanut butter and protein-rich soups to frail clients unable to cook or shop for themselves.

We made a decision that we would do everything we could  unless we get shut down in the middle of it  to ensure that clients have at least their regular food, plus a week of shelf-stable food  in case we are not able to get there, she said.

As the coronavirus spreads in New York, how are you helping your friends, family and neighbors? We want to hear your creative ideas for giving back in a pandemic where people are being urged to avoid contact with others. Email reporter Rachel Holliday Smith at rsmith@thecity.nyc.

More help is needed to assist the remaining volunteers who are pulling double shifts to make it all work. But, Pearl stressed, We dont want people who are sick.

Even if youre positive that your runny nose is a seasonal allergy  its making people very nervous, she said.

The virus also has hurt blood drives in the area, according to Aly Barraza of the Red Cross. In New York state, about 30 drives  the volunteer-led events that bring in 80% of the organizations blood donations, she said  have been cancelled, stretching into May.

Theres a short shelf life, 42 days for blood, she said. So, if folks are not donating, we could see a potential impact for patients in need.

New Yorkers can visit the American Association of Blood Banks website to find the nearest blood donation center.

Barraza stressed that while no respiratory virus has been transmitted through blood transfusions, anyone who has visited a country struggling with COVID-19 should wait 28 days to give blood  double the incubation period, she said, out of an abundance of caution.

Hold On to That Feeling

Another consideration for New Yorkers itching to get out and help, according to one volunteering veteran: Hold your horses, for now.

Gary Bagley, president of the volunteer coordinating agency New York Cares, said theres often a three-to-seven-day period of intense interest in helping in times of disaster that drops off just as the need is really surfacing.

Now is a great time to sign up and get familiar with the requirements of volunteering  New York Cares is now running digital orientations for people  so that youre ready to go at the right time.

Hold on to that feeling, he said. Get oriented, stay in daily touch, because needs will evolve.

For example, New York Cares partners with the Office of Emergency Management to deploy volunteers to help with spontaneous action, which could include moving meals from public schools to students homes should schools close.

Just be ready to go as soon as theres a clear direction, he said. He noted the group has volunteer opportunities in almost every neighborhood in the city, to give people options that are within walking distance.

And for those who cannot or do not want to leave their homes, theres an old-fashioned way to help: Give cash to any social service group you think does good work, Bagley said.

Whenever the coronavirus is in our rearview mirror, hopefully, we know that theres going to be a huge amount of service that were going to try to grow and meet, he said.

Im Here for You

On social media, New Yorkers brainstormed other ways to contribute.

If you are staying home and canceling babysitters, house cleaners, etc.  if youve already budgeted for it and can afford it, maybe just pay them anyway? suggested food writer Francis Lam.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Queens, The Bronx) suggested in a tweet to tip (a lot) extra if you can and to donate to food pantries, shelters, etc.

And as restaurants take a huge hit here, some are getting hip to a trend that began on the West Coast and is spreading across the country: Buy gift cards from your favorite eateries. Even if you cant go out, the logic goes, you can still support the business.

If you can afford it, one of the things that you can do to help your favorite local businesses (or service providers) is offer to buy a gift certificate or prepay. Many of them are hurting and you'll want them still around after social distancing.  Noah Brier (@heyitsnoah) March 13, 2020

In Queens, ODoherty-Naranjo preaches the value of the low-tech approach.

Just put your name and number on a Post-it, slide it under your neighbors door and say, hey, Im here for you, she said. Its that simple.

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Kamal Nath should step down as chief minister as the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh has become a "lame-duck" after the resignation of 22 MLAs, BJP vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe said on Sunday.

Claiming that the Congress government doesn't have numbers on its side to prove majority in the Assembly, Sahasrabuddhe said the chief minister should learn from the BJP which asked its leaders to step down when it failed to garner a majority in Karnataka and Maharashtra.

"It appears that the Kamal Nath-led government has been reduced to lame-duck and learning from the BJP, he should step down," Sahasrabuddhe, who is in charge of the party affairs in Madhya Pradesh, said.

On the Congress allegation that the BJP was trying to "destabilise" its government in Madhya Pradesh, he said the grand old party is unable to keep its house in order.

"It is easy for the Congress to blame the BJP, but it is not convincing as the grand old party is unable to keep its house in order. And it became clear when a leader of the stature of Jyotiraditya Scindia felt constrained to desert the Congress and join the BJP," he said.

Rejecting the Congress's claim that BJP is forcibly keeping its MLAs in Bengaluru, the saffron party leader said any adult cannot be kept anywhere without his consent.

"All the MLAs are in Bengaluru due to their allegiance to a leader and the latter's interest is high on their minds, he said, indicating that the MLAs in Karnataka belong to Scindia's camp.

On the question of BJP forming government in the state, Sahasrabuddhe said, "Let curtains come down on the Kamal Nath government,then we will do whatever is required in the interest of the state."

Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon has directed Chief Minister Nath late on Saturday night to seek a trust vote in the Assembly soon after the former's address on Monday.

The Kamal Nath government in the state is teetering on the brink of collapse after 22 MLAs, loyal to former party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, tendered their resignations to the Speaker.
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Linkedin Ary Hermawan (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 15, 2020 11:05 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206ab8c13 1 Opinion COVID-19-Indonesian-patients,COVID-19,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,Singapore,#commentary Free

This is certainly the worst time to have a spat with your neighbor. With the global COVID-19 pandemic forcing countries and cities to close their borders, we rely on next door nations to keep ourselves safe.

It is therefore reprehensible that Indonesias spokesman for COVID-19 matters, Achmad Yurianto, decided to initiate a he said, she said screaming match with Singapore over who is lying over whether the city-state, a regional trade hub, has relayed necessary information regarding imported COVID-19 cases from Indonesia.

For we now know that Singapore is likely in the right, while Jakarta, particularly its sole COVID-19 spokesman, has a lot of explaining to do.

The brief and minor spat may reflect more about Indonesias massive failure to cope with an unfolding health disaster than the state of relations between the two countries. In other words its not you, Singapore, its us.

Read also: Bold action in pandemic

Without a doubt, we owe our neighbor an apology. But the most important thing now is for Indonesia to get a grip on realitythat the COVID-19 situation in the country is much worse than has been officially reported by the government.

How Yurianto has responded to questions about Indonesian COVID-19 patients in Singapore inspires anything but confidence. Apparently either the military doctor lies or he does not really know how the international health system works.

When asked whether the government had traced those who might have had contact with the five Indonesian nationals who might have contracted SARS-Cov-2 in Indonesia and tested positive for the coronavirus in Singapore, the spokesman said, 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?

That is a serious allegation. Did Singapore choose to jeopardize the safety of its neighbor to protect the well-being of patients?

A package containing toiletries and a surgical mask provided by a government quarantine facility in Singapore February 29, 2020. (REUTERS/Feline Lim)

The answer is no. The statement was swiftly rebutted by Singapores Health Ministry: Singapore has promptly shared information with Indonesia through the official IHR [International Health Regulations] channel on all the confirmed COVID-19 cases involving Indonesians, to facilitate contact tracing in Indonesia.

It added, The Indonesian IHR national focal point [NFP], who is an official from the Indonesian Health Ministry, has acknowledged receipt of all correspondences on these cases sent by Singapores IHR NFP.

When asked about Singapores rebuttal on Saturday, Yurianto said: We have received the information from the Foreign Ministry. We have started the tracing.

His claim, sadly, is far from assuring. Singapore has made it clear that it sent the information through the WHOs IHR channel and it was received by an official at Indonesias health, not foreign, ministry.

Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah also backed Singapore's claim, saying that the prevailing protocol is that the information is shared between national health institutions, between officials tasked with handling infectious diseases. The information is then relayed to the Foreign Ministry.

So now its no longer a war of claims between Jakarta and Singapore. Its now Yuriantos claim against those of Singaporean health officials and our own diplomats.

Regardless of whoever is lying, we now have reason to question Yuriantos claim that we have started the tracing. And thats a much bigger problem.

Read also: Singapore denies withholding data on Indonesian nationals treated for COVID-19

A Singapore-based healthcare practitioner who closely follows reports about Indonesian COVID-19 patients in the city-state told me that the facts that Indonesia had exported COVID-19 cases to Singapore and no longer disclosed the links between the newly confirmed cases with previous cases since March 11 strongly suggested that a community spread had taken place in the archipelago.

Singapore has recorded at least eight imported cases from Indonesia. The first case, a 64-year-old Indonesian man identified as Case 147, arrived in Singapore on March 7 via Seletar Airport. He reportedly showed symptoms on March 3 while he was still in Indonesia, according to Singapores Health Ministry.

If Yurianto was telling the truth, it took a week for the Indonesian government to conduct tracing. That is way too late. And that should be no surprise. The government failed to act even after the second case, a 65-year-old Indonesian man identified as Case 152, grabbed headlines. His relative, Case 170, went to Singapore days later.

The people who have had contact with them  family members, drivers and domestic helpers, neighbors, hospital officials who treated them and even strangers  could spread the disease to more people in Indonesia.

A worker sprays disinfectant in the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, on March 13. (JP/Seto Wardhana )

The core problem of Indonesias handling of the COVID-19 crisis likely stems from the central government's refusal to acknowledge the magnitude of the problem, that it is now a national emergency, and its sheer arrogance that, as of last week, the Health Ministry alone could handle a health disaster of sci-fi proportions.

If the local administrations were given greater authority to handle the crisis, the tracing of people having contact with Indonesian COVID-19 patients in Singapore could be carried out swiftly, possibly slowing the transmission.

Singapore and Malaysia have so far reported 212 and 238 confirmed cases respectively, while Indonesia had only 96 cases as of Saturday. Indonesias figure is highly questionable considering how the government is handling the crisis.

It is therefore extremely crucial for the government to act fast and be fully transparent. Indonesias failure to contain the virus will not only affect its citizens but also its closest and more prepared neighbors like Singapore, with rich infected Indonesians expected to fly to the island nation for better treatment.

We cannot afford to have lies, half-truths and cover-ups. Its not just the economy, our lives are now at stake, and also those of our neighbors.
It may not be hard to discern that through the EUs defiance towards Italys desperate calls for aid and Americas freshly-imposed barriers on its European allies, inter-state cooperation has been lacking in the fight against COVID-19.

Temperature checks at Noi Bai International Airport, Hanoi. Photo: Vu Diep

Students from over 130 nations converge at my school, meaning that many of us are confronted with very different prospects of how this virus will affect us and those we love. It is also through this internationalism, a value that is so highly regarded in our community, that had allowed me to explore very different perspectives of the virus while remaining in solidarity with many of my friends on its effect. If were able to engage in direct conversations about the virus among our diverse community, why cant our leaders do so in the international community?

As of this point, its clear that were seeing an every man for himself situation. Not just in Costco brawls, not just among frantic shoppers scrambling for toilet rolls in Albert Heijn, but in the halls of power themselves. Throughout the Western world, the credibility of cooperation is driving itself towards oblivion.

On Tuesday, the European Parliament in Brussels stood almost empty, with only a small number of MEPs present debating on the outbreak of COVID-19, among other things. It praised health workers combating the virus, emphasized the need for additional medical equipment, and called for additional funds to be put into joint research towards a vaccination. The furthest recommendation reached by some MEPs was that a common European risk assessment will be needed in order for similar measures to apply to areas with the same risk level. It showed some effort, but far from enough is being done.

The same hollow words are more or less reiterated in the European Commission, the EUs executive branch. Its leader, Ursula von der Leyen said in a press conference that the EU as a whole needs to be determined, coordinated, and united  promising, but still empty words. Her efforts to prevent member states from imposing blanket bans have so far been futile, as Denmark, Poland, and the Czech Republic moved towards shutting down their borders while Spain followed Italys footsteps by imposing a nation-wide lockdown. Germany and France took unilateral decisions by abruptly banning the export of its medical supplies, a move that other nations in the EU27 may soon follow as the virus feeds toward European populism.

Nowhere was this clearer than in Italy; the epicenter of COVID-19 in Europe; and where Matteo Salvinis draconic populism reigns supreme. Instead of providing any sort of material assistance to its most desperate member, the EU left that job to the Chinese, who was prompt to send not just medical supplies, but also experts combating with this same situation in China. Even prior to the outbreak, Italy has often placed itself on the losing side of pan-European partnership; examples include having to face the consequences of the EUs immigration policies not long ago and blaming the Euro for its economic woes. Now, Italy may find itself on this losing side again as no sort of this pan-EU partnership is facilitated to help one of its largest members.

This lack of response from Brussels and the potential for a devastating economic recession may be the exact thing populists such as Salvini may use to fuel Eurosceptic behavior in the coming years. Populism has been on the rise in Europe, and the virus may be its golden ticket towards political supremacy should Brussels be deemed by Europeans an institution incapable of handling the outbreak.

The trans-Atlantic alliance also looks pretty grim. Instead of working towards solidarity, President Trumps decision to impose a full travel ban on all of its European allies was motivated in the belief that Europe has not done enough to stop the virus from creeping into its borders. The reason itself is logical, as European nations have not been able to cooperate on any possible multilateral solution for the virus, however, Trumps decision to shift the blame on Europeans entirely is the exact type of populist response no one needs. Instead of grasping a powerful opportunity to fill the leadership void weve seen missing among Western nations, Trump has completely cut the United States off from its allies, in a unilateral move that may have severe consequences on trans-Atlantic relations in the near future.

Were three weeks away from becoming the next Italy, my friends mom told me over the phone. Most Europeans know that the country they live in is far from ready for the invasion of a virus on such an unprecedented scale, especially one where every countrys been doing its own thing so far. Logistical challenges across the EU and overall lack of cooperation among its member states will make citizens lose faith in their national leaders, and eventually, the Union itself.

Following 9/11 and the 2008 financial crisis, the coronavirus pandemic will be the third time Western nations face a test on their ability to facilitate inter-state cooperation and solidarity. Leaders will need to work together in a manner that would yield actual results that extend beyond their borders; if this is not achieved soon enough, were in for some political mayhem.

Pham Vu Thieu Quang

Vietnam suspends visa waiver for 8 European countries over Covid-19 concerns Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has agreed to temporarily suspend a visa-waiver program for citizens from eight European countries due to growing concerns over the spread of Covid-19.
Parts of Australia could be closed off to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy has warned as the nation's medical experts prepare for more "social distancing" measures.

Ahead of a phone hook-up of the Prime Minister, premiers and chief ministers, Professor Murphy said on Sunday that as the virus spread throughout Australia, different measures would be considered including shutting off parts of the country.

Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy has signalled regional shutdowns may be necessary to halt the spread of the coronavirus. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

"It is potential that could be the case. But that may be local," he told ABC's Insiders.

"One of the things we know about outbreaks of infections is that they can affect one part of a country, not another.
New Mexico Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich joined fellow Democrat, Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith, to introduce the Free COVID-19 Testing Act, which would expand free tests to confirm coronavirus infections.

The legislation would waive cost-sharing for COVID-19 diagnostic testing and related health care services for individuals enrolled in private health plans, Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, CHIP, TRICARE, VA as well as for federal civilians, American Indians and Alaska Natives. Private insurers would be barred from imposing limits like prior authorization for testing. For uninsured individuals, the bill would cover the cost of lab fees, and states would have the option and new incentives to cover COVID-19 diagnostic testing and related health care services through their Medicaid programs.

Whether or not you get a COVID-19 test shouldnt be determined by how much money you have, Udall said. Forcing people to forgo testing because its too expensive is both immoral and bad for our public health response.

Expanding free diagnostic testing for COVID-19 infections is one of the greatest ways to make our public health response to this pandemic more targeted and effective, Heinrich added.

ICE: NO DETAINEES HAVE CORONAVIRUS: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said none of the agencys detainees had the coronavirus as of last week.

The agency said in a statement to the Journal that the health, welfare and safety of detainees are among the agencys highest priorities. The agency said epidemiologists have been tracking the outbreak, regularly updating infection prevention and control protocols, and issuing guidance to ICE Health Service Corps staff for the screening and management of potential exposure among detainees.

ICE continues to incorporate CDCs (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) COVID-19 guidance, which is built upon the already established infectious disease monitoring and management protocols currently in use by the agency, the statement said. In addition, 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 American Civil Liberties Union, New Mexico Immigrant Law Center and the Santa Fe Dreamers Project sent letters to the Torrance County Detention Facility, the Otero County Processing Center and the Cibola County Correctional Center  where detainees are housed  asking that they develop prevention plans with the DOH and ICE.

BORDER HEALTH SCREENINGS: The five members of the New Mexico congressional delegation are among lawmakers introducing legislation that seeks to strengthen multi-national cooperation to screen for infectious diseases at the border. It would support public health initiatives in border communities that face unique cross-border challenges.

The Border Health Security Act of 2020 would authorize $10.5 million per year for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in consultation with the United States-Mexico Border Health Commission and U.S. Canada Pan Border Health Council to issue grants for states, tribes and tribal organizations, local governments, hospitals and nonprofit health organizations and others.

It would designate a grant program to prioritize recommendations outlined by the commission and council to improve the health of residents along the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders. Grant funding would be used to address issues including infectious disease testing, monitoring and surveillance; public health and public health infrastructure; health conditions with high prevalence; medical and health services research; and workforce training and development.

Udall, Heinrich and U.S. Reps. Deb, Haaland, Ben. Ray Lujan and Xochitl Torres Small are co-sponsoring the bill with U.S. Sens, Martha McSally, R-Ariz., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., John Cornyn, R-Texas and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz.

Scott Turner: sturner@abqjournal.com
Late Friday night, Disney said that it would be making Frozen 2 available this Sunday, March 15.

The accelerated release date, a full three months ahead of its planned date, comes as all sorts of release schedules, premieres and even entire new seasons of television shows are canceled or paused as Hollywood crafts its own response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Frozen 2 has captivated audiences around the world through its powerful themes of perseverance and the importance of family, messages that are incredibly relevant during this time, and we are pleased to be able to share this heartwarming story early with our Disney+ subscribers to enjoy at home on any device, said Disney's new CEO Bob Chapek in a statement.

Disney (along with Fox, which it owns) has pushed back the release of anticipated films like the live action version of "Mulan," the Marvel superhero movie, "The New Mutants," and the Guillermo del Toro-produced horror film, "Antlers."

Pushing up the release date on "Frozen 2" makes sense, given that Disney is now basically a television, streaming and gaming company  much like every other studio struggling to adapt to the need for social distancing is prompting movie theaters to either close or dramatically reduce their capacity. At the same time, there have been reports that Disney has had issues producing original shows and movies for its streaming service.

The company previously pushed up the streaming release date of "Avengers: Endgame" to coincide with the launch of Disney+.

Internationally, the company is making "Frozen 2" available on Disney+ in Canada, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand on Tuesday, March 17.

U.S. audiences wanting to watch the movie on Sunday will only be able to stream it in high definition. Ultra HD video playback isn't going to be available until Tuesday.
Former Vice President Joe Biden leaves the lectern after delivering remarks about the COVID-19 outbreak, in Wilmington, Delaware, on March 12, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

National Education Association Endorses Biden for President

The National Education Association (NEA), the largest labor union in the country, on March 14 endorsed Joe Biden to be the Democratic Party nominee for president.

The 3-million-member union formalized the endorsement with a vote by the board of directors, according to a press release.

Joe is the tireless advocate for public education and is the partner that students and educators need in the White House, NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia said in a statement. He understands that we have a moral responsibility to provide a great neighborhood public school for every student in every ZIP code.

The union announced the endorsement as the field of Democratic candidates narrowed to two viable contenders: former Vice President Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Bidens wife, Jill Biden, is a teacher and an NEA member.

The union is vocally opposed to President Donald Trumps current secretary of education, Betsy DeVos, primarily because of her support for education vouchers, which would allow parents to use the taxpayer funds already allocated to their children to pay toward education in a private school.

Biden said in a statement that hes honored by the endorsement.

Together, we are going to beat Trump, replace Betsy DeVos, and appoint a secretary of education that parents, students, and educators deserve: someone who has worked in a public school classroom, Biden said in a statement.

The NEA had expressed support for Bidens education plan, which includes universal taxpayer-funded pre-kindergarten. According to one estimate, providing subsidized, but not universal, pre-K would cost an estimated $140 billion per yearmore than five times the total current federal and state spending on early childhood care.

Bidens proposals come with an estimated $850 billion price tag over 10 years. The proposals include tripling Title I spending for schools with higher concentrations of students from low-income households, federal infrastructure spending for public school buildings, and covering the cost of schools compliance with federal requirements for teaching students with disabilities.

Biden also opposes charter schools, which receive public funding but are privately operated. A study released last year showed that charter schools outperform public schools in both reading and math scores in terms of cost-efficiency.

Biden has also proposed $750 billion in spending of taxpayer money for education beyond high school.

Biden and Sanders were scheduled to face off in a debate on March 15, two days before four populous statesArizona, Florida, Illinois, and Ohiohold primaries, with a combined 577 delegates up for grabs.

Biden currently leads Sanders by more than 150 delegates with more than half of the national total already awarded, a gap that means Sanders must win 57 percent of the remaining delegates to wrest the nomination from Biden. There is no precedent for such a comeback.

In the four states that vote March 17, almost 760,000 voters live in households with at least one NEA member, according to the union. NEA officials said the unions PAC would immediate push digital advertising into the four states on Bidens behalf, while also communicating with NEA households.

Democratic presidential candidates in 2020 were mostly in step with education unions, with Biden and the rest vowing to replace Trumps education secretary, DeVos, with someone whos had classroom experience, while vastly increasing federal spending on early childhood, and in primary and secondary education.

The American Federation of Teachers, the second-largest teachers labor union, opted earlier in the process for a triple endorsement, recommending Biden, Sanders, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Conventional wisdom suggests the PAP will win a Covid-19 general election. Conventional wisdom tells us: A strong economy translates into more support for the opposition, while instability favours the PAP.

Proving causation of this type is impossible, but history hints at correlation between a negative outlook for Singapore and positive outcomes for the PAP.

In 2010, Singapores economy grew by a record-breaking 14.7%. The following year, the Workers Party won its first GRC.

In the 2001 general election, which was held months after the September-11 attacks, under the shadow of a recession, the PAP won with a vote share of 75.3%.

In 2015, when the PAP won by a landslide, the Straits Times said it was because they listened to the people and reduced immigration. However, it is just as likely they won because of the poor economy.

The GDP growth for the year was just 2%, as opposed to 3.9% and 5.1% for previous years.

Hence, a Covid-19-almost-recession GE2020 will strongly favour the PAP. No one wants to change the government in the middle of a crisis. Even if the incoming Ministers are healthier, more competent and more knowledgeable, the prospect of a shaky transition period will scare away any potential detractors.

However, it is not the mentality of the Singaporean voter which makes the election unfair. It is the restrictions designed to protect us from Covid-19 which will turn it into a one-sided walkover. You can have a socially responsible election, or a fair election. You cannot have both.

With social distancing and a ban on gatherings of more than 250 people, there can be no political rallies. The appetite for walkabouts or house visits will also be diminished, because it takes just one infected canvasser to quarantine a whole neighbourhood.

With reduced opportunities for interaction, the opposition will be at a great disadvantage, because theyre the ones who will need to invigorate the electorate, and get them out to vote. It will be the death knell for Tan Cheng Bocks new Progress Singapore Party. Without a chance to make his case, he will almost certainly lose, because voters havent had a chance to hear him out.

Story continues

All of this suits our ruling party just fine because they are a known entity. As many have pointed out, PAP rallies are sparsely attended anyway. Voter indifferenceat an all-time highhas always favoured incumbents.

But its not just on-the-ground conditions which will make the Covid-19 GE a walkover. With virus clusters popping up everyday, most of the campaigning will likely take place online, where the playing field is even more lopsided.

Last year in December, Google banned political advertising on its platforms for Singapore. Its new code of practice forbids all advertisement or paid content that can reasonably be regarded as being directed towards a political end. SDP was incensed. Google declined to comment.

Facebook still allows political ads, but as Kirsten Han has already pointed out, they can be easily and arbitrarily POFMAd into oblivion. Prior to the outbreak, almost every instance of POFMA was used against members of the opposition. I seriously doubt if this trend will abate during the campaigning period.

With direct political advertising severely limited, opposition parties will be at the mercy of major media outlets, all of whom are strongly pro-PAP.

SPH, though it might be bleeding money from every orifice, still commands some 4000 staff members. The Online Citizen, our only pro-opposition outlet, has a total staff of zero because the police investigated Terry Xu and confiscated his computers.

You might respond to this editorial by saying: This is Singapore. Government is not obliged to help the opposition.

You would be entirely right. If the PAP wants to exploit the goodwill from their deft handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, they have every right to do so. Thats politics as usual.

However, they also have an obligation to hold a free and fair election, or at least one thats no more unfair than usual. If the Covid-19 cases increase, and more stringent regulations are put into place, the election will be a total joke. With no rallies, minimal interaction and voter concerns focused elsewhere, it will be an election only in name. Nobody will be able to campaign effectively as the Prime Minister promises, least of all the opposition parties who need to make themselves heard.

Thanks to its deft handling of Covid-19 and the dire economic situation, the PAP will most likely win the next election, as surely as Mdm President Halimah Yacob was going to win the 2017 presidential electionrunning against opponents who were little-known political neophytes.

To hold GE2020 in the midst of a pandemic, would virtually guarantee victory, just as the $500-million shareholder rule guaranteed victory for Mdm President. However, the election would be forever tainted by whispers and doubts, just as President Halimahs victory was tainted by #notmypresident.

To POFMA this article, please contact us at community@ricemedia.co.

The post A Covid-19 Election Is Not An Election At All appeared first on RICE.
BRIXHAM, England  In the pitch black of early morning, huge waves hurled the 30-ton vessel from side to side, drenching crewmen who struggled to keep their footing as they cast the trawlers nets into the swirling seas.

But, once back on the bridge, the skipper, Dave Driver was oblivious to the stomach-churning motion of the boat, and dismissive of the perils of his work  even as he recalled once falling overboard and, on another occasion, rescuing two fishermen from drowning.

Im my own boss, I do what I want, I think its the best job in the world, said Mr. Driver, who left school at age 15 but now owns the Girl Debra, which is worth 1.2 million pounds, about $1.5 million, and is named after his wife.

He has only one major gripe in life: the French.

Mr. Driver thinks French boats are allowed to take too many fish too close to the British coast  touching on a deeply emotional issue on both sides of the channel that could dash hopes of a post-Brexit trade deal between Britain and the European Union.
Coronavirus fatalities in the UK have increased by 14 overnight bringing the total death toll to 35 as the number of cases increases by more than 200 to 1,372, the department of health and social care announced this afternoon.

A total of 40,279 people have been tested across the UK and the latest update comes as Health Secretary Matt Hancock this morning said that the elderly may have to self isolate for up to four months.

38,907 tested negative against the disease and 1,372 tested positive.

A man in his late 50s was confirmed to have died in Bristol after contracting the coronavirus.

A man in his late 50s has died at Bristol Royal Infirmary after contracting the coronavirus

The announcement from the Department of Health and Social Care (above) stated the new numbers for today

Nick Matthews, 59, from Nailsea, Bristol, died after testing positive for coronavirus.

He is believed to be the youngest coronavirus victim in the UK and his wife Mary today paid tribute to him.

She shared a picture on a local Facebook group urging people who had been in contact with the father-of-two to get tested.

Speaking to Nailsea People she said: 'People who may have come into contact with either Nick or me during the past two weeks need to self-isolate and get advice.

'Although he tested positive, until a post-mortem examination, we can't say that was cause of death at the moment.

'I don't want to panic people, but I do want people to take extra precautions.'

In a statement, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust said: 'Sadly, we can confirm that a man who was being cared for at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, and had tested positive for Covid-19, has died.

Heartbroken wife Mary Matthews (left) paid tribute to her 'life partner and soul mate' husband Nick, 59, who died from coronavirus in Bristol today

'The patient who died was in his late-fifties and had underlying health conditions.

'The family has been informed and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time. We will not be commenting further and ask that everybody respects the family's privacy.'

Mr Matthews - who had underlying health conditions - died in Bristol Royal Infirmary

Mary also paid tribute to her 'life partner and soul mate' husband and in a touching Facebook post she said: 'Today at 3am I lost my life partner and soul mate but most of all my best friend

'Charlotte, Ben and I are beyond proud to have had such a big character in our lives.

'As a family we are still currently in isolation until the coronavirus test results come back.

'Someone will post again when we have more information.

'In the meantime, I know some of you would like to visit but please for you and your families safety, stay away until we get the all clear.'

It comes as eleven new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Northern Ireland, bringing the total number of known cases there to 45.

CHARITIES URGE FAMILIES TO CHECK UP ON ELDERLY RELATIVES Charities have advised families to check elderly relatives have everything they need after Matt Hancock said over-70s will soon be asked to stay at home for four months. The Alzheimer's Society has not advised against visiting elderly relatives. But it said anyone concerned should ring their loved ones to check they have handwash and hand sanitiser, are cleaning remote controls, door handles and taps regularly, and to see whether they need anyone to do a shopping trip for them. Independent Age has also not advised against visits, but urged family members to ensure older relatives have all the supplies they need such as food and medication. Age UK has said elderly people feeling well can still carry on as normal, and go out and meet people, providing basic hygiene measures such as washing hands regularly are observed. Several care homes in the UK have suspended all visits in a bid to stop the virus spreading and Independent Age has told its volunteers home visits should now be conducted over the phone. Mr Hancock said today that people can still visit elderly family members and neighbours as long as neither party is unwell. Advertisement

The Department of Health said people with mild symptoms - new persistent cough and/or fever - should stay at home and self-isolate for seven days and that they will not require testing.

In Wales there were 34 new cases today, pushing its total to 94. A huge jump from 60.

Public Health Wales said it was working with partners in the Welsh Government and the wider NHS in Wales now that the country had entered the 'delay' phase.

The new cases, by local authority area, are: two in Blaenau Gwent, four in Caerphilly, three in Carmarthenshire, one in Ceredigion, four in Swansea, three in Cardiff, one in Monmouthshire, three in Newport, two in Rhondda Cynon Taf, two in Torfaen and one in the Vale of Glamorgan.

The residential areas of eight of the new confirmed cases were still being confirmed on Sunday.

Mark Drakeford, First Minister of Wales, issued a video message describing how the Welsh Government had been 'working hard to prepare for what is to come'.

'We are working around the clock with experts here in Wales and around the United Kingdom to do everything we possibly can to protect you and your families,' he said.

'Every decision we make is based on the best expert public health advice.

'It's really important in facing the coronavirus that we take the right decisions at the right time.'

Dr Giri Shankar, incident director for the Covid-19 outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: 'We can confirm that 34 new cases have tested positive for novel coronavirus (Covid-19) in Wales, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 94.

Britons wore face masks in central London on Saturday, before it emerged over-70s will be told to stay at home for four months while the government goes on a war footing to firefight the coronavirus crisis

Britain's over-70s told to stay at home for four months Mass isolating of the elderly - even if they are not ill - will begin within the next 20 days as Boris Johnson ratchets up efforts to tackle the UK's ballooning outbreak. This morning health secretary Matt Hancock said the virus is 'one of the biggest challenges we have seen in a generation'. Although the drastic measures that have been implemented by the government have been drawn up to protect those most vulnerable to the killer COVID-19 infection, it brings serious concerns about the wellbeing of pensioners cooped-up for such a long time. Regular social outings will have to be scrapped and pangs of loneliness could compound an already stressful isolation experience, psychologists have warned. Instructing the over-70s to remain indoors forms part of a wider package of emergency powers due to be officially rolled out by Downing Street this week. Advertisement

'Public Health Wales is working within the phased approach to tackling the novel coronavirus outlined in the UK Coronavirus Action Plan - to contain, delay, research and mitigate.

'We are working with our partners in the Welsh Government, the wider NHS in Wales, and others now that we have entered the 'delay' phase.

'This is now not just an attempt to contain the disease, as far as possible, but to delay its spread.'

Dr Shankar said the advice for the public had changed, with people no longer needing to contact NHS 111 if they believe they may have contracted Covid-19.

Instead, anyone with a high temperature or a new continuous cough should stay at home for seven days and should not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.

They should only contact NHS 111 if they feel unable to cope with their symptoms at home, their condition worsens or their symptoms do not improve after seven days.

'The move into the 'delay' phase, will include working closely with health boards, NHS 111 and the Welsh Government towards transitioning away from community testing and contact tracing,' Dr Shankar said.

Shoppers are faced with partially empty shelves at a supermarket in London as consumers worry about product shortages as a result of the coronavirus

Mass isolating of the elderly - even if they are not ill - will begin within the next 20 days as Boris Johnson ratchets up efforts to tackle the UK's outbreak

'Testing will now focus on cases admitted to hospital, in line with national guidance, and based on symptoms and severity.

'The move away from community testing gives us greater capacity to test in hospital settings, where the most vulnerable patients will be cared for.'

The announcement of the new cases came as Adam Price, the leader of Plaid Cymru, wrote to Mr Drakeford about the outbreak.

He called for Mr Drakeford to use powers available under the Public Health (Control of Diseases) Act 1984 to prohibit or restrict the holdings of events or gatherings.

'It is imperative that Wales uses all the powers already at its disposal in order to delay the spread of Covid-19 and we will support you in that endeavour,' Mr Price wrote.

Mr Price said the measures would give public reassurance and mitigate against community transmission of the virus.

As of March 12, a total of 945 people in Wales had been tested for coronavirus.

On Friday, the country's health minister, Vaughan Gething, warned that up to 25,000 people in Wales could die amid a worst-case scenario.

He announced that non-urgent surgical procedures and outpatient appointments would be suspended to help the NHS in Wales cope with the virus.

The panic surrounding the virus has continued to spread and supermarkets are struggling to keep up with demand for items such as toilet roll and hygiene products and dried foods such as pasta.

This is while various countries pledge to close their borders on Monday. Germany this afternoon said it would close its borders to Austria, France and Switzerland and non-essential public places in France were also ordered to close.

The government has issued a 'call to arms' to non-healthcare manufacturers in the UK to ask them to step in and build vital ventilators for the NHS.
Bahrain-based Euro Motors Jaguar Land Rover has officially announced the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) launch of the new Land Rover Defender 110, thus expanding its spectacular line-up of Land Rover models in the kingdom.

Touted as one of the toughest and strongest Land Rover vehicles ever made, Defender 110 with its unique unibody architecture, is the new-generation model which represents the brands 70 years of innovation and improvement allowing extensive customization for off-road ruggedness and on-road comfort.



The worlds most iconic 4x4 reimagined for the 21st century marks the introduction of Jaguar Land Rovers most advanced electronic architecture and infotainment interface yet, with always-on 4G and 5G, plus voice activation and over-the-air-software upgrade capability, said a statement from Euro Motors Jaguar Land Rover.



With Bahrain hosting the first launch of the Land Rover Defender 110, the new model is being showcased at high traffic dominated public spaces and large-scale community events.



This includes a display at The Avenues Bahrain mall until March 17 and Bahrain City Centre mall between March 26 to April 30. Customers can also visit the Euro Motors Jaguar Land Rover showroom between March 23 to 25 for a peek and starting from March 31 onwards, the customers can start booking the new Land Rover Defender 110 for test drive experiences, it stated.



Priced at BD20,300 ($53,520) onwards, the Land Rover Defender 110 is available with 5+2 seating in a choice of four distinct Accessory Packs (Explorer, Adventure, Country and Urban), and 170 individual accessories, it added.



Euro Motors Jaguar Land Rover said the Defender range of models, with annual volume growth of 20%, is expected to add more momentum to the Land Rover portfolio in Bahrain which has been witnessing constant year-on-year growth.



The new Defender 110 has generated enormous interest amongst customers in Bahrain who are looking for its legendary off-road capabilities combined with on-road comfort, luxury, and convenience with several inquiries generated during its pre-booking campaign, it added.



On the Mena launch, General Manager Stephen Lay said: "Euro Motors Jaguar Land Rover is really excited to have finally brought the new Land Rover Defender 110 on Bahrains roads. A true Land Rover hallmark, this has been re-engineered to withstand extreme conditions with a user-friendly interior equipped with safety and infotainment technology."



"It is powerful, efficient and safe for the entire family with the modernism and confidence it brings on board, which we hope the car enthusiasts in Bahrain would be happy to experience," explained Lay.



The new Land Rover Defender 110 is a highly talked about model which has been making its presence at several international motor shows including the Dubai International Motor show last year.



"With the new Land Rover Defender on roadshow across the island, we invite our customers and auto enthusiasts to register their interest in test drive experiences and visit our showroom for advisory on a whole range of customisation options," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
The waiting area at Razza in Jersey City, one of New Jerseys most popular restaurants, wasnt overflowing with its usual deluge of customers early Friday night. But the dining room was certainly full, proving that for some, a love of pizza outweighs a fear of the coronavirus.

Jersey City resident Jess Kitts and two of her friends were among those waiting for a table at Razza, COVID-19 be damned.

Normally, its longer, Kitts said of the 45-minute wait. I still wanted to go out and see people, and I think were just trying to be more careful than normal.

New Jerseys restaurant industry held its collective breath Friday  the first weekend night since the coronavirus suspended just about every major American social gathering and gripped the United States in state of panic  and was nervous to see how much the pandemic would affect business. Jersey City, arguably the states hottest food and nightlife destination, exuded much of its typical hustle and bustle Friday, while other parts of the state might not have been so lucky.

On the citys Newark Avenue pedestrian plaza, there was no overt sense of anxiety despite more than 70 COVID-19 cases and two deaths in New Jersey. Jersey Citys first case was announced hours earlier, and Mayor Steve Fulop had called for sign-in sheets and a 10 p.m. curfew at bars and restaurants. But a combination of cabin fever from a week of social distancing and gorgeous early spring weather had diners out and about in the states second-biggest city.

Diners sit outside at Atlas Public House in Jersey City on March 13 despite coronavirus fears. (Jeremy Schneider | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

The wait at Razza spiked to two hours by 7 p.m.  par for the course on any Friday night for the pizza The New York Times crowned the best in New York (yes, you read that correctly).

Taqueria Downtown, no stranger to crowds, was crammed as well. Niki Klaczany and Mike Rolandelli were among a small group of patrons sipping margaritas outside the restaurant as they waited a half-hour for their table.

Coronavirus was on their mind, the pair said, but it wasnt keeping them inside.

I would say no fears, but you know, definitely take precautions," Rolandelli said. Im not gonna let it ruin my Friday night."

Klaczany, who lives in the neighborhood, added: Were keeping it really low key and right around the house. Thursday night we went out to dinner (at Roman Nose on Grove Street) and it was packed.

Yet Grand Sichuan, one of the citys most popular Chinese restaurants, was closed for dining but still doing take-out and delivery orders  at a time when Chinese restaurants are feeling the coronavirus slowdown as much as anyone.

A sign on the door of Grand Sichuan in Jersey City explaining that the Chinese restaurant was closed for dining in but still serving take-out and delivery orders amidst the coronavirus outbreak. (Jeremy Schneider | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Many restaurants are taking precautions, be them related to safety or finances. Popular Jersey City brunch spot Sam A.M. announced on Friday it was temporarily closing its dining room and going take-out only in order to continue to serve our community while conducting ourselves in a manner that is consistent with current advice". Popular Hoboken pub Cork City wasnt empty, but was certainly less crowded than usual, and bartenders replaced customer high-fives with elbow knocks.

Perhaps most extremely, exalted Italian restaurant 15 Fox Place closed through next weekend, citing safety concerns.

Heirloom Kitchen in Old Bridge, one of the most highly regarded restaurants in New Jersey, posted a video emphasizing cleaning precautions to assuage coronavirus concerns.

No matter how hard restaurants work to show how clean they are, the threat of coronavirus lingers. Delivery and take-out orders will become more important than ever, even for restaurants that typically have no problem drawing a full house in popular food towns.

We have seen a drastic drop in reservations and were very concerned about the loss of business over the next month," Shanti Mignogna, co-owner of popular Asbury Park restaurants Modine and Talulas, said. We are hoping that our locals will come out to support us, even if that means just ordering takeout or small private catering orders. We are on GrubHub so hopefully that helps, too. The restaurant industry is definitely going to be one of many hard-hit industries.

Delivery will be even more important in Hoboken, where restaurants will be forced to do nothing but takeout and delivery service starting on Sunday.

We are continuing to do everything possible to advance social distancing. To protect health & safety of residents, our OEM has directed all bars & restaurants, w/ & w/o a liquor license, to allow for delivery & takeout of food only. OEM is also implementing a curfew from 10pm-5am pic.twitter.com/IBhsAk2SiW  Ravinder S. Bhalla (@RaviBhalla) March 15, 2020

There was a bottle of 409 cleaning spray on the marble-clad hosts podium at upscale Italian restaurant Osteria Crescendo in Westwood on Friday. Not just so the staff could disinfect the door every time it was touched, but so customers could see them doing it. Fears are even higher in Bergen county as the region has become a COVID hotbed with a state-high 31 cases.

Everything was just kind of like a step further. You know, we want the guests to see it, too. We want them to feel comfortable, Tommy Voter, the restaurants director of operations said. "Were taking these extra precautions, wiping down tables, when people are getting up were wiping their seats. Were wiping everything off of the menus.

Bergen Countys restaurant scene is among the best in New Jersey  NJ.com named it the second-best culinary county in the state. But the rash of coronavirus cases, combined with its sprawling layout and less foot traffic, could spell serious trouble for its food industry.

Sign up for text message alerts from NJ.com on coronavirus in New Jersey:





A slew of reservation cancelations had Osteria Crescendo down to just 14 confirmed diners on Friday night. That number almost quadrupled with walk-ins, but business was still slower than Voter would have liked for a Friday night.

Voter says he is doing everything he can to keep business going. Restaurants with $150 tomahawk ribeye steaks typically dont deliver, but theyre preparing to offer it. But this was just the first night of the first weekend of the crisis and Voter already anticipates less shifts to go around for his staff.

Who knows with restaurants if this is just the start of it. I cant have every Friday night like this, Voter said.

Jeremy Schneider may be reached at jschneider@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Schneider. 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.
Information and recommendations could be found on the website of the embassy and organisations of Vietnamese in the country.

An employee of the German Red Cross closes a mobile test station for the COVID-19 in Heinsberg, Germany (Photo: Reuters)



Vietnamese citizens are advised to inform family doctors, contact the host nations hotlines for advice, and visit medical facilities for timely medical check-up and treatment if they show symptoms of COVID-19 or have contact with people from affected areas.

They are also recommended to contact the embassys citizen protection hotline 049-162 539 1500 in case of emergency.

Groups of Vietnamese students in Germany also frequently inform their members on the COVID-19 outbreak, particularly via the website sividuc.org. About 7,500 Vietnamese students are staying in the country.

Minister Counsellor at the Vietnamese Embassy Dang Chung Thuy said that no COVID-19 infection cases have to date reported among Vietnamese citizens in Germany.

The embassy has stayed vigilant in disease prevention and been ready for citizen protection measures in the face of the outbreak, he added.

It has been working with Vietnamese organisations and local agencies to carry out countermeasures and update the situation, and asking the German side to pay attention to and support Vietnamese in virus-hit areas, he added./.
A man has been charged with murder after a stabbing death in Melbourne's inner-north at the weekend.

Emergency services were called to the Neighbourhood House on Hoddle Street in Collingwood just before 5pm on Sunday, and found a man with stab wounds to his upper body.

Paramedics worked on the 32-year-old man from Collingwood, but he died at the scene.

Police arrested another Collingwood man, aged 30, on Sunday night and charged him with one count of murder on Monday.
The wife of Spains prime minister Pedro Sanchez has tested positive for coronavirus as the country goes into lockdown.

Begona Gomez and the prime minister are in good health, Spain's government said. Two ministers of Mr Sanchez's cabinet had already tested positive for the virus earlier this week.

It comes as Spain has implemented a lockdown similar to the one already imposed in Italy.

Mr Sanchez used a national televised address to announce the exceptional measures his government will put in place during a two-week state of emergency to combat the rise in infections.

Authorities said the number of infections had climbed past 5,700, half of them in Madrid alone, since the first case was detected in late January.

That represents an increase of more than 1,500 in 24 hours.

On Sunday, the British government advised its citizens against all but essential travel to Spain amid the outbreak. It said transport services to the country will be operating at reduced levels.

Planes turned around in mid-air after Jet2 cancelled all flights to Spain on Saturday as the country prepared to lockdown over the coronavirus outbreak.

People in Spain are now only allowed to leave their homes to buy food and medicine, commute to work, go to hospitals and banks, or take trips to care for the young and elderly.

All schools and universities are closed, along with restaurants, bars and hotels in Spain - which is Europe's second worst-affected country after Italy.

"From now we enter into a new phase," Mr Sanchez said. "We won't hesitate in doing what we must to beat the virus. We are putting health first."

Additional reporting by agencies
Dr. Abiola Akiyode Afolabi

The Nation reports that human right activist and Founding Director of the The Women Advocates Research and Documentation System, WARDC, Dr. Abiola Akiyode Afolabi has said the management of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife need to release Monica Osagies certificate, a victim of sexual harassment at the institution, for justice to prevail.

Recall Osagie, a former post graduate students certificate was withheld after exposing a randy lecturer at the institution, Prof. Richard Iyiola Akindele, who was later dismissed by the institution.

OAU made headlines in April when Ms. Osagie leaked a phone recording, which showed Mr. Akindele asking for sex five times for a pass in an examination.

Prof. Richard Iyiola Akindele, who was dragged to court for demanding sex to pass one of his students, Monica Osagie, in 2018, was sentenced to two years in prison in a judgement delivered by Justice Maureen Onyetenu, who had to stand down the case two times, before finally giving her judgement.

But speaking during an interview shortly after a one-day training support for lecturers and administrators on Protection of Girls in Tertiary Institutions in Bauchi, the state capital on Saturday, Dr.AbiolaAkiyode Afolabi , who explained the role played by her organisation in the sex for mark scandal which went viral at the period said withholding Osagies certificate will discourage students from reporting further sexual harassment cases at the institution.



 It was an open thing in the public domain that we supported the Sexual and Gender Based Violence case against Prof. Akindele involving a female student. We gave the student all the support and confidence to be able to speak out because there was a problem on something that was released on social media and the young student was afraid to even come out

We had to tell her there is a need to speak out so we can resolve the problem before she became courageous about it, we gave her our support all through the processes of her attending or appearing before the OAU panel set up then to investigate the the sexual harassment allegations

Until now, she has not being able to get her certificate, and as far as we are concern , justice is not being done. The system must understand that justice must be done to the students when they have the courage to speak out. Where the student did not get her certificate after all went she passed through, justice has not being done.. She said.

Dr. Afolabi , however, prevailed on the varsity management to ensure the release of Osagie certificate so justice can take its full course.

While lamenting the endemic cases of sexual harassment across institutions in the country, she explained that the purpose of the one-day training is to address the problem and to see what strategy has been placed by different institutions concerning Sexual and Gender based Violence.

According to her  Sexual and gender based violence is big issue for the country and our educational system so what we are doing here toady is to see how we can gather voices together to address the problem

 If you see of recent, there is being a lot of intervention particularly at the National Assembly level where there is a proposal for a policy against sexual harassment 

This project we are embarking on is inline with our mission as institutions need to have policies, they also need to go beyond policies to have actions and when they have policies, it should be inclusive

We have realised that in most of the cases where there is a policy against sexual harassment it has not being effective. We have also realised that it is because students dont believe in the system, they think the situation is endemic so the system has grown with it. They dont trust the system, even when they are not afraid, they dont know who to report to.

So we believe that this project will help us address the problem with the system, it will help us in term of strengthening institutions so theyre sensitive to whats happening around them



Dr. Afolabi also urged the Academic Staff Union of Universities , ASUU , to sit up on the sexual harassment in institutions saying theyre not coming out to speak against it while lauding some institutions who have began creating awareness against it.

In her submission, one of the members of the group, Engr.Jemilat Adamu, a female lecturer at the Federal Polytechnic Bauchi State proposed proper orientation for students institutions.

She said further that one of the ways to to address sexual harassment in institutions is to ban the lone visitation of a lecturer by a student in his office in order to avoid allegations of sexual harassment.
A proposed long march against the



CAA-NRC-NPR regime from Bhiwandi in Thane district of Maharashtra to the Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai on Monday has been deferred on Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's assurance, its organiser said on Sunday.

The march was planned by the Samvidhan Bachao Sangharsh Samiti from Bhiwandi bypass to the Vidhan Bhavan, a distance of around 56 kms.

The leaders of the Samiti met the CM and Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad on Sunday, a release said.

The CM told the delegation that a sub-committee of the Cabinet has been set up to submit its report on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The same folks packing themselves into churches where they shake hands with everyone around them.

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They have to go somewhere when even the churches are closed. 

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My archdiocese cancelled mass till Good Friday but many of the older people didn't get the notice and showed up anyways to spend the time chatting with their friends.

We had orders not to shake hands or give communion for some time now but just sitting in the pews and singing would spread any virus.

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even the money-hungry LDS church closed all churches

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IA. I power-walked into a Peet's Coffee today to pick up a mobile order, I mean I was hauling ASS in and out of there, and there was a big group of people who had pushed together like three tables so they could all sit together. tbh I think coffee shops should go ahead and remove all the seating for now and just go mobile order only, because people will not distance themselves unless forced.

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Hm, I've been seeing a lot of places closed or dead af

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the only time I ever sat around in a Dunks was when we were phonebanking and having free coffee day

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People are still going to spas, where you spend 60-90 minutes in a small room as someone with bare hands massages you.



Peoples priorities are fucked on a daily basis so I dont know why Im so shocked they are still fucked in serious situations.

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but you were also there??

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There are people SPECIFICALLY going out to restaurants right now because they think this is all an overblown media hoax and its not as bad as the flu. And they seem to think this is some kind of liberal plot to destroy American business, so theyre all going out to show their support.

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I haven't made up my mind about online shopping during this time. Do I want to continue to support businesses, or should I be more mindful of the fulfillment and shipping crews? I recently moved and have been slowly trying to decorate my apartment, but I don't need to order wall art or accent lighting if it's going to put others at risk.

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If you want to shop, try to shop local. A lot of community run stores are offering special at home delivery deals right now so they can keep their employees paid and keep running while putting less people at risk.

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Just don't shop for a few weeks...

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If the business goes under, there is no fulfillment crew. They have no jobs. Shipping gets hurt to.

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Exactly. I've just personally been trying to decide where the line is drawn between supporting and endangering. Maybe I'll buy myself some gift cards - it'll force me to stay on budget, but offer some support for the time being.

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In my experience, shipping & fulfillment workers are already working fairly distantly from each other in normal times. Theyre not in crowded offices or anything, do continuing to do their job doesnt put them at much of a risk. I just hope theyre all getting sweet overtime pay for their work

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if it's something you can feasibly or quickly disinfect (like, not leather boots or something lol) I say why not?

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can't close supermarkets :) was in there this morning and the shelves are stipped bare :) no medicine, no pasta or rice, no tinned veg/beans, no frozen veg, no eggs, no toilet paper or kitchen roll :) lots of shitty customers though :)

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will the employees still be getting paid though?

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The retail employees? Probably not. They dont get many sick days or paid vacation, if they get any at all.

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that's what i'm worried about. this is gonna screw a lot of people over who rely on that money otherwise. :/

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Depends. The place I work is paying out of a separate bank that doesnt effect the employees PTO or sick time.



My friend that works at sports clips doesnt get anything which sucks

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mte. im doubting

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Anthropologie said they are paying everyone

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Anthro/Urban announced on IG that employees will still get paid.

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my store is closed this week and ill be getting paid. but after that no one knows because they havent discussed it yet.

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depends on the store. lush is paying during their closure. i don't know if i'm allowed to say this but coach is doing reduced store hours and paying employees either PT or FT hours (it depends on whether they're already PT or FT status).

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Marriott is laying off a TON of people and not paying them. My friend works for the company at a hotel property as a manager and she is being forced to work a 4 day work week, and if she wants to get paid for 5 days, she can use her sick/vacation time to cover the missed hours. But she wont be reimbursed that time if she wants to use it later.

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i work at allsaints and i'm really scared for when they close... so far they've limited to only staying open during weekdays and it was a big hassle moving my hours to weekdays because they don't want to pay for unworked days.

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no

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lush and anthropologie have closed with notices that they'll be paying their employees through the closures.

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I love lush, but hate that I forgot to stock up on bath bombs.

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If Lush is closing, I think Sephora and Ulta and every other beauty/skincare place should be next. Those places have got to be hotbeds of disease.

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Ulta already sent out that they tookaway all their testers

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I worked at Anthro and just talked to a former coworker who says that only FT is getting paid (and PT had been getting their hours slashed for the past month, it's all bullshit)

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yet my office job still not letting us work from home coolcoolcool

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Same and I take public transportation to get there.

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Saaaaaaame ugh

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ugh mte. i'm seriously debating biking in the snow or just like walking for an hour lmfao

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I mean mine too. But good for these companies

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My boss texted me to say they were self-quarantining after finding out someone they had been traveling with had a confirmed diagnoses, but didn't mention if I should plan to work from home due to my own possible exposure. And I'm over here just like....??????

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same. 1.5 hour commute each way

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Ugh same. Don't know if my boss is just greedy or stupid

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Same. I dont even care about myself really, I was advocating for my coworkers who are 60+ and my boss was like well if any of them show symptoms then they can stay home and Im like why would we let them RISK getting symptoms at all!!!

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we've all been set up for remote working but the UK is taking the "let's wait until it's too late before we ask people to do anything except stock up on loo roll and tinned everything" so i have to keep hauling my arse to an office where the windows don't even open because that would mess with the climate control recycling germy air infinitely. 

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It took my work a complete shut down to allow all people wfh...aka they had no other choice.

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same AND we have someone in our building (which isn't that big) who is under quarantine due to possible exposure. and they told us "as long as you don't show symptoms, go about your normal daily routine."

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I just got the call today from my job to work from home for 2 weeks. It was literally like last case scenario. On Friday they were still saying we couldn't do it and that only people who had children out of school could do it. Hopefully your office will change their tune tomorrow.

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Will malls be closing also?

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I heard the mall I work at was in talks about it. It's all talk but there's like barely anyone really there. Last night we had no one in the restaurant I work at 9 and we close at midnight on the weekend.

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I think everything will pretty much shut down because people refuse to stop going out. I had to close my IG app because seeing so many out and about was so frustrating.

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I should do that too. It's infuriating seeing my friends and family post stories about going wine tasting, birthday parties, clubs, brunches. Saying stuff like "The Coronavirus won't stop our family from celebrating"



So selfish and stupid.

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I'm hoping my city shuts down everything but the essentials soon because people were NOT socially distancing themselves this weekend. I have two high risk parents, if anything happens to them I'll be devastated.

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I never realized how stupid some of my friends are until we hit a pandemic.  Alexis Tirado (@AlexisTT) March 15, 2020 my life rn sums up to this:

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People are still going to the Zoo and playing beer pong.

Morons

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I already never played beer pong cause that shit is unhygienic

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Seriously. Stupid or unbelievably selfish.

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lmao forreal. well not MY friends but other people's friends for sure. girl i used to work with was just talking about what a fabulous trip she had in iceland this past week and how they were coming back soon

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Absolutely. It makes me so frustrated

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hmmm i don't like this. i think some people want to get out just a little bit before its too late. its not the smartest choice but i dont blame them.

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Fortunately not friends, but I can say that about some co-workers. It's frightning.

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I unfriended this girl on fb because she bragged about going on cheap trips and this isnt worse than the common flu!!

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honestly tho

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Its been so chaotic. I want to cry. I have food for my husband, 13 year old, and me if we go on quarantine. The mayor has stated he will make it if people dont social isolate. I have a few things for my 4 year old, but he has issues with eating that goes beyond picky eater. I hear about the elderly and I feel for them, but some special need children wont just eat anything either and people just dont care. Its a struggle to get things hell eat. Im hoping they really dont cancel my Walmart pick up order for Wednesday, as that is mostly his stuff.

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My 7 year old is the same. He's limited on what he will eat and that's what makes me worry the most. Also he cannot be couped up inside he will have meltdowns all day long, it's still cold as fuck here and snowing so we can't go outside, and no one wants anyone to go anywhere so playgrounds and/or indoor play places are off limits too.

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Meanwhile my local mall just put up a notice saying they "were monitoring the situation" .-.

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I don't really understand why all these companies are bothering to a pick a re-opening date because it's not like things will magically be better at the end of the month

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Im worried that the reduced hours of grocery stores are going to create more panic. Wegmans changed their hours and they had people camped out like it was Black Friday at 5 am waiting for them to open.

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Wegmans has been INSANE and I don't understand. I mean the other stores have been too but they've been insane on a different level.

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I think people thought that they would magically have everything back in stock overnight.

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We drove past a Wegman's today and cars were circling the jam-packed parking lot like it was 5PM on Christmas Eve. It looked like absolute fucking INSANITY.

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I was at Wegmans at 6 AM on Saturday to get some bananas and peanut butter and the parking lot was almost full.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 15

Trend:

The embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the US has appealed to the Azerbaijani citizens who are currently staying in this country, Trend reports referring to the embassy.

"Taking into account the emergency situation in the US, we ask the Azerbaijani citizens living in the US to register in the relevant consular departments of Washington and Los Angeles," the statement said.

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.
His father, Tom Hanks, and step-mom, Rita Wilson, announced last week while in Australia that they had contracted coronavirus.

And while in Los Angeles many people have opted to stay indoors to protect themselves from the spread of the virus, son Colin Hanks was spotted out and about on Saturday morning.

The 42-year-old actor was seen picking up some food from Joan's on Third in Los Angeles.

Out and about: Colin Hanks steps out to pick up food in Los Angeles on Saturday... as his dad Tom and Stepmom Rita Wilson contract coronavirus

Colin kept things simple in a navy button-up shirt and a pair of light wash denim jeans.

He teamed the look with Adidas sneakers and a cap on his head.

The Orange County star sported a blank expression as he carried his large bag of groceries back to his car.

Colin later took to social media to repost a viral photo containing a plan for kids currently at home due to the coronavirus outbreak.

'This post from #NESCA (Neuropsychology & Education for Children & Adolescents) and seems not only like a great idea for those about to go into a few weeks of home school, but hey, adults need schedules too,' he captioned.

Braving the outside world: Colin kept things simple in a navy button-up shirt and a pair of light wash denim jeans

Colin ended with, 'Be safe. Be kind. And Wash your hands.'

Colin has been sharing various posts in regards to the COVID-19 virus over the past few days.

It comes after his father, Tom Hanks, and step-mom, Rita Wilson, revealed they had contracted coronavirus while in Australia for a filming project.

Colin took to social media on Thursday to thank his followers for the outpour of love during this time.

'We are so grateful for the outpouring of support from everyone,' he began.

'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 they will make a full recovery.'

There are currently over 2,600 cases and 51 deaths from coronavirus in the United States.

Australia, have over 200 confirmed cases and have seen three deaths.
Vineet Upadhyay By

Express News Service

DEHRADUN: The first confirmed case of COVID-19 surfaced in Uttarakhand on Sunday with a 26-year-old trainee Indian Forest Service officer who was tested positive. The officer went on a study tour to Finland, Spain and Russia with other 61 trainees who have been kept in isolation.

Confirming the infection, CP Bhaisora, principal of Dr Susheela Tiwari Government Medical College and Hospital said, "The samples of the trainee officer were tested for positive results of Covid-19. We are also analysing samples of others to confirm if they too got the infection." The state government officials said that there is no need to panic but take precautions.

Amita Upreti, director general, health said, "The trainee is in isolation and we have kept him and others under observation. I appeal to the people of the state to take necessary precautions." Earlier, on Saturday, the state government declared the virus an epidemic
The Gujarat Congress on Sunday



shifted around two dozen of its MLAs to Jaipur fearing poaching in the wake of resignations given by four of its legislators ahead of Rajya Sabha polls to be held on March 26.

While some 20 MLAs boarded a flight from Ahmedabad airport, four others did so from Surat airport.

On Saturday, a dozen MLAs were shifted to a resort in Jaipur by the Congress.

These moves come as Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi confirmed on Sunday that four Congress MLAs had tendered their resignations on Saturday, all of which had been accepted.

Trivedi said he would disclose the names of the four MLAs during the Assembly session on Monday.

Three BJP candidates and two from Congress have filed nominations for the RS polls.

The Congress' move is to thwart any attempt at cross- voting.

It has fielded senior state leader Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki while the BJP has fielded Abhay Bhardwaj, Ramila Bara and Narhari Amin.

As per seat strength in the Assembly, the BJP can win two seats, while it will require cross-voting from Congress MLAs to win the third seat, as this would require 111 votes.

In the 182-seat Assembly, BJP has 103 seats, Congress 73, while two seats are with Bharatiya Tribal party and the Nationalist Congress Party has one.

The Congress will need 74 votes to win two seats, and has managed to get the support of the lone Independent MLA in the House, Jignesh Mevani.

Withfour resignations, the Congress' strength comes down to 69.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leaders like Gujarat in-charge Rajeev Satav, Solanki and Gohil met to discuss the latest development.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
HELENA  Montana Commissioner of Higher Education Clayton Christian is one of two new presumptive positive cases of the coronavirus, according to information Saturday from the commissioner's office and the governor's office.

The governor's office announced the new cases, both in Missoula County, on Saturday evening, and Christian confirmed late Saturday that he is one of the cases.

As a public official who interacts with many people on a day-to-day basis, its absolutely critical that I share these results and notify those I have come in contact with, Christian said in a news release.

The other patient is a woman in her 30s, according to the governor's office. Both are being isolated.

"It is suspected at this time that Commissioner Christians exposure occurred at the Board of Regents meeting in Dillon, Montana on Thursday, March 5," said the release from the commissioner's office.

Late Saturday, a release from the governor's office said that a Silver Bow County resident at the Board of Regents meeting had tested presumptive positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. Lt. Governor Mike Cooney was at the same meeting, and has tested negative for COVID-19 and has been asymptomatic, according to the release. Cooney is in self-quarantine until March 20, which is 14 days after his point of exposure, it said.

The release specified that those involved had consented to making the information public as a means of keeping people informed.

University of Montana President Seth Bodnar was also at the meeting. Asked for his testing status, UM spokesperson Paula Short wrote in a text message that he will follow the guidance of health officials and we will provide additional information as it is available.

Local public health workers would begin working with the two Missoula County residents to learn about their exposure risk and travel history, the county public information officer said Saturday evening. Public health workers will also identify and work with anyone who had close contact with the patients to provide guidance.

Im thankful to local public health as they work diligently to notify the people I came into contact with and make sure they have accurate information to prevent further spread," Christian said in the release.

More information is expected to be provided at a Sunday morning press conference in Missoula held by the Missoula City-County Health Department.

The tests were done at the state Public Health Laboratory and confirmed Saturday evening. The results are considered presumptive positives and will be sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be confirmed. Anyone found to have come into close contact with the patients will be monitored for 14 days for fever and respiratory symptoms, following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance.

The new cases come on the heels the first presumptive positives within the state's borders, announced Friday. Those cases include man in Gallatin County in his 40s, a woman in Yellowstone County in her 50s, a man in Butte-Silver Bow County in his 50s, and a man in his 50s in Broadwater County.

All four of those people were home in isolation and recovering, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock said in a call with reporters Saturday.

Montana has about 850 tests for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, available and anticipates receiving more, Bullock said. By Saturday evening, 166 people had been tested in Montana. Testing is done at the discretion of a person's medical provider.

On Saturday the governor's office said its state lab will now be open seven days a week, including this Sunday with the Montana Highway Patrol transporting samples.

Late Friday the state Department of Public Health and Human Services made the decision to keep the state lab open Saturday, though Wade Johnson, the CEO of St. Peter's Health in Helena, said that information wasn't clearly communicated to his facility.

On Saturday early in the afternoon, Johnson said his incident command center at the hospital had not been notified the lab was open. He called the lab directly and got a voicemail message saying the lab was closed, and a messaging service operator also told him the lab was also closed, Johnson said.

St. Peter's was going to hold all samples from over the weekend and not send them over to the lab until Monday, Johnson said, but ended up sending them in on Saturday after getting more clear information from the state.

Johnson said he understood that in challenging situations it can be hard to communicate quickly and accurately, but that misunderstandings hampered the testing process in Helena.

Its a concern for us because time is being wasted and resources are being wasted while were waiting, he said. It is not my intention by any stretch of the imagination to throw anybody under the bus, and these are unusual circumstances and unusual times, but it is my hope communication can improve.

The governor's office said Saturday that public health workers are working around the clock and that the last-minute decision was not likely communicated as thoroughly as it should have been. The director of the state health department spoke to Johnson Saturday and a courier picked up the samples, the office said.

The laboratory communicates with its response network partners over email, and sent out information Sunday to make sure facility labs know the state lab will be open seven days a week. A message also went out over the Health Action Network alert network.

Hospitals in Billings said they've had good communication with the state lab.

"The state lab is in direct contact with our laboratory at Billings Clinic so usually the results are sent to the laboratory first and then the medical technicians are instructed to contact infection control practitioners or me directly for the results," said Dr. Neil Ku, an infectious disease specialist at Billings Clinic. St. Vincent Healthcare said it has an infection prevention nurse communicating with the state.

The CDC does not update its website with case numbers over the weekends, but a database from the New York Times showed Saturday at least 2,443 in all but one state have tested positive and at least 50 people have died.

Bullock signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency on Thursday. The order gives Bullock increased ability to mobilize state resources and take action such as shutting down schools or events. It also gives access to $16 million in state emergency funding.

At the federal level, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency Friday, which opens $50 billion in funding to states. Montana's Disaster and Emergency Services (DES) is discussing with the Federal Emergency Management Agency what funding will be available to Montana.

Before Friday, Montana did have a previous COVID-19 case assigned to it, though that 70-year-old woman who lives part-time in Lake County had not been in the state since November. The case was diagnosed in Maryland. It's typical for cases to be assigned to the person's state of residency.

Adjutant General Matthew Quinn, who oversees DES, is coordinating a task force Bullock formed earlier this month to manage the state's preparations and response to COVID-19.

The state also opened a phone line, email address and website for the public to get more information about the virus in Montana.

The state has opened a phone line at 1-888-333-0461 for people with questions or concerns about the virus in Montana. There's also an email addres, covid19info@mt.gov, and website at covid19.mt.gov.
At mass in Santa Marta, also broadcast today in streaming due to the coronavirus emergency, Pope Francis prays "for the sick, for the people who suffer", but in particular for "the workers in pharmacies, supermarkets, public transport, public security". Holy Week rites will also be streamed, without pilgrims. The homily at Mass centers on the "encounter of Jesus with a woman, with a sinner", which "ends with that confession of the messianic reality of Jesus, and with the conversion of those people [of Samaria]".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - A special prayer "for all those who are working to guarantee civic and social life, the life of the city, at the moment" is what Pope Francis asked at the beginning of the Mass in Casa Santa Marta this morning.

Since the coronavirus emergency began, the pontiff has celebrated mass without guests or faithful. The celebration is live streamed.

The Holy See Press Office today confirmed that mass will be celebrated in the same way all next week and, in addition, the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household has communicated that "due to the current international health emergency, all liturgical celebrations of Holy Week will take place without the presence" of the pilgrims.

At least until April 12, the Pope's general audiences and Angelus "will be available in live streaming on the official Vatican News website" and through worldwide broadcast channels.

Introducing today's mass, Francis asked to pray for all those who are working to guarantee public services: those working in pharmacies, supermarkets, transportation, police officersso that social and civil life can go ahead.

In his commentary on the Gospel (3rd of Lent, A, John 4, 5-42), Pope Francis characterized Jesus meeting with the Samaritan woman as a dialogue, an historical dialogue. Its not a parable. It happened, he said. Jesus meets a woman, a sinner and for the first time in the Gospel, Jesus manifests His identity. He manifests it to a sinner who has the courage to tell Him the truth. And based on that truth, she went to proclaim Jesus. Come. Perhaps Hes the Messiah, because He told me everything that I have done .

The Pope went on to explain that it was not through the theoretical debate about whether God should be worshipped on this or that mountain that the woman discovers Jesuss true identity. Rather, the woman discovers that He is the Messiah because of her truth which sanctifies and justifies her.

That's what the Lord uses  her truth  to proclaim the Gospel. One cannot be a disciple of Jesus without one's own truth. This woman had the courage to dialogue with Jesus. Because these two peoples did not dialogue with each other. She had the courage to interest herself in Jesuss proposal, in that water, because she knew she was thirsty. She had the courage of confessing her weakness and her sins.

Furthermore, the Pope continued, the Samaritan womans courage led her to use her own story as the guarantee that that that man was a prophet".

The Lord always wants transparent dialogue without hiding things, without duplicitous intentions. Just as it is. I can speak with the Lord this way, just as I am with my own truth. Thus, from my own truth with the strength of the Holy Spirit, I will find the truth  that the Lord is the saviour, the One who came to save me and to save us.

Because the dialogue between the Samaritan woman and Jesus was so transparent, the Pope said she was then able to proclaim Jesus Messianic reality which brought the conversion of that people. Its the time of the harvest, Pope Francis said.

As is his custom, Pope Francis then concluded his homily with a prayer: May the Lord grant us the grace of praying always in truth, to turn to the Lord with my own truth and not with the others truth, not with truth that's been distilled in debates. Its true, Ive had five husbands. This is my truth. 
Mumbai Police have issued an order prohibiting tours involving a group of people travelling together to a foreign or domestic destination by private operators, news agency ANI reported on Sunday.

However, should anyone, including private tour operators, need to travel under exceptional circumstances, they may do so after seeking permission from the office of the Commissioner of Police, Greater Mumbai, Mumbai Police were quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Before this, Mumbai Police urged their personnel to greet people with a namaste instead of handshakes in wake of the coronavirus outbreak in Maharashtra.

Also Watch l India battles coronavirus: How states are dealing with COVID-19 crisis

In an attempt to keep our personnel safe during the coronavirus outbreak, we have asked our men to avoid shaking hands with people and instead greet them with namaste, Pranay Ashok, deputy commissioner of police and spokesperson, said, according to PTI.

Personnel at police stations and traffic policemen have been given masks, he said and added the department is following the state governments guidelines on the pandemic.

A smile and folded hands are the best way to keep #coronavirus at bay, the force tweeted from its official Twitter handle.

Dear Mumbaikars- Lets stay calm & do the basics right. Maintain personal,office & home hygiene, avoid large gatherings & unnecessary travel. Keep fake news far & a doctor close. Be vigilant, dont panic - and I am sure, we will overcome this adversity soon (sic), Mumbai Police commissioner also tweeted.

The police have also urged people to not believe in rumours about the outbreak and get their information from the authorities.

Maharashtra has emerged as the worst-hit state by the pandemic in the country with 31 people infected with coronavirus so far. And the Covid-19 number across the country was reported to be 93 on Sunday.

While Mumbai, Kalyan, Kamothe, Navi Mumbai (Vashi) and Nagpur recorded a case each on Saturday, five people tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Pimpri-Chinchwad and two in Yavatmal.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations (BMC) health department said the person who tested positive in Mumbai on Saturday is the son of the 64-year-old coronavirus patient, who was earlier admitted to Hinduja Hospital.

The senior citizens wife, too, had tested positive for the virus on Friday. All three family members are now undergoing treatment at the isolation ward of Kasturba Gandhi Hospital.

The three people from Kalyan, Kamothe and Navi Mumbai were identified and isolated after thermal scanning at the Mumbai airport. They had come back to the city from the Philippines, France and the United States, respectively.

Maharashtra has gone into a shutdown mode and closed all schools, colleges, malls, swimming pools, gym and fitness centres, public places, cancellation of all public events, religious processions among others till March 31 as a precaution.

The state had on Friday shut down cinema theatres, auditoriums, swimming pools and gymnasiums.

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The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday directed closure of all kindergarten and primary schools till March 31 as it stepped up preventive measures against coronavirus even as two more people with suspected symptoms of the virus were quarantined in Coimbatore.

Chief Minister K Palaniswami also issued orders for closure of cinema halls and malls where people gather in large numbers till the month end in taluks in 16 districts bordering neighbouring Kerala and Karnataka, where the number of COVID- 19 cases is on the rise, an official release said.

A Coimbatore report said two people, including a woman have been admitted to the Government Hospitals here with the suspected symptoms of Coronavirus.

The 26-year old woman had arrived here from Qatar late on Saturday night from Qatar.

As she was suffering from fever and cold, she came to the Government Medical College and ESI hospital for diagnosis and treatment on Sunday morning, hospital sources said.

After her blood samples and sputum were collected, she was quarantined in the hospital, they said.

The second was a man who returned from Thailand some days back, travelled to many places with his friends and finally came to Erode.

As he was suffering from fever and cough, they brought him to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital, where he has been quarantined, hospital sources said.

His blood sample and swab were taken and sent for tests to Chennai, they said.

Among the series of measures ordered by the Chief Minister were release of Rs 60 crore from the State Disaster Relief Fund to spruce up the preventive mechanism to contain the spread of the virus, which, however, has infected only one person in the state so far.

The 45-year-old engineer from neighbouring Kancheepuram district is set to be discharged from hospital in the coming days as he has recovered and tested negative for COVID-19.

In a detailed statement, Palaniswami said passengers arriving at Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore and Tiruchirappalli airports should be isolated if they showed symptoms of the virus.

"If necessary, passengers should be isolated for 14 days at facilities set up near these airports as per World Health Organisation norms", he said.

The Chief Minister advised the revenue, police and transport departments to jointly take up preventive measures on a war-footing at check posts in districts bordering neighbouring states.

He directed the Commissioner of Revenue Administration to coordinate with the departments and asked District Collectors to send reports to the Chief Minister and Health Minister on a daily basis.

Palaniswami also ordered officials to enhance sanitising mechanisms in places like temples, mosques and churches and local administrations to appoint a person to monitor these initiatives.

Among the suggestions he gave to the public were to avoid journeys to other states and also not to congregate en masse in the next 15 days, practice personal hygiene and wash their hands regularly while entering their houses.

Elderly people and those suffering from diseases and children should avoid visits to places frequented by lots of people, he said



Only if all people practice preventive measures could the spread of the virus in the state be controlled, Palaniswami said and urged them to cooperate with the government's initiative.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi makes a statement late Friday about the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

UPDATED: Wednesday, March 18 at 7:25 p.m.

President Trump signed into law a relief bill Wednesday night aimed at containing the widening effects of the coronavirus on the nation's economy, public health and well-being. It's 110 pages long, so we wanted to pull out key elements that may directly affect your life.

The law:

Guarantees sick leave for workers and their families affected by the coronavirus

for workers and their families affected by the coronavirus Bolsters food aid for needy families and seniors

for needy families and seniors Injects funds into state unemployment coffers

into state unemployment coffers Guarantees free testing for people suspected of being infected.

Here are some of the bill's highlights:

TESTING

Funds testing for the uninsured, veterans, Medicaid recipients and patients of the military and Native American health systems. Requires private health insurers to provide free testing, including the cost of an emergency room or clinic visit to get tested.

SICK LEAVE

Requires employers with less than 500 employees to provide two weeks of paid sick leave for people who become infected with the coronavirus or have to care for someone who is, as well as people who are quarantined or whose place of work or children's school is closed due to coronavirus. It also would provide a tax credit for businesses and self-employed individuals to cover sick leave.

EMERGENCY FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE

The bill gives government employees and employees of companies with fewer than 500 employees the right to take up to three months of leave from their jobs if they have to quarantine themselves or care for a family member who is quarantined or for a child whose school has been closed.

UNEMPLOYMENT

Provides $1 billion in grant funding for states to expand unemployment benefits for people who lose their jobs due to the coronavirus outbreak.

FOOD AID

Provides $1.15 billion for food banks and to expand food aid for seniors and low-income pregnant women and mothers. The bill would also suspend new work requirements for recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps. (A judge blocked the requirements from going into effect on Saturday.)

IMPORTANT NOTE

The paid sick leave exemptions for large, and in some cases, small, employers could potentially exclude nearly 20 million workers, The New York Times reported.

House Democrats say they'll introduce additional relief measures in the near future.

As the Senate works to pass #FamiliesFirst, the House will begin work on a third emergency response package to protect the health, economic security and well-being of the American people.  Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) March 13, 2020

Read a summary of the bill below or read the entire bill here:

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New Delhi: After the din over the Delhi riots, the Rajya Sabha is now functioning smoothly in the Budget session and the government after passing two crucial Bills is hopeful of pushing through more legislation.

According to the Rajya Sabha bulletin, Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank is to introduce the Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, 2019 "to establish and incorporate Universities for teaching and research in Sanskrit, to develop all-inclusive Sanskrit promotional activities and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto."

While AYUSH Minister Shripad Yesso Naik will move National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Bill, 2019 which is to provide for a medical education system that improves access to quality and affordable medical education, ensures the availability of adequate and high quality medical professionals of Indian system of medicine in the country.

Naik will also introduce the National Commission for Homeopathy Bill, 2019 that promotes equitable and universal healthcare that encourages community health perspective and makes services of homeopathy medical professionals accessible to all citizens.

The House will also discuss the working of Ministry of Railways to be moved by TMC MP Derek O Brien, while T. Shiva of DMK will initiate discussion on MSMEs.

The discussion on the working of Law Ministry will be raised by Bhupinder Yadav and on agriculture by Pratap Singh Bajwa.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- The person who tested positive for coronavirus in Tompkins County this week was a member of the Ithaca College community, the college and county health department said.

A statement from the health department said the person showed symptoms on March 5, just before the colleges spring break began. The person is in mandatory isolation at home, the statement said.

In a letter to the campus, college President Shirley M. Collado said 12 members of the college community have been identified as possibly being exposed to this person on March 5 or later. The health department has tracked down those people and will decide if they need to be tested or quarantined.

Neither the college nor the health department indicated whether the person was a student or employee.

"It is important to know that the health department is working diligently and does not believe that there is any general risk to the wider community, Public Health Director Frank Kruppa said in a statement. We will continue to work closely and support Ithaca College to ensure that necessary steps are taken.

Ithaca College has extended spring break until March 23, and will teach only online classes from then until at least April 5.

This is the first confirmed case for Tompkins County, announced Saturday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. New York state has 729 confirmed cases and three deaths.

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RAMALLAH, West Bank  The state of emergency Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared March 5 to counter the coronavirus, known as COVID-19, raised fears about it being a cover for political arrests. His decree was followed the next day by Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh shutting down the government for a month.

Despite reassurances from the government that the actions aren't politically motivated, the public's fears were compounded by the Palestinian Preventive Security (PPS) arresting a former member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) representing Fatah, Hussam Khader, just hours after the state of emergency was declared. The PPS stormed his house in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus in the West Bank. He was then released March 9 after he went on a hunger strike the first day of his arrest, refusing to eat, drink or take his medicine.

He was arrested after he criticized Abbas in a Facebook post March 1, questioning the president's mental health after Abbas described the Palestinian Medical Association strike in the West Bank "despicable" in a speech.

Khader told Al-Monitor that his detention was unjustified, and the way the arrest took place was identical to the Israeli army's method. The arrest came against the backdrop of an expression of opinion and by virtue of the Cyber Crime Law that Abbas signed [in July 2017], despite him knowing that the law is void because it wasn't approved by the PLC.

Khader was one of Fatahs most prominent leaders during the first intifada, which erupted in 1987. He spent dozens of years in Israeli prisons. He was elected to the PLC representing Fatah in the first legislative council of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1996.

The Palestinian government has sought to dismiss any fears or doubts among citizens and human rights institutions regarding the state of emergency, and to demonstrate that it doesn't intend to use it to tighten its security grip or for political persecution, but rather to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the West Bank. There were 16 cases reported in Bethlehem as of March 6. Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett placed Bethlehem under quarantine March 5, though only seven cases had been reported. As of March 13, the Palestinian territories reported a total of 38 active cases.

In addition, 15 Americans were being isolated for observation in the Bethlehem hotel where the virus was first detected in the city.

Shtayyeh phoned Ammar Dwaik, head of the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR), March 5 and stressed, "Declaring the state of emergency, and all accompanying measures, is to fight the virus, and the state of emergency will not be used for any other matters outside its declared goals." He said the fundamental rights of citizens will be respected under all circumstances.

Dwaik told Al-Monitor that the ICHR is monitoring all the government measures taken so far, and all of them are aimed at battling the virus: Shtayyeh reassured the ICHR that all rights and freedoms will be safeguarded to eliminate all fears about the state of emergency violating any laws and freedoms. He said the ICHR has some concerns about the state of emergency because it was declared without consulting the PLC, which monitors the government's performance during any state of emergency.

Palestinians had a bad experience during the last state of emergency, which was declared June 14, 2007, when Hamas and its military wing took control of the Gaza Strip and the security headquarters, and many security personnel affiliated with the PA were killed. Subsequently, in the West Bank, crackdowns were carried out as Fatah and security forces attacked and arrested dozens of Hamas affiliates.

Usually, the frequency of political arrests in the West Bank and Gaza are closely related to political events; they increase every time there is an escalation between Fatah and Hamas.

Hossam Badran, a member of Hamas political bureau, said in a press statement March 6, Exploiting the state of emergency, declared to confront the coronavirus, to implement political arrests against leaders of our people's factions is reprehensible. The state of health emergency declared by the PA leadership is linked to the health situation. The PAs security services using this to settle political quarrels is absolutely unacceptable. He added that, even during talks about Palestinians uniting to challenge the US peace plan, the PA has never stopped carrying out political arrests.

Badran condemned Khader's arrest.

Even though Khader has now been released, his arrest may have sparked the beginning of a national popular campaign in the Palestinian territories to end political detention. Former deputies, intellectuals, opinion writers and academics had signed a petition March 7 calling on the president to release Khader; the effort was initiated by deputy speaker of the dissolved PLC, Hassan Khreisheh.

Khreisheh pointed out to Al-Monitor that political detention was occurring long before the state of emergency was declared and will continue after it. He said such detentions are linked to the circumstances and political events in the West Bank and Gaza, not the health emergency. "We live in very difficult conditions that require cooperation to deal with them, so I don't believe the arrests will increase," he added.

He noted that an elite group of deputies, academics, intellectuals and writers are arranging to launch a national campaign to release all political detainees and prisoners in the West Bank and Gaza. The petition demanding Khaders release formed the nucleus of this effort.

This campaign aims to turn political arrests or detention for expressing opinions into an issue of public opinion, which could be effective in getting these detainees released, because Palestinians must unite to face their challenges. Today, we need to confront the coronavirus crisis as well as the peace plan threatening the Palestinian cause, Khreisheh said.
A week ago, US President Donald Trump signed a congressional emergency spending bill to combat the coronavirus for $8.3 billion. He insisted that they are doing well, amidst the growing chorus of negligence from the government.

Were doing very well, he insisted. But its an unforeseen problem. What a problem. Came out of nowhere, but were taking care of it, he had said.

As a precautionary measure, Trump advised people to be calm, reassuring that "it will go away."

Reuters

However, the situation only worsened eventually.

Coronavirus cases in the US have soared past 1,300, with at least 38 deaths. Even as a travel ban is in place and major sporting events cancelled, many have called out the government for being ignorant in handling the novel coronavirus and downplaying the threat.

Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, told the Bloomberg news agency: This is an unmitigated disaster that the administration has brought upon the population, and I dont say this lightly. We have had a much worse response than Iran, than Italy, than China and South Korea.

It was only when Wall Street witnessed a 1,000-point drop, Trump took notice of the situation.

Not just shoddy measures, but the Trump administration is being criticised for lackadaisical approach at the airports.

#BREAKING: Passengers stuck in long lines for immigration at @DFWAirport tell us there are no offers of hand sanitizer, gloves, or masks from U.S. Customs / Immigration. Travelers say theyve had no screenings of temp yet and no one following #coronavirus protocols. pic.twitter.com/9viCnWdncz  Jason Whitely (@JasonWhitely) March 15, 2020

JFK airport in New York City has turned into a #CoronaVirus breeding ground along side O'Hare in Chicago. Crowds waiting in a very long lines in close quarters with thousands of people to clear US Customs' useless enhanced #COVID19 screening measures.pic.twitter.com/fyr8fyT0vq  Alexander Higgins - Coronavirus Updates (@kr3at) March 15, 2020

There is no stock of hand sanitisers, gloves or masks from US customs and immigration, making the airport a fertile breeding ground for the virus to flourish and infect thousands.

Passengers are stuck at the airports without temperature screening measures.

Trump himself constantly downplayed the threat and contradicted his own health officials, asserting that the virus was very much under control and infections were going very substantially down, not up.

When America is tested, the US president calls it a "Democrat/media hoax" and WASTES precious weeks... #coronavirus #Trump  Andy Ostroy (@AndyOstroy) March 15, 2020

Another tRump-created disaster. The mishandling of the Covid-19 crisis is beyond categorization. Simply mind numbing levels of incompetence.  Miss Anthrope  (f/k/a Old White Gal)  No Lists (@OldWhiteGal1) March 15, 2020

Last month, he confidently claimed that total cases will be "close to zero."

He also accused Democrats of using the coronavirus as their new hoax. Since then, it has all been downhill for the nation.
By the time Egyptian health authorities learned about the coronavirus case on the Nile cruise ship, the infections had spread around the world.

As long ago as late January, a Taiwanese American passenger on the MS Asara was carrying the novel coronavirus, health officials said. But the vessel would make at least four more cruises, and at least 12 crew members would turn out to be infected. Some or all of them had worked on the cruises in February and early March, said a crew member under quarantine and a senior health official in Luxor.

Hundreds of foreign passengers, including dozens of Americans, and Egyptians were potentially exposed to the virus between mid-February and early March; a dramatic illustration of how, from a single, overlooked infection, the novel coronavirus could swiftly multiply and be carried across the globe.

At least six Americans infected aboard the Asara returned to the US state of Maryland, according to Governor Larry Hogan, potentially seeding their communities with the virus. Twelve others have reportedly tested positive in the Houston area. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is contacting dozens of other Americans who were aboard the Asara in February to test them or ask them to self-quarantine.

Even after Egyptian health authorities were notified 1 March that the Taiwanese American woman had been carrying the virus while on the Asara and may have infected others on the ship, the vessel set sail on 5 March on yet another cruise while Egyptian health officials awaited the results of tests on the crew.

By then, an American travel agency that books Nile cruises had been told by the Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) that Americans on an earlier cruise of the Asara may have been infected. The travel agency, Gate 1, contacted the boat operator and the Egyptian Embassy in Washington, according to the companys vice president for marketing, Marty Seslow. Gate 1 was informed that all the crew had tested negative for the virus, Mr Seslow said.

We were given information that no one was sick and everyone was fine, Mr Seslow said. Within 24 hours, we were told dozens were sick.

Although Gate 1 was initially informed that the crew had tested negative, Mr Seslow said the company decided to tell those clients aboard the ship about the CDCs notification and offered to end their trip. But the passengers chose to remain on board.

The reason we decided to stay on the vessel is because we were told initially that the crew had been tested and they had tested negative, and the ship had been disinfected twice, said Amy Khamissian, 65, a paralegal from Miami. We figured wed be safer in this confined area. We were, at that point, misinformed.

Less than a day later, when the ship reached Luxor, the passengers throats and nostrils were swabbed and blood was collected.

A photo taken by Javier Parodi shows Javier Paroid, Grissel Parodi and Amy Khamissian (left-to-right) aboard the MS Asarade in Luxor Egypt on 10 March 2020 (AP) (Javier Parodi/AP)

Thirty-three of them tested positive, including at least three Americans and 16 other foreigners, in addition to the 12 infected crew members. The infected passengers and crew members were taken to a hospital in northern Egypt for isolation and treatment. The rest, including 26 Americans and at least 56 other foreigners, were quarantined on the vessel.

With 64 comfortable cabins and two suites, the Asara is popular with American and other foreign travelers. It has five decks, including a sun deck and swimming pool, and can carry as many as 132 passengers. The travel agency Gate 1 alone placed an average of 35 American clients on each weekly sailing since the beginning of the year, including the last trip.

Each Wednesday, the ship departs on a cruise between the southern city of Aswan and Luxor. The American passengers on four trips  departing 12 February, 19 February, 26 February and 4 March  are now considered persons of interest by the CDC, Mr Seslow said, adding that Gate 1 was cooperating with US health authorities and the US State Department.

Retirees Pamela Allen, 69, and Harold Allen, 72, of Pennsylvania boarded the Asara on 26 February. They were in Egypt for a nine-day trip, thinking they were getting away from the coronavirus tumult. Their vacation destination seemed to be free of the cases popping up elsewhere in the world.

No one talked about the virus, Pamela Allen said. We would see it on the news, but we werent concerned. It was far away.

But toward the end of their cruise, workers began to clean like mad, she said. We didnt think anything of it at the time, she said. Hindsight tells us now that they knew.

When the couple flew back home to Pennsylvania on 5 March, US customs officers asked whether they had been in China. When they said they had traveled to Egypt, they were waved through. Only when they saw news that their ship had been put under quarantine did they wonder whether they, too, should be in quarantine. Neither showed signs of illness.

Their tour company, Gate 1, contacted their local health department, which called the Allens, and told them to stay home. Officials wearing masks, gowns and gloves showed up at their door with paperwork as well as masks for the couple to wear.

It could be worse, Pamela Allen said. We could be quarantined in Egypt.

On 6 March, the same day the Asara sailed into Luxor on its last cruise, Mr Hogan reported that three Montgomery County residents had tested positive for the virus and said they all contracted it on an Asara cruise.

The three travellers had returned to the United States on 20 February. By the time they were tested for the virus on 4 March, one had attended an event near Philadelphia, coming into contact with students and teachers from a local school, Mr Hogan said. He added that the school district later closed five schools.

Another of the three travellers went to an event at a retirement community in Rockville and came into contact with between 70 and 100 people. Mr Hogan urged anyone who attended the Rockville event to contact a doctor or call a Maryland hotline.

He later said three other Maryland residents had been infected on the Asara. At least 12 novel-coronavirus cases in the Houston area are linked to that vessel, according to the Houston Chronicle.

There are now more than 110 cases of foreigners reportedly testing positive for the coronavirus after recent tourist travel in Egypt, including Nile cruises. They include citizens of Greece, France, Canada and Americans from several states, including Iowa, Florida and California. In Virginia, at least four coronavirus cases are linked to Nile cruises. It has not been publicly disclosed whether those infected had been aboard the Asara.

The Asara cruises, ranging from two to seven nights, typically stop in the Nile River temple towns of Edfu, Kom Ombo and Esna. There, the Asara passengers would have been in close contact with scores of traders in markets, as well as hundreds of passengers from other boats. When they dock, boats are often lashed to each other, and Asara passengers would cross other ships to reach the shore, and passengers from other vessels would walk through the Asara. The crews of different ships would interact.

If the crew had been infected ... they would have posed a danger to everyone, a Luxor health official said.

None of the 12 infected members of the Asara crew showed symptoms, according to Egyptian health officials. They were all members of the household staff, who cleaned the cabins, washed the laundry and carried luggage, said the Luxor health official and the quarantined crew member who is still on the boat and spoke by telephone.

Some of the infected crew went on leave to visit their families, said the quarantined crew member, who also said he knows of seven such instances. Their families, he said, were tested for the virus, though he did not know the results. His own family, though, has not been tested. Nor have any of the traders in the Nile towns visited by the Asara passengers, said the health official.

If they had shown symptoms, they would have gone to the hospital, the official said. Our hospital in Aswan did not receive a single case.

The outbreak aboard the Asara has torpedoed the tourist season. There has been a sharp decrease in recent days in the number of foreign tourists coming to Luxor, home to the famed Karnak Temple and the tomb of the boy king Tutankhamen, and a huge drop in local incomes.

Farrag Yousef, a tour guide, recently refused a job on a cruise ship. Many of my tour guide friends are afraid as well, he said. We fear catching corona.

On the Asara, crew members worry about the future. One quarantined crew member  a 30-year-old cook  has a wife, and they are expecting their first child. They and his mother depend on his $200 (162) monthly salary from the Asara.

But now hes worried he may never find a job. Even though he has tested negative, he fears there will forever be a stigma associated with the Asara. Already, relatives of crew members have been harassed. They are being targeted, said the cook, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he fears attacks on his own family.

This week, in an attempt to defuse fears about the virus and entice tourists to return, Egyptian health officials in Luxor randomly tested more than 2,400 people in hotels and on cruise ships, said the senior health official. They all tested negative, he said.

Its a very weak virus, he declared.

That was enough to convince Egyptian health officials to end the quarantine of the 82 foreigners who were being held on board the Asara and send them home, even though the potential incubation period during which they could develop symptoms wasnt even half over. A day earlier, they had been told they would be tested again by health officials, according to passengers.

They all left Egypt on commercial flights.

Ashley Colette, one of the passengers, who travelled from Luxor to Cairo to Dallas said: They didnt even check my temperature at any of the airports.

When she returned home, she emailed the Texas Department of Health to ask for another coronavirus test, hoping to confirm that she was still virus-free, but the department responded that she couldnt get a test since she wasnt experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus disease.

Its like most people arent taking it seriously, she said.

The Washington Post
New Delhi: The number of confirmed Coronavirus cases surged to 93 in India on Sunday (March 15), according to the data collected from states. However, a confirmation is awaited from the health ministry.

On late Saturday, five more positive cases of Coronavirus were reported from Maharashtra, taking the total number of infection in the state to 31. According to PTI, new cases were detected in Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur and Yavatmal.

Maharashtra government has issues 'The Maharashtra COVID-19 Regulations, 2020' under the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897 which empowers certain officers to issue an order for surveillance, prevention, control and treatment of Coronavirus.

In Rajasthan, a 24-year-old man has been tested positive for coronavirus in Jaipur, taking the total of cases in Rajasthan to four, the state health department confirmed on March 14. The man had recently returned from Spain.

On March 14, India suspended movements of all types of passengers through the international border points with Pakistan from March 16 midnight in wake of the threat from the novel coronavirus pandemic, officials said. There will be intensified health inspections at the entry points, which will be allowed along the borders with Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar, according to the order.

Diplomats and UN personnel having valid visas may be allowed through the Attari crossing point along the India-Pakistan border. However, they would be subjected to health screening and, if required, they may be subjected to quarantine, the order stated. The operation of existing India-Bangladesh cross-border passengers trains and buses will remain suspended till April 15, it added.
Kayla Grimes is a 12-year-old seventh-grade student and a walking miracle.

Kayla was severely injured in the March 3, 2019, tornado in Beauregard, but people around her say she has kept a positive outlook and a smile on her face through everything thrown her way.

Shes done a remarkable job as far as, you know, staying positive, Michelle Robertson Gladden, Kaylas mother, said. I mean, she never complains. Shes always got a smile on her face. Shes always showing those pretty braces.

Kayla had just returned from a camping trip with her father Marshall Lynn Grimes, soon-to-be stepmother Sheila Creech and best friend Taylor Thornton when the storm hit. Kayla was the sole survivor at the house on Lee Road 38 and is more than grateful to be alive today.

Im made to be here, Kayla said. And without everybody, I dont know what I could do. So its just, Im thankful.

ROAD TO RECOVERY

Kayla suffered countless injuries in the tornado, including a broken right hip, a broken right femur, another broken bone in her right leg, broken right ankle, fractured right wrist, an injury to her right eye, a torn left ACL, a broken left ankle, broken left knuckles, a small spleen rupture and bruised lungs.

Kayla was out in the debris after the storm for about 45 minutes, Gladden said.

Kayla was taken to East Alabama Medical Center, where she had two blood transfusions before being transferred to a hospital in Birmingham for further treatment.

The injuries have challenged her during the past year, requiring several surgeries, which have been the hardest part of her recovery.

Every time I go (to the doctor), like, they tell me Im going to have to have surgery, she said. I freak out and Im just like, Oh my gosh, here I go again.

Although the surgeries have been tough, Kayla still finds a way to make a difficult situation better.

Its not that bad because I know people are praying for me and that they have their hand on me every step of the way, she explained.

Kayla has spent time in a wheelchair, on crutches and in a walking boot. She was finally able to walk on two feet for the first time Oct. 31.

That was her highlight of the year, that she was able to walk with both feet, Gladden said. That was a true miracle.

Grimes has had five surgeries to date and has spent countless hours rehabbing with physical therapists. Another  hopefully, final  surgery is coming up soon.

Shell have to have one more probably in May, and she will have to have her hardware removed, Gladden said. But that should be her sixth and final surgery. They will be able to remove everything: plates, screws, pins.

Once the final piece of hardware is out, Kayla is looking forward to being herself again.

Being normal, Kayla said with a smile. Jumping around a lot more because sometimes when I jump my hip kind of hurts because of the plate thats in it. Just being normal again and being able to do what I love to do.

BEING POSITIVE

Certain days since the tornado have been particularly hard for Kayla, and she admits that it is sometimes tough to make peace with everything.

My dads birthday, that really took me down, she said. I know coming up tomorrow (March 3), thats also going to take me down.

Gladden says the days since Marshall Lynn Grimes, Creechs and Thorntons passings havent necessarily gotten easier.

Everybody says it would get easier with time, Gladden said. But it doesnt get easier; you just live with the new normal.

Kayla has found a way to stay positive through it all by leaning on friends, family, the community, her memories with her loved ones and her faith.

I know that hes there with me, so I think about that, she said. I think about God. I pray. I just look back at some things that they all have given me, and that helped me a lot. Pictures  a lot of pictures.

Leaning on prayer every day has been critical in the healing process for Kayla and her family.

(Prayer is) what we go by every day, Gladden said. Go day-to-day living on prayer. We know everybody is praying for us. We know that, and thats really helped.

Kayla feels angels have been looking down on her since the tornado, something that helps her through those tough days.

I miss them a lot, but Im just glad that hes with God because he always dreamed and he always prayed about him, Grimes said of her father. And Im glad hes up there.

AN INSPIRATION

The community rallied then and continues to rally around Kayla, from the moment the tornado touched the ground until now.

Everybody helped, and Im so thankful for that, she said.

Kaylas fighting spirit has proven to be an inspiration to others throughout the community and nation. Kaylas sister, Brooke Waldrop, said she cant take Kayla anywhere without being asked if she is the girl who survived the storm.

No matter where we go, she is recognized, Brooke said. I think thats been a lot of the positives for me: all these people who just think that shes strong. Shes only 12 years old, and she went through this. Shes such an inspiration for so many people.

Kayla also has seen the uptick in people recognizing her and doesnt take those interactions for granted.

(Its) people that I dont know just out and when they see me, I make their day, she said. Im proud of that, that Im an inspiration to them. It means a lot to me.
A pregnant Australian woman caught in Italy's coronavirus lockdown has described the terrifying reality of daily life there.

Sally Davies, who works in Milan's fashion industry, is holed up in her apartment banned from all movement except for essential trips to the supermarket or pharmacy.

The 35-year-old, who has lived in Milan for 12 years and is expecting her first child in August, admits the situation is concerning because of her elderly in-laws.

'My in-laws are elderly, my father-in-law is 81 and my mother-in-law is 78,' she said in the Herald Sun.

Sally Davies (pictured), 35, from Melbourne, Australia is holed up in her Milan apartment following the sweeping anti-coronavirus measures introduced in Italy earlier this week

Italy has 17,700 confirmed cases of coronavirus. Here, hospital employees (pictured) tend to patients at an emergency structure set up outside an accident and emergency department in Brescia Hospital, Lombardy

Davies has described the long lines (pictured) outside Milan's supermarkets where people must stand at least one metre apart

'He has an underlying heart problem and doctors are saying people with pre-existing medical conditions are not being given priority.'

Davies has been working from home as the lockdown gripping Italy tightens, and describes long lines at supermarkets where people must stand at least one metre apart.

Supplies of toilet paper, however, are not in short supply, with the Aussie ex-pat joking she could start a business sending the precious resource back to Australia.

'You can still get toilet paper, but face masks and hand sanitiser are in short supply,' she said.

Milan's tourist hotspots, such as the Piazza Duomo (pictured) are almost deserted following the Italian government's sweeping response to the coronavirus threat

Her comments come following the severe toilet paper shortages throughout Australia following a run on the nation's supermarkets by people scared by the coronavirus.

Italy's tough coronavirus response ramped up earlier this week leaving the fashion hub's streets, parks and public places eerily deserted.

One of the world's worst hit countries, Italy has lost 1266 people to coronavirus and has confirmed a further 17,770 cases.

The World Health Organisation announced on Friday that Europe was now the epicentre of the coronavirus, with WHO head, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, urging countries to save lives using aggressive measures, community mobilisation, and social distancing.

Streets, and parks (pictured) are mostly deserted in Milan as the Italian government continues restrictive movement measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak

Following Italy, Spain announced on Saturday (CMT) that it was locking down its 46 million people.

The country's citizens will be allowed to leave their homes only to buy food and medicine, commute to work, take trips related to the care of the young and elderly, and to go to hospitals and banks.

Spain, which is the worst hit European country after Italy, has had 136 deaths, and its authorities announced that its number of infections has climbed past 5700.

France has recorded at least 3,600 infections, and has already shut down all its major tourist attractions and will close all restaurants, cafes, theatres and nonessential shops beginning on Sunday.
The COVID-19 pandemic is massively affecting the tourism industry of Kerala. Even the famous tourist spot of Kovalam beach, which is usually swarmed with tourists, was seen deserted on Sunday.

"After the coronavirus outbreak, the situation has been very bad. Day by day, a less number of people are coming to the beach," one of the vendors at the beach told ANI. "The business is zero," he added.

Manoj Kumar, Secretary-General, South Kerala Hoteliers Forum, while speaking to ANI, said: "We are supporting the government and health department activities for coronavirus prevention. We are supporting the guests -- foreign and domestic travellers -- who are with us."

The travellers are not allowed to go outside the resort and hotel premises.

"Till their check out date, we are holding them back and giving them all possible facilities. We are not allowing them to go to the beach or any kind of public contact we are avoiding."

Hotels and resorts here inform the government authorities as soon as any foreign guest checks-in. "We put them in quarantine in the hotel for 14 days," he said.

Kumar said that half of advance booking of rooms has been cancelled but a few people who have reached India, they tend to come down. "We can't deny them rooms. We inform Health and Tourism Departments to avoid any confusion," added Manoj.

The number of coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 107, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare today.

In the wake of spurt in cases of coronavirus across the country, the Central government on Saturday decided to treat the deadly virus as a "notified disaster." The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared coronavirus as a pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- A rare photo of ex-President Obasanjo prostrating for a Yoruba monarch has got Nigerians reacting on social media

- Ex-Lawmaker Dino Melaye who posted the picture said the monarch is Agura of Gbagura in Ogun state whom he said is 59 years old

- Obasanjo who celebrated his 83-years-old earlier in March was commended for respecting the culture despite his age and political status

Former Kogi senator, Dino Melaye, on Saturday, March 14, shared a rare picture of Nigeria's former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, prostrating for a Yoruba monarch.

According to the caption accompanying the picture, the monarch Obasanjo prostrated for was the Agura of Gbagura in Ogun state.

"83 years old Obasanjo prostrating for 59 years old Agura of Gbagura in Abeokuta. No culture like the yoruba culture. Bibi re ko se fowora," Melaye tweeted.

Legit.ng notes that the former president celebrated his 83rd birthday on Thursday, March 5.

Melaye commended the ex-president and the Yoruba culture for reserving high respects for monarchs.

The photo which Melaye shared via his official Twitter handle, @dino_melaye, has got many sharing diverse reactions.

Ciara Benedict Njong tweeted: "How old is the office of Agura of Gbagura? Because 83 years old Obasanjo is prostrating to the office and not the 59-year-old personality presently occupying the office."

"The age of the crown is what matters not the person wearing the crown," @osasuwenedwin said

Zainab Oseni tweeted: "Oh...because 83yrs old man dey prostrate for 59yrs old man?

"It is respect to the crown. And the king represents the crown. Even South Koreans too bow in respect no matter the age of the king. It is only disrespect when you know and you refuse to acknowledge it."

"One reason amongst many why Baba Obj shall continue to be relevant till he breathed his last is the respect and honor he gives our tradition as a Yoruba elderly man.

"Yoruba culture is forever worthy of studying for whoever wishes to learn," @KabirOduola tweeted.

Ekeinde Sunday tweeted: "What a rich cultural and traditional heritage theYoroba's has. Irrespective of Class, Age, the Culture comes first."

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet!

Legit.ng recalls that Obasanjo in 2016, to the surprise of many, prostrated to Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife.

This happened during a visit by the former president to the palace of the monarch in Ife on Friday, February 5.

Obasanjo who was accompanied by eminent personalities was well received by the young king and prominent traditional rulers.

In what drew gasps of surprise and applause, the former president prostrated to greet the Ooni in what is although a cultural gesture but notable.

Meanwhile, Obasanjo has reacted to the dethronement of Mallam Muhammadu Sanusi II as the Emir of Kano.

The former president in a letter dated Monday, March 9, and addressed to the sacked monarch described Sanusi's dethronement as sad and good news.

The letter was also shared on Twitter by Melaye who used to represent Kogi at the upper chamber.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: Same great journalism, upgraded for better service!

Nigeria Latest News: Emir Sanusi Says Mosques Should be Converted into Schools | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng
RTHK: Trump tests negative as US expands Europe travel ban

President Donald Trump has tested negative for the novel coronavirus, his physician said on Saturday, following concerns over his exposure to a disease that has paralysed the globe.

Trump agreed to the test after coming in contact with several members of a Brazilian presidential delegation visiting his Florida resort who have since tested positive for the virus.

"This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative," the president's physician Sean Conley said in a memo.

"One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation at Mar-a-Lago, the President remains symptom-free," he said.

Trump, 73, had dismissed concerns over his exposure to the disease which has killed at least 51 Americans and upended the rhythm of daily life across the country, with millions working from home and schools shuttered.

New York, the most populous US city, saw its first coronavirus death on Saturday, as store shelves were stripped bare after days of panic buying.

"I have been through Hurricane Sandy... through 9/11, I have never seen shopping like this," said Larry Grossman, manager of a Manhattan supermarket.

Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday announced a further restriction on travel to the United States, saying a travel ban imposed on European nations over the pandemic would be extended to the United Kingdom and Ireland Tuesday.

Trump advised against non-essential travel and said officials were considering imposing travel restrictions within the United States.

"If you don't have to travel, I wouldn't do it," Trump said at a White House news conference. "We want this thing to end. We don't want a lot of people getting infected."

Trump declared a national emergency on Friday in what critics say was a long-delayed admission of the gravity of the crisis, freeing up some US$50 billion in disaster relief funds.

Late on Friday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill - crafted by Democrats in consultation with the Trump administration - to provide billions of dollars for free virus testing, emergency paid sick leave and family leave related to the epidemic.

Supported by Trump, it is expected to easily pass the Republican-controlled Senate next week.

News of Trump taking the test marked a further turning point, after days of resistance to the suggestion.

The coronavirus pandemic has claimed more than 5,700 lives in some 137 countries.

Repeatedly attacked for sending out mixed signals on the health crisis, the president raised eyebrows on Friday when, contrary to medical advice, he was seen shaking hands as he gathered his coronavirus response team at the White House.

On Saturday, he blamed habit - "people put their hand out... you don't think about it" - but said it would have to change.

"Maybe people shouldn't be shaking hands for the long term," said Trump, a self-declared germophobe, "because it does transmit flu and other things."

Trump's virus test came after not only contact with the Brazilian delegation, but also US lawmakers and political leaders who have gone into self-quarantine over potential infection.

Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel was on Saturday awaiting results of a virus test after she came down with flu-like symptoms. She reportedly attended an event in Florida with Trump on Monday and flew back to Washington on Air Force One.

On Saturday a 30-day US ban took effect on all travel from the EU's Schengen border-free zone, part of a global clampdown on travel to curtail the virus.

Pence said the ban - which notably excluded Britain and Ireland - would include both countries as of midnight EST on Monday (0400 GMT on Tuesday).

"Americans in the UK or Ireland can come home. Legal (US) residents can come home," Pence said.

Trump also aimed a new jab at the US Federal Reserve, saying he wanted it to be "much more proactive" in moving to protect Americans from the widespread economic dislocation caused by the pandemic.

But the president - wearing a navy blue USA cap - seemed otherwise subdued during Saturday's briefing, uncharacteristically offering praise to Democrats including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Pelosi said she was "proud" to have reached an agreement on the relief package after days of tense talks with the White House.

Trump also tweeted that he had a "nice conversation" with Canadian leader Justin Trudeau and that it was "great to hear that his wonderful wife Sophie is doing very well."

Trudeau has been telegoverning since his wife was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Thursday. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2020-03-15. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
TAIPEI, March 13 (Reuters) - Taiwan is ready to intervene in the markets to ensure stability using its National Stabilisation Fund, Finance Minister Su Jain-rong said on Friday.

The fund "is prepared for battle at any time" and has already drawn up a strategy to protect the markets, Su told reporters in Taipei. (Reporting by Emily Chan; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Tom Hogue)
If there was any source of comfort for the hospital, it could be found in the supply room. The staff had more than 40 cartons of medical gloves in storage. It had at least 50 gallons of hand sanitizer, 4,000 medical gowns, and four boxes of precious N95 respirator masks that an employee had found hidden away on the shelves of Tractor Supply and City Lumber. Under normal circumstances, Dayton General had enough supplies and enough cash on hand to operate for about two weeks, but nothing promised to be normal about the next two weeks, or the weeks after that, so supply manager Chris Davis left the meeting and went to his desk in the storage bunker to see if he could somehow bolster their reserves.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The president of the healthcare workers union, SIEU 1199, called for Mayor Bill de Blasio to close New York City public schools amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, only hours after the mayor said the healthcare unions previous suggestion to keep schools open impacted his current decision making.

Its no secret that hardworking healthcare workers are on the front lines of the fight to stop the spread of COVID-19, said George Gresham, 1199 president, in the written statement. These dedicated women and men work diligently day in and day out to care for their patients and to protect public health, but like all working parents, they also have a responsibility to protect their own children.

I have been in discussion with other allies on the possibility of providing this much needed childcare through school resource centers, and I am confident that a plan will be reached to ensure that these children receive the care they need while their parents work, the statement said. I also encourage the state and city to look into allocating additional funding for childcare for the children of healthcare workers and other essential employees.

With these critical processes moving, I am now calling on Mayor de Blasio to close New York Citys public schools to help protect public health and prevent the spread of COVID-19, he continued.

As pressure for de Blasio to close schools has ramped up in recent days, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) launched a Change.org petition encouraging the closure of New York Citys public schools. It garnered more than 75,000 signatures within a days time and currently has over 130,000 signatures.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

This morning on ABC7s Up Close with Bill Ritter, de Blasio said that while the teachers union called for universal closings, Ill tell you, a lot of parents are telling me, please keep them open.

Additionally, de Blasio said, the biggest union in New York City, 1199, the health care workers, asked to keep them open because they said our members are dependent, and they need to get to work at the hospitals.

However, the recent statement could signal a change in de Blasios decision moving forward, as citywide school attendance also plummeted late last week, the Advance/SiLive.com reported.

On Friday, Mar. 13, citywide public school attendance sat at just 68%, down 17 percentage points from Thursdays 85% attendance across the system.

The drop in attendance was even more drastic for many Staten Island schools, with some registering attendances as low as 7.71% on Friday.

On Friday, New Dorp High School closed its campus after a student in the Hungerford School Program, which operates out of the building, 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.

A source told the Advance/SiLive.com that one student at I.S. 27  Prall Intermediate School  tested positive for the coronavirus. The Department of Education sent a letter to parents at the school confirming that a member of the I.S. 27 community has a positive test result for COVID-19.

The mayors previous refusal to close public schools 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 Federation of Teachers and members of Staten Islands delegation of elected officials have all called on the mayor to make the call to close the public schools. Parents and teachers have also urged the city to close schools.

But as the citys public schools remain open, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday any decision to close down schools is up to a locality.

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.

DOE PREPARING FOR OFF-SITE SCHOOLWORK

Despite the mayor 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.

Citing concerns about student and staff safety and the need for preparation, the DOE has developed grade-level-specific instructional resources in English for students ranging from Pre-K to 12th grade. The supplementary learning resources are now available on the DOE website.

The health and safety of our students and staff comes first, and it is our responsibility to be prepared for everything and for learning to continue. We have developed grade-level instructional resources for grades Pre-K through 12 so that our students can engage in educational material in the event that they need to be home from school," said DOE spokeswoman Danielle Filson.

Due to the inconsistent availability of access to internet-enabled devices among the citys student population, the work will not be graded, but rather used to prevent the loss of learning during a potential closure, according to the DOE.

NON-ESSENTIAL SCHOOL ACTIVITIES CANCELLED

The city has also announced that all non-essential, non-instructional school activities will be cancelled or moved online, if possible.

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, de Blasio said Thursday.

That includes PSAL activities, games and practices, assemblies, parent-teacher conferences, PTA meetings and school plays and recitals, the mayor continued.

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The London Times reports on the Wuhan coronavirus in Italy:

Giuseppe Natalini, head of intensive care at the Fondazione Poliambulanza hospital in the northern Italian city of Brescia, one of the places hit hardest by the coronavirus, does not mince his words. The situation is catastrophic, unimaginable, he said. If someone had told me on February 21 [when the first cluster of cases was diagnosed in Italy] that today we would be in this situation, I would not have believed it. Two or three weeks ago I would have considered the strict measures that have been in place in Italy disproportionate and alarmist. Now, absolutely not. Italy had 17,660 coronavirus cases and 1,266 deaths by Friday.

That works out to 7 percent mortality so far.

Natalini urged Britain and other European countries, feared to be two weeks or so behind Italy, to step up their containment measures before it is too late. It is fundamentally important to avoid any large groups of people getting together until this is over, he said. Italy was the first in Europe to pay the price for mistakes it made unwittingly. It got burnt and is now learning the lesson. Anyone who gets burnt a second time is a fool. When this infection explodes, you are facing an apocalyptic situation.

In the U.S., large groups of people have pretty much stopped assembling. My organization, Center of the American Experiment, holds an Annual Dinner as a fundraiser. Our event, with Sarah Huckabee Sanders as the featured speaker, was scheduled for April 4. It generally draws from 800 to 1,200 people. We were deliberating whether we needed to try to reschedule the dinner when we got a call from the Minneapolis Convention Center telling us that they have canceled all large events through April 12. Happily, we were able to reschedule for June 18. I assume the country will be back in business by then.

Earlier today, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams delivered a briefing that appears more optimistic than the apocalyptic vision of Italy portrayed above. Among other things, he said:

Almost all people will recover, 98, 99 percent of people will recover. People need to know that. We heard a great story from NPR this morning about an 89-year-old from that nursing home facility in Seattle who has recovered. Number two, we must lean into protecting the most vulnerable. Those with chronic or severe medical conditions, especially seniors. Now is the time for us to lean into that and we are taking measures to protect them at HHS.

***

We need your help. Social distancing and mitigation, theyre not to protect the 30-year-old or the 20-year-old from getting coronavirus. Theyre to protect your nana. Theyre to protect your granddaddy. Theyre to protect the people who you love in your lives and we need your help.

Lets hope the more optimistic view proves true here.
The modern media trend is to make fun of President Trump for his alleged and actual misstatements of fact. You have to go a long way -- in this case Sky News in Australia -- to find a media outlet willing to make fun of a U.S. liberal Democrat.

The host of a program called "Outsiders," Rita Panahi, assembled a montage of gaffes and gibberish from former vice president and current front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, Joe Biden.

The Biden montage makes you ask: Is this guy mentally fit to be president?

Here are some samples, beginning with his reference to "Super Thursday" (instead of Super Tuesday). Next comes this misstatement during a presidential debate: "150 million people have been killed since 2007 when Bernie (Sanders) voted to exempt the gun manufacturers from liability."

If that were true, it would certainly "reduce the surplus population," to quote Dickens' Scrooge.

How about this beauty? "It would put 720 million women back in the work force." Our country's population currently stands at just under 330 million.

There's more.

"Nobody should be in jail for nonviolent crime." That would clearly reduce the prison population, but it would likely increase the number of nonviolent crimes.

Biden recently announced he was a candidate "for the United States Senate." He called the state of Vermont "a neat town." "Make sure you have a record player on at night," he advised an audience and "Poor kids are just as talented as white kids." A Republican who said that would be called a racist.

"We choose truth over facts," said Biden. He botched a line from the Declaration of Independence, saying, "We hold these truths to be self-evident; all men and women created by, you know the thing."

The "thing" to which Thomas Jefferson was referring was God. Apparently mention of the creator's name is taboo among the secular progressives in the Democratic party.

Panahi asserted that Biden has gotten as far as he has because the U.S. media largely covers for him. She then plays the most hilarious and outrageous sound bite of all.

Biden appears to be speaking to a group of African American young people who are standing behind him at a swimming pool. Attempting to ingratiate himself with them (though they look bewildered), Biden talks about swimming in a pool when he was their age: "I got hairy legs that turns blonde in the sun and the kids used to come up and reach in the pool and rub my leg down so it would change and then watch the hair come back up again. I learned about roaches. I learned about kids jumping on my lap and I loved kids jumping on my lap."

He goes on about somebody named "Corn Pop" who he said "was a bad dude and he ran with a bunch of bad boys. And I did and back in those days to show you how things have changed if you used pomade in your hair you had to use a bathing cap."

Panahi ended her story by saying, "Can you imagine that man in a presidential debate with Donald Trump? There isn't enough popcorn in the world."

Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditorstribpub.com.

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A fierce encounter lasting over



45 minutes took place between security forces and Naxals on Sunday afternoon in Kistaram area of Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, a senior police official said.

The firefight started at 2:30pm and a cache of explosives and Maoist material were recovered from the spot, over 390 kilometres from here, Inspector General of Police (Bastar range) Sundarraj P told PTI.

Personnel belonging to District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force (STF) and CRPF's CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) had launched an operation from Palodi camp and came under Naxal fire in the forests near Kasaram and Amapenta villages, he said.

"The exchange of fire between security forces and Naxals' platoon number 8 lasted for more than 45 minutes. The ultras came under heavy fire and fled, leaving behind camping material, documents, electric wires, detonators and materials used to make explosives," the IG informed.

Search operations in the region are underway and more details about the encounter would be known when the security team returns to the camp, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government of Ghana has imposed a temporary ban on travelers from countries that have recorded 200 or more cases of coronavirus.



"All travel to Ghana is strongly discouraged until further notice. Any traveller, except for Ghanaian citizens and persons with Ghana residence permits, who, within, the last 14 days, has been to a country that has recorded at least 200 cases of Covid-19, will not be admitted into the Ghanaian jurisdiction. Airlines are instructed not to allow such persons to embark" a statement from the Ministry of Information indicated.



This follows the news of six persons who have been infected with the virus in Ghana.



The statement which was signed by the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah further indicated that "there will be a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine for persons who are otherwise allowed to enter the Ghanaian jurisdiction



Read full details of the statement below





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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Michael S. Saag, a world renowned AIDS and virus expert based at UAB, had some disturbing reports from Italy before he sounded the alarm Friday that Alabama was not prepared for what he believes will be a major storm of coronavirus infections peaking here in about six to 10 weeks.

Saag has offered up a few of his correspondences that show the extraordinary stresses on Italys health care system, a system deemed to be one of the better ones in the world. The correspondences in detail describe a health system bursting at the seams, people dying without treatment in the hospital.

 My friends call me in tears because they see people dying in front of them and they can only offer oxygen, an Italian health care worker says.

A key lesson for Alabama is to slow the rate of infections  because infections will come in a devastating wave. The goal is not to have one big spike in infections that forces providers to make decisions on sending, for example, an elderly patient home or turning them away because their survival rate is lower.

The following dispatches have been lightly edited by AL.com for clarity and length.

Jason van Schoor, an anesthesiologist at University College London, received the following message from a doctor friend in northern Italy, passed on to Saag.

I feel the pressure to give you a quick personal update about what is happening in Italy, and also give some quick direct advice about what you should do. First, Lombardy is the most developed region in Italy and has extraordinarily good healthcare.

I have worked in Italy, UK and Austria, and dont make the mistake to think that what is happening is happening in a 3rd world country.

The current situation is difficult to imagine and numbers do not explain things at all. Our hospitals are overwhelmed by COVID-19, they are running 200% capacity.

Weve stopped all routine, all ORs have been converted to ICUs and they are now diverting or not treating all other emergencies like trauma or strokes.

There are hundreds of patients with severe respiratory failure and many of them do not have access to anything above a reservoir mask. Patients above 65 or younger with comorbidities are not even assessed by ICU, I am not saying not tubed (intubated), Im saying not assessed and no ICU staff attends when they arrest.

Staff are working as much as they can but they are starting to get sick and are emotionally overwhelmed. My friends call me in tears because they see people dying in front of them and they can only offer oxygen.

Orthopedists and pathologists are being given a leaflet and sent to see patients on vents. PLEASE STOP, READ THIS AGAIN AND THINK. We have seen the same pattern in different areas a week apart, and there is no reason that in a few weeks it wont be the same everywhere, this is the pattern: A few positive cases, first mild measures, people are told to avoid crowds but still hang out in groups, everyone says not to panic. Some moderate respiratory failures and a few severe ones that need tubes, but regular access to ED is significantly reduced so everything looks great. Tons of patients with moderate respiratory failure, that over time deteriorate to saturate ICUs first, then vents, then CPAP hoods, then even O2. Staff gets sick so it gets difficult to cover for shifts, mortality spikes also from all other causes that cant be treated properly. Everything about how to treat them is online but the only things that will make a difference are: do not be afraid of massively strict measures to keep people safe, If governments wont do this at least keep your family safe, your loved ones with history of cancer or diabetes or any transplant will not be tubed if they need it even if they are young. By safe I mean YOU do not attend them and YOU decide who does and YOU teach them how to. Another typical attitude is read and listen to people saying things like this and think thats bad dude and then go out for dinner because you think youll be safe. We have seen it, you wont be if you dont take it seriously. I really hope it wont be as bad as here but prepare.

This following is translated from Daniele Macchini, a surgeon in Bergamo:

After much thought about whether and what to write about what is happening to us, I felt that silence was not responsible. I will therefore try to convey to people far from our reality what we are living in Bergamo in these days of Covid-19 pandemic.

I understand the need not to create panic, but when the message of the danger of what is happening does not reach people I shudder. I myself watched with some amazement the reorganization of the entire hospital in the past week, when our current enemy was still in the shadows: the wards slowly "emptied", elective activities were interrupted, intensive care was freed up to create as many beds as possible.

All this rapid transformation brought an atmosphere of silence and surreal emptiness to the corridors of the hospital that we did not yet understand, waiting for a war that was yet to begin and that many (including me) were not so sure would ever come with such ferocity. I still remember my night call a week ago when I was waiting for the results of a swab. When I think about it, my anxiety over one possible case seems almost ridiculous and unjustified, now that Ive seen whats happening. Well, the situation now is dramatic to say the least. The war has literally exploded and battles are uninterrupted day and night. But now that need for beds has arrived in all its drama. One after the other the departments that had been emptied fill up at an impressive pace. The boards with the names of the patients, of different colours depending on the operating unit, are now all red and instead of surgery you see the diagnosis, which is always the damned same: bilateral interstitial pneumonia. Now, explain to me which flu virus causes such a rapid drama. And while there are still people who boast of not being afraid by ignoring directions, protesting because their normal routine is"temporarily" put in crisis, The epidemiological disaster is taking place. And there are no more surgeons, urologists, orthopedists, we are only doctors who suddenly become part of a single team to face this tsunami that has overwhelmed us. Cases are multiplying, we arrive at a rate of 15-20 admissions per day all for the same reason. The results of the swabs now come one after the other: positive, positive, positive. Suddenly the E.R. is collapsing. Reasons for the access always the same: fever and breathing difficulties, fever and cough, respiratory failure. Radiology reports always the same: bilateral interstitial pneumonia, bilateral interstitial pneumonia, bilateral interstitial pneumonia. All to be hospitalized. Someone already to be intubated and go to intensive care. For others its too late... Every ventilator becomes like gold: those in operating theatres that have now suspended their non-urgent activity and become intensive care places that did not exist before. The staff is exhausted. I saw the tiredness on faces that didnt know what it was despite the already exhausting workloads they had. I saw a solidarity of all of us, who never failed to go to our internist colleagues to ask "what can I do for you now? Doctors who move beds and transfer patients, who administer therapies instead of nurses. Nurses with tears in their eyes because we cant save everyone, and the vital parameters of several patients at the same time reveal an already marked destiny. There are no more shifts, no more hours. Social life is suspended for us. We no longer see our families for fear of infecting them. Some of us have already become infected despite the protocols. Some of our colleagues who are infected also have infected relatives and some of their relatives are already struggling between life and death. So be patient, you cant go to the theatre, museums or the gym. Try to have pity on the myriad of old people you could exterminate. We just try to make ourselves useful. You should do the same: we influence the life and death of a few dozen people. You with yours, many more. Please share this message. We must spread the word to prevent what is happening here from happening all over Italy.
According to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), on March 12, 61,652 pilgrims had darshan, after waiting for nearly five hours, compared to 57,352 on March 11, after they waited for nearly eight hours. On February 12, about 61,860 pilgrims had darshan.

Even as people across the country are staying away from crowded places owing to the coronavirus outbreak, the situation at the Balaji Temple in Andhra Pradeshs Tirumala is quite different. The pilgrim flow to the shrine has been over 60,000 every day since the virus surfaced.

But compared to the inflow on March 1, which was 83,521 pilgrims, the rush to Tirumala has reduced. One of the key factors is the board exams in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu.

According to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), on March 12, 61,652 pilgrims had darshan, after waiting for nearly five hours, compared to 57,352 on March 11, after they waited for nearly eight hours. On February 12, about 61,860 pilgrims had darshan.

The TTD, which manages the temple, is taking measures to check coronavirus. It has appealed to those coming from abroad to postpone their pilgrimage to Tirumala for 28 days from the day they stepped into India.

The virus started spreading across the world since February and people have been advised to stay away from public places. Also, companies have started asking employees to work from home.

In the beginning of February, the number of pilgrims stood at 59,015. Pilgrims need to wait from three hours to 10 hours at the temple for darshan.

TTDs executive officer Anil Kumar Singhal said it rolled out effective measures to check the impact of coronavirus. An awareness and counselling centre was set up at Alipiri checkpoint, as part of the state and central governments initiatives to check the spread.

Accordingly, coronavirus prevention camps have been set up with thermal scanning at Alipiri checkpoint and other places.

If symptoms are identified, the pilgrim will be stopped from entering Tirumala and diverted to isolation wards at Ruia Hospital, he added.

The executive officer said special focus has been given to sanitation and cleaning in Tirumala is being taken up every two hours.

TTD has also given the option to change dates or refund for cancelling arjitha seva (paid darshan) and accommodation booked in advance till May 31.

The Padmavati Nilayam in Tiruchanoor, on the foothills of Tirumala, will be utilised as an isolation ward in view of the coronavirus threat.

If needed, the TTD choultries near Tirupati railway station will also be allotted for the same purpose.

TTDs executive officer also said one lakh handbills were distributed every day and non-stop broadcast of precautionary steps are being taken up throughout the day in Tirumala.

As a matter of precaution, only 250 devotees are being allowed in each compartment of the Vaikuntham queue complex (where the queue starts) against the usual 450-500, to avoid spread of infection.

Special precautionary steps for devotees are being telecast and the health department of TTD is fully equipped with emergency material, the executive officer noted.
Soldiers from military chemical units take part in a drill organized by the New Taipei City government to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, in the Xindian District of New Taipei, Taiwan, on March 14, 2020. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)

Whom Does WHO Care For?

Commentary

Nicknamed Wuhan Health Organization by Chinese netizens, the performance of the World Health Organization (WHO), along with its director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has been raising serious questions in terms of politicizing the institution through its unblushing effort to please Chinese communist leadership, while Beijings coverups of the Wuhan virus continue.

WHO already owns a dismal track record of failures in dealing with deadly epidemics over the years. For instance, in 2015, under the leadership of Beijing-backed Margaret Chan, WHO admitted that it was ill-prepared to handle the Ebola outbreak.

According to a Time article, WHO listed eight lessons it learned from the crisis, including communicating more clearly what is needed, and later, proposed nine remedies to do a better job in case of future outbreaks, such as setting up a Global Health Emergency Workforce, with a contingency fund.

Beijings Narratives

Yet, this time, WHOs failure isnt all about its incompetence, but also includes its less-than-subtle effort to trumpet Beijings narratives in the current virus crisis.

There were worldwide criticisms of WHOs echoing Beijings downplaying of the virus in early January. Health experts around the world have also been dismayed to see that, given the evidence of Beijings draconian control over information, including threatening medical whistleblowers with arrests, WHOs chief would praise Beijing for making us safer, and would declare a global public health emergency only days after the lockdown of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, on Jan. 23.

By then, this deadly virus had already reached North America and Europe.

Fearing to offend Beijing, WHO danced around for days before finally naming the Wuhan virus COVID-19. The slow response by WHO to warn the rest of the world about this fatal disease has led to public outcry against Ghebreyesus. Within days, more than 456,000 people petitioned on Change.org for his resignation.

According to WHOs website, China ranks 16th on the top 20 contributors chart, lagging far behind the United States, the leading donor even after the Trump administrations proposal to slash $65 million funding for the organization. Beijings influence at WHO, however, is visible and dictating many critical areas.

One of the disturbing acts by WHO is its deceitful management of its website information on the Wuhan virus. For instance, its website initially stated in English: The following measures ARE NOT effective against COVID-2019 and can be harmful: Smoking. Taking traditional herbal remedies. Wearing multiple masks. Taking self-medication such as antibiotics.

Yet, the warning against people taking traditional herbal remedies as a measure is in the French/Arabic/Russian versions, but not in the Chinese one. Now, this caution in English is also removed.

WHO is apparently mindful of Chinas state-run media campaigns promoting traditional Chinese herbal medicine to combat Wuhan virusits subsequent secretive manipulation of information or perhaps misinformation on a pandemic is disheartening, unethical, and irresponsible, particularly for the affected patients and brave medical professionals on the front line around the world.

When Dr. Bruce Aylward, WHOs assistant director-general, claimed that Chinas handling of the Wuhan virus could be replicated, he was certainly overlooking, if not advocating, the system of an Orwellian society, in which rule of law, human rights, transparency, and press freedom are lacking.

When Aylward told the press, If I had COVID-19, Id want to be treated in China, Chinese netizens immediately questioned on the internet his ignorance of the horrific realities in Chinas quarantined facilities. One netizen even mockingly posted an invitation for this naive Canadian to become a Wuhan resident right away.

The Wuhan virus, after all, was first detected by Chinese doctors in December 2019, but public disclosure, however, was held up by Beijing until Jan. 23. According to a newly released research report, Censored Contagion by the University of Toronto, Beijing has been engaging in censoring Wuhan virus-related content on social media platforms such as the popular WeChat and YY since December 2019, and continues to restrict information.

This includes references to Dr. Li Wenliang, the whistleblower who died from the Wuhan virus. Such information control may curb communication related to the virus and prevention, according to the report.

Its irresponsible for WHO, global media, and governments around the world to use, without comment, data and statistics from Beijing, given its track record of falsifying numbers during the SARS epidemic and again in this Wuhan virus outbreak.

Western media, governments, and WHO seem to have given the data from Beijing credibility by citing it without question.

This international agency seems to focus on addressing the needs of the communist leaders in Beijing instead of the well-being of 1.3 billion Chinese, as well as 23.7 million people in Taiwan.

Taiwans Miracle

Over the years, mixing politics with public health isnt unusual for WHO.

Despite rigorous efforts by many member states, Taiwan hasnt been granted a seat at WHOthis denial prevents Taiwan from gaining access to the organizations data and resources. This blackout was especially crucial during the SARS crisis in 2003 is again with the current virus outbreak.

In order to woo Taiwan to adopt one country, two systems, Beijing propaganda even describes the Taiwanese as flesh and blood compatriots. However, when Taiwan is in health crises such as SARS and the Wuhan virus, or when Taiwan tries to seek WHO membership, such blood bondage is nowhere to be seen.

According to Dr. Chen Chien-jen, a Johns Hopkins-trained epidemiologist and vice president of Taiwan, Taipei obtained SARS-related information from the United States in 2003, as Beijing refused to provide any assistance.

A Foreign Policy article noted that some 60,000 flights carry 10 million passengers between Taiwan and China every year. Taiwan has an acute interest in protecting its own and the worlds welfare from this latest health threat. [] However, Taiwan was excluded from the WHO emergency meetings on the new coronavirus crisis.

Beijings influence operations at WHO and other international organizations havent gone unnoticed. On May 14, 2019, two researchers at the Center for a New American Security released a report, Peoples Republic of the United Nations, to boost the awareness of Chinas emerging revisionism in international organizations.

The report states: China is increasingly using its economic, political, and institutional power to change the global governance system from within. [] International organizations thus have become an arena for ideological contestation, in which Beijings goal is to make authoritarian rule seem as legitimate as democratic government.

As a self-governing democracy, Taiwan sits just 81 miles away from mainland China. If anything, Beijings blocking of Taiwans effort to become a member of WHO during the SARS outbreak has taught the island nation to build up its public health infrastructure in anticipation of the next crisis.

At the same time, Taiwan has decided to reject the mainland communist regime. President Tsai Ing-wen received a historic number of votes in the recent presidential electionsdemonstrating the publics strong will to maintain autonomy from mainland China, thereby rejecting the Beijing-backed candidate, as well as the regimes proposal of one country, two systems.

With more than 850,000 Taiwanese living in mainland China and another 400,000 working there, Taiwan received some 2.7 million mainland Chinese visitors last year, making the island perhaps the most vulnerable place for the Wuhan virus outbreak.

Yet, Taiwans transparency, quarantines, social distancing, surveillance steps, use of big data, and an effective Central Command have proven to be critical factors in helping contain this fatal disease to only 77 confirmed cases as of March 17, according to an article in Stanford Health Policy on March 3.

The most significant step, as observed by many health experts, was the Taiwan governments quick decision to impose travel bans with mainland China and Hong Kong before the epidemic could have a chance to spread.

Following Chinas Interests

On the other hand, South Korea, Japan, Italy, and Iran were slow, or refused, to suspend flights and have suffered dearly in the coronavirus outbreak. Perhaps its no coincidence that the Wuhan virus seems to have hit hardest in those countries that have aligned with Chinas geopolitical and economic interests.

While South Korea and Japan enjoy a similarly high health care standard as Taiwan, both, unlike Taiwan, have been eager in seeking closer economic and diplomatic ties with the communist Middle Kingdom.

Many South Korean and Japanese corporations are working in partnership with Beijing, making them become ever more dependent upon China. Many South Koreans, seeing the nations growing ties with China, are now petitioning to impeach President Moon Jae-in over his pro-Beijing stand, calling him Chinese Chairman Moon.

Italy happens to be the first (and only) G-7 country to be part of Beijings Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, also known as One Belt, One Road) and had its border wide-open to people from China, even after the Wuhan virus made its appearance in Europe.

According to an article published on The Guardian nine years ago, in Tuscanys Prato alone, the number of Chinese residents had already reached more than 50,000 and made up more than 30 percent of the citys population; 32 percent of children born in Prados main hospital had Chinese mothers.

Today, Italy is facing a growing Chinese immigrant community that supports a pro-Beijing communist agenda.

Its certainly unfortunate that China has delivered Italy a deadly virus ahead of the promised economic return from the BRI. Italys recent decision for a nationwide lockdown came a bit late, as noted by critics.

As Irans biggest trading partner, China has enormous influence over Irans economy and its foreign policy. Iran sides with China virtually on all issues at the United Nations and now has been hit hard with the Wuhan virus. Some top Iranian leaders are among its 7,000-plus coronavirus victims.

Its sad that great ancient civilizations such as Iran and China are today governed by lawless dictatorships that care more about holding onto power than for the well-being of their people.

For centuries, many people in Asia have firmly held the timeless Buddhist belief of karmic retributionthis idea echoes in some aspects with the Christian tradition of You reap what you sow.

In hindsight, WHOs denial of Taiwans membership might be a blessing in disguise as Taiwan has quickly responded on its own, free of WHOs poor advice, which is based on political calculations.

As Shakespeare wisely wrote in Alls Well That Ends Well, No legacy is so rich as honesty.

Peter Zhang is a researcher on political economy in China and East Asia. He is a graduate of Beijing International Studies University, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and the Harvard Kennedy School as a Mason fellow.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
My online friend Jeffrey Satinover compared the president to an ultrasonic whistle "that causes all of the vermin to rush frantically out of their hiding holes, and you suddenly realize how infested the place is." This week's presser was a masterstroke that exposed the lie of socialism versus capitalism, central power versus federal systems with its diffusion of power and responsibility, and the effects of a dynamic leader versus conventional ones. In the process, we can see how Trump's fight against open borders, bureaucratic red tape, and globalized production is a critical part of national health and security.

Open Borders

Porous national borders aid the spread of infectious disease, and given China's mendacious two-month secrecy about the Wuhan virus outbreak, the president's shutting down travel from China gave us a bit more time to cope with its spread despite the Chinese-created lag. Europe's E.U.-mandated open borders policy, in contrast, has made the continent the new epicenter of the pandemic. Banning all flights of non-U.S. citizens and permanent residents from Europe as the president has done also gives us more time to respond. On Sunday, all of Spain shut down. Poland, defying the E.U., has closed its borders. Italy with hundreds of thousands of Chinese workers is a sad case where the medical facilities are so overwhelmed that doctors, suffering great emotional pain in the process, must remove life-saving equipment from the old and infirm to save younger patients. Italy is a country that highly values its elders. As American Thinker reported, "[t]he central planners don't have enough beds. There's not enough staff. There's no free market to step in and pick up the slack. It's not allowed."

Adding insult to injury, the E.U. requires open borders of its member states yet has refused Italy any help. Consider this a lesson to remember: in a pinch, no matter how much one-world blather national leaders mouth, they look after their own interests first (expecting us, of course, to be the exception).

Congress is late getting this first principle. It took the House Democrats until Thursday to finally withdraw from the calendar a vote on the bill to severely limit the president's right to impose travel restrictions, and it fought bitterly to prevent the construction of the wall, which, along with other measures by the administration, has largely stemmed illegal entry into the country.

Joe Biden this week tweeted, "A wall will not stop the coronavirus. Banning all travel from Europe  or any other part of the world  will not stop it." True enough, but it will slow down and already has slowed down the transmission enough to give us breathing room to take action.

Socialism versus Free Markets

As he's learned nothing over his many decades on Earth, Bernie Sanders cites the virus as proof we need socialized medicine. In fact, socialized medicine is killing people, and free markets are saving them.

While countries like Italy are hamstrung by government controls in dealing with it, America's biggest companies have stepped up to the plate, offering space in their facilities for drive-in testing; speeding up the production and development of test kits, vaccines, and information technology; and providing assistance to the homebound. Vice President Mike Pence tapped into the broad private sector to battle the virus. And these companies promptly and significantly responded  Roche, Google, Walmart, Target, Walgreens, CVS, Quest Diagnostics, Signify, LabCorp, and LHC! I couldn't help comparing Pence's creativity and executive skills with Joe Biden's when, as the vice president, he said his job was to "focus like a laser on a three-letter word [sic]: J-O-B-S."

In fact, the one part of the U.S. that did not respond well was the federal bureaucracy  not private industry, not the White House. A State Department official ignored a presidential order to hold returnees from China overseas in quarantine. Worse, due to a 1938 regulation, inattention and foot-dragging in the CDC, and the bureaucrats there and in prior administrations, the CDC was not prepared and actually hindered a faster response. Power Line quotes Cato:

[O]fficials 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. ... [T]he 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 CDC's 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 America's vibrant biotech companies and academic labs by allowing them to develop and deploy new tests for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

And then 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," John Hinderaker concludes, "the last thing we need to effectively combat pandemics is a more centralized and bureaucratic health care system."

Reason has more on the issue of dated, cumbersome government controls and how they made the epidemic worse:

Seattle infectious disease expert Dr. Helen Chu had, by January, collected a huge number of nasal swabs from local residents who were experiencing symptoms as part of a research project on flu. She proposed, to federal and state officials, testing those samples for coronavirus infections. As the Times reports, the CDC told Chu and her team that they could not test the samples unless their laboratory test was approved by the FDA. The FDA refused to approve Chu's test on the grounds that her lab, according to the Times, "was not certified as a clinical laboratory under regulations established by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a process that could take months." In the meantime, 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 CDC's insistence on a top-down centralized testing regime greatly slowed down the process of disease detection as the infection rate was accelerating. A frustrated Chu and her colleagues began testing on February 25 without government approval. They almost immediately detected a coronavirus infection in a local teenager with no recent travel history. Chu warned local public health officials of her lab's finding and the teenager's school was closed as a precaution. The teen's diagnosis strongly suggested that the disease had been circulating throughout the western part of Washington for weeks. We now know that that is likely true. Did the FDA and CDC functionaries commend Chu for being proactive? Not at all. Washington state epidemiologist Scott Lindquist recalled, "What they said on that phone call very clearly was cease and desist to Helen Chu. Stop testing." On February 29, the FDA finally agreed to unleash America's vibrant biotech companies and academic labs by allowing them to develop and deploy new tests for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Due to red tape, the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. will be worse than it should have been.

Those who advocate for more government control assume, I suppose, that old procedures and regulations will periodically be reviewed and reformed. I've never seen that happen. Have you? The hampering regulations here dated back to FDR in 1938. After the swine flu botch, they knew this, even if they'd earlier overlooked it. The straitjacket was not loosened even then.

As the president tweeted:

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[.] ... 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!

Indeed, instead of streamlining the testing system, under Obama, the CDC expanded its mandate beyond its core mission of preventing and controlling infectious diseases to look at things clearly peripheral to it. (I recall that one big effort of the CDC was to study gun violence, which, ironically for Obama's apparent purposes, ended up demonstrating that guns played a significant self-defense role, and the majority of the deaths by gun were self-induced  that is, suicides.)

There's reason to believe that the left is all for socialist medicine with its necessary rationing of care (and that means the earlier death of the elderly and infirm). Compare in the presser this week Dr. Anthony Fauci's plea to take necessary measures to protect our valued elders with the views of Joe Biden's health adviser, Ezekiel Emanuel, who thinks there's no reason to live beyond 75 and encourages people above that age to avoid flu shots and opposes "life-sustaining interventions," vaccines, and antibiotics for the elderly. (Biden is 77. One assumes that Emanuel would make an exception for him.)

Globalized Production

I confess: until I realized the impact on workers, communities, and our national security, I, too, thought it sensible to have goods produced where it was cheaper to produce them. It was Trump who first sounded the alarm on the loss of our manufacturing capacity that made me see things in a different light. It may not be a national security or health issue to have sneakers produced abroad, but it makes a big difference, as we can see, when the Chinese have a chokehold on the production of essential pharmaceutical goods. We are trying to end this by bringing pharmaceutical production back home  maybe even to depressed Puerto Rico, where many such facilities once were located.

Joe Biden doesn't think China's a problem  or at least he didn't until, as usual, he backstroked away from it when criticized.

But it is a problem, as China threatens to cut off our supply of drugs needed to fight the pandemic:

In an article in Xinhua, the state-run media agency that's largely considered the mouthpiece of the party, Beijing bragged about its handling of COVID-19, a virus that originated in the city of Wuhan and has spread quickly around the world, killing nearly 5,000 people and infecting thousands more. The article also claimed that China could impose pharmaceutical export controls which would plunge America into the mighty sea of coronavirus.' If the Chinese mendacity in alerting the world to the virus wasn't enough to encourage production of drugs away from there, this threat will surely seal the transition away and at a time when Chinese export markets must already be at great danger.

Speaking of Vermin: The Press

In the face of the administration's brilliant handling of the crisis, the media, like the Democratic Congress (which tried to insert things in the emergency appropriation like a sidestep of the Hyde Amendment prohibition on federal abortion funding), the press continues its war on the president and good sense. There are many possible examples, but here are two.

Ace of Spades HQ documents how Jim Roberts celebrated the fall in the Dow and then deleted his tweets when it rose again like Lazarus after the presser. "As the Dow zoomed higher and higher, his grave-dancing tweet appeared premature, [s]o he just deleted it. He didn't explain why. He just zapped it and hoped no one noticed. Well, I did. After deleting his tweet, he shifted tactics: He now acknowledge[s] the markets were rising but claimed this was because Trump was passing out various undeserved goodies to corporations."

Peter Wehner, like many anti-Trump former Republican presidential courtiers, penned for the Atlantic the latest "Trump is over" screed, claiming that the coronavirus would end his re-election chances.

It obviously didn't hold up well, lasting for but a few hours, but let me rub his nose into some of his odorous offering. He claims that the virus was spreading while the administration was doing nothing, and in so doing, he establishes only that he was so far out of the administration loop that he had no damn idea how much was being done by so many in the administration and how efficiently and rationally it was handled.

Maybe the crystal balls the NeverTrump has-beens are relying on were made in China.
YEREVAN, MARCH 15, ARMENPRESS. The 1st patient infected with coronavirus in Armenia has recovered and been discharged from hospital, ARMENPRESS reports PM Pashinyan informed during a Facebook Live.

Spending 14 days in hospital he passed no treatment and took no medicine. He just remained in isolation for 14 days, recovered on his own and now is leaving the hospital and heading home, Pashinyan said.

The 1st coronavirus case was recorded in Armenia on March 1. He came from Iran.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
The coronavirus crisis continued unabated on Saturday: New Jerseys confirmed cases of coronavirus rose to at least 69 Saturday afternoon; a new testing facility opened in Bergen County; and a major movie theater chain reduced the number of customers allowed in theaters.

Some of the direst news came from New York City, which today reported its first death, an 82-year-old woman who died on Friday afternoon.

But even as the COVID-19 death toll climbed past 5,800 across the globe and New Jerseys positive cases increased by at least 19, there were glimmers of solidarity throughout some of the hardest-hit areas. Italians were spotted singing songs from their windows to boost morale amid a widespread shutdown.

Here are the days significant developments in the ongoing public health crisis:

Presumptive positive put to rest: New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli also announced Saturday that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention allowed the state to stop using the phrase presumptive positive once the state has a positive test. All of the states numbers are now confirmed positives.

No more jail visits: The New Jersey Department of Corrections temporarily suspended visits for the next 30 days, while increasing access to phone calls free of charge. Legal visits are not impacted by the suspension, the agency said.

Promise for more testing: Bergen County continued to have the highest number of infections as of Saturday afternoon. Bergen County Executive James Tedesco said there were 31 residents there have tested positive for coronavirus.

But a new widespread testing center at Bergen County Community College in Paramus was expected to open by Monday, the state health commissioner said.

Around the U.S. and the world:

Federal lawmakers are trying to offer some relief. The U.S. House on Saturday morning passed a measure that would provide free testing for the virus, give sick pay for workers, and enhance unemployment benefits and food assistance.

In Spain, the government has ordered a virtual public shutdown, requiring people to stay inside their houses except for essential trips to grocery store or medical facilities  following the strategy taken earlier this week by Italy. In France, all restaurants, cafes and cinemas have been ordered closed.

Meanwhile, new studies suggest that asymptomatic patients may be spreading the virus more widely than previously realized.

Peoples routine way of life will continue to radically change:

Long lines and empty shelves marked grocery stores across the state as residents rushed to buy 14-days worth of food in case of a quarantine.

AMC Theaters said it would limit seat capacity by 50% to increase social distancing until April 30.

Parents, meanwhile, are gearing up to have their children do schoolwork remotely for districts that have already shuttered. Gov. Phil Murphy also warned during a press conference that a long-term statewide shutdown of public schools was inevitable.

Sign up for text message alerts from NJ.com on coronavirus in New Jersey:





If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @BeccaPanico.
Seven out of the 10 persons, who were admitted with symptoms of coronavirus at an isolation ward of a government hospital here, were discharged on Sunday after they tested negative, officials said.

However, three more persons, including an elderly woman with a recent travel-history to Mecca, were admitted at the same ward of the Beliaghata ID Hospital here, they added.

The woman, in her 60s, had initially managed to flee from the hospital on the pretext of making calls to family members, officials said, adding, police eventually traced her.

The two other persons hail from the city, they said.

Till Saturday, a total of 73,558 persons have been screened at the Kolkata and Bagdogra airports, a senior official said.

"Around 2,46,458 people have been screened at seven land border check posts along the state's border with Nepal and Bangladesh. We have also screened 3,989 crew members of ships in three port," he said.

In view of the coronavirus outbreak, the West Bengal government had announced the closure of educational institutes till March 31. Board examinations, however, will continue as per schedule.

Precautionary measures are also in place at popular tourist spots in the state.

The Calcutta High Court and all subordinate courts in West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar also said they will hear only urgent matters from March 17 to avoid mass gatherings in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

The number of novel coronavirus cases in the country rose to 107 on Sunday, with Maharashtra reporting the highest followed by Kerala.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
More than a dozen people marched to the steps of the West Linn Police Department on Saturday, demanding changes in the police force, starting with the removal of Chief Terry Kruger and any officers complicit in the 2017 wrongful arrest of a Portland black man.

Under a steady rain, they carried signs that read, Police the Police, Change Takes Courage, Fix this Racist System, and chanted, Police Accountability Now! and Clean Shop, No Bad Cops!

A group called Concerned Citizens of West Linn organized the March Against Racism, after forming last month following a story by The Oregonian/OregonLive that revealed West Linns $600,000 payout to Portland resident Michael Fesser to settle a federal wrongful lawsuit filed against West Linn Police.

Fesser was arrested on trumped-up theft charges on Feb. 25, 2017, as he left his job at Portlands A&B Towing Co., at the request of his boss, tow company owner Eric Benson, a fishing pal of then-West Linn Police Chief Terry Timeus. Text messages exchanged between the lead West Linn detective, Tony Reeves, and Benson, hours before Fessers arrests, were filled with racist, derogatory and crude banter. Fessers lawyer obtained the text messages during prior litigation against Benson, who paid Fesser $415,000 to settle a separate racial discrimination suit.

West Linns current police chief, Kruger, also has a personal friendship with Benson. Kruger said he met Benson through a mutual friend of his son. Kruger said he recused himself from settlement talks in Fessers case against the police department, though he was the lone West Linn police officer, who under oath, signed off on West Linns written police responses to formal questions posed by Fessers lawyer and written police admissions of certain actions during the Fesser litigation. Kruger has said he doesnt believe his relationship with Benson impacts his ability to serve as West Linns police chief.

Mary Baumgardner and her 22-year-old daughter, Claire Baumgardner, marched under an umbrella with the group along a half-mile route from the River Falls Shopping Center off Blankenship Road to the police station on Eighth Avenue.

I couldnt stay home when I heard the story about Mr. Fesser, Mary Baumgardner said. I think we all have to drop everything were doing until this is made right.

Her daughter, Claire, added, We cant look away. If we do, thats how this problem will keep going.

Will Cabine, who has lived in West Linn since 2009, said he was disturbed by Fessers case. We want to trust our police but when things like this happen, you question who theyre here for?

Abby Farber, one of the organizers of the Concerned Citizens group, read the demonstrators demands before hand-delivering them in an envelope to West Linn Police Capt. Oddis Rollins, who was inside.

The group wants Kruger removed as chief, as well as any officers involved in the actions or cover-up of the Fesser incident; the city attorney Tim Ramis investigated for what role he may have played in the case; an independent law enforcement oversight board created; diversity awareness and equity training in the police force; and demographic data on West Linn police stops and arrests made public.

Danielle Droppers, a volunteer who previously served on the Portland Police Bureaus Training Advisory Council for two years before resigning out of frustration in November, joined the march Saturday. She said she wanted to stand in solidarity with Fesser.

Frank Yazhari, of Lake Oswego, said he felt a need to speak out after learning of Fessers case.

I could not believe this would happen. The injustice  and that a detective was promoted with no accountability, that really bothered me, he said. Thats why Im here, to see if I can help.

While many other organizations canceled their events this weekend amid the spread of the coronavirus, the Concerned Citizens group chose not to after checking with the Center for Disease Control and Oregon Health Authority. The organizers advised people in high-risk groups or those with respiratory symptoms not to attend and said they would keep a distance among marchers.

When Farber said she woke up to snow falling, she said she thought, Whats next? Locusts?

The chants continued as the group reached the West Linn police station, with different people taking turns to lead: Dont be Surprised, Be Angry!, Whose Lives Matter? Black Lives Matter!, Co-mmunity for U-nity! and Hell no, Kruger must go!

The U.S. Department of Justice is taking the lead on a civil rights investigation into Fessers arrest. The Clackamas and Multnomah County district attorneys offices are looking into the credibility of officers involved to determine if credibility concerns raised in the case about the involved officers should trigger a so-called Brady notice. That refers to an obligation under the 1963 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brady v. Maryland that requires prosecutors to disclose to defense lawyers any material that could impeach the credibility of a government witness.

Timeus is no longer West Linns chief. Reeves and former West Linn police Lt. Mike Stradley, who most recently has been supervising training for police recruits at the states basic police academy, have been placed on paid leave pending the investigations.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian

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The mayor and Mr. Cuomo had resisted closing the citys schools even as other states shuttered their public schools, and urban school districts, like Los Angeles and Seattle, did the same.

But in recent days, a growing chorus of local politicians, public health experts, parents and educators have ramped up the pressure on the city to shut down schools. By Sunday afternoon, even Mr. Cuomo said the city schools should close within 24 hours, as soon as the city came up with a plan for child care and food.

Student attendance has plummeted as nervous parents have kept their children at home. Teachers concerned about the virus organized sick outs and flooded Twitter and 311 with pleas to shut down schools. And as the outbreak continued, each day seemed to bring another major set of school closures in cities and states with smaller outbreaks than New Yorks.

New York Citys school system stands apart from every other in the country for its sheer size and particularly vulnerable student population, including enough homeless children  114,000  to fill an entire small city school district.
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], Mar 15 (ANI): The National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court on Friday convicted Sri Lankan national Arun Selvarajan for all the charges and sentenced him to five years of rigorous imprisonment with fine of Rs. 20,000 in connection with Thameem Ansari Espionage Case.



"The Case was originally registered on September 17, 2012, at Q Branch Police Station, Trichy, Tamil Nadu under section 3, 4 and 9 of Official Secrets Act read with section 120B of IPC after the arrest of Thameem Ansari, a native of Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu on September 16, 2012, for conducting espionage at the behest of Pakistan Intelligence officers led by accused Amir Zubair Siddique posted at the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo, as part of the conspiracy to carry out terrorist acts in India. NIA had re-registered the case 1st May 2013 and taken over the investigation," a press note from the NIA read.

"Later, accused Arun Selvarajan was arrested in this case on September 10, 2014, for engaging in similar espionage activities, at the behest of Pakistan Intelligence officers. The investigation had established that the accused persons Thameem Ansari and Arun Selvarajan pursuant to the conspiracy hatched with Pakistan intelligence officers had conducted espionage at various defence establishments and sensitive locations in the state and transmitted such classified information to Amir Zubair Siddique thereby threatening the sovereignty and security of India," the presser added.

NIA said that trial against Thameem Ansari continues.

"On March 6, 2015, a charge-sheet was filed against Thameem Ansari and Arun Selvarajan. Later, supplementary charge-sheet was filed against Arun Selvarajan on March 30, 2016. Charges were framed against Thameem Ansari and Arun Selvarajan on January 8, 2018, and trial had commenced on January 29, 2018. Accused Arun Selvarajn has now been convicted for all the charges against him. The trial against Thameem Ansari continues," the presser said.

The NIA further said that the investigation is continuing against the absconding accused Mohammed Anver Mohammed Siraj Ali native of Sri Lanka besides the Pakistan intelligence officer Amir Zubair Siddique and others. (ANI)
Beijing on Sunday stepped up quarantine measures for incoming international travellers to the city as China recorded more imported coronavirus (covid-19) cases in the country compared to new local ones until Saturday midnight.

New imported cases accounted for 16 of the 20 new cases reported until early Sunday with remaining four reported from outbreak ground zero Wuhan city in the central Chinese province of Hubei.

With 10 new deaths, 3199 people have now died in China with 80844 infected, the national health commission (NHC) said on Sunday.

ALSO WATCH | Coronavirus: PM Modi offers $10 million for new fund at SAARC virtual meet

The number of new cases has fallen dramatically in March with 16 cities in epidemic-hit Hubei excluding capital Wuhan reporting zero new cases for 10 consecutive days.

However, provinces and especially big cities are tightening measures to control the entry of imported cases.

International travellers landing in Beijing will be quarantined for 14 days at their own expense, a city official announced Sunday afternoon, tightening measures that were already in place.

From Monday, everybody entering Beijing from outside the country will be transferred to a central isolation facility for 14 days of observation, Chen Bei, deputy secretary general of the Beijing municipal government, was quoted by local media as saying.

Some people were asymptomatic when they arrived in Beijing but were confirmed with the disease several days later when symptoms showed, the Beijing News quoted Chen as saying.

Passengers who do not disclose their medical history could be penalised.

Central health authorities reported 16 new imported cases of the coronavirus, five of them in Beijing, taking the total to 111.

As many 47 of them are from Iran, and 35 from Italy.

All international flights into the capitals new Daxing airport in south Beijing have now been rerouted to arrive at the older Beijing Capital airport, where arrivals will be screened and monitored, state news agency Xinhua reported Saturday.

Meanwhile, China has restored normal traffic order in most areas, as 1117 of the 1,119 closed expressway entrances and exits across the country have re-opened as of March 14, official news agency, Xinhua reported

It added that a total 549 blocked national, provincial, county and township roads have re-opened, and 11198 of the 12028 highway health and quarantine stations have been removed.

The Hubei province will introduce differentiated neighbourhood management policy as the number of patients continues to drop, the provincial health authorities said over the weekend.

The neighborhood lock-down policy will be completely lifted in both city and rural areas in those low-risk areas, according to Liu Dongru, deputy head of the provincial health commission.

Such policy will be loosened in the medium risk areas, while the neighbourhoods in the high-risk areas will still be locked down with traffic control implemented and gatherings banned, Liu was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
The federal government has advised Canadians to avoid non-essential travel outside of the country until further notice.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 15/3/2020 (667 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The federal government has advised Canadians to avoid non-essential travel outside of the country until further notice.

Judging by the scene Saturday afternoon at the James Armstrong Richardson Aiport, it appears most Winnipeggers listened.

Just after 1 p.m., there were only a handful of people checking in for flights. Some of the front-line staff helping them were wearing plastic gloves.

The airport security staff also outnumbered the travellers as only three people were going through screening at the time. A Canadian screening officer said the airport had been a ghost town all day.

Despite the warnings, there were still several people with their luggage packed with flip flops and sunscreen.

"Were going through with it," said Heather Fowler, a nurse from Kenora, Ont., who was off to Cuba with her 16-year-old daughter Brianna and their friends. "Im confident in the system. Lots of people (advised us to cancel). But I mean, if everybodys doing basic hygiene, basic handwashing, well be fine."

Joining Heather and Ally on the trip was fellow Lake Of The Woods District Hospital nurse Carla Northcote-Brewer and her 16-year-old daughter Ally who goes to school with Brianna.

"I do think its being blown out of proportion," Northcote-Brewer said.

"First of all, its cough and flu season anyway. My husband is at home sick with a cold. He doesnt have COVID-19. Hes isnt going to die. But people blow it out of proportion. Its basic hand hygiene. Wash your hands, dont cough on people and if youre sick, stay home."

The group planned their all-inclusive resort trip last week.

"I think the numbers (of people) are going to be low (at the resort) so theres going to be less congestion than any facility in Canada, Im sure," Fowler said.

According to OnCuba News, the country had its first four cases of COVID-19 this past week. The Kenora nurses and their daughters said theyve been keeping an eye on whats going on in Cuba.

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"If we see a guy thats coughing up a lung, were not going to sit next to him at the table," Fowler said.

James Sesay was flying to Montreal with his family. The fact their trip is in Canada made them feel comfortable to go through with it. Theyre still being cautious, however, as Sesays made sure to have disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer in his carry-on.

Sesay said theyre going to visit a family member who is ill (not with COVID-19).

"I had to go, but if I had another choice, I may have stayed," Sesay admits. "Its very scary. Sometimes you just have to go on a hunch."

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31
Customers, some with protective masks, queue at the check out of a supermarket as people begin to stock up on provisions in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. Spain's health minister on Monday announced a sharp spike in coronavirus cases in and around the national capital, Madrid, and said all schools in the region, including kindergartens and universities, will close for two weeks from Wednesday. (AP Photo/Paul White)

The novel coronavirus epidemic (COVID-19) has driven the demand for sanitizers, disinfectants and face masks manifolds.

While price gouging and hoarding has been rampant, we are now seeing substandard and counterfeits products as well.

The government and e-commerce players have taken some much-needed steps to curb the unethical behaviour in the market, but a lot needs to done to address the challenge of availability at reasonable prices and quality products.

The government had brought face masks (2 ply and 3 ply surgical masks, N95 masks) and hand sanitizers under Essential Commodities Act. This order will be effective up to June 30, 2020. The move is aimed at ensuring that these items are available to people at reasonable prices and to crack down the hoarders.

State food and drug administrators (FDAs) also swung into action, raiding chemist shops and godowns who are resorting to such unethical practices.

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

For instance Haryana FDA last week busted a fake hand sanitizer manufacturing company in Gurugram. There are numerous cases of people getting duped by fake N95 masks.

The huge shortage of sanitizers and face masks has led to an unprecedented price gouging.

A surgical mask that used to cost 50 paise per piece is now sold at upwards of Rs 30 per piece.

This is a clear case of exploitation.

There were also allegations against e-commerce platforms who are unable to police rampant price gouging happening on their sites with respect to face masks and sanitizers.

But Flipkart and Amazon have said they are taking measures like removing sellers who make fake claims and urging sellers to maintain fair prices.

"We are aware of the possibility of surging prices of some products on the Flipkart marketplace," said Flipkart in its recent press note.

"While we do not control prices of products on the Flipkart marketplace platform, we are working closely with our sellers to urge responsible pricing and behavior," the note added.

Flipkart also said products with fake claims and inflated prices are being removed on an ongoing basis.

"Certain products may be out of stock on Flipkart due to high customer demand. We are working with our sellers to replenish products and encouraging them to be fair in the prices they are proposing," it added.

Amazon also started restricting sellers of products pertaining to coronavirus such as face masks, hand sanitizers, disinfecting wipes and sprays, isopropyl alcohol.

In a notice sent to the sellers the company said, "We have implemented more stringent requirements to sell these products in our store and as a result, your offers have been removed. We are not accepting applications to sell these products at this time."

Not enough, more regulation needed

Concerned with the huge surge in prices over recent weeks, AiMED (Association of Indian Medical Device Industry) representing interest of over 700 medical device manufacturers has sought the intervention of government and drug price regulator, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), in capping prices, and ensuring quality, both with ramifications on consumers, health workers and industry.

We have written to the union health ministry about the complaints we have received on hoarding of medical devices and basic protective equipment including masks and gloves and hand sanitizers by distributors and traders. We have requested the government to monitor the situation and take stringent action against wrongdoers, said Rajiv Nath, Forum Coordinator, AIMED.

Many of the ethical distributors and resellers have discontinued selling masks and sanitizers as they do not wish to be labelled as being unethical and exploitative, Nath said.

It has been noticed that most of the PPE and medical masks being sold in India are not manufactured under prescribed hygienic conditions and also not comply with Basic Standards of PPE as recommended by WHO," said Dr Sanjeev Relhan, Chairman, Preventive Wear Manufacturers Association of India.

"This scenario may lead to a number of Healthcare Workers getting infected as they will attend the patients with a false sense of security that they are equipped with PPE and hence will be casual in taking precautions, Relhan said.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has released updated data on the number of people in the state confirmed to have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.

The state reports the total number of infections is up to 164 as of Sunday afternoon. Thats up from a total of 138 reported on Saturday. The department has been releasing daily reports around 4 p.m.

The new report comes as officials continue to try to mitigate the spread of the virus by enacting measures to limit the publics chance of exposure.

On Sunday, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh ordered Boston bars, eateries and restaurants to close down at 11 p.m. They must also reduce capacity by 50 percent. Many Bay State schools have also announced closures ranging from two weeks to longer.

Related Content:
A ll pubs and bars are to close in Ireland in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Government officials announced the drastic two-week shutdown just hours before St Patricks Day  the countrys most iconic annual festival.

Irish citizens are also urged not to take part in house parties or other large gatherings which would put other peoples health at risk.

It comes after the Republic announced 40 new cases of the Covid-19 virus  bringing the countrys total up to 169, including two deaths.

Coronavirus cases: The spread outside China

In a statement, the government said it had agreed the move with national pub authorities.

It said: Following discussions today with the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) and the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI), the Government is now calling on all public houses and bars (including hotel bars) to close from this evening (March 15) until at least March 29.

The LVA and VFI outlined the real difficulty in implementing the published Guidelines on Social Distancing in a public house setting, as pubs are specifically designed to promote social interaction in a situation where alcohol reduces personal inhibitions.

For the same reason, the Government is also calling on all members of the public not to organise or participate in any parties in private houses or other venues which would put other peoples health at risk.

A man dressed up as Saint Patrick is pictured outside The Temple Bar pub, / REUTERS

The move means no bars will be open in the area for St Patricks Day, one of the busiest days in the Irish tourism calendar.

Martin Harte, of the Temple Bar Company, said the decision was taken voluntarily this is the owners of all pubs sitting down and deciding this is the best thing to do in terms of public health and safety.

He said the problem is that social distancing and number limitation is impossible to enforce in bars.

It comes as the Irish Government may seek enforcement powers to ensure that the ban on indoor mass gatherings of more than 100 people applies to pubs and clubs.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has urged people who socialised in pubs and clubs at the weekend to avoid the elderly and people with chronic diseases, to stop the spread of Covid-19.

He tweeted: No indoor mass gatherings of more than 100 people applies to pubs & clubs. Have asked NPHET for further expert guidance on this. May seek enforcement powers from Dail/Seanad.

On Saturday night, Health Service Executive chief Paul Reid also urged pubs to wise up quick after videos of people crowding into them.

Photos emerged on social media of crowded pubs in Dublins Temple Bar on Saturday, with Twitter users condemning revellers for showing "little care for themselves and others."

In a tweet, Health Minister Simon Harris said crowds gathering in small spaces was an insult to the efforts of healthcare workers.

On Sunday morning, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said: The advice on what each of us needs to do is clear, we all need to follow that advice, not just for our own health, but for the benefit of all those around us.

Each one of us needs to think of vulnerable people in our midst and ask ourselves what we can do to help them through this.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald urged people to avoid socialising in pubs and to keep all social contact to a minimum.

Hospitality Ulster chief executive Colin Neill called on the industry to introduce social distancing in Northern Ireland to limit the spread of Covid-19.
The British woman who died in Bali after contracting COVID-19 has been named as 53-year-old Kimberley Finlayson and remembered by colleagues as a creative and inspiring force in her field.

Tributes for Ms Finlayson have been shared by FMC, the dental publishing company she started with her husband, Ken Finlayson in 1995.

The couple were on holiday in Bali when Ms Finlayson passed away on Wednesday.

She approached the world with an infectious passion, creativity and determination, the website read.

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.

Kimberley Finlayson, the British tourist who died in Bali after contracting coronavirus has been remembered as a 'a whirlwind of energy and ideas'. Source: dentistry.co.uk

Ms Finlayson was taken to hospital last week, with authorities unsure of whether she contracted the virus before or after arriving in Bali in February.

Indonesian health authorities said on Wednesday the woman had serious health problems.

"The patient had severe illnesses including diabetes, hypertension, hyperthyroid and lung disease," Achmad Yurianto, a spokesman for the government's virus response team, told reporters in Jakarta.

The womans husband was released from hospital after testing negative to COVID-19.

Based on information from Bali Health Agency the laboratory test result of the husband of the COVID-19 patient number 25 are complete. The lab test result is negative, Sanglah Hospital director, Wayan Sudana told 7News.

He will now return to his four children in the UK who 7News reported were struggling to come to terms with their mothers sudden passing.

FMC described Ms Finlayson as down to earth and generous at work and in her personal life.

Kimberley leaves behind a legacy that will live on for decades to come. FMC read.

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.
One more person was on Sunday



admitted in the Nashik civil hospital for suspected exposure to novel coronavirus, health officials said.

A 30-year-old man from Kalwan taluka in the district had gone to Dubai on March 5 and returned on March 7, and was admitted after he complained of throat pain, they said.

"With this, the number of patients receiving treatment at the hospital at present has gone up to five," an official said.

Earlier, four patients were receiving treatment in the isolation ward of the hospital.

A 41-year-old man from here had gone to Bangladesh on March 8 and returned to India on March 13, and a 33-year-old who had visited South Africa between January 9 and March 13 were admitted to the district civil hospital on Saturday.

Apart from the ones admitted on Saturday, the other two in isolation are a 61-year-old man who had gone to Dubai on February 11 and returned to India on February 16, and a 34 -year-old man who went to Dubai on February 29 and returned on March 1.

Swab sample reports of these five patients are expected to come in by Monday, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Donald Trump has revealed he is considering a "full pardon" for Michael Flynn, his first national security adviser.

Flynn admitted making false statements to the FBI about his dealings with the Russian ambassador to US before Trump's inauguration, but he sought to withdraw the guilty plea in January, arguing that prosecutors violated his rights and duped him into a plea agreement.

In a tweet on Sunday, the president said: So now it is reported that, after destroying his life & the life of his wonderful family (and many others also), the FBI, working in conjunction with the Justice Department, has lost the records of General Michael Flynn. How convenient.

He added: I am strongly considering a Full Pardon!

The presidents allegations about the FBI and Department of Justice collaborating to lose records are non-specific and unsubstantiated at this time.

Flynn was supposed to cooperate with the government as part of his plea deal. But he later switched lawyers and tactics, arguing that prosecutors in the case had violated his rights and tricked him into lying about his December 2016 conversations with Sergei Kislyak, then Moscow's ambassador in Washington.

The Department of Justice has repeatedly denied allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.

US District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan rejected all of Flynns claims in December and set a sentencing date.

Shortly after that, Flynn filed the motion to withdraw his plea.

Flynn, who also previously led the Defence Intelligence Agency, served just 24 days in the Trump administration before he was fired in January 2017.

With reporting from Reuters
Starting Tuesday, students and parents can pick up both breakfast and lunch from two locations. A school bus will also deliver meals to certain neighborhoods, and the district will post a list delivery times on its website by noon Monday.
(Newser)  The surgeon general is asking hospitals to postpone elective surgeries. Operations risk spreading the coronavirus through the hospital, Jerome Adams warned Saturday, Politico reports, and tie up medical personnel who could be needed to deal with the outbreak. "Hospital & healthcare systems, PLEASE CONSIDER STOPPING ELECTIVE PROCEDURES until we can #FlattenTheCurve!" Adams tweeted. The American College of Surgeons had recommended Friday that hospitals and surgeons review scheduled invasive procedures and "minimize, postpone, or cancel" them if possible.

story continues below

"Were starting to create capacity by closing off certain elective surgeries, like rescheduling patients who can be rescheduled," an executive for the UCSF Health hospital system in San Francisco said. An executive said the Providence St. Joseph Health system plans to comply, per MarketWatch. "We will evaluate on a day-by-day basis if that elective surgery needs to be postponed or if a person will need a skilled nursing placement, the executive said. "Physical capacity and a healthy workforce are two constraints that will need evaluation continuously." (Adams also has tweeted that Americans should stop buying face masks during the outbreak.)
Nebraska needs tax relief now

The legislation to reduce Nebraska property taxes is near the goal line and needs to pass. How bad are Nebraskas property taxes? Two good friends have moved to Texas in the last four months, both citing Nebraskas tax situation.

One friend wrote: Nebraska really needs to do something  to keep the people that grew up and raised families here. People WILL move away from Nebraska so that they can afford to retire. In Texas, we can retire with a little extra money in our pockets as an added bonus.

Another friend wrote: Property tax levies on near million-dollar homes in my area are only 61% of my former Sarpy County levy (tax cost is 1.4% vs. 2.29% of assessed value) in my Fort Worth suburb of Cleburne. The Homestead Act exempts some of a homes value, and applies to ALL homeowners, not just older folks with lower incomes like in Nebraska. Texas has no state income tax, and I have no wheel tax. I only pay $200 to register my car, regardless of the value or car type.
(Natural News) Two days ago, Alex Jones called me, The Oracle on his show and the name sort of stuck. It turns out that when you run good mathematical projection models, you really can sort of see the future to the astonishment of many. In truth, Im just running the numbers and reporting what the math tells me. Theres really no voodoo involved.

That math, by the way, leads me to some rather sobering predictions and warnings that I will share with you here. I probably should have shared these two weeks ago, but nobody would have believed me then.

I confess Ive been holding back on reporting what I know will happen. We have a joke around here that Ill share. We talk about the Alex Jones model, which is sort of the best case scenario as Alex is hoping this wont be a disaster. Then theres the Mike Adams model which is far more pessimistic, followed by the Steve Quayle model which is apocalyptic, and finally theres the Hal Turner model which is basically the end of civilization. We call this the spectrum of collapse, and we always wonder where exactly we are on that spectrum.

In talking about that spectrum, we used to tell ourselves, Its never as bad as the Hal Turner model, and we could feel confident knowing that Hal Turner consistently defined the outer boundary of bad possibilities. Yet in the last week, Ive actually been caught saying, privately, Hal Turner might be an optimist. (Im sure Hal will share a chuckle on that one) In other words, things could get far worse than anything Hal has predicted.

Even more hilariously, all of us have been called doomsday kooks by the very same people who are now waiting in long lines among crazed mobs of (infected?) grocery shoppers at their local stores, wondering to themselves why they never thought to buy food or emergency supplies.

Its funny how the whole industry of skeptics who mocked preppers are suddenly finding themselves empty-handed. In fact, Ive just released a new mini-documentary video about this very point. Its called, For those who mocked preppers, your day of reckoning has arrived.

Its basically a worldwide oh shit moment for all the clueless, oblivious masses who watch the regular news and are therefore mostly brainwashed and uninformed (and thereby set up to die).

Brighteon.com/0e503eb5-e552-4e56-86e2-d5173e38231a

Now, on to the predictions, which recent history tells me are probably overly optimistic. So keep that in mind.

Its also worth noting that the US was at least four weeks too late in blocking flights and embracing the reality of the pandemic. So, no matter what Trump does, America is already on track to plunge into an apocalypse-type scenario in certain regions such as NYC and Seattle. Theres no stopping it.

Ten predictions of things to come plan accordingly

1. The hospitals in NYC will shortly be completely overrun. Mass death will follow. The entire city of New York is probably less than 30 days away from a cascading collapse of hospitals followed by widespread chaos and mass death. Not long after the NYC hospital system collapses, the Seattle system will also collapse, followed by San Francisco. The dead and dying will literally spill out onto the streets.

2. The intensity of the desperation among the unprepared masses will soon shift from the scared stage to the violence stage. The fist fights and stabbings we already see in the retail stores will soon escalate to shootings and then gang-style armed, organized looting much like an armed flash mob.

3. We will soon seen entire cities locked down in the USA, or possibly just all major roads nationwide. One way or another, tens of millions of Americans are about to be ordered to essentially shelter in place. This will result in lawless chaos in cities like Los Angeles, of course, and infected police will be sent home, resulting in horrifying law enforcement staffing shortages that will ultimately plunge some cities into the kind of chaos that can only be managed with National Guard troops and mandatory curfews.

4. Unless the roads are totally locked down, within 6-8 weeks, many people in the cities will begin to flee those cities and swarm the rural areas, desperately seeking food, water, medicine and shelter. This will be a human locust wave of unprepared Leftists who, just a month ago, were mocking rural preppers as rednecks and kooks. My advice? Guard your preps with your life because oblivious liberals arent coming to your community to act with anything resembling morals or ethics theyre coming to loot, steal and pillage. Beware of the knock on the door with a small child in your doorway whos crying and asking for help. The moment you open your door, theres a gun in your face (or a round coming your way from 200 yards away, which is considered short range for any experienced shooter, by the way). Its the oldest trick in the book.

5. The run on guns and ammo will expand into runs on communications radios, binoculars and other second-tier prepper items. Right now, most people are thinking toilet paper or guns. In another week, that thinking will expand into a far more diverse range of preparedness items, including fishing poles or water filters. By the way, did you ever get that night vision monocular you were looking at last year? It sure would be a good time to own some high-end night vision devices, eh?

6. There is a possibility that President Trump may use the nationwide lockdown situation thats unfolding to dispatch the military police to arrest all the anti-America traitors with names like Comey, Brennan, McCabe, Obama and so on. It would be the ideal time to drain the swamp and lock up all the treasonous actors who are actually communist sympathizers trying to bring down America from within. (We say GO FOR IT, Trump.)

7. As Ive predicted in an earlier story, some Amazon fulfillment warehouses will also go under lockdown in certain regions (namely Seattle, San Fran, NYC, Boston, Virginia, Denver, etc.). This means people who rely on Amazon deliveries will be out of luck unless Trump declares Amazon to be critical infrastructure for the nation. But if he does that, he should also declare Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to be critical infrastructure and order them all to stop banning the independent media voices that predicted all this in the first place. It might be a great time to arrest the criminal CEOs of the tech giants, seize their domain names and restore the First Amendment to America under the banner of restoring the free flow of information to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. It also wouldnt hurt to throw Jack Dorsey behind bars and charge him with complicity in this biological weapons attack on America, since Twitter has banned myself, Zero Hedge and numerous other accounts who are trying to help STOP the spread of the virus.

8. Its very likely that Trump will declare UPS, Fedex and the USPS to be critical infrastructure so that they keep rolling, although its not clear what exactly they will be shipping if warehouse and distribution hub workers cant come to work and fill the trucks with anything. This relates to the Amazon fulfillment prediction, above. It also brings up the question of grocery stores: Who will work at the food distribution hubs that fill the delivery trucks that supply the grocery chains? Anchorage Daily News actually published a really good story on that exact topic. Heres a taste of what it says:

The companies that feed America and provide basic staples are bracing for labor shortages as the coronavirus pandemic intensifies, which could leave them without enough workers to manufacture, deliver and unpack groceries in stores in the coming months. As the virus spreads, supermarkets and distribution facilities face a difficult choice: how to keep shelves stocked with essentials while keeping their workers safe.

8.5 A sort of related prediction to #8 above is that before long some truckers will refuse to drive into the high-infection zones, meaning deliveries of food, fuel, medicine and other supplies will cease.

9. People who are on prescription medications and who take flu shots will die in much larger numbers because medications strip your body of essential minerals (like zinc and magnesium) and nutrients (like antioxidants) that your body needs to fight the coronavirus. And flu shots weaken the immune system, making you more susceptible to respiratory invasions. Thus, we are about to witness a global moment of the mass culling of pharma junkies and vaccine addicts. Consider it a global IQ test, and if you take the flu shot every year, youre too stupid to pass the test. (Trust me, thats exactly how Bill Gates views the masses. This whole thing is an engineered event to rid the world of what globalists call useless eaters, which probably includes at least half of the people you know.)

10. The United States of America as we know it today will not survive the next two years. Something will change the landscape in a dramatic way, either a geopolitical breakup of the nation, the suspension of elections followed by civil war, a foreign invasion of the USA during our summer of chaos, or other similar events that will end the nation as we know it.

Already we must ask does the federal government have any capacity to get anything done at all? If the CDC cant even make test kits available to test for disease  even with a $6.5 billion budget  we must all begin to ask whether we would be better off if the entire federal government just ceased to exist. It serves very little purpose other than to steal money from the taxpayers and lie to us about what its doing with that money.

Sure, we understand the importance of national defense when facing global enemies like China and Russia, but no informed person has any faith remaining in the CDC, the FDA or even the Trump administrations handling of this exploding epidemic. Even now, Trump is saying that people who show no symptoms wont be tested huh? For the record, about 25% of all coronavirus infections come from people who show no symptoms. So if you dont test those people, you might as well just condemn the whole damn country to get infected. That seems to be the federal governments current strategy for a kind of national suicide.

The bottom line? Prepare to hunker down for an extended period of time. If you still live in a high-density city, prepare for the zombie apocalypse of turd-flinging homeless addicts who can no longer get their fix. Expect the pharmacies to be looted and gutted almost immediately (I should have made that prediction #11), and if you depend on any critical medications, it might be a good idea to try everything you can (thats legal) to get an extra supply.

This sure is a bad time to be on prescription drugs, it turns out. Or to live in a city full of liberals who have near-zero preparedness skills.

Heres my analysis of Trumps emergency declaration order and why it wont stop this pandemic:

If you want to live, read Pandemic.news. If you want to die, hang out in NYC for the next 2-3 weeks and see what happens
Seoul, March 15 : A North Korean nuclear negotiator has been appointed as the Ambassador to Austria, replacing a son-in-law of the country's founder Kim Il-sung, state media said in a report on Sunday.

Choe Kang-il, acting director-general of the Foreign Ministry's North American affairs bureau, had been involved in nuclear negotiations with the US, including preparatory talks ahead of the second summit in Hanoi last year between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and American President Donald Trump, Yonhap News Agency quoted Pyongyang's KCNA as saying in a report on Saturday.

Choe was named to replace Kim Kwang-sop, the husband of Kim Kyong-jin, a half-sister of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, according to the KCNA.

The former envoy has been in the position for 27 years since his appointment in 1993.

The KCNA also confirmed that Ju Won-chol has replaced Kim Pyong-il, a half-brother of late leader Kim Jong-il, as ambassador to Czech Republic.

It also reported that Ambassador to Britain Choe Il has been appointed as ambassador to Poland.







New Delhi, March 15 : Amid the coronavirus cases showing rising trend in India, Congress senior leader P. Chidambaram, on Sunday, expressed his concerns over gap of coordination between centre and state governments in the country. He urged the government at the centre to take more measures to contain the COVID-19 disease spreading in the country.

Unlike his fellow Congressmen, Shashi Tharoor and Rahul Gandhi, Chidambaram hailed the efforts made by the government so far in order to contain the dreaded virus in India.

Taking it to Twitter, Chidambaram said: "The battle against coronavirus has been 'so far, good', but can we do more? Positive COVID-19 cases have jumped from 31 to 84 in one week. Some State governments have announced partial lockdowns. Time for central government to reflect on more measures." "Time to take note of the warning of ICMR. If we have a 30-day window to prevent the spread of the virus to Stage 3, we should move faster and with determination," the former Finance Minister added.

Earlier, on Friday, Tharoor slammed the government over the rising number of COVID cases in the country and "inadequate measures" taken by it to contain the damage.

Gandhi too attacked the government, on Thursday, over rising number of coronavirus in the country. "Coronavirus is a huge problem. Ignoring the problem is not a solution," he tweeted.

India has confirmed at least 93 cases of novel Coronavirus, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.

There are at least 76 Indians and 17 foreigners who are confirmed COVID-19 cases. A total of two persons have died so far with one death in the national capital and one in Karnataka.

With the number of coronavirus positive cases shooting to 31, Maharashtra has emerged as the worst-hit state in the country. Ten persons have been cured and discharged from the hospital so far. Moreover, the data shows that so far 12,29,363 have been screened at the Airports across India.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Around 650 British soldiers were confined to their barracks in Kenya after dozens of troops who'd visited prostitutes sought medical advice, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The lockdown was ordered by their furious commanding officer after up to 100 personnel used the services of sex workers who set up temporary brothels near their base.

The soldiers, of the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment battlegroup, were in east Africa taking part in Exercise Askari Storm.

Confined to their barracks: A total of 650 soldiers from 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, battlegroup were placed under lockdown

In training: Around 100 personnel used the services of prostitutes leading to fears some may have HIV

Based at Laikipia air base, troops took part in the simulated rescue of up to 400 people in a mock overseas crisis which involved parachuting into Mount Kenya National Park.

The jump was followed by six weeks of training for soldiers from 3 Para along with engineers, signallers, medics and logisticians from across 16 Air Assault Brigade.

After being given leave, however, scores are said to have used the services of prostitutes in the nearby town of Nanyuki.a

At least 30 soldiers later reported to 3 Para's medical centre saying they feared they may have contracted HIV or a sexually transmitted disease after having unprotected sex.

In response their commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Swann, ordered every soldier  regardless of rank  to remain on the base until they returned to Britain this weekend.

A document detailing his orders reads: 'All 3 Para BG pers [persons] are gated effective immediately.

'Situation: issues with poor discipline in Nanyuki, particularly to do with prostitution, have led the CO to direct that all pers are to be kept within barracks.

'Pers that are currently at safari lodges are allowed to remain tonight and return tomorrow morning. All other pers are to return to camp immediately.

'All functions in Nanyuki are to be cancelled  even if they are booked for this evening. There will be no visits to the curio shops or the mall.'

Kenya's hot climate and rugged terrain give British troops the ideal environment to hone their skills and the Ministry of Defence has a deal with the Kenyan Government that allows six UK infantry battalions to conduct exercises there each year.

But there has been tension, with Kenyans accusing British soldiers of involvement in violent crime and thefts.

An Army spokesman said last night: 'We expect very high standards of behaviour of our personnel, whether they are on or off duty.'
Linn County Commissioner Roger Nyquist was so desperate to get needed protective gowns for the veterans nursing home hit by coronavirus in Lebanon that he found himself standing in the paint section of a Home Depot store.

He was looking for anything that would substitute for the gowns, he said, after he concluded he couldnt rely on the state to resupply the Edward C. Allworth Veterans Home.

On Saturday, the number of COVID-19 cases at the nursing home rose by one to nine, the most tied to one place in Oregon and the only ones identified so far at a center for the elderly in the state.

Nyquist has helped coordinate the response to the outbreak at the home, a 6-year-old complex of four stand-alone buildings that serve a total of 151 people. Two men who live there, both in their 80s, tested positive Wednesday with no known exposure, and six more men tested positive Thursday.

It took a day of scrambling that included calls to the local hospital and the fire department to scrounge up a stop-gap cache of gowns. The Oregon Health Authority arranged to send the home 1,000 gowns about an hour after being contacted by an Oregonian/OregonLive reporter and after the agency said it got a request from the veterans home.

As Nyquist and fellow Commissioner Will Tucker described it, the county was left to fend for itself. But the Oregon Health Authority said it has been in constant contact with the veterans home and arranged to provide the equipment that was requested.

The supply chain and communication troubles highlight a struggle not only in Oregon but nationwide to find and distribute medical equipment  from respirator masks to gowns to ventilators  to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control acknowledges the problem and makes recommendations for alternatives in some situations.

The equipment is critical to protect workers from a disease tied to close contact and droplets sprayed by coughing and sneezing patients. And there are few places worse than a nursing home for the new coronavirus to spread. About two dozen people associated with the Life Care nursing home in Kirkland, Washington, died from the infections, accounting for the bulk of the coronavirus deaths in the United States.

The protective gear is especially important at the Lebanon veterans home, with about 225 workers. They are caring for infected residents on site. The patients are eight male veterans and one woman, a veterans wife. They all are isolated in their rooms in two separate buildings in the complex.

On Friday, Linn County officials got on a phone call with representatives from the Oregon Health Authority and others that Nyquist said profoundly worried him.

A representative from the nursing home said its gown supply was dangerously low and might not last through the weekend, Nyquist said. A state employee on the call said the agency didnt have gowns to send but would try to track some down, according to Nyquist and a Linn County health administrator.

The health authority had a different take on the conversation.

The state agency didnt get a formal request from the commissioners during that call or later in the day, a spokeswoman said in a statement. The state Department of Veterans Affairs declined comment on the call.

Still, the uncertainty led Nyquist to the Home Depot in Albany late Friday, but he didnt find anything that would work.

Nyquist and Tucker remained undeterred.

Weve staved off this crisis by begging, borrowing and stealing everything we can, Tucker said.

By about 1 p.m. Saturday, Tucker managed to get 200 extra gowns from the Lebanon Fire Department and Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital.

That averted the immediate crisis, Tucker said. He turned to a more long-term solution -- ordering cloth gowns that a contractor would wash on a regular basis.

At 1:30 p.m., The Oregonian/OregonLive sent an email to the Oregon Health Authority asking about the circumstances described by the commissioners.

About 2 p.m., the veterans home asked the health authority for 1,000 gowns, said a state agency spokeswoman, Jamie Bash. Earlier in the morning, the veterans home had said it needed equipment, but didnt say how much.

About 2:30 p.m., the health authority arranged to have the gowns delivered Sunday morning. Thats around the time when Todd Noble, the countys healthy director, said he got a call from the health authority to make a formal request for the gowns for tracking purposes.

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Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen said that there was never any doubt that the veterans home would get the gowns it needs.

They requested gowns, and were shipping those out first thing in the morning, Allen said.

Nyquist was surprised by Allens comment.

Why would we be turning over every rock to find gowns if the Oregon Health Authority had conveyed to anybody that they already had this handled? he asked.

Still, he said, Were happy its resolved now.

Kelly Fitzpatrick, director of the state Veterans Affairs Department, said shes grateful for local and state efforts to get the nursing home the equipment.

Their support for our staff and honored veterans has been unwavering, Fitzpatrick said.

While state and county leaders might disagree on the degree of the gown emergency, they agree that not enough personal protective equipment exists to meet what will likely be a substantial demand if the outbreak continues to spread in Oregon and across the U.S.

Oregon has announced 36 presumptive or confirmed cases of coronavirus in 11 counties. The state also had its first death from COVID-19, a previously identified case in Multnomah County. The man, 70, died at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Portland. He wasnt connected to the cases in the Lebanon veterans home. He had underlying health conditions and tested positive for the disease Tuesday.

The federal government has approved just a fraction of the equipment Oregon has requested, Allen said, and there are many hospitals and nursing homes besides the veterans home that need supplies.

That means the health authority must evaluate requests to make sure all health care facilities get enough to last at least two weeks, he said.

That results in people not getting what they ask for, Allen said. And this facility is not the only one like that.

The even bigger issue, though, is that the situation at the veterans home could be only the beginning.

This is a huge problem, Allen said. Well all do the best we can.

-- Fedor Zarkhin

fzarkhin@oregonian.com

desk: 503-294-7674|cell: 971-373-2905|@fedorzarkhin

Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
And then there were two. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Tonights Democratic debate was originally supposed to be hosted in Arizona  one of the four states scheduled to vote on Tuesday, along with Florida, Illinois, and Ohio  but because of the U.S. coronavirus pandemic, the debate was moved to CNNs television studio in Washington, D.C., where there will be no live audience or post-debate spin room. Its the first one-on-one debate of the Democratic primary cycle, between Joe Biden  the current delegate front-runner  and Bernie Sanders.

For highlights of the debate as it happens, go here.

What time is the debate and where is it streaming?

The debate will be held in CNNs studio in Washington, D.C., and will stream from 8 p.m. Eastern to about 10 p.m. Hosted by CNN and Univision, it can be streamed on CNNs homepage (without a cable subscription) and via CNNs mobile apps, as well as via the CNNgo apps on Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Chromecast, and Android TV.

Who will be debating?

Former vice-president Joe Biden and Vermont senator Bernie Sanders  in the first one-on-one debate of the Democratic primaries. CNN says the podiums will be six feet apart, in accordance with CDC guidelines.

The only other remaining candidate, Hawaii representative Tulsi Gabbard, did not qualify for the debate.

Who is moderating?

CNNs Dana Bash and Jake Tapper and Univisions Ilia Calderon will moderate the debate.

What to watch for

The coronavirus pandemic will undoubtedly be one of the major issues to come up during the debate. Both Biden and Sanders have criticized President Trumps handling of the crisis, and both have sought to leverage the ongoing emergency in order to highlight their core campaign messages. Biden has pushed the need for competence and experience in the U.S. response, while Sanders has argued that the public-health crisis underlines the need for Medicare for All and other policies, like an anti-hunger plan, to protect the poor and working-class Americans who will be most vulnerable to the wide-ranging impact of the coronavirus. The pandemic is also likely to affect the tone of the debate.

Delegate front-runner Biden will likely try to broaden his appeal to Sanders supporters as he closes in on the nomination and seeks to unify the party behind him. The former VP has also struggled in many of the previous debates and will now have to hold his own in a one-on-one debate for the first time. A poor performance on Sunday is unlikely to change the overall direction of the race, but it would nonetheless add fuel to concerns about Bidens age and ability to take on Trump and his campaign machine.

For Sanders  who is facing a likely insurmountable deficit in delegates as well as a sudden inability to hold rallies thanks to the coronavirus  it remains to be seen how far the self-proclaimed Democratic socialist will go to differentiate himself from the more moderate Biden. That includes if and how he will attack the former vice-president at a time when many Democrats are worried about the long-term impact of any bitterness between the candidates or their supporters.

That Sanders is still in the race at all after badly losing last weeks primaries points to the importance of the debate in his and his advisers minds. It is also possible that Sanders will try to leverage the debate to move Bidens policy proposals to the left ahead of the general election. The senator said last week that he wants to debate medical debt, climate change, and economic inequality with Biden.

Watch for how Sanders starts things off  his strategy should be clear from how he handles the first few questions.

Will this be the last debate?

Tonight is the 11th debate of the Democratic primaries, and it may be the final one too, depending on how Sanders performs in Tuesdays primaries in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, and Ohio  as well as how his campaign chooses to proceed depending on that result.
Lisbon, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Mar, 2020 ) :Portugal announced Sunday it was limiting gatherings to no more than 100 people in a bid to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

The restriction will apply to both indoor and outdoor locations and it comes into effect immediatly, Interior Minister Eduardo Cabrita told a news conference.

"We urge people to only hold meetings and gatherings that are strictly necessary," he said.

Portugal had previously ordered the cancellation of events grouping more than 1,000 people in enclosed places and more than 5,000 in open areas.

Late on Saturday the government ordered all bars to close until April 9.

Last week it ordered all educational establishments to shut down as of Monday, from kindergartens to universities, until further evaluation on April 9.

It also ordered nightclubs to close, imposed restrictions on the number of people who can visit restaurants and limited visitors to retirement homes.

Portugal, a nation of just over 10 million people, has so far reported just 245 confirmed cases of the nouvel coronavirus but there are over 2,200 "suspected" cases of the disease.

Health Minister Marta Temido warned Saturday that the country had entered "a phase of exponential growth" in infections "in line with what other European nations are facing at the moment".
Florida's famed South Beach is to close to prevent the spread of coronavirus as spring break revelers continue to party at the popular college getaway spot.

Miami Beach officials ordered hundreds of college spring breakers and others from around the world off the beach Saturday evening as part of measures to prevent large gatherings.

The most popular parts of the beach will close to the public from 4.30pm Saturday until March 19 with Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber declaring that spring break in Miami Beach is 'over' after a state of emergency was declared Thursday.

Cases of the coronavirus in Florida jumped by a third on Saturday and now exceed 60.

Two people have died in the state.

A park ranger with the City of Miami Beach stands by as spring breakers leave the beach Saturday after sections of South Beach were closed due to coronavirus concerns

Amaya Herron, a student at the University of Memphis on spring break, left, talks with a Miami Beach police officer after portions of South Beach were closed late Saturday to avoid large group gatherings that could spread the coronavirus

Spring Breakers in Miami Beach ignore the coronavirus outbreak and party, drink and vape at the beach Thursday before the beach was closed down Saturday to prevent large gatherings

The Centers for Disease Control greeted beachgoers with a floating billboard on Saturday that urged sunbathers to stay home if they are sick amid coronavirus concerns

City Manager Jimmy Morales enacted the emergency measures this weekend as party-hungry college students continued to travel to the popular spring break destination, despite the threat of the coronavirus outbreak and the news that President Trump is considering domestic travel restrictions.

The Centers for Disease Control even greeted beachgoers with a floating billboard on Saturday which urged sunbathers to avoid contact with other people who are sick.

Morales went a step further as the cases in Florida began to jump, opening up Ocean Drive to cars and deciding to close public beaches from 7th to 10th street along South Beach from 4.30pm Saturday to limit gatherings of spring breakers.

'Miami Beach is a popular vacation spot for spring breakers, yet with school closings and expanded spring breaks, the influx of visitors is extremely high,' Gelber said.

'It would be irresponsible for us not to limit crowd sizes in these public areas.

'Not only for our residents and visitors, but for the health and safety of our first responders.

'We cannot continue to put them at risk by asking them to expose themselves to the possibility of contracting this virus.'

Miami Beach police officers talk to beachgoers on spring break as they were asked to leave

A police officer drives past a closed beach entrance near Ocean Drive in Miami Beach on Saturday after portions of South Beach were closed to the public because of coronavirus

Miami Beach police officers patrol on the beach after its closure Saturday

Miami Beach police officers patrol on the beach during spring break on Saturday

In an email to Gelber, Morales claimed that spring breakers 'don't seem to care about viruses' but that these measures should go some way to cutting down potentially harmful large gatherings.

Police and civilian ambassadors were being called in to implement the 4.30pm closing down time.

'The idea is to force folks to make decisions to either go into the stores, restaurants or bars, or go back to their hotels to hang out,' Morales wrote to commissioners.

'The goal is to avoid the huge crowds that clearly pose both a health hazard and a public disorder risk.'

'Let's hope this approach makes a difference,' he added.

Morales has emergency powers to enforce the closures until March 19.

The most popular stretches of public beach on South Beach will be closed to the public after 5 p.m. beginning Saturday evening under a new emergency measure to tackle the potential spread of the coronavirus, as described in these documents from city officials

Miami Beach Commissioner Mark Samuelian added that strong measures were needed to ensure public safety and to curb the spread.

'It is certainly unprecedented,' he said.

'We're trying to keep people as healthy as possible, and specifically we are being advised by medical professionals that these type of large crowds are not in people's well being.'

'This is a public safety issue and we have got to address this,' he added.

'I support these measures and I believe it is the right thing for the community and frankly for the safety of these spring breakers.'

As well as beach closures, restaurants and clubs in Miami Beach must, from Friday, restrict their occupancy to 250 people.

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

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

Spring Breakers in Miami Beach ignore the coronavirus outbreak and party, drink and vape at the beach last Thursday but come Saturday had been ordered off as the beach closes

Schools and universities across the United States are closing as the coronavirus impacts American's everyday lives, but that hasn't stopped young people from partying it up in Miami for spring break.

Photos taken Thursday show scantily clad revelers taking to Miami Beach 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, these party-goers sported swim suits and trunks.

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.

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

Gelber announced Thursday that City Manager Morales had declared a state of emergency in the city.

The move granted the city managers special powers to close private clubs, limit beach access and install a curfew for the next three days.

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.
At a daily briefing, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that more cases are being reported every day in Europe than in China at the height of its epidemic.

Calling it "a tragic milestone" that 5,000 people died of COVID-19 worldwide, as more than 132,000 cases have been reported to WHO from 123 countries and regions, he urged all to take a comprehensive approach to contain the spreading virus.

"Any country that looks at the experience of other countries with large epidemics and thinks 'that won't happen to us' is making a deadly mistake," he warned.

MORE DEATHS

On Friday, Italy, the worst hit country in Europe, reported 250 new deaths from the coronavirus, bringing the country's death toll to 1,266.

A total of 14,955 people have tested positive for the coronavirus since the epidemic first emerged in northern Italy on Feb. 21.

France said 18 people diagnosed with the coronavirus died on Friday, bringing its death toll to 79, while the confirmed cases rose to 3,661 on Friday from 2,876 on Thursday.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the government has decided to lower the size limit for gatherings to 100 people from the previous 1,000, in order to "slow down" the spread of the virus and the ban will apply throughout the national territory.

In Spain, the number of coronavirus cases had risen from around 3,200 on Thursday to 4,334 on Friday, with 122 deaths. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday placed the country on a "state of alert".

The number of deaths in the Netherlands rose from five to ten in one day, while the number of people who tested positive for the virus increased by 190 to 804 on Friday.

Switzerland decided on Friday to close schools and ban public and private gatherings involving more than 100 people as its COVID-19 cases rose to 1,009, and death toll at nine.

Denmark announced that it would be closing its borders starting from 12:00 noon Saturday as 801 people have been infected. Until April 13, any non-resident without a valid reason for entering will be banned entry.

In Austria, as those infected topped 500, all non-essential businesses nationwide will be closed from Monday, while the closing hours of all restaurants, bars and cafes will be at 3 p.m. staring from next week. From Monday there will be flight bans for France, Spain and Switzerland.

Ireland and Luxembourg reported their first COVID-19 death respectively.

Finland confirmed 51 new cases, including one in the Finnish Defence Forces, bringing the country's total to 161, approaching the threshold to define the outbreak as an epidemic.

In Slovenia, the number of confirmed cases rose to 141 by 2 pm on Friday, while three new cases had been confirmed in Lithuania, making the total number to six.

DRASTIC MEASURES

With the fast spread of COVID-19, European countries were joining Italy in adopting intensified measures to curb the disease, including closing schools, declaring national emergency and closing borders.

Two German states -- Saarland and Bavaria -- on Friday announced closures of all schools and day-care facilities for children.

The number of confirmed cases in Germany amounted to 3,062 as of Friday afternoon, according to Robert Koch Institute, the disease control authority. So far, five people in Germany have died from the disease, all of them older than 67 .

The Bulgarian National Assembly, the country's parliament, declared a nationwide state of emergency Friday, taking effect immediately and be in force for one month. Nurseries, kindergartens, schools, universities and other educational organizations are closed and all kinds of mass events suspended.

From next Monday, Czech citizens and foreigners with permanent residence in the country will be banned from travelling abroad, while foreigners are also not allowed entry. A mandatory two-week quarantine will be imposed on Czech nationals and residents returning from 15 high risk countries, mostly in Europe.

On Friday, the biggest theme park of the Netherlands, Efteling, decided to close its doors until March 31. Universities are closed and switch to online lectures. The Dutch government has called on people to work from home as much as possible.

Greek authorities on Friday further expanded closure measures by ordering the shutdown of museums, archaeological sites, restaurants, coffee shops, bars, shopping malls and libraries nationwide, as confirmed cases climbed to 190 from 117 a day earlier.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday night that Budapest will close all the schools as of Monday, March 16. Hungary reported three new cases on Friday, bringing the total to 19.

Poland declared a state of emergency on Friday, 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.

Non-Polish nationals will be barred entry after Saturday, while 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.

Malls, restaurants, clubs, bars and casinos are also closed while gatherings of over 50 people banned.

In Luxembourg City, all schools are closed. All events with the participation of over 100 people are cancelled and large gatherings should be also avoided.

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) announced on Friday that all visitors will be subjected to a mandatory 14-day quarantine, starting from Monday March 16.
You might notice something unusual, not to mention unfortunate, next time you try to stock up on bathroom supplies at your local grocery store.

Not just the bare shelves where hand sanitizer and cleansing wipes were plentiful only a few weeks ago, but the empty aisles where toilet paper usually abounds in quantities from single rolls to packages of more than a dozen.

Some are even adorned with signs limiting the number of purchases per customer.

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Such caps have become a trend in the U.S. and Canada after supermarkets in the United Kingdom ran out and grocery stores across Australia hired security guards to make sure the rules are followed.

What's the reason for the run, especially when toilet paper isn't known to have any virus-blocking properties?

One is reason is that people are going to extremes because of conflicting messages, Steven Taylor, a clinical psychologist and author of "The Psychology of Pandemics," told CNN.

TRUMP DECLARES NATIONAL EMERGENCY IN RESPONSE TO CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

"On the one hand, [the response is] understandable, but on the other hand it's excessive," Taylor, a professor and clinical psychologist at the University of British Columbia, told the TV network. "We can prepare without panicking."

The novel coronavirus has scared many Americans because there is little information -- and there isn't a vaccine yet. When people hear conflicting messages about the risk, it affects how they cope and how they prepare, Taylor said.

The second reason: They aren't receiving clear direction from the government.

Many are watching what's happening in Europe and clinging to their own knowledge on how to best prepare for a mass quarantine. Although the United States has said it wouldn't consider such a measure, people still believe it's a real possibility.

CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK IN ITALIAN HOSPITALS IS A 'TSUNAMI,' DOCTOR SAYS

Social media has heightened the tension, as have visits to stores where other shoppers are stockpiling with abandon.

Story continues

With the shelves of many retailers across the country remaining empty for over a week, consumers are buying in bulk so that they won't need to come back for some time.

"People, being social creatures, we look to each other for cues for what is safe and what is dangerous," he said. "And when you see someone in the store panic-buying, that can cause a fear-contagion effect."

Finally, purchasing products in bulk gives people a sense of control over their situations, releasing some pent-up anxiety.

"People become anxious ahead of the actual infection," Taylor said. "They haven't thought about the bigger picture, like what are the consequences of stockpiling toilet paper."

As of March 14th, the United States has 2,195 reported COVID-19 cases with 49 confirmed fatalities. Worldwide, more than 130,000 people have been infected, and more than 4,900 have died.

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He's spent the past few days out and about ignoring panic with his family and new girlfriend, Ana de Armas.

But Ben Affleck proved on Sunday that he was taking coronavirus concerns very seriously and thinking about everyone who was suffering.

The 47-year-old took to social media to promote Feeding America and their work in providing food for children at this time.

Helping: Ben Affleck asked fans to join him in donating to children losing access to food and other vulnerable groups in an Instagram addressing the coronavirus crisis. Above March 2020

'During these times of uncertainty, I'm thinking about our most vulnerable populations - children who are losing access to meals they rely on, our friends and family who are facing job disruptions, the elderly, and low-income families,' he began.

Ben went on to promote the work that the food bank does for people in need and encouraged his 4 million followers to lend their support and donate to the cause.

'Join me in supporting @FeedingAmerica, the nationwide network of 200 food banks working tirelessly to feed our neighbors around the country,' he added.

The Batman actor has been connected to the charitable organization since 2007.

Do what you can: 'During these times of uncertainty, I'm thinking about our most vulnerable populations - children who are losing access to meals they rely on, our friends and family who are facing job disruptions, the elderly, and low-income families,' he began

Philanthropy: The Batman actor has been connected to the charitable organization since 2007, seen above in 2009

Ben himself has also been affected by the coronavirus shutdowns, with production of his upcoming film, Hypnotic, being delayed.

The ex-husband of Jennifer Garner was due to begin filming at the end of April in Los Angeles, but production company, Solstice Studios, have now pushed it back.

'We will be taking a temporary hiatus to take necessary precautions to ensure the health of our cast and crew,' a rep revealed in a statement.

And with some extra time on his hands, Ben has been spending his days with new love and former Deep Water co-star, Ana de Armas.

The pair were recently spotted on a romantic vacation away together in Cuba and are still going strong.

New flame? Ben has been spending his days with new love and former Deep Water co-star, Ana de Armas, seen together on set in November above

And as for ex Jen, she's happy for them, according to Us Weekly sources.

'Ben and Ana are happy together and officially dating,' they revealed, while adding that the mother of his three kids has 'completely moved on from Ben in a romantic sense.'

'She considers him a friend, thinks he is a good dad to their children and respects him,' the source added.

'She is happy in her own life and supportive of him and happy for him and his relationship,' the source said.

Ben and Jen married in 2005 before splitting exactly ten years later.

They amicably co-parent their three children, Violet, 14, Seraphina, 11, and Samuel, eight.
The Madhya Pradesh government on



Sunday evening said it has no objection if MLAs it claimed were being held captive by the BJP sought Central Reserve Police Force protection.

In an official statement, state Home Minister Bala Bachchan, however, said MP police was fully capable of protecting them.

"The Congress MLAs held in captivity by the BJP in Bengaluru can seek CRPF protection if they want. The Madhya Pradesh government has no objection. However, MP police is fully competent in providing security to them," he said.

Citing media reports on this demand by the MLAs, he said, "If the captive legislators feel they need stronger security, they can take help of the CRPF."



The MLAs, who resigned from the party and sent their resignations from the Assembly to the speaker, had in letters to the latter claimed law and order in MP was poor.

BJP leaders, including former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, had also said the law and order situation in MP was poor and claimed the convoy of former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, who joined the saffron part recently, was attacked while he was on his way to the airport on Friday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Australian Grand Prix was cancelled earlier this week, amid the coronavirus chaos that is gripping the country.

But on Sunday, former Bachelor Tim Robards, 37, and wife Anna Heinrich, 33, made the best of a bad situation by enjoying a romantic date.

Taking to Instagram, the Neighbours star and his model wife looked a picture of love and happiness while spending time at an upscale hotel.

Romance! Tim Robards, 37, and wife Anna Heinrich, 33, shared a romantic date together at a Melbourne hotel after the Australian Grand Prix was cancelled due to coronavirus this week

'Looks like we're just chilling in Melbourne this weekend... can't complain,' Tim wrote, sharing a series of snaps of the pair.

The hunky chiropractor then joked about the cancellation of the event.

'Who wants to watch fast cars anyway ... Hope everyone's enjoying a chill out and focusing on what's important to you!'

Keeping calm: Tim and Anna (both pictured) were all smiles during the coffee date, with Anna beaming as she sat beside the hunky chiropractor-turned-actor

The Australian Grand Prix was cancelled after the McLaren team pulled out, following a team member testing positive for the coronavirus.

The photos showed Anna giving Tim a sweet kiss on the cheek, as the pair chilled out with a coffee together.

Anna then nestled up to Tim in a second photo, with the blonde beauty smiling widely as she posed next his muscular shoulder.

'When we have kids we definitely want to be in the same state': Tim explained in January

Tim is currently based in Melbourne for his role in Neighbours, while Anna remains at their home in the city of Sydney.

The high-profile couple admitted they have put off having children together, due to the distance caused by their working life.

'I'm 33 and we always wanted to have a family,' Anna admitted to WHO magazine in January, adding that Tim's career has been a barrier in their quest for children.

'When we have kids we definitely want to be in the same state,' Tim explained.

'I'm 33 and we always wanted to have a family': Anna, who is based in Sydney, has to wait until Tim finishes working on Neighbours in Melbourne before they can have children

'So we'll just see how the start of this year pans out and go from there.'

Tim and Anna met on the first season of The Bachelor back in 2013.

They officially tied-the-knot in 2018 in a lavish Italian wedding ceremony surrounded by friends and family.

One month after their nuptials, Tim relocated to Melbourne after landing the role of Pierce Greyson on Neighbours, leaving Anna behind in Sydney.
https://www.aish.com/sp/pg/Coronavirus-Quarantine-6-Ways-to-Stay-Positive.html

How to stay sane and healthy if you're in quarantine.

As a psychiatrist working between America and Israel, I often find myself speaking with anxious patients. With the current coronavirus pandemic, Ive had my hands full, fielding queries from patients in multiple continents with all sorts of challenging issues.

The most common question has been, How can I keep myself from getting it? The answer to that one is easy: follow the national health care organizations recommendations  whether its the Israeli Ministry of Health or the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The second most common question is a bit more novel: How can I stay sane if Ive been quarantined? With this in mind  and with millions of people across the world in either voluntary or enforced isolation at home  there is the potential for serious stress, loneliness, and fear of being stuck at home with nothing to do and nowhere to go. So whether youre in isolation or worried you might be at some point in the near future, here are 6 ways to stay positive during quarantine.

1. Stay in contact. In Judaism, we have a beautiful mitzvah called Bikur Cholim, visiting the sick. This mitzvah helps our fellow Jews to stay positive in a time of illness and to help them in their recovery process. While its against Jewish law to visit people when you could expose them to a contagious disease, that shouldnt stop you from calling them. For every person whos going stir crazy in their apartment, the good news is that youre not alone and can easily call a friend, family member, colleague, or neighbor whos stuck in the same boat. This fulfills the mitzvah of Bikur Cholim and reminds us that we are never alone.

2. Exercise. Just because your gym is closed doesnt mean that you cant do your daily exercise routine. Many good studies show that daily cardiovascular exercise works as a treatment for anxiety and depressive disorders. Not feeling anxious or depressed yet? Exercise is also a preventative measure to promote mental wellbeing. So dust off that treadmill, unroll that yoga mat, or start a new regimen of push-ups, sit-ups, and jumping jacks today.

3. Mindfulness. Weve all heard about mindfulness but very few of us actually practice it. Somewhere between meditation and relaxation is this form of psychological self-soothing that allows a person to be aware of their internal state. Mindfulness is a tremendous tool for decreasing ones emotional temperature, especially during times of stress! Now is a great time to learn mindfulness practice and to put it to use. The smartphone apps Headspace and Calm are a great place to start.

4. Make it Happen. Have you ever wanted to understand how volcanoes work, wished you spoke better Hebrew, or learned how to weave your own kilt? Now is your chance to take on that amazing academic project you always wanted to tackle! Not only do you have the time, but it will keep your mind off of anything worrisome while simultaneously keeping you productive. Perhaps you wanted to join up with Daf Yomi, the daily Talmudic study, that tens of thousands of Jews do on a daily basis world-wide. Maybe its time to start reading the daily Torah portion. Wherever your learning level is at, theres always more to be done and now you finally have the time!

5. Pray. Yep. For sure it will help. Many good scientific studies have shown how prayer keeps people grounded, and optimistic. This contributes to better medical and psychological outcomes due to the power of positive thinking. Across the world, everyone is praying because the truth is that without a vaccine and any better advice than staying vigilant and washing our hands, we have nowhere else to turn than to our Creator. Starting with Psalms is always a good place: I lift up my eyes to the mountains, from where will my help come? My help will come from God, maker of Heaven and Earth, (Psalms 121: 1-2).

6. Keep the Big Picture in Mind. The coronavirus is only a few nanometers in size and yet its wreaking havoc upon the mightiest of people and has brought the mightiest countries in the world to their knees. The irony should not be too hard to grasp and we should all remember how many miraculous things we have going for us. Just consider it for a moment how good life is: If youre reading this, you have electricity and most likely clean water and food. Presumably someone shared this link with you which means that people care about you and the people youll share this link with are people you care about too. Remember how blessed you are and with Gods help we will all get through this alive and well.
The second form asked specific questions about symptoms and travel to coronavirus hot zones, she said.

The form instructs passengers to circle countries they visited in the last 14 days and asks if they've had any symptoms such as fever, coughing or difficulty breathing, Deibler said.

There were not enough copies for all the passengers on the flight, and many had to wait for more forms to be handed out.

"They didn't have pens and told us to share," she said. "Which sounds like a great thing in the middle of the pandemic."

Three taken to the hospital after screenings at JFK

Another traveler, Nick Carlin, also expressed concern passengers were told to share pens, and there was no hand sanitizer at JFK, he said.

"It definitely was a little scattered and disorganized," said Chris Nadolne, a passenger who arrived to JFK. "I can see how people would start to get frustrated as the line got longer. ... No bathrooms nearby and no antibacterial around for people to use -- unlike in the UK and Paris where it is everywhere."
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has sent a handwritten note to actor Radhika Madan praising her performance in the recently released "Angrezi Medium".

Radhika on Saturday took to Instagram to share the picture of the note and a bouquet Bachchan sent her after watching the film.

The young actor said she was both "speechless" and "overwhelmed" on receiving the note.

"@amitabhbachchan sir it's an honour to receive this. I always used to imagine my door bell ringing after my film's release and a person standing outside saying 'Amitabh Bachchan sir ne aapke liye phool aur ek note bheja hai' and me fainting right after that.

"Thankfully I didn't faint when I actually received it. I just stood there for a few seconds soaking it all in, teary eyed, in gratitude," she wrote alongside a few pictures.

Radhika, who also has films such as "Pataakha" and "Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota", said the gesture by Bachchan "motivated" her to work harder and entertain audience with even more honest performances.

"Thank you for making my dream come true Sir... #AngreziMedium 14.3.2020," she added.

"Angrezi Medium", also starring Irrfan, Deepak Dobriyal, and Kareena Kapoor Khan, released across India on Friday barring Delhi, Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir, where theatres are closed till March 31 to help fight the spread of novel coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
EAST LANSING, MI -- Just days after taking the unprecedented step to temporarily cancel in-person classes because of coronavirus COVID-19 spread, Michigan State Univesitys president has gone even further.

MSU President Samuel Stanley, in a letter to students Saturday, March 14, extended virtual teaching through the semester and said commencement would be postponed.

As we collectively continue to monitor the novel coronavirus pandemic, the number of cases of across our community and state continues to accelerate. The leadership at Michigan State University continues to meet daily on this topic and make decisions we think are best to keep our Spartan community healthy and safe, he wrote.

Updated maps: Michigan coronavirus cases and exposure sites

Today, we decided that all classes and instruction will continue to be offered in virtual settings through the conclusion of the semester, including finals, Stanley continued.

He said students should no longer worry about returning for in-person classes by April 20.

Because the colleges of Human Medicine, Nursing, Osteopathic Medicine and Veterinary Medicine have unique requirements, students in those regimens will receive additional guidance.

Stanley said the university will make every effort to reschedule commencement.

Students who have not already returned to their permanent residence are strongly encouraged to do so, he said.

In the letter, he said administrators were notified Friday of the first confirmed case related to the MSU community, and we anticipate there will be more.

So far in Michigan, state health leaders have recorded 25 presumptive positive cases of coronavirus COVID-19.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has ordered all K-12 schools to temporarily close.

We are making all our operational and educational decision based on scientific data and healthcare practices that will keep us safer, Stanley wrote.

He made a point of mentioning media coverage showing students in long lines to get inside crowded East Lansing bars in the last few days and said he was concerned and troubled" by the images.

The spread of the novel coronavirus is very serious, and our students need to understand the critical importance of social distancing and how the virus can spread quickly in large crowds, Stanley said.

More from MLIve

Spectrum Health opens drive-through coronavirus testing for pre-screened people

Is Michigan overreacting to coronavirus concerns or protecting public health?

Gov. Whitmer bans non-essential hospital visits, urges virtual meetings as COVID-19 count rises
In a press conference yesterday, featuring a parade of executives from companies like CVS and Target, Trump hinted at the possibility of adding the U.K. and Ireland to a growing list of countries banned from U.S. travel. During a followup presser today helmed by Presidential COVID-19 point person, Mike, Pence, the additions were made official.

The Vice President noted that the decision was made following unanimous recommendation from health officials. The President has made a decision to suspend all travel to the United Kingdom and Ireland, effective midnight Monday, EST, Pence announced, adding, Americans in the UK and Ireland can come home [] but they will be funneled through specific airports and processes.

Those are the usual caveats for the recent string of bans. In many cases, returning citizens have been subject to screenings to ensure that theyre not harboring the virus. The moves are intended to reflect the spread of the virus.

If you look at what was formally the main feeder of this outbreak. They have 80,000 cases but only 11 new cases and seven new deaths, immunologist Anthony Fauci said, following Pence. "Things have switched over from China now and that is what has switched over the travel restrictions. You will see a curve of how the coronavirus outbreak evolved...weve seen it already with China and were starting to see it with Korea.

The U.K. and Ireland were previously spared from the 30 day European travel ban. The list previously included, 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.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 16:11:47|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Countries around the world are responding to the COVID-19 outbreak as the number of infections continues to grow worldwide in the past 24 hours.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said in a situation report that it had, as of 10 a.m. CET (0900 GMT) Saturday, received a report of 142,539 confirmed cases and 5,393 deaths globally.

Europe has become the epicenter of the pandemic, with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of world combined, apart from China.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Saturday a "State of Alarm" in the country, locking down 46 million citizens for 15 days from 8 a.m. (0700 GMT) Monday morning.

The number of confirmed cases in Spain has spiraled to over 6,300, with an increase of around 1,500 in 24 hours.

Italy has confirmed 21,157 confirmed cases as of 6 p.m. (1700 GMT) Saturday, including deaths and recoveries.

On Saturday, Iran announced that 12,729 people have been infected with COVID-19 so far, of whom 611 have died and 4,339 have recovered.

According to local media, Iranian authorities are considering a partial lockdown of 11 provinces in the country to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.

South Korea reported 76 more cases, the smallest daily increase since Feb. 21, on Saturday night, raising the total number of infections to 8,162.

The United States has reported 2,726 COVID-19 cases as of Saturday night with at least 54 deaths, according to a tally of Johns Hopkins University.

The White House announced on Saturday that it is extending Europe travel restrictions to Britain and Ireland over COVID-19 concerns, which will be effective Monday midnight EST time (0400 GMT Tuesday).
For at least the past three decades, life has increasingly focused on forging deeper connections. Global trade has enveloped us, cheaper air travel has made us citizens of the world, and digital communications deliver a flow of information thats instantaneous and so bounteous that its more than any one of us can handle.

Soldiers spray disinfectant as a precaution against the coronavirus in Gyeongsan, South Korea. Credit:AP

But thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, things are going the other way. By necessity, were on our way to being separated and theres an ever-stronger feeling of disconnection, physically and intellectually. Our Prime Minister announces almost $18 billion of spending to try to stave off economic collapse because of the highly contagious COVID-19. Because of the gravity of the situation, he gives a televised address and declares, Well get through this together, Australia. Then he insists that hell be part of a large crowd to see his beloved Sharks play footy on Saturday, no worries.

The disconnect was obvious. What is there to get through if we can just go about as normal and turn up to crowded public events? Inevitably, medical advisers recommended a new normal  no non-essential public gatherings of more than 500 people  but not until after the game on Monday, giving the PM a fig leaf that he abandoned when he realised how silly he looked.

Scott Morrison would have known how bad the effects of this coronavirus could be when he did his rah-rah bit late last week. But hes continuing to view his role chiefly through a political prism, presenting a largely upbeat message, with just the smallest tinge of foreboding  mostly a sort of Keep Calm and Carry On formulation.
Kabul, March 15 : The Afghanistan government has detected five more positive coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 16, a health official said on Sunday.

According to the spokesman for Public Health Ministry, Wahid Mayar, four new positive cases of the disease have been detected in Herat and another one in the central Daikundi province, reports Xinhua news agency.

The first positive case in Afghanistan was detected in Herat bordering Iran weeks ago and so far 10 positive cases of the disease have been confirmed in the province, according to Mayar.

According to the officials, the number of suspected cases has been on rise and so far 206 suspected patientins have been tested across Afghanistan.

The majority of those carrying the killing virus have returned from Iran, a neighbouring country that has been hosting more than two million Afghan refugees, according to health officials.
The wife of Governor of Anambra State and founder of Caring Family Enhancement Initiative (CAFE), an NGO, Her Excellency, Dr. (Mrs.) Ebelechukwu Obiano (Osodieme) has called on the Mothers Union of the Anglican Communion to dedicate themselves to praying against malady and global adversity.

Dr. Mrs. Obiano made the plea in a special message she delivered today in Awka during the 2020 Mothering Sunday by the Mothers' Union of Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion against the backdrop of the global Corona Virus Covid 19 pandemic.

According to Mrs. Obiano, this year's Mothering Sunday of the Anglican Communion is coming at a time of global health challenge with attendant adversity and uncertainty. It therefore calls for prayers by our mothers, especially those of the Anglican Communion who are observing their special day in the church today.

In her words: In our interconnected world, no one can claim to be safe from the fast-spreading global pandemic. As mothers we all are worried about the wellbeing of families. Women are proven vessels of evangelization and prayers, and it is a good time for us to deploy that special talent. I therefore urge mothers of the Anglican Communion to kneel in supplication to God on this special occasion to ease the pains of the sick everywhere and heal the world.

Mrs Obiano further stated that although our country is not at the epicenter of the fast-spreading virus we should all be concerned and should lend our voices in prayers as people of faith because God is love and will not abandon His children, especially in this period of malady and adversity.

Mrs. Obiano also commended the Anambra State government for its concern for the wellbeing and health of the citizens by adopting a proactive approach to health information dissemination as well as sustaining an excellent regime of religious harmony among ndi Anambra of varied faith, thereby ensuring peaceful coexistence.

Mothering Sunday is celebrated annually by mothers in Christendom on specific days by different denominations. It is observed today by the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion.
A 'smoking gun' text message shows a Foreign Office official acquiesced to American spy Anne Sacoolas leaving Britain 'on the next flight out' following the death of teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told the Commons that his department had 'objected in clear and strong terms' to former CIA agent Anne Sacoolas fleeing to America after the fatal crash outside RAF Croughton last August.

But he has now been forced to disclose private communications between British and US officials in the days before Ms Sacoolas left, after Harry's family took legal action against the Foreign Office.

An incendiary text message exchange between a senior Foreign Office official and a US counterpart suggested Ms Sacoolas was free to leave on the next commercial flight.

Last night, the family of Harry, 19, who died in the collision with Ms Sacoolas's 4x4, said the evidence handed to the High Court by the Foreign Office skewered Mr Raab's statement to the Commons.

Pictured: Harry Dunn, 19, who died in a motorbike crash outside RAF Croughton last August

Harry died on August 27 last year, with Ms Sacoolas admitting to police she caused the crash by driving on the wrong side of the road.

The US government insisted that as the registered spouse of a serving diplomat posted to Britain, she had diplomatic immunity and she fled on September 15. The Dunn family were not told for 11 days.

Last month, the MoS revealed that Ms Sacoolas had previously served as a CIA agent.

Harry's family are now attempting to have Foreign Office advice to Northamptonshire Police that Ms Sacoolas was above the law and could not be arrested voided through a judicial review.

The High Court is also expected to hear evidence that the FCO initially fought US insistence that Ms Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity and claimed the wording of a treaty with America that indicated she might have was 'ambiguous'.

Two weeks ago, the MoS revealed the botched treaty made diplomats working at the base criminally liable for their actions but did not mention spouses. Washington used that omission to insist Ms Sacoolas could not be prosecuted and Mr Raab eventually accepted this controversial interpretation.

It will be challenged in court on April 2.

The MoS has spoken to a number of Whitehall aides who expressed shock at the Foreign Office's handling of the affair and said they believe Mr Raab will attempt to blame his officials for the scandal.

American Anne Sacoolas, pictured in Virginia where she and her family returned after she killed British teenager Harry Dunn in Northamptonshire, where they were posted at the time

Britain's foreign secretary Dominic Raab, who is accused by the Dunn family's lawyer of misleading the House of Commons when he said FCO objected to US claims of immunity

A senior Government source said: 'They are absolutely clucking at the FCO and it's going to look terrible when it comes to court. The words smoking gun have been used.'

On the website set up to crowdfund the family's legal challenge, Harry's father Tim wrote on Friday: 'It is becoming clear the FCO has never been entirely straight with the public over what happened in the days after Harry's untimely death. We will provide more information when we are able to according to court rules.'

Harry's mother Charlotte Charles said: 'Having seen what we have now seen, we feel vindicated in not being bullied into giving up by the FCO. We will not let Harry's death be in vain.

'The truth will come out and I hope we will all be the safer for it and this Government and governments to come never again take such liberties with our lives and rights.'

Last night, the family's lawyer and spokesman, Radd Seiger, added: 'The FCO handling of the matter from the moment Harry died has been a matter of concern for us. We now have more visibility of the extent to which we believe Parliament was misled by Mr Raab in his statement to the House in October, where he said the FCO objected strongly to Anne Sacoolas being returned to the United States.

'They appear to have consented to her departure.'

Last night the FCO said they were 'confident that we have acted properly and lawfully throughout'.

A spokesman added: 'As the Foreign Secretary explained to Parliament, we consistently called for immunity to be waived, but the police could not have lawfully prevented the individual in question from leaving. We will continue to do everything we can to see justice done.'

Harry's family are fundraising at crowdjustice.com/case/harrydunn/
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Former Vice-President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders will be squaring off for the first one-on-one debate of the Democratic presidential nominating contests on Sunday in the shadow of a coronavirus outbreak that has killed at least 59 people in the United States so far.

Biden comes to the debate once again as a front-runner, buoyed by a string of recent victories in the Democratic president nominating contests. And Sanders will be looking to rescue and re-energize his campaign, badly battered from these defeats, some of them far worse than expected.

Sunday night will be the first time the two candidates will face-off in a one-on-debate (Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard is still in the race, but has not qualified for the debate). Sanders has proven himself the better debater, more forceful, lucid and good with one-liners (I wrote that Damn Bill). Biden has been prone to making mistakes and fumbling for answers.

But experts have pointed to the limited impact debates have had on the nominating contests. Senator Elizabeth Warren, for instance, dominated the last some debates  including an epic takedown of billionaire Michael Bloomberg  but could not translate them into electoral victories, and quit the race.

The path forward for Sanders has been rapidly narrowing and the upcoming bunch of nominating contests in four states on Tuesday  Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio  hold not much good news for him. He has found little traction in Florida, for instance, the largest of them in terms of delegate count.

Biden, on the other hand, is riding a momentum since his pivotal win in the South Carolina primaries. He went to win 10 of the 14 Super Tuesday states and picked up four of the six last week. Biden leads Sanders 885-732 in the count of delegates; the winner needs 1,991.

Moderate Democrats are rapidly coalescing around his candidacy with with mounting urgency to end the race and let him and the party focus on beating President Donald Trump in the November elections. Calls have already started being made for Sanders to quit the race.

The Sunday debate will be held without a live audience and the venue has been shifted from Arizona to Washington DC in view of the coronavirus outbreak, which has also forced the two candidates to call off campaign rallies and event. They have switched to digital town-halls and fire-side chats instead.
Bhopal, March 16 : Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath late Sunday night met Governor Lalji Tandon at Raj Bhavan amid deepening political crisis in the state.

Earlier in the day, BJP leaders had also met Tandon. Leader of Opposition and BJP leader Gopal Bhargava and Narottam Mishra had met the Governor for not mentioning the floor test in the list of business of state Assembly's first day of the Budget session on Monday.

The Governor had, on late Saturday, written to Chief Minister Kamal Nath, asking him to prove his majority in the house. After that, the BJP had told him that the electronic voting system in the house was not functioning and the Governor, in another letter on Sunday, told Kamal Nath that if the electronic system was not working, then the members vote by raising their hands.
Messi pleads 'stay at home' amid coronavirus outbreak



Barcelona and Argentina star Lionel Messi took to Instagram on Saturday to ask people to stay home as a precautionary measure to inhibit the spread of the coronavirus.

"Now is the time to be responsible and stay at home. These are complicated days for everyone," Messi wrote in Spanish in his post, as translated by the BBC.

Reports published Saturday suggest the Spanish government will declare a state of emergency, locking down the country and requesting that its citizens stay home.

With more than 140,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus worldwide, social gatherings and sporting events around the globe have been postponed or canceled as experts stress the importance of social distancing.

"We are worried about what is happening and we want to help by putting ourselves in the shoes of those who are getting the worst of it, either because it has directly affected them, their family, or their friends, or because they are working on the front lines to combat it in hospitals and healthcare centers," Messi continued in his post.

"I wish them all plenty of strength," he added. "Health must always come first. This is an exceptional situation and the instructions of both healthcare organizations and public authorities must be followed. This is the only way it can be combated effectively."
The antibody still has to be tested on humans.

A world premiere from Erasmus MC and Utrecht University: they found an antibody against COVID-19. The scientific publication of the group of ten scientists is ready for assessment by the leading journal Nature.

Professor of cell biology Frank Grosveld (71) keeps his cool: I am too old to jump on a table, Erasmus Magazine reports.

Since Thursday evening, the article by a team of ten scientists, of which Grosveld is a member, has been online on BioRxiv  a website where biologists can publish their research before it will be assessed by the prestigious journal Nature. In the summary, the scientists describe an antibody to SARS2, the coronavirus causing the current pandemic (COVID-19). The antibody can help detect and prevent this type of corona infection. It is a world's first.

Read alsoQuarantine in Ukraine: PM urges citizens to refrain even from domestic travel

The antibody still has to be tested on humans (and this will take months) and the article is under peer review before Nature will publish it. But Grosveld is hopeful: "We expect an email any moment." says the Spinoza Prize winner in his lab on the tenth floor.
Education bosses on Saturday called off school holiday camps for thousands of French children in the latest measure aimed at combating the coronavirus pandemic.

"Due to what is happening in France at the moment, holiday camps and school-based activities are cancelled for the spring holidays," said education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer.

On Thursday, President Emmanuel Macron announced the closure of France's schools, creches and universities for the fortnight leading up to the two week Easter holidays which start on 11 April.

Macron said the aim was to give health services the chance to keep pace with the flow of patients.

"Our children and young people, according to our scientists, are the ones that spread the virus the quickest, even if they have no symptoms," said Macron.

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.

On Saturday the number of coronavirus cases worldwide passed the 150,000 mark. The disease was fatal in nearly 6,000 instances. On 11 March the World Health Organization declared coronavirus a pandemic nearly three months after it emerged in China.

Blanquer's announcement came as three more French MPs - one from Macron's ruling LREM party and two from Les Republicains - revealed they had tested positive for the virus.

One of them, Michel Herbillon, said he was confined to his home in Maisons-Alfort just outside Paris. "I've had a fever and a few aches," he added.

Twelve MPs have been struck down since the coronvairus crisis hit France. Despite the spike in cases to 4,500, Macron said municipal elections would go ahead on 15 March.
N ike is closing all of its stores in the United States and several other countries to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

Nike stores in Canada, western Europe, Australia and New Zealand will be closed from March 16 to 27, the company said in a statement.

However, Nike-owned stores in South Korea, Japan, most of China and in many other countries are currently open and will continue their normal operations.

"We are taking additional steps in other Nike-managed facilities, including the option to work from home," it added.

Earlier this month, Nike had temporarily closed its European headquarters in Netherlands after an employee was infected with Covid-19.

Urban Outfitters Inc, which owns brands including Anthropologie and Free People, said on Saturday it was closing all its consumer stores worldwide until at least March 28.
Taking initiative to battle the pandemic Coronavirus (COVID-19), PM Modi on Sunday, announced setting up a common 'COVID-19 emergency fund' and pledged $10 million as India's contribution to it, while addressing a SAARC conference to battle COVID-19. Clarifying that any one of the seven nations could withdraw funds to use battle the pandemic, he said that India is also assembling a Rapid action team of doctors at the disposal of the neighbours. Moreover, he said that India can share its Disease Surveillance software with the SAARC countries.

PM Modi leads SAARC conference on Coronavirus, shares 'Prepare, don't panic' mantra

PM Modi announces COVID-19 Emergency fund

"I propose we create a COVID-19 emergency fund. This could be based on a voluntary contribution for all of us. India can start with an initial offer of USD 10 million and any one of us can use this fund for battling COVID19. We are assembling a Rapid action team of doctors in India along with testing kits to be on standby at your disposal if required," he said.

He added, "We can also quickly arrange online training capsules for our emergency response teams. This will be based on the model we've used in our own country. We had set up an Integrated Disease Surveillance Portal to better trace possible virus carriers and the people they contacted. We could share this Disease Surveillance software with SAARC partners and training on using this."

Australian PM Scott Morrison lauds PM Modi's 'G-20 link-up' efforts to battle Coronavirus

PM Modi proposes 'common research platform'

Looking into the future, PM Modi proposed setting up a common research platform to control epidemic diseases in South-East Asia. Highlighting the economic consequences of COVID-19, he said the countries' must brainstorm to insulate the region from its effects. He asked other leaders to share their views on the issue.

"We could create a common research platform, to coordinate research on controlling epidemic diseases within our South Asian region. The Indian Council of Medical Research can offer help coordinating such an exercise. We can ask our experts to brainstorm on the economic consequences of COVID-19 and how we can insulate our internal trade and local value chain from its impact."

BMC Commissioner explains why Maharashtra has the highest Coronavirus cases; lauds govt

COVID-19 SAARC conference

The Prime Minister addressed a SAARC video conference to share each other efforts and issues as the seven countries battle the pandemic. The video conference was led by PM Modi and was attended by Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, Maldives President Ibrahim Solih, Sri Lanka president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bhutan Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's assistant - Dr Zafar Mirza. PM Modi highlighted the SAARC's ancient ties and said that 'we must work and succeed together'. As of date, the total number of positive cases in India has risen upto 107, with two deaths in the country.

MHA suspends passenger movement through all immigration check points at Indian borders
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By West Kentucky Star Staff

Mar. 14, 2020 | BENTONVILLE

By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 14, 2020 | 08:22 PM | BENTONVILLE

Walmart stores will not be open 24 hours each day until further notice.



In a statement, Danoca Smith, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Walmart, praised employees for their hard work during this period when many are stocking up on supplies for their homes.



People have been depleting some stores of toilet paper, hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies and food in case they are asked stay home by state or local governments, or if they have to self-quarantine due to illness. Others are stocking up because schools have dismissed as a safety precaution.



Smith said beginning Sunday, 24-hour stores will be open from 6 am until 11 pm. This will allow associates to restock their inventory and properly clean the stores during the overnight period. Stores that have been using reduced hours will keep their current schedules.



The change should not affect hours for store employees, and supply chain workers and truckers will continue on their regular schedules.



Signs have been posted at entrances of several local stores to notify customer of the change.





Here is Smith's complete statement:



March 14, 2020

By Dacona Smith, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Walmart U.S.



I could not be prouder of our associates and what they continue to accomplish for our customers. I dont think any of us have been through an experience like this, and we continue to be amazed at what our people, whether in the stores or in the supply chain, are doing to make sure customers have what they need.



To better support our associates and serve our customers, we will adjust our operating hours beginning Sunday, March 15. Walmart stores and Neighborhood Markets will be open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. until further notice. This will help ensure associates are able to stock the products our customers are looking for and to perform cleaning and sanitizing. Stores currently operating under more reduced hours (for example they regularly close at 10 p.m. or open at 7 a.m.) will keep their current hours of operation.



As we make this change, associates will continue to work the hours and shifts they are scheduled, and our supply chain and trucking fleet will continue to move products and deliver to stores on their regular schedules. As a reminder, we have a temporary COVID-19 emergency leave policy to support associates at this unprecedented time.



To our associates, thank you for your incredible work during this time. I know it hasnt always been easy, but your entire Walmart family is so proud of what you are doing and the important difference you are making, both for your neighbors and for your country.
A senior ally of President Donald Trump has encouraged people to go out to restaurants despite administration health officials encouraging social distancing to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Representative Devin Nunes of California, speaking on Fox News on Sunday morning, told host Maria Bartiromo that there were a lot of concerns for the economy here, because people are scared to go out.

If youre healthy, you and your family, its a great time to go out and go to a local restaurant, likely you can get in easy. Lets not hurt the working people in this country that are relying on wages and tips to keep their small businesses running, he said.

He added: Dont run to the grocery store and buy $4,000 worth of food go to your local pub.

Mr Nunes statement came at almost exactly the same moment that Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, told CBS Face The Nation: Right now, myself personally, I wouldn't go to a restaurant.

Dr Fauci, one of the most important members of the coronavirus taskforce, is a key proponent of social distancing and isolation in an effort to curb the pandemics spread.

The comments from Mr Nunes raised questions on Twitter as the why some officials seem to keep thinking of coronavirus as an economic problem, whereas others called his comments dangerous.

Andy Slavitt, the former Medicare, Medicaid and Affordable Care Act head for the Obama administration, commented: Please watch and do the opposite. He has no training to make this recommendation. I promise not to give advice in his area of expertise.

Mr Slavitt is an also an advocate for social distancing saying it is vital to try and stop a 'tsunami' of coronavirus cases overrunning America's hospitals.
The soldier sustained a gunshot wound to the arm.

From day-start on Sunday, March 15, Russian occupation forces twice opened fire at Ukrainian positions, using grenade launchers, heavy machine guns, and small arms.

A Ukrainian soldier was wounded in one of the attacks, according to the morning update of the Joint Operation Forces HQ.

He sustained a gunshot wound to the arm, the report says, adding that the serviceman was hospitalized.

Over the past day, March 14, Russian occupation forces nine times violated the truce.

Read alsoICRC to have access to Ukrainian captives in occupied Donbas to speed up their release  Yermak

The enemy engaged Ukrainian positions with 120 mm and 82 mm mortars proscribed by the Minsk agreements, as well as grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and small arms.

Earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky promised to ensure for Ukrainian military maximum protection from the coronavirus.
HELENA  Montana Commissioner of Higher Education Clayton Christian is one of two new presumptive positive cases of the coronavirus, according to information Saturday from the commissioner's office and the governor's office.

The governor's office announced the new cases, both in Missoula County, on Saturday evening, and Christian confirmed late Saturday that he is one of the cases.

As a public official who interacts with many people on a day-to-day basis, its absolutely critical that I share these results and notify those I have come in contact with, Christian said in a news release.

The other patient is a woman in her 30s, according to the governor's office. Both are being isolated.

"It is suspected at this time that Commissioner Christians exposure occurred at the Board of Regents meeting in Dillon, Montana on Thursday, March 5," said the release from the commissioner's office.

Late Saturday, a release from the governor's office said that a Silver Bow County resident at the Board of Regents meeting had tested presumptive positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. Lt. Governor Mike Cooney was at the same meeting, and has tested negative for COVID-19 and has been asymptomatic, according to the release. Cooney is in self-quarantine until March 20, which is 14 days after his point of exposure, it said.

The release specified that those involved had consented to making the information public as a means of keeping people informed.

University of Montana President Seth Bodnar was also at the meeting. Asked for his testing status, UM spokesperson Paula Short wrote in a text message that he will follow the guidance of health officials and we will provide additional information as it is available.

Local public health workers would begin working with the two Missoula County residents to learn about their exposure risk and travel history, the county public information officer said Saturday evening. Public health workers will also identify and work with anyone who had close contact with the patients to provide guidance.

Im thankful to local public health as they work diligently to notify the people I came into contact with and make sure they have accurate information to prevent further spread," Christian said in the release.

More information is expected to be provided at a Sunday morning press conference in Missoula held by the Missoula City-County Health Department.

The tests were done at the state Public Health Laboratory and confirmed Saturday evening. The results are considered presumptive positives and will be sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be confirmed. Anyone found to have come into close contact with the patients will be monitored for 14 days for fever and respiratory symptoms, following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance.

The new cases come on the heels the first presumptive positives within the state's borders, announced Friday. Those cases include man in Gallatin County in his 40s, a woman in Yellowstone County in her 50s, a man in Butte-Silver Bow County in his 50s, and a man in his 50s in Broadwater County.

All four of those people were home in isolation and recovering, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock said in a call with reporters Saturday.

Montana has about 850 tests for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, available and anticipates receiving more, Bullock said. By Saturday evening, 166 people had been tested in Montana. Testing is done at the discretion of a person's medical provider.

On Saturday the governor's office said its state lab will now be open seven days a week, including this Sunday with the Montana Highway Patrol transporting samples.

Late Friday the state Department of Public Health and Human Services made the decision to keep the state lab open Saturday, though Wade Johnson, the CEO of St. Peter's Health in Helena, said that information wasn't clearly communicated to his facility.

On Saturday early in the afternoon, Johnson said his incident command center at the hospital had not been notified the lab was open. He called the lab directly and got a voicemail message saying the lab was closed, and a messaging service operator also told him the lab was also closed, Johnson said.

St. Peter's was going to hold all samples from over the weekend and not send them over to the lab until Monday, Johnson said, but ended up sending them in on Saturday after getting more clear information from the state.

Johnson said he understood that in challenging situations it can be hard to communicate quickly and accurately, but that misunderstandings hampered the testing process in Helena.

Its a concern for us because time is being wasted and resources are being wasted while were waiting, he said. It is not my intention by any stretch of the imagination to throw anybody under the bus, and these are unusual circumstances and unusual times, but it is my hope communication can improve.

The governor's office said Saturday that public health workers are working around the clock and that the last-minute decision was not likely communicated as thoroughly as it should have been. The director of the state health department spoke to Johnson Saturday and a courier picked up the samples, the office said.

The laboratory communicates with its response network partners over email, and sent out information Sunday to make sure facility labs know the state lab will be open seven days a week. A message also went out over the Health Action Network alert network.

Hospitals in Billings said they've had good communication with the state lab.

"The state lab is in direct contact with our laboratory at Billings Clinic so usually the results are sent to the laboratory first and then the medical technicians are instructed to contact infection control practitioners or me directly for the results," said Dr. Neil Ku, an infectious disease specialist at Billings Clinic. St. Vincent Healthcare said it has an infection prevention nurse communicating with the state.

The CDC does not update its website with case numbers over the weekends, but a database from the New York Times showed Saturday at least 2,443 in all but one state have tested positive and at least 50 people have died.

Bullock signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency on Thursday. The order gives Bullock increased ability to mobilize state resources and take action such as shutting down schools or events. It also gives access to $16 million in state emergency funding.

At the federal level, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency Friday, which opens $50 billion in funding to states. Montana's Disaster and Emergency Services (DES) is discussing with the Federal Emergency Management Agency what funding will be available to Montana.

Before Friday, Montana did have a previous COVID-19 case assigned to it, though that 70-year-old woman who lives part-time in Lake County had not been in the state since November. The case was diagnosed in Maryland. It's typical for cases to be assigned to the person's state of residency.

Adjutant General Matthew Quinn, who oversees DES, is coordinating a task force Bullock formed earlier this month to manage the state's preparations and response to COVID-19.

The state also opened a phone line, email address and website for the public to get more information about the virus in Montana.

The state has opened a phone line at 1-888-333-0461 for people with questions or concerns about the virus in Montana. There's also an email addres, covid19info@mt.gov, and website at covid19.mt.gov.

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.
As organizations embrace anywhere-working, teleworking, the future of work or whatever term you use to describe the everywhere workplace, something predictable happened.

A plethora of vendors have emerged with overlapping solutions to allow organizations to become more collaborative and productive.

These solutions may or may not work well with one another and the challenge for many organizations is the bottom-up nature of technology adoption has led to a hodge-podge of solutions IT and partners need to deal with.

In order to help such organizations, distributor SYNNEX launched COLLABsolv to provide specialized support to customers around collaboration solutions.

COLLABsolv unites the industrys top AV, IT, CE, UC, Cloud, Mobile, and Secure Networking technologies essential to building integrated solutions for enterprise, video and team collaboration. The business supports a range of new-generation platform options for enterprise, mid-market and small business customers with applications for remote workers, BYOD, hot-desking, huddle rooms, meeting spaces, collaboration rooms and customer experience centers. SYNNEX COLLABSolv supports technology solutions for vertical markets such as corporate, healthcare, education, public sector and house of worship.

Sandi Stambaugh, Vice President, Product Management, SYNNEX Corporation

Todays workplace is evolving, and SYNNEX partners are moving quickly to meet the needs of their customers. This strategic initiative is designed to help customers make their complex voice, cloud, and video projects simple, cohesive and profitable, said Sandi Stambaugh, Vice President, Product Management, SYNNEX Corporation. Beyond delivering best-in-class hardware, software and platform offerings, our dedicated team of sales and marketing professionals and certified engineers are able to equip customers with the knowledge and skills needed to gain the competitive edge in this important market segment.

Partners are able to receive the following dedicated resources from this new program:

Industry-leading collaboration line card including manufacturers such as Audiocodes, Avaya, Aver, Avocor, Bose, Cisco, Crestron, Epson, Ergotron, Five9, Fortinet, Google, Harman, HPE, HPI, Intel, Konftel, Kramer, Legrand, Lenovo, LG, Lifesize, Logitech, Microsoft, NEC, Newline, OneLan, Peerless AV, Poly, Ribbon, RingCentral, Ruckus, Samsung, Sennheiser, Sharp, Verizon, Viewsonic, Watchguard, Yamaha and more;

Specialized design, sales, product, and solutions teams committed to bringing a consultative approach to the sales and enablement process, including recently-expanded field-based and UC sales;

Enhanced service offerings including site survey and collaboration assessments, post-sale support, helpdesk services and solution monitoring;

Exclusive and specialized bundled solutions;

Meeting room-as-a-service; Subscription and consumption-based plans with monthly pricing options;

Solutions-focused training, enablement and sales support.

In related news, the company will be splitting into two publically traded companies:

 SYNNEX, a top-three Americas and Japan IT distribution company.

 Concentrix, a top-two global customer experience (CX) solutions company.

In addition, we recently reported on our Virtual PBX community sponsored by Nextiva that Avaya picked SYNNEX to deliver new cloud office UCaaS solution.

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Jaisalmer, Mar 15 (UNI) As many as 236 Indian nationals, who were evacuated from coronavirus-hit Iran, reached Indian Army Quarantine facility established at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan on Sunday.

The nationals include 100 males and 136 females.

'These evacuated persons will be quarantined for a period of 14 days under professional medical supervision,' Rajasthan-based Defence PRO Col Sombit Ghosh said.

The nationals were brought back by two Air India flights.

COVID-19 or coronavirus has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and a large number of Indian stranded in corona-affected countries like Italy, Iran and others are being evacuated by the Government.

As a precautionary measure, these evacuated persons are to be kept under quarantine for a period of fourteen days.

The Indian Army has set up Wellness Centres at various locations to provide a credible response to COVID-19.

The Wellness Centre at Jaisalmer is an initiative of the Indian Army to support the nation's fight against COVID-19.

The operationalisation of these facilities demonstrates Indian Army's commitment to the nation to handle multiple challenges, Col Ghosh added.

MORE UNI ASH SV 1037
In late 2004, the 9-11 Commission published its report on the devastating September 11 terrorist attacks. As a member of the 9-11 Commission, I joined my colleagues in urging that America must begin producing its own energy in much greater amounts so that it would not be hostage to the geopolitics of a region fraught with war, repression, and ethnic and religious grievances.

It would have been hypocritical of me while urging this course on my fellow Americans not to practice what I had preached, so I invested in solar energy on my farm in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

I believe in solar energy and its promise to all of our Pennsylvania citizens. Clean, renewable, and abundant are key words used to describe solar energy. Reflecting on my career in foreign policy and national security, I would add domestically-produced to the list.

Pennsylvania is a national leader in domestically-produced energy exports. Next-generation solar technologies will bring even greater economic expansion to our strong and diverse energy portfolio. Clean and renewable energy jobs now account for the greatest portion of job growth in this sector, as illustrated by the 2019 E2 Clean Jobs Pennsylvania report. The report noted that Pennsylvanias clean energy jobs now stand at more than 90,000 and are growing at an annual rate of 6 percent a growth rate five times the overall job growth in Pennsylvania.

Seizing the moment, State Rep. Aaron Kaufer (R-Luzerne) joined with State Rep. Donna Bullock (D-Philadelphia) to introduce Community Solar Legislation. Known as HB 531, the bill would allow the installation of solar projects by multiple residents, farmers or business owners on a single property.

The advantages of allowing groups of citizens to come together and complete a new solar project are many. It would be much easier to install solar arrays. Currently, the rule in Pennsylvania is one property, one solar project, but the cost is often too high for individual farmers or residents to develop a project on their own.

Under the legislation, however, individuals could band together to finance each project. So, in the farming context, if one farmer has a ridge line otherwise unusable for growing crops, he or she could form a community solar organization with a group of neighboring farmers. Collectively, they could get a loan for development, like a new low-interest state C-PACE loan available for clean energy projects, and invest in their future as farmers. The impact, over time, would be the reduction or elimination of their utility bills, and even dollars earned from the sale of unused electricity back to the electrical grid.

In the residential context, urban neighborhoods could use rooftop space on single properties to benefit entire blocks. Renters would also qualify for membership in a community solar organization, democratizing access even more. Business properties could band together in a similar fashion, and create a clean energy market district that reduces costs and creates new wealth in a given community.

Pennsylvania has set a goal of achieving 0.5 percent solar generation in the Commonwealth by 2021. It seems like a modest goal, but we still have a ways to go. Community solar projects could help us get there. I would prefer to see a much higher percentage, and investment dollars will lead the way: industry investors are poised to spend upwards of $2 billion on new solar projects in Pennsylvania once the bill passes.

However, if community solar doesnt pass by June of this year and get to the governors desk for a signature, those investment dollars may end up boosting the fortunes of some other industry, in a different part of the world.

All of Pennsylvania stands to benefit from increased job growth and economic development, while helping to protect our national security and increasing citizens land rights, which are currently held back by red tape.

Lets pass community solar, cut the red tape, let landowners get the most from their property, and increase economic growth for all of our citizens. With more solar energyalong with natural gas productionwe can continue to increase our domestic supply, and rid ourselves of the need for foreign energy once and for all.

John Lehman served as United States Secretary of the Navy from 1981-1987 under President Reagan, and was a member of the 9/11 Commission. His latest book is OCEANS VENTURED, WINNING THE COLD WAR AT SEA.
The antibody still has to be tested on human beings and this will take a few months. The researches say that they do not want to raise false expectations, though it is a promising first step.

Frank Grosveld, Professor of Cell Biology https://www.erasmusmagazine.nl/

Researchers from Utrecht University, together with fellow researchers from Erasmus MC and biotech company Harbor BioMed, have developed a human antibody that can inhibit the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) which causes the respiratory disease otherwise known as COVID-19. Netherlands' Erasmus Magazine reported.

The researches say that they do not want to raise false expectations, though it is a promising first step.

"Research leader Berend-Jan Bosch of the Utrecht University does not want to raise false expectations. It is a promising first step in the journey towards a cure however it is far too early to speculate about the potential efficacy in humans. The research is being reviewed by a leading scientific journal. Further comments can be provided once the article has been accepted," reads the message.

According to one of the people who identified it, the antibody that blocks the infection of SARS1 and SARS2 was already briefly lain in the fridge at the Erasmus MC in Rotterdam.

Professor of Cell Biology Frank Grosveld (71 years old) is part of a team of ten scientists. He posted the article about the discovery to BioRxiv last Thursday. BioRxiv is a website where biologists can publish their research before it has been peer-reviewed by a professional journal. The summary talks about an antibody against SARS2, the coronavirus that is causing the current pandemic (COVID-19). The antibody may help detect and prevent this form of Corona infection. This would, therefore, make the active antibody a world premiere.

The antibody still has to be tested on human beings and this will take a few months. Yet Grosveld is hopeful, according to Erasmus Magazine: We are now trying to get a pharmaceutical company on board  thats looking good, by the way  which can mass-produce the antibody as a medicine on a large scale. This is the very first antibody that we know of that will block the infection. And there is a good chance that this will also become a medicine that reaches the market. If this is taken by a patient, then it is expected that the infection can be stopped in that patient. So, the patient will have a chance of recovery.
New Delhi, March 15 : AM:PM's spring/summer 2020 collection is inspired by the art, pottery, wildlife and culture of Africa. Priyanka Modi, Creative Director, AM:PM, says even though the Africa inspired collection comes in 2020, it has been in the making since 1986 when she first visited the country as a nine-year-old.

IANSlife spoke to Modi to know more about the story behind the collection, the research that went into it and upcoming projects: Excerpts:

What inspired the the collection based on African culture and wildlife?

Modi: Africa was one of the earliest places I explored as a child, and definitely the most magical. Our family went to Kenya for an extensive safari expedition. We went to Masai Marai, Lake Nakuru, Seychelles amongst other places and the memories have imprinted since.

Imagine what it would be like for a nine-year-old to be chasing leopards and antelopes, seeing huge giraffes and elephants bathing in the wild and coming up to our viewing-deck. We even ended up having an elaborate brunch whilst a pride of lions was sitting a few meters from us.

Africa is enrapturing - it draws you in while at the same time shows you how fierce and powerful nature can be. It was also one of the first times I observed how humans and nature co-exist so peacefully. I experienced nature in its most untamed and majestic form and the stories still give me goosebumps.

It was this intense emotion for that land that I wanted to express for a very long time, and through our collection for SS'20 was just got the perfect time to do it.

What kind of influences do we see in the clothes? Modi: Africa has such a vast cultural narrative that it is not easy to translate everything into your designs. So we picked specific elements - the masks, certain type of artistry, unique motifs from their pottery and reimagined it according to AMPM's sensibilities.

The colours too were chosen keeping in mind certain indigenous traditions. Colours like tan, steel grey and olive have been picked to depict uniforms that some rangers wear for the safaris. Mustards and pinks were picked from the vivid aesthetic Kenyan women sport in their daily attires.

Then there are geometric motifs that have been derived from the intricate patterns on African masks and ceramic pots. One of the most exciting parts of the collection was the motifs that we created from Tingatinga - a local art technique from Africa - and reinterpreted it through exaggerated shapes of wild animals and a reverse appliquA technique on our garments. Details such as hammered studs and Kodi shells add a touch of playfulness to the collection.

What kind of research did you do? Modi: I visited Africa in 1986. Three decades have passed since then - the country has progressed and even the fashion industry has evolved. However, one thing that had stayed with me from that trip, and something that I observe even today, is how the local communities take pride in preserving and celebrating their native stories.

Just follow the influencer community in Africa today. You will notice how men and women are adding to the diverse spectrum of modern African fashion by staying true to their indigenous identities. It is so fascinating and there is so much to learn from them. Studying their spirited street culture became our building block for the collection. We had to keep it relevant, fresh, and at the same time, smartly emulate the country's art and cultural domains.

Building the narrative around the collection was the exciting part. I fished out these journals that my mother made us write every time we travelled. Growing up, I used to find it so tedious - imagine if you had to tell a 9-year-old to write on a holiday! But last year I went up to my mother and thanked her for making us do this. Those three-decade-old diaries had so much material - travel souvenirs, old coins, vintage photographs, feathers even (!) - all of which helped us relive the African safari experience again and again. After all, fashion is about evoking certain emotions and capturing them in our designs.

Do you feel a sense of achievement with this collection? Modi: An inspiration is like a storm, it starts slowly, somewhere in the back of your conscious, and slowly starts to build into something that then occupies your entire imagination.

So even though we're doing our first Africa inspired collection in 2020, somewhere this storm was building since 1986.

We decided it was time to bring this to reality sometime early last year. Between ideating and developing new silhouettes, creating and perfecting a color palette, redesigning ancient motifs to feel contemporary, there is a lot that happens before we even stitch the first garment. The entire process, from ideation to the collection hitting the stores is likely to be somewhere between 6 to 8 months.

What comes next? There is always something brewing in an organization that thrives on creativity. We are currently in the midst of wrapping up our AW'20 collections, since we do two each season. One of them, I can tell you is inspired by a vibrant region of India that we've never explored before at AMPM! (Puja Gupta can be contacted at puja.g@ians.in)
Published on 2020/03/15 | Source

Almost the only part of the economy that seems resistant to any catastrophe is Koreans' insatiable appetite for luxury labels.

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Luxury goods have maintained double-digit growth even as nearly all other retail goods have suffered from the coronavirus epidemic.

At Lotte Department Store, overall sales declined 22 percent in February compared to the same month last year, at Shinsegae Department Store 15.8 percent and at Hyundai Department Store 12.1 percent. But luxury goods sales increased over the same period, growing 16.7, 16.4 and 15.3 percent. Galleria also saw luxury product sales surge 17 percent.

Louis Vuitton was quick to seize the opportunity to raise prices again by three to four percent last week.

Elsewhere the situation is dire. Lotte Shopping, the biggest domestic retailer, announced last month that it plans to close 30 percent or around 200 of its offline stores. The main reason is a polarization of shopping patterns at the top and bottom ends of the market, followed by an ongoing Chinese boycott of Lotte and burgeoning online shopping.

A Lotte staffer said, "People are cutting back on spending at supermarkets but lining up to shell out money at luxury goods outlets".

Lotte Mart and Lotte Super suffered operating losses of W25 billion and W104 billion last year, but luxury goods sales powered Lotte Department Store to a W519 billion profit (US$1=W1,202). Sales of mid-priced products have either stalled or declined, while only high-priced or ultra-cheap products are drawing customers.

Offline retailers are less flexible than online stores when it comes to slashing prices, so the growing polarization in consumer spending poses a bigger risk than the coronavirus epidemic.

Another retail sector that is feeling the brunt of polarization is restaurants. "Family" restaurants such American chain Sizzler, which became hugely popular in the early 2000s with mid-priced meals costing W20,000-30,000, have been faring poorly over the last few years. In contrast, high-end restaurants are thriving.

According to Daily Hotel, an app for booking upscale eateries, reservation rates grew 10 percentage points last year to 35 percent. More recently customers opt for private rooms so they can be shielded from the risk of infection from other patrons.

The trend appears to reflect a similar polarization in wealth. According to Statistics Korea, the income disparity in Korea in 2019 reached the highest level in 16 years. Experts fear that further polarization could aggravate the slump in private consumption and cause the economy to sputter.

Sung Tae-yoon at Yonsei University said, "The polarization in spending leads to a decline in domestic consumption over the short term and weakens economic vitality over the long term".
The Vietnamese government has required that people wear face masks at crowded places like airports, bus stations, and supermarkets, in addition to suspending visas on arrival for all foreigners, promoting online learning, and stepping up isolation, to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The Government Office on Saturday announced the prime ministers conclusion drawn from a meeting to discuss measures to fight the disease the same day.

Relevant agencies must prepare for any sudden large-scale outbreak and must not let the virus spread out of control, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said.

Vietnam stands ready to sacrifice short-term economic interests to combat COVID-19, he asserted in the conclusion, adding that the country will place restrictions on arrivals and flights from countries where there is a virus epidemic.

The Southeast Asian country will continue tightening its grip on immigration and health declaration, while limiting the number of flights from Vietnam to virus-hit regions.

The premier directed that authorities trace sources of spread, contagion risks, and apply IT to looking for suspected cases for isolation.

From Monday, people are required to wear face masks when visiting crowded public places like supermarkets, airports, and bus stations, or when they use public transportation, according to the conclusion.

Face masks must be distributed free of charge to passengers at bus stations, ports, and terminals while vehicle operators have to ask them to wear the masks during their journeys.

The Ministry of Education and Training is charged with coordinating online learning when schools are closed.

State budgets will cover the expenses to treat infected Vietnamese but foreign COVID-19 patients have to pay for their treatment, the premier underlined.

Vietnam now bans arrivals from the Schengen Area and UK and suspends its visa-on-arrival policy for all foreigners.

The new policy will be in effect for 30 days from 12:00 pm Sunday, March 15, and will not affect arrivals for diplomatic or official purposes.

Vietnam will consider stop issuing tourist visas to visitors from the U.S. on a state-by-state basis, depending on the development of the epidemic in that country.

The prime minister noted that relevant agencies closely guard the land borders in order to prevent visitors from virus-hit countries transiting Laos and Cambodia to enter Vietnam.

Vietnam has confirmed 53 COVID-19 cases so far, with 16 having fully recovered and been discharged from the hospital by February 26.

No mortality has been reported in the country to date.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
THE Department of Tourism (DOT) and Turkish Airlines have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that aims to reinforce and affirm the countrys position in the European, Mediterranean and other international markets being serviced by Turkish Airlines.

The signing of the MOU was held at the Turkish Airlines headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey recently, in connection with the Turkey Tourism Roadshow organized by the DOT and the Departments participation at the Uzakrota Travel Summit, one of Turkeys largest tourism events.

This coincided with the celebration of the 70th anniversary of bilateral relations between the Philippines and Turkey.

The MOU was signed by DOT Undersecretary Benito Bengzon, Jr. and Ilker Ayci, chairman of the board of Turkish Airlines, after successful discussions of possible avenues to increase air connectivity between Turkey and the Philippines as well as various parts of Europe via Istanbul.

Under the new collaboration, the DOT and Turkish Airlines will conduct various projects in 2020 to promote tourism in the country with the goal of boosting inbound arrivals to the Philippines.

The MOU embodies a working relationship where both the DOT and Turkish Airlines will jointly work for brand advertising, promotional and tactical marketing campaigns, digital and e-marketing, familiarization tours for airline executives, media, travel trade partners, roadshow presentations and other activities that both parties will mutually agree on, for mutually beneficial results.

The MOU with Turkish Airlines is a monumental development as it has always been the DOTs goal to improve air connectivity from long-haul countries in the Mediterranean region and Europe including United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and other tourist source markets in Europe and the world. Sustained air connectivity from the said areas would definitely be pivotal in boosting our ability to grow, and make packages to the Philippines more competitive, Bengzon said.

Arrivals from Europe increased by 9.13 percent in 2019 to 772,098 from 707,525 in 2018.

On the other hand, arrivals from the Mediterranean markets, Israel and Turkey have doubled in the last five years with an average growth rate of 16 percent. (PR)
2020 was a year marked by hardships and challenges, but the Fauquier community has proven resilient. The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you for your continued support, wed like to offer all our subscribers -- new or returning --

4 WEEKS FREE DIGITAL AND PRINT ACCESS.

We understand the importance of working to keep our community strong and connected. As we move forward together into 2021, it will take commitment, communication, creativity, and a strong connection with those who are most affected by the stories we cover.

We are dedicated to providing the reliable, local journalism you have come to expect. We are committed to serving you with renewed energy and growing resources. Let the Fauquier Times be your community companion throughout 2021, and for many years to come.
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore--- The Klamath County School District is offering a free meal program for students 18 years old and younger from Monday, March 16 through Wednesday, March 18.

Meals are being offered on dates that were scheduled school days prior to the statewide closure order.

Meal pick-up locations are listed below:

Shasta Elementary

1951 Madison Ave.

11 to 11:30 a.m.



Stearns Elementary

3641 Crest St.

11 to 11:30 a.m.



Peterson Elementary

4856 Clinton Ave.

11 to 11:30 a.m.



Ferguson Elementary

2901 Homedale Road

11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Malin Elementary

2153 Third St., Malin

11 to 11:30 a.m.



Merrill Elementary

406 West 2nd St., Merrill

11 to 11:30 a.m.



Gearhart School in Bly

11 a.m. to noon



Keno Elementary

11110 Keno-Worden Road

11:30 a.m. to noon

Chiloquin Elementary

548 2nd Ave., Chiloquin

11:30 a.m to noon



Bonanza Elementary

31601 Mission St., Bonanza

11:30 a.m. to noon



Sprague River Library

23402 Sprague River Rd.

11:30 a.m. to noon



Gilchrist Schools

Plans are pending

Check district website



Henley Elementary

Plans are pending

Check district website
Israel's president on Sunday said he has decided to give opposition leader Benny Gantz the first opportunity to form a new government, following an inconclusive national election this month.

President Reuven Rivlin's office announced his decision late Sunday after consulting with leaders of all of the parties elected to parliament.

The decision raises questions about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political future as he leads the country's battle against the coronavirus threat and prepares to go on trial for corruption charges.

Netanyahu's Likud emerged as the largest party in the March 2 election, Israel's third in under a year. But with his smaller religious and nationalist allies, he received the support of only 58 lawmakers during Sunday's consultations, leaving Likud three seats short of the required majority in parliament.

Gantz's Blue and White received the support of parties representing 61 seats, a slim majority. However, those parties are also divided, and it is not clear whether Gantz will succeed in putting together a coalition. One lawmaker refused to endorse either side.

Rivlin said he would formally designate Gantz with the task on Monday. Once formally tapped, Gantz will now have a month to cobble together a governing coalition.

Given the possibility of continued deadlock, Rivlin summoned both Netanyahu and Gantz to an emergency meeting late Sunday.

Rivlin had earlier suggested the two men form a power-sharing unity government to lead the country through its many crises. If the two rivals cannot reach a unity deal, the country could find itself in a fourth consecutive election campaign.

"Anyone who has watched the news in recent days understands that this is a time of trial, and that these are not regular consultations," he said. "We must now deal with forming a government as soon as possible ... at this complex time."

Israel's president hold a largely ceremonial role, but is responsible for designating the candidate he thinks has the best chance of being able to form a government by securing a parliamentary majority.

That task has been complicated by the results of the March 2 election. Netanyahu's Likud party emerged as the largest single party, but short of a 61-seat parliamentary majority with its allies of smaller religious and nationalist parties.

While Gantz is backed by a slim majority, the opposition is deeply fragmented  with the predominantly Arab Joint List and the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu among them  giving Gantz slim odds of being able to form a government.

Yisrael Beitenu's leader, Avigdor Lieberman, and two members of Gantz's own Blue and White party have said they would oppose a government that relies on support from the Joint List. Lieberman told the president that he supports Gantz, but also called for the formation of an "emergency" unity government to deal with the coronavirus threat.

Netanyahu, in his caretaker role, has invited Gantz to join him in an emergency government. Gantz has left the door open to such an arrangement, but also dismissed the offers as insincere.

Over the past week, the coronavirus scare has overshadowed the country's precarious political standoff  which comes as Netanyahu prepares to go on trial for corruption charges.

Netanyahu got an important reprieve on Sunday when the Jerusalem court handling the case postponed his trial for two months because of restrictions connected to the coronavirus pandemic.

Netanyahu was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday to face charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in connection to a series of scandals. But following the emergency health measures the government enacted restricting the gathering of people in public places, the court announced that it was pushing back the hearing until May 24.

Netanyahu is accused of receiving expensive gifts from wealthy friends and offering to exchange favors with powerful media moguls. The long-ruling Israeli leader denies any wrongdoing and says he is the victim of a media-orchestrated witch hunt.

Much of the country ground to a standstill Sunday, with schools, malls and places of entertainment shut down. Employees were encouraged to work from home and strict restrictions have been placed on personal interactions.

The virus has spread to more than 100 countries, infected more than 150,000 people worldwide and killed more than 5,700. In Israel, some 200 people have been infected with no casualties yet, as severe measures seem to have proven effective so far.

The coronavirus crisis has raised calls for an emergency unity government. Netanyahu formally extended an offer Sunday to Gantz to join a government aimed at at halting the spread of the virus, suggesting two frameworks, including one that would see an alternating leadership between them over the course of four years.

Gantz's centrist Blue and White party seems to consider the outreach yet another ruse after what has been an extremely acrimonious campaign that included unfounded smears against Gantz.
The Patna High Court said on Sunday that it would hear only regular bail and urgent matters till the end of this month as a precautionary measure in the wake of the pandemic.

The decision was taken after Chief Justice Sanjay Karol held meetings with all the stakeholders, including high court judges, members of the registry and those of the bar associations, according to a notification.

"The high court will hear only regular bail and most urgent matters till March 31," Yogesh Chandra Verma, chairman of the coordination committee of all the three lawyers' associations of the high court, told PTI.

"The main purpose behind the move is to prevent the congregation of large gatherings in order to contain COVID-19," Verma said.

All cases, except bail matters (regular/anticipatory), listed for hearing on Monday, will now be listed for April 6. Each court will hear only 25 bail matters listed for Monday, the high court registry said in a notice.

Earlier in the day, the Calcutta High Court and the Gauhati High Court issued similar notifications, restricting functioning to only urgent matters.
John Cargnello, the owner of the Step Into Life franchise, has been charged by police. Credit:Paul Jeffers

Owner John Cargnello appeared before the Melbourne Magistrates Court in January after police charged him with possession of image or movie files which depict a person under the age of 18 engaging in sexual activity.

Franchisees within the outdoor fitness group were rocked by the charges and now fear they will lose everything if the company becomes insolvent.

The Step Into Life franchise is on the brink of collapse following the owner's appearance before the Melbourne Magistrates Court on child porn charges.

At its peak, there were 165 Step Into Life franchises operating across Victoria, NSW and Queensland, but the number has now dropped to fewer than 50 and franchisees claim the charges have driven customers away.

Darren Farrell was appointed as general manager to run the franchise while Mr Cargnello fought the charges but Mr Farrell resigned on Friday.

In an email from Mr Cargnello to Mr Farrell seen by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald Mr Cargnello said he was consulting insolvency practitioners about Step Into Life.

"As you probably realise this is not a vanilla insolvency," he said. "The company has substantial assets and rights to future income. There have been no drawings and substantial capital injections. It is my responsibility as director of the trustee company and of the insolvency agency to ensure that the interests of employees, creditors and beneficiaries of the trust are protected."

Mr Cargnello said franchisees needed to use "appropriate channels" and could not avoid any liabilities to Step Into Life.
There are the terrible  quack guides to combatting the virus that causes COVID-19  and the amusing: Coronavirus Zombies Volume 1: The Living Dead Apocalypse by one Maximus Williams involves a vaccine for the illness turning those who catch it into a deadly threat. Running to just 20 pages, it promises scenes of violence, guns, profanity and graphic scenes of zombies that may be objectionable to some.'  The Irish Times
YEREVAN, MARCH 15, ARMENPRESS. Three suspected cases of the COVID19 have tested positive, bringing the total number of the novel coronavirus infections in Armenia to 23, Healthcare Minister Arsen Torosyan announced.

We completed 52 tests, 49 of which were negative, while 3 were positive. All new positive cases are connected with the Etchmiatsin case and were quarantined from the beginning, he said.

He said the first COVID19 patient in Armenia who was diagnosed on March 1 is awaiting a re-testing and in the event of results coming back negative he will be discharged tonight.

Out of the 23 current cases, 21  including the child - are feeling well. The other two patients have pneumonia, which at this moment is non-life threatening, Torosyan said.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
At the Angelus, broadcast via streaming from the Vatican library, Pope Francis comforts the sick and lonely. The value of spiritual communion with Jesus Christ, "when it is not possible to receive the sacrament". Appreciation for priests, close to the people, not "like Don abbondio". Mass celebrated by Msgr. Delpini at the Policlinico Milan. "The promise of the living water that Jesus made to the Samaritan woman became reality on his Easter: blood and water "came out of his pierced side." "We too, born to new life through Baptism, are called to witness to the life and hope that are in us".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "United with Christ we are never alone, rather we form One Body, of which He is the Head", even if "in this situation of pandemic", "we find ourselves living more or less in isolation," were Pope Francis words of comfort to those who because of the coronavirus epidemic are housebound and unable to go out.

To avoid crowds in St. Peter's Square, the Pope himself recited the Sunday Angelus from the Vatican library, which was streamed by Vatican News.

As the Eucharistic celebration with the people is not possible, the Pope himself decided to celebrate Mass and broadcast it online.

Speaking today at the end of the Marian prayer, Francis stressed the value of "spiritual communion in the Eucharist, a highly recommended practice when it is not possible to receive the sacrament. This I say for everyone, especially for people who live alone. "

He also praised the priests who in this moment of emergency are close to the people in all ways "so that the people do not feel abandoned, priests with apostolic zeal, who have understood that in times of pandemic you should not be like Don Abbondio ".

He particularly recalled Msgr. Mario Delpini, the Archbishop of Milan who celebrated a mass at the Polyclinic of Milan this morning for the patients hospitalized there. Days before, the same Msgr. Delpini pronounced a prayer to Mary under the spire of the Madonnina, on the roof of Milan cathedral. The gesture was transmitted by TV channels.

Previously, Francis commented on the gospel of today's mass, Jesus' dialogue with the Samaritan woman (3rd of Lent, A, John 4, 5-42).

He said "at the heart of this dialogue is water. On the one hand, water as an essential element, which satisfies the body's thirst and supports life. On the other, water as a symbol of divine grace, which gives eternal life ".

And after reviewing the symbol of water in the Old Testament and in St. Paul, he added: "Christ ... is the Temple from which, according to the vision of the prophets, the Holy Spirit gushes forth, which purifies and gives life. Those who thirst for salvation can draw freely from Jesus, and the Spirit will become in him or her a source of full and eternal life. The promise of the living water that Jesus made to the Samaritan woman became reality on his Easter: "blood and water" came out of his pierced side (Jn 19:34). Christ, the immolated and risen Lamb, is the source from which the Holy Spirit springs, who forgives sins and regenerates to new life ".

This gift - he concluded - is also the source of the testimony. Like the Samaritan woman, anyone who personally encounters the living Jesus feels the need to tell it to others, so that everyone will come to confess that Jesus "is truly the savior of the world" (Jn 4:42) ... We too, born of new life through Baptism, we are called to witness the life and hope that are in us. If our search and our thirst find full fulfillment in Christ, we will show that salvation does not lie in the "things" of this world, but in the One who loved us and always loves us: Jesus our Savior, in the living water that He Offers us".
China on Sunday reported 16 new imported cases of the coronavirus, the highest in over a week, as domestic cases dwindle in the country.

The National Health Commission said infections involving people arriving from overseas were reported in five provinces and cities including Beijing and Shanghai.

Only four new domestic cases were detected, all in Hubei province's capital Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December.

There have now been 111 imported infections, with regions outside of Hubei reporting no new indigenous cases for the third day in the row, prompting fears that China's measures to contain the virus domestically could be undone by reintroduced outbreaks.

Another 10 people died, all in Wuhan, bringing the national toll from the disease in mainland China to 3,199.

More than 80,000 people have been infected.

Central Hubei was locked down in January, placing some 56 million people under quarantine, but the number of cases has declined in recent weeks.

Provincial authorities in Hubei Saturday loosened restrictions that had prevented people from leaving their residential compounds and villages freely.

"All the (administrative authorities) in urban communities and village areas that are classified as low risk have removed closed management," said Liu Dongru, deputy director of the Hubei Health Commission said Sunday, referring to a previous policy of blocking entrances to communities and monitoring residents' movements.

The province had announced on Tuesday that people in medium-and low-risk areas would be able to travel within the province.

There is no indication that people can leave the province, and the measures also did not appear to loosen restrictions in Hubei's capital, Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday issued a whip to all its MLAs asking them to be present in the assembly for the floor test scheduled for March 16.

The floor test will be held in the MP Assembly to decide the fate of Chief Minister Kamal Nath led Congress government in the state.

Meanwhile, earlier today the Congress MLAs who were lodged in a Jaipur resort following the political crisis in MP arrived at Bhopal airport.

These MLAs were accompanied by senior Congress leader Harish Rawat, who exuded confidence of Kamal-Nath led government winning floor test in the Assembly.

He claimed that BJP is nervous about the floor test.

"We are ready for floor test tomorrow and we are confident of winning it. We are not nervous, the BJP is," Rawat told reporters here.

On being asked about the rebel MLAs who have supported former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, the former Uttarakhand Chief Minister said: "Those (rebel) MLAs are in touch with us."

Meanwhile, Congress leaders including Digvijaya Singh and Shobha Oza arrived at Chief Minister Kamal Nath's residence.

Congress on Saturday issued a whip to all its MLAs for the legislative assembly session in Madhya Pradesh which is scheduled to be held from March 16 to April 13.

Scindia's decision to leave Congress was followed by the resignation from 22 party MLAs loyal to him. The legislators who have resigned include six ministers.

Several Congress leaders, including Digvijaya Singh, had accused the BJP of trying to poach its leaders.
Just a week ago on February 29, there was one confirmed death from coronavirus in the United States. Now the rapidly-spreading virus has killed 19 people and affected more than 30 states and the District of Columbia, turning into a health crisis.

Here's how the disease quickly evolved in the US:

First case of the virus in the US

Federal health officials announced the first case of coronavirus in the US on January 20. The patient was in Washington state, and had just returned five days prior from Wuhan, China, where the outbreak started.

Biggest major outbreak outside China

The largest coronavirus outbreak outside of mainland China at the time was a cruise ship floating in Japanese waters. The Diamond Princess cruise ship announced a total of more than 700 passengers had coronavirus. Over 3,600 people, including 428 Americans, were stuck on the cruise ship that had been docked in Yokohama since February 4.

First major warning on likely spread

A top federal health official warned Americans on February 25 that coronavirus would spread in the United States. "It's not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness," said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

First coronavirus death in the US

A patient infected with coronavirus in Washington state died on February 29, marking the first fatality due to the virus in the United States. The man in his 50s had underlying health conditions, and there was no evidence he had close contact with an infected person or a relevant travel history that would have exposed him to the virus.

First coronavirus confirmation in New York City

New York confirmed its first case of coronavirus on March 1. The patient contracted the virus while in Iran, officials said. "There is no reason for undue anxiety -- the general risk remains low in New York. We are diligently managing this situation," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

First death outside Washington state

A death reported in Northern California on March 4 became the first fatality outside Washington state.

The victim was an elderly man with underlying health conditions, who was probably exposed to the virus on a trip aboard a Princess Cruises ship that traveled from San Francisco to Mexico in February.

Ship is held at sea in the US due to coronavirus

A ship carrying more than 3,500 people was held at sea off the coast of California as it traveled from Hawaii on March 4. The Grand Princess previously carried a passenger who became the first person to die from coronavirus in California, and was ordered to stay at sea for days as it awaited test results. Officials later confirmed 21 positive cases of coronavirus.

First deaths outside the West Coast

Florida authorities announced March 6 that two coronavirus patients in the state died. It was the first deaths believed to be linked to the virus on the East Coast. The state also confirmed more than a dozen cases, considered the second largest cluster on the East Coast after New York.

First infection in the nation's capital

The first case of coronavirus infection in the District of Columbia was reported on March 7.

The patient was a resident in his 50s who appeared to have no history of international travel and no close contacts with a confirmed case, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced.

Infections hit more than 400

Now the US cases are at more than 400 and include 70 people repatriated to the US. Of those, 21 people are aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship. The ship was held off the coast of San Francisco and has been in limbo since March 4, when officials learned the first California fatality had traveled to Mexico on the ship last month. It's expected to head to Oakland, California, this week.

A nursing home is at the center of the outbreak

The hard-hit Washington state is grappling with an outbreak at Life Care Center nursing home in suburban Seattle, where at least 14 people have died, the King County Health Department said.

All 63 residents remaining at the facility are confined to their rooms and dozens more have been transferred to various hospitals, said spokesman Tim Killian of the Kirkland facility.
National Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, has stated it is not surprising that cases of coronavirus have been recorded in the country.



According to him even though it is bad news it is not surprising. He said though it is a bad disease we should remain calm and not panic much as countries like China and Korea that panicked have faced its consequences in their country.



He called on all political parties not to be political about the COVID-19 since it doesn't affect political colours and has no respect for personalities.



Lets not be political about it for coronavirus is no respecter of persons or political affiliation and not considering ones wealthy status. Lets take a nationalistic aspect of the story and tackle it as such, he said.



Speaking on Peace FMs 'Kokroko' political discussion programme, the NDC communicator stressed that government needs not to be secretive about the confirmed cases reported but disclose to citizens every truth involved in the case to keep citizens calm.



Also, he indicated that government should disburse some part of the funds allocated for the disease to create awareness in all languages spoken in the country and also create enough quarantine centres in all the regions.



Government must throw more light on the cases confirmed and keep no secret. We dont only need to know where the confirmed victims are coming from but their names are as well needed, because in Nigerian names of the victim and the driver involved were mentioned and where the victim travelled from. So why are we hiding details of the confirmed cases in Ghana as if it is a CIA confidential matter, he argued.



Sammy Gyamfi further detailed expectations from government and said Government should provide concrete procedures on how we can contain the situation and prevent it from spreading . . . "



Listen to him in the video below





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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The United States and Germany are vying to produce an exclusive vaccine against the coronavirus which is being developed in a German laboratory, Die Welt daily reported on Saturday

According to the paper, US President Donald Trump is trying to poach German scientists working on an experimental vaccine against a global health threat that has now killed some 5,500 people with a view to having an exclusive licence rolled out in the United States.

Track live updates on the coronavirus here

Such a vaccine would be "only for the United States," a source close to the German government told Die Welt, though Berlin would reportedly is looking to make offers of its own to biotech firm CureVac, based in the German state of Thuringia.

The company, founded in 2000, has other sites in Frankfurt and Boston.

The firm markets itself as specialising in "development of treatments against cancer, antibody-based therapies, treatment of rare illnesses and prophylactic vaccines."

The lab is currently working in tandem with the Paul-Ehrlich Institute, linked to the German ministry of health.

It specialises in vaccine research.

"The German government is very interested in having the development of vaccines and active substances against the novel coronavirus undertaken in Germany and Europe," a health ministry spokesman told Die Welt, adding that the government was in "intensive" talks with CureVac.

As CureVac CEO, Daniel Menichella found himself invited on March 2 to the White House to meet with Trump, his vice-president Mike Pence and representatives of pharma companies working on how to respond to the pandemic, the company revealed on its website without indicating if financial offers had been put on the table.

"We are very confident that we will be able to develop a potent vaccine candidate within a few months," CureVac quoted Menichella -- who has since given way to founder and incoming CEO Ingmar Hoerr -- as saying following his Washington visit.
Where are you from? Russia? the middle-aged woman asked matter-of-factly, as she walked toward her polling place in Seaside, California on Super Tuesday. She had been approached by a man wearing a Cossack Ushanka hat with a hammer and sickle pin, offering to buy her vote.

Neither she nor her daughter took the bribe, but they seemed intrigued, even charmed, by a guy meddling in our political process. After voting they returned with news that a friend was willing to switch to Donald Trump in the general election if the price were right.

This was an experiment for Candid Camera. My crew and I have been eavesdropping on the 2020 campaign, gathering material for a humorous documentary titled Outvoted.

Ive been at this for too many years to be surprised by most of what folks do or say  but the degree of gullibility we observed in this test of Russian electioneering was stunning.

Actor Elijah Morgan claimed to be with the R.F.B.A. (Russians for a Better America). He offered cash to anyone willing to vote for Bernie Sanders in the primary, and then switch their support to Trump in November.

One Sanders supporter expressed apparent enthusiasm for the first request, but quickly turned negative after hearing the second part. Thats not going to happen, she said about voting for Trump.

A male voter seemed to like the Trump deal, asking How much do you want to buy (my vote) for? He lost interest when informed that the payment was in rubles.

Another fellow in a tie-dyed shirt who self-identified as a Trump-supporting T Man, examined the 10 ruble note and then happily accepted it to cement his support for the president.

Although our shows library, compiled over seven decades by my father, Allen Funt, and myself, is widely used in college psychology classes, weve never promoted our work as being scientific. Rather, the clips serve to provide real-life support for themes that experts are analyzing.

In this case, our experiment underscores the fact that Americans have been desensitized to flaws in the election process  from failed apps in Iowa all the way to evidence of Russian interference. Yes, Elijah was polite and friendly, but where was the outrage? I was expecting at least a few of the two-dozen people he confronted to be what we call finger-waggers. We were looking for the type of citizen who would lecture us about how You cant do this in America!

Instead, we had a college student who listened to the pitch and then exclaimed, Thats so cool!

A few weeks earlier in Reno, Nevada, I pretended to be from Canada and asked voters about the rules for caucusing. A few got parts right, but none was fully able to explain the process  especially early caucusing, in which Nevadans were required to list their top five choices for the presidential nomination.

Others were totally confused about the caucus day itself. Pete had a caucus, Elizabeth Warren had a caucus, Joseph Biden had a caucus, insisted one fellow. So how many caucuses do you have? I asked. Answer: I dont know. A woman summed it up: Its America.

Theyre trying to confuse the hell out of us.

As a purveyor of smiles, Im pleased by some of this confusion; as a political observer Im dismayed.

Near Columbia University in Manhattan a few years ago, we gathered signatures on political recall petitions. The elected officials we sought to oust were fictitious, but that didnt stop most people from signing.

One man even signed a blank petition, trusting us to later insert the name of any politician we hoped to remove from office.

H. L. Mencken is credited with reminding us, No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. Personally, Im still a believer in Americans collective wisdom. But the assault by social media, certain cable-TV hosts and the guy in the White House is testing that.

Asked to sell her vote by a man she thought was a Russian operative, one woman replied, I like your hat.

Peter Funt can be reached at www.CandidCamera.com.

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For more coverage, visit our complete coronavirus section here.

The classroom was abuzz with the lively chatter of elementary school students. While that wasnt so out-of-the-ordinary, the topic of their discussion seemed to be uncharacteristically dire.

I heard people couldnt leave their houses, one wide-eyed child said to their peers.

The coronavirus conversation snowballed from there. Kids had questions: what if they, too, were trapped inside their own homes? Was it possible for their dog to get infected? Did they need to buy supplies? Where would they get food if they couldnt leave home?

And more importantly, where did their parents buy toilet paper?

Annie Barrows, a visiting childrens book author, sat back and listened. Then, something clicked.

More than anything, I realized they just wanted to talk about it. As grown-ups, we dont always let kids do that, she said.

On this particular day, though, she noticed their teacher didnt stifle the conversation. Instead, she allowed her students to tell stories about what theyd heard and ask questions about what they were unsure of. Ultimately, the teacher provided her students with a space to address their fears and anxieties while guiding the discussion with facts to dispel any misinformation.

Its a tricky topic to navigate, especially because the nature of the virus is so unpredictable. The knowledge we do have can be ambiguous, and it seems to be constantly shifting. That said, the citys Department of Emergency reminds us it can be especially daunting for children to take in such information without the right context or explanation.

One of the most important things a parent can do is loop their children in on the conversation, Dr. Mark Reinecke, a senior clinical psychologist at the Child Mind Institute, told SFGATE.

Its quite common for parents to talk about the effects on travel, meetings that are being cancelled, or concerns about the economy and what thats going to mean, said Dr. Reinecke. Its in the news on an ongoing basis. I think this probably does set a tone at home and can influence how children and adolescents feel.

Amid nationwide school closures and cancellations of extracurricular activities, its also something the San Francisco Unified School District is tasked with addressing on a day-to-day basis.

Its important to talk with children in an age-appropriate way using the facts, Nancy Lin Pollack, a teacher on special assignment at the district, told SFGATE. Addressing anxieties more generally, make sure they know not to be afraid and to go to an adult they trust with any questions.

Of course, theres also the standard hygiene tips: encouraging your children to cough or sneeze into their elbows, avoid touching their faces and to wash their hands frequently for at least 20 seconds each time.

But what else should parents keep in mind when talking to their kids about the coronavirus? Here are a few tips we rounded up from a child psychologist, a childrens book author, as well as a school nurse and teacher from SFUSD:

Be transparent and open. My suggestion is this: lets talk with youngsters about whats on the news and what theyve heard instead of backing off from discussing it. Rather, let them bring the conversation to you, said Dr. Reinecke.

But also admit when you dont know something. If your child asks a question and you dont have the answer, be honest. Tell them youre unsure, but let them know youll seek out more information. I think its important for parents to maintain a sense of equanimity, said Dr. Reinecke. If the parent is calm and doesnt present a sense of alarm in the face of this, I think children and adolescents will pick up on that. Kim Walker, a nurse at SFUSD, recommends sitting with your child and looking at the CDC or WHO website together. This is particularly helpful for adolescents.

Stick to the facts, and find interesting ways to address them. Pollack reminds us to start with the basics: Coronavirus causes a disease called COVID-19 that can make people sick. From there, fun facts can help provide context. The word corona is Latin for crown, and if you look at coronavirus under a microscope, it looks like a crown with spiky blobs, she said. A great visual resource for younger children is this NPR comic about coronavirus, which can also be cut and folded into a zine.

Try telling a story. It can be easy to overwhelm a child with too much information, especially when it comes to telling them how to confront the coronavirus in their everyday lives. Barrows, an author known for the bestselling Ivy & Bean series, recommends breaking down information into small parts and even including a bit of humor.

I think it's always fun to talk to kids about what the solution is, and then go to the extreme with them, said Barrows. So, okay, you're supposed to wash your hands all the time. Well, is it sensible to go sit in the bathtub for the next 3 months? Laugh with them and say Haha, no it's not sensible. To be sensible, youre going to be out in the world playing and being a kid. But when you think about it, try to wash your hands more than usual.

Create a secure environment. In addition to modeling a sense of confidence, Dr. Reinecke recommends sticking to a predictable routine  especially in the event of a quarantine  as well as maintaining an affectionate and nurturing environment at home.

Validate their fears. Listening and responding with phrases like, That sounds really scary, I can see how worried you are can go a long way, according to Pollack. Barrows adds that the priority for parents should be making things seem manageable to children. There are ways to create narratives that can make kids feel like they have some power over the situation. Additionally, check in on them if you notice signs of distress or anxiety. To that end

Monitor their media. At least in our house, when we get up in the morning the first thing we do is turn on the TV and watch the morning news while were eating breakfast, said Dr. Reinecke, And whats leading the headline is coronavirus. Its there in front of us all the time. Its crucial to stay informed, but ruminating or dwelling on the epidemic too much can be counterproductive. Dr. Reinecke recommends letting your children know about events with widespread media coverage - its better for them to hear about it from you - but remember to take a break and turn off the TV once in a while.

Take care of yourself, too. Its always important to be cognizant of yourself and how youre feeling about whats going on, said Walker. Take yourself back to the facts. I even monitor my own television watching now. Give your mind a break and partake in other pleasant, relaxing activities with your children, like reading, drawing, or playing a game. And finally...

Accept the ambiguity of the situation. Part of what we have to do and what we want to do with youngsters is to help them to cope with life in a world where unpredictable and potentially dangerous things happen. This is part of life, said Dr. Reinecke. Try to remind your kids: All epidemics pass. Natural disasters pass. And this will too. So well get through it, but we just want to be calm and supportive of one another as we move through it together.

MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE:

Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here.

Amanda Bartlett is an SFGATE associate digital reporter. Email: amanda.bartlett@sfgate.com | Twitter: @bybartlett
Newsfrom Japan

Tokyo, March 15 (Jiji Press)--A ruling Liberal Democratic Party policymaker expressed willingness on Sunday to work with opposition parties in drawing up a fiscal 2020 supplementary budget to finance an economic package against the new coronavirus epidemic.

"We need to cooperate with opposition parties to compile a budget on a scale that reassures the people," Norihisa Tamura, acting chairman of the LDP Policy Research Council, said on a television program.

Michiyo Takagi, acting policy chief of Komeito, the junior coalition partner of the LDP, also stressed the need for the government to put together drastic economic stimulus measures.

Seiji Osaka, policy leader of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, specifically called for an increase in assistance to child-rearing households, a reduction in public utility chares, a moratorium on tax payments and a cut or exemption of social insurance premiums.

Kenta Izumi, policy chief of the Democratic Party for the People, proposed that the government work out an economic package totaling 30 trillion yen, with 10 trillion yen each spent on tax cut, benefits and lost income compensation.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
YEREVAN, MARCH 15, ARMENPRESS. Students and teachers of the #4 public school in the city of Etchmiatsin, Armenia are being quarantined after a child from the school tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Footage filmed outside the school building shows hazmat specialists escorting the children and teachers to special buses, while police have cordoned off the street. The pupils and teachers were told to gather at the school. The total number of quarantined people from the school wasnt immediately available.

The novel coronavirus spread in the city of Etchmiatsin started from an imported case from Italy, when a local resident who had recently returned from Italy attended a party and infected her direct contacts. According to media reports, a school nurse of the #4 school was also in attendance of the same event.

As of Sunday afternoon, the total number of confirmed COVID19 cases in Armenia is 23.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
Three more cases of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were recorded in Vietnam on Sunday night, taking the countrys total to 57, with 41 active infections.

The Ministry of Health said that it received a notice from the Pasteur Institute in Nha Trang, located in south-central Khanh Hoa Province, at 9:30 pm on Sunday confirming the 57th patient is a 66-year-old Briton.

The male patient arrived in Hanoi from London on board flight VN0054, operated by Vietnam Airlines, on March 9 and then came to Quang Nam Province in central Vietnam.

He showed COVID-19 symptoms so his sample was sent to the Pasteur Institute in Nha Trang for testing.

His test returned positive.

He was on the same London-Hanoi flight as a Vietnam Airlines attendant who was confirmed as Vietnams 46th patient on Friday.

The Briton is being treated in Quang Nam.

The 55th and 56th cases were recorded in Hanoi, bringing the total in the capital to 11.

The 56th patient is a 30-year-old UK citizen.

He touched down at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi from the UK at 5:30 am on March 9.

Upon entry, he met up with two female friends who flew to the Vietnamese capital on another flight for a vacation.

The patient stayed at Hanoi Paradise Center Hotel at 22 Hang Voi, Hoang Kiem District, Hanoi and checked out on March 10.

He traveled to Sa Pa, a famous resort town in northwestern Vietnam, from March 10 to 13. He stayed at Mountain River Homestay Sapa in Ta Van, Sa Pa.

Then the patient returned to Hanoi and has stayed at Oriental Suiter at 58 Hang Dao, Hoan Kiem District from March 13 till present.

The Hang Dao Peoples Committee was informed of his whereabouts and decided to isolate the Briton.

On Saturday, he was tested by the Center for Disease Control in Hanoi and the result was positive.

His test was confirmed by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, located in the capital, on Sunday night.

He is being isolated and treated in stable health at the Dong Anh branch of the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi.

The 55th patient is a 35-year-old German man who boarded flight VN0018 to fly from France to Hanoi on Saturday.

He was diagnosed by the Center for Disease Control in Hanoi on Saturday and the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology confirmed the diagnosis on Sunday night.

He is being isolated and treated in stable health at the Dong Anh branch of the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases.

Vietnam has confirmed 57 COVID-19 cases so far, with 16 having fully recovered and been discharged from the hospital by February 26.

The 41 active cases, having been confirmed since March 6, include 17 foreigners  mostly Europeans  and 24 Vietnamese.

The Southeast Asian country treats Vietnamese patients for free.

It has announced that foreign patients have to pay for their treatment although their testing and quarantine fees are still waived.

No mortality has been reported in Vietnam to date.

Vietnam now bans arrivals from the Schengen Area and UK and suspends its visa-on-arrival policy for all foreigners.

The new policy will be in effect for 30 days from 12:00 pm Sunday, March 15, and will not affect arrivals for diplomatic or official purposes.

Vietnam will consider stop issuing tourist visas to visitors from the U.S. on a state-by-state basis, depending on the development of the epidemic in that country, its prime minister said.

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The Chatham Squire closed its doors Sunday for at least a week "out of an abundance of caution," according to a sign posted at the Main Street restaurant. TIM WOOD PHOTO

The first positive case of COVID-19 coronavirus on Cape Cod was confirmed by the state department of public health Saturday. On Sunday Chatham closed its community center after learning that person was in the building Feb. 29.

The person, a Sandwich resident, is reportedly showing symptoms and is being isolated; it is not known where or when he contracted the virus. In a press release Sunday, town officials said they were taking the step out of "an abundance of caution." Select Chair Shareen Davis notified residents of the closure in a phone call Sunday afternoon.

Town officials were made aware that the person was at the community center Feb. 29 on Sunday. The 14-day incubation period for coronavirus has passed, according to the press release. There have been no reported cases of the virus in Chatham and community center staff have not reported any symptoms. The building will be disinfected during its closure, and staff will work out of another location temporarily.

Town officials urges anyone experiencing symptoms, including fever, cough or difficulty breathing, to self-isolate and contact their healthcare provider.

Deputy Harwich Fire Chief David LeBlanc said Monday morning his department has had no calls related to the COVID-19 virus. Residents who feel ill should not hesitate to call the department, he said, whether they have concerns about the virus or if they just are sick and feel the need to go to the hospital.

A Harwich firefighter was diagnosed with the flu a week ago and he was examined at Cape Cod Hospital for symptoms of influenza. The member is at home, following the instructions provided by the emergency room doctors. Despite a test confirming the flu, a social media post has circulated saying the firefighter had been quarantined because of COVID-19.

There is a strong potential for inaccurate information to be shared within the coming weeks, LeBlanc said. Please verify all information you receive regarding COVID-19, town actions and potential patients.

The deputy fire chief said his department has sufficient supplies to respond to virus-related calls in the short term, but the potential long-term impacts remain unknown. The department has the recommended face shields, N95 masks and gowns to protect its members when responded to a presumed coronavirus patient, LeBlanc said.

He praised the work of Health Department Director Meggan Eldredge, calling her input to other town departments phenomenal. The deputy chief also said they are following the directives of the Centers for Disease Control.

Were in a good position to do what we want to do, LeBlanc told The Chronicle.

As part of its response to the virus, Cape Cod Healthcare announced Sunday that visitors will no longer be allowed at any of its locations, including Cape Cod Hospital, Fontaine Outpatient Center and the Oppenheim Medical Building. Exceptions will be made for end of life, maternity deliveries, and one parent or legal guardian per minor child who is a patient.

The intent of these revisions is to protect the health and safety of our patients, staff and physicians, an official announcement reads.

State Sen. Julian Cyr, DTruro, has created a web page for constituents with coronavirus resources at www.SenatorCyr.com/covid19.

This is an unprecedented time for Cape Cod, Marthas Vineyard, and Nantucket, Cyr wrote in an announcement. The COVID-19 pandemic is a very steep challenge for all of us.

On Saturday, the Monomoy and Nauset regional school systems announced that classes would be cancelled beginning Monday. Nauset Superintendent Tom Conrad said to expect a closure of at least two weeks, while Monomoy Superintendent Dr. Scott Carpenter said families should be prepared to for schools to be closed as long as a month and a half, through April 27. Read more here.

On Sunday, Governor Charlie Baker suspended all schools in Massachusetts through at least April 7. He also banned gatherings of more than 25 people and ordered restaurants and bars from serving food on site, although take out and deliver service is allowed.

On Friday Chatham declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic as a proactive step and not in response to any cases of the virus in the community. Both the state and Barnstable County also declared states of emergency this week.

This declaration has been issued to help us prepare, give the town administrative capability to adapt town operations, and ensure the allocation of more resources as it relates to COVID-19 (novel coronavirus), according to a press release.

Selectmen are expected to affirm the declaration at their Monday meeting.

According to Conrad, 14 Nauset High students and chaperones who had traveled to Italy had been back for 12 days when the 14-day quarantine went into effect. The students, none of whom were sick, left school for two days and then returned.

The school has cancelled all events but will continue to hold classes next week.

At the Orleans Fire Station, a sign outside the main door instructed anyone who was coughing or had a fever to put on one of the face masks held in a plastic bag. Chief Geoff Deering said the department's dispatchers are doing additional screening and advising patients to take certain precautions before firefighters arrive.

The situation is evolving quickly, he said, adding that department heads will update the selectmen Wednesday.

The Orleans Council on Aging has implemented elevated cleaning and sanitation, according to Director Judi Wilson. Cape councils on aging have created an online forum to share strategies and guidance. Essential services continue, although the COA's St. Patrick's Day luncheon has been cancelled. Regular lunches continue, with participants practicing social distancing, she said, and the program will be closed once there's a presumptive case of the virus on the Cape.

The COA is getting panicky calls, Wilson said. We live in an area where older adults travel. We're trying to increase information to visitors and volunteers. In this period of heightened concern, people need to take their own safety and precautions seriously. Some in the community believe the crisis is being blown out of proportion, she added. We want to make sure we're educating people on the facts.

Most programs at the Snow Library have been cancelled, said Director Tavi Prugno. Chamber of commerce programs have also been called off.

The Eldredge Public Library announced Saturday that it would close at the end of the day until further notice. Staff will continue to provide library services online and by phone; hours will be announced later. The Chatham Community Center closed, as did The Chatham Squire, for at least a week, according to owner Todd Hearle, "out of an abundance of caution."

Previous story:

Towns Cancel, Limit Meetings As Virus Concerns Sweep Area

Chatham officials announced Thursday that all non-regulatory committee meetings were being cancelled until further notice, and Harwich is limiting meetings to one meeting room and asking attendees to sit six feet apart, all in service of keeping the coronavirus in check. On Friday, the Barnstable County Commissioners declared a local health emergency, and local schools began to close their doors.

Many events and meetingsincluding school awards dinners and Monomoy High School's senior class tripwere cancelled or postponed. Baker issued an emergency order Thursday modifying the state's Open Meeting Law suspending the requirement for public access to physical meeting locations, provided meetings can be accessed through streaming or other methods. The governor also banned all gatherings of more than 250 people.

Chatham officials called off Saturday's senior center informational meeting. Instead, owner's project manager Rick Pomroy will make a presentation at the board of selectmen's regular Monday meeting at 6 p.m. according to Town Manager Jill Goldsmith. Pomroy is expected to provide information on the 1610 Main St. site study including final revisions to building and grounds designs for the West Chatham location. The meeting will be broadcast live on Channel 18 and streamed online; officials are encouraging the public to watch the meeting remotely to limit the possibility of public exposure. Questions can be emailed to jgoldsmith@chatham-ma.gov during the meeting, and as many as possible will be answered during the presentation.

Harwich this week put in place public meeting procedures that call for all committees and boards to meet only in the Donn B. Griffin Room through March 16 so that meetings can be broadcast live. With limited time and space, preference will be given to elected, regulatory and policy-making boards, according to a memo from Interim Town Administrator Joseph Powers. Other town committees are advised to postpone meetings next week. Several town buildings were closed to the public on Friday, including Brooks Free Library, the cultural center, and the community center, although health-related operations, such as the town nurse, COA meals on wheels and other activities. Town hall will remain open but public meetings will be by remote participation.

The town will also practice social distancing by setting up the meeting room to keep a six-foot separation between attendees.

While these efforts may seem extreme, they are necessary given the added efforts of staff required to create a safe, effective and clean environment within which to conduct business, the memo reads. The policy will be evaluated on an ongoing basis.

Health officials are urging people to stay home if possible and not panic virus and its impact dominates national headlines.

In a conference call Thursday, Dr. David Pombo, Cape Cod Healthcare's Medical Director for Infection Prevention, said there were no confirmed cases of the virus on Cape Cod yet, and COVID-19 testing remains largely unavailable locally. For that reason, people who are not severely ill are asked not to go to their doctor's office to seek testing, Pombo said.

People who have mild symptoms should remain home from work and practice "social distancing," he said. Those who are experiencing a high fever, a severe cough and difficulty breathing should call their primary care physician for instructions, and those without a family doctor should call a medical clinic.

The focus now should be on preventing the potential spread of the virus, Pombo said. There is insufficient information to indicate how widespread the virus currently is, "and it's possible it's established in many areas that we're not yet aware of." For that reason, people should avoid large gatherings and practice cough hygiene and frequent hand-washing.

Chatham Health Agent Judy Giorgio said Friday that there were no confirmed or presumptive cases of coronavirus in town, nor was she aware of anyone who is self-quarantined.

In Chatham, regulatory committees will hold meetings on "essential and time-sensitive matters," according to a town press release. The public is encouraged to view the meetings remotely, and only those whose presence is required are being asked to attend the sessions.

Town programs at the community center, such as adult and youth recreation and pickleball, will continue, but beginning Sunday, all non-town events and room-rentals will be cancelled. The Eldredge Public Library cancelled all public programs, including the spring Learning Series and closed its doors at 5 p.m. Saturday until further notice.

Chatham officials are also asking the public to limit visits to the town offices and to use online portals or the mail to pay bills. To allow additional time for cleaning, officials ask the public to visit the town offices between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., and the town hall annex between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Fridays.

Click here for links to further information about the coronavirus.

The Harwich Council On Aging cancelled several programs, including men's and women's breakfasts and a March 18 St. Patrick's Day celebration. St. Christopher's Episcopal Church in Chatham cancelled all church-related events, including worship services, through March 30. Other meetings, concerts and events are being cancelled or postponed. Click here for the most recent list.

Alan Pollock, Ed Maroney, Kat Szmit and Tim Wood contributed to this story.


WASHINGTON (AP)  The governments top infectious disease expert said Sunday he would like to see aggressive measures such as a 14-day national shutdown that would require Americans to hunker down even more to help slow spread of the coronavirus.

Still, Dr. Anthony Fauci said travel restrictions within the United States, such as to and from hard-hit Washington state and California, probably will not be needed anytime soon.

Fauci, the public face of the administration's messaging during a round of morning TV interviews, said the country should do as much as we possibly could, even if officials are criticized for overreacting. He said he raised the issue of measures such as a shutdown with the Trump administration, and said it has been open to his ideas.

I think Americans should be prepared that they are going to have to hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing, said Fauci, a member of the White House task force on combating the spread of coronavirus. He head the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health

Fauci said the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions should already be hunkering down, but other Americans, too, should consider much more restrictions on outside activity, from work and travel to possibly self-restrictions on eating at restaurants.

Everybody has got to get involved in distancing themselves socially, Fauci said.

Everything is on the table, he said. Right now, myself personally, I wouldn't go to a restaurant. I just wouldn't because I don't want to be in a crowded place. ... I don't want to be in a situation where Im going to be all of a sudden self-isolating for 14 days. The virus has an incubation period of anywhere from two days to 14 days before symptoms emerge.

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 worldwide outbreak has sickened more than 156,000 people and left more than 5,800 dead. The death toll in the United States has reached more than 50, while infections neared 3,000 across 49 states.

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 weeks to six weeks to recover.

President Donald Trump last week announced a sweeping travel ban for much of Europe. On Saturday, he added the United Kingdom and Ireland to a list of countries that would face travel restrictions over the next 30 days. He has pledged broadened U.S. testing for the virus as major employers such as Apple Inc. have sent workers home to telework and several states and big cities, including Los Angeles and Boston, shuttered down schools for a week or more.

In the nation's capital, White House officials over the weekend said Trump tested negative for the virus after he was recently in contact with three people at his Florida resort who tested positive, and several lawmakers in recent days have said they were self-quarantining out of an abundance of caution.

On Sunday, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said a former staff member tested positive for COVID-19. That staffer, Daniel Goldman, the attorney who led Democratic questioning during the House impeachment hearings, had left the office 10 days ago and he's believed to have contracted the virus after his departure.

We will still be taking additional precautions over the next few days, Schiff said. The former staffer is feeling better and no current staff have reported any flu-like symptoms at this time.

NIH reported Sunday that one of its staff working in its division on arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases had tested positive for COVID-19, its first case. NIH said the person was not involved in patient care and was now quarantined at home and "doing well.

Trump has suggested that restrictions on travel within the U.S. to areas hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic could be next. But Fauci on Sunday played down that or having major national lockdowns on the level now seen in European countries such as Italy and Spain.

We feel that with rather stringent mitigation and containment, without necessarily complete lockdown, we would be able to prevent ourselves from getting to where, unfortunately, Italy is now, Fauci said.

With regard to domestic travel bans, we always talk about it, consider everything. But I can tell you that has not been seriously considered, doing travel bans in the country. ... I don't see that right now or in the immediate future.

At the White House, Trump on Sunday was set to hold a call with grocery store executives to discuss their response to coronavirus outbreak. Retailers have reported seeing a crush of shoppers flocking to stores to stock up on food and other essentials. Consumers have expressed frustration that some items  such as hand sanitizer and toilet paper  is becoming more difficult to find.

But more than the crisis was on his mind. He tweeted that he was considering a full pardon for Michael Flynn, his disgraced former national security adviser, and he directed barbs at a familiar target, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow expressed confidence that supply lines such as food for stores will be largely unaffected by the virus outbreak.

I've read about some situations where this is a difficulty, but most of our supply lines are working pretty well in the domestic United States, he said. I mean, there's a huge economic challenge here. Do not get me wrong, a huge economic challenge. On the other hand, most of America is still working. ... Factories are not shutting down across the country, at least not yet.

Trump, who declared Sunday a National Day of Prayer, said he tuned in to the live stream from the Free Chapel, a Gainesville, Georgia evangelical church led by Jentezen Franklin.

I am watching a great and beautiful service by Pastor Jentezen Franklin. Thank you! Trump tweeted.

Vice President Mike Pence, who leads the White House task force, said he planned to disclose more details about a web site being developed by Verily, a subsidiary of Googles parent company, that is being designed to help communities assess and direct Americans to sites conducting coronavirus screening.

Trump on Friday announced the imminent rollout of a website facilitated by Google that would guide users through a series of questions to determine whether they should be screened for the virus. The company, however, has said that the web site was in early stages of development and would be focused on the San Francisco Bay Area.

Fauci spoke on NBCs Meet the Press, CNNs State of the Union, ABCs This Week, Fox News Sunday, and CBS Face the Nation. Kudlow appeared on CBS.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a speech regarding the new measures that will be taken to fight the coronavirus in Jerusalem on March 14, 2020. (Xinhua photo)

Corruption trial opening of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been postponed to May 24 due to the spread of the novel coronavirus.

JERUSALEM, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The opening of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial was postponed for two months due to the COVID-19 crisis, Israel's justice minister said on Sunday.

Amir Ohana said in a statement that the trial, which was supposed to begin on March 17, will begin on May 24 "due to development related to the spread of the coronavirus."

Some almost-empty shelves are seen in a supermarket in the central Israeli city of Modi'in on March 14, 2020. (Xinhua Photo)

The first session of the trial was supposed to include a reading of the indictment against Netanyahu, which includes bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases.

Netanyahu, 70, denies any wrongdoing.

Israel's longest-serving leader is also fighting his political future after a third round of elections on March 2 ended with inconclusive results. 
Gulf Arab states expanded measures against the new coronavirus on Sunday with the United Arab Emirates shuttering several public venues including parks and the Abu Dhabi bourse trading hall, as infections continued to spread in the region.

Oman's health ministry reported two more cases on Sunday, including an Omani woman who had been in Italy. The sultanate, which lies across the Gulf from Iran, banned ship-to-ship trade by open-deck boats with Iranian vessels, state media said.

The new cases took the total number of infections in the six Gulf Arab states to 872, with no deaths reported so far.

Many are linked to travel with Iran, which emerged as an epicentre for the disease in the Middle East. Tehran on Sunday raised its toll to 724 dead and more than 13,900 infected.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday the government had no plans to quarantine Iranian cities because of the coronavirus outbreak, state TV reported.

Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, foes of Iran which restrict travel there, have criticised Tehran for allowing their citizens to enter without stamping their passports, a move Manama described as "biological aggression".

However, the outbreak has also seen rivalries put aside.

In a rare phone call, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan told his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif the UAE was ready to help, stressing the need for global efforts to contain the disease, state media said on Sunday.

Iranian media said Zarif thanked the UAE, which has facilitated medical supply shipments.

Supermarket Scramble

In regional tourism and business hub Dubai, there was a rush on supermarkets with many shoppers wearing masks and gloves, as the emirate joined the UAE capital Abu Dhabi in closing cinemas, arcades, spas, gyms and parks.

The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange said on Sunday it was closing all its trading halls until further notice, a day after Kuwait's bourse said it would do the same.

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have taken the most drastic steps among Gulf Arab states by halting international passenger flights.

The UAE and Qatar have restricted entry visas. Emirates airline suspended more flights.

An American living in the Saudi capital Riyadh said his parents -- in their 60s and 70s -- cut short their visit and departed on Saturday before the kingdom's two-week international flight suspension went into effect at 0800 GMT Sunday.

"I'm glad that they're off even though it means 24 hours in the airport hotel in Dubai. Given their age and medical issues it's definitely better than stuck here for weeks," he said.

Two gated compounds in the capital Riyadh housing hundreds of expatriates have each reported one case among residents, according to emails from management seen by Reuters. Some compounds restricted residents' movements and guest access.

Asked about those two cases, Saudi health ministry spokesman Mohammed Abdelali said all cases are announced as they are identified. Saudi Arabia has 103 cases of the virus.

Citizens and residents in Kuwait, which went into virtual lockdown on Thursday, had their temperatures tested before entering banks, where long queues formed on Sunday after the state limited the number of operational branches.

Kuwait, where the flights ban began on March 13, has offered its citizens stranded at London's Heathrow Airport paid accommodation at an airport hotel with three meals a day, according to an embassy notification seen by Reuters.

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Fears are mounting for Australian Border Force officers facing the coronavirus pandemic as Labor claims casual workers on the frontline will not get paid sick leave if they contract the disease.

Labor home affairs spokeswoman Senator Kristina Keneally has called on the federal government to "fix" the issue for hundreds of casual workers staffing borders as strict quarantines come into place.

Border Force staff on casual contracts are concerned about sick pay should they catch coronavirus. Credit:AAP

An email from the Department of Home Affairs' Workplace Relations Branch about whether casual workers would be given payment should they contract coronavirus said that casual employees would not be eligible for "miscellaneous" paid leave.

"The department is providing every effort to mitigate health and safety risks to all staff, particularly in airport environments," the email said.
The start of the weekend among the bars and clubs of Manhattans Lower East Side looked  and felt  more as if the end of one. Empty cabs rolled down darkened streets, past lonely food carts plopped on sidewalks where few pedestrians scurried by. Some venues closed, while others worried they might be next.

The vibe is feeling like getting your last social interaction in before the inevitable lack of interaction, said Leah Dixon, a co-owner of Beverlys, a small cocktail bar on Essex Street.

Then on Sunday night, Mayor Bill de Blasio, facing mounting pressure, announced a sweeping shutdown of tens of thousands of bars, restaurants, nightclubs and music venues in an effort to suppress the spread of the coronavirus.
A 77-year-old woman from the Sunshine Coast has died after contracting the coronavirus, Queensland's health authorities have confirmed.

She was Australia's fourth coronavirus-related death and the first Queenslander to die after catching the virus. NSW Health on Sunday confirmed a 90-year-old woman who died on Saturday was the fifth COVID-19-linked death in Australia.

The Sunshine Coast woman became unwell on a flight to Sydney on Friday and was taken to hospital, but died when she could not be resuscitated.

The woman, from Noosaville, had spent the two previous weeks on the Sunshine Coast with her daughter who was visiting from San Francisco, Queensland authorities confirmed on Sunday night.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs, who were staying at a hotel in Gurugram, arrived at Bhopal airport via Delhi.

Madhya Pradesh Leader of Opposition, Gopal Bhargava, said that the Speaker of the state assembly will have to Governor Lalji Tandon's orders and the floor test of the Kamal Nath-led state government should be held on Monday.

"Governor had ordered floor test in the state assembly after his address but the test is not mentioned in assembly's list of business. We will raise this issue. The Speaker will have to follow Governor's orders," Bhargava told media persons here.

VD Sharma, Madhya Pradesh BJP president, said, "Floor test will be held (on Monday). The Governor has written to Chief Minister and the Speaker about it. It does not matter what the Chief Minister says. The Governor has written to the Speaker and I believe he will follow the Governor's directions."

As political uncertainty developed in Madhya Pradesh, BJP and Congress had earlier moved their legislators out of the state and lodged them in luxury hotels, apparently in a bid to keep their respective flock intact.

The development comes amid the political crisis that has engulfed the state after Jyotiraditya Scindia, a prominent face of the Congress, resigned from the party last week to join BJP.

Scindia's decision to leave Congress was followed by the resignation from 22 party MLAs loyal to him.

Earlier, allegations were levelled against the BJP for reportedly holding hostages at least eight Congress MLAs from Madhya Pradesh against their will at a luxury hotel in Manesar and Bengaluru.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New York: Former vice-president Joe Biden, who has battled with Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in the past over the issue of bankruptcy, now supports a plan by Warren to make changes to the bankruptcy system, his presidential campaign confirmed Saturday.

Biden would work toward putting in place her bankruptcy plan as president, and he could address the issue at greater length in Sunday night's debate, Biden advisers said.

Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders, and former vice-president Joe Biden. Credit:AP

It is the latest sign that Biden, fresh off a string of victories, is looking for ways to engage younger and more liberal voters who have remained septical of his candidacy, and it reflects a recognition among his allies that he will need enthusiastic support from progressives in a general election should he become the Democratic nominee.

The move also comes amid speculation over whether Warren, who dropped out of the race this month, will issue an endorsement of Biden or of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, his chief rival for the nomination, or whether she will sit out the primary entirely.
The HSE's war-room in the battle against coronavirus is affectionately known as "that big yella' building next to Heuston" to country folk who regularly get trains to Dublin.

The HSE calls the building Dr Steevens' Hospital after Dr Richard Steevens, an eminent 18th-century physician who bequeathed money to establish a medical facility. In 1803, it was kept under guard to protect the injured victims of an explosion at a nearby ammunition depot prior to the rebellion against British rule. It now serves as the HSE's headquarters but soldiers are back there again this weekend.

Defence Forces cadets in military fatigues are manning phones after contact-tracing methods were ramped up to detect coronavirus carriers. Using information provided by people who have tested positive, the cadets trace recent contacts, explain the nature of the phone call, offer reassurance and ask key questions.

"Are you a healthcare worker? Do you have any symptoms associated with Covid-19?"

The soldiers, and everyone else in the building, are here to support efforts of doctors, nurses, virus-testers and healthcare workers in the trenches who could come in direct contact with the virus.

But it is not only at Dr Steevens' Hospital where the modus operandi has changed to combat the threat of Covid-19. On the frontline, where the risk of coming in to contact with coronavirus is greatest, thousands of people have adjusted routines to battle this new disease.

Instead of having patients attend GP surgeries for repeat prescriptions, some doctors are filling out scripts and delivering, emailing or faxing them to local pharmacies. Stricter control measures are also in place to minimise the risk of spreading Covid-19.

Pharmacists are among those adapting how they work and their public contacts. Others may have to, too.

SOUTH DOC

SouthDoc, an out-of-hours GP service made up of 520 doctors in Cork and Kerry, will continue to treat patients but has altered how it does so.

The same number of staff remains on duty but will operate from only half of the group's 20 treatment centres. It will not be treating potential coronavirus carriers because the official advice is to refer them elsewhere for testing.

Other patients cannot present to centres without an appointment and extra triaging is in place to prevent potential coronavirus carriers from coming in to contact with others, SouthDoc medical director Dr Gary Stack told the Sunday Independent.

Patients face questions from a call-taker, then a nurse before speaking to a doctor.

"The doctor will call the patient from the treatment centre and we will decide if the patient can be dealt with at the treatment centre or on the phone," Dr Stack said.

"The idea behind that is we will have better control over what cases are coming in.

"If they need to be seen they will be given an appointment to come to the treatment centre. They will be asked to press the intercom at the door and asked to wait in the car to be brought in individually.

"It is a greater strain but it is the safest way of doing things. We have to protect the staff, receptionists, drivers and doctors because if they get sick we will have less support staff." These measures will remain in place beyond the March 29 date the Government has put in place for containment measures.

GPs

Dr Stack wants to see the role of GPs in this crisis more clearly defined, and suggested they are best placed to deal with the traditional ailments people have always presented to doctors with. Coronavirus does not stop people falling ill with other complaints. But he feels it is only a matter of time before people start presenting to GPs with the virus.

He thinks testing should be carried out at designated centres to ensure community practitioners can continue to operate relatively normally.

"It would be better for some people to have driven their car and sat at a centre, a McDonald's-type spot - a drive-in where testing can be done in the car by staff."

TESTING

At present, most testing is done by ambulance crews. However, the health service plans to open 12 testing hubs this week. This number will rise, HSE chief operations officer Anne O'Connor said.

"Numbers don't mean a lot at the minute because everything changes so quickly, so at the minute we were saying maybe 25 or 27.

"There will be two functions out in the community around these centres. One will be testing. Ambulances are doing that at the moment in people's homes, but, ultimately, we want to have centres people can go to - particularly where there are higher populations and depending on the advice they receive when they make a phone call.

"The second purpose of it is important too because we will also have capacity in these centres for people who may think they are starting to feel unwell. Their symptoms might become more pronounced and cause worry. We don't want those people turning up in hospitals so they will be able to go to the clinicians in the hub. The clinicians will be able to assess if they are in need of further intervention or treatment."

What they also do not want is coronavirus patients presenting to GPs. "We need GPs to do what GPs do. They are a scarce and valuable resource, they don't need to be here [in testing hubs] but they may be. It will depend on the model in a given area."

PHARMACIES

For many, a local pharmacy is the first port of call when illness strikes, so the sector has had to make adjustments to cope with the looming coronavirus threat.

A pharmacy in Meath no longer asks medical card patients to sign for medicines because of concerns about the virus being passed by sharing pens. Kathy Maher, who owns and runs Haven Pharmacy in Duleek with her husband Tom, is happy delivering medication to homes and having customers park outside the pharmacy to have medication brought to their car.

"It might be a requirement by the State to have patients sign medical card prescriptions when they collect medicines, and long-term illness forms, but we have stopped asking them to sign it to reassure the public and staff that we are minimising contact.

"If the situation was to deteriorate in the coming days we would look at restricting the entrance and look at whether we need to have more stringent social distancing, have demarcations in the pharmacy or let people in one or two at a time."

An arrangement with other pharmacies in the area and nearby Drogheda means all their businesses and staff will be protected financially if they are forced into self-isolation.

"If we had to self-isolate our staff we would be forced to close and financially that would cripple us, so we have all agreed to share staff if it comes to that. We have that contingency in the back of our minds and can reassure staff it will be OK."

OPTICIANS

American scientists have linked coronavirus to conjunctivitis so now opticians and ophthalmologists are being advised to use Perspex barriers covering their face when conducting eye exams.

Professor Michael O'Keeffe, a consultant ophthalmologist at the Mater Private, said coronavirus had wide-reaching implications for everyone in the health sector.

"Some people have presented with eye involvement so eye doctors are susceptible and this weekend some have been advised to put perspex on their microscopes."

ISOLATION

The HSE is in discussions to use hotels as non-acute isolation facilities, Ms O'Connor said at a HSE briefing last Friday. "We have different types of beds that we need," she added.

This raises questions about implications for hospitality staff who may also be on the frontline. O'Connor said beds for moderate and acute care would be found at facilities that can provide specialist support, but "other beds purely for isolation that are not beds for sick people" could be sought in hotels.

HSE chief executive Paul Reid said these would be a "contingency if required".

Elsewhere, other HSE staff are likely to find themselves redeployed to battle the virus. Officials anticipate many will be trained to work alongside the Defence Forces cadets in "that big yella' building next to Heuston" as contact-tracing efforts step up further and more cases become known.

Visit our Covid-19 vaccine dashboard for updates on the roll out of the vaccination program and the rate of Coronavirus cases Ireland

"We are redeploying significant numbers of staff to cover key tasks," O'Connor said.

"All of our staff are being prioritised to address this challenge and we are working with other agencies because there are certain types of tasks where we can bring in people who are not healthcare professionals, for example contact tracing."

Europe has surpassed China as the epicentre for the disease, so health officials will appreciate all the help they can get.
Representative image

The total active cases from the novel coronavirus in India crossed 100 on March 15, according to data from the Union Health Ministry.

Currently, there are 90 Indians and 17 foreign nationals who have tested positive and are under treatment.

The Ministry has said that 10 patients had recovered and have been discharged so far. This number includes Indias first three cases reported from Kerala in February.

Two people have died due to COVID-19 in India. On March 13, it was reported that a 68-year-old woman from Delhi had died due to the virus.

India's first fatality from the virus was confirmed on March 12. A 76-year-old man, from Karnataka, had died after returning from a month-long visit to Saudi Arabia on February 29.

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

Maharashtra and Kerala have reported 31 and 22 cases (among Indian nationals), respectively. This is followed by Uttar Pradesh and Delhi with 11 and seven cases, respectively.

Haryana has reported 14 positive cases of COVID-19. However, all of them are foreign nationals. The figure for UP also includes one foreign national.

Globally, over 1.5 lakh people have been infected by COVID-19. This has led to over 5,800 deaths  majority of them in China. However, cases are rapidly rising in Italy, Spain, Iran and South Korea, among other countries.

On March 15, at least 289 passengers of a Dubai-bound flight were offloaded at the Kochi airport in Kerala shortly before take-off after a UK national among them tested positive for the novel coronavirus. It was unclear if this had been incorporated into the latest numbers of the Health Ministry.
Health officials tied at least two new coronavirus cases to more RodeoHouston attendees on Saturday, as the Patton Village police officer who became the first-known case of community spread locally after attending the cookoff remained in critical condition.

Houston officials stood by their decision to allow the rodeo to hold events for 14 days before shuttering it Wednesday, even as they say more yet-to-be detected cases may have spread there. Mayor Sylvester Turner said he heeded the advice of medical experts in making the call. They did so when the city had a confirmed case of community spread, where a resident caught the virus locally, as opposed to while traveling.

That confirmation came Wednesday, when a Montgomery County man who had attended the barbecue cookoff tested positive. Within hours, the city announced the rodeo would close.

We moved quickly based upon the facts and the medical advice and the science that was presented to us, Turner said.

Medical experts described that course of action as prudent. Harris County Public Health Executive Director Dr. Umair Shah described the initial rodeo case as a milestone for the new coronavirus in Houston.

With that Montgomery case, there was no link to a confirmed case and no link to travel, Shah said. Now our concern was is this the beginning of community spread? Thats when the emergency declaration started.

The Houston area had 27 confirmed cases of coronavirus on Saturday, including a new case in Houston involving a man in his 50s who had traveled internationally and a woman in Montgomery County. A shortage of tests means this figure could represent only a fraction of people who are ill with the virus here.

The man in his 40s who became the first rodeo-related case, a Patton Village police officer, remained in critical condition Saturday evening.

For several days, that officer has been unconscious in the hospital, Patton Village Police Chief Shannon Sharp said, while the public has pointed fingers and pressed for more information on where he was before he was sick, including his exact contacts during the RodeoHouston cookoff that he attended Feb. 28.

Were all scared for him, Sharp said by phone Saturday. Were praying for the best.

Pressure has increased around trying to figure out what tent the officer visited at the rodeo  but Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said Thursday that she did not know.

Hes not alone in facing the stigma, as concerned people across the area have tried to figure out who is sick and where theyve been, with government agencies releasing little information and urging general caution.

Many with mild symptoms recover. Even though he is young and was in good health previously, the officers situation worsened. In their last communication, Sharp said, the officer told him he was nervous  as anyone would be.

Literally all any of us can do, Sharp said, is just pray and wait.

Brazoria County reported its first two cases Saturday, both of which health officials believe were contracted at the rodeo.

Both patients, between the ages of 35 and 45, attended the barbecue cookoff and other events, said Sharon Trower, spokeswoman for Brazoria County Judge L.M. Matt Sebesta Jr.

Investigators are working to learn more details about those events and with whom the patients may have come into contact. The pair live together and are now quarantined in an Alvin-area home. They self-reported and were tested at a Harris County emergency room, Trower said.

Harris County officials expect an increase in confirmed cases in coming days as the coronavirus spreads through the community and more tests become available. Turner said that on a conference call, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan explained the issues city officials encountered in responding to the outbreak there. Turner vowed to stay ahead of the viruss spread here.

Hidalgo said the coming week is really a turning point for the region, dependent upon how many residents heed the governments warnings to avoid crowds and unnecessary gatherings of any kind.

It can put us in a very bad or very good position, Hidalgo said. That all depends on the community.

Drive-thru testing will be available sometime this week, though its not yet clear how many such facilities will open.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will also bring one or two mobile testing centers to the region, Turner told the Chronicle. That follows President Donald Trumps declaration Friday of a national emergency.

People can take some added comfort that now our federal partners are on board, Turner said. We will get through this.

zach.despart@chron.com

dylan.mcguinness@chron.com

emily.foxhall@chron.com
Montgomery County Probate Judge J.C. Love III said an official who said Gov. Kay Ivey should postpone the the March 31 primary runoff because of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak was not authorized to speak on behalf of the county election office.

Gina Maiola, press secretary for Ivey, said today there are no plans to postpone the runoff at this time.

Christopher Turner, assistant director of elections for Montgomery County, said earlier today the governor had the authority to postpone the election under a section of the Alabama Emergency Management Act of 1955.

Turner said postponement would be the right move, in part because the average age of Montgomery poll workers is about 70, and more than half are over age 65. He said there will be 600 to 700 people working in the countys 49 precincts for the runoff.

Older people are at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19.

After this article was published, the Love issued a press release saying Turner was not authorized to speak on behalf of the court and that the Montgomery County election center would be ready for the election. Part of the statement is at the end of this article.

Turner also issued a statement apologizing to Love and saying he did not intend to speak for the probate judge or the county election center. It is also at the end of this article.

Secretary of State John Merrill, who is the states top election official, says there is nothing in Alabamas law or Constitution that allows the delay of an election.

Merrill is backing legislation that would give the governor the authority to delay an election for 21 days. But theres not time to pass the bill before the runoff.

Merrill said he had talked to Love and made clear that the Montgomery County probate office needs to follow instructions on special preparations for the runoff in response to the coronavirus risk, such as having alternate workers available and preparing to frequently wipe down voting machines and other surfaces voters will touch on election day.

Georgia became the second state to postpone a primary election, moving its presidential primary from March 24 to May 19. Louisiana moved its primary from April 4 to June 20.

This afternoons statement from Love said, in part:

The Montgomery County Probate Court maintains and has always maintained that the decision on whether to postpone the March 31, 2020 runoff election rests with Secretary of State John Merrill and/or Governor Kay Ivey under the states Emergency Powers Act. The Montgomery County Probate Court has been and will continue to prepare for the March 31, 2020 election until directed otherwise by Secretary Merrill and/or Governor Ivey. The Montgomery Election Center has been diligent in its efforts to prepare for the March 31, 2020 runoff election and to enact measures to limit the exposure and transmission of the coronavirus to our poll workers and the general public. These measures include sanitizing all election equipment and obtaining hand sanitizer, latex gloves, and face masks, if requested, for our election day poll workers. As we were on March 3, 2020, the Montgomery County Probate Court and the Montgomery Election Center will be prepared and ready for the upcoming March 31, 2020 runoff election.

Christopher Turners said in his statement:

The sentiments expressed in the article on AL.com referencing the 2020 Primary Runoff election are my own and based on my many years of experience as an election administrator in Alabama. It was never my intention to speak for the Montgomery County Election Center or Montgomery County Probate Judge J.C. Love III. I have apologized to Judge Love for placing him in a difficult position. As always, the Montgomery County Election Center will do everything possible to ensure the health and safety of our election workers and the voting public.

Updated at 12:07 p.m. to say that governors office has no plans to postpone the election at this time. Updated at 4:17 p.m. with statement from Montgomery County Probate Judge J.C. Love III. Updated at 4:21 p.m. to change headline to reflect Loves statement. Updated at 4:31 to further revise story to reflect Loves statement. Updated at 5:32 p.m. to add Turners statement.
Former General Hospital star Kimberly McCullough has quickly risen through the ranks of in-demand television directors. The actress, who played Robin Scorpio on the soap opera, recently reunited with a former co-star while directing an episode of Roswell, New Mexico.

Kimberly McCullough on General Hospital in 2014 | Rick Rowell/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images

Kimberly McCullough is now a prolific television director

Since departing General Hospital full time, McCullough has become a very accomplished television director. Her increasingly lengthy resume includes episodes of Pretty Little Liars, All About the Washingtons, Fuller House, The Connors, One Day at a Time, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and The Bold Type.

In a new interview with Soaps in Depth, McCullough talked about how it was easy for her to juggle shooting multiple episodes at once because shes used to the rapid nature of filming a soap opera.

Its funny because when Im being interviewed [for a job], Im often told, Oh, we dont have a big budget or Our schedules crazy  we shoot really fast,' she said. I always politely look at them, and Im like, Mmhmm. Cool! Soap operas shoot 160 pages a day. Like, I got it I know tricks to get things done quickly.

The actress dishes on directing a former General Hospital co-star

McCullough recently directed an upcoming episode of the new season of Roswell, New Mexico. The show, which airs on The CW, is a reimagining of the original series, which aired on UPN and The WB.

One of the shows stars is Nathan Parsons, who starred with McCullough on General Hospital. He portrayed the character of Ethan Lovett on the soap opera from 2009 to 2012. And he returned for guest appearances in 2013 and 2015.

On working with Parsons again, she said, It was like hanging out with an old friend. But he was also super respectful about my choices and my position there. And hes just lovely.

The show also stars Michael Vlamis, Lily Cowles, Tyler Blackburn, Heather Hemmens, Michael Trevino, and another soap opera alumnus Trevor St. John.

According to McCullough, she got to incorporate some of her signature style in one of the opening moments of the episode. Im told my style is very layered: like a shot within a shot within a shot. Meaning I try to incorporate a lot, she said.  I think thats because of my dance background. Its like choreographing the camera.

General Hospital airs weekdays on ABC, and Roswell, New Mexico returns next week for its new season on The CW.
Rome, March 15 : Italians took to their balconies to praise doctors and healthcare personnel for their efforts in fighting the coronavirus pandemic in the country, which has reported the maximum number of cases and deaths outside China, and raise spirits amid a national lockdown.

As of Sunday, the number of cases in the country increased to 21,157, with 1,441 deaths.

On Saturday while speaking to the media, Civil protection chief Angelo Borrelli said that the ranks of coronavirus patients who have recovered grew by 527 to 1,966.

The country has had the second-highest infection numbers in the world, after China where the pandemic originated in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, last December.

However, several morale-boosting initiatives have been launched on social media during the long hours people have had to spend at home.

The most recent of these initiatives came on Saturday as Italians took to their balconies and windows at midday to applaud the efforts of medics against the virus.

In Rome's San Giovanni neighbourhood, banners were hung from some buildings bearing slogans such as "Everything is going to be fine".

The same motto has been displayed from the balcony of the office of Rome's mayor Virginia Raggi at the Campidoglio palace.

Similar initiatives were carried out across other cities such as Milan, the capital of Lombardy, one of the worst-hit Italian areas in the pandemic, as well as Napoli in the south of the European country.

The President of Lazio Nicola Zingaretti, who has tested positive for the virus, also celebrated the people who had lined up to donate blood.

"A heartfelt thanks to the Italians, we are proving once again that we are a great people," he posted to his Facebook account from his quarantine.

"Let's continue like this because we need it. Applause and a huge thanks to you, Italian Health workers." Over the past few days there have been a number of morale-boosting initiatives across Italy, with people singing the national anthem and traditional songs from their windows.

On March 9, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced restrictions on movement in a bid to contain the outbreak.

He called on Italians to stay at home and only leave in the case of extreme need, such as going to work or for shopping.

Only small groups were allowed to enter shops, with queues stretching into the street as people lined up with one-metre spaces between each other, and most of them wearing masks and gloves.

In Rome, the streets, care homes, nurseries and public transport have been disinfected, while parks and other spaces have also been closed.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 15)  Six Metro Manila cities have enacted measures imposing a curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., following the recommendation of the Metro Manila Council in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The city councils of Manila, Muntinlupa, Navotas and San Juan have all passed ordinances imposing a curfew, while Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte and Makati City Mayor Abby Binay issued executive orders imposing a curfew.

Belmonte said that effective Monday, from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., all persons within the territorial jurisdiction of Quezon City are prohibited [from] roam[ing] around, [and cannot] loiter, wander, stay or meander in all public places, whether singly or in groups.

Certain people, including those reporting to work during curfew hours, health workers, and those traveling for health and humanitarian purposes are exempted from the curfew.

These are also the similar directives under Binays executive order, and the ordinances passed by the city councils of Manila, Muntinlupa, Navotas, San Juan and Pasay City.

All these orders take effect Monday, except Manila, which is only expected to take effect on Thursday, according to its city councils majority leader, Joel Chua, as the ordinance would only be enforced three days after its publication in a newspaper.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said an ordinance imposing a curfew but does not impose penalties may become effective immediately upon its publication.

But if it imposes penalties, an ordinance will only take effect three days after its publication, he said.

He also said that an executive order imposing a curfew should be enough in times of an emergency or calamity, but added that this cannot carry a penalty for violators, unless it is adopted by the local council.

Binays executive order only mentions that violators of the curfew and the other restrictions she put in place on the city while it is on so-called community quarantine would be meted with appropriate action, in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.

Meanwhile, San Juans ordinance and Belmontes executive order both threaten to charge those who disobey the curfew for violating Republic Act No. 11332 or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act.

Both measures threaten prosecution under Section 9(e) of the law, which prohibits non-cooperation of the person or entities identified as having the notifiable disease, or affected by the health event of public concern.

San Juans ordinance also threatens prosecution under Section 9(d) of the law, which bars non-cooperation of persons and entities that should report and/or respond to notifiable diseases or health events of public concern.

Those found guilty of these violations will either be fined 20,000 to 50,000 or jailed for one to six months.

Belmontes order also warns of a charge under Article 151 of the Revised Penal Code, which penalizes resistance and disobedience to a person in authority.

Tighter restrictions

The new measures enacted by some Metro Manila cities also carry tighter restrictions on the movement of people.

In Makati, which is now under community quarantine, the movement of people is limited to accessing basic necessities and work from March 16 to April 14.

City-run facilities, malls, bars, restobars, karaoke bars, cocktail lounges, theaters, schools gyms, basketball court and other sports facilities in Makati will also be closed.

While malls are closed, groceries, pharmacies, 24-hour convenience stores, banks, financial institutions, hardware stores, health clinics, diagnostic centers, laboratories, restaurants with take-out and delivery services will remain open in Makati.

Dining in restaurants in Makati, however, is not allowed.

There are now 140 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in the Philippines, including 11 deaths. Globally, the infectious disease has infected more than 156,000 people in 142 different countries and territories, including China.
All international arrivals into Australia will be forced to self-isolate for 14 days in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Scott Morrison announced the new rules around self-isolation on Sunday, which will come into force from midnight.

The prime minister also announced cruise ships will be banned from docking in Australian ports for at least 30 days.

The drastic measures come as the number of confirmed cases in Australia climbs to almost 300. Three people have died from the illness.

Scott Morrison explains the scenario modelling of coronarvirus outbreak. Officials are hoping to flatten the curve to ensure the health system is not overwhelmed

People are seen dressing in personal protective equipment outside the international departures terminal at Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne

'This is very important. What we have seen in recent weeks is more countries having issues with the virus and that means that the source of some of those transitions are coming  transmissions are coming from those countries,' he said.

The forced isolation for international comes after New Zealand imposed the same restrictions last week.

Penalties for not self-isolating will be determined by states and territories.

Social distancing measures are also now required, Mr Morrison said.

From Monday, gatherings of more than 500 people have been banned.

Limitations on large gatherings in enclosed areas such as theatres are expected to be made later in the week.

The drastic measures come as the number of confirmed cases in Australia climbs to almost 300. Three people have died from the illness

All international arrivals into Australia will be forced to self-isolate for 14 days in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus , Scott Morrison announced

Symptoms of the virus include a fever, cough, sore throat and shortness of breath

Mr Morrison said the measures were to restrict social interactions and lower the risk of widespread outbreak.

'There will be no more handshakes...which was something that was not needed a few weeks ago. It is a precautionary step,' he said.

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

'There will be further intrusions and there will be further restrictions on peoples movements.'

Mr Morrison said the measures were to slow the spread of the deadly illness over the next six month to ease the pressure on the health system.

Mr Morrison insisted schools will remain open.

'When you take children out of schools and put them back in the broader community, the ability for them to potentially engage with others increases the risk.'

A travel ban has already been put in place for mainland China, Iran, South Korea and Italy.

Last week the government banned 'non essential' public gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday.

The ban will have stunning consequences for sporting codes, such as the NRL and AFL. Festivals, religious services, concerts and plays - even school assemblies - will be called into doubt.

Sydney's Royal Easter Show will be cancelled in the wake of the PM's statement as have further Melbourne Fashion Festival shows.

All international arrivals into Australia will be forced to self-isolate for 14 days in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Scott Morrison announced

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.

The pandemic has seen the world grind to a halt as fear and uncertainty grips the globe.

Italy became the first country in Europe last week to impose a lockdown to combat the spreading Covid-19 illness as more than 17,000 people are infected.

The Mediterranean country's death toll hit over 1,200 - making Italy the worst-hit country outside of China, where the disease first incubated.

A video posted this week, understood to have been filmed at an Aldi store in Western Sydney, showed customers stampeding into the toilet paper aisle as soon as the shop's doors opened

Woolworths, Coles, and Aldi imposed one packet per customer limits on toilet paper and asked the public to show courtesy to staff and other shoppers

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF THE CORONAVIRUS? Once someone has caught the virus it may take between two and 14 days for them to show any symptoms. If and when they do, typical signs include: a runny nose

a cough

sore throat

fever (high temperature) The vast majority of patients  at least 97 per cent, based on available data  will recover from these without any issues or medical help. In a small group of patients, who seem mainly to be the elderly or those with long-term illnesses, it can lead to pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection in which the insides of the lungs swell up and fill with fluid. It makes it increasingly difficult to breathe and, if left untreated, can be fatal and suffocate people. Advertisement

Under current lockdown rules, shops - except pharmacies, supermarkets, and newsagents - are to remain closed at all times.

Schools and universities, which closed on March 4, are expected to remain shut until April 3.

Spain and France are also now on lockdown to stop the spread.

America has also shuts its doors to travellers from Europe.

The virus has already caused wide-spread panic in Australia with shoppers stripping supermarket shelves of toilet paper and other essential items.

People have also been queuing for hours to be tested for the deadly virus.

The 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.

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.

Some schools and workplaces have closed their doors amid coronavirus scares.

Globally, the infection has spread to more than 150,000 people across 112 countries, and killed at least 5,500 people.

Last week the government banned 'non essential' public gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday

The future of the 2020 NRL season has been thrown into doubt twice during the opening round
A Transportation Security Administration officer at Orlando International Airport has tested positive for the coronavirus, officials say.

"This afternoon, after communication with the TSA Chief Medical Officer, the CDC and the Orange County Public Health Department, Federal Security Director Pete Garcia notified Orlando International Airport TSA employees that a Transportation Security Officer received an initial positive test for COVID-19," a TSA spokesperson said.

TSA officials said the officer is at home resting and will remain home until cleared by a doctor.

In California, three Transportation Security Administration officers at Mineta San Jose International Airport have tested positive for COVID-19, the agency said Tuesday. They were receiving medical care and all TSA employees who had contact with them over the past 14 days are being quarantined at home, the agency said.

Health officials identified other officers who were in close contact with the affected Florida-based officer, and advised them to stay home and self-observe for the next 14 days.

TSA officials said they coordinated with the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority and GOAA has performed enhanced cleaning of all areas where the officer worked.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Tom Schwartz from Vanderpump Rules took to Instagram Live last night to chat with fans and offer a glimpse of how he and his friends are practicing social distancing.

Kate Maloney, Tom Schwartz, Brittany Cartwright, Kristen Doute, Jax Taylor, Ariana Madix and Tom Sandoval of Vanderpump Rules |Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for JBL

Schwartz played music for the thousand-plus followers who tuned into the live feed, plus chatted with fans and sipped cocktails. He also strolled through his home. Wife Katie Maloney-Schwartz sat on the couch with Stassi Schroeder. Schroeders fiance, Beau Clark was seen sitting at the kitchen bar looking at his computer.

The foursome decided to self-quarantine together. Schroeder posted to Instagram. Quarantine vibes, AMIRITE? #officiallychilling, she wrote along with a photo of Maloney-Schwartz, both wearing Chilling sweatshirts. A few fans asked Schwartz if his restaurant TomTom was going to remain open. While the establishment was open last night, he wasnt sure what was going to happen in the foreseeable future.

They are also riding out the coronavirus together

Kristen Doute from Vanderpump Rules shared on her Instagram story that shes quarantined with her two pups. She also tried to hit the grocery store for supplies. But was met with empty shelves.

Luke Gulbranson from Summer House met up with Hannah Berner. They took a photo wearing surgical masks. @beingbernz the most real. Most insane mother f**kers u may ever meet! Love ya Bern dog! he shared to Instagram. Kyle Cooke and Amanda Batula from Summer House self-quarantined at home and got a little silly together.

Shannon Beador joined Kelly Dodd from The Real Housewives of Orange County and their significant others at home. Neighbors  #walkingdistance @kellyddodd, Beador shared along with a photo of the couples.

Paget Berry from Below Deck Sailing Yacht revealed that he and girlfriend Ciara Duggan are in Italy together. Unfortunately Ciara and I are not in quarantine in Bali Indonesia, but we are currently working in Italy on a boat where the Coronavirus has hit the hardest in Europe so far. Everything is in lockdown, bars, restaurants, gyms, you name it, its shut! Current routine is work, washing hands, work, washing hands, work, you get the point! So dont be selfish and get back in your house, he shared.

Scheana Shay was slammed for inviting friends over to her house

Scheana Shay from Vanderpump Rules tweeted that she wasnt going to stop living her life and was going to invite friends over. Shay tweeted, I will continue to live my life in Palm Springs or MDR w my friends and not live it in complete isolation or fear. Simple as that. Call me ignorant but Im not gonna stop living!

Shays tweet was met with a flood of comments, admonishing her for not making significant changes in her behavior. She fought back, clarifying she was inviting friends over to her home and could not see how she could be completely alone for 30 days. Is it that hard to stay inside for 30 days? YES! she responded to one persons comment.

She finally got exasperated with all the heat she received. Yes, meaning Im not going to isolate myself inside alone for weeks. Im sorry. Its not going to happen and anyone who follows me will see that. I pray this virus passes soon and we can all go back to living our best lives. On that note, goodbye for now twitter.
Perhaps these desperate times are calling for a passionate reunion of these ex-lovers.

Tyler Cameron was seen picking one Hannah Brown up at the airport in Palm Beach, Florida on Saturday night, various outlets have confirmed.

The Bachelorette hunk, 27, was observed helping a woman who strongly resembled Hannah, 25, with getting her bag into his trunk before they drove off, as seen in a fan's Instagram video post.

Reunion: Tyler Cameron was seen picking one Hannah Brown up at the airport in Palm Beach, Florida on Saturday night

The encounter also matches up with Brown's own Instagram posts, when she documented her efforts to fly down to Florida on Saturday despite missing her first flight 'by maybe five minutes.'

Hannah proceeded to wait at the airport, during which time she ate ribs, drank red wine and enjoyed some girl scout cookies  noting that she was 'fine' in spite of the fact that the 'airport is empty.'

Then, the reality star was indeed able to catch a plane to the Sunshine State, directly to Cameron's waiting vehicle (and perhaps arms).

Helpful hunk: The Bachelorette star, 27, was observed helping a woman who strongly resembled Hannah, 25, with getting her bag into his trunk before they drove off

Tyler's hometown of Jupiter, Florida, is just a short drive from the Palm Beach airport.

Cameron has understandably been spending a lot of time there with family after his mother Andrea died suddenly earlier this month, aged 55, of a brain aneurysm.

As noted by Page Six and Us Magazine last week, the former couple reunited for Andrea's passing, when Hannah attended her celebration of life ceremony in Florida on March 7th.

Stranded: The encounter also matches up with Brown's own Instagram posts, when she documented her efforts to fly down to Florida on Saturday despite missing her first flight

Together again: Tyler's hometown of Jupiter is just a short drive from the Palm Beach airport

Grieving: Cameron has understandably been spending a lot of time there with family after his mother Andrea died suddenly earlier this month, aged 55, of a brain aneurysm

Tyler and Hannah were also spotted visiting a local high school on Monday, March 9th, where Tyler played a game of kickball with students.

Cameron famously came in second place on season 15 of ABC dating series The Bachelorette last year, but Hannah then asked him out after 'winner' Jed Wyatt was revealed to be somewhat of a fraud.

In spite of the romantic gesture, Tyler was soon after linked to model Gigi Hadid, and therefore it has so far appeared that he and Hannah have moved on from dating to just being friends.

But Hannah's flying down to see him twice in one month, especially considering the risks of flying in current conditions, seems to suggest otherwise.

Before reuniting with Tyler: Hannah waited at the airport, ate ribs, drank red wine and enjoyed girl scout cookies  noting that she was 'fine' in spite of the fact that the 'airport is empty'
WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden has won the backing of the National Education Association, the largest U.S. teachers union with 3 million members.

"Joe is the tireless advocate for public education and is the partner that students and educators need in the White House, NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia said in a statement on Saturday.

"He understands that we have a moral responsibility to provide a great neighborhood public school for every student in every ZIP code."

The endorsement comes days before Biden competes against U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders in Democratic presidential primary contests on Tuesday in Florida, Illinois, Ohio and Arizona.

The former U.S. vice president, whose wife, Jill Biden, is a teacher and NEA member, said he was honored to get the endorsement of a "powerful voice for public school educators and students across the country."

Eskelsen Garcia said Biden has committed to attracting the best educators and paying them as professionals, as well as increasing funding for support staff.

Biden and many of his former rivals for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination vowed to replace Republican President Donald Trump's education secretary, Betsy DeVos, if they beat Trump in November.

Biden told a crowd of Iowa educators in January that "four years of Betsy DeVos is enough."

The NEA backed Hillary Clinton in 2016 over Sanders.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu Editing by Nick Zieminski)
Nearly everything has a price at which it's a good deal. That's true whether we're talking about cars, houses, or stocks. Of course, the less desirable a given item is, the lower the price is where it makes sense to buy it.

That leads me to Aurora Cannabis (NASDAQ:ACB). There's no need to sugarcoat it: Aurora is a hot mess right now. It's losing money big-time. It's looking for a new CEO. Its stock has lost more than 90% of its value over the last 12 months.

How low does Aurora have to go before the marijuana stock is a buy? It's complicated.

The biggest problem

There's one glaring problem for Aurora that arguably outweighs all of the company's other problems -- its debt. Aurora reported current loans and borrowings of close to 300 million in Canadian dollars as of Dec. 31, 2019. But add to that the company's nearly CA$302 million in convertible debentures and Aurora's total debt stands at around CA$602 million.

If times were good for Aurora, those convertible debentures wouldn't be too much of a concern. Holders of the senior convertible notes issued by the company would be likely to convert those notes to shares if Aurora stock was steadily rising. That's not the case right now, though. Unless something changes, Aurora is going to have a huge amount of debt to pay over the next few years.

In the past, Aurora has done what many other companies do when convertible debentures mature: It issued new convertible notes with expiration dates farther in the future to pay off the old notes. However, taking this approach becomes increasingly more difficult the lower Aurora's share price goes.

To make matters worse, Aurora remains unprofitable and could need to raise more cash in the future to fund operations. Sure, the company intends to meet positive EBITDA thresholds beginning in fiscal 2021 Q1 as part of its restructured debt covenants. However, positive EBITDA isn't the same as true profitability. Also, there's no guarantee that Aurora will be able to do what it says it will do.

From trash to treasure

Let's assume, though, that Aurora can make significant progress toward profitability. There are some reasons for optimism on that front. Aurora has taken steps to cut expenses, including announcing major staff cuts. The situation is dire enough that the company has no choice but to implement strict fiscal discipline.

Also, Aurora's revenue should rise. Ontario is issuing more licenses for retail cannabis stores, at least partially alleviating a major obstacle for Aurora and its peers. The Cannabis 2.0 market for cannabis derivatives products is picking up momentum. Aurora CFO Glen Ibbott stated in the company's Q2 conference call last month that 20% of Q3 sales will likely be from Cannabis 2.0 products.

Remember, too, that Aurora took a big revenue hit in the second quarter because its license in Germany's medical cannabis market was temporarily suspended. The company's European sales should improve going forward now that this license has been restored.

What would happen if Aurora's sales soar and its bottom line improves significantly? I suspect that its stock would rebound nicely. And that would help the company in addressing its debt-related issues.

A guesstimate

No more beating around the bush (or cannabis plant). It's time to attempt to answer our central question of how low Aurora's share price needs to go to make the stock a compelling buy. At best, all we can do is make a guesstimate, but here's my take.

In an absolute worst-case scenario where Aurora goes bankrupt and shuts its doors, buying the stock wouldn't be a smart move even if its share price went to one penny. But I don't think that's going to happen.

Could Aurora declare bankruptcy in the future? Yes, it could. However, my expectation is that if that occurred the company would file for the Canadian equivalent of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S., where the company is restructured but remains in business. My view, though, is that it won't get to that point. None of Aurora's creditors want that outcome, because they'll lose a ton of money.

The property, plant, and equipment item on Aurora's balance sheet totals close to CA$1 billion. Aurora's market is currently close to the reported value of its physical assets. My view is that if the stock falls another 15% to 20%, there's a solid case to be made for buying the beleaguered stock even if the near-worst scenario happens.

Does it have to really go that low? Probably not. Aurora remains a top cannabis producer in terms of capacity and market share. It also has a low cost structure thanks to its high-tech production facilities. The cannabis market in Canada and Germany, two markets where Aurora already ranks as a leader, continue to grow. It's entirely possible that the answer to how low Aurora needs to go to make it a buy could be as low as it is right now.
Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders meet on Sunday for the first one-on-one debate of the Democratic presidential primary campaign, now overshadowed by the spread of the new coronavirus. Both men have cancelled rallies and two state contests have been postponed in the wake of the outbreak, which has killed at least 57 Americans and upended daily life across the country. Many states and cities have clamped down on large gatherings and closed schools, which are often used as polling places, to help contain the epidemic. Frontrunner Biden and self-described "democratic socialist" Sanders are vying to replace President Donald Trump, who was on Saturday cleared of the COVID-19 illness by his physician after meeting with members of a Brazilian delegation who later tested positive. They will face off for two hours from 8:00 pm (0000 GMT Monday), but Democratic officials have shifted the venue from Arizona to a TV studio in Washington DC with no live audience because of infection fears. The debate comes ahead of key electoral contests on Tuesday in Florida, Ohio, Illinois and Arizona. Officials in all four states said they would work to make conditions safe for voters. But Georgia delayed its primary election by nearly two months on Saturday, with state Democratic Party chairwoman Senator Nikema Williams warning that the ballot risked compromising the health and safety of voters. A day earlier, Louisiana announced it would postpone its own primary vote by 11 weeks. Both candidates have curtailed campaigning, cancelling rallies in Ohio, Illinois and elsewhere, and telling staffers to work from home. - Biden surge - Biden, who is reliant on the older demographic that is more at risk from the outbreak, has held online campaign events and has urged voters to look for alternative ways to cast their ballot. "If voters are feeling healthy, not exhibiting symptoms, and don't believe they've been exposed to COVID-19, please vote on Tuesday," deputy campaign manager and communications director Kate Bedingfield said in a statement. Sanders sounded more supportive about postponing primaries without explicitly calling for a delay. Officials must "make sure that everybody who wants to vote has the right to vote, and that may not be the case today," he said. After a disastrous start, former vice president Biden has surged to the front of the race with a sweep of every state to vote in the American South so far. Biden leads the overall race as well with 878 delegates over Sanders' 725. To win the nomination, a candidate needs a majority of 1,991. In a speech Wednesday, Sanders said he was winning the "ideological debate" but acknowledged that he was "losing the debate over electability" -- that is, the all-important goal for many Democratic voters of finding the candidate best able to defeat Donald Trump. The current consensus in the party points to Biden as the candidate best positioned to achieve that goal.
Iran's New Year Travels Plunge Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

03/15/20

By Afshin Majlesi, Tehran Times

For many Iranians, the new year's eve conjures up memories of holidays and traveling along dreamy beaches, silky warm seas, lush sceneries, and endless sunshine. Unlike any previous year, this year its travel market, both domestic and inbound, is taking a big hit over the peak season as coronavirus fears prompt people to stay home.



"Iran tourism on the verge bankruptcy"

Reads headlines of Iranian daily Eghtesad Saramad

Moreover, local and government authorities have issued severe warnings recently, urging to limit travel between major cities in order to contain the virus. They also warned that may use "force" to limit travel throughout the country if needed.



Air, rail and road travel markets have been grounded drastically to a screeching halt in the country, at a time when its already battered tourism industry had fallen into tatters largely due to tensions with the United States, its economic sanctions, and propaganda war spearheaded by some Western media.



The last month of the year, which ends on March 19 this year, is the most bustling and booming period for tourism sector because it culminates in Norooz, the Iranian new year. It corresponds with national holidays when the entire country takes on a festive mood, marked by an elaborate set of rituals, family gatherings and travel.



City of Isfahan, a major tourist attraction, in the shadow of coronavirus

(photo by ISNA)

Prior to the virus fears, the sector, however, had managed to stay afloat, if not thrived, before the spread of the disease in this land with endless wonders.



In the face of outbreak, Iranian tourism minister Ali-Asghar Mounesan asked people to postpone or reschedule tours so as to help the tourism industry deal with the coronavirus outbreak.



"My suggestion to my dear people is that they do not cancel their hotel reservations and domestic tours as far as possible in order to help the tourism industry and prevent it from bankruptcy by making their reservations in time after virus is controlled."



He went on to say that Norooz celebrations will be cancelled in all 31 provinces across the country, including all museums (and historical sites that are affiliated with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts) should be closed during the holidays.



The Grand Bazaar in Tabriz has closed due to coronavirus

(photo by ISNA)

Deputy tourism minister Vali Teymouri said earlier this month that more than 700 billion rials (over $16 million) have so far been paid back to people who have cancelled their tours or hotel reservations over the coronavirus fears.



Teymouri also thanked "dear compatriots" and tourists for their cooperation with the "family of the tourism industry" in the country; those considering the special economic conditions of the tourism operators and hoteliers at this recessionary time, postponing the travel plans for a later time.



The coronavirus outbreak has pushed the country's death toll past 600 till Saturday and triggering new limits on people's movements. Some 13,000 people have so far confirmed infected by the COVID-19 - including several senior government officials testing positive.



Iran has also suspended schools and banned spectators from stadiums. The streets and markets are still crowded in the capital, Tehran, which has been the hardest hit by the virus.



The Bazaar in Qazvin has closed due to coronavirus

(photo by ISNA)

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 is expected to be the most affected continent, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.



Many travel officials, tour operators believe that Iran will make a quick rebound as soon as the virus is defeated. The impact would depend on how long the epidemic lasts by recent restrictive measures.



Because Iran has never ceased to attract tourists from around the world as it's home to hospitable people, and hundreds of historical sites such as bazaars, museums, mosques, bridges, bathhouses, madrasas, mausoleums, churches, towers, and mansions, of which 24 being World Heritage sites.



Last year, Iranians made 74 million overnight stays in their domestic trips during the Norooz holidays, which showed a 20 percent increase year on year. Some 132 million visits to tourist attractions were registered during the mentioned period, which shows a 34 percent growth year on year, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts.



"We Will Stay Home"

Reads headline of Iranian daily Shoroo



The Islamic Republic was ranked the third fastest-growing tourism destination in the globe in 2019, with 27.9 percent growth year on year, according to the latest statistics released by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).



Some eight million foreign nationals visited Iran since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2019) despite U.S. sanctions and a sharp decline in flights by some foreign airlines.



The country expects to reap a bonanza from its numerous tourist spots. Under the 2025 Tourism Vision Plan, it aims to increase the number of tourist arrivals from 4.8 million in 2014 to 20 million in 2025.
Madrid: In today's time, due to the rising of the Coronavirus, every day someone is worried. Everyday, someone is struggling with this disease. Not only here, but more than 5000 people are also troubled by this disease. Outside China, the effect of the coronavirus is constantly increasing. Outside China, it has spread to about 135 countries of the world. The condition is that many famous celebrities are also vulnerable to Coronavirus. After the wife of the Prime Minister of Canada, now the Spanish Prime Minister's wife Begona Gomez has also fallen prey to this virus. The investigation has revealed that the Spanish PM's wife test positive for Corona.

According to the information, the condition of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his wife Begona Gomez has been stated to be normal at the moment. On the advice of health officials, both are now under the supervision of doctors at their residence. Please tell that more than 6,250 cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) have been confirmed in Spain, while 193 people have died. In view of the situation, PM Sanchez has been locked in Spain. People have been advised to stay indoors in any situation except food and medicines.

It has been learned that after this decision of the government, all restaurants, bars, hotels and education centers will be closed all over the country. According to RT's report, from Monday morning this decision will be implemented in the whole of Spain. Earlier, two ministers of Sanchez's cabinet have also been found to be corona virus positive. In the Spanish cabinet, the Minister of Regional Affairs and the Minister of Equality were also found to be Corona positive. Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's wife Sophie Grigori Trudeau has also been confirmed to have the coronavirus. He is kept in isolation ward. When Grigori returned to Canada after addressing an event in the UK, he started feeling some flu-like symptoms. On Wednesday, he approached the doctor when he had mild fever. Then, on investigation, it was found that he was infected with Coronavirus.

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Symbolic meaning for fight against COVID-19



President Moon Jae-in has declared the southeastern city of Daegu and some areas in the neighboring North Gyeongsang Province as special disaster zones to pave the way for massive state support for the areas hit hardest by the new coronavirus.



This is a symbolic measure not only because it is the first time the government has designated a certain area as a special disaster zone due to an infectious disease, not a natural disaster; but also because marks a watershed in the country's fight against COVID-19 in that Daegu and the province, where about 90 percent of cases here have occurred, have shown signs of stabilization. The declaration means the government is preparing to shift the focus of its anti-virus efforts to recovery based on its assessment of damage from the outbreak.



The measure comes amid cautious predictions that the outbreak in South Korea may have reached its peak, although dangers of mass transmissions still persist in big cities. On Sunday, the country reported 76 new cases  the first time in 23 days the number has fallen below 100. The daily new cases have fallen for the fourth consecutive day, while the number of patients released from quarantine increased by 120 overnight to reach 834 as of Sunday morning.



This is largely thanks to the recent completion of extensive tests of more than 200,000 members of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a secretive religious sect blamed for the rapid spread of the virus over the past month. The prosecution has delayed an investigation into the sect apparently out of concerns that it may hinder the testing of Shincheonji members, and therefore put the public at greater risk.



However, as the tests have been completed, a full-pledged probe could be launched soon into the religious group and its ranking members, including founder and leader Lee Man-hee. They face various allegations, including fraud, coercion, accounting irregularities, tax evasion and illegal donations to politicians. An investigation is definitely needed to look into suspicions raised by former Shincheonji members and civic activists.



With the latest measure, recovery work in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province is expected to get into full swing. Under the measure, the central government will cover 50 percent of the cost needed for damage recovery. There will also be support programs for residents and small businesses, including exemptions from public utility bills and national health insurance fees.



The nation's fight against COVID-19 is indeed entering a new phase. There have been encouraging signs showing the outbreak has slowed, but that does not mean the fight will be any easier.


Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks to reporters following the Senate Republican policy luncheon which both President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence attended on March 10, 2020 in Washington, DC.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has yet to schedule a Senate vote to pass the country's second emergency coronavirus deal after the House passed the package early Saturday morning.

The next vote the Republican led-Senate has scheduled is over the renewal of national security surveillance law, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. That is scheduled for Monday at 5:30 p.m.

"Until the FISA legislation is passed, any action on the House coronavirus legislation will take unanimous consent," a spokesperson for McConnell told CNBC.

The Democrat-led house last week passed the second round of legislation, which was aimed at helping workers and individuals struggling to make it through the crisis. Among the provisions agreed to between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House speaker Nancy Pelosi was increased unemployment insurance and paid sick leave.

Deal talks between the administration and the House went late into the night Friday, and Mnuchin said Saturday the two have agreed to issue a "technical correction" to the bill on Monday. That means the Senate does not yet have a bill to vote on.

Majority Leader McConnell said in a statement Saturday that the Senate "will need to carefully review the version just passed by the House." He also noted that he believes, "the vast majority of Senators in both parties will agree we should act swiftly to secure relief for American workers, families, and small businesses."

Already, though, paid sick leave has become an issue for at least some Republicans.

Democrats and the White House pushed for paid sick leave, because it allows workers who are sick or quarantined the ability to stay home without losing their paycheck. Some Republicans worry about its cost to businesses.

"Although mandating that all employers must pay for sick leave might sound good, we need to consider the unintended consequences of this legislation," said Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin said in a statement after the House bill passed.

"I fear that rather than offering a workable solution, the House bill will exacerbate the problem by forcing small businesses to pay wages they cannot afford and 'helping' them go further into debt," Johnson said.

At a press conference Saturday, Mnuchin said the deal struck with the House offers certain exceptions for smaller companies that may not have the funds to cover workers forced to stay home.

"We were also very sensitive to small and medium-sized businesses. Many of these businesses cover sick pay but they're going to have many more people that may be on quarantine, and we didn't want them to cover the cost," he said.

"So, 100% of the cost for these limited situations will be taken care of by the federal government."

-- CNBC's Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report
Tuesday's Democratic primaries delivered one devastating reality to the campaign of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders: His revolution has not materialized. Again.

Does that mean he should drop out? Not necessarily. Sanders is still drawing votes and winning delegates, still delivering an important message, and still stands a long-shot chance of winning the nomination.

The emphasis there is on "long-shot."

But it's clear he does need to take a cold assessment of how this race is likely to play out. Losing Texas, Massachusetts and now Michigan to former Vice President Joe Biden, who enjoys the support of the traditional Democratic base, is problematic to say the least. Especially with the primary contests ahead.

On Tuesday the fight moves to Illinois and Ohio, where the results will likely resemble the Biden blowout in Michigan; Florida, where Biden enjoys a staggering lead in the polls; and Arizona, where Biden also holds a significant lead.

From Sanders' perspective, the prospect of a zero-for-four showing next week is rather daunting, and it's not the result of Democratic Party chicanery or the old guard establishment putting its thumb on the scale. His calls for a rising up of young voters have gone unheeded, just as they did four years ago. And the people voting in the Democratic contests this cycle have been consistent.

In New Hampshire, Sanders and fellow progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren combined for about 35% of the vote. Sanders' support Tuesday in Michigan? About the same  36%. Progressives did a little better in the Iowa caucuses and the South Carolina primary, but Sanders has a ceiling, and he keeps hitting it.

In other words, Democratic voters are speaking. Quite loudly.

If the ultimate goal is to remove President Trump, the longer Sanders hangs in the longer it will take for the Democratic Party to unite behind a single standard-bearer. Given the electoral map, it will take a unified and energized effort to turn toss-up states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida and Arizona.

And Trump knows that. For weeks now he has been tweeting his personal analysis of the Democratic primaries, seeking to fan discontent and paranoia among Sanders supporters still feeling the burn from the 2016 nomination fight, in which party leaders favored Hillary Clinton.

Who needs Russian meddling when we have Trump? If there's ever a "Hamilton"-style production of this era, Trump ought to be portrayed as a trolling troubadour.

If and when Sanders drops out, he will need to not only align behind Biden, but do so with enthusiasm  and play down his criticisms of their policy differences. He will need to work hard to move his supporters into the coalition to oust Trump and, perhaps just as critical, to flip the Senate  another long shot.

If they succeed, Sanders and his supporters will have their seats at the table to push his more progressive policies.

But if Trump wins reelection and Congress remains split, progressives will remain outsiders. And that does the cause no good.

Scott Martelle, who joined the Los Angels Times editorial board in 2014, is a veteran journalist and author of six history books.

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As Lebanon faces a harsh financial crisis crippling the states ability to face health crises, the Lebanese people are growing increasingly anxious about the novel coronavirus, which the World Health Organization has declared as a global pandemic.

Health Minister Hamad Hassan said March 13 that a state of health or civil emergency might be declared soon and that there were more cases to come. The ministry said the country had registered 96 cases.

The first case of the coronavirus was registered in Lebanon on Feb. 21. Twenty days later, the government decided to ban flights to and from Italy, South Korea, Iran and China. Also, it decided to give Lebanese citizens seeking to return to Lebanon four days to do so before it bans all travel to and from countries that have witnessed significant outbreaks of the coronavirus such as France, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, the United Kingdom and Spain.

Prime Minister Hassan Diab called on public administrations and municipalities to split employee shifts, as official departments remained closed for three days for disinfection purposes.

The Education Ministry announced the suspension of studies at schools and universities, and the parliament building in Beirut's Nejmeh Square was closed for disinfection.

The tourism minister also asked owners of pubs and nightclubs and dance places in Lebanon to close for a week.

Meanwhile, bank employees are taking preventive measures, as they put on masks, wear gloves and use hand sanitizers on a daily basis. Banks have also decided to close today, March 14, to disinfect their buildings, and the central bank, the Banque du Liban, issued a statement saying precautionary measures were being taken insofar as banknotes are concerned in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

The head of the Order of Nurses, Mirna Abi Abdallah Doumit, said 15 nurses have contracted the virus.

Salim Adeeb, a professor of epidemiology and community medicine at the American University of Beirut, told Al-Monitor that there have been three deaths in Lebanon due to COVID-19. He said the confirmed cases account for 15% of actual cases, which would mean that there are more than 450 undiagnosed cases in Lebanon.

He added that every infected person can infect two or three people on average.

A medical source told Al-Monitor that the Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut has allocated 140 beds for coronavirus patients with a separate emergency entrance and corridor. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that when nurses and doctors enter quarantine rooms, they put on N95 respirator masks and gloves and wear a special uniform that they throw away at the end of their shift. The hospital also provides all sorts of sterilization tools, including those nurses use for showering before leaving the hospital. A group of 14 medical students from the Lebanese University volunteered to work with the medical staff at the hospital.

Suleiman Haroun, the president of the Syndicate of Private Hospitals, told Al-Monitor that it is impossible to fully dedicate hospitals for the treatment of coronavirus cases as hospitals receive about 8,000 patients on a daily basis, some of which are serious cases.

Asked about respirators, he said there are 850 devices in hospitals, 10% of which are not operational because they need spare parts. This, he said, leaves Lebanon with roughly 750 devices, of which 500 are for ordinary patients and 250 for coronavirus patients.

Salma Assi, a representative of the group of importers of medical supplies and tools, which includes 70 companies, also told Al-Monitor that hospitals have 850 respirators, and that warehouses do not have backup supplies in case more cases are confirmed.

Haroun said he has proposed the reopening of previously closed private hospitals and state-owned hotels in order for these to be used as quarantines. He also asked four major hospitals to open their laboratories for coronavirus tests, which are now performed at the Rafik Hariri University Hospital for 150,000 Lebanese pounds (around $100).

He added that the Cabinet took a decision to allocate a ward for coronavirus patients at each and every one of the government hospitals spread across Lebanon's governorates, but he pointed out that even the largest private hospital in Lebanon would be unable to dedicate more than 20 beds to COVID-19 patients.

Assi said there arent enough gloves and masks to deal with the crisis, and that if companies want to import new ones, their prices will be high. She said hospitals need medical supplies worth $20 million a month, but due to the financial crisis in Lebanon, hospitals have over the past five months only been able to transfer $10 million to importing companies.

A Health Ministry source told Al-Monitor that the World Bank agreed to give the ministry a loan of $120 million and that the ministry will allocate $39 million of the loan to confront the coronavirus by equipping government hospitals, diagnosing and treating COVID-19 patients and buying medicines.

The good thing, however, is that the Lebanese population is relatively young compared with other countries that have witnessed significant outbreaks of the virus; the virus has been devastating to many older people while mostly sparing the young. Adeeb said 40% of the Lebanese population is below 35 years old.

Adeeb stressed the importance of compulsory quarantine for people coming from countries that have witnessed significant outbreaks of the virus, and pointed out that there are a lot of people who did not respect self-imposed quarantines due to their limited financial means. The Health Ministry is asking citizens to isolate themselves in a room and use a private bathroom; however, there are many people who live in two-bedroom apartments with their families.

He said the ministry should offer an empty hotel to all individuals suspected of having the virus.

Adeeb said that experiments to develop a vaccine for the virus will take a long time, and that the number of cases will keep increasing in Lebanon until a peak of infection is reached. The rate of new infections will subsequently begin to decline on a daily basis, as is currently happening in China.
Passengers on the Golden Princess cruise liner were barred from disembarking at a New Zealand port on Sunday because of a suspected coronavirus case on board, health officials said. There were 2,600 passengers and 1,100 crew on the boat docked at Akaroa near the South Island city of Christchurch, according to the port's cruise ship schedule. New Zealand's director-general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, said three passengers have been quarantined by the ship's doctor. One of them has developed COVID-19 symptoms and is being treated as a suspected case. "All on board are not being allowed off the ship until results are known," Bloomfield said. The health scare arose just three days after Princess Cruises announced it was suspending voyages worldwide for two months in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The company is allowing cruises within the last five days of their journey to complete the trip, but said cruises ongoing as of March 17 would end early at the most convenient location. Princess Cruises has already seen two of its vessels hit by the virus and quarantined: the Diamond Princess, which docked in Japan, and the Grand Princess, which docked in California. Bloomfield would not be drawn on what would happen to the Golden Princess until results of tests on the three passengers were known on Monday. The Golden Princess was already in New Zealand waters before Wellington on Saturday banned all future cruise ship arrivals until June 30 under strict new coronavirus related regulations. A New Zealand public health specialist, Brian Cox from the University of Otago, said if coronavirus was confirmed on the Golden Princess then the remaining passengers should not remain on board. The decision to quarantine 3,700 passengers and crew on board the Diamond Princess in Japan was heavily criticised after more than 700 people eventually tested positive for the virus. "The Japanese experience was a sad lesson that keeping people aboard such a ship just spreads the infection through a large number of people, and the boat becomes, basically, an incubator for spread of the disease," Cox said. Removing passengers from the ship and placing them in self-isolation for two weeks was the safest option, he added, and it would be "inhumane to just turn it around and send it back". On Saturday, New Zealand said international travellers would have to self-isolate on arrival for 14 days, with similar measures also announced by Australia on Sunday.
In Parliament today: Bill to amend CVC and Delhi Police Special Act to be tabled today

5 more arrested for murder of IB staffer Ankit Sharma

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 15: The Delhi Police have arrested five more persons in connection with IB staffer Ankit Sharma's murder during the communal violence in northeast Delhi last month, officials said.

The accused have been identified as Feroz, Javed, Gulfam and Shoaib from Chand Bagh area and Anas from Mustafabad, they said.

Police said they identified the accused through CCTV footage and information provided by eyewitness and local informers.

Injury by heavy cutting weapon led to death of IB staffer Ankit Sharma says postmortem report

Earlier on Thursday, a man identified as Salman, a resident of Nand Nagri, was arrested in connection with the murder case.

Police have made portraits of two more suspects and identified four-five more men who are currently on the run. Efforts are being made to arrest them, they said.

Sharma's body was found in a drain near his home in northeast Delhi's Chand Bagh area on February 27, a day after he went missing.

Police said they are also interrogating Tahir Hussain in connection with Sharma's murder case.

Murder of IB staffer Ankit Sharma a pre-planned conspiracy

"We have received 1,330 CCTV footage of last month's northeast Delhi violence. We are investigating the cases from all angles and the police personnel are analysing the footage. Around 150 weapons have also been recovered which were used during the violence," a senior police officer said.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 15, 2020, 9:15 [IST]
Steven Mnuchin said Sunday morning that the U.S. is not heading for a recession, despite his admission that the markets will experience a 'slowdown' from the fall out from the coronavirus outbreak.

'I don't think so,' Mnuchin told ABC This Week when asked if a recession was likely.

'The real issue is not the economic situation today,' the Treasury secretary insisted. 'This is a unique situation. We are going to have a slowdown. Later in the year economic activity will pick up as we confront this virus.'

He also asserted that Americans shouldn't focus on the daily ups and downs and 'mood' of the stock market.

The Dow saw a rocky few days, dropping thousands of points throughout the week, with a slight reprieve Tuesday as Trump promised a bipartisan economic stimulus package with a trip to Capitol Hill.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Sunday morning that the U.S. will not go into a recession due to the economic fallout from coronavirus

'The real issue is not the economic situation today,' the Treasury secretary insisted. 'This is a unique situation. We are going to have a slowdown'

Markets experienced the worst week since the 2008 economic crisis as the White House struggled to strike a bipartisan deal with lawmakers and confusion over the travel ban rocked investors

Markets saw its biggest of the week on Thursday, plummeting 2,000 points the day after Donald Trump's Oval Office address, where he announced he was shutting down travel from Europe and mistakenly claimed that would affect cargo  which was interpreted by investors to mean trade goods between Europe and the U.S.

The 10 per cent plunge caused markets to see its worst close since 1987  and the week was the worst since the recession following the 2008 crash.

Friday, however, the markets saw a major recovery nearly 2,000 points as Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's fruitful negotiations brought a bipartisan bill to the House floor.

'I think what you saw is the stock market reacting very positively to the bipartisan bill,' Mnuchin told ABC's Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl Sunday morning.

'The stock market is going to go up, it's going to go down. We can't focus on every day  the mood,' he said.

Trump expressed his support for the bipartisan measure on Friday in a tweet ahead of the House vote.

Mnuchin is part of the administration's coronavirus task force, and he headed the efforts to pass a bipartisan bill through Congress on Friday by engaging in talks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week

Mnuchin is a member of the Trump administration's coronavirus task force.

He and Pelosi have a close relationship and have struck bipartisan agreements in the past.

The two engaged in several conversations this week to reach an agreement on a bill after Trump continuously pushed for a payroll tax cut, which Democrats, and some Republicans, expressed disinterest in including in the package.

Mnuching also responded Sunday to confusion over the 'cargo' halt mentioned in Trump's speech.

'I don't think in an Oval Office address you can address every single issues as you're discussing it,' Mnuchin claimed.

'I don't think he got things wrong at all,' he continued. 'And we were very clear that people misinterpreted the comment on cargo. And we immediately put out a statement to clarify that.'
Songwriter Mike Batt has spoken of his sadness at being shut out of a controversial 21st Century remake of The Wombles.

Mr Batt's hit, Remember You're A Womble, was a huge part of the enduring appeal of the children's classic, and the musician even owned a controlling share of the rights to the show's much loved characters, including Orinoco and Great Uncle Bulgaria.

But bankruptcy four years ago forced him to give them up  and he has now revealed a troubling rift with the new copyright holder, businessman Craig Treharne, who he claims has frozen him out of the plans for the new series.

Common touch: Mike Batt with one of The Wombles said he was sad to be 'shut out' of the controversial film remake

Mr Batt, 71, has described feeling 'distraught' at the slight, and said it was a 'personal tragedy' to be shut out of a brand that was so intertwined with his identity.

'It just feels horrible not to be the one that is legally in charge of the musical side of any ongoing projects,' he said.

'People think, 'Mike Batt, he's the Wombles man.' My wife said to me the other day that if I invented a cure for cancer tomorrow, I'd still always be The Wombles man.'

Mr Batt spoke out after we reported last week that his former friend Mr Treharne wanted to redraw the creatures to make them more 'woke', with the introduction of Wombles who may be gender-fluid or of different races.

Biggest bands: The Wombles went on to enjoy chart success in the 1970s with a number of hits

Mr Batt was not only integral to the original series, but took on the brand as part of the novelty pop group, The Wombles, which became one of the biggest bands in the 1970s with a string of hits.

'A lot of people have said my association with the music can't ever be severed because everyone knows I'm Mr Womble,' he said.

'I wrote 52 songs. We were the biggest pop group in 1975.

'To me, at my late stage in life, it's absolutely a personal tragedy to have lost influence.'

The Wombles was first published as a children's book by Elisabeth Beresford in 1968, and detailed the exploits of a group of characters who lived on Wimbledon Common and cleared it of rubbish, often repurposing what they found.

It was turned into a TV series in 1973 with Mr Batt, then 23, writing the iconic theme tune.

The characters and storylines have been adapted and updated over the years in consultation with Mr Batt and the Beresford family.

But in 2016, Mr Batt sold the 85 per cent stake he had in Wombles Copyright Holdings Ltd to Mr Treharne.

'I am very unhappy about the way the acquisition was done,' he said. 'I would have liked to have retained the right to look after the music.

'But it was done so quickly that I pretty much had to agree to forgo my position, which I'd enjoyed ever since I began writing the hits and making The Wombles as famous as they were. I had to step aside from that. That was sad.'

Mr Batt, who moved to Wimbledon himself two years ago, said he had not spoken to Mr Treharne for a year but appealed to the new owner to reconsider.

'I still would offer my services because these little guys that keep the Common tidy are a big part of my life,' he said.

'I have a lot of good will towards them. If we [Craig and I] were able to have a friendly, civilised relationship, I believe I could bring value. As it stands, he's got all the cards.'

Mr Treharne has not recorded any income or profit from the company.

According to Companies House, he has been involved in 22 ventures, including a company that makes bespoke luxury saunas.

Eleven of the previous businesses have been dissolved.

Elisabeth Beresford's family said they were concerned over his plans for the new series.

Her son, Marcus Robertson, said he also feared the new owner did not have a long-term commitment to his mother's creations  an allegation Mr Treharne's representatives described as 'groundless'.

Mr Robertson said: 'More than anything, my mother believed that The Wombles belonged to all the children of yesterday, today and tomorrow and any relaunch, while modernising them, should cherish their historical charm and the child-centric magical pleasure they give.'
The largest casino in Pennslyvania will be temporarily closing amidst growing concern for the spread of the coronavirus in the state.

On Saturday, Parx Casino and Racing announced that it would be closed starting on Sunday until at least March 29  a two-week closure  in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, according to a Parx Casino press release.

The move comes two days after Gov. Tom Wolf advised Pennsylvania citizens to avoid large social venues and for organizations to cancel events that would draw 250 or more people.

We are taking this action as responsible business leaders within the Bensalem community and as one of the largest employers in Bucks County. We will continue to monitor and comply with all orders, directives, instructions and/or recommendations made by government agencies and currently plan to re-open on March 29, 2020, at 6:00 A.M., the press release stated.

Parx Casino will continue to pay its employees during the two-week closure, the release added.

The casino, located in Bensalem Township in Bucks County, just northeast of Philadelphia, has more than 150,000 square feet of gaming with 3,300 slot machines, 132 live tables and a 48-table poker room. It also has a number of dining areas and an event center that can seat more than 1,500 guests.

There have been 35 reported cases of the coronavirus near the city of Philadelphia and 47 confirmed cases in the state. On Saturday, Wolf urged nonessential businesses in the Philadelphia suburbs  including Bucks County  to close temporarily to try and slow the spread of the virus.

-- Follow Ed Sutelan on Twitter, @EdwardSutelan

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.
Election signs

If you were a primary candidate in the last election and did not win or hold a runoff position, do us a favor and pickup your signage that has become trash.

Greg Armstrong, Richmond

Bernie and Cuba

Regarding Letters: Side with human rights, (A13, March 9): Seth Rocks letter to the editor urging Sen. Bernie Sanders to ask Raul Castro to free political prisoners comes not a moment too soon. Cuba is engaged in a roundup of dissidents and kangaroo trials, hoping that the world, preoccupied with the coronavirus epidemic, will not notice.

Granma, Cubas official newspaper, wrote approvingly of Sanders in a front page article a few days ago. Although he visited with the Cuban leadership when they held Alan Gross, an American, political hostage, the senator did not ask for his release, Gross said.

Amnesty International can provide information on Cuban prisoners of conscience. There are almost 100 political prisoners in Raul Castros jails today.

John Suarez, executive director for Center for a Free Cuba

Coronavirus

Regarding Concerns disrupt life across U.S., (A1, March 12): As we continue to read how the coronavirus spreads into every aspect of our lives and more people die, maybe we can learn a lesson: No matter how wealthy, how powerful, no matter how many weapons we have, we can be brought down by a virus. Maybe we can learn that we are a part of and deeply interconnected with nature, and maybe we can begin to give it the respect and cooperation it deserves.

Christine Eheman, Houston

Now may be the time when the coronavirus forces Congress to pass Medicare for All legislation to stop the spread. Without everyone who contracts the virus in the United States being treated, those persons will overwhelm the health care system, thereby rendering valueless the coverages of Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance. The situation will be akin to a lack of measles vaccinations causing a loss of the herd immunity where those persons who are not vaccinated will be more vulnerable to the measles. With respect to coronavirus, everyone is unvaccinated. Everyone is vulnerable. The only way to be protected is to ensure that those who are displaying symptoms get tested and those who have COVID-19 be properly treated. Thus, my protection and proper medical care requires that proper medical care be furnished to everyone in the United States. Unfortunately, many will not be able to meet the costs of such treatment (if uninsured), or the expense of deductibles and co-pays if insured. The federal government needs to furnish the testing and the care free of charge. My Medicare benefits cannot be provided unless everyone needing tested or treatment is treated, free of charge, immediately.

Milton J. Flick, Missouri City
The cabinet is likely to discuss the governor's letter in which he asked the govt to seek a trust vote in the Assembly after his address

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath has called a cabinet meeting here on Sunday, in the wake of state Governor Lalji Tandon's direction to his government to seek a trust vote in the Assembly on Monday.

The meeting is likely to be begin at 11 am, sources said.

The cabinet is likely to discuss the governor's letter sent on Saturday night, in which he asked the government to seek a trust vote in the Assembly soon after his (governor's) address on March 16, they said.

Hours after Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon directed Chief Minister Kamal Nath to seek a trust vote in the Assembly on March 16, the Congress MLAs, who had been camping in Jaipur, returned to Bhopal on Sunday.

Talking to PTI, a Congress MLA confirmed that the party legislators have returned to the state capital from Rajasthan.

The Congress expressed confidence that it will prove its majority in the House, while the opposition BJP claimed that the ruling dispensation has been reduced to minority as 22 of its MLAs have resigned.

We are confident of proving our majority, state Public Relations Minister P C Sharma said.

He said although the governor has asked the Congress government to seek a trust vote after his (governor's) address in the Assembly on Monday, the Speaker was empowered to decide the proceedings of the House and he would take a call on it.

However, BJP chief whip in the Assembly, Narottam Mishra, said, The Congress has lost its majority. The governor is saying that was in a minority. I am not saying this...it has been mentioned it the governor's letter sent to chief minister.

The Kamal Nath-led government has been facing deep crisis following the resignation of 22 Congress MLAs after former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the party on Tuesday.

On Saturday, the Speaker had accepted the resignations of six ministers. With this, the strength of the House has come down to 222 and the majority mark is now 112.
Last week, the gyrations of the Green Party reminded us of the difference between Platonists and Aristotelians in the practice of politics.

Regular readers will remember my eccentric but self-evident belief we are born either Platonists or Aristotelians.

Check it out.

Plato believed man was naturally good and could create a perfect society.

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Conversely, Aristotle believed man was flawed and so his political systems would be flawed, too.

This philosophical difference comes to a head in practical politics over the issue of compromise.

Compromise is the coping stone of democracy - dictators don't have to compromise.

Aristotelians are comfortable with compromise, but Platonists find it difficult to dilute their pure ideals.

The greatest Aristotelian politician of modern times was Lyndon B Johnson, whose civil rights campaign was a classic of political cunning and the art of compromise.

Daniel O'Connell was also an Aristotelian, whereas the romantic Young Irelanders were Platonists.

O'Connell proceeded in a logical sequence, building sinew along the way.

First, he tackled the Church of Ireland problem, particularly that of tithes.

After that he smashed the sectarian fetters that had been put on Catholic education institutions and freedom of association.

Building on these victories he went for Catholic Emancipation - then pressed Peel for advantages like Maynooth College's invaluable grant.

Repeal was the logical end point of his gradual campaign of liberalisation, but he wasn't willing to shed innocent blood for it.

Unlike the Young Irelanders, who wanted utopia in one go, O'Connell knew when to compromise.

In my view, the best political party would have idealistic Platonic aims, but be run by Aristotelians, who by compromising could achieve some of them.

Coming out of the election, the Green Party seemed to fit that bill perfectly - at first sight.

Eamon Ryan is an experienced, pragmatic politician in the general Aristotelian tradition.

Both FF and FG respected him and were likely to give him big concessions.

But the SF surge meant an influx of inexperienced TDs in the Platonic mode and thus a general pain.

By general pain I mean that during the policy talks some long-term problems with the Greens surfaced.

Paradoxically, the main problem with the Greens is they stand for good stuff.

Accordingly, most people find themselves nodding furiously in favour of what Greens are saying.

But this pious agreement poses problems, presciently summed up by the late Stuart Hall, founder of the Open University, in a talk to RTE producers years ago.

We invited Stuart Hall, a brilliant Caribbean-born Marxist, because he had no time for sacred cows - including the posh sacred cows of the BBC.

Hall did not disappoint. He told us sardonically that if we wanted to do a safe programme we should choose the environment - after all, who is in favour of polluting the environment?

Such programmes, he said, were just exercises in being smug - we did not have a word then for being PC - and fell short of the truth.

Hall did not have to add that programmes about the environment would not be so popular if they told the public the true cost in terms of their pay packets.

To persuade the public to accept some of that cost calls for the highest arts of political compromise.

The Greens' problem with hard choices - senior hurling, in Seamus Brennan's phrase - surfaced in John Gormley's political breakdown in the Cowen cabinet in 2010 during the banking crisis.

He told the Dail: "I warn those other parties that they should know when they enter government during this crisis, they will be entering an asylum."

The quote is from Mary Minihan's book on the Greens, A Deal With The Devil, whose Platonic title sums up the snobby notion that the normal compromises of politics amount to an 'asylum' or a 'deal with the devil'.

Still, I hoped for the best when Ryan, FG and FF seemed willing to grant the wish of Majority Ireland by entering a stable, long-term three-party coalition.

But there were warning signs of protracted policy-wonking. John Drennan reported a FF negotiator saying: "The Greens are the best option, but they are talking us to death."

Fine Gael also warned: "The Greens are in real danger of talking themselves out of government."

At one point I remarked the hapless FF and FG negotiators reminded me of Kurtz in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, emerging from the jungle intoning: "The horror! The horror!"

Last weekend, however, on The Week in Politics, Jim O'Callaghan of Fianna Fail suddenly called for a national government - and did a volte face on his previous opposition to Sinn Fein in government.

The effect of his double intervention was to weaken the negotiating position of his leader Micheal Martin - while also giving Green foot-draggers the perfect excuse to get out of government.

O'Callaghan's shock intervention came as a godsend to Sinn Fein who know that Martin represents Majority Ireland's rejection of them - hence their endless and obsessive attacks on him.

Caretaker Labour leader Brendan Howlin also hailed the notion of a national government (in advance of anything the new leader might have to say) by mawkishly telling us that it was "a way of respecting SF's mandate".

It seems to me that those in favour of a national government, whether in the Greens, Labour Party or Fianna Fail, have one thing in common. They are fragmenting forces inside their own parties.

The Foolish Faction in Fianna Fail is the worst of all because it is confused and contradictory reaction to reverses only benefits Fianna Fail's main rival - Sinn Fein

As I said, Fianna Fail is a naturally Aristotelian party which normally would have grasped that Majority Ireland wants a FF, FG, Green coalition.

But the Foolish Faction in Fianna Fail does not care what Majority Ireland wants. To make matters worse, it doesn't even know what it wants itself.

At the first FF meeting after the election, deputies overwhelmingly supported Martin's (and O'Callaghan's) position of excluding SF.

Last Thursday week, however, a group of dissidents began to criticise Martin for excluding Sinn Fein, cravenly advocating "talks" but not sharing power with SF. Talk about having it both ways.

Coincidentally, the dissidents were foreshadowing Jim O'Callaghan's volte face on The Week in Politics, in which he implicitly criticised Martin for excluding Sinn Fein.

The Foolish Faction in FF has many motives, but its internal backstabbing is destroying Fianna Fail.

The faction can't seem to grasp that what annoys them most about Martin - his rejection of Sinn Fein - is that battered party's biggest attraction for Majority Ireland.

Compared with the contradictory convolutions of FF's Foolish Faction, the Greens look almost as disciplined as Sinn Fein.
By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR/CUTTACK: Odisha has so far remained safe from COVID-19 infection as all 22 samples sent for tests have been found negative. Of 142 people, who returned from affected countries, 100 have completed home isolation. As per a statement issued by the Health and Family Welfare department, 17 persons have been admitted to health facilities and 25 are under home quarantine at present.



On Saturday, a youth, who reportedly returned from Italy, was admitted to the isolation ward at SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack with suspected coronavirus symptoms.



ALSO READ: Sub-standard sanitizers worth Rs 1.2 lakh seized in Pune, 3 held

The youth, an engineer from Cuttack, had gone to Italy for higher studies and returned home on March 2. As he suffered from cold and cough for over a week, he went to the SCBMCH for medical examination and doctors decided to keep him in isolation. Blood sample, nasal and throat swabs of the youth will be sent to RMRC, Bhubaneswar for test on Sunday.

At present, two suspects, of whom samples of one tested negative, have been kept in the isolation ward. SCBMCH Emergency Officer Bhubanananda Moharana said another man from Kendrapara who has tested negative will be kept under observation till March 18. Earlier, seven persons admitted to the isolation ward with suspected coronavirus symptoms were discharged after they tested negative, he added. Meanwhile, one student from Denmark and another scholar from Japan have been advised to remain in isolation for 14 days.

While the Denmark student came to Odisha in a student exchange programme and is staying in a private hotel at Cuttack, the Japanese scholar is under quarantine in a hotel at Bhubaneswar. Sources said four-members of a family from Balianta have been admitted to Capital Hospital after they landed here from Kuala Lumpur. The couple and their two children have been kept in the isolation ward and their samples will be sent for tests on Sunday. However, the sample of another girl from Bhubaneswar has been found negative. She was admitted to Capital Hospital where she had gone for tests.
Coronavirus Outbreak Updates: While pointing out that social distancing measures can help to reduce COVID19 transmission and enable health systems to cope, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesuscautioned that such measures aren't enough on their own and urged countires to take a comprehensive approach.

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"Fourth batch of 53 Indians  52 students and a teacher  has arrived from Tehran and Shiraz, Iran. With this, a total of 389 Indians have returned to India from Iran. Thank the efforts of the team of Indian embassy in Iran and Iranian authorities," Jaishankar tweeted.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar on early Monday said that the fourth batch of 53 Indians has arrived in India from Tehran and Shiraz in Iran. Out of the 53 Indians, 52 are students and one is a teacher. With this, a total of 389 Indians have returned to India from Iran.

Set up by Karnatakas Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) on13 March, the COVID-19 Karnataka  Sahaya Group had over 6,000 members as of Sunday evening. Its handled by teams of five members  including doctors  in eight-hour shifts.

Telegram has been chosen for the initiative because it allows one group to have thousands of members.

In its effort to check proliferation of fake news and rumours about the coronavirus pandemic, the Karnataka government launched a 24X7 helpline on social media app Telegram to address residents queries and concerns.

The Las Vegas-based company operates the Bellagio, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Luxor, New York-New York, Excalibur, and Park MGM. It also owns 50 percent of CityCenter, which includes Aria and Vdara.

"We will plan to reopen our resorts as soon as it (is) safe to do so and we will continue to support our employees, guests, and communities in every way that we can during this period of closure." Murren said.

A statement from Chairman and CEO Jim Murren said the temporary closures are for "the good of our employees, guests and communities."

Casino operations are set to close Monday, followed by hotel operations. The company will not be taking reservations prior to 1 May.

MGM Resorts International announced on Sunday that it is temporarily suspending operations at all Las Vegas properties "until further notice", effective from 17 March.

"During the call, the two top diplomats discussed ways in which India and the United States could cooperate to address this global challenge," State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said on Sunday. The phone call between the two leaders occurred on 14 March, she said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar have held a discussion on the coronavirus pandemic over the phone, the US State Department said in Washington.

He added that all restaurants, bars and cafes would be limited to "food take-out and delivery." The order will be effective from Tuesday at 9 am.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the shutting down much of the city's famous nightlife. "In a bid to limit the spread of coronavirus in New York, all nightclubs, movie theaters and concert venues will be ordered shut," De Blasio said in a statement.

He said a decision has already been taken on this regard. "Orders will be issued either on Monday or Tuesday and the facility will be ready within 15-20 days," he added.

Tope said another laboratory will be set up at KEM hospital in Mumbai in the next two days. New laboratories will also come up at JJ Hospital, the Haffkine Institute  also in Mumbai, besides at a hospital in Pune in the next 15-20 days.

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope announced on Sunday that the laboratory capacity to test samples of suspected novel coronavirus will be expanded to 350 per day from the present 100 per day at the civic-run Kasturba hospital in Mumbai.

In order to prevent spread of COVID-19, blankets & curtains have been withdrawn from train service till further orders. Passengers are requested to bring their own blankets in their own interest. a tweet by the Official Twitter handle of Divisional Railway Manager  Mumbai Division of Western Railway, read.

Passengers travelling in air conditioned coaches of Indian railways will now have to carry their own blankets and bed-sheets for a while now, as the railways has decided to withdraw facilities of blankets and curtains keeping in view the ongoing coronavirus threat.

"The way the threat is progressing in the city, places of collective gathering like library, mess, canteens etc. in Jamia are likely to be closed down as precautionary measures. Therefore, it is advised to all the students to understand the seriousness of the prevailing circumstances and for their own safety. They may consider proceeding to their homes for a secured environment and care," the university said in an advisory.

As a precautionary measure to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus, Jamia Millia Islamia has advised its students to consider returning to their homes.

The coordinated global actions were reminiscent of the sweeping steps taken just over a decade ago to fight a meltdown of the global financial system, but this time the target was an entirely unfamiliar foe - a fast-spreading health crisis with no certain end in sight that is forcing entire societies to effectively shut down.

The US Federal Reserve and global central banks moved aggressively on Sunday to buttress a world economy unraveling rapidly amid the coronavirus pandemic, with the Fed slashing interest rates to near zero, pledging hundreds of billions of dollars in asset purchases and backstopping foreign authorities with the offer of cheap dollar financing.

Prof. Debashis Chatterjee, Director, IIM Kozhikode, said "Considering that the World Health Organisation has recently declared COVID-19 as a pandemic and the advisories issued by the Health Ministries of Union of India and Government of Kerala advocate avoiding public gatherings, we have taken the decision to postpone Convocation 2020 scheduled for 3-4 April indefinitely."

In the wake of the coronavirus scare, the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode (IIM-K) has indefinitely postponed its annual convocation, which was to be held on 4 April. The two-day ceremony was to begin from 3 April with a pre-convocation cultural night for students, their families and the IIMK community, followed by the Main ceremony, on the following day, an IIM-K press release said.

Despite the gain of around 4 percent each in S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 on Friday, in a dramatic recovery following an intra-day plunge of more than 10 percent that triggered a trading halt for the first time since 2009, the benchmark indices suffered their worst week since the same year.

Domestic stock markets are likely to start Monday's session on a sharply lower note tracking global peers which fell even after the US central bank delivered another unscheduled rate cut. The Singapore Exchange (SGX) Nifty futures  an early indicator of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty index in India  dropped as much as 459.65 points to 9,524.30 before trimming some of those losses. At 8.08 am, the SGX Nifty futures were down 393.20 points  or 3.94 percent  at 9,590.75.

Domestic markets witnessed a roller-coaster session on Friday, with trading being halted for the first time in 12 years as benchmarks plunged over 10 percent in opening trade, before staging a record-shattering comeback.

While he was immediately admitted to Capital hospital, he initially tested negative of the pandemic on Sunday. But by midnight fresh reports suggested that he was infected by COVID-19.

As per reports, the 31-year-old man, who was studying in Italy reached Delhi on 6 March and was quarantined in the National Capital. However, he tested negative following which he returned to Odisha by a train on 12 March reportedly to avoid scrutiny. Later, on 13 March, he showcased symptoms of the disease including fever and cold.

Odisha on Monday reported its first coronavirus positive case in Bhubaneshwar. The man affected by COVID-19 is being treated at Capital hospital in Bhubaneswar.

Justice Chandrachud assured during the meeting that 'people-to-people' contact will be reduced in the top court by introducing court proceedings through video conferencing. Importantly, filing of cases will also go paperless by way e-filing. Once video conferencing is introduced, smart televisions will be installed in the press lounge for the convenience of journalists, justice Chandrachud said.

The meeting was chaired by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and justices Arun Mishra, UU Lalit, DY Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao.

Filing of cases and court proceedings in the Supreme Court of India will soon go digital, the chairperson of the Supreme Court e-committee, justice DY Chandrachud said during a meeting held on Sunday to address the functioning of the court in the light of coronavirus threat.

The COVID-19 outbreak and the resultant uncertainty has impacted schools and educational institutes across India. Edtech firm, Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) through its subsidiary, Meritnation, has announced that it will provide special free live classes for students. The classes will be held for students from Class 1st to Class 12th and those appearing for special exams like JEE/ NEET etc. Meritnation will also be conducting Live Classes for students appearing for JEE/NEET, at no charge, according to a press release. JEE 2020 is scheduled between the 5-11 April and NEET 2020 is scheduled to be held on 3 May.

In the report, CAPA said that demand is drying up in ways that are completely unprecedented, forward bookings are far outweighed by cancellations, and cash reserves are running down quickly as fleets are grounded and the operating flights are less than half full.

After several countries implemented travel advisories and Visa restrictions to prevent coronavirus, demand for travel has fallen drastically

"By the end of May, 2020, most airlines in the world will be bankrupt. Coordinated government and industry action is needed if catastrophe is to be avoided," CAPA, Centre for Aviation, said in its latest note on the global situation.

Most airlines in the world will be bankrupt by the end of May 2020 and only coordinated action by government and industry can save them, global aviation consultancy firm CAPA has said.

"We recognize that travelers are faced with a great deal of uncertainty right now, and we are committed to helping them through this situation with the right options, adequate time and high levels of attention and consideration," said Scott Nisbet, President & CEO, Globus family of brands. "We are doing our best to cater to each and every traveler and help them feel confident in their decision to explore the world with us."

This Peace of Mind plan provides Globus family of brands' travelers booked on affected vacations from now through 30 April, 2020, the freedom to reschedule their vacation in 2020, 2021 or 2022, to any destination, on any brand, without incurring cancellation fees. In addition, it also offers travelers a credit of up to $200 per person when they reschedule their plans.

Cosmos Vacations, a part of the Globus family of brands  consisting of Globus, Cosmos, Monograms and Avalon Waterways, announced that it is voluntarily suspending travel, across all destinations, through 30 April, 2020. For travelers affected by the suspension, the company has also unveiled a new 'Peace of Mind' plan.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to take review meetings via video conferencing of all district authorities on Monday on steps to contain the fast-spreading COVID-19. Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, Health Minister, Chief Secretary and Health Secretary will also join from Delhi Secretariat.

"The health and safety of our colleagues is of paramount importance to the Producers Guild of India. The industry's united decision to suspend shooting between the period 19 to 31 March is the need of the hour and we fully support it," Kulmeet Makkar, Chief Executive Officer, Producers Guild of India, said in a statement here.

The meeting of the film bodies was also attended by the representatives of Indian Motion Pictures Producers' Association (IMPPA), Western India Film Producers' Association (WIFPA) and Indian Film and TV Producers Council (IFTPC).

To contain the spread of novel coronavirus, film bodies in India including Federation of Western Indian Cine Employees (FWICE), Indian Film & Television Directors' Association (IFTDA) and Producers Guild of India on Sunday decided to put shootings of films, TV shows and web series on hold from 19 to 31 March.

"Individuals are requested to honestly declare your travel history at the points of entry," the ministry further said.

All travellers entering Bhutan will be quarantined for 14 days at the designated quarantine facility effective from Monday (16 March, 2020), the health ministry tweeted.

The second-richest person in China pledged $14 million from his foundation to help develop a coronavirus vaccine and said he would donate 500,000 testing kits and one million face masks to the US. On Monday his foundation sent the first shipment of masks and coronavirus test kits to the US.

Amid the growing spread of the novel coronavirus, some of the worlds richest are donating to help countries hardest hit by the disease. One of them being Alibaba founder Jack Ma.

The rampant spread of the novel coronavirus has impacted many all around the world with the World Health Organisation (WHO) terming the disease a pandemic. The scare of infection has also lead to a number of tech, automotive and science-related events and conferences all over the world to be cancelled, postponed or moved to online platforms.

The 76-year-old man had returned from Saudi Arabia on 29 February after spending one month in the Arab nation.

A health department note said she is already admitted in the Kalaburagi District Hospital and her health condition is stable. Earlier, officials had confirmed that three out of the four persons (wife, son, daughter and daughter-in-law) were confirmed to be negative and the fourth persons results were awaited.

Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu on Sunday said that one more positive case of coronavirus was reported in the state. The new case is the daughter of the 76-year-old Kalaburagi man who died last week due to COVID-19 infection.

Ukrainian-born actor-model Olga Kurylenko has revealed that she has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The actor, best known for starring in 2008s James Bond film Quantum of Solace and 2013s sci-fi movie Oblivion, took to Instagram on Sunday to share her diagnosis.

"All gyms, night clubs, spas to be closed till 31 March. Any gathering with more than 50 persons excluding weddings will not be allowed. For weddings also, we request if they can be postponed then please do so, " Kejriwal said.

Addressing the media on the measures taken against the spread of coronavirus in the National Captial, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that any social and cultural gatherings involving more than 50 people will not be allowed to take place.

Four new cases of COVID-19 infections have been reported in Maharashtra, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 37. A state government health official confirmed the development to news agency PTI and added that the total number of cases have now gone up to 37.

The government will also examine the feasibility of thermal screening of the passengers in the Delhi Metro.

All auto-rickshaws and taxis will be disinfected for free to prevent the spread of the deadly disease, said Arvind Kejriwal as he spoke about the measures taken against the spread of coronavirus in the National Captial

"We have arranged sufficient beds if cases increase and hospitalisation is needed. Quarantine facilities have been set up at three hotels  Lemon Tree, Red Fox, IBIS," the chief minister said.

Quarantine facilities have been arranged at three Delhi hotels  Lemon Tree, Red Fox and IBIS, said Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday.

Forty one new cases of the novel coronavirus surfaced in Pakistan, bringing the total number of COVID-19 infections in the country to 94 on Monday, an official said. As of Sunday, the country reported 53 coronavirus cases.

India is witnessing a sharp surge in COVID-19 cases. With the latest case reported from Maharashtra, the total number of coronavirus patients in India now stands at 114. Maharashtra now accounts for the highest number of COVID-19 cases, 37 cases. Kerala accounted for the second-highest number of cases in India, at 24, followed by Uttar Pradesh at 12, and seven each in Delhi and Karnataka.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Maharashtra rose to 38 on Monday. The infected person had recently travelled to Dubai.

"The government has directed us to distribute the raw material used in preparing mid-day meals in schools, to the students at their homes as classes have been suspended till 31 March 31 in Kerala due to the pandemic," said Baby Girija, an Anganwadi Teacher in Thiruvanathapuram.

The Kerala government has started measures to deliver ingredients for mid-day meals to over three lakh children studying in anganwadis, which have been shut due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The step was taken to make sure there is no undisrupted supply of meals to the students.

The dollar fell from a more than two-week high and stock markets plunged after the Fed cut rates for the second time this year to soften the economic blow from the economic shock.

The Feds rate cuts and restarting of quantitative easing are positives for gold, but were in an unconventional time and theory might not apply in a time of high volatility and divergence", Yan said.

The Fed slashed rates back to near zero, restarted bond-buying and joined with other central banks to help put a floor under a rapidly disintegrating global economy amid the escalating coronavirus pandemic.

Prices rose initially due to the surprise Fed rate cut, said CMC Markets analyst Margaret Yang Yan, adding that: "The market is very indecisive and there are divergent opinions. Investors are now dumping everything. They just want cash."

Spot gold was up 0.9 percent at $1,543.60 per ounce by 02.48 GMT, having risen as much as 2.8% earlier. The metal fell 3 percent on Friday. US gold futures rose 1.8 percent to $1,544.20 per ounce.

Gold prices jumped in early trade on Monday after another emergency rate cut by the US Federal Reserve, before paring gains as some investors sold the metal for cash amid a sell-off in equities.

The first Test of the series was played in Rawalpindi from 7-10 February, which Pakistan won by an innings and 44 runs.

"The two boards will now work together to identify a future opportunity to complete the ICC World Test Championship commitment," the PCB said in a statement.

Bangladesh were due to arrive in Karachi on 29 March to play an ODI on 1 April and the second ICC World Test Championship Test from 9-5 April.

The Pakistan and Bangladesh cricket boards on Monday decided to postpone the upcoming One-Day International and Test in Karachi indefinitely amid the COVID-19 pandemic which has derailed sporting calendars globally.

Goods would continue to flow between the countries and commuters could also still cross the borders, it said.

Without citing a source, Focus Online and newspaper Bild reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her interior minister had agreed the closures with the state premiers involved and that they would take place from 8 am local time (07.00 GMT) on Monday.

Germany on Monday became the latest country in Europe to restrict movement across its borders with with Austria, France and Switzerland in a push to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus.

The number of confirmed COVID19 cases in Maharashtra has reached 39, The Mumbai Mirror quoted health minister Rajesh Tope as saying.While Pimpri Chinchwad has nine cases, seven are from Pune, six in Mumbai, Nagpur has four, Yavatmal has three, three each in Kalyan and Navi Mumbai, and one each in Raigad, Thane, Ahmednagar and Aurangabad.

The number of positive coronavirus cases in Pakistan has risen to 105, with 11 new cases recorded in Karachi, reports IndiaToday.

Earlier in the day, a case was registered against 75 unknown persons and 4 others who gathered at the Cochin International airport on Sunday night for welcoming a reality show contestant, reports ANI. The charges were invoked for violating the ban on gathering issued by the airport authority in the backdrop of coronavirus pandemic. Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) had banned gatherings at both terminals of the airport but hundreds of people gathered last night, around 9 pm to welcome Rajith, the reality show contestant. They also raised slogans.

"One positive case was confirmed today (Monday).The total number of cases in the state is eight, including one death...He had returned from the US via London on March 8 by the same flight as patient number-4 who tested positive," a statement said.

He was on home quarantine, and is now admitted to an isolation facility.

A 32-year-old man, who returned from the US via London earlier this month, has tested positive for coronavirus making it the eighth case in Karnataka, the health department said on Monday.

ANI quoted a statement by the Tamil Nadu government as saying, "All educational institutions, theatres, malls, gyms, amusement parks, swimming pools to remain closed till 31 March. No permission for rallies, public meetings, summer camps, conferences, exhibitions, cultural or sporting events till 31 March. Sports arenas, bars, clubs and other recreational facilities to remain closed till 31 March. Resorts shouldn't take booking till 31 March. People are advised to avoid travelling to other states for 15 days."

Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren said that the Assembly has taken a decision to ban visitors, but the House has not decided about adjournment in view of coronavirus outbreak in the country. If necessary, a decision would be taken on the adjournment of the Budget session, which is scheduled till 28 March, Soren told a press conference. In Maharshtra, too, restrictions have been imposed on entry of people into the Mantralaya, state secratariat building in Mumbai, said health minister Rajesh Tope. The Maharashtra Raj Bhavan tour for citizens has also been suspended till 31 March.

Germanys Bundesliga and second division will pause at least until 2 April and possibly beyond due to the coronavirus, Reuters quoted DFL CEO Christian Seifert as saying. Germanys top two divisions did not play this weekend after matches were suspended due to the outbreak of the virus and Seifert said any decision on the season would be taken in the week of 30 March.

He asked people to avoid mass gatherings, sporting events and public meetings, while directing all deputy commissioners and superintendents of police to ensure strict compliance of the order.

immediate effect till 5 April, reports PTI. Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, in an order, however, clarified that board exams would be held as per schedule. Kumar also directed shopping malls to disinfect their stores and food courts from time to time.

The Arunachal Pradesh government on Monday announced the closure of all educational institutes, cinema halls and weekly markets in the state with

A circular issued by the Gujarat Chief Wildlife Warden Shyamal Tikadar said the state's national parks, sanctuaries, and conservation reserves will remain closed till 29 March, reports PTI. It said the sites under lockdown include Sakkarbaug Zoological Park in Junagadh, Devaliya Safari Park and Ambardi Safari Park, which attract large crowds eager to sight the Asiatic lion. The newly-built Sardar Patel Zoological Park at Kevadiya, close to the Statue of Unity, will also remain closed, it said. In Maharashtra, tiger projects, national parks, sanctuaries will remain closed till 31 March, reported PTI.

She said long-term residents in the European Union, frontier workers, family members of European Union nationals and diplomats would be exempted from the restrictions.Essential staff such as doctors, nurses, care workers, researchers and experts that help address the coronavirus should continue to be allowed in the EU," von der Leyen added. People transporting goods are exempted too. Why that? Because the flow of goods to the European Union must continue to secure the supply of goods, including essential items such as medicine, but also food and components that our factories need."

Speaking after an extraordinary video-conference meeting of the leaders of the G-7 countries, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said travel restrictions should be in place for an initial period that can be prolonged if necessary. The less travel, the more we can contain the virus," von der Leyen said.

The European Union's top official proposed a 30-day ban on anyone entering the bloc unless their travel is essential, while insisting on the need to keep the internal borders between the 27 member states open as much as possible, reports AP.

The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in the northern Italian region of Lombardy, which has borne the brunt of a nationwide contagion, has risen over the past day to 1,420 from 1,218, two sources with access to the data said on Monday. The number of new cases in the region, which includes Italys financial capital Milan, had risen by 1,377 over the past 24 hours  a slower rate of increase than seen recently.The latest national death toll figures are due to be released later in the day. On Sunday, the country-wide tally stood at 1,809.

"In the past week, we have seen a rapid escalation of cases of #COVID19 . More cases and deaths have now been reported in the rest of the world than in #China "- @DrTedros #coronavirus

In its daily press briefing the World Health Organisation said that more cases and deaths have now been reported in the rest of the world than in China.

While pointing out that social distancing measures can help to reduce COVID19 transmission and enable health systems to cope, he cautioned that such measures arent enough on their own and urged countires to take a comprehensive approach.

"We have seen a rapid escalation in social distancing measures, like closing schools and cancelling sporting events and other gatherings. But we haven't seen an urgent enough escalation in testing, isolation and contact tracing, which is the backbone of the COVID19 response," said the WHO chief.

"As the #coronavirus moves to low-income countries, we're deeply concerned about the impact it could have among populations with high HIV prevalence or malnourished children. Were calling on every country & individual to do everything they can to stop transmission"- @DrTedros

Pimpri Chinchwad police issued similar instructions and restrictions on tour and travel operators, hotel owners in their limit under sub-section 1 of Section 144 of CRPC.

"As per the provisions of the Act, tours and travel companies have been restricted to arrange trips in groups within India or outside the country. In any exceptional case, if such a trip is to be arranged, prior permission from the Commissioner of Police, Pune will be necessary," reads the order. The order further stated violators would be punished under section 188 of IPC.

Pune police on Monday invoked a section ofMaharashtra Police Act and imposed restrictions on tour operators to arrange trips within and outside India. Invoking Section 68 of Maharashtra Police Act, 1951, Joint Commissioner of Police Ravindra Shisve made it mandatory for tours and travel operators, hotel and lodge owners to maintain a separate register of their patrons including Indian citizens and foreign nationals who had foreign travel history and made it compulsory to inform the authorities if they found such passengers.

Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary Planning, Jammu & Kashmir: One more case, with travel history to Saudi Arabia, confirmed positive. Had reported high viral load earlier. Total 3 positive cases now in the union territory. #Coronavirus (file pic) pic.twitter.com/y1tcFSBbjG

Coronavirus Outbreak Updates: While pointing out that social distancing measures can help to reduce COVID19 transmission and enable health systems to cope, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesuscautioned that such measures aren't enough on their own and urged countires to take a comprehensive approach.

The International Monetary Fund called for increased coordinated action to boost confidence and provide stability to the global economy, amidst fast spread of coronavirus that has killed over 6,500 people worldwide and resulted in lockdown-like situations in several countries.

A 32-year-old man, who returned from the US via London earlier this month, has tested positive for coronavirus making it the eighth case in Karnataka.

The Health ministry through an updated travel advisory tightened restrictions from high risk areas. It has banned the entry of passengers from member countries of the European Union, the European Free Trade Association, Turkey and United Kingdom into the country with effect from 18 March.

People undergoing home quarantine for suspected exposure to the novel coronavirus will be stamped on the left hand, the Maharashtra government has announced. As per protocol, people arriving from coronavirus- affected regions are being put under home quarantine as a precautionary measure while their samples are sent for tests.

The number of confirmed COVID19 cases in Maharashtra has reached 39, health minister Rajesh Tope said.While Pimpri Chinchwad has nine cases, seven are from Pune, six in Mumbai, Nagpur has four, Yavatmal has three, three each in Kalyan and Navi Mumbai, and one each in Raigad, Thane, Ahmednagar and Aurangabad.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and health minister Rajesh Tope, along with state chief secretary of the state, held a review meeting at the chief minister's official residence. After the meeting, Tope announced that schools, colleges in rural Maharashtra will also remain closed till March end due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The number of coronavirus cases in India has risen to 114 with one new case each in Ladakh, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, and Kerala, Health Ministry officials said. The number includes 13 people who have been discharged after they recovered and two fatalities, they said.

The Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das is holding a press conference at 4 pmas market mayhem continues due to concerns coronavirus pandemic. There are speculations that Das may announce a rate cut.

Germany on Monday became the latest country in Europe to restrict movement across its borders with with Austria, France and Switzerland in a push to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus.

Without citing a source, Focus Online and newspaper Bild reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her interior minister had agreed the closures with the state premiers involved and that they would take place from 8 am local time (07.00 GMT) on Monday.

Goods would continue to flow between the countries and commuters could also still cross the borders, it said.

Addressing the media on the measures taken against the spread of coronavirus in the National Captial, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that any social and cultural gatherings involving more than 50 people will not be allowed to take place.

"All gyms, night clubs, spas to be closed till 31 March. Any gathering with more than 50 persons excluding weddings will not be allowed. For weddings also, we request if they can be postponed then please do so, " Kejriwal said.

Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu on Sunday said that one more positive case of coronavirus was reported in the state. The new case is the daughter of the 76-year-old Kalaburagi man who died last week due to COVID-19 infection.

A health department note said she is already admitted in the Kalaburagi District Hospital and her health condition is stable. Earlier, officials had confirmed that three out of the four persons (wife, son, daughter and daughter-in-law) were confirmed to be negative and the fourth persons results were awaited.

Odisha on Monday reported its first coronavirus positive case in Bhubaneshwar. The man affected by COVID-19 is being treated at Capital hospital in Bhubaneswar.

As per reports, the 31-year-old man, who was studying in Italy reached Delhi on 6 March and was quarantined in the National Capital. However, he tested negative following which he returned to Odisha by a train on 12 March reportedly to avoid scrutiny. Later, on 13 March, he showcased symptoms of the disease including fever and cold.

While he was immediately admitted to Capital hospital, he initially tested negative of the pandemic on Sunday. But by midnight fresh reports suggested that he was infected by COVID-19.

Domestic markets witnessed a roller-coaster session on Friday, with trading being halted for the first time in 12 years as benchmarks plunged over 10 percent in opening trade, before staging a record-shattering comeback.

Domestic stock markets are likely to start Monday's session on a sharply lower note tracking global peers which fell even after the US central bank delivered another unscheduled rate cut. The Singapore Exchange (SGX) Nifty futures  an early indicator of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty index in India  dropped as much as 459.65 points to 9,524.30 before trimming some of those losses. At 8.08 am, the SGX Nifty futures were down 393.20 points  or 3.94 percent  at 9,590.75.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar on early Monday said that the fourth batch of 53 Indians has arrived in India from Tehran and Shiraz in Iran. Out of the 53 Indians, 52 are students and one is a teacher. With this, a total of 389 Indians have returned to India from Iran.

"Fourth batch of 53 Indians  52 students and a teacher  has arrived from Tehran and Shiraz, Iran. With this, a total of 389 Indians have returned to India from Iran. Thank the efforts of the team of Indian embassy in Iran and Iranian authorities," Jaishankar tweeted.

In its effort to check proliferation of fake news and rumours about the coronavirus pandemic, the Karnataka government launched a 24X7 helpline on social media app Telegram to address residents queries and concerns.

Telegram has been chosen for the initiative because it allows one group to have thousands of members.

Set up by Karnatakas Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) on13 March, the COVID-19 Karnataka  Sahaya Group had over 6,000 members as of Sunday evening. Its handled by teams of five members  including doctors  in eight-hour shifts.

The number of deaths of Britons with coronavirus jumped by 14 in the last 24 hours to 35, while the number of people diagnosed rose by 20 percent to 1,372, said health authorities.

Uttarakhand recorded its first confirmed case of coronavirus with a probationer at Forest Research Institute testing positive for the virus.

The district administration is mulling imposition of the Section 144 of CrPC in Pune to check the spread of novel coronavirus, a senior official said on Sunday.

ANI quoted Kerala health minister KK Shailaja as saying, "Two more COVID-19 cases have been reported in the state, one UK national, and a doctor - who returned from abroad and tested positive. The total positive cases in the state rise to 21."

Narendra Modi addressed a video conference of SAARC leaders, and proposed an emergency fund to deal with COVID-19.

Sanjeeva Kumar, Special Secretary in the Ministry of Health, said, "23 new cases have been detected since the last update - 17 from Maharashtra, 2 from Telangana, 1 from Rajasthan & 3 from Kerala. There are now 107 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country, including 9 discharged cases & 2 deaths."

Uncertainty looms over the upcoming civic polls in West Bengal as political parties and the State Election Commission are yet to decide whether to move ahead with the elections as per schedule or postpone it by a few weeks amid the coronavirus scare.

The number of confirmed cases worldwide has surged past the 1.5 lakh mark. Over 73,000 people have recovered, while more than 5,800 people have succumbed to COVID-19, according to John Hopkins University. The institution runs a live tracker of coronavirus cases.

There are more than 74,000 active cases, with over 68,000 cases to be mild, while nearly 6,000 people are in critical condition.

Till now, India has recorded two deaths from the fast-spreading virus.

Total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Maharashtra has risen to 32 after a 59-year-old woman tested positive for COVID-19, ANI reported. The woman had recently travelled to Russia and Kazakhstan.

The total number of confirmed cases in India surged to 107, according to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. On Saturday, five more patients tested positive in Maharashtra, taking the total confirmed cases of infection to 31.

The new cases were detected in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Yavatmal. As of now, India has reported two deaths due to the fast-spreading virus - one in Karnataka and the other in Delhi.

Andhra Pradesh Election Commissioner N Ramesh Kumar ordered that the local body polls will be postponed for six weeks in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. All 289 passengers onboard a Dubai-bound Emirates flight deboarded at Kerala's Cochin airport after a UK citizen, who was tested positive, was identified among the passengers.

The Ministry of Home Affairs suspended the travel and registration along the Kartarpur corridor until further orders.

In India, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the country has climbed to 93, with two deaths reported till now. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched a helpline number: +91-11-23978046 for coronavirus-related inquiry and support. There are also separate helpline numbers for the different states and union territories.

A total of 234 Indians stranded in Iran have arrived in India  131 students and 103 pilgrims, tweeted External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday. He thanked the Indian ambassador to Iran and his team for their efforts.

Iran is the worst coronavirus affected countries with over 600 reported deaths and close to 13 thousand confirmed infections. The Indian government has said that it was working with the Iranian government to facilitate return of around 2000 citizens, mostly pilgrims, stuck there after suspension of commercial flights between the two countries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead India at a video conference of all SAARC nations at 5 pm on Sunday to chalk out a joint strategy to combat the novel coronavirus in the region, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

Calling on the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations to set an example for the world, Modi had reached out to the eight-member regional grouping on Friday and pitched for a video conference among its leaders to chalk out a 'strong strategy' to curtail the outbreak.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country rose to 84 on Saturday, as per the Union health ministry, prompting the Centre to declare the outbreak a "notified disaster" and issue directives to states specifying list of items and norms of assistance for containment of COVID-19 under their disaster funds.

Under the directives, the Centre made provisions for the costs of measures for quarantine, sample collection and screening as well as for the procurement of labs and equipment to contain the disease.

The Centre also said that it has begun working on framing guidelines for handling the bodies of those who die of the disease amid a controversy over the cremation of the 68-year-old woman who died in Delhi after being infected with novel coronavirus.

Two persons  a 76-year-old man from Karnataka and a 68-year-old woman in Delhi  have died from coronavirus, which has been declared a global pandemic by WHO and has claimed over 5,000 lives across the world.

Highest number of reported cases in Maharashtra

According to the Union 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 total number of 84 confirmed cases also includes 17 foreigners  16 Italian tourists and a Canadian, it said. Of them, seven persons who tested positive including five from Uttar Pradesh and one each from Rajasthan and Delhi have been discharged after treatment, a senior health ministry official said.

However, Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope on Saturday pegged the number of positive cases in the state at 26, with four new cases reported in Mumbai and its adjoining areas and two in Yavatmal district.

A 71-year-old man, who had returned from Saudi Arabia and was suspected to have coronavirus infection, died during treatment in Buldhana district on Saturday afternoon. He was suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure. Minister Tope said it was not yet confirmed if the deceased was infected by the coronavirus.

Of the new patients confirmed in Mumbai, one is a resident of the city while others are from Kamothe, Vashi and Kalyan, all peripheral towns. All are admitted to Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai and their condition is stable, PTI quoted Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) deputy director, health, Daksha Shah as saying.

Earlier in the day, two persons who had recently returned from Dubai were confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus in Maharashtra's Yavatmal city.

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, taking the total to 26  the highest number of confirmed cases reported from any state. Sixteen of the confirmed Covid-19 patients had returned from Dubai, four from USA, one each from France and the Phillipines while four had no foreign travel history but had come in contact with other infected persons, the health minister said.

In Rajasthan, a 24-year-old man who had recently returned from Spain tested positive for coronavirus in Jaipur, taking the number of confirmed cases in the western state to four, including an Italian couple.

"The 24-year-old male who returned from Spain on 14 March has tested positive today. He flew to Delhi from Madrid and then from Delhi to Jaipur in an Air India flight," PTI quoted Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health, Rohit Kumar Singh as saying.

"We are getting the manifest of both the flights and have started extensive local contact tracing," he added.

Meanwhile, Delhi recorded its seventh case, with the son of the woman who passed away on Friday, testing positive for the novel coronavirus, the health department of the city government said. The 46-year-old man, a resident of Rajasthan, tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday and was kept in isolation at the Safdarjung hospital after being quarantined at an Army camp in Manesar, it said, adding that he was an evacuee from Italy.

Some states close schools, colleges, ban public gatherings

In light of the spread of the disease, several states ordered closure of schools, colleges, public institutions and cinema halls. The Jammu and Kashmir administration issued prohibitory orders in Kishtwar and Ramban districts, restricting assembly of more than five persons at any public place. The Goa government also announced closure of casinos, swimming pools and pubs from Sunday midnight. The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) suspended all classes, including sessional tests, till 22 March as a precautionary measure. All conferences, workshops, educational tours and sports programmes have also been postponed till 31 March, though examinations of the university and schools will be held according to schedule.

The Punjab government ordered a shutdown of cinema halls and banned public gatherings including cultural events till further notice to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The Maharashtra government ordered all educational institutions in urban areas to remain close till 31 March. The state health minister also said that examinations of classes one to nine will be postponed if they are being held currently, only the Class 10 and Class 12 board exams will take place as per the schedule. In the evening, Tope also announced closure of shopping malls across the state till month-end. Grocery stores which sell commodities of daily need will remain open, he said.

West Bengal sealed its border with Bhutan, restricting movement of goods and travellers. The move came after Bhutan issued a notification to the administration of neighbouring Alipurduar district informing it about a halt in tourist and business activities in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.

Four journalists of two news channels have been home quarantined in Kalaburagi, Karnataka, after they came in contact with relatives of the recently deceased coronavirus victim, Karnataka medical education minister Dr K Sudhakar said.

Centre declares notified disaster, makes provisions for SDRF funds

The Centre, too, initiated a host of measures aimed at fighting the virus. Special Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Sanjeeva Kumar, said more than 4,000 people who had come in contact with those testing positive have been identified through contact tracing and are under surveillance. He further said that there have been cases of people not willing to be quarantined despite coming in contact with people testing positive.

He informed that a Mahan Air flight bringing back Indian passengers from Iran will land in Mumbai on Saturday midnight. A special Air India flight is also being sent to Milan in Italy on Saturday to bring back Indian students, he added.

Kumar said all essential facilities like community surveillance, quarantine, isolation wards, trained manpower, rapid response teams are being strengthened further in all states and Union Territories.

The government informed that 12,29,363 passengers have been screened from 11,406 flights at the 30 designated airports. In addition, instructions to enforce quarantine for all incoming passengers as per the guidelines are being implemented, Kumar stated.

The home ministry declared the outbreak as a "notified disaster" and 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 directive, SDRF funds will also be used to pay for additional testing centres and the cost of protective equipment for police, healthcare and municipal authorities, as well as that of thermal scanners and other necessary equipment for government hospitals, reported NDTV.

India suspended most land border crossing points with Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar from 15 March midnight and with Pakistan indefinitely from 16 March midnight, the Ministry of Home Affairs said.

The government also postponed the Padma Award ceremonies scheduled for 26 March and 3 April, a Home Ministry official said.

The last rites of the woman who died in New Delhi were performed at the CNG crematorium at Nigambodh ghat under supervision of medical authorities. Doctors from the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital in Delhi and from MCD oversaw the funeral after the crematorium staff reached out to the authorities seeking directives on ensuring that the infection didn't spread from the body. The health ministry said it 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.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri at an event in Hyderabad said domestic passenger traffic was down by 10 to 15 percent owing to the novel coronavirus.

The US Embassy and Consulates in India cancelled all visa appointments from 16 March in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

The RSS suspended a three-day annual meeting of its highest decision-making body scheduled to begin on Saturday in Bengaluru. Infosys evacuated one of its satellite office buildings in Bengaluru 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 virus.

Modi bats for joint SAARC strategy to combat virus

The External Affairs Ministry announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead India at a video conference of all SAARC nations on Sunday at 5 pm to chalk out a joint strategy to fight coronavirus in the region. The prime minister said the coming together of SAARC leaders will lead to effective outcomes and benefit citizens in the fight against coronavirus.

Timely action for a healthier planet. Tomorrow at 5 PM, leaders of SAARC nations will discuss, via conferencing, a roadmap to fight the challenge of COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. I am confident that our coming together will lead to effective outcomes and benefit our citizens.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 14, 2020

Earlier in the day Modi took to Twitter to share guidelines on home quarantine issued by the health ministry. "Some important information here. Do read," he said while sharing the guidelines. The health ministry said home quarantine is meant "to protect you and your loved ones".

Some important information here. Do read. https://t.co/sZrLgHFTH8  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 14, 2020

Suspected patients flea hospitals

In Kerala, an American couple who allegedly gave the slip to police after being admitted to a coronavirus isolation ward following complaints of fever and cough, was traced to Kochi airport and placed under observation.

They had come to Kochi from London via Doha on 9 March, attended a Kathakali show in the port city, went for a houseboat ride the next day at Alapzuha, stayed at a Fort Kochi resort, before going to Varkala near Thiruvananthapuram and returned to Alapuzha, police said.

In Maharashtra, four persons, who were kept in an isolation ward at a government-run hospital in Nagpur for suspected coronavirus infection, returned home even as the hospital staff requested them against doing so as their test results were awaited. They, however, returned later and the tests were also negative for coronavirus.

After Italy, Spain to initiate lockdown

According to news agency AFP, the number of novel coronavirus cases across the world crossed 1,50,0 00on Saturday, with over 5,700 deaths.

Health authorities in Spain said that coronavirus infections have reached 5,753 people, half of them in capital Madrid, representing a national increase of over 1,500 in 24 hours. AP reported that the Spain government had decided to impose a lockdown similar to that of Italy's. The report said the government is set to announce that it is placing tight restrictions on movements and closing restaurants and other establishments.

According to a draft of the government order, people will only be allowed to leave their homes to buy food and medicine, commute to work, go to medical centers and banks, or take trips related to the care for the young and the elderly. Those limitations will take hold at Monday at 8:00 a.m.

Meanwhile in the US, President Donald Trump announced that the United States will broaden its European travel ban, adding the United Kingdom and Ireland to its list, and was considering imposing restrictions on travel within the US to areas hit hard by the coronavirus spread.

The move came hours after the House approved legislation to provide direct relief to Americans suffering physically, financially and emotionally from the coronavirus pandemic. That followed Trump's declaration of a national emergency, freeing up money and resources to fight it, and threw his support behind the congressional aid package.

With inputs from agencies
A native of Batala, who returned to Amritsar from Malaysia, was declared dead after his flight landed at Shri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport here in the wee hours of Sunday.

Hukum Singh, 41, had gone to Kuala Lumpur on a work visa on October 23, 2019, said his brother Harpal Singh. He took a flight from Malaysia on Saturday and reached the Amritsar airport at 12.30am.

Amritsar civil surgeon Dr Parbdeep Kaur Johal said immediately after landing, the passenger was shifted to a hospital near the airport where doctors declared him brought dead. The exact cause of the death will be known only after the post-mortem, she added.

Singhs family members said he complained of a sudden chest pain in the flight. A message was conveyed to the airport authorities in Amritsar and an ambulance was kept ready.

Dr Arun Sharma, senior medical officer of Amritsar civil hospital said: It is a possibility that the passenger could have died due to coronavirus, but it is too early to reach a conclusion. The exact cause of his death will be ascertained after the post-mortem. As a precautionary measure, we have sent his blood and throat swab samples for Covid-19 test to viral research and diagnostic laboratory in Amritsar.

2 GERMANY-RETURNED MEN KEPT IN ISOLATION

Two Punjab residents who returned from Germany have been admitted to the isolation ward of the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital (GNDH), Amritsar.

A 24-year-old man was fine when he reached the Delhi airport but he complained of cough and fever when doctors were screening him at the Amritsar airport. He was rushed him to isolation ward of GNDH and his samples are being tested, said the civil surgeon.

On Saturday, four foreign tourists were quarantined at the rehabilitation centre in Amritsar. Of them, a 73-year-old man, who also returned from Germany, showed symptoms of coronavirus. He has been shifted to GNDH isolation ward and his samples are too being tested, she said.

Meanwhile, Punjabs only confirmed Covid-19 patient, a 44-year-old Italy-returned Hoshiarpur man, is recovering in the isolation ward of GNDH, said hospital authorities on Sunday. He tested positive of Covid-19 on March 9. We will send his blood and throat swab samples to NIV, Pune, next week for testing, said medical superintendent, GNDH, Raman Sharma.

(With PTI inputs)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 15)  A medical worker in Cavite province has contracted the coronavirus disease or COVID-19, Governor Jonvic Remulla said on Sunday.

He said the patient is confined in a private hospital in Silang, Cavite.

He also said the patient contracted the highly-contagious viral disease through a local transmission, warning Cavitenos to practice extra precautionary measures to prevent the further spread of the disease. There are now two COVID-19 cases in the province of Cavite.

"The case is apparently a result of community transmission. Covid is here in Cavite. The possibilities of community transmission are very high. Please stay at home as much as possible," Remulla announced on his official Facebook page.

It remains unclear if this case is included in the 111 cases recorded in the Philippines.

The governor said those from Cavite who will travel to Manila face possible delays as the region implements community quarantine. He reminded them to bring necessary documents to present to the police.
After months of intense debate, an American state legislature has voted to lift the decades-old ban on yoga, reflecting on the increasing acceptance and popularity of the age-old Indian practice, but prohibited the use of namaste at a time when world leaders are adopting this way of greeting amid fears of the spread of coronavirus.

Pushed by conservative groups, the Alabama Board of Education in 1993 had voted to prohibit yoga, along with hypnosis and meditation in public schools in the state.

Moved by state legislator Jeremy Gray from the Democratic Party, Alabama House of Representatives on Tuesday voted 84-17 to pass the Yoga Bill.

The Alabama House of Representatives while lifting the ban on yoga prohibited the use of namaste.

This comes particularly at a time when world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, are adopting this as popular medium of greeting to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The bill now moves to the state Senate and if approved and signed by Governor Kay Ivey, it would become a law and end a 27-year ban in K-12 schools.

According to the legislation, each local board of education may offer instruction in yoga to students in grades K to 12 with conditions that instruction in yoga shall be an elective activity.

Students shall have the option to opt out in favour of alternative activities, which shall be made available, it said.

Asserting that all instructions in yoga shall be limited exclusively to poses, exercises, and stretching techniques, the legislation said that all poses shall be limited exclusively to sitting, standing, reclining, twisting and balancing.

All poses, exercises, and stretching techniques shall have exclusively English descriptive names. Chanting, mantras, mudras, use of mandalas and namaste greetings shall be expressly prohibited, the bill said.

Under the existing law, instruction in yoga is specifically prohibited in the public schools in Alabama.

Gray, who has taught yoga in the past, stressed that participation would be voluntary.

"It also helps with stress, anxiety, depression, things of that nature," he was quoted as saying by local media outlet Montgomery Advertiser.

Being an athlete, yoga has really been a part of my regimen, he told the daily, adding that flexibility, core strength, and mental stimulation are some of the by-products of the practice.

Christian-aligned groups have opposed the bill saying that it would introduce Hindu religion in schools.

Ahead of the passage of the legislation, Joe Godfrey of the Alabama Citizens Action Program, a conservative group, had opposed the Yoga Bill.

"You can't separate the exercises from the religious meditation aspect of it. This is Hinduism, straight up. What you're doing is blatantly teaching a religious exercise that would violate the Establishment Clause," he was quoted as saying by local Al.Com.

Representative Will Dismukes, argued that there has been churches that practice yoga.

I know churches that do yoga. We talk about prayer and meditation a lot. I think you can pray to God and do yoga, or you can think about whatever you want to," he said.

When we talk about physical health or mental health it could really help school systems," asserted Gray.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hundreds of thousands of British tourists and expats are stranded in Spain today after the country entered an unprecedented two-week lockdown.

Panicked holidaymakers were last night scrambling to escape after the Spanish government declared a state of emergency over coronavirus.

The drastic action came as the country's death toll from the outbreak more than doubled overnight to 288 yesterday and the number of infections soared by a third to 7,753.

It comes after 30,000 UK tourists are thought to be stuck in France after ski resorts closed at midnight on Saturday.

Holiday company Neilson called on the government to step in with emergency measures, after widespread confusion across the Alps, as reported by The Guardian.

Last night, city streets and beaches fell eerily silent as Spain's 47million citizens hunkered down in their homes and tourists were forced to stay in their hotels.

Thousands of British tourists have been left trying to escape Spain today after the Spanish government declared a state of emergency over coronavirus. Pictured: Brits Denis Couzens and wife Margaret who are on lockdown in a caravan site near the Costa del Sol resort of Estepona

It comes after the Spanish government declared the country would be entering an unprecedented two-week lockdown. (Stock image)

Pictured: A police officer halts tourists in Las Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain, as the government declares a state of emergency

On the Costa del Sol, home to 50,000 British expats, police in face masks and latex gloves patrolled beaches with megaphones, warning of prison time and on-the-spot fines of up to 25,000 for anyone caught breaching the lockdown.

Have you had to cancel your holidays due to the coronavirus outbreak? Contact rory.tingle@mailonline.co.uk or phone 020 3615 2874 Advertisement

Retired British fireman Denis Couzens and his wife Margaret are staying on a caravan site near the Costa del Sol resort of Estepona.

They arrived on January 8 after driving through France from their home in Kent, and had been due to stay until April 1  but now face an anxious two-weeks under lockdown.

Mr Couzens, 70, said: 'I take medication for a lung disease called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease which could be linked to my years as a firefighter so I'm in the risk category... we're probably not going to take the risk of leaving to try to get home if things are still so volatile.

'There's a good 150 holidaymakers on the site at the moment and around 70 per cent of them are British. Most are in their sixties and seventies.'

In Madrid, shoppers kept a distance from each other as they formed an orderly queue outside a supermarket.

A security guard in a face mask let them in two by two. Children's playgrounds in the Spanish capital were cordoned off with police tape, and in Benidorm, baton-wielding police officers ordered British revellers back to their hotels.

The emergency measures mean all shops, restaurants, bars and cafes have been closed, but supermarkets and pharmacies are open for essential visits only.

Spain is the UK's most popular holiday destination and welcomes 20million Britons a year. It is also home to 300,000 British expats, many of them elderly.

Pictured: British tourist Julia Spencer, 52, from Saddleworth, Manchester, is a Jet2 holidaymaker stuck in Tenerife until Tuesday

Panic spread through resorts over the weekend as airlines including EasyJet, TUI, Jet2 and Ryanair cancelled flights to and from the mainland, the Balearics and the Canary Islands.

Airlines such as Jet2 are flying empty planes to Spain over the next few days to repatriate holidaymakers on a handful of 'rescue flights'.

EasyJet has warned seats for its rescue flights will be sold on a 'first-come-first-served' basis.

Julia Spencer, 52, from Saddleworth, near Manchester, flew Jet2 on Friday for an all-inclusive four-day holiday on Tenerife's five-star Sandos San Blas Nature Resort.

Mrs Spencer, who is holidaying with a friend, said: 'There are hundreds of British tourists here and most of us are really panicked.

'We have no idea what's going on. The hotel reception say that once the lockdown comes into force, we won't be able to leave the hotel for any reason other than to visit a pharmacy. But we've had nothing official from anyone.

Pictured: A tourist is stopped in Las Ramblas on March 15, as the Spanish government steps up its quarantine rules

'There are lots of scary rumours going round. One of the bar staff said we could get a 500 euro fine if we leave the hotel. We are in a fortunate position because our holiday is all-inclusive and we've been told our flight home on Tuesday is going ahead as planned.'

In the same hotel is Mike Vidler, 69, of West Sussex. He said: 'I am pretty sure that if I got coronavirus, I would find it very difficult. I have had MS for 41 years and I have type 2 diabetes.

'There are a lot of people worried here but we're just carrying on with our holidays as normal and trying not to panic too much.'

The Foreign Office, which is advising against 'all but essential' travel to Spain, is urging holidaymakers to follow the advice of local police.

Europe shuts borders - Now Germany seals itself off as draconian curbs sweep the continent

Countries across the continent are leaping into action to stop the spread of coronavirus, with many closing their borders or restricting entry

Europe entered a dramatic phase of coronavirus lockdown yesterday as sweeping restrictions on travel and socialising were introduced.

Germany announced that both its southern and northern land borders would close from today, while France said it would limit transport within the country  including trains  for the first time.

Chancellor Angela Merkel approved border closures with France, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Denmark from 8am this morning.

Thomas Strobl, interior minister of the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, said: The spread of the virus has to be slowed. The basic rule should be  anyone who doesnt urgently need to cross the border should not cross the border.

The rules will not apply to cargo or cross-border commuters.

For traffic going the other way, France said it would implement tougher checks on people and goods at its frontier with Germany, but insisted this did not represent a border closure.

An interior ministry source said: We are going to limit border crossings to the strict minimum, while allowing people and merchandise to go through. Its not a closure. As France recorded 29 coronavirus deaths yesterday  its highest daily total so far  minister Elisabeth Borne said the government would limit long-distance travel to the strictly necessary.

Long-distance train traffic will be halved, with only a few international flights maintained, she said, with terminals at Orly and Charles De Gaulle airports closed by the end of this week.

Last night, Portugals prime minister Antonio Costa said he was closing the border with Spain to tourism today, adding: There is a tradition of Spaniards visiting during the Easter holidays. This year is not ideal for that visit.

In the rest of the EU, Cyprus, Denmark, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia and Lithuania all closed their borders to passenger traffic.

Italy recorded 368 fatalities yesterday, bringing its death toll to more than 1,800. It also reported 3,600 new cases, pushing the total to nearly 25,000.

The total number of deaths in Europe passed 2,000.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said citizens should only leave home alone or with the people who live in their apartment, as he banned gatherings of more than five people.

Spain and Italy have already introduced sweeping social measures, effectively restricting their 106million citizens to their homes except for essential trips to buy food or medicine.

At the weekend, even Berlin began to scale back its famous nightlife. Police began shutting down bars, pubs and clubs across the city on Saturday night, with the city states health senator Dilek Kalayci saying: This is simply not the time for parties. Of 263 confirmed cases in Berlin, 42 can be traced back to nightclubs.

The government in the Netherlands shut down cannabis cafes and sex clubs, as well as all schools, saunas, sports clubs, bars and restaurants. Ministers said they would be shut for three weeks.

Meanwhile, in the United States, there was chaos at the border as thousands of travellers queued up to be tested for the virus.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) told Britons not to travel to America after President Donald Trump extended a travel ban to include the UK.

The FCO advised against all but essential travel to the US due to restrictions put in place by the US government.

President Trump tweeted to travellers yesterday: Pardon the interruptions and delays, we are moving as quickly as possible, but it is very important that we be vigilant and careful. We must get it right. Safety first!

Hoboken in New Jersey became the first city in the US to introduce restrictions on socialising. The city imposed a 10pm to 5am curfew on its 55,000 residents.

Australia, meanwhile, said it would quarantine all international passengers for 14 days.

In Jerusalem, the Al-Aqsa mosque, Islams third holiest site, was closed indefinitely.

Have you had to cancel your holidays due to the coronavirus outbreak? Contact rory.tingle@mailonline.co.uk or phone 020 3615 2874
Israel's President Reuven Rivlin will on Monday formally ask Benny Gantz to try to form the country's next government, after the ex-military chief secured recommendations from a majority of lawmakers.

"Tomorrow, around midday, the president will assign the task of forming the government to (the) head of Kachol Lavan... Benny Gantz," Rivlin's office said in a statement Sunday, using the Hebrew name for Gantz's centrist Blue and White party.

An official tally from Rivlin's office said 61 lawmakers recommended Gantz, with 58 supporting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after a third general election in less than a year held on March 2. Israel's parliament, the Knesset, is comprised of 120 seats.

But there is no guarantee that the disparate forces who supported Gantz on Sunday will agree terms on a stable coalition, something that proved impossible following the two inconclusive elections last year.

On top of support from Blue and White and a smaller centre-left alliance, Gantz was also recommended by the mainly Arab Joint List and the secular, nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party.

Aside from being anti-Netanyahu, the Joint List and Yisrael Beiteinu have almost no political common ground.

Netanyahu's alliance, seen as more cohesive, includes his right-wing Likud as well as its religious, nationalist ally Yemina and two ultra-Orthodox parties.

Rivlin also summoned both Gantz and Netanyahu for talks to take place later on Sunday, following calls for a unity alliance to confront the deadly new coronavirus.

A presidency statement said Rivlin wanted to have "an urgent conversation this evening... regarding the possibility of immediately establishing a government."

Rivlin has previously stressed the need to avoid a fourth election and stressed the urgency of quickly forming a government to combat the pandemic.

"This is a time of trial," Rivlin said earlier Sunday.

"We must now deal with forming a government as soon as possible, (so) that we lead our people at this complex time."

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With the global COVID-19 pandemic dominating headlines, an increasing number of people in Ontario want to know whether they are infected with the new coronavirus.

First-line screening measures, including Telehealth Ontario and dedicated assessment centres, are seeing a spike in people asking about their flu-like symptoms, travel histories and wanting to know if they qualify for a COVID-19 laboratory test.

Telehealth Ontario, a provincial service that allows people to call and speak to a registered nurse about their health, is being inundated with calls, with some people reporting a more than 12-hour wait for assistance. And some Toronto-area dedicated COVID-19 assessment centres have seen a sharp rise in the number of people wanting to be tested for the virus in the past few days. Hospital emergency departments, too, have experienced an influx of patients asking to be tested.

In the last week weve seen a huge surge of people asking to have a COVID-19 swab (test), said Dr. Erin OConnor, Deputy Medical Director of Emergency Departments at Torontos University Health Network. While many were worried, many had no risk factors at all and did not meet testing criteria for swabs.

People who have mild symptoms of an upper respiratory tract illness and who are otherwise healthy should stay at home and isolate from other people, she said, adding assessment centres have helped take the pressure off emergency rooms.

The people who should be coming in to the emergency department are those with severe symptoms or with underlying complicated medical conditions.

As of Saturday evening, the province had 24 new cases of COVID-19, the majority in southern Ontario, bringing the total to 103. As well, some 6,648 patients had been approved for testing, with 5,606 people testing negative for COVID-19; some 939 tests are still under investigation.

On Saturday, the federal government issued an extraordinary appeal for Canadians abroad, including the United States, to return home as more and more countries consider border closures and travel restrictions.

In Ontario, hospitals will start screening all patients and visitors to the institutions in the coming days as part of the provinces widespread social distancing measures to slow the spread of COVID-19. And starting Saturday, the provinces long-term care homes will only allow essential visitors, including those visiting critically ill or dying patients, as a way to safeguard at-risk residents from being exposed to the coronavirus.

These heightened efforts to protect public health have led to more people wanting to know whether they have COVID-19, sending some to already busy emergency departments and others waiting hours on the phone to speak with a nurse from Telehealth Ontario.

In January, Telehealth averaged about 1,900 calls a day, while in February it had about 1,600 daily calls. After the first 13 days in March, Telehealth is averaging 2,800 calls a day and total call volume continues to see an upward trend, according to a spokesperson for the provinces Ministry of Health.

The province has committed to providing more resources to Telehealth to reduce wait times, and has created a billing code to allow Ontario physicians to speak to concerned patients about COVID-19 over the phone.

But it will be Ontarios expected rollout of an online COVID-19 assessment tool for people to self-screen at home that will go the farthest in alleviating peoples concerns and easing pressures on the health-care system, said Dr. David Kaplan, a family physician at North York General Hospital.

This will help wide swaths of the population that have concerns but who are not significantly ill and dont need clinical assessment, said Kaplan, an associate professor of family and community medicine at the University of Toronto. Even if they have COVID-19, but are asymptomatic or have minor symptoms, such as a cough but no fever, are under 60, have no comorbidities (underlying health conditions), they can just self-isolate and stay at home.

The province, which has not confirmed a date when its online COVID-19 assessment tool will be available, is also planning for an at-home COVID-19 test kit to help people who have mild symptoms manage their care at home.

Alberta Health Services launched its online COVID-19 assessment late afternoon Friday. In less than 24 hours, it had been accessed more than 300,000 times, a spokesperson for the health service said.

Virginia Johnson would have liked such a tool this week after developing a fever and sore throat several days after she returned home to Toronto after a work trip to California.

The morning after she experienced flu-like symptoms, Johnson called Telehealth Ontario and, after a 37-minute wait to speak with an attendant, was told it would be 13 hours before she could get a callback from a nurse. That call would have come at 3 a.m.  with no way to delay until the morning.

I wasnt feeling well so I stayed in bed but I had this big question: What do I do? said Johnson, a textile artist and mother of two whose parents are over 70 with underlying health conditions. I wanted to keep my family safe and, if I needed to, let all the people Id seen know they may also be at risk.

Because she knew California had many COVID-19 cases, Johnson stayed in the bedroom of her family home, away from her husband and children, in case she had the virus.

On Friday, even though she was feeling better, Johnson went to Toronto Western Hospitals emergency department to be tested for COVID-19.

Because Im feeling better, normally I would re-enter back into my regular life. But if I have it (COVID-19), then I would let people know, and stay at home, and not visit my parents  This is why I think its really important to nail down how many people have it (the virus).

After a three-hour wait in a specialized waiting area isolated within Toronto Westerns emergency department, Johnson was asked questions about her travel history and the progression of her flu-like symptoms before a nurse did a nasal swab to test for COVID-19.

Johnson is currently back in her Toronto home, isolating herself in a bedroom and awaiting a call from Toronto Public Health to find out if she has the virus. Johnson was told shed have results within 24 to 48 hours.

While she has no complaints about the testing process, Johnson is concerned that a dozen people at a time were crowded into the hospitals isolated waiting area. She knows COVID-19 assessment centres are being rolled out in the GTA but wonders if the measures are being implemented fast enough.

I hope it happens quickly. There is no way the system can handle more than this.

North York General Hospital opened its stand-alone COVID-19 assessment centre on Wednesday night. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the centre saw more than 200 people come for coronavirus screening on its first day.

Dr. Joshua Tepper, a family physician and the hospitals CEO and President, said its crucial people understand not everyone who goes to an assessment centre will be tested for COVID-19. There is specific criteria to administer tests, which are evaluated continually and updated as needed, he said.

The analogy I like to use is: Not everyone who goes to their doctor with a sore throat will get antibiotics, and not everyone who has a sore knee will get an MRI ... Well be swabbing (testing for COVID-19) according to public health guidelines, a patients symptoms, and their travel and contact history.

Just like any other part of our health-care system, well ask you to share your history, and based on that evidence, we will make the right decision.

Tepper said staff at Ontario hospitals and assessment centres use the same COVID-19 screening and testing protocols and he advises people not go to multiple assessment centres in search of one that will administer a test if health-care workers determine one is not needed.

The province is rolling out COVID-19 assessment centres in North York, Scarborough, Richmond Hill, Brampton, Mississauga and Ottawa. Among Toronto-area hospitals, Womens College Hospital opened its dedicated COVID-19 assessment centre Saturday, while Mackenzie Health in Richmond Hill will open its centre on Monday afternoon.

At Michael Garron Hospital (formerly Toronto East General Hospital), the number of people wanting to be screened for COVID-19 has increased daily. A week ago, the hospital screened between five and 10 people a day for COVID-19. On Friday, the hospital saw 90 patients wanting COVID-19 screening, including 57 in its dedicated assessment centre, which is open by appointment only.

Its understandable to have this anxiety in the community, said Mark Fam, the hospitals vice president of clinical programs. Were hearing people are happy to have this additional space and rapid access to screening.
People need to cop on and help protect those most at risk of serious illness if they catch Covid-19, according to Age Action.

This isnt mid-term break; this is a public health emergency, said its chief executive, Paddy Connolly.

People need to cop on and understand the risk they are exposing their families and friends to, not to mention the healthcare workers who are on the frontline.

Age Action and Active Retirement Ireland have called on the public to help protect older people and those with underlying health conditions.

Over the weekend there were reports on social media that some pubs were packed on Friday and Saturday night, despite a ban on indoor public gatherings of more than 100 people.

We need to show intergenerational solidarity by acting responsibly in line with the Department of Healths guidelines, said Mr Connolly.

Chief executive of Active Retirement Ireland, Maureen Kavanagh, said they were appealing to everyones better nature.

These are very trying times for older people, who are among the high risk categories of Covid-19 victims, she said.

Alone, another organisation supporting older people, has been taking hundreds of calls every day on its Covid-19 national support line (0818 222 024) that was launched last week.

The organisations chief executive, Sean Moynihan, said they were working with the Department of Health and the HSE to be able to respond effectively to the needs of older people as the situation developed.

They would be ensuring that every older person had access to food, medication, fuel, daily contact, and any other support that might be needed.

There are people who call us who have underlying health conditions and want to know what they should do, he said.

The organisation, which has around 2,500 Garda-vetted volunteers, has also received calls from people who cannot go out as they are in high-risk categories.

Mr Moynihan said there were some older people who, up to now, had never considered themselves vulnerable and it was a hard adjustment for them to make.

They have been active older people all of their lives and now, all of a sudden, they are having to think about themselves differently, he said.

Mr Moynihan said organisations such as Alone were having to build systems quickly to reach out to vulnerable people.

We will be a better country at the end of this if we can all learn to mind our people, said Mr Moynihan.

The Asthma Society of Ireland has urged the HSE to issue specialised advice on respiratory illnesses in relation to the coronavirus.

At the moment, the most important thing that people with asthma or COPD can do is ensure that their under-lying condition is well managed, said its chief executive Sarah OConnor.

See: www.asthma.ie

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Three suspected coronavirus patients who were quarantined left a government hospital in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district

Mumbai: Three suspected coronavirus patients who were quarantined left a government hospital in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district on Saturday evening without informing anybody, the police said.

By late night, however, two of them returned to the Ahmednagar district civil hospital. Search was on for the third patient, a Topkhana police station officer said.

Earlier, two women and a man, admitted to a isolation ward of the district hospital in Ahmednagar, left without informing the doctors, an officer said.

The civil surgeon contacted the Topkhana police station in Ahmednagar city and sought polices help in tracing these persons, whose medical reports are awaited, the official added.

A person in Ahmednagar district is among the 31 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Maharashtra.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday told delegation from Jammu and Kashmirs Apni Party led by its founder Altaf Bukhari that the NDA Government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take all steps for the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir.

He expressed confidence that visible changes will be seen on the ground in the next few months, according to an official statement.

He told the 24-member delegation which raised about 40 issues, that the government does not intend to change the demography of the region and all such talks have no basis at all.

The Government will work with all sections of the society to realize the hopes of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir at an early opportunity, Shah said.

Allaying the apprehensions of the Apni Party delegation on restrictions, Shah said all decisions on relaxations are based on ground realities and not due to any pressure.

He referred to steps like release of people from preventive detention, restoration of internet, relaxation in curfew and added that even political prisoners will be freed in times to come as the main objective of the government is that not a single person should die, be it a common Kashmiri or security personnel.

On Friday, the government freed former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah from house arrest, seven months after he was put under detention. His son Omar Abdullah and another former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti continue to be under detention.

The Home Minister assured the delegation that Jammu and Kashmir will have a better domicile policy than other states in the country and said that a reasonable Economic Development Policy will be drafted soon after widespread consultation, the statement said.

He emphasised that there is no discrimination in implementation of Central Laws in Jammu and Kashmir and interests of all sections will be taken care of.

The Home Minister told the Apni Party delegation that an Industrial Policy will be announced soon for rapid economic development and a land bank has already been created.

He said, for the last 70 years, Jammu and Kashmir attracted Rs 13,000 crore and expressed hope that by 2024 three times more investment will come in the region as there is huge potential for the same and investors are also willing to come forward. This will also solve the problem of unemployment in the region, he said.

On the issues of reservation, the Home Minister said that a Commission will be set up soon and reiterated that no injustice will be done to Gujjars, nomads and other communities.

Altaf Bukhari who was the finance minister in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government launched the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party in Srinagar on March 8. The new party which enjoys the Centres backing, has politicians from the PDP, the Congress and the NC.
Queensland Treasurer Jackie Trad has warned that COVID-19's impact on the state's economy will be an even bigger "shock" than anticipated.

Late last month, Ms Trad predicted the state's economy could be hit by between $900 million and $1.7 billion this financial year as the disease shuts down global travel and business.

Queensland Treasurer Jackie Trad has warned that the state's economy is in for a shock. Credit:AAP

As of Sunday, Queensland had 46 confirmed cases of coronavirus out of 256 nationally.

Ms Trad will hand down the next state budget in just six weeks, and on Sunday flagged "additional measures" to boost the economy and support local business.
Its been a Fairfield landmark for generations, with a mysterious "whoosh" sound from its machines echoing across nearby parks.

Now a $105 million development, including five multi-storey towers, is planned for the historic Porta Timber factory site in Melbourne's north-east.

Developers have applied to the City of Yarra to build 334 new dwellings at the 1.1-hectare Heidelberg Road site which Porta has occupied since 1921 and borders the vast parkland near the Yarra River.

Porta Timber has operated from Fairfield since 1921. Credit:Chris Hopkins

Consultants on behalf of Porta Investments Pty Ltd  whose director John Pizzey is the factorys managing director  have applied to build towers ranging from six to 13 storeys.
Bangladesh PM seeks continued dialogue between experts and officials on follow-up actions regarding COVID-19

Spain reports 2,000 new coronavirus cases, more than 100 deaths in 24 hours: AFP

Pak raises Kashmir during SAARC meet, says 'restrictions should end in to deal with Covid-19'

Trudeau says Canada not ruling out border closures to fight coronavirus

Nike shuts down all stores in US and western Europe

Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board on Sunday issued necessary precautionary measures. (HT file photo)

Prime minister Narendra Modi on Sunday led a video conference with seven nations of Saarc to develop combined strategy for fighting covid-19. The prime minister started the video conference, followed by

Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani's and Maldives president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. Earlier in the morning, US President Donald Trump's tested negative for coronavirus, according to White House officials. Though coronavirus deaths continue to rise in Chinese mainland, for the first time there were more infections reported from outside China, according to China's National Health Commission. Spain has asked citizens to stay at home except to buy food, go to the pharmacy, to the hospital, or to work or for other emergencies, as the nation becomes the hardest-hit country following Italy where more than 1,200 people have died. In India, 2 people died from covid-19.
LAKE CITY -- Funeral services for Lincoln High School band teacher Paul Holland will be 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 17, St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church . Holland, who taught at the school for 19 years, died March 11 from stomach cancer at age 57.

"He truly inspired so many kids and people in the community," said Greg Berge, principal of Lincoln High School. "He always had a smile on his face and a very uplifting positive mindset."

A benefit event for Holland and his family, scheduled for Sunday, March 15, at Bluff View Elementary School, has been postponed following Minnesota Department of Health guidelines for the prevention of COVID-19 in schools. The event was to include music by Loud Mouth Brass, a band which features Eric Stashek, Hollands teaching partner.

"Eric Stashek is the middle school band teacher and Paul was the high school teacher, but they worked in the same room together," Berge explained. "Paul was a close friend and a mentor to Eric. Eric has done a great job of supporting our entire band program through this."

Berge said Wednesday was a difficult day at the school, but students and staff supported each other and made it through the day.

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Hollands wife, Amy, works in the early childhood program called Tiger Time at Bluff View Elementary School.

"Paul told me over and over that he loved his job," Berge said. "He loved the kids. He loved what he did. He wanted to be around the kids so much, because they inspired him as much as he inspired them. He cared about kids being good people."

Berge said Holland often did things like getting out his guitar and playing music in the schools foyer as students were arriving in the morning.

"Our band has a stellar reputation as one that is as good as it gets," Berge said. "So much of that was the expectations and the passions that he had for kids. It is a devastating loss. He was a good human being and a friend of mine. Its a tough one."
Jaipur, March 15 : Around 80 Indian evacuees from Iran are expected to reach Jaisalmer early Monday. "They will be kept at the army wellness centre in Jaisalmer along with the people who arrived on Sunday," said Rohit Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary (Health), here on Sunday.

On Sunday morning, 236 evacuees from Iran reached Jaisalmer in two Air India planes, said Col Sombit Ghosh, PRO (Defence), Rajasthan.

The civil and the army authorities are working in close coordination to ensure a seamless and smooth handling of the situation. Army authorities had been provided adequate PPE (personal protective equipment) kits and other support by the state government, Singh added.

Stating that the situation in Rajasthan is under control, Singh said, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's video-conferencing with the Collectors in morning had strengthened the resolve to meet the coronavirus challenge.

"Covid-19 has been declared a pandemic by the WHO and a large number of Indians stranded in coronavirus-hit countries, like Italy and Iran, are being evacuated," Col. Ghosh said.

As a precautionary measure, these evacuees will be kept under 14-day isolation. The army has set up wellness centres at various places for the purpose. The 236 Indians evacuated from Iran on Saturday were being kept in isolation at the Jaisalmer army wellness centre, he added.

-IANS arc/pcj

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Azad said he met Abdullah on behalf of his party as well as all those MPs and parties who have been raising their voice inside Parliament and outside for the release of Jammu and Kashmir leaders.

Srinagar: Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad on Saturday met National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah, who was released from home detention after seven months, and demanded that all detained leaders from Jammu and Kashmir be freed and democracy restored.

After a two-hour meeting with Abdullah at the latter's residence in Gupkar area of the city here this afternoon, the Congress general secretary told reporters that for the progress of Jammu and Kashmir, its leaders should be released and "not kept in cages like a parrot".

Calling for release of all other leaders and individuals, including former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, to restart the political process in Jammu and Kashmir, Azad said elections should be held and statehood restored to Jammu and Kashmir.

He was dismissive of the recently floated Jammu Kashmir Apni Party led by former finance minister Altaf Bukhari, saying the region cannot be run through "agency created parties".

Azad said he met Abdullah on behalf of his party as well as all those MPs and parties who have been raising their voice inside Parliament and outside for the release of Jammu and Kashmir leaders. "First and foremost, democracy should be restored in Jammu and Kashmir for any political process to start," Azad said.

Asked about the demand for restoration of Article 370, the Congress leader said, "Let us go one by one. Let democracy be restored. First, let this happen, then that (Article 370). Let us first restore democracy and democracy can be restored once all the leaders who are behind bars either in jails or in guest houses or under particular Act.. Let the political process start first. Let every individual of be released from jail. Let democracy prevail first and then we can pick up other fights."

Azad, who is also a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, said the political process should be started soon.

"Jammu and Kashmir is the country's largest state. In 1947, 560 states were merged to form 12 states, but Jammu and Kashmir was the only state in India which was not joined by any other state as it was large enough.It is disrespectful and disgraceful for the people of J-K that it was changed to a Union Territory. I want that the leaders be released sooner and J-K be changed to a state," Azad said.

"Political process is a basic right in a democracy. India is not known for its size world over, but for its democracy. But, not this democracy where three former chief ministers are jailed for several months or another ex-chief minister has to come here with the Supreme Court's permission. When CMs, MPs, ministers MLAs, MLCs are in jail, then where is the democracy? he said.

Azad said for the development of Jammu and Kashmir, it is necessary that the political process is started.

If Jammu and Kashmir has to progress and move forward and if we have to bring prosperity, then its key lies not in keeping leaders in a cage like a parrot, but in releasing them and starting a political process by which elections are conducted here. Whichever government is elected by the people ofthe region, that will work on the development, he said.

Asked about his views on creation of Jammu Kashmir Apni Party and if it was a step towards restoration of political process in the Union Tterritory, Azad said, "In the last 47 years, several attempts have been made to form such parties. Jammu and Kashmir and democracy cannot be run through agency (created) parties, but only through the elected governments."

Azad expressed happiness over his meeting with Abdullah.

"It is a matter of great happiness that I met him after seven-and-a-half months. He was detained for all these months and we do not even know the reason. Usually someone is detained if he breaks the law or has taken out a protest against the country or the government.

"However, he and Omar and Mehbooba and others were detained a day before Article 370 was revoked, so there is no question of any wrongdoing, he said.

The Congress leader said the Members of Parliament were yearning for the release of the NC president and his detention was the "biggest atrocity on him by the government".

I am here not only for myself. We have been friends for about 40 years and which will continue. I am here also on behalf of my party as well as all those MPs and parties in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha who have been raising voices inside Parliament and outside it for the release of these leaders. All those MPs were yearning for his release.

I understand how many difficulties he had to pass through. It was too cold this time after so many years and then his health.... However, when God is with someone, no one can harm him, he said.

Abdullah expressed his gratitude to Azad and all those leaders who had pressed for his release.

I thank him for coming here to enquire about my health. He had earlier also made attempts, Abdullah said.

After being in home detention for over seven months, Abdullah was released on Friday with the government revoking the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) against the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister.

The 82-year-old 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.
Jailed Hey Dad! star Robert Hughes still has the full support of his celebrity agent wife Robyn Gardiner six years after he was convicted of sexually assaulting girls.

Gardiner, who once represented actors Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne and Lisa McCune, will take her paedophile husband back into her home as soon as he is granted parole.

The couple intends living together in the United Kingdom where 69-year-old Gardiner and their daughter Jessica, aged in her early 40s, have been based for some years.

Hughes, who played the lead role in television sitcom Hey Dad! from 1987 to 1994, also has the backing of Jessica and her husband, who have two children of their own.

Gardiner told Australian authorities as recently as last month that Hughes would be 'surrounded by family and support' upon his eventual release, according to prison sources.

Onetime leading actors' agent Robyn Gardiner, who represented Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne and Lisa McCune, still supports her Hey Dad! television star husband Robert Hughes who was jailed for molesting young girls. They are pictured with daughter Jessica during his trial

Cate Blanchett thanked Gardiner when she won the best actress Oscar for her role in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine in 2014. 'To my agent in Australia, Robyn Gardiner, I love you so very much,' Blanchett said in her acceptance speech (pictured). Hughes was on trial at the time

Former co-star Sarah Monahan (pictured on Hughes's lap) was molested by Hughes while playing his on-screen daughter in Hey Dad! She has said he should not be released from prison until he takes responsibility for his crimes. Hughes was refused parole on Thursday

She has always been in her husband's corner, putting up $50,000 when he was first granted bail after being extradited from the UK, where he was arrested in August 2012.

Hughes, now 71, was found guilty by a jury in 2014 of committing 10 sexual offences against four girls between 1985 and 1990.

He had sexually touched children as young as seven, exposed himself on set and after forcing one victim to perform a sex act gave her a teddy bear and called her a 'good girl'.

Hughes had pleaded not guilty to all seven counts of indecent assault, two counts of sexual assault and one count of committing an indecent act.

Gardiner and Jessica both both gave evidence at the trial on behalf of Hughes, stating they had never seen him act inappropriately with children.

After the verdicts Hughes's then solicitor Greg Walsh said his client was a 'broken man' who would need to rely on Gardiner and Jessica 'at this difficult time'.

'They love each other very much,' Mr Walsh said. 'I sincerely hope that that bond can get him across the line.'

Gardiner told Australian authorities as recently as last month that Hughes would be 'surrounded by family and support' upon his eventual release, according to prison sources. The couple is pictured leaving Sydney's Downing Centre court complex in March 2014

Among Robyn Gardiner's clients were Anthony LaPaglia, star of the US television series Without A Trace, and Rose Byrne, who is also now a major Hollywood actor

The actor was jailed for a maximum ten years and nine months with a non-parole period of six years, which expires on April 6.

Hughes, who receives few visitors in jail, has always protested his innocence and unsuccessfully took a challenge to his convictions all the way to the High Court.

He has never attempted to show any remorse for his crimes and has not undergone any sex offenders' programs while behind bars.

A FRIEND TO HOLLYWOOD STARS Robyn Gardiner met Robert Hughes in 1975 and they have one daughter, Jessica Hughes, who has two children of her own. In 1982 Gardiner started Robyn Gardiner Management which grew to be one of Australia's biggest talent agencies. By the late 1990s she had 300 actors, directors, writers and voice artists on her books. Gardiner represented actors Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Lisa McCune and Anthony LaPaglia as well as comedian Chris Lilley and radio personalities Amanda Keller and Andrew Denton. She took on Blanchett when the promising young performer graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 1992. The pair was so close that Blanchett thanked Gardiner when she won the best actress Academy Award for her role in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine in 2014. 'To my agent in Australia, Robyn Gardiner, I love you so very much,' Blanchett said in her acceptance speech. Hughes was on trial at the time. In 2005 Gardiner moved her business to Singapore where RGM Media dabbled unsuccessfully in movie production. Hughes joined her and did voiceover work. RGM Media was declared bankrupt in 2012 with debts of $28million. Gardiner sold out of talent agency RMG Artists. By then Gardiner and Hughes were living in an apartment in London's trendy Bryanston Square. He was arrested by London police in August 2012. Advertisement

On Thursday, the New South Wales State Parole Authority (SPA) refused Hughes after a closed meeting where it was determined he still presented an 'unacceptable risk to community safety.'

The SPA revealed Hughes, who until recently was a dual Australian-British citizen, had wanted to be transferred to a prison in the UK to serve out his sentence.

Australian and British authorities had approved that move under the International Transfer of Prisoners scheme, allowing Hughes to remain in a UK prison until granted parole.

Former celebrity agent Robyn Gardiner, who has always supported her husband, is pictured outside his child sex crimes trial

Once that happened Hughes would have been supervised until his maximum sentence expired on January 6, 2025.

His family had promised to accommodate him and provide financial support.

However, three months ago Hughes suddenly renounced his Australian citizenship and withdrew his international transfer application.

While New South Wales and the UK have reciprocal arrangements for prisoners, no such system exists for parolees.

That meant that if Hughes was released on parole he would immediately be deported to the UK.

Under those circumstances Hughes could not be supervised, electronically monitored or forced to comply with any other conditions such as staying away from children.

Denying him parole, the SPA decided without 'structured post release plans' and parole supervision Hughes presented as an unacceptable safety risk.

The SPA also refused to grant Hughes an automatic review of its decision, which would have allowed him to present evidence at a public hearing.

He must now submit an application and satisfy the SPA that a review hearing is warranted, otherwise he will not be reconsidered for parole again until next year.

Actor, writer and director Chris Lilley (left) was signed to Robyn Gardiner's RMG Artists books, as was television and radio star Amanda Keller (right)

Hughes has previously accused some of his accusers of making up their allegations against him in paid media interviews.

Former Hey Dad! co-star Sarah Monahan, who Hughes molested while she played his on-screen daughter, has said she and his other victims feared 'reprisal' once he was let out.

'Since he has said that we're horrible people for doing this to him, we don't know if he's going to want revenge,' she told A Current Affair.

Monahan believed Hughes should only be released back into the community if he finally took responsibility for his crimes.

'If he's going to get out early it should be because he's admitted guilt,' she said.

'The question is whether he admits he's guilty, or if he still think he's the innocent victim here.

'If he still thinks he's innocent, then he probably should spend some more time in prison thinking about it.'

Eighteen women testified against Hughes during his trial but he was only convicted of abusing four of them. One of those victims was his own niece.

Eighteen women testified against Hughes, including fellow Hey Dad! actor Sarah Monahan (pictured with Hughes), but he was only convicted over the abuse of four of them

'Robert Hughes grabbed me, tickled me and touched me inappropriately, including on my breasts and genitals on a number of occasions,' she said during the trial.

'He also exposed himself to me on a number of occasions and touched his genitals in front of me.'

Two women told the trial Hughes had entered their rooms naked during sleepovers with his daughter Jessica and exposed himself or sexually assaulted them in bed.

Former colleagues who worked on set with Hughes also gave evidence, testifying he would repeatedly expose himself.

In sentencing Hughes in the NSW District Court, Judge Peter Zahra said the actor had not expressed any remorse.

'His conduct continued over 20 years,' Judge Zahra said. '[Even] after he was questioned by police in 1986 it continued.'

'The offender took advantage of when he was with victims in social settings in his home or at victims' homes.

'He lacks insight into his offending and he is unlikely to access treatment programs.'

When he was found guilty Hughes screamed 'I'm innocent' in court.

While he was in Goulburn prison authorities had to build a barrier to stop fellow inmates pelting milk cartons filled with faeces and urine at the reviled paedophile.

He is now housed in Long Bay's Metropolitan Special Programs Centre.
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Pope Francis defied Italian government advice to stay indoors and today walked to church through Rome's deserted streets to pray for the end of coronavirus.

The Catholic leader had earlier delivered a blessing from his balcony window above an eerily empty St Peter's Square, which has been closed to worshippers as part of the country's sweeping lockdown.

Francis then left the Vatican to visit two churches in the Italian capital, first praying in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore before strolling down the usually bustling Via del Corso.

He headed to the St Marcello al Corso, which poignantly hosts a crucifix carried in a 1522 procession in Rome when the city was stricken with plague.

Flanked by his security detail, the 83-year-old pope, who has been nursing a cold, decided to walk through the streets 'as if on a pilgrimage,' Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said.

His walkabout came just hours after it was announced that the Vatican's Holy Week ceremonies will go ahead behind closed doors so not to accelerate Italy's sky-high infection rate which soared to 24,747 today.

The country is battling the second largest outbreak outside of mainland China, and is mourning the deaths of 1,809 virus victims.

Everyday life has been tipped upside-down for millions of Italians - schools have been shut, towns have been sealed off, sports games canned and mass gatherings banned.

Pope Francis defied Italian government advice to stay indoors and today walked to church through Rome's deserted streets to pray for the end of coronavirus

This afternoon, he delivered a blessing from his balcony window above an eerily empty St Peter's Square, which has been closed

Flanked by his security detail, Francis strolls down the usually bustling Via del Corso in Rome 'as if on a pilgrimage,' the Vatican said

St Peter's Square has been shut to worshippers, but one faithful today wore a face mask and prayed outside during Francis' blessing

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement that 'as far as Holy Week liturgical celebrations are concerned, I can specify that all are confirmed.'

But Bruni added: 'As things stand, under study are the ways they would be carried out and who would participate while respecting the security measures put in place to avoid spread of the coronavirus.'

He added that faithful will be able to follow the ceremonies on TV, radio and through online media.

Streaming sermons has already been implemented, and before delivering his blessing from the balcony today, Francis was filmed doing prayers safe inside the Vatican's private library.

Vatican media added that 'until April 12 the General Audiences and the Angelus presided over by the Holy Father will be available only in live streaming on the official Vatican News website.'

April 12 is Easter Sunday, when normally tens of thousands of faithful would fill St Peter's Square for an outdoor papal Mass, listen to the pope's speech and receive his blessing, delivered from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica.

Although Easter itself was not specified in the Vatican statements, it appeared likely restrictions on large gatherings might well continue in Italy.

Francis headed to the St Marcello al Corso church (left), which has a crucifix carried in a 1522 procession in Rome when the city was stricken with plague (right)

His blessing above an empty square came just hours after it was announced that the Vatican's Easter Holy Week ceremonies will go ahead behind closed doors so not to accelerate Italy's sky-high infection rate

Streaming sermons has already been implemented, and before delivering his blessing from the balcony today, Francis was filmed doing prayers safe inside the Vatican's private library

The Italian government has said it would decide whether measures, now in effect through April 3, would need extending or tightening.

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday on April 5, with tradition calling for an outdoor Mass in the square also on that day, when faithful clutch palm fronds and olive branches.

Italy, the center of Europe's conoravirus outbreak is under severe lockdown, with the public restricted from leaving their homes except to buy food, go to work or a few other urgent reasons, and must stay at least one meter (about three feet) away from each other.

The disease for most people causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some, like the elderly and the fragile, it can cause more severe illness.

At 83 with one lung partially compromised, Francis is among the most vulnerable to the infection's potentially deadly affects. The Vatican says he has had a cold in recent weeks.

Italy's virus cases surged again Sunday, with 3,590 more cases in a 24-hour period for a total of 24,747.

Pope Francis prays at the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica for the end of the coronavirus pandemic, in Rome today

Lombardy newspaper obituary section has expanded tenfold Chilling footage shows the obituary of one local newspaper expanding from a single page to 10. In the video, a man speaking Italian zooms in on the front page of L'Eco di Bergamo that circulates in the city in the hard-hit Lombardy region. After showing the date of the paper - February 9 - he turns to the obituaries to reveal a page and a half of death notices published. On that date, Italy had recorded just three confirmed cases of Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. He then holds up an edition of the same newspaper from March 13, when the total number of cases had skyrocketed to 17,600, including 1,266 deaths. Slowly turning the pages and counting, he shows 10 full pages of obituaries, highlighting the horrific impact of the infection. Advertisement

Deaths also jumped, with 368 additional patients, bringing the overall death toll to 1,809. The additional infections reported Sunday represented the biggest day-to-day increase so far in Italy.

With St Peter's Square closed to the public, and one case of infection reported by the Vatican recently, Francis on Sunday delivered his traditional weekly commentary and blessing from the Apostolic Library instead of from a window overlooking the vast square.

Francis praised priests for 'creativity' in tending to their flocks, especially in the region of Lombardy, northern Italy, where thousands have been hospitalized or are in quarantine.

He said their efforts demonstrated there are 'a thousand ways to be near' to the faithful, if not physically.

Some churches in Italy are being allowed to stay open for individual prayer, but all public Masses are forbidden during Italy's lockdown to discourage crowding.

As infections in Italy continue to balloon, Milan's Lombardy region governor Attilio Fontana said the situation in areas around the country's financial hub was only 'getting worse'.

'We are close to the point where we will no longer be able to resuscitate people because we will be out of intensive care unit beds,' Fontana told Italy's Sky TG24 channel.

'We need those machines (doctors) use to ventilate lungs, artificial respirators that unfortunately we cannot find,' Fontana said.

The Lombardy region has recorded 1,218 of the Italian deaths officially attributed to COVID-19 over the past three weeks - more than the rest of Europe combined.

The region of 10 million - slightly smaller but more economically productive than neighbouring Switzerland to the north - also has 13,272 reported infections and 767 people in intensive care.

Milan mayor Beppe Sala said he had managed to secure shipments of surgical masks from China to help cover a growing shortage.

'Milan has always had excellent relations with the main Chinese cities and I made a few phone calls over the past few days in search of masks,' the Milan mayor said.

'The first shipment arrived (Friday) and we will now distribute them to doctors, to our staff.'

Italian airforce plays Pavarotti singing Nessun Dorma as they put on incredible air display to lift the spirits of their nation during coronavirus lockdown

By Amelia Wynne for MailOnline

The Italian airforce played Pavarotti singing Nessun Dorma as they put on an incredible air display to lift the spirits of their nation during the coronavirus lockdown.

In a performance which the airforce reportedly does on a regular basis, a set of jet fighters used coloured smoke to paint the Italian flag while the emotional song played.

The clip was shared by the Aeronautica Militare who said: 'Unity and teamwork have always been the principles on which our Armed Force is based and, at this moment more than ever, are fundamental.'

Footage of the event has gone viral on social media, with even Donald Trump sharing the video, declaring 'the United States love Italy.'

In a performance which the airforce reportedly does on a regular basis, a set of jet fighters used coloured smoke to paint the Italian flag while the emotional song played

Many online praised the use of the song which has lyrics such as 'watch the stars that tremble with love and with hope' - saying it was fitting for the current circumstances.

Coronavirus deaths in Italy rose by 368 overnight to bring the total to 1,809, while 24,747 people have tested positive for the deadly bug.

Italian officials confirmed the jump today, as the national lockdown imposed by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte earlier this month rumbles on another week.

Many online praised the use of the song which has lyrics such as 'watch the stars that tremble with love and with hope' - saying it was fitting for the current circumstances

The shocking development comes as chilling footage shows the obituary of one local newspaper expanding from a single page to 10.

It comes as thousands of Italians in Rome, Milan, and Naples applauded healthcare workers from their balconies and windows yesterday as they raised spirits with a flashmob during the draconian coronavirus lockdown.

Families and neighbours also sang and crashed pots and pans together for the performers in cities across the country, organised through messaging service WhatsApp for noon yesterday.

Footage of the event has gone viral on social media, with even Donald Trump sharing the video, declaring 'the United States love Italy'

Rejoicing spectators exclaimed patriotic and uplifting phrases including 'Viva l'Italia' (Long live Italy) and 'Vinceremo' (we will win). The few cars on the street joined the chorus by blaring their horns.

Many also waved banners decorated with rainbows and the phrase 'Andra tutto benne' (everything will go well).

The heartwarming sight follows Friday's flashmob, where Italians sang in chorus for a rousing rendition of the national anthem Fratelli d'Italia. Currently 60million people are in lockdown in the Mediterranean country.

'I received a circulating message, forwarded to me by a friend... which is basically encouraging Italians to participate in a kind of flashmob on Friday 13 at 6pm,' said Rome resident Yemi Adeyeye.

'My street came alive at that time. It was a euphoric moment.'

Jessica Phelan, 34, who has lived in Rome for two years, said neighbours were waving and saying ciao to each other, and called out 'a domani' (see you tomorrow) afterwards.

'I think it shows that people will continue to seek community,' she said, 'even if they can't socialise.

'It's a way to say we're all in it together'.

Residents on balconies sing 'Azzurro' during a flash mob to raise morale as the coronavirus lockdown in Italy continues

A man, next to an Italian flag, takes part in a flash mob to raise morale as Italian government continues restrictive movement measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak, in Rome

People applaud Italians doctors during a flash mob to raise morale as the deadly coronavirus rips through Italy

People applaud Italians doctors during a flash mob to raise morale, as the Italian Government imposes coronavirus lockdown

People sing from their home window during a flash mob launched across Italy to bring people together in Rome

People sing from their home window during a flash mob launched across Italy to bring people together in Rome

Italians cheer and sing a rousing rendition of Fratelli d'Italia from their balconies in Naples today during coronavirus lockdown

People were also seen applauding Italy's doctors and healthcare workers as they sung during the flashmob in Rome today

Italians sit on their balconies in Rome and clap for healthcare workers in the flashmob organised through social media

People cheer and sing from their balconies in Rome today. The country has been placed on lockdown due to the virus

Two women applaud healthcare workers in the Gabriella neighbourhood of Rome this morning

Residents on balconies sing 'Azzurro' during a flash mob to raise morale as the coronavirus lockdown in Italy continues

A family waves and sings from their balcony in Rome's Gabriella district today. The Italians are aiming to lift the national spirit

A man watches from an apartment balcony with a banner reading 'Andra Tutto Bene' - 'everything will be alright' - a phrase that has become symbolic of hope in Italy's coronavirus crisis

People pictured standing on their balconies with pets, and one with a dog, in Rome yesterday

Banners reading 'Andra tutto benne' and the Italian flag are shown on this balcony in Rome's Gabriella district

People wave and clap their hands during the flashmob in Rome's Gabriella district

Two women applaud from their balconies in Milan, Italy, as their country remains in lockdown

A girl smiles and claps as she joins in the flashmob in Milan, Italy. It was organised by musicians through Whatsapp

A pair hold up a banner reading 'everything will go well' as they remain stuck in their house in Naples, Italy

A woman in Turin smiles as she poses in front of her sign reading 'everything will go well' on her balcony yesterday
As much of the nation hunkers down into what could be a prolonged stretch of self-quarantine, with many schools and offices closed indefinitely as the coronavirus crisis grows, we need more than ever to know we can rely on true, verifiable information from all levels of government.

Everyone has questions: How deadly is the virus? What is our level of risk? How long do we all need to stay at home? It is essential that government officials, who are entrusted with protecting the public good, are as transparent as they can be on the most important information.

In that regard, maybe its fitting that Sunday marks the start of Sunshine Week, an annual project meant to highlight the importance of open governance and the publics right to know what public servants are doing with taxpayer dollars. That includes shedding light on corruption and mismanagement, but also a requirement that what the government tells us is true. It is necessary to the functioning of a democratic society that people are able to trust what the government says, especially in a time of crisis.

As we all know, thats not always the case.

According to Reuters news service, the White House ordered federal health officials to treat high-level coronavirus meetings as classified, which had the effect of restricting information and potentially hampering the governments response to the contagion. (The White House later denied the report.) Just as worrisome have been officials playing down the seriousness of the virus, with only drastic action in recent days on the part of private entities serving to jolt the public as to the enormity of the crisis. The U.S. is still far behind other countries in its rate of testing for the virus.

The picture on the local level has been better. In fact, its been the ground-level officials, including mayors, first selectmen and school superintendents, who are doing the best job keeping the public up to date. They dont have all the answers, but no one does. What they need to do is tell constituents what they know, what they dont know and when theyll know more. Thats all anyone can ask.

Continuing with the theme of Sunshine Week, theres no question the media itself can often be the subject of public opprobrium, usually with an accusation that a crisis is merely hype, or that the only purpose behind what the media publishes is to drive click rates. Theres no question that calamity attracts more interest than comparatively boring topics, but thats not the driver of coverage. The point is to provide people the best, most accurate information so they can decide for themselves how seriously to take an issue. That becomes much more difficult when the government isnt being truthful.

The scope of disruption around the coronavirus is unprecedented, but the underlying issues are familiar. We need to know what the government is doing and we need to be able to trust that we are being told the facts as accurately as is possible. Anything less than that can put peoples lives at risk.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- FDNY Fire Marshal John Knox, 84, is battling coronavirus -- COVID-19 -- at South Nassau Medical Center in Long Island on Saturday, according to published reports.

Its touch and go at this point, but hes survived so much. Hes got nine lives, son Zach Knox, 34, told the the Daily News. With all hes been through with the FDNY and his time in the military, this little bug cant be the thing that gets him.

The report says Knox, a Rockaway resident, passed out and was taken to the hospital on Feb. 26. Initially, it was thought he had the flu, and by the time he tested positive for coronavirus, he become very ill.

The report says Knox was an FDNY fire marshal in the 1970s.

On Saturday the Advance reported that a member of the FDNY tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

We have a new confirmed case, a member of the FDNY from a firehouse in Brooklyn, said Mayor Bill de Blasio. Im going to give you some information. We do not have every detail yet and we are still doing some notifications and actions, so this is purposefully partial information until we have further confirmation."

The FDNY member worked from Sunday through Tuesday before returning home and exhibiting symptoms. The FDNY member tested positive late Friday, de Blasio said. He did not say which firehouse the firefighter worked at.

While on duty, the firefighter did not respond to any medical runs or treat any patients, the mayor said.

The affected FDNY member and all members of the firehouse that came into direct contact with them were immediately quarantined.

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New York, March 15 : US President Donald Trump has tested negative for Corvid-19, according to his doctor Sean Conley.

"Last night after an in-depth discussion with the president about Covid-19 testing he elected to proceed," Conley said in a memorandum released through Trump's Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham on Saturday evening.

"This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative." Trump said earlier in the day at a White House news conference that he had taken the test "only because the press is going crazy" while his doctor did not consider it necessary and he did not want to jump the queue while people were waiting for it.

He said, "I decided I should, based on the press conference yesterday. People were asking, 'Did I take the test?'" He had been criticised by the media for not having taken the test even though he had been exposed to a person who came down with the disease.

One reporter went to the extent of asking him on Friday if he was being "selfish" by not getting tested.

Following the outcry over possible exposures, the White House introduced temperature screening on Saturday for people who may come in contact with Trump or Vice President Mike Pence. Among the first reported to be affected by it was a journalist who was running a temperature and was barred from the news conference.

Trump said that his temperature was also checked before he entered the briefing room. Vice President Mike Pence and other officials confirmed that their temperatures were also tested before they came in.

A White House spokesperson, Judd Deere, said that "out of an abundance of caution" temperatures were being checked for anyone who could be in close proximity to Trump or Pence.

Vice President Mike Pence's Spokesperson Katie Miller tweeted that the journalist who was turned away was checked three times and registered above the 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Centigrade) limit set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines.

The journalist was not identified. Another journalist tweeting as the CNN White House Team claimed the person turned away had only a temperature of 99.9 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 degrees centigrade).

The CNN tweet said, "He was trying to get access to the briefing and was turned away and is being held by the press office on the White House driveway." Pence, who is heading the Coronavirus Task Force, said that he and his wife would be "more than happy to be tested." The controversy over Trump's testing arose over him posing at a dinner for a picture at the Mar-a-Lago resort over the last weekend with Fabio Wajngarten, the communications chief of visiting Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Wajngarten was later found to be infected with Covid-19. Bolsonaro shot down rumours that he was also infected with the virus, tweeting that a test had cleared him.

"One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation in Mar-a-Lago, the president remains symptom-free," Conley's memo said on Saturday.

In a memo on Friday night, Conley had said that Trump did not need a test or a quarantine because his interactions with infected persons were considered low-risk under the guidelines of the CDC.

Referring to the Brazilian official, Conley said it was only a brief contact - "photograph, handshake." Conley said that they had learned on Friday evening that another person who had shared the dinner table with Trump and the White House delegation had shown symptoms of Corvid-19, but only on Friday morning.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in)

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
A Manhattan bank temporarily ran out of $100 bills on Thursday as wealthy customers sought to withdraw large sums of cash as Wall Street suffered its biggest drop in more than 30 years.

Frantic clientele at a Bank of America branch on ritzy Park Avenue requested to retrieve tens of thousands of dollars to stockpile, which accounted for the shortage.

Two people who witnessed the rush told The New York Times that several people withdrew as much as $50,000.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 dropped more than nine percent - the largest percentage drop since the 'Black Monday' crash of 1987.

The fall was attributed to the worsening coronavirus crisis, however the markets largely bounced back on Friday after the Trump Administration announced new measures to fight the pandemic.

Frantic clientele at a Bank of America branch in the heart in Manhattan requested to retrieve tens of thousands of dollars in cash, creating a shortage of $100 bills at the branch on Thursday

The Bank of America at 52nd Street and Park Avenue (pictured) experienced the run on $100 bills

A spokesperson for Bank of America said there was only a run on large bills, and customers were able to withdraw smaller notes, including $20 and $50 bills, as normal.

'We don't keep large amounts of cash in big bills in the branches because it's dangerous for our employees and there is low demand,' they stated.

$100 bills were replenished at the branch by Friday.

The cash grab appears limited to wealthy New Yorkers with stocks, as the Federal Reserve told The Times that overall demand 'has been within fairly normal levels'.

The publication reports that an extra $4 billion in cash was withdrawn by anxious Americans following the terror attack on September 11, 2001.

However, nearly two decades on, consumers are less likely to make payments in cash, instead using debit cards and smartphones to complete transactions.

Traders are pictured at work during the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Friday. Markets largely bounced back follow a spectacular drop on Thursday

But while banks may be coping with demands, grocery stores have experienced shortages as nervous customers stockpile supplies amid the coronavirus pandemic.

On Saturday, a gaggle of major grocery store chains revealed plans to close early in order to restock and clean stores.

Chains such as Publix, Giant, Harris Teeter and Wegmans are all scaling back hours, while retail titan Walmart has admitted it is evaluating whether to close 24-hour stores at night during the crisis.

Across the country, desperate scenes have played out as shoppers prepare to quarantine, whether via a period of self-isolation or possible containment measures imposed by authorities.

Experts say that supply chains are robust, and there is little to no chance of a food shortage in the U.S.

Shoppers line up to enter a Costco warehouse store in Alexandria, Virginia on Saturday. A a gaggle of major grocery store chains revealed plans to close early in order to restock and clean

But grocery stores have struggled to keep up with demand, hiring more workers and doubling deliveries as items fly off the shelves in the virus frenzy.

In response, grocery chain Publix, which has more than 1,200 stores in southern states, will begin closing two hours early, at 8pm, every day.

The Giant Company, which has nearly 200 stores across the mid-Atlantic, announced Saturday that its 24-hour locations would start closing at midnight and reopening at 6 am ET the following day.

In the Northeast, Wegmans is also ending 24-hour service, to allow the stores to be cleaned and items to be restocked, the supermarket chain announced Friday.

Walmart said on March 10 that it was 'evaluating whether to modify store hours at some 24-hour facilities to allow for additional cleaning.'

Costco customers wait in the rain to enter the store on Saturday in San Leandro, California
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 15, 2020 15:00 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206ac8037 1 National COVID-19,COVID-19-Indonesian-patients,health-ministry,pandemic,coronavirus Free

Indonesia announced 21 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Sunday afternoon, bringing the total of recorded people infected with the new disease to 117.

Today, we received reports of 21 new cases, 19 of which are in Jakarta and two in Central Java, Health Ministry Disease Control and Prevention Director General Achmad Yurianto said on Sunday, as quoted by kontan.co.id.

He declined to elaborate on the cases, saying only that they were linked to previous cases reported in the capital.

Yurianto said the ministry would relay the findings to the hospitals in which the patients are being treated.

The data, he added, was needed so that the medical teams in charge of treating the patients could give them a proper explanation on the next steps to be taken, including isolation.

[It] is the patients right to know, he said.

The doctors must also inform local health authorities on the new cases so that the relevant authorities in the respective region could begin contact tracing, Yurianto said.

Afterward, the health agencies should inform the local governments. It is their prerogative to decide whether to announce [the new cases] to the public, without neglecting their privacy as mandated by law, Yurianto said, adding that he believed regional leaders had their own policies to contain the spread of the virus.

The WHO said on Saturday that the virus had been circulating in 136 countries, with 13 new countries reporting their first cases. At least 5,393 people have died of the disease, but more than 73,900 have recovered worldwide.

Some prominent figures around the world  from celebrities to high-ranking officials -- have tested positive for COVID-19, including Indonesian Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi. (asp)
Tehran, Iran: The official leading Iran's response to the new coronavirus acknowledged on Sunday that the pandemic could overwhelm health facilities in his country, which is battling the worst outbreak in the Middle East while under heavy US sanctions.

Firefighters disinfect a square against the new coronavirus, in western Tehran, Iran. Credit:AP

Iran's Health Ministry reported another 113 deaths, bringing the country's total death toll to 724, with nearly 14,000 confirmed cases. It was the biggest single-day jump in fatalities since the virus was first reported in the country.

Muslim authorities meanwhile announced that the Al-Aqsa mosque in east Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam, would be closed indefinitely due to concerns about the outbreak, with prayers continuing to be held on the sprawling esplanade outside.

Similar measures have been taken at the nearby Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray. Outdoor prayers continue, but only 10 people at a time are permitted in enclosed areas, in keeping with measures taken by the Israeli government.
BUSHENYI  The Uganda Youth Patriotic Front (UYPF), an umbrella of youth leaders, activists and communicators has finally been launched.

UYPF was recently commissioned by the President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni during an event held at State House Entebbe.

On Saturday, March 14 Brigadier Henry Matsiko, the UPDF Chief Political Commissar on behalf of President Museveni launched the UYPF operation at Kazinde Play Ground in Bushenyi- Ishaka Munuicipality

During the event, He cautioned youth against ideological disorientation.

Our leader Kaguta Museveni is the superintendent of a hospital to treat diseases affecting Africa. How can you miss an opportunity to have the Worlds statesman to be your leader? Brigadier Matsiko told Youth.

He asked youth to embrace Patriotism, togetherness and hardwork for a better future.

Africa has one person who has come out to be the Messiah for the Renaissance of Africa. We have now a Messiah, and that Messiah is is our leader Gen Kaguta Museveni , He has been putting down patriotic messages, Brg Matsiko told the youth.

Uganda Youth Patriotic Front is charged with the core roles to sensitize the masses on the need to understand and embrace NRM ideological continuity using various social forums and the media, sensitize local people on how to access government programs and use the media to popularise successful stories of beneficiaries of government programs.

As youth, we need to have the right ideological conscience, we must embrace hardwork, be Patriotic, focus on wealth creationa, we need ideological focus,Chairman Uganda Youth Patriotic Front, Ruhima Jonah.

According to Ruhima; You cannot remove your father from being your father because you have grown up, If you want to lead people, you can still be a leader even when your father is there.

UYPF comprises of regional leaders and central task force.

Related
For decades, the routine treatment for Lyme disease has been standard antibiotics, which usually kill off the infection. But for up to 20% of people with the tick-borne illness, the antibiotics dont work, and lingering symptoms of muscle pain, fatigue and cognitive impairment can continue for years  sometimes indefinitely.

A new Stanford Medicine study in lab dishes and mice provides evidence that the drug azlocillin completely kills off the disease-causing bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi at the onset of the illness. The study suggests it could also be effective for treating patients infected with drug-tolerant bacteria that may cause lingering symptoms.

This compound is just amazing, said Jayakumar Rajadas, PhD, assistant professor of medicine and director of the Biomaterials and Advanced Drug Delivery Laboratory at the Stanford School of Medicine. It clears the infection without a lot of side effects. We are hoping to repurpose it as an oral treatment for Lyme disease. Rajadas is the senior author of the study, which was published online March 2 in Scientific Reports. The lead author is research associate Venkata Raveendra Pothineni, PhD.

We have been screening potential drugs for six years, Pothineni said. Weve screened almost 8,000 chemical compounds. We have tested 50 molecules in the dish. The most effective and safest molecules were tested in animal models. Along the way, Ive met many people suffering with this horrible, lingering disease. Our main goal is to find the best compound for treating patients and stop this disease.

Hunting for alternative drug

Frustrated by the lack of treatment options for Lyme disease patients with lingering symptoms, Rajadas and his team began hunting for a better alternative in 2011. In 2016, they published a study in Drug Design, Development and Therapy that listed 20 chemical compounds, from about 4,000, that were most effective at killing the infection in mice. All 20 had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for various uses. One, for instance, is used to treat alcohol abuse disorder.
At least 17 people have been confirmed dead and 25 others rescued from the explosion and fire incident in the Abule Ado area of Lagos, the states emergency management agency has said.

Aside these, people in their hundreds have suddenly become displaced persons, Nosa Okunbor, the spokesperson of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency.

The causes are yet to be determined, while security agents are investigating the cause of the explosion and recovery, rescue activities were carried out by the Ministry of Special Duties, LASEMA, men of the Lagos State Fire Service crew, Federal Fire Service Department, Safety Commission, LABSCA and other first responders, read the statement issued Sunday night.

As efforts to quench the fire continued Sunday evening, scores of residents were seen salvaging the remnant of their properties lying under the rubbles of collapsed buildings.

While many were able to recover some valuables, some were only left with damaged boxes containing what was left of their properties.

Ibrahim Farinloye, the acting coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency, Lagos territorial office, earlier said that the initial explosion destroyed more than 50 buildings.

A PREMIUM TIMES reporter at the scene saw many storey-buildings collapse to ground zero, while others partially collapsed, leaving many properties destroyed.

Up till 7:15 p.m., residents were removing their mattresses, chairs, cookers, refrigerators and other items they could recover.

The Explosion

Abule Ado community in Amuwo Odofin suffered a pipeline explosion around 9 a.m. on Sunday.

The explosion which left many Lagos residents in panic affected buildings in areas outside Abule Ado, such as Festac Town, Ijegun and others.

Many plausible reasons have been given for the explosion and the resultant fire.

While some residents claimed it could have been caused by a bomb, two government agencies, NEMA and the Lagos Fire Service earlier said it was an implosion and not explosion.

The implosion is not connected to pipeline but might have occurred in a factory located in the Abule Ado area, the agencies said.

The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) also could not state the actual cause of the explosion.

However, the Managing Director of NNPC, Mele Kyari, on Sunday evening said the fire incident happened when a truck hit some gas cylinders stacked in a gas processing plant located near an NNPC pipeline.

NNPC pipeline right of way (ROW) encroachment by gas handling vendors and construction of houses enabled the explosion and aggravated the impact. Working with LASG and security agencies to clear the ROW, Mr Kyari said in a tweet.

The NNPC later released a statement, saying the incident occurred after a truck hit some gas cylinders stacked in a gas processing plant located near the corporations System 2B Pipeline Right of Way.

As soon as the incident occurred, the corporation said it quickly halted ongoing pumping operations on the Atlas Cove-Mosimi pipeline which was active at the time.

It said its actions would not affect fuel supply to any part of Nigeria.

The statement added that more fire firefighting personnel and equipment were mobilised from the NNPC Mosimi Area Office to provide extra fillip to the ongoing operation.

Casualties

Not less than 17 people have died from the explosion, while some were rescued alive and others trapped in the collapsed buildings.

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Mr Farinloye, the NEMA coordinator, said 15 bodies were recovered, including a family of 4 who were heading to church before they were caught in the explosion.

The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), however, said the death toll rose to 17 as at 11 p.m. Sunday.

Bethlehem Girls College, a Catholic school close to the scene of the explosion, also suffered a huge loss as the principal of the school and a number of students died, while many were rescued and taken for treatment.

When PREMIUM TIMES visited one of the hospitals that received patients from the explosion, not less than seven people were seen at the emergency ward receiving treatment.

He is my in-law, his injuries are not too much, that is why I can talk to you. But some dead people were brought here, a relative of one of the affected persons said.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the corpses of the school principal, the school engineer and one yet-to-be-identified person were deposited at the Nigerian Naval Reference Hospital.

They also brought the body of a kid, but we dont receive children here, others were taken to hospitals in Festac and Satellite Town, a hospital attendant told PREMIUM TIMES.

As at the time of this report, on Sunday night, efforts were still ongoing to quench the fire.
Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, speaks during a press conference at Glen Island Park in New Rochelle, New York, U.S., on Friday, March 13, 2020.

New York City's public school system will begin to shut down this week to help combat the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected 700 people throughout the state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Sunday.

All public schools in Westchester, Long Island and NYC will close this week, according to Cuomo. The governor called for NYC school officials to have a plan in the next 24 hours on how to provide childcare for essential workers and provide food to students who will need meals.

NYC's school district is the largest school system in the country, with over 1.1 million students in more than 1,800 schools. The decision to close public schools came after mounting pressure from teachers and parents calling for the suspension of classes.

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a Sunday press conference that schools will close as of Monday and will be suspended until late April. However, he said there's also a strong chance that schools won't re-open this school year.

Remote learning is set to start March 23, and some campuses will open as "enrichment centers" to provide teaching to vulnerable students.

"This is a very troubling moment, a moment where I am just distraught over having to take this action," de Blasio said.

The main obstacle to mass school closures were concerns that essential health and emergency workers would have to stay at home to take care of children, and that children in need would not receive food. But health experts have called for "social distancing" to slow the spread of the deadly virus.

Other major cities, including Los Angeles and Boston, have already decided to temporarily close schools.

Five people in the city have died from the virus, all of whom had other underlying health issues, according to de Blasio.

U.S. cases have surged over the last two weeks from about 100 confirmed infections on March 1 to almost 3,300 on Sunday, according to data compiled by the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Johns Hopkins University.
Queen Elizabeth II has been shifted out of Buckingham Palace in London to Windsor Castle as the UK plans for isolation measures for people over 70 amid the country's death toll from COVID-19 hitting 21, nearly doubling from 11 within a day.

The 93-year-old monarch and her 98-year-old husband, Prince Philip, are likely to be placed in quarantine at the royal Sandringham Estate in Norfolk in the coming weeks as tougher measures are put in place to fight the coronavirus outbreak in the UK affecting over 1,140 people.

The deadly virus has claimed over 5,300 lives and infected more than 142,000 people across 135 countries and territories, with the World Health Organisation describing the outbreak a pandemic on Wednesday.

"Other events will be reviewed on an ongoing basis in line with the appropriate advice," a Buckingham Palace statement said as it announced diary cancellations for the monarch.

Some reports indicate that her move from the palace in the heart of London, which has a large staff and frequent visitors, was part of a regular weekend getaway for the Queen to Windsor on Thursday. However, other reports indicate that the situation will be kept under constant review before she is brought back to London and may instead be shifted to Sandringham, with a much smaller level of staff.

"She is in good health but it was thought best to move her," a royal source was quoted by 'The Sun' as saying.

"The Palace hosts a constant stream of visitors, including politicians and dignitaries from around the world. The Queen has met a lot of people there until recently. But she is weeks away from her 94th birthday and advisers believe it is best to get her out of harm's way," the source said.

Meanwhile, UK health secretary Matt Hancock confirmed the government''s plans to put the elderly and vulnerable into complete isolation within weeks.

The heightened measure, in response to all the deaths from COVID-19 so far being among over-60s, would mean older people being asked to remain at home without visitors and with vital supplies dropped off for them on their doorsteps.

"The coronavirus outbreak is the biggest public health emergency in a generation. It calls for dramatic action, at home and abroad, of the kind not normally seen in peacetime," he wrote in 'The Sunday Telegraph' as he called for a similar spirit as the previous generation which faced World War II in the 20th century.

"Next week we will publish our emergency bill, to give the government the temporary powers we will need to help everyone get through this. The measures in it allow for the worst-case scenario. I hope many of them won't be needed. But we will ask Parliament for these powers in case they are," he said.

He revealed that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to call industry leaders on Sunday to urge British companies to join a "national effort" to produce more ventilators and other medical equipment "at speed" to help the state-funded National Health Service (NHS) deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

Work is also underway to buy up thousands of private hospital beds to boost NHS capacity, should it be needed.

Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has asked for "urgent sight" of the draft laws and for a meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss the crisis. The party had already called on the government to publish the scientific modelling and data that it is using to form its approach.

More than 200 scientists have written to the government urging it to introduce tougher measures to tackle the spread of COVID-19 sooner rather than later. In an open letter, the cross-discipline experts from UK universities say the government''s current approach calling only for people with a cough and fever to self-isolate for seven days will put the NHS under additional stress and "risk many more lives than necessary".

The signatories also criticised comments made by Sir Patrick Vallance, the government''s Chief Scientific Adviser, about managing the spread of the infection to make the population immune through so-called "herd immunity".

"In particular, we are deeply preoccupied by the timeline of the proposed plan, which aims at delaying social distancing measures even further," notes the letter from scientists across disciplines.

"The current data about the number of infections in the UK is in line with the growth curves already observed in other countries, including Italy, Spain, France, and Germany. The same data suggests that the number of infected will be in the order of dozens of thousands within a few days," it says.

They believe that putting social distancing measures in place now would dramatically slow down the spread of the virus, with thousands of lives saved.

In another joint letter, UK supermarkets and retailers have urged customers to be considerate in their shopping, so that others are not left without much-needed items.

"There is enough for everyone if we all work together," it notes in an appeal against panic buying and hoarding.

Also Read: Coronavirus impact: India's coal import declines 14% to 17 million tonnes

Also Read: Coronavirus in India Live Updates: Total number jumps to 107; Maharashtra tops with 31 confirmed cases
Vietnam could become a candidate for the production of vaccines against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) with its strong vaccine production capability, WHO Representative in Vietnam Kidong Park told Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc during their meeting in Hanoi on Saturday.

PM Phuc stated that Vietnam has engaged the entire political system, including the military and public security forces, in the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.

The Southeast Asian country considers epidemic prevention as a major task of the government, all ministries, agencies, localities, and the whole people, the premier continued.

The Vietnamese government has been ensuring a sufficient supply of necessities for the people, and taken stronger measures to contain infections from different sources such as Europe or the UK.

Vietnam hopes the WHO will provide the latest technological advances and medical equipment to help the country fight against the epidemic, he said, adding that the Southeast Asian country has successfully treated 16 cases, including an elderly patient with complex diseases.

WHO Representative Park praised Vietnams efforts to control the epidemic with assertive measures to quarantine infected people and those who have close contact with them.

The country has also established 30 testing facilities, Park added.

WHO encourages the Vietnamese government to continue taking drastic actions and suggests that the country pay attention to protecting medical staff who are at the frontline in treating patients, the elderly living with chronic diseases, and those who hold important positions, he said.

There are now 20 candidates for the production of vaccines against COVID-19, Park continued, adding he was delighted to know that Vietnams vaccine production capability could meet requirements.

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 155,900 people and killed more than 5,835 globally as of Sunday morning, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

Vietnam has so far confirmed 53 cases of coronavirus infections, with 16 having fully recovered and been discharged from the hospital.

No death has been recorded in Vietnam.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Three people trapped after falling rocks and boulders block road in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Heavy and steady rains have triggered landslides across parts of northern India, causing widespread travel disruption.

In Indian-administered Kashmir, the main link road between Ramnagar and Udhampur was blocked on Saturday after a rockslide that led to major traffic delays on the Jammu-Srinagar highway.

As a result, commuters were forced to complete their journeys on foot, navigating over rubble and hillsides as the roads became impassable.

Further south, there were also reports of landslides in Shimla, the state capital of Himachal Pradesh.

Three people found themselves trapped in a makeshift house near the Indira Gandhi Medical College on Saturday morning and had to be rescued by emergency services.

India is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, with many of its 1.3 billion people living in areas vulnerable to natural hazards such as floods, landslides, cyclones, droughts and earthquakes.
Ghana has said it was banning arrivals from coronavirus hotspots as the West African nation saw its number of confirmed cases triple to six.

The information ministry on Sunday said entry would be barred from Tuesday for any non-Ghanaian citizen or resident "who, within the last 14 days, has been to a country that has recorded at least 200 cases".

"There will be a mandatory 14-day self quarantine for persons who are otherwise allowed to enter," the ministry said.

The move came as the authorities reported a rise in the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 from two to six, with the new cases all arrivals from abroad.

A string of African nations have begun imposing entry restrictions as the continent scrambles to halt the spread of the virus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 15)  The provinces of Eastern Samar and Cebu, and the cities of Legazpi in Albay and Naga in Camarines Sur have also enacted curfews in response to the threat of COVID-19, following a recommendation to impose a curfew in Metro Manila in hopes of curbing the spread of the viral disease.

Eastern Samar is imposing a transport curfew from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m., on top of stricter border checkpoints.

Cebu, meanwhile, is implementing a curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., along with the closure of cockpits, karaoke bars and other centers for communal activities.

All restaurants, cafes, bars, service related establishments in the province shall also close at 9 P.M.

Classes on all levels and sporting events in Cebu have also been suspended.

"I think it behooves upon us to now institute these mitigation measures. These are mitigation measure[s]. I repeat, we are not on lockdown, we are not on community quarantine, but we are instituting mitigation measures in order to protect Cebu," Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said.

Naga City is implementing a curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., while Legazpi City is imposing a curfew from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.

Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal, however, stressed that call center agents, legitimate media practitioners, national agencies and organizations involved in emergency operations are exempted from the citys curfew.

Malls in Legazpi will be closed by 8 p.m., while its other business establishments will only be open until 9 p.m.

In Naga City, classes in all levels are suspended beginning Monday, while large events attended by more than 50 people are prohibited.

In Legazpi, malls will only be open until 8 p.m., while other business establishments will only be open until 9 p.m.

The citys mayor, Noel Rosal, said that call centers, legitimate media practitioners, national agencies and organizations involved in emergency operations and people with emergencies are exempted from the curfew.

Meanwhile, checkpoints where people are screened and are asked to fill up a health data form have been set up in the island province of Biliran. Checkpoints equipped with thermal scanners have also been put up at the borders of Eastern Samar.

The number of patients who had contracted COVID-19 in the country has topped 100, with the Health Department confirming 47 new cases on Sunday. Eight people have died because of the disease, bringing its fatality rate to seven percent  above the global average of between three to four percent.

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.

The disease is spread through small droplets from the nose or mouth when people infected with the virus cough or sneeze.

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.

Commonly reported COVID-19 symptoms are fever, dry cough and shortness of breath. Those with severe and critical symptoms should call the Health Department at (02) 8-651-7800 local 1149-1150.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Who are the Terrorists in the coup detat during President Trumps (...)

by Mustafa Khan

It was a coup. And the unravelling of events now in 2020 Delhi and in the Gujarat genocide of 2002 has striking resemblances. The inductive and deductive process of reasoning shows who the real terrorists are. Three neighbours who lived together cheek by jowl went to lodge a complaint with the police in Delhi in the aftermath of Trumps departure. Rahis Ahmed, Harish Garg and Shakir. On reaching there Rahis and Shakir were detained as rioters and the third was allowed to go back home. He was a Hindu. The two Muslims were taken in a police van and abused. One of them used his phone to call help from his home. The security abused him, snatched his mobile and crushed it under his boots. But the call was made.

India is vibrant in coups like the midnight demonetisation, in the transfers at the head-quarters of Central Bureau of Investigation, the transfer of the Delhi HC judge Muralidhar. PM Modi is too parsimonious with words and leaves the nation groping in the dark. But strangely his followers in 2002, 2013 and February 24-25, 2020 have imbibed the Pavlovian signals of the dog whistle. Sangeet Som, while talking to the media outside a special court in Muzaffarnagar, Such people (like Hussain) are terrorists and have no right to live. He said they should not be put on trial. Another one was Anurag Thakur who shouted that traitors should be shot dead.

Many traders from Mumbai were holidaying in Ahmedabad when Trump was enroute to Sabarmati Ashram. It was for them that loud music from the 1978 hit Macho Man from Villlage People was played. Not for them was this as Pavlovian stimulus

Body...wanna feel my body?

Body...such a thrill my body

Body...wanna touch my body?

Body...its too much my body

Check it out my body, body.

Dont you doubt my body, body.

Talkin bout my body, body,

Check it out my body....

Hey! Hey! Hey, hey, hey!

Macho, macho man (macho man)

Ive got to be, a macho man

Macho, macho man

Ive got to be a macho! (dig the hair on my chest) [57 inches]

They danced with abandon. The entire families in all their age-groups shared picnic food among themselves and others caring to join in their euphoria to make it a gala performance. But it was another city where the dog-whistle was sounded even before Trump left. The localities were early earmarked even the dog-whistle was sounded with impunity by 3 in the afternoon itself while Trump was to leave later in the evening. Kapil Mishra trumpeted while a senior police officer affectionately padded his flank with his hands, as a mild reproach or timid remonstrance. He voiced how they would take upon themselves to remove the protestors of the anti-CAA from the roads. The result was foretold.

The violence in Delhi was genocide. I am calling this a planned genocide because it is state-sponsored. The police stood and watched while the violence happened. I am also sorry for the police constable and the intelligence officer who died. But this violence was the implantation of the Gujarat model and must be stopped before it spreads to other parts of the country. I am deeply pained by the killing of innocent people. Thus observed Mamata Banerjee, the CM of West Bengal.

By his silence and words the PM has promoted himself from Nero to Pharoah. His eerie silence reveals much more as he resembles a manic killer par excellence. He has the audacity to be taciturn when the people want him to account for what happened in Dlhi.

The Indian Express narrates what befell 28-year-old Kadijah Khan and her five children, whose house in Shiv Vihar was among the many that were burnt down during the violence. Holding her one-year-old baby, who suffered burn injuries on his leg, she said: We were sitting inside our house when I saw a mob throwing petrol bombs and lighting cylinders. I was horrified, my husband wasnt home. I took my five children and rushed to the terrace. We waited for them to leave but they kept throwing petrol bombs, one of them hit Shazdah on his left leg. Our neighbours helped us and we managed to escape to Chaman Park. A doctor treated Shazdah there. He has fever and he hardly sleeps. My husband is still staying at his friends place. We have nothing left. Ths is the work of manic killers of children. Salman Rushdie had observed in the 2002 genocide that burning children was a speciality of Indians. That has gone too far 18 years later.

The baptism in fire began on February 27, 2002 what had begun as a fire accident on the Sabarmati Express at Godhra, according to the Collector of Godhra, Jayanti Ravi, was later christened as sabotage and the Ghanshi Muslims were blamed. A carefully planned pogrom began on Friday when Muslims had to face the ire of the ravenging mobs. CM Modi had called the Ganchi Muslims as a criminal class. Though a tea-seller, he was also from the oil extracting class of Ghanchi (Hindus). The coup detat then was wrought by his blue-eyed senior cop of the midnight coup at the CBI office, Rakesh Asthana. Asthana was the Superindepent of Police then. It is all history how two different commissions inquired the fire on the Sabarmati Express locked and barricaded compartment. How the train junk was sold away in a hurry to wipe out the trace like what happened when D.G. Vanzara burnt to ashes the body of Sohrabuddins wife, Kauser, at his own palace of pleasure at Iliol. So what Bertrand Russell gives as the first example of Galileos scientific method fire burns in his book The Scientific Outlook is part of critical thinking which is not in favour of the education system in Gujarat, according to the author, Martha Nussbaum, of The Clash Within.

In the earliest reaction 65 persons from the Muslim community travelling in a tempo from Kidiad to Modasa in Sabarkantha were burnt alive at Babaliya, Khanpur chowki, Panchmahal on the same day. Modasa has a sizable Muslim population, an eyesore to the Hindutva groups which also targeted it in a bomb attack on September 29, 2008 along with Malegaon in Maharashtra. The earlier event of February 27th, 2002 was the onset of the genocide.

It was not in a Newtonian way at all. The action led to not just unequal and opposite reaction but far more outweighed than what had happened at Godhra. On the same day five more Muslims were killed in Godhra alone. It Early next day on February 28 at 10 am the whole families of Shabbir Ahmed Khurshid Ahmed and Mehmud Ahmed Khurshid Ahmed were wiped out in the initial attacks in Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gam. A well-armed mob in khakhi half-pants and in saffron vests and black bandana tied on the forehead had begun the killing.

Modi has acquired the notoriety of applying the third law of Newton in human affairs. In the natural sciences one-to-one connection can be verified. But in the human relation this is rather difficult. For example, the Godhra attack led to the pogroms. But the attempted abduction of a girl by the kar sevaks from near Godhra or the brawl on the railway platform between caterers and kar sevaks is deliberately not brought forth as the antecedent but the consequences they must have produced. However, human beings can stagger the response according to the choice of time and place. That is what set the natural science in a different category. Even the most gruesome incident of the volunteers of the temple or kar sevaks throwing a Muslim from the running train, in this case the Sabarmati Express, did not figure in any explanation of any Newtonian law.

The extreme Hindutva forces have a long history of retaliationa euphemism for prepared and long-planned riot. In the famous anti-reservation agitation of upper-caste Hindus in Gujarat in the eighties of the last century the Hindutva groups veered it into a Hindu-Muslim riot which claimed hundreds of lives. Such antecedents are galore. But Modi did choose the fire accident because of this established tradition of going for the Muslims when the atmosphere is created, when the tinder box needs just a burning match stick.

Children too were burnt alive with their parents. But another kind of atrocity was: they were spared and were made to witness what happened to their parents. This kind of extreme punishment was the sowing of torments and depression for years to persist and hence a new ingenuity of the evil mind of the tormenters and murderers.

In Ladoo village of Mehsana the Hindus caught Karisma Rehman (5) and her brother Mohsin (12). They had caught their parents and poured petroleum on them. The parents pleaded them to leave their children. Karisma repeated the requests of her parents: Leave the children alone. She could not make out anything further than this of the adult worlds treatment of her parents. I dont know what happened. She repeatedly said. Her mind could not grasp the dark reality any further. However, her brother told the reporters I recognise who did it. He repeated the names of those who killed his parents.

However some children instinctively rushed to shelter themselves wherever they could. So in the night of March 1 there was a twelve-year-old Dilawar Sheikh of Sardarpura where he hid in a carton inside the kitchen and saved himself. He recalls what he saw nearly ten years ago: My mother died near the entrance, with half her clothes pulled out. She was begging them for her life with her hands folded. The attackers told them to touch their feet. The Muslims even touched their feet only to be burnt with acid, which the attackers poured over them. There was hatred in their eyes.

In the most horrifying scenes from 2002 even children of 11 or 12 were forced to drink petrol and burning matches thrown at their mouths and they exploded into pieces. Such testimony a retired judge belonging to the Citizens for Peace and Justice recorded within months of the mass atrocities. In contrast the government of Narendra Modi did nothing to even record the deaths of such children. This totally cussed and callous attitude of the administration and hence of the Chief Minister shows how the genocide was executed mercilessly to wipe out any trace of pity and remorse which humans share across all religious groups. What has then Modi bequeathed to the future generations of Gujarat and the rest of the country?

Lies and rumours are most infectious in public life. The man who had the reign of power over the whole country was infected by the lies and rumour of 2002. The Prime Minister of India A.B. Vajpayee deliberately fell into the trap of lies. At 4.30 pm he told in Parliament that the burning of the train at Godhra was an accident and slogan-shouting was there as the reason. That was also the view of the Collector of Godhra and she maintained it till full four hours until Modi turned it into a lie that it was a terrorist attack by the LeT and ISI. In just over a month Vajpayee uttered lies that shocked many people. He blamed the Muslims in general for setting the train on fire. Who started the fire first? (pehli aag kisne lagayi) How did the fire spread further? (Aag faily kaise?) He even voiced the deliberate falsehood of the Hindutva Right that Muslims have spread their religion on the strength of the sword. Dont spread faith on the strength of the sword. (Talwar ke bal par mat ka prachar nahin karna chahiye.). He spoke to the Hindutva party BJP convention in Goa on Friday April 12, 2002 and said that Muslims do not know how to live with others. In this generalised sense he gave the example of Indonesia and Malaysia. In addition to the obvious lie there was another. Vajpayee added such in a sentence which did not exist in the original speech in Goa. This led Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi move a privilege motion against Vajpayee in Parliament on May 16, 2002. Thus the Prime Minister adopted the lie that Modi mouthed at 8.30 pm of February 27, 2002. Vajpayee brazenly and rhetorically said later before the year was out that if there is another conflagration ala Godhra, his party would give the same fitting reply!!! All this confirms that the party and its leaders would now take cue from Modi. A confused Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani told reporters in Port Blair on Friday May 3, 2002 he would ask Modi whether the fire on the train was planned by the Muslims. The reporters had drawn his attention to the finding of the investigation agencies which denied that it was planned at all.

The web of lies that Modi began to weave is an example of impunity he enjoyed by the tacit support of the Central Government. On March 1, 2002 he had asserted that he would control the riots resulting from the natural and justified anger of the people within 72 hours. However, 500 hours later Gujarat was still burning as the Chief Minister kept on weaving the web of lies on Saturday, March 23, 2002: violence would abate when the Members of Parliament sent from Delhi would return to their respective constituencies. The petrol was being sprinkled from Delhi to stoke the Gujarat fire. Every morning one former Prime Minister is making a statement, which is igniting the violence here. These statements show that one lie automatically leads to more lies and that has continued till the beginning of 2012 and shows no remorse on his part and no stopping of weaving the lies now or hereafter. On par with the Prime Minister the manner of weaving the web of lies continues. Even after Modi had insulted Parliament the prime minister dared to say: I have full faith in Modi in just over a week. The Deputy Prime Ministers penchant to issue Modi as the best Chief Minister of Gujarat in 50 years also was belied by the ground reality when exam centres were under attack by violent mobs on March 16, 2002. These blatant lies disgusted the IAS officer, Harsh Mander, to resign from the government job around this time.

His resignation naturally reflects the sham investigation and sketchy First Information Report which the police were preparing. In the case of the dreadful Babu Bajrangi he was arrested on May 28 even when his name was not in the FIR. Why should the SC be riled by Harsh Mander after all these and the midnight transfer of Justice Muralidhar for not allowing 2020 to turn into 1984 and ordering ambulance to take the injured in Delhi to hospitals!

Modis understanding of the Newtonian third law in applying to action and reaction is till incomplete. Why did he not bother for Galileos law of the unsupported bodies in air fall when a Muslim old woman was thrown from the fourth floor of the civil hospital to meet her death on the concrete below? In the second attempt also she survived. Then his unruly mob burnt her alive there in the hospital. He gave his own understanding that petrol (or?) kerosene was sprayed into the compartment that burnt part of the train. But more action and reaction was when a Muslim girl Sophia was snatched from the platform by the mob of karsevaks who tried to abduct her into their compartment. These will take much longer time for explaining. Some more coups will follow.

(Courtesy: scroll.in)

Mustafa Khan, who resides in Malegaon (Maharashtra), has the following blog: http://commonalty.blogspot.com
Connecticuts number of confirmed COVID-19 cases jumped to 20 on Saturday as the virus has spread into New Haven and Hartford counties with the states National Guard being called in to assist at hospitals.

The virus has begun to spread at a rate that the state is no longer providing confirmed cases by municipality. Instead, state officials said only county breakdowns were available Saturday.

State officials were not surprised by the spike in novel coronavirus infections, a total that includes 15 patients in Fairfield County, three in Litchfield County and one each in Hartford and New Haven counties. Several of those individuals have been treated or are being treated within the Yale New Haven Health system, which includes Yale New Haven, Bridgeport and Greenwich hospitals.

The number of cases announced (Saturday) reinforces for us what we knew was already going to happen: This virus is spreading, and it is here in Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont said in a statement. I urge all of my fellow residents to take preventative measures like limiting large gatherings and keeping a safe social distance. Our state has taken critical measures to maximize public health and those steps will continue.

Norwalk officials confirmed on Saturday the citys first case, involving a man in his 40s. In neighboring Darien, First Selectwoman Jayme Stevenson said she had been informed of two more of her towns residents testing positive.

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said the New Haven County case is a city resident. He said three other state residents who tested positive were being treated at Yale New Haven Hospital.

Local officials in Stratford said a Stratford High School student is being tested for coronavirus, but indicated results arent expected for a couple of days. Students, faculty and staff of the school have been urged to stay home and self-monitor for symptoms as a precaution.

In New York, state officials reported Saturday the states first fatality from the virus.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday morning that an 82-year-old woman with emphysema died Friday at a hospital in New York City. Cuomo said Saturday night that the Rockland County Medical Examiners Office confirmed the coronavirus-related death of a 65-year-old man with underlying health problems.

More than 500 New Yorkers have been diagnosed with the virus. One of them recently worked shifts at Danbury and Norwalk hospitals, marking Connecticuts first confirmed exposure to the condition. Another was a physician who has seen some patients at Bridgeport Hospital.

More hospital cases

Area hospitals are increasingly feeling the effects of the pandemic.

The Yale New Haven Health system confirmed that its chief nursing executive and several patients have tested positive for COVID-19 and that another executive has been exposed to the virus.

Yale New Haven Health CEO Marna Borgstrom said in a memo Saturday to colleagues that the patients positive tests were not unexpected as the CDC and public health officials made it clear that community transmission is occurring in the state of Connecticut. However, it does underscore the nature of this virus, which requires ongoing diligence and monitoring.

Also Saturday, the Yale Daily News reported that a university community member had tested positive based on a preliminary test, while two others are undergoing evaluations at Yale New Haven Hospital.

Connecticuts second confirmed case of a resident contracting the virus was a health care worker at Bridgeport Hospital in her 60s from Bethlehem. She is believed to have contracted the virus on a trip to Nevada.

Yale New Haven Health officials have not said publicly whether the Bethlehem woman or the New York doctor who worked at Bridgeport Hospital interacted with any of the infected patients.

Borgstrom did not mention in her letter those workers nor she did disclose any additional information about the affected patients such as where they were being treated.

In response to a Hearst Connecticut Media inquiry Saturday, a Yale New Haven Health spokesman said that he did not have additional information about those patients beyond what Borgstrom shared in the letter.

At the same time, Yale New Haven Healths chief nursing executive, Beth Beckman, has tested positive and has self-isolated at home, according to Borgstrom.

Beth is doing well and remains engaged in our daily operations, Borgstrom said.

In addition, Yale New Haven Healths chief clinical officer, Dr. Thomas Balcezak, has also been exposed the virus.

While Balcezak has tested negative and has no symptoms, he has self-quarantined at home for the next 14 days as a result of his wifes positive test, Borgstrom said. He remains engaged in our daily operations while working at home, Borgstrom said.

At Bradley International Airport, a female passenger on a flight arriving Saturday morning was treated by emergency medical teams for flu-like symptoms. The plane was isolated to the de-icing area.

The woman was taken to the hospital, and the flight was cleared by officials to resume regular operations.

More state and local orders

In another effort to mitigate the virus impact, Lamont signed Saturday his third executive order since the enactment of state emergency declarations last week.

The latest order contains a number of provisions, including a loosening of open-meeting requirements  a change aimed at minimizing large gatherings, while maintaining safeguards to provide remote public access. On Thursday, Lamont announced an order that bans gatherings of more than 250 people in the state.

At the same time, Lamont gave permission for pharmacists to compound and sell hand sanitizer and waived requirements for pharmacists to use certain personal protective equipment when working with non-hazardous, sterile compounds.

In addition, Lamont authorized refunds of liquor permit fees for special events that have since been canceled and waived face-to-face interview requirements for cash subsidies distributed through the Temporary Family Assistance program.

Lamont also let the commissioner of Early Childhood and Office of Health Strategy waive certain requirements to help maintain adequate access to day care and health care.

The Connecticut National Guard has been mobilized and is helping deliver ventilators to St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, Danbury Hospital and Hartford Hospital. The state National Guard is also working to inventory medical equipment sets and reconfigure parts of the Mobile Field Hospital into small tents for possible rapid deployment to hospitals.

Following school closures announced across the state in the past few days, local officials have also rolled out more orders intended to slow the virus spread.

Norwark Mayor Harry Rilling declared Saturday a civil-preparedness emergency in his city.

Rilling said the proclamation would give him more authority to make decisions that might be related to closing various events and other forms of social distancing, while it would also allow the city to seek any available state or federal funding.

The declaration would remain in effect until Rilling ends it.

Its a good idea to declare a local emergency to allow me to exercise any authority that I have, Rilling said in a phone interview with Hearst Connecticut Media.

Federal restrictions grow, Trump tested for virus

In Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump announced Saturday that the U.S. would expand its European travel restrictions to include the United Kingdom and Ireland.

On Friday, Trump declared a national emergency  a move aimed at accessing up to $50 billion in relief funds. Last week, he signed an $8.3 billion emergency bill that passed Congress with bipartisan and near-unanimous support.

But Trump has faced strong criticism from many Congressional Democrats, who say his administration has generally been too slow and ineffective in its response to the pandemic. Those critics assert that limiting access from Europe would do little to stem the virus spread within the U.S.

Also Saturday, Trump announced that he had undergone testing for the virus.

Trump had held out on testing for days, despite interacting with at least three people who have since tested positive for the virus. He had said Friday that he would probably take the test at some point, but the White House doctor said as recently as Friday night that no test was needed because Trump was not showing symptoms.

By Saturday night, Trumps doctor said the president tested negative for the virus.

But Trump said he had gone ahead with the test after repeated questions from reporters at a news conference Friday. He told reporters at a White House briefing Saturday that he had his temperature taken before stepping into the room and it was totally normal.

The White House also announced that it had started conducting temperature checks on anyone coming into close contact with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. Those checked include reporters attending the Saturday briefing.

Robert Marchant and Susan Shultz contributed reporting. This article also contains reporting from The Associated Press.

pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; Twitter: @paulschott

toneill@hearstmediact.com; Twitter: @Tara_ONeill_
A UK citizen on Sunday tested positive for coronavirus infection and was deboarded from an aircraft while he was trying to leave through a Dubai-bound Emirates flight from the Cochin International Airport in Kerala.

He had allegedly boarded the flight without notifying the authorities. The patient's samples were taken yesterday and he was advised to remain in quarantine.

As other passengers had also boarded the flight, all 289 passengers on board the aircraft were deboarded after the news came to light. The coronavirus patient, along with the other passengers, will be rushed to the hospital soon.

According to authorities, the UK citizen was previously in the Tea Country Resort in Munnar at Idukki district.

Meanwhile, VS Sunil Kumar, Minister of Agriculture, Kerala, urged the public to not panic over the situation and assured that the airport will not be closed following the issue.

Notably, the number of coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 107, including foreign nationals, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare today.

In the wake of spurt in cases of coronavirus across the country, the Central Government on Saturday decided to treat the deadly virus as a "notified disaster".

Coronavirus, which originated in China's Wuhan city in December last year, has so far spread to more than 100 countries, infecting over 1,30,000 people. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared coronavirus a pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 15

Trend:

In connection with the decision on the temporary suspension of flights between Azerbaijan and Turkey, the National Air Carrier of Azerbaijan organizes charter flights to Turkey on behalf of the government, Trend reports with reference to Azerbaijan Airlines CJSC.

Azerbaijani citizens will return from Turkey to their homeland on these flights.

Todays charter flight from Istanbul to Baku will bring 474 Azerbaijani citizens. Another charter flight will be scheduled tomorrow.

In addition, in the near future, AZAL will open charter flights to Ankara and Antalya.



As necessary, AZAL will continue to open charter flights for Azerbaijani citizens to return to their homeland.

As previously reported, a hotline has been created with the aim of promptly responding to possible requests from Azerbaijani citizens living, studying or temporarily staying in Turkey at the Embassy and Consulate General of Azerbaijan. Hotline number: +90 537 282 67 40.
The 234 Indian evacuees from Iran who arrived in the national capital on Sunday morning, have been quarantined at an Indian Army Wellness Centre in Jaisalmer. According to the Indian Army, the wellness centre at Jaisalmer is a fully equipped facility to help Indian citizens undertake mandatory quarantine period under the supervision of skilled medical authorities. As per reports, the Army said, "Soldiers have volunteered to provide care and support to our countrymen returning from overseas."

EAM announces evacuees' arrival

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday morning announced that 234 Indians who were among the people stranded in Iran amid the Coronavirus outbreak have arrived in India. The Air flight carrying the Indians onboard landed in Mumbai. Among the 234 people, 131 of them are students and the rest are pilgrims.

Jaishankar took to Twitter and apprised about the same and further thanked the Iranian authorities for facilitating the evacuations of Indians.

234 Indians stranded in #Iran have arrived in India; including 131 students and 103 pilgrims.

Thank you Ambassador @dhamugaddam and @India_in_Iran team for your efforts. Thank Iranian authorities.  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 14, 2020

Read: Punjab govt taking all steps to prevent Coronavirus spread, no need to panic: Amarinder

Iran reports 85 more deaths

On March 13, Iran announced 85 new Coronavirus deaths. The latest deaths take the overall toll in Iran to 514. Iran has reported 11,364 cases, out of which 3,529 have already recovered.

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour during a televised news conference announced the deaths. As per reports, he also added that 1,289 were added to the list of confirmed patients. The Coronavirus outbreak in Iran is one of the deadliest in the world outside of mainland China.

Read: Coronavirus outbreak: Special Air India flight with 211 students takes off from Milan

The Coronavirus crisis

First detected in Wuhan in December 2019, COVID-19- the novel coronavirus has affected nearly 135 countries in the world. Presently, there are over 142,649 confirmed cases of COVID-19 which has led to the death of 5,393 people. As there is no vaccine or specific antiviral medicine to treat COVID-19, countries have been grappling with all possible mechanisms to contain its scope. So far, China, South Korea, Italy, and Iran have witnessed the most number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.

Read: UAE temporarily suspends visas to all foreigners amid Coronavirus scare

Read: Indian Railways withdraw curtains, blankets from AC coaches amid Coronavirus scare

(With ANI Inputs)
Gatherings of more than 100 people will be prohibited through March 31 in Contra Costa County, where health officials said Saturday they expect to see more confirmed cases of COVID-19.

As of Saturday, 29 cases had been confirmed in the county, the second most in the Bay Area, said Dr. Ori Tzvieli, interim health officer for Contra Costa Health Services, at an afternoon press conference.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 16:23:37|Editor: xuxin

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NEW DELHI, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Four militants were killed Sunday in a gunfight with government forces in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said.

The gunfight broke out at village Dialgam in Anantnag district, about 61 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"In a gunfight in village Dialgam today, four militants were killed," a senior police official posted in Anantnag said. "The operation was carried out jointly by the army and police."

According to police, the gunfight broke out after government forces cordoned off the area on specific intelligence information suggesting the presence of militants.

"No sooner the joint contingents of army and police reached near the suspected area, the militants present there fired upon them, thereby triggering a gunfight," the police official said.

The government forces have not suffered any damage in the stand-off, police said

The identity of the slain militants was not immediately known.
American Airlines Group Inc on Saturday said it will implement a phased suspension of nearly all long-haul international flights starting March 16, amid reduced demand and travel restrictions due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Between March 16 and May 6, American will reduce its international capacity by 75% on a year-over-year basis, it said in a statement, adding the changes will result in the airline parking nearly its entire widebody fleet.

The airline also anticipates its domestic capacity in April will be reduced by 20% on a year-over-year basis.

Also Read: Coronavirus impact: India's coal import declines 14% to 17 million tonnes

Also Read: Coronavirus in India Live Updates: Total number jumps to 107; Maharashtra tops with 31 confirmed cases
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 []
Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

The end of the coronavirus crisis is still somewhere over the horizon, but already there is a lesson that all Americans can take from this ordeal: Government and news media still play a vital role our way of life.

That wasnt in doubt for many of our citizens, but some have been swayed by the relentless criticism of both from certain sectors. Government was portrayed as an annoying burden to freedom that caused far more problems than it solved. Journalists were called the enemy of the people, conspiring to tell lies instead of promoting the truth. Neither one of those stereotypes is true, and this medical crisis showed it.
For the greater part of May 2, 2004, 40-year-old Amina Abubakar endured nine-month-old pregnancy pangs, what some call false labour.

It is the kind of cramp most pregnant women experience hours or shortly before the actual labour begins. So, counting her time and drawing from her past childbirth experience, Mrs Abubakar knew she could have her second baby that day and be free from the pains, thereafter.

Sure enough, her baby girl came out before night, but her body pain relief was overshadowed by even deeper grief because shortly after childbirth, her first child was killed.

Some people just came and told me that my son had been killed, she said, in a sorrow-filled tone, as though it all happened yesterday. I cried and cried. It was the same day I delivered my daughter.

Auwal Abubakar, her son, was murdered by a mob during a conflict between the two communities, Yelwa and Shendam, in central Nigerias Plateau State.

The ethno-religious conflict, which peaked after years of local political power struggle and protracted arguments over land rights, ended with many mass graves. One. Two. Three. As many as 16.

More than 600 Muslims were entombed in 13 mass graves, and over 400 Christians bodies buried in three.

We would have prevented those deaths if only we had listened and dialogued, said 70-year-old Abdullahi Abdullahi, a Muslim and a retired lawyer from Yelwa.

Yelwa town in southern Plateau is occupied by people of the Jarawa tribe who migrated to the area from northeast Nigerias Bauchi State more than 200 years ago. The town  with its majority Muslim population  is under the political control of Shendam Local Government Area, which is headquartered in Shendam town.

Shendam town plays host to several native ethnic groups, most of which are Christians. One of such groups is Goemai.

Goemai and Yelwa have lived harmoniously for over two centuries. Their relationship, however, got strained in 1996 after each laid strong claim to the ownership of Yelwa land.

While Goemai claims that the land belongs to them and that they benevolently gave it to the Jarawa people to settle in many years back when they migrated to the area, the Jarawa group claims that given their long stay on the land, they have become rightful owners with indigenous rights.

These claims and counterclaims further birthed arguments about whether or not the Jarawa people  tagged settlers and accused of being disrespectful to their hosts and the Long-Goemai (traditional paramount ruler for the entire Shendam Local Government Area)  should dominate local politics, which they were suspected of trying to achieve with their large population.

By the time the arguments turned violent, given the groups sharp Muslim-Christian religious divide, people were simply being identified by their religious affiliations and killed.

The fact that past government plus non-government efforts to settle the brawl failed as both towns maintained uncompromising positions and often resumed hostilities, made many fear that peaceful coexistence between them was elusive.

Surprisingly, however, for about 15 years, they have lived peacefully. And that was after they both signed a peace affirmation document, accepting to accommodate each other and to tackle future disagreements via dialogue.

For this, residents of both communities and former government officials have only one group to thank: The Interfaith Mediation Center (IMC).

There is no way the peace that Plateau has come to achieve will ever be written without mentioning the Interfaith Mediation Center, said Timothy Baba Parlong, a native of Shendam town and a former security adviser to former a Plateau State governor, Jonah Jang.

Who is behind IMC?

Formerly known as Muslim-Christian Youth Dialogue Forum, IMC is a nonprofit based in northwest Nigerias Kaduna State. While it also works to build peace among warring communities (that might be fighting on non-faith-based reasons) in Nigeria and beyond, it primarily combines the instruments of dialogue and mediation with religious verses that support forgiveness and love to help religiously-divided groups reconcile, build trust, and peacefully coexist.

It also tries to embed in youth, the virtues of religious tolerance in a country where faith-based violence is almost commonplace and one in which the jihadist group, Boko Haram, has killed over 30,000 people since 2009.

It does this by regularly organising radio and television programmes and public events during which the dangers of religious violence and the need for peaceful co-existence are discussed. For the same purpose, it has also established peace clubs in about 42 colleges and universities with over 10,000 members across Nigeria.

IMC was founded by two friends and colleagues, James Wuye and Muhammad Ashafa, a Pastor and an Imam, respectively.

Their religious approach to peace-building is easy to relate with because, apart from being spiritual leaders, they have both bitterly experienced the destructive bite of religious violence and intolerance, and their experiences were not passive. In fact, both were sworn enemies who led two opposing religious groups that hated, maimed and killed each other.

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Sixty-year-old Wuye is an Assemblies of God (AG) pastor in Kaduna. The son of a former soldier, Wuye Movel, who was conscripted into the Nigeria Army during the countrys civil war (1967-1970), he grew up in the central Kaduna town of Tudun Nupawa.

During the 30-month war, his family lived in a military barracks in Kaduna where the daily military drills he observed cooked his interest to join the army, a dream he later fought hard to achieve but failed.

To tell you the truth, after secondary school, I went to enlist in the military, but it was my height. I was told that I was not tall enough. Probably, you would have been talking to a military chaplain now, he said.

His journey towards spiritual leadership started when he was an adolescent, a time he stopped following his parents to the Baptist Church and started attending the Assemblies of God Church where he grew prominently. He eventually occupied relevant positions within the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the umbrella body of Christian denominations in the country.

That included working as an assistant secretary of CAN in Kaduna and later as the head of a militia, formed by the youth wing of CAN  the Young Christian Association of Nigeria.

The militia was to defend Christians and churches against attacks during imagined future religious rifts between Muslims and Christians in Kaduna where faith-based violence has been responsible for the death of some 20,000 people since the 1980s.

During a 1992 Muslims-Christians conflict that started in the southern Kaduna town of Zango-Kataf and later spread to several other parts of the state and in which over 2,000 people were killed, Mr Wuyes right hand was chopped off by Mr Ashafas (his co-founder at the IMC) boys while he was leading his militia to fight the Muslims.

Mr Wuye became a pastor after obtaining three certificates in theology; a diploma from AGs Northern Theological Seminary in Kaduna, an undergraduate degree from Vision University, based in the U.S. (via its Kaduna satellite campus) and a masters degree from the West Africa Christian University.

His colleague, Mr Ashafa, is the spiritual administrator of the Ashafa Central Mosque in Kaduna. The 61-year-old was born into a conservative Muslim family in northern Kadunas city of Zaria.

Mr Ashafas dream, right from childhood, was to become an imam and to preserve the traditions of Islam, a desire that was mostly inspired by his father, Abdul-Yakeen Ashafa, a 90-year-old-plus imam.

He spent most of his childhood and early adult life building his Islamic knowledge at a madrasa (a Quranic recitation school) attached to his fathers mosque. He later took a nine-month course in Arabic Studies at the International University of African in Sudan.

During the Zango-Kataf conflict, he led a Muslim militia called the Defense League to fight Christians. His militia, which comprised young men drawn from the National Council of Muslim Youths Organization (NACOMYO), was founded in 1987 for the primary purpose of defending Muslims and Mosques against attacks during faith-motivated conflicts in Kaduna.

Like Mr Wuye, the 1992 religious crisis did not leave Ashafa without personal losses. His spiritual mentor, Ahmed Tijani, and his two cousins were killed by Mr Wuyes boys.

The pair started the IMC several years after the conflict ended through military intervention. Thanks to a friend of theirs, Idris Musa, a 70-year-old former technical officer at the Kaduna State Media Corporation, who first urged them, in 1995, to let go of their pains and work for peace.

The admonition was one they initially found hard to accept, but, further encouragement both received from their respective spiritual superiors and religious organisations gave them more reasons to forgive each other and to create space for partnership towards peacebuilding.

Now co-executive directors on Christian and Muslim matters respectively at the IMC, they have been able to broker peace between several groups and communities in several Nigerian states, including in Plateau, Taraba, Benue, Bornu, and Kaduna.

They worked with the state government in Kaduna to achieve the Kaduna State Peace Declaration (2002) that saw Muslim and Christian leaders commit to promoting peaceful co-existence and religious tolerance.

Part of the declaration reads: According to our faiths, killing innocent lives in the names of God is a desecration of His Holy Name, and defames religions in the World.

The violence that has occurred in Kaduna State is an evil that must be opposed by all people of good faith. We seek to live together as neighbors, respecting the integrity of each others historical and religious heritage. We call upon all to oppose incitement, hatred, and the misrepresentation of one another.

Hitherto warring communities in countries like Iraq, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Libya have also benefited from their peace-building efforts that have brought them support from several local and international organisations, including the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Christian Aid, Islamic Relief UK, British High Commission, UNDP, and the British Council.

About 40 staff and volunteers work at the Mediation House, a two-story building situated at Constitution Road in Kaduna city, which IMC built with support from the Kaduna State government and USAID.

The Yelwa-Shendam or Jarawa-Goemai conflict they were able to resolve remains one of their biggest achievements. When the IMC volunteered to deploy its conflict resolution and peacebuilding strategies to end the conflict, it was at the peak of it.

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IMCs strategy divided the mediation process into four parts. For several months, the organisation worked to identify the faceless human instigators of the conflict and the obvious causes  what they called shuttle mediation.

Next was intra-mediation where Christians at IMC, led by Mr Wuye, met with the Goemai people of Shendam at a neutral ground to discuss their grievances, while Mr Ashafa and his Muslim group did same with the Jarawa people of Yelwa.

The third part, called intermediation, saw both groups coming together to dialogue and to shift grounds where necessary.

The last phase, which was observed by local and international interests and media, was a 2005 occasion tagged Peace Affirmation. It included the public signing of a document in which both parties pledged to live peacefully and to use dialogue to resolve any future disagreements they may have.

For about 15 years running, both parties have kept their pledge, lending credence to IMCs peacebuilding process that has earned the duo several local and international recognitions. These include three honorary doctorate degrees, two Nobel Peace Prize nominations, and multiple awards that include the Peacemaker in Action Award (2000), the Bremen Peace Award (2005), the Prize for Conflict Prevention (2009) and the Duetsche Africa-Preis (2013).

The burden of religious violence

With 93 million citizens  nearly half of the population  living in extreme poverty, Nigeria has the highest number of extremely poor people in the world, despite having vast mineral resources.

This pitiful situation is partly caused by regular religion-based destructions that  apart from the thousands of human casualties  have cost the country billions of dollars. This includes the activities of Boko Haram whose impact on agriculture has made Nigeria one of the top 10 countries facing food insecurity, according to a 2019 report by UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Efforts like that of Messrs Wuye and Ashafa, therefore, do not only add to prevent and possibly end conflict among religious groups, they also help to secure an environment that is healthy for everyday economic and social activities that are necessary for growth and development.

The activities of the duo have motivated more people to get into voluntary and selfless conflict resolution roles as personal contributions to further achieve lasting peace among religious groups in Nigeria.

They pioneered peace-building in Kaduna and I decided to get into it to contribute my quota, said Pastor Yohanna Buru who started the Kaduna-based Peace Revival and Reconciliation Foundation of Nigeria, a nonprofit that works to help Muslims and Christians accept each other and respect their religious, ethnic and social differences.

I followed their activities and their effort to unite people and they made me see that [peace building] is an area of interest and I look up to them.

Back in Yelwa, though Mrs Abubakar often remembers the gruesome killing of her son with deep sadness, she, however, feels grateful that her family and community have known peace for 15 years without fears of attacks and reprisals as was the case before the Yelwa-Shendam Peace Affirmation.

At least, we now have some peace and we are happy, she said.

[NOTE: This article was produced with the support of the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, the John Templeton Foundation and Templeton Religion Trust. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of these organisations.]
(CNN)  The novel coronavirus can infect anyone, but it's older adults  ages 60 and up  who are more likely to get seriously sick from it.

Some tips are applicable to every generation, but there are specific precautions older adults should take to protect their health.

We spoke to two geriatricians and pulled guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to assemble what people 60 and up need to know about the novel coronavirus.

You can download a sheet of that information (in English, Spanish and Chinese) and share with your loved ones. But remember: Recommendations for Covid-19 may change as officials learn more, so monitor your local health department and the CDC for updates.

What's your risk level

The CDC says "older adults" and people with severe chronic illness are more likely to become severely ill from Covid-19.

Infectious disease experts define "older adults" as anyone age 60 and up, so people in that age group should be cautious.

It's possible to contract the virus at a younger age  it's just more dangerous in older adults because the immune system weakens with age, said Dr. Samir Sinha, director of Geriatrics for the Sinai Health System and the University Health Network in Toronto.

People over the age of 80 may want to exercise even more caution. A report published in the medical journal JAMA that examined more than 72,000 Chinese coronavirus patients found that the overall fatality rate was 2.3%. But in adults over 80, the fatality rate rose to 15%.

If you live in a community where there's an outbreak, you're at a higher risk of infection, too. Follow the advice below.

What precautions you should take now

Cancel all non-essential doctor's appointments, said Dr. Carla Perissinotto, an associate professor in the Geriatrics Division of the University of California-San Francisco's Department of Medicine.

- Whether it's a standard check-up, a follow-up appointment for a stable condition or an elective procedure, if it can wait, then it should.

- If you have an important appointment coming up, consider doing it in a video call or from your smartphone. Telehealth tech lets physicians confer with patients who may not be able to leave their homes.

- Tell a friend, a loved one, a co-worker or a neighbor if you're concerned about the illness. Appoint one of them as an emergency contact who you can call with concerns or requests for help.

Otherwise, do what you'd do during flu season: Wash your hands frequently, the right way (get ready to read that a lot). Use hand sanitizer when soap and water aren't available, though washing your hands is preferred.

What you should stock up on

The CDC recommends keeping enough groceries and toiletries on hand to last you a "prolonged period of time." There's no timeline for the Covid-19 outbreak, though, so think basic.

- Stock up on toothpaste, detergent, water filters, etc.

- Make meals and freeze them if you're concerned about food.

But stocking up on medication ahead of time isn't always plausible, Perissinotto said. You may be able to switch to a 90-day supply for your prescription. If this isn't possible, the CDC suggests mail ordering medications.

How you should alter daily activities

Older adults living in communities where the virus has spread should take extra precautions.

- Avoid public places where crowds may gather or poorly ventilated buildings where the risk of transmission is higher, the CDC said.

- You don't need to shut yourself off from public life  just be vigilant when you enter it.

- Older adults should still exercise and eat right, just as they would at any other time of the year, Sinha said.

And again, constant  and proper  handwashing before, during and after a trip into the public is necessary.

How you should handle travel

The CDC advises against non-essential plane travel for older adults. Several US airlines have already slashed their flight schedules for the next few months.

It's wise to stay off cruise ships for now, too. Cruise passengers are at an increased risk of person-to-person transmission with all the tight quarters, the CDC said, so if you're already made cruise plans, it's best to cancel them.

What you need to know about self-isolation

The CDC recommends that high-risk groups in communities with outbreaks stay home as much as possible and that people who believe they're sick isolate themselves.

But long-term isolation can be damaging. Perissinotto studies the effects of social isolation in older adults, and she said that loneliness and depression are "huge risks for mortality."

"I don't think the solution of totally being devoid of social contact is the answer," she said. "Yes, there is some prudence we need to have in social distancing, but we also have to be careful to not isolate more -- it can be very detrimental."

So if you need to isolate yourself:

- Don't cut off contact with family or friends.

- Keep in touch to update them on your condition and curb boredom.

If groups you're a member of are still meeting and none of the other members are sick, Perissinotto said it should be OK to go.

Just exercise caution. It's an individual choice, so if skipping out would reduce some anxiety, that's fine, too.

And if you do go, be sure to wash your hands with soap.

What your family can do

To help you, your family should think ahead.

Perissinotto recommends that family, friends and neighbors of older adults do some inventory in case the older adult needs to isolate at home.

Does this person have what they need to spend an extended period of time inside? If not, help them prepare supplies.

If their caregiver calls in sick, is there someone who can step in to take care of them? Have a plan in place to make sure they'll get care if they need it.

If they have a telemedicine appointment coming up, will they know how to access it? Set up the tech and show them how to use it to speak with their physician.

Getting prepared and keeping in touch can help keep families connected if an older member needs to isolate, Perissinotto said.

And, of course, sick family members should not visit  stick to a phone or video call. And if a younger, healthy family member has potentially come into contact with a Covid-19 patient, they should self-isolate and avoid seeing older, susceptible family members.

What you should consider about nursing homes

It's natural to be fearful for family in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, Sinha said: Older people and people with chronic illnesses, both high-risk groups, are living together in tight quarters.

The good news: Most nursing homes and long-term care facilities are prepared for pandemics, Perissonotto said.

The CDC provides training for long-term care facilities on how to operate during pandemics. If you're concerned about the safety of your family member or want to learn about the protocol their facility is following, contact staff at the facility.

What you should do when visiting loved ones at nursing homes

This depends on whether the nursing home is accepting visitors.

The CDC doesn't recommend a blanket-ban on visitors -- just those who show respiratory symptoms, like coughing and sneezing. The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine recommends that facilities screen visitors before entering in outbreak areas.

Some long-term care facilities have stopped allowing visitors to protect their patients. Call your facility ahead of time to find out its current policy and set up an alternative mode of communication between residents and family.

And it goes without saying, but if you're sick, don't visit.

What to do if you're sick

If you think you have the novel coronavirus: Stay home and call your physician. If they think you should come in for a test, limit your interaction with other people and don't use public transportation. They may provide a face mask for you to wear while in their office.

If your doctor is not immediately available: Consider calling a local coronavirus hotline. Some city, county and state health departments have numbers you can call to discuss your symptoms and learn more about the virus's impact on the community. Keep in mind that these hotlines are meant as informational resources, and it's impossible to diagnose Covid-19 without a test.

If you're diagnosed with the novel coronavirus and your illness is mild: Your physician may advise that you stay home until you recover. If your symptoms are more severe, you may be hospitalized so physicians can monitor your condition.

Here's a tipsheet that you can download in English and Spanish and share with your friends and family. This was first published on CNN.com, "Worried about coronavirus? If your loved one is over 60, read this."
President Donald Trump talks to journalists in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on March 12, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Trump Declares Sunday A National Day Of Prayer Over Coronavirus Pandemic

President Donald Trump declared Sunday, March 15, a national day of prayer over the new coronavirus.

Right after declaring the outbreak of the viruswhich emerged in mainland China last yeara national emergency, he made the prayer day declaration.

It is my great honor to declare Sunday, March 15th as a National Day of Prayer. We are a Country that, throughout our history, has looked to God for protection and strength in times like these, he wrote on Twitter on Friday. No matter where you may be, I encourage you to turn towards prayer in an act of faith. Together, we will easily PREVAIL!

.No matter where you may be, I encourage you to turn towards prayer in an act of faith. Together, we will easily PREVAIL!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2020

Late on Saturday, he also said he is planning to watch an online church service.

It came as Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson praised Trumps declaration for a day of prayer.

I hope that we as a nation can use this as an opportunity to pull together for good. You know, President Trump is going to be recommending a National Day of Prayer. And you know, weve gotten away from prayer and faith a lot in this country, Carson said during a Saturday press conference. Those are things that made America zoom to the top of the world in record time. And those are the things that will keep us there too, he added.

Its worth noting that the first Sunday of every March since the 1980s has been a National Day of Prayer.

A number of churches and religious organizations have suspended worship services amid the pandemic. One of the largest, the Mormon church, said last week that it is canceling all services and meetings across the world.

State and local officials across the United States have recommended against large public gatherings to mitigate the spread.

A couple wearing face masks wipe their hands after voting, in Menton, France, on March 15, 2020. (Daniel Cole/AP Photo)

In making the national emergency declaration last Friday, Trump said that $50 billion in disaster relief funds to state and local governments will be freed up. We will overcome the threat of the virus, Trump said.

Trump also waived interest on all student loans held by federal government agencies and ordered the Energy Department to purchase large quantities of crude oil for storage. He also called on states to set up emergency centers, hospitals to activate emergency preparedness plans, and provided new powers to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Nearly 3,000 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the United States, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. After emerging from and spreading across the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the coronavirus spread all over the country before extending across Chinas borders to more than 100 countries.
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Linkedin Matthew McQueen (The Jakarta Post) -  Sun, March 15, 2020 20:23 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206ad1ad6 3 Opinion coronavirus,COVID-19,coronavirus-prevention,pandemic Free

Anywhere from 20% to 60% of the adults around the world may be infected with the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease COVID-19. Thats the estimate from leading epidemiological experts on communicable disease dynamics. Even the best-case scenario using those numbers means nearly 40,000,000 adults will be infected in the United States alone.

Some people may start to feel fatalistic in the face of those kinds of statistics. There are no vaccines and no specific treatments for people who get sick. Whats the point of fighting something thats bound to happen anyway? Why not just let the epidemic run its course?

But public health officials and medical professionals have been advocating for rapid and decisive efforts to reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 as much and as early as possible.

The goal is to flatten the curve. Rather than letting the virus quickly rampage through the population and burn itself out fast, the idea is to spread all those infections out over a longer period of time.

Yes, it would potentially prolong the epidemic. But in doing so, public health agencies and the health care infrastructure gain invaluable time to respond to the crisis.

Most importantly, flattening the curve provides an opportunity to significantly reduce deaths from COVID-19.

On the steep rise of the epidemic curve, especially when testing capacity is lacking, there is a tremendous burden on health care providers  many of whom will fall ill themselves and be forced to self-isolate, becoming unable to provide care for those in need. At the same time, there is immense pressure placed on health care facilities where demand for patient care will outpace capacity  things like the number of hospital beds, ventilators and so on  for a significant amount of time.

So yes, even if every person on Earth eventually comes down with COVID-19, there are real benefits to making sure it doesnt all happen in the next few weeks.

How, then, can people flatten the curve via reducing transmission of the coronavirus? At present, with many regions of the United States and other countries seeing community members spreading COVID-19 locally, the world has entered a phase of mitigation to complement efforts to contain its spread.

As a result, were left with an old but quite effective strategy: social distancing. It means staying out of close contact in crowded public places, avoiding mass gatherings and maintaining space  approximately six feet  between yourself and others when possible.

Social distancing requires changes in how people work, live and interact with each other. It may require canceling or avoiding big events, limiting nonessential travel and rescheduling conferences. Traditional classroom instruction may have to move to online delivery  already happening in some colleges and universities, though less easy to do for K-12 schools.

To be clear, social distancing comes with a substantial economic cost as people arent engaged in the same work and life activities that fuel the economy as they were just a month or two ago. As a result, public health and government officials are faced with balancing the public health push to flatten the curve with desires to minimize the impact on the economy.

As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, public health experts across the world are collecting data and communicating information as fast as possible in an attempt to provide health care providers, research laboratories, public health agencies and policymakers with the knowledge they need to respond to the emerging threat. In the meantime, one of the most important things individuals can do for our collective public health is to listen to the experts and follow their advice.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom recently commented that We need to remember that with decisive, early action, we can slow down the virus and prevent infections. Were not going to stamp out COVID-19. But by not just throwing up our hands and giving up, people can help address the crisis early, preventing COVID-19 from overwhelming the health care systems capacity to respond effectively.

---

Matthew McQueen, Director, Public Health Program and Associate Professor of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Impasse over floor test of the beleaguered Kamal Nath government doesnt look like ending any time soon. While the 22 rebel Congress MLAs continued to defy the Speakers notice for appearance before him on second day, the other party MLAs are returning Bhopal from Jaipur on Sunday.

They were flown to the capital of Rajasthan five days ago for safer custody owing to fear of poaching by the BJP in the wake of defection of Jyotiraditya Scindia to the BJP and resignation of 22 rebel MLAs supporting him. Chief Minister Kamal Nath has convened a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party on Sunday to discuss strategies for saving the government.

Speaker NP Prajapati has extended time till March 15 for the rebel MLAs, who are in Bengaluru since last Tuesday, to appear before him to testify whether they resigned on their own or under pressure. His earlier notice had fixed March 12, 13 and 14 for the MLAs to meet him in three separate batches but they cancelled their scheduled return at the eleventh hour on Friday.

Meanwhile, a BJP delegation called on Governor Lalji Tandon and sought his direction to the government for floor test. The delegation comprised of former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and leader of opposition Gopal Bhargava among other party leaders.

Later Chouhan told media that chief minister Kamal Nath has lost majority and constitutional authority to run the government. Therefore, the scheduled convening of the budget session and the Governors address from March 16 is meaningless.

The BJP has urged the Governor to direct floor test under section 175 of the Constitution.

However, the Chief Minister, who had met the Governor on Friday, clarified that floor test would not take place until and unless the fate of the resignations of the rebel MLAs is decided.

The Congress government is also mulling to move the Supreme Court for ensuring rescue of the captive MLAs. Its senior leader and Supreme Court lawyer Vivek Tankha reiterated the partys intention to this effect, adding that continued captivity of the MLAs is against the law.
Joe Biden was endorsed by the National Education Association, the nation's largest labor group and one whose membership is largely composed of college-educated women, a key demographic in the Democratic primary.

The endorsement comes on the eve of the next presidential debate, where Biden will face off against rival Sen. Bernie Sanders, and three days before the next set of states is scheduled to vote. The NEA has pledged to try to boost turnout for Biden in those four states - Ohio, Florida, Illinois and Arizona - where it has nearby 760,000 members.

"Biden is the tireless advocate for public education and is the partner that students and educators need now in the White House," Lily Eskelsen Garcia, the union's president, said in a statement. "He understands that as a nation we have a moral responsibility to provide a great neighborhood public school for every student in every ZIP code."

"With so much at stake in this election, educators are determined to use their voice to propel Joe Biden to the White House," she added.

The union backed Hillary Clinton in 2016 over Sanders, and has never endorsed a Republican presidential candidate. Sanders has earned support from rank-and-file members in some unions even while losing among union leadership. In Nevada, for example, the Culinary Workers Union pilloried his health care plan but Sanders ended up winning the state's caucuses with the support of many of the union members.

The teachers' union backing adds to the parade of recent endorsements for Biden, and also brings yet another prominent labor group to his corner.

The International Association of Fire Fighters backed him from the start of his campaign, and its yellow-shirted members are a frequent presence on the campaign trail. He has also been supported by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Amalgamated Transit Union, among others.

The nation's second largest teachers union, the American Federation of Teachers, urged its members last month to support either Biden, Sanders, or Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who has since dropped out.

Biden has often touted education as one of the core planks of his agenda, frequently pointing out that his wife, Jill, works as a community college professor. She is also a member of the NEA.

Biden attended all three of the union's presidential forums, including in Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Texas, as well as sat for a video interview.
A patient gets an ultrasound checkup for her uterus in this file photo. According to government data, 111,214 women were diagnosed with endometriosis in 2017. /Korea Times file



By Bahk Eun-ji



Endometriosis is a common gynecological condition that affects about 60 percent of women in their 20s to 40s, but if the pain is unusually serious, doctors advise them to be checked for lesions in their uterus, ovaries or fallopian tubes. For those with endometriosis, coping with period cramps often requires more than just taking a pain reliever such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen.



Kim Hye-won, 31, living in Songpa-gu, Seoul, recently felt her period pain becoming more severe. When Kim's younger sister, who had surgery to remove fibroids in her uterus a couple of years ago, said she had similar symptoms, Kim immediately visited her gynecologist and she was diagnosed with endometriosis.



"I became accustomed to period cramps to a degree over the years, but this time, the pain was sharp and suddenly became unbearable. I initially thought it was probably because I was under a lot of pressure at work, but my sister said I might need a doctor's help," Kim said.



Endometriosis is a disorder in which tissue similar to that lining the inside of the uterus grows outside of it. This endometrial tissue most commonly grows in the pelvic area and while it can occur elsewhere, it is rare. This endometrial tissue works the same way outside the uterus as it would inside and where it would usually be expelled during menstruation, it becomes trapped in the body, leading to physical symptoms such as severe pain.



"The period cramps women get during their period can be tough, but if she has endometriosis, the pain can be so intense that it can even affect her daily routine," said Sang Jae-hong, professor of Soonchunhyang University Medical Center.



The number of patients in Korea diagnosed with the condition is steadily increasing. According to data from the Korea Health Review and Assessment Service (KHRA), 111,214 women were treated for endometriosis in 2017, a 31 percent increase from 84,583 in 2013. Among those treated in 2017, more than 90 percent were in their 20s to 40s.



How it affects pregnancy



When the cells which grow outside of the uterus break down and bleed, as it would in the womb, it can cause inflammation and pain. Some women with endometriosis have trouble getting pregnant.



"The main cause is that the endometrial cells cause inflammation, which interferes with the delicate balance of hormones that women need to become pregnant," Sang said.



Other complications include an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer, ovarian cysts, and intestinal and bladder complications.



Treatment



"Treatment for endometriosis should take into account the severity of symptoms, age, and future pregnancy plan of the patients. Even after treatment, there is a high chance of recurrence, so the direction of the treatment should be set up to preserve reproductive function if she plans to get pregnant," Sang said.



Over-the-counter medications such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen can help minimize the pain even if it doesn't go away completely. Surgery and hormonal therapy can also help reduce the discomfort from the illness.



Hormones can be effective in treating the symptoms as hormones causes endometriosis patches to go through a cycle similar to the menstrual cycle. Hormone therapy is used to ease the pain. Patients will be treated with the hormones in the form of a pill or an injection. The treatments stop the ovaries from producing hormones, such as estrogen, and usually prevent ovulation. This can help slow the growth and local activity of both the endometrium and the endometrial lesions.



Surgical treatment can be recommended by doctors to treat severe pain from the disorder. Patients should understand the risks before the operation because some procedures cannot be reversed, and can affect a woman's fertility.



"Therefore, patients should discuss all available options before making their final decision about surgical treatment," Sang said.


People of St. Maarten, I hereby address you, as Prime Minister and Chair of the EOC (Emergency Operations Center), in an update for today Saturday March 14, 2020, as part of the process to keep the community of Sint Maarten informed about the latest developments and the Governments COVID-19 preparedness, prevention, mitigation and response measures.

The World Health Organization declared on Wednesday March 11 that the coronaviris COVID-19 has become a global pandemic. Based on this delcaration, the Government of Sint Maarten has stepped up its preparations and today March 14, after deliberation with the Council of Ministers and the EOC a number of decisions have been taken.

These preventive measures are to limit the exposure of the Sint Maarten people to COVID-19 due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in Europe and the United States of America.

Effective Tuesday, March 17, 2020, all international flights and cruises originating from the United States of America, Europe and the United Kingdom to Sint Maarten are cancelled for a period of two weeks. These travel restrictions do not apply for regional air and sea travel at this time. Travel within the Dutch Caribbean  Saba, St. Eustatius, Bonaire, Aruba, and Curacao remains in place until further notice. This travel restriction also applies to other seafaring vessels.

Arrangements will be put in place for visitors to return home with their carriers. Cargo flights/vessels bringing in food supplies, household goods, oil, gas, as well as medicine will continue. Also allowed, will be travel by technical and medical assistants whether via commercial or chartered airlines.





I would like to reiterate that there is no food shortage on the island. There is no reason to engage in panic buying or hoarding of food. There is a sufficient supply of food and medication on the island. We remain in constant contact with our suppliers and have been assured that replenishments will continue.

As of today, March 14th, up until and including Monday, March 16th, there is an opportunity for St. Maarten students studying abroad and residents as well as essential personnel to return to the country ahead of the 2 week travel restrictions.





All residents and nationals traveling back to Sint Maarten from the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom during this period, are recommended to monitor their health for 14-days for consistent cough, fever or respiratory problems (consitent with COVID-19) and maintain a social distance for the safety and security of the community. If you experience the aforementioned symptoms, please call your family physician. Do not go to your doctor or the medical center. During the phone call with your doctor, you will be advised further what actions should be taken.

The second decision regards large gatherings. With respect to social gatherings throughout the country, new permits will not be granted for gatherings of more than 100 persons. Permits which have already been issued relating to gatherings of more than 100 persons will be postponed until further notice.

Government also strongly recommends that persons in a public setting should keep a distance of at least one meter from each other under certain settings. All institutions, businesses, organizations, religious services and other entities should adhere to these recommended advices in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The current situation unfolding at the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) has been brought to my attention, as there was some confusion as to the travel history of 6 passengers on the Air France flight which landed today Saturday, March 14th, based on the fact that German nationals were on board. As we know germany has been added on March 11th to our list of restricted areas of travel. In the latest update received, two of the passengers are residents of Switserland and orignated from there and therefore are allowed to travel to St. Maarten as per our current travel restrictions. The other 4 passengers of German nationality who originated in Germany will return on the same flight back to France. The passengers were kept on board until this information was confirmed, and none have any symptoms related to COVID-19.





PJIA will issue a press release on this matter. The general public is advised not to allow themselves to be riled up before having all the facts. I will also continue to provide updates as the situation develops.

Follow our Government Radio station  107.9FM. For official information, statements and news updates or visit the Government website at www.sintmaartengov.org/coronavirus and our Facebook Page: Government of Sint Maarten.

As Prime Minister of St. Maarten, I wish to encourage all of us to remain steadfast in preparing for what is a world wide pandemic. While we currently have zero confirmed cases, these are all measures aimed at maintaining a COVID-19 status. I pray that we would take our fellow man/woman into consideration while going about our daily activities, and with the knowledge that we are ensuring your safety, refrain from panic buying and fear mongering. Continue to practice proper hygiene at home, at work and in the community.





Knowledge is power! Stay informed and be prepared. We are strong, resilient and faithful people and trust that this too shall pass.





God bless St. Maarten and her people as we work together; government and community to keep her safe. Thank you.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews will push the federal government to follow the lead of other countries and impose restrictions on travellers from the United States, as he warns people to expect more disruptions from coronavirus in coming days.

Mr Andrews warned Victorians to brace for significant changes to their lives as the state government ramps up its efforts to contain the spread of the deadly COVID-19.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews (centre) with Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos and the Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton on Sunday. Credit:Luis Ascui

The state is not closing schools at this stage, he said, but individual campuses could decide to shut and parents would not be punished if they kept children at home.

More than 14,000 tests for the coronavirus have been carried out in the state, with 57 cases confirmed.
The State Security Service (SSS) on Thursday urged the Federal High Court in Asaba to validate the arrest and detention of Anthony Okolie who was accused of using a SIM card previously used by Hanan, President Muhammadu Buharis daughter.

Mr Okolie was in the custody of the secret police for 10 weeks last year on the directive of the presidency.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Okolie was arrested in July 2019 and eventually detained for 10 weeks without trial. Nigerian laws say that a suspect cannot be detained for more than 48 hours without bail or being taken to court.

After his release, Mr Okolie through his lawyer, Tope Akinyode, sued Hanan, the Director-General of the SSS and telecoms provider, MTN, over his illegal detention.

Mr Okolie is seeking an order to compel the respondents to jointly or severally to pay him N500 million as general and aggravated damages for the gross and unlawful violation of the applicants right to acquire moveable properties, freedom of movement and self dignity.

Speaking at the hearing of the suit in Asaba on February 12, the presidents daughter, through her lawyer, M.E. Sheriff, told the court that Hanan would not be responding to the allegations because there was no need.

The judge, Nnamdi Dimgba, furiously responded saying: What do you mean you havent seen a reason? Sheriff, how can you not see a reason? Somebody has accused you. Even if it is to say, I didnt do so, cant you respond? Youre saying you did not see a reason. Sheriff, what kind of thing is this?

On his part, the SSS lawyer, E.E. Daobri, said he did not receive the necessary documents from the SSS headquarters in Abuja on time, hence, could not file a counter-affidavit.

Backtrack

Following the comment by the judge, Hanan, through her lawyer, Mr Sheriff, in a counter-affidavit filed on February 21, agreed that the MTN SIM card which caused the dispute was once used by her.

She, however, claimed not to be aware that any arrest was made by the SSS in her 20-paragraph affidavit obtained by PREMIUM TIMES.

The SSS later deposed to an affidavit, explaining why it arrested and detained the suspect. The security outfit said it received an official letter of instruction from the presidency dated July 5, 2019, upon which it acted.

The SSS alleged that their investigation revealed that Mr Okolie attempted to defraud Ahmed Halidu, a member of the presidents family, before he was arrested.

The agency said Mr Okolie wrote a confessional statement admitting to the crime on July 24, 2019.

In his defence, Mr Akinyode, the lawyer to the accused, said the Nigerian constitution makes no provision of any kind for the first family and that the involvement of the presidency in this matter is a disgraceful deployment of state apparatus for personal gains.

He said: The confessional statement has no relevance to this suit whatsoever. There was no place he ever misrepresented to anybody that he is Buharis daughter. More so, he never received any money from anybody.

Validate Illegal Detention

On Thursday, March 12, when the matter came up, the SSS asked the court to validate Mr Okolies detention because the matter is not expected to be brought to court.

The Principal Staff Officer, Legal Services, SSS, E. E Daubry, made this demand before the court. The security agency also argued that if it had applied for the detention of Mr Okolie in court, sensitive information could have leaked to third parties.

The first family is being investigated and that is a national security issue and this representation and misrepresentation were made to people within and outside Nigeria. And that warranted a long investigation, his phone had to be analysed. And My Lord, the DSS in performing its responsibility can meet with other agencies because there are other strategic government agencies. My Lord, we have deposed to the fact that classified issues arose in the course of that investigation that made the DSS say no, we cannot go to court with this.

After this argument, Justice Dimgba wondered why the agency could not go to court.

In his response, the SSS lawyer said going by the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, the agency would have needed to tender sensitive information before the court which could jeopardise the investigation, hence its decision to detain Mr Okolie for 10 weeks.

We cant take the applicant to court, cannot file charges. The law requires that if they are staying beyond 48 hours, there must be reasonable circumstances that warrant that and in this case, we are saying the national security issues that underpin the investigations cannot be revealed to third parties. Now, my lord, if we file under the ACJA that we need an order to keep him in SSS custody, it will mean filing at the registry. Between the registry and when it will be convenient for my lord to hear the application, the information is divulged.

Mr Dimgba said exploring the Terrorism Prevention Act would have made it easier for the agency to get a detention order. But the SSS said it was not clear at the initial stage whether it was terrorism or not. If it was terrorism, he would have gone for 90 days. Processes would have been put in place.

The judge responded, If it wasnt clear that it was terrorism or something else, does it not mean you ought to have done more investigation before the arrest was made?

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The matter was then adjourned to April 1 for ruling.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 19:56:39|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education on Sunday announced the infection of 13,938 people with novel coronavirus.

A total of 724 people of the infected cases have died, Kianush Jahanpur, head of Public Relations and Information Center of the ministry, was quoted as saying by official IRNA news agency.

A total of 4,790 people have also recovered, Jahanpur said.

The Iranian health official urged the halt of travels on the eve of Iran's new year holidays to begin on March 20.

Iranian president on Sunday ruled out the possibility of quarantining the cities or regions.

A team comprising five experts from the Red Cross Society of China arrived in Tehran on Feb. 29. The Chinese medical team in Iran has set "an excellent example of 'peer-to-peer' experience sharing," Maria van Kerkhove, technical lead for the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies Program, told a daily briefing in Geneva in early March.

On Feb. 25, China's embassy in Tehran delivered 250,000 masks to Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education as a support to protect Iranians against COVID-19.
Dr Coys allows diabetics and healthy eaters to enjoy chocolate guilt-free, writes Trish Dromey.

FIVE years after setting up a company to sell chocolate bars with patented health benefits, Alison Stroh is ready to go international with Dr Coys nutritional chocolate.

Backed by 400,000 which came from David Howell Evans  otherwise known as The Edge from U2  and activist and businesswoman Ali Hewson, Bonos wife, as well as Enterprise Ireland, the Wicklow-based company plans to start by targeting health-conscious consumers and diabetics in the UK.

The companys offering, which now sells in around 500 stores around Ireland, is nutritional chocolate which has been developed and patented by a German oncologist.

It uses a low-glycemic sugar known as galactose, which offers sustained energy without a rise in blood sugar, without a release of insulin and without the sugar crash you can get from sugar, said Ms Stroh, pointing out that managing blood-sugar levels is now widely recognised as being the key to weight control and long-term health.

Since launching on the market in 2015, she said the biggest challenge for Dr Coys has been in getting the message about the chocolates health benefits across to consumers.

This has been difficult, she explained, because it involves educating people about issues concerning blood sugar levels and because the EU puts restrictions on the health claims which can be used on products.

It was also difficult because there is a limited amount of space for a message on a 35g bar.

We won best Food and Drink StartUp!!! Can I get a Woohoooo  European StartUp Awards here we come!!#StartUpAwards #SUA19 #YourStartUpJourney @StartupsIreland pic.twitter.com/g3xUQr757v  Dr.Coys Health Foods (@DrCoys) October 27, 2019

Ms Stroh had a marketing background and an interest in nutrition, when she heard, while working in Germany, about Dr Johannes Coy and the chocolate he had created for cancer patients.

I went to see him in 2014 and told him I thought there might be a good opportunity to take this to the mainstream.

When he responded favourably to the idea, she began researching the confectionery market and working on creating a brand for the concept and developing a product range.

It took a year to get it off the ground and over six months to get the packaging right  finding the right wording was difficult. I had to consult the European Food Safety Authority and the FSAI guidelines to find out what I could say about the health benefits of low glycemic sugar, she said.

In 2015, she launched on the market with a range of four bars, made for Dr Coys under contract by a specialist chocolatier in Belgium.

Starting out by contacting health food stores around the country Ms Stroh gradually began to develop sales, taking on both Avoca and Brown Thomas as early customers.

Persuading her brother, Aaron

ODonoghue, to join her in Dr Coys, she participated in the SuperValu Food Academy programme and got a listing with Musgrave in 2015.

Since then the company has built up a customer base in Ireland and now has sales to some Dunnes, Tesco and SuperValu stores as well as Fresh supermarkets and health food shops. Dr Coys has already commenced sales to the UK where customers include Ocado and Revital health stores.

In 2019, Ms Stroh secured a global licence for the chocolate from Dr Coy, who invested in the company and became a shareholder in October when the company finalised its 400,000 fundraising round.

This is half the money we need to develop the company, said Ms Stroh, who has plans to launch a further fundraising round this year.

This funding will be used to invest in marketing to build brand awareness, grow the team and to export into new markets such as Germany, Nordics, UK and the Middle East.

Currently employing three full time and three part time staff, Dr Coys plans to recruit additional sales and marketing staff and to launch two new products this year.

In the run up to both Mothers Day and Easter, Ms Stroh said that Dr Coys  like every other chocolate company  is expecting a sales bounce.
Visitors to Nebraska prisons will have to answer questions about their possible exposure to the new coronavirus as part of an effort to keep staff and inmates from getting infected, the state corrections department said Thursday.

The Department of Correctional Services said visitors will still be allowed, as long as they are deemed a low risk. But Director Scott Frakes warned that the policy could change quickly.

This situation is very much day-to-day and we are prepared to react with an abundance of caution in order to keep those who live and work in our facilities as healthy as possible, he said.

Visitors, volunteers, contractors and others will be asked to confirm that they are symptom-free, verify if they have had contact with anyone diagnosed with COVID-19 and if they have traveled recently by plane. Visitors who answer yes to any of those questions will be denied entry.

Prison officials said they may also take visitors temperatures to see if they have a fever.

Most people who get infected with the virus experience moderate symptoms. and the vast majority of people recover. Others, including older adults and people with existing health issues, can become severely sick.

Image Credits: AP
The foreign minister in a letter to the UN secretary-general stresses the need for lifting US unilateral sanctions against Iran to confront the coronavirus. (State TVs Channel One  13 March)

The real reason for this request is reflected in the media of the so-called reformist faction. The state-run daily Setareh Sobh wrote: [Foreign Minister] Zarif and [chief of the Central Bank of Iran] Hemati if they want to do something for the people, do not be afraid of the hardliners and negotiate with the Americans on drugs, food, and medical supplies. Negotiate with hardliners and ask them why they didnt approve the FATF bills that prevented Iran from being blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) and as a result, the ability to exchange money between Iran and the world was hampered by this group.

The state run-daily Arman pointed the deadlock of the regime in front of the international community and said, It should be noted that the IMF is directly influenced by the United States, and Irans FATF blacklisting also makes it difficult to obtain such facilities.

He added: Irans blacklisting by the FATF could be another obstacle to external financing at least in the short term.

Another state-run daily affiliated with the so-called reformists while emphasizing that the regimes alibi of using the received loans to financing its external terror actions is being exposed, wrote: The IMF does not trust such treatment of such a help and their fears is most because of mistrust, that mean, will this be spent on fighting the coronavirus or will it be used for other regional purposes?

The mullahs plunderer regime is not qualified or capable of containing the #Coronavirus. Whatever money given to this regime will be plundered and nothing would reach the public in #Iran. #Covid_19 #CoronaOutbreak  Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) March 12, 2020

While fearing any unrest in the country, the daily added: If Iran wouldnt reject Washingtons proposal, maybe the virus creates the capacity for diplomacy and dialogue to resolve other aspects of the Tehran-Washington conflict. There is no doubt that if decision-makers do not choose one or even the two paths, they will be ashamed of their people due to the terrible spread of the coronavirus and the mismanagement of the distribution of needed health items.

It added: Corona makes no joke and does not know responsible, irresponsible, poor and rich, officials children and non-officials children, and it may even kill people with strong genes, and eventually we will defeat Corona, is just a deceitful slogan that creates false hope but results in despair. (Jahan Sanat, 14 March 2020)

It is a very clear fact that the regime is stuck and has no chance to get rid of the economic deadlock, and once again it is facing the dilemma of death or a suicide in fear of death.

Read More:

Coronavirus Aid Should Be Given to the Iranian People, Not Mullahs
Lambert here: Meanwhile, back at the wellhead

By Nick Cunningham, a Vermont-based writer on energy and environmental issues. You can follow him on Twitter at @nickcunningham1. Originally published at DeSmogBlog

On March 5, there was a sense of drama and tension unlike in years past as ExxonMobils top executives gathered for their annual Investor Day presentation, a highly anticipated event where the oil major lays out its plans for the next few years in an effort to woo investors.

Long a darling of Wall Street, that day the oil majors share price had fallen to a 15-year low. Battered by a volatile oil market and increasing scrutiny over the climate crisis, investors wanted answers on how Exxon planned on dealing with the shifting landscape.

ExxonMobil is committed to being part of the solution, CEO Darren Woods said. Were investing in new energy supplies to improve global living standards, working on technologies that are needed to reduce emissions and supporting sensible policies, such as those putting a price on carbon or regulations to reduce emissions of methane.

Beneath that rhetoric is a bitter reality: Exxon flares more gas than any other company in the Permian Basin, Americas most prolific oil field, emitting massive volumes of greenhouse gases as well as toxic pollution that fouls the air in West Texas. The oil giants long history of funding climate science denial has given way to a craftier position of pledging support for climate goals while leaving an aggressive drilling and growth strategy mostly unchanged.

On Investor Day, Exxon had another problem. Falling oil prices had cut into the companys profitability, raising red flags about heavy spending.

Here, too, Exxon tried to couch its growth strategy in measured terms to appease investors demanding restraint. We are adjusting our execution pace because of the current business environment, Neil Chapman, the head of Exxons upstream unit, told investors, acknowledging the fall in oil prices. Some in the trade press interpreted the new strategy as a slowdown in the Permian Basin.

However, while Exxon tweaked its spending plans and drilling pace a bit, the overall strategy remained the same. Despite deciding to deploy fewer rigs, Exxon plans to spend $30 to $35 billion each year through 2025 and aims to produce 1 million barrels per day in the Permian by 2024. Both of those metrics are unchanged from the companys prior guidance. Exxon is leaning in to this market when others have pulled back, as Woods put it.

Oil prices have declined, but the longer-term horizon is more clear, Woods said. The oil major expects oil demand to continue to rise indefinitely, warranting ongoing drilling at an aggressive rate.

Less than 24 hours after Woods comments, the oil market went into a tailspin. The spread of the coronavirus and the onset of an OPEC price war sent oil prices careening down to multi-year lows. The downturn will likely force cutbacks in drilling, somewhat reducing the scourge of flaring in West Texas. But based on Exxons long-term plans, the reprieve may only be temporary.

Flaring in the Permian

The surge of fracking in the Permian has resulted in a massive increase in oil production, but also a spike in flaring, or the burning of gas from oil wells, as drilling has outpaced the construction of natural gas pipelines. The Permian Basin saw flaring and venting, the release of unburned gas, largely methane, directly into the atmosphere, jump to 810 million cubic feet per day in 2019. That means that the volume of gas burned each day exceeded the amount of gas consumed in all of Texas households.

Even the industry admits that rampant flaring has become a major problem for its reputation (a black eye for the Permian), and a number of reports in the past year have raised alarm about the role that gas plays in exacerbating climate change.

But the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry in the state, has done almost nothing to rein in the practice of flaring. In 2019, the commission granted 6,972 flaring permits, and rejected none. In fact, by all accounts, the commission has not denied any of the 27,000 or so flaring permits over the past seven years.

The permissive attitude reached absurd proportions last year when the Railroad Commission granted a permit to Exco Resources, a shale driller that wanted to flare its gas even though it had access to a pipeline, simply because the company didnt want to pay the fees to ship the gas. It was cheaper to burn the gas, and the Texas regulator gave the go-ahead.

The pressure on Texas has grown tremendously over the past year, as rampant flaring becomes increasingly indefensible. Under mounting pressure, Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton released a report on flaring in February. While he is supposed to regulate the industry, he has consistently been one of frackings most powerful champions in the state.

Publicly available flaring data is scarce in Texas, so Sittons flaring report offered some useful information, even as he praised the benefits of fracking. For instance, the number one source of flaring over a 12-month period through October 2019 was XTO Energy, which flared 23,350 million cubic feet of gas per day.

XTO is a subsidiary of ExxonMobil.

The Permians Toxic Air Pollution

In August 2019, a pipeline in Midland, Texas, owned by a company called ETC had to shut down for repairs. XTO Energy sends gas from some of its Permian wells to that pipeline, so the shutdown presented the company with a problem. With nowhere to put the gas coming out of the ground, XTO decided to burn it. Because of the pipeline outage, XTO flared gas for 91 hours, according to an event report filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

Not only did XTO release an unknown volume of CO2 and methane into the atmosphere  the company is not required to report those volumes  but the flaring event also resulted in the release of more than 15,000 pounds of nitrogen oxides, 30,000 pounds of carbon monoxide, and 100 pounds of sulfur dioxide, among other contaminants.





Screenshot from TCEQ submission by XTO Energy

The incident highlights how venting and flaring is not just a climate problem. Flaring often results in the release of other toxic air emissions. ExxonMobil is far from the only culprit; the entire region has a problem with unpermitted pollution from oil and gas drilling.

A 2019 report from the Environmental Integrity Project found that between 2014 and 2017, roughly 35 percent of Ector County, which includes Odessa, experienced sulfur dioxide air pollution levels in excess of the federal health-based standard. That included hundreds of individual incidents of illegal releases of sulfur dioxide. Drilling activity has only increased since then.

Sulfur dioxide can contribute to respiratory problems and make breathing difficult, more so for young children and for people with asthma, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Nitrogen oxides can contribute to smog formation.

Despite the worsening air quality, the region only has three air quality monitors, and only one for sulfur dioxide, compared to around 60 monitors in the Houston area. That makes it difficult to obtain accurate and timely information.

Nevertheless, according to data from the TCEQ, the volume of unauthorized emissions of air contaminants  emissions above an allowed threshold, due to an accident, blowout, or other unplanned event  surged in fiscal year 2019, with an enormous increase in Midland. More than 60 million pounds of emissions of air contaminants occurred in FY19 in the Midland region, up from less than 30 million the year before. The increase, the TCEQ said, was primarily due to heightened oil and gas operations in the Permian Basin.



>

Chart showing regional air pollution totals across Texas. Credit: TCEQ Annual Enforcement Report



Chart showing showing top air pollutants reported statewide in Texas. Credit: TCEQ Annual Enforcement Report

But even that might be understating the impact since the data comes from the companies themselves. The operator estimates emissions based on standard guidelines set by EPA and the duration and magnitude of the release, Gunnar Schade, Associate Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at Texas A&M University, told DeSmog. Such estimates are at times crude and inaccurate, but its the best we have in most cases.

But since this cannot be policed, I think it is fair to assume that uncertainty cuts mostly one way, towards underestimation, Schade added.

In a more significant incident in early February, drillers in the Permian Basin flared a massive amount of gas because of a winter storm. Power failures led to the temporary shutdown of several natural gas processing facilities, so multiple drillers resorted to flaring, emitting around 8.8 million pounds of air pollution, according to advocacy group Environment Texas. The release over just two days in February was equivalent to about one quarter of the pollution released in the region in all of 2018.

ExxonMobils Permian Plans on Thin Ice

Shale drilling has slowed recently because of profound financial stress. As small and medium-sized drillers pull back, the oil majors have taken over. With deeper pockets, the majors can preside over loss-making fracking operations for years.

At its Investor Day in New York in early March, Exxon showed little sign of slowing down. Exxon is pursuing a strategy that is destructive of both shareholder value and the planet, Edward Mason, head of responsible investment at Church Commissioners for England, who attended the companys investor meeting, told Reuters.

However, the most recent collapse in oil prices  with one measure, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) falling to the low-$30s  could be so painful, that even a company the size of Exxon might think twice. Chevron has already admitted that it might cut spending in response to the sudden Saudi-Russia price war. Exxon too might soon have to slam on the brakes.
The COVID-19 outbreak is disrupting supply chains of Vietnams automotive sector, pushing production and assembly makers into the wall.

Auto sector braces for prolonged production upheaval, illustration photo

Many domestic automobile manufacturing and assembly enterprises are currently facing difficulties due to the shortage of imported parts, especially from China, caused by the effects of the COVID-19, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

Enterprises producing and assembling commercial vehicles including trucks and buses in the country, which currently mainly import components from China, are most affected.

Truong Thanh Hoai, director of the MoITs Industry and Trade Department, analysed that it is difficult for high-quality raw materials and components for cars to be sourced in the short term as the global production chain is organised in a complex way and require parts to exactly meet the technical requirements.

Additionally, the import of spare parts and input materials was also affected by the epidemics outbreak in other countries, such as South Korea, Japan, and India.

Industry insiders said that finding alternative sources right away will be very complex, and that there is currently no escape out of the misery. It is expected that production activities would decrease significantly by mid-March if the situation is not improved.

Enterprises need to seek other supply sources rather than from China. However, this could be a simple job for other industries, but not for auto manufacturing, said Hoai. The production chain will be interrupted if they lack just one small component. The reliance among countries in the production chain is very heavy.

A domestic automobile manufacturing and assembling enterprise in the northern province of Hung Yen said that the automobile market has witnessed a gloomy picture contributed by weak demand and shortages in parts and components due to the outbreak.

He added that his company is faced with the suspended production due to a lack of components, leading to a delay in implementing the firms plan to launch a new model.

Previously the firm could produce and sell about 1,000 trucks a month. However, sales have been chopped by half thus far.

In 2019, Vietnam imported nearly $4 billion of auto parts, of which imports from China reached $700 million (17.5 per cent), from South Korea $1.14 billion (28.55 per cent), and from Japan $720 million (18 per cent).

The local supporting industry remains limited, with almost all components for assembly being imported. In general, although parts like tubes, tires, seats, mirrors, and batteries can be produced locally, they often do not meet the technical standards required for the automobile industry.

Up to 90 per cent of the main raw materials for the production of such components, like aluminium, plastic resin, and high-tech rubber are imported, creating higher costs in the transport, packaging, and taxes.

Currently, some foreign automobile makers like Toyota, Honda, and Ford import components from Japan and Southeast Asian countries. Meanwhile, local automobile manufacturers and assembly enterprises mainly import components from South Korea and India.

According to the foreign newswires, several component suppliers in Chinas Wuhan City and Hubei provinces have alerted their customers that they are unable to maintain the supplies. Similar problems have also emerged in South Korea and will likely spread to other countries and regions as well.

The coronavirus epidemic could have a domino effect on the global automobile industry. For instance, Hyundai will suspend production in South Korea due to the outbreak that disrupted the supply of parts, following Nissan suspending auto production in Japans Kyushu plant.

The previous lack of coherent government policies, combined with weak incentives for completely knocked down assemblers and poor supplier presence, has resulted in a local manufacturing environment that is less attractive for automakers than in other ASEAN countries, according to the Vietnam Business Forum. VIR

Thy Nguyet

Covid-19 epidemic causes delay of supplies for Vietnam's auto industry Chinese supplies of input materials for the auto industry have been interrupted due to the Covid-19 epidemic, and may run out by the end of the month.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 19:35:57|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on March 13, 2020 shows an empty outdoor restaurant in Kuwait City, Kuwait. Kuwait has decided on Wednesday to ban people from going to restaurants and cafes, including those inside malls, as a part of efforts to confront spread of COVID-19. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua)
Turkey launches joint patrol with Russia in Syria

President Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had agreed on a new cease-fire for Idlib on March 5.

The first Turkish-Russian joint land patrol was carried out on M4 highway in Syrias northwestern Idlib province, Turkish National Defense Ministry announced Sunday.

LAND AND AIR ELEMENTS

The ministry said on Twitter that the joint land patrol was carried out with participation of land and air elements as part of the agreement reached in Moscow between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Turkey launches joint patrol with Russia in Syria WATCH

On Friday, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced the date of the first joint patrol of Turkey and Russia, adding that the two countries will establish joint coordination centers in the region.

Under the deal, all military activities are to end in Idlib with the establishment of a security corridor 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) to the north and south of the key M4 highway.
Multiple denominations have given Brisbane's faithful the chance to stay at home and watch church services streamed live if they are concerned about coronavirus.

Major churches in the city confirmed on social media and through their websites that services on Sunday would continue, but some urged people who were vulnerable or unwell to stay at home.

Albert Street Uniting Church, where Newlife has been holding services. Credit:Robert Shakespeare

The Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane last week enacted changes to communion, telling parishes to refrain from giving parishioners communion wine from the same chalice.

The funeral mass for Catholic Archbishop John Bathersby will go ahead in Brisbane but be limited to 500 people.
Washington  Former Vice President Joe Biden slammed the Trump administration's response to the growing coronavirus outbreak, calling the lack of available testing a "colossal" failure while laying out his own plan to combat the virus.

Biden delivered a speech Thursday afternoon in Wilmington, Delaware, as President Trump and Congress scramble to address the crisis, which has roiled financial markets and forced the cancellation of dozens of public events nationwide. Mr. Trump announced new restrictions on travelers from Europe during an address to the nation on Wednesday night that failed to calm nerves on Wall Street.

In his speech, Biden said he had created an advisory council to advise him on how to respond to the crisis. His campaign released a lengthy two-pronged plan to address the public health aspect of the virus as well as its economic impact.

"The core principle is simple: public health professionals must be the ones making our public health decisions and communicating with the American people," Biden said.

The former vice president's proposal would establish mobile testing sites and make tests available for all Americans at no charge. "The administration's failure on testing is colossal, and it's a failure of planning, leadership and execution," Biden said.

Election 2020 Joe Biden

Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks about the coronavirus on Thursday, March 12, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware. AP

He said the White House should provide a daily report of how many tests have been done and direct more resources to vaccine research. Biden also said it was a "national disgrace" that millions of Americans do not have paid sick leave, saying that his plan would ensure workers get paid time off.

"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 said. "We'll lead with science. We'll listen to the experts. We'll heed their advice. And we'll build American leadership, and rebuild it, to rally the world to meet the global threats we're likely to face again."

Story continues

Biden criticized Mr. Trump for his characterization of the coronavirus as a "foreign virus," saying the U.S. "should not fall back on xenophobia" in its response.

"The coronavirus does not have a political affiliation," Biden said. "Downplaying it, being overly dismissive, or spreading misinformation is only going to hurt us."

He said the U.S. should be working with other countries to address the outbreak and leading a "coordinated, global response," in a shot against the president's decision to restrict travel.

Senator Bernie Sanders, Biden's rival in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, planned to deliver his own speech on the coronavirus later Thursday. The dueling remarks come just days before Sunday's Democratic debate, which has been moved from Arizona to Washington, D.C., because of concerns over the virus.

The pandemic continued to batter financial markets on Thursday as stocks plunged again and trading was forced to a halt over the president's decision to impose restrictions on European travelers. At the White House, Mr. Trump nonetheless told reporters that "the markets are gonna be just fine."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi introduced a legislative package to respond to the spread of the coronavirus, with measures including free testing, paid emergency sick leave and increasing funds for food security programs and Medicaid. It is unclear when this legislation will face a vote in the House, as Pelosi remains in touch with the administration and is continuing to hash out details with Republicans.

Several senators have also closed their Washington offices. Republican Senator Rick Scott announced Thursday that he is in self-quarantine, as he was in contact last week with a member of the Brazilian delegation who tested positive for the virus. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Thursday that a planned recess for next week would be canceled in order to address the coronavirus crisis.

Alan He contributed to this report.

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Those who came to the U.S. from abroad Saturday were met with chaos as new coronavirus screenings snarled airports around the country, forcing travelers into overcrowded lines for hours.

Beth Kander, 38, returned from France to a "madhouse" at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, where she spent about five hours going from line to line. Kander told NBC News Sunday that her flight was only alerted to the screenings about an hour before landing.

"When we were an hour out from landing, the captain made an announcement, and it created a lot of anxiety," Kander said. "He said you will not be allowed to get off a plane, a U.S. official will board and there will be a coronavirus update."

Only an official never boarded the plane, Kander told NBC News. Instead the captain apologized, saying information "keeps shifting" and that they would get more information after they deplaned.

Image: People wait to check in their luggage at Los Angeles International Airport on March 14, 2020. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP)

Passengers were packed into customs lines, asked to fill out forms, but never told what the screening process would be or when it would end. Eventually they were given pamphlets about self-quarantine, asked to "stay put" for 14 days and asked for their contact information, she said.

There was no line or area to wait for those who might be immunocompromised, Kander said.

"I think the most dangerous part of my trip was being in that airport with all those people in the five hours that we had to wait," Kander said.

Americans have been forced to cut vacations short and re-book flights home this weekend as Europe continues to lock down towns and cities amid the spread of coronavirus. Additionally, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he would ban many foreign travelers from Europe for the next 30 days.

OHare airport was only one of many airports where passengers returning from abroad were forced into packed lines, antithetical from the call for social distancing in an effort to slow the spread coronavirus.

Story continues

Travelers also reported overcrowding at airports in New York City, Los Angeles and Dallas-Fort Worth upon their returns.

Another look at what's happening inside @DFWAirport and the lines at customs. Travelers say they've been in line 3-5 hours... Airport telling people delays are due to "enhanced screening for passengers" who have been abroad. @NBCDFW Video: Dorothy Lowe pic.twitter.com/beVj4TAsDM  Katy Blakey (@KatyBlakeyNBC5) March 15, 2020

The Department of Homeland Security was aware of the issue and attempting to add additional screening capacity to expedite the customs process, according to a tweet from DHS Acting Secretary Chad Wolf.

I understand this is very stressful, Wolf said. In these unprecedented times, we ask for your patience. It currently takes ~60 seconds for medical professionals to screen each passenger. We will be increasing capacity but the health and safety of the American public is first & foremost.

Although cases seem to be on the decline in Mainland China, where the outbreak began, the number of patients who have contracted coronavirus have surged across the world. More than 2,900 cases have been confirmed in the U.S. and at least 60 people have died as of Sunday morning.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker criticized Trump and his administration on Twitter as the new screenings were implemented for those returning to the U.S. from abroad. The governor called the lines at O'Hare unacceptable, adding that Twitter appeared to be the only communication medium the president pays attention to.

The federal government needs to get its s@#t together. NOW, Pritzker wrote.

The federal government needs to get its s@#t together. NOW.  Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) March 15, 2020

Pritkzer told NBC News Chuck Todd on Meet the Press Sunday that the administration should have increased Customs and Border Protection staff in recognition that an influx of people would arrive in fear that all travel between the U.S. and Europe would be cut off.

Today, its going to be even worse, Pritzker said. There are larger numbers of flights with more people coming and they seem completely unprepared.

Instead of reassurance that the situation would be handled, Pritzker said that a White House staffer called Saturday night to scold him over the tweets.

"I got a call at 11 last night from a White House staffer who yelled at me about the tweet," Pritzker said. "Thats what I got.
Powells Books said Sunday it was closing all five of its Portland-area stores through at least the end of March in response to the worldwide coronavirus outbreak.

The bookseller, whose flagship City of Books store in the Pearl District is reliably packed with locals and tourists alike, said it could not remain open and abide by public health officials social distancing recommendations.

Because at this time we feel that we cannot honor the social distancing guidelines presented by the CDC, we have decided that it is important for us to close our five Portland-area stores, effective immediately, chief executive Emily Powell said in a statement posted to the bookstores website.

The company said it would evaluate extending the closure at the end of the month. Meanwhile, it plans to continue online sales.

-- Elliot Njus
Four terrorists, belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) outfits, were killed in an encounter with security forces in Anantnag district of on Sunday, police said.

Acting on specific information, security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation in the Dar Mohalla Watarigam area of Dialgam in the south Kashmir district on Sunday morning, a police spokesman said.

He said during the search operation, the terrorists fired upon the search party of the forces.

The fire was retaliated leading to an encounter in which four terrorists were killed, the spokesman said.

He said three of the slain terrorists -- district commander Muzaffar Ahmed Bhat, Omar Ameen Bhat and Sajad Ahmed Bhat -- were affiliated with LeT, while Gulzar Ahmed Bhat belonged to HM.

All of them were residents of the neighbouring Kulgam district, he added.

Two AK 47 rifles, two pistols, ammunition and other incriminating material have been recovered from the site of the encounter, the spokesman said, adding all the slain militants were involved in several terror crime cases.
The U.S. President, Donald Trump, has tested negative for Covid-19, the New York Times reported on Sunday.

The information was disclosed in a memo released by Mr Trumps doctor which stated that one week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation at Mar-a-Lago, the president remains symptom-free.

Mr Trumps health had been a concern since he spent time at his Florida resort last weekend with Brazilian delegates, some of whom were later found to have the illness.

Mr Trump had been in the company of the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro and his delegates. However, two of the delegates were later confirmed to be positive of the virus.

Some members of the U.S. Congress have been self-isolating after interacting with the Brazilian delegates at Mar-a-Lago.

However, there had been concerns as to whether Mr Trump would be tested since he was seen in the company of one of the infected persons.

Earlier on Saturday, Mr Trump at a news conference had announced that he had been tested for the coronavirus on Friday night and was awaiting the results.

Mr Trump said he decided to be tested for the coronavirus at the conference during which he declared a national emergency.

People were asking, did I take the test, he said.

Asked when he expected to have the result, Mr. Trump said, A day, two days.

Brazilian President

Meanwhile, the Brazilian president after the news that one of his delegates (press secretary Fabio Wajngarten) tested positive for Covid-19 also had his test done.

Mr Bolsonaros result was however negative, though there had been speculations in the media that he tested positive.

Mr Bolsonaro on Friday denied testing positive saying it was fake news.

Restrictions

Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence has announced the extension of the administrations European travel ban to the UK and Ireland.

Mr Pence said that effective at midnight Monday, the federal governments European travel ban would apply to the UK and Ireland.

The U.S. had earlier placed 30 day travel restrictions on 26 countries excluding UK and Ireland despite UK reporting cases of the disease.

READ ALSO:

When asked about his own status on the disease, Mr Pence said, Im going to speak immediately after this news conference with the White House physicians office,

He said the white house doctor had previously advised him that neither he nor his wife needed to be tested.

Also, the White House has begun checking the temperatures of anyone in close contact with Mr Trump or Mr Pence.

The White House staff also checked the temperatures of everybody who attended the news conference.
PHILADELPHIA  Murder and related charges have been filed against one of several men present in a Frankford rowhouse during the fatal shooting Friday of Philadelphia Cpl. James OConnor IV  though not yet in connection with the SWAT officers killing.

Court records show that Hassan Elliott was arraigned early Saturday on counts of murder, conspiracy and related crimes for the March 1, 2019, shooting of Tyree Tyrone in Frankford.

The charges will hold Elliott, 21, in jail without bail as authorities continue to investigate who all was involved in OConnors death. He and other SWAT officers had been serving a warrant on Elliott for the 2019 killing of Tyrone Friday morning when someone inside the Bridge Street rowhouse where Elliott had been staying began shooting through a closed door, authorities have said.

Philadelphia police Cpl. James O'Connor IV. (Philadelphia Police Department) TNS

OConnor, a 23-year veteran of the department, was struck in the arm and shoulder and declared dead at Temple University Hospital Friday morning.

Court records also show that Elliott was arraigned Saturday on counts of attempted murder, aggravated assault and related charges for an incident that occurred Dec. 27, 2019. The details of that crime were not immediately clear.

Police said Friday that Elliott was one of six people inside the rowhouse when at least one person began firing at OConnor and the SWAT officers. All of the people were in custody as detectives continued to investigate who fired and what charges might be filed, Homicide Capt. Jason Smith said Friday.

Police have identified only one other person allegedly in the house at the time: Khalif Sears, 18, who had been wanted as a second suspect with Elliott in the Tyrone killing. He has not been charged for either incident.

Philadelphia Police SWAT officers accompany the body of Cpl. James OConnor IV to a hearse at the emergency room entrance at Temple University Hospital in North Philadelphia on Friday. He is the first officer to be killed in the line of duty in five years.

OConnor, 46, was a married father of two who had spent 15 years in the SWAT unit. His father and son were also city police officers, and his daughter serves in the Air Force, police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said Friday. Friends described him as honest, straightforward and devoted to his family and his unit.

OConnor was shot about 5:40 a.m. when he and other Special Weapons and Tactics officers, along with members of a homicide fugitive task force, entered the two-story rowhouse.

The March 2019 murder for which Elliott was wanted happened around the corner from the house where OConnor and the other officers were serving the warrant Friday. Before they could reach Elliott, more than a dozen bullets flew through the door.

By Chris Palmer, The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS)
Chennai, March 15 : The DMK President M.K. Stalin on Sunday called a meeting of the party's General Council on March 29, 2020 to discuss on the selection of party's next General Secretary.

In a statement issued here the party said Stalin has called a meeting of the party's General Council to discuss on the election of the General Secretary for the party.

It may be recalled DMK's General Secretary K. Anbazhagan died here on March 7 after prolonged illness.
Photo: Patrick Semansky/AP/Shutterstock

With Elizabeth Warren out of the Democratic primary, matters return to status quo. The partys next nominee for president will be a man. Online, post-Warren grief converged on those men, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders; on their whiteness and their elderly qualities. Although they possess vastly different ideologies, their traits, not their beliefs, are what provoke consternation among many. To an extent, the frustration is credible. The U.S. has never elected a woman president. It came closest in 2016, when Hillary Clinton earned the popular vote, then lost the Electoral College to a crude misogynist.

For all the old talk of Clintons competence, the same record she touted as proof of her worthiness showed her to be a timid politician. Warren didnt suffer from the same flaw, which makes her loss, four years after Clintons, harder to stomach. Clinton perceived a wave of rising nationalism and decided to appease it. She conjured a bright and mythic America that had always known greatness. Warren made the less popular decision. America was not great for most people, she suggested; it left millions behind to enrich a few people at the top. The story Warren told is not the story that other Democrats wanted to hear. There is no way to tell the truth about America and what ails it without identifying the Democratic Party as a reason for its illness.

Warren lost, in part, because she could not resolve the contradictions of her case. As an establishment critic who wanted to unify the party rather than purify it, as a foe of capitalist excess who still believed in capitalism, she remained at odds with herself. Even so, Warrens platform advanced the material interests of women far more than Clintons did in 2016. Warren thus leaves the primary with a valuable distinction. She is the most feminist woman to run for president.

But in the wake of her exit, the fact of her identity may outweigh the substance of her ideas. The race should have a woman in it, some supporters say, as though Warren herself had only a symbolic value. Give the women in your life some space, some professional feminists crooned, as though anger in women is too fragile to survive the elements. Overnight, Warrens real importance was simplified. She didnt lose because Democratic voters were unready for a woman who was also a social democrat. She lost because they hated women, period. The truth is more complicated, and so is the fight for liberation.

It is obviously true that sexism dampened Warrens appeal, even among women. Sexism can have a seductive appeal, even to those it harms. It promises safety, tells women they can fend off danger by telling men they make some good points. But sexism doesnt explain everything about the failure of Warrens campaign. By rejecting Warren, voters also rejected her beliefs  a problem for the left, including supporters of Bernie Sanders, and a problem for women, who would have benefited from her plans to forgive most student debt and to offer generous paid leave. If Warrens gender is the most distinguishing characteristic of her campaign, then the men she leaves in the race are interchangeable. They are equally inferior to her; in this logic, their ideas dont matter as much as their masculinity.

For Warren supporters who hold this view, Biden is as good as Sanders, and maybe better. Toni Van Pelt of the National Organization for Women told the Associated Press on Friday that shed urged Warren against a Sanders endorsement. We think that our constituents, our members, will not necessarily think of Sanders as the best choice. We wouldnt have the Violence Against Women Act if it wasnt for Bidens leadership, she said. Sanders doesnt have a record. Hes really, as far as we know, done next to nothing for women and for our issues. On Twitter, Van Pelt has company, and in the aggregate, the voters who backed Warren currently prefer Biden to Sanders too.

But while Biden helped write VAWA, he cant otherwise claim to be much of a feminist. On abortion rights, a key issue for NOW, Sanders has the superior record. When he launched his latest campaign for president, Biden still supported the Hyde Amendment, which bans the use of public funds for abortion. Sanders did not. (Biden has since changed his position.) In a 2006 clip published by CNN, Biden said he did not view abortion as a choice and a right. I think its always a tragedy, and I think that it should be rare and safe, and I think we should be focusing on how to limit the number of abortions. There ought to be able to have a common ground and consensus as to do that.

Multiple women have accused Biden of touching them  or in the case of Lucy Flores, of kissing them  without permission. Bidens handling of the Anita Hill hearings still smarts, not least because of his belated remorse. Hill herself has said that his show of regret, decades after Clarence Thomas was confirmed, has been inadequate. On policy matters, Bidens platform is a shadow of Warrens and pales even further into insignificance when compared to Sanderss policies. Bidens health-care plan would leave 10 million people without insurance. His foreign policy positions differ little from those of former president Barack Obama, which leaves women living in other countries vulnerable to the use of American force. Immigrant women, too, may wonder whether President Biden would carry on Obamas grim record on deportation.

The real feminist outrage isnt that Warren dropped out but that Biden is still in the race. That Pete Buttigieg, with his wine cave fundraisers and his flexible beliefs, earned more delegates before he dropped out of the primary. A feminist choice for president still exists. If Warrens supporters and surrogates choose Biden over Sanders, they did not want a feminist in power. They just wanted a woman.

What does it mean, after all, to want a woman president? Do we want her because shed make history? Or do we want something weightier than representation? We cant assume that a woman is more likely to bring the rest of us with her, that the fact of her gender will lift other boats. In the U.S. and outside it, in nations with longer records of putting women in power, history argues against such optimism. Margaret Thatcher made history. So did Sarah Palin, and not that long ago. A feminist politician is not necessarily a woman politician. To assume otherwise is to suggest that putting a woman in the White House is the summit of our ambition, and not merely a means to an end. Ideology matters. It makes the choices ahead of us clear.
As many Bay Area residents hunker down at home to avoid contracting the coronavirus, we want to remind readers that staying active is important to staying healthy.

What you see: At Windy Hill Open Space Preserve, you can drive to the Skyline trailhead for a good view, and then take a short walk for the eye-popping lookout. In March and April, afternoon winds out of the northwest often mean crystal views across the South Bay and beyond to Mount Diablo. Another trailhead is available out of Portola Valley, which provides a loop route that rises up to Skyline.

Location/landscape: The preserve spans 1,335 acres from Skyline Ridge (1,800 feet elevation) to Portola Valley (600 feet). Ridge-top grasslands transition down slope into gulches with conifers, and eventually to the oak woodlands of Portola Valley.

Access: Parking, trailheads are available at two access points: At the preserves upper end on Skyline/Highway 35 (south of Sky Londa), and its lower end near Portola Valley.

Skyline trailhead: You get an easy walk that leads to a spectacular view across the South Bay and a great spot for a trail picnic. Take the Anniversary Trail. Its a 0.7-mile walk past the Windy Hill summit (1,905 feet) and to the Herb Grench Overlook. Benches are available at each.

Portola Valley trailhead: At the foot of the preserve near Portola Valley, you can create a 7.5-mile loop that rises up to Skyline and back. Make sure you have a trail map. After parking, take the Spring Ridge Trail to your left (it passes a little pond) and continue to the junction with the Hamms Gulch Trail. Turn right. Thats the route up to Skyline, 3 miles, with two steep spots with switchbacks. Near the ridge, turn right on the Lost Trail (it passes the designated lookout benches) and then connect with the Spring Ridge Trail. To complete the loop, turn right and cruise back down to Portola Valley.

Bring your camera: Several of the award-winning photos in contests sponsored by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District came from this preserve.

Cost: Parking, access free

Map/brochure: Map/brochure at trailheads; PDF at www.openspace.org.

Dogs, horses, bikes: Most trails are historic ranch roads open to most users. Leashed dogs are permitted on all trails (including those on the suggested loop) except Lost Trail and Razorback Trail. Hikers and mountain bikers must yield to horseback riders, mountain bikers must yield to hikers and pass at 5 mph or slower. No motorized bikes.

Contacts: Windy Hill Open Space Preserve, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, 650-691-1200, www.openspace.org.

How to get there

Skyline trailhead: GPS: Use 17288 Skyline Blvd., Woodside, for route to Sky Londa, then turn south on Skyline and go 2.3 miles to Gate WH01 (on left). No GPS address to trailhead.

From San Francisco/Peninsula: Take Interstate 280 to Woodside and Exit 25 for Woodside Road/Highway 84. Take that exit to Woodside Road, turn west (right if coming from the north/San Francisco) and drive 6.6 miles (through Woodside, then enter redwoods; becomes curvy as you climb) to Sky Londa and Skyline Boulevard/Highway 35. Turn left on Skyline and drive 2.3 miles to trailhead on left.

Portola Valley trailhead: GPS: 555 Portola Road, Portola Valley

From San Francisco/Peninsula: Take Interstate 280 to the foothills west of Menlo Park and Stanford and Exit 24 for Sand Hill Road. Take that exit 0.2 of a mile to Sand Hill Road. Turn west (right if coming from the north/San Francisco) on Sand Hill Road. Drive 1.9 miles (becomes Portola Road) and continue straight onto Portola Road for 2.5 miles to signed turn on right to parking and trailhead. Note: Parking available for 25 vehicles. Additional parking 0.4 miles away at Portola Valley Town Center.

 Tom Stienstra
Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Scattered snow flurries and snow showers this evening. Becoming partly cloudy later. Low -8F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 30%..

Tonight

Scattered snow flurries and snow showers this evening. Becoming partly cloudy later. Low -8F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 30%.
New York, March 16 : India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have discussed cooperation between the two countries to deal with the coronavirus crisis, according to a US official.

State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said on Sunday that they spoke on Friday "to discuss COVID-19 developments, including ways in which India and the United States can cooperate to address this global challenge".

While the US is struggling under the growing impact of the disease, India is just beginning to see it with 112 cases and two deaths.

The US has recorded 3,155 with 62 deaths as of Sunday.

India has shut out all but foreign official and diplomatic visitors. The US has banned everyone but citizens and permanent residents who have been in 28 European countries during the past 14 days from entering the country.

India has also organised airlifts of its citizens as well as others stranded in coronavirus-ravaged countries.

New Delhi is also providing assistance to some neighbouring countries to deal with the disease. On Sunday India offered $10 million to set up a common voluntary emergency fund for the members of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in)

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
on Sunday said it would make an equity investment of Rs 250 crore in beleaguered YES Bank, to acquire 250 million equity shares.

...duly authorised committee of the Board of Directors of had at its meeting held on March 14 accorded approval for an equity investment of up to Rs 250 crore comprising up to 250 million equity shares at a price of Rs 10 each and face value of Rs 2 each, under the proposed Scheme of Reconstruction of under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, subject to regulatory and government approval(s), if any, the bank said in a BSE filing.

The Centre on Saturday notified the Reconstruction Scheme, 2020, a day after the Cabinet approved a reconstruction plan proposed by the Reserve Bank of India for bailing it out. .

The authorised capital of has been increased to Rs 6,200 crore, Minister said on Friday.

As per the reconstruction scheme, moratorium on the troubled lender will be lifted on March 18.

Under the plan, state-run SBI will infuse Rs 7,250 crore in the crisis-ridden bank and take 49% equity.

As per the rescue plan, ICICI Bank will invest Rs 1,000 crore, mortgage lender HDFC 1,000 crore, Axis Bank 600 crore, Kotak Mahindra Bank Rs 500 crore, Bandhan Bank and Federal Bank Rs 300 crore each.

There will be a three year lock-in period for all the investors. 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.
Coronavirus scare: MEA pulls out all stops to ensure safety of Indians abroad, sets up special cell

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 15: With the threat of coronavirus looming large, the Ministry of External Affairs has pulled out all the stops to ensure the safety of Indians abroad and set up a special cell to coordinate the issues related with the response to the pandemic that has claimed more than 5,000 lives worldwide. Additional Secretary Dammu Ravi has been appointed as the point person for coordinating the response to COVID-19. He has four other officers and staff to support him, officials said. "Our missions abroad are working round the clock and responding to queries from Indians nationals abroad.

Missions have set up their helplines and are proactively responding to queries over phone and emails as well as using social media platforms to reach the Indian community members in these countries," an official said. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla are personally monitoring the situation, they said.

Explained: Why MEA is not keen on bringing back 'everybody' from coronavirus-hit countries

Jaishankar also travelled to Srinagar on March 9 and met with the families of Indian students in Iran and heard their concerns. The ministry is also working with Indian missions abroad to bring back Indian nationals from the severely-affected countries, officials said. Indian missions in Iran and Italy are in regular touch with Indian nationals, including Indian students, community members and are advising them on following all health protocols amidst the outbreak, they said.

Medical teams have reached both the countries to test Indians for the virus. The Indian Embassy in Tehran successfully facilitated the evacuation of 58 Indian pilgrims from Iran on board an Indian Air Force C17 aircraft on March 10. A second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims from Iran arrived in India on March 13, while another flight returned with 234 Indians stranded in that country in the wee hours on Sunday.

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said 218 Indians, including 211 students, from Milan landed in Delhi on Sunday. The evacuation missions started with Wuhan when 324 Indians were brought back to Delhi on February 1

2 deaths, 93 coronavirus cases including 11 recovered in India

The second Air India flight brought back 323 Indian citizens and seven Maldivian citizens arrived in Delhi on February 2. A consignment of 15 tonnes of Indian medical relief for COVID-19 was sent to Wuhan on February 26. The IAF flight which took the consignment to China brought back 76 Indians and 36 nationals from seven countries (23 from Bangladesh, two each Myanmar and Maldives, six from China, one each from South Africa, USA and Madagascar) to India on its return journey.

The Indian Embassy in Japan also mounted an evacuation operation on February 26 and 27, with an Air India flight bringing back 119 Indians and 5 nationals from Sri Lanka, Nepal, South Africa and Peru who were quarantined on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship off the Japanese coast.

"Our mission/posts in the US have been coordinating evacuation of Indian nationals quarantined on board the cruise ship Grand Princess, docked at the Port of Oakland," the official said. 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.

Coronavirus: Total count in Maha reaches at 26; malls, schools to be closed till March 31

At the briefing by senior officials from the Ministry of External Affairs, the 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.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday said that the coronavirus outbreak could be characterised as pandemic. The number of infection cases globally stood at 1,33,970, with more than 5,000 deaths across 120 countries and territories.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 15, 2020, 12:07 [IST]
Joe Connolly and his family hadnt been up for long when an email stopped them in their tracks.

Connollys mother-in-law, who was visiting them in San Antonio, had gotten word from her church in Houston that 10 days earlier, she had attended the same Mass as a person infected with novel coronavirus.

Shed sat in the same section at St. Cecilias Catholic Church, but not near enough to be considered at a high risk of having the virus. She also had no symptoms.

Still, the news set everyone in the house on edge. Connolly and his wife, Emily, have a 5-month-old girl whose immune system is fragile and untested. There were scant reports to suggest children were at risk of serious complications, but much about the virus remains a mystery.

After the visit ended sooner than planned, the couple spent the rest of the weekend weighing what to do next. Would they be putting others at risk if they went to church the next day, and work that upcoming week?

Eventually, they settled on what seemed like a reasonable course of action: They would self-quarantine and ask health officials for guidance.

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., and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., English and Spanish) See More Collapse

Thats when the trouble began.

On ExpressNews.com: Calm the panic: Pivoting to a community coronavirus plan

Over the past several weeks, Connolly and other San Antonians wanting to know whether they were infected with coronavirus have grown frustrated as they encountered local limits on testing and miscommunication between the Metropolitan Health District and doctors offices.

Connolly was baffled when he tried to find out how he and his wife could get tested. It was like he was stuck in a cyclical phone tree between his doctors office and Metro Health, each telling him to call the other.

In the end, after he was informed he was not a candidate for testing, he said he couldnt help but worry whether the region was prepared for the continued spread of the virus.

It did not instill any confidence. All I can really do is wash my hands and pray that this thing doesnt get out of hand, said Connolly, 30, who works in contract administration.

Metro Health said it has taken steps to improve early issues with its COVID-19 phone hotline that caused confusion for callers.

But mounting public dissatisfaction with testing has also been exacerbated by a mismatch in expectations. People who have been in proximity of someone with coronavirus may want to get tested to ease concerns that they may be a carrier of the virus. Testing became available in San Antonio only last week, and federal guidelines have dictated it largely be used to diagnose the sick, not for screening purposes, which indicates how widespread the infection is.

As weve heard nationally and throughout the state, there are a finite number of tests, said Jennifer Herriott, Metro Healths assistant director of community health. We do need to be using those for people who are most likely to be positive. We cannot test everyone.

No responsibility

That weekend, Connolly emailed his boss to tell him he would work from home. He and his wife found Metro Healths coronavirus hotline, but they were dismayed to learn its hours of operations only were from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

When Connolly called Monday, he was told he could wait it out at home until Wednesday, two weeks after his mother-in-laws potential exposure, by which point she would have gotten sick if she had the virus. Connolly relayed the information to his employer. He heard back from a supervisor, who wanted either a negative test result or a doctors note before Connolly would be allowed to return.

This time, Connolly called the office of his primary care provider, who promptly referred him back to Metro Health as the areas authority on testing. They gave him the wrong phone number to call, so he wound up at the hotline hed called earlier. After a quick succession of transfers, he was told a doctor needed to do the testing. Bemused, he explained that his doctor had said the opposite.

Eventually, he heard back from a doctor at Metro Health, who explained he was at a very low risk of having the virus and could safely return to work. Connolly thought it was a flimsy answer, but it was the best he had gotten so far.

What was frustrating was that nobody took responsibility, and it didnt seem like they had any interest in calling the other office and sorting it out, he said.

On ExpressNews.com: How evacuees saw the intense battle over their release

Daniel Demers was similarly dissatisfied with his inability to get tested for the virus about a week earlier.

On the evening of Feb. 29, the 35-year-old software engineer went to meet his girlfriend on her break at North Star Mall, where they ate at the food court from 6 to 7 p.m.

It wasnt until later that he learned he could have been there at the same time as a woman who had fallen ill with the virus earlier that month, during her quarantine at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.

The woman, who had been evacuated from Wuhan, China, had been released from a hospital earlier that day, having tested negative twice. But a third test that came back later that evening showed she still had low levels of the virus in her body. Since she appeared to have recovered, its not clear whether she was still infectious, but she was returned to the hospital within hours.

The mix-up angered local officials, who publicly shared a timeline of the womans movements that day, including the two hours she spent at the mall, much of it at the food court.

When Demers learned about the incident the following Monday, he rushed home from work. He called his doctor, who said his office didnt have testing available and advised him to go to the hospital if he developed a high fever.

On ExpressNews.com: Not if, but when, the coronavirus will spread

Demers, whose two children are 5 and 6, thought that wasnt good enough. He called his ex-wife and told her shed need to take the kids because hed potentially been exposed to coronavirus. When he called Metro Health, he was put through to the epidemiology department.

I was pretty adamant that I was probably right next to this woman, Demers said.

But the department only was facilitating testing for people with symptoms.

Worried, he decided to work from home as he self-quarantined. From there, he heard the mall had temporarily shut down for extra cleaning, which only increased his desire to get tested.

Its been a little disheartening that I cant even get confirmation; they cant even tell me if I have it, said Demers, who hopes to see his kids again Monday. I felt like I had to disrupt my own life because of a lack of knowledge and a lack of available testing.

Those with symptoms, such as Carolyn Wilson, appear to have much better luck in getting quick access to a test. On Thursday, the 67-year-old interior designer went to her doctors office for a routine physical,

Days before, shed returned from a trip to California, where shed taken her grandson to Disneyland. Upon returning to San Antonio, she developed a sore throat, coughing and a severe headache.

When she relayed her symptoms and details about her recent trip, the physicians assistant quickly left the room. Office staff talked with her through the door as they donned protective gear and located a test kit.

Her test results were negative but her doctor wants her to self-quarantine for another week.

Confusion

Herriott, of Metro Health, acknowledges there were some early bumps in the road with the hotline that contributed to the publics confusion about who could get tested, and how.

When the hotline went live March 5, three people were taking calls, about 60 a day. Many of the questions were about the availability of testing. The hotline also started getting calls from people like Connolly, whose employers wanted them medically cleared before returning to work.

Herriott said such a requirement is not helpful for people who have never tested positive.

Local doctors kept directing worried patients to the hotline. Meanwhile, Metro Health staff were telling callers that physicians were the ones who would have to order a test and collect nose and throat swabs for it.

On ExpressNews.com: Victims of circumstance faced a chaotic trip home

As a result, the department updated its script to give the public and local health care providers clearer guidance on the testing process. Metro Health is also exploring opening a drive-through testing site, where it could collect specimens for coronavirus testing directly, Herriott said.

On Wednesday, the department expanded the number of available lines to eight. Even so, the hotline was flooded with more than 300 calls Friday, after the citys first travel-related case of coronavirus was announced by local officials. The hotline now has limited hours on weekends, and it could further expand hours, Herriott said.

The department also revised its testing criteria Saturday to allow more people to get tested. Previously, testing was recommended only for those with recent travel to China and Iran, two countries with large outbreaks. The new guidelines have removed travel history and now focus largely on symptoms like fever, coughing and shortness of breath.

Testing capacity

Like elsewhere in the U.S., delays in widespread coronavirus testing in San Antonio and Texas were fueled by early problems with test kits distributed by the CDC.

In February, the labs at the state health department and Metro Health initially received test kits from the agency. But both labs ran into issues with some components that interfered with accurate results.

It took several weeks for the problems to be resolved. As a result, testing did not become available at the state health lab until March 5 and through Metro Health until Monday.

The states network of public health labs, which use the same test as CDC, hopes to automate part of the testing this week so that the labs can process 500 specimens per day, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. That includes about 70 a day at the Metro Health lab.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio, Bexar County battle it out with CDC

Still, it appears public health labs capability will soon be dwarfed by that of commercial laboratories, which may end up conducting the bulk of testing moving forward. Private labs like Quest Diagnostics have developed their own test and have estimated that the commercial lab industry as a whole could conduct 280,000 tests a week across the country by the end of the month.

In addition to kit scarcity, testing has been limited by strict guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which at first restricted testing to people who had relevant symptoms and a travel history to certain foreign countries. Earlier this week, the health agency disclosed it had conducted just over 11,000 tests since the outbreak began.

That number is in sharp contrast to the level of testing done in South Korea, where tens of thousands of people were swabbed to learn how widespread the virus was in communities, an approach known as surveillance testing. No such effort has been undertaken in the U.S., where testing has largely been used to confirm cases in those who already appear to be sick.

Its a figure that has alarmed some federal officials, including U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a San Antonio Democrat, who last week questioned CDC officials about the scarce availability of testing. Doggett said he is also worried that components in the kits, some of which come from China, could run out.

We need to build to a system where we have the capacity to do 10,000 or 11,000 tests a day, not 11,000 over weeks, Doggett said. This virus will spread and hurt and kill more people because we havent identified where it is already.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio hospitals start screening visitors

As limited testing became a major sticking point in the federal governments response to the coronavirus epidemic, officials in Texas have vowed to ramp up testing soon. On Friday, Gov. Greg Abbott said the state and the CDC have tested 220 Texans so far. The state is looking to expand its capability through drive-through test sites, the first of which opened last week in San Antonio for first responders and health care personnel.

Mark Wade, who has served as Metro Healths laboratory services director since 2008, said testing is important for showing the level of disease in a community. But once the virus becomes truly widespread, he said, it may not be practical for health care providers to test every single person.

If a patient has symptoms but tests negative for the flu and other respiratory illnesses, doctors may treat it as coronavirus without conducting further testing.

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
(Natural News) During testimony before the House Appropriations Committee earlier this week, Dr. Anthony Fauci (see video, below), head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, suggested that one way to stop the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) in the U.S. would be to ban travel from afflicted regions of the world.

Wednesday evening, the suggestion became official U.S. policy.

During a nationally televised address to lay out an action plan for dealing with the still-spreading virus, President Donald Trump said that he was ordering a travel ban to the United States from all of Europe, with the exception of the United Kingdom, a decision that was actually praised by American healthcare and health policy experts.

Over 70 percent of the new cases are linked to the Europe, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield told lawmakers in Washington. And in the United States, I think it was now 30 states in our country or more were linked actually to cases in Europe. Europe is the new China.

As reported by The Epoch Times:

Asked if the ban would have a significant impact on reducing the community spread of the coronavirus, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said yes. The answer is a firm yes, he told the lawmakers during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing.

That was the reason, the rationale, the public health rationale why that recommendation was made, he added.

Faucis answer is curious  if not correct  because in late February, he told a CNBC program that if the outbreak became a pandemic, as it has, then travel restrictions wouldnt do any good.

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 U.S., Fauci told CNBCs Squawk on the Street. When you have multiple countries involved, its very difficult to do; in fact, its almost impossible.

I think its a good step

Readers may recall that Trump, very early on, ordered a travel ban from China to the U.S. for the very purpose of limiting the diseases spread domestically. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), told Fox News Feb. 28 he believes that the quick decision by the president was the single most consequential and valuable thing he did. (Related: Theyre TRYING to spread it! Sacramento County announces ending all 14-day quarantines and releasing high-risk people into the general public.)

In an interview with Sean Hannity, Cotton noted that even then Democrats had begun to criticize the presidents virus response because they criticize anything that he does.

The single most consequential and valuable thing done to stop this virus from already spreading throughout the United States was when President Trump decided to shut down travel to China last month, Cotton said, referring to the administrations announcement Jan. 31.

Now, most European countries have been added to the travel ban list as well, a move that even some Democrats are now praising.

It seems like of the 35 states that now have coronaviruses, 30 of them have originated in Europe, so I think its a wise move., U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), said, the New York Post reported.

I think its a good step, absolutely, Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) added. The fact of the matter is were going to have to take some very serious steps, Jones told The Post. And I think the administration started that yesterday.

The new travel ban will block the entrance of people who visited or are from the Schengen region  the EUs 26-nation zone that allows for travel without restrictions or passport controls: 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.

Fauci said that patients from that region were seeding other countries, so it was imperative for Trump to shut off travel from there.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

NYPost.com

CNBC.com

FoxNews.com
Children should stay home from school and people should say goodbye to their grandparents for at least six months, according to a chorus of doctors who say urgent action needs to be taken to avoid thousands of preventable deaths.

But public health experts are split on the merits of a coronavirus lockdown, with some warning the economic risks of doing so were higher than the health risks and the lockdown of schools could exacerbate the strain on the health system if medical professionals needed to stay home to look after their children.

The number of reported cases nationally more than tripled in the week to Sunday from 80 cases to 279, but there are concerns the actual number could be much higher due to a lag in testing. In NSW alone, there were 22 new confirmed cases in the 24 hours to Sunday, bringing the total to 134.
Internally displaced persons (IDPs) will be better off if rehabilitated and reintegrated into their host communities, a charity group has said.

The group, Hope for All Foundation, said such reintegration would allow a balanced development across class strata in the communities.

The foundations leader, Zainab Aliyu, made the call in Abuja during a presentation of educational relief materials to IDP schoolchildren under the groups scholarship scheme.

We need to incorporate these people (IDPs) into their host communities because they are well-accustomed with their social life.

This will not only help balance the social inequality in Nigeria, it will also boost their morale when they are accepted back to society, she said.

Saying the poor condition of IDPs reflects the impecunious condition millions of Nigerians, Mrs Aliyu harped on the need for non-state actors to contribute to the reintegration, especially in the area of education.

The issue of education is a responsibility of all. We have to help ourselves in bringing about social stability. To do this, we must see education as a tool in acquiring social equality, she said.

She said her advocacy for the education of the IDP minors was borne out of corporate social responsibility she has towards bettering society.

The foundation, according to her, has 76 children from IDP camps in the FCT and the less-privileged families under the scholarship scheme.

Staggering statistics

Due to decade-long Boko-haram insurgency, herdsmen-farmer conflict and flood disaster, about two million people are said to have been forcibly displaced from their homes.

Ninety-four per cent of them were displaced by the insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

The fleeing victims have taken shelter in makeshift camps in different parts of the country, including the FCT.

Government reactions

In November, President Muhammadu Buhari called for support from the UN in rehabilitating IDPs in Nigeria so as to forestall a big problem it could cause the country in future.

While some have condemned the snail-paced process of rehabilitating the displaced persons, civil society groups have also claimed that there has been no visible plans for their reintegration into society.

Presentation of the educational materials

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives, on Wednesday, passed for second reading a bill for the prohibition of stigmatisation against persons who are victims of insurgency or militancy.

In a phone interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday, the spokesperson to the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), Alkasim Abdulkadir, said the reintegration of displaced persons would be done only if the Nigerian army ascertained the security of such communities.

He, however, noted that plans are ongoing to build 500 houses for displaced persons in camps.

When asked if FCT unauthorised camps would be included in the plan, he said no.

Meanwhile, the Federal Commissioner of the Commission, Basheer Muhammad, had earlier listed the establishment of Informal Educational Learning Centres, amongst programmes and projects to be undertaken in the year 2020.

The Commission plans to build Informal Educational Learning Centres in all IDP camps. This will encourage learning in children unable to attend regular schools and those with special needs due to the trauma of displacement, Mr Mohammed said.
Amidst the ongoing fears related to novel coronavirus, people are trying to stay indoors for the maximum amount of time, however, Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Sunday said that this is not the case in Chennai.

He also said that maybe people of Chennai believe that the threat of coronavirus will subside with the onset of summers or they are just not taking the issue seriously.

"Let me rephrase it, social distancing doesn't seem to have caught the attention of the people in Chennai yet. The only reason could be their belief in the summer to curtail it or just faith that nothing will happen. #Coronaindia," Ashwin tweeted.

As of Sunday evening, according to official estimates put out by the union health ministry, total number of confirmed cases in India stood at 107.

As of Sunday evening according to official estimates put out by the union health ministry total number of confirmed cases in India stood at 107.

Further, according to Kerala health minister, two more people have tested positive for COVID19 in Kerala on Sunday evening, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 21.

Two patients have died, one from Delhi and the other from Karnataka.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan violated ceasefire by resorting to unprovoked firing and mortar shelling on forward posts and villages along the Line of Control and the International Border in Poonch and Kathua districts of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Sunday.

The firing and shelling by Pakistani Army in Kirni and Qasba sectors along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district started around 1.45 pm on Sunday and lasted for nearly one-and-a-half-hour, causing damage to some civilian structures, they said. There was no report of any casualty, but some domestic animals suffered splinter injuries, the officials said.

Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by small arms firing and shelling with mortar along LoC in Kirni and Qasba sectors in Poonch. Indian Army is retaliating befittingly, a defence spokesman said.

The officials said Pakistani Rangers also violated ceasefire by firing on forward posts in Manyari-Chorgali area of Hiranagar sector along the International Border (IB) in Kathua district, prompting effective retaliation by the Border Security Force.

The firing was initiated by the Pakistani Rangers when they targeted the forward posts around 9.45 pm on Saturday, the officials said, adding heavy firing rattled the area till 4.35 am on Sunday, causing panic among the border residents. However, no one was injured in the incident, the officials added.
Welcome to THIS ISLAND EARTH, CKCU's globe spinning program, broadcast every Sunday afternoon from 1 to 4 p.m. EST. We visit every corner of the globe with a an electric mix of styles and genres of music. Stay with us this afternoon (Sunday 1-4pm) at CKCU 93.1 FM in the greater Ottawa area or at ckcufm.com from anywhere around the world, as we spin the globe. This afternoon we feature Somaliland vocalist, Sahra Halgan, and her newly released album. Expect to hear some other uplifting tunes to combat COVID-19 blues, new and old. Stay tuned and drop me a line! ---> right there on the right hand side of the screen!
French designer Elizabeth Garouste got her start 50 years ago by creating costumes for productions by her friend the playwright and director Jean-Michel Ribes, now head of the Theatre du Rond-Point in Paris. I kept up the costuming for years, she said on a cold winter afternoon in the ramble of buildingsincluding a small former theaterthat she cobbled together to create her home/studio on the north side of the city. But I always wanted to do what I do now.

What she does nowand what she has done since the late 1970sis design witty objects and furniture that make one smile. Like her Busby Sofa, a high-back, curved love seat with gold feet that look like big, fat screws. Or a mirror made up of a cluster of kidney shapes, framed in gold-leafed wrought iron. Or a low, tweed-seated chair with a grinning devil for the back. Or a tartan armchair shaped like an egg. Its her languagefun, fantastic, surreal, whimsical, all the things shes touched on in her career, said gallerist Ralph Pucci, who will be unveiling these pieces and more in his Manhattan space on May 18.

Born Elizabeth Rochline in 1949, she was raised in Paris, where her parents owned the shoe manufacturer Tibury. Following high school, she joined the company, and for nine years, Elizabeth designed Tibury-made shoes for such brands as Yves Saint Laurent, Sonia Rykiel, and Cacharel. She also studied at the Ecole Camondo and fell in with a cool crew that included classmate Philippe Starck, the artist Sophie Calle, and the theater-set designer Gerard Garouste, whom she married in 1970.

Later that decadea wildly fun time to be young in Paristhey all kitted out (and frequented) the citys hot nightspots: Starck designed the original decor for Les Bains Douches (a full-scale replica of which can still be seen in Roman Polanskis 1988 film Frantic), while Gerard Garouste created the interior for the epic dance club Le Palace. About that time, Elizabeth met fellow designer Mattia Bonetti through her brother, the actor and Surrealist artist David Rochline. Gerard asked Elizabeth and Mattia to add some whimsy to the restaurant Le Privilege. Their solution: primitive-art-inspired pieces, such as terra-cotta masks for the walls. With that, the Garouste and Bonetti partnership was born. We worked in stone, leather, wrought ironmaterials that made one think of prehistory, Elizabeth remembered. The French media dubbed the duo les barbares, or the barbarians.

Story continues

Inside Elizabeth Garouste's Paris Studio and Home

Photo by Antoine Bootz.

Photo by Antoine Bootz.

Photo by Antoine Bootz.

Photo by Antoine Bootz.

Photo by Antoine Bootz.

Photo by Antoine Bootz.

In 1987, French fashion designer Christian Lacroix hired Garouste and Bonetti to design his new couture salons. Until then, maisons de couture were haute bourgeois affairsat Christian Dior, all was a hushed pearl gray and snow white; at Yves Saint Laurent, gold ropes pulled back pine velvet curtains. Garouste and Bonetti chucked all that good taste and designed a decor bold in color and shape. Rooms and carpets were acrid ochers, edged with black baroque swirls. Louis XVIinspired chairs were upholstered in fruit tones. Tree stump stools were topped with ivory tufted cushions. White curtains were trimmed with black polka dots the size of pancakes. They later echoed the look in Lacroixs London store. Thats where Pucci discovered Garoustes work. It was a breath of fresh air, he recalled. So playful, but intelligent and sophisticated.

In time, Garouste and Bonetti broke up, and she dropped out for a while, Pucci said. About seven years ago, he met her in Paris and was charmed. In 2015, he mounted a show of her work in New York, and it went so well, they have carried on since. I liked the idea of bringing her back to the level where she belonged, he said.

Today, she primarily lives in the Paris abode alone, filling it with new work as well as things I do on the sideI draw and sculpt to relax, the way others knit. (Her husband mostly stays at their country place, where she goes for long weekends.) Days are spent in the office upstairs, walled with natural raffia and filled with pieces shes designed over the years, like the black resin armoire decorated with black-and-white coral-like appliques, and the cute little pod chair that sits in front of her colonial-style desk. At her drafting table, she showed off sketches for her next project: the refurbishment of her longtime friendand former Le Palace club kidChristian Louboutins Right Bank shop. As with every commission, her aim is to create an atmosphere that is fantastical and dreamy. We are surrounded by high tech, and I desire to pull us out of that. As she proves in her work, and in her home, she does.

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
Happy Sunshine Week. Do you know where your government is  when it comes to letting taxpayers in on its secrets?

In too many local governments, school districts and state agencies, the answer is: in hiding, along with the records that document those secrets.

Despite new law, SC cities, counties are charging thousands of dollars for public records Newspaper editors and First Amendment lawyers say they have seen a surge of exorbitant FOIA costs, especially from local police agencies, school boards and city and county councils.

As reporter Avery Wilks explains in a disturbing report in todays paper, after what seemed like a reasonable tweak to South Carolinas Freedom of Information Act in 2017, some government officials quickly realized that they could suppress critical news reporting  not to mention citizen-led inquiries  by simply charging exorbitant fees to release public records.

Think about the word public. As in: Our tax money already paid for the creation of these documents that our government is overcharging us to look at.

Sunshine Week, by the way, is an annual observation inspired by the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famous 1913 observation that in government Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants. His less-quoted corollary is that electric light (is) the most efficient policeman  which underscores the importance of shedding light on everything government does, even if it takes extraordinary efforts.

Editorial: If Commerce doesnt come clean on incentives, its time to change FOI law We always knew the S.C. Commerce Department was secretive about the economic incentives it doles out to lure companies to our state, but we didnt realize how much so until last week, when a state senator went to court to challenge that secrecy.

Unfortunately, its taking increasingly extraordinary efforts in South Carolina.

Our news department chose to observe the importance of sunlight (and electric lighting) by highlighting the change to state law that is having the opposite effect that openness advocates expected.

The 2017 law was prompted by governments routine practice of slow-walking responses to document requests and fabricating reasons to withhold records. It was supposed to make it harder to violate the law and rein in ridiculous fees.

Editorial: Secrecy increased racial animosity, turmoil in Aiken schools School officials across South Carolina are watching the turmoil engulfing the Aiken County Schools following the sudden departure of Superintendent Sean Alford and the resignation of three school board members.

It also allowed governments to charge a reasonable fee for redacting information from documents that state law allows them to hide. That seemed like a reasonable trade-off, since state law at least implicitly allowed redaction fees already. But somehow that change escalated some governments efforts to price information out of reach. Since then, Mr. Wilks reports, newspaper editors and First Amendment lawyers say they have seen a surge of exorbitant FOIA costs.

After the Chester County school superintendent sued the districts attorney and chairwoman, for example, the district told the News & Reporter it would cost $29,000 to get copies of emails to and from the superintendent.

Horry County sought to charge Myrtle Beachs Sun News $75,500 for records related to lawsuits the county police department had settled, and refused to explain the charge.

Most charges are more modest: The Lexington County Sheriffs Department, for instance, charged Columbias State newspaper $350 for the personnel records of two deputies who were involved in a controversial investigation. But even modest is out of the reach of many citizens  and increasingly of newspapers. The Independent Voice of Blythewood and Fairfield told Mr. Wilks it had to abandon one investigation because it was going to cost $300 to look at public records.

This is all the more abusive because there are only a few things that state law actually requires government to hide from the public; in most cases, it simply allows them to hide information. So public officials are choosing to hide information from the public, and then charging us for the effort it takes to keep the information hidden.

Post and Courier launches investigative journalism fund The Post and Courier has continued to invest in journalism while other newsrooms have made cuts. But heres the reality: watchdog and investigative journalism is incredibly expensive.

Executive Editor Mitch Pugh, who oversees The Post and Couriers news department, writes in a column today that the paper spent a quarter of a million dollars reporting its 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning series on South Carolinas deadly domestic violence rates (not all of it for public records). Such costs are one reason the paper is asking readers to donate to its newly created Public Service and Investigative Reporting Fund, which is administered by the nonprofit Coastal Community Foundation.

Its probably worth donating. And its definitely worth contacting your state legislators and urging them to do what they said they were doing in 2017: rein in the outrageous fees that government agencies charge to provide the public with the information that the public paid to have collected.

Editor's note: This editorial has been corrected to show the $75,000 fee was from Horry County rather than the Horry County Police Department.
The play unfolded without a hitch, and when it was over, the cast and creative team was trying to make sense of the strange moment. They all seemed ready for the play to bloom, only to see it cut off at the bud. Majok, wiping away tears as she stood at the lip of the stage, said she had written the play in three days in 2017, as the status of the dreamers was becoming a polarizing matter. Now, she herself was watching opportunities recede: Round House Theatre in Bethesda announced that a production of Cost of Living, her Pulitzer winner, was being postponed. And here her newest work, like the lives it chronicled, was in limbo. Im scared, she said, if there is not a review, its like it didnt happen.
Mirza said Regeneron hopes to make doses of the treatment for testing in humans by late August  and, if the results are successful, the general public. If you dont have in-house manufacturing, you have to find somebody to do it. And were able to scale that up here, Mirza said.
St. Christophers Hospital for Children in Philadelphia on March 15. St. Christophers Hospital for Children closed its intensive care unit to new patients and the Level 1 trauma unit shut down Friday, March 13, after a physician tested positive for coronavirus. Read more

St. Christophers Hospital for Children closed its intensive care unit to new patients and the Level 1 trauma unit shut down Friday, March 13, after a physician tested positive for coronavirus. The rest of the hospital remained open, according to a memo sent to Drexel staff and students by the universitys president, John Fry, on Saturday and obtained by The Inquirer on Sunday.

St. Christophers is jointly owned by Drexel and Tower Health, and operated by Tower.

The doctor was last seen at the hospital March 11 and began to feel unwell that day, Fry said in the memo. He said officials know the virus was not contracted within the hospital, but did not elaborate.

Richard Wells, a spokesperson for Tower Health, said the doctor returned from travel in Europe on March 8. Sources close to St. Christophers who were not authorized to speak publicly told the Inquirer that the doctor had recently traveled to Germany  which has been hard-hit by the virus with nearly 4,600 cases as of Sunday morning  but did not have symptoms when she returned to the United States.

The level 1 trauma unit was shut down because the ICU is not able to accept new patients, but current ICU patients will continue to be treated at the hospital, Wells said. It was not clear how many patients are currently in that unit, but hospital sources said the 26-bed unit is typically about 80% full.

Patients in the ICU will remain there until they are medically able to be discharged to home, Wells said.

Hospital sources said the ICU is in a newer wing of the hospital, designed as a separate area that allows it to be well-isolated from the rest of the facility, which remains open. The unit has controlled access for patients, visitors and staff, Wells said.

In his memo, Fry said that ICU staff have been notified of this situation, and will wear approved protective personal equipment  gowns, gloves, eye protection and masks  when treating ICU patients. They will also wear surgical masks when outside patient rooms.

Wells said the hospital is also performing temperature checks on caregivers and staff to monitor for the virus.

Fry said the hospital is contacting patient families and employees who may have been exposed. Tower sent written notices to affected families and has been speaking to them directly, as well, Wells said.

But when asked how many patients and staff had been exposed, Wells said hospital administrators dont know yet.

We are working through contact tracing to identify possible exposures and do not have a number at this time, Wells said in an email.

Meanwhile, Tower and Drexel did nothing to notify the public until pressed for more information by The Inquirer on Sunday  days after the doctor tested positive and the ICU was shut down.

When asked for more information about Frys memo, university spokesperson Niki Gianakaris declined further comment, aside from saying that Drexel is working with all affiliate training sites to ensure the health and safety of students. She directed other questions to Tower.

As of Sunday afternoon, St. Christophers website did not include any notice to patients about the closures and new coronavirus exposure. It comes on top of a report that another, independent physician was quarantined after coming into contact with the virus outside the hospital back in February, and then performing surgical procedures at the hospital. Whether he was actually tested has not been made clear. That earlier news came in the form of a staff memo from Tower Health, issued only after the doctor and contacts had completed a 14-day isolation period.

State health officials  who are tracking all diagnosed and suspected cases  did not respond to a request for comment.

City health commissioner Thomas Farley said he couldnt give out details on specific cases because of privacy concerns for patients, but said at a media briefing Sunday that he had heard that St. Christophers had closed its ICU to new patients.

For all recognized cases, we work with the people involved and employers to try to identify those who are close contacts, he said, and make sure those people quarantine so they dont further spread the infection.

St. Christophers needs to continue to provide services despite the ICU closure, he added: We think its important for us to maintain services for all our healthcare institutions.

City Councilman Mark Squilla, whose district stretches into Kensington, near St. Christophers, said Sunday that a call from a reporter was the first he had heard about the doctors case. He said it was difficult for him to comment extensively on the situation without more information, but said he expected to hear from concerned constituents about the ICU closures.

After a Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia cardiologist at the King of Prussia campus was hospitalized with coronavirus, the hospital was forced to temporarily shut down its cardiology office and an adjacent clinic, and several schools with students who were his patients closed. News of the CHOP cardiologists exposure similarly became public only after The Inquirer obtained an internal staff email from the hospitals CEO. Montgomery County officials later confirmed the case.

The CHOP doctor was in critical condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania on March 9 but hospital and government officials have refused to provide an update on his condition since then.

The virus has been most deadly among older adults and those whose immune systems are compromised. In other countries, most children have appeared less vulnerable, though they can spread the virus to others. But health care settings are of particular concern because those with underlying health conditions are inherently more vulnerable to the virus.

Because the virus can be spread by people who dont have symptoms, or have only mild symptoms, everyone is being asked to do all they can to protect against a rapid spread that would overwhelm hospitals, leading to more deaths.

This is a societal problem, and its going to be a problem at every level, at all demographics, said David J. Goldberg, an associate professor of pediatrics in the division of cardiology at CHOP. We want to keep it out of our hospitals to the degree possible," he said of the situation generally, not of St. Christophers case specifically. "We know that wont be entirely possible but we need to take any precautions to slow it down.

St. Christophers provides health care at all levels, from preventive to critical to young patients, many of whom live near the North Philadelphia institution. Officials said the rest of the hospital remains open for business.

With the trauma and ICU closures, patients who may have been treated there will need to be diverted to other hospitals. Fire commissioner Adam Thiel said that the fire department is used to such changes.

We are constantly balancing hospital status with demand, he said. Its not unusual to have hospitals change status multiple times in a 24-hour period.
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An off-duty METRO police sergeant for Houston was killed Sunday morning in Porter after crashing a vintage car into a tree, officials said.

Authorities found Erik Tellez dead in the car at Brazos Drive and Riverwalk Drive around 1:40 a.m., police said. He had been at a friends house down the street from the crash.
The endorsement comes on the eve of the next presidential debate, where Biden will face off against rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and three days before the next set of states is scheduled to vote. The NEA has pledged to try to boost turnout for Biden in those four states  Ohio, Florida, Illinois and Arizona  where it has hundreds of thousands of members.
Governor Closes Schools Statewide, Bans Gatherings of More Than 25



Gov. Charlie Baker speaks at a press conference detailing emergency actions being taken by his office. BOSTON  State officials are taking "unprecedented" measures to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, including closing all private and public schools, banning gatherings of more than 25, prohibiting on-premise patronizing of restaurants and taverns, and disallowing all visitors to long-term care facilities and nursing homes. The school and restaurant orders take effect Tuesday.

"I realize these measures are unprecedented. But we're asking our residents to take and understand the rationale behind the guidance," said Gov. Charlie Baker at a press conference on Sunday.

The administration is also directing hospitals to postpone elective surgeries to ensure beds and health-care workers are available and requiring them to screen and limit visitors. Berkshire Medical Center initiated some of these actions last week.

The state is also extending renewal times for certain credentials, including the need for customers to physically visit Registry of Motor Vehicle offices, and "relaxing" some requirements for unemployment claims.

"We will file emergency legislation that will allow new claims to be paid more quickly by waiving the one-week waiting period for unemployment benefits that currently exists under state law," he said. "We will also file emergency regulations expanding the eligibility around collecting unemployment for people who have been impacted by COVID-19."

Baker also anticipated filing legislation to help towns and cities in addressing the impact of the pandemic, such as delays in town meetings and fiscal 2021 budgets, and due dates set in law for school district action and improvement plans and Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment Testing.

The Boston Marathon has already been postponed to Sept. 14 and legislation will filed to make it official.

The governor said these actions are in line with federal guidelines to promote "social distancing" to contain the spread of the virus that has already killed more than 6,000 worldwide and more than 60 in the United States.

"People still need to go, obviously, to the supermarkets and then to the pharmacies in a variety of other places like that," the governor said. "We do need to have a program in place, as I said in my remarks, to make sure that the sort of basic necessity requirements for a lot of the kids who rely on and depend on school for a big part of their sustenance every single day continue to access and get it."

Last week's emergency declaration had limited gatherings to 250, but Sunday's order dramatically reduces that to 25. That includes all community, civic, public, leisure, faith-based, entertainment and sports events that bring people within a confined area. This also includes fitness centers, clubs, and theaters.

Restaurants and taverns can remain open for takeout or delivery only.

"[They] must also follow the social distancing protocols set forth in the Department of Public Health guidance," said the governor, and will be in effect from Tuesday, March 17, through April 17 6. "This order doesn't apply to grocery stores. This is about bars and restaurants, and those people do not absolutely have to go to."

Baker asked people not to hoard goods because doing so many mean their neighbors may go without: "People are taking stocking up a little overboard."

The state will also work with school districts to keep buildings open for special services and for how to equitably provide alternative access to learning opportunities.

Massachusetts has received waivers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to continue food programs in districts with higher concentrations of low income students and is working to get additional waivers for other schools.

North Adams, Hoosac Valley Regional and the Pittsfield Public Schools have made plans to provide "grab and go" lunches.

"It's important that we all take a couple of minutes to think about why dispersing classes and school gatherings is necessary to help us mitigate this threat to public health," the governor said. "COVID-19 will feel like the flu for the vast majority of the people who get it. But it's highly contagious, and by breaking up large gatherings and encouraging social distancing, we can prevent the spread.

"But we can't simply transfer a group full of kids from their classroom to your neighbor's play room for days on end. We will not be doing our part to prevent the spread."

He urged parents and caretakers to take to heart the need for social distancing  no playdates, just immediate family.

The order does not affect child-care programs at this point or residential, special needs or group homes although they are urged to take health precautions; call for temporary closures based on actual direct or indirect exposures to individuals with COVID-19.

"At the same time, [Department of Early Education and Care] will prioritize the maintenance and expansion of child care capacity, serving front-line health care workers and first responders," he said.

Higher education facilities, many of which have already made plans to suspend or close campuses for the next weeks, were encouraged to move to long-distance learning to avoid having large numbers on campus.

Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders reiterated that last week's emergency order tells insurers "to cover medically necessary telehealth services in the same manner and to pay the same rate as in-person services."

"Telemedicine is one of the most important things we need to divert care from hospitals and ambulatory sites for patients," she said. "By enabling patients to remain at home, rapid treatment delivery can be provided."

In addition to limiting access to hospitals and long-term care facilities, with certain exceptions for end of life, the order allows some pharmacists to make hand sanitizers to address the shortage in the state.

Sudders said if anyone has questions, they should call 211. The information number has received more than 1,600 calls since going live and that has reduced non-urgent calls to the state's epidemiological line.

"I think one of the great challenges we're all going to have over the course of the next few months is to recognize and understand that what we do every day is going to have a big impact not just on what happens to us, but what what happens to those people that we come in contact with," Baker said. "And we need to treat this and recognize that this is not a sprint  this is going to be a marathon."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday offered to help fellow members of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) in the fight against Covid 19 with technology to track the carriers of the deadly infection and expertise to contain it.

The prime ministers offer of help came in response to several leaders of the south Asian grouping requesting coordinated measures including a joint mechanism, ministerial taskforce, etc, to thwart health and economic challenges posed by the infection that has taken over 5.5 thousand lives worldwide.

We are assembling a Rapid Response Team of doctors and specialists in India, along with testing kits and other equipment. They will be on stand-by, to be placed at your disposal, if required, prime minister said to Saarc members during the Sunday video conference he had himself proposed a couple of days ago.

Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh had all raised the need for coordinated efforts while sharing their experiences and challenges during the conference telecast live on YouTube and government portals.

Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa had sought creation of a ministerial level group of Saarc members and said the countrys economy had been battered by the restrictions placed on tourism. Prime Minister said India could help member states with setting up of a coronavirus surveillance portal to track possible virus carriers which could help in targeted containment efforts in Saarc countries.

Also Read- Coronavirus Saarc video meet: Sri Lanka proposes Saarc ministers group for joint response

We have set up an Integrated Disease Surveillance Portal to better trace possible virus carriers and the people they contacted. We could share this Disease Surveillance software with SAARC partners, and training on using this, said PM Modi.

The prime minister also suggested the creation of a joint research platform to coordinate efforts for controlling epidemic diseases within our South Asian region. He said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) could take the lead in coordinating such an exercise.

The Saarc member nations together account for less than 200 positive cases of Covid 19 so far, most of them--107-- are in India followed by Pakistan.

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Details added (first version posted at 12:01)

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar.14

Trend:

Azerbaijan's State Tourism Agency has introduced restrictions on visits to tourist facilities subject to it, Trend reports referring to the agency on March 14.

The following cultural tourist facilities will be closed for the visitors for the duration of preventive measures, including social isolation, and until the next decision of the Operational Headquarters: the Ateshgah State Historical and Architectural Reserve; the Yanardag State Historical, Cultural and Natural Reserve; Yukhary Bash State Historical and Architectural Reserve - Sheki Khans' Palace; Shekikhanovs House; Sheki Museum of Local History; Sheki Museum of Folk and Applied Arts; Sheki Art Gallery; and the Kish Historical and Architectural Reserve - Albanian church.

The Operational Headquarters under the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers is conducting the measures on social isolation that have been applied in the country from 00:00 (GMT+4) on March 14, 2020.
Nightlife capitals New York and Los Angeles ordered bars and restaurants to close or go take-out only Monday as the US scrambled to contain the coronavirus pandemic and the Federal Reserve slashed rates to stem the fallout. The fast-spreading outbreak has claimed almost 70 lives in the United States, disrupting every walk of life as Americans panic-buy essentials and brace for what may come. Faced with an economic slowdown, the Fed announced emergency measures to shore up confidence and keep the financial sector running, including cutting the key interest rate to 0-0.25 percent. President Donald Trump, in a now-daily briefing to his virus task force, praised the Fed's "phenomenal" action and sought to strike a reassuring tone even as he pleaded with Americans to stop stripping store shelves bare. "Relax. We're doing great. It all will pass," he said. But Anthony Fauci, the country's leading expert on infectious diseases, was blunt in telling Americans to prepare for hard times. "The worst is ahead for us," he told the briefing. "We have a very, very critical point now." In drastic measures, New York's Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city's usually buzzing bars and restaurants would be restricted to take-out or delivery, and that nightclubs, theaters and concert venues must close starting Tuesday. Schools, museums and sports arenas have already been shut in many US states -- but lively St Patrick's Day celebrations were still held despite pleas to limit socializing, prompting calls for more aggressive action. "Our city is facing an unprecedented threat, and we must respond with a wartime mentality," De Blasio said in a statement. - 'Not a joke' - Reinforcing the message, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that gatherings of 50 people or more be canceled or postponed, not including day-to-day education or business activities. In the strongest measure yet on American soil, the US territory of Puerto Rico imposed a 9pm to 5am curfew -- along with the closure of malls, movie theaters, gyms and bars. As a number of states imposed shutdowns, the governor of Illinois, which includes the city of Chicago, announced that all bars and restaurants would close until March 30. "The time for persuasion and public appeals is over. This is not a joke. No one is immune to this," Governor J.B. Pritzker told a news conference. Los Angeles also said it would close bars, restaurants and nightclubs for at least two weeks, while California's Governor Gavin Newsom asked people over the age of 65 to self-isolate. Several major Las Vegas casinos and hotels were shuttered, and party town New Orleans issued guidelines halving the capacity of bars and clubs. Joe Biden, frontrunner to be the Democratic contender taking on Trump in November elections, said that in the president's shoes he would call the military out to help tackle the outbreak. But whispers about a nationwide lockdown were firmly put down by the National Security Council, which tweeted: "Text message rumors of a national #quarantine are FAKE." - Airport chaos - US airports have been hit with a flood of Americans since restrictions on travel from Europe took effect. The ban will extend on Tuesday to Britain and Ireland. Over the weekend frustrated passengers complained of hours-long lines and unsanitary conditions as people were screened for symptoms. American Airlines was among the carriers slashing their schedules, with plans to reduce international capacity by 75 percent until early May. Meanwhile United said it would announce a cut in capacity of around 50 percent for April and May. The airport chaos was the latest evidence of turbulence in the administration's response to the pandemic that started in China late last year. In the US, 69 people have died and more than 3,700 have been infected, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. The US Navy reported its first suspected case of the disease aboard a ship, saying a sailor on the USS Boxer had tested "presumptive positive" and was in quarantine at home. The outbreak has outpaced the government's capacity to measure its scope through wide-scale testing. In Sunday's briefing, Vice President Mike Pence said free testing was now available in all states and that more than 2,000 laboratories were equipped to process tests "much more rapidly". Trump, who had played down the risk of infection early on, has tested negative for the virus, days after potentially being exposed to it. The White House said Sunday it would begin checking the temperature of anyone entering the complex.
Two persons have been arrested



for reportedly putting up 'indecent' posters pertaining to Uttar Pradesh chief minister and his deputy, police said on Sunday.

"An FIR was registered against three persons for putting up indecent posters against UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. Of these, two -- Sudhanshu and Ashwani -- have been arrested, while a hunt is on for the third person, Lalu."



Police said the posters were put up late on Friday night, but were removed on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the opposition Congress demanded the immediate release of the arrested.

The party also held a protest against the arrests at Gandhi Pratima area in the state capital on Sunday.

UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu told PTI, "The way in which the BJP wants to suppress the voice of people... if there is so much of anger (due to such posters), imagine what will happen when their unlawful activities will be unmasked before the public.

"I want to gift the Indian Constitution to him (Yogi Adityanath), so that he reads it thoroughly. He wants to run the state like his mutt, which is completely unconstitutional."



Adityanath heads the Gorakhnath Mutt.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Winston Churchill addresses delegates at the Conservative Party Conference in 1953

It could just as easily have been one of the wartime rallying cries by his late grandfather, Sir Winston Churchill.

In a stirring message about the coronavirus pandemic delivered to 50,000 staff at Government contractor Serco, chief executive Rupert Soames urged them to stand by our country and do what needs to be done.

About half of Sercos staff work in UK prisons, hospitals, defence, transport and border security.

Soames, 60, who is one of Churchills ten grandchildren, called on the army of thousands providing vital services to the public to play their part in achieving a victory in the battle against coronavirus.

He went on to tell employees to prepare to shed sweat and maybe a few tears  in an echo of his grandfathers famous blood, toil, tears and sweat speech on becoming Prime Minister as the Second World War raged in May 1940.

Now is the time we show our mettle, Soames said in a message to employees on Friday. We do important work. That pride which we all have in delivering public services also brings with it a responsibility as a company and as individuals to the people and governments we serve.

It may be inconvenient if you go to the shops to find there is a shortage of bananas. But it is disastrous if we cannot keep our hospitals clean, our prisons safe and our public transport running.

In the next few weeks everybody in the company is likely to be asked to work in different ways, to cover for colleagues who are ill themselves, caring for relatives or looking after children who are locked out of schools. We cannot be proud to deliver public services and not stand up to be counted in a crisis.

This is going to be a serious challenge in every company where we operate, said Soames, who has been chief executive of Serco since 2014 and is the brother of former MP and Defence Minister Sir Nicholas Soames. Hopefully well be back to normal relatively fast, he added, while warning it would possibly get a lot worse before it gets better.

Churchill led the country from the brink of defeat to victory. His rousing speeches over the radio and in Parliament were credited with galvanising the nation in times of crisis.

Rupert Soames, chief executive officer of Serco Group Plc, called on all those providing public services to stand strong in these hard times

Soames said Serco was contacting staff separately to provide practical advice, but before that he wanted to talk on a more fundamental level.

He admitted he had been on a bit of a personal journey because he had initially underestimated the severity of the situation.

Soames explained: Frankly, I started off thinking that this was just like a nasty flu. Unfortunately, it has become clear that coronavirus is worse than flu for two reasons. First, it is particularly easy to catch. And second, because although 80 per cent of the people who get it only have mild symptoms, about 15 per cent of those infected become quite seriously ill.

For people over 70 and those who have pre-existing medical conditions it is a more dangerous disease than flu.

The consensus of expert opinion seems to be that many if not most people in the countries in which we live and work will, sooner or later, be infected by the virus.

The next few months may see very severe disruption to your normal working and home life. Your childrens schools may be closed, public transport restricted, local health and social care stretched to breaking point. It is going to take ingenuity, flexibility, enormous effort, and, dare I say it, sweat and maybe a few tears to get through this.

He added: This will pass. The world and the magic of human immunity will defeat this horrible disease. What is important now is how well we play our part in securing that victory.
The coverage on this live blog has ended  but for up-to-the-minute coverage on the coronavirus, visit the live blog from CNBC's Asia-Pacific team. All times below are in Eastern time. Global cases: More than 156,000, according to Johns Hopkins University

Global deaths: At least 5,833, according to Johns Hopkins University

U.S. cases: At least 2,952, according to Johns Hopkins University

U.S. deaths: At least 57, according to Johns Hopkins University

7:25 pm: Plunging stock market futures hit 'limit down'

Stock futures tanked in overnight trading on Sunday, triggering "limit down" levels to reduce panic in markets. Contracts on the S&P 500 dropped 5%, reaching a "limit down" band made by the CME futures exchange to prevent further losses. No prices can trade below that threshold, only at higher prices than that down 5% limit. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures plunged more than 1,000 points, also triggering the limit down level. The halt occurs during non-U.S. trading hours  that is before the 9:30 a.m. ET open of regular trading. The brutal sell-off in the futures market came even after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates to near zero in an aggressive bid to save the U.S. economy from the coronavirus fallout. Yun Li

6:50 pm: Trump administration says 'all options on the table' including suspension of domestic air travel

The Trump administration is leaving "all options" on the table for further travel restrictions, including an outright suspension of domestic air travel, a senior official said Sunday. Such a drastic measure hasn't been instated since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and it would raise questions about U.S. airlines' chances for survival without government support. "We continue to look at all options and all options remain on the table," said Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in a press briefing when asked about the possibility. Leslie Josephs

6:42 pm: Goldman Sachs sees zero US economic growth as the coronavirus spreads

Jan Hatzius, Goldman's chief economist, lowered his first-quarter GDP growth forecast to zero from 0.7%. The economist also sees a 5% contraction in the second quarter. "We expect US economic activity to contract sharply in the remainder of March and throughout April as virus fears lead consumers and businesses to continue to cut back on spending such as travel, entertainment, and restaurant meals," Hatzius said in a note to clients Sunday. The coronavirus has infected more than 156,000 people worldwide, including over 2,900 in the U.S. The rapid spread of the virus has sent stocks tumbling into a bear market, with both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 now trading more than 20% below their record highs set just last month. "Even with monetary and fiscal policy turning sharply further toward stimulus  these shutdowns and rising public anxiety about the virus are likely to lead to a sharp deterioration in economic activity in the rest of March and throughout April," Hatzius said. Fred Imbert, Pippa Stevens

6:24 pm: Peloton closes retail stores, will stream live classes from a closed set in coronavirus response

Starting Thursday, Peloton will produce and stream content from its new location, but it will be entirely closed to the public, "until further notice." The company, which went public last fall, was scheduled to open a brand new flagship studio on Manhattan's West Side this coming Thursday but will postpone that and close the current New York studio Sunday. Peloton will also close its retail showrooms in the U.S. and abroad until March 29. Its online retail business will operate as usual. Diana Olick

6:20 pm: California Gov. Newsom shuts down bars, nightclubs, brewpubs to slow the outbreak

California Governor Newsom on Sunday directed all "non-essential" businesses such as "bars, nightclubs, wineries and brewpubs and the like" be closed in the state. "We believe this is a non-essential function  And we believe this is appropriate under the circumstances."Newsom stopped short of asking all restaurants in the state to close down as Ohio and Illinois have done."We have more concerns and considerations ... We don't believe ultimately we need to shut them down," Newsom said.

Newsom called for restaurants to socially distance patrons within these establishments. "We're directing we reduce current occupancy by half and require social distancing," he said. Newsom also called for the home isolation of all seniors in California as well as those with chronic health conditions. Riya Bhattacharjee

6:14 pm: Trump says 'relax,' urges against hoarding as cases soar and Fed cuts rates to zero

President Donald Trump urged Americans not to hoard food on Sunday during a White House press conference that came just minutes after the Federal Reserve announced new steps to shield the American economy from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. "You don't have to buy so much," Trump said. "Take it easy. Relax." In brief remarks, Trump cautioned against panic buying and said that food supply chains remained intact. He noted that earlier in the day he had met with executives from consumer and grocery companies including Target, Campbell's and Costco. "They have asked me to say, 'Could you buy a little bit less please.'" Trump said. "I thought I would never hear that from a retailer." Tucker Higgins

6:10 pm: Dow futures fall even after Fed slashes rates to calm markets amid outbreak

Stock futures fell Sunday night even after the Federal Reserve embarked on a massive monetary stimulus campaign to curb slower economic growth amid the coronavirus outbreak. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were last off by more than 600 points shortly after the open. They fell as much as 800 points at one point. "The Fed blasted its monetary bazooka for sure," said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group. "This better work because I don't know what they have left and no amount of money raining from the sky will cure this virus. Only time and medicine will." Fred Imbert

5:59 pm: New York City school system begins to shut down

New York City's public school system will begin to shut down this week to help combat the spread of the coronavirus outbreak that has now spread to 700 people throughout the state, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office. "NYC must have a plan in place in the next 24 hours for childcare for essential workers and a plan to make sure kids will continue to get the meals they need," Cuomo wrote on Twitter. "NYC schools will close early this week." All public schools in Westchester, Long Island and NYC will close this week, Cuomo said Sunday. Emma Newburger

5:44 pm: Starbucks temporarily adopts 'to go' model, will close or shorten hours near coronavirus clusters

If you need your Starbucks latte, be prepared to grab it to go. The Seattle-based coffee chain said it is taking increased precautions in its stores as more communities, and the federal government, call for increased levels of "social distancing" to guard against the COVID-19 outbreak. For at least the next two weeks, Starbucks will take steps to prevent customers from gathering in its cafes in the U.S. and Canada. It is pausing the use of all seating, both inside and on patios, but keeping its cafes, mobile order and pay and drive-thru and delivery options open. The company is also looking to make changes in its mobile order pickup station and its condiment bar in stores, and will allow partners to wear gloves while collecting payments. Christina Cheddar Berk

5:15 pm: Fed cuts rates to zero and launches a massive $700 billion quantitative easing program

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference following the January 28-29 Federal Open Market Committee meeting, in Washington, DC on January 29, 2020. Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images

The Federal Reserve, saying "the coronavirus outbreak has harmed communities and disrupted economic activity in many countries, including the United States," cut interest rates to near-zero on Sunday and launched a massive $700 billion quantitative easing program to shelter the economy from the effects of the virus. Facing highly disrupted financial markets, the Fed also slashed the rate of emergency lending at the discount window for banks by 125 bps to 0.25%, and lengthened the term of loans to 90 days. The new fed funds rate, used as a benchmark both for short-term lending for financial institutions and as a peg to many consume rates, will now be targeted at 0%-0.25%. Steve Liesman

4:46 pm: Ohio closes all restaurants and bars

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced the state will close all restaurants and bars starting at 9 p.m. tonight to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Carryout and deliveries will still be allowed, DeWine said.



Ohio has confirmed 36 cases of coronavirus and 350 people are awaiting test results. Spencer Kimball

4:41 pm: Amazon says it is out of stock of household items and deliveries are delayed due to coronavirus demand

Amazon warned it's experiencing Prime delivery days and running out of stock of popular household items amid the coronavirus outbreak. The issues are a result of a "dramatic increase in the rate that people are shopping online," Amazon said in a blog post that was updated on Saturday. Some popular brands and items in the "household staples" categories were out of stock, while Amazon said some of its "delivery promises are longer than usual." "In the short term this is having an impact on how we serve our customers," Amazon said in the blog post. "We are working around the clock with our selling partners to ensure availability on all of our products, and bring on additional capacity to deliver all of your orders." Amazon added a notice to the top of its marketplace this weekend that reads: "Inventory and delivery may be temporarily unavailable due to increased demand. Confirm availability at checkout." Annie Palmer

4:17 pm: Consumer companies like Clorox are calling on White House to defend US against supply chain disruptions

The lobbying group representing some of America's largest consumer companies sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer urging them to fight global export restrictions on any product used to treat or prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Consumer Brands Association, which represents companies including Lysol-owner Reckitt Benckiser and Clorox, wants Pompeo and Lightizer to determine which products are facing a possible export ban, and what the impact of that ban may be. They also want the leaders to "take appropriate action" should they determine that any export restriction is in violation of a trade agreement. They want them to considering lifting tariffs that may be adding an extra burden to the supply chain. Lauren Hirsch

4:04 pm: NYPD commissioner to officers  'We will, without a doubt suffer'

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea sent a 4-page memo to the force's 36,000 officers and 19,000 civilian workers, telling them to brace for sickness and staggered schedules. "We will, without a doubt suffer," Shea said in the memo obtained by NBC News, noting many members of the force "may become ill." Shea also tried to reassure NYPD workers and officers, saying: "We will stand with you." The memo was sent a day after a school safety officer in Queens, NY tested positive for coronavirus. Fred Imbert

3:18 pm: SAS suspends most flights, cuts 90% of staff because of 'non-existent' demand

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) Airbus A320 planes are parked at the Copenhagen Airport in Kaastrup, Denmark, on March 15, 2020. Johan Nilsson | AFP | Getty Images

Scandinavian airline SAS will temporarily cut 10,000 jobs, or 90% its workforce and suspend most of its flights starting Monday because coronavirus and associated travel restrictions has rendered air travel demand "essentially non-existent." The airline said it aims to continue flying in the next few days to allow travelers to get home. -- Leslie Josephs

3:02 pm: The Senate has not yet scheduled a vote for relief bill already passed by the House

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has yet to schedule a Senate vote to pass the country's second emergency coronavirus deal after the House passed the package early Saturday morning. The next vote the Republican led-Senate has scheduled is over the renewal of national security surveillance law, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. That is scheduled for Monday at 5:30 p.m. "Until the FISA legislation is passed, any action on the House coronavirus legislation will take unanimous consent," a spokesperson for McConnell told CNBC. The Democrat-led house last week passed the second round of legislation, which was aimed at helping workers and individuals struggling to make it through the crisis. Among the provisions agreed to between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House speaker Nancy Pelosi was increased unemployment insurance and paid sick leave. Deal talks between the administration and the House went late into the night Friday, and Mnuchin said Saturday the two have agreed to issue a "technical correction" to the bill on Monday. That means the Senate does not yet have a bill to vote on. Lauren Hirsch

2:17: Germany introduces border controls with France

Germany is introducing border controls with France, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Denmark beginning Monday to stem the spread of the fast-moving coronavirus across Europe.



The introduction of border controls is rare and done only in emergency situations among members of the so-called Schengen Area, which allows the free movement of people across national borders. Germany is the European Union's largest economy and the introduction of border controls with France, the EU's second largest economy, could further slow economic growth in the region.



France, Italy and Spain are already largely in lockdown due to virus, with only grocery stores, pharmacies and other essential stores open the public. Spencer Kimball

2:03 pm: Maryland closes casinos

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan issued an emergency order to shut down all casinos, racetracks and simulcast betting facilities in the state amid the coronavirus pandemic. The shutdown will take effect at midnight on Monday.



"Anyone who hosts or is part of the crowds in bars this weekend is jeopardizing the health of others and must avoid any contact with family members or friends over the age of 60 or those with underlying health conditions," he said. Emma Newburger

1:59 pm: Netanyahu tests negative

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to supporters following the announcement of exit polls in Israel's election at his Likud party headquarters in Tel Aviv. Artur Widak | NurPhoto | Getty Images

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tested negative for coronavirus, his office said in a statement. Netanyahu was asymptomatic before undergoing the precautionary test, which was also administered to officials working close to him. Reuters

1:34 pm: Cuomo defends not closing schools

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is defending his decision not to shut down the state's public schools, arguing that doing so is "not that simple" since schools play an important role in providing childcare and food. "We can't have nurses staying home because they have to stay home and watch their child," Cuomo said during a briefing in Albany, N.Y. He said school closings could contribute to losing access to essential workers in the city, including cops, firefighters and healthcare workers. Cuomo also didn't call for a mandatory shut down of the city's restaurants and bars, but instead urged private businesses to consider work from home measures and voluntary closings. Some elected officials are pressuring the governor to close restaurants and bars, which are currently allowed to operate at half their maximum capacity. On Saturday night, many bars and restaurants across New York City were still full of people, igniting concern that the city was moving too slowly in implementing restrictions on the public.



"We could consider mandatory actions later on," Cuomo said. He noted that by closing stores in New Jersey, it effectively sends people shopping to other areas and spreads infections even more. "Don't panic, don't shut down everything," Cuomo urged.The number of confirmed virus cases in New York has reached over 700 and three people have died. Emma Newburger

1:16 pm: Netanyahu took precautionary coronavirus test

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was tested for coronavirus as a precautionary measure, his office said Netanyahu was asymptomatic before undergoing the test, which was also administered to officials working close to him, his office said in a statement. Coronavirus testing takes time and no results were given in the statement. Reuters

12:29 pm: Expect more retailers to withdraw first-quarter outlooks, analyst warns

Abercrombie & Fitch announced temporary store closures outside the Asia-Pacific region, and withdrew its earnings forecast, citing "material adverse" conditions. It likely won't be the last retailer to offer up such a warning. Jefferies analyst Randal Konick said he expects to see more retailers close stores, and if they don't, they likely will see little demand as malls become ghost towns. "With stores accounting for 75% of sales for most retailers, we anticipate massive EPS declines for 1Q, especially as most retailers appear to be paying employees during the 2 week closures," Konick wrote in a research note. Things could get even more dire if closures extend beyond the two-week period, he said. He named L Brands, Nike, Under Armour, Capri Holdings and department stores like Macy's and Kohl's as the most under threat. Christina Cheddar Berk

12:11 pm: Bank of America's Brian Moynihan  'We're in a war to contain this virus'

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said the coronavirus has united the world as it tries to find a way to curb the outbreak.



"We're in a war to contain this virus," Moynihan said Sunday on CBS. "The interesting thing is everybody has the same common enemy across the whole world. So, it's a question of how we do that as employers?"



Moynihan noted that Bank of America, along with other banks, is helping consumers impacted by the virus outbreak with payment deferrals on credit cards and mortgages.



"You don't want people to be penalized" because of the virus, he added.Fred Imbert

12:01 pm: Apple allows customers to skip March card payment

Apple has announced a customer assistance program for the Apple credit card in order to help people unable to make their March payment amid pressure from the coronavirus pandemic.



The program will allow people to skip this month's payment without incurring interest charges. "We understand that the rapidly-evolving COVID-19 situation poses unique challenges for everyone and some customers may have difficulty making their monthly payments," the company said in a statement. "Apple Card is committed to helping you lead a healthier financial life." Emma Newburger

11:55 am: Kudlow says federal government may give loan guarantees to airlines

White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said the federal government may give airlines loan guarantees to weather falling demand amid the coronavirus outbreak. "We're talking to the airlines," Kudlow said on CBS. "We're going to go up to the Hill this week. we will have a number of new proposals with respect to the airlines."



Airline stocks have tumbled in recent weeks as countries impose travel restrictions and consumers cancel plans due to the outbreak, which is also hurting other parts of the global economy.



"This is a story that will be very challenging in the short run," Kudlow said. "But this is not a story of years. This is a story of weeks and months." Fred Imbert

11:38 am: Top NYC official calls for city shutdown

New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer is calling for a shutdown of the city as concerns mount over the city's relatively slow response to the virus spread.



Elected officials have raised alarms that the city is not moving quickly enough to place restrictions on places like bars and restaurants, many of which were still full of people on Saturday night. Bars and restaurants can currently stay open if they operate at half the maximum capacity.



"Only essential services should remain open. No bars, restaurants, or movie theaters," Stringer wrote on Twitter. "And I am again calling for NYC schools to be shut down. We cannot go on with business as usual." Emma Newburger

11:30 am: US at risk of 'Wuhan style outbreak,' says former FDA commissioner

Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said the U.S. is at risk of a "Wuhan style outbreak" in multiple cities across the country. An outbreak of such intensity in a city like New York would "overwhelm its system," he said during an interview on CBS' "Face the Nation."



The coronavirus originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan and killed more than 3,000 people in mainland China. Health officials say China's coronavirus epidemic had passed its peak as cases continue to spread to other areas of the world.



"There's ways to avert it, but that's the risk that we face right now," Gottlieb said, adding that the U.S. will "certainly" have tens of thousands of virus cases. He said research shows there is likely 10 - 40,000 cases currently distributed across the country. Emma Newburger

11:19 am: US states turn to cash reserves as budgets strained

States across the U.S. are allocating hundreds of millions of dollars to respond to the coronavirus, even as the U.S. government prepares to send billions more their way. Many states have built up sizable stockpiles in their "rainy day" funds during several robust years of tax collections. Some governors and state lawmakers now are tapping into those savings for emergency expenses. Others are looking to set aside even more in reserve, fearing the economic uncertainties stemming from the coronavirus could send tax revenues into a tailspin. State and local public health agencies have been on the front lines of the response, monitoring and testing those suspected of having the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease. Costs are mounting for staff time and medical supplies. But states also are bracing for a potential ripple effect on their revenues. The cancellation of major sporting and entertainment events could mean less tax revenue from tourists and local residents. Directives to work and study at home instead of at offices, schools and colleges could mean less revenue from fuel taxes and public transit fares. And if some employees can't go to work, that could put a damper on state income and withholding taxes while driving up spending for public welfare programs such as unemployment insurance and state Medicaid health care programs. Associated Press

10:46 am: Cuomo calls on Trump to mobilize military

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is calling on President Donald Trump to mobilize federal troops and localize testing to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.



"Every country affected by this crisis has handled it on a national basis. The United States has not," Cuomo wrote in The New York Times. "State and local governments alone simply do not have the capacity or resources to do what is necessary, and we don't want a patchwork quilt of policies."



Cuomo urged the administration to allow states to certify a wide range of testing labs, as well as federalize shutdowns across the country. He also pointed to the "imminent failure of hospital systems" as cases mount and argued that the Army Corps of Engineers should serve as temporary medical centers. "We believe the use of active duty Army Corps personnel would not violate federal law because this is a national disaster," Cuomo wrote. "Doing so still won't provide enough intensive care beds, but it is our best hope." Emma Newburger

10:24 am: Mnuchin doesn't expect recession

Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Treasury secretary, speaks during a news conference in the briefing room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Saturday, March 14, 2020. Shaw Thew | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is confident the U.S. economy will weather the downturn from the coronavirus outbreak, noting he does not expect a recession. "Later in the year, obviously the economic activity will pick up as we confront this virus," Mnuchin said Sunday on ABC. He also told Fox News Sunday he expects a "big rebound later this year." However, not everyone is as confident as Mnuchin that the economy will ride out the coronavirus outbreak.

Alan Blinder, an economist and former Federal Reserve vice chairman, told CNBC last week that the economy is probably already in a recession. Gary Cohn, former National Economic Council director, also thinks the U.S. is already in a recession. Fred Imbert

10:14 am: 'This is the equivalent of a war,' de Blasio says

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called on the U.S. federal government to "wake up" and speed up coronavirus testing capacity and work with places in the country that urgently need more supplies like ventilators, surgical masks and hand sanitizer. "If the federal government doesn't realize this is the equivalent of a war already, there's no way that the states and localities can make all the adjustments we need to," he said on CNN's "State of the Union." "We are all on our own in so many ways."



The mayor is under pressure to order the closure of restaurants, bars and public schools in New York City to combat the spread of the virus. Gatherings of more than 500 people have been banned, but restaurants and bars can stay open at half the maximum capacity.  Emma Newburger

10:00 am: Americans returning from abroad face hours-long lines at US airports

Travelers return early from a trip to Paris, France, due to the U.S. air travel ban at International Arrivals at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California, U.S. March 13, 2020 Kate Munsch | Reuters

Thousands of Americans returning home faced cramped arrivals halls and hours-long waits for the Trump administration's new coronavirus screenings at some of the busiest airports in the country, sparking some worry that it could further the spread of the virus. Trump last week banned most Europeans from visiting the United States for 30 days in a bid to contain the virus. The unprecedented restrictions created chaos at European airports as Americans raced to get home before airlines canceled flights and European countries take their own drastic measures to fight the illness. Returning American citizens and permanent residents would face "enhanced entry screening where the passenger will be asked about their medical history, current condition, and asked for contact information for local health authorities," the Department of Homeland Security said Friday. tweet Upon arrival in the U.S., however, some travelers waited more than four hours for screening.  Leslie Josephs

9:30 am: Hundreds of thousands could die, Fauci warns

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Sunday that hundreds of thousands of Americans could die from the coronavirus as the number of cases is expected to rise across the U.S.



"We are clearly going to have more infections," he said on CNN's "Face the Nation". "The challenge we have right now is how do we blunt that."



"We have to be realistic and honest. Our job, our challenge is to try and make that not happen. But to think if we go about our daily lives and not worry about anything, that's it's not going to happen -- it could happen. And it could be worse," he said.



While the virus is overwhelmingly affecting elderly people and those with underlying health conditions, Fauci warned that younger people could get ill and spread the virus to people who are more vulnerable. He also hinted that hot spots in the U.S. should consider closing still crowded bars and restaurants.



"I would like to see a dramatic diminution of the personal interaction we see in restaurants and in bars," he said. "There are going to be people who are young who are going to wind up getting seriously ill."



Public health officials are urging "social distancing" to contain the spread of the virus in the U.S., as the government restricts large gatherings and travel from outside of the country. Emma Newburger

8:30 am: Olympics 2020 torch handover behind closed doors in Athens

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games flame handover in Athens next week will be done behind closed doors amid the coronavirus outbreak, the Greek Olympic Committee said. Greece on Friday cancelled the remainder of the domestic Olympic torch relay through the country to avoid attracting crowds a day after the Tokyo Games flame was lit in ancient Olympia. Reuters

8:18 am: American Airlines to suspend nearly all long-haul international flights

American Airlines will start a phased suspension of almost all its long-haul international flights from the U.S. starting Monday, the airline said in a statement. The flights affected include those in Asia Pacific, Europe and South America. The latest move will be implemented from March 16 to May 6, and will reduce international capacity by 75% year-on-year, the carrier said. It comes as the U.S. government imposes travel restrictions over the coronavirus outbreak that had already dampened demand. Reuters

7:23 am: Nike is closing all of its stores in the US

A tourist wears a protective mask as she carries her suitcases past a closed Nike store at Las Ramblas on March 15, 2020 in Barcelona, Spain. David Ramos | Getty Images

Nike is closing all of its stores in the U.S., along with other parts of the world, to try to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, the company said Sunday morning. Its locations across the U.S., Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand will close from Monday through March 27, the company said. Lauren Thomas

7:12 am: Health official says Iran's death toll at 724

Alireza Vahabzadeh, an advisor to Iran's health minister, has reportedly said the new coronavirus has killed a further 113 people in the last 24 hours. The death toll now stands at 724 with total infections at 13,938, according to Reuters.  Matt Clinch

3:23 am: Pope's Easter services to be held without faithful attending: Vatican

Pope Francis' Easter services in April will be held without any faithful in attendance in an effort to limit coronavirus spread, the Vatican said Sunday. The pope's weekly Sunday blessings will continue to be held over the internet and television until April 12, the Vatican said on its official website. The Easter services typically attract tens of thousands of attendants to Rome and the Vatican.

2:50 am: South Korea declares disaster zones in areas hard hit by virus

South Korean President Moon Jae-in declared the country's hardest-hit areas from the coronavirus as "disaster zones" on Sunday, announcing 76 new cases and three deaths in what was a decrease in new cases to double-digits for the first time in three weeks, Reuters reported. The declaration was the first to happen in South Korea under the context of a disease, and allows the government to subsidize up to half of restoration expenses and clears residents of their requirement to pay taxes and utility bills. The country has 8,162 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus and 75 deaths, the highest in Asia after China.

1:48 am: Wife of Spanish prime minister tests positive

The wife of Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez has tested positive for the new coronavirus, Reuters reported citing the PM's office. Both Sanchez and his wife, Begona Gomez, are doing fine, the news agency said. The news comes as Spain imposed a 15-day nationwide lockdown that began on Saturday as part of emergency measures to contain the spread of the virus, which has infected at least 6,391 people in the country so far, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University. Spain now has the second highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Europe, after Italy. Joanna Tan

1:14 am: Australia to impose 2-week self-quarantine on anyone arriving from overseas
Authorities around the world turned to increasingly drastic measures to try to slow the spread of the new coronavirus on Sunday, with lockdowns, curfews and travel restrictions spreading.

Soldiers and police sealed the densely populated Philippine capital from most domestic travellers in one of Southeast Asia's most drastic containment moves. The move mirrored a lockdown Spain announced just hours earlier for its 46 million citizens.

President Donald Trump announced that the US, which days ago barred travellers from most of Europe, will extend the ban to Britain and Ireland. And more cities in the US put in place curbs on gatherings of more than a few hundred people, with one New Jersey city even announcing an overnight curfew.

In China, where the virus was first detected in December, those arriving on overseas flights were routed to a converted exhibition centre for initial checks before being shuttled off to their homes or other quarantine locations. It was clear, however, the way the centre of gravity in the crisis has shifted westward toward Europe and North America. The virus has infected more than 150,000 people worldwide and killed over 5,600.

In a nationally televised address on Saturday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez detailed the battery of exceptional measures put in place as part of a two-week state of emergency to fight the sharp rise in infections.

Later Saturday, Spain's government said Sanchez's wife has tested positive for coronavirus. Begona Gomez and the prime minister are in good health, the government said.

Two ministers of Sanchez's Cabinet, the minister of equality and the minister of regional affairs, had already tested positive earlier this week. The others member of the Cabinet have tested negative.

In a lockdown similar to the one already imposed in Italy, people will be allowed to leave their homes only to buy food and medicine, commute to work, go to hospitals and banks, or take trips related to the care of the young and the elderly. All schools and universities were closed, along with restaurants, bars, hotels and other non-essential retail businesses.

Spanish authorities said the number of infections climbed past 5,700, half of them in the capital, Madrid. That represents a national increase of over 1,500 in 24 hours. The country had 136 deaths, up from 120. Spain has the fifth-highest number of cases, behind China, Italy, Iran and South Korea.

For most people, the 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 in a matter of weeks.

In the Philippines, new restrictions for metropolitan Manila - home to more than 12 million people - that went into effect Sunday mean the suspension of domestic travel by land, air and sea to and from the capital region.

Large gatherings like concerts, movies and cockfighting are prohibited and most government work in executive department offices will be suspended in the metropolis for a month. School closures at all levels were extended and curfew was also announced.

Countries around the world have been moving to prevent their health systems from collapsing under the load of all the virus cases.

Paris followed other cities in shuttering major tourist attractions, and France announced the closing of all restaurants, cafes, theaters and nonessential shops starting Sunday. France has recorded at least 3,600 infections. It has banned all gatherings of more than 100 people, ordered all schools closed and asked companies to allow workers to stay home.

In Italy, the worst-hit European country, the number of deaths climbed past 1,400 and infections surged roughly 20 per cent overnight to more than 21,000 because of what authorities characterized as irresponsible behavior by people still socializing despite the nationwide lockdown. Many Italian cities, including Rome and Milan, decided to close playgrounds and parks, too.

In Britain, the death toll nearly doubled from the day before to 21, and the number of people infected rose to over 1,100. Ireland had 90 confirmed cases and one death as of Friday. Greece's infection total approached 230 with three deaths.

The US has seen 60 deaths and more than 2,100 cases. In hard-hit Washington state, where 40 have died and and more than 550 have been infected, officials said the disease is straining the supply of protective gear available to medical providers despite shipments from the federal government.

European countries took steps to isolate themselves from their neighbours.

Denmark closed its borders and halted passenger traffic to and from the country. Travellers will be turned away at the border if they are unable to show that they have "a legitimate reason" to enter for example, if they are Danish citizens or residents.

Poland planned to close is borders at midnight and deny all foreigners entry unless they lived in Poland or had personal ties there. The Czech Republic and Slovakia took similar action. Lithuania said it was introducing border checks at the frontiers with Poland and Latvia.

Russia said its borders with Norway and Poland will be closed to most foreigners beginning Sunday.

In the Middle East, Iran's death toll reached 611, with nearly 13,000 infections, including senior officials.

In the Pacific, Australia and New Zealand announced that incoming travellers will be required to isolate themselves for 14 days, with few exceptions.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
When healthcare workers get sick, or go into quarantine, everybody suffers. Last week a Hamilton cancer specialist tested positive for coronavirus after returning from a trip abroad. The doctor developed mild respiratory symptoms after her return. She appropriately isolated herself from the public. Her cancer patients will be missing her services.

To reduce their chances of getting sick, doctors are now cancelling travel plans. Medical meetings and educational conferences are also being called off. But front-line healthcare workers remain vulnerable. What about getting sick from ones patients?

I adjust my mask before I open the door to let them in. Im wearing it to protect them in case I am carrying a potentially deadly disease. Renee is returning from work and bringing our 11-year-old son, Jonathan, home from school. Toronto, 2003. Ive just had a risky contact with the SARS virus.

I am quarantined, not allowed to leave home. The Public Health authorities say I can be with family members but stay in a separate room. No eating together. No hugging. No visitors. A Public Health nurse has instructed me to take my temperature every twelve hours and phone her with the results. I am immediately to report any fever, cough, difficulty breathing, or just feeling unwell. If anything develops I will be put into hospital at once, in isolation.

Why the fear? In 2003 SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) is a new, unknown disease and there is no cure. It usually starts with dry cough, fever, sore throat, muscle aches, and weakness. It can progress to shortness of breath and serious pneumonia. Its victims in Toronto and China are in intensive-care units, on mechanical respirators. In Canada, 17 percent of people who catch SARS die. Forty-four will die in Toronto during the outbreak.

Im in quarantine to prevent other people from coming in contact with me in case I have caught the virus and it is incubating.

The disease started in the Guangdong province of China where it is believed to have jumped to humans from live-animal markets. A doctor treated patients there with an unusual, atypical pneumonia. He travelled to Hong Kong to attend a wedding in February, 2003. While staying at a hotel he began to get sick. In less than 24 hours, the illness spread to a dozen other hotel guests. One of them was a 78-year old woman from Canada who was in Hong Kong on holiday.

When she returned home to Toronto she developed symptoms and died in March. In retrospect, the cause of her death was SARS. It was unrecognized then; China initially covered up the extent of the SARS outbreak. Before dying, the woman transmitted the virus to a family member. He has now been admitted to a Toronto hospital, leading to a large outbreak among the other patients, and SARS has become identified as a new disease. Toronto is the only city outside of Asia significantly affected. Reporters and broadcasters are converging, and it is now the lead story in the international media. The World Health Organization issued a travel advisory recommending people not visit Toronto. The WHO is criticized for this, since SARS isnt spreading through the community. Transmission of SARS is mainly limited to hospitals, and the households of patients. Eight days after it was issued, the travel advisory is lifted.

However, healthcare workers treating patients are getting sick. These days anybody with fever, sneezing, or a cough is potentially in danger, and also dangerous to their doctors, nurses, and paramedics. In our waiting rooms, patients need to have their temperatures taken and wear masks. Were told the virus is transmitted in large respiratory droplets, especially within one metre of a patient. So in our examining rooms, were putting on disposable, plastic gowns over our clothing. Then latex gloves, and goggles to protect our eyes from infected droplets. Finally, we put on special masks we can hardly breathe through, called N95 respirators. Because ordinary surgical masks leave gaps around the mouth, and dont filter all the air we breathe in, we wear these respirators whose tight facial fit blocks almost all airborne particles. The seal between mask and chin is checked to be sure it is air-tight. The N95s are stifling. After a few minutes in the full gear we feel hot, light-headed.

The public is scared. People wear masks in the streets and on subways.

It is early May, and the SARS outbreak is now thought to be over because no new cases have been identified after four weeks, two virus incubation periods. Health Canada runs advertisements to reassure the public. The new, enhanced infection control practices are being eased, including the rules about hospital visitors and procedures, and protective gear. We are told we can remove our gowns, goggles, and suffocating respirators. You can feel a collective sigh of relief, the entire metropolitan area, over five million people, relaxing.

But in the Emergency department, doctors are continuing to see cases of fever and cough of uncertain cause. Suspicious, some decide on their own to continue wearing protective gear. It frightens the patients.

On Thursday, May 22 at 3 p.m. I sit down in my office for a talk with a patient in her thirties, a nurse at my hospital, the North York General. Ellen doesnt feel ill. Shes come to discuss some personal problems, and we talk for half an hour.

The next evening, a fax comes in. Ellen has been admitted to hospital through the emergency department, diagnosed with SARS. Rapidly advancing. My chest tightens.

I phone the nursing station. Her symptoms began shortly after seeing me, the clerk says. Cough, fever, chest tightness. She quickly became very sick with shortness of breath. She is now in strict isolation, on oxygen. Before seeing me, she had nursed a hospital patient who later developed SARS.

I worry for her, and for myself. I had a prolonged, unprotected contact with her no mask, gown, or eye shield. Dangerously face-to-face, from a distance of less than a metre. I am now at high risk for the disease. At a lesser risk are my staff, my colleagues in my group practice, and our patients who were in the waiting room when she arrived.

I call the Public Health Department to report my exposure. A public health nurse lays down the law about my quarantine. Other public health workers go over my appointment schedule for that Thursday. They identify and phone every patient who might have crossed paths with my patient. Tell them the symptoms to watch for. Tension is high.

On May 24 there is a surprise announcement at a news conference: SARS is back. Officials acknowledge that a second lethal round is underway. Theyre calling this second wave SARS II. Ellens illness was the beginning of it. My hospital is the hotbed.

All the infection-control rules that were previously dropped are resumed. But for me, and my unprotected contact with Ellen, the precautions come two days too late. To prevent further spread of infection, the hospital is now closed to all new admissions except for patients with SARS. There are no deliveries, no operations. At the end of May, there are 61 patients with SARS in my hospital, most of them nurses and physicians.

A doctor friend, Tom, is one of those who caught SARS in the hospital. Sick with lung infection, he is in the strictest isolation. His wife and children are allowed to see him only by gathering on the hospital lawn below his room. He stands at his fourth-floor window. They wave to each other.

Medical workers on the front lines die during the outbreak. Nelia Laroza is the first. A well-respected nurse at my hospital, she dies when SARS reappears, after authorities thought they had beaten the outbreak. It is ironic her colleagues described her as paranoid about SARS and meticulous in taking precautions against infection. Like her colleagues, she did not hesitate to put herself in danger by treating SARS victims. Another Toronto nurse, Tecla Lin, and a family physician, Dr. Nestor Yanga, have also given their lives in treating their patients.

My quarantine days are long, alone, and uncertain. I worry about infecting my family. I knew there were risks for myself, but I never signed up for placing my family at risk.

Renee phones often from work to find out how I am feeling, ask if anything has changed. But one day she calls me three times in three hours. I ask her to stop calling. While I wait to see if Ill get sick, I look after my patients over the telephone when possible: renewing prescriptions, giving advice, counseling.

Sharon, my office assistant, brings patients medical charts to my house so I can keep them up-to-date. We arent allowed contact, so she leaves them on the doorstep. I wave to her through a window. I hope my eyes look grateful above my mask.

When Ellen is out of intensive care, I phone her in her isolation room.

Im getting better now, she says. Shes still a little short of breath when she talks. Just awfully weak.

Relief spreads through me. My colleague Tom is already home, convalescing. Now there is only me to worry about, and other friends in quarantine.

A radio station phones to interview me.

So now you are the patient, doctor. Whats it like to be on the receiving end?

Well, uhh Im okay, Im more concerned about the health-care workers who are still out there. Putting themselves at risk. Doing a great job.

Sure, no question. But Im asking about you. The interviewer isnt going to let go. Whats it like?

Its umm well, maybe not a bad thing for a doctor to see things from the other side.

Some patients hear this broadcast and in their anxiety for me, completely misunderstand. A number of them think Im already seriously ill with SARS. They worriedly phone my office. Sharon calms them down. Their concern touches me.

No symptoms appear. My twice-daily temperatures stay normal. I emerge from quarantine after two weeks with nothing worse than stiffness from being cooped up. My son smiles to see me without a mask.

Until SARS, healthcare workers hadnt felt so vulnerable. In Canada, more than 70 per cent of SARS cases were contracted in hospitals. Some 45 per cent of those who caught SARS were nurses, doctors and paramedics. I think of Tom waving to his family from his hospital window. About the healthcare workers who died. The risks we take in constantly hanging out with sick people, putting ourselves out there. There is a selflessness implicit in health care, but it sometimes includes taking chances, placing oneself in harms way.

It was total unpreparedness for the second wave that put my life and that of many others at risk. The all clear announcement came too soon. To be fair, SARS was new, surrounded by unknowns, and there was no diagnostic test available during the outbreak. But SARS is not the first new disease to startle us. HIV and AIDS seemed to come out of nowhere, too. Deadly Ebola fever took us by surprise. As did Zika virus. Superbugs continue to emerge, resistant to our antibiotics. And now, a worldwide epidemic of COVID-19, a SARS cousin. All these new viruses and bacteria shock us until we figure out whats happening and how to control them.

As we face the coronavirus pandemic, its worth looking back. Have we learned from SARS, and is it enough? In some ways, clearly no. China silenced whistle-blowers, and once again initially hid the magnitude of the outbreak. If the public had been honestly informed, the spread might have been reduced, lives saved.

Controlling of information isnt confined to China. In the U.S., the Trump administration has silenced some scientists and played down the risks, perhaps to reassure anxious stock markets.

In other ways, however, weve learned much from SARS. We saw how swiftly epidemic infections can spread and turn life upside down. And can stick around  the all-clear must not given prematurely. Perhaps were a little battle-hardened. Since SARS, front-line emergency departments and doctors offices have screening procedures to identify patients at risk. The screening and testing procedures are regularly updated, by vigilant public health departments. And front-line providers have learned how and when to use proper protective equipment.

Of course it can be scary as we can visualize worst-case scenarios. Situations can deteriorate, and quickly. Hospitals in Wuhan initially ran out of beds, and had to send many sick patients home where they infected their families. In China, the U.S., Latin America and elsewhere, testing-kit shortages persist. Not all infected people are being identified.

In Canada and the U.S., a surge of people who need to be tested and treated could overwhelm doctors offices and hospitals. We could exhaust our supplies of personal protective gear, such as the N95 masks that healthcare providers need to practice safely. And as occurred in Italy, we could run out of hospital isolation rooms, intensive care unit beds, and life-saving ventilators.

For we have a new disease, no immunity to it, and no vaccine.

How best to respond? Beware of misinformation from politicians who gag scientists and falsely reassure people. And from social media that promote mistrust of science, bogus prevention with vitamins and supplements, magical cures. The World Health Organization is calling it an infodemic.

Panic may be the biggest danger in controlling an epidemic. A concerned but calm, rational approach pays dividends. Look for objective, level-headed information from trusted sources: the WHO, infectious disease specialists, and public health officials.

Ive been on both sides of SARS. What is the right balance between prudence and panic? At the moment Im washing my hands more often, practicing social distancing, avoiding handshakes. But Im not wearing a mask when well, and not emptying supermarket shelves. And as the situation rapidly evolves Ill remain vigilant, ready to adjust and respond accordingly.

SARS and COVID-19 startled us, yet new infectious diseases will continue to emerge. They are reminders that healthcare workers are in harms way, and can get critically sick from their patients. They also remind us that we need trusted, objective information, and a collaborative and powerful international public health community to protect us.

For there will certainly be more surprises.
These items are moving through the supply chain, but cannot reach the stores quickly enough so retailers have asked suppliers to produce more.

But even as farmers and slaughterhouses ramp up, producing food takes time. In the poultry industry, it takes about three weeks for a chicken egg to incubate and hatch, and then five to six weeks for the bird to grow to maturity. For some chicken suppliers, the process takes even longer, depending on the type of bird.

Across the industry, it takes about 60 days to get a chicken to a customer, said Matthew Wadiak, who runs Cooks Venture, a chicken supplier based in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Sixty days ago, we didnt know this was even on the horizon, he added. There was essentially no way to plan for it.

Mr. Wadiak said some of Cooks Ventures customers  like the Berkeley Bowl grocery stores in California  had quadrupled their orders in recent days.

People are very short today. Retailers are short on products, Mr. Wadiak said. So were helping out where we can, and I know that were not meeting the full demand.

Its clear that the modern supply chain, for all its efficiency and speed, is not equipped to deal with this kind of surge.

Algorithms, perfected by Amazon, can pinpoint exactly how much inventory a warehouse or particular store must keep on hand during a typical week, right down to the soup can. But no algorithm could predict this extraordinary moment, leading to widespread out-of-stocks of hundreds of household necessities.
We are dealing with the most serious outbreak of Covid-19 anywhere in the nation, said Dow Constantine, the leader of King County, which includes Seattle, when he called on employers to encourage staff to telecommute on March 4. Our actions are forming the model that will be followed in other parts of the country.

More than a supply chain problem

Until the outbreak in Kirkland, the coronavirus had largely been a supply chain problem for Microsoft, related to the Chinese factories that produce personal computers and Microsoft devices. It caused enough of a disruption to the company that in late February Microsoft told investors that sales would fall short of its estimates.

That changed on Feb. 29. By 4 p.m., Mr. Nadella and his leadership team were on a call, trying to make sense of the news.

This was all unfolding in real time, Mr. Nadella recalled in a recent video conference from his office.

Microsofts sheer size meant its decisions reached beyond its own work force, he said. Act too rashly and it could cause panic. But by retrenching, Microsoft could help the safety of a whole community, particularly people at high risk like his son.

On the call, Brad Smith, Microsofts president, said he was concerned that the mysterious spread of a virus was the kind of issue that could lead smart people, without expertise, to make poor decisions.

I said, This is interesting, but none of us have a Ph.D. in public health, Mr. Smith said. At that point, Colleen said, Well, actually you all dont really know me, but I have a Ph.D. in public health.
(CNN) -- As Americans are being urged to keep their distance from one another, travelers returning on flights from Europe say they are being made to wait for hours in close quarters at US airports to get screened for coronavirus.

When they arrived at airports in Dallas, Chicago and New York, they faced long lines and confusion, several travelers told CNN. At one New York airport, two travelers said they were alarmed when officials suggested they should share pens to fill out customs and medical forms.

President Donald Trump has announced foreign nationals in 26 European countries will face restrictions entering the US, while Ireland and the United Kingdom will be added to the list at midnight Monday.

The ban went into effect at midnight Friday, but only after the original announcement sparked chaos at European airports as Americans sought ways to return home before it went into place.

American citizens and permanent residents are allowed to fly into the US but must to go through one of 13 transit airports for screening, which caused backups at some of the airports.

Karen Rogers, a passenger returning from Paris by way of London, had been waiting in line for at least five hours to be screened at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and was told she would have at least another hour to go, she said Saturday night.

CNN has reached out to O'Hare International Airport but did not receive an immediate response.

US Customs and Border Protection is aware of the long lines and is already seeing success addressing the delays at some airports, acting commissioner Mark Morgan said in a statement.

"We're continuing to balance our efficiencies with ensuring the health and safety of all American citizens," he said. "Nothing is more important than the safety, health and security of our citizens."

'Very close quarters'

The process in place at O'Hare has passengers "essentially go(ing) through customs twice," said Ann Lewis Schmidt, a passenger returning from Iceland.

Passengers first wait in line to have their passports checked and to turn in a declaration form and medical forms for those returning from Europe, South Korea, Iran and China, Schmidt said.

Then they are taken to a separate line to undergo a screening and temperature check.

Passengers are grouped together for hours during the process, Schmidt said.

"Seems backwards, as if someone had a fever they should have been never allowed in these lines for four hours," Schmidt told CNN.

She described folks being in "very close quarters ... so if we didn't have the virus before, we have a great chance of getting it now!"

Travelers who pass the screening are instructed to immediately self-quarantine at home and monitor their health as outlined in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's best practices, the Department of Homeland Security said.

Illinois governor calls on federal government to take action

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker reacted to the long lines by tweeting to Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, "The federal government needs to get its s@#t together. NOW."

Speaking to NBC, Pritzker said he is working with the Chicago mayor and Illinois lawmakers to push the federal government to take action to alleviate issues at O'Hare, he said.

The government, in announcing travel restrictions for Europe, should have increased the number of customs and CDC officials on the ground at airports, but "they did neither of those," he told NBC.

"So last night, as people were flooding into O'Hare airport, they were stuck in a small area -- hundreds and hundreds of people -- and that's exactly what you don't want in this pandemic," he told the news outlet Sunday. "Then today, it's going to be even worse. There are a larger number of flights with more people coming, and they seem completely unprepared."

In a tweet, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf acknowledged the long lines and the stress passengers were experiencing.

"DHS is aware of the long lines for passengers who are undergoing increased medical screening requirements. Right now we are working to add additional screening capacity and working with the airlines to expedite the process," he said.

"I understand this is very stressful. In these unprecedented times, we ask for your patience. It currently takes ~60 seconds for medical professionals to screen each passenger. We will be increasing capacity but the health and safety of the American public is first & foremost."

Passengers told to share pens

At John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, passengers are also facing long wait times.

Katelyn Deibler landed at JFK from Kiev, Ukraine, on Saturday afternoon and it took more than two hours to complete customs, she said.

She was given two forms to fill out when she arrived, she said.

"One was just name, passport number, flight number, seat, address, emergency contact, and details about your trip," Deibler said.

The second form asked specific questions about symptoms and travel to coronavirus hot zones, she said.

The form instructs passengers to circle countries they visited in the last 14 days and asks if they've had any symptoms such as fever, coughing or difficulty breathing, Deibler said.

There were not enough copies for all the passengers on the flight, and many had to wait for more forms to be handed out.

"They didn't have pens and told us to share," she said. "Which sounds like a great thing in the middle of the pandemic."

Three taken to the hospital after screenings at JFK

Another traveler, Nick Carlin, also expressed concern passengers were told to share pens, and there was no hand sanitizer at JFK, he said.

"It definitely was a little scattered and disorganized," said Chris Nadolne, a passenger who arrived to JFK. "I can see how people would start to get frustrated as the line got longer. ... No bathrooms nearby and no antibacterial around for people to use -- unlike in the UK and Paris where it is everywhere."

At least three passengers who underwent screenings at JFK were sent to hospitals because of their symptoms, a source with knowledge of the JFK screenings said.

The average wait time for a health screening has been two hours, said Frank Russo, the JFK port director for US Customs and Border Control. There are more than 50 emergency medical technicians on duty supplementing CDC staff, he said.

Asked about passengers' complaints of the airport lacking hand sanitizer, he said the terminals have hand sanitizer and officers are instructing people how to find it. He has asked the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey -- which operates the airport -- to install more dispensers in the areas where passengers are waiting, he said.

Passengers were intermingling while waiting in lines

Upon landing at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Kimberly Harris witnessed passengers who were in line for CDC screening skip the queue and join international passengers who did not need to be screened, she said. Harris returned from Johannesburg, South Africa, via London.

She watched the customs line grow and wrap around the entire floor, she said. "It was difficult to tell where the line began and ended," Harris said. "It almost (was) immediately evident that people who had to stay behind on the plane due to visiting a listed country were integrated into the line of the people who did not require additional screening."

It took her three hours to make it through passport control and customs, she said. Another passenger who arrived at DFW on Sunday from Thailand by way of Doha, Qatar, described a similar scene. The coronavirus screening line was not separated from the other international arrivals, Matthew Thomas said.

"(They were) right next to us," he says. "We were crowded and there for hours."

Neither Thomas nor Harris required screenings.

"These federally mandated enhanced procedures are part of the effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus," DFW said in a statement. "The necessary additional procedures may cause delays in processing through Customs but are of the utmost importance for the health and safety of everyone."
Reuters

President Donald Trump called on private companies to assist with the effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

At a press conference at the White House, Trump was joined by business leaders from Walgreens, Target, Walmart, CVS, and other companies.

He said that drive-through testing centers will be set up in the parking lots of those companies' locations around the country.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump was joined by the CEOs of companies like Target and CVS as they attempt to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

At a press conference at the White House on Friday, Trump spoke alongside presidents or CEOs of Walgreens, Target, Walmart, CVS, and others.

Trump said that drive-through testing centers will be set up in the parking lots of those companies' locations across the country.

"When we got the call yesterday from the White House, we were eager to do our part to help serve the country," said Walmart CEO Doug McMillon. "And given what we are facing that is certainly important to do. We should all be doing that."

FILE PHOTO: People walk by a CVS Pharmacy store in the Manhattan borough of New York City

Richard Ashworth, president of Walgreens, said the company is "happy to stand in here and help" communities across the United States.

Target CEO Brian Cornell said that "normally, you view us as competitors, but today we're focused on a common competitor, and that's defeating the spread of the coronavirus."

Cornell also said Target is focused on ensuring that stores can stay open for customers seeking to purchase supplies.

Trump also thanked Google, which he said has 1,700 engineers assisting in setting up a website regarding testing for the virus.

CEOs of laboratory, research, and medical device companies also joined Trump, who said that he has called on the labs to expedite efforts to increase the availability of tests for COVID-19.

Companies like Roche Diagnostics, whose CEO Matt Sause attended the press conference, recently gained expedited approval for coronavirus testing.

Story continues

Trump said at the press conference that he is declaring a state of emergency in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Here's the full list of executives and companies present during the press conference:

Richard Ashworth, President, Walgreens

Brian Cornell, Chairman and CEO, Target Corporation

Doug McMillon, President and CEO, Walmart Inc.

Tom Polen, CEO and President, Becton, Dickinson and Company

Stephen Rusckowski, Chairman, President and CEO, Quest Diagnostics

Matt Sause, President and CEO, North America, Roche Diagnostics

David Pierre, COO, Signify Health

Mark Stevenson, Executive Vice President and COO, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

Thomas Moriarty, Executive Vice President, Chief Policy and External Affairs Officer, and General Counsel, CVS Health

Bruce Greenstein, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, LHC Group

Business Insider
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 09:24:16|Editor: huaxia

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LAUSANNE, March 14 (Xinhua) -- SportAccord has announced Saturday the cancellation of the SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2020, which had been due to take place from 19-24 April in Lausanne, Switzerland.

SportAccord 2020 was originally scheduled to be held in Beijing, but due to the outbreak of coronavirus, the host city was changed from Beijing to Lausanne.

On Feb. 28, the Swiss federal government imposed a ban on large-scale events involving more than 1,000 people. The ban came into immediate effect and was set to apply until at least March 15, 2020. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) moved to declare the COVID-19 outbreak as an official Pandemic.

On March 13 in a press conference, the Canton of Vaud under emergency measures imposed a ban on events involving more than 50 people until April 30, 2020. SportAccord, which brings together nearly 2,000 delegates, has taken the necessary step of cancelling SportAccord 2020 to give International Sport Federations, stakeholders, partners and attendees as much time as possible to make arrangements in light of the cancellation.

"Our priority is the health and welfare of our International Federations and delegates attending our event, so this decision has been taken with the utmost consideration for those who were planning to attend SportAccord 2020 in Lausanne," SportAccord President Raffaele Chiulli said.

"This is obviously an extremely unfortunate situation and we are saddened that our community will not be able to attend our annual gathering, but we wanted to announce this decision at the earliest opportunity to enable plans to be adapted accordingly for all concerned."

SportAccord Managing Director Nis Hatt said, "we are now focusing on the delivery of what promises to be a superb SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2021 in Ekaterinburg and we look forward to welcoming our friends from around the world to Russia from May 23-28, 2021."
Step back in time: Patong residents commemorate King Bhumibol visit

Hidden away at the bottom of the hills at the back of Patong is a treasure of Phukets past that most people are simply unaware of. Traffic descends Patong Hill all day, every day, and those looking for a shortcut to the area behind the main roads that run north-south through the town turn left at Wat Patong and continue along the small road that meanders its way to Nanai Rd, and further on to join Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Rd.

HistoryCultureCommunity

By Khunanya Wanchanwet

Sunday 15 March 2020, 02:00PM

Local residents this week attended ceremonies at the Ratchapatanusorn to commemorate King Bhumibols visit to Patong. Photo: Patong Municipality

Local residents this week attended ceremonies at the Ratchapatanusorn to commemorate King Bhumibols visit to Patong. Photo: Patong Municipality

Patong Mayor Chalermluck Kebsup, herself a native of Patong, joins the ceremonies at the Ratchapatanusorn this week to commemorate King Bhumibols visit to Patong. Photo: Patong Municipality

Blessing ceremonies were held at the Ratchapatanusorn to commemorate King Bhumibols visit to Patong. Photo: Patong Municipality

Local residents this week attended ceremonies at the Ratchapatanusorn to commemorate King Bhumibols visit to Patong. Photo: Patong Municipality

Local residents this week attended ceremonies at the Ratchapatanusorn to commemorate King Bhumibols visit to Patong. Photo: Patong Municipality

King Bhumibol at the Wang Kee Oan waterfall at the back of Patong. Photo: Courtesy of Patong Municipality

King Bhumibol at the Wang Kee Oan waterfall at the back of Patong. Photo: Courtesy of Patong Municipality

King Bhumibol at the Wang Kee Oan waterfall at the back of Patong. Photo: Courtesy of Patong Municipality

The marble tablet at the Ratchapatanusorn with the inscribed signatures of (at the bottom of the tablet, from left) Queen Mother Srinagarindra, King Bhumibol and Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, who was 15 years old at the time and now reigns as His Majesty Vajiralongkorn, Rama X, King of Thailand. Photo: Courtesy of Patong Municipality

The marble tablet at the Ratchapatanusorn with the inscribed signatures of (at the bottom of the tablet, from left) Queen Mother Srinagarindra, King Bhumibol and Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, who was 15 years old at the time and now reigns as His Majesty Vajiralongkorn, Rama X, King of Thailand. Photo: Courtesy of Patong Municipality

That road is called Phra Phisit Korani Rd, but good luck finding any street signs to tell you that. Immediately after Wat Patong, the road runs through Baan Mon, one of the last remaining true community neighbourhoods in Phukets busiest tourism town.

On the right is a small building decorated in blue and featuring an elaborate traditional Thai-style roof, leading most people to think it is a shrine. Theyre nearly right. The building is called the Ratchapatanusorn, otherwise known locally as the Monument to The Kings Footprint .

The significance of the building is lost to most people, but it was remembered this week, as it has been by Patong families for just over six decades now. The building stands at the site of where Rama IX, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, first set foot on Patong soil 61 years ago.

The main festivities usually held each year to remember the auspicious occasion were this year cancelled at the last minute in light of concerns of the COVID-19 coronavirus spreading, yet the blessing ceremonies continued, including the launching of a raft at Loma Park to honour the Kings visit.

THE VISIT

According to records kept by Patong Municipality, King Bhumbol arrived in Patong unannounced on March 11, 1959. His Majesty and Queen Sirikit had arrived in Phuket three days earlier on their first official visit to the island.

However, in Patong, King Bhumibol approached local villagers in Baan Mon alone, with his security entourage nowhere in sight.

Sukhon Ei Sae-ong, a 28-year-old mother at the time living in a house across from where the Ratchapatanusorn stands today, in an interview in 2016 when she was 85 years old recalled her experience meeting King Bhumibol.

On that day, I was sweeping garbage over there, she said, pointing to the front of her house, and adding that there was no road at that time.

A man approached me and asked me in Southern Thai, Dont you go to see the King? I replied that I have a baby. If I went, who would take care of my child? Ms Sukhon said.

The man smiled and said, You dont have to go, Im already here. I was shocked and speechless, she added.

He left and asked the pregnant woman living in the house opposite the same question. After His Majesty told her who he was, she quickly offered a wai. Then he asked her about her living conditions here, Ms Sukhon recalled.

A villager invited King Bhumibol to see the Wang Kee Oan waterfall nearby, located some 200 metres away where Phisit Korani Rd joins Hasip Pi Rd (50 Year Rd).

His Majesty accepted the invitation and walked along the dirt track to the waterfall, now a protected natural site, where he surprised some villagers doing their laundry.

One of the villagers offered him a glass of nam bilit [soda and syrup drink]. The King graciously accepted it, and drank it, Ms Sukhon remembered.

By that time villagers had learned of King Bhumibols visit and started arriving in larger numbers. His entourage of soldiers and bodyguards had also finally caught up with him and invited him to return to his accommodation.

THE MONUMENT

Understanding the importance of the occasion, one villager, Mr Chow Piromrith, used a stake to mark where King Bhumibol first stepped out of his car onto Patong soil, at 12:06pm that day.

Under the guidance of the Abbot of Wat Patong at the time Phra Khru Pisitkoranee (also called Phor Than Khiaw), local villagers and monks from Wat Patong had a marble plaque one metre wide and 1.5m high installed at the site to remember the visit.

People also built a roof to protect the monument from sunlight and rain. At first, it had only a tin roof, Ms Sukhon noted.

On Feb 24, 1967, King Bhumibols mother, the Queen Mother Srinagarindra, also visited the site. Then on July 23, 1968, King Bhumibol returned to Patong, this time with Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn. The Crown Prince turned 16 years old five days later, and today reigns as Rama X, King of Thailand.

Signatures from King Bhumibol, His Majesty Vajiralongkorn and Queen Mother Srinagarindra are now inscribed on smaller plaques placed under the main plaque, marking their officials visits.

Time passed, and the weather-beaten roof protecting the monument gradually deteriorated. A simple house was built around the monument to give it better protection from the elements, yet that too aged quickly.

In 2011, Pian Keesin, Mayor of Patong at the time, spend B4.99 million on building a new structure to house the monument. The foundation stone was laid on Aug 8 that year.

The building that people see today is considered the sixth edition of the monument building.

All through the years the people of Patong have commemorated the first visit by King Bhumibol with blessing and merit-making ceremonies, as well as festivities including live music performances and traditional Thai arts such as Nang Talung shadow puppet plays.

Mayor Chalermluck considers the visit  and the commemoration of the visit  among the most auspicious occasions remembered in Patong.

Patong people regard the royal celebration of the Ratchapatanusorn as an annual event in Patong and is considered an important part of the history of Patong, Ms Chalermluck explained during an interview last year.

That visit resulted in people around the world learning about Patong, and today Patong is a famous tourist destination, she added.

Additonal reporting by Kiattikul Chumanee
TWIN FALLS  The cruise ship industry has been one of the hardest hit in the coronavirus outbreak, which has led several cruise lines to suspend service.

The Princess Cruise Line, owned by Carnival Cruises, has refunded the cost of Buhl resident Tim Ponds recent cruise on the Diamond Princess, on which hundreds got sick and about a half-dozen died from COVID-19, the virus that causes coronavirus.

Pond was quarantined for four weeks  two weeks on the ship and two weeks at a California air base  before returning home. He has mixed feelings about how the outbreak is being handled, but he doesnt resent being quarantined.

On one hand, it may be blown out of proportion, he said Thursday. But, on the other hand, its important to pace the spread of the virus.

About 700 of the nearly 4,000 passengers and crew on the luxury cruise ship contracted the virus; seven of those have died as of about a week ago, Reuters reported.

Pond boarded the 13-deck Diamond Princess on Jan. 20 at Yokohama in Tokyo Bay and visited Okinawa, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Vietnam. The ship was scheduled to return to Yokohama on Feb. 2 but docked a day early.

Originally the captain said it was so we could make it through customs and immigration because the Japanese Ministry of Health was cracking down harder, he said Feb. 7 via Facebook Messenger.

Instead, it was because Hong Kong officials had notified the captain that a Chinese passenger who had left the ship Jan. 25 in Hong Kong had tested positive for the coronavirus on Feb. 1, the 56-year-old WinCo Foods employee said. Another person was taken off the ship Feb. 3 after a medical emergency. The ship remained in Tokyo Bay while authorities decided what action to take.

The Diamond Princess was quarantined Feb. 5.

Only those with cough, sneezing, and fever were given tests that were sent off, Pond told the Times-News on Feb. 7. They checked everyones temperature. They provided us with thermometers ... that we are to use to check our temperatures throughout the day. If it spikes over 37.5 degrees Celsius (about 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit) were supposed to call immediately for help.

Pond spent nearly two weeks quarantined in his cabin, keeping touch online with friends and family.

His parents, who also live in Buhl, took care of his poodle/Old English sheepdog, Skye, and watched over his house while he was gone.

When asked Thursday how he managed to stay sane during the quarantine, the easygoing man answered, Day by day.

But Pond says he was a lucky passenger; the cruise line had upgraded his accommodations to a suite with a balcony when he boarded.

I have the bedroom and bathroom of a normal cabin and then a small living room area outside that and a balcony that wraps around both rooms, he told the Times-News during the quarantine. Pond could go outside whenever he needed sunshine and fresh air, but he had to wear a face mask and disposable gloves. He also had to stay away from the railing.

I cant imagine being in an inside cabin, Pond said.

He watched movies and television and surfed the web while he was confined to his suite. Eventually, passengers were allowed out of their rooms for short periods each day to get fresh air on the top deck. Passengers were to keep a good distance away from each other, he said.

Near the end of the quarantine, U.S. authorities evacuated Pond and some 300 Americans from the cruise ship and sent them to the Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California, only to be quarantined again.

After the 9-hour flight on a Kalitta Air, passengers were assigned rooms at the air force base hotel. Ponds room had a balcony where he could walk 20 steps in one direction, he said. He joked with others on Facebook about the possibility of him getting lost in his new hotel room compared with his tiny cabin on the cruise ship.

The first two days were confined to quarters, Pond told the Times-News from his room on the base. I think after that well be allowed limited walks outdoors but it will still be 6 feet away from anyone else to avoid close contact.

Pond checked off the days by posting photos of his meals on Facebook.

He returned home March 3 and has gone back to work.

It was a once in a lifetime experience, hopefully, Pond said.


A new exhibition celebrates the life of Florence Nightingale, an English woman whose ideas about cleanliness are important to this day.

The exhibit can be seen at the Florence Nightingale Museum at St Thomas Hospital in London. It marks the 200th anniversary of Nightingales birth.

The exhibit tells the story of how she overcame difficulties to become the worlds most famous nurse. The show recreates her bedroom, lets visitors hear a recording of her voice and even smell the perfume she wore.

Fiona Hibberts is a nursing consultant and works for the hospitals Nightingale Academy. She described Nightingales work as really, really important to future generations.

Obviously, she was a forceful leader, Hibberts said. And we need clear, visible, strong leadership today and certainly in modern nursing.

The exhibition, called Nightingale in 200 Objects, People & Places, will continue for a year.

St Thomas is one of a small number of hospitals in Britain with an area for the treatment of coronavirus patients.

The emphasis on sanitation, good hygiene, fresh air, exercise, good food... no matter how much we advance, those fundamental foundational principles of Florence are still very much the basis of modern nursing, Hibberts noted.

She added, Its the same old message. Wash your hands.

Nightingale became world famous after she and a small team of medical workers traveled to modern-day Istanbul during the Crimean War. It was fought mainly on the Crimean Peninsula in the middle of the 1850s.

Nightingale helped treat British soldiers wounded in the fighting. In an unclean hospital, she saws thousands of soldiers die from infectious diseases. Their deaths led to her decision to try to improve conditions.

The lamp she used when visiting patients at night is on show at the exhibition, as is the nurses uniform she created.

Yvonne Moores is Chair of the Florence Nightingale Foundation and Britains former national Chief Nursing Officer.

If Florence Nightingale herself was here, she would be supporting all thats being said at the moment. She was absolutely into infection control, hand washing, being very observant, she said.

Nightingale continued to work and to write late into old age. She died in 1910, at the age of 90.

Im John Russell.

Mindy Burrows reported on this story for Reuters. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

Editor's Note: Florence Nightingale died in 1910. This story has been corrected to reflect the correct year of her death.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

exhibition  n. an event at which objects (such as works of art) are put out in a public space for people to look at : a public show of something

nurse  n. some who cares for the sick or older adults

perfume  n. a substance that produces a pleasant smell

consultant  n. a person who provides advice to someone else

emphasis  n. special importance or attention given to something

hygiene  n. conditions or actions necessary for good health

principle  n. a law or rule

lamp  n. any kind of device for producing light

uniform  n. a special kind of clothing that is worn by all the members of a group or organization (such as an army or team)

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New Delhi:

United States President Donald Trump has tested negative for the novel coronavirus, the White House physician said. Trump had taken the coronavirus test on Friday night. The results came out in less than 24 hours. "Last night, after an in-depth discussion with the President regarding the COVID-19 test, he elected to proceed. This evening, I received confirmation that the test is negative," Dr Sean Conley, the presidential physician, said in a memorandum to White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham on Saturday.

"One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation in Mar-a-Lago, the President remains symptom-free," he said.

"I have been in the daily contact with the CDC (Center for Disease Control) and the White House Task Force, and we are encouraging the implementation of all their best practices for exposure reduction and transmission mitigation," Conley added.

Trump was tested after his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro, whom he met last weekend, tested negative for COVID-19. However, Bolsonaros communications chief Fabio Wajngarten, who accompanied him in the meeting with Trump, tested positive for coronavirus.

Earlier, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham had said, President Trump remains in excellent health, and his physician will continue to closely monitor him, adding that Trump did not receive COVID-19 testing because he has neither been in a prolonged close contact with any known confirmed COVID-19 patients, nor he displayed any symptoms.

In the wake of possible transmission of coronavirus, the medical unit in the White House and the United States Secret Service are working in tandem with various agencies to ensure every precaution is taken to keep the first and second Families, and all White House staff healthy.

Moreover, US President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency over coronavirus under Stafford Act to provide additional federal aid to states and localities. The move is likely to help in opening up tens of billions of dollars to help fight the rapidly transmitting COVID-19 pandemic. Taking to Twitter, Trump wrote, "I will be having a news conference today at 3:00 P.M., The White House. Topic: CoronaVirus."

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PARIS  Parisians took the French governments partial lockdown measures in stride on Sunday, half shrugging off the coronavirus threat and only limiting their normal weekends activities: shopping at open-air markets, strolling in parks and lining up outside bakeries and butchers.

It could have been a typical, sun-filled, pre-spring Sunday, with thousands taking advantage of the good weather in Paris. Yet perceptible elements were missing. There was no low buzz from those centers of national conviviality, the cafes and restaurants, now closed by official order. And the streets were largely empty of traffic.

The great corridors of tourist shopping, normally bustling on a Sunday, were dead. On the Champs-Elysees, the cafes wicker chairs were piled high inside and the wide avenue was semi-deserted. At the closed luxury stores along the Rue Saint-Honore, usually humming with Chinese shoppers in search of expensive handbags, hardly a buyer was in sight. And along the now-quiet Rue de Rivolis long commercial strip, the giant BHV department store, ordinarily a frenetic Sunday hub, was dark.
The rise in zoonotic diseases like the coronavirus disease is linked to the loss of biodiversity and forests, public health experts and scientists have said. Zoonotic diseases are those that spread from animals to humans.

There is a consensus among scientists that a rise in zoonotic diseases--Nipah, Ebola, Zika, Coronavirus to name a few in recent decades  is driven by biodiversity loss and climate change.

In a press briefing held in New York by the Global Alliance of Indigenous Peoples on Friday, indigenous leaders said the Covid 19 outbreak was a result of loss of native forests and habitat.

The coronavirus is now telling the world what we have been saying for thousands of yearsthat if we do not help protect biodiversity and nature, then we will face this and worse future threats, said Levi Sucre Romero, a BriBri indigenous person from Costa Rica who is the Coordinator of the Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests.

Scientific studies have already flagged this link. The Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (similar to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) in their report last year said that these diseases are significant threats to human health, with vector-borne diseases accounting for approximately 17 % of all infectious diseases and causing an estimated 700,000 deaths globally per year. Emerging infectious diseases in wildlife, domestic animals, plants or people can be exacerbated by human activities such as land clearing and habitat fragmentation, the report said. It also highlighted that around 25% of species in the animal and plant groups were under threat, suggesting that around one million species are already facing extinction.

The World Health Organization has said there is now evidence of the link between the Covid-19 and other similar known coronaviruses (CoV) circulating in bats. But the route of transmission to humans is still unclear.

There is no doubt that zoonotic diseases are on the rise. One of the reasons for their rise, among many others, is that animals are coming in contact with human habitation..., said Dr Shobha Broor, former head of department of microbiology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Many mammals, like bats and rodents, harbour viruses and bacteria that can spillover from wildlife populations into humans. Sometimes these spillover events can cause outbreaks, like the one we are experiencing now..., said Uma Ramakrishnan, Associate Professor, Senior Fellow, Wellcome Trust, National Centre for Biological Sciences.
Syrian war runs into 10th year: Global impact still there

Syria\'s war has killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and displaced millions

AP, Beirut :

In a world gripped by a pandemic, global unrest and a fast-moving news cycle, it can be difficult to remember that the war in Syria is still happening.

Even before the coronavirus outbreak took over daily lives around the globe, the conflict, which began in early 2011, had largely fallen off the world's collective radars - reduced to a never-ending fight involving an ever-more complex web of players and refugees that few remember once lived in a country they called home.

But as it enters its tenth year, the war - which gave rise to the Islamic State group and triggered the worst humanitarian catastrophe of the 21st century - has shown it is still creating new tragedies that can have an outsized impact on global politics.

Earlier this month, Turkish and Syrian troops were clashing in Syria's northwest. That brought NATO-member Turkey and Russia, which back opposing sides of the war, to the brink of direct confrontation, and produced an unprecedented wave of displaced people. Arguing that it faces a potential new influx of refugees from Syria, Turkey announced it would no longer stop its vast migrant and refugee population from illegally entering Greece, touching off a new crisis for the European Union.

More than half of Syria's pre-war population of 23 million people have been driven from their homes, and a staggering 80% of the population live beneath the poverty line, according to the United Nations. Half the country lies in ruins. A political process does not exist. Contrary to what some may hope, the Syrian war is nowhere near its end-game.

A cease-fire brokered by the Turkish and Russian presidents in Moscow last week may have put the brakes on the Syrian government's devastating military campaign to retake the northwestern Idlib province. But the halt is not a long-term solution, and the war's final and most devastating chapter is yet to come.

In the three months before it was paused, the Syrian offensive triggered the largest single wave of displacement of the entire war. That may be dwarfed by the flight of humanity toward Turkey if Syrian President Bashar Assad resumes the assault to retake Idlib, home to some 3 million people. The area is the last remaining rebel-controlled area in Syria, and from Assad's perspective, the only place standing in the way of complete military victory.

"Even if Idlib is somehow retaken and an estimated 3 million people are accommodated in Turkey or elsewhere, it is unlikely that Damascus has the capacity or even the tools to rule over formerly opposition-controlled areas for long periods of time without trouble," said Danny Makki, a London-based Syrian journalist.

Similarly, a Turkey-Russia deal brokered in October ended a Turkish military campaign against U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish fighters in the country's northeast. But the oil-rich region is still contested. There are hundreds American troops there, ostensibly on a mission to protect Kurdish-controlled oil fields from remnants of the Islamic State group.

Both U.S. and Russian troops patrol the tense area separately, and thousands of Iranian-backed militias are stationed nearby.




A Peruvian national and three Indians, including a nine-month-old infant, who were admitted to an isolation ward of a government hospital in Kolkata with symptoms of Coronavirus were discharged on Saturday afternoon after they tested negative for the infection, officials said.

However, six others were admitted to the isolation ward of the hospital with symptoms of Coronavirus, they said.

The 27-year-old man from Peru and the remaining three persons were admitted to the Beliaghata Infectious Diseases Hospital.

The man has a history of asthma and bronchitis and was down with fever and cough, both symptoms of novel Coronavirus, a senior state health department official had said earlier.

Two Indians had travelled to Mayapur, the headquarters of the ISKCON, during the Holi celebration last week, he said.

"One of the two recently returned from Saudi Arabia and complained of fever and cold. Their blood samples and swabs have been collected," he added.

The infant has a travel history to Kuwait, the official had said.

The six persons who were also admitted to the isolation ward of Beliaghata Hospital have a foreign travel history, the official said.

"They have been kept under observation. We will collect their swab samples on Sunday and send for tests," he said.

A man who arrived here from Paris via Delhi was the first person to be admitted to the new isolation facility set up in the second complex of the Chittaranjan Cancer Hospital in New Town, the officials said.

The man, who is in his 60s, was brought to the facility from the airport and has been kept under observation, they said.

Image credit: PTI

(Picture for representation)
At the end of a glamorous ball, the male guests leave the dancefloor to fight a bloody war.

Meanwhile, a dastardly aristocrat tricks a young female into a fake marriage so he can sleep with her.

The plotlines sound as if they came straight from the imaginings of period dramatist Julian Fellowes, whose latest TV series Belgravia begins tonight.

Real-life scandal: Fellowes reveals that is what is at the heart of all the drama of Belgravia

But Downton Abbey creator Fellowes has revealed that his new television spectacular actually drew inspiration from a real-life scandal.

Belgravia is set in the first half of the 19th Century and follows the Trenchard family led by James Trenchard, a nouveau riche businessman and social climber who helps to build the exclusive London enclave.

The drama begins with a ball hosted by the Duchess of Richmond in Brussels in 1815 where guests included the Duke of Wellington and almost every officer in his army which was fighting Napoleon Bonaparte.

Historian Elizabeth Longford has described the night  during which Wellington was told of an advance by Napoleon and immediately led his men, some still in their dress uniform, into battle  as 'the most famous ball in history'.

Speaking of the lavish scenes, Fellowes said: 'Wellington wanted the ball to show everyone it was business as usual, but it turned out very differently.

'He had to call everyone to arms so there were young women weeping and mothers crying with all of this going on in the middle of the ballroom floor.

'There were so many strange details. When the men were leaving and mounting up, some people went on dancing, which I find absolutely extraordinary, but it's true.'

Fellowes, who first learned of the ball from reading William Thackeray's novel Vanity Fair, added: 'I have always been interested in it. It seemed... a kind of glamorous tragedy that these young men, many still in their dress uniforms, would die in battle having left their loved ones on the ballroom floor.'

The Battle of Quatre Bras, fought two days before the decisive Battle of Waterloo, left 4,800 of Wellington's men dead or wounded.

Trenchard, played by Philip Glenister, makes his fortune from supplying meat to Wellington's forces but, as the series details, his elevation in society over subsequent decades comes at a price.

A central plotline involves Trenchard's naive daughter Sophia and a caddish aristocrat called Lord Edmund Bellasis. Determined to sleep with a woman of good standing before going to war, but frustrated by Sophia's desire to protect her chastity, he tricks her into a fake marriage.

Starring role: Emily Reid appears as Sophia Trenchard in the new production

Fellowes says he was inspired by a similar scandal 30 years earlier involving a peer called Frederick Berkeley and butcher's daughter Mary Cole.

'The storyline is true and based on the 5th Earl of Berkeley,' he said. 'Although Berkeley did eventually marry the same woman, it was not until after they'd had six illegitimate children, none of whom were allowed to inherit the title.'

Berkeley and Cole claimed they had married in 1785, a year before the birth of their firstborn, William, who they wanted to inherit the family title. However, the first record of their marriage was in 1796.

Karen Davidson, archivist at Berkeley Castle, said: 'They claimed they had married in Berkeley church before his birth. There is no entry in the parish register recording this marriage, but in court it was claimed there was a note of the marriage by the vicar.'

The issue was debated in the House of Lords and the title eventually passed to Thomas Morton Fitzhardinge Berkeley, the couple's fifth child but the first born after the couple were married.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Traders' body CAIT has appealed to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to direct regulator IRDAI to mandate insurance firms to introduce coverage for disruptions to businesses on account of the coronavirus outbreak.

In a letter to Sitharaman, CAIT suggested that insurance companies may be mandated to introduce 'disruptions due to coronavirus' as an additional cover to fire and materials damage policies, and the existing policyholders may be offered an option to add the additional cover.

Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal highlighted the need for insurers to come up with need-based policies like cover against mosquito-borne diseases and vector-borne diseases, which can cover hospitalisation expenses due to coronavirus or fixed benefits upon its diagnosis.

CAIT has also sent a similar representation to Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to take up the matter with Finance Ministry.
Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad launched his political outfit the Azad Samaj Party on Sunday -- the birth anniversary of BSP founder Kanshi Ram.

Before launching his party at an event held in Safai village in Noida, the 37-year-old Dalit leader made Kanshi Ram's photograph his Twitter profile picture. He also launched the party flag -- a white band between two blue strips with Azad Samaj Party written in the middle.

Azad said the Bhim Army will run parallel to the party and continue to fight for Dalit rights and enrol new members.

Earlier in the day, Bhim Army members claimed that police have locked the gates of the venue and pasted a notice: "Event cannot be held as large gatherings are prohibited in view of coronavirus". The gate was, however, opened later.

Azad, who rose to prominence during clashes between Thakurs and Dalits in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur in May 2017, had filed nomination against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi during the 2019 general elections, but withdrew later.

In December 2019, the Bhim Army chief was arrested by the Delhi police, when violence erupted during an anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act march in old quarters of Delhi after his address to protesters from the stairs of Jama Masjid. He was granted bail by a Delhi court in January.

The advocate-turned-politician has been critical of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, "for not doing enough for the Dalits". Mayawati had earlier termed Azad a "BJP agent" and cautioned her supporters not to ''fall prey to his designs".

The Bhim Army had earlier said that it would contest the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls along with Om Prakash Rajbhar's Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party as part of a larger alliance -- the Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 15)  A policeman suspected of COVID-19 infection has died, police confirmed Sunday.

Police said a male policeman from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Manila died Saturday due to respiratory failure. His COVID-19 test is expected to be released Tuesday.

CIDG personnel in Manila will be under quarantine in their office, pending the result of the test on the policeman. Should it turn out positive, CIDG personnel will remain quarantined at the Manila Police District Health Service.

CIDG personnel in Camp Crame will also be confining themselves in their office as a precautionary measure.

The male policeman who died had diabetes and began experiencing severe cough three months ago, but did not seek medical attention, police added.

He complained of inflamed tonsils on March 4, and sought medical attention at FB Harrison Medical Hospital in Pasay CIty the day after.

A day after heading home with his family to General Trias, Cavite on March 6, he was rushed to Divine Grace Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a fever and a viral infection. He was not admitted at the hospital.

He and his family returned to Manila on March 8. On March 9, he was admitted at Adventist Medical Center Manila in Pasay City after being diagnosed with a tonsil infection and possibly pneumonia. He stayed at that hospital until his death.

His remains will be cremated on March 20, police said.

The number of patients who had contracted COVID-19 in the country has topped 100, with the Health Department confirming 47 new cases on Sunday. Nine people have died because of the disease, bringing its fatality rate to seven percent  above the global average of between three to four percent.

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.

The disease is spread through small droplets from the nose or mouth when people infected with the virus cough or sneeze.

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.

Commonly reported COVID-19 symptoms are fever, dry cough and shortness of breath. Those with severe and critical symptoms should call the Health Department at (02) 8-651-7800 local 1149-1150.

CNN Philippines Correspondent Gerg Cahiles contributed to this report.
Sushmitha Ramakrishnan By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: A thin, dusty cotton quilt, rolled and folded, is stored in the corner of Vijaya Lakshmi's storeroom. She calls it the "periods bed." Every time she menstruates, she unrolls it, lays it out on the bedroom floor, while her husband sleeps on the bed.

Her husband is a conservative Hindu, who believes that he should not eat onion and garlic during his fast. He is also careful to not cross paths with a menstruating woman during his 48-day-fast before going to Sabarimala each year.

"When I have my periods during his viratham (fast), I wake up before him and wait in the verandah. When he goes to the bathroom to bathe, I lock myself in the bedroom until he leaves the house," she said, stressing that the objective was not to be seen. Lakshmi deeply believes that she would be committing a sin if she did not follow these practices.

Vijaya Lakshmis is just one example that the concept of theetu (unclean) associated with menstruating women and new mothers doesnt disappear in urban spaces. Given the dearth of space in cities and towns, seclusion is practised in other ways even among the educated, even in the homes of those considered intellectuals.

The 'room' where women have to stay during their periods in Konnappattu village. Pudukkottai. (Photo | M Muthu Kannan, EPS)

Express spoke to several women in Chennai, almost all of whom said that some form of seclusion during their period was practised in their households. The most common restriction is not being allowed into the kitchen or the puja/god room. In fact, even some Muslim and Christian women observe such restrictions.

Others said that, in addition to this, they had to use separate plates, spoons and glasses, and not touch any object that was "sacred" or had an image of god on it. "In my house, every cupboard, mirror and wall had pictures of various gods taped on it. It was so annoying that I couldn't touch anything," said 27-year-old Nidhya Ganesh, who works at an international bank. She said that she does not follow these practices as rigidly when her mother is away from home. "I don't enter the god room, but I don't care about the rest when my mother is not looking," she said.

Even though families have started discontinuing such practices (often because the men do not want to go hungry), several women agreed that they faced severe isolation when they reached puberty.

Feeling inferior

"My mother wouldn't even pass me a blanket, even though I was sleeping on the cold floor. She would drop it outside the bedroom door and I had to pick it up. Many relatives came home and gave me gifts, but nobody was allowed to touch me. Further, my mother told me, that now that I was a big girl and that I would get pregnant if I was too close with my male friends," said Sangeetha*, a 25-year-old girl from Chennai, recalling her first experience with menstruation. She still remembers the entire episode as making her feel extremely inferior and dirty.

Medical intervention

Also, it is strictly forbidden for many women to participate in any religious rituals while they are menstruating. Aruna*, a 26-year-old girl who recently got married, said that her periods were due around the day of her marriage. As there is common belief that periods are a manifestation of "body heat", her family fed her sesame balls, crab soup and papaya to increase the heat and advance her period. "However, it didn't work. Instead I had an acne outbreak before my wedding. Then, some four days before the wedding, they took me to a gynecologist and got me birth control pills to delay the period. When I finally stopped taking it, I had heavy bleeding and was nauseated for an entire day," she said. She said she would have had no problem getting married while menstruating if it had not been for the pressure she faced from her family and her husband's.

The miracle of unclean childbirth

The "pollution" associated with menstruation includes even new-born babies. Newborn babies and their mothers are both considered "theetu" (unclean). As a new mother may continue to bleed for a few days after childbirth, many families treat her as they would if she were on her period. Since she breastfeeds the baby, through contact, the baby is also considered polluted. Therefore family members, who touch the newborn, are not allowed to enter temples or touch anything considered sacred.

Hindus usually conduct the Punyajanam (naming ceremony) on the 11th day, because they wait for the bleeding to stop. "I had developed some complications a week after my delivery and I suddenly started bleeding again. Even though the bleeding was very low, my husband's family did

not allow us to name the baby until the 17th day, as the function involves praying," said Vanaja*, a software engineer, who delivered her baby in December 2019.

Often, arguments offered in favour of such practices among the educated suggest rest or hygiene as reason for them. Academics disagreed.

Belief of pollution with health consequences

"People do not see menstruation as unhygienic. They see it as a form of pollution. When a menstruating woman touches a person, in their belief, she is not only polluting their outside, but also their insides, their souls," professor Sumathi Rajesh, head of the Department of Anthropology at Madras University said. She elaborated that intertwining abstract concepts like "purity and pollution of the body and soul," with hygiene is the reason people fail to respond to the scientific understanding of menstruation.

The superstitions around menstruation are aplenty and they vary across geography, caste and class, said Kalpana Karunakaran, assistant professor of Humanities at IIT Madras. She said that her female students often ask her if menstrual seclusion was practiced to provide comfort to women. "The answer is no. These practices come out of fear of a menstruating woman in fact." She said historically, menstruating women were feared and people believed that menstrual blood was evil and had the power to destroy a fetus. It could be that this belief came about as menstruation was a sign of not being pregnant. However, it doesn't stop there.

"Many do not allow menstruating women near crops as they believe it could destroy a harvest, they're not allowed in kitchen lest food gets spoiled, milk curdles and, worst of all, people think if a menstruating woman touches a pregnant woman, it may kill the foetus," said Karunakaran.

Such practices could have consequences for womens health. "For example, many village women believe that birds like crows and sparrows should not see their menstrual cloth and, therefore, dry it in inconspicuous places. However, urban poor have similar beliefs and dry the cloth inside their homes in the shade, leading to bacterial and fungal growth. This ultimately causes infections," Rajesh said.

Harmless beliefs may not be so harmless after all.
In the autumn of 2009, three Sugababes arrived in Los Angeles to shoot a music video. Within days, two members had quit the group, and a Eurovision Song Contest participant had been drafted in to make up the numbers. None of the bands original line-up remained. Such a spectacular implosion of one of Britains all-time greatest girl bands, which came to a head with the release of a woeful, vocally cut-and-pasted final album in March 2010, would have been funny if it werent so depressing.

Before they became infamous for endlessly swapping out band members and replacing them with newer, shinier models, Sugababes were excellent. They were preternaturally pissed off rock stars with R&B pipes who were always, the tabloids insisted, at one anothers throats. In an era of music still made up of strictly defined genres with little crossover, Sugababes were also unusually universal in their appeal. They were as capable of producing frothy and ebullient masterpieces like Push the Button as they were grimy bangers such as Freak Like Me. Their vocal harmonies were perfect for mournful ballads, empowerment anthems and slinky funk  all performed while looking resolutely stone-faced, their occasional smiles only ever crooked or vaguely threatening.

By the time they collaborated with Girls Aloud, for a Comic Relief cover of Walk This Way in 2007, their glossy grouchiness made Cheryl Cole and co, who always burned with unspoken rage themselves, look positively square.

There were ultimately four incarnations of the Sugababes. The first  comprising Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and Siobhan Donaghy  properly arrived in 2000 with the single Overload, a glitchy indie track with drawling vocals and volatile guitar thrashing. Then Donaghy quit the group, having reportedly announced to her bandmates that she was going to the toilet and then never coming back (After three hours we thought  shes been in there a bit long, Buchanan said at the time). She was replaced by Heidi Range, who was always oddly sunny for a group perpetually down in the dumps. Its arguable, however, that she, Buena and Buchanan embodied the bands creative peak.

Buena was often described as the groups linchpin, with her smoky vocals, performative nonchalance and understated cool. When she left to pursue a solo career, one that was cruelly curtailed when her first (and so far only) album underperformed, the band seemed to lose their edge. She was replaced by Amelle Berrabah, a sort of Rita Ora dry-run with the right snarl and vocal scratchiness for the band, but who would always struggle to define her own place in it. The bops kept coming, though  Berrabah was there for a number of Sugababes classics despite her late arrival, among them signature hits About You Now and Red Dress.

Then 2009 happened. The in-fighting that had always dominated the groups press coverage suddenly became genuinely toxic, with reports emerging that Berrabah had quit the group after a fall-out with Buchanan. Additional reports claimed that Range had threatened to walk as well. It was ultimately decided that Buchanan would leave, taking with her the last fragment of the original Sugababes line-up. Having arrived in LA under a cloak of secrecy while the band was imploding, aspiring pop star and Eurovision export Jade Ewen was shuffled into the group.

Eyeing an exit: Range, Berrabah and Buchanan at an event in 2007 (Getty) (Stuart Wilson/Getty Images)

Ewen reportedly didnt even know she was being inserted into an established band when she had arrived in LA, with the reunited Berrabah and Range meeting her just two days before shooting commenced on their video for About a Girl  arguably the groups final banger. They would say they bonded over slapping one anothers bums while rehearsing the videos choreography. It was a trainwreck.

None of us were happy  [Keisha] included, Range told The Mirror. It was a difficult situation  The last time I saw Keisha was terrible. We didnt speak. Ive sent her a message but shes not talking to me. She doesnt want to know. Its been years together with the band and its really hard. Really hard. Everyones nicknamed me Tiny Tears because Im constantly bursting into tears.

The originals: Donaghy, Buena and Buchanan at a 2001 film premiere (Shutterstock) (Julian Makey/Shutterstock)

Of Ewens arrival, Range appeared relieved. Weve been given a second chance, she said. We tried everything we could to make it work with Keisha but we couldnt keep it going with her. Lifes too short to live in an unhappy situation.

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At the time, widespread reaction to the latest switch was of almost comic bafflement. The press decided it was one transformation too far, a stance easier to take on the heels of Get Sexy, a ludicrous comeback single (and the last to feature Buchanan before she was ousted) full of Americanisms and thrusting. It also created immediate factions within Sugababes fandom  Range and Berrabah were either the Machiavellian villains responsible for a potentially fatal split, or Buchanan was the villain all along, her removal earned. Ewen, a talented vocalist who had just started her own solo career prior to joining the group, never stood a chance.

In hindsight, the trials of the Sugababes exposed the cruelties of the pop industry. Speaking to The Guardian in 2013, Buchanan, Buena and Donaghy, who by that point had reunited as a separate musical entity, claimed that their management fuelled animosity between them. Theyd whisper to one of us: You should go solo, Buchanan said. And to another of us: So-and-so doesnt like you.

Rumours of in-fighting helped define Sugababes, but it was easy to forget that those suffering the consequences were mere teenagers. Donaghy was just 17 when she left the group, later revealing she was diagnosed with depression soon after her departure. Buchanan and Buena were even younger. Perpetuating the idea that they were all individually replaceable probably didnt help their collective spirit  each member defined as mere props for a brand name and bringing nothing to the table that couldnt be replicated by someone else.

Taller in more ways: The reunited Mutya Keisha Siobhan in 2013 (Getty) (Stuart C Wilson/Getty Images)

As a result of such toxicity, Sugababes went out in a blaze of uncertainty and disappointment. Sweet 7, which turns 10 years old this month, was an unexpected curtain call for the group. It was an album produced by US hitmakers such as RedOne and Stargate, and the most 2009 record imaginable, full of razor synths and over-processed vocals. While the group were famed for their harmonies, Sweet 7s production transforms Berrabah, Range and Ewens voices into a soup of android noises.

Lyrics throughout were also oddly vacuous for a group who always tended to reach for some kind of substance, or at least an assertive kind of sexuality. Give me what I need / That Gucci, that Louis V, Ewen sings on the Sean Kingston collaboration Miss Everything. Thats how you spell L-O-V-E.

All of Sugababes, from their earliest incarnations to the creative lows of Sweet 7s troupe, have stayed somewhat in the public eye since their girl band heyday. There have been reality shows, stage shows and attempts at solo careers. There was also MKS  the aforementioned 2013 reunion of Buena, Buchanan and Donaghy  that produced one official single, Flatline, before seeming to vanish. Theyve maintained theyre still together and will release further material, but so far havent save for a blissful cover of Sweet Female Attitudes Flowers last year  a track released under their old Sugababes moniker. Its been a bummer, all the same.

Flatline was brilliant  a chill summer breeze of a single that emphasised the airy soul of the trios vocals. The unreleased MKS album was also promising, its material having been slowly leaked online over the years (or given to artists like Bananarama).

There also remains something quietly powerful about their potential comeback. After years of being treated like cattle, each Sugababe marked with a destructive tabloid reputation and told that theyre indistinguishable from any other pretty young woman with a decent voice, it would be extraordinary to see the group returning fully in charge of their own destinies for a change. As much as its become a running joke in MKS fandom to believe they could genuinely return once again with new material, it wouldnt be in the Sugababes spirit to go down without a fight.
James Cropper PLC (LON:CRPR), which is in the forestry business, and is based in United Kingdom, received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the AIM over the last few months, increasing to UK13.55 at one point, and dropping to the lows of UK9.15. 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 James Cropper's current trading price of UK9.15 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 James Croppers 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 James Cropper

What is James Cropper worth?

James Cropper is currently expensive based on my price multiple model, where I look at the company's price-to-earnings ratio in comparison 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 32.17x is currently well-above the industry average of 9.23x, meaning that it is trading at a more expensive price relative to its peers. Furthermore, James Croppers share price also seems relatively stable compared to the rest of the market, as indicated by its low beta. If you believe the share price should eventually reach levels around its industry peers, a low beta could suggest it is unlikely to rapidly do so anytime soon, and once its there, it may be hard to fall back down into an attractive buying range.

What does the future of James Cropper look like?

AIM:CRPR Past and Future Earnings, March 14th 2020

Future outlook is an important aspect when youre looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Although value investors would argue that its the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. James Croppers earnings over the next few years are expected to double, indicating a very optimistic future ahead. This should lead to stronger cash flows, feeding into a higher share value.

Story continues

What this means for you:

Are you a shareholder? It seems like the market has well and truly priced in CRPRs positive outlook, with shares trading above industry price multiples. However, this brings up another question  is now the right time to sell? If you believe CRPR should trade below its current price, selling high and buying it back up again when its price falls towards the industry PE ratio can be profitable. But before you make this decision, take a look at whether its fundamentals have changed.

Are you a potential investor? If youve been keeping an eye on CRPR for a while, now may not be the best time to enter into the stock. The price has surpassed its industry peers, which means it is likely that there is no more upside from mispricing. However, the optimistic prospect is encouraging for CRPR, which means its worth diving deeper into other factors in order to take advantage of the next price drop.

Price is just the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into what truly matters  the fundamentals  before you make a decision on James Cropper. You can find everything you need to know about James Cropper in the latest infographic research report. If you are no longer interested in James Cropper, 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.
My hope is that if pastors are alerted to predisposing issues and prepare themselves to address the pertinent issues that place them in peril, we might stem the tide of clergy sexual misconduct

Laura Nelsons book Avoiding the Potholes: Preventing Clergy Sexual Misconduct ($16.49, paperback, 9781630508814; $8.99, e-book, 9781630508821) is available for purchase.

In Avoiding the Potholes: Preventing Clergy Sexual Misconduct, Laura Nelson discusses sexual misconduct amongst those in church leadership, which continues to be a pressing issue plaguing our churches. It can be likened to a pothole, appearing seemingly overnight with detrimental effects, but what causes the erosion and is there a way to stay clear? With powerful spiritual insight and teaching from Gods Word, Avoiding the Potholes addresses these questions, offering helpful, practical guidance for Christian leaders to avoid falling into this injurious hole.

In working with our denomination, I witnessed this pain firsthand which prompted me to study why this occurs and consider steps for prevention. My hope is that if pastors are alerted to predisposing issues and prepare themselves to address the pertinent issues that place them in peril, we might stem the tide of clergy sexual misconduct, said Nelson.

Rev. Dr. Laura Nelson is the Senior Pastor of Olivet Baptist Church in New Westminster BC, where she has ministered the past eleven years. She is a graduate of Biola University, Regent College, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Laura has a passion for ministry and encouraging people in their walk of faith. Her greatest delight is her two adult daughters.

# # #

Xulon Press, a division of Salem Media Group, is the worlds largest Christian self-publisher, with more than 12,000 titles published to date Avoiding the Potholes: Preventing Clergy Sexual Misconduct is available online through xulonpress.com/bookstore, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

President Donald Trump has tested negative for the novel coronavirus, his physician said, following concerns over his exposure to a disease that has paralyzed the globe.

Trump agreed to the test after coming in contact with several members of a Brazilian presidential delegation visiting his Florida resort who have since tested positive for the virus.

"This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative," the president's physician Sean Conley said in a Saturday memo.

Trump, 73, had dismissed concerns over his exposure to the disease which has killed at least 51 Americans and upended the rhythm of daily life across the country, with millions working from home and schools shut.

New York, the most populous US city, saw its first coronavirus death on Saturday, as store shelves were stripped bare after days of panic buying.

Across the Hudson River in Teaneck, New Jersey, Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin called for a citywide self-quarantine after 18 cases were confirmed in the township.

"What we are saying is that we are ground zero," Hameeduddin said. "Expect or act as though you're going to infect somebody or somebody is going to infect you."

Vice President Mike Pence announced further curbs on travel to the United States, saying a ban imposed on European nations over the pandemic would be extended to the United Kingdom and Ireland Tuesday.

The restrictions threw airports across the country into disarray, with incoming travelers forced to wait hours for medical screenings before passing through customs.

Illinois governor JB Pritzker said the long lines at Chicago's O'Hare airport were "unacceptable."

"The federal government needs to get its s@#t together. NOW," he tweeted.

Acting Homeland Security secretary Chad Wolf said his office was working with airlines to improve screening times.

Trump advised against non-essential travel and said officials were also considering imposing domestic restrictions.

"If you don't have to travel, I wouldn't do it," Trump said at a White House news conference. "We want this thing to end."

In an official proclamation, he also named Sunday a national day of prayer "for all people who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic."

Trump declared a national emergency on Friday, freeing up some $40 billion in disaster relief funds.

The US House of Representatives also passed a billcrafted by Democrats in consultation with the Trump administrationto provide billions of dollars for free virus testing, emergency paid sick leave and family leave. It is expected to pass the Republican-majority Senate.

An end to hand-shaking

The coronavirus pandemic has claimed more than 5,800 lives in at least 137 countries.

Repeatedly attacked for sending out mixed signals on the health crisis, the president raised eyebrows on Friday when, contrary to medical advice, he was seen shaking hands as he gathered his coronavirus response team at the White House.

On Saturday, he blamed habit"people put their hand out... you don't think about it"but said it would have to change.

"Maybe people shouldn't be shaking hands for the long term," said Trump, a self-declared germophobe.

Trump's virus test came after contact with the Brazilian delegation as well as US lawmakers and political leaders who have gone into self-quarantine over potential infection.

Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel was on Saturday awaiting results of a virus test after she came down with flu-like symptoms. She reportedly attended an event in Florida with Trump on Monday and flew back to Washington on Air Force One.

A broader travel ban

On Saturday a 30-day US ban took effect on all travel from the EU's Schengen border-free zone, part of a global clampdown on travel to curtail the virus.

Pence said the ban would include Britain and Ireland as of midnight EST on Monday (0400 GMT on Tuesday). Both countries had been excluded from the initial ban.

"Americans in the UK or Ireland can come home. Legal (US) residents can come home," Pence said.

Trump also aimed a new jab at the US Federal Reserve, saying he wanted it to be "much more proactive" in moving to protect Americans from the widespread economic dislocation caused by the pandemic.

But the president seemed otherwise subdued during Saturday's briefing, uncharacteristically offering praise to Democrats including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Trump also tweeted that he had a "nice conversation" with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and that it was "great to hear that his wonderful wife Sophie is doing very well."

Trudeau has been tele-governing since his wife was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Thursday.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2020 AFP
Watching the sun go down from a Bali beach cabana last year, Luke Behin suggested to girlfriend Juliana Junqueira itd be a nice place to marry.

But the Melbourne couple's plans to wed on the Indonesian island in May have been thrown into disarray, as the intensifying threat of coronavirus prompted Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday to urge Australians to consider only essential travel.

Juliana and Luke are likely to postpone their May wedding in Bali. Credit: Jason South

They say that if the situation does not improve in the next fortnight, which appears unlikely, they will postpone their day.

Things escalated too quickly and we are very worried about our loved ones' health, Junqueira said. We cannot ask for anyone to put themselves at risk.
Assurances of restoration of statehood at "early opportunity", no demographic change and release of all political prisoners in "due course" were the takeaways from Union Home Minister Amit Shah's meeting with a political delegation of the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party here on Sunday.

Expressing confidence that "visible changes will be seen on the ground in the next few months, the home minister also assured the delegation that the NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take all steps for the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir".

The political delegation, which is the first one after the abrogation of special status on August 5 last year by the Centre, had called on the prime minister on Saturday.

Engaging with the delegation on about 40-odd issues raised by them, the home minister emphasised that there is no intention of the government for demographic change in the region and "all such talks have no basis at all".

In a similar assurance as given by the prime minister to the delegation, Shah said the government will work with all sections of the society to realize the hopes of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir at an early opportunity, an official statement said.

Shah referred to the prime minister's address to the nation after the abrogation of Article 370 and said that even he in his speech in Lok Sabha on August 6, 2019 expressed the same.

The home minister said this is also good for India's interest, as the region is a border area, the statement said.

He assured the delegation that Jammu and Kashmir will have a better domicile policy than other states in the country and also said that a reasonable economic development policy will be drafted soon after widespread consultation.

Shah said his government is open to suggestions and feedback from all political parties and individuals for overall development of Jammu and Kashmir.

Allaying the apprehensions of the delegation on restrictions, Shah said all decisions on relaxations are based on ground realities and not due to any pressure.

He referred to steps like release of people from detention, restoration of internet, relaxation in curfew and said that "even political prisoners will be freed in times to come as the main objective of the government is that not a single person should die, be it a common Kashmiri or security personnel".

Many political leaders were detained after August 5 last year when the Centre revoked special status of Jammu and Kashmir and divided it into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

He emphasised that there is no discrimination in implementation of central laws in Jammu and Kashmir and interests of all sections will be taken care of.

He said that a land bank had been created in the union territory and the government would soon come out with an industrial policy to ensure rapid economic development.

He expressed hope that in next four years, Jammu and Kashmir will have three times more investments than Rs 13,000 crore that it has received in last 70 years.

There is a huge potential and investors are also willing to come forward. This will also solve the problem of unemployment in the region, he added.

On the issues of reservation, the home minister said that a commission will be set up soon and reiterated that no injustice will be done to Gujjars, nomads and other communities.

On the issues concerning JK Bank, he assured the delegation of personally looking into the issues.

Shah said that he will also ask the Lieutenant Governor to appoint a senior nodal officer to meet the people twice in a week to address their grievances. He also asked the delegation to provide feedback to the nodal officers in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Emerging after the nearly two-hour meeting with the home minister, Altaf Bukhari, a businessman-turned-politician who led the delegation of the party, said the home minister allayed fears of demographic changes in Jammu and Kashmir and also assured of early return of statehood.

The JK Apni Party chief also raised various other issues, including autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir Bank, age relaxation of youths from union territory appearing in Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams, relief in horticulture and agriculture, besides the tourism sector.
More than 200 Indians, including students and pilgrims stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran, reached India early on Sunday, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said.

Highlights The Indians came back in a Mahan Air flight, an Iranian carrier, and landed in Mumbai. India has carried out several evacuations of Indians nationals from Iran in the past few days. Iran is among the worst affected countries in the Middle East with 611 deaths and 12,729 cases of coronavirus

S Jaishankar thanked Iranian authorities for helping India in the evacuation of its nationals, who came back in a Mahan Air flight, an Iranian carrier. They landed in Mumbai.

234 Indians stranded in Iran have arrived in India; including 131 students and 103 pilgrims. Thank you Ambassador @dhamugaddam (Dhamu Gaddam) and @India_in_Iran team for your efforts. Thank Iranian authorities, the minister tweeted.

234 Indians stranded in #Iran have arrived in India; including 131 students and 103 pilgrims.

Thank you Ambassador @dhamugaddam and @India_in_Iran team for your efforts. Thank Iranian authorities.  Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 14, 2020

Iran is among the worst affected countries in the Middle East with 12,729 cases and even senior officials testing positive. It said on Saturday the coronavirus outbreak has killed another 97 people, pushing the death toll in the country to 611.

India has carried out several evacuations of Indians nationals from Iran in the past few days.

The first batch of 58 Indians was brought back in a C-17 Globemaster, the largest military aircraft in the Indian Air Forces (IAFs) inventory, on Tuesday followed by another evacuation of 44 individuals on Friday.

The aircraft, which took off from the Hindon airbase on Monday evening and returned Tuesday morning, also brought swab samples of 529 Indians to carry out laboratory tests and check whether they have the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Also read: 58 evacuated from Iran, housed in isolation at Hindon airbase medical facility; remain asymptomatic

India and Iran have both begun operations to evacuate citizens stranded in each others territories and have pledged full cooperation in this regard.

India is trying to set up a laboratory in Iran to test all Indians for the coronavirus to expedite their exit and in the meanwhile, their samples are being sent to India in batches for testing onboard special Mahan Air flights.

India has reported two deaths and 84 positive cases of coronavirus so far.

The Centre has declared coronavirus a disaster in order to unlock funds for states to mobilise resources aimed at stopping the spread of the deadly virus.

Two new cases on Saturdayone each in Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmirtook the tally of confirmed infections to 84. The Union health ministry has said 10 of these have made a recovery and discharged.
Spain PM's wife tests positive

Spain\'s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his wife Begona Sanchez arrive at Kansai airport in Izumisano city. Internet photo

AFP, Madrid :

Spain on Saturday night followed Italy and imposed a near total nationwide lockdown to fight the spread of coronavirus by banning people from leaving home except to go to work, get medical care or buy food.

Prime minister Pedro Sanchez announced the restrictions on movement following a huge spike in the number of infections in this nation of some 46 million people.They are among the measures introduced as part of a 15-day state of emergency officially declared by his government on Saturday. Spain confirmed more than 1,500 new cases of coronavirus since Friday evening, raising its total to 5,753 cases, the second-highest number in Europe after Italy.

The disease has so far claimed 183 lives in Spain.

"The prohibition to circulate in the streets... must be followed starting today," he said in a televised address after a cabinet meeting that lasted more than seven hours.

Spaniards may leave home to go to work, "buy bread", go to the pharmacy and get medical care but "not to go have dinner at a friend's house", he added.

Police would ensure the restrictions on people's movements are obeyed, said the prime minister, whose office later announced that his wife Begona Gomez had tested positive for the virus.

"The measures which we have adopted are drastic and will unfortunately have consequences... but our hand will not shake to prevail against the virus," Sanchez added.

"We will win this battle... but it is important that the price we pay for this victory be as little as possible."

All stores except for pharmacies and supermarkets will close nationwide, the premier said.

Bars, restaurants and all shops except for supermarkets had already shut on Saturday for two weeks in the Madrid region, which accounts for over half of all infections.

Most regional governments in Spain had already followed the example of Madrid and closed their schools.

Spain's response to the coronavirus has so far had wide differences between regions due to the country's complex system of sharing power between the central government and regional governments, which control education and health issues. But by declaring a state of emergency, Sanchez's government has the power to take over healthcare and use security forces to enforce orders.

It is only the second time that the government has evoked it since the country returned to democracy following the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975. The other time was during a 2010 air traffic controllers' strike.

Sanchez warned Friday that the number of infections could reach 10,000 in the coming days in Spain.

In response to an appeal made on social media, many residents of the Spanish went to their balconies and windows at 10:00 pm to applaud and cheer the healthcare workers dealing with the crisis
Invygo, the Mena regions first app-based car subscription, has signed its first car hire partner in Saudi Arabia, cementing the beginning of their expansion in the kingdom later this month.



Through its new partnership with Budget Rent a Car Saudi Arabia, Invygo will begin offering multiple brands of quality cars which are latest models for monthly subscription to the residents of Saudi Arabia.



Customers in Saudi will soon be able to subscribe to vehicles through the Invygo app with an all-inclusive monthly payment, with no deposits, long-term commitment or hidden fees involved.



Motorists pay monthly to drive the car, get it delivered to them, and can even request servicing, or return their car with the tap of a button whenever required. Invygo aims to attract users who are looking for a high-quality customer experience and an alternative to the traditional car ownership and leasing options.



After raising $1 million funding in its seed round just a few months ago, Invygo has already begun expansion to Saudi Arabia. Growing at a steady pace, the car subscription app plans to expand to more cities in Saudi Arabia and set foot into Bahrain and other GCC countries soon.



This landmark deal marks the companys entry into the Saudi market. Operations will begin in Riyadh in this month and extend to cities like Dammam, Jeddah and other Saudi Arabian cities in coming months.



Co-founder and CEO Eslam Hussein commented: Were excited to enter the dynamic market of Saudi Arabia. This is our first ever partnership outside of the UAE which will help us bring a superior driving experience to Riyadh and eventually many more cities in Saudi Arabia.



The significant funding weve received has helped us grow and expand the Invygo platform to a second market in just a few months. Our business has grown significantly in the UAE and we intend to push it to greater heights through this deal with Budget Saudi.



Fawaz Danish, president and group CEO of Budget Saudi, commented: We are happy to be the launch partner of Invygo in Saudi Arabia. Budget Saudi is always looking to embrace new technologies and ideas that are disrupting the market. Offering latest model cars, friendly service and exciting customer experience on the first car subscription app in the Middle East will allow us to attract new, more tech savvy customer segments that prefer the flexibility that subscription offers.



Ali Albanna, general manager of Invygo in Saudi Arabia, commented: We are eager to start offering an affordable, stress and commitment free substitute to owning a car in Saudi Arabia. With Budget Saudi as our launch partners, we will be able to offer multiple models from highly demanded brands on our platform. Budget Saudis reach and expertise provides us with valuable support across the kingdom.



Invygo was founded by Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo whom are both IE Business School Alumni and have extensive experience in the automotive industry, finance and machine learning. Working in the automotive sector, Hussein first realised that there is a significant gap between todays fast-paced consumer demands and the traditional, limited options offered in the market. With this insight, he began working on Invygo to eliminate the time-consuming process of car procurement. The focus was to make getting a car more customer-centric by giving consumers the ability to book a specific car, with the flexibility to change or upgrade as needed - all without owning a depreciating asset.



Budget Saudi, founded in 1978, is the largest car rental-leasing company in Saudi Arabia, with a fleet of over 29,000 vehicles. It is the largest franchisee of the ABG Group globally and operates in every region in the kingdom with around 100 retail locations. - TradeArabia News Service


Hundreds of Liberians peacefully gathered at the ground of the Liberian legislature on March 3 to present a petition for the establishment of war and economic crime court in Liberia. The group was organized under the banner of Liberians United for Justice and accountability set up to bring justice to victims of the Liberian civil war.

The group gave the petition to Deputy House Speaker Prince Moye, who was accompanied by Representative Moses Acarous Gray of Montserrado County and Representative Rustonlyn Suacoco Dennis also of Montserrado County. Receiving the petition, Representative Moye informed the gathering that over 50 members of the lower house have signed up to the call for the establishment of the court and therefore the petition was a reminder for the 76 membered representatives to put the issue on the agenda for appropriate action.

It can be recalled that last year, President George Weah wrote the legislature for advice on the call for the creation of the court. Although many lawmakers have expressed for the establishment, the letter has been dragging in the lower house. It has been speculated that the speaker of the House, Bhofal Chambers, is dodging to put the issue to a vote because he knows it would be passed.

Meanwhile, the president, in his address to the UN General Assembly last October, informed the world body of the communication to the legislature. I have asked our lawmakers to advise me on this issue because it is a grave matter in my country. The Liberian people, including those who want to clear their conscience of the civil war, are concerned about this matter, he told the assembly. But Weah, upon returning to Liberia, informed the public that it was not he that called for the court. Apparently, the president was saying this to assure opponents of the court that he was not advocating for it.

President Weah has certainly made a U-turn from his 2004 speech while serving as UN peace ambassador calling for the court establishment. Some observers say that Weah is now playing politics with the issue and seemed to protect his political supporters accused of causing the civil war. This is in reference to Former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Senator Prince Johnson.

The Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) report names them, along with others, as principal perpetrators of the war and recommended for their persecution. But Sirleaf, as president, killed the TRC recommendations. The administration failed to take concrete action regarding the report, though she had pledged to support the TRC report when the committee was established. Now under Weah, the majority of the Liberian people and many international entities are calling for the implementation of the recommendations and for the establishment of the court.

FURTHER BACKGROUND

Considering the huge and painful destruction of the civil war, the Liberian people in 2005 mandated the TRC to investigate the causes and perpetrators of the war and to make recommendations which "shall" be implemented. In 2009 under the Sirleaf government, the TRC submitted its final report with over 200 recommendations, including punishment for the alleged perpetrators of the war. The executive of the government was to implement the recommendations while the legislature was to oversee the implementation. However, President Sirleaf did not implement the recommendations during her entire 12 years of administration for the reasons mentioned above. Moreover, some of the warlords were elected in the legislature and thus making it difficult to conduct its oversight responsibility relative to the recommendations.

PRESIDENT WEAHS PREDICAMENT

President Weah faces a personal and political dilemma. Particularly, Senator Johnson is a powerful lawmaker from Nimba County, the second-largest county in Liberia and is considered a hero and a kingmaker of Nimba. He was a general and a key warlord of Charles Taylor forces. He killed many people, including former President Samuel Doe. His support of Weah in the second round of the 2017 presidential election helped Weah to the presidency. However, as stated in an earlier article, election results show that the president would have won anyway without Johnsons support, though the percent of the win would have lowered than the 61 percent received. Indeed, Weah opponent, former Vice President Joseph Boakai, was a weak candidate, won only Lofa, the county of his birth out of the 15 counties in Liberia. Opposition parties standard-bearers Benoni Urey, Charles Brunskine, and Alexander Cummings supported him in the second round, yet he lost.

There is no tangible record or report of Sirleafs support for Weah in the election despite speculations. Before the election, Sirleaf met with the National Elections Commission (NEC) while on her way for an oversea trip, a move some observers thought was support for Weahs candidacy. Further, Sirleaf did not support nor campaign for VP Boakai either. This increased speculation. But according to some insiders, Sirleafs meeting was to advise NEC to run a fair and transparent election.

Nevertheless, Weah feels indebted to Sirleaf. He admires her and said to protect her. This feeling may have been the result of fear that the election would be rigged by the Unity Party appointed election commissioners. President Sirleaf put them in office, and it was thought that they would change the election results in favor of the ruling party presidential candidate. But the advice for a fair election was for the benefit of President Sirleaf. She wanted to leave office with a record of having a credible election under her watch. Weah CDC party felt cheated in previous presidential elections of 2005 and 2011 and was concerned about the 2017 election. Months before the 2017 election, candidate Weah and delegate visited heads of state of key West African countries to inform them of the election and prayed for a fair election. Weah was being proactive, putting NEC on warning.

Regardless of Weahs desire to protect his political supporters, some experts think that national and international pressure will force him to establish the court. His speech at the UN puts him on record to follow through the communication to the lawmakers and to report on the outcome. The world will be watching.

The call for war and economic crime court in Liberia is intensifying and is getting momentum. Civic society groups, religious leaders, traditional chiefs, elders, ordinary citizens, and international entities are requesting the government to institute the court. This is the second demonstration of the group. It held the first on November 12, 2018, marching to international organizations, including the US Embassy, the European Union, and the UN Mission in Liberia. Prior to that march, a conference was held in Liberia on the court. Ambassador Stephen Rapps, former US persecutor for the war crime court in Sierra Leone attended. Ambassador Uchenna Emelonye, Country Representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, also addressed the conference. Both ambassadors called for the need for justice for victims of the civil war. Madam Amina Mohammeh, Deputy UN Secretary-General, added her voice to the matter; "It is critical to implement the recommendations of the TRC", she said diplomatically telling the Weah government to comply.

ALSO AT THE GATHERING

At the gathering, Montserrado Senator Abraham Darius Dillon also addressed the group, saying that he supports the establishment of the court and called on his colleagues in the Senate to follow suit. Moreover, Joshua Milton Blayea, known as Butt Naked, spoke at the occasion. He fought in the war and is said to have killed many innocent people. But he supports the request for the court because he believes that no sin goes unpunished and that only the truth will set a person free. He also pointed out that he has witnessed violence in Liberia and thinks that it will continue because of the culture of impunity in the country. A recent study indicates that Liberia appears to have been cursed for the innocent blood shelled since the creation of the country and the perpetrators have gone scot-free. Liberia continues to be under-developed, though the country is the oldest African republic and though Liberia is rich with natural resources. The country is among the ten poorest nations in the world according to reports. President Weah could make a difference if he also becomes a leader of justice and stands for justice.

Also at the Capitol building, Emmanuel Savice, the group leader who traveled from Canada for the occasion, gave the keynote address, warning the Liberian lawmakers that the fight for the court will continue. Every two months, we will assemble here until the legislature takes action on the matter, he informed, adding, We are not asking you to establish war and economic crime court; we are demanding you to do so. The 250 thousand people who perished in the civil war did not die for nothing. Their families and the Liberian people, in general, will have justice. Sevice lost his family, including two of his siblings, in the war.

THE COMMOTION

After Savices speech, the group marched from the Capitol ground toward the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is located near the Capitol. At that point, this writer left the gathering thinking that the occasion was over. However, the media later reported that the demonstrators walked to the ministry where President Weahs office is located and requested to present their petition to the president. Accordingly, that request was not met. The Elite Protection Service (EPS) guarding the president allegedly flogged and arrested Savice and other demonstrators. But the national police released them.

The decision to march to the presidents office may have been made instantly, perhaps while the group was on the way toward the ministry because it was not announced at the gathering on Capitol Hill that a petition would be presented to the president. No details were given on what really led to the incident. One report stated that the demonstrators blocked the entrance of the ministry while the presidents convoy was approaching. Another said that they demanded that Weah should come down from his office to meet them and that they refused to follow the EPS instruction.

On a radio station, callers expressed mixed views. Some blamed the EPS for using force against the demonstrators. Others faulted the group, stating that it was unnecessary to go to the president's office; that petitioning the lawmakers was enough since the matter was before the legislature. A presenter at another radio station expressed a similar opinion that it was uncalled for to go to the president. The group should continue to put pressure on the lawmakers to take action on the presidents communication on the issue.

But the alleged and reported beating and arrest took the central stage instead of the petition. Almost all of the media coverage focused on the commotion and little was said about what the gathering was about.
The number of people infected by



novel coronavirus in Maharashtra climbed to 33 on Sunday, with a 59-year-old woman and a man becoming the latest COVID-19 cases in the state, which tops the list in the country.

While the woman who was admitted in a hospital in Aurangabad had a travel history to Russia and Kazakhstan, the man from Pimpri-Chinchwad township in Pune had travelled to Japan and Dubai before his return on March 3, officials said.

According to Health department, 95 new cases of suspected coronavirus were quarantined at various hospitals in the state on Sunday.

"The woman who was tested positive to novel coronavirus is being treated at Dhoot Hospital in Aurangabad. She had a travel history of Russia and Kazakhstan," the Health department said in a release.

The man from Pimpri-Chinchwad became the 16th case from the township and Pune to test positive for COVID-19.

"The person was admitted in Naidu Hospital here on March 14. The result of his swab sample, which was sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), has returned positive," he said, adding that the person is undergoing treatment and is in stable condition," said Pune district collector Naval Kishore Ram.

As per the Health department statement, the man had travelled to Japan and Dubai during February 23 and March 3.

Of the 33 coronavirus positive cases so far, the highest nine are from Pimpri-Chinchwad, followed by seven in Pune, five in Mumbai, four in Nagpur, two in Yavatmal and one each at Thane, Kalyan, Raigad, Navi Mumbai, Ahmednagar, and Aurangabad.

Since January 18, 758 people were quarantined at isolation facilities for symptoms like fever, cough and cold across the state.

"Of the total admitted people, 669have tested negative while 32 others tested positive in laboratory testing till now," reads the release.

According to the health department, as of now 1.81 lakh passengers were screened at Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur airports.

The department said that 95 new people suspected of coronavirus infection were quarantined at various hospitals in the state on Sunday.

A total of 1043 people have arrived in Maharashtra since January 18, and 442 of them have already completed the 14-day follow up period, it stated.

The state government has already invoked Epidemic Disease Act, 1897 from March 13 that gives wide-ranging powers to officials to enforce measures, including that of lockdown and quarantine, required to tackle an outbreak.

The government has also ordered the closure of educational institutions, theatres, malls, parks, swimming pools, gymnasiums etc to stop the spread of coronavirus.

On Sunday, the Mumbai Police invoked section 144 of the CrPC to prohibit tour operators from conducting any kind of group tours to foreign or domestic destinations till March 31.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Q: Could you explain to me the rules governing painted white lines on the right edges of roads?

I'm thinking, in particular, about a road I frequently drive on, the Troy-Schenectady Road (Route 7), between Wade Road in Latham and Union Street in Schenectady. That lengthy stretch has no white lines painted on the right, and at night and especially in inclement weather it's almost impossible to differentiate between the edge of the road and the gray curbing (and the center and left markings certainly need enhancing, but that's another issue).

In contrast, most or all of Route 155 includes white lines painted on the right, even if they're just a few inches from curbing (the newly repaved area circling the Albany airport comes to mind here).

Are all major roads supposed to have white lines denoting their right edge? If so, who is responsible for that stretch of Route 7?

Regards,

Bill Pollack, Niskayuna

A: The New York State Department of Transportation is responsible for that part of Route 7.

DOT public information officer Bryan Viggiani said a white edge line is not required along that stretch because it is a 14-foot shared-use lane for both motorists and bicyclists with a curb and sidewalk off the road. Where those features are present, white edge lines are not required, he explained.

Hot Spots Route 9 southbound over I-90, Albany: Watch for single right lane and shoulder closure over I-90 to intersection with Livingston Avenue, weekdays 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Northway, Twin Bridges to Exit 14: Watch for right shoulder closure with crews picking up litter weekdays between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. See More Collapse

Old State Road: The New York State Thruway Authority released more information about the $3.8 million replacement of the Old State Road bridge over the Thruway in Albany County.

Construction on the project will begin in the early morning on March 23 and close Old State Road between Kings Court and Oak Tree Lane. Work is scheduled to be completed by the end of November, although work is weather-dependent and subject to change.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

The proposed detour plan can be found on the Thruway Authoritys website.

The work may also require some lane closures on the Thruway (I-90) in both directions between exits 24 (Albany/I-87) and 25 (Schenectady), but closures will be kept to off-peak times and are expected to cause only minimal traffic disruptions.

The bridge is being replaced because it has been hit by many trucks that are too tall to fit under it, causing disruptions on I-90. The project will increase clearance under the bridge to 16.5 feet and also includes reconstruction of the approach on both sides of the bridge and wider travel lanes and shoulders.

The bridge, which was built in 1955 and is original to the Thruway system, now sees about 5,300 vehicles per day.

Have a question about transportation in the Capital Region? Email gettingthere@timesunion.com and include your name, town and phone number or tweet @abigail_rubel.
In the second press conference of the day, on Sunday evening, P.E.I.'s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison and Education Minister Brad Trivers made further announcements including the closure of child-care centres and public schools following the first confirmed case of COVID-19, which was announced Saturday.

There continues to be a growing number of cancellations and precautions being implemented to protect Islanders.

Going forward, Morrison plans to hold media briefings daily.

Today's top stories

Holland College announced classes at all locations will be suspended March 16-20

Contact tracing is being conducted in relation to the first confirmed case of COVID-19 on the Island. This includes other Islanders who were on the same cruise. Morrison said they were contacted Saturday evening.

In an address to Islanders posted to Twitter Saturday evening, Premier Dennis King said while the news of the province's first case is not "unexpected" it remains "concerning." King is in self-isolation with his family after visiting Boston earlier in this week.

Health

Health PEI is going to be rescheduling non-essential appointments. Those affected will be contacted directly.

People who are ill or showing any symptoms of illness are being asked to stay away from any health care centre on P.E.I., unless they are seeking treatment.

Schools, colleges and university

Holland College announced classes at all locations will be suspended March 16-20.

Travel

Any Islanders who have travelled outside of Canada  whether experiencing symptoms or not  are recommended to self-isolate for 14 days following their return if they travelled after March 8.

More COVID-19 stories from CBC P.E.I.
It is critically important that before you announce that you are going to ramp up that type of screening, that you develop a plan and work out all the operational details, he said. People who were awaiting medical screening shouldnt have been in the same area as people awaiting passport screening. He added: They may have potentially placed a significant number of inbound travelers at risk of being exposed. to the virus.

Many travelers Saturday agreed.

I found it a little ironic they had so many people waiting in the same area, said Genevieve Couldwell, a doctoral student who lives in Salt Lake City and flew from London to New York on Sunday. We went through this whole process only to be kept in a situation where there might have been more exposure.

By Sunday afternoon, the new policy appeared to be operating more smoothly in many parts of the country. At Dulles International Airport in Virginia, travelers said they had breezed through the line.

In fact, some passengers on Sunday said they were angry at what they said was not enough screening.

They didnt swab us, they didnt take our temperatures, they didnt do anything but ask us how we felt, said Linda Cole, from Williamsburg, Virginia, who was returning from a vacation in Portugal via Heathrow.

Her friend, Carol Schrader, said one of the people on their flight had been in their hotel in Portugal and had gotten sick, though it was not clear with what.

Ms. Cole added: They asked me if Id been in contact with anyone who had the coronavirus. I said no, but I probably have now, she said, a reference to their wait with other passengers to reach the screening tables.

It is also possible that shorter waits on Sunday reflected planes being less full than those on Saturday, after many people had raced to leave Europe as soon as possible in the confusion set off by President Trumps announcement on Wednesday of restrictions on travel from mainland Europe.
Growing up in La Puente, California, Edgar Diaz was fascinated with history and dreamed one day of writing his own history book. Yet, the son of Mexican parents found it strangeand increasingly disturbingthat the U.S. history books he learned from made little or no mention of Latinx people or culture, and when they did it was in pejorative terms.

Diaz, a graduate student assistant in the University of Miami School of Education and Human Development Department of Teaching and Learning, and Matthew Deroo, a professor in the same department, have coauthored a soon-to-be-published study that documents the textbook biases that Diaz recognized as a young Latino.

Latinxs in contention: A systemic functional linguistic analysis of 11th-grade U.S. history textbooks will be published in the Spring 2020 issue of Theory & Research in Social Education, a top-tier social studies journal.

Situated in an increasingly hostile political climate toward traditionally marginalized individuals, including those with Latinx identity, our study reveals how the language choices authors make portray Latinx people, communities, and nation-states in passive and subservient roles, while representing the United States as a domineering and influential power, wrote Diaz, in the articles introduction.

Our study offers a different approach to critique a textbook in ways that others have not done before, added Deroo. It makes a strong contribution to the field in advancing theory and serves to help teachers and students interpret textbooks and language to see how people are positioned and what that might mean for their own experiences.

Employing a novel use of systemic functional linguistics, a tool normally used to support second-language learning, Diaz and Deroo scrutinized the choice of verbs in the three U.S. history textbooks currently used in Miami-Dade County Public Schools and assessed how the word choices impact what students understand about the subjectand themselves.

To complete their analysis, the two researchers worked page by page through hundreds of pages of text. At times they examined the same paragraph to determine the theme, which precedes the verb, and the rhemethe part of the clause that gives information about the theme. They do all this while assessing four classifications of verbs: saying, sensing/feeling, action, and relating.

Diaz propelled the research, and Deroo guided the academic process. We share the commitment to honor Latinx students, to give students and teachers a better sense of agency and to support equity and social justice, Deroo explained.

For their study, the researchers defined Latinx as a gender-inclusive term for people from Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, or South America who share a common bond of Latin American origin.

While Diaz had become sensitized through his own history readings and education to the bias that ignored or stigmatized Latinos, an experience as a high school teacher prompted the doctoral research.

In his first year in Miami serving with Teach for America, Diaz was assigned to teach a world history class at Miami Edison Senior High. Most of his students were Haitian-Americans from the neighboring community.

There was literally one paragraph in the whole book about the Haitian Revolution, remembered Diaz, who noted that when he questioned the omission, he was told not to worry because it wont be on their [standardized] test.

He changed the syllabus to spend the next two weeks delving into Haitian history. Diaz, who celebrates the link between literacy and history, justified the shift to administrators by assigning a range of writing tasksanother requirement of the standardized test.

While fulfilling his volunteer teaching commitment, Diaz entered the University of Miami and later completed his Master of Science in Education and Social Change. A few years later, he was back at the University to launch his doctoral studies. In a literacy class, taught by Professor Luciana de Oliveira, he learned the methodology that he applied for this study.

To counter the inequities inherent in textbooks, Diaz recommends that history teachers use more primary source documentspersonal accounts like letters and diaries, newspapers, magazines, books, and government documentsthat provide an alternative perspective to textbook history. He suggests that instructors encourage classroom discussions about topics that are bound to spark conversation, such as race and racism.

While recognizing the studys contribution, Deroo recognized its limitations.

We focused on three high school textbooks. Its important to look at K8 textbooks to know how language choices are shaping U.S. history for younger learners, he said, suggesting that further study would assess images and pictures to gauge how they might result in a better and more equitable understanding of history.

Diaz highlighted the importance of critical reading to help shape an accurate understanding of history.

The research brought me back to being a young student and my belief that history is objective. The subtle changes in the phrasings of words change the meaningand that affects students and has dangerous implications, Diaz said. Students are seeing a variety of different history textbooks, with dangerous omission of certain histories, and this explains in part the political climate were living in.
In the backdrop of coronavirus pandemic, the general administration department has issued the order for assigning duties to both class C and D employees of the state government on alternate days.

Except for the state health department, all department heads have been directed to form rosters and assign alternative working shifts to the employees of the Bihar government.

"All department heads to ensure that large gatherings of employees are avoided. Class C and D employees of the state government are to be assigned alternate working shifts," read the order from Patna District Magistrate citing the general administration department order.

The number of coronavirus cases in India has risen to 93, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.

So far, two deaths due to the lethal infection have been reported in the country.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared coronavirus a pandemic and Europe as its epicenter with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from China.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Gujarat Congress MLA Virjibhai Thummar on Sunday said that the party is yet to receive the resignation of two of its legislators.

"Rumours are rife but the party has not received any resignation. MLA Somabhai Patel was in touch with the Congress till yesterday. He might still be in touch with the party. I tried but could not contact JV Kakadia, another legislator," Thummar told ANI on Sunday.

"This attempt by the BJP will prove to be disastrous for Gujarat," he added.

As per reports, two Congress MLAs from Gujarat have resigned from the party ahead of the Rajya Sabha election.

Several Gujarat Congress MLAs reached Jaipur on Saturday ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections in the state which has become interesting after BJP fielded three candidates including former Deputy Chief Minister Narhari Amin as its candidate.

After the MLAs reached Jaipur, Himmatsinh Patel, an MLA, said that they had come to the pink city as part of the party's strategy.

"Everything is alright. Every party has some strategies. It is a part of that," he said.

Voting for the biennial election to the Rajya Sabha will take place on March 26.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Google Maps

The suspect in the stabbings that occurred Saturday night at Sams Club has been charged with three counts of attempted capital murder and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to the citys spokeswoman. Bond for Jose Gomez has not been set.

Gomez was arrested by an off-duty Border Patrol agent after four people  two children and two adults, one of whom was a Sams employee  were injured, according to the press release.
ISIS have told its members to stay away from coronavirus-stricken Europe in their newsletter. (Getty)

Islamic State (ISIS) has told its members to stay clear of Europe because of the coronavirus.

The terrorist group has advised supporters to stay away from "the land of the epidemic", and instead has offered tips for them to follow like washing their hands frequently and "cover the mouth when yawning and sneezing".

In the group's latest al-Naba newsletter, instead of urging members to attack European cities, ISIS advises the healthy to not enter coronavirus-stricken areas in case they become infected, and "the afflicted should not exit from it, according to the Sunday Times.

The terror outfit said ISIS members should maintain their faith in God and "put trust in God and seek refuge in Him from illnesses".

The newsletter refers to a plague described as a torment sent by God on whomsoever He wills.

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

An infographic on the back cover shows a list of tips instructing militants on how to stop the pandemic's spread.

Security men stand in an empty street during a curfew imposed by Iraqi Kurdish authorities, following the outbreak of coronavirus, in Sulaimaniya, in Iraqi Kurdistan, lraq. (Reuters)

Termed as the "Shari'i directives to deal with epidemics", the advisory contains advice like wearing a mask, practicing self-quarantine and fleeing from sick persons like one would flee a lion.

Read more: Trump discusses expanding travel ban to U.K. and Ireland

Iraq, where most of the surviving fragments of the group remain, had 110 reported coronavirus cases on Sunday morning, 10 of them fatal, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the contagion.

In Syria, officials have shut schools and cancelled most public events ago stop the spread of the virus.

Although the country claims to be free of the virus, reports have suggested that they could be hiding cases, which would be difficult to detect in war-torn countries.

Read more: Will coronavirus go away in Spring

Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian doctors detected cases of the virus in Damascus and at least three other provinces but were under orders to keep it quiet, Reuters reported.

Education minister Imad al-Azab has denied this.
THE HAGUE (Reuters) - The coronavirus is forcing Dutch flower growers to compost millions of blooms at what should be the pre-Mothers' Day demand peak, their industry association said, warning that many members could go bankrupt within weeks.

"The market situation is dramatic," Steven van Schilfgaarde, director of Royal FloraHolland, said in a statement, adding that flower prices have nearly halved.

"Last Friday 20% of the supply had to be destroyed because there were no buyers. Forecasts for the next weeks are even worse," he said.

This period is usually peak season for flower sales because of Mother's Day celebrations in the United Kingdom and Ireland on March 22.

FloraHolland usually auctions 30 million plants and flowers a day, worth some 8.8 million euros ($9.8 million).

The Dutch floricultural industry employs 150,000 people, and around 35% of global flower and plant exports, worth 6.2 billion euros a year, pass through the Netherlands.

On Friday the Keukenhof flower park, a top tourist attraction in the Netherlands which sees over a million visitors each year, announced it would not open until at least April.

Dutch florist Paul Deckers, who has supplied flowers for the Pope's annual Easter address in St. Peter's Square for the past 34 years, posted on his Facebook page earlier this week that there would be no delivery from the Netherlands this year.

In Paris, around 475 kilometres south of The Hague, some flower stall owners at a market in the upscale 16th arrondissement were still trying to sell their merchandise early on Sunday despite pressure from the police to close down.

(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Jan Harvey)
A former senior investigator wanted in Armenia as part of a probe into the 2008 crackdown on the opposition has been arrested in Russia, according to the Armenian prosecutor-generals adviser.

Gor Abrahamian told RFE/RLs Armenian Service (Azatutyun.am) on Sunday that the information on Vahagn Harutiunian had been reported to the Armenian police by their Russian colleagues.

The official added that Armenia will soon initiate a process for Harutiunians extradition. No other details are reported yet.

Harutiunian resigned as deputy chief of Armenias Special Investigation Service (SIS) and left for Russia, ostensibly for medical treatment, in July 2018, three months after Armenias Velvet Revolution.

He was first accused of forging factual evidence to cover up the Armenian armys alleged involvement in the post-election violence. Later, the SIS also charged him with two counts of abuse of power also stemming from the long-running probe of the 2008 unrest.

Harutiunian rejects all accusations leveled against him as baseless and illegal.

Eight protesters and two police servicemen died in Yerevan on March 1-2, 2008 as security forces broke up opposition demonstrations against alleged fraud in the February 2008 presidential election.

The former Armenian authorities accused the opposition of organizing the mass disturbances in a bid to seize power. They jailed dozens of opposition figures, including the countrys current Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, on corresponding charges.

The SIS radically changed the official version of events shortly after the 2018 revolution which brought Pashinian to power. It charged former President Robert Kocharian and three retired army generals with illegally using the Armenian armed forces against the protesters. Kocharian was taken into custody. All four men, whose trial began last year, deny the accusations.
https://www.aish.com/f/mom/Living-in-the-Anxious-Age-of-Coronavirus.html

God runs the world isn't just an expression. Everything is truly in His hands.

Not the coronavirus again, complained one of my children as we sat down to dinner. Cant we talk about something else?

Its not that we cant, I responded. Its just that its really hard to concentrate on anything else. Not because theres new information or anything new to say. Its just hard to avoid. Like many, my emotions run the gamut from calm to hysterical and right back again.

Although Ive mostly managed to keep myself from getting too anxious about it (largely because I have so many anxieties there isnt room to add another one!), the constant barrage from news sources, from Facebook posts (yes, I know I should stay off!) and other arenas has an impact.

And then there is the personal. Two engagement parties for friends' children cancelled this week. My sons senior semester at college moved to online amidst tearful good-byes. Agonizing over plane tickets for my kids for Passover and for my husband and I to visit my mother in Canada immediately afterLike I said, its hard to escape the shadow of the disease. It requires a concerted effort.

Not to mention that the hospital where my husband works as a volunteer chaplain just told (not asked, told!) all volunteers over 60 not to come in  yikes! And the trips to Israel he leads are up in the air. And its definitely not a good time to fundraise  no matter how worthy the cause. His days have been completely upended. And in the meantime, Im trying to walk the balance between holding classes because we should keep learning and canceling them because I dont want to spread the disease! I know there is zoom but I just dont think that will work for me. Unless I absolutely have to

And its appropriate to be practical  to stock up on certain essentials  if the store still has them. My husband wants me to go out and buy some basic food stuffs like beans and rice. I looked at him like he was crazy. With Passover coming, you want me to stock up on chametz and kitniyot? Im trying to eliminate those items from our home, not bring them back in! Yet, with all the uncertainty (and in the interests of peace in the home), I bought some extra cans and bags of those staples.

Does the preparation just make us feel better, like we are doing something about it, like we have some control or is it really an appropriate and practical response? So hard to know

With all the uncertainty in the air, with the facts and the risks a little elusive, its hard to know how to behave. We all seem to be perched precariously over some abyss, unsure of the safe way to traverse it. I think the only response is to rely on my tried and true fallback position  God runs the world. He always has and He always will. And in case you had any illusions about that, He has now demonstrated it loud and clear.

That doesnt really answer my question about how much water or toilet paper to buy (the empty shelves in the stores do that for me) but it helps with my emotional and psychological attitude. Im not in control. I can take reasonable precautions (as we always do in life) and the rest is in His hands. Its a mantra I already repeat throughout my day and it remains true. Ive just upped the frequency of my repetitions.

The Almighty is in charge; its not just an expression. And everything is truly in His hands. I certainly dont want to get the virus although I assume many of us eventually will. Being over 60 definitely increases the risk as it does for other diseases. Life is a risk and Im not so sanguine even as I mouth that seeming platitude. But we dont really have a choice here other than the one presented  to trust or not to trust, to accept that the Almighty is in charge or not. I have become more concerned about the coronavirus but Im also concerned about the way people drive on the main street around the corner from me, about how many people run red lights and stop signs every night as my husband and I are taking a walk.

After being realistic about the safeguards we need to put in place, the choice is to live a life of anxiety or not. Sometimes I sink into the former, but I try to pull myself out with my constant reminder. God runs the world. God runs the world. That recognition seems to be the best medicine available.
By Alexandra Alper and Lisa Lambert

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Friday said he expected the U.S. economic hit from the coronavirus outbreak to be short-term, and that the Trump administration was keeping its options open for any other future steps that may be needed.

Mnuchin told CNBC the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve were working to keep markets open and to shore up liquidity, helping banks as needed and seeking a significant increase for small business lending.

He also said negotiations with Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives over an economic relief package were also going well as lawmakers seek to reach an agreement with the Trump administration on a new bill to help aid those financially hit by the outbreak.

"We're going to look at every tool in the toolbox," he said in an interview.

Mnuchin added that it was unclear how long the economic fallout would last as the virus' spread was still a fluid situation, but that he expected a strong economic rebound by year's end and urged investors to focus on the long-term.

"The medical experts can't give us a definitive period of time, whether this is one month or two months or three months, but we're gonna get through this," he said. "By the end of the year .. I think you can expect we're going to have a big rebound in economic activity."

One option not under consideration, he said: tariff relief for China.

"General tariff relief for China is not on the table," he told reporters later at the White House.

(Additional reporting by David Lawder and Tim Ahmann; writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Paul Simao)
A training module will be developed and distributed in districts across the country to raise awareness about the recently amended POCSO Act to have the necessary understanding on prevention of and response to child sexual abuse, Women and Child Development (WCD) Minister Smriti Irani said.

The WCD ministry will get assistance from the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), neuroscience institute NIMHANS and UNICEF who will all work together to ensure district-wise outreach regarding the recently notified rules of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, she said.

The key stakeholders to be involved in this outreach programme include police and law enforcement agencies, district child protection units, state and district legal services authorities, child welfare committees, providers of health, education and mental health services among others.

"From free legal aid to counselling through agencies like BPR&D, we also hope to engage with police agencies district-wise to enhance our capacities to address crimes against children," she told PTI.

The module will include formats for training need assessment and post-training feedback format, along with check lists for all "duty bearers" and "rights holders", she said.

The training module will include video lectures by subject experts on the roles of various stakeholders. It will help homogenisation of the contents and also be useful for conducting training in remote places where appropriate subject experts may not be available to impart training, she said.

These modules will be shared with all state governments and will be placed on the ministry's website, Irani said, noting that protection of children and their well being is central to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's endeavours of building a new India.

She said there is an urgent need to provide orientation and raise awareness programmes for all stakeholders and communities at large on how the law can support children who are victims of sexual abuse with emphasis on prevention and roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders.

The training module aims to raise awareness among the key stakeholders of their role in POCSO implementation and to have the necessary understanding on how to prevent and respond to sexual abuse.

It also aims to impress upon key institutions entrusted with training of stakeholders to take on POCSO training as a priority and develop the capacities of District Child Protection Units (DCPUs) to undertake district-based awareness campaigns on POCSO through schools, panchayats and other community engagement platforms.

The module will be developed by the WCD Ministry with support from UNICEF, BPR&D, NALSA and NIMHANS in March with the objective to launch these during the last week of March or by first week of April, she said.

A mobile application and dashboard will be developed to get confirmation of training having been conducted in a particular location and to upload pictures of the same, she said, adding that it will help the ministry in monitoring the pace of training all over the country and give real time information regarding the coverage.

Training in every district will be anchored by DCPUs. Funds for capacity building released under Child Protection Services Scheme to states and districts may be used for organising the workshop



"Video conferences will also be organised with all the states/UTs under the chairpersonship of Secretary, WCD to inform them about the training. During the meeting the States/UTs will also be informed that they are required to conduct the training form April 1, 2020 covering all districts of the states," she added.

Irani said the first preparatory phase will involve the collation of materials on POCSO already existing and development of specific orientation modules for duly bearers.

This will include AV components as well. In addition, a package for awareness and education will also be created. This process will be supported by UNICEF, she said.

The second phase will involve dissemination of a detailed FAQ to states to implement "three months of action on POCSO" along with a resource pack to be used by various agencies.

"This will also include a monitoring plan for District Collectors/Magistrates that can be real time and feed into a dashboard that will be tracked at the national level. The tracking system will be developed by UNICEF in consultation with MWCD," she added.

The third phase is the actual roll out of the training for stakeholders at the district level on one hand and education and awareness campaigns on the other hand.

While the first component will be led by respective institutional bodies as outlined above, the second component will be primarily led by DCPUs and Childline India charitable trust, she said.

Elaborating on the role of the stakeholders, she said UNICEF will support the finalisation of the training awareness package, develop monitoring plan and dashboard, support in efforts at the state level for the roll out and final report and stock staking. NALSA will provide technical support in developing the module, especially from the perspective of judiciary officers and legal professionals.

The Bureau of Police Research & Development will help in developing the module from the perspective of training requirements of police personnel.

NIMHANS will provide inputs from the perspective of mental health issues and need for sensitivity of the victims.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Democratic majority of the state House and Senate is lining up behind a plan to charge the largest tractor-trailers to use Connecticuts bridges.

Its taken a long time  years  to get to this compromised point. Thats because toll is a four-letter word that most legislators have been reluctant to tout and theres been a vocal and visible grassroots effort to keep tolls from returning to Connecticut. You might remember then-Gov. Dannel Malloys effort to slip into the Bond Commission a $10 million study of tolls before leaving office; it went nowhere.

But Gov. Ned Lamont has been trying to make his CT2030 plan to spend $19 billion on transportation infrastructure over the next 10 years, first proposed in November, more palatable to legislators. Most recently, he scaled back tolling to only the 18-wheelers. Closed-door caucus meetings of both chambers Tuesday brought the sides closer to agreement.

Theres no question that Connecticuts highways and bridges need repair and mass transit needs improvement. How to pay for the required work is the sticking point.

Before any compromised plan comes to a vote in Hartford, however, two elements are imperative: More details must be provided and a public hearing must be conducted.

Details include exactly how much revenue realistically could be projected by charging tolls on a dozen bridges to class 8 and higher tractor-trailers, and how could Connecticuts plan save it from a similar court challenge faced by Rhode Island over its trucks-only tolls? Other details include the responsibilities of a Transportation Oversight Board, namely whether that group could set tolls, which should remain the purview of the General Assembly.

Exempting smaller trucks  those that deliver oil, for example  removes a central argument that truck tolling could cripple the local economy. The compromise is fairer as its the 18-wheelers that cause the most wear and tear on the highways.

By limiting the size of trucks, however, less money will be collected  about $170 million net annually vs $186 million  and the public needs to know how that will affect the infrastructure repair plan.

Citizens are highly engaged with the tolling issue, from demonstrators who are against any form of tolling to supporters who argue that out-of-state drivers using Connecticuts roads should help pay for them. Their concerns deserve to be aired in a public hearing before the General Assembly votes.

They need to hear what safeguards would be in place to ensure that 18-wheeler tolls couldnt morph into car tolls, a safeguard that any politician considering reelection would also want.

With details satisfied and a public hearing conducted, we support dealing with this controversial issue in a special session of the General Assembly this month.

One might question why not wait until the new session opens on Feb. 5. But it is better to clear the air now and deal with this issue thats been hanging over the states head too long.
An apartment building in Ho Chi Minh City where Vietnams 48th patient of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) resides has been sealed off, while people having close contact to him have been quarantined and tested.

The Hoa Binh Apartment Building in District 10, which houses over 1,000 people, was fenced off on Saturday after a 31-year-old man was confirmed as the countrys 48th COVID-19 patient earlier the same day.

He traveled in the same car as patient No. 45 to the south-central province of Binh Thuan and together had dinner with patient No. 34 and her husband there.

Food and supplies are transported to the apartment building. Photo: Ly Nguyen / Tuoi Tre

The man was asked to self-isolate at home after patient No. 34, a 51-year-old woman who recently returned from a U.S. trip that included transit time in South Korea and Qatar, was diagnosed with the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) this week.

He was transferred to a quarantine camp in District 10 and sampled there on March 13.

About 20 people who had close contact with the man have tested negative for the disease, but they will have to stay in a quarantine area for 14 days.

A resident of the apartment building receives his parcel through the fence. Photo: Ly Nguyen / Tuoi Tre

The novel coronavirus, which first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 155,900 people and killed more than 5,835 globally as of Sunday morning, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

Vietnam has so far confirmed 53 cases of coronavirus infections, with 16 having fully recovered and been discharged from the hospital.

A resident of the apartment building receives his parcel through the fence. Photo: Ly Nguyen / Tuoi Tre

Thirty-seven cases have been reported in the Southeast Asian country since Friday last week after Vietnam had gone three weeks without any new infection.

Three of the seven COVID-19 patients in Ho Chi Minh City have walked out of the hospital free of the virus.

Two men who are tasked with guarding the apartment building wash their hands during the job. Photo: Ly Nguyen / Tuoi Tre

Residents of the apartment building are handed free face masks and hand sanitizers. Photo: Ly Nguyen / Tuoi Tre

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Chimanimani, Zimbabwe  Clusters of white tarpaulin tents dot the green forest slopes of Zimbabwes northeastern town of Chimanimani, home to hundreds of people who have been displaced since Cyclone Idai struck these mountainous highlands on March 15 and 16 last year.

Since then, Kelvin Charamba, 35, has shared his tented quarters with his mother, his wife and their five children at Garikai settlement camp on the edge of the town, where frustration over the cramped living conditions is growing.

These tents were meant to last for three months, but weve been here for almost a year since [end of March 2019]  when it rains these tents cant protect us, Charamba said.

Struggling to make ends meet after their belongings were crushed by a cascade of rocks, Charamba and his family, like many others, are increasingly irked at the governments slow pace in relocating them to a new settlement.

We are always on edge, careful about our security because there are so many thieves here, people just walk into tents and take what they find. How can we be expected to live like this?

Severe underfunding

One of the worst tropical storms to hit southern Africa, Idai affected an estimated 2.6 million in Mozambique, Malawi, Madagascar and Zimbabwe.

However, a year since Cyclone Idai hit the region, the limited funding of the climate shock response has slowed the recovery process, with humanitarian and local government efforts to relocate displaced people and repair damaged public infrastructure in both Zimbabwe and Mozambique marked by delays.

In a statement on Friday, Amnesty International criticised the lack of international funding assistance, saying that less than half of the $450m needed for relief and recovery in Zimbabwe and Mozambique has been secured, with just over $40,000 committed in the first three months of 2020.

Given the dire situation in the countries and the responsibilities for the climate crisis, wealthier states and multilateral donors need to pledge more than they have done and ensure money reaches those who need it, it said.

In Mozambiques Sofala province, the most damaged province in the worst-hit country, the United Nations warned that vital support for 525,000 people working on post-Idai recovery projects is at risk of a complete halt.

Last month, funding shortfalls forced the World Food Programme to halve food rations for 525,000 people in Sofala, the UN agency said.

Godfrey Muparingwe in a makeshift kitchen where he and his family prepare meals. [Tendai Marima/Al Jazeera]

In Zimbabwe, the initially ample food, cash and clothing donations have now become rare occurrences in the displacement camps, residents say. And when they do happen, they do not meet the needs of families, particularly those living with sick relatives.

Residents of the Garikai settlement, the largest of three displacement camps in Chimanimani with more than 370 people, know all too well what cutbacks in donor funding mean for their daily life.

Charambas mother, 68-year-old Khesiwe Ndlovu, still limps around with a swollen ankle sustained from the cyclone. She complained that the dwindling donations mean she has to accept irregular dosages of critical medication she could not afford otherwise.

Meanwhile, Godfrey Muparingwe, 51, a plumber, who lost his mother on Friday due to a long-term illness, found looking after an invalid one of the toughest challenges of displacement.

It was a huge problem to live with her, most of the time my wife had to carry her wherever she needed to go when I had to go to work. It was easier in a house, we had more help, but in these tents, it was a big struggle. There was nothing else we could do, we just had to accept that was the situation, he said.

Charity Mudimu has been issued a new stand number but she is doubtful she could move to the area any time soon. [Tendai Marima/Al Jazeera]

Joshua Sacco, the parliamentarian for Chimanimani, said relocating the cyclone survivors to a more permanent place was necessary  but urged patience.

According to Sacco, three possible farms have been identified for relocation, but the government lacks the funding to demarcate housing stands on the farm, build roads and provide infrastructure such as water and electricity.

People indicated they want to be allocated stands, but we dont have the capacity to do this immediately. We are trying to engage our partners but people must be patient, he said.

But some like Charity Mudimu, 57, who said she was recently issued a stand number, are now jaded by the seemingly endless bureaucracy and express doubts of the governments sincerity.

They told us well be moved soon and but when I went to ask about it, the district administrator said just because I have a stand number it doesnt mean the stand is there yet, Mudimu said.

I have to wait for land to be cleared and portioned out, but nobody can tell me when this will happen or how long we must wait. What if the stand is given away and were just left to continue suffering in these tents, she lamented.

Follow Tendai on Twitter and Instagram: @i_amten
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<! Sanusi and Buhari >

By Ismaila Chafe/NAN

Contrary to allegations of collusion to remove former Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II from office, the presidency had intervened at many stages of the conflict to avoid escalation in the last two years.

A reliable source in the State House, Abuja, who spoke on condition of anonymity informed correspondents that the efforts collapsed because of the intransigence of the two sides to shift ground.

According to the source, when the Gov. Ganduje administration made up its mind to remove Emir Sunusi as far back as 2017, the governor informed President Buhari of this decision.

He, however, asked for advice and guidance. Outrightly, President Buhari said it was inappropriate and requested that the plan be shelved.

This meeting was followed with a written letter to the governor dated Nov. 17 2017 in which the Presidents advice was clearly stated.

The President directed his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari to follow up for a peaceful resolution of the crisis of confidence between the two, the source added.

The source maintained that this led to the setting up a Committee made up of five state Governors led by Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, adding that the governors did their best.

He said following the intervention of the committee calm returned but occasional flare-ups continued and were aggravated by the tense situations under which the governor reemerged for his second term in the 2019 general elections.

The source further narrated: In the course of that period, Gov. Fayemi, his Jigawa State counterpart, Abubakar Badaru and to some extent the Inspector General of Police made several expeditions to Kano, to prevail on the Governor not remove the Emir in those tense moments in the interest of peace and security.

The main grouse of the administration was that the Emir had failed to stay above the fray of partisan politics, especially as it related to the Governors re-election.

In reaction to the various suggestions by senior citizens including Generals Ibrahim Babangida, Wushishi, and Abdulsalami Abubakar, among others, the Chief of Staff sought for permission and gave the green light for the commencement of work by the Abdulsalami Abubakar committee.

The committee members sat down with the President at the Villa to discuss their mission.

At this meeting, the President outlined the efforts he put into the resolution of the conflict in Kano and said he had had enough.

He gave assurances of support and put at their disposal, the use of the Presidential Air Craft, then wished them the best of luck.

But he did make clear that if the situation warranted it, we would not hesitate to clamp an emergency rule on the state.

Governor Ganduje gave conditions for peace, including the withdrawal of court cases by Emir Sanusi against the Kano State Government.

The source revealed that Sanusi allegedly accepted to withdraw some of the cases, but stood his ground on the others, including his refusal to withdraw a court case instituted by Bashir Tofa and his group, who the state government alleged to be Sanusis proxy in the case.

According to the source, the Governor insisted that the newly-created emirates must be kept but acceded to the Emir that four of the five Kingmakers whose districts were excised from Kano be reinstated.

He said the Emir agreed not to appeal the decision to uphold the Emirates by the courts.

The source said: It was clear all this while that the inflexibility to meet some of the conditions for peace by both have added complications that made peace almost impossible.

For example, the former Emir had wanted the Kano State Anti Corruption Commission to stop its case against him completely.

He stood firm that the case he instituted against the Code of Conduct Bureau will not be withdrawn because, in his view, he needed to pursue it to clear his name, a demand that Gov Ganduje rejected.

The source, however, said the Abubabar Committee report did not give any glimmer of hope for ending the crisis, adding a mediators success depends largely on the cooperation of the parties involved.

Despite these frustrations, the source explained that the President did not give up on the efforts for peace.

The presidency official said that when the Chief of Staff led a delegation to condole the former Emir over the death of Amb. Sunusi, the late Dan Iyan Kano, and the former Emirs uncle, Abba Kyari met separately with Ganduje and Sanusi in a renewed effort to reconcile the two actors in the conflict.

According to the source, having gone to this extent for peace, it is uncharitable and baseless to accuse President Buhari of ordering Ganduje to depose Sanusi.

The President holds Sanusi in the highest esteem and has nothing personal against him and, therefore, he could not have told Ganduje to depose him.

The presidency source also described as nonsensical the allegations that Abuja, referring indirectly to President Buhari, is complicit in the Emirs alleged forceful removal from the palace and exile to Nasarawa.

He said: Chieftaincy law in Northern Nigeria going back to 1919 makes for the deposition and confinement of Emirs and Chiefs.

Sarki Alu of Kano was removed by the colonial administration using this law and was walked to Lokoja on foot to start a life of exile.

State governments have used the law to full effect dealing with Sultan Dasuki in Sokoto, removed and kept in Zing, Taraba state, and Emir Jokolo of Gwandu, Kebbi State, who has been kept away from the state now for over two decades.

Kano State did not need President Buharis authorization for anyone to remove and exile Emirs and Chiefs.

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WINNIPEGManitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont will have a bit of a cushion when delegates to the partys next annual meeting vote on his future later this year.

Under changes to the partys constitution, Lamont cannot be forced to step down unless at least two-thirds of delegates vote in favour of holding a leadership convention.

One political analyst said the change is out of the ordinary.

The requirement for a two-thirds vote by delegates ... to launch a leadership review is unusual, said Paul Thomas, professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba.

Most people assume that democracy involves 50 per cent plus one votes. However, each party designs its rules on leadership selection and replacement based on their history, traditions and the composition of its membership.

The Liberals adopted mandatory leadership reviews after every election a decade ago, based on a simple majority, but have not held one before. Jon Gerrard resigned in 2011 before he could face a review, and his successor, Rana Bokhari, also quit in 2016.

Manitoba New Democrats have a 50 per cent threshold at leadership reviews, and leader Wab Kinew is to face one at the partys next convention.

The provincial Progressive Conservatives have also worked with a 50 per cent threshold. At their last leadership review in 2005, Stuart Murray survived with 55 per cent support, but decided to step down due to the lukewarm result.

Federally, New Democrat leader Tom Mulcair faced a 50 per cent threshold and was forced to step down in 2016 after getting 48 per cent support. The federal Green party has an even lower threshold  40 per cent is enough to force a leadership race.

The Manitoba Liberals say they changed the threshold to a two-thirds majority a year ago as part of several changes to the partys constitution. The reason, they say, is because votes on the leadership review are made by party delegates, whereas leadership elections are open to all party members.

Delegates at a convention are limited constitutionally to a maximum number that may be nominated by constituencies, (party) associations, and those who pay a convention fee to attend, party president David Engel wrote in an email.

Therefore, the constitution has a higher requirement to remove a leader that was duly elected by the membership.

Lamont became leader in 2017 and won a byelection the following year, giving the party a fourth legislature seat. In last years election, the Liberals retained three seats  not enough for official party status.

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Georgia on Saturday became the second state to postpone its presidential primary because of the escalating coronavirus pandemic, yet another indication of how completely the outbreak has reshaped the race for the White House.

The Georgia primary, originally scheduled for March 24, has been moved to May 19.

"Events are moving rapidly and my highest priority is protecting the health of our poll workers, their families, and the community at large," Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a written statement announcing the delay.

The state currently has 45 reported cases of the novel coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, declared a state of emergency Saturday morning, following President Donald Trump's decision on Friday to declare a national emergency.

The delay spotlights the difficulty of reconciling public health with voter access. That issue is especially fraught in Georgia, where the 2018 governor's race prompted outcry from civil rights groups about the rejection of absentee ballots and the closure of polling places in predominantly black neighborhoods, among other concerns.

Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, called on the state to make "extraordinary efforts" to communicate with the public about the delay announced Saturday.

The move from Raffensperger, a Republican, follows a decision on Friday by election officials in Louisiana to delay that state's primary from April 4 to June 20.

At a news conference, Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin, a Republican, said the delay would help protect the health of elderly poll workers. He also said his recommendation - which was endorsed by the governor - enjoyed bipartisan agreement.

"When I contacted the governor's office, I think that there was some relief in us coming to that decision," Ardoin said.

The Wyoming Democratic Party also announced this week that it would do away with the in-person portion of its caucuses, scheduled for April 4. Instead, voters are encouraged to participate by mail, dropping off ballots on March 28 and April 4.

Meanwhile, the four states that have primaries scheduled for Tuesday - Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio - announced jointly that their contests would proceed as planned. They pointed to guidance from public health officials, who have declared voting safe if best practices are followed.

The disruption to the primary schedule came as presidential campaigns called off rallies, and as some Democrats began to call for contingency plans for the party's summer convention, which is set to bring tens of thousands of Democrats to Milwaukee in July. Republicans will convene several weeks later in Charlotte, North Carolina.

A total of 105 pledged delegates are at stake in Georgia's primary. Early voting began in the state on March 2 and had originally been expected to continue through March 20. Nearly 280,000 voters have already participated that way.

Nikema Williams, a state senator and the chairwoman of the Georgia Democratic Party, said votes that have already been cast will still be counted, while those who wish to participate in person will be able to do so on May 19, which is when Georgians were already scheduled to weigh in on a series of local, state and federal races.

"Our priority is to protect the health and safety of all Georgians and to ensure that as many Georgians as possible have an opportunity to vote," Williams said. "Continued in-person voting could compromise both goals."

According to a delegate selection timetable released by the Democratic National Committee, the deadline for states to hold their primaries or caucuses is June 9. The DNC said a delay beyond that point - as now envisioned in Louisiana - could cause a state to lose a portion of its delegates, though the body's rules and bylaws committee is set to consider how to enforce the regulations.

Georgia's new timeline would fall within the DNC's rules. In fact, going later in the calendar could make the state eligible for bonus delegates.

Georgia's presidential primary was already primed for heightened scrutiny as officials roll out 30,000 new voting machines, a response to persistent election security concerns in recent years.

A federal judge declared the state's former paperless voting system "unsecure, unreliable and grossly outdated" last August. But experts have also raised doubts about the new machines, saying they are at risk of malfunctioning and vulnerable to intrusion.

In Wisconsin, where the presidential primaries are scheduled for April 7, election officials were racing to provide voters with absentee ballots while waiting to see if the governor and the state legislature would take more drastic action.

Reid Magney, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Elections Commission, said state officials have been attending webinars and conference calls with the Department of Homeland Security and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention while also working with the state's Department of Health Services.

The commission this week suspended plans to dispatch special voting deputies to deliver absentee ballots to nursing homes. They will be placed in the mail instead.

- - -

The Washington Post's Hannah Knowles contributed to this report.
Wampsville, NY  Madison County Chairman John M. Becker today declared a State of Emergency in Madison County as of 2:00 PM on Sunday, March 15, 2020 until rescinded due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This declaration gives the school districts the ability to close if they so choose. As of March 15, 2020 Madison County has no positive cases of COVID-19.

Becker is asking the help of the community to remain calm, safe, patient and understanding during this time. The Madison County Department of Health stresses that if you become sick, please stay at home and hold off on trips to public places and events until you are well. Public Health urges those who are not seriously ill to avoid hospital emergency departments, but instead call their primary healthcare provider or the newly opened regional COVID-19 triage line if they think they have symptoms.

Upstate University Hospital has opened a triage line for the sole purpose of answering Central New Yorkers questions about COVID-19.
UN chief Antonio Guterres on Sunday urged governments to work together to stop the pandemic from plunging the into

"No country can face it alone," the secretary general wrote in an opinion article in the Publico daily.

"More than ever, governments must cooperate to revitalise economies, expand public investment, promote trade and ensure that people and communities affected by the disease are supported," he said.

The virus was "infecting the global economy," he said.

The pandemic had created a "real and growing risk of a global recession," the former Portuguese premier said.

The Monetary Fund, which releases its updated outlook on the world next month, has said that the severity of the slowdown will depend on how long the virus outbreak lasts and how governments respond.

In January the fund was still projecting world GDP growth of 3.3 percent, but that was before global disruptions, shutdowns and plunging oil prices.

IHS Markit, an economics research firm, this week slashed its forecast for global growth to 1.7 percent.

has infected close to 160,000 people worldwide and killed more than 6,000, according to the latest AFP tally of official figures.
Spain has followed Italy and imposed a near total nationwide lockdown to fight the spread of coronavirus by banning people from leaving home except to go to work, get medical care or buy food.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced the restrictions on movement on Saturday following a huge spike in the number of infections in this nation of some 46 million people.

They are among the measures introduced as part of a 15-day state of emergency officially declared by his government on Saturday.

Spain confirmed more than 1,500 new cases of coronavirus since Friday evening, raising its total to 5,753 cases, the second-highest number in Europe after Italy.

The disease has so far claimed 183 lives in Spain.

"The prohibition to circulate in the streets... must be followed starting today," he said in a televised address after a cabinet meeting that lasted more than seven hours.

Spaniards may leave home to go to work, "buy bread", go to the pharmacy and get medical care but "not to go have dinner at a friend's house", he added.

Police would ensure the restrictions on people's movements are obeyed, the prime minister said.

"The measures which we have adopted are drastic and will unfortunately have consequences... but our hand will not shake to prevail against the virus," Sanchez added.

"We will win this battle... but it is important that the price we pay for this victory be as little as possible." All stores except for pharmacies and supermarkets will close nationwide, the premier said.

Bars, restaurants and all shops except for supermarkets had already shut on Saturday for two weeks in the Madrid region, which accounts for over half of all infections.

Most regional governments in Spain had already followed the example of Madrid and closed their schools.

Spain's response to the coronavirus has so far had wide differences between regions due to the country's complex system of sharing power between the central government and regional governments, which control education and health issues.

But by declaring a state of emergency, Sanchez's government has the power to take over healthcare and use security forces to enforce orders.

It is only the second time that the government has evoked it since the country returned to democracy following the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.

The other time was during a 2010 air traffic controllers' strike.

Sanchez warned Friday that the number of infections could reach 10,000 in the coming days in Spain.

In response to an appeal made on social media, many residents of the Spanish went to their balconies and windows at 10:00 pm to applaud and cheer the healthcare workers dealing with the crisis.

An eerie calm descended on the Spanish capital on Saturday as people obeyed the strict measures imposed by the regional government.

"It is distressing when we are so used to seeing a crowd here," Paco Higueras, a restaurant employee, said as he cast his gaze at the nearly deserted Puerta del Sol square in central Madrid.

The spot, one of the city's main tourist landmarks, is usually bustling on a Saturday. But it was already deserted as people obeyed restrictions already in place in the Madrid region.

All major Madrid museums, including the Prado, which displays masterpieces by Francisco Goya and Diego Velazquez; and the Reina Sofia, home to Pablo Picasso's anti-war masterpiece "Guernica", have already closed.

Earlier Saturday, the mayor of Seville announced that the southern city's famous Holy Week processions featuring hooded penitents would be cancelled because of the outbreak of the virus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vogue Williams has revealed she refuses to watch Love Island but is not giving up her social media accounts despite being trolled so much that she broke down in tears.

The Irish model, 34, says she must be 'one of the only people' not to follow the UK reality show about amorous singles, but she does not want to be glued to the TV at 9pm every night so prefers to watch less addictive TV.

Vogue adds she is hooked on Instagram and has no plans to quit -despite being ribbed for everything from the size of her breasts to the cellulite on her legs.

Strong: Vogue Williams, 34, said admitted she had never watched Love Island but is hooked on Instagram and has no plans to quit despite facing savage trolling

In an exclusive interview with the Irish Mail On Sunday, Vogue said: 'I don't watch Love Island. I'm one of the only people in Britain that hasn't watched it.

'I know it sounds crazy, but I thought if I started watching it I'd turn into one of the people that can't go out at night because they have to be watching Love Island at 9pm.

'I do love reality TV and watch most of the rest. I love Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Masterchef and I'm currently watching Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares even though it's about a million years old.'

Cruel: Vogue was bombarded with abuse after pictures emerged of her on a beach holiday last December  with trolls calling her fat and saying she should get a boob job

The presenter married British reality star Spencer Matthews, 31, on his family estate in Scotland in June 2018 and the pair share eighteen-month-old son Theodore.

Vogue splits her time between London and the Dublin suburb of Howth, was bombarded with abuse after pictures emerged of her on a beach holiday last December  with trolls calling her fat and saying she should get a boob job.

She later wrote on Instagram: 'Today I cried about my body. I usually let this go over my head but they were so nasty that I allowed it to really get to me.'

Addictive: Vogue said she didn't tune in to the latest series of Love Island which saw Paige Turley, 22, and Finn Tapp, 20, crowned winning couple as she didn't want to become hooked

Celebrities including the rapper Stormzy have abruptly cancelled their accounts this year after growing tired of the toxic soup of social media.

But Vogue hit back: 'I'm a full timer on Instagram and I love it.

'I actually have such a nice group of mums and different people who follow me and I would say about 95 per cent of the comments are really nice.

Small screen: Spencer, 31, and his wife Vogue Williams, 34, star in their own E4 reality series, Spencer, Vogue and Wedding Two which has has documented them becoming parents

'But if you look at someone like Kim Kardashian, the amount of abuse she gets and the comments, it's just like outrageous that people think it's OK to do something like that.

Vogue continued: 'Spencer doesn't really like social media at all. He only follows one person and that's me.

'If you look at his timeline it's just a picture of me and that's the way he likes it. He always says, "I don't want to see anyone else's sh*t."'

Family: Vogue married British reality star Spencer Matthews, 31, on his family estate in Scotland in June 2018 and the pair share eighteen-month-old son Theodore

Last month the couple watched Ireland's crunch Guinness Six Nations game against England together at Twickenham, which ended in despair for Vogue with a crushing 24-12 defeat.

She said: 'I was chatting a big game about Ireland winning and then we were terrible - it was really embarrassing.

'But Theodore now has an Irish rugby jersey which he loves and he doesn't have an England one because Spencer hasn't gone out and bought him one yet, so that makes me feel better.

'We have agreed that I would switch to England if Ireland got kicked out and Spenny would switch to Ireland if England got kicked out so we're kind of good like that.'
A day ahead of a floor trust in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, a senior minister in the beleaguered Kamal Nath government sought coronavirus tests on his party MLAs who have returned from Jaipur as well as those currently ensconced in Haryana and Bengaluru.

MP public relations minister PC Sharma on Sunday said the novel coronavirus outbreak has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation, and several measures, including temporary shut down of schools, colleges and restrictions on gathering of more than 20 people, have been taken.

"The MLAs who have returned from Jaipur and also those who have gone to Haryana and Benguluru should undergo coronavirus tests. It is important as the virus has spread in Jaipur and Haryana," he said.

He said the Assemblies of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Maharashtra had been adjourned due to the coronavirus outbreak and there was even a demand to adjourn the current session of Parliament.

Meanwhile, a team of doctors reached hotel Courtyard by Marriot in MP Nagar here, where Congress MLAs are put up after coming from Jaipur, for coronavirus screening.

State Minister of Health and Finance Tarun Bhanot had earlier said the legislators would be screened for the virus, following which the team of doctors arrived at the hotel.

Talking to reporters, Congress MLA Kunal Choudhary said Jaipur was a tourist destination and sees footfalls from abroad as well and "so coronavirus screening was necessary".

Congress sources dropped hints that its MLAs currently in Bengaluru as well as BJP legislators would be screened for novel coronavirus once they return here.

Meanwhile, responding to a query on whether the state Assembly's budget session would begin on Monday and if the trust vote would take place on the same day as directed by Governor Lalji Tandon, minister Sharma said the speaker would take a call on these matters.

The Kamal Nath-led Congress government in the state is fighting for survival after Jyotiraditya Scindia quit and joined the BJP, and 22 of his supporter MLAs submitted their resignations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Five photos taken in Vietnam by local and foreign photographers were included in the Smithsonian magazine's 60 finalists in their 17th annual photo contest.

The editors of Smithsonian magazine, the official journal published by the Smithsonian Institution or the world's largest museum, education, and research complex based in Washington, D.C., have selected 60 images out of 36,000 submissions sent in from 145 countries and territories.

The competition has six categories: Natural World, American Experience, Travel, People, Altered Images, and Mobile.

General public can check out the contest page to browse the 60 finalists and vote for the Readers Choice winner, with voting open until March 30. The Readers Choice winner, six category winners and Grand Prize winner will be announced on March 31.

Take a look at five photos taken in Vietnam from the finalists of the 17th Smithsonian Photo Contest below.

Blooming - Travel finalists

A photo of local fisherman catching anchovy on Hon Yen Islet, central Phu Yen Province. A mere 15 kilometers to the north of provincial capital Tuy Hoa, Hon Yen has long attracted travelers with its pristine coral reefs visible during low tide. Only a small proportion of the entire catch is sold fresh, with most of it being dried or salted. Salted anchovy is the most important raw material to create traditional fish sauce; the humble anchovy becomes the spirit of Vietnamese cuisine. Photo taken by Thien Nguyen in June 2019.

Harvesting Water Lilies - Travel Finalists

A photo of women clean water lilies before delivering them to a local market in Long An Province. Photo taken by Tan Nguyen Tan in September 2019. Water lilies, which blossom during the flooding season, are used for decoration and to make tea. Their stalks are edible and can be eaten raw with either fermented paste or braised sauce, or dunked into sour soup or hotpot.

Cave Fishing - Travel Finalists

A photo of a father and son catching fish inside a cave in southern province of Kien Giang during the monsoon season. Photo taken by Natnattcha Chaturapitamorn in May 2019.

A Fish Seller Displays His Goods - Travel Finalists

A photo of a man poses with his scooter in Hanoi with a delivery of pet fish. Photo taken by Jon Enoch in February 2019.

Follow the Herd - Altered Images Finalist
Israel postpones Netanyahu graft trial by 2 months over virus

AFP, Jerusalem :

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial has been postponed until May 24 due to concerns about coronavirus, Jerusalem's District Court said Sunday.

Netanyahu, the first Israeli premier ever to be indicted in office, had been scheduled to stand trial from Tuesday over alleged bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

In a statement, the court noted that given the coronavirus pandemic it had been instructed to hear "only urgent matters". "We have decided to postpone the first hearing (in Netanyahu's trial) until May 24," the court said.

Israel has 200 confirmed cases of the virus with tens of thousands of people in home quarantine.

Netanyahu has been charged with a range of offences including receiving improper gifts and offering a media mogul lucrative regulatory changes in exchange for favourable coverage.

He denies wrongdoing.

Despite the indictments, Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party won the most seats in March 2 elections and he is aiming to form a new government.

But Likud and its allies fell short of the 61 seats needed for a majority in the Knesset, or parliament.



It was Israel's third inconclusive vote in less than a year.

Netanyahu has called on his main challenger Benny Gantz of the centrist Blue and White party to form an emergency, national unity government to tackle the coronavirus crisis.




At least 17 people have died after consuming toxic homemade liquor in southern Nepal, police said.

The victims consumed the toxic homemade liquor during the Holi celebrations on March 10 in Dhanusha of southern Nepal. Twenty-eight other drinkers have fallen sick, the police said, adding that they are currently undergoing treatment.

According to the Dhanusha district police office, 13 people died in Chhireshwornath Municipality and the rest in Musahari of Janakpurdham Municipality-7.

Earlier on Saturday, police said that three died on Friday night, while one died in the course of treatment on Saturday. However, 13 others died on Sunday while undergoing treatment.

The deceased consumed excessive amount of homemade alcohol at a local bar named Ramdaiya Bhawani at Dhanusadham Municipality-5 in Dhanusha district. The drinkers consumed methyl alcohol, which is poisonous, according to doctors.

Meanwhile, seven persons have been arrested by the police for selling homemade poisonous liquor.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pakistan violated ceasefire by resorting to unprovoked firing and mortar shelling on forward posts and villages along the Line of Control and the International Border in Poonch and Kathua districts of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Sunday. The firing and shelling by Pakistani Army in Kirni and Qasba sectors along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district started around 1.45 pm on Sunday and lasted for nearly one-and-a-half-hour, causing damage to some civilian structures, they said. There was no report of any casualty, but some domestic animals suffered splinter injuries, the officials said.

"Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by small arms firing and shelling with mortar along LoC in Kirni and Qasba sectors in Poonch. Indian Army is retaliating befittingly," a defence spokesman said.

The officials said Pakistani Rangers also violated ceasefire by firing on forward posts in Manyari-Chorgali area of Hiranagar sector along the International Border (IB) in Kathua district, prompting effective retaliation by the Border Security Force. The firing was initiated by the Pakistani Rangers when they targeted the forward posts around 9.45 pm on Saturday, the officials said, adding heavy firing rattled the area till 4.35 am on Sunday, causing panic among the border residents. However, no one was injured in the incident, the officials added.
(Natural News) As North Carolina and Broward County, Florida, became the latest to declare states of emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday was the first state leader to order National Guard troops into action in a bid to help contain the virus spread.

According to published reports, the troops will be sent to help state and local health officials and authorities deal with a concentrated outbreak of cases in New Rochelle, a suburb just north of New York City.

This is unique in the United States of America, we havent seen this anywhere else. Think about it, New Rochelle has double the cases of New York City, its true, its a phenomenon, Cuomo told reporters in making the announcement.

It is a dramatic action, but it is the largest cluster of cases in the country, the governor continued. The numbers are going up unabated, and we do need a special public health strategy for New Rochelle.

The Associated Press noted:

New Rochelle is at the center of an outbreak of 108 cases in Westchester County, out of 173 statewide as of Tuesday. New York City has 36 cases, while its population is more than 100 times that of New Rochelle.

Cuomo said that troops will assist in cleaning surfaces and delivering food to a containment area consisting of a one-mile radius around a point near a synagogue that is connected to some of the existing virus cases.

As of this writing, there were a total of 971 known cases of the virus in the United States, most of them concentrated on the West and East coasts. Thirty people have died so far from virus-related illnesses, and 15 have recovered, according to this real-time tracking website.

New York state officials, along with a private healthcare system, are establishing a testing facility in the New Rochelle area. Schools in the zone will shutter for two weeks  the incubation period for the virus  beginning Friday. And state and local officials are currently working to see if large congregate facilities or gathering places will also need to be shuttered. (Related: Coronavirus containment no longer possible in the USA, says former FDA head.)

Yes, a large number of people will be infected

The governors actions differ substantially from comments he made just a few days ago when he was urging state residents not to panic over the outbreak after he declared a state of emergency.

It sounds more alarming than it is, he said, calling the declaration an administrative action meant to allow the state to move a little faster governmentally to address the issue, Fox News reported.

At that point, New York had confirmed 89 cases of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).

I dont want people to stay calm [sic] and therefore Im telling them what I need to tell them to keep them calm, he insisted. If they know the facts, they will be calm.

He also noted that, as more people were tested, he expected the number of infections to rise.

Yes, were testing aggressively, yes youll see the number of people who test positive going up. Yes, a large number of people will be infected, is my guess by the end of the day. But remember what were really trying to do here is avoid the massive disruption of closing everything down for two weeks the way China did, the way Italy is doing, and were trying to protect the vulnerable populations for whom this coronavirus could really be dangerous: senior citizens, immune-compromised, Cuomo added.

Critics of Cuomos deployment of the National Guard to a containment area will lead to wider containment declarations and further additions of troops to man them. They worry such actions could lead to China-style quarantines that also carry with them penalties for violations, especially if the outbreak worsens.

Sources include:

FoxNews.com

WSVN.com

NaturalNews.com
Life looks a little different in New Jersey these days, as coronavirus cases continue to climb and many public and private institutions shut down and events are canceled. But you wouldnt necessarily know it walking around Willowbrook Mall on Saturday.

On Thursday, Gov. Phil Murphy recommended the cancellations of all public gatherings of more than 250 people in New Jersey, due to the spread of the coronavirus, and declared we are in a public health emergency.

However, couples, families and shoppers continued to mill around the Wayne mall Saturday morning, largely unconcerned with the virus and living life mostly as normal. The mall seemed a little less crowded than usual, but people were still shopping, eating and walking around.

Melaine and Jerry Curcio, of North Arlington, were selling Girl Scout cookies with their daughter, Sophia, near one of the malls entrances after another troop canceled the reserved spot.

We were hoping it would be a little more crowded to sell out, Melaine said. But they werent worried about selling the cookies in a public place, or about the virus itself.

The only disruption so far has been Sophias dance competition, which was scheduled for the weekend of the 28th, but was canceled on Friday, her mom said.

Melaine and Jerry Curcio, of North Arlington, were selling Girl Scout cookies with their daughter Sophia at the mall Saturday morning.Brianna Kudisch | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Wally Aldaghestani, Mike King and Don Bilto were sitting at a table near Starbucks in the malls food court, chatting like they normally do most days, although Aldaghestani said he only comes here on Saturdays. The three men are originally from Syria and now live in Wayne.

Asked if they were worried about the virus, King said he wasnt. We told corona(virus), dont come here, or well kill him, he joked.

Bilto said he believed the virus was more serious than the flu, because it stays on surfaces longer, but King waved away his concerns. Its not a big deal, he said. They make it a big deal.

New Jersey has reported a total of 69 presumptive positive coronavirus cases, according to an update by the states Department of Health coronavirus website, ahead of Gov. Phil Murphys Saturday afternoon press conference.

Mike and Kiki Zimbal, of Totowa, were at the mall during the morning and said they were living life fairly normally. Were concerned, but were taking precautions, she said.

Just like anything else in life, you gotta keep it moving, Mike added. Cant live life in fear. He said he worked for a distribution company and didnt foresee them closing down.

As long as liquor stores and bars are open, Im working, he said.

Some people sitting at tables and walking around at the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne Saturday morning.Brianna Kudisch | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

A security guard who declined to give his name said he wasnt worried about the outbreak, comparing it to SARS or the flu. He said as long as people wash their hands and stay home when theyre sick, theyll be fine.

I wash my hands like 80 times a day, he said.

Brianna Kudisch may be reached at bkudisch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @briannakudisch. 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.
Mumbai:Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Sunday called off his weekly meet and greet with fans amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The 77-year-old actor, who sees his admirers every Sunday at his house Jalsa in Juhu since past 37 years, took to Twitter to share the update.

To all Ef and well wishers an earnest request! Please do not come to Jalsa gate today... Sunday meet am not going to come! Bachchan wrote on the microblogging site.

The veteran actor also urged his fans to take precautions in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, which has led to more than 5,000 deaths globally.

Take precautions... be safe, he added.

T 3470 - To all Ef and well wishers an earnest request !PLEASE DO NOT COME TO JALSA GATE TODAY .. SUNDAY MEET am not going to come !

Take PRECAUTIONS .. be safe

Sunday   Jalsa  cancel  ,          

  pic.twitter.com/USm4kZBEYo  Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) March 15, 2020

The coronavirus outbreak, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday.
It took one week after the first U.S. case of COVID-19 with no overseas connection for Starbucks Corp. to ban customers from bringing in reusable coffee mugs. Judith Enck, a former regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, was disappointed. Public health comes first, of course, but as the founder of the grassroots Beyond Plastics project, Enck had her doubts that returning to disposable cups would make anyone safer. Currency, for instance, is a notorious germ-carrier. Will Starbucks now stop accepting cash? she says.

These are nervous times for activists working to wean the world off plastics. Until the novel coronavirus started its spread across the globe, 2020 appeared to be a year when meaningful plastic-use restrictions would finally take hold. A growing list of consumer companies  including Coca-Cola Co., which produces about 117 billion plastic bottles each year  had set targets to reduce their reliance on plastic packaging. France prohibited single-use plastic plates, cups, and cutlery starting Jan. 1, and England will enact restrictions on plastic straws and stirrers starting in April. On March 1, New York joined a number of other cities around the world in banning the distribution of plastic shopping bags by retailers.

The virus plays right into the industrys strong suits: disposability and hygiene. A new report released by BloombergNEF last week found that, in the short run at least, the fears of plastics opponents might be valid. Concerns around food hygiene due to Covid-19 could increase plastic packaging intensity, undoing some of the early progress made by companies, the report stated. Researchers found the greatest spikes in demand for face masks and the thin film used in plastic wraps.

Plastics lobbying groups such as Plastics Industry Association and the American Chemistry Council (ACC) have long defended their products by noting that plastic has played a revolutionary role in medical care. Single-use surgical gloves, syringes, insulin pens, IV tubes, and catheters, for example, have both reduced the risk of patient infection and helped streamline operations by lifting the burden of sterilization.

As consumer taste started to shift against the $40 billion plastics industry, manufacturers added an additional argument to their arsenal: that their products are actually a boon to overall sustainability, despite being petroleum-based, non-biodegradable, and difficult to recycle. Plastic packaging plays a role in reducing food waste by extending the shelf life of fresh produce from days to over a week. Plastic parts in cars also reduce weight and improve fuel efficiency.

Most of these claims are based on a handful of studies, the most significant of which was done for ACC by Franklin Associates in 2018. It looked at the life cycle of products such as water bottles, shrink wrap, and retail shopping bags and concluded that if they were made of alternative materials  say glass or aluminum or textiles  they would require five times the amount of energy to manufacture and use more water in the process. When Jack Williams, a senior vice president at Exxon Corp, told a group of investors on March 5 that, from a sustainability viewpoint, plastic packaging beats alternatives, he was referring to that study.

Antiplastic crusaders like Steve Feit, a staff attorney on the climate and energy team at the Center for International Law, say the life cycle analysis is full of flaws. It assumes that we are just going to make exactly the same products in the alternative materials instead of redesigning to suit the new medium  which is crazy, Feit says. And it doesnt take into account the plastics effect after the product has been disposed into landfills. While the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has gotten most of the attention, a 2018 study found that micro plastics are also leaching from landfills and sewers and polluting soil and water sources.

But while the sustainability rationalization has been met with skepticism, the health justification is harder to fight. Plastic on its own isnt a magic bullet: a study published in the Journal of Hospital Infection concluded that the virus behind COVID-19 can survive for nine days on plastic surfaces at room temperature. Yet for many, products that can be thrown away after one use seem to be the safest options.

After Starbucks suspended accepting refillable mugs, Dunkin and Tim Hortons announced similar policies. Despite a warning from the U.S. Surgeon General that theyre not particularly effective, face masks  including a sleek air-filtering model worn by celebrity lifestyle icon Gwyneth Paltrow  have been selling out worldwide. Many pharmacies are also reporting shortages of latex gloves. Adding to the antiplastic movements concerns, the onset of an oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia triggered a historic sell-off in markets. Rock-bottom petroleum prices mean lots of plastic could be made even more cheaply in the long-term.

While BNEF said that it was too early to know for sure that COVID-19 is affecting plastic demand overall, it did predict that any spike would likely be temporary, and that as a result industry revenues would be flat or even up in the midst of a sharp economic downturn. In the long term, we do not expect this increased demand to have a significant impact on either plastic demand or circular economy goals, the report said, referring to a future in which all items are either reused or recycled.

Nevertheless, the plastics industry is seizing the moment. In late February, Plastics Industry Association head Tony Radoszewski issued a statement: As new coronavirus cases are confirmed around the globe and the disease poses a growing threat to public health, it said, the plastics industry is working to ensure that patients get the care they need and medical professionals are protected as they provide that care.

The release concluded: The global plastics industry stands ready to assist authorities and public health advocates in making sure our materials and products are on the front line of combating the spread of the coronavirus.

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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.
They are expecting their first child together in just two weeks.

And on Saturday Joshua Jackson and wife Jodie Turner-Smith stepped out for a family breakfast, that included the Dawson's Creek alum's mother and the Queen & Slim actress's brother.

During their walk they braved another rainy Southern California day, as well as the growing coronavirus fears, and shared a passionate kiss for all passer-byes to see.

PDA: Joshua Jackson, 41, and wife Jodie Turner-Smith, 33, shared a passionate kiss during a family outing on another rainy day in Los Angeles on Saturday

Jackson, 41, opted to keep things casual in the fashion department in black sweatpants, a peach-colored hoodie and red sneakers.

He heaped on the PDAs during their stroll with lovingly looks and moments of arm-in-arm affection.

The British model and actress, 33, was all about comfort in a loose-fitting pink dress, white sneakers and a brown furry jacket to help her and their pending bundle of joy keep warm.

Expectant parents: The couple are expecting their first child together in less than three weeks

Casual wear: The Dawson's Creek alum opted for sporty in black sweatpants and a peach-colored hoodie and red sneakers

Jackson confirmed their baby's 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.'

Meanwhile, Turner-Smith confirmed they are having a girl via her Instagram Story over the weekend by sharing a video of the baby 'dancing' inside her tummy and referred to the unborn child as 'she'.

Rumors that the couple were dating began in November 2018, when they were seen holding hands during a stroll around Los Angeles.

The would seal the deal and get married in 2019.

Maternity wear: The British model and actress was all about comfort in a loose-fitting pink dress, white sneakers and a brown furry jacket

Jackson had previously been in a long-term relationship with German-American actress Diane Kruger from 2006-2016.

He dated Dawson's Creek co-star Katie Holmes during the first two seasons of the show's run that began in 1998 and ended in 2003.

The Canadian native is also known for his role on the science fiction series Fringe (2008-2013), the drama series The Affair (2014-2018), and the drama miniseries When They See Us (2019).
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Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty

Scientists may have found protein, one of the building blocks of life, inside a meteorite that spent potentially millions of years hurtling through the cold vacuum of space.

The first-time discovery, if confirmed, could have profound implications for our understanding of how, and where, life comes fromand could add a wrinkle to humanitys widening hunt for extraterrestrial life.

If the meteorite did indeed arrive on Earth with a payload of protein, it could bolster the notion that lifeor at least the processes that result in lifecould exist across the vast expanse of the universe and not just on our planet.

Protein is a good indicator of possible life, Gilbert Levin, a former NASA scientist who helped to lead an early search for life on Mars, told The Daily Beast.

But experts warn that there are still more questions than answers as far as the possible space-protein is concerned. Its way too soon to celebrate a major breakthrough.

A team of researchers from Harvard University, superconductor firm Plex Corporation, and science-supplier Bruker Scientific found evidence of a protein inside of a meteorite that plummeted to Earth in what is now Algeria.

Proteins are the workhorse molecules of life, to borrow NASAs phrasing. They form the structure of organic tissue and make up the enzymes that regulate chemical reactions in living bodies.

The team revealed its findings in a paper that it first posted online in late February. The highly-technical, 33-page paper describes what is, in essence, a simple process of discovery.

Harvards Julie McGeoch and her colleagues used tiny, sanitized tools to drill into the meteorite and collect powder from deep inside the rock.

They then mixed the powder in various liquids, including water and chloroform. The team fired a laser into the liquid suspensions, turning them into gases. Finally, the scientists applied a process called mass spectrometry, bombarding the samples with electrons in order to break up the molecules and make them easier to analyze.

Story continues

What they found, if real, could change our conception of lifes origins. Deep inside the meteorite resided a so-called hemolithin protein made up mostly of glycine and amino acids. It also had caps at both ends composed of oxygen, lithium and iron, a unique arrangement that no one has ever seen before on protein.

Will We Find Aliens in the Next Decade? Its Not as Crazy as You Might Think

The unconfirmed discovery builds on years of earlier work. In 2004, NASA flew its Stardust probe through the atmosphere of the Wild 2 comet two billion miles from Earth.

The probe deployed a sponge-like material to soak up the comets gases and dust. The probe jettisoned the samples back to Earth, where scientists spent years analyzing them.

In 2009, NASA announced the major findings. The agency had found, in the Wild 2 samples, an amino acid called glycine, which living organisms use to make proteins.

The discovery of glycine in a comet supports the idea that the fundamental building blocks of life are prevalent in space, and strengthens the argument that life in the universe may be common rather than rare, said Carl Pilcher, director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute in California.

The Harvard teams space-protein could underscore NASAs earlier discovery and fuel further efforts to probe deep space for signs of life. NASA is already looking for evidence of life on Mars and is organizing a mission to Jupiters moon Europa to extend the search. Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, is another top target.

But experts advise caution. The Harvard teams paper is still awaiting peer review. For that reason, the team and several outside experts declined to discuss the possible protein discovery with The Daily Beast.

John Rummel, a scientist with the California-based SETI Institute, which analyzes space signals for evidence of alien communication, told The Daily Beast the protein in the Algerian meteorite could have crept into the space rock after it landed on Earth.

The Harvard team claimed in their paper that they found isotopes in the protein pointing to an extraterrestrial origin, but Rummel said he wasnt convinced. He cited a French study finding that meteorites hitting the desert can pick up Earth contaminants after just 24 hours in the sand.

The Harvard team members and other scientists promised to open up about the possible protein discovery after more researchers get a chance to review the initial findings. If the Algerian meteorites protein payload does indeed change our conception of life, it wont happen overnight.

And even if the current protein discovery fizzles, the effort behind it could lead to other important findings in the future, Rummel said. I am hoping that the analytical techniques and the work of this group will continue.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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She raised eyebrows on Saturday, when she was seen putting on a decidedly cosy display with fellow reality star pal Stephen Bear.

And Yazmin Oukhellou, 25, appeared in good spirits on Saturday night, when she was spotted enjoying a night on the town in Essex with a pal.

The TOWIE beauty put on a very busty display as she stepped out in a plunging black top, which she teamed with a patterned jacket and marbled champagne trousers.

Night on the town: Yazmin Oukhellou, 25, appeared in good spirits on Saturday night, when she was spotted enjoying a night on the town in Essex with a pal

Standing tall in a pair of black heels, she wore her lustrous raven locks in a sleek straight blowout, while she highlighted her good looks with a rich palette of makeup.

Toting a quilted black handbag, she was seen laughing and chatting with a male friend as they made their way down the street.

The reality star's outing came a day after she was seen putting on an extremely cosy display with Celebrity Big Brother winner Stephen, 30, as they headed out for dinner after she closed her clothing boutique YAZ in Hoddesdon, Hertforedshire.

Cosy: Her outing came a day after she was seen putting on a cosy display with Stephen Bear as they headed out for dinner after she closed her clothing boutique YAZ in Hoddesdon

Yazmin has been single ever since she split from on/off boyfriend James Lock following a string of rows.

She cut a stylish figure in a taupe maxi dress and trainers as Stephen got very hands-on with her during their outing.

The pair were spotted cuddling as Yazmin locked up her boutique before heading to dinner at the Turkish and Mediterranean restaurant Hayta.

Stephen showered Yazmin with kisses on the cheek as they sat down inside the eatery, with the two insisting they are just friends.

Plunging: The TOWIE beauty put on a very busty display as she stepped out in a plunging black top, which she teamed with a patterned jacket and marbled champagne trousers

Tresses: Standing tall in a pair of black heels, she wore her lustrous raven locks in a sleek straight blowout, while she highlighted her good looks with a rich palette of makeup

Despite their cosy display, a source close to Yazmin told MailOnline: 'Bear and Yazmin are just friends, shes far too busy running her businesses to be dating anyone right right now.'

MailOnline has contacted a representative for Stephen Bear for comment.

Yazmin has been single ever since she split from fellow TOWIE star James Lock last year, after she accused him of cheating on her while they were on holiday in Turkey.

Explaining their split to MailOnline, she said: 'We have two businesses together which we need to sort out. It's like a divorce...

'I wasn't trying to fix him but I was always trying to help him. There will always be a part of me who loves him.'

Upbeat mood: She appeared to be in a jovial mood as she enjoyed her night out on the town

During The Only Way Is Essexmas special, Yaz was caught up in another furious row with Lockie, prompting bystander Pete Wicks to advise that the exes should cut all contact.

Stephen - who first rose to prominence on Ex On The Beach before he controversially won Celebrity Big Brother in 2016 - split from Love Island star Georgia Harrison last year.

The couple called it quits amid claims that was locked out of her shared hotel room in Thailand while he went off with another girl in front of her.

Days earlier the couple were also filmed having an explosive row in which the Love Island beauty was seen throwing a book at her now-ex.
The Austrian government on Mar. 14 announced a four-billion-euro (4.4-billion-U.S.-dollar) coronavirus aid package to guarantee liquidity, secure jobs and help in cases of hardship.

The fund will be used to stabilize health care, stimulate the labor market, maintain public order and cushion loss of income as a result of the coronavirus epidemic, said Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz at a press conference.

"The 2020 budget will not be a balanced one," Finance Minister Gernot Blumel told reporters. "A balanced budget is always important, but the health of the Austrian people is more important."

As of Monday, companies affected by the coronavirus outbreak should be able to apply for a new short-time working model, according to Economy Minister Margarete Schrambock.

The short-time working model will be available within 48 hours. Previously it took more than six weeks to apply. For the first time, it will be possible for employees to be 100 percent at home, while remaining employed by their companies.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Austria rose to 655 as of Saturday afternoon, with one death and six recovered from the illness, according to health authorities.
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Linkedin Andreea Papuc and Jason Scott (Bloomberg)  Sun, March 15, 2020 12:28 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206abca05 2 World Australia,self-isolation,coronavirus,COVID-19 Free

Australias Prime Minister Scott Morrison said all people arriving from overseas will have to self isolate for 14 days, as his government stepped up efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The order will come into force at midnight, Morrison said in a televised address Sunday. Australia will also ban cruise ships from foreign ports from docking in Australia for 30 days and will prohibit mass gatherings of 500 people or more, though schools will remain open.

We are going to have to get used to some changes in how we live our lives over the next six months or so, Morrison told reporters after a meeting of the national Cabinet. We know that the virus cannot be absolutely stopped, he said. But we can slow the spread to protect the most vulnerable in society.

The measures announced Sunday are another escalation of the response by the government, which has announced a A$17.6 billion ($10.9 billion) stimulus package to buttress the economy.

Following advice from health professionals, Morrison also said static, non-essential gatherings should not go ahead if more than 500 people attend. These include places such as stadiums and theaters where people are in close proximity with each other for a sustained period of time, he said. On Friday, he stopped short of an outright ban on mass gatherings as it opted instead to advise against them.

Nations around the world are trying to shield citizens from the deadly virus. France has shut cafes and restaurants, while Spain declared an emergency as cases rose to more than 145,000 worldwide and the death toll increased to more than 5,700.

New Zealand on Saturday announced similar measures to Australias, requiring almost every individual who enters the country, including citizens and residents, to self-isolate for 14 days.

In Australia, 249 people have been infected, from 197 on Saturday, health authorities said. Morrison said his Cabinet would now meet via teleconference as part of social distancing measures. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is in isolation after testing positive.
D eaths from coronavirus in Spain have more than doubled in a day to 288, authorities have said.

The Health Ministry had recorded 136 deaths just 24 hours before on Saturday.

The number of people who have tested positive for the infection is at nearly 8,000.

It comes a day after Spain's government declared a two-week state of emergency and took extraordinary measures to limit movement across the country.

It has closed restaurants, bars, most retail shops and reduced public transport and is set to put the entire country in lockdown from Monday.

A woman takes a picture of a statue wearing a mask in Madrid / Getty Images

It is the second European country after Italy to go into lockdown mode over the rapidly growing cases of Covid-19. Europe is currently the main front line in the fight against Covid-19.

The increasing restrictions also weighed on Sunday worship in Spain, where orders stipulated that a one-metre gap be kept between parishioners.

Spain's government said on Saturday that prime minister Pedro Sanchez's wife had tested positive for the coronavirus.
By VOA News

Long wait times and panic were seen at airports across the United States as authorities work under new regulations imposed to deal with the spread of the novel coronavirus.

We are aware of the reports of increased wait times at some airports across the nation. CBP along with medical personnel are working diligently to address the longer than usual delays, acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Mark Morgan wrote in a statement.

Nothing is more important than the safety, health and security of our citizens, the statement added.

U.S. nationals and permanent residents who are returning from countries that are part of a new travel ban will be required to undergo additional screening and questioning to determine if they can return to their communities, Department of Homeland Security officials said.

If not required to seek medical help, they will be sent home and will spend two weeks in self-quarantine. Foreign nationals living in the U.S. who have traveled to countries on the ban, however, will not be allowed to return in the United States. A DHS official said they would have to travel to a third country, not included in the ban, and wait out the two-week period of self-quarantine before traveling to the U.S.

We are doing very precise Medical Screenings at our airports. Pardon the interruptions and delays, we are moving as quickly as possible, but it is very important that we be vigilant and careful, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday.

The United States Saturday expanded its travel ban with Europe to include Britain and Ireland.

In a press briefing Saturday with the White House coronavirus task force, Trump said he is considering restricting travel within U.S. borders as well, especially from certain areas of concern.

The United States has just over 3,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 60 deaths from the disease. New York state, which has instituted a containment zone around a cluster of infections in the town of New Rochelle, Saturday reported its first death from COVID-19.

Trump has been tested for the virus and the results were negative. Vice President Mike Pence, who heads the coronavirus task force, said he would consult with the White House physician about whether to take the test.

The White House said it is now conducting temperature checks on anyone in close contact with Trump or Pence. Before the Saturday press briefing, a member of the White House physicians office took the temperature of each journalist in the briefing room, marking a change in practices because of a concern that the president and his staff have been in contact with infected individuals.

Earlier Saturday, the House approved legislation to provide direct relief to Americans suffering physically, financially and emotionally from the coronavirus pandemic, and Trump threw his support behind the congressional aid package. The Senate will consider the bill this week.

The emergency package includes funds to support small- and medium-sized businesses faced with increased costs from sick leave, as well as individuals incurring loss of income from quarantines or reduced economic activity.

Central to the presidents emergency measures is the expansion of testing for the coronavirus disease. The United States has been criticized for its slow roll out of coronavirus test kits, and Trump has pledged to accelerate the testing capacity, including by setting up drive-through testing sites.

The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci stressed the need to practice social distancing in order to lower rates of spread and allow health practitioners to gain control of the situation.

Americans should be prepared that they are going to have to hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing, Fauci said Sunday, speaking on NBCs "Meet the Press."

The president has come under repeated criticism for downplaying the risk of infection and the threat posed by the virus in the United States. He struck a more serious tone Friday and Saturday while announcing the new federal measures, including the declaration of national emergency.

Trumps declaration Friday of a national emergency prompted the U.S. Defense Department to stop all domestic travel for military service members and their families effective Monday through May 11.
Fifth District Constable Mike Wally Wallace as well as Baldock were under investigation for depriving citizens of their constitutional rights. Somerset defense attorney Greg Ousley says he called the FBI after interviewing several of his clients who claimed if they paid the constable money their cases would get dismissed. Ousley, the whistleblower, told reporters:

I contacted the FBI about seven months ago because I had several clients tell me the things that he did to them. My clients would usually have to forfeit money to Wally via fiscal court and [then] get a sweet deal on the rocket docket.

Both alleged dirty cops are now under federal indictment. The paperwork of which reads in part:

(The constables) knowingly and willfully conspired together to injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate persons within Pulaski County, Kentucky, in the free exercise and enjoyment of a right secured to them by the Constitution and laws of the United States, specifically their right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures by one acting under color of law and the right to be free from the deprivation of property without due process of law by one acting under color of law.

Wallace has already entered a plea of not guilty and was released under the condition he not engage in any police activity until the matter is resolved. Robert Norfleet, Wallaces attorney, said his client was not on scene at the site of the shooting and says he is shocked and saddened by the incident.

The FBI mobile command center just arrived on scene. pic.twitter.com/xZqnBhfrxm  Jim Stratman (@JimSNews) March 6, 2020

WKYT talked to a neighbor who found himself in the middle of a shooting involving an FBI agent at a Pulaski County constables house.

I heard over the loudspeaker Gary Baldock, open up. This is the FBI. and I jumped up and I went in the hallway and looked through the window, said the neighbor. And in the dark a guy dressed in black with a gun leaning over the hood of my truck.

The shooting took place at Baldocks residence on Mountain View Drive in Somerset. Norfleet says he has not had a chance to look at all the evidence the FBI has against his client and is unsure if hell be Wallaces attorney going forward with the federal case against him but says his client maintains his innocence.

Its rare when law enforcement officials engage in a shootout with each other. For those who may not know, a constable is someone who has the full authority to exercise all policing activities within a city, town or county except that instead of being hired, they are elected. In other words, their actions carry the full weight of the law.

For a defense attorney to contact the FBI means he has placed his career on the line to expose what he believes to be corruption. When the FBI showed up on Baldocks doorsteps, he showed just how determined he was to defend himself, by actually opening gunfire on federal agents.

As TFTP has reported, we as a country may be seeing more of this in the coming months with lawmakers and politicians creating laws which are seemingly at odds with the U.S. Constitution. Specifically, laws meant to curtail 2nd Amendment freedoms have pushed sheriffs and counties all across the country to create 2nd Amendment sanctuaries whereby Sheriffs have stated they will refuse to comply with state laws meant to separate citizens from their guns. The whole national scenario is setting up conflict whereby state police officers may attempt to get into armed conflicts with local police officers who refuse to enforce state laws.
But his adversaries got him first. They shot and killed him in front of my eyes, in a pizzeria that we managed, she said. She recognized the killers clearly: There were two inside the pizzeria and two accomplices outside. In the four years that she had spent living with her husband, she had had to witness plenty of other criminal activities that she disapproved of. So she decided to become a witness against the Mafia and turn in all the guilty parties.
Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Becoming partly cloudy later with any flurries or snow showers ending by midnight. Low 3F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 30%. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Becoming partly cloudy later with any flurries or snow showers ending by midnight. Low 3F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 30%. Higher wind gusts possible.
Twenty Dubai-bound passengers were detained at the airport here on Sunday shortly before takeoff after a UK national among them tested positive for novel coronavirus, official sources said.

This takes the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Kerala to 20 so far.

The person who tested positive on Sunday has been taken to an isolation facility at a nearby government hospital, a Cochin International Airport Limited spokesman said.

The flight left for Dubai in the afternoon after the 20 passengers were detained.

Earlier, at least 289 passengers of the Dubai-bound Emirates flight were offloaded at the airport here after the UK person was found to be infected by the coronavirus.

The spokesman, however, did not mention the number of passengers onboard the flight when it left.

The UK passenger belonged to a group of 19 holidaying in the hill resort town of Munnar in Kerala and was under surveillance, he said earlier in the day.

The passenger joined the group to reach the Kochi airport without informing authorities in Munnar, he said.

When the test result came, the authorities came to know that he was at the Kochi airport and travelling by the Emirates flight. Firstly, it was decided to offload all 19 passengers of his group, the official said.

"Now, it is decided to offload the remaining 270 pax also and send them to hospital for further investigation", he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Trudy Rubin







While world leaders focused last week on coping with the coronavirus, Vladimir Putin's attention was elsewhere. The Russian president was busy setting himself up as president for life.







After 20 years as president or prime minister, the 67-year-old former KGB spy organized a brazen end run around Russia's presidential term limits that will permit him to serve two more six-year terms after his current mandate expires in 2024.







This internal coup frees Putin to pursue his bitter vendetta against the West, which he blames for all Russia's troubles. Indeed, he justified his power grab by arguing that Russia was too vulnerable to "containment" by Western countries for him to surrender power.







The Kremlin leader has made clear he seeks to undermine the West with hybrid methods that ranging from election interference, to assassinations, to invading European neighbors, to renewed nuclear competition with Washington.







A normal U.S. administration would consider itself duly warned. President Trump is more likely to ignore president-for-life Putin's misdeeds  or even egg him on.







Putin makes no secret of his desire to hasten the decline of Western democracies, which he sees as decadent and crumbling, by exploiting and widening existing divisions among Americans.







Continuing Russian election interference is only one tool, yet Trump still vehemently dismisses its importance, which makes it harder to counter. Just last week the president railed against upcoming classified intelligence briefings to Congress on Moscow's covert efforts to interfere in the presidential race this year.







Even more disturbing is Putin's effort to solidify the gains from invading neighboring Ukraine in 2014 and annexing Crimea.







Yet, even after the impeachment saga, Trump continues to undercut Ukraine, promoting the line of Russian intelligence that Kiev, not Moscow, was behind the hacking in the 2016 election. GOP legislators are even pushing legislative investigations to prove this canard.







And consider this example of blatant Russian crimes in Ukraine, on view last week in the Netherlands: a court in the Hague is trying four men with ties to Russian security services for the shooting down of a passenger jet over eastern Ukraine in 2014, killing all 298 passengers, mostly Dutch citizens. Despite mountains of evidence Russia continues to deny any involvement, going so far as to float conspiracy theories blaming the CIA for this tragedy.







Putin's criminal behavior extends as well to assassinations of his opponents on British soil, by poison. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has made clear that relations with Moscow can't normalize until the Kremlin stops denying any involvement.







If the Russian leader can still get away in 2020 with assassinations and the shooting down of a civilian jet, what will he try next? Especially if he is president for life.







You can get an idea by looking further at Putin's current international behavior. In Syria, Russian planes repeatedly bomb civilian hospitals, clinics and shelters  committing massive war crimes  in a successful effort to ensure that their proxy, Bashar al-Assad, remains in power.







Putin aims to expand Russian power, with bases in Syria and probably Libya, to challenge NATO in the eastern Mediterranean.







Meantime, as the coronavirus spreads, Putin has helped exacerbate the global economic shock by waging an oil war with Saudi Arabia and driving prices down.







His broad aim  to undercut shale producers in America, and make their production unprofitable, even if it costs Russians dearly at home. (He has amassed a reserve fund of $500 billion from previous oil profits that will enable him to continue to play such games for quite a while).







Indeed, in his effort to restore Russian glory and power, Putin he is indifferent to the desires of his own citizens. According to Russia's Levada polling organization, around 44 percent of voters want Putin to quit in 2024, while 45 percent believe he should stay, reports the Moscow Times. But such numbers don't seem to matter.







The Russian ruble keeps falling, his economy is weak, Russia has failed to diversify beyond its energy resources into the high-tech economy that once seemed within its reach.







From the little that is known, the Kremlin appears to have done little to contain the coronavirus, with only 20 cases reported last week. Yet Putin appears impervious. "After his self-coup, there will be no protests allowed because of coronavirus," says the noted independent Russian journalist Yevgenia Albats.







Nor is there likely to be any pushback from President Trump, despite Putin's malignant political and military interference in Europe, the Mideast  and the United States. Instead, President Trump often amplifies Putin's denials of malfeasance.







Consider this: China's Xi Jinping eliminated term limits and made himself president for life, and now Putin has followed suit. The world's two most prominent authoritarians are set never to leave office.







Trump has joked about staying on beyond two terms, should he win in 2020. We know Putin's misbehavior doesn't concern him. Even as he muffs the U.S. response to the coronavirus, does Trump, too, dream of becoming president for life?



) is a columnist and editorial-board member for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Her commentary was distributed by Tribune Content Agency.





Trudy Rubin ( trubin@phillynews.com
Hopital Jamot a Yaounde Archives

Cameroon now has four confirmed cases of the Coronavirus following results of tests conducted on a suspect Saturday, Public Health Minister Manaouda Malachie said Sunday.

The suspect patient identified yesterday by our device from the Yaounde Nsimalen International Airport, on the flight SN Brussels from RCDG and confined to the Jamot Hospital, is positive for COVID19. It is the fourth case recorded in our country. I demand even more responsibility and vigilance, said Minister Malachie in a tweet Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday, March 14, 2020, the Minister announced that the third case of COVID-19 had been confirmed. A 56-year-old Cameroonian citizen living in the city of Polverara in the Veneto Region of Italy arrived the country on March 7, 2020 passing through Paris.

Last week, Cameroon announced the confirmation of a second case of the COVID-19 in the country involving a citizen who had been in close contact with the first confirmed case  a French citizen, aged 58, who arrived in Yaounde on 24 February.

All four cases are isolated in Hospital and are currently receiving adequate symptomatic treatment, authorities say. Basic commodities are provided under strict respect of ethical requirements and health safety regulations, Dr. Malachie announced, adding that the tracing and screening of persons who came in contact with these confirmed cases is underway.

With the number of confirmed cases now at four, government is advising those entering the country from abroad to self-quarantine and avoid contact with others for 14 days.

We call on all people coming from countries at risk and their respective families, to take more responsibility, to facilitate our work and protect others. It is essential to observe a quarantine of 14 days before any activity and contact with others, the countrys public health minister insists.

Those who have travelled out of Cameroon or have been in contact with a traveller from countries affected by COVID-19 are called upon to immediately call 1510 to receive appropriate care, Malachie said.

The Minister of Public Health went on to reassure Cameroonians and the international public opinion that the situation is under control and that everything is being done to contain this outbreak without undue delay, in conformity with the high instructions from the President of the Republic H.E. Mr. Paul Biya.

The United States in helping Cameroon respond to the Coronavirus outbreak made a contribution of $120,000 (close to 71 million CFA) coupled with ongoing technical support to address the coronavirus outbreak comes on top of $45 million (26.5 billion CFA) of assistance since 2014 that has expanded the capacity of the health sector to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease outbreaks.

Cameroons Public Health Emergency Operation Center  established through support from the United States  has been activated to coordinate the coronavirus response, health officials trained through the U.S.-funded Field Epidemiology Training Program are conducting surveillance and case investigations, and U.S. support has increased capacity for laboratory diagnosis.

The United States says she is committed to supporting health security in Cameroon. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is thus present in Cameroon and coordinating with the Ministry of Public Health to help the country respond to the coronavirus outbreak and prevent further spread of infection.

Medics say for individuals to contribute to preventing the spread of coronavirus and other respiratory infections, they must: avoid close contact (within 2 meters) with people who appear sick; avoid touching eyes, nose, and mouth; clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces; and wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Individuals who suspect they may be infected with Coronavirus have been enjoined to call the Ministry of Public Healths toll-free hotline by dialing 1510 to receive advice about steps to take.

Of 118,000 known COVID-19 cases, about 50 are in Africa. Ghana, Kenya and Ethiopia reported first cases on March13. 15 countries in Africa are part of 117 countries globally affected since the outbreak began in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019.
India on Sunday offered $10 million to set up a common voluntary emergency fund for the members of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

In an unprecedented move in the diplomatic history of the world, eight countries of SAARC held a web-summit to chalk out a joint strategy to contain the coronavirus outbreak that has hit the world.



The initiative was taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in view of the WHO advisory to avoid public gatherings. The proposal was welcomed and accepted by other members of the SAARC - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.





Prime Minister Modi led the video-conference on Sunday evening by briefing the members on the measures India took to prevent and contain the pandemic since the outbreak of COVID-19, which originated from Wuhan city in China.



Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bhutan Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Pakistan's Minister of State for Health Zafar Mirza, spoke one after another, giving details about the steps each of them have taken in their respective countries to control the pandemic.



Nepal Prime Minister Oli joined the summit even as he had undergone a surgery recently.



Prime Minister Modi also offered rapid response medical teams, along with testing kits and other equipment for the SAARC members. "They will be on a standby, at your disposal if required," Modi said, adding that India could also provide online training capsules for medical emergency teams to raise the capacity of emergency staff.



Additionally, the Prime Minister suggested that the SAARC members could create an integrated digital database of virus carriers and the people contacted besides using the pre-existing facilities like the SAARC disaster management. Modi also offered to set up a common research platform for the control of epidemics within South Asia for future. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) can coordinate such an exercise, he said.



Modi also suggested that all the members should jointly review the economic consequences of COVID-19 and insulate local trade and value chains from its impact.



The video-summit is significant because since 2016, SAARC has been mostly inactive. Prime Minister Modi had refused to attend the 2016 SAARC summit which was to be held in Islamabad, following the Uri terror attack perpetrated by Pakistani terrorists. After Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan also withdrew from the meet, the summit was called off.



SAARC summits are held biennially and hosted by member states in alphabetical order. The last summit was held in 2014 in Kathmandu, Nepal.
More people remained trapped in buildings as rescue efforts continued for victims of the explosion that rocked Eroko Road, Abule Ado area of Lagos on Sunday morning.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that an excavator was finally brought to the scene at about 5.37 pm.

So far, about 15 bodies have been recovered, including a family of four who was headed to church before they were caught up in the inferno.

The family comprised a father, mother and their two sons.

The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) on Sunday said a number of students of Brethren Girls College and their principal who were observing the morning mass died but many others were rescued alive.

The explosion caused panic among Lagos residents after it shook many houses in Ijegun, Festac Town and other communities outside Amuwo Odofin.

Some students of a boarding school in Abule Ado were also trapped in their dormitory as a result of the explosion.

NEMA later said the explosion which occurred at Abule Ado in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State was not caused by a disruption of an oil pipeline.

Ibrahim Farinloye, acting coordinator, Lagos territorial office of the agency, made the clarification in an interview with NAN in Lagos.

Mr Farinloye said contrary to information on some social media platforms, the explosion which occurred around 9 a.m. was unconnected to pipeline vandalism.

From the information given by officials of the Lagos State Fire Service who are currently on the ground, the explosion is not connected to pipeline but might have occurred in a factory located in the Abule Ado area, he said.

Emergency responders are on ground while others are still on their way to the scene. The situation is under control and we hope to get more information soon to ascertain its cause.

Mr Farinloye added that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) shut down the pipeline passing through the area after the explosion.

He also confirmed that several buildings were affected by the explosion which was heard several kilometres from the scene.
With India leading the battle against the global pandemic coronavirus (COVID19), Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on March 15, addressed a SAARC video conference to share each other's efforts and issues as the seven countries battle the pandemic. Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa began the conference by expressing his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for initiating the move.

The leader said that Sri Lanka's economy had "taken a serious blow' due to the virus. He added that the tourism sector which was just recovering after 2019 terrorist attacks was suffering the most. Rajapaksa said that Sri Lanka's biggest challenge was to stop the virus from entering its territory and control its spread. Talking about Sri Lankan ciitzens abroad, he said that there were a large number of citizens working in Italy and South Korea. He further said that 34 students were evacuated from Wuhan and 750 others studying in different Chinese provinces were also rescued.

Rajapaksa further said, that the first positive case in Sri Lanka was a Chinese lady tourist who was cured and has already left the country whereas the first national was a tour guide who had contracted the virus from Italian tourist. Talking about the current scenario, he said that they had 11 cases and no deaths.

President @GotabayaR says that many lessons were learnt from sharing of experiences in the Video Conference and thanks PM @narendramodi for offering assistance like testing kits to regional countries #SAARCfightsCorona  PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 15, 2020

Read: Pak PM's Aide To Participate In SAARC Video Conference On Coronavirus

Read: Maldivian President At SAARC: No Country On Its Own Can Succeed In Combating COVID-19

Office with active hotlines

He said that there were special hospitals for treating coronavirus patients. Sri Laka also had a National Task Force comprising of all major stakeholders with power and authority to make crucial decisions. He further said that the country had an office with active hotlines to battle the spread of the virus before saying that Department of health had already started giving out health warnings. He went on to say that 12 hospitals declared suitable for curing COVID-19 with stocks of proper protective equipment.

Talking about shutting down institutions, he said that schools, universities and educational institutions have also been shut down to minimise communication. However, he said that the general elections scheduled for April 25 will be held as planned. He concluded by saying that all international conferences have been postponed or cancelled before urging for a ministerial-level group by SAARC leaders to coordinate regional measures to combat coronavirus.

Read: PM Modi Leads SAARC Conference On Coronavirus, Shares 'Prepare, Don't Panic' Mantra

Read: PM Modi Participates In SAARC Video Conference To Formulate Joint Strategy To Combat Coronavirus
Lim Young-woong has enjoyed nationwide popularity thanks to his offbeat style blending ballad and trot. Capture from TV Chosun





By Dong Sun-hwa







Lim Young-woong has won TV Chosun's smash-hit audition show "Mr. Trot" to become a trot star in Korea. Trot is a Korean music genre characterized by vocal inflections and repetitive rhythm.







"March 12 was my father's death anniversary," Lim said during tearful remarks after the winner was announced on the cable channel, Saturday. "I think my dad gave me the victory to say sorry for leaving my mother alone. I appreciate him, my mom and grandmother, the viewers and the judges for their support."







Lim will receive 100 million ($82,000) cash, a song written by acclaimed composer Cho Young-soo and a SUV among others.







Since the premiere of "Mr. Trot" on Jan. 2, he has enjoyed nationwide popularity thanks to his offbeat style blending ballad and trot.







Lim was chosen based on aggregated scores from 10 judges of the program (50 percent), previous voting from the show's fans (20 percent) and real-time voting from the audience (30 percent).







TV Chosun was to unveil the winner on its last episode aired Thursday, but delayed the announcement after failing to count viewers' real-time votes on time. The crew revealed it had received more than 7.7 million votes as text messages.







Lim's score was 3890. Second-placed Young Tak garnered 3525.3 points.







Saturday's episode of "Mr. Trot" recorded 28.7 percent viewership. The program hit 35.7 percent rating on Thursday  an all-time high for a cable channel program in Korea.







Lim and other contestants will give concerts nationwide beginning from April 18. Seoul is the first leg of the tour.


The world has gone mad, isnt it, an elderly shopper remarked as she jostled to reach the shelf with hand sanitizers, while the supermarket assistant exerted to make himself heard above the din: Only two per person of everything, nothing more.

The scene on Sunday morning at one of the supermarket Tescos stores reflected the panic-buying across most of the UK after the Boris Johnson government announced that the country is about four weeks away from an Italy-like peak of the coronovirus outbreak.

Ravi Singh, senior IT professional based in Maidenhead near London, travelled to Southall to buy dal and other ingredients of Indian cooking, but struggled to get any. The usually well-stocked shops in the area known as Little India had few on sale.

We went to our usual shops but most brands of dal were not available. Ive been here for nearly 20 years but never seen such scenes in Southall or other towns. People are just stocking up, not knowing what the future will bring, Singh said.

Toilet rolls, pasta, spaghetti and tinned food are among items in short supply. Many posted on social media images and visuals of empty shelves and long queues: of cars to enter car-parks of supermarkets and then before tills processing large shopping trolleys.

Buy responsibly, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) urged shoppers on Sunday, assuring them that retailers are working round-the-clock to help customers get the products they need. Concerns grew, since the UK imports many of its food products from the EU.

Helen Dickinson, BRC chief executive, said: Retailers are working incredibly hard to keep shops well stocked and deliveries running as smoothly as possible.

In the face of unprecedented demand as a result of coronavirus, food retailers have come together to ask their customers to support each other to make sure everyone can get access to the products they need.

Retailers such as Asda, Sainsburys, Waitrose and Boots have placed restrictions on the number of items people can buy in stores as well as on their websites, particularly wipes, anti-bacterial soaps, toilet rolls and hand sanitizers. Prices of some items have spiked due to the demand.

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Advocates for reforming Pennsylvanias probation system have had success securing support from lawmakers and raising public awareness. Now, theyre hoping to take it to the next level.

The REFORM Alliance, a criminal justice reform group founded by rapper Meek Mill, is launching a new ad campaign to bolster public support and awareness. The group is posting billboards around the state and also launching a new digital campaign, including a video featuring those on probation aiming to turn their lives around.
CHICAGO  Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Sunday ordered all bars and restaurants in the state to close starting Monday night, March 16 through March 30.

Pritzkers action came in reaction to the crowds that filled restaurants and bars around the state on Saturday to celebrate St. Patricks Day.

Earlier Sunday, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot asked businesses that sell alcohol to reduce their capacity by more than half or not allow more than 100 people at a time.

Pritzker said he had tried earlier this week to appeal to everyones good judgment to stay home, to avoid bars, not to congregate in crowds. He added that it is unfortunate that many people didnt take that seriously.

The time for persuasion and public appeals is over, he said. This is not a joke. No one is immune to this.

Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association President, said hes working with state and local officials to help restaurants and their employees during the two-week shutdown.

We want to protect the health of our customers and our team numbers, he said.

Toia said the organization will keep advocating for economic relief for restaurant employees and small businesses.

Earlier story ...

CHICAGO  Gov. J.B. Pritzker expects crowding issues at OHare International Airport to get worse Sunday, he said on an appearance on Meet the Press on NBC News. A press conference is planned this afternoon.

So last night as people were flooding into OHare Airport, they were stuck in a small area, hundreds and hundreds of people, and thats exactly what you dont want in this pandemic, Pritzker said on the NBC News program. So we have that problem. And then today, its going to be even worse. There are a larger number of flights with more people coming and they seem completely unprepared.

Pritzker said the federal government should have increased the Customs and Border Patrol staff numbers and the CDC personnel in the airport doing checks, continuing his criticism of the federal government handling of the spreading pandemic.

Pritzker said on Meet the Press that he received a call at 11 p.m. Saturday, responding to his criticisms on Twitter, from a White House staffer who yelled at me about the tweet. That is what I got.

Pritzkers administration has been talking directly to Customs and Border officials at OHare, as well as Mayor Lori Lightfoot and our senators to make sure that we are getting the federal government to pay attention to this problem because we cant have it happen all day today.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot will hold an 11:30 a.m. news conference to talk about what the city will do to address the long lines at OHare. Shell be joined by Aviation Commissioner Jamie Rhee. Watch live here.

Asked whether he would close bars and restaurants, following crowds of St. Patricks Day revelers being out at bars Saturday, Pritkzer said its something hes considering.

So were actually looking hard at that decision making today. We obviously saw what happened in Europe, Pritzker said. Nowhere in the United States really has there been a lockdown on bars and restaurants, but its something that were seriously looking at.

 Chicago Tribune

People arent understanding that, even if youre healthy, even if youre young, that you may be a carrier, Pritzker said. And youre going to hand it over to somebody else. COVID-19 is spreading because even healthy people can be walking around, giving it to other people. So we need to go on lockdown.

Illinois primary will still go on Tuesday, however, Pritzker said. Early voting hours have been expanded and voters have the option of a mail ballot.

Weve had record mail balloting this year. So were going to go ahead with it, Pritzker said. But weve been extra careful at all of our polling places. Everybody is practicing good hygiene. And were making sure that its safe for people to come and vote. The schools are closed, so many people will be voting in schools. And there wont be big crowds.

OHare was not the only airport plagued by delays. Travelers at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport reported waits over three hours on Saturday.

SUNDAY UPDATE: What's happening with coronavirus and Central Illinois
Ahead of the floor test scheduled to be held on Monday amid the ongoing political crisis in Madhya Pradesh, Congress MLAs, who were lodged in a resort in Jaipur, have left for Bhopal this morning.

On Saturday, Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon has directed that a floor test will be held in the assembly on Monday.

As political uncertainty developed in Madhya Pradesh for Kamal Nath-led government, both BJP and Congress have moved their legislators outside of the state and lodge them in luxury hotels, apparently in a bid to keep their respective flocks intact.On March 11, while BJP hurried its MLAs to a luxury hotel in Gurugram, Congress moved its legislators from Bhopal to Jaipur.

The development comes amid the political crisis that has engulfed the state after Jyotiraditya Scindia, a prominent face of the Congress, resigned from the party on Tuesday and joined the BJP.Scindia's decision to leave Congress was followed by the resignation from 22 party MLAs loyal to him. The legislators who have resigned include six ministers.Earlier, allegations were levelled against the BJP for reportedly holding hostages at least eight Congress MLAs from Madhya Pradesh against their will at a luxury hotel in Gurugram's Manesar and Bengaluru.Several Congress leaders, including Digvijaya Singh, had accused the BJP of trying to poach its leaders.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Johannesburg (AFP) - South Africa may still have relatively few confirmed coronavirus cases but the flailing economy's two major foreign exchange earners -- mining and tourism -- are bracing to take a hit.

China holds a special place in the economy of Africa's most industrialised country which slid into recession in the last quarter of 2019.

Around 18.5 percent of South African exports go to China, with mining commodities making up the majority -- at around 86 percent -- of total trade with the Asian country.

"Iron ore, manganese and chrome account for two thirds of South Africa's total exports to China by value," a recent report by Strategy&, a subsidiary of Price Waterhouse Cooper, found.

With China's growth expected to slow as a result of COVID-19, the demand for minerals is also expected to take a knock potentially affecting commodity prices and costing the industry millions.

- Fragile economy -

The International Monetary fund has forecast a one percent decline in growth in the Chinese economy due to coronavirus.

"A Chinese economy with a weaker growth pace and slower metals production will have less demand for these minerals from South Africa. The listed shares of some of the world's largest mining companies have already been hit by this outlook," it said.

On average, China imports "approximately 8.5 billion to nine billion rand ($522,000 - $553,000) million monthly", according to South Africa's Minerals Council economist Tafadzwa Chibanguza.

South Africa's economy is already fragile.

It slipped into recession in the final three months of 2019, the second contraction to hit the economy in as many years. That contraction was largely blamed on erratic electricity supplies.

The second recession the continent's most industrialised economy has suffered since President Cyril Ramaphosa came to power in 2018, poses more headaches for the reformist leader.

The virus "will turn out to be a national crisis" and "it will have a huge impact... on our economy which as we all know is in a very precarious situation," he said when the first case was detected last week.

Story continues

Growth in South Africa for all of 2019 was just 0.2 percent, its lowest since the global financial crisis in 2009.

The second-strongest economy in Africa behind Nigeria, South Africa is the world's top producer of platinum and a leading supplier of gold, diamonds and other minerals.

However, mining has shed about 300,000 jobs in recent years. Unemployment rate is creeping towards 30 percent.

A report by Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies, a Pretoria-based independent economic research institution, predicts that "if the downturn in China persists or deepens, South Africa's mining industry in particular will suffer significant losses".

On the flip side of the forex cash cows is the tourism industry.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, the sector contributes 10 percent of South Africa's GDP, raking in billions of dollars.

China is ranked the seventh largest origin of foreign visitors to South Africa with 97,000 tourists holidaying at the country's game reserves and other sites in 2018.

While it is difficult to quantify the potential impact on the tourism industry as yet, Strategy& has looked at past pandemics such as Swine Flu, which saw a 15 percent drop in Chinese arrivals.

South Africa has so far imposed no travel bans on Chinese visitors, but Beijing has blocked outbound group travel from China.

"Despite the fact that we have had very few cases of the virus, the local tourism industry has already suffered serious losses," lamented Tourism Minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, said earlier last week.

"Undoubtedly these losses are still going to increase. Whatever happens, the truth of this situation is the virus will have a negative impact on the tourism sector, at least in the short to medium term."

The South African fisheries industry was one of the first casualties after China halted animal imports.

China traditionally imports 95 percent of South African rock lobsters harvests.
All 289 passengers aboard an Emirates flight from Kerala's Kochi to Dubai were offloaded at the Kochi airport after one of the passengers tested positive for coronavirus. The man, a native of United Kingdom, was placed in quarantine at a resort in Kerala but he dodged the authorities and managed to reach the airport with a group of 19 people.

It is learnt that the man was vacationing in Munnar and the group was staying at a resort in Munnar from March 7.

In a message to the media, Cochin International Airport (CIAL) said: It is decided to offload the remaining 270 passengers and send them to the hospital for further investigation. He was in surveillance in Munnar and came to the airport without informing authorities. By the [time the] result came, and the authorities came to know about it, he was there at the airport. Now entire group was offloaded (sic).

Notably, 22 positive cases of coronavirus have been reported in Kerala so far and a total of 302 people are undergoing treatment in isolation wards in hospitals across the state.

A total of 7,677 people are under observation in the state, out of which 7,375 people are under home quarantine and 302 are in isolation wards across the state. Out of the total of 1,897 samples sent for testing, 1,345 tested negative," Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.
Channel 10 is taking precautionary steps after Christian Wilkins took part in Sunday night's live broadcast of Dancing with the Stars.

Christian's father, Weekend Today host Richard Wilkins, tested positive for the deadly coronavirus overnight, and the 24-year-old socialite didn't learn of the diagnosis until after he'd finished the episode.

A network spokesperson said: 'Although Christian does not believe he has been exposed, he has self-isolated and will be tested first thing tomorrow [Monday] morning.'

Coronavirus strikes Dancing with the Stars: Christian Wilkins (pictured with Lily Cornish) didn't learn of his father Richard's diagnosis until after Sunday's live episode - putting the entire cast at risk of exposure

Channel 10 and producers Warner Bros. had already implemented a number of precautions to protect the cast and crew ahead of Sunday's episode.

Their efforts to minimise exposure and reduce the spread of the virus included 'good hygiene practices backstage and in-studio, and filming without a studio audience,' said the spokesperson.

Christian addressed his father's diagnosis on Sunday evening.

Safety measures: Channel 10 and producers Warner Bros. had already implemented a number of precautions to protect the cast and crew ahead of Sunday's episode. Pictured: hosts Amanda Keller and Grant Denyer

'I was not aware of my dad's positive results to coronavirus until after the show,' Christian said in an Instagram video alongside his dance partner, Lily Cornish.

He continued: 'Since finding out, both Lily and I will be self-isolating, and we'll be tested first thing in the morning.'

Richard also opened up about his 'bizarre' coronavirus diagnosis on Twitter, after he'd come into contact with Tom Hanks' wife, Rita Wilson, a week earlier.

Tom and Rita, both 63, announced they had tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday.

'I was not aware': Christian addressed his father's diagnosis on Sunday evening. He and dance partner Lily (left) are self-isolating until their test results arrive

Richard tweeted: 'Hey... sincere thanks for all the messages... I really appreciate it.

'It's actually a bizarre feeling to have tested positive to this thing we've all been talking about. I feel 100 per cent... no symptoms at all! Thanks again... love to all.'

Coronavirus was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December and has since spread to more than 150,000 people worldwide, and killed at least 5,500 people.

It was recognised as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11.

'Thanks for all the messages': Richard (right) also opened up about his 'bizarre' coronavirus diagnosis on Twitter, after he'd come into contact with Tom Hanks' wife, Rita Wilson (left), a week earlier. Tom and Rita, both 63, tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday
Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.

Ms B.M. writes: I had a Barclaycard, and I believe there was PPI automatically included, so I asked a claims company to look into this for me. They replied that there was no trace that I ever held a Barclaycard, let alone had PPI.

The PPI deadline was some months ago, and I contacted Barclaycard on your behalf just in time to file your claim, leaving the real digging for later. Because you have moved around in your work, that digging involved tracing old addresses and the dates you lived there  all around 15 years ago.

Tony investigated a Barclaycard client who believes that PPI was automatically included

Staff at Barclaycard were extremely helpful. They found your old account, and checked whether the PPI could have been helpful, or was mis-sold. You were able to show you worked at various hospitals, and were completely covered by good sick pay and redundancy schemes, so PPI was unnecessary.

Barclaycard found no record of enquiries by a claims management firm. Perhaps the firm gave you up as a bad job because your claim looked like hard work. Barclaycard told me: After investigating Ms Ms account, we agree that she was mis-sold PPI on her credit card in 2004. You paid premiums of 976, and with compensation and interest, Barclaycard has refunded a total of 2,579. Excellent.

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.
Sixteen people with a travel



history abroad have been home quarantined in Kalaburagi district, Karnataka health minister B Sriramulu said here on Sunday.

The Minister said he was visiting hospitals on the directions of Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa after India's first COVID-19 death was reported from the district.

"I am visiting hospitals and seeing how the isolation wards are maintained.

There are 16 people in Kalaburagi who had returned from abroad. They have been home quarantined for 14 days. We are closely monitoring them," he told reporters in Kalaburagi.

He said the Chief Minister had directed him to visit the district, inspect hospitals and isolation wards and submit a report.

Sriramulu said a five kilometre buffer zone has been created around the area where the 72-year-old died on March 10.

Of the four suspected coronavirus cases in the family of the deceased, three have tested negative, he added.

"There is no need to panic even if they test positive or negative because there is no need to fear of losing life after contracting the virus," he said.

He claimed that there were reports from across the world that about 63,000 people were cured from this disease.

He said coronavirus tests would be mandatory for whoever arrives in the state from abroad and they would be kept under observation for 14 days



On wearing masks, the minister said only those having cold and cough need to do so.

Meanwhile the health department said contacts of positive cases reported so far were being monitored out and community checks done as a precautionary measure.

"Fifty six primary contacts and 400 secondarycontacts have been identified. Seven members of the family have been isolated atthe District Hospital, Kalaburagi," it said.

It said the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court has been briefed about the COVID-19 situation in the state and the steps taken to control it.

Additional health check-up desks at the Kempegowda International Airport are being established to facilitate easy check-up for passengers arriving from abroad.

In a fresh circular,the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Commissioner directed people organising functions at marriage halls or hotels to ensure gatherings do not exceed 100.

The organisers have to ensure utmost hygiene is maintained and that the places are periodically cleaned with effective disinfectants, the Commissioner said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The patrols are part of ceasefire deal reached by Ankara and Moscow to halt an escalation of violence in Idlib province.

Turkey and Russia have completed their first joint military patrol along a strategic highway in Syrias northwestern region, the Turkish defence ministry said.

Within the framework of the Moscow agreement, the 1st joint Turkish-Russian land patrol on the M4 highway has been completed with the contribution of air and land assets, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Earlier, Russian news agencies reported that Moscow had sent military police and armoured vehicles to the patrol, which began from the settlement of Tronba in Idlib province, the last opposition-held stronghold in the country.

The patrols are part of a ceasefire deal reached earlier this month by Turkey, which backs certain opposition groups, and Syrian government ally Russia to halt an escalation of violence in Idlib that has displaced nearly a million people and brought the two countries close to direct confrontation.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier this month that his country would not shy away from even stronger military action in Idlib if the ceasefire is broken.

Under the ceasefire deal, Turkey and Russia are meant to also establish a security corridor either side of the key M4 highway, which links Syrias east and west.

The corridor stretches 6km (3.7 miles) to the north and 6km to the south of the M4  effectively advancing Russias presence further north into Idlib.

The two countries are likely to face obstacles during their joint patrols, Al Jazeeras Sinem Koseoglu, reporting from Istanbul, said.

Since yesterday, we have seen opposition activist groups holding sit-ins and demonstrations on the M4 highway to protest against the Russian presence in Idlib, she said.

Hayet Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)  an armed group previously linked to al-Qaeda that is not backed by Turkey  also says it does not recognise this deal.

According to Koseoglu, the group says it does not want the Russians patrolling along the M4 highway. In the past, Russia has cited HTSs presence as the reason for attacking areas in Idlib.

Nine years of war

The Russia-backed government offensive on Idlib sparked what the United Nations said may be the worst humanitarian crisis yet in a war that has driven millions from their homes and killed hundreds of thousands.

At least 900,000 people were driven from their homes since last December, many of whom had amassed near the border with Turkey seeking relative safety.

Russia had repeatedly played down any talk of a refugee crisis and accused Turkey of violating international law by pouring troops and equipment into Idlib since early last month.

About 60 Turkish troops have been killed in that time.

Sundays patrols come as Syrias war enters its 10th year. What started as peaceful protests on March 15, 2011, to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assads rule quickly turned into a bloody conflict that has seen the interventions of foreign powers.

Nine years on, al-Assad remains in power after gaining back large swaths of land from opposition factions in Syria.
SU M I SUKANYA DUTTA By

NEW DELHI: (THE) death of a 68-year-old woman from west Delhi is confirmed to have been caused due to co-morbidity (diabetes and hypertension). She also tested positive for COVID-19. The death of a 76-year-old man from Karnataka is confirmed to have been caused due to co-morbidity. He also tested positive for COVID-19. He visited Saudi Arabia from January 29, 2020, to February 29, 2020. He had a history of Hsion and Asthma.

This was what the Union health ministry said in separate press statements while announcing the two corona-linked deaths in the country so far. While the country is battling a public health emergency brought on by a deadly contagion, which has already been declared a global pandemic by the WHO, the Centres attempt to play down the corona linked deaths by stressing their previous underlying conditions and almost implying that the infection was only an incidental finding, has raised many eyebrows. I would say this is sign of a government in panic rather than one ready to take a major public health crisis head-on, said T Jacob John, a leading virologist with the Christian Medical College, Vellore.

To stress that these patients died of co-morbid conditions, he added, is akin to being in complete denial which can be dangerous in the face of a health emergency situation. Fact is, even as the world over, as statistics show, mostly the elderly with co-morbidity are dying due to infection, the primary cause of their death is the viral infection. This should be clearly spelt out.

ALSO READ: Government declares coronavirus as notified disaster

Anant Bhan, a researcher in health policy and bioethics, said by attributing the deaths to underlying health conditions, the government seems to be undermining the extent of the infection. Nobody dies of hypertension and diabetes suddenly, except in cases of rare complications. In both these cases, the victims had tested positive for coronavirus, Bhan said. Officials in the health ministry conceded that the move of playing up the patients previous health condition was aimed at reducing panic. Its not that we are not acknowledging the presence of viral infection in both the victims. But it cannot be ignored that they were elderly with much weaker immune system and had significant co-morbidity, an official told this newspaper.

Delhis first corona patient released

There was some relief for the national capital amidst the scare surrounding corona outbreak. The corona patient from Mayur Vihar Phase-2, the first positive case in Delhi, was discharged from hospital after he recovered fully.
The Tossers describe their oeuvre as Irish Drinking Music for Punk Rockers," but Michael Malone writes that American interpretations of Irish music focus too much on alcohol, while true Irish music tackles complex subjects. Read more

You may feel as though youre ready for detox after St. Patricks Day, even if you avoid the pub that day. Youll probably hear plenty of Irish music on March 17, and the tunes alone might put a wobble in your step. American musicians have soaked their version of Irish traditional in pints and shots, and Irish culture scholars say theyve done a serious disservice to the music they revere.

Searching Irish Rock on Spotify recently, the first song that came up was Good Morning Da by the Tossers out of Chicago. It starts off with a man in jail, reflecting on how he ended up there. It appears hed had a drink or two. Well, Id only 15 pints, but I could not see, it goes.

Next was Two Bit Town by the Pubcrawlers out of Portland, Maine. As if the band name didnt give its intent away, the tracks album is titled Rogues, Outlaws & Drunks. After that was Streams of Whiskey by the Pogues. It recommends 15 pints of beer as a cure for when the world gets too dark.

Fifteen seems to be the magic pint number for both the Pogues and the Tossers.

Those Tossers came up again, with the next song to pop up under Irish Rock. Its called Siobhan, and the protagonist enjoys a wide variety of potent potables: Siobhan is on the whiskey, Siobhan is on the gin. Siobhan is drinking Red Bull and vodka and wont be home again.

The Tossers describe their oeuvre as Irish Drinking Music for Punk Rockers.

Dont blame the Irish for all the booze in Irish music. True traditional music focuses more on politics, immigration, famine and other topics central to the Irish experience, said Sheila Falls Keohane, director of the Gaelic Roots Series at Boston College and a fiddler. She believes American tourists see all the pubs in Ireland, which are more about socializing than getting blotto, and soak their version of traditional music in alcohol, thinking its the Irish way.

The American bands mustnt know the history and politics and everything else that happened in Ireland, said Falls Keohane.

Countless Irish rock bands cite the Pogues as a key influence. Shane MacGowan fronted the London band, which deftly mixed Irish traditional and punk. MacGowan wrote frequently of drinking. The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn, for one, sees a man kick the windows out of a pub that wont serve him, throw up in church, then get buried in a casket, only to climb out shouting for another round.

But MacGowan also wrote about love and heartbreak, prejudice and the immigrant experience, with serious wit and wisdom.

The bands the Pogues inspired are simply dying for a drink.

A trip to Ireland is hardly complete without a Guinness in the pub. But theres a lot more to Irish culture than beer and whiskey. Ireland is going through wholesale social change; the rapidly diversifying nation has shifted its collective viewpoint on same-sex marriage, abortion, and other vital issues. Its time the Yanks take on traditional music  or at least their hits most likely to get played at pubs  better reflected this evolving nation.

Americans ask for drinking songs, said Falls Keohane, referring to what she calls the Plastic Paddies who pack the pubs March 17. But no one wants to sing them.

Those who play traditional sessions in our pubs do so all year round. They may have a tipple when they play, but not much more. The excesses that we witness around March 17 are not a part of the music as we know it, said Sally Sommers Smith, Boston University associate professor of traditional music and a fiddler as well. These do a marked disservice to Irish people, and to the music of which they are justly proud.

Michael Malone writes about television for the trade mag Broadcasting & Cable. Based in New York, his work has appeared in the New York Times, ESPN.com, and Playboy.
https://www.aish.com/tp/i/sacks/568812621.html

To turn a group of individuals into a covenantal nation, they must build something together.

Melanie Reid is a journalist who writes a regular column for The (London) Times. A quadriplegic with a wry lack of self-pity, she calls her weekly essay Spinal Column. On 4 January 2020, she told the story of how she, her husband, and others in their Scottish village bought an ancient inn to convert it into a pub and community centre, a shared asset for the neighbourhood.

Something extraordinary then happened. A large number of locals volunteered their services to help open and run it. "We've got well-known classical musicians cleaning the toilets and sanding down tables. Behind the bar there are sculptors, building workers, humanist ministers, Merchant Navy officers, grandmothers, HR executives and estate agents Retired CEOs chop wood for the fires; septuagenarians  wait at tables; surveyors eye up internal walls to be knocked down and can-doers fix blocked gutters."

It has not only become a community centre; it has dramatically energised the locality. People of all ages come there to play games, drink, eat, and attend special events. A rich variety of communal facilities and activities have grown up around it. She speaks of "the alchemy of what can be achieved in a village when everyone comes together for a common aim."

The reason I mention this is because Melanie was kind enough to quote me on the subject of the magic of "I" becoming "we": "When you build a home together  you create something far greater than anything anyone could do alone or be paid to do." The book I wrote on this subject, The Home We Build Together, was inspired by this week's parsha and its name: Vayakhel. It is the Torah's primer on how to build community.

It does so in a subtle way. It uses a single verb, k-h-l, to describe two very different activities. The first appears in last week's parsha at the beginning of the story of the Golden Calf. "When the people saw that Moshe was long delayed in coming down the mountain, they gathered (vayikahel) around Aharon and said to him: get up, make us gods to go before us. This man Moshe who brought us out of Egypt - we have no idea what has become of him" (Ex. 32:1). The second is the opening verse of this week's parsha: "Moshe assembled (vayakhel) all the community of Israel and said to them: these are the things the Lord has commanded you to do" (Ex. 35:1).

These sound similar. Both verbs could be translated as "gathered" or "assembled." But there is a fundamental difference between them. The first gathering was leaderless; the second had a leader, Moshe. The first was a crowd, the second a community.

In a crowd, individuals lose their individuality. A kind of collective mentality takes over, and people find themselves doing what they would never consider doing on their own. Charles Mackay famously spoke of the madness of crowds. People, he said, "go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one." Together, they act in a frenzy. Normal deliberative processes break down. Sometimes this expresses itself in violence, at other times in impulsive economic behaviour giving rise to unsustainable booms and subsequent crashes. Crowds lack the inhibitions and restraints that form our inner controls as individuals.

Elias Cannetti, whose book Crowds and Power is a classic on the subject, writes that "The crowd is the same everywhere, in all periods and cultures; it remains essentially the same among men of the most diverse origin, education and language. Once in being, it spreads with the utmost violence. Few can resist its contagion; it always wants to go on growing and there are no inherent limits to its growth. It can arise wherever people are together, and its spontaneity and suddenness are uncanny."

The crowd that gathered around Aharon was in the grip of panic. Moshe was their one contact with God, and thus with instruction, guidance, miracle and power. Now he was no longer there and they did not know what had happened to him. Their request for "gods to go before us" was ill-considered and regressive. Their behaviour once the calf was made - "the people sat down to eat and drink and then stood up to engage in revelry" - was undisciplined and dissolute. When Moshe came down the mountain at God's command, he "saw that the people were running wild for Aharon had let them run beyond control and become a laughing stock to their enemies." What Moshe saw exemplified Carl Jung's description: "The psychology of a large crowd inevitably sinks to the level of mob psychology." Moshe saw a crowd.

The Vayakhel of this week's parsha was quite different. Moshe sought to create community by getting the people to make personal contributions to a collective project, the mishkan, the Sanctuary. In a community, individuals remain individuals. Their participation is essentially voluntary: "Let everyone whose heart moves him bring an offering." Their differences are valued because they mean that each has something distinctive to contribute. Some gave gold, other silver, others bronze. Some brought wool or animal skins. Others gave precious stones. Yet others gave their labour and skills.

What united them was not the dynamic of the crowd in which we are caught up in a collective frenzy but rather a sense of common purpose, of helping to bring something into being that was greater than anyone could achieve alone. Communities build; they do not destroy. They bring out the best in us, not the worst. They speak not to our baser emotions such as fear but to higher aspirations like building a symbolic home for the Divine Presence in their midst.

By its subtle use of the verb k-h-l, the Torah focuses our attention not only on the product but also the process; not only on what the people made but on what they became through making it. This is how I put it in The Home We Build Together: "A nation - at least, the kind of nation the Israelites were called on to become - is created through the act of creation itself. Not all the miracles of Exodus combined, not the plagues, the division of the sea, manna from heaven or water from a rock, not even the revelation at Sinai itself, turned the Israelites into a nation. In commanding Moshe to get the people to make the Tabernacle, God was in effect saying: To turn a group of individuals into a covenantal nation, they must build something together."

"Freedom cannot be conferred by an outside force, not even by God Himself. It can be achieved only by collective, collaborative effort on the part of the people themselves. Hence the construction of the Tabernacle. A people is made by making. A nation is built by building."

This distinction between community and crowd has become ever more significant in the 21st century. The classic example is the Arab Spring of 2011. Massive protests took place throughout much of the Arab world, in Tunisia, Algeria, Jordan, Oman, Egypt, Yemen, Sudan, Iraq, Bahrain, Libya, Kuwait, Syria and elsewhere. Yet it turned rapidly into what has been called the Arab Winter. The protests still continue in a number of these countries, yet only in Tunisia has it led to constitutional democracy. Protests, in and of themselves, are never enough to generate free societies. They belong to the logic of crowd, not community.

The same is true of social media even in free societies. They are great enhancements of existing communities, but they do not in and of themselves create communities. That takes face-to-face interaction and a willingness to make sacrifices for the sake of the group. Without this, however, as Mark Zuckerberg said in 2017, "social media can contribute to divisiveness and isolation." Indeed, when used for virtue signalling, shaming or aggressive confrontation, they can create a new form of crowd behaviour, the electronic herd.

In his new book A Time to Build, Yuval Levin argues that social media have undermined our social lives. "They plainly encourage the vices most dangerous to a free society. They drive us to speak without listening, to approach others confrontationally rather than graciously, to spread conspiracies and rumours, to dismiss and ignore what we would rather not hear, to make the private public, to oversimplify a complex world, to react to one another much too quickly and curtly. They eat away at our capacity for patient toleration, our decorum, our forbearance, our restraint." These are crowd behaviours, not community ones.

The downsides of crowds are still with us. So too are the upsides of community, as Melanie Reid's Scottish pub demonstrates. I believe that creating community takes hard work, and that few things in life are more worthwhile. Building something with others, I discover the joy of becoming part of something greater than I could ever achieve alone.

Shabbat Shalom.

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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.  Saratoga Springs Commissioner of Public Works Anthony Skip Scirocco announced his appointment of Deborah LaBreche, P.E. to the position of City Engineer for the City of Saratoga Springs.

LaBreche served as the Assistant City Engineer for over eighteen years, and the appointment makes her the first female City Engineer in the history of the City.

In her new role, LaBreche will manage the Citys seven-person Engineering Department, advise the Department of Public Works on technical engineering matters and provide oversight of the Citys infrastructure.

Deb had all the qualities and diversified experience you would want in a City Engineer. Shes an extremely hard worker and likes collaborating with colleagues to complete projects with a focus on the details, said Scirocco.

Shes extremely qualified and has brought many years of great value to the public with the projects shes worked on.

LaBreche has completed a multitude of important City projects during her tenure as the Assistant City Engineer. She has project managed many upgrades to City owned buildings and spearheaded the restoration of a number of historic City landmarks.

Those projects include award-winning historic preservation work at the Spirit of Life in Congress Park, the Canfield Casino, the City Hall front steps, and the Katrina Trask Gateway.

Prior to her more recent work on City buildings, LaBreche managed upgrades to the Citys infrastructure including utilities, LED street lighting, traffic improvements, and landfill upgrades.

Its an honor and privilege to serve the City of Saratoga Springs, said LaBreche. Theres a great administration, outstanding co-workers, and an exceptional public to serve here in the City.

A graduate of UMASS Amherst with a bachelors degree in civil engineering, LaBreche earned her professional engineer license from the New York State Education Department in 2004. She also earned a code enforcement certification from the Department of State in 2007.

Prior to her time working for the City, she worked for the Saratoga County Department of Public Works and local engineering firms M.J. Engineering, Clough Harbour & Associates, and ERB Engineering, located in California.

I love this community; no matter where you go people know Saratoga Springs and Im proud to play a part in making this City such a special place, said LaBreche.

The City Engineer is a full-time Civil Service tested position and has been vacant since February 2019 due to a personnel matter.
By Trend

Military units of the armed forces of Armenia violated ceasefire 30 times throughout the day in various direction of the front, using large-caliber machine guns, Trend reports referring to Azerbaijani Defense Ministry. Armenian armed forces, located in Shavarshavan, Voskevan villages of Noyemberyan region, in Berkaber village and on nameless hills in Ijevan region, and on nameless hills in Krasnoselsk region subjected to fire the positions of the Azerbaijan Army located in Ferehli, Gushchu Ayrim, Gizilhajili villages and on nameless hills in Gazakh region, in Zamanly village and on nameless hills in Gadabay region.

The positions of Azerbaijan Army were also fired from the positions of Armenian military units located near the occupied Marzili village of Aghdam region, Horadiz village of Fuzuli region, as well as from the positions located on nameless hills in Terter and Aghdam regions.
Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy has written to GPs urging them to work to the guidelines on whom to refer for coronavirus testing because there is "extreme pressure" on pathology test kits.

Under national guidelines, patients should be sent for testing only if they have returned from overseas in the past 14 days or been in contact with an infected person, and have a fever or acute respiratory syndrome.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy addresses the media following a Council of Australian Governments meeting in Sydney last week. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

"Unfortunately, the extreme pressure on our personal protective equipment stocks continues, and the situation regarding pathology test kits, reagents and swabs is deteriorating rapidly, with kits no longer being available in some regions of the country," Dr Murphy wrote.

"Pathology collection centres have also experienced large backlogs in testing appointments in some parts of Australia, and emergency testing facilities have had to be established in some areas to ensure that urgent patients can get access to testing."
After the House passed a pair of bills last September banning offshore drilling in the Atlantic, Pacific and Florida Gulf, U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher laid into her 226 Democratic colleagues and the roughly two dozen Republicans who supported the ban.

Fletcher, a Houston Democrat and one of five in her party to oppose the legislation, said curbing offshore drilling would intensify greenhouse gas emissions, not reduce them. And the bills would make the U.S. more reliant on foreign oil, reflecting a lack of understanding about where our energy comes from and how we solve the climate crisis, she and Louisiana Republican Garret Graves wrote in an op-ed.

The offshore drilling vote demonstrates the balancing act Fletcher must perform to retain her seat in Texas 7th Congressional District  an area replete with Fortune 500 oil and gas companies and thousands of energy jobs  as her party embraces more urgent and drastic measures to stifle climate change.

Such proposals, including a ban on hydraulic fracturing, imperil Fletchers re-election chances against Republican Wesley Hunt, who wasted no time trying to link Fletcher to U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders upon winning his partys nomination Tuesday.

The Green New Deal would devastate Texas economy. Lizzie Fletcher wont protect our jobs, the narrator says in a Hunt ad released Wednesday morning. Fletcher votes with Nancy Pelosi 100% of the time, and shell rubber-stamp Bernies socialist agenda too. A vote for Lizzie is a vote for Bernie.

Since taking office in January 2019, however, Fletcher has staked out several positions that could complicate Hunts efforts to paint her as overly hostile to the energy industry. On the most politically explosive topic, the Green New Deal, Fletcher penned an op-ed in April making clear that she opposes the resolution, a broad set of goals and proposals reviled by conservatives that aims to move the U.S. off fossil fuels and rein in greenhouse gas emissions.

And in February, Fletcher called U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs bill to ban fracking by 2025 misguided and said, I do not support this bill or any similar proposal to ban fracking.

Hunt, who won his six-way GOP primary with 61 percent of the vote after being endorsed by President Donald Trump, contended that Fletcher should have come out sooner against the Green New Deal. He said her silence on the issue is really what precipitated me getting in the race, and argued that she has not done enough to combat the most ardent progressive voices in her party  including Pelosi, whom Fletcher supported for speaker.

As a congressman in this district, representing the Energy Corridor and the energy capital of the world, I think she broke her promise from day one by voting for Nancy Pelosi, said Hunt, an Army veteran. By voting for the head of that party, that basically represents legislation that would kill jobs here in Houston.

Paris agreement

Fletcher insists that it presents a false choice to portray climate change reform and the energy industry as inherently clashing.

We should not frame this as a choice between energy and environment, Fletcher said. Weve got to get everyone working toward a common goal of protecting the planet. I truly believe the people who can figure out how to do that live or work in the 7th Congressional District, or are connected to it.

Inherent in Fletchers advocacy for natural gas, she says, is her support for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which as of 2016 accounted for about two-thirds of U.S. natural gas production, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

But Republicans questioned Fletchers support for fracking  a way of extracting natural gas that some Democrats want to ban over concerns about groundwater pollution  after she voted with House Democrats in October to block a vote on a symbolic resolution reaffirming that states have authority over fracking on state and private lands.

It also would have asserted that presidents cannot bar fracking on federal lands.

After the vote, a spokesperson from the National Republican Congressional Committee accused Fletcher of being more loyal to her socialist party leadership than Texans working oil and gas jobs.

Fletcher later said Ocasio-Cortezs fracking ban would negatively impact our national economy, our energy costs, our environment and our efforts to meet energy demand with cleaner, more responsible development in the United States. In a statement for this story, Fletcher spokesperson Erin Mincberg cited her opposition to the Green New Deal and the alternative fuel tax credit.

These attacks simply arent true, Mincberg said. Rep. Fletcher has never supported a ban on fracking.

Where Fletcher and Hunt starkly disagree is the Paris climate agreement, which Fletcher has framed as an important, collaborative step forward that sets more realistic benchmarks than the Green New Deal. Under the agreement, nearly 200 countries have made pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help poorer countries impacted by climate change.

Hunt said the U.S. is already making strides to decrease its carbon footprint and argued that China and India are the true global emission culprits. Under the accord, China and India both set emission reduction goals for 2030, though some argue that their goals are insufficient compared to the targets set by the U.S. and others.

Spared exposure

Fletchers stances have come with little scrutiny from the left, as she did not receive a 2020 primary opponent. And she has been fortunate to face few controversial energy-related roll call votes so far, observers and advocates said.

Fletcher has generally been a supporter of the oil and natural gas industry since joining Congress, although we have not seen many pure energy related votes in the House this year, said Ed Longanecker, president of the Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association, an energy industry trade group in Austin. He added that the organization would like to see Rep. Fletchers voting record on  some of the more challenging energy related issues for her party in the future.

In Congress, Fletcher chairs a bipartisan Natural Gas Caucus and frequently leans on natural gas reduction of U.S. carbon emissions as proof that energy and environmental interests can work in tandem. She was also elected chair of the House Science Committees energy subcommittee in January.

In November, Fletcher introduced a bill with Oklahoma Republican Markwayne Mullin to reinstate a lapsed 50-cent federal tax credit for every gallon of alternative fuels  including compressed, liquefied and renewable natural gas  used as motor fuel. A spending bill signed by Trump in December revived the tax credit through the end of 2020.

Fletcher said the tax credit would reduce greenhouse emissions and produce lower fuel costs by incentivizing innovation. Some who support the legislation hope it will mitigate the practice of flaring, when drillers burn off natural gas because doing so is more cost-effective than transporting it to markets.

The tax credit has generated opposition from some environmental advocates, who contend that leaks of methane  the main component of natural gas and a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide  put overall emissions from natural gas-powered vehicles nearly on par with that of gas and diesel vehicles.

Natural gas fueling infrastructure is a bridge to nowhere, when we should be investing in charging infrastructure for cleaner electric vehicles, Daniel Cohan, an environmental engineering professor at Rice University, wrote in an op-ed critiquing Fletchers bill.

Still, Fletchers stances that put her at odds with some members of her party appear to have generated little criticism from progressives and environmental activists.

"She's definitely not a lefty, but the context for us is, here's a person who defeated a person who didn't believe in climate change, and has come to Congress and been serious about the issues, said Jack Pratt, senior political director for the Environmental Defense Action Fund.

Pratt said the parent group, Environmental Defense Fund, disagrees with Fletcher over her opposition to the offshore drilling ban. On the Green New Deal, however, Pratt said, You're not going to get a serious climate change bill through Congress just based on votes from the most progressive communities.

Free of a primary opponent, Fletcher was unencumbered by political pressure drawing her left on energy and environmental policy, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston.

A primary challenge on the left would definitely require her to address some of these issues more pointedly that she might not want to, or that might be politically damaging, Rottinghaus said. She's sort of spared that potential ideological exposure.

jasper.scherer@chron.com
State government workers in New Jersey soon will be allowed to work from home in an effort to minimize the impact of the coronavirus, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Sunday.

Murphy said during a telephone briefing with reporters that employees will not be mandated to work from home. But the state is requiring each government department to institute its own work-from-home plan by Wednesday, the governor said. The plans will vary by department, he said.

Alexandra Altman, a spokeswomen for the governors office, said this applies to all state workers, whether they be deemed essential or non-essential.

However, some essential employees cannot work from home, though, so they will continue to come to work, Altman added.

The state government has 64,000 employees, including many essential workers, like State Police troopers.

Murphy also said Sunday he planned to announce Monday he is ordering a statewide shutdown of all schools, public and private.

Murphy and other state officials continuously have pressed New Jerseyans to practice social distancing and staying home to reduce the spread of the virus. He said the state government must practice the same.

We have to walk the talk, Murphy said. When we say to the business community, working from home is a huge preference right now, we have to be living that as state government.

New Jersey has seen at least 98 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of Sunday, including two deaths, state officials announced.

Murphys administration announced this past Tuesday that state workers who are diagnosed with the virus or in self-quarantine or isolation because they may have been exposed to it can miss work without having to use sick time.

The guidelines from the state Civil Service Commission also allow employees to stay home without sick leave to care for a family member who has been diagnosed with or possibly exposed to the virus.

And the guidelines say state workers are allowed to stay home if their childs school or daycare center has been closed because of the virus. Department leaders will determine whether those employees can work from home, and if that cant be arranged, the workers will not be required to use sick leave during that time.

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Simone Biles has slammed USA Gymnastics in a fiery tweet after they wished her Happy Birthday and she responded demanding they conduct an independent investigation into disgraced Team USA doctor Larry Nassar.

The Olympic gold medalist celebrated her 23rd birthday on Saturday and USA Gymnastics shared a post praising the decorated gymnast.

'HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the most decorated gymnast of all time, @simonebiles! We know you will only continue to amaze us and make history!'

Biles shared the post writing: 'How about you amaze me and do the right thing...have an independent investigation.'

Simone Biles has slammed USA Gymnastics in a fiery tweet after they wished her Happy Birthday and she responded demanding they conduct an independent investigation into disgraced Team USA doctor Larry Nassar

The Olympic gold medalist celebrated her 23rd birthday on Saturday and USA Gymnastics shared a post praising the decorated gymnast writing: 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the most decorated gymnast of all time, @simonebiles! We know you will only continue to amaze us and make history!' Biles shared the post writing: 'How about you amaze me and do the right thing...have an independent investigation'

Biles is one of the slew of some 200 girls and women who have accused USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar of sexual abuse.

In 2017 Nassar was sentenced to an effective life sentence on charges of child pornography and sexual misconduct in both federal and state courtrooms

Furthermore she and other Olympic athletes have slammed USAG's proposed $215million settlement for survivors of Nassar's sexual abuse.

Biles along with other athletes including gymnast Aly Raisman have demanded an independent investigation by USAG and the US Olympic and Paralympic committees into the scandal, saying the settlement doesn't hold staffers who allegedly knew about or buried Nassar's abuse accountable.

In 2017 Nassar was sentenced to an effective life sentence on charges of child pornography and sexual misconduct in both federal and state courtrooms

He was accused by at least 250 women of sexually abusing them over the past two decades.

The Nassar scandal smeared USAG's reputation and led the organization to file for bankruptcy in late 2018.

Twitter users praised Biles for her clapback with one fan tweeting: 'Me writing in @Simone_Biles on the primary ballot.'

According to a bombshell 2019 report following an 18-month congressional investigation into the Nassar scandal, the FBI, USAG, US Olumpic Committee and Michigan State all had a chance to stop Nassar's abuse and 'failed to do so'.

Twitter users praised Biles for her clapback with one fan tweeting: 'Me writing in @Simone_Biles on the primary ballot.'

'This is the type of thing only a select few can do...her...a Lebron....a Brady.....but they dont the two dudes I listed dont have the guts. Simone is a hero,' another fan added.

'So many reasons you are the GOAT. Strength in 100 different ways,' one social media fan added.
Syracuse  The Syracuse St. Patricks parade was postponed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The parade is one of Syracuses largest annual celebrations and attracts tens of thousands of people to downtown.

It would have been today. So, in this exceptional year, how did it look downtown?

The streets were empty with just a trickle of people walking over to various bars in Armory Square.

Meanwhile, over at Colemans Authentic Irish Pub on 100 S. Lowell St. in Tipperary Hill it was business as usual but with a smaller crowd. Owner Peter Coleman was told a new public health mandate dictates a crowd of only 120 people at his pub, half the capacity of 240.

For historys sake, heres a photo comparison of last years parade and todays pale green comparison.
2020 has been really good so far when it comes to the smartphone industry. We got a ton of new phones with spectacular features at really affordable prices. But things are not looking very good because the mobile phones in India are about to get more expensive.

Thanks to the new GST hike that was announced during the 39th GST Council meeting, all mobile phones are about to attract more GST starting April 1, 2020. We're looking at 18% GST as compared to the current 12% rate. This means, we have just 15 days more to buy a new phone at current prices. Maybe even more, but a price hike is imminent.

 Reuters

This isn't good news for both the consumers as well as the phone makers, because the decision is expected to greatly affect the "Make In India" efforts. Since smartphone prices are already quite low in the country, the increased amount of tax would eat the OEM's already thin margin. And that's exactly why we are likely to see an overall price hike.



Xiaomi India head, Manu Kumar Jain, has already urged the government to reconsider this decision. He sent out a tweet addressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, asking them to reconsider and exempt the budget phones from the tax hike. That being said, it remains to be seen what comes out of this tweet.

My humble request to Hon. PM @NarendraModi ji and FM @nsitharaman ji - please reconsider this #GST hike.



The industry is already struggling with depreciating INR & supply chain disruption due to Covid-19.



At least all devices under $200 (=15,000) must be exempted from this. https://t.co/hOMpSpTyKk  Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) March 14, 2020

This GST hike comes hot on the heels of the coronavirus pandemic. The tech sector has already taken a huge hit because of the outbreak. There's already a major supply and demand gap in the market, so it remains to be seen as to what happens after the GST hike. We think the phone prices are going to be increased to a great extent, so we suggest you buy one if you've been planning to do so.



Source: The Economic Times
The 7th edition of the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards which held at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos on Saturday night has ended in grand style.

Anchored by seasoned broadcasters Amina Abdi Rabar and Ik Osakioduwa, the star-studded show had some of Africas brightest filmstars clinch the coveted AMVCA plaques.

Music legend, 2baba serenaded the crowd while Cobhams Asuquo performed an emotional musical tribute in honour of Nollywood fallen stars.

The likes of Frank Dallas, Patience Oseni, Kelvin Osang Abang, Samuel Alabi Yellow, Victor Olaiya and many other Nigerian entertainers were acknowledged in the performance.

Leading the night was Living in Bondage with a total of four wins. Ratnik followed closely with three wins.

See the full list of winners below:

Best Makeup Category  Lilian Omozele Paul (God Calling)

Best Costume Designer  Dimeji Ajibola (Ratnik)

Best Picture Editor  Tosin Igho and Byryan Dike (Elevator Baby)

Best Sound Editor (Movie/TV Series)  Cristina Aragon (Living in Bondage)

Best Lighting and Designer (Movie/TV Series)  Cardoso (God Calling)

Best Cinematographer  John Demps (Living in Bondage)

Best Documentary  Beverly Naya (Skin)

Best Soundtrack (Movie/TV Series)  Larry Gaaga and Flavour (Living in Bondage)

Best Writer (Movie/TV Series)  Asinogu Nicole and CJ Obasi (Living in Bondage)

Best Indigenous Language (Movie/TV Series) Swahili  Raveet Sippy Chadha (Subira)

Best Indigenous Language (Movie/TV Series) Hausa  Muhammad T. Finisher (Tuntube)

Best Indigenous Language Movie/TV Series Yoruba  Yewande Famakin (Alubarika)

Best Indigenous Language Movie/TV Series Igbo  Victor Iyke (Nne)

Best TV Series Drama/Comedy)  Anis Halloway (Truth)

Best Short Film or Online Video  Bola Enigma Akanbi (Thorn)

Best Multichoice Talent Factory Film  Promises (East Africa)

Best Movie Southern Africa  Dalitso (Abraham Kabwe)

Best Movie East Africa  Plan B (Sarah Hassan)

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Best Movie West Africa  Living in Bondage (Steve Gukas)

Industry Merit Award  Peter Igho

Best Supporting Actress in a Movie or TV Series  Gloria Sarfo (The Perfect Picture: 10 Years Later)

Best Supporting Actor in a Movie or TV Series  Pascal Tokodi (Disconnect) Best Actress in a Comedy (Movie/TV Series)  Funke Akindele (Moms At War)

Best Actor in a Comedy (Movie or TV Series)  Chibunna Funny Bone Stanley (Smash)

Best Actress in a Drama (Movie/TV Series)  Toyin Abraham (Elevator Baby)

Best Actor in a Drama (Movie/TV Series)  Timini Egbuson (Elevator Baby)

Best Dressed Male  Mike Edwards Best

Dressed female  Mercy Eke

Trailblazer Award  Swanky J.K.A

Best Director  Ramsey Noah (Living in Bondage)

Overall Movie  Living in Bondage
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-16 02:59:40|Editor: Xiang Bo

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Photo taken on March 15, 2020 shows the site of an oil pipeline explosion in a satellite town of Lagos, Nigeria. An oil pipeline explosion on Sunday hit a satellite town of Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub, and casualties are feared, a rescue official told Xinhua. (Photo by Emmanuel/Xinhua)

LAGOS, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government on Sunday said 15 corpses have been recovered from the scene of Sunday's explosion which occurred at the Abule Ado area of Lagos, Nigeria's economic hub.

Ibrahim Farinloye, acting coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), who confirmed the figure to Xinhua, said the explosion occurred around 9 a.m. local time on Sunday. More than 60 students of Bethlehem Girls College located within the area who sustained various degrees of injuries in the incident were taken to the Nigerian Navy Hospital.

Farinloye said over 50 buildings, including Bethlehem Girls College and a popular hotel, were damaged in the explosion.

According to Farinloye, the resulting fire later spread to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) oil pipeline passing through the area, although the pipeline has been shut down as a precautionary measure.

Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, director-general of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, said the government would carry out a thorough investigation to unravel the cause of the explosion.

"We are still waiting for the result to know the cause of the fire outbreak," Oke-Osanyintolu said.
Indias $14-billion (or Rs 1-trillion) poultry market has begun a massive culling exercise as consumers keep off chicken products for fear of catching coronavirus. While the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has said there is no scientific evidence to prove the virus spreads through consumption of non-vegetarian food, this has had no impact on people, executives at some of the top poultry firms said. It is difficult to change peoples minds.

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Digital Editor
Automation makes 21st century life possible. Siri and Alexa help us schedule our days, adjust our thermostats, lock our doors and turn off our lights. Our cars park themselves and remind us when another vehicle is in a blind spot. We accept automation in our personal lives, so why are we so afraid of using it to optimize our companies? In a word: control. Entrepreneurs dont want to let go of the reins. They want to curate the customer experience themselves.The truth, though, is that automation doesnt make a business less personable. In fact, paired with the human touch, it can provide a personalized experience from the first interaction. Heres how to do it.

Not all leads are created equal. While it makes business sense to bucket leads according to their expected value and place in the pipeline, it doesn't always deliver the best customer experience. What does a user-first segmentation strategy look like? Ontraport, a CRM and marketing-automation software provider, suggests using free content and services. Not only is it typically cheaper than buying pre-sorted lead lists, but it also encourages prospects to reciprocate by signing up for your service.

In psychology and UX design, this is known as the reciprocity principle: People are far more likely to do something nice for someone when they were treated kindly by that person previously.

Related: How to Use 'the Law of Reciprocity' to Build Better Business Relationships

The only limits to what might work as value offerings are your budget and imagination. Quizzes, surveys, whitepapers, first-purchase discounts, free trials, free products and invitations to exclusive events are all good options. Plug coupons and discount offers into your email-automation system to scale delivery.

2. Go beyond the name

How many personalized emails have you received that contain one-size-fits-all copy beyond the salutation? Check your inbox; its probably a lot. But there are dozens of ways to get creative with email personalization. Adidas colors and customizes emails by the recipients gender. Nissan sends out customized maintenance reminders. Spotify shares what it calls time capsules, or nostalgic reminders of songs the listener once played.

Not all of those apply to leads, of course, but think about all the information you collect: age, gender, location, occupation and more. Even if its just a heads-up about commute conditions, use those attributes to tailor your outreach.

3. Get the timing right

Sometimes, the simplest automations are the most valuable. These work particularly well for companies that have multiple product or service lines. Outdoor gear company REI, for example, uses dynamic content optimization to adjust its social media ads according to the viewers current weather conditions. If its snowing outside, REI may show ads for its ski and snowboarding equipment. On a sunny summer day, the viewer may see ads for boots or kayaks.

Think, too, about holidays. Simply showing some pumpkins and fall colors can attract attention around Halloween. Tweaking the ad for the viewers birthday might be an even better approach.

Related: Automation Is Becoming a Business Imperative: Don't Wait Until It's Too Late

4. Prioritize your homepage

More than half of marketers say that, after email campaigns, a websites homepage provides the best opportunity for automated personalization. Optimizelys homepage is the perfect example. Visitors associated with Target, Microsoft and the travel industry  as well as night owls  all see something different when they visit the company's site. Optimizely found that persona-specific homepages boosted conversions by 113 percent.

Remember, many leadss first interaction with your brand is through your website. What do they see? Is it something that speaks to their specific needs, or is it a catch-all page that doesn't truly speak to anyones needs?

The best automation tactics dont take away your control as an entrepreneur; they put you in control. Think of it this way: You cant possibly create a custom experience for every lead on your companys radar. Even if you had the budget to hire a hundred marketers, you probably still wouldnt be able to do so. Automation technology can, and frankly, youd be crazy not to take advantage of it.

Related:

La seccion "Sobre nosotros" de tu pagina web solo necesita estas 5 cosas

How to Convert Someone to Your Cause in 5 Simple Steps

4 Ways Marketing Automation and Personalization Can Work Together



Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
By Mark Peterson



After a diversion for two weeks to respond culturally to the "Parasite phenomenon" I want to return to the theme of "Peaceful Korea." My point is that peace is deeply inherent to Korean culture. After all, the common greeting is "Annyeonghashimnikka (Are you at peace)?"



Recent history may not speak of a peaceful tradition, but I want to look at transitions from dynasty to dynasty. One might argue that the 20th century was not marked with peaceful transitions  and that's true. But my argument is that the long history of Korea describes the deep-seated character of Korean culture. I want to look at historic transitions from dynasty to dynasty, and here we see something unlike that seen in any other country.



In my Top 10 of Peaceful Korean History, today's article is #2. Previously, I wrote about #1, the longest dynasties in the world.



Let's start with the transition from Gaya (47-562) to Silla (57 B.C.  935). Before Silla conquered Baekje and Goguryeo and dominated the peninsula in 668, it absorbed Gaya. I use the word "absorb" because the royalty of Gaya ended up as part of the royalty of Silla. The most striking piece of evidence is the case of Kim Yu-sin, the general that led the unification. He was the great grandson of the last Gaya king, the one who surrendered to Silla. But the royal line of Gaya ended up intermarrying with the royal line of Silla. Kim Yu-sin's sister married the king, for example. This was in a society marked with strict hierarchy, with a "holy bone" class at the top, followed by "true bone" then six levels of "head ranks" and finally, commoners and then slaves at the bottom.



When Silla fell in 935, it was during the "Later Three Kingdom's Period"  a resurgence of the three kingdoms. It's amazing that the dynasties destroyed over two centuries earlier were still "present" in some degree. In that era of warfare, Goryeo (918-1392) acted as an ally and protector of Silla against Later Baekje. Later Baekje was utterly destroyed  the exception to the rule I'm proposing of peaceful transitions  such that none of the eight elite clans of Baekje survived on the peninsula (although forms of those names show up in China and Japan, with whom Baekje had alliances and where the elite escaped).



Goryeo, on the other hand, became the heir to Silla. Silla aristocrats moved from Gyeongju to Gaeseong to support the new dynasty. Those elite included Silla clans bearing names of Kim, Pak, Yi, Choe, Jeong, Pae, and Song  common names in Korea today. No, dominant names in Korea today! This will be addressed in #10, later.



The fall of Goryeo was remarkable in its own way. Goryeo, weakened by its royal intermarriage with the Mongol Yuan dynasty when the Yuan fell, found itself divided: supporting the remnant of the Yuan or supporting the new Ming dynasty of China. The weak king, urged by general Choe Yeong, sent his rival general, Yi Seonggye, off to fight the Ming. However, General Yi, on Wihwa Island, in the middle of the Yalu River, decided to return to Gaeseong and take over the government, setting up the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910). Basically, it was a dynastic takeover hardly firing a shot. He did kill Gen. Choe. He did go after one branch of the royal Wang family, and some named Wang changed their names by adding a stroke or two to become Ok, or Jeon, or Kim, to escape. But others named Wang survived and served the new King.



Three remarkably peaceful transitions: Gaya to Silla to Goryeo to Joseon. Most dynastic transitions are marked with years and years of warfare and thousands and thousands of deaths. Not in "Peaceful Korea."





Mark Peterson (markpeterson@byu.edu) is professor emeritus of Korean, Asian and Near Eastern languages at Brigham Young University in Utah.


China on Sunday reported 10 more fatalities due to the novel coronavirus, taking the death toll to 3,199, while the imported cases rose to 111, prompting authorities to order a compulsory 14-day quarantine in "special facilities" for foreigners arriving here from Monday.

China's National Health Commissions (NHC) said 20 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection and 10 deaths were reported from all over the country on Saturday.

Sixteen imported cases were reported on the mainland Saturday. Among them, five were reported in Beijing, four in Zhejiang Province, three in both Shanghai and Gansu Province, as well as one in Guangdong Province. By the end of Saturday, 111 imported cases had been reported, NHC said.

With the increase in imported cases, Beijing local government has announced to send all international arrivals into the city to quarantine facilities starting Monday as part of stepped-up measures against COVID-19 cases from abroad.

People arriving from abroad had previously been allowed to undergo the mandatory two-week quarantine at home, but now only those in "special circumstances" will be exempted from being sent to facilities where they must pay for their stay, state-run Beijing Daily reported Sunday.

Only four new domestic cases were detected, all in Hubei province's capital Wuhan, the city where the virus first emerged in December before growing into a national crisis and a pandemic.

All the 10 deaths were in Wuhan, bringing the national toll from the disease in mainland China to 3,199.

The overall confirmed cases on the mainland reached 80,778 by the end of Saturday, including 3,199 people who died of the disease in the last three months, 10,734 patients still undergoing treatment and 66,911 patients discharged after recovery, it said.

By the end of Saturday, 141 confirmed cases including four deaths had been reported in Hong Kong Special, 10 confirmed cases in the Macao and 53 in Taiwan including one death.

"No locally transmitted confirmed cases have been reported in Hubei outside Wuhan for 10 consecutive days," Mi Feng, spokesperson for the National Health Commission, said Sunday at a press conference in Beijing.

Mi noted that the daily number of the newly confirmed indigenous cases on the mainland outside Hubei Province has been in single digits since February 27, with no new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases reported for three consecutive days.

Currently, the most pressing and important task is to prioritise medical treatment work and strive to improve the cure rate, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Mi as saying.

China's Ministry of Education has announced that though the COVID-19 is slowing down, schools won't resume until local authorities put the virus outbreak under control and roll out necessary containment measures.

Wang Dengfeng, director of the ministry's working group on epidemic control, said local authorities shall consult experts before reopening schools and safety of the faculty members should be ensured.

Resumption would be prioritised for the graduating classes in middle and high school, as they were supposed to sit for the high school or college entrance examination in about 80 days, he was quoted as saying by China Central Television.

Wang said that the ministry is seeking advice from related departments as well as representatives of students and parents on whether to postpone the college entrance exams and the decisions will be made soon.

Local authorities are entitled to decide whether to postpone the exam for high school candidates, state-run China Daily reported on Saturday.

The deadly novel coronavirus has claimed over 5,300 lives and infected more than 142,000 people across 135 countries and territories, with the World Health Organisation describing the outbreak a pandemic on Wednesday. PTI KJV ZH CPS
Iranian officials say government entities are trying to send back working children who live in Iran back to their countries, primarily Afghanistan, due to the coronavirus epidemic.

Around three million Afghans live and work in Iran but there are also many children with or without parents who do menial jobs or are waste pickers.

Latest figures from 2019 indicate that four thousand children in Tehran spend their days scavenging garbage bins and dumps and 80 percent are foreigners.

The Children Protection Society in Tehran says these children live together in groups of 50-60 and the danger of coronavirus spreading among them is quite high.

Six months ago government agencies sent 400 of these children to three centers and now Tehrans governor has announced that in a joint effort with Irans welfare agency to send back 380 children to their countries.

The director of Tehrans welfare agency chief Saeed Aram has told Shahrvand newspaper on March 15 that the extradition of these children back to Afghanistan and Pakistan has started.

Shahrvand writes that these children will be taken from Tehran streets and dumped in Herat streets and other cities in Afghanistan. Some have parents in Afghanistan and some children will leave their families behind in Iran.

Meanwhile, another official of the welfare agency denied any plans to gather street children in protective centers, based on fears that those infected with coronavirus can transmit the disease to others. He also argued that many children live with their parents and the government cannot separate them from their families.

The general manager of the Children Protection Association is also opposed to sending back children working in streets, saying that if they are infected with coronavirus, that would simply spread the disease in other countries.

There are also reports that the government distributes health packages to children who are waste pickers. The packages include protective masks and disinfectants.
In view of the health risks arising from the outbreak of COVID-19 in Ireland, the UK and the US, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government today issued the Red Outbound Travel Alert (OTA) on these countries.

The decision to issue the alert for these countries was made due to the persistent and rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases there.

Additionally, the Hong Kong SAR Government reminded the public about the red OTA on the Schengen Area in Europe, Korea as well as Hokkaido, Japan.

It also alerted the public about the outbreak of COVID-19 cases and associated health risks in Egypt and Iran under the red OTA currently in force on those two countries.

Under the red OTA, members of the public planning to travel to those countries are urged to adjust their travel plans and avoid non-essential travel.

For those who are already in the countries, they should heed the announcements of local authorities, always wear surgical masks and avoid visiting healthcare facilities and crowded places.

If it is unavoidable to travel to these countries, people should pay close attention to the latest situation of COVID-19 and the corresponding travel health advice issued by the Department of Health.

They may call the 24-hour hotline of the Immigration Departments Assistance to Hong Kong Residents Unit at (852) 1868 or contact the Chinese Embassy in the respective countries at their consular protection hotline for assistance.

Residents are also encouraged to use the Registration of Outbound Travel Information service to register their contact details and itinerary when outside Hong Kong.

After returning to Hong Kong, they should consult a doctor promptly if experiencing a fever or other symptoms.

Updates will be issued through the HKSAR Government's thematic webpage and the Security Bureau's OTA webpage.

Call the Department of Healths hotline (852) 2125 1122 for enquiries on health information relating to COVID-19.
Erika Jennings has been selected as the Passavant Area Hospital Colleague of the Month.

She is a community health worker for Healthy Jacksonville.

Jennings has an associates degree in health education from Lincoln Land Community College and is attending University of Illinois-Springfield, working toward a degree in legal studies.

Jennings and her fiance, Mark, are the parents of two children. In her free time, Jennings enjoys traveling, playing volleyball, exercising and spending time with her family.

The Colleague of the Month at Passavant receives a paid day off, a plaque and pin, a parking space for one month in the physicians parking garage and a cake.



The Nook has been chosen as Beardstown Chamber of Commerces February Business of the Month.

The Nook is at 111 E. Second St. It is open from 9 a.m. to midnight Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday; from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday; from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and from noon to midnight Sunday.



For the third time, Memorial Medical Center has received the nations highest designation for stroke care  one of only 19 hospitals in the state to achieve that level of certification.

The nonprofit hospitals certification as a comprehensive stroke center, a level of care achieved by an estimated 300 of the nations 5,600 hospitals, recognizes Memorial for its ability to provide expert, around-the-clock care for the most complex stroke patients.

Memorial Medical Center treats an estimated 1,200 stroke cases annually. Of the 19 Illinois hospitals to achieve the comprehensive stroke designation, Memorial is one of only three hospitals outside of the Chicago region.

Requirements for a comprehensive stroke center include having the infrastructure, staff and training resources to provide state-of-the-art care to all stroke patients; providing a dedicated neurointensive-care unit with round-the-clock neurointensive care for complex stroke patients; and using advanced imaging capabilities.

 Compiled by David C.L. Bauer
Several African countries on Sunday closed borders, canceled flights and imposed strict entry and quarantine requirements to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, which has a foothold in 26 nations on the continent as cases keep rising.

The government is suspending travel for all persons coming into Kenya from any country with reported coronavirus cases ... only Kenyan citizens, and any foreigners with valid residence permits will be allowed to come in provided they proceed on self quarantine, President Uhuru Kenyatta told the nation in a televised address.

Anyone entering Kenya in the last 14 days should self-quarantine, he said. The ban would take effect within 48 hours and remain in place for at least 30 days, he said.

Schools should close immediately and universities by the end of the week, he said. Citizens would be encouraged to make cashless transactions to cut the risk of handling contaminated money, he said.

In west Africa, Ghana will from Tuesday ban entry to anyone who has been to a country with more than 200 cases in the last 14 days, unless they are an official resident or a Ghanaian national.

In southern Africa, Namibia ordered schools to close for a month following two confirmed cases of coronavirus announced on Saturday.

Other nations have also shuttered schools, canceled religious festivals and sporting events to minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission. Some 156,500 people worldwide have been infected and almost 6,000 have died.

Kenya and Ethiopia have now recorded three and four cases respectively, authorities in each nation said on Sunday, two days after they both reported their first case. All the new cases were discovered through tracing the contacts of the first case in each country, authorities said.

Djibouti, which has no confirmed case of COVID-19, announced on Sunday it is suspending all international flights. Tanzania, which also has no cases yet, canceled flights to India and suspended school games.

As of Sunday, cases have been reported in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Senegal, Togo, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Rwanda, Seychelles, eSwatini, Namibia, Central African Republic, Congo Brazzaville and Equatorial Guinea.

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The Perspective

Atlanta, Georgia

March 15, 2020



Cllr. Tiawan S. Gongloe

President of the LNBA

Mr. President

Mr. Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of Liberia

Madam Vice President

Mr. Speaker of the House of Representatives

Mr. President Pro Tempore and Members of the Liberian Senate

Former Chief Justices and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court

The Doyen and members of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps

Mr. Minister of Justice and Dean of the Supreme Court Bar

Judges of Circuit and Specialized Courts

The President and members of the National Association of Trial Judges of Liberia

The Vice President, other officers and Members of the Liberian National Bar Association

The President and Members of the Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia

The President and Members of the Prosecution Association of Liberia

The President and Members of the Association of the Public Defenders

Madam Court Administrator and members of the Clerical and Ministerial Staff of the Judiciary

Members of the Press and Civil Society Organizations

Other Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen

Once again, we have gathered here before the highest tribunal of justice to answer to the call of His Honor Chief Justice Francis Saye Korkpor, Sr. and his colleagues to witness the opening of the Supreme Court of Liberia, consistent with the schedule established by the Liberian Legislature in the Judiciary Law of Liberia. In accordance with section 2.5 of the Judiciary Law, the Supreme Court Opens on the Second Monday of October and the Second Monday of March. On behalf of the Liberian National Bar Association, we welcome your honors from a well-deserved vacation after hearing 41 cases and rendering judgments in 31. As the March Term of Court is longer than the October Term, we are hopeful that your honors will hear and decide more cases during this term of court.



We note with sadness the information about the home-going of individuals who served in various capacities in the judiciary and the legal profession. May the Almighty God comfort their families. Amongst, these personalities, we join your honor, in recognizing the importance of the resignation of the Late Former Associate Justice M. Kron Yangbe from the Supreme Court Bench in defense of the independence of the Judiciary. His action was a display of an unprecedented commitment to the independence of the Judiciary.



For the benefit of the younger lawyers, a gist of the evidence of this commitment must be repeatedly told. The former Associate Justice resigned, after a two-year suspension imposed on Cllr. Jenkins K. Z. B. Scott, Minister of Justice under M.Sgt. Samuel Kanyon Doe, Chairman of the Interim National Assembly, for contempt of the judiciary, was immediately lifted by the Supreme Court, under pressure from Chairman Doe. It should be noted that, while the resignation of a person holding an elected or appointed position should be considered a normal thing, to do so in reaction to a decision based on the direct order of a military leader was defiant and could have caused his immediate death. But the Late former Associate Justice made a conscious choice in standing up for the independence of the Judiciary, knowing that his decision could have caused him to lose his life. How many of the lawyers in this courtroom are prepared to take such a risk today? The test of commitment to principles is always judged by the decisions that are taken during very difficult times, not during normal times. The LNBA will continue to remember the late former Associate Justice Yangbe for standing up for the independence of the Judiciary without any fear for the consequences of his action.



We note the information about the appointment of new judges. While we have no question about their professional capabilities to serve in the respective judicial positions to which they have been appointed and we are aware of the constitutional authority of the President of Liberia to appoint them, we would have loved for the Judicial Committee of the Liberian National Bar Association to be given the opportunity advise the President through the National Executive Council of the LNBA on those appointments. This kind of collaboration is good for the avoidance of any mistake and for the full cooperation of members of the LNBA. We appeal to the President of Liberia to seek the advice of the LNBA on the appointment of magistrates, judges, and justices in the future. We want to be a partner of the President in the strengthening of the capacity of the Judiciary to perform the duties assigned to it by the Constitution of Liberia.



Your honor, we applaud the Judiciary and its partners for various actions taken during the last term of court to improve the performance of the judiciary, including, the production of more legal reading materials, the construction of courts and particularly, the opportunities that were given to members of the judiciary for training in Liberia and abroad. These training opportunities provide avenues for continuing legal education (CLE) which is essential for capacity-building. Like the judiciary, the LNBA is beginning to place greater emphasis on continuing legal education. Therefore, this year, the LNBA has conditioned the issuance of a good standing certificate and license on the attainment of ten credits from continuing legal education during the preceding year. Members of the LNBA who attended the Assembly, the law day, the African Bar Convention and the National Convention of the LNBA, have already attained their ten credits. For those who did not attend any of these events to have an opportunity to attain CLE credits, the CLE Committee is offering a one-day training section that will include sufficient topics for attaining ten credits on March 14, 2020, at the ground floor of the Temple of Justice.



Your honors, we note the increase in the number of cases received by the judiciary and the number of cases disposed of at all levels. While there are still challenges that prevent the judiciary from disposing of cases as expeditiously as possible, we must put a positive twist to the increase in the number of cases received during each term of court, especially at the lower courts. In our view, the increase in the number of cases received by the judiciary can be interpreted as a demonstration of increased confidence in the judiciary as a better avenue for the resolution of disputes over trial by ordeal, mob violence and other unlawful means to settle disputes, even with the multiple challenges faced by the judiciary.



Your honor, your observation, and warning that the unlawful sale of land in Liberia and the frequent obstruction of enforcement of court judgments could undermine the peace and stability of Liberia need no further emphasis. It is our view, that the issues of unlawful sale of land and the challenges faced by the court in the enforcement of its judgments are so important that we believe that the holding of a one-week judicial conference that will bring together judges, lawyers, surveyors, ministerial officers of the court, and the police in order to find ways to resolve these issues will be helpful.



Your Honor, the bar notes the importance of the concerns raised by you regarding the challenges faced by the judiciary in the resolution of real property disputes. Specifically, your honor highlighted the increase in the unlawful sale of land and the difficulties experienced by the Court in the execution of its judgments. It is our view, that the issues of unlawful sale of land and the challenges faced by the court in the enforcement of its judgments are so important that we believe that the holding of a one-week judicial conference that will bring together judges, lawyers, surveyors, ministerial officers of the court, and the police in order to find ways to resolve these issues will be helpful. We, therefore, recommend that a committee comprising of lawyers, judges and magistrates be established to work on the modalities for the holding of such a conference. One of the problems that could be solved by such a conference could be providing more education on the Criminal Conveyance Act to magistrates and the police in order for them to get a better understanding of this law which was enacted by the Legislature to curtail the unlawful sale of land.



Currently, once two parties to a land dispute show their land deeds, both the police and magistrates, most often conclude that the title is in dispute, although the parties have the same grantor; hence, the matter should be resolved through an action of ejectment. By such conduct, they tend to miss the point that if A sells a parcel of land to B and the same person (A) subsequently sells the same quantity of land or a portion thereof to C, then the second deed is a clear evidence of criminal conveyance. Also, by that law, if the same surveyor that surveyed the land that B purchased is the same surveyor that surveyed the land subsequently purchased by C, then that surveyor has participated in the criminal conveyance of Bs land to C by A.

Also, the Supreme Court itself has not generally been clear on how to resolve land disputes. In some cases, this Court has held that in all ejectment cases, a judge sitting alone lacks jurisdiction to hear and decide the issue of title without the aid of jury, except he was so expressly requested by the parties who must expressly waive jury trial. Konneh v. Badio , 37LLR576(1994). In another cases, the Supreme Court has held,  the submission of this kind of technical and legal issue as metes and bounds to a petty jury with little if any insight into such complex matteris not only un-insightful, but also inconsistent with the precedent set by this Court in Freeman v. Webster , 14LLR493(1961) and several opinions of this Court. In that case the Supreme Court remand the case with specific instruction that an impartial survey be made of the land described by metes and bounds of the land in dispute.



The other thing to discuss at such a conference to put in place a mechanism whereby, it can be determined that the quantity of land on the original deed has been all conveyed and that the grantor no more has any parcel of land to be conveyed. Perhaps the deed could be taken away by the Land Authority from the grantor once that determination is made. Currently, some grantors are still in possession of deeds that contain hundred or more acres of land obtained from the Republic of Liberia, in the 1800s and 1900s, although, they have sold hundreds of acres of land. These fraudulent land sellers keep showing these empty deeds to would-be land buyers, especially, our brothers and sisters from abroad.

On the question of the challenge faced by the judiciary in enforcing its judgments, it is important to note that sometimes, court officers are obstructed by very senior government officials in the three branches of government. One case in point is the case: Ghoussalny v. Nelson et. Al , 20LLR 591(1972). In that case, President Tubman stopped the Sheriff of Montserrado County from enforcing a judgment of the Supreme Court by writing him the following letter:



 Executive Mansion, Monrovia



Dear Sir,



You are hereby commanded not to serve any writ of Execution or other relevant document emanating from the Civil Law Court in an action between the L. M Ericson Telephone Company and Mr. Arif Ghoussanly, until otherwise ordered by the Chief Executive. Fair not at your peril.



Given under my hand this 22nd day of April, 1971.



William V. S. Tubman

President of Liberia



For this kind of conduct, the legislature should enact a law that will make the interference with the enforcement of judgments and judicial orders an impeachable offense for elected officials and a ground for dismissal of appointed officials of government and civil servants.



People in position of influence in the three branches of government should discipline themselves enough to allow the legal system to work. Magistrates are the most vulnerable. Recent history has shown that when they make rulings or enter judgments that are not favorable to the state they are removed or transferred. This tends to have a chilling effect on all other magistrates and judges, to make decisions, including rendering and enforcement of judgments involving title to real property. There have also been reports of lawyers telling their clients not to obey court orders.



This is unethical. Realizing that unethical conduct of lawyers as judges, government lawyers, and private practitioners tend to undermine the rule of law in Liberia, the LNBA has decided to make the issue of ethics the focus of its up-coming Assembly to be held in Montserrado County at the end of March. The LNBA intends for this years assembly to be a forum for a brutally frank but civil exchange of views on the issue of the unethical conduct of lawyers and judges. We do not doubt that the Court will support the idea that the Assembly will be a contempt free zone for all lawyers so that they can freely express themselves on the matter that threatens the integrity of the legal profession in Liberia. The National Executive Council decided this year to look inwards and to examine the conduct of its members in order to improve the ethical standard of the practice of law as a way of becoming more meaningful to the Liberian state and people in the strengthening of the rule of law in Liberia.



We look forward to seeing all lawyers and judges at the upcoming National Assembly to be held in Bentol, Montserrado County.



With these brief remarks in response to your honors address, we wish you and your colleagues a very successful term of court.



I Thank you.




Sydney, March 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just released, this edition of Paul Budde Communications focus report on Denmark outlines the major developments and key aspects in the telecoms markets.

Read the full report: https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Denmark-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses

Denmarks competitive telecom market continues to benefit from having one of the highest broadband penetration rates globally, as well as comprehensive LTE coverage and a fast-developing 5G segment. This market maturity has stimulated a range of IP-enabled applications which has encouraged revenue growth in the mobile and internet segments, though market competition meant that overall sector growth fell for several years before picking up in 2018.

Excellent cable and DSL infrastructure have been supported by a progressive regulatory regime which has encouraged operator access to both copper and fibre networks. Fibre networks have a fast-growing footprint, while a number of community and metropolitan schemes have supplemented TDCs own commitments to build out fibre nationally. The development of VDSL and fibre, as well as LTE-A and 5G in the mobile market, is crucial to meeting the governments objective for all premises to have access to a 100Mb/s service by the end of 2020.

This report introduces the key aspects of the Danish telecom market, providing data on the fixed network services sector as well as profiles of the major operators. It also analyses market statistics and assesses the key regulatory issues including interconnection, local loop unbundling, number portability and carrier preselection. In addition, the market reviews the fixed broadband and mobile markets, including a range of subscriber forecasts.

Key developments

3 Denmark planning to close down 3G services by end-2020;

Auction for spectrum in the 3.5GHz band expected later in 2020;

Nokia Networks given five-year managed services contract for TT-Netvrket;

TDC expands NB-IoT across its LTE footprint;

Aqua Comms finishes work on the HAVFRUE submarine cable;

TDC completes DOCSIS3.1 network upgrade;

Continuing slide in the number of PSTN lines;

Report update includes the regulator's market data update to June 2019, telcos' operating and financial data to Q4 2019, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report

TDC, Telia Denmark, Telenor, MIT Tele (DLG Tele), 3 Denmark, Lycamobile, Tele2

Table of Contents

Key Statistics

Regional Market Comparison Europe Telecom Maturity Index by tier Market Leaders Market Challengers Market Emergents TMI versus GDP Mobile and mobile broadband penetration Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration

Country overview

Telecommunications market Market analysis

Regulatory environment Historical overview Regulatory authority Fixed-line developments Privatisation of Tele Danmark Interconnect Access Number Portability (NP) Carrier PreSelection (CPS) Mobile network developments Spectrum Roaming Mobile Number Portability (MNP) Mobile Termination Rates (MTRs) Network sharing

Mobile market Market statistics Mobile infrastructure 5G 4G (LTE) 3G Other infrastructure developments Mobile voice Mobile data Mobile broadband Major mobile operators TDC Telenor Denmark Telia Danmark 3 Denmark Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) Mobile content and applications Near Field Communications M-commerce

Fixed-line broadband market Market analysis Broadband statistics Government support Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) networks Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks Very High Data Rate DSL (VDSL) Vectoring DSL Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks Other fixed broadband services Fixed wireless WiMAX Satellite Broadband Powerline (BPL)

Fixed network operators Introduction TDC Telenor Denmark Telia Denmark

Telecommunications infrastructure Overview of the national telecom network VoIP Next Generation Access (NGA) Alternative networks International infrastructure Submarine cable networks Satellite networks

Smart infrastructure Smart cities

Appendix  Historic data

Related reports





List of Tables

Table 1  Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities  2020 (e)

Table 2  Development of telecom revenue by sector  2009 - 2018

Table 3  Development of telecom earnings (EBIT)  2007 - 2018

Table 4  Development of telecom investment and proportion of revenue  2009  2018

Table 5  Change in fixed infrastructure investment by type 2015  2018

Table 6  Change in the number of annual fixed-line number portings  2006  2019

Table 7  Change in the number of annual mobile numbers ported  2009  2019

Table 8  Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Table 9  Growth in the number of mobile voice and data subscribers  2009  2019

Table 10  Change in mobile services revenue by type  2009  2018

Table 11  Fall in average revenue per mobile subscriber  2009  2018

Table 12  Change in mobile sector investment  2015  2018

Table 13  Change in the market share of mobile subscribers by operator (main operators)  2009  2019

Table 14  Change in the market share of mobile subscribers by operator (main operators)  2009  2019

Table 15  Fall in the number of prepaid subscriptions and proportion of total  2010  2019

Table 16  Growth in the number of LTE subscriptions  2015  2019

Table 17  Growth in the number of M2M subscriptions by operator  2008  2019

Table 18  Development of mobile voice traffic  2009  2019

Table 19  Fall in SMS traffic  2009  2019

Table 20  Growth in MMS traffic  2009 - 2019

Table 21  Growth in mobile data traffic  2009  2019

Table 22  Change in the number of dedicated mobile data subscriptions  2008  2019

Table 23  Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscriptions  2009  2024

Table 24  Growth in the number of active mobile broadband subscriptions  2009  2024

Table 25  Growth in the number of TDCs mobile broadband subscribers  2008  2019

Table 26  Growth in the number of TDCs mobile broadband subscribers  2008  2019

Table 27  Change in the number of TDCs domestic mobile subscribers (retail, wholesale)  2007  2019

Table 28  Growth in TDCs mobile voice ARPU (consumer)  2016  2019

Table 29  TDCs spectrum concessions in Denmark

Table 30  Change in the number of Telenor Denmarks mobile subscribers, proportion prepaid  2009  2019

Table 31  Development of Telenor Denmarks mobile ARPU by type  2009  2019

Table 32  Development of Telenor Denmarks mobile revenue  2009  2019

Table 33  Change in the number of Telia Denmarks mobile subscribers  2005  2019

Table 34  Change in Telia Denmarks blended mobile ARPU  2007  2019

Table 35  Development of Telia Denmarks mobile service revenue  2006  2019

Table 36  Change in the number of 3 Denmarks registered subscribers  2007  2019

Table 37  Change in the number of 3 Denmarks active subscribers  2018  2019

Table 38  Development of 3 Denmarks mobile financial data  2010  2019

Table 39  Change in 3 Denmarks annualised monthly ARPU  2011  2019

Table 40  Change in the number of fixed and mobile internet subscribers  2009  2019

Table 41  Change in the number of total subscribers and penetration  2009  2019

Table 42  Change in fixed broadband penetration by technology  2007  2018

Table 43  Development of fixed broadband subscribers by technology  2009  2019

Table 44  Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration 2009  2024

Table 45  Broadband subscribers by lower access speeds  2010  2019

Table 46  Growth in the number of broadband subscribers by superfast (>100Mb/s) access speed  2017  2019

Table 47  Development of fixed-line broadband revenue by type  2007  2018

Table 48  Growth in fixed-line broadband traffic  2017  2019

Table 49  Change in the number of TDCs broadband subscribers  2011  2019

Table 50  Change in the number of Telia Denmarks broadband subscribers and ARPU  2007  2019

Table 51  Decline in the number of Telenor Denmarks broadband subscribers  2007  2019

Table 52  Growth in the number of VDSL lines  2013  2019

Table 53  Growth in the number of fibre broadband subscribers by type  2009  2019

Table 54  Change in the number of wireless broadband subscribers by type  2006  2018

Table 55  Satellite broadband subscribers  2012  2019

Table 56  Decline in the number of fixed subscriber lines by major operator  2010  2019

Table 57  Fixed subscriber lines by minor operator  2010  2019

Table 58  Decline in the number of fixed network lines by type  2009  2019

Table 59  Development of TDC Groups financial data  2007  2019

Table 60  Development of TDCs consumer and business revenue  2010  2019

Table 61  TDC consumer revenue by sector  2010  2019

Table 62  TDC business revenue by sector  2010  2019

Table 63  Development of TDCs consumer RGUs by sector  2012  2019

Table 64  Decline in Telenor Denmarks fixed-line revenue  2006  2019

Table 65  Development of Telenor Denmarks EBITDA, op. profit  2005  2019

Table 66  Change in the number of Telenor Denmarks fixed-line subscribers  2009  2019

Table 67  Change in the number of Telia Denmarks fixed-line subscribers by sector  2010  2019

Table 68  Development of Telia Denmarks revenue by sector  2006  2019

Table 69  Decline in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity  2009  2024

Table 70  Decline in fixed-telephony voice traffic  2009  2019

Table 71  Development of retail and wholesale fixed-telephony revenue  2013  2018

Table 72  Development of VoIP subscribers and traffic  2009  2019

Table 73  Change in the number of TDCs VoIP subscribers  2008  2019

Table 74  Change in the number of Telia Denmark VoIP subscribers  2009  2019

Table 75  Change in the number of NGA connections by type  2013  2019

Table 76  Change in international internet bandwidth  2009  2017

Table 77 - Telecom sector investment  2002  2009

Table 78  Historic - Telecom investment and proportion of revenue  2001  2009

Table 79  Historic - Carrier and call-by-call PreSelection registrations  2005  2013

Table 80  Historic - Mobile voice traffic  2005  2009

Table 81  Historic - TDC mobile services revenue by segment  2007  2018

Table 82  Historic - Mobile subscribers and penetration  1999  2009

Table 83  Historic - Prepaid subscriptions and percentage of subscribers  1999  2009

Table 84  Historic - Mobile retail services revenue  2001  2009

Table 85  Historic - Mobile traffic in minutes  2005  2009

Table 86  Historic - Annual mobile numbers ported  2003  2009

Table 87  Historic - Telenor Denmark mobile subscribers, proportion prepaid  2004  2009

Table 88  Historic - Telenor Denmark ARPU  2004  2009

Table 89  Historic - Telenor Denmarks mobile revenue  2005  2009

Table 90  Historic 3 Denmark financial data  2007  2009

Table 91  Historic - 3 Denmark annualised monthly ARPU and data proportion  2007  2010

Table 92  Historic - SMS traffic  2003  2009

Table 93  Historic - SMS sent per subscriber  2014  2017

Table 94  Historic - Total MMS sent  2003 - 2009

Table 95  Historic - MMS sent per subscriber  2014  2017

Table 96  Historic - Internet users and penetration rate  1996  2015

Table 97  Historic Internet subscribers and penetration rate  2004  2009

Table 98  Historic - Dial-up internet subscribers  2007  2018

Table 99  Historic - Total fixed-line broadband subscribers by sector  2001  2009

Table 100  Historic - Fixed-line broadband subscribers and penetration  2001  2009

Table 101  Historic  Mobile, fixed telephony and broadband revenue  2001  2012

Table 102  Historic - Broadband coverage by data rate  2011  2015

Table 103  Historic - Fibre broadband subscribers by type  2005  2009

Table 104  Historic - Fixed network and ISDN lines  2003  2009

Table 105  Historic - Telenor Denmark fixed-line subscribers  2005  2009

Table 106  Historic - Telia Denmark fixed-line subscribers by sector  2005  2009

Table 107  Historic - Fixed lines in service and teledensity  1999  2009

Table 108  Historic - Fixed-telephony domestic voice traffic  2005  2009

Table 109  Historic - Average revenue per fixed line  2013  2017

Table 110  Historic - Development of VoIP subscribers and traffic  2005  2009

Table 111  Historic - Telenor VoIP subscribers  2008  2014

Table 112  Historic - International internet bandwidth  1999  2009

List of Charts

Chart 1  Europe Telecoms Maturity Index  Market Leaders (top tier)

Chart 2  Europe Telecoms Maturity Index  Market Challengers (middle tier)

Chart 3  Europe Telecoms Maturity Index  Market Emergents (bottom tier)

Chart 4  Overall view - Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per Capita

Chart 5  Europe - mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration

Chart 6  Scandinavia and Baltics: mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration

Chart 7  Northern Europe mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration

Chart 8  Southern Europe mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration

Chart 9  Eastern Europe mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration

Chart 10  Scandinavia and Baltics fixed and mobile broadband penetration

Chart 11  Northern Europe fixed and mobile broadband penetration

Chart 12  Southern Europe fixed and mobile broadband penetration

Chart 13  Eastern Europe fixed and mobile broadband penetration

Chart 14  Development of telecom revenue by sector  2009 - 2018

Chart 15  Development of telecom investment and proportion of revenue  2009  2018

Chart 16  Change in fixed infrastructure investment by type 2015  2018

Chart 17  Change in the number of annual fixed-line number portings  2006  2019

Chart 18  Change in the number of annual mobile numbers ported  2009  2019

Chart 19  Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration  2009  2024

Chart 20  Growth in the number of mobile voice and data subscribers  2009  2019

Chart 21  Change in mobile services revenue by type  2009  2018

Chart 22  Fall in average revenue per mobile subscriber  2009  2018

Chart 23  Fall in the number of prepaid subscriptions and proportion of total  2010  2019

Chart 24  Growth in the number of M2M subscriptions by operator  2008  2019

Chart 25  Development of mobile voice traffic  2005  2019

Chart 26  Fall in SMS traffic  2009  2019

Chart 27  Growth in MMS traffic  2009 - 2019

Chart 28  Growth in mobile data traffic  2009  2019

Chart 29  Change in the number of dedicated mobile data subscriptions  2008  2019

Chart 30  Change in the number of TDCs domestic subscribers (retail, wholesale)  2007  2019

Chart 31  Change in the number of Telenor Denmarks mobile subscribers, proportion prepaid  2009  2019

Chart 32  Development of Telenor Denmarks mobile ARPU by type  2009  2019

Chart 33  Development of Telenor Denmarks mobile revenue  2009  2019

Chart 34  Change in the number of Telia Denmarks mobile subscribers  2005  2019

Chart 35  Change in Telia Denmarks blended mobile ARPU  2007  2019

Chart 36  Development of Telia Denmarks mobile service revenue  2006  2019

Chart 37  Change in the number of 3 Denmarks registered subscribers  2007  2019

Chart 38  Development of 3 Denmarks mobile financial data  2010  2019

Chart 39  Change in 3 Denmarks annualised monthly ARPU  2011  2019

Chart 40  Change in the number of fixed and mobile internet subscribers  2009  2019

Chart 41  Change in the number of internet subscribers and penetration  2009  2019

Chart 42  Change in fixed broadband penetration by technology  2007  2018

Chart 43  Development of fixed broadband subscribers by technology  2009  2019

Chart 44  Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration 2009  2024

Chart 45  Growth in the number of broadband subscribers by superfast (>100Mb/s) access speed  2017  2019

Chart 46  Development of fixed-line broadband revenue by type  2007  2018

Chart 47  Change in the number of TDCs broadband subscribers  2011  2019

Chart 48  Change in the number of Telia Denmarks broadband subscribers and ARPU  2007  2019

Chart 49  Decline in the number of Telenor Denmarks broadband subscribers  2007  2019

Chart 50  Growth in the number of VDSL lines  2013  2019

Chart 51  Growth in the number of fibre broadband subscribers by type  2009  2019

Chart 52  Decline in the number of fixed subscriber lines by major operator  2010  2019

Chart 53  Decline in the number of fixed subscriber lines by minor operator  2010  2019

Chart 54  Decline in the number of fixed network lines by type  2009  2019

Chart 55  Development of TDC Groups financial data  2007  2019

Chart 56  Development of TDCs consumer and business revenue  2010  2019

Chart 57  Development of TDCs consumer RGUs by sector  2012  2019

Chart 58  Decline in Telenor Denmarks fixed-line revenue  2006  2019

Chart 59  Change in the number of Telenor Denmarks fixed-line subscribers  2009  2019

Chart 60  Change in the number of Telia Denmarks fixed-line subscribers by sector  2007  2019

Chart 61  Change in the number of Telia Denmarks fixed-line subscribers by sector  2006  2019

Chart 62  Decline in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity  2009  2024

Chart 63  Decline in fixed-telephony voice traffic  2009  2019

Chart 64  Development of retail and wholesale fixed-telephony revenue  2013  2018

Chart 65  Development of VoIP subscribers and traffic  2009  2019

Chart 66  Change in the number of NGA connections by type  2013  2019

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1  Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment

Exhibit 2  Access and the local loop

Exhibit 3  Denmarks 3G licensing results  2001

Exhibit 4  2.5GHz licence awards  2010

Exhibit 5  800MHz licence awards  2012

Exhibit 6  1800MHz licence awards  2016

Exhibit 7  3 Denmark spectrum concessions

Read the full report: https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Denmark-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses
She recently called it quits from her on/off boyfriend Sam Gowland following a three-year relationship.

And Chloe Ferry proved she's put her break-up firmly behind her as she enjoyed a night out to celebrate a pal's birthday in Durham, before heading back to Newcastle to let loose at Jalou Nightclub on Saturday.

The Geordie Shore star, 24, ensured all eyes were on her as she slipped into a nude halterneck bodysuit, which featured a low-scoop neckline to highlight her cleavage.

In good spirits: Chloe Ferry enjoyed a night out to celebrate a pal's birthday in Durham, before heading back to Newcastle to let loose at Jalou Nightclub on Saturday

Accentuating her surgically-enhanced curves, the media personality turned heads in a pair of 70s-inspired flares, embellished with paisley printing throughout.

The TV star flashed her pink pedicure in plain peep-toe heels, while styling her outfit with a crucifix necklace hooped earrings and small Gucci handbag, which retails at 1,175.

With her tresses worn in a straight fashion, Chloe complemented her complexion with a full face of glamorous, matte make-up.

The reality star appeared on cloud nine as she partied with her mother Liz and her close friends.

Busty display: The Geordie Shore star, 24, ensured all eyes were on her as she slipped into a nude halterneck bodysuit, which featured a low-scoop neckline to highlight her cleavage

Sizzling: Accentuating her surgically-enhanced curves, the media personality turned heads in a pair of 70s-inspired flares, embellished with paisley printing throughout

In good company: The reality star appeared on cloud nine as she partied with her mother Liz and her close friends

Wahay! The blonde couldn't contain her delight as she strolled through the train station with her arms in the air

Windswept: The pair's glossy locks were blown by the wind as they strutted across the streets of the English city

Giddy up! The CBB star received a piggy-back ride from her friend

Earlier this week, Chloe took her mind off her heartbreak as she recently treated herself to a spa day with Geordie Shore co-star Bethan Kershaw.

The reality star left little to the imagination as she displayed her jaw-dropping assets in a sultry bikini snap.

The blonde set pulses racing as she donned a tiny neon green bikini that accentuated her ample bosom and toned abdomen.

Oops! At one point, the online sensation struggled to balance on her friend's back

Glamorous: Chloe styled her outfit with a crucifix necklace hooped earrings and small Gucci handbag, which retails at 1,175

Glowing: With her tresses worn in a straight fashion, Chloe complemented her complexion with a full face of glamorous, matte make-up

There's no stopping her! She was joined by her nearest and dearest during her appearance

Relaxation: Earlier this week, Chloe took her mind off her heartbreak as she recently treated herself to a spa day with Geordie Shore co-star Bethan Kershaw

Arching her back as she reclined in the pool, Chloe let her platinum blonde locks fall loose down her shoulders.

Captioning the snap: 'Big fish', she completed her look by donning a gold necklace and matching earrings.

The Just Tattoo of Us guest presenter was joined on her spa day by Bethan, 25, who also looked sensational in a hot pink two-piece.

Chloe's girly day out came after she split from on/off beau Sam, 24, again - despite having just rekindled their romance over the New Year.

The couple have had their fair share of break ups since their romance first went public back in 2017.

The pair split in May last year after Chloe accused Sam of cheating with Love Island beauty Amber Davies - something he vehemently denied.

Sam hit back by claiming that Chloe was the one who had been unfaithful, and thus a war of words between the pair ensued.

Two's company: She was joined on her spa day by Bethan, 25, who also looked sensational in a hot pink two-piece

Despite this, the couple appeared to have patched things up by November, with rumours circulating that Sam had moved back into the home they share in Newcastle.

After reuniting on a trip to Thailand in December, things fell apart for the couple yet again last month.

A source revealed to The Sun: 'Chloe's finally cut ties with Sam and is moving on by herself. Today is Chloe's official moving day and she's so excited for the fresh start.

'It feels like the dawn of a new beginning for Chloe. No more Sam riding on her coat tails or trying to muscle in on what is hers.'
Hyenas left Africa about the same time when prehistoric humans left the continent for the first time about two million years ago, according to a study that may help better understand how large animals historically moved across the planet.

In the study, published in the journal Science Advances, scientists sequenced the complete genomes from both modern spotted hyenas in Africa, and fossils of the extinct cave hyena from Europe and Asia.

"Our new study shows that prehistoric humans and hyenas left Africa at approximately the same time," said Michael Westbury, study co-author from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

"And like humans, spotted hyenas have had extensive and complex migration between continents. We can observe repeated gene flow events between Africa and Eurasia," Westbury said.

They said the two hyenas -- spotted and cave -- were previously believed to form a closely related evolutionary lineage.

Earlier studies, according to the researchers, showed that the two types of hyena were genetically intermingled.

However, in the current study, with more genetic data, the scientists have reported that this genetic intermingling is limited, revealing an ancient separation between the two Hyena kinds.

While the prehistoric hyenas showed similarities with humans in their trans-continental migration patterns, the researchers also found signs that modern humans -- the species Homo sapiens -- had significant impact on hyenas.

"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 study co-author Rasmus Heller.

Heller explained that humans may have played a role in the extinction of cave hyenas around the end of the last ice age.

Based on the findings, the scientists believe that the coexistence between humans and hyenas -- like that between humans and other large mammals -- may have changed from being relatively benign to detrimental as humans became more advanced.

According to the researchers, the study also reveals new aspects of when and how animals moved across continents in the Earth's prehistory.

"Our results conform 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 Michael Westbury, another co-author of the study.

"More comparative work is needed to confirm this hypothesis," Westbury added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Canadian lawmakers approved the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on Friday, helping ensure that predictability can return to North American supply chains once the dust settles from the coronavirus pandemic.

Members of the House of Commons and the Senate voted unanimously to approve the trade agreement before suspending sessions because of the coronavirus.

"It brings certainty to the trade community and the trucking industry," Steve Laskowski, president of the Canadian Trucking Alliance, told FreightWaves.

USMCA isn't expected to bring significant changes to Canada's trucking industry. The Canadian Trucking Alliance plans to closely examine the final text of the agreement and its annexes.

The news came as almost a footnote as Canada grappled with the growing crisis of coronavirus. On Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau  self-quarantined with his wife, who has the virus  said the government was considering tightening border controls as it urged Canadians to avoid nonessential travel.

The implications, if any, for cross-border trucking remain unclear.

But Laskowski, whose organization represents carriers across the country, urged caution for any potential restrictions that would create barriers for healthy truckers to cross the border.

"It's not workable for the economy. The economy moves by truck," Laskowski said. "Thousands of trucks cross the border each day."

Image Sourced from Pixabay

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 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
CEBU Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia has ordered the immediate ban on the entry of domestic passengers from the Island of Negros after the 64-year-old patient who tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Negros Oriental died on Sunday morning, March 15, 2020.

The governor issued on Sunday Executive Order (EO) 5-I, which provides for an immediate ban for a period of 30 days on the entry of passengers arriving in Cebu via sea travel from all ports of the Island of Negros, including Dumaguete City.

Returning Cebuanos who were in transit or had arrived upon the effectivity of the EO shall be allowed entry into the province.

However, they shall be required to undergo the mandatory quarantine for a period of 14 days pursuant to the established protocols on home quarantine.

According to Case Bulletin No. 001 of the Department of Health, the patient from Negros Oriental succumbed to the disease at 11:09 a.m. March 15.

The 39th confirmed case of the Covid-19 in the Philippines, the patient had a history of travel to Greenhills Mall in San Juan City.

He had a known case of chronic renal disease and had undergone a renal transplant in 2010.

As this developed, Garcia also issued a memorandum on Sunday, urging all international passengers arriving in Cebu to undergo self-quarantine for a period of 14 days.

The Bureau of Quarantine, the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority and members of the Covid-19 Provincial Task Force were requested to disseminate the memorandum to all passengers arriving from a foreign country and to assist them on the guidelines for quarantine. (RTF)
JERUSALEM - Israel plans to deploy electronic counterterrorism measures to track the movements of people who might be infected with the coronavirus, officials said, a confluence of crime fighting and public health that could become more common even as it sparked civil liberty concerns.

Officials did not specify the techniques to be used but hinted they would include monitoring individuals' cellphone locations, presumably without their consent, as well as the more sophisticated electronic intelligence and data analysis that Israel is known to have in its terror-fighting arsenal.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who announced the initiative in a televised address Saturday night, acknowledged that applying Israel's vaunted digital surveillance tools could infringe on privacy.

He said it was an acceptable price for slowing the spread of the virus.

"We are one of the few countries with this capability, and we will use it," he said. "We must do everything, as a government and as citizens, to not become infected and not to infect others."

Israel, which has reported 200 cases of the virus and no deaths, has already proved willing to take sweeping measures to stave off a wider outbreak.

Netanyahu announced that restaurants, bars and museums across the country would shut down indefinitely. Gatherings of more than 10 people are banned (10 is the minimum number for a minyan, a quorum of adult men required by orthodox Judaism for certain religious obligations).

The country previously closed schools until at least the middle of April and won't let anyone, citizen or visitor, enter the country without a two-week quarantine.

Israel's digital surveillance technology systems could prove to be an effective health tool, analysts said, because the question in monitoring coronavirus patients and terrorists is largely the same: Who are their contacts?

"In both cases, you're trying to track back in history to determine who has been where and who has met whom," said Zak Doffman, owner of a London-based surveillance firm and a cybersecurity columnist for Forbes magazine. "I can't imagine there won't be dozens of countries thinking about doing the same thing."

Doffman said there's evidence such techniques have already been employed.

China seems to have utilized its mass surveillance tools, including facial recognition, as it restricted movement in hard-hit areas, he said. Taiwan reportedly used geolocation systems to ping the cellphones of people detected outside of their quarantine locations.

In Iran, Doffman said, the Health Ministry had to disavow an official coronavirus information app after it was found to include tracking software.

Netanyahu said his government is asking Israel's judicial system to preapprove the repurposing of digital surveillance in the health fight. Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit indicated the move would be legal, given Israel's state of emergency, and promised proper oversight. He called for the measures to be reviewed by the cabinet and the appropriate parliamentary committees.

But civil liberties advocates condemned the use of digital surveillance against the civilian population.

"We must maintain that we also have a democratic state to live in," Merav Michaeli, a Labor Party member of the Knesset, said in a tweet.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel said the move is unnecessary and harmful.

"According to what is known as of now, infected persons are cooperating with the authorities in reporting all of the locations they have visited," said Avner Pinchuk, a lawyer for the association. "Even if we assume that here and there a person might 'forget' of a particular meeting or location, the marginal benefit obtained by technologically tracking locations does not justify the severe infringement of the right to privacy."

Simon Perry, a former police intelligence operative, said the cyber-techniques bring both benefits and dangers to Israel's coronavirus fight.

"This a very effective tool to track movement and interactions between people," said Perry, now a professor at Hebrew University's Federmann Cyber Security Research Center. "But it also gives tremendous power to the government. We have to be sure we are in a situation where this is necessary."

As in many countries, Israel is largely relying on an honor system to maintain tens of thousands of people under home quarantine - a population that includes Israelis who have recently returned to the country and those who may have been in proximity to an infected person.

But the government has been willing to enforce the isolation when needed. A video circulating on social media over the weekend showed a man being arrested by a police officer in protective gear, reportedly for leaving quarantine.

Officials Sunday were said to be considering new fines for isolation scofflaws and police announced stepped-up efforts to corral them as the country sought to balance order and patience during the crisis.

Among the cancellations and closures announced over the weekend was the postponement of Netanyahu's own trial on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. The proceeding was to begin Tuesday in Jerusalem District Court, just as he is jockeying to form a government following a third inconclusive election earlier this month.

It's now set to begin May 24.
SAGINAW, MI  Nearly 200 Nexteer Automotive employees are set to be laid off this week, while UAW Local 699 agreed to a 90-day contract extension with the company, according to a social media post by the union local. The current contract is set to expire Friday, March 20.

In a March 13 Facebook post, Local 699 leaders state the latest layoff figure communicated from management to the union was 195 jobs, effective Monday, March 16.

The loss of work and the reduction of the hourly workforce was something that this leadership team inherited when we took office. This administration has done everything we could to create and preserve as many jobs as possible, the post reads. "It may not seem like we have been successful as there have been so many of our brothers and sisters impacted, but I can assure you, if it were not for the measures taken by your leadership, there would have been Permanent Layoffs much sooner and the numbers of those impacted would have been far greater.

A union meeting scheduled for Sunday was canceled along with all meetings, conferences, and classes through April 16 over the threat of coronavirus, according to UAW Local 699 President Tom Hurst.

The post notes the local president, executive officers, committees, and several organizations including the United Way have been offering food trucks, home goods, job fairs, resume assistance and workshops, unemployment resources and low to no interest loans to aid employees.

Your Union is committed to continuing these efforts as long as possible to minimize these hardships for anyone impacted, the post notes. We will get through this together and things will begin to turn around for the better.

Negotiations on the next collective bargaining agreement began Jan. 21, with the decision made to continue the bargaining process that necessitates a temporary 90-day extension of the current agreement with the belief that the full 90-day period will not be needed and that we will have a Tentative Agreement to present to the Membership, per the post.

The unions current five-year contract with the steering maker was due to expire on Friday.

Nexteer, UAW Local 699 negotiating as contract nears March expiration date

Nexteer workers represented by UAW Local 699 ratified their current five-year contract in December 2015, the same month they walked off the job and onto the picket line. The UAWs 2015 strike against Nexteer lasted for less than 24 hours before the two parties reached a second tentative agreement. Workers rejected the first proposed contract by a landslide.

Nexteer is a global automotive steering company that, as of 2015, employed about 12,000, including more than 4,800 in Saginaw County at its sprawling facility along Interstate 75 in Buena Vista Township. At the time, UAW Local 699 represented about 3,350 Nexteer workers in Saginaw County and retirees. Formerly Delphi Saginaw Steering Systems, Nexteer was sold in 2010 to China-based Pacific Century Motors.

The post argues the negotiations could very well be one of the most difficult that Local 699 has faced thus far and points out they must prepare for situations that may not exist currently but quite possibly could in the future.

The most important thing you can do right now to help in the fight for enhanced employment, economic security, improved Benefits and better working conditions, is to prevent Management from using you against your Bargaining Team or one another, the post reads.
By Trend

Coronavirus, or COVID-19 could result in global exploration and production (E&P) investments falling by around $30 billion in 2020  a significant hit to the industry, Trend reports citing Rystad Energy, an independent energy research and business intelligence company, based in Norway.

However, the company expects some of these investments to come back in 2021.

"Oil prices have already dipped below the $50 per barrel threshold and could fall further if OPEC does not implement additional supply cuts. Lower oil prices will result in oil and gas companies scaling down their flexible investment budgets, especially shale operators in the US as well as some offshore exploration and production (E&P) players," the company said in its report.

As the virus has caused reduced industrial activity and travel restrictions in China and beyond, much of this years global expected oil-demand growth will be lost, the company believes.

Moreover, Rystad Energy expects the outbreak of the coronavirus disease delay deliveries of floating production, storage and offloading by at least three to six months.

"If the epidemic escalates, the delays could increase to nine or even 12 months, especially taking into account the restricted time windows for heavy transport, installation and hook-up. The average development time for an FPSO is 36 months, meaning that companies could face a 30 percent delay."

Although operators and contractors are looking into ways to make up for some of the time that will be lost by fast-tracking other stages of development, Rystad Energy anticipates first oil or gas for these projects will face clear delays.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

Coronavirus: This surgical shop in Kerala's Kochi is selling face masks at Rs 2

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 15: As the face masks and hand sanitiser in the shops are running short of supplies and at some plaaces its, available at higher prices than normal, a surgical shop in Kerala's Kochi is acting like a good Samaritan and has made the masks available at a price of Rs 2 per piece to the the most needy- hospitals and medical teams. It has sold around 5000 masks at Rs 2 each in two days.

Speaking to ANI, Nadheem, co-owner said,"We decided to sell masks at reasonable price especially to the common people like hospital staff & students."

Thasleem PK, co-owner also said,''For the last 8 years we have been selling masks at Rs 2. But now, the rate has gone up everywhere. We bought the masks at Rs 8 or Rs 10 & are selling at Rs 2, while others are selling at Rs 25.''

Kerala: Cochin Surgicals, a surgical shop in Kochi sold around 5000 masks at Rs 2 each in two days. Nadheem, co-owner says,"We decided to sell masks at reasonable price especially to the common people like hospital staff & students ." (14.03) #Coronavirus pic.twitter.com/vKzjTTc2Kk  ANI (@ANI) March 14, 2020

Meanwhile, in the wake of three positive cases of coronavirus being reported from the state capital, the state government imposed restrictions on visitors entry at malls, gyms and beaches and warned people not to venture out of their homes unless necessary. So far, 19 people have been found positive for the virus, including three from Thiruvananthapuram.

Coronavirus scare: MEA pulls out all stops to ensure safety of Indians abroad, sets up special cell

The government had earlier closed schools, colleges and cancelled all public functions in the state to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

"People are advised not to visit malls and beaches. Gyms and beauty parlours must also keep vigil. People must avoid being in a crowd," Tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran said in a Facebook post.

With an Italian tourist testing positive for the virus at nearby Varkala, the beach wore a deserted look on Saturday.

The government has also directed the resorts in the district not to allow foreign tourists staying there to venture out. "Those in home quarantine must follow the directions of the government. Those who need help can approach the health department and strong action will be taken against those resorts which fail to comply with the state government's directions," Surendran said.

Kerala has been hit by the second round of COVID-19 cases after the country's first three positive cases in the state were successfully cured and discharged from hospitals last month. The state capital, which would be crowded on a weekend was deserted on Saturday.

"Normally, the roads would be crowded. But today, there was no traffic. It's like this for last two days," Rajan, an auto-rickshaw driver, said. The Thampanoor bus stand area, which also has the busiest Central Railway station, wore a deserted look with very few buses plying from the stand.

2 deaths, 93 coronavirus cases including 11 recovered in India

The city corporation has arranged a vehicle fitted with speakers announcing the precautions that must be taken by the public to prevent the spread of the infection. A senior official from Kerala State Road Transport Corporation told PTI that they have not cancelled any service but there are less passengers.

"We have not cancelled any service but there are less number of passengers. Especially in the weekend," the KSRTC official said. District Collector K Gopalakrishnan told media that those coming from abroad should remain under quarantine for 28 days. "I would urge people to stay indoors and not to move around and take precautionary measures. Those coming from abroad should be under home quarantine for 28 days. Many are not following the restrictions while in quarantine," Collector said.

(with PTI inputs)

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 15, 2020, 12:56 [IST]
Kentucky has taken the extraordinary step of forcing a resident diagnosed with coronavirus to self-quarantine after refusing to do so.

Governor Andy Beshear said on Saturday that authorities in the state found four more confirmed cases of the pathogen, including one patient in Nelson County who was forced into his home.

According to Beshear, a 53-year-old man tested positive for coronavirus at the University of Louisville.

When authorities insisted that the man self-quarantine, he refused, according to the Lexington Herald Dealer.

Dean Watts, the Nelson County judge-executive, declared a state of emergency, which triggered a rarely used law that allows him to force a resident into self-isolation or quarantine.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear (seen above in Frankfort, Kentucky, on Friday) said that authorities had to force a resident of Nelson County to stay in his home after he tested positive for coronavirus

A law enforcement officer has now been stationed outside of the mans home for 24 hours.

Its a step I hoped Id never have to take, but we cant allow one person who we know has the virus to refuse to protect their neighbors, Beshear said.

Weve got to make sure that people who have tested positive, that we know could be spreading the virus, and simply refuse to do the right thing, do the right thing.

As of Sunday, there are 18 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Kentucky.

Beshear has instructed all hospitals in the state to suspend elective surgeries and procedures by the close of business on Wednesday.

All child care centers have been told to plan for closure on short notice.

We just have to do what it takes to lessen the spread of this coronavirus and I dont want to be the governor that waits two weeks too late to take some of those steps, Beshear told reporters on Saturday.

The 18 confirmed cases include six in Harrison County, five in Fayette County, four in Jefferson County, one in Bourbon County, one in Montgomery County, and one in Nelson County.

The patient in Montgomery County attended Mass at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Mount Sterling last week.

Authorities have warned those who were in attendance to self-monitor for symptoms of coronavirus.

The patient is at home in self-isolation.

The Bourbon County patient is being treated at hospital.

Meanwhile, the federal governments top infectious disease expert said Sunday he would like to see aggressive measures such as a 14-day national shutdown that would require Americans to hunker down even more to help slow spread of the coronavirus.

Still, Dr. Anthony Fauci said travel restrictions within the United States, such as to and from hard-hit Washington state and California, probably will not be needed anytime soon.

Fauci, the public face of the administrations messaging during a round of morning TV interviews, said the country should do as much as 'we possibly could,' even if officials are criticized for 'overreacting.'

He said he raised the issue of measures such as a shutdown with the Trump administration, and said it has been open to his ideas.

'I think Americans should be prepared that they are going to have to hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing,' said Fauci, a member of the White House task force on combating the spread of coronavirus.

He heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.

Fauci said the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions should already be hunkering down, but other Americans, too, should consider 'much more' restrictions on outside activity, from work and travel to possibly eating at restaurants.

'Everybody has got to get involved in distancing themselves socially,' Fauci said.

'Everything is on the table,' he said.

'Right now, myself personally, I wouldn't go to a restaurant. I just wouldnt because I dont want to be in a crowded place....

'I dont want to be in a situation where Im going to be all of a sudden self-isolating for 14 days.'

The virus has an incubation period of anywhere from two days to 14 days before symptoms emerge.

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 worldwide outbreak has sickened more than 156,000 people and left more than 5,800 dead.

The death toll in the United States has reached more than 50, while infections neared 3,000 across 49 states and the District of Columbia.

Top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci refused to rule out a 14 day national shut down as he said the US should be prepared to do 'whatever it takes' to tackle the pandemic

When asked if he would like a two week national shutdown to stop the spread of coronavirus, during an interview with NBC News' Meet the Press Sunday morning, Dr Fauci said he wanted the government to take as much action 'as we possibly could'

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 weeks to six weeks to recover.

President Donald Trump last week announced a sweeping travel ban for much of Europe.

On Saturday, he added the United Kingdom and Ireland to a list of countries that would face travel restrictions over the next 30 days.

The State Department on Sunday said it would allow US personnel to leave their diplomatic or consular posts worldwide if they or family members were medically determined to be at a higher risk of falling very ill if exposed to the virus.

Trump also has pledged broadened US testing for the virus as major employers such as Apple Inc. have sent workers home to telework and several states and big cities, including Los Angeles and Boston, shuttered down schools for a week or more.

In the nations capital, White House officials said Trump tested negative for the virus over the weekend after he was recently in contact with three people at his Florida resort who tested positive, and several lawmakers in recent days have said they were self-quarantining out of an abundance of caution.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat from California, said Congress has started work on a new aid package after the one just approved by the House early Saturday.

The new one would provide direct relief to Americans suffering physically, financially and emotionally from the coronavirus pandemic.

'We have already begun work to develop a third emergency response package,' Pelosi wrote in a letter to colleagues.

With the US Capitol among the many iconic landmarks closed to tours, Pelosi also urged lawmakers to have most of their Washington staff telework from home, as health officials urge social distancing.

House lawmakers are away on weeklong recess and many have already curtailed office visits at their local offices, as well.

Democratic Rep Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, on Sunday said a former staff member tested positive for the virus.

The staffer, Daniel Goldman, the attorney who led Democratic questioning during the House impeachment hearings, had left the office 10 days ago and he's believed to have contracted the virus after his departure.

'We will still be taking additional precautions over the next few days,' Schiff said.

'The former staffer is feeling better and no current staff have reported any flu-like symptoms at this time.'

Medical Personnel help load passengers from the Grand Princess cruise ship onto airplanes at Oakland International Airport in Oakland, California on March 10

Members of the National Guard guarding newly opened drive through COVID-19 mobile testing center organized by Northwell hospital at Glen Island Park, New Rochelle, New York on 13 March

Shoppers line up to enter a Costco warehouse store in Alexandria, Virginia, Saturday, March 14. The store was sold out of numerous items including toilet paper, paper towels and sanitizing wipes

Lori Spencer, who has tested positive for coronavirus, visits with her extended family through her window at the Life Care Center of Kirkland, the Seattle-area nursing home at the epicenter of one of the biggest coronavirus outbreaks in the United States, March 14

NIH reported Sunday that one of its staff working in its division on arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases had tested positive for COVID-19, its first case.

NIH said the person was not involved in patient care and was now quarantined at home and 'doing well.'

Trump has suggested that restrictions on travel within the U.S. to areas hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic could be next.

But Fauci on Sunday played down that or having major national lockdowns on the level now seen in European countries such as Italy and Spain.

'We feel that with rather stringent mitigation and containment, without necessarily complete lockdown, we would be able to prevent ourselves from getting to where, unfortunately, Italy is now,' Fauci said.

'With regard to domestic travel bans, we always talk about it, consider everything.

'But I can tell you that has not been seriously considered, doing travel bans in the country. ... I dont see that right now or in the immediate future.'

At the White House, Trump on Sunday held a call with more than two dozen grocery store and supply chain executives to discuss their response to coronavirus outbreak.

Retailers have reported seeing a crush of shoppers flocking to stores to stock up on food and other essentials.

Consumers have expressed frustration that some items - such as hand sanitizer and toilet paper - are becoming more difficult to find.

During the call, Trump expressed appreciation for their work to ensure food stocks are 'constantly available' so 'Americans feel calm and safe when shelves are stocked with the items they need,' according to White House spokesman Judd Deere.

'Supply chains in the United States are strong, and it is unnecessary for the American public to hoard daily essentials,' Deere said.

Still, more than the crisis was on Trumps mind.

Anthony Fauci admitted that the death toll in the U.S. from coronavirus could reach 1.7 million if all efforts to mitigate and contain the virus fail

Fauci is the nation's top immunologist and expert on infectious diseases at the National Institute of Health  he is present at every White House briefing on coronavirus. 'I don't think it's going to be that worse,' he said of the Times' analysis

The New York Times released a CDC scenario estimate of the 'worst case scenario' in the U.S., which would include up to 1.7 million deaths and more than 200 million cases

He tweeted that he was considering a full pardon for Michael Flynn, his disgraced former national security adviser, and he directed barbs at a familiar target, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow expressed confidence that supply lines such as food for stores will be largely unaffected by the virus outbreak.

'Most of America is still working,' he said.

'Factories are not shutting down across the country, at least not yet.'

Trump, who declared Sunday a National Day of Prayer, said he tuned in to the live stream from the Free Chapel, a Gainesville, Georgia evangelical church led by Jentezen Franklin.

'I am watching a great and beautiful service by Pastor Jentezen Franklin. Thank you!' Trump tweeted.

Vice President Mike Pence, who leads the White House task force, said he planned to disclose more details about a web site being developed by Verily, a subsidiary of Googles parent company, that is being designed to help communities assess and direct Americans to sites conducting coronavirus screening.

Trump on Friday announced the imminent rollout of a website 'facilitated' by Google that would guide users through a series of questions to determine whether they should be screened for the virus.

The company, however, has said that the web site was in early stages of development and would be focused on the San Francisco Bay Area.

Fauci spoke on NBCs Meet the Press, CNNs State of the Union, ABCs This Week, Fox News Sunday, and CBS Face the Nation.

Kudlow appeared on CBS.
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Mar, 2020 ) :Sri Lanka and COMSATS will deepen cooperation in various fields of science and technology to promote science-led sustainable development in the South.

This was pledged by a four-member delegation of the Sri Lankan High Commission in Pakistan, led by the High Commissioner, U. L Niyas, during their meeting with Dr. S. M. Junaid Zaidi, Executive Director, and other senior officials of COMSATS.

The delegation was on visit to COMSATS Secretariat, said a news release here on Sunday.

The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a founding member of the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS)  an inter-governmental organization based in Islamabad, striving to promote South-South cooperation in the fields of science and technology.

Dr. Zaidi apprised the High Commissioner of the ongoing activities and future plans of COMSATS.

In this regard, he acknowledged and appreciated the active involvement of the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI), Sri Lanka, in the international programmes and activities of the organization.

ITI is one of the 22 Centers of Excellence of COMSATS. Dr. Zaidi recalled his recent visits to Colombo and interactions with the Sri Lankan government officials aimed at enhancing collaboration in the areas of mutual interest.

He handed over relevant dossiers for the information of the High Commissioner.

Dr. Zaidi highlighted the Science and Technology capacity of the COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), being its founding Rector, and shared details regarding postgraduate scholarships offered by the University for COMSATS Member States.

He informed that postgraduate scholarships and postdoctoral fellowships are also available for COMSATS Member States at other Centres of Excellence in Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Kazakhstan and Pakistan.

He also shed light on the objectives and planned activities of the COMSATS Centre for Climate and Sustainability (CCCS), which has recently been established involving 20 Member States of COMSATS including Sri Lanka.

While discussing the future plans of the organization, the Executive Director acquainted the delegates regarding the efforts being made with regard to the establishment of Science and Technology universities and Research and Development Centres in the Member States. Reviewing the ongoing collaboration taking place between COMSATS and Sri Lanka, the Executive Director requested the Government of Sri Lanka to depute a suitable officer/expert to work at COMSATS Secretariat on secondment in order to initiate specific programmes aimed at addressing the socio-economic needs of Sri Lanka.

High Commissioner PF Sri Lanka appreciated COMSATS' activities and achievements in the domains of promoting cooperation in science and technology.

Having already visited CUI, Mr. Niyas was full of appreciation for the human and technical resources available at the University for delivering quality education and conducting scientific research.

He expressed his country's interest in availing the scholarships and fellowships offered by COMSATS Centres of Excellence including CUI.

While noting the cordial relations between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, the High Commissioner appreciated the generous offer made by the Government of Pakistan to provide 1,000 scholarships to Sri Lankan students over the period of five years, and shared the efforts being made by the High Commission to take full advantage of this offer.

He discussed in great detail the prospects of establishing COMSATS University on science and technology in Sri Lanka, in order to strengthen the higher education sector of the country.

He also took keen interest in the activities of COMSATS' Network and desired to expand cooperation in the areas of mutual interest.

He also pledged active participation of Sri Lanka in the activities of COMSATS Centre for Climate and Sustainability.
A two-month-old baby boy is dead and another man is in police custody after a horror car crash in South Australia.

Emergency services rushed to Lucky Hit Road and Warren Road in Birdwood, east of Adelaide, just after 12pm on Saturday after a station wagon collided with a van.

A man, a woman and two young children were in the station wagon and all were taken to Lyell McEwin Hospital.

A two-month-old baby buy has died after the station wagon he was a passenger in collided with a van on a rural road (pictured)

The two-year-old boy was taken to the Womens and Childrens Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Both men in the van suffered minor injuries.

The driver of the station wagon, a 42-year-old Victorian man was arrested by Major Crash investigators and charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

He was bailed to appear in the Elizabeth Magistrates Court on 22 April.

The childs death takes the number of lives lost on South Australian roads to 25 in 2020, the same number at this time last year.
This update is a follow up of the press brief by the Ministry of Health and Information that announced the first two confirmed COVID-19 cases and consequently declared the outbreak in Ghana on the 12th March 2020.

Both individual index cases returned to Ghana from outside the country, one from Turkey, and the other from Norway, hence were imported cases of COVID-19.

The first is a 36-year-old Ghanaian male, resident in Accra, who returned to Ghana from a trip in Turkey on the 29th February 2020. He developed symptoms on the 10th March and reported to health facility on the 12th March, where he was identified as a suspected case of COVID-19. Sample was taken on the same day and report was received on the same day 12th March 2020 as the first confirmed case of COVID-19.

The second is a 60-year-old Norwegian male, who returned to Accra (Ghana) on the 7th March 2020. Symptoms started on the 12 March and he reported to a doctor the same day. Sample was taken and sent to the Laboratory and the report was received on the same day that confirmed COVID-19.

Both patient cases had no symptoms on arrival but presented with symptoms of fever and acute respiratory illness 12 and 5 days later respectively.

Both are currently under treatment in stable conditions.

Tracing of contacts have started and is ongoing.

On Friday the 13th of March 2020, two more new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported, one (1) each from the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions.

The first is a 56-year-old man, a Ghanaian who returned from a trip in the United Kingdom, on the 4th March 2020 after 10 days stay in the UK. He developed symptoms on the 10th March, reported to a Hospital in Obuasi on the 12th March where he was identified as a suspected case of COVID-19. Sample was taken on the same day and report was received at KCCR Laboratory, KNUST Kumasi on the same day 13th March 2020, which confirmed case of COVID-19.

The second is a @@-year-old, a Ghanaian female, a student who returned to Ghana on the 9th March 2020 from a trip to the United States of America. She developed symptoms on the 13th March and reported to health facility on the same day 13th March. Sample was taken as a suspected case of COVID-19, sent to the laboratory (NMIMR); and the report was received on the same day 13 March, that confirmed case of COVID-19.

Both are currently receiving treatment under isolation and are in stable conditions.

Tracing and management of contacts started yesterday and is ongoing.

Yesterday, we received another report of two (2) new confirmed cases from NMIMR.

The first of the two is a 42-year-old Ghanaian male, who returned to Ghana on the 8th March 2020. He had travelled to Switzerland and UK in the past 14 days.

Symptoms started on the 9th March, and she reported to a health facility on the 14th March and sample was taken upon suspicion of COVID-19 and sent to the Laboratory on the 14th. Laboratory results were received the night of 14th March and was confirmed positive for COVID-19. He is receiving treatment under isolation and currently, his condition is stable.

The second is a 41-year-old Ghanaian male, reported to Tema General Hospital on 14th March 2020 with history of fever, and respiratory symptoms which started on the 10th March 2020. He had travelled to Germany and Turkey in the past 14 days. He is receiving treatment under isolation and currently, his condition is stable.

Both patient cases had no symptoms on arrival but presented with symptoms of fever and acute respiratory illness 12 and 5 days later respectively.

Both are currently under treatment in stable conditions.

Tracing of contacts have started and is ongoing.

This brings to a total of six (6) confirmed COVID-19 cases, with no death in Ghana as of 14 March 2020. All six (6) cases are imported.

We wish to take the opportunity to remind all Ghanaians and people living in Ghana to adhere to the preventive and precautionary measures. Key among them are as follows:

Wash your hands regularly and thoroughly with soap under running water, and use alcohol-based hand sanitizers.

Avoid shaking of hands.

Cover the mouth and nose with tissue when coughing or sneezing and dispose of the tissue immediately into trash bin.

Keep a distance of at least two meters away from a person with fever, cough, sneezing and difficulty in breathing.

It is advisable to be physically active, drink plenty of water, eat healthy, avoid stress and have enough rest and sleep.

Restrict travels to critical travels only as directed by the president.

Stay home if you feel unwell with symptoms of fever, cough and difficulty in breathing and call the following numbers immediately for help: 0509497700, 0558439868

Thank you.

DETAILS OF CONTACT AS OF 14 MARCH 2020

Location / ID Contacts Identified Contacts Followed UP CASE 1 Seth 32 32 CASE 2 Norwegian 107 68 CASE 3 Legon 12 CASE 4 Obuasi 30 30

By The Ministry Of Information, Ministry Of Health / Ghana Health Service
People who refuse to go into quarantine risk being thrown into jail or being slapped with a fine of up to 1,000, it was reported last night.

Anybody in England and Wales who denies testing for suspected coronavirus, or continues to refuse to self-isolate, could be forced by police, as reported by The Telegraph.

The emergency powers, expected to be announced this week, will give police the right to use 'reasonable force' to detain those who could infect others.

The Health Protection (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020, published on the government's website, says those suspected of infection could be held for up to 14 days in a secure hospital or other suitable location.

Anybody who tries to make an escape can be taken into custody before being returned to detention or isolation, the regulations state.

Failing to comply is a criminal offence punishable with a fine of up to 1,000. Those who refuse to pay could also be imprisoned.

The new regulations also state those suspected of being infected will have mandatory tests such as giving a blood sample or having their nose and throat swabbed.

They must also give their travel history and a list of those they have recently met - and will be slapped with fines for providing false information.

It comes after Britons are being urged to rally together to help the elderly as coronavirus tightens its grip on the nation.

Customers carry toilet roll as they leave the Costco wholesalers in Manchester on Sunday

Health Secretary Matt Hancock using an elbow bump greeting with Italian Ambassador to UK Raffaele Trombetta ahead of an appearance on the Andrew Marr show on Sunday

A man in Manchester city centre appears to wear protective gear during the crisis

In an unprecedented peacetime intervention yesterday, the Health Secretary said the over-70s will be told 'within weeks' to stay at home  for up to four months.

Hundreds of thousands of volunteers have already vowed to join forces to help those in need, including delivering shopping and medication.

Boris Johnson will address the media over the pandemic alongside chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance on Monday.

The first of the daily briefings will come after the PM chairs a Cobra committee meeting expected to focus on plans to shield elderly and vulnerable citizens, household isolation and mass gatherings.

No 10 announced the plans to hold televised daily briefings after Mr Johnson received criticism over an apparent lack of transparency in the fight against Covid-19.

Charities last night urged the public not to 'back away' from the elderly and instead get in touch with neighbours using postcards or letters to see if you can help.

An online movement to place volunteers with vulnerable residents is growing at an extraordinary rate, with almost 400 'mutual aid' groups being established across the UK in little over 24 hours.

The call to arms coincided with Health Secretary Matt Hancock's extraordinary announcement that the country's 9.2 million over-70s will be told to self-isolate 'within the coming weeks'. The measures are likely to last for up to four months.

No 10 announced the plans to hold televised daily briefings after Mr Johnson received criticism over an apparent lack of transparency in the fight against Covid-19

Coronavirus hysteria in Europe continued today on as Poland's shut frontiers cause huge traffic jams in Germany and Ukraine - while Serbia and Slovakia went into lockdown and Portugal closed its border with Spain

In an interview with the BBC's Andrew Marr, Mr Hancock said the over-70s and those with underlying health conditions will soon be asked to remain at home. He said the move would require a 'national effort' and a 'massive community response' and urged the healthy to help elderly neighbours

The UK death toll soared to 35 yesterday, with 14 deaths in just 24 hours. The youngest known fatality was last night named as 59-year-old former police officer Nick Matthews, from Nailsea in North Somerset.

The father-of-two was said to have underlying health issues. There are now 1,372 confirmed cases in the UK.

During another day of dramatic developments:

Downing Street said the Prime Minister will deliver a daily press conference in a bid to gain control of the narrative on the virus;

Hotels are set to be turned into makeshift hospitals to cope with an influx of coronavirus patients;

The Government asked manufacturers to focus on building ventilators for the NHS amid shortage fears;

School bosses and teaching unions will meet the Education Secretary today to discuss an extended break;

The country's major supermarkets signed an open letter urging shoppers not to panic buy;

British holidaymakers were left stranded in Spain after lockdowns were put in force across Europe;

The Queen will return to Buckingham Palace today to carry out her duties in defiance of the virus.

The epidemic will last a year and could lead to nearly 8 million people being hospitalised, according to a secret Public Health England document seen by the Guardian.

In an interview with the BBC's Andrew Marr, Mr Hancock said the over-70s and those with underlying health conditions will soon be asked to remain at home.

He said the move would require a 'national effort' and a 'massive community response' and urged the healthy to help elderly neighbours.

The comments sparked confusion about how the measures could be implemented and who would care for those who do not have nearby family or friends.

The youngest known fatality was last night named as 59-year-old former police officer Nick Matthews, from Nailsea in North Somerset

But they led to a huge outpouring of community support, led by the Covid-19 Mutual Aid UK Network, which is urging volunteers to form Facebook groups for their areas where people can share information on how to help those in need.

Many suggested dropping leaflets with contact details through the doors of neighbours so requests for food or medication can be made, or even just a friendly phone call.

Anna Vickerstaff, one of the movement's co-ordinators, told the Daily Mail: 'It has been incredible to see all of these groups spring up  and it goes to show that even in times of fear and anxiety we can come together and keep an eye out for the people in our neighbourhoods who need our help.'

With the prospect of months of further disruption, volunteers have been trying to make the lives of others easier.

Shop owner Zahid Iqbal, of Edinburgh, has distributed free coronavirus 'survival kits'  including a toilet roll, hand sanitiser and pocket tissues.

In Exeter, cabbies at I Taxi say they will take any over-65s trapped at home shopping for free.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said there was no reason to avoid visiting elderly relatives, but family members should keep at least a metre (3ft 3ins) apart and not offer kisses or hugs.

Many suggested dropping leaflets with contact details through the doors of neighbours so requests for food or medication can be made, or even just a friendly phone call. A man is pictured entering a coronavirus testing centre in London

She added: 'Now is not the time to back off our older population, who need our love and support more than ever.'

Karl Wilding, chief executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, said he was heartened by the country's 'impulse to help out in tough times'.

Mr Wilding said people could donate to foodbanks, which may come under pressure.

'The simplest thing everyone can do is look out for their neighbours and offer help with shopping and other errands if they can't get out of the house,' he added.

Britain's coronavirus crisis could last until Spring 2021 with up to 8MILLION people - or 15% of the population - hospitalised, secret NHS briefing reveals - as death toll leaps 14 in a day to 35

by Joe Middleton and Jemma Carr for MailOnline

Britain's coronavirus crisis could last until Spring 2021 and see 7.9million people hospitalised, a secret briefing for senior NHS figures has revealed.

The document, seen by The Guardian newspaper, shows that health chiefs expect the virus to last for another 12 months, and details how it will impact key staff in the NHS, police and fire brigade.

It says: 'As many as 80% of the population are expected to be infected with Covid-19 in the next 12 months, and up to 15% (7.9 million people) may require hospitalisation.'

It is understood the document was drawn up in recent days by Public Health England's preparedness and response team.

Members of the public spotted today on the tube as the deaths from the pandemic increased today

Chaos this week saw people scrabbling to load up with loo rolls, long-life milk and pasta in a bid to prepare for the worst as the coronavirus death toll hit 21 yesterday while the number of infected soared past 1,000 in the UK alone. Pictured: Bare shelves in a Morrisons store in London

Dr Susan Hopkins, Deputy Director of PHE's National Infection Service said: 'PHE used reasonable worse-case scenario figures, to restate the importance for people with symptoms to stay at home, including health care workers in order to reduce the spread of the virus.'

Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, and expert in epidemiology said: 'For the public to hear that it could last for 12 months, people are going to be really upset about that and pretty worried about that'

'A year is entirely plausible. But that figure isn't well appreciated or understood.'

The document also discloses that an estimated 500,000 of the 5 million people deemed vital because they work 'in essential services and critical infrastructure' will be off sick at any one time during a month-long peak of the epidemic.

This 5 million figure includes 1 million NHS staff and 1.5 million working in social care.

Heartbroken wife Mary Matthews (left) paid tribute to her 'life partner and soul mate' husband Nick, 59, (right) who died from coronavirus in Bristol

It came as a total of 40,279 people have been tested across the UK and the latest update comes as Health Secretary Matt Hancock this morning said that the elderly may have to self isolate for up to four months.

38,907 tested negative against the disease and 1,372 tested positive.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock this morning said that the elderly may have to self isolate for up to four months.

It comes after a heartbroken wife paid tribute to her 'life partner and soul mate' husband who has become the youngest coronavirus patient in Britain to die today.

Father-of-two Nick Matthews is believed to be the youngest coronavirus victim in Britain.

Mr Matthews - who had underlying health conditions - died in Bristol Royal Infirmary

The 59-year-old - who had underlying health conditions - died in Bristol Royal Infirmary in the early hours of yesterday morning.

It was today revealed that coronavirus fatalities in the UK have increased by 14 overnight bringing the total death toll to 35.

Mr Matthews' wife Mary wrote in a tribute on Facebook yesterday: 'Today at 3am I lost my life partner and soul mate but most of all my best friend.

'Charlotte, Ben and I are beyond proud to have had such a big character in our lives.

'As a family we are still currently in isolation until the coronavirus test results come back.

'Someone will post again when we have more information.

'In the meantime, I know some of you would like to visit but please for you and your families safety, stay away until we get the all clear.'

Mr and Mrs Matthews had recently returned from a holiday in Fuerteventura, flying out on February 22 and returning on February 29.

In his last Facebook post, Mr Matthews described celebrating his birthday on the popular tourist hotspot.

Mr Matthews' wife Mary penned a heart-breaking tribute on Facebook yesterday after her husband's death

It was today revealed that coronavirus fatalities in the UK have increased by 14 overnight bringing the total death toll to 35. Pictured: Bristol Royal Infirmary where Mr Matthews died

The announcement from the Department of Health and Social Care (above) stated the new numbers for today

Nailsea People reported that Mr Matthews was diagnosed with pneumonia at the Bristol Royal Infirmary and was admitted to the intensive care unit after showing other signs for coronavirus.

Mrs Matthews told Nailsea People: 'People who may have come into contact with either Nick or me during the past two weeks need to self-isolate and get advice.

'Although he tested positive, until a post-mortem examination, we can't say that was cause of death at the moment.

'I don't want to panic people, but I do want people to take extra precautions.'

Mr Matthews retired from his work as a police officer 10 years ago after suffering a heart attack.

Many paid tribute to him on Facebook, with one describing him as a 'true Avon and Somerset Police legend'.

The number of cases of the killer bug increased by more than 200 to 1,372, the department of health and social care announced this afternoon.

A total of 40,279 people have been tested across the UK.

Britain's over-70s told to stay at home for four months Mass isolating of the elderly - even if they are not ill - will begin within the next 20 days as Boris Johnson ratchets up efforts to tackle the UK's ballooning outbreak. This morning health secretary Matt Hancock said the virus is 'one of the biggest challenges we have seen in a generation'. Although the drastic measures that have been implemented by the government have been drawn up to protect those most vulnerable to the killer COVID-19 infection, it brings serious concerns about the wellbeing of pensioners cooped-up for such a long time. Regular social outings will have to be scrapped and pangs of loneliness could compound an already stressful isolation experience, psychologists have warned. Instructing the over-70s to remain indoors forms part of a wider package of emergency powers due to be officially rolled out by Downing Street this week. Advertisement

In a statement, University Hospitals Bristol Foundation Trust said: 'Sadly, we can confirm that a man who was being cared for at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, and had tested positive for Covid-19, has died.

'The patient who died was in his late-fifties and had underlying health conditions.

'The family has been informed and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time. We will not be commenting further and ask that everybody respects the family's privacy.'

Councillor Don Davies, the leader of North Somerset Council, said the authority's 'heartfelt condolences' were with the family and all that knew him.

'I understand that the family have requested privacy at this difficult time and I ask that everyone respects their wishes,' Cllr Davies said.

'I am sure the news will be met with sadness in the wider community and it is important that everyone remains calm and follows the latest national advice on the steps needed to reduce the spread of infection.'

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the Government is 'well behind the curve' in its handling of the crisis and said it should be 'at the very least giving a daily briefing' about what is going on.

Mr Corbyn said: 'There has to be much clearer guidance but also much better support.'

He added: 'When football authorities and others take responsible decisions to cancel matches because they were worried about the crowd, they did that themselves - it was not the Government.'

Shoppers are faced with partially empty shelves at a supermarket in London as consumers worry about product shortages as a result of the coronavirus

When Mr Corbyn, who is 70, was asked if he would self-isolate, he said: 'I am doing what everybody is being asked to do, which is washing my hands frequently and also making sure that the meetings I attend have people who are separated by some distance.

'It is all the kind of practical measures that we all need to take.'

CHARITIES URGE FAMILIES TO CHECK UP ON ELDERLY RELATIVES Charities have advised families to check elderly relatives have everything they need after Matt Hancock said over-70s will soon be asked to stay at home for four months. The Alzheimer's Society has not advised against visiting elderly relatives. But it said anyone concerned should ring their loved ones to check they have handwash and hand sanitiser, are cleaning remote controls, door handles and taps regularly, and to see whether they need anyone to do a shopping trip for them. Independent Age has also not advised against visits, but urged family members to ensure older relatives have all the supplies they need such as food and medication. Age UK has said elderly people feeling well can still carry on as normal, and go out and meet people, providing basic hygiene measures such as washing hands regularly are observed. Several care homes in the UK have suspended all visits in a bid to stop the virus spreading and Independent Age has told its volunteers home visits should now be conducted over the phone. Mr Hancock said today that people can still visit elderly family members and neighbours as long as neither party is unwell. Advertisement

Mr Hancock said ministers are yet to make a decision on whether to ban gatherings of more than 500 people in the rest of the UK, after Scotland said it would bring in restrictions from Monday.

It comes as eleven new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Northern Ireland, bringing the total number of known cases there to 45.

The Department of Health said people with mild symptoms - new persistent cough and/or fever - should stay at home and self-isolate for seven days and that they will not require testing.

In Wales there were 34 new cases today, pushing its total to 94. A huge jump from 60.

Public Health Wales said it was working with partners in the Welsh Government and the wider NHS in Wales now that the country had entered the 'delay' phase.

The new cases, by local authority area, are: two in Blaenau Gwent, four in Caerphilly, three in Carmarthenshire, one in Ceredigion, four in Swansea, three in Cardiff, one in Monmouthshire, three in Newport, two in Rhondda Cynon Taf, two in Torfaen and one in the Vale of Glamorgan.

The residential areas of eight of the new confirmed cases were still being confirmed on Sunday.

Mark Drakeford, First Minister of Wales, issued a video message describing how the Welsh Government had been 'working hard to prepare for what is to come'.

'We are working around the clock with experts here in Wales and around the United Kingdom to do everything we possibly can to protect you and your families,' he said.

'Every decision we make is based on the best expert public health advice.

'It's really important in facing the coronavirus that we take the right decisions at the right time.'

Dr Giri Shankar, incident director for the Covid-19 outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: 'We can confirm that 34 new cases have tested positive for novel coronavirus (Covid-19) in Wales, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 94.

Mass isolating of the elderly - even if they are not ill - will begin within the next 20 days as Boris Johnson ratchets up efforts to tackle the UK's outbreak

'Public Health Wales is working within the phased approach to tackling the novel coronavirus outlined in the UK Coronavirus Action Plan - to contain, delay, research and mitigate.

Coronavirus forces Scottish school closures A number of schools across Scotland are to close from Monday due to coronavirus outbreaks. Dunblane High School has closed to all pupils and staff after a pupil tested positive for Covid-19. Stirling Council said a deep clean of the school will take place immediately. All other schools in the local authority area will be open as normal. Convener for Children and Young People, Councillor Susan McGill, said: 'We are working closely with the school to address this situation and hope to have the establishment back open as soon as it is safe to do so. 'We completely appreciate the uncertainty felt in the community during this unprecedented set of circumstances. Our focus is to bring you accurate, up to date information as soon as it is available. 'In the meantime, please continue to follow the guidance from the NHS and governments, available online.' Isobel Mair School and Nursery in Newton Mearns and Murroes Primary School in Angus have also been closed after the emergence of coronavirus cases linked to their communities. In a statement, East Renfrewhsire Council said it had taken the decision to temporarily close Isobel Mair School on Monday 'as a precautionary measure following the emergence of a coronavirus case linked to the school'. It added: 'The school is currently contacting staff and parents to inform them of the decision and of our intention to reopen the school as soon as possible. 'The individual with coronavirus is self-isolating at home and is giving no cause for concern.' Angus Council said Murroes Primary would be close from Monday to Wednesday 'in order to undertake a deep clean after a suspected positive case of coronavirus (Covid-19) related to the school'. Shetlands Islands Council previously said that some of its schools would be closed for all of next week. Helen Budge, director of Children's Services, said: 'During this Covid-19 pandemic, we have taken this decision, not specifically for public health, but for operational and resilience reasons.' Advertisement

'We are working with our partners in the Welsh Government, the wider NHS in Wales, and others now that we have entered the 'delay' phase.

'This is now not just an attempt to contain the disease, as far as possible, but to delay its spread.'

Dr Shankar said the advice for the public had changed, with people no longer needing to contact NHS 111 if they believe they may have contracted Covid-19.

Instead, anyone with a high temperature or a new continuous cough should stay at home for seven days and should not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.

They should only contact NHS 111 if they feel unable to cope with their symptoms at home, their condition worsens or their symptoms do not improve after seven days.

'The move into the 'delay' phase, will include working closely with health boards, NHS 111 and the Welsh Government towards transitioning away from community testing and contact tracing,' Dr Shankar said.

'Testing will now focus on cases admitted to hospital, in line with national guidance, and based on symptoms and severity.

'The move away from community testing gives us greater capacity to test in hospital settings, where the most vulnerable patients will be cared for.'

The announcement of the new cases came as Adam Price, the leader of Plaid Cymru, wrote to Mr Drakeford about the outbreak.

He called for Mr Drakeford to use powers available under the Public Health (Control of Diseases) Act 1984 to prohibit or restrict the holdings of events or gatherings.

'It is imperative that Wales uses all the powers already at its disposal in order to delay the spread of Covid-19 and we will support you in that endeavour,' Mr Price wrote.

Mr Price said the measures would give public reassurance and mitigate against community transmission of the virus.

As of March 12, a total of 945 people in Wales had been tested for coronavirus.

On Friday, the country's health minister, Vaughan Gething, warned that up to 25,000 people in Wales could die amid a worst-case scenario.

He announced that non-urgent surgical procedures and outpatient appointments would be suspended to help the NHS in Wales cope with the virus.

The panic surrounding the virus has continued to spread and supermarkets are struggling to keep up with demand for items such as toilet roll and hygiene products and dried foods such as pasta.

This is while various countries pledge to close their borders on Monday. Germany this afternoon said it would close its borders to Austria, France and Switzerland and non-essential public places in France were also ordered to close.
At a time when Oakland is dealing with everything from growing homeless tent encampments to the coronavirus, its also facing a crisis at City Hall: an unprecedented exit of top administrators.

The citys police chief, fire chief and city administrator are out  or are about to be out  of City Hall.

And while former Police Chief Anne Kirkpatricks firing without cause by the Police Commission and Fire Chief Darin Whites decision to leave next month for the same job in San Rafael made the news, its the quiet exit last week of City Administrator Sabrina Landreth that has insiders worried.

She was the adult in the room focusing on providing services to the citizens and treating the workers fairly when dealing with the Oakland City Council and mayor, Oakland Police Officers Association President Barry Donelan said in a news release. Her departure should be a cause for concern for every Oaklander.

Landreths decision to exit after five years as administrator followed repeated clashes with City Council members.

Her resignation followed an incident at a council committee meeting when an audience member accused Joe DeVries, the citys point man on tent encampments, of having caused deaths among the homeless. DeVries tried to leave the meeting, but another audience member blocked his exit.

Landreth apparently was incensed at the behavior, especially the reaction from the council members.

The silence from the council members at that meeting to control the inappropriate behavior was deafening, Landreth said in an email to them that was obtained by The Chronicle.

For now, former Lafayette City Manager Steven Falk is keeping an eye on Landreths old responsibilities until a permanent replacement is found.

But Oakland isnt leafy Lafayette.

The interim administrator is very smart, but he has got a lot to learn in a short amount of time, City Councilman Larry Reid said. We have the new As ballpark, the Ghost Ship fire lawsuit, the homeless and now the coronavirus. Plus, we now also have the search for a new police chief, a new fire chief and new city administration.

Mayor Libby Schaaf put a somewhat more positive spin on the situation.

Every day, I see leadership in this organization stepping up, and we will definitely keep things moving, Schaaf said. This is certainly a confluence of events, but if there is one thing Oakland is great at, its dealing with crisis.

Sometimes, the crisis is of ones own making.

Coal burn: Richmond Mayor Tom Butt is accusing the Sierra Club of reneging on a promise to help the city fight off suits resulting from its law banning the storage and handling of coal within city limits, including the Port of Richmond.

When I voted for this ordinance, I believed that the Sierra Club, a national organization with a $100 million annual budget, would provide financial assistance to the city for defending the lawsuits. The Sierra Club was the principal drafter of the ordinance and the prime mover in advocating for its adoption, Butt said in an email blast Thursday.

He backed off a bit in a subsequent interview with The Chronicle.

To be fair, they were a bit murky about it, he said. They didnt come out and say that they would write us a check, but I was led to believe that they would be there for us. But now that the lawsuits have started, the Sierra Club has bailed out.

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.

Butt was part of the 5-1 Richmond City Council majority that voted for the ban in January.

He said he called Aaron Isherwood, the Sierra Clubs attorney, about helping out and was told the organization never promised financial help for any lawsuits.

They said they only talked about helping with legal research in drafting the ban and supporting us, Butt said.

In an email, Isherwood said the Sierra Club never offered to provide free legal services to the city. Rather, I made clear that the Sierra Club intends to intervene with our own lawyers in any litigation to help the city defend the ordinance in court.

Butt said the city attorney estimates Richmonds legal bills will be well into the seven figures.

You know, we are a city that doesnt have a lot of money, so defending the coal lawsuits could result in fewer cops on the streets, shorter library hours, and less street and park maintenance, Butt said.

Sierra Club or not, Butt said he is ready to go ahead with defending the ban.

Right now, Im just trying to embarrass the Sierra Club into putting their money where their mouth is, Butt said.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Phil Matier appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KGO-TV morning and evening news and can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call 415-777-8815, or email pmatier@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @philmatier
Four Islamist extremists were sentenced to death in Bangladesh Sunday for the 2016 decapitation of a senior Hindu priest during a spate of attacks targeting religious minorities in the Muslim-majority nation. The Islamic State group had claimed responsibility for the attack in the northern district of Panchagarh, but authorities blamed militants from Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). "The court... sentenced all four to death over the murder. They are JMB members," Abdur Rafique, a court official in the capital Dhaka, told AFP. The priest was a prominent member of Bangladesh's Hindu community, which makes up nearly 10 percent of the South Asian country's population of 168 million. JMB was blamed for the murders of minorities, secular writers, publishers and foreigners between 2013 and 2016. Among them was a savage attack at a Dhaka cafe in 2016 that killed 22 people, mostly foreigners. Seven Islamist extremists were sentenced to death in November over the assault that was claimed by the IS. Bangladesh security forces launched a nationwide crackdown after the cafe siege, killing more than 100 members of the JMB including its top leaders, and arresting hundreds of suspected militants.
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Stanford Health Cares same-day primary care program is offering drive-through testing, by appointment, for SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

The service is being provided to patients who are referred for testing by a health care provider based on their symptoms and exposure, said Maja Artandi, MD, medical director of the Express Care clinics.

For maximum safety, patients remain in their cars for the tests, which are administered by a physician, advanced practice provider or nurse outfitted in protective clothing, including a gown, goggles, mask and gloves. Each appointment takes only a few minutes.

The Food and Drug Administration-approved test being used was developed by Stanford Medicine researchers to detect the respiratory virus. It involves swabbing the inside of the nose for a sample, Artandi said. Patients with drive-through appointments also are being tested for more routine respiratory pathogens that cause influenza or related diseases.

Notified within 24 hours

Patients will be notified of their COVID-19 test results within 24 hours, Artandi said. If the result is positive, their physicians will ensure they receive appropriate care, which can range from hospitalization for people showing severe symptoms to telemedicine visits and self-quarantine for those with mild cases. Fortunately, most of the infections are really benign, Artandi said.

Artandi and her Stanford Medicine colleagues decided to offer the drive-through testing service as a way to accommodate more patients in a safe and efficient manner. Exam rooms must be cleaned after every in-person visit from a patient who may have COVID-19, while drive-through testing avoids such potential contamination. Studies from Stanford Medicine have found that a drive-through medical clinic model is an effective strategy for responding to a potential pandemic or emerging infectious disease event.

Its really a much faster and safer solution, said Artandi, clinical associate professor of primary care and population health. The patient is not going to expose anybody else. The clinic is not going to be exposed.
In a late night missive on Saturday, Madhya Pradesh governor Lalji Tandon directed chief minister Kamal Nath to seek a trust vote in the assembly on Monday, days after 22 Congress legislators resigned en masse bringing the state government to the precipice.

I came to know that 22 MLAs have sent their resignations to the MP Assembly speaker and they have also informed about it on electronic and print media. I have seen the coverage on both media with attention, the letter, dated March 14, said.

They have also sent the letter to me separately on March 10, 2020 and the same MLAs have requested for security to present these resignation letters to the Vidhan Sabha speaker on March 13, the governor said.

Under Article 174 and 175(2) of the Constitution, I am empowered to direct that the MP Assembly session will begin on March 16 at 11 am with my address. Soon after that the only work to be done is voting on trust vote, he said in the letter.

The governor also directed that the trust vote be held by division of votes and the process be recorded on video by the Vidhan Sabha through independent persons.

The governors letter made it clear that the trust vote must be completed on Monday and the exercise should not be adjourned, delayed or suspended.

The governor also mentioned in the letter that six ministers were removed from the Cabinet on Kamal Naths recommendations and their resignations accepted by the Speaker.

On Friday, Kamal Nath had met Governor Tandon at the Raj Bhavan requesting a floor test in the session beginning Monday.

In his letter, the CM alleged horse-trading of MLAs by the BJP and requested the governor to ensure release of MLAs held in captivity in Bengaluru.

You (Nath) have also mentioned in your letter dated March 13, 2020, that you are ready for the floor test. I have also received a letter from the main opposition BJP about these situations. They have also pointed that the state government is putting unnecessary pressure on the MLAs who have resigned and also on other legislators, the letter read.

Based on the above facts, prima facie, I believe that your government has lost the confidence of the House and it is in minority. This is a very serious issue and therefore as per the constitutional provisions and for protecting the democratic values, it is necessary that on March 16, soon after my address, you seek the trust vote in the Assembly, it added.

The MLAs are currently housed in a Karnataka resort protected by state police in the outskirts of Bengaluru.

Speaker NP Prajapatis decision yesterday to accept resignations of six Congress MLAs, who had earlier been sacked as ministers in the Kamal Nath government, has effectively reduced the strength of the 228-member house to 222.

Before the rebellion, Congress had 114 members of its own and the support of four Independents, along with two Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs and one from the Samajwadi Party. Two seats in the assembly are vacant.

The Madhya Pradesh crisis began soon after Jyotiraditya Scindia decided to end his 18-year-old association with the Congress and joined the BJP. A host of legislators decided to resign soon after in his support jolting the Congress to shore up numbers.
Why the coronavirus shouldnt keep you from traveling

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Is it safe to travel? That is the question everyone is asking, given the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The answer, however, depends on several factors.

Obviously, anyone with symptoms of COVID-19, as coronavirus is also called, or anyone in the highest categories of risk shouldnt travel under any circumstance. Period. Stay home and take all reasonable precautions.

The same is true for anyone who had been considering a visit to destinations in countries or regions hardest hit by the pandemic. This would include Italy, one of the most popular countries for American tourists.

Beyond these factors I have no problem traveling within the United States, provided reasonable judgments are made about the specific situation in the given destination. For now, I probably wouldnt travel outside the country, at least beyond Canada or the Caribbean.

Simply put, it would be hysterical to say dont travel, absent any specific facts and science to the contrary.

I have flown over a dozen times since late January with no issues whatsoever. Only one of my booked trips  to and from Southeast Asia  was canceled due to travel restrictions imposed after the initial outbreak in Wuhan, China.

Obviously, things can change quickly, which makes it a distinct possibility that domestic or other international travel restrictions could be necessary at some point in the near future. But, as of now, none of my trips through May are impacted whatsoever. I also wouldnt cancel any travel previously booked for summer.

In fact, if youre a budget-conscious traveler you may want to take advantage of incredibly low airfares and make speculative bookings.

Worst case scenario: If you have to cancel you will get either a refund or future credit toward travel, depending on the policies of the specific airline. Best case scenario is things move toward normal and you end up having a fabulous vacation for a lot less money.

Speaking of policies, almost every major airline and hotel chain has implemented customer-friendly policies allowing cancellations, refunds and rebooking. The lone exception is United Airlines, which has changed policies three times. At one point it was even sticking it to customers in a desperate attempt to hoard cash for operating expenses.

If you do travel between now and summer book with the biggest airlines, as there is tremendous uncertainty over the viability of smaller airlines  think low-cost Norwegian Air or the all-business-class airline La Compagnie  the longer international restrictions remain in place.

Of course, you could also take a family-friendly road trip by staying within the United States. After all, you dont need to go to Europe to discover old churches, incredible museums, striking architecture, and rich history and culture.

Spires and Crosses is a weekly travel column. Follow @dennislennox on Twitter and Instagram.
Saudi Aramco on Sunday reported a 20.6 percent drop in its net profit for 2019 due to low oil prices and production levels, the company said in a statement.

These are the first annual results to be announced by the energy giant after its historical USD 29.4 billion initial public offering and listing on the Saudi Tadawul market last December.

Aramco posted net profits of USD 88.2 billion last year compared to USD 111.1 billion in 2018, Monday's statement said.

"The decrease was primarily due to lower crude oil prices and production volumes, coupled with declining refining and chemical margins," it said.

The company also made USD 1.6 billion of impairment provisions for losses associated with Sadara Chemical Company, an Aramco subsidiary.

"2019 was an exceptional year for Saudi Aramco. Through a variety of circumstances -- some planned and some not -- the world was offered unprecedented insight into Saudi Aramco's agility and resilience," CEO Amin Nasser said.

"Our unique scale, low costs, and resilience came together to deliver both growth and world-leading returns, while also maintaining our position as one of the world's most reliable energy companies," Nasser said.

The earnings for last year are not affected by the coronavirus outbreak or the ongoing price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia that has sent oil prices crashing.

Aramco said it will distribute dividends worth USD 73.2 billion for 2019 but based on its commitments under the IPO, its dividends for the next five years starting this year will be at least USD 75 billion.

It said its capital spending last year dropped to $32.8 billion from USD 35.1 billion in 2018.

The company expects capital spending, which is expenditure on projects, to be between USD 25 billion and $30 billion this year "in light of current market conditions and recent commodity price volatility."



But it said that capital expenditure for 2021 and beyond is currently under review.

The results were announced amid a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia after they failed to agree on additional output cuts to support prices dented by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

"The recent COVID-19 outbreak and its rapid spread illustrate the importance of agility and adaptability in an ever-changing global landscape," Nasser said.

The kingdom said last week Aramco will pump 12.3 million barrels of oil per day, boosting output by at least 2.5 million bpd.

It also announced plans to raise production capacity from 12 million bpd to 13 million bpd.

Forecasts for future crude prices and demand are also bleak.

In its latest monthly report, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries lowered its forecast for global average daily demand by 0.92 million barrels to 99.73 million barrels.

Saudi Arabia is also in the midst of a royal purge that saw King Salman's brother and nephew detained after sources said they were accused of plotting a palace coup to unseat the crown prince, heir to the Saudi throne.

Aramco shares rallied immediately after the listing on December 11, rising by 19 percent to 38 riyals (USD 10.1) and temporarily lifting the company's valuation above the USD 2 trillion mark, which was sought by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler.

But as oil prices tumble, Aramco shares have lost 29 percent from its highest point, slipping below the listing price.

On Thursday, Aramco's market value dropped to around USD 1.55 trillion, but it still remains the world's largest publicly listed company.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
VIENNA, March 14 (Reuters) - Austria is making 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) available to deal with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler said on Saturday.

Kogler told a news conference with Kurz that the aim was to provide "fresh blood" for the economy reeling from the outbreak. The package will include bridge loans and credit guarantees for business, he and Kurz said. ($1 = 0.9005 euros) (Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Edmund Blair)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 22:15:24|Editor: xuxin

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LONDON, March 15 (Xinhua) -- British freight and logistics company Davies Turner has resumed its Express China rail freight service for containers, said the company in a recent statement.

Starting from March 13, Davies Turner's Express China Rail Service re-commences, with the rail service departing from rail hub of Xi'an, a northwest city in Shanxi province of China, directly into Duisburg in Germany, said the statement.

Transit time between Xi'an and Duisburg is approximately 18 days, and the company "plans initially to offer a single weekly departure, but this could rise to twice-weekly departures, depending on demand," said the statement.

"The service offers a very competitive alternative to air freight in terms of cost, and considerably faster transit times compared to the ocean freight alternative," said Tony Cole, head of supply chain services at Davies Turner.

"In keeping with normal practice, our Express China Rail Service did not operate during the Chinese New Year holiday break and its suspension has been further extended due to the novel coronavirus," added Cole.

"Containers will be then trucked under bond to the port of Rotterdam and transported by ferry to Purfleet, on the River Thames for on-carriage by truck to Davies Turner's distribution centre, near Dartford, east of London, where they will be discharged, customs cleared and delivered," said Cole.

Cole noted that the firm had rail bookings to hand "which relate to frames for glasses, plastic film, metal parts, tooling, as well as fashion goods."

Founded in 1870, Davies Turner focuses on international freight and supply chain services. It now operates the only direct dedicated weekly rail service for groupage and full load shipments from China to Britain.
In the wake of coronavirus scare, the Mumbai Police on Sunday invoked section 144 of the CrPC to prohibit tour operators from conducting any kind of group tours to foreign or domestic destinations till March 31, an official said.

If any tour operator is found flouting the order, action will be taken against him under IPC 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), the official said.

"With a view to prevent danger to human life, health or safety, we hereby promulgate an order under Section 144 of the CrPC in the areas under the control of Commissioner of Police, prohibiting the conduct of any business, holiday or other type of tours involving groups of people travelling together to a foreign or domestic destination organised by private tour operators," the police order read.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Pranay Ashok said, "We have issued this order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This will prohibit the tour operators from conducting any kind of tour involving a group of people."



"This is a very specific order aimed at preventing danger to human life and safety. It will be in force till March 31. It should not be confused with the regular order issued under section 144 CrPC," he said.

"If any operator has to take a group of people on a tour, then he may do so after seeking permission from the office of the Commissioner of Police. Anybody found flouting this order shall be punished under IPC section 188," he added.

Talking about the measures taken by the police to prevent the spread of coronavirus, he said, "We have already asked our offices to avoid handshake with people and use the traditional 'namaste'."



"We have distributed masks as well as sanitisers to the police stations for use. We advise people to avoid public gathering, assembling and roaming outside. In case people don't feel well, they should approach nearby government hospitals. People should not believe in fake news," Ashok said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Zealanders thought it could never happen to them, but the attack on two mosques had been brewing for a long time.





This time last year, I was working as a legal advocate for refugees here in New Zealand. On the morning of the attack by a white supremacist on two mosques in Christchurch, I had been scheduled to speak to the media about the issue of Syrian refugees and asylum seekers in New Zealand.

March 15 was the anniversary of the start of the war in Syria. Speaking about the Muslim community, I remember saying to the cameras: We arent a scary bunch. Come talk to us. Visit our mosques.

And then something unimaginable was unleashed on us. In a horrendous attack on two mosques in Christchurch, a city still recovering from the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, 51 Muslims were shot dead during Friday prayers and 49 others were injured.

The first I heard about it was through a text message from a friend with three words: Im so sorry. At first, I thought there must have been another bombing in Syria. Even when I saw the shooters livestream video, I thought for a split second that it was a video game  not reality. This is New Zealand, after all. This kind of thing does not happen here.

At least were not the US. At least were not Australia.

How many times had I heard these words?

It was not until after this awful, planned attack, however, that I realised: It had been just a matter of time until something like this happened.

Muslims make up just 1 percent of New Zealands population. As the hadith goes: The believers are like one body. When one limb of it aches, so does the whole body. It never felt as true to me as it did that day.

I visited Christchurch two months after the attack last March. The killers plea hearing was under way, and another Muslim lawyer and I attended the hearing in order to support the community. I stopped by Al-Noor mosque, one of the mosques that had been targeted.

I felt like I could still smell the stench of blood. I could imagine people fleeing the mosque, injured bodies being carried to the neighbours property for shelter, a sense of grief and terror still hanging in the air.

Those people in that mosque were killed by a single person, fuelled by a heinous, racist ideology.

But it was not an isolated act. It had been brewing.

Two months before the shooting, a man had approached me in a parking lot and said: A lot of people dont want you here.

I have had a group of students shout: Hey look! Its a terrorist! at me.

I have had a man make the shape of a gun with his hand, look me and another friend wearing the hijab in the eye, and mime shooting us in the head.

Ask any Muslim in New Zealand, and most will have stories like this to share.

But it is not just Muslims. Anyone who lives in Aotearoa, the Maori name for New Zealand, knows our history.

The people who live here are settlers on a land soaked in the blood of colonisation.

We have been building lives and communities on the DNA of white supremacy for centuries.

The pain we, the Muslim community of New Zealand, feel today is the same that our tangata whenua  the Maori term for people of the land  have felt for decades and continue to feel today.

One year on, Christchurch could happen again. Not just in the United States. Not just in Australia.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
Massive lines ballooned across several U.S. airports this weekend as European travelers made a mad dash for home  a situation created by the quick rollout of the Trump administrations European travel ban and exacerbated by chronic airport staffing shortages.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said on Sunday evening that the problems had been addressed, and that wait times were down to an average of 30 minutes for passengers to get through Customs at the 13 airports where flights from Europe are being funneled. About 40,000 travelers arriving from Europe were screened Saturday.

But he acknowledged that the delays at Chicago O'Hare, in particular, on Saturday were "unacceptable."

DFW customs line over 3 hours. CDC here and no one knows whats going on. #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/8nnvUDhRts  Harper  (@drunktweetn) March 14, 2020

Wolf said adjustments weren't made quickly enough, "but we have course corrected."

But the lines are just one of a series of pressure points that have undermined the administrations efforts to keep the virus from entering the country  and now threaten to hasten its spread:

 The administrations European travel ban, which President Donald Trump announced Wednesday and went into effect Friday night, sent Americans abroad scrambling to find plane tickets back home. U.S. officials eventually clarified that the ban didn't apply to American citizens or permanent residents  but by then, panic-buying most likely inflated the number of people trying to reenter at once.

 The administration also dramatically narrowed the number of places where air travelers returning from Europe could enter the U.S.  currently just 13 airports. At the same time, Customs and Border Protection and health officials on Friday began doing "enhanced screening" for those passengers, consisting of temperature checks and questions about travel history and symptoms, without having enough staff on hand to process them quickly.

Story continues

 Customs staffing levels have been inadequate for some time. The union representing Customs screeners said at a hearing in December that the force was short 2,700 officers, partly as a result of the administrations decision to temporarily reassign people to the U.S.-Mexican border.

 In the early weeks of the outbreak, the administration was slow to ramp up screening at international airports, even for travelers re-entering the United States from known coronavirus hot spots. Harvard public health researchers warned in early March that the screening procedures in place then would miss as many as two-thirds of U.S.-bound passengers entering the U.S.

Now, public health officials are expressing concern that the passengers crammed shoulder-to-shoulder in airport screening lines are at higher risk for catching and then spreading the virus.

Its not good public health policy to have crowds of people in tight spaces, especially people who are returning from places where we know theres widespread transmission occurring, said John Auerbach, president and CEO of Trust for Americas Health. He added that there should be serious consideration of unintended consequences of the policies being implemented.

With O'Hare among the hardest hit, Illinois leaders blamed the Trump administration for the latest mess, saying it was apparently unprepared to carry out its own orders.

Appears source of delays all federal and Admin was unprepared after Presidential ban on travel from Europe, said Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin on Twitter. The states governor, JB Pritzker, wrote: The federal government needs to get its s@#t together. NOW.

Durbin and Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) later Sunday jointly called on the administration to direct additional resources to the 13 airports where international passengers from coronavirus-impacted countries are being shunted. They called the response "unacceptable," and noted that the airport hasn't had any contact from DHS, HHS or Customs "to discuss how to accommodate these new travel restrictions, now in effect for travelers coming from 26 additional countries.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot called on the Trump administration to immediately send more personnel to airports, calling the situation "solely the responsibility of the federal government for not listening."

When the federal government doesnt listen and when it doesnt bring the considerations of mayors and governors and other local officials into the equation, not only are you creating a disaster, not only are you creating a hazardous circumstance that threatens the public, you risk causing serious illness and death," she said at a press conference Sunday.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said Saturday that the added screenings are only taking around 60 seconds per passenger. But that doesnt help if not enough screeners are on duty. And some passengers complained on social media that they waited as long as six or seven hours to be screened.

CBP's acting commissioner, Mark Morgan, said in a statement Sunday that the agency is "working diligently to address the longer than usual delays" and several airports are already improving. A spokesperson was not able to provide details about any specific steps the agency had taken to get lines under control.

"We appreciate the patience of the traveling public as we deal with this unprecedented situation," Morgan said. "Were continuing to balance our efficiencies with ensuring the health and safety of all American citizens through enhanced medical screening."

Trump noted the long lines in a tweet on Sunday.

"We are doing very precise Medical Screenings at our airports. Pardon the interruptions and delays, we are moving as quickly as possible, but it is very important that we be vigilant and careful. We must get it right. Safety first!" he wrote.



The opposite of social distancing

The thousands of people who have been jammed into close quarters while waiting for their bags and customs checks could be at a greater health risk because of the situation.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Fox News Sunday the crowds are countermanding the administrations own mitigation efforts. Public health officials have frequently stressed the importance of social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus.

What people need to understand is if you're an American is if you're an American citizen, you can get back, Fauci said. You don't need to rush back, you will be able to get back but it's understandable how when people see the travel ban, they immediately want to hunker and get home.

Hopefully we don't have more of that, but I think we probably unfortunately will see that," he said.

FILE - In this Saturday, March 14, 2020 file photo, a Transportation Security Administration agent hands a passport back to a traveler as she screens travelers, at a checkpoint inside an airline terminal at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. The coronavirus pandemic that's caused many Americans to avoid airports has others booking spur-of-the moment trips at dirt-cheap ticket prices. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

Mike Fraser, executive director for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, said the large crowds at ports of entry are concerning.

While travel home is essential for these individuals, I would hope federal and airport authorities would work with the airlines and state and local health agencies to practice appropriate infection control measures everywhere, but especially in places were crowds are gathered and recommend staggered arrivals to reduce the number of people congregating in one place, "Fraser said.

At this time, the goal is to prevent transmission of disease. Any crowded space  churches, grocery stores, airports  all increase the probability of transmission, said Joyce Johnson, a senior retired U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps officer.



Too little, too late?

These enhanced screenings are also starting too late, following weeks while the virus was already rapidly spreading around the world. The administrations initial screening efforts focused on travelers from China, even after it had become clear that the virus had spread to other countries.

Marc Lipsitch, head of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Healths Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, has said the lax screening of infected travelers may have led to the outbreak in Washington state, the first U.S. state the virus swept through.

Before this weekend, alarmed passengers had reported on social media what they considered lax screening as they returned to the U.S.

Jenn Bartick, a California attorney, told POLITICO that she flew back from Italy two weeks ago and went through no screening of any type." She said no one asked her if she had been in the parts of Italy that have been hardest hit by the virus, a spread that since prompted Italian authorities to shut down the entire country.

She said when she boarded the plane in Italy, they asked if I had been to China in the past 14 days. No further screening. Shes been unable to get a test because she doesnt have symptoms and is self-quarantining.

A U.S. businessman who flew recently from Hong Kong told POLITICO that the screening he underwent at Los Angeles International Airport was "a joke."

As opposed to all arrivals and departures at all Asian airports there was no temperature taking, said the businessman, who has lived in China and other Asian countries for decades and requested anonymity because he doesn't want to get blacklisted on flights to the United States added: No questions, nothing. Couldnt get rid of the passengers fast enough.

Customs officials did not respond to multiple requests for comment about those passengers accounts.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) has asked the federal government to expand screening beyond air travel, by requiring temperature checks for all passengers boarding not just airplanes but mass transit.

Ken Cuccinelli, the acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security, told lawmakers last week that passenger screening bought us time but said travel restrictions and screenings were never intended to be a hermetically sealed process.

Shia Kapos contributed to this report from Illinois.
HARRISBURG  One of the nation's largest malls, in suburban Philadelphia, has closed amid a call from the governor for nonessential businesses to close to help stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The security office of the King of Prussia mall said Sunday that the mall was closed until further notice. A notice on the site of owner Simon Property Group said nonessential mall tenants were expected to comply effective immediately" with the governor's recommendation.

Officials in Delaware County in suburban Philadelphia, meanwhile, said almost a dozen county prison inmates had been quarantined and almost two dozen employees had been advised to self-quarantine at home after a prison employee was confirmed to have tested positive for the virus.

The mall had remained open after Gov. Tom Wolfs call for closure of all nonessential retail facilities in Montgomery County, saying the governor hadnt mandated store closures and nor defined what non-essential retail is.

But a notice displayed on owner Simon Property Group over the weekend noted the governors clarification that supermarkets, pharmacies and gas stations were defined as essential.

Accordingly, we expect that all nonessential tenants of King of Prussia adhere to and comply with Gov. Wolfs recommendation effective immediately, the notice said. The security office at King of Prussia mall said Sunday that the mall was closed until further notice.

CASES

Most of the state's 47 cases of positive tests are in eastern Pennsylvania. Hardest hit is Montgomery County, with 20 cases. The confirmed cases largely have been traced back to contact with the new coronavirus in another state or country. Most people are at home in isolation, officials say; a few are hospitalized.

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, and death.

The vast majority of people recover.

Your guide to coping with COVID-19 This interactive guide shows how to protect yourself against infection and recognize symptoms, and worst case, take correct steps if you get sick.
March 14, 2020

A 70-year-old man in Multnomah County is the first person to die from COVID-19 in Oregon. The Multnomah County resident was hospitalized at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center and succumbed to his symptoms on Saturday, March 14.

The individual is not connected to the cases at the Oregon Veterans Home in Lebanon.

While we knew we would arrive at this day at some point, it doesnt lessen the impact, said OHA director Patrick Allen. Our thoughts and deepest sympathy are with the family of this individual who honorably served his country.

The individual, who had underlying heath conditions, tested positive for COVID-19 on March 10. The individual had no known contact to a confirmed case and had not traveled to a country where the virus is circulating.

This is a sobering reminder that this virus is in our community and can be serious for older people and those with underlying conditions, said Dr. Jennifer Vines Multnomah County Health Officer. This loss has motivated us to continue our efforts to minimize the impact of this virus on our community.
By Trend

There are no problems with covering the daily demand of the population for food and other products, said Azerbaijans Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov, Trend reports.

He was commenting on the recently observed mass purchases of goods by the population.

Jabbarov noted that the Economy Ministry has held meetings with large producers and importers of various food products and other goods.

He pointed out that currently, malls, stores and warehouses have enough reserve of everyday goods, including food products. So there is no reason for panic, added Jabbarov.

The country has reserves of all basic products. The imported products are replaced. Economic security issues are in the spotlight of the Azerbaijani government, he said.

Reserves are regularly checked and evaluated for ensuring the countrys food security. Currently, the restrictions on the countrys borders due to the coronavirus threat do not apply to freight traffic. The country has stocks of food and other goods for several months in advance, noted Jabbarov.

The minister said that the current situation in the world, in the region and in Azerbaijan implies a restriction on the movement of citizens, not the movement of goods.

The neighboring Islamic Republic of Iran is a good example. Citizens' entry and exit to Iran from Azerbaijan is limited, but goods are transported," Jabbarov noted.

The minister noted that Azerbaijan fully provides itself with disinfectant - alcohol, and in the near future an enterprise for the production of medical masks will start working, since the equipment for it has already been purchased.

"The situation observed in shopping centers and stores in recent days is a case for all parts of the world, but in the current conditions, the mass concentration of people in such centers does not comply with the recommendations of the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers," Jabbarov noted.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Heidi Klum and her husband Tom Kaulitz are quarantined separately as they await the results of their coronavirus tests.

The 46-year-old supermodel became concerned she has coronavirus after falling sick on the set of America's Got Talent - but was not been able to get a test amid widespread shortages of kits in the US.

However, alongside a video of herself and Tom kissing opposite sides of a glass door, she revealed they have 'finally' managed to tested.

Taking precautions: Heidi Klum and her husband Tom Kaulitz are quarantined separately as they await the results of their coronavirus tests

'Like many of you, I also have been sick all week and, unfortunately, my husband who returned from his tour a couple of days ago is also feeling ill. To be safe, we are staying apart until we get the results of our Coronavirus tests (that we were finally able to get today) back,' she revealed in the caption.

'We dont want to spread germs and risk others getting sicker... even each other! As much as I want to embrace him and kiss him, it is more important to do the right thing and not spread further.'

The TV host, who is based in New York City but has been in Pasadena, California to film the talent competition, revealed earlier this week that she really wanted 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.

So in love: Alongside a video of herself and Tom kissing opposite sides of a glass door, she revealed they have 'finally' managed to tested amid a shortage of kits in the US

Uh oh: ''Like many of you, I also have been sick all week and, unfortunately, my husband who returned from his tour a couple of days ago is also feeling ill,' she revealed

Sensible: 'As much as I want to embrace him and kiss him, it is more important to do the right thing and not spread further,' she added

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.

Concerned: Heidi announced on Instagram on Friday that she was sick with a fever, chills and cough but has not been able to get a coronavirus test

'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
President Donald Trump on Sunday held a call with two dozen executives from consumer and grocery companies including Target, Campbell and Costco to discuss topics including hoarding and the safety of their supply chain amid the coronavirus crisis.

Trump, in a press conference Sunday, urged Americans to ease up with their shopping as people panic about not having enough food or household items while they are increasingly being asked to stay at home for extended periods of times.

The president, his spirits buoyed by the Federal Reserve cutting rates to zero, tried to reassure the nation its supply chain is strong and stores will continue to fill their shelves.

"You don't have to buy so much," Trump said. "Take it easy. Relax."

He added: "Go and buy. Enjoy it. Have a nice dinner. Relax."

Stock futures plummeted Sunday night, even after the Fed announced its latest extraordinary actions. The coronavirus infection rate in the United States has escalated.

As Americans have fretted about quarantines and shortages, they've raided online and brick-and-mortar retailers, leaving shelves unstocked and warehouses short. Amazon said it is out of stock on certain household items. Chains like Texas grocer H-E-B has had to limit purchases some food items, including eggs, boxed pasta and canned soup. Fears of product shortages have also led people to steal products like hand sanitizer and surgical masks from grocery stores and doctors' offices.

"The President reminded the participants that this is an all-of-America approach and each of their stores and the stores they support can help Americans feel calm and safe when shelves are stocked with the items they need," a White House spokesman said.

"Supply chains in the United States are strong, and it is unnecessary for the American public to hoard daily essentials," he added.

A spokesperson for Campbell said, in the meeting, the company "outlined the steps we are taking to ensure the health and safety of our employees and how we are meeting the increased demand for our foods in response to the COVID-19 pandemic."

An industry trade group, Consumer Brands Association, which represents companies including Lysol-owner Reckitt Benckiser and Clorox, requested funds in upcoming supplemental appropriations to "mitigate supply chain disruptions" and help manage shortages.

Trump agreed in the call to hold off for six months on new regulatory decisions that could hinder supply chains, according to a letter from the group to Trump that was obtained by CNBC.

Later Sunday, Consumer Brands Association also sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, urging them to fight global export restrictions on any product used to treat or prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The U.S. supply chain for consumer companies is heavily reliant on foreign production. As countries around the world battle the coronavirus pandemic, some have already begun to restrict their exports. Germany has banned the export of protective medical products including masks, gloves and suits. France, the Czech Republic, Turkey and Russia have enacted similar export restrictions in recent days.

"If other countries were to follow suit by significantly disrupting the supply chain of these critical ingredients, it could substantially increase the risk of product shortages in the United States, and thus pose a serious threat to the public health," wrote Bryan Zumwalt, executive vice president of public affairs for the Consumer Brands Association.

Consumer Brands Association wants Pompeo and Lightizer to determine which products are facing a possible export ban, and what the impact of that ban may be. They also want the leaders to "take appropriate action" should they determine that any export restriction is in violation of a trade agreement.

They want them to considering lifting tariffs that may be adding an extra burden to the supply chain.

The letter comes as lawmakers are also raising increasing concern about possible drug shortages, due to U.S pharmaceutical reliance on foreign manufacturing. About 72% of manufacturers of pharmaceutical ingredients supplying the U.S. are overseas, including 13% in China, according to FDA testimony last year.
The coronavirus epidemic is effecting every facet of daily life, and celebrities are no exception.

Jon Voight, Oscar-winning actor and father to Angelina Jolie, was spotted in a Gelson's supermarket in Sherman Oaks, California, on Sunday with a basket full of paper towels as he waited on the checkout line.

The Coming Home actor, 81, looked in seemingly good spirits as he smiled off to the side.

Stocking up: Jon Voight was spotted in a Gelson's supermarket in Sherman Oaks on Sunday with a basket full of paper towels as he waited on the checkout line

The sighting comes as more and more people continue to stock up on necessities for the inevitable and impending periods of quarantine and potential lockdown that will sweep the country as they already have in other parts of the world.

Toilet paper (and other paper products) in particular have grown particularly scarce in many places, with celebs from Bachelor star Matty J Johnson to Tori Spelling bemoaning the bare shelves at their local markets.

Authorities and the media have been moving toward a proactive stance on self-quarantining, citing other countries like Taiwan where the practice early on has helped to stem the outbreak.

Preparing: The sighting comes as more and more people continue to stock up on necessities for the inevitable and impending periods of quarantine and potential lockdown; Voight seen at this year's Oscars ceremony

The risk of serious illness as a result of COVID-19 is particularly high for those in Voight's age group, as senior citizens and those with compromised immune systems are most susceptible to respiratory failure, as stated by the Centers for Disease Control.

Voight is father to both Jolie, 44, as well as James Haven, 46.

Their mother was actress Marcheline Bertrand, to whom Voight was married from 1971 to 1980.

At risk: The risk of serious illness as a result of COVID-19 is particularly high for those in Voight's age group; seen here in LA in January

Bertrand passed away in 2007, from ovarian and breast cancer at the age of 56.

Jon, a spirited supporter of Donald Trump, has appeared in several more recent TV and film projects since winning his Oscar for Coming Home in 1979, including a long-running stint on the just-cancelled Showtime show Ray Donovan.

His 1997 horror movie Anaconda, opposite Jennifer Lopez, recently got the green light for a remake.
For confidential support or advice call the Samaritans on 116 123 for free or visit www.samaritans.org

A host of former Love Island contestants took to Instagram on Sunday to pay tribute to Mike Thalassitis on the one-year anniversary of him taking his own life.

Montana Brown, 24, led the tributes to the reality TV star, who was found hanged in a park near his home in Edmonton, north London, at the age of 26 on 15 March 2019.

Sharing a shot of Mike posing in a powder blue shirt with a navy tie, she wrote: 'Those we love dont go away, they walk beside us everyday.'

Tribute: Montana Brown led a host of Love Island stars in paying tribute to their late friend Mike Thalassitis on the one-year anniversary of his tragic death. Pictured in January 2019

Jonny Mitchell, who appeared alongside Mike and Montana on the ITV2 dating show in 2017, also paid his respects as he shared shots of the two posing on nights out.

He said: 'Cant believe a whole years gone by since you left us bro. Still find it difficult to comprehend youre not with us any more. You were too good for this world! Never forgotten Magic Mike.'

Uploading an image of himself with Mike in happier times, Luis Morrison stated: '1 year ago today since we lost you in our lives. There's not a day that goes by I don't think of you and I hope your resting in peace. I love you and will always miss you .'

Love lives on: Sharing a shot of Mike posing in a powder blue shirt with a navy tie, Montana wrote, 'Those we love dont go away, they walk beside us everyday'

Snapshots: Jonny Mitchell, who appeared alongside Mike and Montana on the ITV2 dating show in 2017, also paid his respects as he shared shots of the two posing on nights out

Disbelief: Captioning the images, he said, 'Cant believe a whole years gone by since you left us bro. Still find it difficult to comprehend youre not with us any more'

Rest easy: Joining his co-stars was Sam Gowland, who also shared a snap of himself with Mike, as he wrote, '1 year ago today where does the time go!! Rest easy brother'

Joining his co-stars was Sam Gowland, who also shared a snap of himself with Mike, as he wrote: '1 year ago today where does the time go!! Rest easy brother.'

The posts come weeks after Mark's co-stars marked what would have been his 27th birthday with a host of heartfelt tributes.

The likes of Montana Brown, Jonny Mitchell and Georgia Harrison took to social media on to honour the tragic reality star.

Montana posted two photos to Instagram of her with him, captioning them: 'Happy birthday angel face, miss you so much and I hope you're having a party party up there wherever you are. I wish we all had more time with you. We lost you too early.'

Thinking of you: Uploading an image of himself with Mike in happier times, Luis Morrison stated, 'There's not a day that goes by I don't think of you and I hope your resting in peace'

Order of service: Louis also shared a snapshot of the order of service from pal Mike's funeral

Miss you: He rounded out his heartfelt tribute by stating, 'I love you and will always miss you'

She added: 'If you're looking at this feeling suicidal and unhappy, please speak to someone, if you don't want to speak to someone you know, you can also text @giveusashoutinsta. You are all amazing, you all are worthy of the help and I know you're so loved.'

Jonny Mitchell uploaded a snap of them enjoying a toast in happier times, penning: 'Happy Birthday Magic Mike. Miss you big man '

Georgia Harrison posted a snap of her with Mike on Love Island, adding the caption: 'Happy birthday @mike_thala i think of you all the time, your humour, your caring nature, your generosity, the way you were an absolute gentleman.

'The sort of man that would carry your bags for you, open the door for you, be the first person person at the bar offering everyone a drink.

'Angel face': The posts come weeks after Montana led a host of trubutes to Mike on what would have been his 27th birthday on January 19

'Angel face': Montana posted two photos, captioning them, 'Happy birthday angel face, miss you so much and I hope you're having a party party up there wherever you are'

Remembering Mike: Jonny Mitchell - from the same season as Mike - uploaded a snap of them enjoying a toast in happier times, penning, 'Happy Birthday Magic Mike. Miss you big man '

'An absolute gentleman': Georgia Harrison posted a snap of her with Mike on Love Island

'I miss you so much and i still regret so many moments where i missed the extent of what was going on in your head.

'I know you're in a better place and you motivate me in so many ways still. Thankyou for making me laugh and being by my side when i cried. Its so hard to talk about your feelings and whats going on in your head, especially for men [sic]'

She used the opportunity to promote a mental health organisation for men, continuing: 'Please follow @boysgetsadtoostudio who give a percentage of their profits towards mens mental health.

'I know sometimes you can feel like you have nothing left to live for, ive been there, believe me. But if you just start by talking about it and being honest the ods are with time youll get through it.

Stones: Reality star Montana went for a walk on Mike's birthday and allegedly stumbled across a group of stones formed into an M

Flashbacks: Montana uploaded videos she had of Mike to her Instagram stories

'Life is full of obs ups and downs and mike was made to feel like he wasnt good enough and i think thats why the world was so shocked because anyone who knew him knew he was more than enough.

'He was an absolute legend and legends never die. I love you so much , when u left you broke the hearts of people that hadnt even met you because you were that amazing. See you in the next life  [sic]'

Sam Gowland, of the same season, posted a tribute, sharing photos of him with Mike, captioning one: 'Happy birthday brother! We all miss u very much! [sic]'

And of one of Mike and Sam sat by the fire pit on the show, he wrote: 'Memories for a lifetime! [sic]'

Tragic: Mike was found hanged in a park last March, after friends revealed he had been 'in a dark place' in the months leading up to his death

Devastated: Montana appeared on This Morning shortly after Mike's death and revealed Mike had texted her prior to his death but she didn't reply

Mike was found hanged in a park last March - after friends revealed he had been 'in a dark place' in the months leading up to his death.

He was found dead in Edmonton, north London, the Metropolitan Police confirmed at the time. He was thought to have been struggling to come to terms with the death of his grandmother and was said to have been dealing with debt.

Montana appeared on ITV's This Morning shortly after Mike's death and revealed Mike had texted her prior to his death but she didn't reply.

'I spoke to him two days before. But I'm kicking myself because he text me but I didn't actually reply. I'm really bad on my phone. I wish I had replied,' she said, through tears.

For confidential support or advice call the Samaritans on 116 123 for free or visit www.samaritans.org.

Photos: Sam Gowland, of the same season, posted a tribute, sharing photos of him with Mike. In one he captioned it, 'Happy birthday brother! We all miss u very much [sic]'
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

Tourists visiting downtown Santa Fe for the first time can be forgiven for thinking theyve discovered the Southwests answer to Williamsburg, Virginia: a perfect Spanish colonial city frozen in time.

The truth is a little more complicated. Many of the City Differents historic buildings were constructed in sections over time, just the way early settlers built their adobe houses, starting with one room, and then expanding as their families increased and finances allowed.

Those who want to do more than scratch the surface of Santa Fes adobe surfaces would do well to spend some time with Paul Weideman, the longtime architecture columnist for The Santa Fe New Mexicans Pasatiempo magazine.

Weidemans book, Architecture Santa Fe: A Guidebook, was recently published by Running Lizard Press and the author has been appearing around town and in Albuquerque in support of his effort, which was eight years in the making.

Born in Indianapolis, Weideman spent his early teen years in Southern Rhodesia, Africa. He holds bachelors degrees in biology and editorial journalism, and has been a journalist since 1984. The past 24 years of his career have been spent in northern New Mexico, where his work at The New Mexican was recognized with a special Service Award by the Santa Fe chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 2017.

On a recent warm afternoon, Weideman sat on a bench in Sena Plaza, one of the interior courtyards of 107-137 E. Palace Ave., also known as the Arias de Quiros Site. His 228-page architecture guide is illustrated with color photographs he took using a 1954 Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex camera.

It might be assumed that Sena Plaza and the buildings surrounding it all went up at the same time and look today as they did when they were first constructed. That would be a mistake, Weideman said.

As Weidemans book notes, Sena House, at 125 E. Palace Ave., was originally a small adobe built on land granted to Jose D. Sena by General Diego de Vargas in 1697. The house was eventually expanded to 33 rooms. Sena, who served as a U.S. Army major in the Civil War, reserved the north-side buildings for servants, chickens and storage, while his family lived around three sides of the large placita.

The structure surrounding Sena Plaza originally was one story, but in 1927 artist and builder William Penhallow Henderson was hired to supervise the construction of a second story on the north and east sections of Sena House. Although the modern-day Arias de Quiros Site is known for its portales (porches), older photographs indicate they were added in the early 20th century to provide shade and add aesthetic value, according to Weidemans book.

The emergence of what is today known as Santa Fe Style is the result of historical accidents involving train travel and the arrival of Brazilian architect John Gaw Meem in the City Different to recuperate from tuberculosis at Sunmount Sanitarium.

After the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad bypassed Santa Fe in the 1880s in favor of Lamy because Santa Fes elevation posed an obstacle to building railroad tracks, the city fathers began looking for a way to draw tourists to town. Among those civic boosters were Museum of New Mexico director Edgar Lee Hewett and his associates, Weideman wrote in his book. By 1912, when New Mexico achieved statehood, many decorative brick buildings were being covered with stucco to achieve an adobe look similar to that of Native pueblos, Weideman noted, because Hewett thought this distinctive look would attract visitors.

Meem first arrived in Santa Fe in 1920, seeking a cure for his TB, which was treated by Dr. Frank E. Mera at the Sunmount Sanitarium. Seemingly recovered, he took a job at a Denver architectural firm, even though he had no formal training in architecture. (His degree from the Virginia Military Institute was in structural engineering.)

When Meems tuberculosis resurfaced in 1924, he landed back in bed at Sunmount. Along with fellow patient Cassius McCormick, he formed a professional partnership that would last for several years and change the landscape of Santa Fe forever. In addition to the buildings that Meem designed in the area, including Fuller Lodge at the Los Alamos Ranch School, he built several homes, as well as the first buildings for Santa Fe Indian School.

Meems Spanish Pueblo Revival vision for Santa Fe helped reshape the Plaza when he won a 1931 competition with a plan to transform the space from a commercial center into an exhibit of early architecture, Weideman wrote. Meem followed that up with a large addition to La Fonda, Santa Fes oldest hotel.

What makes Architecture Santa Fe: A Guidebook worth every penny of its $39.95 cover price are the hidden gems within its pages. Most tourists are familiar with the churches near the Plaza, such as the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, the Loretto Chapel and the San Miguel Chapel. But how many visitors make the trek past the art galleries on Canyon Road to the Cristo Rey Church?

Another Meem Spanish Pueblo Revival masterwork, as Weideman calls it, the church at 1120 Canyon Road was built in 1940 and doesnt necessarily invite exploration by the secular-minded. However, hidden within are stunning carved-stone reredos created originally for La Castrense. Built in 1761 on the south side of the Plaza, the soldiers chapel was sold in the mid-1800s by Archbishop Lamy to help pay for the cathedral.

Among the carved figures on the retablo in Cristo Rey are Our Lady of Light, St. James the Greater, St. Joseph, St. Ignatius, St. Francis Solano, St. John Nepomuk and our Lady of Valvanera. Its possible to live in Santa Fe for years without hearing of this treasure.

Despite the considerable and much-deserved attention Weideman gives to Meem in his book, the author is not a Spanish Pueblo Revival purist.

Asked to name some of his favorite buildings in Santa Fe, Weideman immediately came up with SITE Santa Fe, the contemporary art museum in the Railyard. Using a dramatic design by SHoP Architects of New York, local architect Greg Allegretti in 2017 transformed the former beer warehouse by using perforated-aluminum cladding to create triangular prow features in the front and rear of the building.

The construction materials echoed the feeling of the Railyard, Weideman observed.

Weideman also admires some of the buildings that have incorporated salvaged structural elements that have been designed by international architects in the Baca Railyard.

Im a fan of Santa Fe architecture new and old, but I do think the historic district needs to be preserved, he said.
The number of confirmed novel



coronavirus cases from Pune in Maharashtra has risen to 16 so far, a senior official said here on Sunday.

District Collector Naval Kishore Ram said the latest patient to have found positive to the infection had a travel history of Japan.

"The person was admitted in Naidu Hospital here on March 14. The result of his swab sample, which was sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), has returned positive," he said, adding that the person is undergoing treatment and is in stable condition.

Maharashtra has reported 32 COVID-19 cases so far, which is the highest in the country.

Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad township are most affected areas while positive cases were also reported from Mumbai, Nagpur, Yavatmal, Thane and Ahmednagar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The first profession to provide the opportunity for women to respectably work outside of the home was in the field of education. The list of Napa County women educators is quite lengthy. However, some of these women stand out as pioneers in our countys educational development and history. A cross-section of some of these remarkable women is the focus of this column.

The first Napa Valley educator was a woman and Donner Party survivor, Sarah Graves Fosdick Ritchey Forbes. In the late 1840s she and her students pursued the 3Rs in the countys first, and Californias second, non-church- affiliated school. Their crude classroom with its open walls and thatched roof presented Forbes with unique teaching challenges, such as curious wildlife wandering into the space. A year later, William Nash constructed a wood frame building on his upvalley property, located near the present-day Bothe State Park, to serve as Forbes classroom.

By the 1890s, the classroom facilities had vastly improved throughout Napa County. Also by that time, women were gaining stature within the local educational field. A watershed moment in that progress was the election of Anna E. Dixon to the post of Napa County Superintendent of Schools.

In addition to her general administrative responsibilities, this St. Helena resident traveled to all the countys schools to review curriculum and conditions. These journeys took Dixon to remote areas of the county, which required at least a two-day round trip. In carrying out her duties, Dixon paved the way for other local women to achieve leadership roles in education.

One of her successors would be Irene M. Snow. In 1916, the 15-year-old Snow accepted her first educational position as the teacher of the High Valley School in Chiles Valley. The isolated, one-room school house served students grades 1-8. Those students rode for miles by horseback to reach the school. To advance her career, Snow left that school and Napa County, briefly.

Upon her return to the area in 1923, Snow became the first principal of the then-newly constructed Salvador Elementary School. A few years later, 1927, she became the principal of Shearer Elementary School, a post she would hold for nearly a decade. As she performed the duties of that job, Snows talents, skills and dedication to educating Napas youths garnered her the communitys regard and respect. These qualities were also acknowledged by her superiors.

In 1936, Snow became the Napa City Superintendent of Elementary Schools. Her leadership skills were held in high esteem by both her colleagues and subordinates. Some said Snow had a certain finesse, which usually gave her what she wanted. That ability would continue to serve her well, especially in the 1940s and 1950s.

In the early 1940s, Napas population increased rapidly due to the influx of war effort workers. Initially, these individuals arrived here to work to work at military support industries, such as Napas Basalt Shipyard. But many of these temporary residents chose to stay in Napa following the end of World War II. As a result, the schools were quickly exceeding their capacities. Snow readily recognized the need for more schools. Using her certain finesse, she championed the school bond campaign. The election resulted in passage of the school building bond measures.

For another dozen years or so, Snow continued to watch over the education of Napas youth. In 1952, Snow retired as the Napa City Superintendent of Elementary Schools. On April 28, 1959, a new school located on Foster Road, the Irene M. Snow Elementary School, was dedicated in her honor and memory.

A contemporary of Snows was Mary P. Hoyt. However, she began her career in education a year later, 1917, and in Montana. She arrived in California a decade later and finally arrived in Napa in 1941. Hoyt began her local career as a mathematics substitute teacher. However, she quickly became the head counselor at Napa High School. In 1943, Hoyt was appointed principal of Lincoln Elementary School where she carried out the responsibilities of that post until her retirement in 1961.

Her reputation as a high-caliber educator and administrator was recognized far beyond the Napa County limits. Hoyt was the president of the California Elementary School Administrators Association and a member of the California State Study on Education council. In 1959, she was listed in Whos Who in American Education. However, her greatest honor and achievement was to serve as a member of President Eisenhowers Commission on Education.

For more than 170 years, Napa Valley women have assumed the roles and responsibility of molding the future through educating the youth of their era. These professional women have also illuminated the way to greater life options for future generations of women.
TDT | Manama

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, yesterday hailed the Royal decree pardoning 901 inmates for humanitarian reasons.Describing the gesture as caring, the minister said it reflects the humane approach embedded in the comprehensive reform vision of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

The Foreign Minister stated that His Majesty the King is promoting the principles of tolerance with this noble gesture, along with the benevolent approach that calls for reform and considering humanitarian cases.

He also highlighted the great attention paid by His Majesty to Bahraini citizens by opening new doors for those who violated the law and helping them have a normal social life. Dr Al Zayani stressed that this approach expresses the great wisdom, vision and principles of His Majesty the King, and is a clear indication of his constant keenness to make Bahrain a pioneering model of performance, political progress, democratic approach and protection of human rights.

His Majesty King Hamad bin, the Supreme Commander, issued the Royal decree pardoning 901 inmates on Thursday. Inmates for release, Interior Minister said, were identified through a thorough review of their commitment to reform and rehabilitation measures placed by the reform and rehabilitation authority.
Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday said that his government has asked Centre to help in setting up of labs in view of the coronavirus cases.

Speaking to reporters after reviewing the situation in the state on coronavirus, Yediyurappa said, "No new cases were reported on Saturday and Sunday. The cases reported are of people who came from abroad. Government has made all preparation to fight against this. We have asked the central government to help in setting up labs wherever required, shortly we will do it."

"We have taken a lot of precautions to prevent the spread of coronavirus. For the first time shutdown has been declared for a week. People are also cooperating with us, we will take a further decision after one week," he added.

Karnataka government has said that as of now six cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the state, including one person who died.

"Till date six COVID-19 cases have been reported in the state including one death. The 5 Coronavirus positive cases are in isolation at the designated hospital in Bengaluru," the Karnataka government said on Sunday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Express News Service By

BHOPAL: Under threat from their own rebel colleagues, Congress ministers and MLAs are rushing to temples for divine intervention in ending their misery of an intense power struggle. While the 80-odd Congress and allied independent MLAs in Jaipur have offered prayers at temples in Sikar and Dausa districts, public relations and law minister PC Sharma performed the special Shatru Vinashak havan at the Goddess Baglamukhi Temple in Madhya Pradeshs Nalkheda town on Saturday.

Just a few days ago, Leader of Opposition Gopal Bhargava and BJP state president VD Sharma had performed special havan at the same temple. The minister tried to play down his visit to the temple for the special havan, saying he had come to take stock of various development works being carried out by the government. Im also the minister of religious affairs and spirituality department, so I had come to take stock of government works for devotees.

We are at the Maa Baglamukhi Temple and there is no danger to our government. We still have 121 Congress and allied MLAs and when the floor test is held, well have four-five more legislators in our support, Sharma said. According to sources, three-four Congress MLAs, presently in Jaipur, could perform special havan at the same temple on Monday. In Rajasthan, the 80-odd Congress and independent MLAsoffered prayers at a temple in Sikar districts on Friday.
At least 350 Christians have been killed in Nigeria since the start of 2020, according a new report.

The Nigerian-based International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law - or Intersociety, as it is also known - estimates that around 11,500 Christians have been killed in the country since 2015 "when the present central government of Nigeria came on board".

Out of this figure, it attributes 7,400 deaths to militant Fulani herdsmen and 4,000 to the Boko Haram terrorist group.

The bloodshed by Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen is mainly affecting the north of the country.

Boko Haram splinter group, the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP), has also been responsible for a string of deadly attacks and the execution of a pastor in recent months.

Attacks by Boko Haram this year have been especially bad in Borno, Adamawa and Taraba States, the report warns.

"Generally, many, if not most of the victims of Boko Haram/ISWAP attacks in Nigeria's Northeast are Christians," it said.

Other Christians, the report said, were falling victim to roadside attacks by bandits and "highway kidnappers".

Last year, Intersociety said that at least 1,000 Christians had been killed by Fulani herdsmen in 2019 and at least 2,400 the previous year.

It estimates that at least 20 clergymen have been murdered and another 50 abducted since 2015, while at least 2,000 churches and Christian worship centres have been targeted in arson attacks, with Fulani herdsmen being responsible for about 1,500 of these, and Boko Haram 500.

"Nigeria has fully become a killing field of defenceless Christians," Intersociety said.

Reposted with permission from Christian Today
Patrick Allen

Allen is director of the Oregon Health Authority.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is in Oregon. New cases have appeared in fewer than half of Oregons counties  but the virus has spread apprehension and disruption to all corners of the state. Public health officials are learning more about COVID-19 every day, including who is most at-risk and how far the virus could spread in Oregon. Yet, one thing about this rapidly escalating situation is starkly clear: As state and local health officials take action to stem the spread of COVID-19, all of us can help slow new cases, protect people who are most vulnerable to the virus and save lives.

Heres what we know: The virus is spread by coughing and sneezing. It appears to be as contagious as the flu  each sick person is likely to infect between 1-3 other people  but its less contagious than airborne diseases like measles. Most people (about 8 in 10) experience mild symptoms. People at greatest risk are those over age 60 and those who have other serious medical conditions (e.g., heart disease or diabetes).

Modeling tells us that if left unchecked, approximately 75,000 Oregonians could catch COVID-19 in the next 3 months. But those numbers arent inevitable. Swift, effective, science-based solutions can help slow the virus spread.

The state is taking action. Gov. Kate Brown declared an emergency and announced a temporary, 4-week moratorium on large gatherings of more than 250 people  the first statewide ban in the nation. This social distancing strategy denies the virus the opportunity to spread quickly and easily among people by reducing the close contact COVID-19 needs to leap from one person to another.

Share your opinion Submit your essay of 500-700 words on a highly topical issue or a theme of particular relevance to the Pacific Northwest, Oregon and the Portland area to commentary@oregonian.com. Please include your email and phone number for verification.

The governor also closed schools until April 1 and canceled non-essential school activities. She has recommended businesses limit in-person meetings, offer teleworking and take other steps to create space between people.

The Oregon Health Authority also took steps to fight the spread of COVID-19.

The agencys public health laboratory has provided the first line of testing defense, testing nearly 400 people. But we know testing has been in short supply, as Oregon navigated limited federal test kits and other components, which forced Oregon epidemiologists to prioritize the highest risk cases.

Last week, the health authority announced new steps to expand testing. As commercial laboratories ramp up in Oregon, the agency made it clear any outpatient clinician can order a test from a private lab. Just as important, the state will now allow health care workers to use a regular mask and other protections when collecting a sample, instead of more protective N95 masks and other equipment previously mandated. This change will make testing simpler to administer and easier to obtain, while protecting health care staff. Finally, state health officials have forged agreements with hospital systems across Oregon to conduct COVID-19 testing, further bolstering Oregons testing capacity.

To protect older adults, state health officials issued the most restrictive visitation guidelines in the nation for nursing homes and similar facilities. They ensure homes will screen visitors for COVID-19 illness, reduce the number of people entering facilities and limit community activities.

Most important, state and local health officials have worked together to investigate new cases, notify others who may be at risk and isolate people who could spread the disease to others. Each day, health officials share information through media briefings, web updates, social media posts and a daily COVID-19 newsletter.

Health officials understand that, in many cases, the public wants more details about sick people. Yet, public health workers must balance transparency with a duty to guard patient privacy and protect the public by ensuring that people whove had contact with a sick person feel safe to come forward, isolate themselves and shield others.

Oregon is about to see a dramatic surge in new cases. COVID-19 has spread to hundreds  and soon thousands  of Oregonians. The virus is here now. And it is spreading.

But we have the power to slow COVID-19 and ultimately stop it. We have the power to keep the virus away from older adults and others who are most likely to become seriously ill. We have the power to preserve precious health care resources (like tests, hospital beds, equipment and  and most critically  provider attention) for the people who need it most. We have the power to adapt to the temporary disruptions in our lives, knowing were protecting ourselves, our loved ones, our neighbors and even strangers we encounter by chance.

Action is the antidote to the pandemic. There are simple, concrete steps each of us can take to blunt the virus in Oregon. If youre older, avoid close contact with other people, especially those who are sick. If youre not well, call your doctor before you seek a COVID-19 test. If you do contract COVID-19, stay home and away from others. And no matter who you are, wash your hands. Cover your cough. Clean the surfaces around you. Dont touch your face.

Ironically, at a time when we must use social distancing to prevent the steepest rise in COVID-19 cases, its the actions we must take together that will stem the spread of the virus. COVID-19 is a crisis we all face. Every single one of us has the most important role to play to combat the virus and protect those around us.
Diocese of Springfield Bishop Thomas John Paprocki said Saturday that all Catholics within the diocese are dispensed from their obligation to attend Sunday Mass until further notice as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paprocki and the 129 parishes in the diocese said the faithful who are well are encouraged, but not obligated, during this time to continue to attend Mass.
The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) has hit out at Chief Minister Pramod Sawant-led government in the State on its preparedness in handling coronavirus disease and blamed it for not being able to set up even a testing lab.

Accusing the government of only giving statements and promises for the last two months, State Congress unit president Girish Chodankar questioned Sawant and health minister Vishwajit Rane, saying, "Where are we supposed to go and test ourselves if we feel we have symptoms that can lead to being tested positive for coronavirus."

"None of the doctors in Goa are aware of where to send patients for a test in Goa to check if one is suffering from coronavirus. They send samples somewhere, nobody knows and get the report in days. Does the government of the day feel that Goa doesn't need a testing lab as yet even after preparing for two months?," questioned Girish.

He further said, "The Department of Health Research, Indian Council of Medical Research under Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, has recently declared a list of 51 laboratories testing for COVID-19 and 56 additional collection labs across India but Goa couldn't find a single mention."

"If China can build a hospital and get it off the ground in 10 days, why can't our government start a laboratory in two months to check patients who are suffering from coronavirus symptoms?" he asked.

"The people of Goa have not yet got a formal testing lab that was promised two years back. What will it take for our government to tackle this disease seriously?" he questioned.

The Congress leader went on to question Sawant and Rane if enough protective measures are being taken to protect hospital staff, government staff and the public at large.

"What protective measures have been taken to protect doctors, nurses and other hospital and health centre staff who are the first point of contact with patients? And the other government staff who come in contact with thousands of people daily? Has the government, sanctioned the distribution of free protective gear including 3 ply masks and gloves? Has the government arranged dedicated ambulances to handle suspected patients?" he said.

The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) also accused the State government of corruption after the government invoked the Epidemic Disease Act of 1897.

Girish said, "The only thing left for Rane to do is indulge in corrupt emergency purchases."

"The intention of the health minister is very clear, he wants to indulge in emergency purchases. If a health minister can indulge in the corruption of Rs 30-40 crore on medicine purchases under the emergency purchases clause during a non-emergency period, imagine the corruption he will indulge in during this emergency period," he alleged.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-16 03:22:26|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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RABAT, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Morocco will set up a fund worth 1.07 billion U.S. dollars to handle the economic hardships resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak.

King Mohammed VI of Morocco instructed the government to immediately create a fund dedicated to the management of the hardships resulting from COVID-19, a statement by the royal cabinet said on Sunday.

The fund will support the public health sector, mainly to cover the urgent costs of upgrading its infrastructures, according to the statement.

Morocco confirmed on Sunday 11 more cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of the infected persons in the North African country to 28.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 22:13:42|Editor: Liu

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Soliders take part in the opening ceremony of a joint military exercise of Cambodia and China in Cambodia's southwestern Kampot province, on March 15, 2020. Cambodia and China launched the fourth joint drill on counter-terrorism and humanitarian rescue at the Techo Sen Chumkiri live-fire field in Cambodia's southwestern Kampot province on Sunday. (Photo by Cui Songrou/Xinhua)

KAMPOT, Cambodia, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia and China launched the fourth joint drill on counter-terrorism and humanitarian rescue at the Techo Sen Chumkiri live-fire field in Cambodia's southwestern Kampot province on Sunday.

Gen. Vong Pisen, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian presided over the opening ceremony of the drill. The exercise dubbed "Dragon Gold 2020" will last till April 1.

Speaking at the event, Gen. Pisen said the exercise was crucial to exchanging experience and further enhancing abilities for military personnel of the two countries in the fight against terrorism and in humanitarian work.

"It will further enhance cooperation between Cambodia and China on anti-terrorism and humanitarian rescue, and contribute to upholding peace, stability and development in the two countries and in the region," he said.

Ambassador Wang said the exercise will not only deepen bilateral military cooperation, but also further build abilities for soldiers of the two countries.

During the drill, the participants will carry on training programs such as operating anti-terror equipment, live-firing practice, demining, man hunting, as well as search and rescue.

Cambodia and China conducted the first joint drill in December 2016.
SPRINGFIELD  At St. Johns Congregational Church the worship service wasnt the same. Instead of handshakes, there were waves. Instead of encouraging people to move in closer, members were urged to spread out leaving three and four seats between friends.

With the outbreak of COVID-19, there were fewer people at the service and even the sermon The Cure for the Crisis focused on hope in the era of the virus.

Many churches this week joined schools, libraries, casinos and city halls in closing their doors to worship services. But some, including St. Johns, decided services would continue with precautions.

God doesnt want us to have a sense of fear. We are being careful but not afraid, said Robert Ralls, an elder for the church.

The church leaders met together to discuss the pandemic and agreed they could continue the Sunday service, but it would not be business as usual. The traditional passing of peace with handshakes was ended, people would not be encouraged to gather in the lobby and talk after the service and the annual First Ladys Luncheon was postponed from next week until September, he said.

We understand if people dont feel they should come, Ralls said.

The church on Hancock Street typically draws anywhere between 300 and 400 members on a Sunday but this week attendance was cut to about 125 people, said Norm Francis, an usher for the service and a 20-year member of the church.

The greatest thing is awareness. Some members dont know what to do, Francis said, adding the service is one way to educate people about how they can stay safe to avoid spreading the virus.

Member Annette Garner, of Springfield, said she understands it is important to protect members, especially the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions who are most vulnerable to the virus, but was happy church leaders decided to hold services.

This is a time when we should be running to God, she said. We find healing and strength comes from fellowship and prayer.

Garner said it was important for her to come to the service to pray for family and friends and her community.

As part of the service, speakers talked about the virus and the importance of following basic guidelines to prevent it spreading. One member told the congregation she is concerned some are not taking it seriously enough and putting those who are vulnerable at risk.

It is difficult for me because I like to hug. But Im going to hug you from a distance, she said.

St. Johns members are currently searching for a new pastor, so services were conducted by guest Minister Daryl Griffin. His sermon focused on the coronavirus and having faith that it will end.

In the annals of history God has a way of stepping in just in time, he said.

Leading up to the weekend, many church officials announced worship services were being canceled until further notice. Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski suspended Masses and other activities in churches in Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin and Berkshire counties on Friday and Rev. Douglas Fisher, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts, recommended members suspend public worship.

In addition, many others including Temple Beth El of Springfield and Beit Ahavah Synagogue of Northampton have halted all prayer services, classes, meetings and other programs. The Springfield Jewish Community Center announced all operations are being shut down at the end of Sunday until at least March 30.

Many churches are finding ways to offer members services online so they can participate without risking exposure to the coronavirus.

The First Church of Christ in Longmeadow canceled Sunday services, but Rev. Pam McGrath, the senior pastor, conducted a service online through Facebook Live. It was also recorded on a DVD for members who are not that computer savvy and posted on the church website.

It is an opportunity to try worship in a new way and it is a chance to pray with people we did not know, she said.

One of the advantages of Facebook Live is members could ask for prayers and interact with her and other members. It went well so McGrath said she may continue to record and post services or part of services on the church website.

McGrath said she knows it isnt a perfect solution since many pastors agree people find Jesus in the person next to them and among their fellow members, but it is a help.

Given the large amount of isolation and we need to be thoughtful of each other and stay connected, she said. In my line of work and I find it is in the hard places often we find good.

McGrath said she is especially concerned about people like the elderly who are vulnerable to the virus and live alone. She is reminding members that they can still call each other on the telephone and asking them to reach out to anyone who may be isolated.

Already the Catholic Diocese airs the Chalice of Salvation Mass at 10 a.m., Sunday on Channel-22 WWLP-TV so priests across Western Massachusetts encouraged members to watch the service at home, said Mark E. Dupont, spokesman for the Diocese.

We are fortunate to have Chalice especially at this time, he said.

The Diocese has also closed schools for at least two weeks, following the practices of the public school districts, suspended in-home and nursing home visits and multiple other programs. The Catholic Life Conference that attracts about 1,400 people, was rescheduled from March to Oct. 17, he said.

Churches will continue holding funerals with small gatherings of family members and friends. We will be respectful of the needs of families and the deceased, Dupont said.

Few weddings are scheduled for March so that isnt much of a concern, he said.

Canceling Masses was a very difficult decision, especially because people want to turn to their faith at a time of crisis. Because news of the pandemic changes daily, Dupont said there is no definite date when services will resume.

For Ernest Laflamme, of Chicopee, missing Mass was difficult even though he said he is 88 and is one of the people most vulnerable to the coronavirus. He said he and his wife always sit in the same pew in the middle of the church and observes many regular members do the same.

Before the cancelation, his pastor at Chicopees St. Rose De Lima Church, removed the holy water that members dip their fingers in to make the sign of the cross as a blessing. Parishioners also stopped shaking hands and were taking other measures, Laflamme said.

It is very important to me. I never miss Mass, he said.

He tried to watch Chalice of Salvation on television but stopped. Laflamme said he missed the interaction with other members and watching his priest, who always makes a point of talking with the children as he goes by.

I dont want to get in the habit of that. Everyone has their lazy moments and I dont want to be saying Ill just stay home and watch it on TV, Laflamme said.

Chester Szetela, of Chicopee, said he is 82 and his wife if 85 and neither can remember a time when Mass was canceled, especially for two weeks.

The two rarely miss the 5 p.m. Saturday service at Christ the King in Ludlow and only if there is an ice storm or one of them is ill.

His wife watched Chalice of Salvation on Sunday, but Szetela said he got busy working in the garage and didnt.

I absolutely miss it, he said. That was a very private hour for me even if I was with 300 to 400 people. It is about my relationship between me and my priest and God.

It is very comforting to me. It is such a nice hour for me, Szetela said.
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Defending Modi of Delhi Violence has an Ominous Design

by Arun Srivastava

Some liberal and anti-Sangh activists have been feeling delighted at Narendra Modi deputing the NSA chief Ajit Doval to the riot-hit areas of Delhi. In a normal course it was the duty and responsibility of the Home Minister, Amit Shah, to visit the area and assuage the feelings of the riot victims. But the task of applying balm to the injured was done by Doval at the initiative of Modi.

This move of Modi is being interpreted as Amit Shah falling out of favour with Modi. But this is not the correct evaluation. This perception is based on completely skewed ideas. He was handpicked by Modi to perform the task of the Home Minister. Quite naturally his missing from the scene and failure to effectively handle the riot issue is bound to raise questions. Some spices was added to the speculation as the riot took place during US President Trumps visit to India.

One ought to realise that in arithmetic one plus one is always not two; it often becomes eleven. The relationship between Modi and Shah must be seen from this perspective. This again certainly does not imply that there is complete lack of coordination between the top government functionaries, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, who otherwise are known to work in unison.

How could anyone emphatically say that they are still not working in unison? Just after a couple of days of the Delhi mayhem Shah was in Calcutta on the mission to strengthen the party at the grassroot and boost up the morale of the vigilantes. Significantly the saffron cadres raised the slogan Desh ke gaddaron ko, Goli maro saalo ko. This they raised just before the eyes of Shah at his Shahid Minar Maidan public meeting where he was being felicitated.

If at all Modi was angry with him or did not approve of his attitude and response to the Delhi riots in which at least 53 persons were killed, Shah would not have dared to allow his mercenaries to chant this hate slogan. Since they rised this slogan and did the task with much zeal, it obviously implied that everything is fine inside the BJP.

Those who think that Modi is angry with Shah wrongly construe that Shah failed to control the riots in northeast Delhi while US President Donald Trump was visiting the national Capital. It is worth taking note that neither Trump nor his Administration back home made any severe criticism of the riots. Everything passed off peacefully and smoothly. This was the politically correct occasion to send the message to the Rightist forces.

Shall one presume that Shah has been so naive not to understand the implication of any kind of dereliction of duty on his part? Can anyone believe that he would have indulged in any kind of action which might have maligned or endangered the prestige and image of his boss? An insight into the timing of the Delhi pogrom would make it clear that it was planned with a major perspective and the BJP was not at all concerned with the lurking fear of inviting criticism.

The world bodies have been criticising the Modi Government for not cracking down on the anti-Muslim or ultra-Hindu forces that carried out the massacre, but Modi is unmoved. His government has been issuing one-liner clarifications; it is an internal affair of India. This makes explicit that the Modi Government is least bothered of the criticism and also does not like to engage a third party.

Modi deputing the NSA Ajit Doval to monitor the implication and magnitude of the riot need to be seen in another backdrop. It can be perceived as the government looking into the possibilities of involvement of anti-Indian forces.

Those who argue that the PM was increasingly losing trust in Shahs capabilities also have valid points and reasons. They say that Doval, who holds the rank of a Cabinet Minister and reports only to the PM, doesnt share good vibes with Amit Shah. In fact Shah has long been resisting the NSAs interference in internal security matters. But, first the Kashmir situation and then the Delhi riots seem to have given him an opening.

They have strong arguments. But had this been real and correct in the nature, then by this time many significant changes would have taken place in the BJP and also in the government and Shah certainly would not have continued to enjoy the trust of Modi.

If Modi did not like him and his style of functioning then there is no reason for Modi to carry him. His approach to the Delhi riot certainly has come as a strange behaviour from a person who was responsible for maintaining calm in the national Capital. Why should the person who was visiting door-to-door only a fortnight ago, distributing the BJPs pamphlets during Delhi Assembly elections, refuse to step out from his home and office?

Had Modi made him realise that the violence was in reaction to his party colleagues and his own incendiary statements made during elections, like Traitors should be shot, Muslims daughters and wives should be raped and Press the EVM button so hard that people in Shaheen Bagh feel the current, he certainly have refrained from re-enacting the same mistake in Calcutta. But the huge participation of such elements at the Calcutta rally makes it clear that Shah still commands the PMs support.

The Delhi Police has been a highly politicised and communalised force in the country. The then Commissioner of the Delhi Police has been a known chum of Shah. But the moment the bureaucrat comes to know that his boss fallen from the grace of the king, he shifts his loyalty. Obviously there was no tangible reason for the Delhi Police chief, Amulya Patnaik, to indulge in chamchagiri of Shah, even after knowing that he had lost his image and relevance.

To serve his own interest Modi continued to send mixed messages. This was primarily the reason that Delhi Police could not show its spine and check the violence much more effectively. The police displaying a deliberate apathetic attitude and in certain cases even actively participating in anti-Muslim pogrom, made it explicit that it was under spcific instructions from certain quarters to do so.

No doubt it is an open secret that the BJP had to suffer immensely for the abrasive manners and functioning of Amit Shah. He has harmed the interest of the BJP-RSS and more than that the image of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. None can forget his statement on the CAA and NRC in the Lok Sabha wherein he emphatically announced that the NRC would be implemented.

Any other Prime Minister would have preferred to shift Sheh to some other department, but Modi continued to repose his trust him. For Modi he is indispensable. Though the BJP suffered due to his rasping style of functioning, at no stage Modi made any sincere effort to tame him. What does it imply? There is no denying the fact that other BJPs escalating unpopularity in West Bengal clearly reflected in Amit Shahs Kolkata visit on Sunday. Even the Opposition parties in the State, the Congress and the CPI-M, took out rallies in different parts of Kolkata in protest against the one-day visit of Amit Shah. But Modi did not pull him up.

It cannot be denied that the defeat of the BJP in five States owes to Shahs high handedness and intolerance, surprisingly Modi did not initiate disciplinary action against him. Truly speaking, Amit Shah acts according to the directives of Modi. Modi proposes and Shah disposes.

It is said that the Delhi violence will have an adverse impact on Bihar, West Bengal polls for the NDA. There is little uncertainty about it. But the question arises: why does Modi still continue to carry Shah and does not dump him? This would at least send the message that Modi intends to start afresh. What is Modis compulsion? These questions need to be probed thoroughly.

Even a layman comprehends that introduction of the CAA and NRC have immensely harmed the BJP. But surprisingly, Modi is unconcerned of this. Obviously the question arises: why? No doubt to bring the CAA and then the NRC/NPR is a trick to polarise the communities, but at the same time it has also adversely affected large populations, such as Dalits, Adivasis, SC/STs, other backward castes. Why did this brute reality evade the political perception of the BJP leadership especially the Prime Minister.

The outcome of the recently held Delhi Assembly elections and, before that, of Jharkhand, has clearly indicated that people are determined to vote for a party that delivers on its promises, not just harps on Hindutva, nationalism and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

It is a known fact that all the ills that inflict the party and the Modi Government are the creation of Amit Shah, but astonishingly Modi has so far refrained from showing him the door and try to salvage the situation. Whether it is the case of lynching of Muslims or unleashing of hate campaign against them or maligning the educational institutions, a closer look would reveal that Amit Shah was the brain behind all such operations.

Leaders like Anurag Thakur or Pravesh Sharma or Kapil Mishra taking to the political line of hate speech have borrowed from him. He is their ideologue, the political guru of such elements who have been growing at a faster pace in the BJP. Often the people and even some senior BJP leaders lament at the deteriorating political culture of the party. But these people too attribute this to the functioning of Amit Shah.

While the people of this great country are yet to forget the derisive remark of Amit Shah on the women of Shaheen Bagh just in the midst of Delhi Assembly elections; press the EVM so that Shaheen Bagh gets a bitter shock, our PM has conveniently forgotten it. There are a large number of such instances which underline that Amit Shah has been groomed by Modi, right from the days of the Gujarat massacre of 2002. Obviously it would be wrong to believe at this stage that Modi does not approve of Shahs style. His posture points to some impending danger and the people of the country must be cautious of any such imminent development.

The author is a senior journalist and can be contacted at sriv52[at]gmail.com
You cant miss the contemporary political undertones in The Plot Against America, David Simons HBO adaptation of Philip Roths 2004 novelin fact, theyre barely even undertones. Hewing fairly close to Roths book, the six-part miniseries is set in an alternate version of America where Charles Lindbergh wins the presidency in 1940 on a platform of anti-war isolationism and thinly veiled anti-Semitism. Roth got the idea for the novel after learning that the celebrated aviator, a member of the pro-fascist America First Committee, was floated by some right-wing Republicans as a potential rival to Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

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Roths novel, one of his best, wrestled with his own ambivalence about his identity. He resented being regarded as a Jewish writer rather than an American writer, and fiercely resisted any pressure to act as a Jewish spokesman or representative. The Levin family of Newark, New Jersey, at the center of The Plot Against America, is based on Roths own, so much so that he gave the Levins the corresponding first names of his parents, his brother, and himself. But the most vigorous proponent of Roths full-throated patriotism in The Plot Against America is not Philip (Azhy Robertson), who observes much of the action with a childs wonder and confusion, but his father, Herman (Morgan Spector). Herman begins the story viewing the U.S. as his homeland, a place where fascism can never take hold, and each episode chronicles the steady erosion of that faith under the Lindbergh administration.

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The miniseries may be rich in mid-20th-century New Jersey atmospherethe pin curls, lace curtains, swing bands, dark wood furniture, and burly guys slinging potato sacks in tweed capsbut its likely to trigger PSTD lingering from 2016. Its all here: Herman ranting before the election, Everyone knows what he is. Everyone I talk to, and his Jewish boss countering, Hes tapped into something, maybe not with us, but among the goyim. By the end of the second episode weve come to the grim stations of the cross that is election night, early-evening optimism with the Levins laughing around the radio segueing into a final shot of a solitary Herman glowering into the shadows of an uncertain future. He wants to fight, but his wife, Bess (a quietly mesmerizing Zoe Kazan), is far more disposed to flight. When the family takes a sightseeing trip to Washington, she fears that every seemingly helpful person they encounter, from cops to a tour guide, is a secret brownshirt.

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Roths novel concerned itself with political catastrophe as it unfolds before Philips increasingly wised-up eyes. Simons miniseries refracts the events through each character as he or she responds differently to the slowly building menace: stubborn Herman; nervy Bess (who is soon lobbying for a move to Canada); Sandy (Caleb Malis), Philips older brother, smitten with the dashing figure Lindbergh cuts and an eager participant in an exchange program designed to send urban Jewish kids to live with heartland farm families to give them a taste of the real America. The programs founder, Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf (John Turturro), is a smooth accommodationist with a South Carolina drawl, thrilled to serve the handsome young president. In the novel, the rabbi is merely a slick opportunist, but Simon and Turturro have transformed him into an object lesson in disastrous self-delusion. Bess sister, Evelyn (Winona Ryder), marries him, and he plucks her from impending spinsterhood into wealth and influenceuntil one night she finds herself dancing at a White House dinner with the Nazi foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. By the end of the miniseries, Ryders exquisite cheekbones look brittle enough to crack.

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The Plot Against America is entertaining: handsome, well-acted, and full of tensely plotted sequencesmost notably, a road trip that Herman and Sandy make to Kentucky to rescue a little boy whose mother has been murdered by an ascendant KKK. But it has a slippery relationship to reality. Its neither an unabashed counterfactual fantasia, like The Man in the High Castle, nor, for obvious reasons, especially realistic. It suffers from the solipsism of its source material; Roth was always terrible at imagining the experiences of any other group targeted by American prejudice. In the miniseries, silently noble blacks attend the funeral for Walter Winchell, assassinated after he launches a presidential campaign to defeat Lindbergh, and the Levins Italian neighbors show up to offer the family bundt cake and a loaded pistol when anti-Semitic violence breaks out on the streets of their neighborhood. But what, exactly, is happening to these and other minorities as racist and fascist forces, what Hermans boss describes as Cossacks, grow ever more emboldened? These assholes, Herman spits out, Theyve always been there, but now they have permission to crawl out from under their rocks. And when they do, something tells me they come after more than just the Jews.

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The Plot Against America reminds its viewer so incessantly of its parallels to 21st-century politics that it often feels more like a parable than a drama. This is how it starts, says Herman just after the election. Everyone thinking they can work with the guy, bring him around. Congress wont stand for it! he protests to his boss after the man predicts that Lindbergh will ally the U.S. with Hitler. Wont they? the man replies. We dont have enough Democrats left after the landslide. Herman berates his merchant brother for deciding Lindbergh is not so bad because he seems to be good for business. And when Hermans nephew Alvin, who volunteers to fight with the British and comes back missing a leg, is approached by resistance agents to help with a plot to take Lindbergh out, he remarks, of the vice president, Even if you pull it off, you still end up with Wheeler. Hes no better than Lindbergh. He might even be worse.

Its hard to immerse yourself in a fictional, historical world that wont stop buttonholing you to point out its similarities to the real, contemporary one. The Plot Against America isnt agitpropnot quiteand God only knows Roths novel was darkly predictive of the slide toward authoritarianism weve witnessed over the past three and a half years. But the series feet are in the 1940s while its head is in the late 2010s. And as a result doesnt feel like it fully belongs anywhere.
The coronavirus is adding an extra layer of concern for emergency responders like police, firefighters and ambulance personnel.

But they're not about to say no to those in need, officials from Lehigh, Northampton and Warren counties say.

"We're responding to this as if it's a normal call," said Ryan Hoff, director of operations for Suburban EMS. "There's no scrutinization that's taking place, there's no stigma attached to it with EMS providers. At the end of the day we respond to any kind of emergency without hesitation."

What emergency officials from dispatchers to front-line responders are doing is preparing, communicating and taking extra care in cleaning and disinfecting their rigs and other gear. For Suburban EMS, that preparation has also included segregating administrative and operational personnel in different buildings, effective last Thursday and going forward, Hoff said.

Officials are also stressing the importance of honesty and transparency on the part of those calling for help.

"We have, issued by the state, advanced interrogation questions specifically designed to ask the person about COVID-19 and if EMS and police are dispatched as such they will take the necessary precautions," said Warren County Public Safety Director Frank Wheatley.

For every call that comes in, dispatchers will relay to responders what to expect so they can don gloves and other protective gear as needed, including eye protection and an N95 mask if needed, said Robert Novatnack, Bethlehems emergency management coordinator.

"We are responding to every call that comes in, no matter what it is," he said. "And they are dispatched the same way in a timely manner through Northampton County 911. We just assess -- they do an assessment of what's happening in real time and then they make a judgement call of how the call will be handled."

That line of clear, accurate communication is vital to keeping responders safe, and workers safety is a top worry of emergency managers.

"It really is all about communication and asking the right probing questions to attempt to garner the right information," said Rick Molchany, Lehigh County's director of general services.

COVID-19 as the coronavirus is known is, of course, not the only communicable disease emergency workers need to avoid. But it is a new and quickly evolving situation adding an extra layer of concern.

Every day its more and more and we know were not at the end yet, Molchany said. If its flu season, were also concerned about that so its not just COVID, but COVID is really a concern right now because no one was inoculated for it and thats why the risk of infection is that much greater than the common flu.

Novatnack urged the public to keep current with coronavirus developments, including through the Bethlehem Bureau of Health website that is being updated daily.

"It's changing not only daily, it's changing hourly, a lot of the things that are happening," he said. "It's going to be a bigger story in the near future with the way things are going."

South Whitehall Township police on Saturday announced that on non-emergency, police-related calls, the responding officer will first attempt to speak via telephone with those involved, in an effort to reduce the risk of further spreading the virus.

"If the incident requires an officer to respond to meet with you in person, the officer may call you and ask you to step outside so the recommended distance of approximately 6 feet apart can be utilized to minimize exposure," police Chief Glen Dorney stated. "Anyone who does not feel comfortable stepping outside can simply request the officer respond inside as normal.

All emergency calls will be handled appropriately and there will be no phone call prior to the response. Officers will respond as expeditiously as possible.

Pennsylvania State Police said Friday theyre prepared to shift manpower between stations, should staffing shortages arise due to illness.

The public can be confident that the PSP has the plans and resources in place to respond to emergencies and support our law enforcement partners, the agency said in a coronavirus update, adding that troopers are following the advice and guidelines of both the Pennsylvania Department of Health and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

We are reminding our members to follow the same types of best practices as the general public: wash their hands, keep workspaces clean and stay home if they feel ill.

The COVID-19 illness is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Symptoms of fever, cough and shortness of breath may appear two to 14 days after exposure, according to the CDC.

The virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet) and through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

Prevention steps include frequent hand-washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, or if not readily available using a hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol, and avoiding close contact. Those who are sick are urged to stay home, cover coughs and sneezes and wear a face mask. In addition, frequently touched surfaces should be cleaned and disinfected, including tables, doorknobs, light switches, countertops, handles, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets and sinks.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email him. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Germany tries to halt U.S. interest in firm working on coronavirus vaccine FILE PHOTO: Employee Philipp Hoffmann, of German biopharmaceutical company CureVac, demonstrates research workflow on a vaccine for the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease at a laboratory in Tuebingen

By Paul Carrel and Andreas Rinke

BERLIN (Reuters) - Berlin is trying to stop Washington from persuading a German company seeking a coronavirus vaccine to move its research to the United States, prompting German politicians to insist no country should have a monopoly on any future vaccine.

German government sources told Reuters on Sunday that the U.S. administration was looking into how it could gain access to a potential vaccine being developed by a German firm, CureVac.

Earlier, the Welt am Sonntag German newspaper reported that U.S. President Donald Trump had offered funds to lure CureVac to the United States, and the German government was making counter-offers to tempt it to stay.

Responding to the report, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, wrote on Twitter: "The Welt story was wrong."

A U.S. official said: "This story is wildly overplayed ... We will continue to talk to any company that claims to be able to help. And any solution found would be shared with the world."

A German Health Ministry spokeswoman, confirming a quote in the newspaper, said: "The German government is very interested in ensuring that vaccines and active substances against the new coronavirus are also developed in Germany and Europe."

"In this regard, the government is in intensive exchange with the company CureVac," she added.

Welt am Sonntag quoted an unidentified German government source as saying Trump was trying to secure the scientists' work exclusively, and would do anything to get a vaccine for the United States, "but only for the United States."

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told a news conference that the government's coronavirus crisis committee would discuss the CureVac case on Monday.

CureVac issued a statement on Sunday, in which it said: "The company rejects current rumors of an acquisition".

CureVac's main investor Dietmar Hopp said he was not selling and wanted CureVac to develop a coronavirus vaccine to "help people not just regionally but in solidarity across the world."

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"I would be glad if this could be achieved through my long-term investments out of Germany," he added.

A German Economy Ministry spokeswoman said Berlin "has a great interest" in producing vaccines in Germany and Europe.

She cited Germany's foreign trade law, under which Berlin can examine takeover bids from non-EU, so-called third countries "if national or European security interests are at stake".

EXPERIMENTAL VACCINE

Florian von der Muelbe, CureVac's chief production officer and co-founder, told Reuters last week the company had started with a multitude of coronavirus vaccine candidates and was now selecting the two best to go into clinical trials.

The privately-held company based in Tuebingen, Germany hopes to have an experimental vaccine ready by June or July to then seek the go-ahead from regulators for testing on humans.

On its website, CureVac said CEO Daniel Menichella early this month met Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and senior representatives of pharmaceutical and biotech companies to discuss a vaccine.

CureVac in 2015 and 2018 secured financial backing for development projects from its investor the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, working on shots to prevent malaria and influenza.

In the field of so-called mRNA therapeutics, CureVac competes with U.S. biotech firm Moderna and German rival BioNTech, which Pfizer <PFE.N> has identified as a potential collaboration partner.

Drugs based on mRNA provide a type of genetic blueprint that can be injected into the body to instruct cells to produce the desired therapeutic proteins. That contrasts with the conventional approach of making these proteins in labs and bio-reactors.

In the case of vaccines, the mRNA prompts body cells to produce so-called antigens, the tell-tale molecules on the surface of viruses, that spur the immune system into action.

Companies working on other coronavirus-vaccine approaches include Johnson & Johnson <JNJ.N> and INOVIO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. <INO.O>.

(Additional reporting by Ludwig Burger and Patricia Weiss in Frankfurt; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Alexander Smith)
CHS alum named to dean's list

Colleen Corrigan was named to the University of Southern Californias Dornsife College of Arts and Sciences fall dean's list.

Corrigan is a 2017 graduate of Corvallis High School and is double-majoring in human biology and nongovernmental organizations and social change. She plans to spend spring semester studying in Melbourne, Australia. She is the daughter of George and Lisa Corrigan.

To be named to the list, students must be carrying at least 12 graded credits and achieve a 3.5 or higher grade-point average.

Local student selected to dean's list

Adrienne L. Spitzer of Corvallis was named to the fall semester dean's list at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.

Spitzer is a sophomore in the College of Liberal Arts.

To qualify for the list, a student must complete 12 or more letter-graded credits while attaining a 3.66 grade-point average.

OSU students recognized for performance

Rosendin, a $2 billion electrical contracting firm, recently recognized students at Oregon State University for outstanding performance at the 2020 Associated Schools of Construction Student Competition Regions 6 and 7 in Sparks, Nevada.

The 33rd annual ASC competition challenged top college teams to present solutions to complex construction problems. As a sponsor of the Electrical Problem, Rosendin challenged teams to learn a software tool called SCRUM and use it to create a proposal to add floors to a partially occupied 10-story medical building.

Rosendin awarded students from Oregon State third place for their presentation on the project scope and costs, collective bargaining agreements, subcontractor solutions, safety protocols, and how well they used SCRUM to manage daily priorities.

OSU graduate Naomi Salgado, who competed in the ASC student competition two years in a row, completed Rosendins internship program in 2017, and now works as an assistant project manager at the companys office in Prineville.

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He's expecting his second child with his fiancee Katy Perry, but before this relationship he admits that he 'wasn't happy.'

That's what Orlando Bloom said in an interview published Sunday in the Sunday Times, and in an effort to improve his situation, he took a friend's revolutionary advice.

The friend 'said, "If you want to be serious about a relationship, go celibate for a few months and figure it out,"' Bloom, 43, recalled.

He 'wasn't happy': That's what Orlando Bloom said in an interview published Sunday in the Sunday Times, and in an effort to improve his situation, he took a friend's revolutionary advice

'It takes away the idea of going to a party and thinking, "Who am I going to meet?" I was suddenly like, "Oh, I can have a relationship with a woman that is just friends."'

Initially, the Lord Of The Rings actor was going to adopt the practice for a shorter time.

'[I] was going to do three months,' he said, but 'I was really enjoying the way I was relating to women, and to the feminine within myself.'

'I know that sounds crazy,' he added (thankfully, in today's culture, it actually does not sound that crazy, in fact).

Celibate: Orlando revealed he took on a vow of celibacy that even included abstaining from masturbation for six months

Elsewhere in the interview, Bloom said that he thinks 'porn is super disruptive to your sex life, to your libido,' and he revealed that he 'didnt even' masturbate during his six-month vow of celibacy.

'Completely nothing. It was insane,' he continued.

'I dont think its healthy. I dont think it was advisable. You have to keep it moving down there.'

As luck would have it, though, the experience put him in exactly the right headspace he needed to be in when he bumped into Katy, 35, at a Golden Globes after-party in January of 2016.

Happy now: As luck would have it the experience put the actor in exactly the right headspace he needed to be in when he bumped into Katy Perry in 2016; seen here in France in 2018

21st Century man: 'I was really enjoying the way I was relating to women, and to the feminine within myself'; seen here last August at the Hollywood premiere of Bloom's show Carnival Row

He remembers that although they had met in passing prior to that night, it was the first time they 'actually hung out and connected.'

The rest is, of course, romantic history, as the loving pair became engaged three years later, on Valentines Day 2019.

'Shes very surprising,' Bloom, who is already father to 9-year-old son Flynn with ex-wife Miranda Kerr, told The Sunday Times. 'Shes witty and smart and intelligent. Shes charismatic, but shes direct too, and this dynamic was intriguing to me.'

Bloom and Kerr were married from 2010 to 2013, while Perry was wed to British comedian Russell Brand from 2010 to 2012.

Katy and Orlando are expecting their first child this summer, and although they were originally planning to tie the knot next month, that has currently been put on hold for obvious reasons.
Australia's top scientists are working around the clock in a race to develop a reliable blood test for the coronavirus, amid a global shortage in the chemical reagent used to make the current throat swab test.

Leading the charge in Melbourne is Sharon Lewin, director of the Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, where lab technicians isolated the virus known as COVID-19 from a sample taken from a 58-year-old man who arrived from China in late January.

Infectious diseases expert Sharon Lewin is leading the search for a reliable coronavirus blood test. Credit:Jason South

Using this to develop a blood test that can not only identify everyone infected with COVID-19 but also detect those who have had the virus and cleared it would be "very useful in understanding how many people are asymptomatic, how many clear infections and lots of unanswered aspects of the coronavirus", she said.

This included the true mortality rate, she said, which remained unclear due to an unknown number of people carrying the virus with little to no symptoms.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Sunday said it is aware of a patient in Enugu suspected to have contracted COVID-19.

The Nigeria health agency said on its Twitter handle @NCDCgov that it was one of several alerts it receives daily at the National COVID-19 Emergency Operations Centre.

It said the patient is in isolation, sample collected and results expected tomorrow (Monday).

Suspected case

NCDC was said to have been notified of the suspected case by the Enugu State Government after a woman who had just returned from the UK reported at the hospital after feeling sick.

TVC had earlier reported that the permanent secretary of the states ministry of health, Ifeanyi Agujiobi, said that the sample from the suspected case had been sent for further investigations.

Mr Agujiobi said that the suspected case had been in the UK in the last five months and came into Enugu through Owerri on March 11 to see her son.

Mr Agujiobi added that the suspected case was being closely monitored and the results awaited for further action by the government.

Other cases

Since the onset of the coronavirus which originated from China in December, Nigeria has so far reported only two confirmed cases.

The index case was in an Italian businessman who had flown into the country for business. The second case, which was asymptomatic, was one of the people who had contacts with the Italian.

As of March 13, the situation report from NCDC indicated that no new case has since been confirmed in the country.

Also, it stated that apart from the index case, 43 people have so far been screened for Covid-19 in seven states  Edo, FCT, Kano, Lagos, Ogun, Rivers, and Yobe.

Out of them, 41 tested negative and have been ruled out, the result is pending for one and the other, the contact of the index case, previously positive but now negative.

The second confirmed case who was a contact of the index case, has tested negative twice, cleared of the virus and discharged to go home.

Caution

While Nigeria awaits the pending results, the number of infected people across the world have continued to increase erratic.

Although the first case was imported into the country, the federal government has said there is no reason yet to ban any flight, passport or nationality from entering the country.

As of Sunday 13:25 GMT, a total of 162,392 Covid-19 cases have been reported in 156 Countries with 6,068 deaths.

Although people have been recovering from the virus (75,967 so far) the number of infections has continued to soar across countries.

The World Health Organisation last week declared the outbreak a pandemic because of the severity of disease and its spread.

It had also accused many governments of inaction and called for more commitment in the fight against the disease.
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 43F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 43F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.
As the states number of coronavirus cases rise, homeless agencies are stepping up efforts to prevent the disease from spreading to a group experts said could be vulnerable.

This includes trying to get individuals into temporary housing faster and cleaning shelters.

This has overtaken our whole system, said Steve DiLella, director of the individual and family support program unit for the state Department of Housing. We are doing everything possible to ensure the safety of our homeless population.

The department has surveyed shelters to determine their needs and whether they have space to isolate people, he said. Weekly conference calls being held with shelters to address the issue could become more frequent, he said.

More than 3,000 homeless individuals were in the state when the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness conducted its annual count in January 2019. Statistics from the 2020 count are not yet available.

In Danbury, 144 people were counted, while 503 were counted in New Haven, 278 were counted in Bridgeport, 146 were counted in Norwalk and 233 were counted in the Stamford and Greenwich area.

At risk

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned an outbreak could increase shelter usage and lead to illness among the homeless and shelter staff.

Homeless individuals could be at greater risk because they may already face health problems, lack access to care and are staying in shelters where it may be hard to isolate people, experts said.

The close quarters promotes the higher risk of spread, said Richard Cho, chief executive officer of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness.

People with underlying conditions, such as heart disease, lung disease and diabetes, have a greater chance of developing a serious illness due to coronavirus, the CDC said.

It is common for the homeless, who often do not have the opportunity to go to primary care appointments, to have comorbid illnesses, DiLella said.

Living on the street is a rough life and it does lead to other physical issues, he said.

But Lynn Taborsak, a volunteer with the 16-bed Dorothy Day Hospitality House in Danbury, said the homeless are in no greater risk for the virus as they are daily for any other illness or cause of death  like drowning in the river as 56-year-old David Mullen did in 2018.

Unless we have a shelter that's got 250 people in it, I think were in pretty good shape, she said. But there are people ... who don't have good health care, who do have underlying conditions. But that's 12 months of the year. Thats before this outbreak and after its gone.

Still, she said people have been concerned.

Lots of people are coughing, Taborsak said. Thats been consistent. We have lots of people that have asthma, acute bronchitis continuously. Theyre not healthy folks.

More Information Number of homeless individuals State: 3,033 New Haven: 503 Bridgeport: 278 Stamford-Greenwich: 233 Norwalk: 146 Danbury: 144 *Per the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness January 2019 point-in-time count See More Collapse

Finding housing

Key to facing the epidemic could be getting individuals out of shelters and into apartments.

Communities like Danbury have housing programs, but the state Department of Housing is looking into changing guidelines and requirements to make apartments available for more people sooner, DiLella said.

Everything is on the table, he said. Were just trying to be as creative and flexible as possible to deal with this, he said.

The plan is to identify those who are most risk, such as those over 60, and prioritize finding them apartments, DiLella said.

They will no longer be in a communal living situation, but it will also give us the opportunity to provide more space in the existing shelter, he said.

The CDC recommends beds and mats stay at least three feet apart, with clients sleeping head-to-toe.

No one has been housed yet due to the changes, DiLella said. The department planned to guide shelters on how to identify clients on Friday afternoon. It also takes time to find and inspect apartments to ensure they are safe and sanitary, he said.

The department has escalated efforts to prevent people from becoming homeless.

Were trying to keep folks from entering the system in all possible ways, DiLella said.

This includes bringing coronavirus into the conversation when trying to reunite families, he said.

If there was an interpersonal disagreement there, maybe this can help solve that, DiLella said.

Precautions at shelters

The Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness has urged shelters to coordinate with their local health departments, develop ways to limit face-to-face contact between people and the organization, and plan how to continue essential services if they have to scale back on-site operations.

Danbury plans to keep the city shelter open, while private shelters will decide on their own, Mayor Mark Boughton said.

We remain in contact with them (private shelters) and encourage anyone looking for a shelter to use the 211 system for a bed, he said.

Shelters should identify space that can be used to separate sick people and ensure the shelter is stocked with supplies, such as soap, tissues and disposable face masks, the coalition said.

Our guidance to the shelters had been to really step up the cleaning, Cho said.

Shelters typically clean once or twice a day, after residents leave, Cho said. But some shelters plan to clean four times a day, he said.

Boughton said the city shelter is deep cleaned daily.

Dorothy Day closed during mealtimes last week to thoroughly clean, Taborsak said. A contractor was hired for the job, she said. Guests have been told to wash their hands upon entering, while volunteers wear protective gloves, she said.

She said the shelter could use Purell donations.

In the meantime, were using soap and water, Taborsak said.

Some shelters have had trouble getting basic supplies, such as disinfectant and paper products, Cho said. But individuals should check with shelters to see what they need before donating.

Other challenges

The state housing department aims to make coronavirus testing available at shelters, but that may not be possible for the time being due to an overall shortage.

We all realize that testing is a more global issue, so from our perspective let's work on some of the things we can control right now, DiLella said.

Keeping shelters manned could become a problem if staff or volunteers become ill or quarantined.

As people are restricted, theyre not going to be able to volunteer their time, said DiLella, adding the housing department plans to work with other agencies to try to close staffing gaps.

This has been a concern at Dorothy Day, where some of the volunteers are older and could be at risk for the virus, Taborsak said. But so far, volunteers have been showing up, she said. The coordinator, who is a long-time volunteer, must stay over night if volunteers do not show up, she said.

Taborsak said she was unsure how the non-profits daily afternoon meals to clients would be affected.

Were looking for the city to determine whether or not its safe after we clean to be serving 70 people a day a meal, she said.

Despite the challenges, Cho said he had not heard of a shelter considering closing.

They understand they perform a critical service, he said.

Staff writer Peter Yankowski contributed to this report.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  HBOs six-part adaptation of Philip Roths 2004 alternate-history novel, The Plot Against America, is as deeply disturbing as it is brilliantly compelling. Roths cautionary tale was influenced by Sinclair Lewis 1935 novel It Cant Happen Here, and, of course, the grim message of both books is, oh, yes, it can.

The dream of America is a fragile one, Roth is telling us, and how quickly and insidiously it can be twisted into a nightmare by the forces of hatred, bigotry and ignorance. It takes constant vigilance and dedication and loyalty to foundational principles in order to preserve even the hope of that dream.

Lewis wrote his novel at a time when fascist dictators were putting the globe on a path toward a Second World War. Roth wrote his novel at time when the divisions in America were widening at an alarming rate and with little heed to Lincolns warning that divided we would surely fall.

But The Plot Against America, which begins at 9 p.m. Monday, March 16, is no allegorical soap-box sermon sanctimoniously clubbing viewers with messages and homilies. It makes for such riveting viewing because every chilling alternate-history development is filtered through the odyssey of one working-class Jewish family  the Levins (changed from the Roths in the book) of Newark, New Jersey.

Its considerable power is forged in the kind of deeply personal connection one feels sitting in a theater, getting to know a family over the course of a wonderfully literate, deeply nuanced and emotionally immersive drama. You are not merely observing. You are there, sitting at the dinner table with them, sharing their meals and their growing apprehensions about the world around them.

And the total-immersion experience is a hallmark of writer-producer David Simons television work, from NBCs Homicide: Life on the Street in the 90s to the 2002-08 HBO run of The Wire. The former Baltimore reporter gives us fully realized worlds, combining the skills and instincts of the journalist, novelist and playwright.

Winona Ryder in the six-part HBO adaptation of Philip Roths The Plot Against America," which beings Monday, March 16. Michele K. Short/HBO

He draws us into those worlds, gradually and expertly, letting things develop at an unforced pace while we get to know and care about the people populating these worlds. And its when we care so much about them that we cant look away from the troubling societal concerns Simon wants us to face.

The 1940s setting for The Plot Against America might seem worlds removed from the Baltimore so profoundly and intensely examined in The Wire, yet the two dramas share a great deal of storytelling DNA.

The close-knit Levins have reasons to be optimistic in June 1940, which is where The Plot Against America begins. Herman (Morgan Spector) has been told he is about to be promoted to district manager by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. It means that he and his wife, Bess (Zoe Levin), can move out of their apartment into a house in a more upscale neighborhood.

For Herman and Bess and their two sons, aspiring artist Sandy (Caleb Malis) and 10-year-old Philip (Azhy Robertson), it sure feels like happy days are here again. But there are ominous moments hinting that the Levins will be swept into the dark currents and undercurrents in an America still not fully recovered from the Depression.

With Franklin Roosevelt nearing the end of his second term as president, Europe is rapidly falling to the Nazi blitzkrieg. One of the voices against American intervention is a genuine American hero, aviator Charles Lindbergh (Ben Cole). He is persuaded to run for president against FDR, promising to keep the United States out of foreign wars.

But his candidacy also emboldens xenophobic and anti-Semitic sentiments around the country. So what would have happened, Roth asks, if Lindbergh ran for president and won in 1940, making sure the United States didnt join the Allies in World War II? And what if that path pushed America toward fascism?

Win or lose, Herman says of Lindbergh, theres a lot of hate out there, and he knows how to tap into it.

The sensitive young Philip senses that something is going wrong. After a living-room blowup between older relatives, he asks Sandy, What just happened? Its the question we ask with the Levins again and again as conditions become more and more alarming.

The fissures in the nation are reflected in the family, often through decisions made by Bess sister, Evelyn Finkel (Winona Ryder), and Hermans orphaned nephew, Alvin (Anthony Boyle). Nothing shakes the Levins more than Evelyn falling under the spell of charismatic Lionel Bengelsdorf (John Turturro), a conservative Southern rabbi and Lindbergh supporter.

Simon and his writing partner, former Baltimore police detective Ed Burns, are to be commended for not only fashioning such an engrossing and provocative drama, but also for assembling a top-to-bottom standout cast that makes the mesmerizing most of this potent material.

Degree by horrifying degree the nightmare grows, as much as you might want to echo that Lewis title, It cant happen here. Roth told us it could have. Simon and Burns are telling us it could have and, wake up, because it still might.

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The Rajasthan High Court on Sunday asked all lower courts in the state to take all possible precautions against the spread of deadly coronavirus, including the legal and technological steps to avoid overcrowding in court premises.

The principal bench of the high court at Jodhpur here issued a detailed advisory to all subordinate courts in the state to curb crowding within the court premises.

Among the legal measures to avoid overcrowding, the high court also asked the lower courts' judges to favourably consider the plea for exemption from personal appearance by accused, complainant and witnesses.

It also asked them not to insist upon any unnecessary presence of any party and not to pass an adverse legal order in absence of a party.

"Courts should not insist on the presence of the parties unless it is unavoidable," the high court advisory said, adding district court administration would take appropriate measures to regulate entry of litigants and general public in the court complex to avoid crowding.

The lawyers may also advice their clients not to visit courts unless their presence is directed by the court, the HC circular said.

In criminal cases, the courts were asked to resort to video-conferencing for necessary production of jailed undertrials for extension of their judicial custody and for recording of evidence.

It also sought courts to take measures to avoid overcrowding in lock-ups.

The HC circular also directed subordinate judiciary administration to ensure full sanitisation of the court premises through twice-a-day mopping with requisite chemical disinfectant of court rooms and chairs, tables and furniture in them, besides the door nobs, hand-railings etc.

In a bid to curb the spread of the deadly virus, the high court has asked subordinate judiciary administration to arrange for through scanning for visitors to the court premises by trained para-medical personnel.

The high court has also banned holding of any function including elections etc to avoid crowding of courts.

The high court has also scheduled a full bench meeting of the court through video conferencing on March 17 to discuss further measures to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The meeting will be attended by the chief justice of the high court as well as all jusdges of its Jodhpur and Jaipur benches besides all law officers, including advocate general, additional solicitor general and members of the bar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The country's largest carrier IndiGo on Saturday announced cancellation of some flights to Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi from March 17 in view of travel restrictions.

National carrier Air India has also decided to curtail services to Dubai, Doha, Muscat and Riyadh for a month, an airline spokesperson said.

Amid coronavirus pandemic, many countries have imposed travel restrictions.

"Owing to the suspension of visas for all foreigners with exception of diplomatic passport holders, IndiGo will be cancelling some of its flights to Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi w.e.f. March 17, 2020 until the travel restrictions are lifted," IndiGo said in a statement.

The airline also said that it would be refunding the full amount to the impacted passengers.

"GoAir has convened a meeting on Sunday and a decision (about flight services to UAE) will be taken after that (meeting)," an airline spokesperson said.

The budget carrier operates flights to Abu Dhabi.

"We are reviewing the situation on a constant basis. No cancellations have been planned yet," a SpiceJet spokesperson said.

SpiceJet flies to some destinations in the Gulf region, including Dubai.

Also Read: Google employee's wife tests positive for COVID-19; escapes quarantine, travels to Agra

Also read: Coronavirus pandemic: Germany, US, UK & EU ready $742 billion war chest to help stricken economies
Princess Dianas divorce from Prince Charles was one of the biggest scandals to hit the royal family under Queen Elizabeths reign. The pair announced their shocking split in 1992, with Charles going on to marry his long-time lover, Camilla Parker Bowles, over a decade later. Although Charles took a major hit in the wake of the divorce, Queen Elizabeth was reportedly puzzled by how much support Diana, Princess of Wales, got from the public.

Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth | Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images

Inside Princess Dianas leaked tapes

Diana and Charles called it quits on their marriage in 1992, a move many royal watchers saw coming. But before the couple made the big announcement, a leaked conversation between Diana and her lover, James Gilbey, greatly embarrassed the royal family.

According to Express, the leaked tape all but confirmed that Diana and Charless marriage was over. Aside from revealing some embarrassing nicknames Diana had for the royals, Diana slammed Charles for making her life real, real torture.

I just felt really sad and empty. I thought, Bloody hell  after all Ive done for this f***ing family, Diana explained.

The recording is believed to have taken place over the holidays in 1989. At that time, Diana would have been at Sandringham with the rest of the royal family, including Queen Elizabeth and Charles.

Following the leak, Princess Diana and Charles announced their separation. The pair did not finalize their divorce, however, until 1996. Amid all of the drama, one royal expert claims that Queen Elizabeth was very puzzled as to why Diana was still getting a huge amount of support from the public.

Queen Elizabeth left puzzled over Prince Dianas support

Between the leaked tapes and Dianas penchant for breaking royal traditions, Queen Elizabeth was a little confused by how much support Princess Diana received from the public after she called off her marriage.

In the documentary, Elizabeth I and Elizabeth II: Britains Golden Queen, royal expert Sarah Gristwood revealed that Queen Elizabeth viewed Diana as a rule-breaker and thought it was strange that people adored her so much.

It really was, Diana, we love you, were with you, were behind you. And it mustve puzzled the Queen, Gristwood shared. Why, that someone who in her terms was breaking the rules, was doing what wasnt right, should be the one who garnered this massive international outpouring of sympathy.

Queen Elizabeth calls Princess Dianas "dreadfully sad" death a "huge loss" in a newly-surfaced letter. https://t.co/eRCTtRNnJ6 pic.twitter.com/MtWORgj0Kc  Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) August 14, 2017

The leaked tape in 1992 was bad enough, but Dianas interview in 1995 with Martin Bashir proved to be the final straw for Queen Elizabeth. During the interview, Diana famously said that there were three of us in her household, alluding to Charles affair with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

A few weeks following the interview, Queen Elizabeth reportedly sent a letter to Diana encouraging her to finalize the divorce. Roughly a year later, Diana and Charles made their divorce official.

As part of the divorce agreement, Diana received over $17 million from the royal family, plus a budget of $350,000 so that she could keep her office.

Queen Elizabeth takes heat after Princess Dianas death

Diana tragically passed away in a car accident in Paris in the summer of 1997. At the time, Queen Elizabeth was enjoying her summer vacation in Balmoral with her grandsons, Prince William and Prince Harry.

After hearing the tragic news, Her Majesty stayed in Scotland with William and Harry, a move that sparked some intense backlash from the media. When Queen Elizabeth finally addressed the country, she admitted that the grieving process had not been easy.

We have all been trying in our different ways to cope, she explained. It is not easy to express a sense of loss, since the initial shock is often succeeded by a mixture of other feelings: disbelief, incomprehension, anger  and concern for those who remain.

Although the public was disappointed by how Queen Elizabeth handled Dianas death, there was a good reason why she stayed in Scotland for a brief time before returning to London.

The reason behind Queen Elizabeths delayed reaction

While the public was unhappy with Her Majestys delayed response, royal expert Tina Brown says that she distanced herself because she wanted to protect William and Harry from being pushed into the spotlight.

The Queen was adamant that her place was at Balmoral with her grieving grandsons, Brown stated. Everyone rallied around the young princes. This was the first time in a long reign that the Queen was thinking about the family before her people.

The real reason Queen Elizabeth took 5 days to publicly address Princess Diana's death: https://t.co/JlgCQynkiu pic.twitter.com/6ErEhfQbKS  Glamour (@glamourmag) August 30, 2017

Last year, expert Alastair Bruce supported Browns assessment, adding that the royals were more concerned about William and Harrys well-being than public opinion. At the end of the day, this was probably the best decision Queen Elizabeth could have made given the circumstances.

Queen Elizabeth, of course, has not commented on the reports surrounding her puzzlement in the wake of Charles and Dianas divorce. Charles is first in line to the throne and will inherit the crown once Queen Elizabeth is gone.

In 2017, the royal family paid tribute to Dianas legacy during the 20th anniversary of her tragic passing.
As the coronavirus continues to spread across New Jersey, state and local officials have not been able to stay aligned on the number of residents who have been infected.

On Saturday, Gov. Phil Murphy said there were 69 cases of coronavirus in New Jersey and two deaths. But information coming directly from Bergen County suggests the count could be as high as 75 individuals. And while Murphy has said there are 69 cases, the states website that tracks the spread lists 68 cases in 12 of the states 21 counties.

In Bergen County, the mayor of Teaneck has urged residents to self-quarantine. Teaneck has reported 18 of the 31 positive cases in the county.

The second person to die in New Jersey from symptoms tied directly to coronavirus was identified as a woman in her 50s who was being treated at Centra State Medical Center in Freehold.

Below, our map of coronavirus in New Jersey shows known positive tests, as reported by the state. And heres a map of coronavirus cases across the United States.

Separately, NJ Advance Media has assembled the latest information available on the cases where details have been made available below and will continue to update this list. Typically, this list, which is presented in alphabetical order of counties with confirmed tests, will include more cases than reported by the state because it incorporates information from local officials:

BERGEN COUNTY (25 cases)

 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 Dumont resident tested tested presumptive positive for coronavirus, the towns mayor, Andrew LaBruno, said Friday.

 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.

 Two other Teaneck cases where additional details were not provided.

 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 hospital.

 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 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 and a 35-year-old man from Bergenfield were previously reported as positive cases, though Bergen officials said Friday night there was just one case in town.

 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.

 Three cases in Fair Lawn, where additional details were not provided.

 One case in Garfield where additional details were not provided.

BURLINGTON COUNTY (3 cases)

 A 62-year-old man and 60-year-old woman from Riverton are a married couple who recently returned from a trip to Italy. The man works at a cardiac care center in Robbinsville, which was closed for cleaning.

CAMDEN COUNTY (2 cases)

 A 61-year-old man from Cherry Hill, who was admitted to Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital on March 3 and is in stable condition, according to state officials.

 A woman in her 60s, was in self-isolation at her home in Cherry Hill, according to the Camden County Department of Health.

ESSEX COUNTY (7 cases)

 A 66-year-old woman from Montclair. She is hospitalized at Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical Center.

HUDSON COUNTY (5 cases)

 A 61-year-old woman living in downtown Jersey City, according to Mayor Steven Fulop.

 A 41-year-old Jersey City woman.

 A Hoboken man in his 40s. Hoboken officials said the man is experiencing mild symptoms and is under self-isolation at home.

 A 32-year-old man from West New York, who was being treated at Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack.

HUNTERDON COUNTY (1 case)

 An individual admitted to Hunterdon Healthcare tested positive on Sunday, March 15, according to the hospital. The person is doing well and was discharged to isolate at home. This is the first case involving a Hunterdon County resident.

MERCER COUNTY (1 case)

 A 49-year-old woman from Princeton who attended a private party in her hometown with two individuals from the Boston area who later tested positive for coronavirus. This is the first case involving a Mercer County resident.

MIDDLESEX COUNTY (10 cases)

 A 58-year-old woman from East Brunswick

 A 74-year-old man from Edison who recently took a cruise.

 A 72-year-old woman from Edison. She is married to the 74-year-old man, and they cruised together.

 A 53-year-old man from Edison, who attended a convention in Boston, Massachusetts, and after returning home was tested and is self-quarantined, according to the township.

 The parent of an Old Bridge elementary school student. The parent is currently in isolation, and the rest of the family is in self-quarantine.

MONMOUTH COUNTY (8 cases)

 A 53-year-old man from Manalapan. He is being treated at CentraState Medical Center in Freehold and had exposure to a confirmed case.

 A 66-year-old woman from Hazlet Township

 A 17-year-old girl from Little Silver. The teen is a student at Red Bank Regional High School, which was closed for cleaning and classes have been moved to online instruction.

 A 27-year-old Little Silver man who attended the Biogen conference in Boston from Feb. 24-28 showed an onset of symptoms on Feb. 29.

 An 83-year-old Hazlet woman fell ill on March 3 and was hospitalized at Hackensack Meridians Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel.

MORRIS COUNTY (3 cases)

 A 51-year-old man from Bulter Borough. He is being treated at Chilton Medical Center in Pompton Plains.

 A Morris County resident who works at Shalom Yeladim Nursery School in Morristown. The employees hometown and other details were not disclosed.

 An employee of Florham Park. Borough officials said the infected employee is not a police officer. Other details were not disclosed.

OCEAN COUNTY (1 case)

 A 72-year-old was reported as a presumptive positive case in Manchester Township, according to local officials.

PASSAIC COUNTY (2 cases)

 An 18-year-old from Clifton was exposed to coronavirus after having close contact on March 2 with a person in New York who was a known positive case.

SOMERSET COUNTY (1 case)

 A 23-year-old man from Bridgewater. He may have been exposed through close contact with a Pennsylvania resident who has coronavirus.

UNION COUNTY (3 cases)

 A 48-year-old Berkeley Heights resident was exposed to coronavirus after having contact with friends who traveled from Milan, Italy. The Union County resident showed an onset of symptoms March 1 and was hospitalized at Overlook Medical Center in Summit.

 A Garwood resident became the countys second confirmed case, Mayor Sara Todisco said Saturday night. The individual is in their 60s and has been isolated at home.

 A Linden resident. This person is on home-quarantine, and their family members are also self-quarantining, Linden Mayor Derek Armstead said on Sunday.
Denmark on Saturday recorded its first coronavirus death as it closed its borders to foreigners in order to slow the spread of the disease.

The fatality was a person aged 81 years who was hospitalized for other serious illnesses, said officials at the hospital where the patient was treated.

The death is the fifth COVID-19 fatality in the Nordic countries. Two people have already died in Sweden and two in Norway.

Denmark also became the latest country to take dramatic steps to stop the spread of the COVID-19 disease, closing its borders to all non-resident foreigners for a month.





All tourists and foreigners who cannot prove that they have a valid reason to come to Denmark will not be allowed to enter, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Friday when the ban was announced.

Police said that around 20 people were refused entry after the measure came into effect at noon Saturday (1100 GMT).

At Copenhagen airport, passengers said that strict controls were in place for those entering the country.

Only Danes and other permanent residents were let through, as well as others with a compelling reason to come into the country.

Trade imports and exports are not affected.

The government on Wednesday unveiled a string of measures to limit the impact of the pandemic, which has now seen more than 150,000 worldwide infected with COVID-19 and caused over 5,000 deaths.

Schools, universities and libraries have been closed in Denmark and civil servants have been asked to stay at home.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
An empty market in Daegu, March 15 Yonhap



By Do Je-hae



President Moon Jae-in designated Daegu and surrounding areas in North Gyeongsang Province as special disaster zones Sunday in order to facilitate quick and effective emergency assistance for the nation's largest COVID-19 hotspot.



"President Moon approved the designation of Daegu-Gyeongbuk (North Gyeongsang) as a special disaster zone at 2: 10 p.m.," said presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok in a statement.



The designation enables residents in the affected area to receive stronger state-level monetary and administrative support, including tax benefits.



This is the first time for Korea to implement this measure due to an infectious disease, not a natural disaster as in previous cases.






Disney Parks may be closed for the next few weeks, (due to the surge of coronavirus cases in the United States.) But thats okay. Now, Disney fans can hang out with Elsa, Anna, Sven, and Olaf from the comfort of their own homes. Disneys Frozen 2 premieres on Disney+ earlier than expected, on Sunday, March 15, 2020.

Disney+ includes original movies and theatrical releases from 2019

You may be looking for a distraction while working from home or looking for a way to keep to kids occupied while theyre off from school. Even though Disney Parks may be closed, Disney+ still has you covered.

With this streaming platform, subscribers have access to thousands of hours of content, released by Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. This streaming platform even includes movies recently released in theaters during 2019.

Disneys live-action Aladdin, photo-real adaptation of The Lion King, and Pixars Toy Story 4 debuted a few months after their cinematic runs. Now, Disneys Academy Award-nominated sequel starring Anna, Elsa, and Olaf will be available for binge-watching on Disney+.

Idina Menzel attends the European Premiere of Disneys Frozen 2 | Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney

Disneys Frozen 2 joins the Disney+ streaming library earlier than expected, on March 15

According to the library, Frozen 2 was originally set for a June 26 debut on Disney+ because of existing agreements. However, in light of current events, this animated sequel joins the Disney+ library on March 15, 2020. This comes only weeks after Frozen 2 was available for purchase digitally and physically.

Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad, and Jonathan Groff return to Arendelle to reprise their roles as Anna, Elsa, Olaf, and Kristoff, respectively. This time, they have to journey into an enchanted forest and protect their kingdom from an unknown threat. You could even say theyre traveling into the unknown.

According to Deadline, New Disney CEO, Bob Chapek, stated the company was pleased to share the film earlier, saying, the themes of perseverance and the importance of family are messages that are incredibly relevant during this time, and we are pleased to be able to share this heartwarming story early with our Disney+ subscribers to enjoy at home on any device.

The original Frozen is available for streaming on Disneys streaming platform, Disney+

The Frozen fun doesnt stop there. Fans can also watch the original Academy award-winning movie on this streaming platform. Theres the short film, Olafs Frozen Adventure, which originally debuted during 2017. Fans can also watch the first season of the LEGO series, Disney Frozen: Northern Lights.

Once Disney broke the news of their upcoming release, some fans took to social media sharing their thoughts. One Twitter user said, Good morning! So not only is Frozen 2 coming to [Disney+] tomorrow. The Rise of Skywalker dropped on digital. I am a very happy Jedi today.

PSA Disney+ is releasing Frozen 2 three months early this Sunday to give people something to smile about during this mess of a time, another Twitter user wrote.

Frozen 2 premieres on Disney+ on March 15, 2020. To learn more about this streaming platform and to subscribe, visit their website.
Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu visited the Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) in Kalaburgi on Sunday to inspect the isolation wards set up to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

The visit came even as the Central government announced the death of the 76-year-old man from Kalaburgi due to COVID-19.

On Friday, the state government had ordered the closure of malls, cinema halls, pubs, night clubs, etc for a week. Further, leaves of all government doctors and health officials have been cancelled.

Notably, the number of coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 107, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare today.

So far, two deaths due to the COVID-19 have been reported in the country. In the wake of spurt in cases of coronavirus across the country, the Central Government on Saturday decided to treat the deadly virus as a "notified disaster".

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared coronavirus a pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Millionaire hedge fund bosses Sir Paul Marshall and Ian Wace have made more than 50million from the collapse of leisure stocks as the coronavirus outbreak grips London markets.

Their Knightsbridge-based firm Marshall Wace placed huge bets on falling share prices, its disclosures reveal.

It holds half the declared short-selling contracts in travel firm Tui and the entire short position in hotel group Intercontinental, which have been hit by travel bans.

Among dozens of other bets, it has also targeted beleaguered Cineworld, which last week warned it would struggle to pay debts if its cinemas closed.

Ian Wace and his wife Saffron Aldridge at a Night of Disco in aid of Save The Children held at The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm Road, London on 5th March 2015

So-called short-selling contracts are used by hedge funds to make money from falling share prices. Marshall Wace also invests in shares in the traditional way, profiting when they rise.

Data firm IHS Markit says short positions account for almost 17billion of stock issued by Britains biggest 350 listed companies, which means hedge fund profits from falling share prices could run into billions.

Other firms profiting include GLG, owned by Man Group, BlackRock and Odey Asset Management, whose owner Crispin Odey warned in The Mail on Sunday that the FTSE 100 could hit 5,000.

At the time the index stood at 6,581. It closed last week at 5,366, its lowest level since 2011.

Curbs on short-selling were imposed on Italian and Spanish stocks on Friday.

Marshall, whose son Winston is in rock band Mumford & Sons, was a prominent donor to the campaign to leave the EU.

Wace donated to the Remain campaign. Marshall Wace declared profits of 258million last year, prompting a bumper payout for its 17 partners.
Highlights MP budget session begins on Monday Governor has asked for floor test after his address CM Kamal nath says he is confident of proving majority

Madhya Pradesh chief minister on Sunday said that the state governor should respect the Constitution and limit himself to the same, he was responding to governor Lalji Tandons midnight missive asking him to seek trust vote in the state assembly.

The state assemblys budget session beginning Monday is expected to be stormy as the Opposition BJP is likely to corner the government claiming it has lost the majority in the House after resignations of 22 Congress MLAs, including a few ministers.

Chief minister Kamal Nath was however confident of proving majority in the house. We will not allow the BJP to succeed in its design. I am confident about the government proving its majority, he said.

However, he added, BJP wants the (22) Congress MLAs are held captive in Bangalore when a floor test is held here. Voting has a meaning when all are free to vote in a free atmosphere.

The Congress leader accused the BJP of using chartered planes to take the MLAs to Bangalore. He said the fact that the MLAs were being protected by police in a BJP ruled state and copies of their resignations were brought to Bhopal by a BJP leader suggested there was a conspiracy.

He added, I would like to request the governor to respect the Constitution and its values and limit himself to the same.

In the midnight missive to chief minister, the governor directed him to seek a trust vote in the assembly on Monday immediately after his address.

The only business after my address in the House will be voting on the state governments trust motion. The voting will take place only by pushing the button. No other method will be adopted for the same. Videography of the entire proceedings will be done through independent persons and in any way the proceedings will not be deferred, delayed or suspended, Tandons letter said.

Also Read: In midnight order, MP Governor asks Kamal Nath to seek trust vote on Monday

Meanwhile, Kamal Nath cabinet flagged a coronavirus threat in the state ahead of the expected floor test on Sunday.

The cabinet discussed how the Coronavirus outbreak has led to deferring of state assembly sessions or proceedings in several states. However, whether or not it should be replicated in MP will be decided by the House only when it meets, said State cabinet minister PC Sharma

The state cabinets concern over Coronavirus on the eve of the expected floor test in the state assembly has raised suspicion in the mind of BJP leaders.

State BJP spokesperson and MLA Rameshwar Sharma alleged that the government wanted to delay the floor test in the name of coronavirus.

BJP national vice-president and MLA Shivraj Singh Chouhan demanded an immediate floor test after governors address as per the latters instructions.

Congress on Sunday called back its MLAs from Jaipur where they had been flown on March 11 to guard against alleged poaching by the BJP.

The number of these MLAs was said to be about 80. They have been accommodated in a posh hotel in Bhopal, said Congress leaders.

As per a health department official, all the MLAs were tested for coronavirus.

The BJP MLAs who were flown to Gurugram in a chartered plane are yet to return to the state.

While suspense continues over the 22 Congress rebel MLAs return to Madhya Pradesh in time for the inaugural day of the budget session, the MLAs in video messages said they had requested the governor for CRPF security so that they could return to Madhya Pradesh.

Congress minister PC Sharma said the rebel MLAs had been kidnapped.

These 22 Congress MLAs have been kidnapped. On seeing them it appears that they have been hypnotized and subjected to Tantra-Mantra (black magic), said Sharma.

Of the 22 MLAs, the 16 Congress MLAs whose resignations are yet to be accepted by the state assembly speaker NP Prajapati, have in letters addressed to the speaker expressed their inability to appear before him given a bad law and order situation and atmosphere of uncertainty in the state.

Each of the MLA in his letter drafted in a similar fashion said to the speaker, I humbly request you to accept my resignation in the same manner in which you accepted the resignations of six other MLAs.

One of the MLAs Jajpal Singh Jajji says in one of the video messages, The speaker has called me to appear before him to explain my stand. But I fear that MP government may arrest me on any pretext. The government can also exert pressure on me through my family members in the name of my protection.

The speaker couldnt be reached for his comments on the letters.

Home minister Bala Bachchan in a statement said, The government of Madhya Pradesh has no objection to the MLAs in Bengaluru seeking CRPF security.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party issued a three-line whip asking its lone MLA in the state assembly Rajesh Shukla to vote in favour of the government in the event of a floor test.
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Spanning an imposing 170 feet and capable of unleashing awesome destruction, the B2 stealth bomber is one of the most deadly weapons in the United States' military arsenal.

But this weekend it was on full display to Britons at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire after flying in from the American base in Lajes Field, Portugal, where it had carried out training.

These exercises over Garvi Island were choreographed to showcase Washington's military might by striking fear into its enemies while reassuring its allies.

And to those who marvelled at the stealth bomber in the Cotswolds, it certainly had the desired effect and sent a chill up the spine.

Darren Lewington, 49, flew over the RAF base yesterday in a two-seater Piper Cub to glimpse the best view of the gigantic plane.

The aeronautical enthusiast said: 'Apparently there were three of them, they tend to be deployed every few months or so.

'There's something a bit sinister about those planes, it looks like something Batman would swoop around in.'

Spanning an imposing 170 feet and capable of unleashing awesome destruction, the B-2 stealth bomber was on full display to Britons at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire this weekend

It had earlier swooped in to the Cotswolds air base after carrying out training exercises at the American base in Lajes Field, Portugal

Darren Lewington, 49, flew over the RAF base yesterday in a two-seater Piper Cub to glimpse the best view of the gigantic plane

Three stealth bombers swooped into Fairford on Thursday and were greeted by jaw-dropped locals who watched in amazement.

According to a US Air Force statement release, the B2 Spirit aircraft - which are capable of carrying either conventional or nuclear warheads - conducted military drills with US NATO partners in Europe to 'deter adversaries' and reassure 'allies'.

Lt. Gen Steven Basham, Deputy Commander of US Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa, said: 'Operating bombers from forward locations enables collective defense capabilities and provides the US and NATO the strategic and operational capacity needed to deter adversaries while assuring our allies and partners'.

Previously the B-2 stealth bombers - developed under the Advanced Technology Bomber during Jimmy Carter's administration - were based in Portugal.

NATO, founded in 1949 to deter the expansionist USSR, has come under strain in recent years as member-states are accused of reneging treaty duties.

This stealth bomber had been training over the Garvi Island in exercises choreographed to showcase Washington's military might by striking fear into its enemies while reassuring its allies

According to a US Air Force statement release, the B-2 Spirit aircraft - which are capable of carrying either conventional or nuclear warheads - conducted military drills with US NATO partners in Europe to 'deter adversaries' and reassure 'allies'

Previously the B-2 stealth bombers - developed under the Advanced Technology Bomber during Jimmy Carter's administration - were based in Portugal

Pictured: US Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber lands at RAF Fairford in Goucestershire

President Donald Trump, who famously designated the alliance 'obsolete', put European allies under pressure to spend two per cent of their GDP on defence.

Military drills in NATO airspace come amid heightened tensions with Russia, which is accused by Western powers of bullying and aggressive behaviour.

Relations between Moscow and Western powers first soured after the former's war with Georgia in 2008, backing separatists in the tiny Caucasian state.

They collapsed after Russia annexed Crimea and helped fuel Ukraine's bloody civil war, which began after the toppling of the pro-Moscow regime in 2014.

Russia has also found itself at loggerheads with the US, Britain, and France in Syria, where it has backed Bashar al-Assad and Iran to the hilt since 2015.

President Vladimir Putin has lamented the collapse of the USSR, and accused NATO of provoking Russia by expanding the alliance after the Cold War.
Analysts began issuing warnings about the saturation of the mobile phone market several years ago. However, mobile phone distributors are still thriving.

GfK reported that within 12 months, by September 2019, 20.3 million feature and smart phones had been sold in Vietnam, a decrease of 1.7 million compared with the same period of the previous year.





The number of feature phones sold dropped from 9.9 million to 8.2 million, while smartphones went from 12.3 million to 12.1 million.



In a market where all people own a mobile phones, the minus growth rate is anticipated.

However, no mobile phone distributor has had to stop their business and no phone manufacturers have gone bankrupt because of market saturation. Though growth is no longer high, manufacturers and distributors still have every reason to be optimistic about the market.



The market is predicted to have value reaching $4 billion, or VND100 trillion, and mobile phone sales still can bring a high proportion of revenue to technology product retailers.

GfK reported that within 12 months, by September 2019, 20.3 million feature and smart phones had been sold in Vietnam, a decrease of 1.7 million compared with the same period of the previous year.

Mobile phone manufacturers launch new products every year with new features, so the demand for new products always exists.

Nguoi Lao Dong cited a report fro GfK as showing that 1.2 million products were sold a month in 2019, or 40,000 products a day. The smartphones priced at below VND3 million accounted for 20.4 percent of market share with 2.99 million products sold, or 8,200 products sold a day.



The decision by the government to deploy 5G technology soon in Vietnam is another reason for analysts to have confidence in the prosperity of the market. People will have to spend money on 5G devices to enjoy the latest technology.



The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) plans to cut 2G by 2022. If the plan occurs, feature phone users will have to buy smartphones or feature phones with 3G support, creating a new market.



Of over 20 million mobile phones sold in 2019, about 60 percent were smartphones, while the remaining were feature phones. Manufacturers and retailers hope that the 40 percent of buyers who bought feature phones will buy smartphones in the future.



Large smartphone manufacturers such as Apple, Samsung and Huawei have seen a decrease in demand for mobile phones and they have raised the selling prices of high-end smartphoneswhich target high-income earners.



However, it is clear that mobile phone distribution is no longer the goose that lays golden eggs. That is why The Gioi Di Dong, FPT Shop and other distributors have been seeking new driving forces for growth.

Ha An

Will the 5G revolution reignite VN mobile phone market? The mobile phone market is getting saturated and phone distributors must seek a new driving force for growth from other sectors.
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Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 15, 2020

Indonesia is urging that countries band together in the fight to contain the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus globally, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said on Friday, as the international community begins imposing drastic measures like limited travel restrictions, large-scale evacuations and lockdowns of entire countries.

The COVID-19 outbreak, declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization last week, has spread to more than 130 countries worldwide, forcing governments to take matters into their own hands to contain the virus, Retno told The Jakarta Post in an interview.

She pointed out that different countries made different assessments of the situation. She noted that some were extreme, such as the complete lockdown of Italy, while other responses were more measured, like the partial lockdowns in Chinas Hubei province and of Metro Manila in the Philippines. However, she refused to say whether one approach could be justified as being better or worse than others.

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It was 1993. I was working on my book Media Virus, and about to return home to LA from San Francisco, when Timothy Leary called to ask if I could make room for a "friend in need" who needed a ride. That friend turned out to be Genesis P-Orridge.





I had known of Gen through his music and reputation alone, and was frankly a little afraid to meet him. If the "coyote" boys I knew in the Temple of Psychick Youth were modeling themselves after him, I could only imagine how fierce Gen might be. But when I pulled into the parking garage where we supposed to meet, and saw the diminutive Genesis P-Orridge standing there with his two gorgeous young daughters and all their suitcases, my perception of him changed entirely.





And over the next eight hours, so did my perception of world.





Gen had just been quasi-exiled from England after a video he had made for Channel 4 (in which he carried out a mock abortion and ate the fetus), went viral in the tabloids. While Gen was in Thailand, the authorities ransacked his place, seized his archives, and made it clear he was no longer welcome in the UK. So he flew to California instead, essentially homeless, and was feeling pretty out of sorts as we drove. As his two daughters fought in the back, he told me, "If only people realized I was also a regular dad with two kids fighting in the back seat."





The rest may as well have been straight from the tweets of QAnon. We talked about the child pedophilia ring controlling the world, the way a powerful "ov" was changed to "of", the value of taking a wee bit too much of a psychedelic because "the only good trip is a bad trip," and how piercing and scarification are an extension of Brion Gysin's cut-up technique. It was a bonding road trip  not just for the way it broke open my brain, but for how it broke open my heart.





If anything made Genesis P-Orridge scary, it wasn't his machismo, Satanism, or risk-taking, but his openness, honesty, and tenderness. Yes, he did scary things  like piercing his scrotum, getting gold teeth, summoning demons, becoming a they  but the scariest part of all was staying soft, squishy, loving Gen through all of it.





We decided to write a book together about, well, everything. I had made about five hours of tapes of our conversations over the years, and then we holed up in a country cabin to make more tapes. Gen had a compact disc recorder and we recorded around eight hours of material. But when he got home he called me, quite upset, that none of them had recorded properly. It was the moment he decided digital was not a good thing.





I eventually helped him re-conceive the band PsychicTV as PTV3, and even went on tour with him as he became a she and a they. I got to watch  from safe behind him and a set of keyboards  as he showed his brand new breasts to a crowd of confused, mostly male devotees. They were still wearing macho army outfits from one of Gen's prior incarnations. They were shocked. Was their hero softening? And over the course of the evening, I think they came to understand that he was daring them to break their understanding not just of gender of but courage and autonomy. (I still call him a he at that point, because when I asked if he saw himself as a chick with a dick, he said "no  more a man with tits!")





Of course, Gen turned out to be neither and both  a pandrogyne, breaking sexual binaries and attempting to revolt against not just the prejudices of our society but the authority of DNA. "It's an alien virus," they would often tell me, that turned previously immortal creatures into separate genders, limited by death.





Genesis embarked on the pandrogyne experiment with partner Lady Jaye, originally Miss Jackie, a dominatrix who worked at a dungeon in Manhattan on Lex and 23rd. I remember the day Gen met her. He showed me two huge slices she had gouged in his chest with a razor and smiled, "she gets it." They were married shortly later.





Gen and Jackie were among the few friends who my wife Barbara and I could just go to dinner and be totally _normal_ with. Like perfectly bourgousie couples on a night out. They would often present Barbara with a mod skirt or tiny sweater they found at a vintage store and thought would be "perfect."





And they'd have fights  long drawn-out ones where Gen would get fed up with her drug habit, become convinced the relationship was over, and then stay on my extra futon for a few days at a time. But they worked through it, and from the moment they embarked on the pandrogeny project for real, they were like one being. They wouldn't change genders so much as become a complete gender, together.





That's why when the great Lady Jaye suddenly died, Gen was so broken. It's terrible enough to lose a wife and a life partner. But they had just spent the last decade merging life, art, love, gender, and self with Lady Jaye. There was no he or she  there was only they. Gen lost half of themselves.

We spent many weeks, maybe months, looking at whether "breaking sex" should become "breaking death." Gen was convinced he could still communicate with her on the other side, and that maybe the project was finally reaching its true fruition. She was pushing certain pictures off the wall, and books of the shelf, and Gen was inferring the meanings and coincidences. We considered the possibility that they could not only cut and paste pictures, music, culture, and genderthey could cut and paste life and death. Break the illusion. Liberate from the tyranny of DNA. This was the Big One.





As time went on, though, the visitations from Jackie became less frequent and less convincing. Gen returned to music and poetry, now as a single "they." There were new girlfriends, even a new true love, about whom Gen couldn't help but share all the steamy details. Almost like high school.





As Gen got sick with leukemia and more limited in what they could do, shows got canceled and things got occasionally scary. Gen started on a book about their life, told though the encounters they had with everyone from Mick Jones to William Burroughs. Maybe we can get the finished chapters online; they were good.





I'm glad I am not charged with writing Gen's obituary. There were many Gens, and that's probably part of the point. By the late 90's, as the terrible future of digital surveillance became obvious to anyone who cared to notice, Gen explained that anomalous behavior is our only defense.





Gen may have been the greatest enactor of anomaly in our lifetime. But no matter how much Genesis Breyer P-Orridge mutated over the decades, Gen's kind, sweet, and vulnerable essence remained a constant living reminder that staying soft and playful no matter what, is the greatest possible threat to the status quo.





I love you, GenGen.












Yamaguchi-gumi is a name that might not activate any immediate sense of recognition in western readers. But the name holds a lot of sway in Japan where it is instantly known as the title of the country's largest yakuza organization.

Yakuza in Japan

What is a yakuza? Well, the fact that the English equivalent of the term is gangster should give interested people an idea of what it means. Basically it is a catch-all term used to describe members of organized crime syndicates in Japan. These people are part of large transnational movements that deal with illicit activity to turn a massive profit. The Japanese police and media refer to these groups as boryokudan, meaning violent groups, while the yakuza title themselves as ninkyo dantai, meaning chivalrous organizations.

The yakuza in Japan are infamous for their high standards of conduct, their organized and structured nature as well as for several odd ritual practices they undergo like Yubitsume, which refers to to the amputation of one's little finger as a means of punishment and atonement within the criminal system. This is why missing pinkies are often associated with yakuza in Japan. The full image of a yakuza member is typically a man with a lot of tattoos and slicked-back hair. But despite this casual image, the criminal groups that they are categorized with are seen as some of the wealthiest and most sophisticated illegal organizations.

Largest Yakuza Organization

On top of this massive network of corrupt activity is the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's single biggest yakuza organization, named after its first founder Harukichi Yamaguchi. In terms of size, according to the National Police Agency, the group had 20,400 active members and 18,600 associated members in 2007, with this massive number of people comprising roughly 45% off the thousands of yakuza in the Japanese underworld at that time. The group is tightly structured with 102 leading members, including one kumicho, or boss, fifteen shatei, or younger brothers, and 86 wakachu, or children, as of November 2005. Members of this syndicate are in a good place, as they are considered to be some of the world's richest gangsters. The money they generate comes from a vast array of illegal activities. These include extortion, gambling, operations in the sex industry, arms trafficking, drug trafficking, real estate, construction kick schemes, stock market manipulation, and even Internet pornography. It is important to note, however, that in recent years, yakuza numbers have precipitously declined, even in the Yamaguchi-gumi group.

Headquartered in Kobe

Though they are headquartered in the Japanese city of Kobe, their operations span overseas into the rest of Asia as well as the United States. In fact, the group's current boss, Shinobu Tsukasa, has announced a focus on expanding, including into Toyko, which has historically not been part of their territory.

The origins of this group are traceable back to a loose dockworker labor union in Kobe. Though it was founded in 1915, the group didn't truly come into its full terrifying power until the third organization boss Kazuo Taoka took it from a few dozen members to the large powerhouse it is today.

So, if you're walking down a street in Japan and you notice someone covered in tattoos and missing a pinky finger, maybe give them some space, because you never know if they're part of the Yamaguchi-gumi.
Pauline Hanson has called for an end to panic buying and slammed food hoarders for their 'bogan attitude'.

The One Nation Senator said it was 'ridiculous' that shelves in supermarkets around the country have been left bare as people stock up in case they are isolated due to coronavirus.

Speaking to Today host Karl Stefanovic on Monday morning, the Queenslander told Australians to 'settle down'.

'I can't believe it, Karl, I really can't,' she said.

Pauline Hanson has called for an end to panic buying and slammed food hoarders for their 'bogan attitude'

Shelves are empty of toilet rolls at Coles Supermarket, Parramatta in Sydney

'People going that extreme, I think they have watched too many movies and they feel the world is coming to an end.

Referring to teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, she added: 'Just a few months ago it was [due to] climate change that we were coming to an end, if you listened to Greta.

'If people just settled down and stopped this bogan attitude that they have in our shopping aisles - it's just ridiculous the way they are carrying on - and over the top.

'You don't need to do your panic buying.'

As the virus causes disruption to international supply chains, Senator Hanson called for Australia to become more self-sufficient and less reliant on overseas trade.

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

'As I said for year, and years, we have relied on product coming in from overseas,' she said.

'We have destroyed our own industries and manufacturing. This is going to be a big awakening to us to now start looking at being self-reliant and start up the industries and manufacturing again. That is where the government should be looking at.'

Politicians of all stripes have expressed fears that Australia is too intertwined with its biggest trading partner, China.

Labor senator Penny Wong said Australia was too reliant the nation of 1.3 billion - a major buyer of iron ore, tourism and university education.

'Yes we are deeply integrated with the Chinese economy, whether tourism or commodities sectors, we are very dependent on growth in China,' she said at the AFR Business Summit last Monday.

Senator Wong called for Australia to diversify its export market.

'There's no doubt over time we want to ensure that we continue to diversify our export markets - Indonesia and India represent opportunities for that,' she said.

On Sunday night Woolworths became the first supermarket giant to announce it will open early with a dedicated shopping hour for the elderly and disabled to stock up without being caught up in the panic buying chaos.

Most stores across the nation will open to the vulnerable exclusively from 7am to 8am, starting Tuesday until at least Friday.

Woolworths will open its doors early with a dedicated shopping hour for the elderly and disabled, starting from Tuesday until at least Friday (stock image)

Panic buying in recent weeks sparked by the spread of coronavirus in Australia has seen supermarkets stripped of essentials such as toilet paper, pasta and tinned and other dried food and shoppers embroiled in ugly confrontations over limited stock.

'The move has been prompted by the unprecedented demand in supermarkets over the past week, which has seen many elderly and vulnerable people in the community missing out on vital items they may need when they shop,' Woolworths announced on Monday.

'While we'll continue to do our very best to restock our stores during this period of unprecedented demand, we know many of our elderly customers have been missing out on essential items when they shop,' managing director Claire Peters said.

'This temporary measure will give them, and those with a disability, the opportunity to shop before our stores officially open - helping them obtain the essential items they need most in a less crowded environment. '

Shoppers must have a government issued concession card to be granted early access.

Stores will open to other customers from 8am.

The move was welcomed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison as 'common sense' and 'a great idea' when he appeared on Channel Seven's Sunrise on Monday.
The Pune Police on Saturday registered a case against three people including Priyadarshini Nikalje, the niece of underworld don Chhota Rajan, in connection with an extortion case.

The accused have been booked for demanding extortion money of Rs 50 lakh in Pune.

The anti-extortion cell of Pune Police has arrested one accused Dhiraj Sable and search for other two, including Nikalje and Mandar Waykar, is on.

The complainant stated that he was allegedly threatened by Priyadarshini to give Rs 50 lakh to her.

He was allegedly asked to give Rs 25 lakh to the accused on March 13 But since he could not manage the money he "rushed to police out of fear and explained them the whole incident".

Accordingly, the police laid a trap on the same day and arrested one accused.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The meeting saw consensus" between the leaders of the two sides on all regional issues

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has discussed developments in negotiations over Ethiopia's disputed Nile dam project during talks with the deputy head of Sudan's Sovereignty Council, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.

During the Sunday talks, attended by Egypt's General Intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, El-Sisi reaffirmed Egypt's support to Sudan during its transitional period, that is due to last until late 2022, while stressing "mutual strategic interests that bring the two countries together."

The talks saw "consensus on all regional issues," presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said.

The two sides discussed "developments of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in light of the agreement reached in Washington, which was initialed by Egypt," the statement said.

Following the meeting with the Egyptian president, General Dagalo said that Sudan would work to mediate between Egypt and Ethiopia to bridge the gap in views over the GERD. Dagalo also said in statements to CBC Extra News that the GERD issue falls under the jurisdiction of the Sudanese prime minister.

Only Egypt signed the agreement, while Sudan and Ethiopia did not.

Ethiopia accused the US of favouring Egypt in the row over the dam, which Cairo fears would significantly diminish its water supply from the River Nile.

Egypt, meanwhile, believes that Ethiopia is intentionally hindering the course of the talks after it did not attend the latest round in Washington late last month, which was due to reach a final deal.

The dam is now more than 70 percent complete and Ethiopia plans to start the filling of its reservoir in July.

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Actress Parineeti Chopra on Sunday paid homage to all the brave doctors and healthcare workers who are putting their lives on the line to care for the COVID-19 patients.

In an Instagram post, the 31-year-old expressed appreciation for the medical professionals who are in the trenches, fighting the deadly pandemic. The text in the image read: "While all of us have the "luxury" to be house arrested and waiting for news -please spare a thought for the doctors and medical staff around the world who are risking their lives, away from their families, to save us!".

"Exactly like our soldiers do at a war. THANK YOU guys. We will NEVER , EVER be able to repay you," the heartfelt message said further.

In the second Instagram image, the actress cautioned her followers: "Guys let's be responsible.. By socializing/partying/ continuing life as it was, we are putting everyone at risk. Let's learn from happened in other countries.. Lets stop now! We don't wanna regret later...".

Chopra's message comes in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak that has affected over 90 people in India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Delegation of European Union (EU) to Nigeria and ECOWAS has advocated for equal opportunities for all persons so as to bridge the gender inequality gap in Nigeria.

The Ambassador of European Union to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ketil Karlsen, made the call in Abuja last week after watching a stage play, August Meeting, as part of activities marking the 2020 International Womens Day.

Mr Karlsen said August Meeting sends a strong message to the women of Nigeria and across the world on the importance of fighting for the rights of the women which aligns with the theme of this years celebration, I am Generation Equality: Realizing Womens Rights is aligned with UN Womens new multigenerational campaign, Generation Equality,

Mr Karlsen said the objective of the theatre play was to strengthen the engagement in a manner that position them to overcome significant challenges that hinder women from actively participating in politics as well as reducing the incidence of gender based violence.

According to him, the EU was proud to see the display of August Meeting which is not only an amazing example of the creativity and the excellent art of Nigeria but also a strong message to the women of Nigeria and everywhere and the importance of fighting for the rights of women which fundamentally is human rights and which the Union has been involved in for many years.

Today we are telling a story of what happened in 1929 and unfortunately now almost 100years these challenges are exactly present still. So making sure that we continue to fight for women everywhere, which aligns with this years theme I am Generation Equality: Realizing Womens Rights, he said.

He stressed that the EU was working with all Institutions to see improvements. He said the EU has supported the opening of a national register against sexual offenders as well as sexual assault referral centres throughout the country.

In her remarks, UN Women Nigeria Country Representative, Comfort Lamptey, said August Meeting was a confirmation of the resilience and strength of women of Nigeria.

She said the stage play provided the opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the progress made towards full attainment of womens rights, as well as to build momentum and support for further action.

I think if there is any message that this play showed to us, it is the confirmation of the resilience and strength of women of Nigeria. We saw a situation where more than ninety years ago when women came together and challenged the system; and actually made some sacrifice. They made some loses but in the end they came out victorious, Ms Lamptey said.

Produced by Raconteur Production, August Meeting is the powerful tale of the story of a group of women who sought social, economic and political redress and demanded political representation in 1929 South East Nigeria. Themes such as feminism, gender equality, women participation in politics are explored incorporating some of the traditional dances.

August Meeting tells the intriguing story of the colonial era Nigeria, when in 1929, a group of women, fearing that a head count of lives and property in the Eastern region by British administrators would lead to direct taxation, came together to put up a protest that was unprecedented in scope and remarkable in the success recorded.

The revolt, recorded in history as the Aba womens riot, attracted women from at least six ethnic groups stretching along the Owerri and Calabar provinces as they marched to the town of Oloko, in present-day Abia to seek social, economic and political redress.

The production stars well-regarded actresses such as Gloria Anozie-Young who plays Nwanyereuwa, Bella Rose Okojie, Ijeoma Aniebo, Inna Erizia, Odera Orji and Deola Gimbiya.
For Lisa DeAngelico, her mother and brother learned they also have the BRCA2 mutation that made her sick. Her mother opted to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed and now gets more frequent mammograms. Her brother is more vigilant about screening for prostate cancer, which is a risk for men with the mutation. DeAngelico says she is still hoping another brother, along with two male cousins and great aunt, will decide to get tested.
Update: The Government has called on all pubs and bars, including hotel bars, to close from this evening until at least March 29.

It follows talks with the Licenced Vintners Association (LVA) and the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI), who outlined the difficulty with implementing the social distancing guidelines in pubs.

The Government has also called on people NOT to organise or take part in any parties in houses or other venues which would put other peoples health at risk.

The LVA and VFI both supported the decision and urged all their members to close in line with the Governments request.

The Government said it will also monitor restaurants and cinemas on the effectiveness of the guidelines on social distancing in the coming days.

Earlier: Coronavirus: Temple Bar pubs close as Taoiseach seeks to stop mass gatherings in pubs

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said his Government is likely to seek greater enforcement powers to stop mass gatherings in pubs and clubs.

Images showing a packed Dublin bar over the weekend have been met with overt criticism from ministers and Paul Reid, the CEO of the Health Service Executive (HSE).

Mr Varadkar took to Twitter on Sunday morning to say that the Governments direction that no indoor mass gatherings of more than 100 people applies to pubs and clubs.

He said he has asked the States National Public Health Emergency Team for further expert guidance on this and that he may seek enforcement powers from Dail/Seanad.

People who have been out this weekend should avoid physical contact with seniors or people with chronic diseases. You could make them very, very sick, Mr Varadkar said.

People who have been out this weekend should avoid physical contact with seniors or people with chronic diseases. You could make them very very sick.  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) March 15, 2020

He was responding to pictures and video clips shared on social media depicting a packed bar in Dublin's Temple Bar on Saturday.

The images provoked a strong reaction from some that so many people were ignoring clear advice on social distancing.

Health Minister Simon Harris branded the video circulating on social media as an insult to the efforts of nurses and doctors working to prepare for a pandemic.

Not far from here, nurses & doctors are working to prepare for the impact of a global pandemic. Everyone is working 24/7. This is an insult to their efforts. There is very clear public health advice. Follow it. All options will be kept under constant review #CoronaVirusUpdates https://t.co/XQvJ7tC13D  Simon Harris TD (@SimonHarrisTD) March 14, 2020

Throughout the weekend, an increasing number of pubs and restaurants decided to shut their doors due to coronavirus, with many having to lay off staff.

In a statement, the Temple Bar company has announced with immediate effect the closure of all pubs and nightclubs in the area.

"In the interest of public health and following advice from An Garda Siochana and the health authorities The Temple Bar Company and its members have today decided that all pubs and nightclubs in Temple Bar will close their premises voluntarily with immediate effect. And will do so until further advice by the relevant authorities.

This decision was taken in light of the experiences of members of The Temple Bar Company over the last few days when it proved impossible to follow the public health advice to limit numbers and adequately implement measures on to control social distancing.

"Members of The Temple Bar Company felt it was inappropriate to request the diversion of Garda resources away from more pressing needs," the statement said.

"As part of the effort to avoid the spread of the Covid-19 virus The Temple Bar Company will intensify its disinfecting and power-washing of the streets and public spaces in the Temple Bar area as required. According to CEO Martin Harte of the Temple Bar Company Temple Bar is a hugely busy popular area with an annual footfall of just over 22 million. And therefore, this decision was the correct one given the unprecedented circumstances," the group added.

The Mercantile Group also announced the closure of its pubs and restaurants, which includes Whelan's, The George, the Crafty Fox and Cafe en Seine.

Meanwhile, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said a direction from the government telling pubs to close would suffice rather than seeking new laws to order them shut.

Speaking on Sunday after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar opened the door to seeking such powers, Mr Martin said such a direction from government would be enough, but said in his view all pubs should be closed on St Patrick's Day.

In my view, a recommendation from government would suffice the short term, I think most pubs would call this not all would cause if there was a clear message from government to carry instruction to close, he said.

I think, for example, in St. Patrick's Day pubs should not open at all, in my view, I think we've seen from experiences over the weekend that social distancing just simply does not happen in quite a number of pubs," he said.

That was evident last evening. Lots of lots of people are contacting me contacting public representatives all over the country, I get the sense there's a general desire to close pubs.

The Fianna Fail leader said that while many have clearly ignored warnings to date, many pubs themselves are looking to government to issue a closure order. He also said there would be much disquiet were publicans and members of the public to continue to defy such orders.

Well, I think there would be a lot of social upset if they didn't. I think they will. If powers are needed we will bring in the powers. And that that, of course, is something that can be done under legislation has to be pinpointed. But in my view, I believe if a clear message went out in the next 24 hours, that would actually be adhered to. Many pubs, to be fair, are asking for this, he said.

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MANILA, Philippines  A total of 444 Filipinos aboard the MV Grand Princess docked in the port of Oakland in California, USA are set to arrive in the country on Monday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Sunday.

In a statement, the DFA said the repatriated Filipinos are expected to land at the Haribon Hangar in Clark Airbase in Pampanga. They departed San Francisco around 9 p.m. on March 14 (Pacific Time).

The Filipinos underwent health screening upon disembarkation from the cruise ship facilitated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the DFA added.

The repatriation preparations undertaken by the DFA include securing clearances and permits for disembarkation, as well as land transfer to the chartered plane, it further said.

The 444 repatriates are composed of 438 crew members and six passengers.

Upon arrival, the group shall be immediately transported on chartered buses and shall be subjected to 14-day quarantine period at the Athletes Village in New Clark City under the full medical attention of health professionals from the Department of Health (DOH), the department said.

Meanwhile, 91 Filipino crew members are still onboard the ship after they volunteered to stay to maintain the vessel.

The MV Grand Princess, operated by Princess Cruises, was held off in Oakland after some of its passengers were confirmed to have contracted novel coronavirus disease.

The post 444 Filipinos aboard virus-hit Grand Princess cruise ship to arrive home Monday  DFA appeared first on UNTV News.
The number of Coronavirus positive cases in the country has risen to 93 which includes the two deaths in Delhi and Karnataka and the Government of India has been dealing with the pandemic Coronavirus with greater tenacity and firmness each day.

Appreciating the efforts put in by the Centre to fight COVID-19, Bollywood actor Kunal Kapoor took to his Twitter handle to share his friend's story who came back to Mumbai after traveling to a few countries. He revealed that the Health Ministry of India checked on him regularly to see how his health was. Calling the government 'proactive', the actor further praised the measures taken by Centre.

Punjab govt taking all steps to prevent Coronavirus spread, no need to panic: Amarinder

Reacting to Kapoor's tweet, Kangana Ranaut's sister Rangoli Chandel wrote, "Every day see people only crib and complain, no one takes time to appreciate others' efforts, nice to see Kunal sir go against Bollytards popular trend and appreciate the government." [sic]

A friend of mine came back home, a couple of weeks back, after travelling to a few countries. The health minsitry had someone check on him on the 1st, 5th and 14th day to see how he was doing. Great to see the government, being so pro active in fighting this #coronavirus  Kunal Kapoor (@kapoorkkunal) March 13, 2020

Steps taken by the Government

India is leading the fight against COVID -19 in the South Asian region by offering diplomatic, humanitarian and medical assistance to its neighbours. The Union Health Ministry has made functional 52 laboratories for testing samples while 57 labs have been designated for helping in sample collection for COVID-19 to enhance capacity for diagnosis and detection of the disease.

The government on Friday declared masks, including the N-95 variety, and hand sanitisers as 'essential commodities' under the Essential Commodities Act 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 and black marketeers.

The Centre as part of its measures to contain the spread of the disease has announced that people will be allowed to travel through 19 of 37 land border 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 had said.



(With PTI inputs)
PORTLAND  The Oregon Health Authority announced Saturday that a 70-year-old man in Multnomah County has died from COVID-19. He is the first reported death in Oregon due to the novel coronavirus.

The man is not connected to the cases at the Oregon Veterans' House in Lebanon, according to the OHA.

While we knew we would arrive at this day at some point, it doesnt lessen the impact, OHA Director Patrick Allen said. Our thoughts and deepest sympathy are with the family of this individual who honorably served his country.

The Multnomah resident had underlying health conditions and tested positive for COVID-19 on March 10, the OHA said in their press release. The individual had no known contact with a confirmed case and had not traveled to a country where the virus has been confirmed.

Dr. Jennifer Vines, the Multnomah County Health Officer said, This is a sobering reminder that this virus is in our community and can be serious for older people and those with underlying conditions. This loss has motivated us to continue our efforts to minimize the impact of this virus on our community.

This is a developing story and will be updated as we receive more information.

Last updated -- March 15, 10:11 am.
WOOD RIVER  The LoveJoy Presbyterian Church canceled its big charitable rummage sale

Due to the coronavirus, the church has temporarily closed its doors at 2550 Rock Hill Road, Wood River, with plans to postpone its rummage sale, from which proceeds will benefit LoveJoy Presbyterians food pantry and local mission activities.
Saturday, March 14, 2020

The 10 Most Effective Strategies for Staying Effective in The Face of Coronavirus Crisis

Michael J. Herman is the World's Most Ubiquitous Motivational Influencer and author of the globally syndicated column The Motivational Minute!.

In times of stress and anxiety, it's easy to fall into patterns of despair and panic. However, the antidote to this and a simple recipe for regaining posture and poise is to continuously implement habits of reassurance and effectiveness.

The reason you have to continually maintain vigilance is because the id wants to find reasons for panic and disorder, but by intentionally taking command of one's thought processes and emotional intelligence, what seems enormous and all powerful soon appears what it really is, a temporary issue over which you possess ultimate control.

So try these formulas for transforming your distressings into blessings.

Consume as much positive input as possible. If you're like me, you thrive on the inspiration and enthusiasm of others.

Nourish yourself not only on those around us, but those who have the keys to the kingdom. What kingdom? The realm of the Inspired. It's where kings of higher consciousness spend their time. The subconscious mind naturally defaults to "What's wrong?" instead of "What's right?" So exposing your intake systems (eyes, ears, touch, taste, and smell) to overwhelmingly positive input literally floods the mind with positivity and leaves no room for worry. And since the subconscious only knows what you tell it, it starts acting in a positive fashion.

Who should you check out? Anyone with a positive message. They're all around and most of the best of them are online and free. Dr. Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, T. Harv Eker, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Les Brown, Steve Harvey, Oprah, Dr. Barbara DeAngelis, and of course Ellen DeGeneres are popular purveyors of positivity. Ellen's brand is a constant torrent of humor and feel good stories.

"But Mike, not everyone can have a positive outlook, especially all the time?"

Hogwash! In fact, in this life, your attitude and your level of optimism is perhaps one of the singular factors over which you do have total control. A lot of bad things can happen, but if you frame your life through a filter of "Yes" things get better. It's just the way things work. Ask Nelson Mandela who spent decades in a prison cell only to rise to Prime Minister of the country that imprisoned him.

There are millions of suggestions I can rattle off that can pump you up no matter what your circumstance. People like Tony Robbins, Tyrese Gibson, Dan Pena, and Garrett J. White are gurus that pump me up. Nearly all these experts' works are easily accessible and in your public library.

Like Napoleon Hill taught us throughout his life, surround yourself with positive like minded people and you too will be successful like them.

What more is there to say. If a salmon swims up stream against all other salmon swimming downstream eventually, the salmon will be turned in the wrong direction. So get people of influence and vision around you as soon as possible and go with them, or get them to join your journey.

Create a Vision Board. It's a visual representation of where you want your life to go. If you want cars, houses, jobs, travel, toys, family, friends, health, community, ease, enlightenment, creativity, divinity, or even serenity, put pictures of these things on a board and position it in a way that your eyes will see it and your subconscious mind will find ways to act on achieving it.

Move your body. Being sedentary for extended periods is an absolute sabotage for your inspired state of being. Raucous, agitated, hysterical aerobic exercise is not necessary. What is required though is moving.

Tony Robbins reminds us that "Motion is emotion, and emotion is motion" Move your body, if even from one place to another. Change your posture, or change your physiology. Move the fluids. Get the blood pumping. Get breath pumping through your lungs. One day you won't be able to do so, so do it now while you're still able.

Stop listening to what others think and say. When I've interviewed top achievers in almost any field of specialization, almost everyone has said they persevered despite being told they were crazy.

The fact is that what others think about you is none of your business and your mission and responsibility is to be the most outstanding version of you that you can manifest. Yes, even in times of extreme stress. Anything that detracts from your stated ambition is merely fluff and not relevant. Listen to your inner voice that guides you to higher levels of excellence. Surely it will never let you down.

Track your successes and not your failures. Even the smallest of victories must be celebrated and celebrated like returning heroes from war.

T. Harv Eker, Author of Secrets of The Millionaire Mind tells us that even finding a single penny on the ground must be elevated to an event of great abundance. If you cannot be grateful for the small things, the Universe won't give you the big ones.

TV talk show host and personality Steve Harvey extols the virtue of Gratitude. Without gratitude, good and great things cannot grow. Without gratitude the soil in which good and great things grow turns hard, dense, and unable to support living, abundant gifts.

The online greeting card and gifting company SendOutCards.com is predicated on the value of gratitude and the importance of saying thank you, you're important, and I love you. They make it easy and cheap to send a heartfelt greeting card, upload a photo, and even attach a gift from your mobile device or computer. And everyone likes getting a loving greeting card.

Get in the daily, if not hourly habit of saying "Y-E-S" Yes gives life and room to grow. Yes allows for possibility to happen. Yes creates miracles and opens new doors.

Unfortunately all too often we say no, even for no good reason. Saying no without reason is simply a learned behavior pattern. But what's it get us?

In my earlier career as a TV Writer, hearing "NO" on a fairly constant basis was at times debilitating to my psyche. However, when I started training myself to say and to listen for yes, literally everything changed. And almost immediately!

Saying yes is perhaps one of the most powerful and transformative words in any language on earth. Try adding it more often and see how profoundly your world improves.

Persevere. You may be smarter, stronger, taller, richer, more connected, more talented, or even more right than me, but you will never out last me. I will persevere and win, if only because I absolutely refuse under any circumstances to give up.

Even in the face of total annihilation and blundering loss, I will never quit. I will never give up. I will persevere. It is this quality, if no other that gets me, you, or anyone through tough times.

The alligator as a species survives because it perseveres through the harshest of conditions. Love it or hate it, the cockroach has transverse eons of evolution and change. Not because it's smart, not because it's creative, or even because it's lucky. It lasts because it perseveres.

In summation, there are a zillion ways you can create better feelings and a more robust abundance in your life to conquer during setbacks and stresses. These were just a few. As you implement them your results will beckon even more techniques and strategies for optimistic outlooks.

Michael J. Herman is an expert on the topics of Inspiration, mental toughness, and overcoming insurmountable obstacles. His forthcoming book is How To Succeed in College with A Disability; The No BS Roadmap to Your Diploma due out May 5, 2020. Contact Michael J. Herman for review galleys and interviews, or just for a good word.
Polarized is a weekly series featuring Americans from all 50 states sharing their views on the 2020 elections. Click here if you would like to be a part of this project

Jennifer Lewis-Kelly is ready for a revolution  and shes putting in the work to make one happen.

The 42-year-old Missouri Democrat says she grew up in a conservative family with an evangelical baptist background and is a former Republican, becoming engaged in politics at a young age when she first saw Bob Dole speak in St Louis.

My parents are still huge Trump supporters and follow the QAnon like its a religion, she says. Its really concerning, but, you know, to each their own.

Perhaps thats what makes it fun (and arguably somewhat easier) for Lewis-Kelly to serve as a victory captain for Bernie Sanders in the 2020 Democratic primaries. She says the job has her canvassing trailer parks and traveling across states to lead teams on what the Vermont senators campaign calls Bernie journeys, in which canvassers trek to specific regions to knock on doors and spread the word  or, as it's known colloquially, the bern.

Lewis-Kelly had her own personal revolution several years ago when she realized what she calls her truth. The minister identifies as a member of the LGBT community, and, after a journey in self-acceptance, came out of the closet to her church in 2014. She was quickly voted out.

Having been kicked out of the church, Lewis-Kelly said she was $150,000 in student loan debt and had no career, as well as a 10-year-old daughter.

I was pregnant in seminary, and nobody seemed to have a problem with that, she says with a laugh. You dont have a problem with me being an unwed mother, but yeah, Im gay.

(Courtesy of Jennifer Lewis-Kelly)

Lewis-Kelly says she had to pull herself together, and eventually went back to school to receive a degree. Shes now a paralegal, and is taking advantage of her companys tuition reimbursement program while working towards her MBA.

Though she voted for Barack Obama twice and initially supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primaries, Lewis-Kelly says she has lost faith in the Democratic establishment over the years. It all began with the passage of Obamacare, when a public option was negotiated off the table.

Story continues

I dont think any of us were able to blink and thats how fast it was taken off, she recalls.

She now feels betrayed by the party, Lewis-Kelly says, citing various decisions its leaders made over the years that she strongly opposes.

It was supposed to be better than this, and its not, she says. We bailed out the banks, and I lost my house to a foreclosure  I will never forget that.

After doing some research and exploring Sanders candidacy during his first presidential bid, Lewis-Kelly says she became a die-hard supporter of the liberal senator. She began phone-banking for his campaign, and was devastated when he lost the primaries in 2016, saying she couldnt consciously vote for Clinton against Donald Trump. Instead, Lewis-Kelly withheld her vote.

This time around, Lewis-Kelly says shes equipped with a good job, some more time on her hands and additional resources to help Sanders on his path to the White House. He stands for everything shes passionate about, from protecting the environment, to achieving universal healthcare and valuing human rights.

I have a little bit more freedom to help out the campaign, she says, adding that her daughter comes canvassing from time to time. When the going gets tough, Lewis-Kelly says her daughter has started signing Taylor Swift songs to help them power through the day.

But shes worried she might soon face the same devastation she felt in 2016. Her concern comes after former Vice President Joe Bidens victory in the Missouri primaries this week, and his sweeping wins during Super Tuesday and the primaries after.

Im putting in at least one more weeks worth of hope and optimism on this, she says. Well see what happens.

With the debates coming up on Sunday night and several crucial states set to vote in the coming months, Lewis-Kelly says there could still be a chance for Sanders to secure the Democratic nomination. She admits, however, that path has narrowed after the once-historically diverse field of candidates winnowed to the two oldest men in the race, with virtually all of the moderate leading candidates throwing their support behind Biden in a matter of weeks.

Half of us Berners think he has to go hard on Biden, and the other half thinks he should play along and get along, Lewis-Kelly says about the upcoming debates.

At the end of our conversation, I ask her if she will once again withhold her vote if Sanders doesnt win the Democratic nomination. She says she plans to vote, though she would not support Biden under any circumstances.

Her vote wouldnt go to Trump either, Lewis-Kelly says adamantly, adding that she rejects the president and his agenda.

But then, after denouncing Trump, she pauses.

Ill tell you what: I want to take that back, she says. Biden has to earn my vote, he has not yet earned my vote. If he can talk about how hes going to bring in the youth vote and focus on climate change, if hes going to talk about Medicare-for-All  I will consider the vote, but hes got to earn it from me first."

Click here to read more of The Independent's series, Polarized: Voices From Across America
Turkey confirms sixth coronavirus case

Turkish ministry announced that a citizen who returned from Saudi Arabia in past week tests positive for coronavirus.

Turkey confirmed Saturday four more coronavirus cases, raising its tally to six.

CITIZEN HAS JUST RETURNED FROM UMRAH

"Unfortunately, the coronavirus test of a citizen who returned from Umrah in the last week turned out to be positive," said Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Twitter.

Umrah is the Islamic pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca that Muslims can undertake at any time of the year.

Stressing the importance of a 14-day quarantine rule, Koca warned those who came from overseas not to come in contact others. He said passing medical screening does not mean zero risk.

The global death toll from the virus has surpassed 5,300 with more than 142,000 cases confirmed worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
march 15, 2020

Life in New Mexico

The artwork screams of forgotten histories, nation-less ghosts, tent cities and bundled belongings.

Opening at SITE Santa Fe on Saturday, March 21, Displaced: Contemporary Artists Confront the Global Refugee Crisis asks viewers to bear witness to the highest levels of human displacement on record and contemplate a future where migration is critical to survival.

The exhibition stars 10 artists working in film, video, sculpture, installation and mixed-media. The show also includes daily screenings of the 2017 documentary Human Flow by the acclaimed Chinese artist/activist Ai Weiwei.

Contemporary artists have a way of addressing the truth, co-curator and SITE Santa Fe Phillips director Irene Hofmann said.

According to recent United Nations reports, a record 70.8 million men, women and children were displaced from their homes across the world last year due to war, violence and persecution.

Some of the artists are immigrants, others bear witness to the current movement of refugees, while others have created works expressing the trauma of forced displacements across history.

Glorieta resident Cannupa Hanska Luger (Standing Rock Reservation) is of Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Lakota and European descent. In Future Ancestral Technologies: We Survive You, 2019, he created an ongoing multimedia project combining science fiction with a world where migration is essential to survival.

Luger built a solar-paneled teepee with collapsible poles for travel in a Volkswagen van. A colonizer has left the planet, leaving a nomadic people dedicated to the earth. They have realigned with indigenous migration practices and learned how to follow the water and live in balance with the land.

Its people figuring out a way to move freely without the pressure of capitalist consumer culture, Luger said.

The story takes place 80 years after the dominant culture has fled the planet out of fear of artificial intelligence, he explained. It uses creative story telling to radically reimagine the future.

Its a fear of retribution for the subjugated, Luger said. Its a fanciful fiction created by those in power. Its a guilt-driven fear.

With global instability, widespread financial crisis and unaffordable housing, our lifestyle must change, he stated.

Londons Hew Locke spent his formative years in Guyana just as that South American country gained independence from Britain. He built an armada of 13 boats as a metaphor of trade and exploration, as well as warfare and slavery. They hang from the ceiling, some draped in carnival beads, silk and plastic flowers. Others wear barnacles and reflect the slave trade with space for human cargo. Some resemble model boats; the largest measures more than 8 feet.

The Irish artist Richard Mosse uses military grade thermal surveillance camera technology normally confined to the battlefield. The camera detects body heat across great distances in haunting images. Mosses photographs, dominated by refugee camps in Greece, show glowing bodies, fire and car engines trapped in a state of limbo, following the flow of people from North Africa and the Middle East into Europe.

South Africas Candice Breitzs video examines empathy in a series of interviews with six refugees. Actors Julianne Moore and Alec Baldwin then re-tell edited versions of their journeys.

Theyre telling their personal story of trauma, then theyre filtered into a Hollywood package with the toughest details sanitized, Hofmann said.

Harriet Bart and Yu Wen Wus Leavings/Belongings piles hundreds of bundles of belongings wrapped in calico, check and African cloth into a mammoth net dangling from the ceiling. Immigrant and refugee women gathered in small workshops to create these cloth packages to share their experiences. Some include poignant, hand-written messages such as, My family and I are lucky to have a home here, our home in Vietnam is no more there.

Other projects focus on American border politics.

School of American Research anthropologist Jason de Leons Hostile Terrain 94 consists of 3,400 toe tags bearing the name, age, sex and cause of death and location for migrants attempting to cross Arizonas Sonoran Desert. The project will continue in 150 locations around the world, including its premier at Santa Fes Center for Contemporary Art. Visitors to SITE will be able to fill out toe tag cards to be delivered to CCA in the spring. Volunteers will attach all of the tags to a map in Washington, D.C. in the fall.

Most of the names are blank.
Dehradun, March 15 : The protest against reservation in promotion in government jobs by General-OBC employees continued on 13th day here on Sunday.

All tehsils, treasuries and election cells have been locked which has severely affected the government work. All government offices remained deserted.

Though General-OBC employees are on strike but some workers are trying to reduce the work load after senior officials managed to convince them. However, protesters are putting pressure on them to participate in the strike.

Presently, the backlog has been increased to four fold and people are facing problems to get their certificates.

According to the official sources, the backlog has been reached nearly 3,000. Though, people have access to online application but since officials are on strike, those applications are pending in the systems. Similarly, students can not apply for various examinations due to pending status of their certificates.

Last date of submitting the admission application under the Right to Education was March 15, but as people are unable to get income certificates, they can not apply for the admissions of their children.

Meanwhile, Ramnagar MLA Diwan Singh Bisht has termed the demands of General OBC workers as "right". He also wrote a letter to Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat in this regard. "The strike has marred the government work, people are facing lots of problems. Hence, the government should take a sympathetic decision on the demands," the letter read.

The General-OBC employees are demanding that they would only return to work after the government would pass a resolution quashing the reservation in promotions. The employees have also warned to totally disrupt the government work on Monday if their demands are not met.

"The government is not only ignoring the General-OBC employees but people's feeling. The government is stubborn and no one is trying to hold talks with us. We demand an Act to end the reservation in promotion. All government departments in the states are with us. BJP's 11 MLAs are also with us, now the government will assess the loss," Uttarakhand General-OBC Employees' Association's regional head Deepak Joshi told IANS.

Government spokesperson Madan Kaushik said that the government will take any decision only after the strike will end.
"Of course, we lost our loved friends, family, people and community," he said. "But we are also seeing so much good has come out of it. So looking at the positive part of that. Today, it is such a privilege to be in this country." Temel Atacocugu, who survived after being shot nine times at the Al Noor mosque, said the anniversary had provoked strong feelings. "We are sad more than we are angry," he said. "It's very emotional. When I woke up this morning, I'm speechless. I can't explain what I feel." Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Saturday the decision to cancel the memorial event planned for Horncastle Arena was pragmatic and precautionary.

New Zealand has had eight confirmed cases of COVID-19. All of those cases have been connected to people returning from abroad and so far there haven't been signs of a local outbreak. Ardern has enacted strict border rules in an attempt to prevent the disease from taking hold in New Zealand. Friends Jumayah Jones, of Al Noor mosque, and Hamimah Tuyan, who was widowed in last years terrorist attack, reunite at Christchurch Art Gallery one year after the shootings in Christchurch. Credit:AAP Dr Tuyan moved to New Zealand with her family in 2013 after winning a scholarship to complete a PhD in speech and language therapy. She left Christchurch after finishing her studies in late 2018, hopeful of reuniting as a family in June last year. Dr Tuyan is one of 31 women widowed by the attack, New Zealand's worst mass shooting.

She speaks with remarkable grace when she remembers her husband. "He was a hero ... a doting husband," she said. "A beloved son. "He was a principled man, a hardworking man. He was quiet but humble. "He never had a bad thought for anybody. If he hears anybody saying a bad word about anybody he would signal to me to 'sssh'.

"That's the kind of man he was." Like many, Dr Tuyan was left searching for meaning in the aftermath of the attacks. She found it in the very thing that made her family a target - her faith. "Islam plays a very big special role in this," she said. "We have a lot of stories and examples in the Koran about how more important people have been able to overcome their sadness and their depression and far worse experiences and situations than this.

Loading "That has given me a lot of healing ... [helping] me to change our mindset and not to be bogged down by sadness. "That is what the supremacist and his supporters would want us to do "Fear cannot overcome faith." Dr Tuyan has also found strength in telling her story.

She is one-of-four women who have been profiled in a documentary series, launched this month, called Widows of Shuhada. Loading She was also to address the national remembrance service on Sunday, which was unfortunately cancelled due to fears it could spread coronavirus. Dr Tuyan said she hoped to issue a challenge to New Zealanders to understand Islam and people of faith. "It's our responsibility. Every one of us will be accountable for this if we don't learn from this experience and understand," she said.

"If we do not want 15th March to happen again we all need to read up and learn about each other. "To see that there are a lot of similarities rather than differences. "We all have a role to play in calling out hate speech whether its coming from politicians or the neighbour. "We need to challenge and seek verification from whatever we hear about Islam and Muslims." She also has a challenge for her own community.

"I'm inviting our Muslim community to play a proactive role. Yes you hide, you isolate, you try to heal," she said. "But you still have to come out and do your job ... to extend the hand to other people in the community." Dr Tuyan's message echoes a call from the imams of the two mosques targeted in last year's attack, Al Noor mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre, which they have called the 'Christchurch Invitation'. The Christchurch Invitation asks New Zealanders to make three acts - feeding the hungry, reconnecting with others, and spreading peace - the legacy of last year's attack. "Last year we witnessed beautiful intentions and actions when people saw past labels and differences, saw other people as human beings, and came together after that dreadful shooting," imam Gamal Fouda and imam Alabi Later Zikrullah said in a shared statement.
Press Release

15 March 2020

Young Hoteliers Summit (YHS), the largest student-run hospitality summit in the world, announces our first-ever YHS Virtual 2020. In true YHS spirit, the conference will continue to bring together industry experts and students from leading hospitality institutions around the world, to share insights and knowledge.

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While the physical YHS event has been cancelled amid rising concerns from the COVID-19 situation, the YHS team has been working round the clock to turn this into an opportunity to create a whole new YHS experience. In a perfect alignment with the YHS 2020 theme "Power to the People; The Growth Mindset", the team has been empowered to take charge of the situation and use this as a possible growth avenue to inspire a wider audience on a virtual platform. YHS Virtual 2020 could set new ground for the sharing of ideas and knowledge, in a convenient and sustainable way, by sparing our audience the inconveniences of travel times and airfares, with no entrance fees.

Interested parties may use the online platform to make hear from industry leaders and engage in insightful and engaging debates and discussions on the industry's hottest topics - no matter where they are. This virtual summit, the YHS team is pleased to bring you speakers such as Michael Levie, Co-Founder & COO of CitizenM, Steve Hood, Senior Vice President of Research at STR, and Anita Mendiratta, Founder & President of Anita Mendiratta & Associates and Special Advisor to the Secretary-General of the UNWTO.

The virtual summit will take place on 16 March (3-6 pm CET) and 17 March (4-7 pm CET). To register to attend the event, please visit the following link: ly/yhs2020day1.

Online participation is free of charge.

Please follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram (@YHSGlobal) as we continue to share updates. Contact us at [email protected] for any enquiries.

About YHS

Creating greater networks, building hospitality connections around the world, the Young Hoteliers Summit (YHS) has come a long way since its inauguration in 2010. As the largest student-run summit in the world, YHS brings together aspiring hoteliers from the world's top hospitality institutions, with industry professionals across the globe.

YHS Virtual 2020 theme "Power to the People; The Growth Mindset"

Mindsets and preferences are shifting faster than some can adapt. At the core of navigating this evolution, are the people who need to adopt a multi-generational perspective, in order to drive business transformation alongside these changing needs. YHS 2020 seeks to empower our attendees to face the industry's challenges head-on, by inspiring a mindset that is constantly set on adapting and growing.
Hope Centre would not reject demand for restoration of statehood in J&K before polls: Ghulam Nabi Azad

We are a big loser, J&K better off when governed by CMs: Ghulam Nabi Azad

Azad meets Abdullah, demands release of J&K leaders

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 15: Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad on Saturday met National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah, who was released from home detention after seven months, and demanded that all detained leaders from Jammu and Kashmir be freed and democracy restored.

After a two-hour meeting with Abdullah at the latter's residence in Gupkar area of the city here this afternoon, the Congress general secretary told reporters that for the progress of Jammu and Kashmir, its leaders should be released and "not kept in cages like a parrot".

After 7 months in detention, Farooq Abdullah meets son Omar

Calling for release of all other leaders and individuals, including former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, to restart the political process in J-K, Azad said elections should be held and statehood restored to Jammu and Kashmir.

He was dismissive of the recently floated Jammu Kashmir Apni Party led by former finance minister Altaf Bukhari, saying J-K cannot be run through "agency created parties".

Azad said he met Abdullah on behalf of his party as well as all those MPs and parties who have been raising their voice inside Parliament and outside for the release of J-K leaders.

"First and foremost, democracy should be restored in J-K for any political process to start," Azad said.

Asked about the demand for restoration of Article 370, the Congress leader said, Let us go one by one... Let democracy be restored. First, let this happen, then that (Article 370) .

Let us first restore democracy and democracy can be restored once all the leaders who are behind bars either in jails or in guest houses or under particular Act, they have to be released first. Let the political process start first.

"Let every individual of J-K be released from the jail. Let democracy prevail first and then we can pick up other fights, he said.

Azad, who is also a former chief minister of J-K, said the political process should be started soon.

I am free beams Farooq Abdullah

J-K is the country's largest state. In 1947, 560 states were merged to form 12 states, but J-K was the only state in India which was not joined by any other state as it was large enough.

"It is disrespectful and disgraceful for the people of J-K that it was changed to a Union Territory. I want that the leaders be released sooner and J-K be changed to a state.

"Political process is a basic right in a democracy. India is not known for its size world over, but for its democracy. But, not this democracy where three former chief ministers are jailed for several months or another ex-chief minister has to come here with the Supreme Court's permission.

"When CMs, MPs, ministers MLAs, MLCs are in jail, then where is the democracy? he said.

Azad said for the development of Jammu and Kashmir, it is necessary that the political process is started.

If J-K has to progress and move forward and if we have to bring prosperity in J-K, then its key lies not in keeping leaders in a cage like a parrot, but in releasing them and starting a political process by which elections are conducted here. Whichever government is elected by the people of J-K, that will work on the development of J-K, he said.

Asked about his views on creation of Jammu Kashmir Apni Party and if it was a step towards restoration of political process in the Union Tterritory, Azad said, "In the last 47 years, several attempts have been made to form such parties. J-K and democracy cannot be run through agency (created) parties, but only through the elected governments.

Azad expressed happiness over his meeting with Abdullah.

"It is a matter of great happiness that I met him after seven-and-a-half months. He was detained for all these months and we do not even know the reason. Usually someone is detained if he breaks the law or has taken out a protest against the country or the government.

"However, he and Omar and Mehbooba and others were detained a day before Article 370 was revoked, so there is no question of any wrongdoing, he said.

No basis to charge Omar, Mehbooba under PSA: Priyanka

The Congress leader said the Members of Parliament were yearning for the release of the NC president and his detention was the "biggest atrocity on him by the government".

I am here not only for myself. We have been friends for about 40 years and which will continue. I am here also on behalf of my party as well as all those MPs and parties in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha who have been raising voices inside Parliament and outside it for the release of these leaders. All those MPs were yearning for his release.

I understand how many difficulties he had to pass through. It was too cold this time after so many years and then his health.... However, when God is with someone, no one can harm him, he said.

Abdullah expressed his gratitude to Azad and all those leaders who had pressed for his release.

Explained: Why was PSA slapped against Omar Abdullah

I thank him for coming here to enquire about my health. He had earlier also made attempts, Abdullah said.

After being in home detention for over seven months, Abdullah was released on Friday with the government revoking the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) against the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister.

The 82-year-old 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.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 15, 2020, 10:08 [IST]
An island community off the coast of Co Donegal has put itself into self-isolation in a bid to combat the coronavirus.

Arranmore Island, which has a population of around 450 people, is now asking people not to visit them until the end of March.

Islanders on the outcrop, which is 5kms off the mainland, say they are discouraging people from visiting them.

It's a far cry from last year when islanders wrote letters to communities in America and Australia asking people to settle on the island in order to turn back a declining population.

The campaign coincided with the opening of a digital hub on the island with high-speed broadband supporting 13 digital desks for remote working.

The hub, which was partly-funded by Three Ireland, features in a popular television advert which was shot on the island.

The 22 square-kilometre island cannot only be reached by boat and is serviced by two ferry companies.

A spokesperson for the Arranmore Ferry said the decision to discourage visitors coming discussions between a number of groups on the island.

A spokesperson said "Due to the Coronavirus COVID-19 and following discussions with Comharchumann Oilean Arainn Mhor, CFFAM Arainn Mhor and other Island Community Groups, we have decided to discourage visitors to the island until the end of March."

"Please respect our wishes to safeguard the elderly and vulnerable people in our community and we will update as soon as we can."

The island's development co-op, An Comharchumann in association with other island-based community groups are liaising continuously with each other, with community representatives on other Irish islands and with individuals, regarding the Coronavirus.

A statement on the group's Facebook page said they are due to meet with representatives of the HSE tomorrow (MON) to discuss further precautions for the island.

"Arainn Mhor businesses/community organisations are following procedures & undertaking measures which reach beyond the recommended National Guidelines. Businesses and community organisations are closed but are closely monitoring events as they arise.

"Together with community groups and organisations on other offshore islands, we are seeking information and a specific strategy from the HSE for the islands. A meeting with island representatives and the HSE will take place on Monday 16 March when it is hoped that an islands strategy will be agreed and implemented.

Currently there is no official recommendation that islands be closed down. Whilst the movement of individuals can be discouraged, movement cannot be prevented at this time.

"In order for us to do what we can in the interest of our community, please adhere to guidelines recommended by the HSE. Updates will be issued regarding the outcome of the proposed meeting with the HSE on Monday 16 March. Go raibh maith agaibh."

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Turkey has set up quarantine locations for more than 10,300 people returning from pilgrimages to Islam's holy sites in Saudi Arabia.

The Youth and Sport Ministry said Sunday that beds had been made available in university dormitories in the capital, Ankara, and the central Anatolian city of Konya for those returning from Umrah, a pilgrimage that can be made at any time of the year. Returnees will be quarantined for 14 days in an effort to combat the coronavirus.

Universities have been closed for three weeks due to the virus outbreak. Turkey's latest case, its sixth, was a returning pilgrim.

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Has Pippa Middleton become tired of the limelight? I only ask because I hear shes taken to using a false name and lurking in darkened doorways.

A cab driver tells me of his bizarre encounter with the Duchess of Cambridges sister, She ordered a taxi for Lucy Middleton and kept ringing, asking if I was there yet because she was hiding in a dark doorway.

I later Googled the name and saw Lucy Middleton [Pippa and Kates cousin] in a picture with Pippa, and realised it was actually Pippa in my cab.

A tip if youre trying to go incognito, Pippa: the name Middleton is a dead giveaway

Pippa Middleton has reportedly taken to using a false name and lurking in darkened doorways (pictured attending Spencer Matthews' launch of The Clean Liquor Company)

The Duchess of Cambridge's cousin Lucy Middleton (left), Hannah and Robert Carter and Harry Aubrey-Fletcher (back) arriving for the christening of Prince Louis, the youngest son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, London

If you ever needed proof that money doesnt buy brains, members of some of Londons exclusive clubs are relying on a vitamin-packed cocktail dubbed The Quarantini to help them during the coronavirus crisis.

Trust me, the drink  vodka, orange juice and a ginger garnish  may taste good, but its not going to work

TV chef Rick Stein is determined that his wealth and fame wont go to his head  or his waistline.

My spies tell me that the multi-millionaire, who could afford to be a member of any of Londons super-exclusive private gyms, is actually a regular at a very modest council swimming pool in Chiswick, West London.

Since hes over 60, Ricks swimming sessions will cost him less than diners at his nearby restaurant in Barnes fork out for a single portion of chips!
Scheana Shay from Vanderpump Rules found herself on the defense after tweeting that the pandemic wasnt going to stop her from living her life.

Scheana Shay attends the Premiere Of Columbia Pictures Blumhouses Fantasy Island at AMC Century City 15 |Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images

Shay tweeted, I will continue to live my life in Palm Springs or MDR w my friends and not live it in complete isolation or fear. Simple as that. Call me ignorant but Im not gonna stop living! Officials urge residents to practice social distancing and remain home, which prompted a firestorm of replies from Shays Twitter followers.

Honestly it sucks to be contained, one person replied. But is it that hard to just chill for 30 days till everything is contained. This is the type of attitude that makes the virus spread. Be a little selfless sometimes. Lol. It wont be till someone you know gets it then itll all be send prayers.

Shay remains defiant

Shay received a flood of comments, mainly from people who slammed her for being insensitive to the possibility of infecting others should she become infected with the coronavirus. But she fought back insisting that being in total isolation for 30 days wasnt going to happen for her. Is it that hard to stay inside for 30 days? YES!

I truly hope each and every one of you tweeting me that Im stupid for having people at my house are all home alone and not making contact with any people for the rest of the month. Dont be a hypocrite.  Scheana (@scheana) March 14, 2020

Comments began to snowball and Shay tried to explain what she meant by her comment. This all started bc I tweeted for my healthy friends working from home to come and hibernate w me INSIDE my house. Sorry, I did not realize that was insensitive and ignorant. Im done now.

But she insisted that isolation was impossible, adding that some people need to work in industries that rely on tips too. She clarified, Yes, meaning Im not going to isolate myself inside alone for weeks. Im sorry. Its not going to happen and anyone who follows me will see that. I pray this virus passes soon and we can all go back to living our best lives. On that note, goodbye for now twitter.

Officials urge Americans to take the pandemic seriously

Recent evidence suggests that asymptomatic individuals could be increasing the risk. We now know that asymptomatic transmission likely [plays] an important role in spreading this virus, Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota told CNN.

Considering that the coronavirus can live on surfaces for days, experts beg Americans to cancel playdates, dont go out to dinner and stay home. Were not asking people to be hermits, go home, lock the door and crawl under the bed, Vanderbilt infectious disease expert Dr. William Schaffner told CNN. Were being asked to do whatever we can to spread some distance between us.

However, some experts admit that the public seems confused about how to best protect themselves and the rest of the community from getting the coronavirus. People should avoid gathering in public places. People should be at home as much as possible. The measures that have worked to get transmission under control or at least to bend the curve, in China and South Korea, have been extreme measures to increase social distancing, Carolyn Cannuscio, the director of research at the Center for Public Health Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania told The Atlantic.

But what about having a small gathering like the one that Shay suggested? I would recommend that people minimize social contact, and that means limiting all social engagements, Cannuscio said.

That includes intimate gatherings among friends. I think the exception is if two households are in strict agreement that they are also going to reduce all outside contact and then those two households socialize together, to support one another. I can see social and mental-health advantages to that kind of approach.
WINNIPEG - Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont will have a bit of a cushion when delegates to the party's next annual meeting vote on his future later this year.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 15/3/2020 (667 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Liberal Party of Manitoba leader Dougald Lamont at a leaders' debate at CBC in Winnipeg, Wednesday, August 28, 2019. Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont will have a bit of a cushion when party delegates vote on his future later this year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

WINNIPEG - Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont will have a bit of a cushion when delegates to the party's next annual meeting vote on his future later this year.

Under changes to the party's constitution, Lamont cannot be forced to step down unless at least two-thirds of delegates vote in favour of holding a leadership convention.

One political analyst said the change is out of the ordinary.

"The requirement for a two-thirds vote by delegates ... to launch a leadership review is unusual," said Paul Thomas, professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba.

"Most people assume that democracy involves 50 per cent plus one votes. However, each party designs its rules on leadership selection and replacement based on their history, traditions and the composition of its membership."

The Liberals adopted mandatory leadership reviews after every election a decade ago, based on a simple majority, but have not held one before. Jon Gerrard resigned in 2011 before he could face a review, and his successor, Rana Bokhari, also quit in 2016.

Manitoba New Democrats have a 50 per cent threshold at leadership reviews, and leader Wab Kinew is to face one at the party's next convention.

The provincial Progressive Conservatives have also worked with a 50 per cent threshold. At their last leadership review in 2005, Stuart Murray survived with 55 per cent support, but decided to step down due to the lukewarm result.

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Federally, New Democrat leader Tom Mulcair faced a 50 per cent threshold and was forced to step down in 2016 after getting 48 per cent support. The federal Green party has an even lower threshold  40 per cent is enough to force a leadership race.

The Manitoba Liberals say they changed the threshold to a two-thirds majority a year ago as part of several changes to the party's constitution. The reason, they say, is because votes on the leadership review are made by party delegates, whereas leadership elections are open to all party members.

"Delegates at a convention are limited constitutionally to a maximum number that may be nominated by constituencies, (party) associations, and those who pay a convention fee to attend," party president David Engel wrote in an email.

"Therefore, the constitution has a higher requirement to remove a leader that was duly elected by the membership."

Lamont became leader in 2017 and won a byelection the following year, giving the party a fourth legislature seat. In last year's election, the Liberals retained three seats  not enough for official party status.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on March 15, 2020
St Patrick's Day celebrations were muted across the United States over the weekend after New York, Chicago and Boston all canceled their parades while parts of New Jersey were put on lockdown.

What should have been one of the busiest weekends of the year in bars throughout America was noticeably quiet as patrons stayed away from public spaces amid growing concerns about the spread of coronavirus.

The New York City St. Patricks Day Parade was postponed for the first time in its 258-year history, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday.

Its postponement of the March 17 parade adds to the roster of events and holidays upended around the world by the spreading infection.

Chicago, Boston, and even the Irish capital of Dublin, have also cancelled St. Patricks Day parades.

St Patrick's Day celebrations were muted across the United States over the weekend after New York, Chicago and Boston all canceled their parades while parts of New Jersey were put on lockdown

What should have been one of the busiest weekends of the year in bars throughout America was noticeably quiet as patrons stayed away from public spaces amid growing concerns about the spread of coronavirus (McFadden's Saloon in New York City)

Paddy Maguire's Ale House in New York City was eerily quiet due to coronavirus fears

In the bars DailyMail.com visited, many had at most up to about 15 people

The New York governors statement did not say when this years parade will take place, if at all.

But Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted that he promises the parade will go on, 'whether its in the heat of summer or on a clear fall day'.

The parade is usually held on March 17th, attracting millions of spectators who line up along Manhattans Fifth Avenue to celebrate the patron saint of Ireland.

In Chicago, the citys mayor said she couldnt risk the kind of gathering that scientists warn could hasten the further spread of COVID-19.

'Like cities across the nation, we concluded that having a parade at this time posed an unnecessary risk to the publics health', Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.

The mayor of Savannah, Georgia, later announced that citys 196-year-old St. Patricks Day parade, scheduled for Tuesday, and a weekend festival had been called off as well.

Although some people decided to dress up for the Irish holiday, most decided to stay at home during the national emergency

There won't be any scenes like this from last year in the streets of New York this year

It's not uncommon to have people line up to get into New York's Irish bars on St Paddy's Day. Last year is pictured.

The city would normally be awash with green, white and orange as Irish festivities kick off

Chicagos parade had been scheduled for Saturday, ahead of St. Patricks Day on Tuesday.

'We all know what the St. Patricks Day celebrations mean to the city of Chicago, said Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat. 'Because of what weve seen nationally, and across the world, of the increased risk of large gatherings, this was the right call.'

Indeed, it was deemed the right call in cities from Boston and Philadelphia to Denver, Dallas, San Francisco and Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The cities of Dublin  the one in Ohio and the one in Ireland  also pulled the plugs on their parades.

Officials are considering a statewide curfew to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Sunday morning.

Hoboken already implemented one  from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.  starting Monday.

'These are extremely challenging times, and we are seeing a substantial uptick of positive COVID-19 cases,' Mayor Ravinder Bhalla said in a statement. 'The time is now to to enact proactive policies that will help save lives in the long run.'

Joyface, a popular lounge in Manhattan's East Village, is closing down for at least a week

Bartenders are worried that they will face a drop in tips as a result of the lack of business

Mr Shanx and Brian Prahl decided to dress up despite the rather lowkey feel to the weekend

PJ Leahy's had less than 20 people on what would usually be one of the busiest weekends of the year

Gov. Murphy said earlier that the state is preparing for closing schools statewide, though he stopped short of taking that step. He said its a matter of when, not if, they close. Education officials said some 354 districts, or roughly half, in the state have closed already.

By Saturday evening, the streets of Teaneck were deserted as the town self-isolated with the hope of defeating the coronavirus cluster that has emerged.

Teaneck's action comes just days after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a 'containment area' in the city of New Rochelle, where a cluster of cases was traced to a synagogue.

The parade cancellations come as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases climbs. In the U.S., the total has topped 2,900 with 58 deaths.

Savannahs weekend festivities and March 17 parade draw crowds approaching a half million people, potentially more than tripling the size of the 146,000-resident city for a few days. Started by Irish immigrants to Georgias oldest city in 1824, the March 17 parade has ballooned into a massive street party thats Savannahs most profitable tourism draw.

'It's like canceling Christmas on us,' one bar owner said about the sudden downturn in trade

The holiday  and the week surrounding it  is typically the biggest moneymaker of the year for these businesses

McFadden's bar was basically dead on Saturday with nobody sitting down to enjoy food

The cancelations have led to eerily quiet scenes at some of the country's Irish bars that would normally be teeming with life at this time of year.

One New York bar owner told how St. Patrick's Day revenue was enough to equal three months' worth of normal revenue.

Some bars are preparing for the worst by cutting staffers' hours, canceling live music events and even shutting at least temporarily while business is so bad.

'It's like canceling Christmas on us,' Patrick McNamee, who runs six Irish bars in the city, told Eater.

Jim Gallagher, a manager at Molly's Shebeen, said that St. Patrick's Day will now just be like a 'normal day.'

'It's a big loss for the owners,' he said.

Another bar, Joyface, in the East Village is preparing to close for a week, partly to stem losses.

There was little to celebrate as the city recorded its first COVID-19 fatality, an 82-year-old woman, on Saturday amid a rapid climb in cases: 200 so far, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo, and more than 1,000 expected next week.

One and One in New York's East Village would normally be teeming with business

Some bars are now limiting hours and canceling live music, while staff worry about lost wages

Some Irish bars may be forced to lay off staff in order to stem the financial losses

The parade, which has never been cancelled in its 258-year history, typically draws approximately 250,000 marchers and two million spectators, many of whom flock to the bars

New York City now joins Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Detroit on the list of major cities that have called off festivities in light of the spread of COVID-19

New Yorkers used the weekend to stock up on food and essentials as coronavirus spreads

Customers are scrambling to stock up on supplies, leaving empty shelves in many grocery stores, such as this organic supermarket in Manhattan, pictured on Friday

New Yorkers gathered food, toilet paper and disinfectant products at the city's supermarkets
The Latest: Delaware has postponed its presidential primary election for a second time, moving it to July 7.

As the coronavirus pandemic upends the presidential campaign, states across the country have postponed primary elections and expanded vote-by-mail options, citing the difficulty of holding elections during the outbreak.

One state, New York, attempted to cancel its already-postponed presidential primary after the Democratic presidential race was settled, but a federal judge ordered that the election go forward in June.

Fifteen other states and two territories  Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia and Wyoming, and Guam and Puerto Rico  have either pushed back their presidential primaries or switched to voting by mail with extended deadlines.

Some states have even postponed their primaries multiple times.

Several states have now conducted contests during stay-at-home orders, with many voters casting ballots by mail but some participating in person. Wisconsin forged ahead with its elections on April 7 after state Republicans blocked efforts to postpone voting there.
The number of novel coronavirus cases in the country rose to 110 on Sunday with Uttarakhand reporting its first case and one fresh case each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, the Union Health Ministry said.

The number of cases includes two persons who died in Delhi and Karnataka.

While a 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi who had recently returned from Saudi Arabia died on Tuesday, a 68-year-old woman in Delhi who had tested positive for coronavirus passed away at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital on Friday night.

Uttarakhand reported its first case on Sunday.

Delhi has so far reported seven positive cases and Uttar Pradesh 12. Karnataka has six coronavirus patients while Maharashtra 32,Ladakh three and Jammu and Kashmir two. Telangana reported three cases. Rajasthan also reported two cases. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab have reported one case each.

Kerala has recorded 22 cases, including three patients who were discharged last month after they recovered from the contagious infection with flu-like symptoms.

The total number of confirmed cases includes 17 foreigners -- 16 Italian tourists and a Canadian, the ministry officials said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dozens of Lufthansa planes were parked in rows at European airports today showing the scale of the crisis facing airlines due to coronavirus.

The airline has been severely affected by the huge slump in demand caused by the virus and has cancelled the lion's share of its flight offerings.

Pictures from Berlin and Frankfurt airport today show rows of planes waiting on the tarmac as they are no longer being used - showing the scale of the crisis.

In addition Airline SAS will temporarily halt most of its flights from Monday until conditions for commercial aviation improve, it said, as demand for flights has 'more or less disappeared'.

Pictures from Berlin airport today show rows of planes waiting on the tarmac as they are no longer being used

Lufthansa planes parked on the runway at Berlin airport in Germany today. The company has seen a severe slump in bookings

Lufthansa planes were parked in a row at airports today after the airline cancelled flights over the coming weeks due to coronavirus. Pictured: planes at Frankfurt Airport in Germany

Airlines worldwide are cutting flights and costs amid plunging demand and US travel restrictions on European passengers during the coronavirus outbreak.

Lufthansa is reported to have asked for state aid, while IAG's British Airways said it was in a battle for its 'survival'.

SAS, part-owned by Sweden and Denmark, said on Sunday it would temporarily lay off up to 10,000 employees, or 90% of the airline's total workforce.

The airline has been severely affected by the huge slump in demand caused by the virus and has cancelled the lion's share of its flight offerings

'Demand for flights into, out of, and within Scandinavia has more or less disappeared,' chief executive Rickard Gustafson told a press briefing on Sunday.

'We have to adapt to current circumstances and starting tomorrow, Monday, we will temporary pause a large part of our operations and we will heavily reduce the number of flights in our entire network,' he added.

Gustafson said the company had worked in the past few years to improve the financial stability of the company.

'Obviously, an airline with no revenue does not stand up for very long, but we have built good financial preparedness and good liquidity so we will manage for a good while,' he said.

Airline SAS will temporarily halt most of its flights from Monday until conditions for commercial aviation improve, it said, as demand for flights has 'more or less disappeared'

'Demand for flights into, out of, and within Scandinavia has more or less disappeared,' chief executive Rickard Gustafson (pictured) told a press briefing on Sunday

Gustafson said he welcomed measures announced by the Danish government on Sunday, in which the state covers 75% of employees' salaries in embattled Danish companies if they promise not to cut staff.

'I hope and believe that there is a lot of work being done on various solutions, both in terms of supporting the flight industry through this period, but also solutions for temporary reductions in personnel,' he said.

On Friday, British Airways warned that its survival was at stake as its CEO told staff of plans to cut jobs and ground aircraft to tackle the 'worsening situation' caused by coronavirus.

Finnair said on Sunday it was cancelling flights to Hong Kong, Madrid, Barcelona and the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia from March 16-17, in addition to restrictions already announced.

Europe's second biggest airline Lufthansa is reported to have asked for state aid after a reduction in bookings

SAS said it would as far as possible maintain some flights within the next few days to enable people to return home.

In a message the airline said: 'Due to the coronavirus and the measures implemented by national authorities, the demand for air travel is essentially non-existent. SAS has therefore decided to put most of its operations on hold, starting Monday March 16 and until necessary prerequisites for commercial air traffic returns.

'To support our customers, we will in the next few days do our utmost to uphold a certain level of operation to enable travelers to return from their destinations.

Lufthansa has been severely affected by the severe slump in demand caused by coronavirus and has cancelled the lion's share of its flight offerings for the coming weeks

'Information regarding the traffic situation and specific flights will be constantly updated on our website. Affected passengers will be notified.

'The waiting time at our call centers is extraordinary long. We kindly ask that you only call us if your flight departs within the next 3 days.'
In theory, every person on Earth has basic rights. We call these human rights. But in practice, every person on Earth does not enjoy these rights, which is why many people take up the struggle to obtain and retain human rights for themselves and others. Among these people are those who gave their very lives for the cause of human rights. Here is a list of ten notable individuals who made that ultimate sacrifice:

10. Natalya Estemirova, 1958-2009

Natalya Estemirova

Estemirova was a Russian activist who documented human rights violations in the Russian republic of Chechnya. She was highly critical of the actions taken by the Russian federal government and the authorities of the Chechen republic. Her criticism even drew direct threats from the Chechen president. On July 15, 2009, as she traveled to work, her vehicle was ambushed by gunmen, who kidnapped her and killed her just hours later.

9. Ingrid Washinawatok, 1957-1999

Ingrid Washinawatok El-Issa was an internationally-known member of the Menominee Nation of upper Wisconsin. Image credit: Michael Collopy/Wikimedia.org

Washinawatok advocated for the rights of her own and other indigenous people in the U.S. She once served as chairperson for a committee for the United Nations International Decade of the Worlds Indigenous Peoples and was a co-producer of the documentary film, Warrior. In 1999, while on a trip to the South American country of Columbia, Washinawatok was kidnapped and murdered by an armed group fighting the Columbian government. Her people, the Menominee Nation, honored her with a full warriors funeral.

8. Juan Jose Gerardi Conedera, 1922-1998

Juan Jose Gerardi Conedera. Image credit: Emisorasunidas.com

Gerardi was a Roman Catholic bishop who advocated for the human rights of the Guatemalan people in the midst of the countrys civil war. He became the coordinator for the Office for Human Rights in the Archbishopric of Guatemala, which was charged with providing assistance to victims of human rights abuses and collecting information related to human rights violations committed during Guatemalas civil war. He was beaten to death on April 26, 1998, just two days after he had presided over the public presentation of the Guatemalan Churchs in depth study of Guatemalas armed conflict (1960-1996).

7. Boris Nemtsov, 1959-2015

Boris Nemtsov. Image credit: Dharmikatva/Wikimedia.org

A former physicist-turned-politician, Nemtsov was a prominent critic of current Russian President, Vladimir Putin. Between 1999 and 2015, he was involved in various opposition movements. On February 15, 2015, while in Moscows Red Square, Nemtsov was shot and killed, just a few days after he had criticized Russias military involvement in Ukraine.

6. Harvey Milk, 1930-1978

Harvey Milk. Image credit: Ted Sahl, Kat Fitzgerald, Patrick Phonsakwa, Lawrence McCrorey, Darryl Pelletier/Wikimedia.org

A prominent gay rights activists, Milk was also one of the first openly gay politicians in the U.S., having been elected to San Franciscos Board of Supervisors in 1977. He was known as the Mayor of Castro Street in the heart of San Franciscos gay community. While on the Board of Supervisors, he developed a feud with Dan White, another local politician, who opposed gay rights. When Milks political ally, Mayor George Mascone, refused to reappoint him to a position he once held but resigned from, White shot and killed the mayor, then went on to find Milk, shooting and killing him as well.

5. Benazir Bhutto, 1953-2007

Benazir Bhutto. Image credit :SRA Gerald B. Johnson, United States Department of Defense/Public domain

Bhutto was the first female prime minister of Pakistan and a long-time advocate for democracy in the country. She was also the first woman to lead a Muslim country. Bhutto helped lead the struggle to restore democracy in Pakistan following a military coup in 1977. Her efforts would come to fruition in 1988, when democratic elections were finally held and she was elected to serve as prime minister. Bhutto would serve as the Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 1996. She sought election for prime minister once more in the countrys 2008 elections, but during a rally for the upcoming vote, she was killed by a suicide bomber. The terrorist group, Al-Qaeda, was accused of the assassination. Shortly after Bhuttos death, her son quoted her as saying, democracy is the best revenge.

4. Jamal Khashoggi, 1958-2018

Jamal Khashoggi. Image credit: April Brady/Wikimedia.org

Khashoggi was a prominent journalist and critic of the government of Saudi Arabia. He was very close to the Saudi royal family at one time, serving as one of their advisors. He eventually fell out with the Saudi rulers, however, and went into self-imposed exile in the U.S. in 2017. After arriving in the U.S., he began writing a weekly column in the Washington Post, which he used to criticize the policies of Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia. It was this criticism of the Saudi leader that may have been his undoing. On October 2, 2018, Khashoggi was brutally murdered at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. His body was also savagely dismembered. It is alleged that Prince Mohamed Bin Salman was directly involved in his murder. For their part, the Saudis say that rogue elements of their intelligence service killed Khashoggi and deny any direct involvement of the Crown Prince.

3. Malcolm X, 1925-1965

Malcolm X. Image credit: Ed Ford, World Telegram staff photographer / Public domain

Malcolm X was a leader in the U.S. civil rights movement in the 1950s and 60s. Unlike fellow civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr., who espoused non-violence and peaceful protest, Malcolm X believed in rooting out racism, by any means necessary, which included using violence. While serving time in prison for larceny, Malcolm X joined the Nation of Islam, then a fledgling black nationalist movement. His great oratory skills brought thousands more followers to the group. But in 1964, Malcolm X left the movement after quarrelling with its leader, Elijah Mohammed. Afterwards, he embarked on a journey through Africa and the Middle East during which he completed the Hajj or pilgrimage to the Muslim holy city of Mecca. It was here where his views began to change and he sought a more peaceful path to civil rights for African Americans. He would not have much time to preach to people about his new perspective, however, for on February 21, 1965, while giving a speech in Manhattan, men affiliated with the Nation of Islam entered the ballroom in which he was speaking and shot him dead.

2. Martin Luther King Jr., 1929-1968

Martin Luther King Jr. Image credit: Nobel Foundation/Public domain

Probably the most famous of all American civil rights activists, Martin Luther King Jr. led the American civil rights movement in the 1950s and 60s.

His work as a civil rights campaigner started when the Montgomery Bus Boycott began in 1955. King Jr. would go on to lead several other acts of civil disobedience, including the Greensboro Sit-in and the Birmingham Campaign. In his work, he was greatly inspired by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian independence leaders success with tactics of non-violent resistance.

King Jr.s greatest claim to fame was arguably achieved on August 28, 1963 with his I have a dream speech, which he made in the midst of the March on Washington, attended by more than two hundred thousand people. In 1964, the civil rights activist won the Nobel Peace Prize. Martin Luther King Jr.s struggle for civil rights would end tragically on April 4, 1968, when he was shot and killed by a man named James Earl Ray. To this day, the name Martin Luther King Jr. is synonymous with the ongoing struggle for civil rights in the U.S.

1. Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

Mahatma Gandhi. Image credit: Elliott &/Public domain

Gandhi was the most prominent leader of the non-violent movement for the independence of India. Today, his name is synonymous with non-violence and the peaceful struggle for human rights. While advocating for Indias independence, Gandhi also frequently spoke out against racism within his own Hindu community and repeatedly called for unity between Indian Hindus and Muslims, who fought each other often. On January 30, 1948, less than a year after India achieved independence, Gandhi was shot to death by a Hindu extremist, angry at him for tolerating Muslims. Decades after he was murdered, his teachings and methods still resonate with many people who struggle in the name of human rights.
15.03.2020 LISTEN

This year 2020 seems to be the year that veteran highlife musician Obiba Sly Collins is determined to leave a mark on the heart of all women, especially in Africa.

On Valentines Day, he released a song Fall in love dedicated to all lovers reminding them that it is love that makes the world go round. This he did in collaboration with Kamelyon and true to prediction, was one of the songs Ghanaians celebrated the day with as it topped the radio playlists and was the toast at almost all parties held to mark the day.

He has another one in the can waiting for release anytime soon. We have had the privilege of listening to it in which he featured King Lagazee of Hitz FM and the beautiful songstress Godmother Shegah, daughter of one of Ghanas iconic musicians late Jerry Hansen of Ramblers Band fame as the three meant the song to celebrate our mothers as it came just apt on International Womens Day.

According to him, all these songs will be included in his upcoming album which is scheduled for release later in the year.

However, the highlife musician is gradually establishing himself as a man who does collaborations or features some of the up and coming musicians on his songs as this opens the way for these younger ones. For example, he has featured Agbeshie, Kamelyon, Godmother Shegah, Sherifat Gunu and many others some of his songs in his last three albums.

This according to him makes it easier for each one of them to make a breakthrough into the different musical markets.

Music is universal so it is necessary that we create paths for each act. For the younger ones, this method makes it easier for them to break into the hardcore highlife music market where I have a foothold and it is vice versa for me too. Through these collaborative efforts it makes it easier for each one of us to be able to help each other make progress, he explained.

With this statement, Obiba is set to release some of his philosophical songs which most times dwell on love, unity and peace among Ghanaians. We can expect more of that as election 2020 draws nearer.
Bengaluru, March 15 : A girl tested positive for coronavirus in north Karnataka's Kalaburagi, while three of her relatives tested negative, an official said on Sunday.

"The girl who tested positive for Covid-19 is a relative of the 76-year-old man who was the country's first victim of the deadly disease on March 10. She is under treatment in the district hospital and her health condition is stable," Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner B. Sharat told IANS on phone.

"Three of the girl's relatives, who also came in contact with the old man, tested negative. They are also in the same hospital's isolation ward under observation," he added.

State Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar said the girl's blood samples were sent to the Institute of Virology at Pune for re-testing, as the first test of her throat swab was done in Bengaluru.

"Till date, 6 COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in the state, including one death. Five positive patients are in isolation at designated hospital in Bengaluru and are stable," Sudhakar told reporters here.

AIn a related development, the state Primary and Secondary Education Department has postponed the examinations for classes 7, 8 and 9, due to start on Monday.

"The exams have been postponed from March 16 to March 31 as a precautionary measure," Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar told reporters here.

Till date, 111,885 passengers were screened across the state, including 78,106 at Bengaluru airport and 28,321 at Mangaluru airport.

"In addition, 5,458 passengers were screened at Mangaluru and Karwar seaports," said an official statement here.

Additional health desks have been set up at the Bengaluru airport to facilitate faster check-up of international passengers.

In an appeal to the public, the state government advised any person returning from Covid-19 affected countries must remain in home isolation for 14 days from the date of arrival.

"The foreign returned people should self-notify the nearest state-run hospital or call 104 health helpline. Maintain personal hygiene, use tissue paper/handkerchief while coughing or sneezing, frequently wash hands with soap and water or hand sanitizer and avoid attending mass social gatherings," said the statement.

Meanwhile, the Chamarajangar district administration directed the closure of the Bandipur safari camp, resorts, and hotels and asked tourists staying in them to vacate them on Monday.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Travelers returning to the United States are being met by long lines that requires them to wait for hours as airports across the country were thrown into chaos amid newly imposed health screenings for those returning from Europe. Accounts by passengers at Chicago OHare International Airport, for example, said passengers had to wait as long as four hours in long, crowded lines. The wait was in large part due to the enhanced entry screenings that the Trump administration unveiled Friday to try to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. As part of those new measures, passengers arriving from Europe are being routed through 13 U.S. airports, where their medical histories are analyzed and workers check for any symptoms.

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This is the scene at OHare airport. The traveler who took the photo said its a 6-hour wait for bags then on to customs for 2-4 more of waiting in shoulder-to-shoulder crowds. Police are handing out water and disinfectant wipes. @fly2ohare #ord #coronavirus #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/UTx9E0nj1s  Brooke Geiger McDonald (@BrookeGMcDonald) March 15, 2020

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Travelers forced to wait for hours worried that the additional screening requirements ended up creating the exact kind of conditions that would make it easier to spread covid-19 as people stood in crowded lines in close proximity to each other. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker blasted the Trump administration on Twitter, calling the lines unacceptable as he demanded a quick solution. The federal government needs to get its s@#t together, he wrote. NOW.

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To the frustrated people trying to get home, I have spoken with the mayor and our Senators and we are working together to get the federal government to act to solve this.



We will do everything within our power to get relief.  Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) March 15, 2020

Pritzker was not alone as Illinois Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth also called for action from the White House. This is unacceptable, counterproductive and exactly the opposite of what we need to do to prevent #COVID19, Duckworth tweeted. The Trump Administration must send more support to OHare immediately.

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This is unacceptable, counterproductive and exactly the opposite of what we need to do to prevent the spread of #COVID19. The Trump Administration must send more support to OHare immediately. https://t.co/FzL8mGETDF  Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) March 15, 2020

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The Department of homeland Securitys acting secretary acknowledged delays in a tweet late Saturday night. Right now we are working to add additional screening capacity and working with the airlines to expedite the process, Chad Wolf tweeted. I understand this is very stressful. In these unprecedented times, we ask for your patience.

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Just waiting in a very long line with thousands of people to clear Customs at JFK T4. Not sure who's really taking things seriously. @JFKairport @DHSgov @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/0xjV42V2zs  jake vinson (@vjake20) March 15, 2020

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This is the horde of people awaiting health inspections after international flights into @fly2ohare in Chicago. A social-distancing nightmare! (Shared with me by someone in Chicago) pic.twitter.com/hOywwvaWR8  David Enrich (@davidenrich) March 15, 2020

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Passengers described tense situations as angry passengers lashed out at workers. The entire time people in the crowd would yell out in anger, and Customs officers would yell at people to not take pictures, one traveler returning to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport said. Short chants among the room would start and stop periodically. It was very tense at times, the crowd was very agitated. There were also reports of similar problems at New Yorks John F. Kennedy International Airport as staffers struggled to even keep up with the demand for forms that passengers had to fill out detailing their travel and whether they had experienced any symptoms. They didnt have pens and told us to share, one traveler said. Which sounds like a great thing in the middle of the pandemic.

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Empowered21 shifts online after Israel imposes ban on international conferences

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The Global Congress of Empowered21, a worldwide gathering of Pentecostal Christians, will now take place as an online event after the Israeli government imposed a complete ban on foreign travelers due to the new coronavirus pandemic.

Empowered21 announced in a release Thursday that instead of the in-person event scheduled for the week of Pentecost 2020 in Jerusalem, Israel, they will be shifting to an online event that will stream from the campus of Oral Roberts University from May 31 to June 2.

The announcement came on the heels of a decision by Israeli authorities to shut their borders to all foreigners this week to clamp down on the spread of the new coronavirus which has infected at least 109 people in that country as of Thursday.

Israel is also limiting public events in enclosed areas to 100 people as part of their efforts to contain the new coronavirus.

We find comfort in knowing that God is not surprised by this turn of events, Billy Wilson, president of ORU and global co-chair for Empowered21, said in a statement Thursday. We hold fast to our mission to see every individual on earth have an authentic encounter with Jesus through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit by Pentecost 2033. We believe that this adjustment to an online event will actually help us accelerate the mission that God has given us.

The online event hosted by ORU is expected to begin with a live Pentecost Sunday celebration with special guests and worship teams.

We ask that everyone would join us in praying against the spread of coronavirus, healing for all those affected and that many lives will be touched with the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit through our upcoming online global congress, Wilson added. In Matthew 24, Jesus tells us that there would be upheaval, including global disease, but that this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations. This unique historical moment requires a new way for a new day.

This is the second Global Congress of Empowered21, and is expected to focus on the next generation.

The next generation focus comes after concern was raised at the first global gathering which took place during the week of Pentecost in Jerusalem in 2015, that a generation was being lost.

Jentezen Franklin, senior pastor of the multi-campus Free Chapel Church, had urged thousands of Spirit-filled believers at that gathering to start preaching "the truth about being filled with the Holy Spirit" and speaking in tongues to their families or risk losing a generation.

"It is a slow process to the death of the language. The unity on the language, it's a soul thing. The less it's taught in the home, the less the children of the next generation will get it. I want to say to all of you who are parents here today, what language are you teaching your children? When you go home from church, what language do they hear?" asked Franklin at the time.

"If ever there was a time that we must engage ourselves in the active discipleship of our families, it's in this time. If Deuteronomy 6 ever had meaning to any generation, it is to this generation where it says that you shall diligently teach these things to your children. When they rise up, when they go to bed, when they walk, when they go to school, talk the faith, talk the Word. Let them hear the language even in the home, let them hear the language of the Holy Spirit. Let them hear, Mama," Franklin urged.
Hollywood star Tom Hanks has urged fans to take care of themselves and each other in his latest Instagram post, after testing positive for COVID-19. The actor and his wife Rita Wilson, both 63, are currently recovering from the disease in hospital isolation after falling ill while filming in Australia, reports mirror.co.uk.

The couple were in Australia to film for an upcoming Elvis Presley biopic Tom is starring in. On Sunday, the Forrest Gump star shared an update with fans as he and Wilson remain in isolation.

Thanks to the Helpers. Lets take care of ourselves and each other. Hanx pic.twitter.com/09gCdvzGcO  Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) March 15, 2020

The Oscar winner shared a picture of his Vegemite on toast breakfast and a glass of water, hinting that hes over the worst. He also included a little toy kangaroo and a cute koala bear in the photograph in homage to those who have helped take care of him.

ALSO WATCH | Coronavirus: Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson test positive

He captioned the image: Thanks to the Helpers. Lets take care of ourselves and each other. Hanx Fans responded to wish him and Rita well while others joked about the generous helping of spread on his toast.

Also read: Amitabh Bachchan cancels Sunday meet at Jalsa amid coronavirus crisis: I am not going to come, take precautions

Thats a lot of vegemite even for Australian standards. But hey enjoy! said one. Mr Hanks. You are doing it wrong. Thats way too much Vegemite, wrote another.

Earlier in the week, Tom and his wife Rita posed for a smiling selfie as they remained in isolation. Hanks had announced that the pair had contracted the virus in a statement, as they became the highest profile celebrities to have fallen ill with the virus.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh governor Lalji Tandon on Sunday (March 15, 2020) directed Chief Minister Kamal Nath to seek a trust vote on March 16.

On Saturday, the Assembly Speaker had accepted the resignations of six ministers, out of the total 22 rebel Congress legislators. The resignations of 16 other rebel legislators, who are in Bengaluru, have not been accepted yet.

Current number of MLAs in Vidhan Sabha

There are a total of 230 seats in MP Vidhan Sabha. Congress has 114, BJP 107, BSP 2, SP 1, Independent 4 and 2 seats are vacant.

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 108, with the acceptance of the six ministers' resignation.

The strength of the House is now reduced from 228 to 222 and the majority mark has come down to 112.

These are the two likely scenarios:

1: If the resignation of all 22 rebel MLAs is accepted, the strength of the House will be reduced to 206 from 228 and the majority mark will come down to 104 and the Congress government will fall as the BJP will hold 107 MLAs and can easily form the government.



2: If the speaker does not accept the resignation of the remaining 18 MLA, the strength of the House will remain on 222 and the majority mark will remain on 112. If those MLAs do not vote in favour of congress, the congress government will fall.



The Congress MLAs who won't vote for Congress will then face Anti-Defection Law. The Anti-Defection Law lays down the process by which legislators may be disqualified on grounds of defection by the Presiding Officer of a legislature based on a petition by any other member of the House.

A legislator is deemed to have defected if he either voluntarily gives up the membership of his party or disobeys the directives of the party leadership on a vote. This implies that a legislator defying (abstaining or voting against) the party whip on any issue can lose his membership of the House.

The law applies to both Parliament and state assemblies.



The Congress MLAs whose resignations were accepted are: Imarti Devi, Tulsi Silawat, Pradhuman Singh Tomar, Mahendra Singh Sisodia, Govind Singh Rajput, and Prabhu Ram Chaudhary.

Meanwhile, Congress MLAs and Independents who were stationed at a resort in Jaipur arrived in Bhopal on Sunday. Some of the MLAs claimed that the Congress government would prove its majority in the floor test tomorrow.
#YoMeQuedoEnCasa Evita asistir a eventos publicos, reuniones amicales y/o familiares este fin de semana. #PeruEstaEnNuestrasManos evitar la propagacion del coronavirus.
The western end of Bethlehem has its first presumptive positive case of the coronavirus in the Lehigh County section of the city.

Brian Downs, a spokesman for the Lehigh Valley Health Network, confirmed Sunday evening an employee of the health network tested positive for COVID-19. Its the same case the Bethlehem Health Bureau also announced as its conducting an investigation and identifying individuals who came in close contact with the person who tested positive, according a news release from the city.

Processes were followed and precautions were taken to help ensure the safety of colleagues and patients, Downs said.

Those who were in close contact with this person will be quarantined and monitored for 14 days, the city says.

The employee, Downs said, began to experience symptoms on March 3, 4 and 9 at the 17th Street campus. Patients and colleagues with whom the colleague contacted on these days have been informed and advised to self-quarantine. The employee also has been released from the hospital on self-quarantine at home and not been at work since March 9.

Additionally, Downs said the 17th Street campus and all health network locations are undergoing strict cleaning standards to help prevent the spread of infection.

Earlier Sunday morning, the Pennsylvania Department of Health released updated testing figures including Lehigh Countys first case. The total cases in Pennsylvania jumped to 63, according to a noontime update from state health officials. Northampton County recorded its first and so far only patient on Thursday.

Bethlehem officials are strongly encouraging everyone to use community strategies to slow the spread of the disease, such as suspending large gatherings, staying home and not going to the gym, movie theaters and shopping malls. The city is also encouraging telecommuting for work when possible, using telemedicine and practicing social distancing.

If you think you have COVID-19 or may have been exposed to someone who does, experts ask you stay home and contact your health care provider. Both Lehigh Valley Health Network and St. Lukes University Health Network are providing free screenings online and by phone.

St. Lukes University Health Network offers a telephone and email hotline to respond to inquiries: call 866-785-8537 (STLUKES) and press option 7, or email coronavirus@sluhn.org

LVHN can be contacted through the health networks app or by calling 888-402-LVHN, where callers will be subject to screening and directed to a testing center if needed.

Reporter Pamela Sroka-Holzmann contributed to this report.

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.
Bullock explained in the conference call that there are no intentions right now to close schools statewide. Health officers of the seven most populous counties in Montana agreed that closing a school is warranted if a known case of COVID-19 is associated with the school, including if someone has been in contact with an individual with the virus, according to Felton.

The health officer of that county will make the determination to close that school for a few days to a week or more, depending on the circumstances. However, local school boards and school superintendents can make the choice to close a school at a given time.

The Yellowstone County woman who tested positive for COVID-19 is undergoing home isolation and will provide health officials with a list of people she came into contact with in the past 14 days. Those on the list will be notified that they may have been exposed to the virus, according to Felton.

The woman experienced mild respiratory symptoms and was wearing a mask when she sought care in the Billings Clinic Emergency Department. Health care providers took appropriate precautions for respiratory infections. The woman was not hospitalized.
The Harris Health System is switching to a private North Carolina diagnostic company to test suspected coronavirus cases instead of the Houston health department, a circumvention of the government laboratorys more rigid criteria.

In an email to staffers Thursday night, the Harris County safety-net hospital network said LabCorp is now its primary testing site for COVID-19, the viral illness currently spreading in the Houston region. The decision follows national and local criticism of the lack of testing being done by government labs operating under Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rules.

All tests will now be conducted at the attending physicians discretion rather than adhering to the CDCs recommended guidelines, says the email.

The system will sacrifice speed for the greater discretion. Whereas the Houston health department typically turns around results within 24 hours, the new testing will take at least a few days  doctors must send patient specimens by overnight mail and wait two to four days for results.

But doctors will be freed of CDC criteria that required testing only be done on people with certain respiratory symptoms whove also had direct person-to-person contact with someone infected or whod recently traveled to an area where theres been community spread. Though a spokesman for the Houston health department Thursday said everyone who needs to be tested is being tested, a number of doctors told the Chronicle this week they want to test more patients who appeared likely to be infected but are hamstrung by the criteria.

I am so pleased we can test (more people) and really hope the same thing happens in communities across the country as quickly as possible, said Dr. Cedric Dark, an emergency physician at Harris Healths Ben Taub Hospital and a professor of emergency medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston doctors frustrated by the lack of coronavirus test kits

Dark had said Thursday that more testing needs to be done in order to find the true prevalence of the disease and true fatality rate.

Frustration over the issue boiled over on Capitol Hill this week as both Republican and Democratic members of Congress demanded to know why the U.S. wasnt testing as fast as some other countries. More than 190,000 people in South Korea have been tested since the country reported its first coronavirus case Jan. 21, for instance, compared to fewer than 10,000 in the U.S. since its first positive test the same day.

The amount of testing in Texas had been a mystery  neither the state nor Houston health departments would divulge the number  but Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday that 220 Texans have been tested, either by a state health department lab or the CDC, and that another 75 Texans are undergoing testing.

Abbott said that the state's daily testing capacity is 272 people and that the amount will expand into the thousands next week.

Houston health department spokesman Porfirio Villarreal said the city lab has the capacity to treat 600 patients, not daily but over as long a period as that takes. At that point, the city would either request new testing equipment from the CDC or send specimens to the Texas health department for testing.

Eight Texas health departments last week became verified to conduct testing.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Yes, the coronavirus pandemic is different. Heres why.

LabCorp made its COVID-19 testing available to doctors and hospitals March 5 and began receiving specimens the next day, according to a company press release. The release says the company is now able to perform several thousand tests per day and is adding new equipment and staff to create additional capacity.

Harris Health, which includes Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital and more than 30 centers and clinics as well as Ben Taub, already had been utilizing LabCorp for some of its COVID-19 testing. In the coming weeks, the system will explore other options for testing for more capacity and speed as well, said a Harris Health spokesman.

There are now more than 2,700 COVID-19 cases in the U.S., including 53 in Texas and 27 in the Houston area. The disease, which can progress to pneumonia, has killed more than 5,000 people globally, mostly the elderly or those with preexisting conditions. Most people recover from the illness and there have been no deaths in Texas yet.

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo was canceled Wednesday after testing showed a Montgomery County man who had attended its barbecue cookoff event tested positive for the coronavirus. Because the man had not recently traveled to an outbreak area, it was determined that his positive test marked the first community transmission of the virus.

Abbott on Friday declared a statewide public health disaster over the coronavirus pandemic, the 35th state to do so. He said the state will ramp up testing, beginning Friday, with the states first drive-through with testing capabilities in San Antonio. He said Dallas, Houston and Austin should expect similar testing sites to open in coming weeks.

Colorado was the nations first state to open drive-through testing and the program was quickly deluged, testing 650 people between Wednesday and Friday. Texas is one of seven states to announce drive-throughs as a way to reach more people and limit exposure to health care workers.

todd.ackerman@chron.com

jenny.deam@chron.com
Hyderabad, March 15 : Hyderabad Police have warned that those spreading false news and rumours on coronavirus may be jailed up to one year.

Hours after the state government announced shutdown to contain coronavirus, the police chief warned against rumours and false news.

Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar said false news and rumours are bad for society. He said those who are spreading false information on social media and creating panic on coronavirus were liable for punishment under the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Act section. Punishment under the Act can be up to one year imprisonment and fine, he said.

"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," says section 54 of the Act.

Announcing the closure of all educational institutions and banning public gatherings, Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao on Saturday night warned the media against publishing or airing unconfirmed reports about coronavirus cases.

He asked the media outlets to strictly go by the information released from the health department with regard to the coronavirus cases. "Those spreading false news will face stringent action," he said.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Coronavirus 1) Johnson considers wartime powers after leap in death toll

Boris Johnson ordered fresh action against the coronavirus last night amid fears that the pandemic is spreading faster than anticipated. As the death toll in Britain hit 21 yesterday, after doubling in four hours, the prime minister ordered the government to accelerate plans to make the elderly and vulnerable stay at home possibly for several months and force whole families to self-isolate where one member has symptoms of the disease. Johnson will chair a meeting today that is expected to impose the new rules this week  two weeks earlier than medics and scientists had expected last week. Health service bosses have been given permission to buy up beds in private hospitals. The Department of Health is in talks about using hotel rooms as hospitals. The plans come as a new poll revealed that the public are prepared to see the prime minister seize draconian powers last seen in wartime to tackle the pandemic.  Sunday Times

Comment

>Today:

Coronavirus 2) PM plans diplomatic blitz

After criticism that there has been no international response to match the one that followed the 2008 financial crash, Johnson now plans to launch a diplomatic blitz in the coming days, speaking to Donald Trump, the US president, and other G7 and G20 leaders to agree a medium-term economic package to boost the world economy. Johnsons initiative appears to be an effort to emulate Gordon Brown, the prime minister who was credited with leading the international response to the last global financial crisis.  Sunday Times

Coronavirus 3) Over-70s told to stay at home

Britains over-70s will be told to stay at home for four months while the government goes on a war footing to firefight the coronavirus crisis, it was revealed last night. Mass isolating of the elderly  even if they are not ill  will begin within the next 20 days as Boris Johnson ratchets up efforts to tackle the UKs ballooning outbreak. Although the drastic measures have been drawn up to protect those most vulnerable to the killer COVID-19 infection, it brings serious concerns about the wellbeing of pensioners cooped-up for such a long time. Regular social outings will have to be scrapped and pangs of loneliness could compound an already stressful isolation experience, psychologists have warned. Instructing the over-70s to remain indoors forms part of a wider package of emergency powers due to be officially rolled out by Downing Street this week.  Mail on Sunday

Queen quits Buckingham Palace over coronavirus fears  Mail on Sunday

And Queen and Prince Philip could be quarantined at Sandringham  Sunday Express

Coronavirus 4) Families may have to self-isolate if just one has virus

Entire families could soon be told to self-isolate together if just one of them has coronavirus. The move is likely to come in the next two weeks and would mean parents in affected households would have to keep their children off school. It comes as Britains over-70s will be told to stay at home for four months while the government goes on a war footing to firefight the coronavirus crisis. Mass isolating of the elderly  even if they are not ill  will begin within the next 20 days as Boris Johnson ratchets up efforts to tackle the UKs ballooning outbreak.  Mail on Sunday

Coronavirus 5) Rolls Royce and JCB could build ventilators

The Prime Minister is putting companies on a war footing to transform their production lines as part of a national effort to beat the bug. This comes amid a rush to buy ventilators across Europe following warnings that stocks will fall short of the number required. On Saturday, Matt Hancock met with the Prime Minister and other senior figures including Chief Medical Adviser Professor Chris Witty where it was agreed that Mr Johnson will ask Brit manufacturers for their help in the fight against COVID-19. Rolls Royce, JCB and Unipart are all expected to speak to the PM on a conference call later this morning.  Sun on Sunday

Coronavirus 6) Spain declares 15-day lockdown

Over 47 million people in Spain will be put into partial lockdown on a 15-day state of emergency to fight the spread of coronavirus. In a televised announcement to the public, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that the people of Spain are not to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary. Spaniards will only be allowed to leave to buy food, medicines, go to hospital or work  with limits on freedom of movement starting from midnight tonight. The death toll in the country has hit 191, the fifth highest number of deaths behind China, Italy, Iran and South Korea. Spanish authorities said the number of infections climbed past 6,046, half of them in the capital, Madrid. That represents a national increase of over 1,500 in 24 hours.  Sun on Sunday

Coronavirus 7) US extends travel ban to UK and Ireland

Donald Trump is extending a ban on travel between the US and European countries to include the UK and Ireland as part of the ramped up efforts to curtail the spread of the coronavirus. Mr Trump, who the White House revealed had tested negative for the virus, also said he was considering domestic travel restrictions specifically from certain areas. If you dont have to travel, I wouldnt do it, the president told reporters. Mike Pence, the US vice-president, said the ban on travel from the UK and Ireland to the US would go into place from midnight Monday night eastern standard time.  FT

Airlines beg for taxpayer bailout as Trump bans UK and Ireland flights  Sunday Times

And airline companies face meltdown  Observer

Coronavirus 8) Trump tests negative for virus

President Donald Trump has tested negative for coronavirus, his doctor revealed on Saturday, hours after the White House began temperature checks on staff and reporters who may come into contact with the president. Trump said that had been tested on Friday night, after fielding questions about it during a press conference due to contact with at least three people who later tested positive for the virus. On Saturday evening, the presidents physician Sean Conley released a letter in which he confirmed the results of Trumps test had returned negative and that he remains symptom free. Conley claimed in a letter on Friday evening that the president, 73, is low-risk despite his age and his previous contact with people who tested positive. Yet before a press briefing with the president on Saturday, journalists were screened for a high temperature with one being turned away.  Mail on Sunday

Coronavirus 9) Hancock: We must protect lives

The coronavirus outbreak is the biggest public health emergency in a generation. It calls for dramatic action, at home and abroad, of the kind not normally seen in peacetime. Our goal is clear. The over-riding objective is to protect life. Sadly 21 people have already died in the UK, and the fact that most had underlying health conditions does not make the grief of their families any lesser, nor our compassion for their family and friends any weaker. We must all do everything in our power to tackle this virus. We have a plan, based on the expertise of world-leading scientists. Herd immunity is not a part of it. That is a scientific concept, not a goal or a strategy. Our goal is to protect life from this virus, our strategy is to protect the most vulnerable and protect the NHS through contain, delay, research and mitigate.  Sunday Telegraph

Coronavirus 10) Dorries: The doctor broke the news  I had the coronavirus. And I gave it to Mum

I will always remember how I felt the moment I was told that I had tested positive for the coronavirus  not least because it was the very last thing I was expecting to hear. But I will never know how I became infected with Covid-19, only that I am one of the first people in the country to have been identified who has not recently been abroad or been in close contact with someone who had returned from abroad. I had not really wanted to take the test. I had been at home since Friday, March 6, feeling slightly unwell and self-isolating, just in case. There is no treatment, other than to isolate yourself and rest. A diagnosis would make no difference to how I behaved or dealt with my symptoms. But I had my 84-year-old mother staying with me for a few weeks and, despite the fact that she has survived polio, rheumatic fever, major heart surgery and a world war, she is not in the best of health.  Sunday Times

Senior civil servant accused of withholding information about HS2

A senior civil servant is being accused of withholding information from MPs after it emerged that she told MPs that HS2 was operating within its budget a month after being informed that costs had spiralled. Bernadette Kelly, the permanent secretary at the Department for Transport, told a hearing of the public accounts committee that the Government was determined that the rail line would meet its then 55.7 billion price tag  just weeks after being notified that the main construction costs were 83 per cent over budget, in 2018. The civil service code requires officials to set out the facts and relevant issues truthfully, and correct any errors as soon as possible. It warns that civil servants must not deceive or knowingly mislead Parliament. Last night Meg Hillier, the chairman of the public accounts committee, warned that Ms Kelly, who is the departments formal accounting officer, had sailed close to the wind.  Sunday Telegraph

Leeds section of HS2 could be forced into sidings, say northern leaders  Sunday Times

Labour in leadership ballot paper farce

Labour is being urged to send ballot papers to all members who have not yet voted in its leadership election, after continuing complaints that some are still waiting for their chance to take part. MPs were contacting the party last week with concerns, with some members complaining of a farcical situation in which they were having to provide high levels of proof of their identity before being granted a vote. Others said they simply had not received their email entitling them to vote in the online poll. Labour First, a group on the right of the party, surveyed its members earlier this month and found that 10% who responded had not received their electronic ballot paper. Another survey last week asked activists who had not received a ballot for details, and hundreds replied saying that they had had problems.  Observer
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Tension gripped locals in Madannapet police limits after a liquor bottle was found at the place of worship that was hurled by unknown miscreants early on Saturday.

Police rushed to place on receiving information and took measures by removing the liquor bottles.

According to police, unknown persons threw a liquor bottle filled with petrol at the place of worship located at Boya Basti in Madannapet police limits. Police suspect that some persons might have plotted to create communal tension.

Based on the information given by the staff at the place of worship, we visited the place and took measures to prevent untoward incidents. When the locals came to the place for offering prayers, they noticed the liquor bottles and alerted the authority. The situation is peaceful and footage of CCTVs were collected for verification in identifying the miscreants, police said.

Similarly, one Amir Khan lodged a complaint with the Hyderabad Police stating some miscreants posted objectionable content on social media abusing a section of people and hurting religious sentiments.

The complaint has been referred to cyber crime police.
Gov. Pete Ricketts has had to rearrange his time, attention and priorities to tackle the coronavirus challenge that has crept into his state, but he says he feels "very, very blessed" to have the acquired knowledge, talent and resources of the University of Nebraska Medical Center at his side.

A governor who has been a manager in the private sector and is generally viewed as a quick learner has moved coronavirus to the top of his to-do list, with a growing understanding of how to measure its threat in Nebraska and how he should respond.

"It certainly is the item that takes the most time now," Ricketts said, the virus sharing top priority with property tax relief.

"I'm prioritizing the coronavirus ahead of everything else, bumping other issues off the schedule," Ricketts said during an interview Friday afternoon in the governor's office.

Ricketts said he'll "support 100%" the decisions of any Nebraska school superintendent or school board to shut down classes while reserving his own authority to order a statewide school shutdown if presence of the virus begins to reach certain designated thresholds that bump into the designation of "community spread."
White House physician says after an "in-depth discussion" Trump took some form of coronavirus testing, and he's negative.

Impeached U.S. President and noted pathological liar Donald John Trump, after coming into close contact with coronavirus last weekend, has tested negative for the contagion that causes the potentially deadly disease COVID-19, according to his physician who administered a test last night.

Seems worth noting that Trump's physician is not an M.D., as is customary, but a doctor of osteopathy.

Hope the negative results are and remain true  and that he remains in good health during the coronavirus pandemic.

But there's a long history of false statements to contend with.

And lots of weird missing facts and weasel words.

No word on when exactly the test was administered, precisely what test the preliminary one that global epidemiologists and public health experts are using, or the confirming/secondary one? Lots of missing details.

Reporting and reactions from journalists and others on Twitter, below.

President Trump after coming into close contact with coronavirus last weekend tested negative for the contagion, according to his physician who administered the test last night.  Steve Holland (@steveholland1) March 14, 2020

Trump's test is negative for coronavirus, per memo from White House physician.  Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) March 14, 2020

Here's our updated story with President Trump's negative test result https://t.co/8FChKwKKUV  Chris Megerian (@ChrisMegerian) March 14, 2020

TRUMP TEST NEGATIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS. Despite contact with multiple individuals who came back as positive, the president's physician provided this result. pic.twitter.com/mBIVonduhH  Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) March 14, 2020

Trump's doctor says he tested negative for the coronavirus. Details pretty unclear as to when the test occured and if it was a preliminary test.https://t.co/CSSoOcsc3p  Matt Berman (@Mr_Berman) March 14, 2020
Daddy, why does the brown dog only have three legs?

Why is the Shiba-Inus tail curled down to cover its karcheng?

Why is the Shetland Sheepdog so aggressive?

Why does  

My six-year-old daughter would rattle these questions off whenever we visit adoption drives for rescued dogslike the ones in January, organised by animal welfare groups (or shelters) Voices for Animals, Paws N Help Outreach, and Exclusively Mongrels.

On a near monthly basis, dogs are given away to these welfare groups for various reasons: owners moving out of condos into smaller HDB flats (thus failing to meet requirements for HDB-approved dogs), expats migrating overseas, or dog breeders giving them up because theyre no longer productive (aka puppy mills). For stray dogs, or Singapore Specials, theyre normally rescued from construction sites or streets, with the intent to be sterilised and rehomed.

Most purebred rescues released by breeders to shelters are aged 7 to 10 years old. They are usually females, passed on because they can no longer produce healthy litters of pups. If nobody wants them, their stay at a shelter can be indefinite (with the help of donations and volunteers). The adoption fee per rescue varies between S$100 to S$400, not counting medical costs.

Image credit: Voices for Animals Facebook

Image credit: Paws N Help Outreach Facebook

Image credit: Exclusively Mongrels Facebook

If I want to buy a puppy instead, I have to visit pet shops and dog farms/kennels. A puppy can go between S$3000 to S$13,000 depending on age, bloodline, breed and breeder credentials. The younger the pup, the more expensive it is. Then I have to factor in medical costs like licensing, vaccination, deworming and sterilisation. Unlike rescues, the risk of buying a puppy with a pre-existing medical condition is usually lower (more on this later).

Image credit: Pick-a-Pet Facebook

So as a father looking to buy a dog for his daughter, I have to make a financial and moral choice. Do I buy a S$3,000++ puppy with all the cuteness, interactivity and energy befitting of a six-year-old, knowing they can build a bond from the start? Or, do I adopt a seven-year-old rescue for S$300++?

Story continues

If its the former, I might be feeding into the puppy mill industry, even if the breeder assures me the puppy was bred ethicallymeaning the puppys parents are free-roaming, kumbaya-loving mutts (translated: they werent caged for the sole purpose of producing pup litters twice a year for profit). Remember, pet shops and farms have to pay license fees to AVS (Animal & Veterinary Services) to run their business. The ones who do not pay include illegal and unaccounted home/backyard breeders. So its big business, and its not restricted to just Singapore.

Image credit: William Goh Kennel

On the flipside, while adopting a rescue means my upfront cost is lower, Im taking a risk on any unknown medical conditions it might have suffered prior to being rescued. Not only does this mean a high medical bill (up to S$7,000 or more depending on the condition), the frequent visits to the vet will have its impact on my daughter (i.e. shell bear witness to issues of life and death much earlier). Rescues are often physically and emotionally subdued, having gone through countless pregnancies, malnourishment and the lack of experiencing a home and familys warmth. They need time to warm up to anyone, let alone come to terms with their past.

To help me make up my mind, I met with a friend of a friendKaren, the owner of Gaia Wholistic Animal Wellness Centre, an animal rehab in Jalan Besar. There, she introduced me to a Corgi named Noah. Since his birth in 2018, Noah has hydrocephalusa condition where cerebrospinal fluid builds up in his skullwater in the brainresulting in brain damage on a cellular level. He suffers from side effects like partial blindness, motor discoordination and seizures. Every so often, he would rattle his head as if somethings not right. Puppies born with it are usually euthanised to avoid expensive surgery, but not Noah.

Noah, the Hydrocephalus Puppy. Image credit: Karen Quek

At two months old, Noah was rescued by Karen, who wanted to give him a fighting chance as his foster mummy. She suspects his condition is a cause of mixed breeding and bad genes from puppy mills or home breeders, which further explains why we only see healthy puppies in for-sale advertisements. Rarely do we see ads for runts like Noah.

Before turning one, Noah underwent six surgeries. Imagine a two-month-old baby going in and out of hospital six times. One surgery involves the insertion of a shunt into his brain (through his nape), which comes with a manual valve. Through it, excess cerebrospinal fluid is expressed out and reinjected into his abdominal cavity (to be reabsorbed into the body). He was under general anaesthetic in 3 of the 6 surgeries and heavy sedation for two. Heres one of the surgery videos (viewer discretion is advised).

Noah has to take ascorbic acid and B complex IV for immunity twice daily. Image credit: Karen Quek

Twice a day, Karen injects him with ascorbic acid and B complex IV to boost his immunity. She does it through intravenous ports on either side of his hind-limbs. Noah is usually awake, so I can imagine the pain. But hes gotten used to it. If you watch the other videos, he makes do with what hes been given in life. The heart and mind of a patient rescuer like Karen knows no boundaries and I salute her for her tenacity and grit. Ultimately, she believes in giving as much love to Noah as possible, no matter how challenging the process is.

Karens rehab centre has been treating many rescue cases like Noah, such as Max, a two-month-old Japanese Spitz. Max was almost put down by an ex-breeder because he was born with deformed hind legs. Similarly, he was the runt of a litter due to excessive in-breeding. He couldnt walk, so he slides and glides around instead.

This was Max at two months old. Notice his splayed hind limbs? Theres no support for his hips, which stifles his ability to walk. Image sourced via Karen Quek.

Unable to stand on his hind legs, Max usually slides or glides on the floor. Image sourced via Karen Quek.

My initial plan was to treat his emotional trauma. Like any human child, he would be comparing himself with others and become extremely defensive, Karen said. He barks often, trying to sound fierce, but it is a coping mechanism. Then comes the physical issues like malnutrition, poor blood circulation, cold exposure around his feet and low bone density. The rescue mum had to add calcium powder, massage his legs, administer warm-packs and do a lot of home exercises.

Now two-and-half years old, Maxs walking posture has improved (its not 100%). With therapy, hes friendlier towards others. Image sourced via Karen Quek.

Having heard some of her rescue cases, I asked Karen whats my best option when faced with this moral dilemma. Do I get a puppy or adopt a rescue?

There are some registered breeders who do home breeding for show, agility and prestige dogs. Usually the ones with certification and come from good parental breeds. If you sell puppies from a farm, their parents are normally in a room, cage or kennel. For pedigree breeders, they do home breeding, litter by litter, and not rush the puppies for sale. They are more considerate by taking care of the parents. I personally cannot comment on the physical condition for both, whether its good or bad.

But, there are also many unethical or unlicensed breeders in Singapore. Its very difficult for the government agency, like AVS, to investigate. Singaporeans are like that. If there are no issues, then Ill mind my own business. Its just how we put up cases and choose not to voice out that much. It depends on the severity of the cases.

Karen with her two mutts  Morpheus and Mini  at her rehab centre.

The commitment to raise a dog is huge. You have to walk them, you cannot leave them alone for too long, especially if its a puppy. For rescues, theres usually a two to three weeks trial or homestay trial with the adoptive family. Some adopters have this mindset where they can try first. It doesnt make sense  Ive done rescue rehoming for shelters and some adoptive owners will complain about their rescues peeing, chewing or showing aggression, and decide to return. This wouldnt happen for owners who bought a puppy. I hope this mindset will change, Karen shared.

With pros and cons on both sides, it boils down to the emotional connection between owner and pet, regardless of where theyre from.

The bigger question I have to ask is whether were ready to bring a dog into our lives as if were having another child. Whether its a puppy or a rescue, the commitment is similar. Are we prepared if were frequent holiday travellers or rarely at home? Do we have the patience to train a puppy if it pees and poops all over our floor and furniture? If we adopt a rescue, are we prepared for any outcomes from its first veterinary check-up? Explaining this to my six-year-old is going to be tricky.

Throughout our visits to pet farms, kennels and adoption drives, all she cares about is having a dog, whether its a puppy or a rescue, in the hope that it will scrounge around our four-room apartment, jumping onto beds and couches, racing after the frisbee in the backyard or East Coast Park. My wife and I identify with her need for social attachment; she is our only child and gets lonely when were at work. Until were able to have a second child, a reciprocal, loving pet seems good in theory.

But personally, I need proof that the puppies Im buying are ethically bred. I cannot, on my conscience, condone mills or inexperienced home breeders. Western Australia is introducing a bill to render puppy farms and pet shops illegal and improve traceability of dogs. Netherlands has zero stray dogs due to a mandatory and free sterilization programme that favours adoption. Hong Kong has introduced mandatory laws requiring hobby breeders to get licensed or face inspections. Just recently, Montreal and Laval in Canada made it compulsory for all dogs and cats six months and older to be microchipped and sterilised (unless theres a medical reason or theyre licensed and approved for breeding).

In Singapore, all dogs are required to be microchipped and licensed for trackability, but sterilisation is not mandatory, so backyard breeding and puppy mills continue to thrive. A cursory check across local Gumtree ads, Facebook and WhatsApp groups will reveal the dark side of this business. Theres just no way to effectively police them (let alone find proof). The government should consider extreme measures like mandatory sterilisation as the next step. It can pass a law allowing AVS authorities and potential owners to check the genealogical track record of the puppys parents and view their living conditions.

If my family is lucky enough to qualify for a rescue pet, I need to be sure its still possible for my daughter to form an emotional connection with the rescue (I need to prepare for its medical bills).

For now, Ill continue to work on convincing my daughter to settle for a guinea pig or a rabbit instead. Maybe shell warm up to the idea. Hopefully, when shes old enough to distinguish the difference, the laws will have become kinder to dogs, and she wont need to make a moral choice at all.

Do you have an opinion to share about puppy mills or adopting rescues? Drop us an email at community@ricemedia.co.

The post I Took My Daughter to Buy a Dog, and Faced a Moral Dilemma with Puppy Mills appeared first on RICE.
The former Bachelor star and chiropractor turned his hand to acting in 2018 when he landed a guest role as Pierce Greyson on Neighbours.

And while he's now a permanent star on the Channel Ten soap, Tim Robards admitted to The Sunday Telegraph's Insider that he 'totally stuffed' his audition.

Recalling scenes on the set with veteran star Stefan Dennis, the 37-year-old said: 'We had to do numerous takes and I just thought "I've totally stuffed that".'

'All the lines just went out of my head!' Tim Robards, 37, admitted to The Sunday Telegraph's Insider that he 'totally stuffed' his first Neighbours audition. Pictured on the Melbourne set

Tim revealed to the publication how producers flew him to Melbourne from Sydney, to audition with Stefan, 61, after they were impressed by his video audition tape.

'I walked into the audition room and Stefan came in and he's just got such a deep voice, and he's in my face and we ended up doing the scene and all the lines just went out of my head,' Tim said with a laugh.

'I couldn't pull them [the lines] together and we had to do numerous takes and I just thought, "I've totally stuffed that",' he continued.

To his surprise, Tim was given a second chance to audition with April Rose Pengilly.

'We had to do numerous takes': The former Bachelor star said he was flown to Melbourne by producers to film scenes alongside Stefan Dennis, but that he 'couldn't pull [the lines] together'. Pictured in an Instagram post on another occasion

Got the gig! To his surprise, Tim was given a second chance to audition with April Rose Pengilly (pictured). He mastered the scenes and received a call that he landed the role, on the day he was flying to Italy to wed Anna Heinrich

He mastered the scenes and received a call that he landed the role, on the day he was flying to Italy to wed Bachelor winner and criminal lawyer, Anna Heinrich, 33.

The couple are in a long-distant arrangement, with Tim based in Melbourne for Neighbours, and Anna in Sydney.

Tim told Who magazine in January that while they miss out on quality time together, they 'chat five times a day on FaceTime'.

Long-distance: The couple (pictured at the 2019 Logie Awards) are in a long-distant arrangement, with Tim based in Melbourne for Neighbours, and Anna, 33, in Sydney

'It's not really that different to a couple who are working busy jobs,' Tim stated.

'We do miss out on having dinner together, but then a lot of people don't even have dinner together during the week.

'These days, by the time people get home late, go to the gym, or they've got kids, whatever. We chat five times a day on FaceTime,' he continued.
Indians seeking clarity from the government on the causes, responses, and aftermath of the riots in north-east Delhi, in which 53 people died and over 500 injured, would have been confused by Home Minister Amit Shahs explanations in the Lok Sabha on March 11. Mr Shahs 50-minute speech can be best described as a model of mendacity.

It apportioned the blame on everyone but his ministry and the Delhi police, which report to him. According to his version, the riots were pre-planned, financed, and mobilised externally (by implication the Muslim community) and the police were ...
The Queen has been chauffeured away from Buckingham Palace amid the coronavirus outbreak.

It is said the 93-year-old monarch was whisked to Windsor Castle for her safety.

But a source at Buckingham Palace told Mirror Online the Queen went to Windsor on her usual weekend trip and will be back in London next week.

But it is understood plans are now in place to quarantine the Queen and Prince Philip, 98, at Sandringham if the outbreak worsens.



However, there had been reports the Queen had been whisked away from the Palace over cronavirus fears.

A royal source said: She is in good health but it was thought best to move her. A lot of her staff are a bit panicky over coronavirus.

The Palace hosts a constant stream of visitors including politicians and dignitaries from around the world.

More than 20 have succumbed to the virus in the country, with confirmed cases rocketing by 342 to 1,140.

Follow Us on Facebook  @LadunLiadi; Instagram  @LadunLiadi; Twitter  @LadunLiadi; Youtube  @LadunLiadiTV for updates
A Cathay Pacific Airways Airbus A350 airplane approaches to land at Changi International Airport in Singapore.

Reuters

Transpacific flying began in 1935 with Pan American World Airways launching flying boats from San Francisco to destinations across Asia, Australia, and Oceania.

The practice quickly evolved as aircraft technology increasing, reducing the number of stops in order to traverse the ocean.

The Boeing 747 allowed for nonstop flights between continents as it traversed the Pacific with ease.

Then relaxed regulations for twin-engine aircraft later saw smaller aircraft begin flying transpacific routes.

The skies above the Pacific are now diverse with a wide variety of aircraft flying countless flights on a daily basis.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Flying over oceans has been a common practice in aviation since before World War II.

With the aerial mode of transportation offering quicker journey times than ocean liners, airlines quickly began to standardize the practice and offer reliable, scheduled services that would be a large step in making the world a smaller place.

Transatlantic flying was the primary focus as Western Europe and the eastern United States were closer in terms of both distance and historical ties but flying over the Pacific Ocean soon became an area of interest for airlines.

Though the stakes were higher, with a notable shortage of land existing between the Hawaiian Islands and the mainland US, establishing air routes across the Pacific was of strategic importance not only for airlines seeking to grow their route networks, but also the military as World War II loomed.

Thanks to innovations in aircraft technology, flying across the Pacific is a daily occurrence for countless airlines seeking to connect cites on both sides of the international dateline, as well as the numerous islands throughout Oceania.

Here's how transpacific flying has evolved over the years.

The first advances in transpacific flying came from Pan American World Airways, one of the earliest leaders in aviation.

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Pan American World Airways

AP Photo/Matty Zimmerman

Source: Pan Am Historical Society

Pan Am scouting the first transpacific route, flying from San Francisco to Honolulu in 1935.

Pan American World Airways Clipper Hawaii

AP Photo

Source: Pan Am Historical Society

The flight was operated on a four-engine flying boat that could land on water if need be, a luxury that most modern airliners do not have.

Pan Am

Ivan Dmitri/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Source: Pan Am Historical Society

Island hopping was a common practice in the early days of transpacific flying, with the propeller aircraft of the time not having the range of today's airliners.

Pan American floatplane

AP Photo

A flight between California and China, for example, would need to stop in Hawaii, Midway Island, Wake Island, Guam and Manila along the way, a week's journey.

Pan Am floatplane Hong Kong

AP Photo

Source: Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

As aircraft technology advanced following the war, routes grew longer and a flight from Sydney to San Francisco, for example, could be flown with only two stops in Fiji and Hawaii on aircraft such as the Lockheed Constellation...

Qantas Lockheed Constellation

BenSlater / Shutterstock.com

And later, the Boeing 707.

Qantas Boeing 707

Edward Haylan / Shutterstock.com

Quad-engine narrow-body aircraft such as the Douglas DC-8 could also make the journey between the US and Asia with a single stop, greatly bringing travel times down.

Delta Air Lines DC-8

AP Photo

The strides made by the jet age of the mid-1900s soon allowed for nonstop flights over the Pacific Ocean between continents, with the four-engine Boeing 747 being able to fly from cities throughout the mainland US to Asia, Australia, and Oceania with ease.

Boeing 747

AP

The 747 later became a staple on transpacific flights thanks to its capacity and range.

Qantas Boeing 747

James D. Morgan/Getty

Three and four-engine aircraft dominated the skies over the Pacific as the prevailing theory for flying over the ocean was that there was safety in the number of engines a plane had.

Pan Am Boeing 747

aviation-images.com/UIG via Getty Images

The revolution in transpacific flying then came in the mid-1980s when the Federal Aviation Administration granted twin-engine aircraft the ability to fly overwater routes through a program called Extended Twin-engine Overwater Performance Standards or ETOPS.

Boeing 767

AP

Source: Boeing

Under ETOPS, twin-engine aircraft were given ratings in minutes that determined how far they can stray from a diversion airport in the event of an engine failure where an emergency landing would be required.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner emergency landing.

KYODO Kyodo/Reuters

Source: Boeing

The first twin-engine aircraft to perform an ETOPS flight was a Trans World Airlines Boeing 767 that flew transatlantic between New York and Paris, kicking off a twin-engine revolution in aviation that would see the demise of three and four-engine aircraft.

Trans World Airlines

Ed Bailey/AP

Source: Boeing

With relaxed rules for twin-engine aircraft flying over water, Boeing and Airbus both developed widebody, twin-engine aircraft including the Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 designed to operate overwater routes more efficiently than larger aircraft.

Boeing 777

Reuters/Stringer

The practice soon expanded to the Pacific, with flights to Asia increasing being operated by twin-engine flights on North Pacific routes.

Korean Air Boeing 777

Yu Chun Christopher Wong/S3studio/Getty

Soon enough, twin-engine planes were taking over routes over both oceans and serving destinations once only served by planes with more than two engines.

FILE PHOTO: A Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A330-200 takes off at San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California, February 16, 2015. REUTERS/Louis Nastro/File Photo

Reuters

Qantas became one of the more recent airlines to retire its Boeing 747s from transpacific routes in 2019, largely replacing them with twin-engine aircraft,...

Qantas Boeing 747-400

REUTERS/Daniel Munoz

Such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Qantas Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider

Flying over the Pacific is such a common practice that even narrow-body aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 can fly safely between the mainland US and Hawaii and even between Alaska and Hawaii.

LAX Day Trip Alaska Airlines - Airbus A320

Thomas Pallini/Business Insider

Routes to destinations such as Australia, Tahiti, Hawaii, New Zealand, and Fiji all see twin-engine aircraft thanks to the ETOPS program.

Air Tahiti Nui Boeing 787 Dreamliner

Francois Mori/AP

LATAM Airlines is one of the most notable airlines flying transpacific routes as it connects South America and Australia through a notoriously desolate corridor of the Pacific.

LATAM Easter Island 787

David Slotnick/Business Insider

The aircraft used by LATAM, however, is the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which can fly for over five hours on a single-engine.

Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner

Stephen Brashear/Getty

Source: Boeing

Read the original article on Business Insider
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.




T he family of Spurs star Jan Vertonghen were threatened at knifepoint by masked raiders during a burglary on his north London home.

The armed intruders broke into the property before confronting the player's wife and children and stealing a "number of items".

The incident took place on Tuesday, when 32-year-old Vertonghen was in Germany for the second leg of Tottenham's Champions League defeat to RB Leipzig.

A spokesman for the club said the family were going through a "terribly traumatic time".

Police confirmed men wearing balaclavas forced their way into the house while his wife and children were inside.

"We have been supporting Jan and his family through this terribly traumatic time," said a Spurs spokesperson.

"We encourage anyone who has any information to come forward to help the police with their investigation."

A Met Police spokesman said: "Police were called to a residential address in NW3 at 7.49pm on 10 March to a report of a burglary.

"Officers attended. It was reported four men wearing balaclavas, armed with knives, had forced entry to the property and stolen a number of items before leaving.

"Nobody was injured. The suspects had left the scene before officers arrived. There have been no arrests and inquiries continue."
In the French Quarter around noon Sunday, life seemed normal, if a bit subdued. The spread of coronavirus cases was certainly on everyone's mind, but strategies to avoid infection werent conspicuous.

Bourbon Street restaurant barkers still displayed menus to passersby who carried colorful drinks in transparent plastic cups. Young women offered rainbow-hued soap samples on Royal Street. Noon Mass at St. Louis Cathedral was reasonably well-attended, and a few folks strolled through Jackson Square sporting green, St. Patricks Day fashions.

But the mayor was scheduled to make an announcement in the mid-afternoon, and rumors had spread that the city would put additional restrictions on public gatherings that could affect the tourist economy.

As it happens, Mayor LaToya Cantrell did not immediately impose stricter rules on businesses  that wound up coming later in the evening  but there were hints that the carefree Quarter lifestyle was in jeopardy anyway.

The Historic New Orleans Collection's museum was closed. Amid a cluster of tourists leaving a visitors center on Basin Street, one young woman wore a surgical mask. Sean McDonald, a greeter at the door of the venerable Pat OBriens patio bar on St. Peter Street, wore rubber gloves.

+8 Coronavirus restrictions tighten around the globe, disrupting daily life, worship BARCELONA, Spain  New travel restrictions and border closures reverberated across Europe and beyond Sunday as daily life increasingly ground 

To his surprise, McDonald said, business was about average at the world-famous bar. He said he would have predicted more concern among patrons. Wearing gloves wasnt mandatory, but he said he chose to do so for his protection and that of others.

McDonald said that although his income might suffer, he wouldnt mind seeing more establishments close their doors to slow the contagion.

Its perspective, he said. Ive been through short-term suffering before. But if it saves one life, its worth it.

As of Sunday, two people had died from the infection in the New Orleans area.

2nd coronavirus death in Louisiana announced; total cases increase to 91 A second person has died from coronavirus in New Orleans, the governor's office announced Sunday morning.

McDonald said he views the current state of French Quarter business as a what comes first, the chicken or the egg, situation.

If the places are open, he said, people will come. If the people come, the places will stay open.

McDonald said its up to government leaders to pull the plug on commerce, because people wont do it themselves. For instance, he said, he met a female pharmacist from Ohio who said shed only recently decided to visit New Orleans because of cheap airplane tickets.

Even though New Orleans seems to be a hot spot for the virus, McDonald said, the young woman said, I have more exposure at my job.

For now, city officials are trying to take a middle road. While some states, including Ohio and Illinois, have ordered the wholesale closure of bars and restaurants, the Cantrell administration late Sunday announced it was curtailing the hours of restaurants and bars, and restricting their capacity.

Similarly, Amy Raines, a visitor from Colorado who was waiting in line to enter St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, said she had planned her trip to New Orleans just a week ago. I figure that I personally have a strong immune system, she said.

Raines said that a highlight of her visit was tasting alligator.

Jessica and Matt Carrelli, who were visiting from Cincinnati and also waiting to enter the cemetery, said they regretted missing a St. Patricks Day parade and a performance at a comedy club that were both canceled. But besides that, they have had a wonderful time, dining and exploring the city, they said.

The couple said they had not considered the irony of visiting a cemetery where the victims of historic contagions were buried, just as a new virus spread.

Im keeping it in perspective, Matt said. Death is all around us anyway.

'It could happen to anybody': Kenner lawyer, 45, in critical care with coronavirus, wife says Mark Frilot took medicines to treat what he thought for several days was a case of the flu, but he just couldnt turn the corner.

Onassys The Voodoo Bone Lady Bloomberg, a cemetery tour guide, said the number of visitors hoping to see the final resting place of Marie Laveau and the future resting place of Nicolas Cage had dropped off in recent days.

Id say right now were at 60% of volume in the cemetery, she said.

Bloomberg, who wore rubber gloves as she signed visitors up for the tour at the cemetery gate, said shes not unduly worried, but shes practicing common sense.

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

Im going to live my life and enjoy myself," she said. "Im not going to any extremes.

Cantrell's announcement late Sunday said that tour groups from now on would be limited to seven participants.

Bloomberg said the popularity of protective amulets and dolls at her French Quarter voodoo stores has risen during the coronavirus crisis.

As the warm, late-winter sun reflected brilliantly from the whitewashed walls of the cemetery, Eric Johnson sold bottled water and soft drinks to those waiting to enter the famed "city of the dead."

Sunday was only the second day Johnson had sold drinks near the cemetery, he said. It was an attempt to make ends meet in trying circumstances.

Johnson said the coronavirus threat had apparently already affected business at Galatoires Restaurant. On Friday and Saturday, he said, his shifts as a cook at the century-old Bourbon Street eatery were canceled. Usually, he said, he supplements his income by selling drinks at second-line parades. But the state had shut down those sorts of large gatherings. So he set up shop near St. Louis Cemetery No. 1.

Johnson, 45, said hes concerned about being infected by the rapidly spreading virus, but he has to work.

I mean, I wake up, I pray and I keep going, he said. "I eat healthy and take my vitamins.

His biggest problem, Johnson said, is finding stores stocked up on bottled water, which has been snapped up by shoppers who have presumably begun self-quarantining.

A greeter at the popular Acme Oyster House on Iberville Street said the lunch crowd was certainly smaller than usual.

The young man, who asked not to be named, said that in recent days the restaurant staff has been more conscientious than usual because of the virus. This is one of the cleanest restaurants Ive ever worked in, he said, and now its 110 percent.

Debbie Hearts the Clown Bloodworth is a balloon sculptor who plies her trade on Jackson Square, which was busy, but maybe not as bustling as usual.

Right now, she said, everyones a little sleepy, but theyll wake up. I think everybody is afraid that everything will get shut down next week, so this is the last hurrah.

+3 Sources: To fight coronavirus in New Orleans, stricter rules for public are being considered New Orleans officials are considering putting in place additional restrictions in the city in an effort to ramp up the fight against the coron

The French Quarter wasn't the only place where the coronavirus competed with local customs on Sunday. In Central City, the Super Sunday Mardi Gras Indian march was canceled.

The beloved annual event would have been the first time since Mardi Gras to see the new feathered-and-beaded suits made by the citys black masking Indians. Typically, traffic grinds to a standstill all day around A.L. Davis Park, where the celebration begins and ends.

But on Sunday morning, not one plume or feathered crown was in sight. It was a contrast to the devil-may-care attitude of thousands of St. Patricks Day revelers on Saturday, who frustrated New Orleans officials by gathering despite the state's and city's efforts to inhibit the spread of the virus by eliminating large public gatherings.

On Sunday, the biggest crowd near A.L. Davis Park numbered a mere three, a trio perched on the stoop of 2608 La Salle St., across from the park. They happened to be Indians, though they were dressed in street clothes, not feathers. Big Chief Kevin Goodman of the Flaming Arrows said the group was curious about who would show and so theyd made the drive from the 7th Ward to the stoop.

Goodman said they hadnt seen any Indians, though he didnt rule out the possibility that some might show up, impassioned about their artistry and culture. You may have one or two that have it so bad that they might have to go in the park and sing a song, just to get it off their mind, he said.

It wasnt easy to sit across from an empty park on a beautiful day that had been designated to celebrate his family and community culture, Goodman said. Our heart is hurting right now, but theres nothing that we really can do, because when you look at the real reality part of it, its saving a lot of lives.

Over the past few days, Goodman had spoken to other chiefs and they had decided that they, along with their tribes, would heed officials orders.

As Indians we take a lot of risks and we take a lot of chances, Goodman said, but this is one that were not taking a chance on.

Editor's note: This story was updated March 16 to add a second byline.
1. Yes. The downtown area needs a good draw. Some quality taverns would be a plus.

2. Yes. Too many storefronts are vacant. Bars could help to bring in needed revenue.

3. No. Putting a number of bars downtown is just asking for trouble. Dont change things.

4.No. Several churches have located downtown. Putting bars close by would be a bad fit.

5. Unsure. It would depend on how the law is written and what standards are enacted.

Vote

View Results
Cayuga County has declared a State of Emergency and closed all public schools through April 13, county officials said Saturday.

The school closure begins immediately.

The county currently has no confirmed cases of COVID-19, though officials said they are taking these measures as a precaution."

Cayuga Countys announcement follows Onondaga Countys Saturday announcement that it will close schools on Friday at 4 p.m. through mid-April.

Many Upstate New York counties have closed schools since Friday, including Tompkins, Oneida, Herkimer, Broome and Tioga counties.

New York State currently has 613 confirmed cases, including three new cases in Erie County.

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Chris Libonati via the Signal app for encrypted messaging at 585-290-0718, by phone at the same number, by email or on Twitter.

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New York Mayor Bill De Blasio visits Union Square to distribute information about the Coronavirus in New York City on March 9, 2020. (Jeenah Moon/Getty Images)

New York City Could Go on Lockdown Over Pandemic, Says Mayor de Blasio

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said his office is considering locking down the city to contain the coronavirus outbreak after more than 200 cases have been confirmed.

Every option is on the table in a crisis, de Blasio told CNN on Sunday. Weve never seen anything like this, he said.

The COVID-19 coronavirus tally may rise to more than 1,000 cases in the next several days, he remarked.

Its changing every hour so were going to constantly make new decisions, de Blasio told the network.

The mayor didnt elaborate on what a lockdown might entail, but did give some idea last week when the city declared an emergency.

Shoppers browse barren shelves at a supermarket in Larchmont, N.Y. on Friday, March 13, 2020. (John Minchillo/AP Photo)

So theres the ability to establish a curfew. Theres the ability to regulate whether vehicles or individuals may enter or leave specific parts of the city. There is the ability to close down public transportation, de Blasio said on March 12. City officials can suspend alcohol usage, firearms, allowing people to be on the streets or in public places, create shelters, or limit building occupancy.

During the interview, the mayor said he wants the Trump administration to assume a war-time strategy to deal with the pandemic.

Right now, we have to make sure or that the places in this country that need more ventilators that needs surgical masks, that need hand sanitizer, that that is a federalized dynamic, where those factories that produce those goods are put on 24/7 shifts, and those goods are distributed where theyre needed most, as we would in wartime. That is where we are right now, he said.

He added: If the federal government doesnt realize this is the equivalent of a war already, there is no way that states and localities can make all the adjustments we need to.

With limited testing available, officials have recorded around 3,000 cases and 62 deaths in the United States, up from 58 the previous day. President Donald Trump tested negative for coronavirus, his doctors said on Saturday, as the president extended a travel ban to Britain and Ireland to try to slow the pandemic. The U.S. House of Representatives passed an aid package on Saturday that would provide free testing and paid sick leave.

New Jersey officials were also considering a statewide curfew, Governor Phil Murphy said on Sunday. And New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo called on Trump to mobilize the Army Corps of Engineers to create more hospital beds.

We have had disagreements about your actions against New York, which we can pursue at another time. Today, lets work together as Americans. Time is short, Cuomo wrote on Sunday in an opinion piece in the New York Times.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Vanessa Hudgens wrapped up in a black raincoat and an 'I [Heart] Earth Girls' hoodie when she was glimpsed out in Los Angeles on Saturday.

The 31-year-old High School Musical star slipped into a pair of flowing trousers and thick white sneakers as she braved the rains.

Amid a flurry of panic buying brought on by coronavirus fears, she could be glimpsed stocking up on groceries at the health food shop Lassens.

On the go: Vanessa Hudgens wrapped up in a black raincoat and an 'I [Heart] Earth Girls' hoodie when she was glimpsed out in Los Angeles on Saturday

Vanessa accessorized her ensemble with a pair of red-tinted aviators and added a dash of dazzle with a necklace and earrings.

Lassens has attracted quite the celebrity clientele amid the coronavirus pandemic, as Angelina Jolie was also spotted there with her daughter Vivienne on Saturday.

Vanessa has been cast in the upcoming movie adaptation of Tick, Tick...Boom!, a stage musical by Jonathan Larson of Rent fame.

Directed by Hamilton impresario Lin-Manuel Miranda, the movie began shooting in New York City at the beginning of this month.

Prepared: Amid a flurry of panic buying brought on by coronavirus fears, she could be glimpsed stocking up on groceries at the health food shop Lassens

Leading man Andrew Garfield could be seen fighting the sniffles while shooting an outdoor scene in Manhattan on the first day of principal photography.

Tick, Tick... Boom! is Lin-Manuel's first turn at film directing since the 1996 comedy Clayton's Friends, which was only 59 minutes long.

Jonathan wrote Tick, Tick... Boom! and performed it as an off-off Broadway one-man show in 1990, years before Rent made him famous.

In the musical, the leading man Jon faces a personal crisis as he considers getting out of show business and leading a stable life.

The look: The 31-year-old High School Musical star slipped into a pair of flowing trousers and thick white sneakers as she braved the rains

The real Jonathan Larson eventually earned his place in musical theater history with the smash 1996 show Rent - but did not live to see his success.

He died aged 35 of an undiagnosed aortic dissection the morning of Rent's first off-Broadway preview in January 1996.

Later that year, the show opened on Broadway and was a massive triumph, earning Jonathan a posthumous Pulitzer Prize For Drama among other honors.

Vanessa earned praise in January 2019 by playing the scene-stealing role of Maureen in a FOX televised production of Rent.
MANILA, Philippines (AP)  Thousands of police in the Philippines, backed by the army and coast guard, started sealing the densely populated capital from most domestic travelers Sunday in one of Southeast Asias most drastic containment moves against the new coronavirus.

Mayors also announced plans to impose a night curfew in Metropolitan Manila, home to more than 12 million people. Residents have been asked to stay home except for work and urgent errands under monthlong restrictions that took effect Sunday.

The citywide quarantine means the suspension of domestic travel by land, air and sea to and from the capital region. Large gatherings like concerts, movies and cockfighting will be prohibited and most government work in executive department offices will be suspended in the metropolis. School closures at all levels were extended by a month.

President Rodrigo Duterte announced what he billed a general community quarantine of the entire metropolis on Thursday. Officials issued guidelines on Saturday after confusion over the drastic moves set off panic buying in supermarkets and prompted many provincial residents to stream out of the metropolis, fearing they would be stranded in the capital.

Officials said the temporary restrictions will not amount to a lockdown of the capital because many workers and emergency personnel like medical staff will be able to enter and leave the capital. Residents can move within the metropolis on their way to work or for urgent errands, including medical emergencies, officials said.

Movement of cargo and food shipments will continue unhampered, they said.

Nevertheless, by early Sunday truckloads of policemen and soldiers spread to the peripheries of the metropolis and started to man checkpoints on major entry and exit points. The coast guard announced a no-sail policy in Manila Bay but said cargo ships, fishing boats, government vessels and some foreign ships were exempted from the ban.

A copy of the guidelines said the movement of people in the Manila metropolis shall be limited to accessing basic necessities and work.

Story continues

If youll go to work, go. If you need to go out for medical treatment, go. If youll buy food, go, but other than that, stay home, Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano told a news conference on Saturday. We should practice social distancing."

Philippine health officials reported dozens of new cases infections Saturday, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 111. Eight of the patients have died.

While the virus can be deadly, particularly for the elderly and people with other health problems, for most people it causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. Some feel no symptoms at all and the vast majority of people recover.

Ano said the 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew, which was proposed by 17 mayors, would apply to nonessential trips and leisure gatherings like parties, family reunions and concerts. Stressing the urgency of the move, he cited the case of Italy, where he said the numbers of COVID-19 infections and deaths alarmingly spiked because effective containment steps were not put in place early.

Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said cities and towns would enforce the curfew once their separate councils have authorized it in the next few days.

Ano warned that infections may exponentially increase to several thousand in the Philippines in five months if effective containment actions are not set in place. He told The Associated Press that its one of the worst-case scenarios drawn up by the government along with World Health Organization experts.

Metropolitan Manila police chief Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas has threatened to arrest people who don't comply with the new restrictions. But a prominent human rights lawyer, Jose Manuel Diokno, said law enforcers could not arrest anyone for resisting emergency health restrictions.

Under Philippine law, police can arrest people without a warrant only if they have committed or are about to commit a crime, Diokno said.

The 74-year-old Duterte himself was tested for the virus on Thursday after he met Cabinet officials, who said they were exposed to people who tested positive for the coronavirus. Duterte tested negative, according to his spokesman.

___

Associated Press journalists Aaron Favila and Joeal Calupitan 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.
New Delhi: Making a strong pitch for SAARC nations to jointly combat coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday proposed setting up a coronavirus emergency fund with India committing $10 million initially for it, and asserted that the best way to deal with the pandemic was by coming together, and not growing apart.

Apart from Modi, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza, participated in the video conference.

The underlying message of the video conference was unitedly taking on the pandemic, but Pakistan used the occasion to raise Kashmir, with Mirza calling for the "lockdown" to be eased in Jammu and Kashmir to deal with the coronavirus threat.

In a significant message, Modi asserted that it was important for the SAARC member countries to work together and said the region can best respond to the coronavirus pandemic by "coming together, not growing apart".

Modi said it was important to focus on collaboration, not confusion, and preparation, not panic.

Mirza, in his remarks, also hailed China for its efforts to deal with the coronavirus and urged other SAARC nations to learn best practices from it.

After initial remarks by the leaders, Prime Minister Modi made a series of suggestions which were hailed by the SAARC leaders and representatives.

"I propose we create a COVID-19 Emergency Fund. This could be based on voluntary contributions from all of us. India can start with an initial offer of 10 million US dollars for this fund," Modi said.

"We are assembling a Rapid Response Team of doctors and specialists in India, along with testing kits and other equipment. They will be on stand-by, to be placed at your disposal, if required," Modi told the SAARC leaders.

India had set up an Integrated Disease Surveillance Portal to better trace possible virus carriers and the people they contacted and it could share this disease surveillance software with SAARC partners, Modi said.

"Looking ahead, we could create a common research platform, to coordinate research on controlling epidemic diseases within our South Asian region. The Indian Council of Medical Research can offer help coordinating such an exercise," he said.

In his opening address, Modi said the South Asian region has reported less than 150 coronavirus cases, but "we need to remain vigilant".

"Prepare, but don't panic" has been India's guiding mantra in dealing with coronavirus outbreak, he said.

"We started screening people entering India from mid-January itself, while gradually increasing restrictions on travel," Modi said.

Step-by-step approach helped avoid panic and India made special efforts to reach out to vulnerable groups, he said.

India also responded to the call of its people abroad and evacuated nearly 1,400 Indians from different countries, he said.

Modi also said India helped some citizens of neighbouring countries by evacuating them from coronavirus-hit nations.

Maldivian President Solih backed coordinated approach to deal with COVID-19, asserting that no country can deal with the situation alone.

Lankan President Rajapaksa said SAARC leaders should formulate mechanism to help the economies of the region to tide over problems posed by coronavirus.

He also proposed setting up a SAARC ministerial-level group to deal with issues related to coronavirus.

Hasina hailed PM Modi's suggestions to deal with the pandemic and called for taking the initiative forward by more such video conferences, including one with health ministers of SAARC nations participating.

"Our collective efforts will help us devise a sound and robust strategy for SAARC region to fight coronavirus," Nepal PM Oli said.

Bhutanese PM Lotay Tshering said that it was mportant for all countries of the region to be on same page to combat coronavirus.

Mirza, in his initial remarks, said no nation can afford to be unresponsive to situation in wake of coronavirus outbreak.

"We share common regional concerns on COVID-19. While hoping for best, we have to prepare for worst," the Pakistan PM's Special Assistant on Health said.

Modi on Friday had proposed formulation of a joint strategy by the SAARC nations to fight coronavirus, a suggestion that was backed by all the member states.

Calling on the SAARC nations to set an example for the world, Modi had reached out to the eight-member regional grouping and pitched for a video-conference among its leaders to chalk out a strong strategy to fight coronavirus, which has killed more than 5,000 people globally.

His appeal got a prompt response from Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister Oli, Bhutanese premier Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Hasina and the Afghan government, all of whom welcomed the proposal.

Pakistan's response to the proposal came in after the rest, with the country's Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui saying Mirza will be available to participate in the video-conference.

(With PTI inputs)
When we invest, we're generally looking for stocks that outperform the market average. And the truth is, you can make significant gains if you buy good quality businesses at the right price. For example, long term China Resources Gas Group Limited (HKG:1193) shareholders have enjoyed a 87% share price rise over the last half decade, well in excess of the market return of around -16% (not including dividends). However, more recent returns haven't been as impressive as that, with the stock returning just 22% in the last year , including dividends .

Check out our latest analysis for China Resources Gas Group

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

Over half a decade, China Resources Gas Group managed to grow its earnings per share at 15% a year. This EPS growth is reasonably close to the 13% average annual increase in the share price. Therefore one could conclude that sentiment towards the shares hasn't morphed very much. Rather, the share price has approximately tracked EPS growth.

The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

SEHK:1193 Past and Future Earnings, March 15th 2020

We know that China Resources Gas Group has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? You could check out this free report showing analyst revenue forecasts.

What About Dividends?

It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. In the case of China Resources Gas Group, it has a TSR of 104% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

Story continues

A Different Perspective

It's nice to see that China Resources Gas Group shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 22% over the last year. Of course, that includes the dividend. Since the one-year TSR is better than the five-year TSR (the latter coming in at 15% per year), it would seem that the stock's performance has improved in recent times. Someone with an optimistic perspective could view the recent improvement in TSR as indicating that the business itself is getting better with time. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with China Resources Gas Group , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

But note: China Resources Gas Group 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 HK exchanges.

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Economy growing against the flow, illustration photo - Le Toan

Global economic analysts TradingEconomics last week released its fresh forecast on the countrys economic growth this year, taking into account the COVID-19 outbreak which has reached over 80 countries across the world.

The firm stated that Vietnams annual GDP growth rate is expected to be 5.5 per cent by the end of this quarter. Looking forward, we estimate the rate to stand at 6.4 per cent in 12 months time. In the long-term, the rate is projected to trend around 6.5 per cent in 2021. GDP is expected to hit $265 billion by the end of the year, and to trend around $289 billion in 2021 and $325 billion the following year.

The Vietnamese government previously expected the rate to reach 6.8-7 per cent this year. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered that despite difficulties caused by COVID-19, Vietnam will not alter its growth targets and all efforts must be made to reach them.

However, Fitch Ratings, one of the worlds three largest rating firms, has revised down Vietnams 2020 GDP growth forecast to 6.3 per cent, from 6.8 per cent divined in January, due to the outbreak.

Fitch Ratings said it believed the COVID-19 outbreak will heavily impact growth in the first half of the year, mainly due to disrupted supply chains in the region which would weigh heavily on manufacturing and weak tourist arrivals, as well as general domestic fears of infection which would drag on service activity. Its forecasts currently factor in assumptions of a gradual subsiding of the virus outbreak in the second half of 2020, which underpins its view for a sharp rebound in trade activity as supply chains and tourism activity normalises.

The Asian Development Bank and the World Bank in Vietnam are currently reassessing the global economy, as well as that of Vietnam. Both institutions said that the epidemic could take a heavy toll on the countrys economic growth this year.

It is expected that the ADB will revise Vietnams growth in the next few weeks, which was earlier forecast by the bank to grow 6.8 per cent this year.

Economic monitoring group FocusEconomics told VIR that it forecasts the Vietnamese economy to grow 6.5 per cent in 2020, down 0.1 percentage points from last months forecast, and 6.6 per cent in 2021. The key reason, in line with other analysts, is COVID-19s negative impacts.

However, according to international experts, despite possible lower-than-expected economic growth this year, Vietnam is projected to remain one of the ASEANs top performers in 2020 thanks to strong domestic demand.

Specifically, according to FocusEconomics, the growth rates this year for Asia will be 4.2 per cent, the ASEAN 4.3 per cent, Brunei 2.8 per cent, Indonesia 5 per cent, Laos 6.4 per cent, Malaysia 4.1 per cent, the Philippines 6.2 per cent, Singapore 1 per cent, and Thailand 2.3 per cent.

The reason behind Vietnams expected better performance is that the country is pushing up its economic restructuring, making it a more enticing destination for investors and businesses. In particular, free trade agreements have also been making Vietnam a more attractive place to do business.

In February the European Parliament approved the EU-Vietnam trade deal, paving the way for it to come into force later this year and boding well for the external sector in the medium-term, FocusEconomics said in a statement.

Despite the rising number of nations and territories being affected by the outbreak, Vietnam has seen no new cases for over two weeks, and all 16 previous cases recovered. Over the past few weeks, Vietnams government held a meeting every 48 hours to discuss the epidemic and solutions to curb it.

At last weeks cabinet meeting, PM Phuc stressed that the government stands ready to sacrifice a number of economic benefits in order to protect the health of citizens, tourists, and expatriates here in Vietnam.

He cited some reports stating that COVID-19 is expected to cause a loss of $30 billion to the global aviation industry, and $80 billion to the global tourism industry.

This will have a heavy impact on Vietnams economic growth this year, especially in the sectors of aviation, tourism, services, and trade and investment, the prime minister said.

TradingEconomics added that Vietnams Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index, calculated by London-based global information provider IHS Markit, fell to 49.9 in February from 51.8 in January.

This was the first drop in manufacturing activity in over four years, as the sector was severely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, TradingEconomics said in its report. Output fell at the fastest pace for over 6.5 years, while new orders shrank for the first time since November 2015, which was partially driven by a fall in export sales.

Some survey respondents mentioned weaker order flows from China when explaining the fall in international business. In addition, employment shrank for the first time in four months and was the fastest for over six years. Buying activity also dropped for the first time in over four years.

On the cost front, shortages of necessary inputs led to a rise in the cost burden, TradingEconomics said.
New Haven's St. Patricks Day Parade, set for March 14, was canceled due to concerns about the coronavirus.

>> To commemorate the parade, take a look at photos from years past and see if you can spot yourself!
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday (March 15, 2020) met a 24-member delegation from Jammu and Kashmirs Apni Party led by Altaf Bukhari in New Delhi and assured them that the NDA Government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take all steps necessary for the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir. He expressed confidence that visible changes will be seen on the ground in the next three to four months.

Shah after engaging with the delegation on about 40 odd issues raised by them emphasised that there is no intention of the government for demographic change in the region and all such talks have no basis at all. He said the government will work with all sections of the society to realize the hopes of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir at an early opportunity.

Shah said that PM Modi in his address to the nation after the abrogation of Article 370 said this and even he, himself in his speech in Lok Sabha on August 6 2019 expressed the same sentiment. The Home Minister said this is also good for Indias interest, as the region is a border area.

Allaying the apprehensions of the delegation on restrictions, Shah said all decisions on relaxations being taken by the Prime Minister and implemented by Home Ministry are based on ground realities and not due to any pressure. He referred to steps like the release of people from preventive detention, restoration of internet, relaxation in curfew and added that even political prisoners will be freed in times to come. The main objective of the government is that not a single person should die, be it a common Kashmiri or any security personnel.

The Home Minister assured the delegation that Jammu and Kashmir will have a better domicile policy than other states in the country and said that a reasonable Economic Development Policy will be drafted soon after widespread consultation. He emphasised that there is no discrimination in the implementation of Central Laws in Jammu and Kashmir and interests of all sections will be taken care of.

Shah told the delegation that soon a very attractive Industrial Policy will be announced for rapid economic development and a Land Bank has already been created. He said, for the last 70 years, J and K attracted Rs 13,000 Crore and expressed hope that by 2024 three times more investment will come in the region as there is huge potential for the same and investors are also willing to come forward. This will also solve the problem of unemployment in the region, he added.

On the issues of reservation, the Home Minister said that a Commission will be set up soon and reiterated that no injustice will be done to Gujjars, nomads and other communities. On the issues concerning J and K Bank, he assured the delegation to personally look into the problems. He said that issues on bureaucratic front and loopholes in general administration will be resolved on a fast track basis.

Shah said that he will also ask the LG to appoint a Nodal Person to meet the aggrieved people twice in a week. He also asked the delegation to provide feedback from the below for their prompt redressal.

The Home Minister said his government is open to suggestions and feedback from all including from old parties, new parties and individuals for the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir.
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The valiant rescuers of Rana Kapoor-founded Yes Bank may have a tougher job in hand than what they initially assessed.

Yes Banks third quarter numbers and the finer details of the bail-out scheme shows that more pain is probably awaiting the new management and investors in the Mumbai-based banks tricky balance sheet.

Whats bad?

The bank, undergoing a government-initiated bail out executed by a bank consortium led by the State Bank of India (SBI), has 18.87 percent Gross NPAs (non-performing assets), which is up from 7.39 percent logged in the September quarter.

In absolute terms, Rs 40,709 crore of Yes Banks loan book is now tagged as GNPAs. This is significantly higher than what most analysts had expected at around 12 percent.

Breaking up the NPA chart, out of the Rs 40,709 crore, about 97 percent or Rs 39, 501 crore are corporate NPAs.

Retail and MSME (micro, small and medium enterprise) constitutes only Rs 1,208 crore.

Yes Banks love for big ticket corporate loans has cost the bank dearly. Essentially, this GNPA number means that a large chunk of corporate loans have turned bad in the third quarter as expected by analysts.

The pain is not over for Yes Banks rescue team. Loans in the special mention account (SMA) category tells what is coming. Yes Bank has Rs 11, 528 crore SMA 1 loans or loans where payment is overdue by up to 60 days and Rs 2,383 crore SMA2 loans (payment overdue up to 90 days).

Whats looks good?

The repairing work and the clean-up has begun under RBI administrator, Prashant Kumar.

In Q3, the bank provided Rs 24,766 crore in the third quarter, as compared to just Rs 1,336 crore it did in the second quarter.

Logically, this has reflected in the bottomline with a net loss of Rs 18,560 crore. The provision coverage ratio has been increased in Q3 to 73 percent from 43 percent in the previous quarter.

This means, the bank has a better cushion now to raise further capital and repair the cracked balance sheet. The new management has given a slippage guidance of up to 5 percent for FY21 and improvement thereafter.

The rescue team has gotten bigger with a total of eight leading banks in the consortium. Besides SBI, the consortium now has HDFC Ltd, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra, Federal Bank, Bandhan Bank and IDFC First. These investors are pooling in amounts between Rs 250 crore to Rs 1,000 crore. SBI, leading the consortium, will invest Rs 6,050 crore. All investors have a lock in period of 75 percent of their investments in the bank for three years.

Also read | Yes Bank rescue plan: 3-year lock-in may not be bad for equity shareholders

The ugly part

The speculation over the fate of Additional Tier 1 (AT-1) bond holders seems to have ended with the bank informing the exchanges that this portfolio will be written down completely.

In light of the above provisions of the Basel III Circular, the Perpetual Subordinated Basel III Compliant Additional Tier I Bonds issued by the Bank for an amount of Rs 3,000 crores on December 23, 2016 and the Perpetual Subordinated Basel III Compliant Additional Tier I Bonds issued by the Bank for an amount of Rs 5,415 crores on October 18, 2017 have been fully written down and stand extinguished with immediate effect, Yes Banks administrator Prashant Kumar informed exchanges on March 14.

Even for retail equity investors, there is a reason to worry. All shareholders holding 100 or more shares will have to keep 75 percent of their holding under the three year lock-in period. Accordingly, all shareholders holding 100 or more Equity Shareholders are advised to exercise utmost caution while dealing in the script of the Bank and be guided by the enclosed Scheme, Yes Bank said.

The takeaway

There is no parallel in India when it comes to the way Yes Banks rescue has been structured. Half of the private banking industry and Indias largest bank, SBI, has been nudged by the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to fork out money for the biggest rescue of a new age private bank India has seen in the post-liberalisation era.

But, not all ends well here. Analysts say this rescue will have implications on the banking sector for a long period.

Private banks, which until now were perceived as safer bets than traditional state-run banks, will have to fight the fear in customers minds for a long time to come.

The total write down of AT1 bond portfolio will make capital raising tougher for the industry. But, the decision to bring in all major private banks into the rescue deal will add some comfort to Yes Banks depositors.

Note: The investment figure of SBI has been updated as per the latest exchange notification.
Actor Randeep Hooda seems excited about sharing screen space with Australian actor and Hollywood star Chris Hemsworth. The actors will be seen together in upcoming Netflix film Extraction which was extensively shot in India last year.

On Saturday, Randeep took to Twitter to share a picture of himself from the dubbing studio, working on the Hindi dub of the film. Behind him, one could see a still from the film on a monitor. In it, Randeep is seen fighting Chris with the fiercest look on his face.

Hindi Dubbing #Extraction Thor ka hathoda ya dahi kilo ka haath (Thors hammer or 2.5 kg arm), Randeep wrote in his tweet. His fans had some really interesting replies. Dharmendras one finger, read one tweet. The 2.5 kg arm because one can still lose the hammer but not their own arm. However, the argument stands only as long as Gabbar is not in the picture.

Recently, Chris talked of his experience working with Randeep in the film, in an interview with PTI. With Randeep, its wonderful. Our first introduction was We had three weeks of fighting each other and we both had our fair share of cuts and bruises. And actually a couple of times I nicked him, but it was by accident and I felt very embarrassed, he said describing the intense combat sequences they shot in hot weather.

He (Randeep) wasnt angry at me, Hemsworth said, adding, He has been great to work with. And then weve had little moments of quiet dialogue.

Also read: On Aamir Khans birthday, heres proof that he has always bounced back after disasters like Thugs of Hindostan

The Thor star was scheduled to visit Mumbai along with director Sam Hargrave on March 16. The event has been called off due to the coronavirus scare.

Extraction revolves around Tyler Rake (essayed by Hemsworth), a fearless, black market mercenary, who embarks on the most deadly extraction of his career when he is enlisted to rescue the kidnapped son of an imprisoned international crime lord. The film is scheduled to release on April 24.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
It's a worry that a lot of women have when they get up in the morning  how their hair looks.

Now a new survey reveals that more than one in ten admit to being late for work because they are having a bad hair day.

The nationwide poll of 2,000 women found that 12 per cent overall confessed that problems with their locks, including blow-drying and styling, had made them turn up late to their place of work.

The nationwide poll of 2,000 women found that 12 per cent overall confessed that problems with their locks, including blow-drying and styling, had made them turn up late to their place of work

Women from Newcastle and the North East were most likely to be late because of styling issues, with 17 per cent saying they were delayed more than once a month

In the 25-34 age bracket, an astonishing 20 per cent of those questioned, or one in five, admitted often being late as they tried to get a dodgy hairdo in order. Women from Newcastle and the North East were most likely to be late because of styling issues, with 17 per cent saying they were delayed more than once a month.

Welsh women were least worried about how their hair looked, with just seven per cent saying they had arrived late as a result.

For the South East, the figure was 12 per cent and a similar 13 per cent in the South West.

In the research by hair care giant TRESemme, just eight per cent of women aged 55 and over admitted being late as a result of their hair.

Amazingly, two per cent of the women overall said they had even called in sick due to their troublesome tresses.

Leading stylist Aaron Carlo said: From greasy roots to unwashed and unruly locks, a bad hair day can often determine the kind of day were going to have. With so many of us juggling work, social commitments, family and more, a quick and effective hair care range for those days in between when we wash our hair can be a saviour.
A woman with her son, who returned to Bangladesh from Italy, coming out from Ashkona Hajj Camp quarantine centre in Dhaka on Saturday afternoon on completion of their coronavirus screening.
Afghan authorities say they have delayed the release of 1,500 Taliban prisoners, throwing a precarious peace process into deeper crisis.

Jawed Faisal, a spokesman for the Afghan National-Security Adviser's office, said on March 14 that the government needed more time to review the list of the prisoners.

"We have received the lists of the prisoners to be released. We are checking and verifying the lists, this will take time," Faisal said. He also said the authorities want guarantees that they will not return to fighting.

There was no immediate response from the militant group to the delayed prisoner release.

The announcement came despite President Ashraf Ghanis decree on March 11 promising the start of the releases on March 14 as a goodwill gesture to get intra-Afghan talks started.

The Taliban promised to begin talks with the Afghan government as part of a deal reached with the United States last month.

The U.S.-Taliban deal called for the release of up to 5,000 Taliban as well as 1,000 Afghan government captives ahead of intra-Afghan talks.

Ghani's decree promised the release of 100 prisoners a day beginning on March 14 until 1,500 prisoners were released. The government would then free the remaining 3,500 after intra-Afghan talks began and the militants reduced violence.

The Taliban said the group was committed to the U.S.-Taliban deal, but would not start negotiations with the Afghan government until 5,000 Taliban prisoners were freed.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

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..

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| 2020-03-15 23:35:01|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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CAIRO, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The east-based Libyan National Army (LNA) seeks free and fair elections that reflect the will of the Libyan people, spokesman for the east-based army Ahmad al-Mesmari said Sunday.

Speaking to reporters during a press conference in Cairo, al-Mesmari noted the Libyan crisis is mainly a security rather than political issue.

The east-based army has been leading a military campaign since early April 2019, attempting to take over the capital Tripoli from the UN-backed government.

The fighting killed and injured thousands of people and forced more than 150,000 civilians to flee their homes.

The rivals agreed to a cease-fire on Jan. 12. However, both parties exchanged accusations of breaching the truce.

Meanwhile, al-Mesmari revealed that oil and gas wells in his country are under the full control of the LNA which is led by Khalifa Haftar.

He accused Turkey of sending some 7,500 Syrian militants and 1,000 Turkish officers to fight against his army in Libya.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sends 300 to 400 fighters every week to the western part of Libya, where the Haftar's forces are fighting against the UN-backed government, he said.

In February, Erdogan said he will support the UN-backed Libyan government in controlling all of the country if peace talks fail, adding the Turkey-backed Syrian rebels will be fighting together with Turkish soldiers against the LNA.
Pakistani President Arif Alvi is paying an official visit to China on March 16-17 to hold meetings with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and other top officials, Alvis office said in a statement on March 15.

The statement said the visit aims at further solidifying historic bonds" between the two countries and described China and Pakistan as the closest friends and staunch partners.

It also pointed out that the visit comes as China is engaged in efforts to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, which has affected 157 countries and territories since it was first recorded in Wuhan, a city in central China.

Its Alvis first official visit to China, a strategic partner and major investor to Pakistans economy.

Beijing has pledged tens of millions of dollars in investment under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, part of its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.
Drastic measures to stop the spread of coronavirus have already been taken in neighbouring countries.

A petition on change.org launched by Martina Atanasov calls for Luxembourg's cafes, restaurants and nightclubs to close between 16-28 March, and for non-essential shops to do the same on weekends.

On Sunday morning the petition gathered 3,702 signatures. 4,500 signatures are required for the Chamber to discuss the petition, but only if has been set up on the government website, which is currently not the case.

Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes announced the closing of all cafes and restaurants during the week, and forced non-essential shops to shut on the weekend. France followed suit and has included cinemas in the lockdown.

Follow our national and international coronavirus updates here.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-16 00:48:34|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday that China will take a series of actions to help Spain in fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.

Wang made the remarks when holding a phone conversation with Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Arancha Gonzalez Laya at latter's request.

He said China has decided to urgently provide a batch of medical supplies assistance based on the needs of Spain, and open commercial channels for Spain to import urgently needed personal protective equipment and medical materials.

China will also encourage Spain's sister cities in China and Chinese enterprises to offer help, and stands ready to enhance experience sharing, coordinate and arrange medical experts from the two sides to hold video conferences, and consider sending medical expert groups at an appropriate time, Wang added.

China has made important progress in fighting the epidemic and the victory of eventually defeating the disease is in sight, Wang said, adding that the epidemic has no border and the world is seeing the outbreaks with multi sources and in multi points.

Noting the rapid growth of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus disease in Spain, he expressed once again sympathy to the Spanish people.

At the beginning of the epidemic, China, in an open and transparent manner, has been committed to international cooperation on the COVID-19 battle, and acts responsibly for the health and security of both the Chinese people as well as people all over the world, he said.

China is consolidating its progress in the battle, and at the same time, it is willing to provide necessary help based on other countries' needs, he added.

As humanity is one community with a shared future, the fight of the COVID-19 epidemic is a common responsibility of all countries, Wang said, noting that countries should pool their efforts together and hold on to fight the epidemic to the end, as long as there is one country still under the threat of the disease.

Gonzalez spokes highly of the positive progress China has gained in fight with the disease. She, on behalf of the Spanish government, also expressed gratitude for China's support to and sympathy for its efforts in the battle.

The Spanish government is taking strong measures to contain the spread of the disease, while the country is facing some difficulties such as the shortage of medical supplies, Gonzalez said.

She hoped the Chinese side could provide support including medical supplies, saying that her country is willing to hold video meetings for the two countries' medical specialists with China and is ready to learn China's experience in overcoming the disease.

Spain opposes any acts to stigmatize the virus, and highly values the contribution made by overseas Chinese in Spain to the country's development as well as prevention and control of the epidemic, she said, adding that Spain will provide adequate medical care and social services to ensure their health and safety.

Wang said China and Spain have maintained long-term friendship and the two sides always understand and support each other, adding that China will not forget Spain's valuable understanding and support for China's fight against the epidemic.

Wang said he believes that in the joint fight against the epidemic, the traditional friendship between the Chinese people and the Spanish people will be further deepened and the two countries' pragmatic cooperation in various fields will be further strengthened.

The Chinese side will continue to make every effort to protect the health and safety of Spanish nationals in China, said Wang, expressing his hope that the Spanish government will attach great importance to the health and safety of all Chinese citizens in Spain and provide them with necessary medical care.

Wang said he wishes that Spain, with joint efforts from all circles, will overcome the epidemic at an early date.
The Hamriyah Free Zone Authority (HFZA) has announced that Arab & India Spices, the world's second-largest pulses processor, will build 12 silos at the Sharjah Food Park with a total operating capacity of 52,000 metric tonnes of pulses at a time.

The 12 grain storage warehouses will be constructed over a total area of 300,000 sq ft in the food park, a regional hub for the Middle East and North Africas multi-billion-dollar food industry, dedicated to food import, export, storage, manufacture and packaging, said a Wam news agency report.

The Dh150 million ($40.84 million) project will be the Middle East and North Africas first-of-its-kind facility with such a large organised storage capacity. It would cover the UAEs consumption needs of beans and lentils for six months.

The Arab & India Spices joining of companies investing in the Food Park is concrete evidence of the growing attractiveness and importance of the Hamriyah Free Zone, being a springboard for expansion activities in the regional markets. This will reinforce Sharjahs position as a leading destination for foreign direct investment, HFZA said.

The project was announced during a ceremony held at HFZAs premises in the presence of Sheikh Khaled bin Abdullah bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairman of HFZA; Saud Salim Al Mazrouei, Director of HFZA; Harish Kumarlal Tahiliani, owner of Arab India Spices; as well as senior officials from both sides.

Al Mazrouei stressed the addition of Arab & India Spices to the group of companies investing in the food park is a step in the right direction and will support Sharjahs food industry in addition to enhancing its contribution to the Emirates diversification strategy.

Tahiliani said: "The competitive services offered by Hamriyah Free Zone perfectly meet our expansion requirements, especially its shipping and logistical facilities, which match the highest international standards, facilitate and accelerate the doing of businesses.

"The projects launch is promising, once inaugurated, it will shoot up our investments in the UAE from Dh350 million to Dh500 million, a growth of 43 percent," he said, adding that if more silos and warehouses are built, they will be used to store rice, wheat and grains.

He highlighted that the GCC markets account for about 60 percent of the companys operations and activities and that the UAE is the first market targeted by the company followed by Saudi Arabia.
New Delhi: The convicts of the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case on Sunday (March 15, 2020) wrote a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind seeking permission for euthanasia.

The letter addressed to Kovind has been signed by as many as 13 people, all of whom are family members of the four accused.

Of the 13, two are from Mukesh's family, four are from Pawan and Vinay's family while three are from Akshay's family.

Earlier, on March 5 2020, Delhi's Patiala House Court had ruled that the four Nirbhaya gang-rape murder case convicts will be hanged on March 20 at 5.30 am.

The court had issued notices to the convicts on March 4, and at 2 pm on Thursday it came up with its judgment to hang the four convicts.

President Kovind has already rejected the mercy petition of the three other convicts -- Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Kumar Singh. Notably, the Patiala House Court had issued the death warrants for the four convicts three times in the recent past.

The case pertains to the gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old girl in the national capital in December 2012. Six people, including the four convicts and a juvenile, were named as accused.
C-U public health director on awaiting tests for 50-plus other cases: 'We have to operate under the assumption that we have' others, 'and we probably have a lot of them.'
The media commentaries around the recent political turns in Madhya Pradesh (MP) offer a sense for the trends in the shaping of Indias political culture.

Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the Congress to join the BJP and became the latters Rajya Sabha nominee from MP soon thereafter. The 19 Congress MLAs in MP loyal to him were flown down to Bengaluru in chartered flights. The moves have become familiar. At the time of the collapse of the coalition government in Karnataka last year, for instance, the defecting MLAs from Congress and JD(S) had been flown to Maharashtra where the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition government was in power.

When Scindias exit from the Congress party seemed imminent, the media commentators chose to stay fixated on the political moves he might make next: He is likely to join BJP; He will become a Rajya Sabha member and be rewarded with a ministerial berth in the Union Cabinet, and so on. And they also targeted the Congress alongside for not keeping its house in order and disallowing talented leaders to rise within the party. The undesirable political and moral implications of the attempt to bring down elected governments rarely figured among their concerns. Anticipating similar political developments in Rajasthan, a reporter of an English television channel even observed enthusiastically, All arrangements have been made for the comfortable stay of the rebel Congress MLAs.

How do you feel about your representatives shifting to another party? None of the TV channels bothered to pose this question to the voters from the constituencies of the defecting legislators. The new government in MP had been elected after three successive terms of a BJP government. The anti-incumbent vote that had sought to see another party in power in the new term will have meant nothing if the Congress government now loses the majority and makes way for the BJP to be back in power in MP.

The goings-on in MP are now becoming frighteningly familiar, but we cannot afford to let them be seen as legitimate politics. Euphemistic phrases like Operation Kamala and resort politics, which have routinely surfaced in public discussions in the wake of several mass defections of legislators seen in recent years to bring down freshly elected governments, threaten to do just that. They rationalize it as inevitable power games. They hide the wrongness of it all. The sole focus on strategy and benefits has nearly reduced representative politics to a procedural formality.

The destabilizing of elected governments by a party just voted out of power in recent years has often happened within the framework of existing rules, but such efforts nevertheless have to be seen as immoral practice. If voters have rejected a political party in an election, the latters response cannot be: Your wishes dont matter. We will be back in power at the earliest. Such an attitude is, of course, insulting towards the voters. It also corrodes their faith in electoral democracy. The electorate can even turn cynical and lose hope, with dire consequences for the future of Indias democracy.

Normalizing the engineering of defections as legitimate political strategy also hurts the multi-party system, a foundational feature of Indias federal polity. The smaller regional parties, for instance, become vulnerable vis-a-vis the national parties with vastly greater resources at their command. The adverse implications for the future of regional cultural and political aspirations can also be imagined.

The anti-defection law, of course, needs to be strengthened and every other possible legal route explored to curb the practice of manipulating political defections, but the matter is fundamentally less about the legal framework and more about a genuine commitment to the spirit of democracy. The voters -- irrespective of the political party they support -- should want political parties to abide by the latter. Otherwise, they remain irresponsible witnesses to the strangling of democracy in the country.
London

As leaders on both sides of the English Channel batten down the hatches for the coronavirus, Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain is coming under rising pressure to ask the European Union for an extension in its negotiations to reach a trade agreement  in effect, putting off the next stage of Brexit until the virus exits.

Under the terms of its withdrawal agreement with the bloc, Britain legally left the European Union on Jan. 31, but is now in a transition period that preserves most of the old relationship, and has until Dec. 31 to strike a new deal. European officials, and many in Britain, have already said that timetable was hopelessly compressed.

Now, with face-to-face negotiations on hold, analysts said Johnson should invoke his right to request an extension so that governments on both sides can concentrate on managing the response to the virus and mitigating the economic shock that is almost certain to follow it.

"It's going to be awfully difficult for the government to focus on this while dealing with the virus and maybe a financial crisis, too," said David Henig, a former British trade negotiator. "We are already being overtaken by events, and I think that pressure is going to start to become pretty intense."

A spokesman for Johnson said on Friday that Britain had no plans to ask for an extension and that there were ways to conduct the negotiations even during the peak of the outbreak. Most of the substantive talks are not expected to happen until the fall anyway, and in the meantime, officials are discussing options for video conferencing links.

The opening round of negotiations took place in Brussels this month and served mainly to underscore the deep differences between the two sides. Negotiators called off a plan to meet in person in London next week.

Johnson has made getting Brexit done a fulcrum of his agenda. He has brushed aside those who say that hashing out a comprehensive agreement with Britain's largest trading partner in 10 months is infeasible under the best of circumstances, let alone during a dire public health emergency.

But the rapid spread of the virus is already forcing the British government to reconsider its restrained response in other respects. After declining to follow other European countries in banning large public gatherings or closing schools, Britain is now considering both steps. Johnson had already postponed local elections, scheduled for May, until next year.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

"In a rational world, the U.K. would ask for an extension in June even if coronavirus wasn't happening," said John Springford, the deputy director of the Center for European Reform, a London-based think tank.

"The pandemic makes it even more pressing," Springford said, "because the British state will not have the personnel needed to enact the sweeping changes necessary to leave the single market."

Britain must design and implement new customs and immigration systems; draft regulations on transportation, aviation and food safety; and begin negotiating individual trade deals with the United States, Australia, and many other countries. Analysts estimate that by itself, the additional workload from Brexit has necessitated adding 27,500 government jobs.

In January, when few leaders in the West had begun focusing on the coronavirus, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, urged Johnson to consider requesting an extension. Under the terms of the agreement, the prime minister must decide whether to do so by June.

Were other international trade negotiations to be put back because of the virus  for example, those being conducted between London and Washington  Britain's government could start to look obdurate about the Brexit talks.
As coronavirus cases continue to grow, New Jerseyans can expect more draconian measures in the coming days and weeks to prevent its spread in the state, Gov. Phil Murphy said Sunday morning.

Murphy said people should look to Hoboken and Teaneck, where curfews and calls by local officials to self-quarantine have been put in place, as examples of what to expect as the numbers of people who test positive for the virus rise.

(Its) the notion of keeping population groupings low, Murphy said on a morning phone call to WBLS to discuss the states response.

We will be looking at more draconian steps, he added. These are things that we have to consider.

That includes the possibility of a statewide curfew, he said.

The curfew is probably, of the two, is probably the more immediate one under consideration," Murphy said.

He added state officials will inevitably shut down all of the states public schools.

As of Saturday, 400 of the states 600 public school districts had notified the state of planned closures, officials said.

In Teaneck  which has 18 coronavirus cases  Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin called the town ground zero and said its residents should all self-quarantine until further notice.

When I say stay home, that doesnt mean go out to lunch with your friends across the street," Hameeduddin told NBC News on Saturday. That means no play dates, that means your nuclear family stays with your nuclear family. Im not visiting my sister, Im not visiting my parents. That is the best way to stop the spread of this.

In Hoboken, meanwhile, gyms and movie theaters will shut down, and the citys mayor issued a city-wide daily curfew will in effect from 10 p.m. through 5 a.m. beginning Monday.

According to Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, all bars and restaurants are no longer allowed to serve food inside the establishments  only takeout is permitted.

If a bar does not currently offer food, they will no longer be permitted to operate and are no longer permitted to serve alcohol, effective March 15, Bhalla said in a statement Saturday. According to (the Office of Emergency Management), any bar or restaurant establishment that currently offers food service will be permitted to conduct food takeout and food delivery service only.

The elevated steps to combat the virus come as the state announced Saturday at least 69 people tested positive for it and at least two have died.

Another update from the governor on the latest figures is slated for 2 p.m. Sunday.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Corrections is temporarily suspending visits at state prisons and halfway houses for the next 30 days.

And municipal court sessions in New Jersey will be suspended for two weeks to reduce exposure to the virus.

On Thursday, Murphy recommended all public gatherings with 250 people or more be canceled. He said Saturday he has heard of no blatant violation of the recommendation so far, but he reserves the right to make it a mandate if needed.

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Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos on Sunday hailed all the health professionals working on the coronavirus pandemic and termed them 'heroes'.

Ramos took to Twitter and posted a series of tweets.

"Applause of recognition to all health professionals. You are our heroes. Thanks from my heart," Ramos tweeted in Spanish.

In another tweet, the 33-year-old wrote: "Thanks also to all the professionals who continue to ensure that we have access to essential services. A society is only understood with acts of generosity and solidarity like yours. THANKS."

Ramos also lent support to self-employed workers saying that 'we are with all of you'.

"And a lot of encouragement to SMEs, small businesses, self-employed workers and all those people who are seeing not only their personal life, but also their professional life conditioned. We are with all of you," Ramos tweeted.

The disease, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, last year, has spread to more than 100 countries across the world, infecting over 1,20,000 people.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
One out of two Luxair flights is currently cancelled, and, according to spokesperson Joe Schroeder, it's just the beginning.

Those in charge of the national airline are in close contact with the Luxembourgish authorities. As soon as there are official travel warnings, air travel will be adapted accordingly.

In terms of Italy, which is currently a red zone, one last flight departed towards Milan on Thursday, and one more plane is leaving Rome to bring passengers back home to Luxembourg on Sunday. With the way things currently stand, it is looking like no more Luxair flights will be operating Italy routes until 3. April. Luxair customers who have booked flights from Italy departing after Sunday will be reimbursed and have to find an alternative way to Luxembourg.

Following the announcement of Denmark's border closures, one flight each will depart Sunday and Monday towards Copenhagen. Further decisions will be made Monday, according how to the situation will evolve.

Generally speaking, those who have booked Luxair tickets to travel between 16 and 31 March, will be able to change their dates free of charge. As for Luxair-Tours, due to local restrictions, empty planes headed towards Djerba and Agadir in order to bring customers back to Luxembourg. All LuxairTours flights up until 30. April for now can be changed up to 14 days prior to the departure date.

The current circumstances in the aviation industry are said to be worse than following the 9/11 attacks.
CHEYENNE  Inside the walls of the former Minuteman Print Shop on 19th Street, dust swirled as Tim Barnes, co-founder of the Wyoming Brewers Guild and Sheridan-based Black Tooth Brewing, showed off features of his soon-to-open brewery in the state capital.

There was a reclaimed barn door from a ranch on the edge of town, his two serving stations for busy nights, and the original 10-barrel brewing system from his first brewery more than 300 miles up I-25. Broad windows brought natural light into this former industrial space and, in the corner, a stage was already set up, ready to host bands on warm, summer weekends.

For Barnes, Cheyenne made sense. While brewers in states such as Oregon, Washington and Colorado have seen their most successful breweries go national, those in places like Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming and Nebraska  due to population and geography  face difficulties growing far beyond their borders. Factors like Wyomings low population and its longstanding water scarcity naturally limit the scale of its brewing industry.

The largest appeal has been staying local and being recognized in your own market, Barnes said.

Knowing that, Barnes eyed Cheyenne  and the well-paid, professional class in the citys public sector  as an opportunity to expand his business.

Even with a long time to go until opening, the business already has a head brewer, manager and several staffers lined up. But there was one thing that wasnt certain: whether the new brewery could even be a part of his already-established company on the other side of the state.

It wouldnt have prevented him from opening, but would have forced him to open a second LLC  one with its own workers compensation policy, its own paperwork, its own structure, a process that he said could have held him up as long as two to three months.

When a staff is already hired, thats a long time to wait, and a lot of money, particularly at a time where Barnes was looking to expand his business on the heels of a new, $2 million-plus investment in downtown Cheyenne.

When I sat down and spoke with the liquor division 12 months ago about this, we identified we were not trying to do a satellite operation, he said in an interview with the Star-Tribune. They had indicated initially that nothing would prevent us from that. But upon review of our plan and our permit, they identified very specific language about being at a single location.

With their investment facing some opposition, the brewers turned to Rep. Cyrus Western, a Republican from Sheridan, to carry a bill to essentially strike that language for any brewer looking to do something similar. That legislation will likely be signed into law soon.

This isnt special legislation just for one business, Western said in an interview at the Capitol. This is something that can benefit an entire class of business. If any brewery wants to expand to a second location  whether its in that town or in another town around the state  this can cut some of the red tape for them.

What might be more significant, however, is the turning of a corner for the Wyoming Legislature, which  while generally favorable to small business and the states burgeoning microbrewery industry  has at times, eyed alcohol-related legislation with a wary eye.

That has changed in the last few years, however. Last year, the Legislature passed Laramie Democratic Rep. Charles Pelkeys Beer Freedom Act  which allows microbreweries to receive 24-hour event permits to sell their wares. This session, the Legislature looked favorably on legislation sponsored by others like Rep. Bunky Loucks, R-Casper, to allow for expanded contract brewing in Wyoming. This would essentially allow breweries with rooms in their tanks to provide additional capacity to smaller breweries that may require more room in order to meet their demands during the high season.

Lawmakers see the legislation as an easy tool to help bolster economic development in small communities around the state, an easy way to retain wealth in their communities and help encourage further investment in their downtowns.

I saw a picture of Cheyennes downtown around World War One, and there were people all over the place, Western said. It was bustling. If you look at it 10, 15 years ago, theres nothing. Its businesses like this that absolutely bring those downtown areas back to life.

That change in attitude, Barnes said, could potentially be chalked up to a change in perspective: while some may look at breweries in a similar category to bars and clubs, the states brewers prefer themselves to be seen more like light manufacturing. This years slate of legislation, to him, is a sign that perception may be shifting, particularly as every town from Ten Sleep and Gillette to Evanston and Saratoga can boast at least one brewery within their limits.

[The legislation has] always been about excise tax or liquor law liability, things of that nature, said Barnes. This is the first time that theres been a couple of bills unrelated to those subjects. They were very business-oriented and just growth-oriented. The state has always been favorable to the craft brewing industry and this year is no different.

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MEDFORD, Ore--- During the coronavirus outbreak, more than 1,500 blood drives have been canceled resulting in 16,000 fewer donations nationally, according to the American Red Cross.

Red Cross is asking for people's help in donating blood.

To help overcome some of the concerns about collecting blood, the Red Cross has also taken additional steps to ensure the safety of staff and donors at each Red Cross blood drive.

Part of the Red Cross's release reads as follows"

" The Red Cross only collects blood from individuals who are healthy and feeling well at the time of donation  and who meet other eligibility requirements, available at RedCrossBlood.org.

 We are now pre-screening all individuals by checking their temperature before they enter any Red Cross blood drive or donation center, including our own staff and volunteers.

 At each blood drive and donation center, Red Cross employees follow thorough safety protocols including wearing gloves, routinely wiping down donor-touched areas, using sterile collection sets for every donation, and preparing the arm for donation with an aseptic scrub.

 Additional spacing has been implemented within each blood drive set up to incorporate social distancing measures between donation beds and stations within the blood drive.

 The average blood drives are only 20-30 people spread over a several hour period and are not large gatherings.

Those who are healthy, feeling well and eligible to give blood or platelets, are urged to make an appointment to donate as soon as possible by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767)."
All leave is cancelled for Irish troops deployed to Lebanon and Syria.

The two states have closed their borders to travellers from countries affected by Covid-19, which now includes Ireland.

Over 500 troops are involved in peacekeeping efforts across two UN missions.

Personnel serving in UNIFIL & UNDOF confirm that, due to #COVID19, leave for the immediate future is cancelled. We acknowledge the disappointment of families & loved ones due to this. For more information click https://t.co/FtNE0W5CiC #oglaighnaheireann #Military @UNPeacekeeping pic.twitter.com/kfeTSZPfKo  Oglaigh na hEireann (@defenceforces) March 14, 2020

Gerard Guinan, general secretary of representative group PDFORRA, says the move is "desperately unfortunate" for the soldiers and their families.

"When you are there, you have a job to do and your thoughts will be with your family but you have to focus on the situation at hand," he said.

This is the life of a soldier, we have a very difficult job at the best of times but we are professionals.

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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement on Wednesday evening that Stephanie Turco Williams will be his Acting Special Representative in Libya until the appointment of a successor to Ghassan Salame.

Guterres said he was grateful to Mr. Salame for his accomplishments at the helm of UNSMIL, and his tireless efforts to bring peace and stability back to Libya.

The UN statement said that Ms. Williams brings more than 24 years of experience in government and international affairs. She has served as Deputy Special Representative (Political) in UNSMIL since 2018.

Salame, a Lebanese appointed in 2017, struggled to organise elections and bring rival parties together for talks to end the conflict until he announced his resignation on 2 March, citing health reasons.

Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity on Wednesday, said Guterres has informally consulted with some council members about appointing the 68-year-old former Algerian Foreign Minster Ramtane Lamamra as his new Libya envoy, but has not yet sent a formal letter.

Diplomats said most council members support the appointment.

Libya has faced internal strife since the 2011 uprising that ousted long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi, and the latest round of violence began last year when eastern-based forces began to advance on the capital Tripoli.

Last month, Salame brought delegations from the two rival sides in Libya's conflict to Geneva for peace talks, but key representatives suspended their involvement.

Shelling in Tripoli then intensified into some of the heaviest bombardments since Salame brokered a ceasefire on 12 January.

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March 13, we shared the first piece in military spouse Raquel Thiebes' story of living in Germany, waiting on a PCS and navigating COVID-19. This morning that story developed further.

I woke up this morning to discover we are now part of the 'epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.' Its something I certainly don't want to be a part of but obviously don't have a choice or voice in the matter. Along with this unwanted news, we now have two confirmed COVID-19 positive tests in our military community.

This just got real  and close.

Yesterday the talk was all about the schools and asking when they would close. Once the Germans closed the schools and kindergartens in our area, DODEA and the garrison swiftly closed ours. From then on, it has been a big whirlwind of announcements and updates. I am trying to keep up with both German and garrison news, as I speak German and help translate for my friends.

The Local Community

We now have over 827 cases in Baden-Wuerttemberg, and the rate continues to climb. Our city took quick action and closed movie theaters, clubs, bars, museums. It later added fitness centers to its ban. The government reiterated that restaurants, banks, grocery stores and pharmacies would remain open.

I had someone ask me about the big indoor market hall downtown. I checked the webcam around lunchtime and could only see five or six people. No one answered the phone at the market hall. I called the Italian restaurant inside, and the sweet young lady almost shouted into the phone, "Yes, we are open and PLEASE tell your friends!"

Even on Sundays, when shops are traditionally closed in Germany, you still see more people making their way through downtown. But not today. Is this the new norm?

The Changes

Back on post, I noticed a line of cars waiting to get inside as I walked my dog nearby. I overheard personnel stopping vehicles before they got to the front gate and asking occupants pertinent questions about their health. Depending on how they answered, they were to check in at our "little red box" and the grouping of tents over by our medical clinic.

A sign directing entrants to the COVID-19 screening area. (Raquel Thiebes)

It's good to see something done to get people screened and tested. The personnel also reminded those coming in about 'social distancing' and limiting contact with others.

As my dog and I walked by the commissary, after seeing only two other families out and about on foot, a big-rig truck was already pulling up to the back. I hoped it contained disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer. I have not seen these items for sale in any store for at least five days now.

The commissary parking lot was full, but the second lot was not, so perhaps they had finally gotten some breathing room to restock.

I walked by the gym -- which is now closed -- as well as the thrift shop. The food courts have no chairs or tables to encourage take out.

I heard a sergeant major lamenting he'd look like a hippy by next week, as there was no one in the barbershop. Things are closing so quickly, it's hard to keep up!

The Upside

As in any crisis that involves military families, I see many bright spots. It's more than the morning sun that dared to make an appearance after weeks of mostly rain. Something beautiful is happening in our community. Spouses are talking about setting up a lending library. One of our librarians is trying to figure out how to give military members online access to content who don't already have their library PINs set up. That's something you usually have to do in person.

A few spouses have offered to go shopping for those unable to leave their homes. Others have offered food from their pantry to make sure no child goes hungry. With school closed, there is no more access to free and reduced lunch for those in the program. Many are sharing homeschooling resources and projects to do at home.

Even though the child development centers and after-school programs are currently running, some parents have offered to watch children if needed. The parenting network and sense of community are strong.

Even in the commissary, those in line show solidarity while you run and fill your cart with missed items or use the restroom. A friend has been trying to find an elderly veteran who frequently gets rides from members of the community when he visits the garrison. Even in our community of thousands, he is not forgotten.

What About Tomorrow?

I know the commands have been working out a system where service members and civilians can work together but not in close proximity, and perhaps not even at the same time. Social distancing is being brought into the workplace. Their essential work continues even at a time with such challenges and unknowns. I'm confident this crisis will bring out the best in my community, and I'm sure tomorrow will bring more opportunities for all of us to step up and look forward. We wish those stateside all the best, and I am confident in your strength too.

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Madhya Pradesh Speaker NP



Prajapati on Sunday refused to commit whether he will order a floor test in the Legislative Assembly on March 16 as directed by Governor Lalji Tandon to Chief Minister Kamal Nath.

All eyes are on Prajapati whose call on the floor test- allowing or disallowing it on Monday on the first day of the Budget session--will have a bearing on the prevailing political situation in the Congress-ruled state.

"This will be known tomorrow," Prajapti told reporters here when queried on whose order prevails in ordering a floor test.

"I said yesterday that a decision which I will have to take, I don't take it pre-decided. This question is like taking a blind shot. I don't want to be a party to it. I will read out my ruling tomorrow," the Speaker said.

The Kamal Nath-led government in Madhya Pradesh was pushed to the brink on Wednesday when 22 MLAs resigned from the party, immediately after senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the party. He later joined the BJP.

The Speaker has so far accepted resignations of six of the 22 MLAs, bringing down the effective strength of the House to 222 and the new majority mark at 112. The opposition BJP has 107 MLAs.

Earlier in the day, state Public Relations Minister P C Sharma said that although the governor has asked the Congress government to seek a trust vote after his (governor's) address in the Assembly on Monday, the Speaker is empowered to decide the proceedings of the House and he would take a call on it.

However, BJP chief whip in the Assembly, Narottam Mishra, said, "The Congress has lost its majority. The governor is saying that was in a minority. I am not saying this...it has been mentioned it the governor's letter sent to chief minister."



According to sources, the BJP is keen to go for a floor test on Monday itself while the Congress is in favour of buying some time with the hope to win back some of the rebel legislators.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It is an understatement to say that last week was a big one in both horse racing and the world, generally. One of the stories that slipped through the cracks during the frantic days was that of a barn fire which claimed the lives of 15 racehorses.

On Saturday, March 7 at Crane Thoroughbreds in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, 15 racehorses lost their lives despite efforts to save all of the equine that were on the premises.

According to an article by the Lebanon Daily News, Clovis Crane, the owner of Crane Thoroughbreds, was alerted to the fire during the afternoon of March 7. He ran out without his shoes on and was able to save seven of the horses. Four horses were also saved from a nearby structure. Despite all of Cranes efforts, 15 horses still perished.

"You can't comprehend that this has actually happened to you," Crane told the Lebanon Daily News a few days after the tragedy. "It doesn't feel like it really happened. I'm just in shock really, and in disbelief, and just sad."

Crane Thoroughbreds preps young horses for the races, trains some stock for owners, and also does its best to re-train and re-home runners once their on-track careers are done.

The support for Crane Thoroughbreds has been swift and generous, and the gestures have not been lost on those that are in the eye of the storm.

"This is a devastating situation, but it really makes you open your eyes and realize that there's a lot of good people and there's a lot of good things that happen," Crane was quoted as saying. "The outreach and support has been mindboggling, and humbling."

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the connections of the horses that lost their lives in the fire.

(With files from the Lebanon Daily News)

(Photo Cutline: Clovis Crane pictured with his daughter, Dalia)
Starbucks said Sunday it was moving to a to go model for at least two weeks in the U.S. and Canada to encourage social distancing.

Customers will not be permitted to sit in the cafe or patio areas, but can still walk up and order at the counter, through the Starbucks app, via the drive-through and by delivery. Stores located in communities with high clusters of cases and high-social gathering locations, such as malls and university campuses, would be closed temporarily, the company said in a statement.

LVMH, the French company known for luxury items, said Sunday that it would redirect its cosmetic division to produce mass quantities of hydroalcoholic gel and give it to French health authorities.

The company said in a statement that it would use the facilities where it produces fragrances under the Christian Dior, Givenchy and Guerlain labels to make the sanitizing products starting Monday.

Some retailers and luxury hotels have also been closing their doors.

On Sunday, Nike said it would shut all of its stores in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, New Zealand and Australia from Monday until March 27, and Wynn Resorts said it would temporarily close Wynn Las Vegas and Encore, two luxury hotel towers encompassing thousands of hotel rooms, casino space and spas, for at least two weeks starting on Tuesday. On Saturday, Urban Outfitters said that it would shut all of its stores until further notice, and Apple said it would close its stores outside mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan for two weeks.

Under pressure to add stricter restrictions, Britain will ask older residents to self-isolate.
After Mr. Sanders gave his final remarks, answering a question about the candidates concerns for those affected by or dealing with the coronavirus, Mr. Biden gave his statement. Here is his full answer:

Number one, as I said at the outset, I just cant imagine what people are going through right now who have lost someone already. I cant imagine what people are going through when they have a mom  for example a good friend of ours is sitting outside the window of a nursing home where her mom is because she cant go in, trying to do sign language to her mom through the window to be able to talk to her.

I cant imagine  I guess I can imagine the fear and concern people have. Number one, one of the things that I think we have to understand is that this is an all hands on deck. This is, as someone said, maybe it was you, Jake, at the outset, this is bigger than any individual. This is bigger than yourself. This is about America. This is about the world. This is about how we bring people together and make the kind of sacrifices we need to make to get this done.

And so first and foremost what we have to do is start to listen to the science again. As I said, what we did, we met  what I would be doing today, I would be sitting down in the Situation Room literally every day like we did at the outset of other crises we had when we were in the White House and pulling together the best people, not just in the United States but the world, to say what are the prescriptive moves we have to take now to lessen this virus, to beat it, to get to the point where we can save more lives, get more people tested, get more people the kind of care we need.

And what do we do beyond that to make sure that the economic impact on them is in fact rendered harmless, that we in fact make sure every paycheck is met, every paycheck that the people are going to miss, that we keep people in their homes, they dont miss their mortgage payments, they dont miss their rent payments. Making sure theyll be able to take care of education, and by the way, the schools are closing down right now.

Theres so many things we have to do.

In addition to that, what we have to do is we have to have the best science in the world telling what can stay open and what needs to be closed. Like I said earlier, the idea were closing schools, which I understand, but not being able to provide lunches to people who need the school lunch program to get by.

The idea that we can close any place, I can understand the decision made to close places where 150 people or more gather. But how do you keep open the drugstore to make sure you can get your prescription? How do you deal with things that necessarily have to be kept going and whats the way to do that? There should be a national standard for that. It should be coming out of the Situation Room right now.

By the way, the single most significant thing we can do to deal with the larger problem down the road of income inequality, is get rid of Donald Trump. Donald Trump has exacerbated every single one of these problems, both the immediate urgent need and how were going to hold people harmless for the damage done as a consequence of this virus. Its important we do both.
Finnair is cancelling flights to Hong Kong, Madrid, Barcelona and the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia from March 16-17 due to new restrictions, it said on Sunday, Trend reports citing Reuters.

On Saturday, Finnair also canceled flights to Denmark and Norway during March 17-31, to Russia during March 16-31, to Poland during March 15-31 and to Prague during March 16-31.

Shares in Finnair have dropped 40% so far this year. The Finnish flag carrier has been more exposed to the fallout from the virus than many of its European peers due to its strong focus on Asian traffic.
Corkman Robert Fenton's medical and pharmaceutical quality management software firm Qualio is offering free software and support to companies in the sector working to combat the coronavirus.

The former chemist said the firm he founded in 2012 also embraced a remote working model, rather than operating only from Dublin and San Francisco, to make it easier to hire staff as it expands to about 70 people this year.

The firm's offer of free software and support has been made to all companies engaged in product development, manufacturing, engineering or scientific research to slow down or combat the pandemic.

These might be firms working on therapeutics, diagnostics, vaccines or devices related to the virus, he said. "An ecosystem model where smaller, more nimble companies have contributed most of the world's innovation in healthcare, rather than large monoliths. Our bet is that this is where the fight will be won.

"We're already learning that many of our 100-plus customers are already engaged with global regulators and disease control centres like the CDC."

Fenton raised growth capital last year to support the firm's expansion, and has quadrupled his remote working team to 35 people based in the US, here - in Dublin, Sligo and Clonmel - and Germany, Poland, and Italy.

"We started Qualio to help teams building life-saving products to get to market quickly and scale successfully," he said.

"We unite their quality team, tools and data so that they can become quality-driven. In doing this, we're fortunate to work with lots of amazing companies."
Transgender activists have been condemned by Grenfell Tower fire victims after they set off smoke bombs close to the block where 72 people died.

Police were called after protesters wearing balaclavas stormed a meeting of Labour party feminists at a community centre near Grenfell Tower in London last week and set off plumes of acrid smoke.

The group, calling themselves the London Bi Pandas, targeted a meeting of Labour Womens Declaration in Kensington, which has previously warned the rights of women are being eroded by allowing transexuals into female changing rooms and refuges.

Masked protestors stage a demonstration at the Labour Women's Declaration meeting in Kensington

The protesters chanted we dont care about your disgusting genitals and allegedly told locals who begged them to stop: We dont give a f***.

But the pro-trans activists ended up issuing a grovelling apology after they set off smoke bombs in view of traumatised former residents of the burned-out block.

The group said on Twitter: We need to hold our hands up and apologise for the smoke bombs in our protest. We realised too late the insensitivity of using them in close proximity to Grenfell.

The clash was the latest round in a bitter culture war between transgender hardliners and feminist campaigners, whom trans activists have labelled Terfs  short for Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists.

Footage shows a puff of smoke (circled) coming from the trans activists as they turned out against the Labour Women's Declaration

The trans groups website defended the demonstration and denied any harassment, insisting: We did not attack anyone, we did not bully anyone.

But Grenfell survivor Emma OConnor, 31, who escaped her 20th-floor flat during the blaze, said: Its absolutely disgusting. To let off smoke bombs so close to the tower brings back the trauma.

Another local, Ajam, who witnessed the protest, said: As a resident who watched Grenfell burn, I can tell you attending that meeting and smelling that smoke was triggering. It was attacked by thugs screaming at women and letting off smoke grenades.

The protest took place outside the Maxilla Social Club which was a centre for food and clothing donations in the aftermath of the Grenfell fire. The community hall is surrounded by tributes and murals to those who died.

A Twitter account for the Grenfell community called Wall Of Truth Maxilla Space posted: This is a memorial space, please show respect, and please do not desecrate with swear words, with shouting, or with any form of smoke bombs ever again.
Red-light areas in West Bengal



were witnessing a sharp decline in the number of customers, amid the novel coronavirus scare, with several sex workers finding it difficult to make ends meet.

Many of these sex workers, however, feel safety was of primary concern and preferred to stay indoors for now, even if that would mean curtailing expenses.

With just a handful of them out on the streets, Asia's largest red-light area in the city - Sonagachi - wore a deserted look on Sunday afternoon, a time when clients are usually seen making a beeline.

Adjacent to Sonagachi area, too, the scene was no different, with only a few women sauntering down the Abinash Kabiraj Street, Masjid Bari Lane and Rabindra Sarani as they wait for customers.

"This isn't what Sonagachi looks like on a regular day. There has been a decrease in number of customers since Holi. Generally, we see at least 20,000 customers every day, but now with this coronavirus threat, people seem to be skeptical...

"On an average, not more than 500 customers are visiting the area," Kajol Bose, the secretary of Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee - a sex workers' organisation - told PTI.

Another member of the committee, Baisakhi Lashkar, said many have chosen to remain indoors, as they do not want to take chances.

"We have at least 12,000 women here in Sonagachi, but only 10 per cent are currently working. The situation is similar in districts, too.

"We have information that regular customers have stopped visiting red -ight areas in other parts of the state, including Sheoraphuli, Domjur, Uluberia, Kalna, Shantipur, Dinhata, Panjipara, Coochbehar," she added.

Sharing her plight, Rita Roy, a sex worker in Sonagachi, said she was at her wit's end trying to figure out how to manage her expenses.

"It will take a toll on our lives. If the situation continues to be like this, I may not be able to send money home. I have to pay room rent, fees for my son's teachers and also bear my mother's medical expenses," she stated.

Seema Halder, who lives in Garia area in the city, echoed her.

"We are facing a challenging situation... Customers have stopped coming because of the coronavirus threat. Earlier, we used to have at least four customers a day; now, it's almost down to zero," Halder said.

Asked whether they were taking measures to protect themselves from Covid-19, Lakshar said girls know wearing masks, using sanitisers and keeping safe distance would be helpful "but that wouldn't get them clients".

"We have told them that before zeroing in on a customer, they must check whether he is having fever or cough -- the symptoms of Covid-19. Many have also bought sanitisers. Having said that, our girls are scared too...." she said.

Sangita Khan, another sex worker in Kidderpore, said she does not always have the option to pick and choose as the number of customers has declined in the past few weeks.

"The fear of getting infected remains. We are trying to talk to them from a distance to understand whether they have any symptom. At a time, when only few customers are turning up, we do not have the luxury to choose," she said.

Emphasising the need to raise awareness on the pandemic, Baisakhi said a campaign should be launched to reach out to as many sex workers as possible.

"A lot is being done by the government.... We are getting messages on our mobile phones... We are also regularly reaching out to sex workers to advise them. But, more needs to be done and we are working on it," Baisakhi added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NEW DELHI: Indias Goods and Services Tax Council has increased the tax on mobile phones and parts, said finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, a move that could lead to higher prices.

Sitharaman, who heads the council, composed of representatives from all Indian states, said taxes on mobile phones and parts would rise to 18% from 12%.

The move could make popular mobile phones from firms including Apple Inc and Samsung more expensive. The government raised import duty on such devices earlier this year.

Sitharaman also said the council had decided to reduce GST rate on Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) services for aircraft from 18% to 5%.
Salvatore Babones, political sociologist at the University of Sydney, saw Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, Australia, on March 14, 2020. (NTD Television)

SYDNEYSalvatore Babones, a political sociologist and Associate Professor at the University of Sydney, said he would encourage everybody to experience Shen Yun Performing Arts.

I encourage everybody to come and experience Shen Yun, he said at intermission on March 14, 2020, at Sydneys Capitol Theatre.

According to the Centre for Independent Studies, a think tank at which Babones is an adjunct professor, his academic research has a particular focus on China, and he has written op-eds for multiple media publications, including the Australian, the Sydney Morning Herald, and the Australian Financial Review. He also writes regularly for Quadrant, Spectator Australia, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, and The National Interest.

Babones observed of Shen Yun that the entire show is suffused with spirituality.

I very much appreciate the fact that people deeply believe in what theyre doing, he said, adding that the dancers are people who really believe in the mission that they are accomplishing tonight.

New York-based Shen Yun has a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture and sets off every year around the globe with an all-new performance. The hallmark of every Shen Yun performance is classical Chinese dancea deeply expressive dance form dating back thousands of years.

We really love the acrobatics, Babones said of the dances.

The New York-based company writes on its website that the difficult jumping and tumbling techniques, as depicted in some of the Shen Yun dances, all originate from classical Chinese dance. Such moves were later introduced to gymnastics and acrobatics over the recent decades.

It has been a magical experience so far, I am really looking forward to the second half, Babones said.

It Was So Relaxing

Couple Mike Burke and Chicquita Burke also attended the same evening performance at the Capitol Theatre.

I learned a lot about China tonight through [the] dancing, Chicquita, a belly dancer, said after the show.

The staging was good, always active, and the whole thing was just brilliant, she said. The changing [of] costumes were so quick.

The costumes were so vibrant and colorful, and it makes me happy, Chicquita said. China is full of color. Its representing China very, very well.

She also resonated with the music of the solo erhu virtuoso.

The solo instrument was brilliant, she said. When she was listening to the music, she felt emotion, beauty, she said. I nearly cried.

The companys website says: The erhu is one of the most important Chinese instruments, with a history of over 4,000 years. Though it has only two strings, it can convey a wide range of emotions.

Chicquita said that she took away from Shen Yun a message of peace, and that you have to be happy and respect nature and people.

Mike chimed in, it was so relaxing as well.

You can be stressed, and [the performance] just brings you down and you just relax and [feel] at peace with yourself, he later added. The whole show just made you feel relaxed.

Mike, who is a semi-retired ship captain and takes a keen interest in the boating world, commented on how captivating the dance pieces were.

I found that this is one of the few shows Ive been to where youre watching, and you watch and you watch and youre looking for more as youre watching it, he said. It actually holds you as an audience and total participation goes into watching  theres not a chance you could become bored with it. Its fascinating and enchanting.

Mike shared that one value he saw in Shen Yun is that it teaches people to be at peace for themselves and not argue.

Everyone should be able to get on with each other, just be at peace, just be kind, he said.

With reporting by NTD Television, Rona Rui, and Mimi Nguyen Ly.

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.
For the first time since the Soviet invasion in 1979, Pakistan can expect stability along its border with Afghanistan.

Pakistans Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was a conspicuously happy man at the February 29 signing ceremony of the peace deal between the United States and the Taliban in Qatars capital, Doha. Beaming with approval in photographs, he was likened on Twitter to a proud father of the bride/groom by several analysts.

Qureshi had good reason to be pleased: Islamabads policy of pushing a negotiated settlement with the insurgents, the stone in the shoe of its relationship with Washington, was vindicated by the agreement. For more than 10 years, it had withstood increasingly intense pressure from the US for its obstinate refusal to act against or expel self-exiled Taliban leaders based on Pakistani soil, waiting for the White House to come to terms with the futility of the countrys longest war.

When the time came, Pakistans government facilitated negotiations and delivered a boost to President Donald Trumps re-election campaign, earning praise from the mercurial leader during his recent tour of India, barely 20 months after he issued a humiliating public ultimatum to Islamabad to cease providing safe havens to terrorists and severed military aid.

Befittingly, the deal was signed on behalf of the Taliban by its political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was arrested in Karachi 10 years ago by Pakistans security services in a joint operation with the CIA.

The US-Taliban deal, which envisages the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan by the end of April next year, is a win-win for Pakistan. Having played peacemaker, it can no longer be blamed for any delay in intra-Afghan talks.

The onus is now on President Ashraf Ghani and his rival former Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah to resolve their power struggle, following a tainted election, and present a united front during negotiations with the Taliban on a political settlement. Ghani, in particular, has demonstrated a penchant for brinkmanship by tying his approval for the phased release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners  a key component of the peace deal with the US  to the international recognition of his re-election.

Assuming that the process takes off, Pakistan can realistically look forward to relative stability along its more than 2,000km (1,250 miles) long western border with Afghanistan for the first time since the Soviet invasion of December 1979.

The US-Taliban deal includes a proviso for coordinated counterterror operations against the Khorasan governorate of the ISIL (ISIS) group, ISIL-K, established in eastern Afghanistan in early 2015 by dissident commanders of the Taliban and Pakistan Taliban, known by the acronym TTP, fleeing a decisive military operation in North Waziristan. Since then, they have waged a cross-border hit-and-run campaign against Pakistans security forces, parallel to a campaign of deadly bombings in Jalalabad and Kabul.

The effectiveness of joint operations was demonstrated in November, when US and Afghan forces, in coordination with specifically-deployed Taliban units and Pakistani forces positioned along the nearby border, deprived ISIL-K forces of their territorial beachhead in Nangarhar province.

Hundreds of surviving fighters have since migrated north to the remote provinces of Kunar and Nurestan, where they continue to be pursued by US warplanes.

As an immediate payoff for its role in the peace process, Pakistan wants decisive coordinated action undertaken to end the threat that they pose to it and the rest of the region at the earliest.

The dismemberment of ISIL-K and its TTP allies, parallel to intra-Afghan talks, would enable Pakistan to expedite the repatriation of the 1.4 million Afghan refugees it still hosts, including Taliban exiles.

It can then seal its recently fenced border with Afghanistan, in effect quashing Kabuls opposition to the boundary drawn up by British colonial cartographers.

In due course, this would immensely relieve the pressure on Pakistans military forces at a time when tensions with India are their worst in a generation. It deployed about 170,000 troops, roughly one-third of Pakistans army, to defeat the TTP and secure the border with Afghanistan.

They have mostly remained in place, despite Indias aerial incursion a year ago and the persistent skirmishing along in the Line of Control in disputed Kashmir region that has ensued. Pakistan hopes that its cooperation on Afghanistan will convince the US to lean on Trumps good friend, Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to prevent another escalation.

For that to happen, Pakistan must keep its promises to repatriate the Taliban, in particular the notorious Haqqani Network faction, and shut down anti-India outfits such as Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), which have been inspired by their Afghan brethrens success. It also means that Pakistan should maintain a respectable distance from intra-Afghan talks, to avoid accusations of interference.

Foreign Minister Qureshi has established the parameters of Pakistans policy by warning against spoilers, a thinly disguised attack against Ghanis opportunism and India, a long-standing ally of Afghan politicians at odds with Pakistan, like ex-Chief Executive Abdullah. Islamabad also wants Washington to stay out of its disputes with Kabul so that it would be less inclined to resort to anti-Pakistan rhetoric, or to connive with New Delhi.

At the end of this rainbow lies Pakistans desire to rebuild its on-again, off-again strategic relationship with the US. It is deeply concerned that the suspension of American military aid has compromised its defence capability, and even more worried by Washingtons enthusiasm to arm India as a counterbalance to Chinas growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

To achieve that end, Pakistan has to stop employing armed groups to fight on its behalf in its conflicts with other countries. It certainly will not happen overnight, and it hinges hugely on the outcome of the Afghan peace process, but decision-makers in Islamabad know that they will not get a better opportunity to achieve sustainable stability.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
Cafes, shops and restaurants shut down across France and Spain on Sunday and travellers faced chaos at US airports as governments stepped up their fight against the coronavirus pandemic which has now reportedly killed more than 6,000.

France ordered the closure of all non-essential businesses, while Spain went a step further and banned people from leaving home except to go to work, get medical care or buy food.

Cases also spiked in Germany and sources told AFP that the government planned to shut its borders with France, Switzerland and Austria on Monday. Spain and France are among the worst-hit countries in Europe although Italy, which imposed Europe's most draconian lockdown on its 60 million citizens last week, still dominates in terms of infections from COVID-19.

A spike in deaths reported in Spain from 183 on Saturday to 288 on Sunday took the global toll to 6,036 from almost 160,000 infections, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources.

Experts warn, however, that the real figure is likely to be higher as tests are not available to everyone and people can be infected without showing symptoms.

The disease has now hit all global regions, ripping up sporting and cultural calendars, causing panic in stock markets and companies -- particularly airlines -- and prompting often contradictory responses from governments.

The United States imposed a travel ban on countries in Europe's Schengen free-movement area last week, but has since said it would add Britain and Ireland to the list.

China, where the disease originated, is now imposing its own crackdown on international travellers -- all will be put into quarantine on arrival -- after linking most of its new infections to those coming from overseas. As the virus continued its global spread, the plight of existing hotspots intensified.

Iran announced 113 new deaths on Sunday taking its total to 724, the world's third-worst toll after China and Italy, and officials urged people to avoid public gatherings.

The US travel restrictions threw airports into disarray with passengers complaining of massive queues as staff battled with the new entry rules and stipulations on medical screening.

One passenger, Ann Lewis Schmidt, told CNN passengers at Chicago's O'Hare airport were held at "close quarters" when they arrived, adding: "So if we didn't have the virus before, we have a great chance of getting it now." Similar stories emerged on social media from passengers at Dallas and New York's JFK.

Illinois governor JB Pritzker said the queues at O'Hare were "unacceptable" and demanded that President Donald Trump take action. "The federal government needs to get its s@#t together. NOW," he tweeted.

Trump tested negative for the disease, having come into contact with several members of a Brazilian presidential delegation who have since tested positive.

Governments in Europe also struggled to respond clearly.

Britain, which had avoided crackdowns and instead tried to manage the spread and create "herd immunity", cancelled local elections and hinted that it would follow most other affected European nations and ban mass gatherings.

On the other hand, France allowed municipal elections to go ahead on Sunday even as officials imposed a drastic nationwide shutdown on all non-essential businesses and promised to progressively restrict long-distance travel.

The risk from voting for the elderly was no greater "than going shopping", insisted Jean-Francois Delfraissy, chairman of France's coronavirus science council.

Several countries have announced bans on foreigners entering their countries.

Austria banned gatherings of more than five people on Sunday, telling citizens to stay in unless absolutely necessary.

Norway announced it would shut ports and airports with international connections on Saturday before retreating a day later and saying although foreigners would be turned away the facilities would remain open.

The spread of the virus has spooked even those countries without significant outbreaks -- with both Australia and New Zealand saying that anyone arriving from overseas must self-isolate for two weeks.

"We are going to have to get used to some changes in the way we live our lives," said Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Kazakhstan declared a state of emergency on Sunday despite having just eight confirmed infections.

In Africa, which has been spared the worst of the disease, half a dozen countries announced new infections over the weekend.

The announcements sparked restrictions on gatherings in Rwanda, panic-buying in the Seychelles and furious recriminations in Zimbabwe -- a country yet to register a single case.

"Coronavirus is the work of god punishing countries who imposed sanctions on us," said Zimbabwe's defence minister Oppah Muchinguri on Saturday.

Latin America has also recorded only small clusters of infections, though Colombia shut its border with Venezuela over a rise in cases there.

Chile has also taken some protective measures -- quarantining more than 1,300 people aboard two cruise ships after an elderly Briton aboard one of them tested positive for the coronavirus.

However, the cancelled events, closed schools and restrictions on movements have driven people to great lengths to avoid isolation and disappointment.

Romans have been singing to each other from their apartments, and across the US on the weekend hundreds of youngsters posted their cancelled high-school musical numbers on social media under #SunshineSongs.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In mid-night move, MP Governor tells Kamal Nath to take floor test on Monday

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Bhopal, Mar 15: Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon directed chief minister Kamal Nath late Saturday night to seek a trust vote in the Assembly soon after his (governor) address on March 16.

A letter from the governor was sent to the chief minister in this regard around midnight, a Raj Bhawan source told PTI.

"I came to know that 22 MLAs have sent their resignations to the MP Assembly speaker and they have also informed about it on electronic and print media. I have seen the coverage on both media with attention," the letter, dated March 14, said.

Ahead of an imminent trust vote in MP, why Congress faces a tough task

"They have also sent the letter to me separately on March 10, 2020 and the same MLAs have requested for security to present these resignation letters to the Vidhan Sabha speaker on March 13," the governor said.

"Under Article 174 and 175(2) of the Constitution, I am empowered to direct that MP Assembly session will begin on March 16 at 11 am with my address. Soon after that the only work to be done is voting on trust vote," he said in the letter.

The governor also directed that the trust vote be held by division of votes and the process be recorded on video by the Vidhan Sabha through independent persons.

"The above work must be completed under any circumstances on March 16, 2020 and it should not be adjourned, delayed or suspended," he said in the letter.

The governor also mentioned in the letter that six ministers were removed from the Cabinet on Kamal Nath's recommendations and their resignations accepted by the Speaker.

Explained: Can Madhya Pradesh Speaker disqualify all the MLAs who resigned from Kamal Nath's govt?

"You (Nath) have also mentioned in your letter dated March 13, 2020, that you are ready for the floor test. I have also received a letter from the main opposition BJP about these situations. They have also pointed that the state government is putting unnecessary pressure on the MLAs who have resigned and also on other legislators," the letter read.

"Based on the above facts, prima facie, I believe that your government has lost the confidence of the House and it is in minority. This is a very serious issue and therefore as per the constitutional provisions and for protecting the democratic values, it is necessary that on March 16, soon after my address, you seek the trust vote in the Assembly," it added.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 15, 2020, 8:23 [IST]
Kathmandu, March 15

Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Lekh Raj Bhatta, says the country is already in an emergency due to the increasing coronavirus fears though the emergency is not announced yet.

Speaking at a function in Kathmandu on Sunday, the minister said, All government agencies are working hard every day and night to avoid the crisis. We also need the support and solidarity from the public, nongovernment organisations and rights activities. Bhatta was confident that the government could combat the crisis if all the stakeholders supported it.

Urging all not to hoard foodstuffs and fuel unnecessarily, he requested the public to inform the government if they found any trader involved in black marketing in the wake of the fears. The public just could not blame the government for market problems, according to him.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 15)  The province of La Union, the cities of Davao and Zamboanga, and the municipality of San Jose Del Monte town in Bulacan have imposed new restrictions as part of a so-called community quarantine in hopes of curbing the spread of COVID-19.

Entering and exiting La Union, where 13 people are suspected of having COVID-19, will be prohibited from March 16 to April 12. Tourist destinations at the surfing destination will be closed during the same period, according to an executive order issued Sunday by Governor Francisco Emmanuel Ortega III.

The order also provides for the suspension of classes and work in most government offices, except those whose services cannot be dispensed with.

It also requires local chief executives of the province to implement a curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. during the duration of the quarantine.

The order also bans the consumption of alcoholic drinks in public places at all times.

Duterte-Carpios order also discourages people from leaving their homes, except for when they have to come out to work, buy food or medicine, or go to the hospital.

Mass gatherings, religious activities, and classes on all levels in Davao City are suspended until after the state of public emergency has been lifted.

Public transportation and cargo deliveries in the city will still be allowed, and employees from other provinces may enter the city, given necessary screening procedures.

Meetings, bank transactions, and procurement of goods from local suppliers should be done online, the executive order added.

Davao City also banned all flights from Clark Airport on the same day.

Cebu City Mayor Edgar Labella also issued similar directives in an executive order, which imposes a curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.

It also cancels classes, all mass gatherings, and other big events in the city until April 14.

Malls, recreational centers, and other commercial establishments in Cebu City should only operate until 8 p.m.

Although government work in Cebu City should not be disrupted, government agencies are advised to have an alternative work arrangement. Private companies are also advised to adopt flexible work arrangements.

The town of San Juan del Monte in Bulacan has also suspended classes and mass gatherings, with checkpoints being installed in five areas.

Malacanang released guidelines on Saturday  mere hours before the implementation of the Metro Manila quarantine  in a bid to answer the questions raised following President Rodrigo Duterte's announcement of a 30-day quarantine of the National Capital Region.

READ: Ano ba talaga: Netizens left confused with Metro Manila curfew

Curfew will also be imposed in Metro Manila based on ordinances passed by the city and municipality executives. The city ordinances are expected to be released in the coming week.

READ: Cops guard checkpoints as community quarantine begins in Metro Manila

State officials clarified that it is imposing a "community quarantine" which means movement in Metro Manila is limited to accessing basic necessities and work; and uniformed personnel and quarantine officers shall be present at border points.

The Philippine government earlier denied imposing a "lockdown," which indicates a state of isolation or restricted access as a security measure.

Eleven people have died of COVID-19 in the country, with a total of 140 cases to date.
A pharmacist has revealed what it is like to deal with the public in the midst of the Covid-19 outbreak that has struck the country.

Elaine Amoroso, a pharmacist in Kildare, has written to the Irish Examiner newspaper to describe what she calls "the most challenging week in all my 15 years as a Community Pharmacist".

Ms Amoroso said that all the training and books at Pharmacy School do not prepare you for dealing with a national crisis "and the associated fear so many are feeling".

She said: "Yes we are well trained and educated in all the health and safety aspects of the virus. We understand well the hygiene standards that are required. However guaranteed supplies of critical items in high demand, such as hand sanitiser, gloves, medical wipes and face masks at this time are not assured from suppliers."

She revealed that her pharmacy recently took 104 phone calls in one day from people asking if they have any hand sanitiser.

Ms Amoroso said: "Our day typically starts with customers straight through the door 'do you have any hand sanitiser?'. Unfortunately we dont."

She added that frustration around the situation can make people angry.

She said: "To my surprise one person actually cursed at me and said it was f****** ridiculous . All I can say is I am sorry about that.

This week I have witnessed the best and worst of human nature. We have been inundated with unprecedented demand for services. We have the same level of staffing but a much higher work demand under acutely stressful conditions.

"Even if additional staff were to be made available the correct procedures for dispensing can take time to develop. We have excellent OTC health care assistants and they excel at what they do."

Ms Amoroso said people's fear can lead to "so many unreasonable demands".

She said: "Patients wanting to stockpile up on codeine products. Codeine as most people are aware is subject to restriction and requires a Pharmacist consultation.

"I witnessed angry patients at the thought of having to wait to speak to the Pharmacist. Then upon refusing them two boxes of Solpadeine and two boxes of Nurofen plus the abuse started.

"I was kindly trying to advise them that codeine will do very little for the symptoms of Covid 19 apart from causing them painful constipation which wouldnt be helpful in quarantine by any means."

Yesterday, the HSE revealed that people have been flooding GP out-of-hours centres and the 999 emergency line looking to be tested for Covid-19.

They also said the 999 emergency line has been getting a "high volume" of calls with requests for tests.

Members of the public who have normal cold and flu symptoms or who believe they may have been in contact with Covid-19 are being asked to self-isolate and call a GP on Monday.

The HSE is asking people to keep 999 and 112 for emergencies only and says out-of-hours doctors cannot order tests.

Ms Amoroso said it is correct that people not visit the GP surgery as part of controls, but it has put an extra workload on community pharmacies as people go to them for advice, reassurance and medication.

She said: "This in many cases has had the unintended consequence of pharmacies potentially becoming incubators for Covid-19 if strict procedures are not developed and implemented to mitigate the potential spread of Covid-19 within pharmacies to both patients and staff.

While vague guidance has been issued from the various governing bodies, more proactive and decisive guidance is critical with time of the essence.

"We have set up a containment area in the pharmacy at the door as it is our only hope of crowd control. During the week it was frightening to think we were losing control on the crowds with twenty to thirty patients in close proximity waiting to get served. Staff then had to devote precious time to crowd control."

However, it has not been all bad as some customers realise the hard work that pharmacists are carrying out to curtail the spread of the virus.

MS Amoroso said: "Then we meet the best in the world. Those that come in and thank us for being there and that they really appreciate the reassurance.

"We meet people so thankful that we are making attempts to keep the pharmacy sanitised at all times and the crowd control is reassuring that they feel protected. These are the patients who are our sunshine on a cloudy day.

"In conclusion, I would like to emphasis the key role that community pharmacies have and will continue to play in the National Crisis that is Covid-19.

"I would ask for patience from our patients and the appropriate support from the local authorities and governing bodies as we try work together in the weeks and months ahead."

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At a time when COVID-19, a deadly virus just like the swine flu, is spreading coast to coast and border to border, Americans should be able to rely on the advice of President Donald Trump.

Or, should we listen to scientists instead of our commander in chief?

According to the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, 86 percent of Americans are confident scientists act in the best interest of the public. Today, 64 percent have expressed no confidence in President Donald Trump.

In October 2009, Rush Limbaugh declared screw you during his radio program in reaction to Obama administrations recommendation people get a vaccination against swine flu. On Fox News, Glenn Beck urged voters to do the exact opposite of scientific advisers recommendation. Donald Trump called into Fox News, dismissed concern about the swine flu and told host Neil Cavuto that its going to go away and the vaccines can be very dangerous.

As a result of lemmings following the advice of Limbaugh, Beck and Trump, research by Dr. Matthew Baum of Harvard University found Republicans were much less likely to get vaccinated. Predominantly Republican states had higher death rates than predominantly Democratic states. Sadly, 12,469 Americans died due to the swine flu (The Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 2011).

As Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times reported March 7, This is a case where toxic right-wing bluster was not only corrosive but also apparently lethal  but only to true believers.

Based on that information, I think its safe to say its dangerous to listen to ideologues rather than scientists.

Trumps dislike of science is quite evident: Climate change is a Chinese hoax, vaccines are dangerous and wind turbines cause cancer. He prohibited Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials from using words like evidence-based and science-based in official documents. Hes cut funding to CDC and the National Institutes of Health while dissing the World Health Organization.

With COVID-19, who do we now need for advice, guidance and counsel? CDC, NIH and WHO. What goes around, comes around.

According to a March 8 New Yorker article, Physicians and public health officials are dispirited by the presidents public pronouncements, saying that he has added to the danger of the crisis by minimizing its scale and the need for rigorous precautions.

The New York Times reports the White House instructed one of the nations top infectious disease experts, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, not to say anything else without White House clearance. Heretofore, with the SARS and Ebola outbreaks, federal scientists communicated directly with the public.

Dr. Michael Mina, epidemiologist at Harvards T. H. Chan School of Public Health, notes, We need the president to put the well-being of the American people before his re-election. And that requires open discussion and accurate information.

David Remmick of The New Yorker writes, Has there ever been a less serious president?

Trumps poisoning the well attitude hasnt helped. Guess who, on Feb. 24, jumped in to support Trump? Rush Limbaugh told his listeners, I want to tell you the truth about the coronavirus. Yeah, Im dead right on this. The coronavirus is the common cold, folks.

Charlie Sykes, a staunch Republican and founder of Bulwark, a conservative news site, tweeted about Limbaugh: stunningly reckless.

The time is long overdue for Trump to stop playing politics with COVID-19 and put scientists back in charge without them seeking White House approval as to what to apprise Americans about the epidemic. Im confident obtaining national and Iowa-based scientific information about COVID-19 at www.cdc.gov and www.idph.iowa.gov is more advisable than following the unscientific musings of Limbaugh, Beck and Trump.

Steve Corbin is an emeritus professor of marketing at the University of Northern Iowa and former Denver Board of Education member. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not reflect those of the University of Northern Iowa.

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Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the government raised excise duty on petrol and diesel at a time when global oil prices have crashed.

Just 3 days ago I had requested @PMOIndia to pass on the benefit of the global oil price crash to Indian consumers, by slashing the prices of petrol & diesel in India. Instead of heeding this advice, our genius has gone and hiked #exciseduty on fuel! Gandhi tweeted.

On Saturday, the Centre raised excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 3 per litre. It stands to make windfall gains from a slump in global crude oil prices and expects to mop up Rs 40,000 crore of additional revenue with the new slab of excise duty. The additional revenue will also give itself room to stimulate a slowing economy that is now facing headwinds of the coronavirus threat.

The Congress had criticised the move as anti-people on the assumption that it would lead to an increase in prices at the pump.

Instead, oil marketing companies cut the price of petrol by 13 paise per litre and that of diesel by 16 paise per litre on Saturday.

On Sunday, the price of petrol was cut by another 12 paise while diesel was left untouched. A litre of petrol cost Rs 69.75 in Delhi on Sunday while diesel remained unchanged at Rs 62.58 per litre.

The global price of crude oil which was around $66 per barrel at the beginning of the year crashed to about $51 a barrel in the first week of March. It fell to about $32 in the second week of the month.
LANSING, MI -- Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an order late Saturday to clarify restrictions on hospital visits due to coronavirus, allowing parents of patients and easing limits for patients in critical conditon.

The initial order, issued late Friday, March 13, sought to stop anyone from entering health care facilities not necessary for medical care or not visiting under exigent circumstances.

Related: Coronavirus cases in Michigan climb to 33

The updated order allows parents, foster parents and guardians for patients younger than 21 to visit and anyone exercising power of attorney. It allows for people to visit a patient who is in serious or critical condition or in hospice care, and for someone to visit if theyre performing official government duties.

The order takes effect immediately and lasts until April 5.

The intent is to limit patient contact with people from the outside due to the potential transmission of coronavirus COVID-19.

Saturday, March 14: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan

The Michigan Health and Hospital Association, in a statement from CEO Brian Peters sent Sunday, voiced support for the amended visitation restrictions.

While these restrictions may be burdensome for some, they have been enacted to protect frontline caregivers and critically ill individuals from the spread of COVID-19," Peters said in the statement. "In addition, the revised language will allow for visitors in certain special circumstances such as allowing parents to be with a child, or a partner to be with a mother giving birth.

Peters went on to ask for the publics patience and support as hospitals across Michigan implement the order, screening both visitors and staff as they enter, and urged the public to refrain from going to medical facilities unless absolutely necessary.

These additional processes make it even more critical that people who do not absolutely need to be at the hospital do not go there, Peters said in the statement. We continue to urge patients who have COVID-19 symptoms who are not experiencing an emergency to call their primary care providers office for guidance before traveling to any healthcare facility in person. If you do not have a healthcare provider, call your local hospital.

As of late Saturday, March 14, state health leaders have recorded 33 cases of presumptive positive coronavirus COVID-19 in Michigan.

Below is an updated county-by-county map of Michigan tracking cases statewide, and a map plotting sites of potential exposure.

Following the maps is a chart representing the MDHHS daily report on total tested, irrespective of geographical origin. Both will be updated as more reports come from the MDHHS.

If you are reading this story on an APP and cant see the maps or chart below, click here to view it on the web version.

Potential COVID-19 exposure sites

Sorry, but your browser does not support frames.

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.

More from MLive:

President Donald Trump tests negative for coronavirus, his doctor says

National reaction after Detroit Pistons Christian Wood diagnosed with coronavirus

MSU extends virtual classes through semester, postpones commencement due to coronavirus
Medics wearing protective gears wait for Indian nationals evacuated from Iran to undergo a thermal screening test at Jaisalmer Military Station. PTI photo

Two hundred and thirty-four Indians stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran have arrived in India, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday.

The batch comprises 131 students and 103 pilgrims, he said.

234 Indians stranded in Iran have arrived in India; including 131 students and 103 pilgrims. Thank you Ambassador Dhamu Gaddam and @India_in_Iran team for your efforts. Thank Iranian authorities, Jaishankar tweeted.

The third batch of Indians from Iran arrived early Sunday. A second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims had arrived from Iran on Friday.

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 first batch of 58 Indian pilgrims were brought back from Iran on Tuesday.
The Assam government on Sunday ordered closure of all educational institutions, cinema halls, gymnasiums and swimming pools with immediate effect till March 29 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

All exams, except board examinations, have been cancelled till the specified date, Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna said at a press conference in Guwahati.

"Even though no positive case of coronavirus has been detected in the state so far, we are taking all precautionary measures," Krishna said. "The order will cover all schools, colleges, universities, gyms, swimming pools and movie halls across the state. We have asked them to close down till March 29."



"All programmes scheduled at government auditoriums have also been cancelled. We hope those owned by private firms will also follow," he said.

All the deputy commissioners have been asked to discourage any public gathering in their districts. The officials and municipal authorities have been asked to keep the market places clean and sanitised on a regular basis to prevent the spread of the disease, according to the chief secretary.

Krishna said the Northeast Frontier Railway had been asked to take necessary precautions at its facilities, including stations.

"The chief minister is reviewing the situation regularly and we have decided to issue a daily bulletin on the coronavirus scenario in the state," he said, adding that the state government was fully equipped to handle any crisis arising out of the pandemic.

Quarantine facilities for over 800 people and isolation centres for over 100 people have been prepared at different locations in the state. Two-bedded isolation wards are established in all district civil hospitals for the same, Krishna said.

"We have also kept ICU facilities ready with more than 50 beds in medical colleges. Private hospitals have assured us of 50 beds in such unit," he added.

Samir Sinha, the principal secretary of the health and family welfare department, said the state currently had two blood-sample testing facilities for COVID-19 in Guwahati and Dibrugarh, while the third one would be active in Jorhat from Monday.

"Six medical colleges and 25 district hospitals are equipped to handle any situation. There is no need to panic," Sinha said. "Only the people need to follow the basic precautionary measures like social distancing and reporting to doctor if one is suffering from cough and fever."



M Angamuthu, the commissioner and secretary of the tourism department, said the business was down by 30-40 per cent in the past month as tourists, both international and domestic, had cancelled their trips amid the outbreak of the deadly disease.

"This is the peak tourism season. On a day, 400-500 foreign and 32,000-35,000 domestic tourists come here as they also use the state for transit," Angamuthu said. "Sadly, we have got reports that foreign travellers are being treated differently over coronavirus threat. That we should not do."



In a presentation, the health and family welfare department showed that 1,075 passengers had been screened at six airports in the state so far.

A total of 253 travellers from COVID-19-affected countries were quarantined. Eleven blood samples were collected and 10 of them have tested negative and the report of one is awaited.

Till date, over 10,600 people have been screened and 599 people, who came in contact with positive cases, were kept under home surveillance though they did not show any symptoms.

The border districts of Baksa, Chirang, Kokrajhar and Udalguri are on surveillance and the state government has set up a control room, which has so far received more than 300 calls.

According to Union Health Ministry, the number of novel coronavirus cases in the country rose to 107 on Sunday, with Maharashtra reporting the highest, followed by Kerala. The cases include two persons who died in Karnataka and Delhi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chad Johnson, a former Bachelorette contestant, has been charged with robbery and domestic violence. The reality TV star is accused by an on-again-off-again girlfriend, Annalise Mishler, for events that unfolded on Feb. 24. The charges include assault and battery, witness intimidation, trespassing, and vandalism. We previously reported on Johnsons arrest and his explanation. Heres the latest update.

Chad Johnson previously arrested on robbery and domestic violence charges, released on bail

Chad Johnson and Daniel Maguire | Rick Rowell/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images

On Feb. 24, 2020, Chad Johnson was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department for felony domestic violence and robbery charges. The Bachelorette alum was booked at the LAPD Van Nuys but released to the public on a $100,000 bail.

The arrest came after alleged arguments between Johnson and girlfriend, Annalise Mishler. According to Mishlers representative, a neighbor claimed an altercation took place between Johnson and Mishler and involved pounding on the door and screaming profanities. The witness called the police after Mishler stated Johnson took her phone and threw it.

When police arrived, Mishler claimed Johnson sort of backhanded her right eye the night before and also had her sweatshirt twisted in his hand, lifting her off the ground outside of his apartment, so as not to let her walk home to her own unit, E! News reported.

Mishlers allegations are lengthy

Mishler also stated Johnson punched a hole in her wall, as shared in a video of the events online, per TMZ.

So Chad just got drunk for the first time in, like, 50 days and punched a hole in my wall for no f***king reason, she said in the now-deleted clip.

Officers served Johnson with a temporary restraining order which aligns with Californa law. Johnson later addressed the incidents via Too Fab, saying hed relapsed from sobriety and blacked out.

Ive been so stressed man, just sitting in my car crying sometimes, just losing my mind. And to top it all off, the one person Im closest to doesnt get me a lot of times. I just lost it, he said. 

I drank to the point where I didnt even know I was with her, he continued.

Im super sorry to any girl that has seen my girlfriends story; to any girl that has watched that and felt that emotion that triggers all these bad emotions to people, of the bad things that theyve had happen, he told the outlet. I am sorry. I never meant to make anybody think all of these things. Im just sorry for my actions.

Johnson caught vaping in California gym days before official charges filed

Johnson was hospitalized after two welfare checks within 24 hours. The first came after he posted an Instagram story that included disturbing images. The second came less than 24 hours later. He was taken to the hospital for observation.

On March 4, Johnson posted a photo on Instagram with the caption, I will come back better, stronger, faster. Chadbo will win this fight. He did not comment any further on previous incidents.

Three days later, Johnson was spotted in a Tarzana gym in the West Valley of LA. He worked out while smoking a vape pen in between reps. The same day, he posted a photo to Instagram of, what appeared to be, a womans leg resting between his own. Its unclear if they were Mishlers legs or not.

What do the charges mean for Johnson?

Court documents alleged force and violence was committed against a spouse, a person with whom the defendant was cohabiting, a person who is the parent of the defendants child, former spouse, fiance, and fiancee, and a person with whom the defendant has, and has previously had, a dating and engagement relationship.

That said, Johnson and Mishler seem to be salvaging their relationship in some way, offering interviews to various outlets to update the public on their status.

We have a lot to work on, honestly, Mishler said. She said Johnson is getting help for alcohol, and theyre attending couples therapy and individual therapy to mend the wounds.

Johnson is due back in court on March 17.
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
Source in presidential office tells Al Jazeera a partial lockdown will be announced on Sunday as infections rise.

Beirut, Lebanon  Lebanon will announce a state of medical emergency on Sunday, shutting down all public and private institutions except hospitals, pharmacies and bakeries in an effort to contain a coronavirus outbreak, a presidential palace source said.

Supermarkets will open within specific times, not all the time, while banks will be ordered to close, but perhaps not immediately in order to give people time to secure money, the source told Al Jazeera on Saturday night.

The countrys only functioning civilian airport, Beiruts Rafik Hariri International Airport, will not be closed at this time, but that will be considered if the coronavirus outbreak spreads.

The source said the Lebanese cabinet would study a complete ban on movement at an emergency session expected at 3pm (13:00 GMT) on Sunday.

No decision has yet been reached on the matter, and it would include exceptions, the source added.

Formal announcement shortly

Lebanons Higher Defense Council, which includes representatives from its major security agencies such as the army and the Internal Security Forces, will also meet at 1:30 pm (11:30 GMT) on Sunday.

200313113106897

The extraordinary measures are set to be formalised during Sundays meetings and are expected to last 15 days, but could be extended, the source said.

Legislator Assem Araji, who heads the Lebanese parliaments health committee, confirmed to Al Jazeera that a state of emergency would be declared on Sunday.

He said the countrys land borders with Syria would be closed and urged people to remain home.

These are precautionary measures to reduce the viruss spread, Araji said, denying that the government was withholding any information from the people.

Flights halted

On Wednesday, all schools, universities, restaurants, bars, nightclubs and cultural centres were closed in Lebanon in an effort to prevent large public gatherings.

The coronavirus has infected more than 155,000 people worldwide and killed over 5,800 people, with the World Health Organization on Friday declaring Europe as the new epicentre of the disease.

In Lebanon, 93 people have so far been infected with the virus after the first case was detected on February 21. Three people have died, according to the countrys health ministry.

Other nations, including Italy and Iran, have implemented similar emergency measures amid massive outbreaks, while Spain and France have imposed partial lockdowns as cases spike.

The outbreak has hit Lebanon as it suffers its worst economic crisis since independence in 1943, which has weakened the local currency, hiked prices and fuelled unrest.

The financial crisis has led to a shortage of medical supplies needed to combat the outbreak.

Just one hospital in the small Mediterranean nation, Beiruts Rafik Hariri University Hospital, is equipped with specialised isolation rooms compliant with international standards, Araji had previously told Al Jazeera.

Lebanon on Wednesday announced a ban on flights from 11 virus-hit countries, including Iran and Italy, with immediate effect. From Monday onwards, the ban will be extended to a host of European and Arab countries, including Egypt, France, Germany, Iraq, Syria and the United Kingdom.

Many locals have criticised the delay in banning flights from Italy and Iran, the latter being considered a regional epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak.

We are a family

Powerful local leader Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday said his countrys health ministry, controlled by his party, Hezbollah, had done commendable work and dismissed any criticism.

Meanwhile, medical students have been asked to volunteer to help fight the virus, while many medical staff have reportedly been working without wages for months as the financial crisis deepened.

On Thursday, administrative employees at Rafik Hariri University Hospital announced an open-ended strike over the non-payment of their wages and difficult working conditions.

A video of an emotional volunteer nurse who said she missed her cancer-ridden mothers birthday to help in the efforts was widely shared on social media over the weekend.

I could be a source of danger if I get close to her, but when the risk is national, on the level of the nation, we have to think about the country as a whole, not as individuals, she said in the video.

Every time we hear of a death, we are saddened, and every time we hear of a recovery, its like we are victorious. We are a family.
Published on 2020/03/15 | Source

Businesses are increasingly asking staff to work from home as entire office buildings have been shut down over coronavirus infections or workers are confined in self-quarantine.

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Many companies especially in IT like SK Telecom, Hyundai Mobis, KT and Naver told their staff to work from home for one or two weeks since late last month but have extended the period by another few weeks. Kakao has opted to let staff work from home indefinitely.

The decision may be an emergency response, but experts say it will only accelerate a trend that is happening anyway and gives businesses a chance to figure out if it would work for them.

Workers remain sharply divided. Those in their 20s and 30s welcome it, while those in their 40s and 50s complain that it is more difficult to work from home. Although telecommuting takes the hassle out of going to the office and back every day, there are drawbacks.

The biggest complaint is a lack of division between work and private life. One head of a small business said, "Video conferencing saves me time traveling to other offices". But another worker said, "Video conferencing may be efficient, but we also need some downtime for chitchat with coworkers, which often generates new ideas".

Others said telecommuting allows them to take care of their children even when daycare centers have closed, but others say handling childcare plus office work at home is demanding.

Some people have been embarrassed by pets or children popping their heads into the screens during video conferencing at home. But most young and single workers welcomed telecommuting. A six-year veteran at an IT company said, "I think it's great, because we only need to do our given tasks and can avoid useless chatter with other staff".

Workers also do not have to worry about getting ready and dressed up. "I didn't know how comfortable it would be to start work at home without having to put on makeup", a 36-year-old IT worker said. "I also don't have to spend money on coffee or clothes".

But some jobs can simply not be done from home. One employee at a semiconductor manufacturer said, "I can't access my office computer at home for security reasons, so I have to go to the office. It's a bit unnerving having to commute wearing a mask".

According to Statistics Korea, 95,000 workers telecommuted in 2019, up from 59,000 in 2017. But the overall proportion remains small. Out of 2.22 million workers at companies implementing similar telework programs, 33.7 percent opted for staggered commuting time, 32 percent for flexible work hours, 30.4 percent for selective work days and 17.1 percent for shortened office time. Only 4.3 percent opted to telecommute.

In that sense Korea lags behind other countries despite its advanced Internet connectivity. One Labor Ministry official said, "There has been an increase in telecommuting over the last few years, but there is still a prevailing view that it makes it harder to manage staff and there could be security risks".

One former country manager for a foreign company said the problem lies with the lack of trust in Korea's corporate culture. "Generally, Korean companies tend to distrust their workers and check up on them regularly, so it's difficult to telecommute", he added.

Those who have experienced it say working from home can be more hassle than going to work amid such distrust. One employee of a start-up company has been telecommuting for five months to take of her child but is the only one of 30 staff doing so. "I know it was a considerate offer for me, but instead I faced more pressure. I have to respond immediately when my messenger alarm goes off", she said.

For some, loneliness is another negative factor. "I miss my coworkers", said one telecommuter.

An employee of one multinational company said, "You'd be surprised how many workers choose to work in the office even if they could work at home. Not many workers have big houses with separate work rooms as they do in other countries, so the boundary between work and private life becomes blurred and many people cannot focus".

"When we tried to squeeze meeting dates into days when all staff are present at the office, there were delays, and coming up with new rules made telecommuting very difficult", he added. "I guess the answer is to create an environment where we can freely share information".
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 15

Trend:

A hotline has been created in the Azerbaijani embassy in Turkey after the temporary suspension of mutual trips of Turkish and Azerbaijani citizens by plane and vehicles from 00:00 (GMT+4) March 15, Trend reports referring to the embassy.

"The hotline (+90 53 72 82 67 40) was created to quickly respond to the possible requests of our citizens who live, study and temporarily visited Turkey," the embassy said.

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.
Manama

Bahrain is committed to ensuring total transparency in disseminating information related to Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, said Information Affairs Minister Mohammed Al Rumaihi, as per the directives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

The National Taskforce for Combating Coronavirus (COVID-19), the minister said, is following a proven international model in handling challenges for which it has received international praise. His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier is leading the Taskforce.

The minister lauded the efforts of the legislative branch, Bahrain Defence Force, the Interior Ministry, the Health Ministry, the Transportation and Telecommunication Ministry and the endowments directorates in maintaining national safety, stressing that those efforts are highly appreciated by the Bahraini people and the whole world. Al Rumaihi called on people in Bahrain to get informed through official media sources and avoid being misled by rumours and inaccurate information circulating on the social media platforms.

The minister commended the responsible national role played by the press and media institutions to provide people with the first-hand update out of their national responsibility to boost national unity and promote awareness of global challenges.
The Corona virus has currently been declared as a pandemic by the WHO and the entire globe is trying to collectively fight this war. A virus outbreak is seldom taken seriously until the affects alarm us to no ends. If you love to shake your panicked mind with numbing documentaries and movies on subjects like these, then here are five movies which mirror a similar situation to the 2020 Corona stricken world and predicted a virus outbreak.



1. Contagion

In case you never watched it back in 2011 and are hearing about it right now, well the reason is that it is quite relevant to the alarming times we are living in right now. Starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Winslet in pivotal roles, this movie follows the death of a mother-son duo which leads to doctors finding a new kind of virus which results in a pandemic across the world.

2. Outbreak

Based on a medical disaster fiction Hot Zone, this movie tells the tale of a virus carried by a monkey belonging to an African rainforest which starts infecting the human race. This movie is an eye opener.

3. Pacific Liner

If you want to know a detailed description of how a pandemic might spread and the damage it causes, then watch this movie. A cholera stricken man sits on a cruise from, coincidentally, Shanghai to San Francisco, and then the workers begin getting affected while the passengers are still unaware. Sounds familiar?

4. Mothers Might Live

This 1938 drama movie is more relevant than any other on this list currently. It even won an Oscar and rightly so. The film revolves around the subject of sanitation in maternity wards and decreasing maternal mortality rate. The doctor in question is trying to push a simple logic of washing hands more often.

5. Panic In The Streets

A man mysteriously dies of a pneumonic plague, the doctors are informed that in 48 hours the public will be informed. In a race against time, the doctors need to find the root of the origin of the virus.




Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 21:25:16|Editor: xuxin

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SINGAPORE, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's government announced a slew of new precautionary measures on Sunday to further reduce the risk of imported COVID-19 cases to Singapore.

Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a statement that the city-state will implement additional border restriction measures.

According to ministry, from 23:59 p.m. March 16, all travelers, including Singapore Residents, Long Term Pass holders and short-term visitors, entering Singapore with recent travel history to other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, Japan, Switzerland, or Britain within the last 14 days, will be issued with a 14-day Stay-Home Notice (SHN).

In addition, they will have to provide proof of the place where they will serve the 14-day SHN, and may also be swabbed for testing for COVID-19, even if asymptomatic.

Meanwhile, all short-term visitors who are nationals of any other ASEAN country will have to submit requisite information on their health to the Singapore Overseas Mission in the country they are resident before their intended date of travel, and the submission will have to be approved by the MOH before travel to Singapore, said the ministry.

The MOH also advises Singaporeans to defer all non-essential travel abroad. It said the advisory, with immediate effect, will apply for 30 days, and will be reviewed thereafter.

"This is to reduce the risk of Singaporeans contracting COVID-19 infection while overseas during this global pandemic," the ministry added.

According to the statement, Singapore has recorded an increase of 25 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in three days as of March 14. Of these, more than three-quarters were imported cases.

The MOH said it has seen a number of these cases entering Singapore for the purpose of seeking medical care, which imposes a significant burden on Singapore's healthcare resources during the critical period when the government is focused on containing the situation within Singapore.

Also on Sunday, Singapore's Ministry of Manpower introduced new measures respectively for Foreign Domestic Workers, and for all work pass holders and dependant's pass holders with travel history to other ASEAN countries, Japan, Switzerland, or Britain within the last 14 days. The affected are required to be approved the by ministry before commencing the journey to Singapore.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has called for calm as the state records its highest number of new COVID-19 cases in one day.

Fifteen new confirmed cases of the virus were established on Sunday, ranging from an eight-year-old girl on the Gold Coast to a 74-year-old man in Brisbane's north.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young (right), with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk earlier in the week. Credit:AAP Image/Dan Peled

The number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in Queensland is now at 61.

The new cases includes a 69-year-old Townsville man who is being managed by New Zealand authorities after taking a test in Queensland.
A San Francisco state senator has co-authored new emergency legislation that would keep small businesses in California from being evicted because of not paying rent amidst the coronavirus safety precautions.

State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, has joined with Long Beach-based state Sen. Lena Gonzalez to craft a bill that would allow small businesses to close to help fight the spread of coronavirus without the fear of being evicted.
The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on Sunday, said he was not connected with the dethronement of the former Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, and his subsequent banishment to Nasarawa State.

This is contained in a statement made available to PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday by the AGFs Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Umar Gwandu.

Mr Sanusi was deposed following a resolution of the Kano State Executive Council on March 9, on allegations of insubordination.

The deposed Kano emir had on March 12 filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja against 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 AGF, Mr Malami.

They are the first, second, third and fourth respondents respectively.

Mr Sanusi regained his freedom on Friday on the order of the court and has left Awe in Nasarawa, where he was banished, for Lagos.

But in the statement on Sunday, Mr Malami said the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN was not in any way connected with the dethronement of the former Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II and his subsequent banishment to Nasarawa State.

The issue of who does what over the dethronement saga has been effectively submitted for judicial determination. The matter is consequently subjudice.

The minister added that he would not comment over a matter that is already before a court of law.

Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice will not comment one way or the other over a matter that is pending before the court.
Two foreigners, who escaped from the Alappuzha Medical College after doctors suggested them to test for coronavirus, have been located.

They were found at Cochin International Airport while they were trying to fly back to Doha at around 11:30 pm on Friday night. They have been identified as American citizens living in London for the last three years and had reached India via Doha.

The duo was brought back to Ernakulam district hospital and their samples were taken for tests. Now, they have been taken to an isolation ward at Ernakulam Medical College, said NK Kuttappan, District Medical Officer.

The couple had reached Cochin Airport on March 9 and had consulted a doctor at Alappuzha Medical College as one of them had a running fever. After the doctor asked them to take a test for COVID-19, they tried to escape on Friday night.

''The duo had run away from the hospital without giving their samples, perhaps fearing quarantine and isolation,'' said M. Anjana, Alappuzha district collector.

The two Americans also stayed at a resort in Varkala in Thiruvananthapuram district.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Robert Pattinson is known for his roles in several acclaimed films. Some of Pattinson's most popular films include Twilight, Remember Me, The Lighthouse, The King, etc. One of Robert Pattinson's most acclaimed films that is also quite popular is Water for Elephants. The film released in the year 2011 and won many awards and accolades. Listed below are some of the interesting trivia on Robert Pattinson's Water for Elephants.

READ:Robert Pattinson's 'The King': Fascinating Trivia About The Film That You Must Know

Interesting trivia on Robert Pattinson's Water for Elephants

READ:Robert Pattinson's Batman Suit Should Have These Utility Add-ons According To Fans

For the film Water for Elephants, actors Channing Tatum, Kyle Gallner, Anthony Fitzgerald, Andrew Garfield, and Emile Hirsch auditioned for the role of Jacob Jankowski.

Actor Hal Holbrook had been recently widowed in real-life when he filmed his scenes.

In a deleted scene of Vanity Fair, actress Reese Witherspoon played Robert Pattinson's mother. In this movie, they played lovers.

Actor Sean Penn was cast as August but later dropped out.

READ:Robert Pattinson And Kristen Stewart's Relationship Timeline And How It Hit A Rocky Patch

Almost all of the circus wagon carts that appeared in Water for Elephants were the original carts from the Ringling Brother's shows. During production, the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin shipped its circus carts to California to be used for filming. They are all now back in their original display building.

Popular actress Scarlett Johansson turned down the role of Marlena.

The screenplay for this film was also featured in the 2009 Blacklist; a list of the "most liked" unmade scripts of the year.

Actress Reese Witherspoon stated in interviews that the love scene she did with Robert Pattinson wasn't pleasant at all. Reese spoke of how Robert had a bad cold the day of filming and even sneezed at one point. Robert did not take her comments nicely and did not like that Reese spoke to the press about it. He spoke in his defense saying how he kept on apologizing to Reese for the kissing scenes.

READ:Robert Pattinsons Dating Timeline; From Kristen Stewart To Suki Waterhouse

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.
As the LNP, Labor and the Greens wrangle for votes across Brisbane, one council ward in the city's south has largely been left alone by all three parties.

Surrounded by the LNP-held Jamboree ward to the south, Labor-held Moorooka to the east, and Greens-held The Gabba to the north, Tennyson ward is held by the city's only independent councillor, Nicole Johnston.

Nicole Johnston has been a councillor since 2008, first for the LNP and then as an independent. Credit:Glenn Hunt

In a council of 26 councillors  18 LNP, an LNP mayor, five Labor and one Greens  Cr Johnston is uniquely placed in Brisbane to lobby for her residents, but also to be overlooked by the major parties.

Cr Johnston is a frequent and controversial voice in council chambers, where she has faced multiple councillor conduct complaints and ejections from the chamber.
Sidney Powell, Flynns attorney, has argued in court that prosecutors have not turned over certain documents to Flynn and his legal team that might be exculpatory, but her allegations have been disputed by prosecutors and rejected by the federal judge overseeing the case. No new filings have been made in the case in several weeks.
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As more people across the country work from home to help stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, some internet service providers (ISPs) are pledging to raise broadband speeds, suspend data caps, and generally make life easier for all.

More than 60 companies have signed on to the Federal Communication Commission's Keep America Connected Pledge, promising changes that will protect Americans on a budget from service interruptions during the crisis.

"Consumer Reports is encouraged by these timely actions," says Jonathan Schwantes, a senior policy counsel in CR's Washington, D.C., office. "Not only are these moves pro-consumer, they're a no-brainer, and we call on all internet service providers and wireless carriers to suspend data caps, boost internet speeds, and provide free or discounted service for those consumers most in need."

According to the provisions of the Keep America Connected Pledge, companies have agreed not to terminate service for residential customers and small-business owners who can't pay their bills due to disruptions from the coronavirus pandemic. They will also waive late fees caused by the crisis and open their WiFi hot spots to anyone who needs them.

"This is a great first step and a necessary one," Schwantes says.

Jessica Rosenworcel, an FCC commissioner, has called on companies to offer even more assistance. "We need to expand these pledges and make adjustments to FCC programs so that even more Americans can get online during this crisis at little or no cost," Rosenworcel says. "Where data caps and overage fees are in place, they need to be lifted and eliminated."

AT&T and Comcast say they will suspend data caps for internet service to eliminate fees for consumers. T-Mobile is removing data caps for cellular customers, too (details below).



Comcast has announced that it will also boost internet service speeds in its lowest-tier plans and offer new residential customers free internet for 60 days. Altice, Charter Spectrum, and Cox Internet announced programs providing free internet to qualified low-income users for a limited time.

Story continues

Want to know what the ISPs in your area are doing to help consumers during the COVID-19 crisis? Consumer Reports reached out to ask about their plans.

Aside from Sparklight, all the companies listed below have signed on to the FCC's Keep America Connected program. As more information rolls in, we'll continue to update this article.

What's Your Internet Service Provider Doing?

Allo

The company is offering 50 Mbps broadband service for free for 60 days to households without internet service, reducing fees for 60 days for existing and new broadband customers in need, and waiving service-modification fees for businesses and residences.

Altice

The company is offering its Altice Advantage 30 Mbps broadband service free for 60 days to any new residential customer currently without internet access. According to the FCC, 25Mbps and above classifies as high-speed.

AT&T

The company says it will suspend data caps for its fixed internet service. It also offers a $10-a-month Access From AT&T program for qualifying low-income households.

BEK Communications

The company is doubling internet speeds for all customers at no additional charge, offering broadband service for free for four months to new customers with telehealth, education, and work-from-home needs.

C Spire

The company is offering free wireless data to K-12 students to access educational sites while they are home, and raising data limits and speeds for customers on many prepaid plans.

Charter Spectrum

The ISP will offer free Spectrum broadband and WiFi access for 60 days to households with students in kindergarten through 12th grade or college students who don't already have a Spectrum broadband subscription at any service level up to 100 Mbps. The installation fees will be waived for new student households. To enroll, call 844-488-8395.



For eligible low-income households without school-age children, Charter offers Spectrum Internet Assist, a low-cost broadband program delivering speeds of 30 Mbps. Spectrum doesn't have data caps or hidden fees.



Comcast

Comcast will offer new residential customers who qualify its $9.95-per-month Internet Essentials program free for 60 days. The company says it will boost its internet service speeds from 15/2 Mbps to 25/3 Mbps, which qualifies the service as high-speed broadband under FCC guidelines. Comcast will also suspend data caps for 60 days and refrain from disconnecting service or charging late fees for customers who contact the company regarding overdue payments.



Cox Internet

Starting Monday, new customers can receive a free month of internet service in the company's Connect2Compete plan, available to qualified low-income households for $9.95 a month. The company is also fast-tracking the application process to get families connected more quickly.

Cox will make its Complete Care support program free to all residential customers who have technical issues or need assistance installing features like education software or teleconferencing. The company is going to increase internet speeds from 25/3 Mbps to 50/3 Mbps for 60 days for the Starter, StraightUp Internet, and Connect2Compete packages, and speed up the implementation of a 50Mbps upgrade for users of Cox's Essentials service. That upgrade had been scheduled for later in the year.

Cox also has announced a $19.99 offer for new Starter internet customers with a temporary boost in download speeds to 50 Mbps. The company is also eliminating data usage overages to meet higher bandwidth demands. Customers with a 500 GB or Unlimited data usage add-on plan will receive credits on future bills.

GeoLinks

The provider is increasing broadband speeds for customers who are working remotely.

Hotwire Communications

Hotwire is offering free 100 Mbps broadband for two months to new customers that are students or live in low-income households.

Mediacom

The company is increasing broadband speeds for its Connect2Compete (low-income) customers from 10 Mbps to 25 Mbps. It's also offering broadband service for free for 60 days to new Connect2Compete customers as well as reducing prices for 60 Mbps broadband service for new customers, and suspending data usage limits through May 15.

Nelson Cable

Nelson is increasing broadband speeds for customers that need it for distance learning, telecommuting, or telemedicine, and offering 50 Mbps broadband service for free through June 30 to new customers in need.

Ninestar Connect

The company is increasing broadband speeds up to 1 Gbps through April 10.

Socket Telecom

Socket is increasing broadband speeds to 1 Gbps for 60 days for residential customers.

Sparklight

The company says it's making unlimited data available on all internet services and waiving late fees for the next 30 days. Customers can call to arrange payment deferrals, Sparklight adds.

Starry

The company is offering free 30 Mbps broadband service through the end of May for both new and existing customers who live in affordable housing.

T-Mobile

The company has no data cap for its home internet service. All current T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile wireless customers who have cell-phone plans with data will be granted unlimited smartphone data for the next 60 days (excluding roaming). They'll also receive an additional 20GB of mobile hot spot/tethering service for those two months. The company is working to provide Lifeline low-income customers with up to 5GB of free data per month over the next two months.

Verizon

The company recently increased speeds at no extra cost on some mid-tier FIOS services, bumping the 100 Mbps tier to 200 Mbps and the 200 Mbps tier to 300 Mbps. The company reports that it places no data caps on its home internet broadband services. Verizon also offers a low-cost Lifeline plan for qualified families.

Washington Broadband

Washington Broadband is increasing broadband speeds for student customers and offering broadband service for free to students who cannot afford it and small business owners who have had to close their businesses.

Correction: An earlier version of this article referred to Jessica Rosenworcel as the FCC commissioner. She is one of four commissioners who serve alongside the FCC chairman. This story has been updated to include additional discounts and speed increases collected by the FCC. The article was originally published on March 14, 2020.





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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.
Africa now has 25 countries reporting coronavirus cases compared with just nine infections a week ago.

Kenya unveiled a series of strict measures to curb coronavirus on Sunday, blocking entry to the country to all except citizens and residents and shutting schools as the number of confirmed cases rose to three.

Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe announced two people who sat next to the first patient on the aeroplane as she travelled back from the United States via London had tested positive.

As a result of this we are going to implement the following measures: Only Kenyan citizens and foreigners with valid resident permits will be allowed to come into the country provided they proceed on self-quarantine or in a government quarantine facility, President Uhuru Kenyatta said.

Kenyatta said this would come into effect in the next 48 hours and would remain in place for 14 days.

Every foreigner who has entered the country in the past 14 days has been ordered to self-quarantine.

In addition from Monday, all primary and secondary schools are to close, with boarding schools and university to shut by the end of the week. All companies have been urged to allow employees to work from home.

Kenyatta also said citizens should avoid congregating in places of worship and shopping malls.

I want to assure you that my administration is at the forefront of managing this pandemic, he said.





After being relatively spared from the global pandemic that has killed more than 6,000 and infected nearly 160,000, Africa now has 25 countries reporting cases compared with nine a week ago.

Pandemic

Ethiopia, which like Kenya reported its first case on Friday, on Sunday said three contacts of its initial patient had tested positive.

The three cases include two Japanese citizens aged 44 and 47, and the other one is Ethiopian aged 42. All of them work in Addis Ababa and had close contact with the first confirmed case, the health ministry said in a Facebook post.

Ethiopia, Africas second-most populous nation with more than 100 million people and a key hub into the continent, is one of few countries in the region to not implement measures such as blocking travellers to block the spread.

Mauritania, Rwanda, Seychelles and Central African Republic confirmed their first coronavirus cases on Saturday. Moving swiftly to contain its spread, Rwanda, Senegal, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Morocco also announced tougher control measures.

Three days after the World Health Organization (WHO) described the outbreak as a pandemic, there is concern among health specialists about the ability of some African nations to meet the logistical and financial challenges posed by the fast-spreading virus.

Borders are porous, and many nations have extremely poor health infrastructure. Some countries, like Somalia, are fighting rebellions while others, such as South Sudan, have high levels of malnutrition.

But governments are implementing preventive steps to try to keep the virus at bay.

The United Nations said as of Friday, 39 countries had closed schools worldwide, affecting more than 420 million children and young people.
The Niobrara had swallowed them. And so much more.

Every landowner is missing something along that river, Wrede said. Id venture to say all the way up and down the river, probably 50% of the population had some type of damage.

Boyd County recovered slowly, he said, but its still not back to normal. The bridge across the Niobrara south of Naper is still gone and could be for a few more years. The county couldnt restore a supply of drinking water until September, though a little more than two months after the flood, it tied its system into a trio of irrigation wells to put something in the pipes.

You couldnt drink it, Wrede said, but you could finally wash clothes and shower  though it did leave a sandy residue in the tub.

As winter turned to spring and the anniversary approached, the sheriff watched the river, and was relieved by its behavior.

Earlier, I was scared to death we were going to have another one, he said. I wouldn't want to go through it again.

But there was a small but unlikely blessing during the hardest days, when Wrede and other officers were solely focused on the flood.
People vote in the Michigan primary election at Chrysler Elementary School in Detroit, Michigan, on March 10, 2020.

Georgia will delay its presidential primary scheduled for next week over concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Democratic Committee confirmed to CNBC.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Saturday said he was declaring a public health state of emergency in response to a growing number of coronavirus cases. He also encouraged faith-based organizations and similar entities to consider canceling public events and services

The state will now hold its presidential primary on May 19 instead of March 24.

Georgia's decision follows a similar move by Louisiana, which announced Friday it will push back its presidential nominating contests planned for April 4 to June 20.

A spokesperson for the secretary of state's office in Georgia told CNBC Friday when asked whether it would push the primary back, the state shares "a lot of the same concerns Louisiana has."

No other states have pushed back their primaries yet. Some states have encouraged more voters to cast absentee or mail-in ballots to reduce the risk of the virus spreading.

On Tuesday, Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio, will hold primaries awarding a trove of pledged delegates.

Other states, including New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland, have primaries scheduled next month.

The delayed Georgian primary is the latest in a series of disruptions the pandemic caused in the 2020 election.

Leading Democratic candidates, Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, have stopped large, in-person campaign events to curb the coronavirus disease's transmission.

President Donald Trump has canceled some upcoming events, including the Republican Jewish Coalition's national meeting this week in Las Vegas.

Trump has taken a test for the coronavirus and the results came back negative. He took the test after the Brazillian president's press secretary tested positive for the disease after attending a gathering at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence.

-- CNBC's Jacob Pramuk and Brian Schwartz contributed to this report
Irans President Hassan Rouhani in a letter to several heads of foreign governments has asked their help in breaking U.S. sanctions, considering the countrys coronavirus epidemic.

In the letter Rouhani has underlined that Managing such a great crisis and danger is not possible by any single country alone especially if that country faces difficulties in access to international financial markets and to goods it needs.

According to foreign minister Javad Zarif, Rouhani in his letter has said that U.S. sanctions have created obstacles to the treatment of coronavirus patients. In a tweet about the Rouhani letter, Zarif says, Viruses recognize no politics or geography. Nor should we.

Iranian media also quote Zarif's tweet about Rouhani's letter and there is no information which countries were the recipients of the appeal.

Top Iranian officials have been raising the issue of U.S. sanctions in relation with the deadly epidemic that has engulfed the country killing hundreds.

U.S. President Donald Trump has offered several times to assist Iran against the disease, but Tehran has responded that these are simply public relations gestures and if the United States is serious, it should lift its economic sanctions.

The State Department has also offered American assistance through official Swiss diplomatic channels.

Some Democratic U.S. politicians, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren have asked for suspension of sanctions because of the epidemic.

As Iranian leaders demand the lifting of American sanctions, their proxies in Iraq again launched two attacks on military bases in Iraq hosting U.S. and coalition troops in recent days. The United States retaliated against the first attack, hitting five ammunition depots used by Kataib Hezbollah group in Iraq.
Ministers have launched a crackdown on Google, Facebook and Amazon to curb the US technology giants' dominance online.

Official documents reveal that a new Digital Markets Taskforce has been set up and will spend the next six months drawing up a list of measures to boost competition.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that the Government wants to implement all of the recommendations made by Harvard economist Jason Furman, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, in a review he carried out last year.

Dominance: Amazon boss Jeff Bezos with girlfriend Lauren Sanchez

That could see America's tech giants forced to follow a new code of conduct that stops them stifling competition in the UK.

The rules will be designed to prevent powerful US firms from distorting the digital advertising market by imposing terms which result in higher prices being passed on to consumers.

The Furman Review last year recommended that big internet firms reveal sensitive data about their business operations to help their rivals grow larger and provide stiffer competition.

They could also be blocked from swallowing up small British firms, with the UK competition watchdog in line to be handed new powers to intervene in takeover attempts.

The Furman Review revealed that big American internet companies had made 400 acquisitions over the course of a decade.

This 'killer' strategy of buying up smaller businesses that challenged their dominance had ended up extinguishing competition, the review concluded.

It identified five companies  Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft  which effectively dominated their respective digital markets.

In a document published quietly online last week as Chancellor Rishi Sunak read out his Budget speech, the Government said 'timely action' was needed because the digital markets were 'fast-moving' and failure to act would lead to 'consumers ultimately suffering'.

The new taskforce will comprise a crack team of experts from several regulators including the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA), internet watchdog Ofcom and the Information Commissioner's Office.

The team will be part of the CMA, which will appoint one of its 'senior officials' to run the project.

After the taskforce reports back in September, the Government will set out details of how laws could be introduced or changed.

The document published last week added: 'The Government will make final decisions on what proposals to take forward.

'This includes where any additional functions and associated powers to manage market power and to promote competition in digital platform markets should ultimately sit.'

Last night, company bosses welcomed the crackdown.

Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the BRIT Awards and record industry trade body the British Phonographic Industry, said: 'The Government's decision to accept all of the Furman Review recommendations for unlocking competition in digital markets could also ensure that platforms are held more accountable, which we welcome.'

The new crackdown is separate to an ongoing CMA market study into the digital giants.

The Mail on Sunday last week revealed that senior figures at the competition watchdog were still pushing for a full-blown probe into Google and Facebook's stranglehold of the digital advertising market.

If the CMA, which is led by former Tory MP Lord Tyrie, goes ahead with the full probe, it might even see Google and Facebook broken up.

The CMA is due to publish its final report by July 2.
Second Patient in Georgia May Recover From COVID-19 - GeorgianJournal
A Wisconsin man who plowed a pickup truck into a troop of Girl Scouts who were picking up trash on the side of a road, killing three girls and one mother, was sentenced this week to 54 years in prison.

The man, Colten Treu, 23, had inhaled twice from an aerosol can used to clean keyboards just before he drove off a highway in Chippewa County on Nov. 3, 2018, striking the group of five adults and seven children who were wearing brightly colored green vests, the authorities said.

Mr. Treu was with a passenger, John Stender, who was also high on an inhalant and had grabbed the wheel after he noticed that Mr. Treu looked to be out of it and was crossing the centerline, Wade C. Newell, the Chippewa County district attorney, said on Saturday.

Mr. Treu came to and grabbed the steering wheel back as his truck headed toward a ditch where the group was picking up trash, Mr. Newell said.
Firefighters prepare their fogging machines to disinfect a street against the new coronavirus as people watch, in western Tehran, Iran, on March 13, 2020. (Vahid Salemi/AP Photo)

Iran Reports 113 New Coronavirus Deaths as Concerns Mount

TEHRAN, IranIrans official leading its response to the new coronavirus acknowledged Sunday the pandemic could overwhelm health facilities in his country, which is battling the worst outbreak in the Mideast. Iran also reported 113 new deaths from the virus, bringing its death toll to 724.

Muslim authorities, meanwhile, announced that the Al-Aqsa mosque in east Jerusalem, the third most significant site in Islam, would be closed indefinitely due to concerns about the outbreak, with prayers continuing to be held on the sprawling esplanade outside.

Similar measures have been taken at the nearby Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray, where outdoor prayers continue but only 10 people at a time are permitted in enclosed areas, in keeping with measures taken by the Israeli government.

Iran is battling one of the worst outbreaks outside China. The 113 new deaths reported on Sunday by the Health Ministry were the first time a daily reported death toll exceeded 100. The fatalities brought the countrys death toll to 724 so far, amid nearly 14,000 confirmed cases. The real number of infections could be even higher, as questions have been raised about the governments transparency.

If the trend continues, there will not be enough capacity, Ali Reza Zali, who is leading the campaign against the outbreak, was quoted as saying earlier by the state-run IRNA news agency.

Iran is believed to have around 110,000 hospital beds, including 30,000 in the capital, Tehran. Authorities have pledged to set up mobile clinics as needed.

Zali also acknowledged that many of those who have died from the COVID-19 illness caused by the virus were otherwise healthy, a rare admission by local authorities that the virus does not only prey on the sick and elderly.

Health Ministry figures show that while 55 percent of fatalities were in their 60s, some 15 percent were younger than 40.

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 in a matter of weeks.

Firefighters disinfect a street against the new coronavirus, in western Tehran, Iran, on March 13, 2020. (Vahid Salemi/AP Photo)

In Iran, the virus has infected a number of senior officials, including the senior vice president, Cabinet ministers, members of parliament, Revolutionary Guard members and Health Ministry officials.

Authorities have nevertheless been slow to adopt measures taken by other hard-hit countries. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday ruled out a general quarantine and said the government was working to keep the borders open.

Dalia Samhouri, a senior regional official with the World Health Organization, said both Iran and Egypt, two of the most populous countries in the Middle East, were likely underreporting cases because of the nature of the virus, which can be spread by individuals who show no visible symptoms. Egypt has reported 110 cases, including two fatalities.

We can easily say that the current figures are an underestimation of the actual figures, she said.

Countries across the Middle East have imposed sweeping travel restrictions, cancelled public events and in some cases called on non-essential businesses to close for the coming weeks. Many have temporarily closed schools and universities.

In the skyscraper-studded city of Dubai, a global business and travel hub in the United Arab Emirates, authorities announced on Sunday that all movie theaters, arcades and gyms would be closed through the end of the month.

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, also shut down its amusement parks and museums through the end of the month, including Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Saudi Arabias state carrier, Saudia, announced Sunday it would halt all international flights for two weeks while continuing to fly domestic routes.

Al-Aqsa is the latest in a series of religious sites where access has been halted or strictly limited. Saudi Arabia has halted the umrah pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina and could be forced to limit or cancel the much larger haj later this year. On Sunday, it announced the temporary closure of all mosques and called off Friday prayers.

Sheikh Omar Kiswani, the director of the Al-Aqsa mosque, said Sunday that the closure of the mosque and other buildings on the compound, including the iconic golden Dome of the Rock, would continue indefinitely.

The religious site is also the holiest in Judaism because it was the location of the two Jewish temples in antiquity.

Israel imposed sweeping travel and quarantine measures more than a week ago but has seen its number of confirmed cases double in recent days, to around 200. On Saturday, the government said restaurants, malls, movies, gyms and daycare centers would close.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus trial on serious corruption charges, which was supposed to begin this week, was postponed for two months due to restrictions on public gatherings.

Palestinian officials said President Mahmoud Abbas, who is 85 years old and has age-related health issues, is no longer receiving any guests as a precaution, and is only meeting with a couple of very close aides. Most of his staff have been asked to work from home.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the measures with the media.

The Palestinian Authority has reported 38 coronavirus cases in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, nearly all connected to an outbreak in the town of Bethlehem, where Jesus is believed to have been born. Israel and the Palestinians have largely sealed the town off.

By Nasser Karimi and Joseph Krauss
A Louisiana man has been sentenced to 46 years in prison following the 2019 murder of a Beaumont woman.

Dion Lenoire, 37, was found guilty Friday of murder, according to information from the District Attorneys Office.
Washington, Mar 14 (UNI) Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is stepping down from its board of directors in order to focus more on his philanthropic work, the company announced.

"Microsoft Corp announced that co-founder and technology advisor Bill Gates stepped down from the companys Board of Directors to dedicate more time to his philanthropic priorities including global health, development, education and his increasing engagement in tackling climate change," Microsoft said in a statement on Friday.

The statement said Gates, 64, will continue to be advisor for Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and other officials with the company.

Announcing his latest move, Mr Gates said the company would "always be an important part of my life's work" and he would continue to be engaged with its leadership, BBC reported.

"I am looking forward to this next phase as an opportunity to maintain the friendships and partnerships that have meant the most to me, continue to contribute to two companies of which I am incredibly proud, and effectively prioritise my commitment to addressing some of the world's toughest challenges, " Gates said.

In 2008, Gates began to focus on his philanthropic organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, when he transitioned out of his day-to-day role at Microsoft.

The couple were named the most generous philanthropists in the US in 2018 by the The Chronicle of Philanthropy, after giving 4.8bn dollar to their foundation the previous year.

Now the world's second-richest person worth 103.6 billion dollar, 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.

UNI XC AVK 0820
As weary travelers returned to the U.S. amid coronavirus-related travel restrictions, they were greeted with packed, hours-long waits for required medical screenings at airports.

Posts on social media indicated passengers at Chicago's O'Hare International Airports waited upwards of four hours in winding lines, eliciting criticism from elected Illinois officials.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker tweeted at President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, noting that the customs process is under federal jurisdiction and demanding they take action to address the crowds. His concerns were echoed on Twitter by his fellow Democrats, Illinois Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth.

"This is unacceptable, counterproductive and exactly the opposite of what we need to do to prevent #COVID19," Duckworth tweeted. "The Trump Administration must send more support to O'Hare immediately."

While U.S. citizens, green card holders and some others are allowed to return home, travelers from Europe are being funneled to one of 13 U.S. airports where theyre subject to health screenings and quarantine orders.

Those airports include Newark Liberty International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. As of early Sunday morning, there were no delays reported getting through Customs at either airport.

Some Uber drivers, though, have said they will not pick up passengers at Newark Liberty.

This is the scene at OHare airport. The traveler who took the photo said its a 6-hour wait for bags then on to customs for 2-4 more of waiting in shoulder-to-shoulder crowds. Police are handing out water and disinfectant wipes. @fly2ohare #ord #coronavirus #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/UTx9E0nj1s  Brooke Geiger McDonald (@BrookeGMcDonald) March 15, 2020

Acknowledging the long lines at those airports in tweets posted just after midnight, the Department of Homeland Security's acting secretary said the screenings take about a minute per passenger.

"Right now we are working to add additional screening capacity and working with the airlines to expedite the process," Chad Wolf tweeted. "I understand this is very stressful. In these unprecedented times, we ask for your patience."

Coronavirus screening at U.S. Airports causes 7-Hour wait in crowded lines. https://t.co/YH1BgiNbco pic.twitter.com/I3XWSg04Mp  Breaking Aviation News (@breakingavnews) March 15, 2020

The dense crowds at the selected airports  among the busiest across the country  formed even as public health officials call for "social distancing" to stem the spread of the virus.

"I'm less concerned about having to stand here for the amount of time that I am, and more concerned about where the people are traveling from that are around me and what they may or may not have been exposed to," Dorothy Lowe told WFAA-TV at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, where some waits stretched to three hours.

The airport's Twitter account responded to passengers who raised concerns about the cramped conditions, saying its customer experience team was taking "extra precautions" and that hand sanitizer was available in all terminals. Meanwhile, O'Hare and Chicago police offered queuers bottled water and snacks, according to the airport's Twitter account.

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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.

Travelers from restricted countries in Europe, China and Iran are being advised to self-quarantine for 14 days after reaching their final destination in the U.S.

"If you don't have to travel, I wouldn't do it," Trump said.

The worldwide outbreak has sickened more than 156,000 people and left more than 5,800 dead, with thousands of new cases confirmed each day. The death toll in the United States climbed to 57, while infections neared 3,000.

Hospitals across the U.S. are working to expand bed capacity and staffing to keep from becoming overwhelmed as the caseload continues to mount.

"We have not reached our peak," said Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health. "We will see more cases, and we will see more suffering and death."

Millions of Americans braced for the week ahead with no school for their children for many days to come, no clue how to effectively do their jobs without child care, and a growing sense of dread about how to stay safe and sane amid the relentless spread of the coronavirus.

Tens of millions of students nationwide have been sent home from school amid a wave of closings that include all of Ohio, Maryland, Oregon, Washington state, Florida and Illinois along with big-city districts like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Some schools announced they will close for three weeks, others for up to six.

MORE: Keeping up with coronavirus in N.J.: First, dont panic. Our newsletter might help.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in a video conference with leaders and representatives from SAARC nations on Sunday (March 15, 2020) to come up with a strategy to fight the coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 5,000 people worldwide.

PM Modi, who led the conference, began his address by cautioning that despite less number of coronavirus cases from the South Asian region "we need to remain vigilant".

He said "Prepare, but don't panic" has been India's guiding mantra in dealing with coronavirus outbreak.

"We started screening people entering India from mid-January itself, while gradually increasing restrictions on travel," Modi said, adding "A step-by-step approach helped avoid panic and India made special efforts to reach out to vulnerable groups." According to officials, the total number of passengers screened at the airport so far is 12,29,363.

Modi mentioned India's response to call of help by its citizens abroad and that nearly 1,400 Indians have been evacuated from different coronavirus-hit nations along with rescuing some citizens of neighbouring countries as well.

In attendance for the conference were Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza.

On Friday, Modi had called on the SAARC nations for a formulation of a joint strategy to fight coronavirus which was backed by all the member nations.

In India, so far the number of positive cases of coronavirus is at 107, which includes 17 foreign nationals. Among these, nine have been cured and two have died, as per figures provided by the Health Ministry on Sunday (March 15).

While around the world, at least 1,45,374 cases of coronavirus have been reported and more than 5,400 people have lost their lives due to the virus.

Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared coronavirus a global pandemic.
PARIS  As of this writing, there have been 1,412 confirmed cases of the coronavirus here in France, and 30 people have died from it. In a country where its customary to spend the first several minutes of each workday air-kissing the cheeks of your colleagues, its a miracle this virus hasnt KOd even more people. One reason it hasnt could be a long-festering lack of trust in the French government to manage any situation, which has led to increased self-reliance.

According to a poll taken here last year by the newspaper La Tribune, 88 percent of the French admitted they dont trust political parties, and 76 percent expressed a lack of confidence in their elected federal representatives.

There have been Yellow Vest protests in France nearly every weekend since October 2018, with average taxpaying citizens putting their foot down on yet another blatant government cash grab  in this case, a carbon tax on auto fuel. The governments response? Violence.

French police have occasionally fired rubber bullets at Yellow Vest protesters. The prestigious medical journal The Lancet documented 22 open-globe eye injuries and 18 cases of ocular bruising in France caused by so-called less lethal weapons in 2018 and 2019, including two cases of brain damage. The Lancelet concluded that the increase in severe, blinding, traumatic eye injury in France in the past 10 months could be related to use of guns for crowd control.

Were not talking about Iran or China here, but France  a country that baked human rights into its constitution. No one at the U.S. State Department has criticized the French governments use of rubber bullets and sting ball grenades against anti-taxation protesters, some of whom have been disfigured.

While the rest of the world has mostly ignored the agitation in the French streets, these protests were quietly chiseling a new notion into the minds of French citizens, chipping away at the idea that government will protect them. Not only that, it might also kick your ass (or damage your eyes).

Enter the coronavirus.

The French government has requisitioned all of the protective face masks for frontline personnel. Meanwhile, everyone else is left to get by with useless but annoyingly repetitive coronavirus announcements in the subway system (in case youve just emerged from under a rock and stepped straight onto a subway train). The government has also plastered posters on public property explaining what to do if you experience coronavirus symptoms. Its reminiscent of the posters that went up in the wake of major terror attacks on French soil a few years ago, illustrating the proper response. The posters suggested hiding, and if that didnt work, then fleeing.

The French arent waiting around for the government to do the thinking for them this time. Many citizens no longer trust the government to place their interests above globalist ideology. For example, many French have long figured that the border with neighboring Italy would never be closed, no matter how much the virus spread, because it would suggest that there are actual borders within the European Union.

Its a contrast to the response in Russia, whose leadership is often criticized in the West for politically unpopular positions that go against progressive ideology. Russia didnt hesitate to throw up barriers, closing its border with coronavirus hotbed China in late January, banning high-risk flights, maintaining strict screening at border checkpoints and placing Russian expats evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan in quarantine for three weeks  in Siberia. The result: 17 reported coronavirus cases as of March 10 despite a reported total of 51,000 administered tests.

Which governments would you most trust to competently manage this epidemic  those that dont care about how theyre perceived politically, or those for whom perception counts above all else?

At the moment, theres no more panic (or emptiness) in the streets of Paris than there is when theres a rare snow or ice storm  events for which the French government is always unprepared. A few gym patrons and public transit riders are donning latex gloves these days. The French have dialed back on the cheek-kiss greetings, much to the delight of this native North American.

Madonna concerts and the annual Paris half-marathon have been canceled. Other events of more than 5,000 people have been called off or postponed, and schools have been closed in some areas. The French government has said that it may take more social distancing measures if the virus continues to spread, if only to prevent the health care system from being overwhelmed. But no one here seems to be waiting around for the state to save them. The French are saving themselves.

Rachel Marsden is a columnist, political strategist and host of an independently produced French-language program that airs on Sputnik France. Her website can be found at www.rachelmarsden.com.
ALBANY  In the midst of a coronavirus pandemic, the message from government officials could not be clearer: This is not a time to play politics.

But, of course, the virus has spread rapidly in the midst of a very political time: It is a presidential election year, with New Yorks primary scheduled for April 28. The entire state Legislature is up for election, as is the U.S. House of Representatives  and that primary is scheduled for June 23. Candidates are about two weeks into their petitioning period, relying on in-person interactions to gather hundreds of signatures to get their names on the ballot.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo knew that was, perhaps, not the smartest idea  the state is battling an invisible, highly contagious and unprecedented threat known as COVID-19. And so, on Saturday afternoon, he issued an executive order slashing the number of signatures required to qualify for the ballot to 30 percent of the statutory threshold and prohibited candidates from petitioning after Tuesday, a full two weeks ahead of schedule.

"This will ensure our electoral process goes on while safeguarding public health," Cuomo tweeted just hours after briefing the press on the first confirmed COVID-19 death in the state.

The response in New York mirrors that of the fallout in the national political world: canceled fundraisers and rallies, debates without audiences, the closure of the U.S. Capitol to the public. The state Capitol in Albany will close to visitors effective Sunday after two Assembly members were diagnosed with the illness.

Cuomo's executive order came in the wake of mounting pressure from legislators and candidates who feared spreading the illness or putting their volunteers in danger as they collected signatures. Some had suspended petitioning of their own volition, including several Albany-area congressional candidates, and others canceled scheduled fundraisers and rallies while pledging only to collect the minimum number of signatures.

"Its a big relief for those of us who were concerned that we have to choose between running for re-election and putting peoples health in jeopardy," said Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Westchester County, whose district includes one of the areas most deeply affected by the pandemic. She had been "looking at" legislation to lessen the signature requirement last week.

Petitioning is a "contact sport," said state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, D-Brooklyn and the chair of the Senate elections committee, and it would have been counterproductive to encourage social distancing while also mandating petition gathering. Cuomo told reporters Saturday evening that all signatures collected after March 17 will be void.

"Were facing an unprecedented public health crisis," Myrie said. "It takes extraordinary circumstances for us to make changes to the election law, certainly while were in the middle of the process, but were facing an extraordinary circumstance."

On Saturday, both U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, and her Democratic opponent Tedra Cobb, suspended petitioning. Both said they have reached and exceeded the original signature requirement  1,250 names  ahead of Cuomo's announcement. Cobb on Thursday had also directed all at-risk volunteers to stop petitioning and canceled all public events until further notice. She closed her Canton office and is ordering staff to work remotely.

As of Friday, U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, and his Republican opponent Liz Joy had also instituted dramatic changes to their campaign schedules.

The law requires signatures to be collected by April 2 to gain access to the ballot, Tonko campaign spokesman Sean Magers said late last week. We are doing the minimum required by the law to qualify for the election, but campaigning beyond that has been halted.

Joy said that while she continues petitioning, volunteers are regularly sanitizing their hands, clipboards and pens. She has stopped all campaign events, including a large fundraiser scheduled for March 29.

We are canceling everything until April 1st at least," Joy said, noting she's taking "every precaution" because her husband is a cardiologist who sometimes works in the emergency room at Ellis Medicine in Schenectady.

It remains to be seen whether the updated requirements will bar some candidates from getting their names on the ballot.

But petitioning has not been the only victim of the new virus. Two state Senate Democratic fundraisers were scheduled for this week; both have now been postponed, according to an Albany insider familiar with the plans. (Cuomo late last week barred all events featuring more than 500 people, and all smaller events must be held at facilities that fill, at most, to half capacity.)

Still, the broader impact of the coronavirus on campaigns and elections is growing larger by the day. Cuomo's Saturday executive order permits absentee voting in the March 24 election for Queens borough president; voters can register for absentee ballots until March 23. State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, D-Bronx, last week introduced legislation to allow absentee ballots in the event of a public health crisis.

On Friday, state Sen. James Skoufis, D-Orange County, announced legislation that would change New York's presidential primary from April 28 to June 23. A handful of special elections  including those for a Buffalo-area congressional seat and Syracuse state Senate seat  are also scheduled for April.

John Conklin, a spokesman for the state Board of Elections, said the body has issued guidance about appropriate practices for poll workers to protect themselves and the public and measures to properly clean voting machines and electronic poll ballots. They have also issued health-related guidance to county boards of elections, he said.

Several Capital Region villages are still planning elections on Wednesday unless they hear otherwise, including Corinth where there is a contested mayoral race.

Mayor Dennis Morreale, who is not seeking re-election, said the voting areas in the Village Hall continue to be continually sanitized. Individual pens for marking ballots are being provided to voters that they can take home. "We've taken every precaution. We're prepared," he said. Voting is noon to 9 p.m. Other villages with polling scheduled include Colonie and Castleton-on-Hudson.

At the highest levels of U.S. government, a Sunday Democratic presidential primary debate between former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was moved to Washington D.C, from Phoenix, Ariz., and will no longer have a live audience.

Sanders and Biden have canceled campaign rallies and other get-out-the-vote events ahead of the primaries this week in Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio. President Donald Trump also called off a handful of scheduled campaign events in Nevada; he has another rally planned for March 25 in Tampa, Fla., but said it probably won't happen "because people will say its better to not do."

"We need a little separation until such time as this goes away," Trump said Thursday. "It's going to go away. It's going to go away."

Staff writers Emilie Munson and Wendy Liberatore contributed to this article.
Bhopal, March 15 : With political turbulence rocking Madhya Pradesh, no mention of the floor test in the list of business for the Assembly's first day of the Budget session on Monday made the BJP see red and its leaders flocked to the Raj Bhavan to take up the matter with the Governor.

As per the list of business, Monday will see Governor Lalji Tandon's address to the house.

The Governor had, on late Saturday, written to Chief Minister Kamal Nath, asking him to prove his majority in the house. After that, the BJP had told him that the electronic voting system in the house was not functioning and the Governor, in another letter on Sunday, told Kamal Nath that if the electronic system was not working, then the members vote by raising their hands.

While the Governor had specified a trust vote, the Assembly Secretariat made no mention of it in the list of business. Consequently, Leader of Opposition Gopal Bhargava and BJP Chief Whip Narrotam Mishra met the Governor.

After the meeting, Bhargava told reporters that in absence of mention of the trust vote was a violation of the Governor's directive and hence, they had met him to submit a memorandum on the issue.
TALLINN, March 15 (Reuters) - Estonia will stop foreign traveller from entering the country from March 17, in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the country's government said in a statement on Sunday.

Estonians and foreigners whose family member lives in Estonia will be able to enter the country, and everyone will be allowed to exit after the deadline, it said.

Estonia has confirmed 115 cases of coronavirus, with no deaths. (Reporting by Tarmo VirkI Editing by Alistair Bell)
On March 11th 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a Pandemic. The Director General remarks are sobering but measured.

The Intensive Care Society of Ireland (ICSI), Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine of Ireland (JFICMI) and the Irish Association of Critical Care Nursing (IACCN) represent healthcare professionals who provide critical care in Ireland.

The WHOs advice is four-pronged:

Prepare and be ready

Detect, prevent and treat

Reduce transmission

Innovate and relearn

Our public health colleagues with government and the Health Service Executive (HSE) are working tirelessly on detection, contact tracing and isolation of cases.

The advice on the HSE and the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HSPC) websites are excellent. https://www.hse.ie/eng/ https://www.hpsc.ie/

Hospitals are currently involved in planning for a surge in demand. We know that most people who get this virus remain well, but a significant number require hospitalisation and critical care.

We treat seriously ill people every year with viral illnesses and the care for people with COVID-19 will be based on that experience and knowledge. We are learning from our colleagues abroad about this disease and their experience and knowledge will assist us.

The longstanding significant deficit in Critical Care capacity in Ireland is well documented. The ICSI, JFICMI and the IACCN are engaging in surge planning with the assistance of the Critical Care Programme and the HSE.

If we slow the spread of the virus the surge of seriously ill people can be reduced and will potentially allow our hospitals to cope better. We need the people of Ireland to work together. Please follow the advice on handwashing, cough etiquette and social distancing. We support the government decision made today on school closures, limits on mass gatherings and working from home. In the interim, we will continue to prepare our emergency plans.

Intensive care doctors, nurses and allied health partners have years of experience of managing difficult ethical decisions with patients and their families. We expect that there will be significant challenges in the coming weeks in terms of demand for our 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. 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. Although we frequently change the direction of care from intensive care to palliative care, we never stop caring for patients especially at the end of life.

Health care workers in the front line need to be protected from this disease while caring for patients. We are currently facing a significant challenge to ensure our doctors and nurses have access to adequate supplies of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Masks and other protective equipment are not recommended in the community unless recommended by a health care professional. If the equipment is directed away from hospital staff this will inevitably limit our ability to assist our patients.

The people of Italy and China have taught us many lessons. We need to learn from their experience. Following the advice of the HSE and the WHO will save lives.

Dr Catherine Motherway, President ICSI

Dr John Bates, Dean JFICMI

Ms Serena OBrien, Chairperson IACCN
TORONTO, March 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Fraser Institutes Report Card on Ontarios Elementary Schools is out today.



This years Report Cardthe go-to source for measuring academic performanceranks more than 3,000 anglophone and francophone public and Catholic schools (and a small number of independent schools) based on nine academic indicators from results of annual provincewide reading, writing and math tests.

The Report Card is a valuable tool for parents both as a source of objective data that they use when they are choosing a school for their children, and also as an annual audit that shows whether their childs school is improving or falling behind, said Peter Cowley, a senior fellow with the Fraser Institutes School Performance Studies.

The annual report card is also a valuable resource for educators because it allows them to easily identify successful schools across the provinceserving similar students and communitiesthat can serve as an example to follow.

For example, North Cavan Public School near Peterborough, where more than 1-in-4 students (28.6 per cent) have special needs, improved its overall rating from 5.9 out of 10 in 2016 to 9.0 out of 10 last year.

Elsewhere in the province, Holy Rosary Catholic School in Belleville (which has 40.7 per cent special needs students) improved its overall rating from 1.2 out of 10 in 2016 to 4.0 last year. In Northern Ontario, Valley Central Public School in Slate River (just outside Thunder Bay) improved from 3.7 in 2016 to 8.0 last year.

And Henderson Avenue Public School in Thornhill improved its rating from 7.3 in 2016 to 9.5 last year, despite more than half of its student body56.6 per centbeing English Second Language (ESL) students.

All too often, principals and teachers try to excuse a schools poor overall performance by blaming the characteristics of its students or the communities they serve, but the Report Card shows that any school, no matter where its located or what challenges its students face, can succeed, Cowley said.

For the complete results on all ranked schools, and to easily compare the performance of different schools, visit www.compareschoolrankings.org .

MEDIA CONTACT:

Peter Cowley, Senior Fellow

Fraser Institute

Cell: (604) 789-0475

E-mail: peter.cowley@fraserinstitute.org

Bryn Weese, Associate Director, Communications

Fraser Institute

Cell: (604) 250-8076

Office: (604) 688-0221 Ext. 589

E-mail: bryn.weese@fraserinstitute.org

Follow the Fraser Institute on Twitter | Like us on Facebook
To contain the spread of deadly coronavirus, the government has so far prevented more than 25,000 crew and passengers on board over 700 ships from disembarking on Indian shores, a Shipping Ministry official said.

Apart from restricting cargo handling, the government had last week prohibited entry of any international cruise ship, crew or passengers with a travel history to coronavirus-hit countries post February 1, 2020 to its major ports till March 31.

"Till March 13, a total of 25,504 crew and passengers on board 703 vessels arrived on Indian shores from China or travel history to impacted countries. They have not been allowed to disembark as a precautionary measure to contain any possible spread of the virus. They were allowed to anchor at designated places, but no shore passes were issued to such crew and passengers post January 26," the official told PTI.

As per the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO), all passengers and crew aboard the vessels are being scanned, and all necessary facilities are being extended to them, the official said.

All required protocols are being followed and help is being provided in case of fever or sickness, the official added.

India has 12 major ports -- Deendayal (erstwhile Kandla), Mumbai, JNPT, Marmugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar (earlier Ennore), V O Chidambarnar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia) -- which handled 699.04 MT of cargo during 2018-19.

There are about 200 non-major ports under the control of states.

The government had last month directed all 12 major ports to immediately put in place screening, detection and quarantine system for disembarking seafarers and cruise passengers as a preventive measure against the coronavirus outbreak.

Directions had also been issued to ports to procure N-95 masks as well as thermal scanners to screen passengers, besides obtaining self-declaration from arriving crew/passengers.

To prevent the spread of the deadly virus, the Ministry of Shipping had said it will allow only such international cruise ships which had intimated their call to ports by January 1, 2020.

"Only those international cruise ships which had planned and intimated their call to an Indian Port not later than 1st January, 2020 will be allowed to call on such port," it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With three COVID-19 cases confirmed in the city, the district administration has called for partial shut down in the city. A total of 29 people are in isolation wards in the district. A total of 307 people are now home- quarantined, making the total number of people under observation 336. A total of 87 new cases are under observation from Saturday. Entry to beaches, other crowded places, have also been stopped.

In all, 87 samples have been sent for testing. Sample collection centres are working round the clock. But the six hour needed for the test is a crucial factor in the fight against the dreaded virus. District Collector K Gopalakrishnan told reporters here on Saturday that, among the 69 people who came in the flight with the UK returnee (who tested positive), 30 are high-risk contacts, along with the seven members of his family residing in Pettah.

Among the people who arrived in the flight with confirmed cases, some are from other districts and Tamil Nadu. We are in touch with the respective medical officers with the information, said the collector.

We are still trying to figure out the route map of the Italian citizen who stayed in Varkala for two weeks.The language barrier is an issue but we will get clarity soon. We are now collecting samples in 10 different centres, including the district taluk hospital in Neyyattinkara, Nedumangad, Peroorkada and Fort. The load on hospitals is huge and if people panic and start rushing in, it might delay the treatment of affected persons, he added.

Curbs imposed on marriage halls

TPuram: Nedumangad tahsildar M K Anilkumar has issued orders restricting to 50 the maximum number of people who can attend marriages and similar functions in auditoriums under Nedumangad taluk. Ban has been imposed on serving food at marriage halls. Criminal proceedings will be initiated against marriage hall owners who do not comply with the order, the tahsildar said.
Jerusalem, March 15 : The opening of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus trial in three corruption cases has been delayed by over two months due to new restrictions on the countrys courts as part of the measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic, the Jerusalem District Court announced on Sunday.

The move comes just two days before the scheduled March 17 hearing, which according to the Courts Administration of Israel has now been postponed until May 24, reports The Times of Israel.

"In light of developments regarding the spread of the coronavirus, and taking into account the latest guidelines given and the declaration of a state of emergency in the courts, we have decided to cancel the scheduled hearing," the three judges presiding over the case wrote in their announcement.

Netanyahu faces seven counts of three criminal charges.

He has however, denied the charges and claims he was a victim of an attempted "political coup" involving the opposition, media, police and state prosecutors.

Netanyahu in November 2019 became Israel's first sitting prime minister with charges against him. The charges were only filed officially in January.

On Saturday night, Justice Minister Amir Ohana declared a 24-hour "state of emergency" in Israel's court system, "as part of the national effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus".

The decision means that courts can only sit for urgent hearings on arrest and remand orders, administrative detention orders, offences under legislation "relating to the special emergency" and certain interim relief in civil matters.

The Times of Israel quoted a statement from Ohana's office which said the decision was made based on Health Ministry recommendations and that "there is a real fear of serious harm to public health" if the court system continued as normal.

The number of Israelis diagnosed with COVID-19 rose to 200 Sunday morning.

The Health Ministry said two of the sick remained in serious condition, with 11 in moderate condition and the rest suffering light symptoms only.

Meanwhile, nearly 40,000 Israelis were in home quarantine for fear of exposure to the virus, including nearly 1,000 doctors, more than 600 nurses, 170 paramedics, and 80 pharmacists, according to Health Ministry figures.

Health officials have conducted over 6,800 coronavirus tests nationwide so far.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New Delhi, March 15 : While it makes perfect sense for IT employees to work from remote locations via video conferencing and collaboration tools seamlessly - especially in the case of tech giants like Google or Microsoft -- workers from the non-IT companies and small and medium enterprises (SMBs) are the worst-hit in India as most of them have little or no clue about how these messaging and collaboration tools work amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Small companies -- from corporate to education verticals -- are scrambling to get their act together as new coronavirus threat has reached their premises, prompting them to send employees home who have age-old laptops, poor network and connectivity with no UPS backups and little knowledge about how to handle group chat and collaboration software like Zoom, Google Hangouts Meet, Microsoft Teams and Flock etc.

Instead of halting operations, however, businesses can choose to shift towards remote working methods with teaching non-IT staff on how to use the latest digital software to connect and work, say industry experts.

The training will take some time and may hamper productivity in the short run but is a win-win situation for the non-tech companies in the long run, in case any such global emergency arises in the future.

According to a latest report by Gartner, 54 per cent of HR leaders have cited that poor technology and/or infrastructure for remote working is the biggest barrier to effective remote working.

Sandy Shen, Senior Director Analyst, Gartner, says that with COVID-19 disrupting the business landscape, CIOs should relook at the digital fulfillment of market demand.

"The value of digital channels, products and operations is immediately obvious to companies everywhere right now. This is a wake-up call for organisations that have placed too much focus on daily operational needs at the expense of investing in digital business and long-term resilience," warned Shen.

Businesses that can shift technology capacity and investments to digital platforms will mitigate the impact of the outbreak and keep their companies running smoothly now, and over the long term.

"Videoconferencing, messaging, collaboration tools and document sharing are just a few examples of technologies that facilitate remote work. Additional bandwidth and network capacity may also be needed, given the increasing number of users and volume of communications," informed Shen.

The IT industry's apex body Nasscom has asked the government to relax norms for a month to allow work-from-home for technology and back-office employees as a measure to deal with the spread of Covid-19 in India.

Networking giant Cisco said that it has seen "significant growth" in the usage of its web conferencing and video-conferencing service Webex in India.

According to Muneer Ahmad, Business Head, ViewSonic India, due to COVID-19 pandemic, the corporate and educational sector is severely getting affected in the country.

"ViewSonic IFP has a cloud-based software which help teachers and corporates to connect through video conferencing to multiple people at the same time and can split the screen into six screens. It can also connect with various tools like Skype, Cisco WebEx, Zoom, Google Hangouts and GoToMeeting," Ahmad told IANS.

Co-working sector has also taken a hit and the industry is looking at several measures to tackle it -- from ensuring supply of juices rich in Vitamin C to supply of disinfectants and giving work from home facilities.

"The scheduled visits of the clients at our co-working offices have been postponed. Few of our clients have cancelled their outstation meetings and have now started audio/video conferencing for virtual meetings," said Nakul Mathur, MD, Avanta India.

According to reports, India has approximately 1,000 co-working locations (as of September 2019) and is the second-largest market for the co-working industry after China.

As India's first licensed B2B Virtual Network Operator, CloudConnect Communications offers a collaborative platform that allows companies to overcome the COVID-19 threat while maintaining seamless business continuity and optimum employee productivity.

"We offer a secure, robust, reliable, scalable and trackable mobile-first unified communication infrastructure that aids remote teleworking so that businesses can continue operating even under any unforeseen circumstances," said Gokul Tandon, Executive Chairman, CloudConnect Communications.

(Nishant Arora can be reached at nishant.a@ians.in)
PHOENIX  The U.S. government says a new rule disqualifying more people from green cards if they use government benefits will not apply to immigrants with coronavirus or virus symptoms if they seek care.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said seeking treatment or preventive services wont affect someones immigration status under the new, highly criticized public charge rule, which took effect last month and which punishes immigrants who need public assistance.

The agency acknowledged that some immigrants may fear seeking care for the virus, saying that it will neither consider testing, treatment, nor preventative care related to the virus in determining someones eligibility for permanent residency. It said that those who cant work or attend school and must rely on public benefits during the duration of the virus outbreak and recovery can later explain and provide documentation and that it will be taken into consideration.

The announcement late Friday came after lawmakers and advocacy groups urged the government to suspend the rule during the coronavirus outbreak. Advocates say they have been fielding panicked calls from immigrants who are worried about the impact on their status if they seek health care.

Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles, said her group and others have urged immigrants to seek care if needed and reminded them that their health, and the health of their families, is most important.

People are wondering about their vulnerability both in terms of disease but their vulnerability in terms of immigration status, in terms of being discovered, she said.

Salas said she feels confident that state, county and local authorities will support immigrants who come forward to seek the health care they need, regardless of their immigration status.

Advocates have long derided the public charge rule, which punishes immigrants who are in the country legally and who are allowed to access some benefits, such as food stamps, for their American-born children.

As the coronavirus began to spread more widely in the U.S., supporters and lawmakers cautioned it could be detrimental to public health if some immigrants were too afraid to seek care.

On Thursday, Democratic lawmakers pressured Ken Cuccinelli, acting deputy secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, to suspend or disregard the rule during the virus outbreak. Cuccinelli said the public health exemptions written into the rule already addressed that issue.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said the rule scares away people from seeking care, posing a public health risk for everyone. She tweeted after the new statement: This is a huge win for immigrants, public health AND everyone!

Astrid Galvan and Nomaan Merchant are Associated Press writers.
Earlier this year, Gov. Tom Wolf renewed his proposal to sharply increase the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $12 by July. Raising the wage floor, claimed Wolf, would improve the lives of disadvantaged low-wage workers in Pennsylvania. That claim is contradicted both by economic evidence and by the observed effects of historical minimum wage increases in the United States.

Indeed, the countrys first minimum wage law, as economist Walter Williams has noted, was passed in 1931 with the stated intention of preventing black workers from competing for jobs by working at lower wages than those demanded by their white counterparts. According to Williams, the wage law virtually eliminated blacks from federally financed construction projects when it was passed. Since then, the intentions of those advocating for minimum wage hikes have improved, but the effects of the policy have not.

Notably, before 1956 the unemployment rate among teenage boys in the United States was around 8 to 11 percent. Then came a minimum wage hike and within two years, unemployment shot up to 14 percent for white teenage boys and to 24 percent for black teenage boys  a disparity that has persisted through the decades and become a widely noted consequence of raising the minimum wage.

When Congress was debating a minimum wage hike in 1996, for instance, the late Harvard economist Martin Feldstein argued against it, observing that an increase in the minimum wage would undoubtedly reduce employment and total working hours. Those most affected, Feldstein noted, would be concentrated among the least skilled and least educated. Minority youth would be the most seriously affected group.

Another influential Harvard economist, Robert Barro, similarly noted that the overall consequences for income distribution from raising the minimum wage are adverse because the increased joblessness tends to be concentrated among the least advantaged persons, notably minority teenagers. It is not just the American evidence that shows these harmful effects. In Canada, where significant variations in the minimum wage across provinces and over time have allowed researchers to better identify the effects, the evidence of job losses is even stronger.

As Canadian economist Morley Gunderson wrote in 2014, the Canadian evidence reinforces "findings that a 10 percent increase in the minimum wage reduces employment by about 3 to 6 percent for teens and slightly less for young adults.

Proponents of raising the minimum wage point out that some studies do not find negative employment effects. One particularly influential study, by David Card and Alan Krueger, concluded that after New Jersey raised the minimum wage in 1992, employment in fast food restaurants actually rose relative to such restaurants in Pennsylvania, where there was no minimum wage hike.

But as Linda Gorman documented in the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics, when the same analysis was produced with payroll data (more reliable than the telephone survey method used in the original study), researchers David Neumark and William Wascher concluded the opposite: that the minimum wage hike did indeed cut employment in fast food restaurants in New Jersey relative to Pennsylvania. Locally, low-wage employees in New Jersey lost out versus those in Pennsylvania.

While other minimum wage studies did not find job losses after a minimum wage hike, a comprehensive review on the subject published in 2007 by Neumark and Wascher found that the vast majority of the 102 studies surveyed provided evidence of job losses. Among the most credible papers, almost all point to negative employment effects, both for the United States as well as for many other countries  especially when the studies focused on the lowest-skilled workers who are most likely to be priced out of a job.

 READ MORE: Increasing Pa.'s minimum wage a no-brainer way to help women | Opinion

The conclusion of most studies that raising the minimum wage cuts jobs for the lowest-skilled workers is no surprise. If the minimum wage is raised to $12 per hour, as Gov. Wolf has proposed, low-skilled workers whose maximum productive output is less than $12 hourly will struggle to find jobs. Employers would lose money by hiring them. Contrary to what minimum wage activists might like to believe, a higher wage floor does not increase the value of a workers labor. It just prevents the worker from selling his or her labor if its value falls short of the stated minimum price.

Raising the minimum wage effectively cuts the bottom rung off the economic ladder and, by impeding the lowest-skilled workers from gaining the job experience needed to move upwards, increases poverty in the long run and hurts those workers the policy purports to help. The best way to actually help disadvantaged workers is for the Pennsylvania legislature to reject Gov. Wolfs call for an increased minimum wage.

Matthew Lau is an economics writer in Toronto, Canada. A version of this piece first appeared in Broad + Liberty. @matlau10
The Irish doctor who leading the fight to prevent deaths caused by a spread of the coronavirus Covid-19 has pleaded with young adults, publicans and restaurant owners to comply with social distancing measures that are designed to restrict spread.

Dr Tony Holohan, Ireland's Chief Medical Officer, made the appeal on Saturday, March 14 when he announced that a second Irish person has died and 39 new cases had been identified.

While mass gatherings have been restricted, he said there is a lot of evidence that a lot of young adults are not complying with mass gathering restrictions and are being facilitated by some pubs and restaurants.

"A lot of anecdotal reports still of pubs that are busy restaurants that are busy and it is important that we get the message us that individuals must listen to the message that they must take personal responsibility it is important that individual behaviour is consistent with the message that we give out to reduce their discretionary activity," he said

He said it is important that people reduce traditionally activity such as going to pubs and restaurants and there are restaurants and other locations that have tried in an innovative way to implement social distancing.

He said it is important that in particular young adults get the message.

"This is a significant message it's a serious message and something for people to take heed of," he said.

He said he had seen first-hand evidence of social distancing not working on his walk home from work in the evening. However, he said data was been gathered on the effectiveness of the measure. He said it would be reviewed.

When Ireland moved into the Delay phase this week, the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said pubs could stay open when the measures could stay open but in a restricted way.

"Restaurants, cafes and other businesses can stay open but should look at ways that they can implement the public health advice on social distancing.

"As a general rule, outside of work people should seek to reduce social interactions as much as possible," he said.

Pubs and restaurants have been shut France, Spain and Italy in recent days to restrict the spread.
For support with the loss of a child contact The Miscarriage Association on 01924 200 799 or www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk

Samia Longchambon has discussed her heartbreaking miscarriage for the first time in a new candid interview.

The soap star, 37, revealed she suffered from the loss of a pregnancy nearly six years ago, before she welcomed son Yves, four, with husband-of-three-years, professional ice dancer Sylvain Longchambon.

Actress Samia - who also shares daughter Freya, 10, with ex Matt Smith - admitted that she returned to work on Coronation Street shortly after.

'I've never spoken about it before': Samia Longchambon has discussed her heartbreaking miscarriage for the first time in a candid interview (pictured in 2016)

She added that she only told the show's producers about her miscarriage when her character Maria Connor went through the same experience in scenes aired in January.

Earlier this year, the TV star was praised for portraying Maria's miscarriage 'sensitively' after the hairdresser was exposed to measles.

Confessing her role mirrored her own life in late 2014, Samia shared: 'I unfortunately went through it myself and miscarried. It was about five and a half years ago, before I got pregnant with Yves. I've never spoken about it before.'

The media personality was nine weeks pregnant when doctors told her they couldn't pick up her child's heartbeat.

Heartbreaking: The Corrie's star, 37, only told producers when her character Maria Connor (pictured) went through the same experience in scenes aired in January

Family first: The actress revealed she suffered from the loss of nearly six years ago (pictured with daughter Freya, 10, son Yves, four, and husband Sylvain Longchambon in 2018)

'I have health anxiety': The media personality was nine weeks pregnant when doctors told her they couldn't pick up her child's heartbeat (pictured in February)

Detailing the difficult time, the Dancing On Ice star explained: 'I have health anxiety, so I've always liked to have early scans in my pregnancies. I hadn't experienced any bleeding or anything. It was called a missed miscarriage, which is when your body thinks you're still pregnant. I had to have a procedure.'

Samia revealed she felt it was her duty to 'get the storyline right' due to her own experience, and described the filming process - which took place last year - as 'cathartic'.

She shared: 'Corrie didn't know because I'd not told anyone at work about my miscarriage. They were quite shocked because I still went to work afterwards. In a way, [filming] was actually quite cathartic, because I don't think I fully ever got to grips with what happened.'

'It was cathartic': Samia revealed she felt it was her duty to 'get the storyline right' due to her own experience (pictured with Mikey North on Corrie)

After welcoming her son Yves via caesarean section in September 2015, the doting mother insisted she and husband Sylvain, 39, don't plan on having any more children as 'two's enough'.

Earlier this year, Samia gushed about her marriage with the athlete and revealed Yves is already 'completely bilingual' because the professional skating star speaks French to him all the time.

Speaking about how they juggle work commitments, Samia said on Lorraine: 'It's teamwork. He's a fantastic dad.

'Luckily, I don't have to leave them [the kids] overnight, with Corrie I get to go home at night, Sylvain's brilliant, he's my rock.'

'Two's enough': The doting mother insisted she and husband Sylvain, 39, don't plan on having any more children

The star went on to reveal how little Yves has already mastered the French language despite only being four all thanks to his doting dad.

She said: 'My son Yves is completely bilingual, it's amazing. It's thanks to Sylvain, obviously.

'He just speaks to him in French all the time, so he understands everything. It's quite magical, really. He's got a little French accent when he speaks French as well.'

For support with the loss of a child contact The Miscarriage Association on 01924 200 799 or www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk
Are we having fun yet? These are turbulent times on Wall Street, so todays write up is a little different than most. But first, it is imperative that we acknowledge that this virus pandemic is extremely tragic and our thoughts go out to those who are affected by it. I am confident that just like the flu, our medical professionals will get it under control. The discussion for any equities has to start by acknowledging that the stock markets crashed twice this week and today its Friday the 13th, so we may not be done yet. Thursday alone delivered a drop of 10% in great stocks like 3M (NYSE:MMM).

Why MMM Stock Is Still Not Cheap Enough

Source: JPstock / Shutterstock.com

Even the Russell 2000, which is a basket of 2000 stocks, fell 11% just yesterday. In total they are down 34% from the highs, so needless to say that Wall Street is in full panic mode.

They are selling everything and blaming the coronavirus from China for the damage. I suggest that the way we reacted caused more of the financial damage than the virus. Do not mistake this statement with the human losses, those carry the highest cost, but the discussion here is to ascertain stocks value versus the financial threat. For example, last night, we learned that even the happiest place on earth will close starting this weekend. For example, Disney (NYSE:DIS) announced that is is closing its California parks.

InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips

Expect Big Swings On Wall Street Amid Rising Fear

Uncertainty is almost at record highs as the VIX is over 70, so we must expect the unexpected. Mathematically at these levels markets expect a +/-4% move any day.

These are levels we havent seen since the 2008 financial crash. Back then we had almost all global banks near imminent collapse and many of them actually died. Now we are dealing with a flu that all experts are confident they will control with a vaccine this year. Luckily, the total number of dead has remained low considering what could have happened, albeit one death is too many. This is extremely tragic but nowhere near the tragedies that happen every year from the regular flu.

Story continues

This is all to say that this too shall pass and that we need time to come to terms with this new version of the threat. But what could fix stocks overnight is a V bottom  V for vaccine. Sentiment is the real problem for stocks and its horrendous, so people need a reason to flip. If we can learn of a tangible schedule for a vaccine arrival then we can look at this threat from a different perspective.

Until then, the smart investors search for great stocks that have been beaten down to levels that warrant attention. And that classification certainly applies to MMM stock.

Why MMM Stock Is a Buy On the Dip

Why MMM Stock Is a Buy On the Dip

Source: Charts by TradingView

The industrial sector was riding high until February when it fell off a cliff. This correction has so far exceeded the 2018 Christmas crash and much faster this time. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLI) is down 36%, but MMM stock is down 50% already from its highs. These are scary statistics, but therein lies the opportunity. Once all the madness abates, 3M will still have a real business. The stock yields almost 4% in dividends, which is more than alternative investment vehicles. Part of this Wall Street tizzy stemmed from the collapse in U.S. bond yields. So the 4% that 3M pays is even more attractive than before and it will bring buyers.

If a stock is down, it doesnt mean its necessarily cheap. Fundamentally, it still sells at an 18.8 price-to-earnings ratio and almost three times sales. So if the market-wide selling persists, this one could have more bad days ahead of it as well. Meanwhile, smart investors do not seek to find the perfect bottom. In this case, we have enough data to tell us that near $130 per share, the stock has entered a support zone with emphasis on the term zone. When the VIX is this high, there are no hard lines in the sand. Its hard to count on one line to act as support because daily price ranges are too wide.

Caution Is Warranted for Technical and Economic Reasons

MMM stock has defended the $125 area hard since 2013. Furthermore, it has now been cut in half from its all-time high of 2018. Nevertheless, since theres still so much uncertainty, investors must be humble with their assumptions. I am fairly confident of my opinion, but I have to leave room for the possibility that markets might disagree with me for a little bit longer. So taking full size positions at once is reckless.

In addition, there is a technical threat. Once 3M lost $158 for share, it triggered a bearish pattern that targets the $100 mark. Whether it fills the entire potential lower or not depends on sentiment on The Street. These are unprecedented times and only once before has 3Ms relative strength index (RSI) been this low. All the signs point toward the fact that we are near bottom. Keep in mind that we remain in headline mode and everyday politicians around the world are shutting down businesses in panic. So it is inevitable that companies will have to revise their forecasts.

Stocks will fall on those headlines.

This madness has to stop, but we need more data on the virus before people can relax a little. To that end, the best sample comes from South Korea because they have done the most testing. I contend that all other ratios are wrong because they use wild estimates. It is impossible to state a ratio without an accurate denominator. Eventually cooler heads will prevail, but unfortunately weve already caused tremendous financial damage on a global scale. We will likely get negative GDP reports soon, so may have already self inflicted a recession.

Stocks like 3M are crashing from no fault of their actual fundamentals or executions on plan. They are caught in this panic storm over a virus that has yet to prove itself as deadly as feared. Unfortunately, only time will tell if this reaction is warranted or not. Until then, stay healthy and be patient and take small bites.

Nicolas Chahine is the managing director of SellSpreads.com. Join his live chat room for free here. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Join his live chat room for free here.

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BJP leaders in Nagpur on



Sunday approached the police seeking registration of an offence against Maharashtra Power Minister Nitin Raut for his remarks on the Brahmin community, which they claimed has the potential to disrupt social harmony.

The leaders have submitted the complaint application with Jaripatka police station in Nagpur, said a police officer.

"Raut had taken the oath of Constitution which teaches equality. With his statment, Raut has disrupted social harmony," former MLA Milind Mane stated in his application.

Meanwhile, an advocate from Karjat in Raigad district has also accused Raut of making derogatory remarks against the Brahmin community.

Advocate Hrishikesh Joshi has cited publications that carried the minister's remarks and a viral video of his speech in the complaint made on the Maharashtra government's 'Aaple Sarkar' portal.

In his complaint, Joshi claimed Raut made the remarks against Brahmins while speaking against the Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register of Citizens and National Population Register on March 8 at a function in Nagpur.

Raigad Superintendent of Police Anil Paraskar said he had no knowledge of the complaint since it was not made at a police station under his jurisdiction.

Raut could not be contacted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
While many municipalities around the region are closing their offices to the public over coronavirus concerns, the facilities of the City of Harrisburg will remain open.

But according to a public health update issued by the city on Sunday, city officials are no longer accepting requests for the use of city facilities or parks for gatherings until further notice.

COVID-19 Coronavirus Public Health Update pic.twitter.com/5xgyv8jX4I  City of Harrisburg (@thecityofhbg) March 15, 2020

And they are boosting their efforts to clean and sanitize the facilities and are urging employees who are sick to stay home.

We are doing everything in our power to maintain services to the public, but in the days or weeks to come how some services are provided may look different, business administrator Marc Woolley said in the public health statement. We are committed to open communications that will alert the public to changes as together we navigate this new terrain.

So far, no cases of coronavirus have been reported in Harrisburg or Dauphin County. As of Sunday, there were 63 cases in Pennsylvania with the closest to Harrisburg being the five cases reported in Cumberland County.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PENNSYLVANIA: Click to see where cases of the coronavirus are in Pennsylvania are located. Please note that the pins mark the exact geographic location when available. If said location is not available, it marks the center of the county.



Depending on the severity in Harrisburg, public health officials may recommend postponing or canceling large events, according to the statement.

The city recommends people who are at higher risk avoid crowds as much as possible.

Text PennLive to 717-745-7532 to sign up to have breaking news and essential updates about the coronavirus delivered right to your mobile device. Data and messaging rates may apply.

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Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden is the front-runner in the race to become President Donald Trumps Democratic challenger.

Given the range of take-no-risks, play-it-safe Ohio Democrats whove endorsed Biden, that means its likely Biden will win Ohios Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday. Those endorsements by Ohio pols are almost certainly based on private polling, the dream books of political betting. (True, the coronavirus pandemic will have unpredictable effects on turnout.)

Biden last week bested Vermont independent Bernard Sanders in Democratic presidential primary elections held in Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi and Missouri, and narrowly won in Washington state.

Washington state Democrats trend left: There are 47 states in the Union, and the Soviet of Washington, Postmaster General James Farley, one of Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelts managers, joked in 1936, a University of Washington research site reports.

Sanders did beat Biden in North Dakotas Democratic primary, 53 percent to 40 percent. Thats no surprise in a state that birthed the radical Nonpartisan League before the First World War. North Dakota is the only state with a state-owned bank, the Bank of North Dakota, and the only state-owned grain mill, the North Dakota Mill and Elevator. And the formal name of the states Democratic Party is the North Dakota Democratic-Nonpartisan League Party. (Still, the last Democrat to win North Dakota in a presidential election was Lyndon Johnson  in 1964.)

At the moment, heres where the many foes of Donald Trump stand: As noted, theyll likely back Biden, who has been in, or running for, public office more or less continuously since 1970. Most recently, Biden was Barack Obamas vice president. And the Obama-Biden ticket drew 51.4 percent of Ohios vote in 2008, 50.6 percent in 2012.

True, heres the daunting Ohio counterpoint that a Democrat running for president faces: In 2016, Ohioans gave 51.3 percent of the vote to Trump, 43.2 percent to Democrat Hillary Clinton. (Cuyahoga County, in contrast, gave 65.4 percent of its vote to Democrat Clinton, 30.3 percent to Trump.)

That suggests the likely choice Ohioans will have in November will be between two old, white  very white  males to lead a nation thats about 50.8 percent female; whose median age is about age 38; and about 77 percent of whose people identify as white, about 13 percent identify as African-American, and a growing number identify as Hispanic.

If Trump is re-elected, hed be age 74 on Inauguration Day; Biden would be age 78. As it is, Trump began his first term when he was age 70, the oldest person to have become president. (Ronald Reagan was several weeks shy of his 70th birthday when he was sworn in.) Anyone who is blessed to have grandparents or great-grandparents in his or her life almost certainly loves them  but probably doesnt think they should hold the worlds most powerful office.

Its unlikely Trump will trade in his vice president, Michael Pence, an Indiana Republican, for a female or non-white running mate. For one thing, Pence, age 60, is a world-class yes-man, even though he isnt especially popular in his home state, which Obama narrowly carried in 2008. Still, theres no obvious reason why Pence, assuming a big enough supply of ChapStick, wont remain in Trumps sidecar.

The evidence is mixed on how much, if any, a running mate helps a presidential nominee win the White House. Democrats have fielded one woman for vice president, New Yorks Geraldine Ferraro, with Minnesotas Walter Mondale in 1984. Republicans have fielded one, too: Alaskas Sarah Palin, with Arizonas John McCain, in 2008. Neither ticket won  Mondale, because no one could beat Reagan, and McCain, because Barack Obama is brilliant, and because of the recession that had begun late in 2007.

In the 30 elections beginning with 1900s, voters have refused to re-elect only four presidents: William Howard Taft; Herbert Hoover; Jimmy Carter; and George H.W. Bush; or to elect appointed President Gerald R. Ford.

Politically speaking, to unseat Trump, Biden will be fighting uphill. Thats why he has to maximize his potential vote. That means picking a running mate of color, preferably female. America is a whole-grain nation, not a loaf of white bread.

Thomas Suddes, a member of the editorial board, writes from Athens.

To reach Thomas Suddes: tsuddes@cleveland.com, 216-408-9474

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* Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication.

* Email general questions, comments or corrections regarding this opinion article to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com.
While Superfund attention is focused on the Consent Decree for Uptown Butte, we cannot lose sight of another Superfund site  the Montana Pole Plant. Currently, modifications to the remedy at the Pole Plant are under consideration by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), which is the lead agency at the site. The Pole Plant, because of dioxin on site, is in some ways the most acutely dangerous Superfund site in Butte. In examining the new remedy for Montana Pole Plant, the following needs to be addressed:

1. In the 10/29/2017 edition of the Montana Standard , we find:

a. MDEQ estimates that it will take 50 years to remove all the petroleum based pollutants out of the groundwater.

b. There is money to operate the water treatment plant at the Pole Plant for only 30 years, given that the Pole Plant is a cash out site.

c. So where will MDEQ get the money to operate the water treatment plant for the additional 20 years that it will need to operate to remove all the petroleum based pollutants out of the groundwater?

2. Presently, the water treatment plant is not producing water that can meet all of the water quality standards. What assurances does the public have this this will be remedied and the water treatment plant will produce water that is in compliance with water quality standards? MDEQ says that we are "close." But I don't know what that means. How close? When will standards be achieved? Are we looking down the road at another waiver of standards in Butte? If they haven't been able to meet standards in the past, why should we think that they will meet standards in the future?

3. The contamination under the Interstate poses significant risk to the cleanup of the Pole Plant. When and how will this be addressed? The state is very unclear in terms of addressing contamination under the interstate.

4. Dioxin is very dangerous. There are really no safe levels of exposure. MDEQ proposes to leave the dioxin on site, unremediated, with a cap. Caps in Butte have a very problematic history and we must remember that the contamination in the rest of Butte outside of the Pole Plant is nowhere near as toxic as the threat from dioxin. The proposal is to allow recreational use over the dioxin cap. Is that wise? Is that protective? How permanent is the proposed cap lining? On a recent tour I saw some of the present lining exposed to sunlight that degrades the cap. There are also unanswered issues regarding the long term maintenance of the cap. Is there enough money to maintain the cap? Caps leave a threat in place and do nothing to reduce contaminants.

5. What will be the future land use for the site? This is still very much up in the air. You sure don't want people running around the site.

6. Are the proposed stormwater controls sufficient to protect the cap from erosion?

7. The new plan proposes heavy reliance on institutional controls which have proved to be problematic at other Superfund sites. Will there be enough money to maintain these institutional controls? How and who will maintain these institutional controls?

8. This is a cash out site with very limited money for cleanup and no practical source for more. Is there enough money in the "pot" to adequately clean up and maintain the site? Earlier I raised the issue of insufficient funds to operate the water treatment plant for as long as it is needed.

9. In the past MDEQ has not done a good job in keeping the public and particularly the nearby residents informed as to what is going on. Will that improve? How will that improve?

10. Given the remediation protocol outlined in the new plan, odors emanating from the Pole Plant could again become an issue. What will MDEQ do to mitigate the effects of odors emanating from the Pole Plant?

11. MDEQ has had a spotty record in meeting the requirements of the ROD for the site and water quality standards. What assurances can be given to the public that going forward the Pole Plant will be in compliance?

Dr. Ray teaches classes at Montana Tech in political science and public policy. He is vice-president of Citizens for Labor and Environmental Justice (CLEJ) and a board member of the Citizens Technical Environmental Committee (CTEC). He is also a member of the EPA Health Study Group in Butte. The views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Montana Tech, CLEJ, the Health Study Group or CTEC.

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Passengers and news outlets tweeted out images of massive crowds at major US airports not long after President Donald Trump's travel ban amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Twitter/@katyslittlefarm; Twitter/@drunktweetn

Throngs of passengers crowded major US airports Saturday evening after the onset of President Donald Trump's travel restrictions on people arriving from Europe amid a coronavirus pandemic.

Travelers and media outlets shared photos and videos of packed terminals at O'Hare airport in Chicago, Washington-Dulles in Virginia, and Dallas/Fort Worth airport in Texas.

Public health experts were astonished at the scenes, noting that the dense crowds presented the perfect opportunity for coronavirus transmission.

Local officials appeared furious, with Illinois' governor tweeting that "the federal government needs to get its s@#t together. NOW."

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Massive lines of travelers crowded into US airports Saturday evening, not long after President Donald Trump issued coronavirus-related travel restrictions on passengers arriving from Europe.

News outlets and passengers shared photos and videos of packed airport terminals at O'Hare airport in Chicago, Washington-Dulles in Virginia, and Dallas/Fort Worth airport in Texas as travelers awaited customs screening.

Public health experts bemoaned the scenes, noting that the dense crowds presented a perfect opportunity for coronavirus transmission.

"Good God. You could hardly invent a better scenario for superspreading events," tweeted Jeremy Konyndyk, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development. "Any cases of COVID in these crowds will have a far higher chance of spreading to others in these lines than if they were just allowed in unchecked."

Another expert, biology professor Carl Bergstrom of the University of Washington, tweeted that the crowds were "a perfect storm for creating massive case clusters."

He continued: "To be clear, this is an absolute failing of policy and planning. This could have been entirely avoided. And now it will *without doubt* accelerate the epidemic of #COVID19 #coronavirus with the US."

Story continues

Katy Loves Soil (@katyslittlefarm) March 14, 2020

The travel restrictions come amid a growing coronavirus crisis across the world and within the US. In response to the pandemic, Trump suspended travel from many European countries for 30 days.

American travelers, legal permanent residents, and family members of both categories were exempt from the travel ban, but have had flights redirected and funneled into just 13 major US airports for enhanced screening.

At those airports  which include O'Hare, Dulles, and DFW  passengers were being asked about their medical history and current condition, and directed to self-quarantine for 14 days, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

DHS had warned on Friday that the new procedure might be "disruptive," but that the policies were meant to "protect the general public from further exposure and spread of the coronavirus."

One passenger told WGN News she waited up to four hours in the line-ups at O'Hare.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker appeared incensed on Saturday night, tweeting that the crowds were "unacceptable & need to be addressed immediately."

Prizker said the hold-up was due to the customs process, which is managed by the federal Customs and Border Protection agency.

"The federal government needs to get its s@#t together. NOW," Pritzker tweeted.

Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) March 15, 2020

CBP told Insider in a statement Sunday morning that the situation had gotten better in several airports and that agents were working to process passengers safely and efficiently.

"We are aware of the reports of increased wait times at some airports across the nation. We understand this can be extremely frustrating, especially after a long flight. CBP along with medical personnel are working diligently to address the longer than usual delays," CBP's acting commissioner, Mark Morgan, said.

Morgan's statement continued: "We're continuing to balance our efficiencies with ensuring the health and safety of all American citizens through enhanced medical screening in accordance with CDC guidelines due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Nothing is more important than the safety, health and security of our citizens."

O'Hare airport publicly acknowledged the situation, tweeting that staff was working with federal officials to prioritize screenings for elderly passengers and those traveling with young children.

The airport said it was also providing snacks and bottled water to those waiting in "longer-than-usual customs processing lines."

DFW Airport also noted there were "additional delays" while federal agents conducted "enhanced screening" for passengers.

The countries affected by Trump's travel ban included Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Read the original article on Insider
Superstar Amitabh Bachchan took to Twitter on Sunday as he cancelled the years-old tradition of Sunday meeting with fans, amid Coronavirus pandemic scare.

The Padma Vibushan awardee tweeted to inform about the cancellation of the tradition of Sunday meeting to greet his fans at his Jalsa doorstep and also advised the fans to be safe amid the COVID-19 Scare. He tweeted, "To all Ef and well-wishers an earnest request! PLEASE DO NOT COME TO JALSA GATE TODAY .. SUNDAY MEET am not going to come! Take PRECAUTIONS .. be safe."

Earlier on Saturday, the 'Thugs of Hindostan' actor talked about the coronavirus and how working in isolation is a work of art. He wrote, "Being held hostage by that great ball of CoVid19 .. coloured in some and in others in the whites of black .. it seeks attention, and mention both .. one would do but no, its the law of the corona .. bear it stare it declare it ensnare it .. but none whatsoever on how to repair it... uncertainties be the landmarked trademark of humanity .. never more entrusted with the weapon that has the prevalence of wiping us all out, does this by meaning mean."

Meanwhile, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the number of coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 93. So far, two deaths due to the COVID-19 have been reported in the country.Coronavirus, which originated in China's Wuhan city in December last year, has so far spread to more than 100 countries, infecting over 1,30,000 people.The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared coronavirus a pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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.
President Donald Trump has tested negative for coronavirus, according to his personal physician.

The White House released the test results on Saturday night after President Trump told reporters hours earlier that he had taken the coronavirus test, following days of resisting being screened despite the fact that he had been in recent contact with three people who have tested positive for the virus.

President Trump told reporters at a White House briefing on Saturday that he had his temperature taken and it was totally normal, shortly before stepping into the room to discuss the governments efforts to halt the spread of the virus.

The pandemic has now infected more than 2,200 people in the US and caused at least 50 deaths.

The president had multiple direct and indirect contacts with people who have since tested positive for the virus, including three people he spent time with last weekend at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

The Brazilian Embassy in Washington said late on Friday that the countrys charge daffaires, Nestor Forster, tested positive after sitting at Trumps dinner table.

President Trump, after days of insisting that he was not exhibiting symptoms of the virus, relented after being pressed by reporters about his resistance to testing when multiple politicians and countless citizens across the country who have had the same degree of exposure have not only tried to get tested, but also chosen to try to avoid potentially infecting others.
Australia's big four theme parks have vowed to remain open to visitors amid the coronavirus outbreak, despite a government ban on mass public gatherings.

Gold Coast tourist attractions Dreamworld, Sea World, Movie World and Wet n Wild all intend to continue operating, despite theme parks elsewhere in the world closing their doors.

From Monday, all mass gatherings of 500 people are banned, which means NRL and AFL games will be played in empty stadiums along while Golden Slipper Day at Rosehill Racecourse next Saturday could also be off-limits to the public.

The ban is part of desperate efforts to control the spread of the deadly virus with 237 confirmed cases in Australia, including 46 in Queensland.

The thrills will continue on Movie World's Superman Escape Rollercoaster (pictured), where the theme park continues welcome visitors

Village Roadshow, the owner of Movie World, Sea World and Wet'n'Wild released a statement on its website on Saturday explaining why the ban doesn't apply them.

'At Village Roadshow Theme Parks, the safety and wellbeing of our guests and team members is our utmost priority,' the statement read.

The Council of Australian Government's current advice regarding public gatherings was directed at static seated events of more than 500 people, for a duration of over two hours.'

'Based on our discussions with the State Government, the nature of our business does not apply to this advisory.'

'There have been no reported cases of COVID-19 at our venues.'

Despite the coronavirus outbreak, Village Roadshow's Gold Coast theme park continue to operate, including Wet n Wild (pictured)

Australian Outback Spectacular shows are also going ahead on the Gold Coast while Sea World Resort also remains open.

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

Dreamworld has also announced the tourist attraction and the neighbouring WhiteWater World will continue to operate as normal.

'Our number one priority at Dreamworld is the health and safety of our guests and team members and we are taking all possible precautions to maintain the highest standards of hygiene at all times, while continuing to monitor the existing health situation,' a Facebook post read.

All parks have stepped up cleaning, hygiene and safety measures, including updated signage on best hand washing techniques and increased number of hygiene hand washing stations.

Elsewhere, theme park Raging Waters Sydney, formerly known Wet n Wild Sydney was closed this weekend due to the weather and 'for the safety of our guests.'

The ban on public mass gathering applies to events where more than 500 people are seated for two hours or more and doesn't affect tourist attractions such as Dreamworld (pictured)

The defiant stance by Australia's big four theme parks have sparked a mixed response from the public in the wake of Disney and Universal Studios closing its attractions in the US.

While many supported their decision to remain open, others expressed concern.

'Perfect place to spread a highly contagious virus to other people. Especially with lots of children around, one woman wrote on Dreamworld's Facebook page.

One person wrote on Wet n Wild's page: 'Sporting events, concerts, Easter show is cancelled but a water park is still operating? This makes very little sense.'
Within the walls of the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, a groundswell of issues was percolating.

On Jan. 10, those issues came to a head when correction officers were viciously assaulted by several inmates. One officer was hospitalized with a head injury and two other officers were injured when they tried to help.

The incident has prompted officials to look closely at safety at the maximum-security facility while the union for the correction officers and inmates alike have both complained of serious problems within the prisons walls.

Psychological and physical abuse, public health concerns and institutional mismanagement were a few of the allegations that plagued the correctional center following the attack and subsequent multi-week lockdown. Dozens of prisoners claimed being assaulted by a tactical team at Souza-Baranowski, and lawmakers who traveled to the prison observed problems with safety and hygiene, including blackened floor tiles due to flooding and epileptic inmates lying in their own blood.

There is a toxic culture at the prison, said State Sen. James Eldridge, whose legislative district includes the prison, which sits on the Lancaster, Shirley line. Prisoners also have a right to be treated with dignity and respect behind the wall. "

Public officials advocating for the rights of inmates accused Gov. Charlie Baker of not properly overseeing the prison, and multiple inmates have lodged a civil lawsuit against the Massachusetts Department of Correction and Souza-Baranowski officials.

The maximum-security correctional center has a long history of violence.

A 2017 riot led to the destruction of a housing unit, and former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez committed suicide inside a cell in the facility. A 72-year-old prisoner serving a life sentence for killing his own mother was also beaten to death there in 2014, and a correction officer was stabbed by a former inmate inside the prison in 2012.

Here is a timeline of recent violence and allegations of assault at the facility.

The attack on Jan. 10

Four correction officers were attacked by more than a dozen prisoners at Souza-Baranowski shortly before 10:50 a.m. on Jan. 10.

Video of the incident shows prisoners surrounding and assaulting a prison guard. An inmate near the officer appears to punch the guard in the face, as other prisoners join in on the attack.

All of the officers were taken to the hospital. One suffered head trauma and a badly broken nose, and another was hospitalized with a broken jaw and vertebrae in his neck, according to court records from the Department of Correction. Inmates tried to drag one of the officers into a cell, but he broke free.

Only one of the guards has returned to work, authorities said in late February.

I have had inmates tell me that they are running the facility, not the DOC, Stephen Kenneway, superintendent of Souza-Baranowski, wrote in an affidavit last month.

Twenty-three prisoners were identified initially as combatants, according to the department, and several inmates were transferred to other facilities following the attack.

Sixteen incarcerated men were indicted by Worcester District Attorney Joseph Earlys office on Feb. 20 for their involvement in the assault. A grand jury handed up a total of 109 indictments to the prisoners, some of whom are responsible for high-profile violent crimes in Massachusetts.

One was convicted for his connection to the 2015 murder of Cherise Hill, who was stabbed 19 times in Worcester. Another was charged with brutally attacking a man with a machete outside the Hillcrest Arms apartment complex in West Springfield.

Kenneway and others have said the assault on the guards was deliberate, vicious and gang-related. Sources told MassLive that those involved in the incident are members of the Latin Kings, a gang federal authorities believe has ordered hits on people and committed brutal assaults within prisons.

Union claims criminal justice reform led to assaults on officers

The Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union believes the Jan. 10 attack was a direct result of recent criminal justice reform and relaxed rules and regulations" supported by prisoners rights groups. Others have said the claims are unfounded.

Eldridge, who was involved in writing the 2018 criminal justice reform bill, spoke with members of the union in January and said they could not name which parts of the law led to the attack on the guards. The state senator does not think there is any correlation between the bill and the assault, he said.

Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who visited Souza-Baranowski in recent months, also said he sees no nexus between the violence at the prison and criminal justice reform.

The vast majority of the criminal justice reform law has absolutely nothing to do with prisons," Eldridge said at a briefing about conditions at the facility last week. Really, the only piece was around solitary confinement.

He added, The only provision of the criminal justice reform law about our prison system was effectively not even implemented by the Department of Correction, and that is deeply disturbing.

But the union has claimed there has been a 210% increase in assaults on officers since the law was enacted. The group asserted that Eldridges response to the attack has been to blindly blame a correction officer for getting attacked and surrounding himself with ex-inmates.

The executive board of the union also accused Eldridge of grandstanding to the media and prison rights advocates" and urged members of the group to not support his candidacy in November.

His lack of knowledge and disregard for officer safety is dangerous to the job we do day in and day out, the board wrote in a letter to union members about the state senator. He fails to realize we are active members in the community all the while doing a dangerous job with the utmost professionalism.

Stephen Kenneway, superintendent of the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, detailed numerous instances of violence at the maximum-security facility within the past year during a hearing in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston regarding a civil lawsuit brought forth by three inmates. (Jackson Cote/MassLive)

'The entire prison feels like a powder keg: DOCs response to the assault

What prison staff and inmates rights advocates agree on is that the Jan. 10 attack on the four correction officers came as a result of months of escalated tensions.

Another employee at the prison was assaulted on Dec. 4, 2019. The attack was planned by four inmates, according to Kenneway, and authorities heard prisoners were planning more assaults afterward.

Intelligence gathering determined that the assaults on the staff were not over and were 'going to happen again,  Kenneway said in his affidavit, adding that the threats culminated in the severe attack earlier this year.

Souza-Baranowski was immediately locked down after the attack on the correction officers on Jan. 10, triggering DOCs disorder protocol. Again, several threats of violence came from prisoners across every block in the facility, according to Kenneway. The superintendent claimed an inmate even threatened to stab him in the neck.

Officials received credible information that additional inmate assaults, including threats of rape, murder and hostage-taking of DOC staff, were planned, DOC court documents said.

To prevent future disturbances and violence against Souza-Baranowski staff and inmates, prisoners were screened so officials could determine appropriate housing placements. Those with serious disciplinary infractions are now housed on the north side of the facility, while those without disciplinary infractions remain on the south side. An inmate can be moved to the south side if he remains discipline-free, according to Kenneway.

North side prisoners are currently allowed out of their cells for two hours and 15 minutes every day, the superintendent said.

Elizabeth Matos, executive director of Prisoners Legal Services of Massachusetts, called the housing for prisoners on the north side of the facility "a virtual solitary confinement complex. Conditions are "somewhat less restrictive on the south side, where inmates have up to four hours of daily out-of-cell time, she said.

The new restrictions are causing an increase in tensions at the prison, with prisoners reporting that the entire prison feels like a powder keg, " Matos wrote in a letter to U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling. Placing prisoners in such vulnerable and volatile situations is dangerous to their well-being, discourages access to recreation time, and is also contributing to the ongoing rise in tensions at SBCC.

Rival inmates being housed together, prison violence spilling onto the streets

State Rep. Chynah Tyler, who visited the prison on Jan. 31, claimed last month that correction officials have intentionally moved inmates into wrong units and housed rival prisoners together. She alleged that violence inside the facility has spilled out onto the streets of Boston.

However, authorities have rejected the accusations and called them unfounded.

The lockdown of Souza-Baranowski, which ended on Feb. 3, resulted in the prisoner telephone system being turned off from Jan. 10 to Jan. 24. Attorney visits were also suspended.

Non-contact visits with lawyers were reinstated on Jan. 17, and full visitation rights were returned on Jan. 24, the superintendent said. Inmates access to email, physical mail and court trips was not impacted, though some prisoners claimed differently.

On Jan. 21, a tactical team at the facility began a prison-wide search for drugs, weapons and other contraband, and prisoners were moved throughout the correctional center based on updated housing risk assessment, correction officials said.

Inmates belongings, including legal documents, were temporarily removed, according to Kenneway. North side prisoners property was returned by Jan. 31, while those on the south side received all their belongings by Jan. 24.

It was during the search, prisoners say, that inmates were assaulted by correction staff without cause.

The Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center falls into the legislative district of State Sen. James Eldridge. The legislator has criticized what he calls a "culture of violence" at the maximum-security facility. (Jackson Cote/MassLive)

Claims of abuse, safety issues and inhumane conditions of confinement

Dozens of inmates at Souza-Baranowski have told advocates and public officials officials they were beaten by tactical team members, shot with pepper balls, tased, sprayed with chemical agents and bitten by dogs since Jan. 10.

PLS, an inmates rights advocacy organization, has received at least 200 complaints from prisoners at Souza-Baranowski after the assault on the correction officers. More than 120 of the accusations were claims of excessive uses of force by correction staff, and 74 were related to other inhumane conditions of confinement, according to Matoss letter to Lelling.

The group has documented broken bones, stitches, puncture wounds from dog bites, stun gun burns, tears, concussions and ligature burns, according to Matos.

The level of brutality officers are inflicting upon prisoners at SBCC is unprecedented, Matos said in her letter. To compare, in the entire year prior to January 10, 2020, we received 44 reports of excessive use of force from SBCC, and that was already far more than we received from any other single prison in a years time.

We have now received nearly three times that number of brutality complaints from SBCC in the last six weeks.

Lindsay Sabadosa, a state representative in Hampshire County, visited Souza-Baranowski twice in Febuary and spoke with a prisoner who claimed he was stomped on by prison staff. The inmate told her he was hospitalized after his eye socket was damaged, according to Sabadosa.

The state representative as well as other lawmakers have alleged other issues plague the facility too, including food tainted by rodents, unhygienic cells, inmates being denied medications, prisoners lacking uniforms and reentry programs being suspended indefinitely.

Eldridge has received an alarmingly large number of emails, calls and visits from SBCC prisoners, their loved ones, and their attorneys about a universal punishment response, according to the state senator. He noted that violence at the prison impacts communities outside Souza-Baranowski.

The vast majority of prisoners at SBCC upon serving their sentence will return to their communities, Eldridge said in a statement.

Staff have carte blanche to behave however they want

Matos called the alleged excessive uses of force by officers an orchestrated effort at retaliation in response to the Jan. 10 attack. PLS interviewed 90 prisoners, 72 of which accused correction staff of assaulting and injuring them, according to the group. The inmates have claimed they were not involved in the attack on the four prison guards.

Prisoners claims of unprovoked assaults have been consistent, Matos noted. Inmates told different officials the same or similar stories: that the attacks were committed by tactical team members and that they were assaulted while locked in their cells or physically restrained.

PLS received reports of excessive uses of force from Jan. 10 to as recent as Jan. 25. While the alleged incidents do not appear to have been recorded by a video camera, it is standard DOC practice to record uses of force, according to Matos.

Many prisoners report that correctional administrators in positions of power and authority witnessed, authorized, condoned and encouraged this widespread corporal punishment, Matos said. Correctional staff have told prisoners that staff have carte blanche to behave however they want to.

The violence, Matos wrote in her letter, was racialized" in many instances. White officers targeted prisoners of color and used racial slurs against them, she claimed.

Tyler, in a memo dated Feb. 3 that detailed her trip to the facility on Jan. 31, heard concerns from inmates that there was a lack of diversity among correction staff as well. Prisoners of color reported being treated differently than their non-Black and non-Latinx counterparts, the state representative added.

The current population of those who are incarcerated reported racial slurs were constantly being directed towards them throughout the duration of the program, which they felt led up to the Jan. 10, 2020 incident," Tyler wrote in her memo.

Suicide attempts have been common as well. Kenneway estimated there have been roughly 240 cases of self-injurious behavior" at the facility since he started in his position as superintendent in February 2019. During her visits to Souza-Baranowski, Sabadosa also saw evidence of suicide attempts, including cut wrists and ligature marks, she said.

Theres a lot of tension and concern about what the future of the prison looks like," Sabadosa told MassLive in February.

Patricia DeJuneas represents Robert Silva-Prentice, an inmate at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center who is suing correction officials. The prisoner alleged he was assaulted by prison staff, had his legal materials taken away and was restricted from seeing his attorney. (Jackson Cote/MassLive)

The lawsuit against DOC: A debate about the 6th Amendment

In late January, three inmates as well as two legal organizations sued prison officials over allegations the incarcerated men were denied access to their legal materials and contact with their attorneys.

Inmates Carl Laroque, Robert Silva-Prentice and Tamik Kirkland sought an emergency motion for preliminary injunction to possess legal paperwork in their assigned living quarters, allow sufficient time out of their cells during business hours to call their lawyers and permit contact visits with attorneys.

Larocque is serving time for voluntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of his best friend. Silva-Prentice was sentenced in 2018 on a second-degree murder charge for killing a 17-year-old boy in Roxbury, and Kirkland was convicted for the 2011 Springfield barbershop shooting that killed customer Sheldon Innocent.

The lawsuit named as defendants Kenneway, Executive Office of Public Safety and Security Secretary Thomas Turco and Commissioner of Correction Carol Mici.

DOC called the inmates concerns moot, as all the services had been reinstated. Prison officials argued granting the preliminary injunction would not be in the publics interest and would cause irreparable harm to DOC.

Attorneys for the prisoners and the legal organizations, the Committee for Public Counsel Services and the Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, framed the plaintiffs case in the civil lawsuit as an issue of prison officials discretion and the U.S. Constitutions Sixth Amendment guarantee of the right to counsel.

Suffolk Super Court Judge Beverly Cannone ruled in favor of the plaintiffs on Feb. 28, though.

In her 32-page ruling, she ordered the return of the inmates paperwork and reinstatement of attorney contact visits within 48 hours. The judge also ruled that the prisoners must be allowed enough time outside their cells during business hours to make phone calls with their legal representatives.

The requested equitable relief likely will interfere with the Defendants administration of SBBC, which could raise public safety concerns, Cannone wrote. However, the court concludes that the requested preliminary injunction promotes the public interest.

Silva-Prentice, along with accusing prison staff of restricting access to his legal materials and attorney, claimed he was assaulted by tactical team members on Jan. 22. He claimed they kicked and tased him in an unprovoked attack. The prisoner also alleged multiple dreadlocks were pulled out of his head.

Kenneway testified during a hearing about the suit last month that it was Silva-Prentice who assaulted tactical team members first after they entered his living quarters. A disciplinary report was being processed against the prisoner in February, and Silva-Prentices case may be referred to the Worcester District Attorneys office, according to the superintendent.

Patricia DeJuneas, the inmates attorney, said she 100% believes her client and accused prison officials of terrorizing him over what she alleged are trumped-up charges.

Elizabeth Matos, executive director of Prisoners Legal Services of Massachusetts, detailed allegations of violence against prisoners at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center during a briefing at the Massachusetts State House. (Jackson Cote/MassLive)

Calls for increased oversight over Souza-Baranowski

Activists and former Souza-Baranowski inmates marched into the governors office last week, demanding that he support an investigation into the prison. The event followed advocates briefing on the situation at the facility, which Eldridge and Tyler spoke at.

At Bakers office in the Massachusetts State House, Matos delivered a letter she wrote to Lelling that urged the U.S. attorney to investigate allegedly inhumane conditions at the correctional center.

She also called on DOC to preserve all video recordings that have captured uses of force and cell extractions. Matos said the agency should remove the tactical team from the prison, fully restore contact visits and personal property to all prisoners unless there is a specific reason for restrictions, resume access to programming and ensure all inmates have timely access to appropriate mental health care.

The attorney claimed Souza-Baranowski has long had a culture of violence and punishment, which negatively affects both prisoners and staff. She argued it would be beneficial for federal authorities to look into the claims of excessive uses of force, inadequate supervision and mental health care, confinement conditions and restrictions on communications.

An independent investigation is necessary to uncover how this was allowed to happen and to prevent it from happening in the future, she wrote.

Tyler, in her February letter to the governor, urged Baker to put a direct live feed in his office of footage from the facilitys cameras and provide a list of all inmates displaced from their units following the Jan. 10 attack on the correction officers.

The state representative added that an act creating a correction oversight commission is much needed. Bill H.2142, introduced by Tyler, would institute a commission to advise on policies, procedures, and administration of the correction system.

DeJuneas also called for an investigation from the U.S. Attorneys office. She claimed prison officials allegations that Silva-Prentice assaulted prison staff amount to witness intimidation and retaliation for filing a complaint over alleged abuse.

DOC policies were violated during and after the alleged attack, the attorney also claimed. Video was not recorded of tactical team members entering his cell. Silva-Prentice was not interviewed after the use of force, and medical staff members were not present, she said.

I understand that other inmates have also suffered retaliation for exercising the same rights and believe that an investigation will uncover systemic corruption and evidence of brutal, inhuman treatment of Souza-Baranowski inmates, she said, particularly since January 10, 2020.

_____________

Got a news tip or want to contact MassLive about this story? Email newstips@masslive.com or message us on Facebook or Twitter. You can also call our news tips line at 413-776-1364.

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Citizens coming starting 21,00hrs on Sunday to Romania from countries with over 500 confirmed coronavirus cases, such as France, Germany, Spain will be isolated at home for 14 days.

The measure was announced on Sunday by Interior Minister Marcel Vela in a press conference.Moreover, "the quarantine measure will be extended for all those coming to the country from the quarantined areas, updated by the National Committee for Special Emergency Situations, at the proposal of the technical-scientific support group on the management of highly contagious diseases on Romania's territory and published on the website of the National Public Health Institute," Vela pointed out.According to the National Public Health Institute, the states with over 500 confirmed COVID-19 cases, for which isolation at home is recommended are: Austria, Belgium, South Korea - the part of the country where quarantine is not established, Denmark, Switzerland, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, Norway, the Netherlands, the People's Republic of China - the area without quarantine, Spain, the United States America and Sweden.The states where quarantine is established are: the People's Republic of China - Hubei region, Italy - the whole country, South Korea - Daegu (city) and Cheongdo (county) and Iran - the whole country.
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HYDERABAD: Three companies joined hands on Saturday to facilitate better transportation of agricultural products to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other Middle East countries via Hyderabad airport. Indian airport operator GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, domestic air carrier SpiceJet Ltd and UAEs airport operator Ras-Al-Khaimah International Airport signed the pact under the Ministry of Civil Aviations (MoCA) Krishi Udan Scheme. Operations are expected to start from April.

The target market include Dubai, Abudhabi, Sharjah and Bahrain, the companies said in a joint statement. Specially-designed equipment will be used for transportation through Spicejets dedicated freighter aircraft. Ras-Al-Khaimah International Airport will provide infrastructure and local support for goods and facilitate the onward connection to the Middle Eastern countries.

Through this endeavour, we are also collaborating with farmer associations to enable a perennial supply of farm products through a dedicated freighter corridor, said SGK Kishore, CEO, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. Sanjay Khanna, CEO, Ras Al Khaimah International Airport, said his company was committed to ensuring smooth cargo operations at the airport and supporting point-to-point value chain.

Hyd to get emission database

GMR Hyderabad International Airport signed an agreement with the TS government and Airbus on Saturday to help build an emission inventory database. As per the pact, GMR will allow Airbus BizLab to test its platform that combines IOT, artificial intelligence and data analytics to measure all elements contributing to carbon footprint to build the database. It will enable faster decision making and action and help monitor the progress of environmental clearances.
Dr. Ben Carson talks power of prayer at coronavirus press briefing Trump to expand travel ban to UK, Ireland

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Backing President Donald Trumps decision to make Sunday a National Day of Prayer to address the coronavirus outbreak, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson on Saturday underlined the importance of prayer and faith in maintaining Americas greatness.

Talking about the coronavirus, or COVID-19, during President Trumps press briefing at the White House Saturday, Carson said he hoped that Americans can use this as an opportunity to pull together for good.

President Trump is going to be recommending a national day of prayer. And you know, weve gotten away from prayer and faith a lot in this country, he said.

Theres nothing wrong with godly principles, no matter what your faith is  loving your neighbor  caring about the people around you, he continued. Developing your God-given talents to the utmost, so you become valuable to the people around you. Having values and principles that guide your life. Those are things that made America zoom to the top of the world in record time  and those are the things that will keep us there too.

On Friday evening, the president declared Sunday as a National Day of Prayer.

It is my great honor to declare Sunday, March 15th as a National Day of Prayer. We are a Country that, throughout our history, has looked to God for protection and strength in times like these, the president wrote on Twitter. No matter where you may be, I encourage you to turn towards prayer in an act of faith. Together, we will easily PREVAIL!

Since 1988, the first Sunday of March has been designated as a National Day of Prayer each year. Trump urged that the event be used this year to pray for protection from the coronavirus pandemic.

Responding to Trumps call to pray for Americas safety, pastor Allen Jackson of World Outreach Church in Tennessee, the Christian nonprofit group My Faith Votes and pastor Rob Morgan of Donelson Fellowship, also in Tennessee, have announced that they will hold a joint service called America, Its Time to Pray, which will be live-streamed.

Congregations across the nation are invited, they said in a statement, to join them in praying for faith over fear and Gods intervention in the spread of COVID-19.

Speaking at the same press briefing on Saturday, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams encouraged the media to focus on dealing with the disease and not on criticizing the Trump administrations efforts to combat the coronavirus.

I want you all to understand  straight talk from the nations doctor  we really need you all to lean into and prioritize the health and safety of the American people, he said. No more bickering, no more partisanship, no more criticism or finger-pointing; theyll be plenty of time for that. But we all need to hit the reset button and lean forward, the health and safety of the American people are top priority.

Adams said the spread of the novel coronavirus will get worse before it gets better but we are making progress to flatten the curve. We are making progress. He also assured that almost all who get infected will recover, 98, 99 percent of the people will recover.

Also on Saturday, the Trump administration extended the existing ban on travel from Europe to include the U.K. and Ireland. The travel restrictions will come into force midnight on Monday, the administration said.

Excluded from the ban are American citizens, legal permanent residents, and their immediate families, among others.

During Saturdays press briefing, Trump said hes also considering domestic travel restrictions. If you dont have to travel, I wouldnt do it. We want this thing to end. We dont want a lot of people getting infected, he said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday slammed the Narendra Modi-led Central government over the hike in petrol and diesel prices in the country.

"Just 3 days ago I had requested PMO to pass on the benefit of the global oil price crash to Indian consumers, by slashing the prices of petrol and diesel in India. Instead of heeding this advice, our genius has gone and hiked excise duty on fuel," said Gandhi on his Twitter handle.

In his tweet, Gandhi also shared a video of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressing a press meet.

Earlier, Rahul's sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had also hit out at the Centre over the same issue, asking why the government had failed to provide relief to common people at a time when international prices of crude oil were at an all-time low.

The government on Saturday hiked the excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre and road cess by Re 1, effectively a Rs 3 per litre hike on both commodities.

Petrol in Delhi on Saturday was selling at Rs 69.87 per litre while diesel is costing Rs 62.58 per litre. The decision came amid steep fall in global crude oil in a bid by the government to mop up additional money as it battles weak revenues.

The Congress had slammed the BJP-led government for the hike and have also accused it of indulging in profiteering.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
From: News Release Wire Washington , DC Sunday, March 15, 2020

'You never let a serious crisis go to waste'  'an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.' Rahm Emanuel What Next? Four Leadership, Effectiveness & Growth Experts Offer the Path Forward 1) Growing Your Business in These Tough Times  Alan Weiss http://www.newsreleasewire.com/228970\ Growing Your Business in These Tough Times Some ideas not just to sustain, but to grow your business, during the restrictions caused by the coronavirus:  Reach out by phone to every buyer and ask what help you can provide. Don't talk about projects or fees or anything other than, "How can I best help you?"  Suggest to business and trade publications articles on remote client service and support.  Set up a "hot line" phone or email protocol where clients can call or write you for quick advice with a guarantee response time during business hours.  Ask local clients if they would like to meet to discuss special needs.  Offer to host an informal meeting of local buyers and prospects to discuss business contingency plans.  Advertise and provide a teleconference, podcast, or video for free on conducting business in these times.  If you have livestream capability or can get it, start offering both free and paid livestream sessions.  If you are a speaker, offer livestream substitution for your appearance at events that are being otherwise cancelled.  Use what colleges are now using, which are online courses for your workshops.  Share best practices from your professional community with clients and prospects.  Begin a regular five minute "report" by video or podcast every week at the same time.  Go to work on the book, or video series, or new IP that you've never quite been able to get to. Alan Weiss --- alan@summitconsulting.com 401-884-2778 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2) Leaders who stay calm in a crisis have superior results than those who get caught up in the anxiety. --- Lisa Alderset http://www.newsreleasewire.com/229020 Leaders who stay calm in a crisis have superior results than those who get caught up in the anxiety. We're all being tested by this with the escalation of COVID-19 cases. Whatever messages you're providing to your staff, it's important to create an emergency plan so that you aren't caught off guard. If you haven't thought this through, now is the time. Being unprepared will only create a bigger crisis when it's time to execute. Here are some of the key elements to consider: + What happens if someone in your office tests positive? You're most likely going to close your office temporarily. Yesterday, for example, CBS News shut its New York headquarters for two days after two employees tested positive. + Is your technology working? Have a plan to forward office phones to your cell phones if you aren't able to be in the office for a few days. Make sure you easily access your servers through remote internet access. + Do you have a communications plan? Create a plan for communicating with your staff so they don't feel left in the dark. + Don't forget your clients. Make sure you connect with them, especially if there will be delays in your service. + Find an industrial cleaning service. Prepare ahead of time for who you will call if your office needs to be deep cleaned and disinfected. Finally, there are chronic shortages of hand sanitizers and disinfecting wipes. Know that if you're stuck, you can make your own hand sanitizer. Being prepared will help you stay focused, which in turn will help you maintain calm during crisis. People are nervous, and your composure can go a long way to help others. And remember: stay home if you're sick and keep washing your hands Dr. Lisa M. Aldisert 212-332-3242 lisa@pharosalliance.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3) The 10 Most Effective Strategies for Staying Effective in The Face of Coronavirus Crisis -- Michael J. Herman







http://www.newsreleasewire.com/229056 Michael J. Herman is the World's Most Ubiquitous Motivational Influencer and author of the globally syndicated column The Motivational Minute!. In times of stress and anxiety, it's easy to fall into patterns of despair and panic. However, the antidote to this and a simple recipe for regaining posture and poise is to continuously implement habits of reassurance and effectiveness. The reason you have to continually maintain vigilance is because the id wants to find reasons for panic and disorder, but by intentionally taking command of one's thought processes and emotional intelligence, what seems enormous and all powerful soon appears what it really is, a temporary issue over which you possess ultimate control. So try these formulas for transforming your distressings into blessings. Consume as much positive input as possible. If you're like me, you thrive on the inspiration and enthusiasm of others. Nourish yourself not only on those around us, but those who have the keys to the kingdom. What kingdom? The realm of the Inspired. It's where kings of higher consciousness spend their time. The subconscious mind naturally defaults to "What's wrong?" instead of "What's right?" So exposing your intake systems (eyes, ears, touch, taste, and smell) to overwhelmingly positive input literally floods the mind with positivity and leaves no room for worry. And since the subconscious only knows what you tell it, it starts acting in a positive fashion. Who should you check out? Anyone with a positive message. They're all around and most of the best of them are online and free. Dr. Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, T. Harv Eker, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Les Brown, Steve Harvey, Oprah, Dr. Barbara DeAngelis, and of course Ellen DeGeneres are popular purveyors of positivity. Ellen's brand is a constant torrent of humor and feel good stories. "But Mike, not everyone can have a positive outlook, especially all the time?" Hogwash! In fact, in this life, your attitude and your level of optimism is perhaps one of the singular factors over which you do have total control. A lot of bad things can happen, but if you frame your life through a filter of "Yes" things get better. It's just the way things work. Ask Nelson Mandela who spent decades in a prison cell only to rise to Prime Minister of the country that imprisoned him. There are millions of suggestions I can rattle off that can pump you up no matter what your circumstance. People like Tony Robbins, Tyrese Gibson, Dan Pena, and Garrett J. White are gurus that pump me up. Nearly all these experts' works are easily accessible and in your public library. Like Napoleon Hill taught us throughout his life, surround yourself with positive like minded people and you too will be successful like them. What more is there to say. If a salmon swims up stream against all other salmon swimming downstream eventually, the salmon will be turned in the wrong direction. So get people of influence and vision around you as soon as possible and go with them, or get them to join your journey. Create a Vision Board. It's a visual representation of where you want your life to go. If you want cars, houses, jobs, travel, toys, family, friends, health, community, ease, enlightenment, creativity, divinity, or even serenity, put pictures of these things on a board and position it in a way that your eyes will see it and your subconscious mind will find ways to act on achieving it.

Move your body. Being sedentary for extended periods is an absolute sabotage for your inspired state of being. Raucous, agitated, hysterical aerobic exercise is not necessary. What is required though is moving. Tony Robbins reminds us that "Motion is emotion, and emotion is motion" Move your body, if even from one place to another. Change your posture, or change your physiology. Move the fluids. Get the blood pumping. Get breath pumping through your lungs. One day you won't be able to do so, so do it now while you're still able. Stop listening to what others think and say. When I've interviewed top achievers in almost any field of specialization, almost everyone has said they persevered despite being told they were crazy. The fact is that what others think about you is none of your business and your mission and responsibility is to be the most outstanding version of you that you can manifest. Yes, even in times of extreme stress. Anything that detracts from your stated ambition is merely fluff and not relevant. Listen to your inner voice that guides you to higher levels of excellence. Surely it will never let you down. Track your successes and not your failures. Even the smallest of victories must be celebrated and celebrated like returning heroes from war. T. Harv Eker, Author of Secrets of The Millionaire Mind tells us that even finding a single penny on the ground must be elevated to an event of great abundance. If you cannot be grateful for the small things, the Universe won't give you the big ones. TV talk show host and personality Steve Harvey extols the virtue of Gratitude. Without gratitude, good and great things cannot grow. Without gratitude the soil in which good and great things grow turns hard, dense, and unable to support living, abundant gifts. The online greeting card and gifting company SendOutCards.com is predicated on the value of gratitude and the importance of saying thank you, you're important, and I love you. They make it easy and cheap to send a heartfelt greeting card, upload a photo, and even attach a gift from your mobile device or computer. And everyone likes getting a loving greeting card. Get in the daily, if not hourly habit of saying "Y-E-S" Yes gives life and room to grow. Yes allows for possibility to happen. Yes creates miracles and opens new doors. Unfortunately all too often we say no, even for no good reason. Saying no without reason is simply a learned behavior pattern. But what's it get us? In my earlier career as a TV Writer, hearing "NO" on a fairly constant basis was at times debilitating to my psyche. However, when I started training myself to say and to listen for yes, literally everything changed. And almost immediately! Saying yes is perhaps one of the most powerful and transformative words in any language on earth. Try adding it more often and see how profoundly your world improves. Persevere. You may be smarter, stronger, taller, richer, more connected, more talented, or even more right than me, but you will never out last me. I will persevere and win, if only because I absolutely refuse under any circumstances to give up. Even in the face of total annihilation and blundering loss, I will never quit. I will never give up. I will persevere. It is this quality, if no other that gets me, you, or anyone through tough times. The alligator as a species survives because it perseveres through the harshest of conditions. Love it or hate it, the cockroach has transverse eons of evolution and change. Not because it's smart, not because it's creative, or even because it's lucky. It lasts because it perseveres. In summation, there are a zillion ways you can create better feelings and a more robust abundance in your life to conquer during setbacks and stresses. These were just a few. As you implement them your results will beckon even more techniques and strategies for optimistic outlooks. Michael J. Herman is an expert on the topics of Inspiration, mental toughness, and overcoming insurmountable obstacles. His forthcoming book is How To Succeed in College with A Disability; The No BS Roadmap to Your Diploma due out May 5, 2020. Contact Michael J. Herman for review galleys and interviews, or just for a good word. Michael J. Herman, Speaker-Writer-Author-Entrepreneur (818) -894-4610 | Cell: (818) 441-9288 mike@michaeljherman.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4) Cronavirus Crisis an Ideal Time To Leverage an Underutilized Technology http://www.newsreleasewire.com/229050 Coronavirus Crisis an Ideal Time To Leverage an Underutilized Technology Idea Management Systems: A Solution for Effective Innovation Remote Work What if this Coronavirus crisis could be turned into a positive for your innovation program? Who said "never let a good crisis go to waste?" With innovation there definitely is an obvious opportunity at hand right now. An Idea to Help You Maintain Momentum Do a virtual idea campaign while your people are away from the office. It is entirely possible to have the best idea generation session you've ever had, and done virtually. A well-executed, carefully facilitated, virtual session, using a modern Idea Management System (IMS) could drive innovation projects for the next year or more. Wouldn't this be the perfect time to generate ideas for digital integration? Or supply chain improvements? Or new services? People are good at generating ideas alone, it's time to take advantage. Feature rich and easy to use, virtual systems for idea generation are ready and waiting for this opportunity. The technology is well developed, having been tested, available, and perfected for over 15 years. IMS products are installed at many big companies, although they tend to be underutilized. Smaller companies are less aware of the technology. It has always struck me as a missed opportunity that more organizations don't make greater use of them. It could be because they are easy to mis-use (see Keys below). If you haven't used one before, this is an ideal time to begin. There are several vendors that provide inexpensive, short-term, user-based, rentals. Make sure to get one that works on mobile phones and i-Pads. No install, they're cloud-based. Do not do a virtual "suggestion box" campaign. That would be a waste of time. It needs to be more focused on problem solving for a specific challenge. What follows are four keys to success. Four Keys to A Successful Virtual Idea Generation Session: Focus: Have a highly focused challenge question ("How Might Weintegrate IOT? How might we reinvent our service offerings?"). This focused question is the most essential key. You want ideas for very specific challenges, otherwise it can devolve into an online gripe session. Research & Context First: Provide background information and research to participants before getting started. Or, assign research before starting the idea sprint. Actively Facilitate: Make sure the virtual session is actively facilitated on a day to day basis (or you'll not get maximum participation). Make it fun, keep providing guidance and stimuli for thinking. Get Management to show support for the effort. Get Help: If you don't have the skill to manage this in-house, hire someone who has done it before. They are easy to use, but, they require set-up and that takes training. Contact GFi! Case study A client of GFi, an independent concert production company, did a highly successful virtual idea generation. Because of a shift in their industry, they were looking for new revenue ideas. Most of their staff works in remote cities, away from their headquarters. Flying them all in was impractical. GFI worked with the client lead to define a focused challenge question. Then we communicated with the remote team of about 40 people via a conference call, and kicked off a two-week virtual ideation. By the way, the group could be much larger than 40, IBM has done sessions like this with thousands of people involved. We used a prominent software vendor in the Idea Management space. The session started with distributing some fresh research around their challenge that the client lead had developed. Day to day, the client lead and GFI reviewed the ideas and further focusing and encouraging the team. We had fun with it, providing incentives and prizes, and attainable-but-stretchy goals. As ideas emerged people really got excited and the ideas got better and better. Two weeks later we had 400 quality ideas in the IMS database. We also had a sense of what the team had energy for, as we used commenting, voting, and ranking features of the software. We organized a live convergence session at HQ and we selected a subset of ideas for further development. This was done with a small group and the ideas improved as they were discussed and developed into more fleshed-out solutions. The best five idea/solutions were pitched to management and one was selected to take to market. One was scheduled for the next year. The end result, six months later, was a highly profitable craft beer festival, incorporating local musicians. It was a smashing success. This became a yearly event, and, they replicated the festival idea across several regions. It's now one of their key revenue streams. There has never been a better time to start using Idea Management Systems.


The number of novel coronavirus cases in the country rose to 107 on Sunday, with Maharashtra reporting the highest followed by Kerala, while over 450 stranded Indians were flown back from Italy and Iran, the two worst affected countries after China, and quarantined.

Extending the border restrictions in view of the Coronavirus outbreak, the government has suspended travel and registration of pilgrims to Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara through the corridor from Sunday midnight, besides movement of all types of passengers to Pakistan through international border points.

Earlier, the government had announced suspension of all types of passenger movement from 00:00 hours on March 15 through the Indo-Bangla, Indo-Nepal, Indo-Bhutan and Indo-Myanmar borders barring a few specified border checkposts.

In a video conference of SAARC members, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed setting up a COVID-19 emergency fund with India committing USD 10 million initially for it, and asserted that the best way to deal with the pandemic was by coming together, and not growing apart.

Apart from Modi, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza, participated in the video conference.

According to Union Health Ministry, there are 107 cases in India so far including the two persons who died in Delhi and Karnataka and 17 foreigners.

Twelve more people have tested positive in Maharashtra, taking the number of cases to 31, it said. But state Health Minister Rajesh Tope said there were 32 cases.

Delhi has so far reported seven positive cases, Kerala 22 and Uttar Pradesh 11. Karnataka has six coronavirus patients while Ladakh three and Jammu and Kashmir had two. Telangana reported three cases. Rajasthan also reported two cases. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab have reported one case each.

In Kerala, 20 Dubai-bound passengers were detained at the Kochi airport after a UK national, who was under surveillance but sneaked out and joined the group, tested positive for novel coronavirus, official sources said.

Earlier, the over 280 passengers of the Dubai-bound Emirates flight, which the group had taken, were offloaded at the airport. The flight left for Dubai in the afternoon after the 20 passengers were detained.

The UK national has been taken to an isolation facility at a nearby government hospital, a Cochin International Airport Limited spokesman said.

Kerala has launched an intensified medical check up in inter-state border areas for people entering the state by rail and road.

As many as 302 people are in isolation wards of various hospitals across the state.

The Mumbai Police on Sunday clamped prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC to stop tour operators from conducting any kind of group tours to foreign or domestic destinations till March 31.

Maharashtra has already invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 that gives wide-ranging powers to officials to enforce measures, including that of lockdown and quarantine, required to tackle an outbreak.

Shopping malls, schools and colleges have been closed in the state till March 31.

Elections to rural and urban local bodies in Andhra Pradesh have been put off for six weeks by the State Election Commission in view of spread of coronavirus, according to State Election Commissioner N Ramesh Kumar. They were originally scheduled for March 21.

More states ordered closure of schools and public places like cinema halls and malls where people gather in large numbers.

The Tamil Nadu government directed closure of all kindergarten and primary schools till March 31.

Chief Minister K Palaniswami also issued orders for closure of cinema halls and malls till the month end in 16 districts bordering Kerala and Karnataka, where the number of COVID-19 cases is on the rise, an official release said.

The Assam government too ordered shutting down of educational institutions, gymnasiums, swimming pools and cinema halls with immediate effect till March 29 in the wake of novel coronavirus outbreak.

Uttarakhand government has declared novel coronavirus an epidemic and shut all multiplexes, cinema halls, degree colleges and technical institutes across the state till March 31, official sources said.

However, the central 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 and that it is "not a health emergency" in India at present.

Meanwhile, the government continued to evacuate Indians stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran and Italy.

A total of 218 Indians, mostly students, from Milan landed at around 9.45 AM at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in Delhi and were taken to an ITBP quarantine facility in south-west Delhi's Chhawla area.

More than 230 Indians brought back from Iran reached New Delhi at about 3:15 AM and were quarantined at the Indian Army Wellness Centre in Jaisalmer, the third batch to be evacuated from that country.

They had arrived in Delhi on a Mahan Air flight from Tehran and were ferried by two Air India flights to Jaisalmer, IGI airport officials said.

The first batch of 58 Indian pilgrims were brought back from Iran on Tuesday and the second group of 44 Indian pilgrims had arrived from there on Friday.

Italy is the second most affected country after China with over 1,400 deaths and 21,000 cases of coronavirus. It is followed by Iran where over 700 people have died and nearly 14,000 cases have been detected.

Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said all paramilitary forces, including the CRPF, the ITBP, and the BSF, have been advised to keep ready quarantine camps for COVID-19 suspects as a preparatory measure.

With the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaring COVID-19 a pandemic, a health ministry official said over 4,000 people who had come in contact with 93 positive cases have been identified through contact 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 personal protective equipment (PPEs), trained manpower, rapid response teams are being strengthened further in all states and union territories.

An order has been placed for the procurement of an additional over 80,50,000 N95 masks and personal protective equipment for healthcare workers, the health ministry said.

It also clarified the 71-year-old man from Maharashtra's Buldhana who admitted to a private hospital and died during treatment on Saturday has tested negative for coronavirus infection. He had returned from Saudi Arabia recently and had diabetes and high blood pressure.

The government had on Wednesday suspended all visas, barring a few categories like diplomatic and employment, in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

India-Bangladesh passenger train services between Kolkata and cities in the neighbouring country were also suspended from Sunday as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19.

The Eastern Railway said services of Maitree and Bandhan Express trains will remain suspended from March 15 to April 15 or till further orders, whichever is earlier.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A joint statement by elected officials on Staten Island calls for borough residents to reevaluate their social distancing behavior in order to curtail the potential spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

The statement, written by Borough President Oddo, Congressman Max Rose (D-NY), District Attorney Michael E. McMahon, Senator Diane Savino (D-NY), Senator Andrew Lanza (D-NY), Assemblyman Michael Cusick (D-Mid-Island), Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-East Shore), Assemblyman Mike Reilly (R-South Shore), Assemblyman Charles Fall (D-North Shore), Councilman Steven Matteo (R-Mid-Island), Councilman Joe Borelli (R-South Shore), and Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore), comes as officials announced over 700 cases in New York State on Sunday.

In addition to a running text thread to allow all Staten Island elected officials to communicate with each other simultaneously, and to collectively share information, we have established what will be a daily conference call to coordinate our efforts," the statement read. Todays call focused on securing the needs of our two hospital systems, attempting to unclog the flow of county specific information and data, expressing our ongoing bewilderment and concerns about schools not officially closing, and our strenuous belief that this next week is critical in terms of containment efforts.

After reading the bleak predictions and emphatic counsel of medical and scientific experts across the country, after seeing other cities and nations imposing curfews or shutting businesses and gathering places, and after hearing widespread accounts of people willfully ignoring social distancing in establishments across the city, state and nation, we strongly encourage Staten Islanders to re-evaluate their social distancing behavior," the statement read.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo previously announced restrictions on occupancy at establishments  limiting gatherings to half of an establishments total occupancy, meaning 50% of your seated capacity is the new capacity for a facility, Cuomo said.

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.

The recent joint statement called on individuals to consider the health of others in their decision making.

We want to help keep our small businesses viable, but Islanders need to understand that they are not invulnerable and their behavior puts OTHER people at risk, including potentially the vulnerable populations in their own homes and within their own families," the statement said.

As so many have advocated: Stay home as much as possible; keep 6 feet of distance from others in public; and minimize in-person social contact. Please, for everyones sake, use common sense. This upcoming week is critically important in terms of attempting to contain this virus. Those who can should just stay home.

***

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South Africa: SA now has 51 Coronavirus cases

The number of COVID-19 infections in South Africa has risen to 51, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced on Sunday.

The number rose by 13 from Saturdays figure of 38.

The recent cases were recorded in Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

Gauteng now has 24 cases while the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal have, respectively, confirmed 14 and 12 cases. Mpumalanga has recorded only one case.

In a statement, the Health Ministry said Mkhize and Deputy Health Minister Joe Phaahla held an urgent meeting with all provincial MECs and Heads of Department for Health on Saturday night.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the latest situational analysis of each province as more cases of COVID-19 cases are being confirmed.

Mkhize said: In our engagement, it became clear that the role played by contact tracers is very important and their capacity needs to be strengthened. The NHC agreed that in order to minimise the risk of further spread of the virus, contact tracing must be done within 48 hours.

Cabinet is today expected to meet to discuss government's approach to the outbreak.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said while the country continues to see an increase in COVID-19 positive cases in South Africa, there is currently no evidence to suggest that COVID-19 is circulating in South Africas population.

However, the status of COVID-19 transmission is increasingly likely to shift based on trends found in other parts of the world. We call on all South Africans to continue to follow COVID-19 preventive measures such as meticulous hand hygiene and cough etiquette, said the institute.

The NICD, a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, has tested 1476 for SARS-CoV-2  the causative pathogen for COVID-19.

The NICD said it has decided that doctors no longer need to contact the NICD for approval for testing as long as they apply the case definition before testing.

The NICD will test the submitted samples as long as the required supporting documents accompany the sample (specimen submission form and PUI form) which is available on the NICD website: http://www.nicd.ac.za/diseases-a-z-index/covid-19/.

The breakdown of new cases per province is as follows:

Gauteng: 7

A 60 year-old male who had travelled to Iran.

A 36 year-old male who had travelled to the UK.

A 54 year-old male who had travelled to Switzerland.

A 27 year-old male who had travelled to the UK.

A 21 year-old female who had travelled to Germany.

A 53 year-old female who had travelled to Germany.

A 29 year-old male who had travelled to Switzerland.

Western Cape: 5

A 35 year-old female who had travelled to Germany.

A 42 year-old female who had travelled to Switzerland and the UK.

A 50 year-old male who had travelled to the Netherlands.

A 33 year-old male who had travelled to Switzerland.

A 35 year-old male who had travelled to Austria.

KwaZulu-Natal: 1

A 34 year-old male who had travelled to the UK.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2020-03-15. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
You are here: World

 Flash

Sudan's Council of Ministers on Saturday decided to close universities and schools for one month and ban public gatherings to prevent coronavirus spread, according to a council statement.

The council also decided to close the kindergartens and religious schools for one month, said Faisal Mohamed Saleh, Sudan's information minister and government spokesman, was quoted as saying in the statement.

It has also been decided to postpone the basic school certificate examinations in all states, the statement added.

Meanwhile, the council decided to evacuate the Sudanese citizens trapped at the border crossings with Egypt through the Arqin crossing, establish a temporary accommodation camp and conduct medical examination there.

On Friday, the Sudanese health ministry announced the first death from coronavirus in the country.




Cafes, shops and restaurants shut down across France and Spain on Sunday and travellers faced chaos at US airports as governments stepped up their fight against the coronavirus pandemic which has now reportedly killed more than 6,000.

France ordered the closure of all non-essential businesses, while Spain went a step further and banned people from leaving home except to go to work, get medical care or buy food.

Cases also spiked in Germany and sources told AFP that the government planned to shut its borders with France, Switzerland and Austria on Monday.

Spain and France are among the worst-hit countries in Europe although Italy, which imposed Europe's most draconian lockdown on its 60 million citizens last week, still dominates in terms of infections from COVID-19.

A spike in deaths reported in Spain from 183 on Saturday to 288 on Sunday took the global toll to 6,036 from almost 160,000 infections, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources.

Experts warn, however, that the real figure is likely to be higher as tests are not available to everyone and people can be infected without showing symptoms.

The disease has now hit all global regions, ripping up sporting and cultural calendars, causing panic in stock markets and companies -- particularly airlines -- and prompting often contradictory responses from governments.

The United States imposed a travel ban on countries in Europe's Schengen free-movement area last week, but has since said it would add Britain and Ireland to the list.

Britain is getting ready for more drastic action. By Tolga AKMEN (AFP)

China, where the disease originated, is now imposing its own crackdown on international travellers -- all will be put into quarantine on arrival -- after linking most of its new infections to those coming from overseas.

As the virus continued its global spread, the plight of existing hotspots intensified.

Iran announced 113 new deaths on Sunday taking its total to 724, the world's third-worst toll after China and Italy, and officials urged people to avoid public gatherings.

US travel spat

The US travel restrictions threw airports into disarray with passengers complaining of massive queues as staff battled with the new entry rules and stipulations on medical screening.

One passenger, Ann Lewis Schmidt, told CNN passengers at Chicago's O'Hare airport were held at "close quarters" when they arrived, adding: "So if we didn't have the virus before, we have a great chance of getting it now."

Similar stories emerged on social media from passengers at Dallas and New York's JFK.

Illinois governor JB Pritzker said the queues at O'Hare were "unacceptable" and demanded that President Donald Trump take action.

"The federal government needs to get its [email protected]#t together. NOW," he tweeted.

Trump tested negative for the disease, having come into contact with several members of a Brazilian presidential delegation who have since tested positive.

Governments in Europe also struggled to respond clearly.

Britain, which had avoided crackdowns and instead tried to manage the spread and create "herd immunity", cancelled local elections and hinted that it would follow most other affected European nations and ban mass gatherings.

Iran announced 113 new deaths on Sunday and officials urged people to heed the advice to avoid public gatherings. By STRINGER (AFP)

On the other hand, France allowed municipal elections to go ahead on Sunday even as officials imposed a drastic nationwide shutdown on all non-essential businesses and promised to progressively restrict long-distance travel.

The risk from voting for the elderly was no greater "than going shopping", insisted Jean-Francois Delfraissy, chairman of France's coronavirus science council.

Several countries have announced bans on foreigners entering their countries.

Austria banned gatherings of more than five people on Sunday, telling citizens to stay in unless absolutely necessary.

Norway announced it would shut ports and airports with international connections on Saturday before retreating a day later and saying although foreigners would be turned away the facilities would remain open.

The isolated turn to music

The spread of the virus has spooked even those countries without significant outbreaks -- with both Australia and New Zealand saying that anyone arriving from overseas must self-isolate for two weeks.

"We are going to have to get used to some changes in the way we live our lives," said Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Kazakhstan declared a state of emergency on Sunday despite having just eight confirmed infections.

In Africa, which has been spared the worst of the disease, half a dozen countries announced new infections over the weekend.

The announcements sparked restrictions on gatherings in Rwanda, panic-buying in the Seychelles and furious recriminations in Zimbabwe -- a country yet to register a single case.

"Coronavirus is the work of god punishing countries who imposed sanctions on us," said Zimbabwe's defence minister Oppah Muchinguri on Saturday.

Latin America has also recorded only small clusters of infections, though Colombia shut its border with Venezuela over a rise in cases there.

Chile has also taken some protective measures -- quarantining more than 1,300 people aboard two cruise ships after an elderly Briton aboard one of them tested positive for the coronavirus.

However, the cancelled events, closed schools and restrictions on movements have driven people to great lengths to avoid isolation and disappointment.

Romans have been singing to each other from their apartments, and across the US on the weekend hundreds of youngsters posted their cancelled high-school musical numbers on social media under #SunshineSongs.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 15) As the country continues to curb the local spread of the coronavirus disease, several health groups including frontliners themselves are appealing for medical supplies amid dwindling stocks of the products.

In a statement, state-owned Philippine General Hospital has asked for donations of masks (both surgical and N95), 70 percent alcohol, face shields, and surgical gowns for its health workers.

The University of the Philippines College of Medicine's Student Council also appealed for health supply donations for its PGH interns on duty.

The Office of the Vice President has likewise called for donations of protective gear and equipment including googles, gown, head and shoe covers, and N95 masks for health workers.

COVID-19, now considered by WHO as a pandemic, has infected more than 156,000 people in 142 different countries and territories, including China. Over 5,800 people have been killed by the disease as of Sunday, according to the Johns Hopkins University's global tracker.

The Philippines has meanwhile recorded over 100 cases of COVID-19, including eight fatalities.
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath has called a cabinet meeting here on Sunday, in the wake of state Governor Lalji Tandon's direction to his government to seek a trust vote in the Assembly on Monday.

The meeting is likely to be begin at 11 am, sources said.

The cabinet is likely to discuss the governor's letter sent on Saturday night, in which he asked the government to seek a trust vote in the Assembly soon after his (governor's) address on March 16, they said.

Hours after Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon directed Chief Minister Kamal Nath to seek a trust vote in the Assembly on March 16, the Congress MLAs, who had been camping in Jaipur, returned to Bhopal on Sunday.

Talking to PTI, a Congress MLA confirmed that the party legislators have returned to the state capital from Rajasthan.

The Congress expressed confidence that it will prove its majority in the House, while the opposition BJP claimed that the ruling dispensation has been reduced to minority as 22 of its MLAs have resigned.

We are confident of proving our majority, state Public Relations Minister P C Sharma said.

He said although the governor has asked the Congress government to seek a trust vote after his (governor's) address in the Assembly on Monday, the Speaker was empowered to decide the proceedings of the House and he would take a call on it.

However, BJP chief whip in the Assembly, Narottam Mishra, said, The Congress has lost its majority. The governor is saying that was in a minority. I am not saying this...it has been mentioned it the governor's letter sent to chief minister.

The Kamal Nath-led government has been facing deep crisis following the resignation of 22 Congress MLAs after former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the party on Tuesday.

On Saturday, the Speaker had accepted the resignations of six ministers. With this, the strength of the House has come down to 222 and the majority mark is now 112.
Jinger Duggar and Jeremy Vuolo wed back in 2016, and theyve since separated themselves a bit from the rest of Duggars family. Duggars parents, Michelle and Jim Bob, raised the kids in a very religious household, and their Baptist beliefs were a huge part of Duggars life growing up. Now, though, Duggar and Vuolo appear to be desperately trying to get people to forget about where Duggar comes from.

Jinger Duggar and Jeremy Vuolo | Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Discovery Channel

Duggar and Vuolo have stepped back from her familys strict rules

The Duggar family stars on TLCs Counting On, and Duggar and Vuolo are members of the cast. But since they married, theyve seemed to become much more mainstream than the rest of Duggars family. The two love exploring their Los Angeles neighborhood, and Duggar has essentially stripped all religion from her social media profiles. She mostly just highlights her family, friends, and adventures through Instagram rather than her religious beliefs.

The two watch television, listen to modern music, and spend time with friends outside their church. Duggar wasnt able to do any of those things growing up.

Duggar had been trying to become an influencer but was having difficulty

Since the two relocated to California last summer, Duggar has been trying to become an influencer. She has more than 1.3 million Instagram followers and has become a fan favorite on the show after branching out a bit from her parents. But shes still had a difficult time landed influencer gigs.

Duggar had two deals pulled back-to-back: Fonuts and Rebecca Minkoff. Fonuts apologized to its customers after some protested the company for working with Duggar. (Duggars family has been openly against abortion, gay marriage, and other social issues.) Soon after the Fonuts ad was pulled, Duggar deleted the post announcing her partnership with Rebecca Minkoff, too.

View this post on Instagram Merry Christmas from our family to yours! A post shared by Jinger Vuolo (@jingervuolo) on Dec 25, 2019 at 5:06pm PST Duggar has mostly removed religion from her Instagram  even her Christmas post was without a religious caption.

Fans noticed the two completely updated their website to remove most religion

Users took to Reddit to discuss the newly updated website of Duggar and Vuolo, which has moved away from religion to focus more on their family. Though there are still religious undertones on the site (the two note their love for Christ), there no links to sermons or anything having to do with their specific views. And many fans think that its a desperate attempt to get the two to be more well-liked for Duggars potential sponsorships.

The Vuolos website has been totally whitewashed, the original poster wrote, noting all the things that had been removed. They must think deleting everything [Fundamentalist] related will save their brand, someone commented. How can they be okay with denying their own beliefs to fall in line with the non-believers? another user added.

Duggar landed a paid internship, but it was taken away

Though fans and critics alike didnt seem happy about the websites switch, it worked. Duggar recently posted an Instagram story for her first ad since the update: She partnered with Ruggable. However, it didnt take long for the complaints to come in. Someone posted a screenshot of a message to Reddit, in which the company informed the user that theyd be pulling the sponsorship with Duggar, presumably after learning of her stance on issues such as gay marriage and abortion.
Newly-appointed Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar said on Sunday the AIMIM should be banned for its link to "violence and terrorists" and claimed Congress workers will join the saffron organisation in large numbers as their party was staring at "disintegration" in the state.

Appointed as the state party chief last week, the first time Lok Sabha MP sees himself as a "fighter" for Hindutva ideals and accused the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) of joining hands with the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM, which has strong presence in Hyderabad, to instigate violence during protests against the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

"We (BJP) will soon launch a state-wide exercise highlighting the nexus between the TRS and the AIMIM for sheer vote bank The AIMIM is essentially a party of terrorists," Kumar alleged, stating that Owaisi's party should be banned.

Speaking to PTI, Kumar, 48, accused the



K Chandrashekhar Rao-led Telangana government of renaming a host of central dispensation schemes to "mislead" people and alleged a scam involving diversion of funds provided by the Centre.

Associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since a very young age, the state BJP chief has risen through the saffron ranks, holding a number of organisational posts in the party and its youth wing, BJYM, earlier.

He was a corporator before winning his maiden Lok Sabha poll in 2019.

Kumar mentions with pride that he was jailed for at least seven times between 2005 and 2011 during agitation over



a variety of Hindutva issues.

His strongest words are reserved for the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), which has grown over the last few years outside its traditional base of Hyderabad with its unsparing attacks on the BJP, especially over its Hindutva planks.

The Owaisi-led party has won a few seats in states like Maharashtra and Bihar in regions with large Muslim population.

"The AIMIM should be banned. I will work for it," Kumar said.

Asked about Owaisi's condemnation of terrorist organisations in his speeches in parliament, the Telangana BJP chief claimed this is all "acting".

The party, he claimed, has open "sympathies" for terrorists and undertakes events in their support in its bastion of old Hyderabad.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the TRS, Congress and the BJP won nine, three and four seats, respectively. The vote share of the Congress was higher than that of the saffron party in the elections.

Kumar, however, asserted that the Congress has only weakened since then as it is in a state of "internal war".

"It is looking at disintegration. The Congress will cease to exist in the state soon. Many of its leaders and workers have joined us. Its rank and file will merge into our party to take on the TRS as the BJP is the only alternative," he said.

The TRS, he added, has only made false promises and its development claims are bogus.

It claimed that its government has built 97,000 houses for the poor but not released the list of beneficiaries, Kumar said, claiming the real number is barely 5,000.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
So it is difficult for governments who learned to urge calm on their populations in times of terrorism to now learn how to frighten them into acting for the common good.

During the great Black Death of the 14th century, which took so many lives, people believed that God had condemned those who died and chose whom to spare. But in a secular society its harder to find the morality in who is dying, Mr. Krastev said. Instead you have all these conspiracy theories, with talk of the foreign virus and even a Chinese spokesman suggesting that the American military was to blame.

In 2003, George Steiner, the European philosopher who died last month at 90, wrote a famous essay for the Nexus Institute called The Idea of Europe. But that idea is under threat.

Europes cultural identity, Mr. Steiner wrote, is founded on several characteristics largely missing in the United States, where car culture, suburban sprawl and great open spaces engender a sense of separateness.

In Europe, it is a culture of coffee houses and cafes, where people meet, read, write and plot. They are places, Mr. Steiner said, for assignation and conspiracy, for intellectual debate and gossip, for the flaneur and the poet or metaphysician at his notebook, open to all.

Europes is also a pedestrian culture, founded on squares and small streets, usually named after scholars and statesmen, famous for their works and their massacres. Europe is walked, he wrote, and distances are on a human scale.
The renowned Mysore Palace will remain closed for tourists for a week from March 15 to 22, in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, Mysore Palace committee said on Saturday.

The Karnataka government has ordered shutting down for a week all places and activities where people gather in large number including swimming pools, shopping malls, schools, colleges and cinema halls, state Health Minister B Sriramulu said amid the coronavirus threat.

This comes after Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa chaired an emergency meeting with ministers and senior officials on Friday to discuss the situation.

Earlier, schools in the state had announced early summer vacation for their students this academic year as a precautionary measure. Other public places have been shut down in the state amid the coronavirus scare.

The central government had on Thursday said that the death of the 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi in Karnataka was confirmed to be caused due to co-morbidity while he was also tested positive for COVID-19. The man visited Saudi Arabia on January 29 and returned to India a month later on February 29.

Till date, India has reported two deaths and 84 confirmed cases of the deadly coronavirus.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. The virus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan last year has spread to more than 100 countries worldwide, infecting over 1,30,000 people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
D onald Trump has tested negative for the coronavirus, according to his doctor.

The White House released the results of Mr Trumps test results on Saturday night after he told reporters he had been tested hours earlier.

Anyone who comes into contact with the US leader is now having their temperature checked as the US regime cracks down on the bug.

Mr Trump had been in contact with three people who have tested positive for the virus / Reuters

President Trump told reporters at a White House briefing on Saturday that he had his temperature taken and it was totally normal, shortly before stepping into the room to discuss the governments efforts to halt the spread of the virus.

The pandemic has now infected more than 2,200 people in the US and caused at least 50 deaths.

The president had multiple direct and indirect contacts with people who have since tested positive for the virus, including three people he spent time with last weekend at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

The Brazilian Embassy in Washington said late on Friday that the countrys charge daffaires, Nestor Forster, tested positive after sitting at Trumps dinner table.

President Trump, after days of insisting that he was not exhibiting symptoms of the virus, relented after being pressed by reporters about his resistance to testing when multiple politicians and countless citizens across the country who have had the same degree of exposure have not only tried to get tested, but also chosen to try to avoid potentially infecting others.
AFP

The total positive cases of coronavirus currently stand at 107 in India. Read more

Here's more top news of the day:

1) Kerala Shows How It's Done: Jail Inmates Make Masks, Mid-Day Meals Home-Delivered In Wake Of Coronavirus

The southern state of Kerala is among the worst-hit places due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus. However, the state has bounced back from the crisis and has managed to control the spread of outbreak with well-timed and well-placed measures. Read more

2) People Criticise US For Handling Coronavirus Poorly, Claim No Masks, Sanitisers At Airports

Jason Whitely/Twitter

A week ago, US President Donald Trump signed a congressional emergency spending bill to combat the coronavirus for $8.3 billion. He insisted that they are doing well, amidst the growing chorus of negligence from the government. Read more

3) UP's Corona Wale Baba Who Was Selling Talisman For Rs 11 To Cure Coronavirus Put Behind Bars

In the wake of coronavirus and a wave of misinformation and fake news floating on social media about the virus, the authorities have tightened the noose around those who are found guilty of spreading rumours about the same. Read more



4) If You Have Coronavirus Symptoms, Here's How You Can Isolate Yourself & Avoid Infecting Others

Coronavirus is spreading fast across the world. From China it has made it to other parts of Asia, breached Europe and also gone all the way to USA. In other words, things are not looking good. So how does one combat this disease? Read more
A militant was arrested during a cordon and search operation in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Sunday.

The militant was identified as Danish Kakroo, resident of Chesti Colony in Baramulla, a police official said.

Theoperation is still in progress, the official said, adding, further details are awaited.

In a separate incident, policeapprehended two persons from Alstop Mirbazar in district Kulgam of South Kashmir.

One of them has been identified as Parveez Ahmad Mantoo, resident of Khudwani Kulgam, while the identity of the other is being ascertained, the official said.

He said police recovereda pistol, three grenades and some cash from them.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
- Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo defended the supposed harsh lockdown protocols

- This was after some reactions aired online about the protocols being enforced on people getting in and out of Metro Manila

- Some workers were reportedly denied of entry to Metro Manila hours after the community quarantine was implemented

- He also assured the public that the government prepared assistance to those who will be affected by the lockdown

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Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo defended the lockdown protocols with regards to people getting in and out of Metro Manila. Reactions and complaints aroused after reports of workers allegedly denied entry to Metro Manila hours before the community quarantine commenced.

Walang namamatay sa gutom. Ang isang buwan, hindi ka pa mamamatay," said Panelo on Sunday.

The spokesperson insisted that the protocols were implemented to avoid COVID-19 transmissions.

On Thursday, President Rodrigo Duterte announced the community quarantine which started on March 15, 2020 until April 14, 2020. In earlier statements, the government assured workers residing outside NCR that they will be allowed entry as long as they present the necessary proofs that they work in the NCR.

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Anong gusto nila, huwag silang i-check o wag silang makapasok? Sige nga, said Panelo in an interview with Inquirer.

Panelo likewise assured that the government has prepared assistance to those who will be affected by the lockdown.

Meanwhile, Panelo's statement elicited reactions online:

Panelo, I dare you to say this again....but in front of homeless families, contractual workers and all other people most vulnerable to this lockdown

Remember when he did the public transport challenge to prove that there was no Transport Crisis in Manila and failed horribly? Well it's time for another Challenge Panelo.

I challenge Panelo not to consume food and water for a month to prove his statement. We need hard evidence, sir. Kindly do the honor.

The Philippines has 111 confirmed COVID-19 cases including 8 fatalities.

Salvador Panelo is a Filipino lawyer who is currently the Presidential Spokesperson of President Rodrigo Duterte. Panelo is a former Director of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.

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With TikTok App taking the internet by storm, more and more netizens share their TikTok videos. Here are some of the compilations of the funniest TikTok clips. Check out all of our videos on our KAMI YouTube channel!

Source: KAMI.com.gh
By Express News Service

PURI/BALANGIR: A minor girl from Lithuania was admitted to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) at Puri on COVID-19 suspicion on Saturday. After preliminary examination, she was allowed to go for self-isolation in a hotel near Puri beach.



The girl and her mother had come to Puri a fortnight back and were staying in the hotel. She has been suffering from cold, cough and fever since their arrival. Her mother took her to a private hospital on Saturday where doctors referred her to the DHH.



ALSO READ | 26 and counting: Maharashtra tops Kerala, now has the most coronavirus cases in India

However, after examining her health and travel history, the DHH authorities allowed her to remain under self-isolation. Before arriving in Puri, she and her mother had not travelled to any COVID-19 affected country. Chief District Medical Officer Dr Nilakantha Mishra said the girl has been suffering from flu for the last two weeks.



As a precautionary measure, we admitted her to the isolation ward in the hospital. As the girl felt uncomfortable in the ward, her mother requested us to keep her under isolation in the hotel room and give her the prescribed medicines, he informed.

Her blood and swab samples will be sent for coronavirus test. The Puri administration had issued advisory to hotel owners, private hospitals and pathology labs to report any person, particularly international tourists, suffering from cold, cough and fever.





Couple from Canada tests negative



The Canada-based Odia couple which was admitted to Bhima Bhoi Medical College and Hospital in Balangir on Friday, has tested negative for COVID-19. The couple was discharged and left for their native place Titlagarh.



However, both have been advised for home isolation and will be monitored. Their preliminary blood and swab tests were found negative but their blood samples have again been sent for further examination.

The husband and wife had come to Titlagarh on Wednesday to attend funeral of the mans father who died earlier this week. They travelled to India through Mumbai airport from where they took a train to Raipur. They were screened at both Mumbai airport and Raipur railway station. They took another train to Titlagarh from Raipur.



As both of them developed fever and respiratory problems on Friday, they went for medical examination at Titlagarh sub-divisional hospital.
Editors note:

The third Sunday of each month, Journal Arts Editor Adrian Gomez tells the stories behind some of the hidden gems you can see across the state in Gimme Five.

New Mexico has an important place in nuclear history.

The creation of the atomic bomb happened in the state, as well as the testing.

The course of action changed the world in many ways.

Enter the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in Albuquerque, which houses some important pieces to this history.

The museum was established in 1969, where visitors were able to learn about the Atomic Age.

The opening came after a six-year effort to have a permanent space, where it was located on Kirtland Air Force Base.

In 1973, the museums name was changed to National Atomic Museum to reflect the growing national and international audience and the fact that it was the only public museum that preserved the history of the nuclear industry.

It closed its doors at the Kirtland on Sept. 11, 2001, due to heightened security measures at the base.

The National Atomic Museum was in its rented Old Town location from May 11, 2002, to February 7, 2009; the Museum re-opened in its current location in southeast Albuquerque in April 2009, when it was renamed The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History.

Inside the museum, theres so much to see.

The aircraft outside are often the biggest draw, yet there are smaller, interesting items tucked away in the exhibits.

Curator David Hoover says plenty of visitors often miss many items during time spent at the museum.

Many of them have a great story.

Take for instance the radioactive quackery item from the 1920s and 30s  Radithor.

It contained triple distilled water featuring at a least one microcurie of Radium 226 and 228 isotopes. This patent medicine was advertised as Perpetual Sunshine.

This came about as a result of Marie Curie discovering radium in 1898, Hoover says. It was an element that had not been seen before and could exist for thousands of years. Then William Bailey went to one of her talks and learned more about the element. He had the reputation of a con man. He claimed that Radithor would cure you and was going around the country selling it. Turns out it did make you feel better, but it would also kill you.

Making your way through the museum, you will notice the Lucky Strike Geiger counter.

It was commercially available and sold to the general public. It was used to do amateur uranium prospecting during the mid-1950s during the post war uranium craze.

You could find this at JC Penny and Sears, he says. JC Penny came out with a whole line of clothing for prospecting uranium.

Hoover says this model of the Geiger counter was sold during the uranium craze of the 1930s and 40s because during the Manhattan project, finding uranium was difficult.

Uranium was being shipped in, he says. People started spreading out in Colorado, Utah and New Mexico. Thats where the big strikes were.

Hoover says the Graflex Speed Graphic Camera is an item not to be missed.

This famous press-type camera was the still camera used by the press and combat photographers during World War II. The exhibited camera is the anniversary model which was produced between 1940 and 1946. It is the same type camera used by Tech Sgt. John (Mike) Michnovicz at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project.

He worked for Sandia Labs and one day his son and daughter found his photographs, Hoover says. He told them what he did during the war in Los Alamos. Weve done a small exhibit showing the importance of the and Mike Michnovicz.

Technology grew by leaps and bounds and the Walleye Mk1 led the way.

Hoover says this was one of the first smart bombs.

It had a television camera in its nose which helped the pilot to guide the missile to its target, he says. (It) was used during the Vietnam War.

Hoover says it was developed in the 1950s by Martin Marietta.

These engineers there were brilliant, he says. There was solid state circuitry, which led to transistors and computer chips. The Navy funded all of this. The bomb was used to get to hard-to-reach places. A version of this is still used today.

The Spectro-Chrome Device is an item not to be missed.

It was invented by Dinshah Ghadiali circa 1925 to treat and cure diseases and maladies through color light therapy.

He came up with this theory and the machine helped get peoples colors in balance, he says. He had a lot of legal issues and was arrested for several things. He would always go back to his chrome theory and finally in the 1950s, the Department of Justice judge issues a cease and desist order. To this day, people still believe in this and promoting it. Theres no documentation that it works and its pretty much a hoax.

If you go

The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History is located at 601 Eubank SE. It is open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Information at nuclearmuseum.org
Officials are calling on the public to donate blood as the coronavirus outbreak has caused blood drive cancellations and fewer donors.

The South Texas Blood and Tissue Center put out the call during a news conference Saturday, warning blood supplies are nearing critically low levels.

The blood bank has a supply for 2 to 2 days, but as 50 blood drives have been canceled, stocks arent being replenished, said Elizabeth Waltman, chief operating officer at South Texas Blood and Tissue Center.

The center typically has a three- to five-day supply of blood, she said.

It provides blood to more than 100 hospitals in 48 counties. Each day, the center needs to collect more than 400 units a day to meet normal demand, Waltman said.

Cancellations of blood drives over fears about the virus have meant 1,600 fewer units of blood are available to the center.

On ExpressNews.com: Second travel-related coronavirus case found in San Antonio

To be clear, every day patients need blood. These blood drive cancellations mean in very short order, blood inventories locally and nationally will be depleted, Waltman said.

Officials stressed that neither blood donors nor patients are at risk of contracting the virus by giving or receiving blood.

The blood bank is anticipating greater demand in coming weeks. Without ample supply, elective surgeries would have to be canceled and blood may not be available for every patient in need, Waltman said.

San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the donation of blood is an essential city function.

There are fewer better ways to help our community in need, to help your fellow neighbor, than giving blood, he said Saturday.

diego.mendoza-moyers@express-news.net
Swiss officials urged people not to be afraid as cases of COVID-19 surged on Sunday and drastic measures to halt the spread of the virus took hold.

"We must not give in to fear," Health Minister Alain Berset told NZZ am Sonntag newspaper, calling on people to stay calm and pull together.

Infections jumped on Sunday by nearly 1,000 cases in 24 hours to 2,200 and 14 deaths were recorded from the virus across the country.

On Friday, the government closed schools and banned public gatherings of more than 100 people and the army said it was preparing to help overstretched hospitals.

The Swiss parliament on Sunday announced on Twitter that it would suspend its spring session, which had been scheduled to continue through Friday.

The country has also reintroduced tight border controls with neighbouring countries in the bloc and slapped strict limits on who can cross over from hard-hit Italy, where more than 1,800 people have died in the pandemic.

Three of Switzerland's 26 cantons, including the southern Ticino region which borders Italy, have imposed stricter measures than the rest of the country and have ordered the closure of all restaurants, bars and shops, with the exception of food stores and pharmacies.

After the nationwide measures were announced, the wealthy Alpine nation saw shelves in some supermarkets stripped bare as people anticipated tighter restrictions and shortages.

President Simonetta Sommaruga told Le Matin Dimanche newspaper Switzerland was well-placed to handle the outbreak.

"We are in a position to overcome this crisis, on the medical and the financial level," she insisted, pointing out that "Switzerland is a rich country. We won't leave anyone behind."

The government announced Friday that it would make $10.5 billion available immediately to help companies and employees to make it through the crisis.

Thomas Kluhr, head of national airline Swiss, said no airline would survive the crisis without government support.

He told SonntagsBlick weekly Swiss and its parent company Lufthansa were likely to survive for longer than other airlines, adding: "But how long is unclear in this constantly changing situation."

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2020 AFP
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 00:24:29|Editor: zyl

Video Player Close

Shoppers wearing face masks push carts loaded with goods outside a Costco warehouse in Vancouver, Canada, on March 14, 2020. More than 200 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Canada. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)

OTTAWA, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Canada's Ontario provincial government confirmed 22 new cases of COVID-19 Saturday morning, raising the provincial total to 101.

It is the highest daily increase in the province since the outbreak began. Many of the new cases involve patients with international travel history. On Friday, the province identified 19 new cases of COVID-19.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on Canadians on Friday to avoid all international travel amid concerns involving the pandemic.

Up to date, more than 200 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Canada.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 01:06:25|Editor: huaxia

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Background Video: The Canadian prime minister's latest speech and a file video with his wife and kids. (Xinhua/Li Baodong, Zhang Mocheng)

OTTAWA, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Canada's Ontario provincial government confirmed 22 new cases of COVID-19 Saturday morning, raising the provincial total to 101.

It is the highest daily increase in the province since the outbreak began. Many of the new cases involve patients with international travel history. On Friday, the province identified 19 new cases of COVID-19.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L) kisses his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau at the Liberal Party campaign headquarters in Montreal, Canada, Oct. 21, 2019. (Photo by Raffi Kirdi/Xinhua)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on Canadians on Friday to avoid all international travel amid concerns involving the pandemic.

Trudeau is now "working from home" after his wife Sophie tested positive for the disease on Thursday night.



Up to date, more than 200 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Canada.

(Article by Xinhua Reporter Li Baodong) 
One of the most consistent themes of Trumpian rhetoric has been the ways in which U.S. allies have supposedly exploited Washingtons weakness to pursue their own interests at Americas expense. In one of his first ventures into foreign policy, Trump bought an ad in the New York Times in 1987 to make that case against, among others, Saudi Arabia, a country whose very existence is in the hands of the United States. He wrote: The world is laughing at Americas politicians as we protect ships we dont own, carrying oil we dont need, destined for allies who wont help.
Ahead of the floor test in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Congress MLAs who returned from Jaipur were examined for coronavirus on Sunday.

Over the past few days, there have been rumours that the assembly session, starting from Monday, could be postponed over coronavirus scare.

Congress MLAs camping in Jaipur for the past few days returned to Bhopal and were put up at Hotel Marriott ahead of the Congress Legislative Assembly meeting later today. State health minister Tarun Bhanot ordered a check-up of them, for which a team of physicians was sent to the hotel.

Madhya Pradesh public relations minister PC Sharma also said, "The MLAs who have returned from Jaipur and also those who have gone to Haryana and Benguluru should undergo coronavirus tests. It is important as the virus has spread in Jaipur and Haryana," he said.

He added that the novel coronavirus outbreak has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation, and several measures, including temporary shutdown of schools, colleges and restrictions on gathering of more than 20 people, have been taken.

He said the Assemblies of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Maharashtra had been adjourned due to the coronavirus outbreak and there was even a demand to adjourn the current session of Parliament.

Congress MLA Kunal Chaudhary, who among the lawmakers camping in Jaipur, said that the tests were imperative for the MLAs who returned from the Pink City as it is a tourist destination and sees footfall from foreigners.

On being asked whether the virus threat could impact the assembly session starting from Monday, Chaudhary replied in affirmative.

Congress sources dropped hints that its MLAs currently in Bengaluru as well as BJP legislators would be screened for novel coronavirus once they return to Bhopal.

Meanwhile, responding to a query on whether the state Assembly's budget session would begin on Monday and if the trust vote would take place on the same day as directed by Governor Lalji Tandon, minister, Sharma said the speaker would take a call on these matters.

The Kamal Nath-led Congress government in the state is fighting for survival after Jyotiraditya Scindia quit and joined the BJP, and 22 of his supporter MLAs submitted their resignations.

Early in the day, the Kamal Nath cabinet among other issues also discussed the coronavirus scare.

(With inputs from PTI)
For the first time, Lower Columbia College student Susan Uhlich is enjoying a math class.

Ive taken other math classes here, but this one is definitely unique, Uhlich said. I love it. We use a lot of great examples.

Instructor Terri Skeie uses examples, makes students work in groups and brings in bike tires, beans and other props to reinforce lessons about circumference and probability. She focuses on big-picture, not memorization.

Students are working in groups and doing problem solving that will lead to the concept of the day, Skeie said. Theyre all at the board all the time. Theres very little time when theyre sitting there listening to a lecture.

The class is part of a math teaching reform meant to help students get to college-level math classes faster and improve success rates, according to college spokeswoman Wendy Hall, and the college recently got another grant to make similar changes to its STEM-pathway math classes.

For Uhlich, who is studying criminal justice and art, Skeies teaching techniques are very different than other math teachers, and shes having more success. This is the only math class Ive done decently in, she said.

The changes are part of the colleges larger $1 million Guided Pathways initiative, Hall said. The math reform started in 2015 and accelerates students through pre-college level classes, she said, because students who reach college-level math in one year are more likely to graduate.

Heather Gingerich, a senior program officer at College Spark Washington, said the foundation has funded several programs at LCC, including Guided Pathways.

Math tends to be a tripping point for students, Gingerich said, which is why the foundation has funded LCCs math changes. She called the college a small but scrappy school.

LCC is super dedicated and we really have seen that through all our grants to them, Gingerich said. They really try to assess how things are going and improve based on that.

Skeie said she sees a 90% success rate in her reformed class, which is for non-STEM pathway students. Students leave her class at least hating math less.

Her method flips the typical model around. Instead of students learning algebra concepts that culminate in a word problem, Skeie said start with word problems to encourage critical thinking.

Theyre spending more time setting it up, Skeie said. They spend more time on word problems (up front), then the algebra comes as needed.

Students have more freedom to work the concept out themselves, she said, so they tend to remember it better.

Skeie knew the class was working when several years ago, students asked to expand the class from five, 50-minutes days to three 50-minute classes and two two-hour classes, because they were just getting rolling when it ended.

When they first start, they tend to be anxious because its a different environment than theyre used to, Skeie said. Its not follow these steps, so the freedom to figure it out can be a challenge at first.

Dawn Draus, LCC math department chair, said many community colleges and even K-12 schools are moving toward this teaching style.

If the way they learned if before worked for them, they wouldnt need to see it again, Draus said. So we dont want to present it the same way.

That move is partly fueled by the state goal of getting 50% of entering college students to college level math in one year, Hall said. In 2018, 27% of LCC students moved to college math in one year, up from 16% in 2010, according to Community and Technical Colleges data. Statewide, 26% of students met that milestone, also up from 16% in 2010.

Student Rhett Harrison, who will be graduating in the spring with a general associates degree and plans to go into film, said he was homeschooled before attending LCC and had no other experience with math classes. However, he said this one was taught pretty well.

I feel like the teacher cares about how youre doing, Harrison said. I really do think that she gives us more attention than I would expect.

Hes more of a hands-on learner, he said, so the teaching style suits him far better than a lecture would.

However, the math classes are a learning curve for instructors, Skeie said.

You have to resist the temptation to jump in and save then by giving them the right answer right away, Skeie said.

Draus added that teaching a more free-form class can be difficult, because there are topics instructors want to cover each lesson.

We all learned the lecture way and it worked for us because were here today, she said. So you have to get used to the controlled chaos of the class style.

Skeie said while she might not get through her plan each class, thats true for traditional teaching styles, too. And she enjoys the more engaging style of teaching.

Lectures are not always fulfilling, but watching students grow and the lightbulb go off when they get it ... thats a lot more interesting for me and a lot more fulfilling, she said.

Draus encouraged prospective students to give the newer methods a try.

Math doesnt have to be scary, Draus said. Dont let that stop you from coming in the door.

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Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Census of India 2021: History, Religion, caste and Deception

Though census across the globe is a tool for data collection to facilitate demographic study and application of the economic and social development aimed at overall national growth and prosperity, instances of exceptional abuses may not be unknown. India has had the opportunity and prolonged experience of census operations, beginning with 1872, about a century-and-half ago. With every decade thereafter during the colonial rule till 1941 and since Indian independence, the headcount of our population has been undertaken with unfailing regularity as well as punctuality.

Accurate information about the characteristics of the population vitally influences planning for employment and manpower programming, migration, housing, education, public health and welfare, social services, economic and social planning, and numerous integral aspects of the life of the country.

Census data are employed in multiple uses. Exact population data furnish crucial input for multifarious administrative purposes. Demarcation of constituencies and the allocation of representation on elective bodies is one of the fundamental administrative uses in Indian democratic polity. The legal and administrative status of a territorial division depends upon the size of its population. The population data determine the total number of seats to be reserved for members of Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in Parliament and Assemblies. Accurate information about the characteristics of the population vitally influences planning for employment and manpower programming, migration, housing, education, public health and welfare, social services, economic and social planning, and numerous integral aspects of the life of the country. Though since 1872, decadal head counts were undertaken with these aims in view, sadly, the census operations, being subjected to manipulation of vested interest, have lost its intrinsic reliability. Dr B.R. Ambedkar had bemoaned political interference and manipulation of census data:

The Census of India has over a number of decades ceased to be an operation in demography. It has become a political affair. Every community seems to be attempting to artificially augment its numbers at the cost of some other community for the sake of capturing greater and greater degree of political power in its own hands. The Scheduled Castes seem to have been made a common victim for the satisfaction of the combined greed of the other communities who through their propagandists or enumerators are able to control the operations and the results of the Census.1

A distinguished member, Jaipal Singh Munda, who represented the tribal population from Ranchi, ventilated his disgust against census in the following words:

I am not one who was ever an admirer of the census figures.2

Census, Causes of Anxiety and Agony?

The observations of Dr Ambedkar pertained to political scrambling in the colonial era. Both the Hindus and Muslims, contenders for power with partition in the offing, hacked two crore data of the Scheduled Caste population to swell their respective ranks. H.J. Khandekar, (C.P. & Berar) on August 27, 1947 ventilated his strong unhappiness and anger in the Constituent Assembly at the decrease of population of the Scheduled Castes vis-a-vis that of other communities in 1941 over that of 1931 by two crores, though during the decade, Indias population swelled to 40 crores.3 Pinpointing the hackers responsible for shameful role, Khandekar told the august House that

in the 1941 census in the provinces of Bengal and Bihar some of our Muslim brethren got the Scheduled Castes registered as Muslims on the one hand and Caste Hindus got them registered as Hindus on the other. And this is the reason why ever since the 1931 Census our population has been continuously declining and in the 1941 census the strength of the Scheduled Castes was less than in the 1931 Census by 2 crores.4

The sanctity of the census data was, therefore, soiled and molested long ago. The upcoming operations for the census of India 2021, slated to begin in April, furnish us a window to take a close look at some of the deplorable roles the political actors played in the past.

Census Data poached to Enhance Political Fate?

Jogendra Nath Mandal and Dr Shyama Prasad Mookerjee were at daggers drawn over the manipulation of the census data of 1941. Though pushed out of the conventional frame of discourses, their conflict over census was quite an important political event. The Bengal Hindu Mahasabha supremo involved himself in a pioneering campaign to manipulate and hack census data with a purely political motive. Documenting in his diary, he on December 6, 1945 wrote:

There was a great stir in the province on account of the census operations. The Congress had done untold mischief by boycotting the Census of 1931. A large number of Hindus were thus rendered indifferent and the entries made were hardly dependable. On the census figures however our political fate depended and the loss we thus suffered was incalculable. In 1940 we took up a firm attitude from the Mahasabha. Our agitation was well organised. We wanted to check the growing tendency among the Scheduled Caste people to regard themselves outside the Hindu foldtheir antagonism was being slowly nurtured on political considerationCaste Hindus were the enemies of the Scheduled Castes progress etc. We wanted that Hindu solidarity must grow; we wanted that caste prejudices should disappear.

We, therefore, declared that we should not indicate our caste but call ourselves Hindus in our census returns. This was bitterly opposed by a section of Scheduled Caste people...We not only got all Hindus to take an active interest in the census but united them as far as possible.5

The outline of the battle was drawn distinctlyon the one hand, a section of the Scheduled Caste people bitterly opposed the Mahasabha mischief while, on the other, all Hindus took an active interest in the census by endorsing the novelty. Dissection of the whole episode would lay bare the truth that the Hindus did not, in the end, espouse the cause the Mahasabha had championed. A vast section of Scheduled Caste got trapped, though the Mahasabha leaders did not express even customary gratitude to them.

The Hindu Mahasabha was keen to safeguard the Hindu political fate and fortune which implied dominance of Brahmans and their satellites who numbered a few lakhs over millions of various castes and faiths in Bengal. Whenever the Hindus faced any crisis threatening their security, happiness, social stature and political future, they espoused the untouchables to safeguarding their bleak and uncertain future under the pretention of nationalism. A veteran journalist of The London Times, Sir Ignatius Valentine Chirol (18521929), held a mirror to their behaviour.

The propaganda that has been carried on by Brahmans amongst the Namasudras, a large and mainly agricultural caste, chiefly located in the Jessore district of Bengal and the Faridpur district of Eastern Bengal. The purpose of the propaganda was political, but the inducement offered to the Namasudras in order to stimulate their Nationalism was that the Brahmans would relax the rigour of caste in favour of those who took the Swadeshi vow, and it is stated that, in several villages where they succeeded in making a large number of converts, the Brahman agitators marked their approval by condescending to have their twice-born heads shaved by the village barberan act which, however trivial it may seem to us, constituted an absolutely revolutionary breach with a 3,000-years-old past.6

Brahman propagandists fanned out in villages of Jessore and Faridpur districts to win over the Namasudras, who were agriculturists with offer of inducement under the pretext of inflaming the spirit of nationalism in them. Decidedly they cooked a delicious chapter by their eagerness to induce the Namasudras!

A dreary and sagging prospect of the anti-partition agitation and the swadeshi movement alone could have driven worried Brahmans into the need for winning the Namasudras to their agitation against Curzons administrative reform implied in the partition of Bengal. This, ipso facto, implies tons of significance to invite attention of Sir Chirol. The incongruousness of the situation was striking and abominable even to imagine with equanimity of mind for a Hindu worth his salt. In the 1901 census, social prece-dence of castes was ascribed to the Namasudras vis-a-vis all other castes on Brahminical para-meters. Though the second largest Bengali caste numbering 19,08,728 persons, Namasudras, according to the census document:

[[<> (1) are not served by good Brahmans as family priests; (2) are denied access to the interior of ordinary Hindu temples; and (3) cause pollution by touch or within certain distance.7

In the social precedence of castes position, as obtained by each of them in the Hindu society of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, was exhibited by E.G. Gait, ICS, in his census report of 1901. Divided into seven groups, Brahmins alone occupied Group I. Group II comprised two castesBaidya and Kayastha in that order. Group III, though called Namaskars, had twenty castes. Group IV boasted of just two castes, for example, Chase Kaibartta, rechristened as Mahishya in 1911 and Goala. Thirteen castes like Batista, Bhuiya, Jogi etc. adorned Group V. The Group VI had 32 untouchable elements, for example, Bagdi, Bait, Berea, Bhaskar, Chain, Chasa, Dhoba, etc, yielding 24th position amongst 32 castes. Eight Brahmans went to Chandal, renamed Namasudra only in 1911 to induce them swadeshi vowsa rare spectacle unknown to history, mythology, or even in any other realm. Surendra Nath Banerjea had requested Guru Chand Thakur, the Namasudra social reform and spiritual leader, to join the anti-partition and swadeshi movement, which he declined.

The sagging fate of the anti-partition agitation and swadeshi movement in 1905-11 was portrayed in the efforts of the Brahmans, who induced the Namasudras. The movement was manned, organised or managed, propelled and patronised hitherto entirely by the Hindu upper castes who perceived threats of emergence of cheering rival forces, who were primarily agriculturistsMuslims and low castes to claim spoils out of the administrative decision created in the new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam.

The inducement in the eye of Chirol was a revolutionary breach of the Brahminical tradition bred and rared since times immemorial. The Brahmans permitted the village barber to shave the heads of Namasudras! Their liberality marked a generous deal for the victims of hatred over 3000 years was unique. But the truth lay elsewhere; their disposition was marked by mendacity or prevarication.

A delegation comprising the All-Bengal Namasudra Association and All-Bengal Depressed Classes representing 11 million, who accounted for 58 per cent of the Hindu population of Bengal, returned in 1921 the census waited on the Simon Commission at Calcutta on January 21, 1929.9 In course of deposition of oral evidence, the Commission asked the delegation:

Do barbers shave you? [question no. 35]

Reply: No, the barbers that shave the high caste Hindus do not shave us.10

Clearly, we have a situation that controverts frontally what Brahmans, during the aforesaid propaganda, promised to the Namasudras in their villages in Jessore and Faridpur districts. This is proved by historical facts, documented in the report of Indian Statutory Commission.

Scriptures that had the credit of dividing society into fragments unbridgeably and consi-dered as sacred, were fabricated by the Brahman. The Hindus have been bound hand and foot and thrown before the Brahman as slaves for their happiness and aggrandisement. So, solidarity in the Hindu society is next to impossible. When some sections of the Scheduled Castes, suffering discrimination, hatred, injustice and indignity, showed, after generations and centuries, signs of defiance and zeal for emancipation, they were blamed for antagonism. When such efforts are set in motion, we perforce are to probe who would benefit the most by a synthetic solidarity garnered by the Maha-sabha. But the bottleneck for solidarity in the Hindu community, according to the Maha-sabha, was the antagonism against Caste Hindus growing among the Scheduled Caste people. How imbecile! The accused blamed their victims with straight face.

Dr S.P. Mookerjee accused the Scheduled Castes for antagonism, although the latter were nurtured on political consideration. But it must be admitted candidly on all hands that Caste Hindus not only did not ever extend their helping hands for moral and material progress of the Scheduled Castes but also obstructed their own efforts to improve their lot. Were they, therefore, wrong to portray unmistakably the upper-caste Hindus as their enemies? Dr Mookerjee displayed deplorable lack of states-man-like qualities in admitting candidly the unfriendly role Hindus played in perpetuating discrimination and illiteracy against the tens of millions of unfortunate souls and sabotaging the fundamental ingredient for solidarity.

When Dr Mookerjee hurled the accusation at the Scheduled Castes people who regard them-selves outside the Hindu fold, one is led to ask an amusing counter-question: Since when did the Hindus regard the Scheduled Castes within the Hindu fold? In the first census of 1872 in Bengal a very large segment, comprising Bagdi, Barui, Badiya, Buna, Chain, Chamar and Muchi, Chandal, Dom, Hari, Kaora, Koch, Mal, Malo, Mehtar (Mehtar), Bhuimali, to note a few, aggregating 51,10,989, were designated as Semi-Hinduised Aboriginals, accounting for 41.1 per cent of 1,24,25,750 of Hindus.11 The Imperial (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1936, issued at The Court of Buckingham Palace, London on April 30, 1936, was published in The Gazette of India, June 6, 1936. They were untouchables.12

Over five million (precisely 51,10,989), returned as Semi-Hinduised Aboriginals, make no mistake, were no result of British invention or conspiracy hatched by them. The colonial bureaucracy held in highest esteem the declaration of Queen Elizabeth directing all authorities in India to abstain from all interference with the religious belief or worship of our subjects, on pain of our highest displeasure while she assumed charge of the Indian Empire from the East India Company.13 On all issues touching, even remotely, the social life of Hindus, Brahman scholars, well-versed in Hindu scriptures, were routinely consulted for guidance lest they encroach socio-religious boundaries out of ignorance. Kazis, well-versed in Islamic laws, too were their employee for similar advice. G. Gordon Young, ICS, Director of Public Instructions, Bengal Government, consulted Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar on the desirability of admission of Kayastha and Subarnabanik [goldsmith] castes in the Sanskrit College, Calcutta. While the Pundit favoured the case of the former, he scoffed at the aspiration of the latter on the logic that in the scale of castes, the class (goldsmith or Subarnabanik) stands very low.14

A Galaxy of Untouchable Castes

The Semi-Hinduised Aboriginals, returned in 1872, are marshalled alongside the Scheduled Castes, contained in the aforesaid Imperial Order, in 1936 for better appreciation:

We cannot forget this was the high noon of the renaissance of nineteenth century which, some Bengalis fervently believe and/or claim, had profoundly influenced their education, culture, attitude, outlook, et al; re-shaped their life and put them on road to modernism. Nonetheless the same people assiduously refused to recognise human dignity together with right to education and enlightenment of over five million Semi-Hinduised Aboriginals wallowing at the bottom of society unnoticed and uncared in their midst! Was this really a renaissance which everywhere else brought light to the neglected and vested the deprived sections with human dignity?

List of Semi-Hinduised Aboriginals,1872 Government of India (Scheduled Castes) Order,1936 Bagdi, Bahelia, Bauri, Bediya, Bind, Buna, Chain, Chamar and Muchi, (Kural or Kuril, Chandal, Abashan, Dom, Turi, Dusadh, Garo, Ghasi, Hadi, Hajang, Halalkhor, Jalia Kaibartta, Jhalo Malo or Malo, Mahili, Mal, Malo, Mehtar, (Bhuimali, Pan, Pasi, and Sikhari. Agariya, Bagdi, Bahelia, Baiti, Bauri, Bediya, Beldar, Berua, Bhatiya, Bhuimali, Bhuiya, Bhumij, Bind, Binjhia, Chamar, Dhenuar, Dhoba, Doai, Dom, Hari, Kaora, Karanga, Khaira, Khyen, Koch, Dosadh, (a) Pali or Palya, (b) Rajbanshi, Kodmal, Hari, Ho, Kadar, Kan, Kandh, Kandra, Kaora, Kapuria, Karenga, Kastha, Kaur, Khaira, Khatik, Koch, Konai, Konwar, Kora, Kotal, Kalbegi, Lodha, Lohar, Mahar, Mali, Mal, Mallah, Malpahariya, Mech, Mehtor, Muchi, Munda, Musahar, Nagasia, Namasudra, Nat, Nuniya, Oraon, Paliya, Pan, Pasi, Pod, Rabha, Rajbanshi, Rajwar, Santal, Sunri, Tiyar and Turi.

Historian Romesh Chandra Datt, and ICS office had defined renaissance of Bengal in the following words:

The conquest of Bengal by the English was not only a political revolution, but ushered in a greater revolution in thoughts and ideas, in religion and society ... From the stories of gods and goddesses, kings and queens, princes and princesses, we have learnt to descend to the humble walks of life, to sympathise with the common citizen or even common peasant ... Every revolution is attended with vigour, and the present one is no exception to the rule. Nowhere in the annals of Bengali literature are so many or so bright names found crowded together in the limited space of one century as those of Ram Mohan Roy, Akshay Kumar Dutt, Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, Isvar Chandra Gupta, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Hem Chandra Banerjee, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Dinabandhu Mitra. Within the three quarters of the present century, prose, blank verse, historical fiction and drama have been introduced for the first time in the Bengali literature.16

Millions of accursed untouchable Bengalis, strangely, escaped attention of the historian who alone did not suffer from myopia. Was the renaissance about Bengali literature only?

There is little doubt that Bengal boasted of a large number of talented men. But nonetheless orthodoxy and prejudice, too powerful and intractable, had raised a high wall between the upper castes and the underdogs who never received humane and courteous treatment from the leading lights of renaissance. The bhadralok bitterly opposed literacy of the Semi-Hinduised Aboriginals, not to speak of education which alone could work as a high-power engine for their emancipation. They held them as slaves.

According to the Viceroy of India, Lord Mayo, the Bengali babus have no object in learning than to qualify for government employment. They betrayed the trust of Macaulay who envisioned thus:

We do not, at present, aim at giving education directly to the lower classes of the people of this country. We aim at raising up an educated class who will hereafter, as we hope, be the means of diffusing among their countrymen some portion of their knowledge we have imparted to them.17

A tiny segment took the fullest advantage of Macaulays policy. They were the upper-caste Hindus, who, by temperament, behaviour or body language towards the underprivileged countrymen led Viceroy Mayo to observe thus:

The more education you give them (Bengali Baboo), the more they will keep to themselves, and make their increased knowledge a means of their tyranny.18[Italicised by this writer]

Note the word tyranny. The remorseless tyrants were bhadralok whose victims were the hapless untouchables, occupying the lowest strata of the social hierarchy. This warrants a detailed discourse elsewhere to explain their oppression inflicted on the ignorant Bengali masses.

Surendra Nath Banerjea, the most prominent of the nationalist leaders, to cite a solitary instance in support, was firmly opposed to universalisation of education. As the first Minister (1923-1925) of Local Self Government under Dyarchy remorseless, he threw the Municipalities and District Boards in deep freezer so far as education of the masses was concerned. Educational Supplement of The London Times in 1926 disclosed that

The Bengal Legislature passed an Act intro-ducing the principle of compulsory primary education in May, 1919; but not a single local authority in the province availed itself of the option for which the Act provides Primary Education in Bengal.19

By his quiet apathy towards masses education, the Minister of Local Self Government inflicted widespread, though, bloodless, violence! French President Charles de Gaulles observation is apt:

Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.

In 1912, opposition and campaigns of Banerjea and his compatriots led to the defeat of the Compulsory Education Bill G.K. Gokhale had introduced in the Central Legislative Council.20 Bengal, nay India, is proud of many such tyrannical educated Babus and nationalists, who stood, like defiant pillars, against universalisation of education, lest untouchables acquired literacy.

Hindu Mahasabha Campaign: No Caste in Census Return

The Hindu Mahasabha launched a campaign and propagated among the masses in every nook and corner of Bengal their motto before 1941 that we should not indicate our caste but call ourselves Hindus in our census returns.21

In the past, as and when the Hindus were in deep crisis arising out of popular support, they courted the untouchables or depressed classes. Their ploy for the Scheduled Castes to return themselves as Hindus was, we have noted before, bitterly opposed by a section of Scheduled Caste people. By pretentiously roping the untouchables under the Hindu umbrella, the Mahasabha aimed at overcoming the political rough weather and to grab political power as their (Scheduled Castes) representatives, depriving them proportionate share in the power. This was a conspiracy to poach into the Scheduled Caste share of power base and enlarge their size of the cake. However, who did oppose bitterly the Mahasabha strategy that rattled Dr S.P. Mookerjee?

Even though eighteen lakh Untouchables returned as Hindu Mahasabha did not Express Gratitude!

Jogendra Nath Mandal, a Namasudra leader from East Bengal (now Bangladesh), rose to be the Law Member of Indias Interim Government. He issued a press statement on the Hindu Mahasabhas baneful design involving the census of 1941. The Statesman, Calcutta quoted him as saying,

the Hindu Mahasabha had carried on an intensive agitation amongst all sections of Hindus in all parts of Bengal to the effect that they should not mention their castes at all and claim to be recorded simply as Hindus.22

Referring to Dr Mookerjees press statement regarding the population of Scheduled Caste vis-a-vis that of caste Hindus, J. N. Mandal castigated the objective behind the Hindu Mahasabha propaganda as sinister and stated:

The statement is conspicuous not only for its sinister object but also for the important revelation of a particular fact that the Hindu Mahasabha carried on an extensive agitation amongst all sections of Hindus in all parts of Bengal to the effect that they should not mention their castes at all and claim to be recorded as Hindus.23

He pointedly termed the assertion of Maha-sabha leaders that they did not attain success amongst Scheduled Castes and that response from Non-Scheduled Castes and more advanced sections of Hindus was very considerable in all the districts of Bengal as nothing but distortion of truth.24 [italicised by this writer]

Isnt Hindu without caste like coal without its black hue? With incontrovertible insight into Hindu psyche about caste obsession and cogent argument, the Law Member advanced his views:

The fact actually was the Scheduled Castes people, being poor and illiterate, fell victim to the persuasions and influences of Hindu Mahasabha leaders, who were in most cases local zamindars and moneylenders. The line of their propaganda was so clever and attractive that it was simply impossible for the unsophisti-cated Scheduled Castes people to understand the real motive behind it.25

Inviting attention of the public to the media hype preceding the census operations unleashed by the Hindu Mahasabha and its leaders, Mandal added:

Even a cursory study of the press reports just before Census operation would convince anyone how the Hindu Mahasabha leaders were shouting from house-tops and announcing in the press and platform that the Mahasabha had decided to make a casteless Hindu society and appealed to all men and women of the Hindu fold to suppress their castes at the time of enumerations and record themselves simply as Hindus.26

A glowing trap was laid for the social lepers who fell easy prey to the temptation for the promise of casteless society by celebrated Hindu upper caste leaders, zamindars, mahajans and followers. They fanned out to the nook and corner of Bengal and propagated, with angelical face, the Mahasabha agenda. The charade of casteless society hawked by the upper social strata was bought by credulous untouchable and low caste people! The propaganda impacted diverse sections of the society diametrically differently. Mandal underlined the psychological angle of impact dawning on both ends most succinctly,

It brought a new hope in the minds of the Scheduled Castes, but a new fear in the minds of the Caste Hindus, while, on the other hand, the untouchables, who had long suffered by reason of their castes suppressed their respective castes and most jealously recorded themselves simply as Hindus, the latter (the Caste Hindus), on the other hand, got afraid of losing their supremacy they had been enjoying by reason of their castes and did most scrupulously record their respective castes. A large number of Hindu enumerators who were appointed for the census operations intentionally omitted to mention the communities of the Scheduled Castes.27

Sufferers of caste atrocities, injustice, discrimi-nation, deprivation, even dehumanisation, fell prey to the deceptive propaganda. He exposed Dr Mookerjees distortion that Hindu Mahasabha did not attain success amongst Scheduled Castes. This was a lie, a concoction which was proved with data from the 1941 Census report.

An analysis and comparative study, according to Mandal, a lawyer by profession, proved Dr Mookerjee not only wrong but exhibited the Mahasabha fabrication. He contended that according to the Census of 1931, Scheduled Caste population in Bengal aggregated at 91,24,925 out of the total Hindu population of 3,15,70,407. But in the Census of 1941, the Scheduled Castes population numbered 73,78,970 out of total 2,69,48,413 Hindus. This implied a decline of Scheduled Castes population by more than 18 lakhs in a decade.28

Not only fabrication of census data was pointed out, the Mahasabha helped prove that upper-caste Hindus were not onlyagainst abolition of caste but also against Hindu solidarity. Caste militates against solidarity and unity across castes. The Hindus want caste to perpetuate as caste is/was the glaring badges of social image, prestige and dignity and, above all, aristocratic supremacy. So, caste is destined to survive for eternity because the upper caste Hindus are its patrons and defenders.

In Hindudom gratitude for political obligation amongst social and caste unequal is uncommon and unknown. The Hindu Mahasabha campaigns in question proved this point.

Dr Mookerjee publicly acknowledged indebtedness to upper castes Hindus who, though acted contrary to Hindu Mahasabha policy for returning themselves as Hindus without caste. Notwithstanding the fact that over 18 lakh Scheduled Castes obligingly toed the Mahasabha line and returned themselves as Hindus, the Mahasabha supremo did not feel grateful for their support. This makes solidarity ever amongst Hindus a moonshine.

So, the Hindu Mahasabha supremos compli-ment to the upper castes was out and out unmerited. He was, however, afraid of antago-nising the upper echelons telling in public that they did not support the Hindu Mahasabha ideology and cause. J.N. Mandal taunted Dr Mookerjee, a native of Calcutta, by culling data from the census document that in 1931 the population of Calcutta rose sharply from 11 lakhs in 1931 to 21 lakhs in 1941. But the Scheduled Caste population plummeted from 1,07,194 to 55,000 during the decade. It is known to Dr Mookerjee that the number of menial servants of the Calcutta Corporation, namely, sweepers, scavengers, and Mehtars alone exceeded 30,000, said the Law Member.29

Is History likely to Repeat itself in 2021?

As per media reports, the top brass of the RSS and its outfits are at work to raise awareness in such a way that the tribal people call them-selves Hindus during the census of 2021.30 Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister opposed the move, which, incidentally, sounds analogous to the propaganda of Hindu Mission.

In 1925 a Hindu Mission was founded in Bengal with professed objectives:

(1) to preach and propagate the Hindu religion and culture; (2) to reform and readjust orthodox Hindu society in the light of Hindu ideals; (3) to reclaim all those who or whose ancestors once wandered away from the parent faith of Hinduism; and (4) to unite the followers of all creeds and doctrines of Indian and non-Indian origin into one great religious brotherhood, spiritualising them with the sole enfranchising ideals of Sanatan Dharma.31

The Mission published a pamphlet on 6th Asvin, 1337 in Bengali to preach its aims and objectives as detailed hereunder:

From the days of the Ramayana and the Mahabharat there have been living in Bengal, Bihar and Assam thousands of Santhals, Garos, Balus, Banais, Khasias, Oraons, Mundas, Mikirs, Miris, Lushais, Kukis, Lalungs, Kacharis, Rabhas and Meches. These inhabitants of Hindustan are fundamentally Hindus. In the census of 1921, they were returned as Animist instead of as Hindus. By this a wrong has been done to our simple religious brothers and sisters.32

In the census of 1921 these tribes were returned as animists.

The imaginative Hindu Mission had saddled these tribes with badge of caste they were to bear when they returned themselves as Hindus. In the words of Hindu Mission,

We hope that during the forthcoming enumeration in January 1931 the above Hindu, men and women, will rectify the mistakes made at the previous census. They should record Hindu as their religion, Kshatriya as their caste and Sinha or Ray as their family name. Special propaganda should be undertaken to see that these instructions are carried out uniformly in all places.33

The Indian Tea Planters Association joined the Hindu Mission campaign and declared that

it is an open fact that the coolies of Oraon, Munda, Santal and other tribes follow a Hindu faith and other Hindu rites.34

The tribal communities have become the delicious targets of the Hindus since long for enhancing their political objectives. Jaipal Singh Munda focused on this aspect more precisely and told the august Constituent Assembly:

Ever since the Hindu Mahasabha became a militant political organisation, the census figures have never been reliable or accurate.... Take for instance, the Central Provinces. You compare the figures of Adibasis there, say in 1941; take the censuses of 1921, 1931 and 1941. You find in between 1911 and 1941 the figure gets reduced by 18 lakhs. 35

The same Member also cited deliberations of the latest Indian Science Congress on the depletion of tribal population in the country. According to him, the scientists said- there are bias that there were in this country not less than 30 million Adibasis. In 1941 census the figure is of course only 24.8 million.36

In the interest of the country and its progress, the poaching of census data for fattening political fate of certain ambitious sections should be frustrated by watchful authorities for the interest of the progress and prosperity of all sections of people else, at this rate, we may have to rue that the tribes may vanish someday.

Footnotes

1. Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches, Vol 17 (1), Government of Maharashtra, p. 365.

2. Constituent Assembly Debates, Constituent Assembly Debates on August 24, 1949 Part I.

3. Constituent Assembly of India Debates (Proceedings) Vol. V.

4. Constituent Assembly of India Debates (Proceedings) Vol. V.

5. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Leaves from a Diary, Oxford University Press, 1993, p. 45.

6. Sir Ignatius Valentine Chirol Indian Unrest, Macmillan & Company, London 1910, p. 102.

7. Census of India 1911, Vol. V, Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and Sikkim, Part I Report by L. S. S. O Malley, ICS, Bengal Secretariat Book Depot, Calcutta, 1913, p. 232-233.

8. Census of India, 1901, Vol. VI, The Lower Provinces of Bengal and their Feudatories, Report Part I by E. A. Gait, ICS, pp. 369-373 & 460.

9. Simon Commission Report, Vol. XVII, quoted in the Namasudras of Bengal by A. K. Biswas, Blumoon Books, New Delhi, 2000, p. 71.

10. Ibid., p. 80.

11. Report on The Census of Bengal, 1872 by H Beverley, p. 18 and Statement V. B., pp. cxvi-cxvii. The Semi-Hinduised Aboriginals in 1872 aggregated at 51,10,989.

12. (http://socialjustice.nic.in/writereaddata/UploadFile/GOI-SC-ORDER-1936.pdf)

13. Declaration of Queen Elizabeth on December 2, 1858 quoted by Katherine Mayo in Mother India, 1927, pp. 155-156.

14. Benoy Ghosh, Vidyasagar O Bengali Samaj (Bengali), Orient Longman, Calcutta, 1973, p. 545.

15. Report on The Census of Bengal, 1872 by H Beverley, Statement V. B., pp. cxvi-cxvii.

16. R.C. Dutt (1962) [First published 1877 as The Literature of Bengal]. Cultural Heritage of Bengal. (3rd ed). Punthi Pustak. p. 166167, cited in Nitish Sengupta (2001). History of the Bengali-speaking People. pp. 211212.

17. Quoted by Herbert Alice Stark, Vernacular Educationin Bengal from 1813 to 1912, Calcutta General Publishing Co., 1916, p. 55.

18. B.D. Basu, Indian Under the British Crown, Calcutta, 1933, p. 128 quoted by A K Biswas in Namasudras of Bengal, Blumoon Books, Delhi, 2000, p. 39.

19. London Times, Educational Supplement, Nov. 13, 1926, P- 484 quoted by Katherine Mayo in Mother India, 1927, p. 189.

20. A.K. Biswas, Universalisation of Education: India in a Trap, Bane of Negligence Portends National Disaster, Mainstream, Vol XLVII, No 38, September 9, 2009.

21. The Statesman, April 19, 1944 quoted in MahapranJogendranath (a work in Bengali), Vol. I, by Jagadish Chandra Mandal, Caturtha Duniya, Calcutta, 1975, p. 131.

22. Ibid.

23. Ibid., p. 131.

24. Ibid.

25. Ibid.

26. Ibid.

27. Ibid., pp. 131-132.

28. Ibid.

29. The Statesman, April 19, 1944, op. cit.

30. Free Press, dateline Bhopal,Will not tolerate religious affiliation against tribals identitySunday, February 9, 2020.

31. Census of India, 1931, Vol. V, Bengal and Sikkim, Part I Report by A. E. Porter, ICS, p. 394.

32. Ibid., p. 395.

33. Ibid., p. 395.

34. Ibid.

35. Constituent Assembly Debates, Constituent Assembly Debates on August 24, 1949 Part I.

36. Ibid.

The author is a retired IAS officer and former Vice-Chancellor, Dr B.R. Ambedkar University, Muzaffarpur, Bihar.
The coronavirus pandemic is yet to force widespread school shutdowns but across Sydney, many families are voluntarily withdrawing their children.

Nicole Graham from Balmain, who has a 17-year-old stepdaughter, an 11-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter, plans to keep the children home from Monday.

Nicole Graham has decided to keep her children Charley and Archer home from school because of the coronavirus outbreak. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

"As a country, our advice lags and we're afraid to make those sweeping changes," Ms Graham said.

"We lessen the chance of this outbreak going further if we self-isolate and this is the week it should happen.
Lucknow, March 15 : Prisoners in Uttar Pradesh jails are now manufacturing masks to check the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), in the jails.

The Mathura jail plans to distribute over 500 masks manufactured by inmates of Mathura jail among other prisoners across the state.

The masks were manufactured by the inmates on Saturday and Sunday.

Director general of prisons Anand Kumar said 55 of the 71 jails in state have the facility to manufacture masks designed as per recommendations of government doctors. "In the remaining 16 prisons which do not have the required manufacturing set-up, we have asked jailers to arrange for masks from outside and then distribute it among inmates," he said.

"We have asked for in-house trainers to manufacture masks with the available resources. If there is a shortage of raw materials, we will arrange for more from markets," said the DG.

District prisons in Barabanki, Ghaziabad, Firozabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar have also started manufacturing masks.

Last week, jailors in 71 prisons were directed to install hand sanitizer dispensers on premises and distribute additional soaps among inmates.

They were also asked to ensure that they maintain a distance of at least one metre while interacting with each other.

He also said that though wearing a mask was not a foolproof way of checking the spread of virus, it is instrumental in maintaining hygiene.

UP jails are already over-crowded and jail wardens have been asked to organise sensitization drives in prisons to spread awareness about COVID-19 and send daily updates to the headquarters. There are adequate arrangements to shift prisoners with prolonged illness to district hospitals.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephonic conversation with Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray amid the novel Coronavirus scare, according to sources. Currently, Maharashtra has the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country at 32. The PM and Thackeray deliberated on the measures to tackle the menace of the novel Coronavirus. Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope revealed that a 59-year-old woman from Aurangabad with a travel history to Russia and Kazakhstan has tested positive for COVID-19. He also visited Kasturba Hospital and took stock of the situation.

Sources: PM Narendra Modi had telephonic conversation with Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray. They discussed the situation of #Coronavirus in the state and the measures regarding it. (file pics) pic.twitter.com/UjTVv38DBC  ANI (@ANI) March 15, 2020

Read: Coronavirus: Indian Citizen Lauds Govt's Initiative, Says 'Salute To The Indian Govt'

After the conversation with the PM, CM Uddhav Thackeray convened a meeting to review the steps taken to check the spread of COVID-19 in the state. This meeting is being held in Sahyadri Guest House in the presence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, and his ministerial colleagues. It is likely that the Maharashtra CM and Health Minister Rajesh Tope will conduct a press briefing at 5 pm.

Schools and colleges shut

The Maharashtra government has taken a number of steps to deal with the novel Coronavirus pandemic. On Friday, CM Uddhav Thackeray declared COVID-19 as an epidemic by invoking the provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act. Moreover, he stated that gyms, swimming schools and theatres in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Nagpur, Pimpri-Chinchwad would be closed till March 30. On Saturday, the government confirmed that all schools and colleges in urban areas besides malls will be shut till March 31.

Read: American Airlines To Cut 75% Of International Flights Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Coronavirus crisis

First detected in Wuhan in December 2019, COVID-19- the novel Coronavirus has affected nearly 141 countries in the world. Presently, there are 1,52,428 confirmed cases of COVID-19 which has led to the death of 5,720 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.

The number of confirmed Coronavirus cases in India is 108 with one death reported in Delhi and Kalaburagi each. Meanwhile, the MEA announced that PM Modi will lead India at the video conference of SAARC member nations on Sunday at 5 pm to formulate a strategy to combat the COVID-19 outbreak. All other member countries of the SAARC namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka have responded positively to the PMs initiative.

Read: Trinamool MP Gives Zero Hour Notice In RS To Demonstrate Steps To Prevent Coronavirus

Read: BIG: SAARC Video Conference On Coronavirus To Be Held On March 15; PM Modi To Lead India
I spent a fun week with my daughter and her family and was oblivious to what was happening in the news. I caught bits and pieces on the Net, but was enjoyably disconnected. I was surprised at Los Angeles International Airport how many people I saw walking around wearing face masks. I was aware of the corona virus but really missed out on the last eight days of developments.

We landed in Chicago, grabbed our luggage and headed for home when my sister called from North Carolina and asked, Do you have enough toilet paper?

I dont think anyone had ever asked such a random question of me before. Enough for what? I asked.

To be quarantined for three to four weeks!

I immediately began scrolling through the newsfeed on my phone, frantically trying to figure out what was causing the TP emergency. I laughed aloud as I thought. Bernie Sanders with his push for socialism hasnt been elected yet and the stores are already out of TP? I ran across a posting that said, Almost all the major grocery chains are out of bread, milk and toilet paper. I saw another that said, Someone is on eBay selling cases of TP for $2,000 each and has more buyers than inventory.

Arlene and I decided we better rush to the store before we got home and see if we could get some TP. We parked, ran into our local grocery store and headed to what we were convinced would be empty shelves. Imagine our shock when the shelves were full of every brand of toilet paper. We checked milk and bread to only find the same.

Whats going on? Id call this something between an over reaction to mass hysteria. As for me, I found it to be funny. Dont get me wrong, there is nothing funny about a communicable illness that is spreading around the world. We all must be vigilant and take the advice from healthcare professionals. Wash your hands often. Dont touch your body above your shoulders. Use hand sanitizer and carry a few sanitizing wipes wherever you go. On our flight home we used wipes to sanitize our seats and trays on our airplane seats. It also never hurts to have a supply of essentials on hand at home, but to rush out and buy a years supply of canned goods and to lock yourselves behind the doors of your homes at this point, may be giving into mass hysteria.

Be vigilant. Listen to government officials but avoid unsubstantiated rumors on the internet or you may end up spending two grand for a few rolls of toilet paper. When you see that Abraham Lincoln is assuring you that if its found on the internet, it must be true  think about it first!

Relax. Be prudent about the sources of information you use to make your decisions. Then act wisely.



Thank you all for your prayers, emails and cards. I am grateful. I shared with you that I had been diagnosed with a rare affliction called neuroendocrine tumors. I traveled to one of the worlds leading clinics for this disease at the University of Iowa Hospital. While there, I received the surprising news that I had been misdiagnosed and did not have neuroendocrine tumors. Instead, I learned I have Stage IV stomach cancer. Its not the news I expected nor wanted to hear, but I am positively fighting this cancer with everything I have. I am optimistic of my outcome.

Dont misunderstand. I do not believe by being positive and optimistic alone can magically heal you. There are some medical realities that attitude will not overcome. But I know my chances of beating this illness are greatly enhanced by being positive.

There is a great blog I would encourage you to read. Its titled, At a Cellular Level, Every Single Human Depends on Positivity to Survive. It is authored by Jenn Maronek and can be found at www.blog.sivanaspirit.com I think you will find a few moments reading this useful and encouraging.

Gary W. Moore is a columnist, speaker and author of three books, including the award-winning Playing with the Enemy. Follow him on Twitter @GaryWMoore721 or www.garywmoore.com.
Two Chinese officials in the city of Wuhan were sacked and one more was under investigation after government staff used a rubbish truck to ship a load of pork for human consumption. After seeing the unsanitized way of delivering rations to the still recovering residents of Wuhan, many were outraged.

Residents in the Yuanlin community of Qingshan district were alarmed with the arrival of pork from government stores.

Food supplies have been largely controlled since Wuhan, the city in central Hubei province at the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, was locked down in late January.

The meat was packed in plastic bags containing 1,000 portions and tipped onto the ground before those were handed out to customers last Wednesday, Mar. 12.

The investigation indicated that the two government officials were heads of the distribution and logistics and giving the go signal for the delivery.

Luo Rong, deputy head of Qingshan district, who was in charge of logistics during the pandemic was under investigation.

The public had outrage on the use of the truck to deliver food that was to be served to the already suffering population of Wuhan.

Filthy trucks were sending bags of meat and vegetables to a residential complex in the Qingshan District of Wuhan, according to pictures taken by residents on Wednesday. The pictures have sparked indignation as they cascade all over Chinese social media.

The district is still under quarantine and dependent upon the government to provide food supplies. Residents are prohibited to leave their homes to go shopping, thus the need for food supplies to be delivered to their homes.

Also Read: Here are Household Products That Destroy Coronavirus, Get Them Now!

The district officials confirmed the incident when they released a statement released on Wednesday evening. Netizens posted ugly photos of the dump truck tipping its back end and depositing bagged meat onto a plastic sheet.

Residents complained about tainted food on Weibo, China's Twitter-like microblogging website. The bags were seen on one footage with, several workers stepping onto the large plastic sheet to count the bags.

On one footage, several workers stepped onto the large plastic sheet to count the bags.

The number of daily new cases fell to five in Wuhan on Thursday from almost 4,000 a day in mid-February.

Users assumed that the food itself might be contaminated because of the means of how it was delivered and the unsanitary way it was given to paying customers.

Wuhan is currently on lockdown and the government hopes to deter the need for citizens to go outside of their homes and shop for their food. However, because of this new way of delivery, residents are now more cautious than ever of what they put into their stomachs.

One user commented, "I'm too shocked. Don't talk about dignity, (we're) just trying to survive. Why are people being treated like this?"

With tighter quarantine measures, local supermarkets have also been closed.

The two officials delivered the latest bulk shipment of meat with garbage trucks.

"After investigation, the disciplinary inspection committee found the community using dustbin lorries to dispatch 1,000 portions of meat and 530 of them were already delivered," according to district officials.

Related Article: Trips Canceled Due to COVID-19 Outbreak: Can You Refund or Rebook Flights, Hotels?

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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."

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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.
Panic buyers are stocking up on non-perishable goods and toilet paper amid growing fears the coronavirus pandemic will result in widespread self-isolation.

But there is one type of dry pasta - an otherwise in-demand item at supermarkets - that isn't flying off store shelves at the same alarming rate.

Comedian and radio presenter Hamish Blake shared a photo to Instagram on Sunday of the pasta aisle of his local Coles supermarket, and every single variety was gone with the exception of risoni.

Fancy that! Comedian Hamish Blake (pictured with his wife, Zoe Foster Blake) has made a hilarious observation about supermarket panic buyers during the COVID-19 pandemic

The picture showed the pasta section completely bare apart from a dozen or so packets of risoni: a type of short-cut pasta, shaped like a large grain of rice, commonly used in soups.

Hamish, 38, captioned his post: 'Everybody is doing it tough right now but spare a thought for risoni. Brutal way to find out where you sit in PPH (Pasta Popularity Hierarchy).

'Risoni, I want you to know I'd absolutely use you as the noodle in a chicken noodle soup. I mean, not today, I'm only allowed two packs and I'm chasing rigatoni. But maybe next week. Stay in the fight.'

Unpopular: Hamish noticed that there is one type of dry pasta - an otherwise in-demand item at supermarkets - that isn't flying off store shelves at the same alarming rate: risoni

Hamish is staying in Australia while his wife, Zoe Foster Blake, is in New York City on a work trip for her skincare line, Go-To.

Last week, the beauty entrepreneur, 39, met with magazine editors at Conde Nast, which publishes titles such as Vogue, Allure and Glamour.

She revealed on Instagram on Wednesday that she'd arrived 'just in the nick of time' as parts of the city prepared to go into lockdown.

While his wife was overseas, Hamish joked on social media that he'd been forced to wear 'jumbo' diapers because his local supermarket didn't have any toilet paper left.

Talk about social distancing! Hamish is staying in Australia while his wife, Zoe Foster Blake (pictured), is in New York City on a work trip for her skincare line, Go-To

'Really great, uncomfortable, super expensive, bad value hack for if you can't get toilet paper at the moment. Stay strong. Stay creative,' the father-of-two captioned a photo of himself with a packet of Huggies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in chaotic scenes at supermarkets, as panic buyers strip the shelves of essential items such as rice, pasta and toilet paper.

Coles and Woolworths have been forced to introduce a one-pack limit on toilet paper due to shortages.

'Stay creative': While Zoe was overseas, Hamish joked on Wednesday that he'd been forced to wear 'jumbo' diapers because his local supermarket didn't have any toilet paper left

Both supermarkets have also introduced buying limits for basic food items, including pasta, rice, mince, flour and hand sanitiser.

Coronavirus was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December and has since spread to more than 150,000 people worldwide, and killed at least 5,500 people.

It was recognised as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11.

In Australia, there are more than 300 confirmed cases of coronavirus as of Monday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured us that the political detainees in Jammu and Kashmir will be released soon, said Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari after a meeting with the home minister on Sunday.

"We discussed with Home Minister Amit Shah the issue of release of political detainees in Jammu and Kashmir. He said that the detainees will be released very soon," said Bukhari after the meeting.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday held a meeting with a delegation from Jammu and Kashmir's Apni Party led by Altaf Bukhari, at the Ministry of Home Affairs. Union Home Secretary AK Bhalla and other senior officials were also present at the meeting.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also assured the Apni Party delegation that Centre will work towards giving statehood to Jammu and Kashmir at earliest.

"Prime Minister engaged with the delegation on various issues like concerns on demographic changes, delimitation exercise, and grant of state domicile. Referring to his statement in Parliament, Prime Minister underlined that the Government will work with all sections of the population to realize the hopes of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir at an early opportunity," according to a release by the PMO on Saturday.

During the course of the interactive session with the 24-member delegation led by Altaf Bukhari, the Prime Minister engaged with the delegation on various issues like concerns on demographic changes, delimitation exercise, and grant of state domicile.

Bukhari, formerly with the People's Democratic Party (PDP), launched his own party on March 8.The Centre on Friday released the 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.

Many 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.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Virgin Atlantic Airbus A350-1041 with registration G-VLUX passes the moon as it takes off from Heathrow Airport. (Photo by Steve Parsons/PA Images via Getty Images)

Virgin Atlantic are reportedly preparing to beg the government for a 7.5bn ($9bn) state aid handout so that the airline can survive the coronavirus pandemic which is battering the airline industry.

Peter Norris, chairman of Virgin Atlantic Airways' majority shareholder, Virgin Group, is set to write to the prime minister to explain that Britain's airline industry needs a massive injection of emergency cash from the taxpayer to prevent thousands of jobs from being wiped out, according to Sky News.

Travel bans around the globe combined with people deciding not to holiday because of the deadly virus means profits have plummeted for a number of airline companies.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), an aviation industry trade group, said that airlines could lose between $63bn (50bn) and $113bn in revenues as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

READ MORE: Airlines face unparalleled blow from coronavirus outbreak

The prediction represented a sharp jump from last month, when it estimated that the industry would only lose $29bn.

So far, the coronavirus pandemic pushed airline Flybe into collapse, risking 2,000 jobs while Norwegian airlines (NAS.OL) up to half its workforce could face temporary layoffs as it cancelled more flights over the coronavirus pandemic.

Sky News reports that Mr Norris's letter  which is also understood to be being signed by Shai Weiss, Virgin Atlantic's chief executive  would ask the government to provide airlines with a credit facility to help them finance themselves through a potentially protracted period of negligible revenue.

GMB, the union of aviation workers, has backed calls for ministers to step in and give the industry a bail-out. But the union warns it must come with iron guarantees from aviation employers that jobs and pay will be protected.

READ MORE: 'Be considerate'  shoppers urged to stop panic buying during Coronavirus pandemic

Nadine Houghton, GMB National Officer said: Thousands of workers whose livelihoods depend on the aviation industry are at immediate risk as a result of this global pandemic.

Story continues

Government support is urgent and necessary to prevent otherwise viable businesses going to the wall as a result of this crisis, which would result in a jobs catastrophe and a domino effect.

Ministers must not, however, write a blank cheque for irresponsible magnates to line their pockets or squirrel away offshore.

READ MORE: Coronavirus risks pushing hotel, cafe, and bar businesses into extinction

State aid for aviation must have iron guarantees attached to protect jobs and pay of the many thousands of UK workers who depend directly and directly on aviation.

The industry can recover and it will be essential for skilled workers already working for airlines and in the supply chain to be ready to pick up the job, but without a rescue package now the industrys future hangs in the balance."

For the latest news and updates on the coronavirus, check out the Yahoo News live blog on the subject.
The Wadala TT police have arrested a 23-year-old man, an engineer from South Mumbai for cheating a 28-year-old woman, an exporter, to a tune of 4 lakhs on the pretext of selling face masks at a low rate.

The woman had placed an online order for 1.60 lakh pieces of face mask and paid 4 lakhs as advance to the accused Abrar Mustaq Bodle, 23.

The trader had placed the order due to the growing demand for masks in Oman and France in the wake of coronavirus.

According to the police, the complainant Namrata Navinchandra Manocha, is a resident of Bhakti Park in Wadala. Manocha is the director of an import and export company which deals with workmens attire and exports the same across Gulf countries.

Manocha in her statement said that on February 28, her firm received order from Oman and France demanding face masks in bulk. Using a business app, Manocha approached the proprietor of the firm and contacted him on his mobile number. She then asked her for the pictures of the face masks, GST and ISO certificate and other documents to finalise the deal, said the statement given to police.

She then placed an order of 1.60 lakh face masks worth 14.40 lakhs.

Manocha said, On March 5, as per the deal  4 lakhs were transferred to the account of the accused. Later, my chartered accountant informed that the status of the GST and ISO certificate were fake.

With the increasing demand of face mask and sanitiser many people have created video advertisements and are cheating people through social networking sites. People should avoid such fake dealers on online sites and check the authenticity before transferring the cash or finalising the deal, said Manocha.

The Wadala Truck Terminus Police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act, 2000.
From midnight on Monday, the United States will become the latest nation to extend travel restrictions on British nationals, amid the continuing coronavirus pandemic.

The situation will doubtless be of concern not only to those who are currently abroad in affected countries, but also those planning a trip in coming weeks.

According to ABTA, a trade association for tour operators and travel agents in the UK, the current situation is 'extraordinary', with official advice changing rapidly.

It advises: 'Given the extraordinary volume of enquiries, and the rapidly changing situation, the best course of action for travellers with future bookings is to monitor and follow Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) advice for the destination they are travelling to, and wait for their travel provider to contact them if the situation changes in regards to their booking.

'Many travel companies are doing all they can to offer flexible booking policies at this time, such as giving customers the option to change their departure dates without charge, so we'd recommend talking to them about the options that are open to you..

Just how will the latest travel restrictions due to coronavirus affect British travellers?

So just what are the restrictions that have been put in place, which countries can you not travel to and can you claim a full refund if coronavirus affects your holiday?

Here are the answers to some of the most pressing questions for travellers right now:

Which countries have the Government advised against travel to?

The FCO currently advises against all but essential travel to: Albania, Argentina, Burma, Mainland China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Jamaica, Kosovo, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania, some island resorts in the Maldives (Kuredu, Vilemendhu, Batalaa and Kuramathi), Malta, Mongolia, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores (Portugal), San Marino, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Cheongdo, Deagu and Gyeongsan in South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka United States and Vietnam.

What happens if my travel plans are affected?

If the FCO advises against travel to a destination and your holiday arrangements have been affected, your travel provider will get in touch and advise you of the options open to you. Travellers are also advised to read the FCO travel advice for the country they are travelling to.

Can I postpone my trip?

Many travel companies and airlines are trying to offer more flexible booking policies, such as giving customers the option to change their travel date should they wish to postpone their holiday. In certain circumstances this may not be possible. Customers should speak to their travel provider to discuss their options.

If the Foreign Office has advised against travel to a country, specific resort or area of a country, does my travel company have to give me a full refund?

This depends on how you booked your holiday and what the terms and conditions say. If you booked individual services from different companies you should contact the travel companies concerned to see what alternatives or options they can offer. Whether you are entitled to a refund if you do not use the services will depend on the specific terms of each company. Talk to your travel provider if youve booked a package holiday. They may be able to offer an alternative holiday or departure date. Alternatively, you may be entitled to a full refund of the package price. You should also check with your travel insurer to see whether you have any cover available under the policy.

The FCO currently advises against travel to 31 countries due to the coronavirus outbreak

I'm not due to travel for a while yet - can I still get a full refund?

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) advice is in relation to imminent departures,. If you have booked a package and are not due to travel imminently, tour operators will decide on an ongoing basis how far in advance theyll begin offering alternative arrangements or providing refunds.

If my holiday is cut short because of the Coronavirus outbreak, am I entitled to compensation?

You wont be entitled to any compensation, as the reason for the holiday not continuing is outside the control of the tour operator.

I'm not sure about going ahead with my holiday. Can I cancel and get compensation?

The Government will advise against travel to a destination when it judges the level of risk to be unacceptably high. If there is no Government advice against travel to your destination, youre free to make the choice not to go, but there's no obligation on your holiday company to give you a refund. Normal cancellation charges will apply.

It is highly unlikely that you will be able to claim any cancellation charge on your insurance as there isnt normally cover for disinclination to travel, but you can check the terms of your policy.

There are a number of public areas and attractions that are now closed in the destination that I am travelling to. Can I get a refund if I cancel my holiday?

This would not normally give you the right to a refund. If excursions or attractions that are included in the price of your holiday are closed or cant go ahead, and this significantly changes your package holiday or impacts your overall experience, then you might be entitled to a refund. If you are aware of such limitations, then speak to your travel company to discuss your options.

Global travel has taken a significant downturn due to the coronavirus outbreak

Axa, Aviva, the Post Office and InsureAndGo have limited their policies for claims relating to coronavirus. Admiral and LV= have suspended travel insurance sales completely. Why is this?

According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), trips already booked abroad under existing policies remain unaffected. Travel insurance for new customers remains available, but people should shop around for the cover that best meets their needs. Some companies have paused their sales of travel insurance. Insurers take account of when any risk becomes more of a probability than a possibility and then make commercial decisions.

If I ignore any government advice against all but essential travel, will my travel insurance still cover me?

If you travel against government advice then you are likely to invalidate your travel insurance. If you are unsure, check with your travel insurer.

If I cancel my travel plans can I claim any cancellation costs on my travel insurance?

Travel insurance may cover non-refundable cancellation costs, in specific circumstances. These may include medical advice against you or a member of your group from travelling or government advice against travelling. Check your travel insurance policy. Travel insurance is not designed to cover disinclination to travel where the FCO has not advised against travel.

What is essential travel? Does my holiday come under this?

You should check with your travel insurer if the reasons for your trip would or would not invalidate your travel insurance. A holiday to the area is unlikely to be considered as essential.

If I am in an area and the Government advice is to return home, will my travel insurer cover any additional costs for getting back to the UK?

Travel insurance policies may cover some out-of-pocket losses, and also help you to leave the area if a warning to return back to the UK comes into effect while you are there, if you are unable to get assistance from any other source. You should keep up to date with government advice on the FCO website.

I'm abroad and I've had to go into quarantine. Will my insurance cover anything?

If you are required to be quarantined while abroad, you should be covered by your insurance policy, including any relevant medical expenses that are required. Your insurer may consider additional travel expenses at the end of the quarantined period to allow you to return home. Check with your insurer if you have any questions. Many policies can be extended for a specific period, if you are unavoidably detained from returning to the UK.

For more information, see ABTA's advice page at abta.com/coronavirus and ABI at www.abi.org.uk
A chariot procession in Singapore held mostly by Indian-origin Hindus here will be cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, officials said on Sunday.

The Panguni Uthiram chariot and foot procession, which is part of the annual Panguni Uthiram festival, was slated for April 6. It is celebrated by Hindus and held in honour of the Hindu god Murugan, The Straits Times reported on Sunday, citing officials.

Devotees usually bear kavadis and carry chariots and milk pots as they walk about 1.2-km to seek blessings and fulfil their vows.

The temple management committee at the Holy Tree Sri Balasubramaniar Temple in Yishun decided to scrap the procession this year, citing coronavirus clusters which appeared at large gatherings in crowded settings, including places of worship.

Temple management committee chairman Narainasamy in a statement on Sunday said, "In addition, maintaining social distancing amongst devotees and keeping contact tracing records will be very challenging. In arriving at this decision, we took the view that the health and safety of our devotees is paramount."



Every year, the Panguni Uthiram chariot and foot procession draws 10,000 to 15,000 devotees who gather in close proximity with one another; both along the procession route and in the temple.

The procession takes place within Yishun Industrial Park A, where the temple is located but is surrounded by a major public and private housing estates.

The temple committee said priests will still conduct prayers on the day but will limit the number of devotees in the temple to not more than 250 as mandated by an official announcement.

The decision comes after the Government implemented social distancing measures last Friday as a major line of defence in the battle against COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, according to local media reports.

The measures involve not having more than 250 attendees at large private functions and religious services.

Meanwhile, people who enter Singapore with recent travel history to ASEAN countries, Japan, Switzerland or the United Kingdom will be issued with a 14-day stay-home notice.

This will take effect from Monday and applies to all travellers, including Singapore residents, long-term pass holders and short-term visitors, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Sunday.

It will not apply to Singapore's sea and land crossings with Malaysia, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said, adding that separate arrangements are currently being worked out by a bilateral joint working group with Malaysia.

Wong, who also co-chairs the multi-ministry taskforce, added that about 300,000 people move across the land checkpoints with Malaysia every day.

Singapore has 212 confirmed coronavirus cases.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
March 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. city of Hoboken, across the Hudson River from New York City, on Saturday announced a night curfew starting March 16 and ordered bars and restaurants to conduct only delivery services amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

In a statement, Mayor Ravi Bhalla said all residents of Hoboken, New Jersey, will be required to remain in their homes between 10 pm and 5 am, "except for emergencies, or if you are required to work by your employer".

The mayor said that bars and restaurants in the city will not be allowed to serve food from Sunday, 11 a.m. local time. However, they will be allowed to conduct delivery services.

"I received a call from our police chief Kenneth Ferrante notifying me of a bar fight in downtown Hoboken, with at least one person falling in and out of consciousness, and our police having to wait for over 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive, because our EMS is inundated with service calls," Bhalla said.

"This is unfortunately a contributing factor why we cannot continue bar operations which can trigger calls for service that are delayed in part because of this public health crisis."

Hoboken reported its first case of coronavirus on Friday.

More than 2,900 cases of coronavirus and at least 57 deaths have been reported in the United States, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. (Reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Michael Perry)
Uttarakhand government has banned mass gatherings, including seminars and protests, in the state amid coronavirus outbreak, informed state minister Madan Kaushik on Sunday.

All government and private programmes have been banned for a month and the district magistrates have been authorised to take action if anyone is caught violating the orders.

The state government has already declared coronavirus an epidemic and has passed an order that all cinema halls and colleges will remain closed in the state till March 31. Medical colleges, however, will remain open.

The number of COVID-19 positive cases has gone up to 107 in the country.

Coronavirus, which originated in China's Wuhan city in December last year, has so far spread to more than 100 countries, infecting over 1,30,000 people. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared coronavirus a pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hai Phong has asked the Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam to suspend flights from Bangkok (Thailand) to the city's Cat Bi International Airport in service of the local prevention of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak.

Cat Bi international airport (Source: saigongiaiphong)

At present, everyday the airport receives one direct flight from Bangkok, which carries a lot of passengers from Europe.

The northern port city has actively classified passengers to transfer suspected cases to concentrated quarantine areas. However, the disease is developing complicatedly in many countries and territories, including Europe nations and Thailand. Therefore, the city made the aforesaid proposal to help prevent the virus from spreading.

On March 15, Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Nguyen Van Tung inspected the medical checkpoint in Cat Hai district and attended a meeting on COVID-19 prevention in Minh Hong village, Nghia Lo commune of the district.

More than 220 local households were provided with prevention measures such as reguarly washing hands with soap and wearing face masks in crowded places. Those having symptoms such as coughing and fever should go to the nearest medical facility for check-up and limit going to crowded places.

Locals were also advised to inform authorities about cases returning from epidemic-hit areas.

By 12:00 on March 15, all 138 suspected cases in Hai Phong tested negative for the coronavirus. This means the city has so far reported no cases of COVID-19./.VNA

200 pilots at Vietnam Airlines lose flight hours With 40 aircrafts left idle, about 200 pilots of Vietnam Airlines have had few flight hours.
FONTANA  The outdoor education program at Fontana Elementary School is moving forward, despite the resignation of a camp leader last year when program changes were questioned by the school board.

The program gives fifth-grade students an educational camping experience with a focus on ecology and environmentalism, complete with field trips to nature preserves, hands-on educational opportunities and regular camping activities.

Last year, teacher Jayme Jones was selected to lead the outdoor education program following the retirement of Noreen Lamsam, who had led the program for 38 years prior. Jones had assisted in the five-day-long, educational camp in years leading up to Lamsams retirement.

In preparation for the summer camp, Jones and science teacher Kristen Rabe made several changes to the program in an effort to modernize the curriculum and activities.

Their changes included reducing the number of teacher supervisors, updating camp curriculum, eliminating counselor pranks, imposing academic requirements for high school counselors, and changing the programs location from the Lake Geneva Youth Camp in Lake Geneva to Conference Point Center in Williams Bay.

When the school board made plans to form an evaluation committee to review the program after the changes were implemented, Jones sent the board a letter stating she felt the evaluation questioned her ability as a teacher and that she might not be the best person for the job if the changes were reversed.

She then subsequently resigned without further explanation.

School board president Tom Labus said the board conducts an evaluation of the program each year, and that last years evaluation was not out of the ordinary.

Each year we take a look at it at the end, Labus said. Sometimes the tweaks are minor, other times we make changes we think keep us going in the right direction with the program.

Labus said he was not sure why Jones decided to resign, and added that although several days of rain made outdoor activities difficult, the week went well and few changes were needed.

She decided she wanted to go and do something else, and we said thats fine, well move ahead, Labus said. Weve always had a staff of a people that have been involved, its not just one person.

The program is in its 60th year as a popular tradition among Fontana students.

Labus said the long-running program was never in jeopardy and that he has faith that teachers Dawn Sammons and Rabe will successfully lead the program this year.

While Rabe said she was unsure why Jones resigned last year, she did say that the evaluation process was more formal than in years prior. She said while program staff and participants have always met for an evaluation following the camp week, last year the school board requested the evaluation findings be formally presented to the board for the first time.

Rabe said while the programs framework will remain the same this year, some special programming has been coordinated to celebrate 60 years of operation. She said a fashion designer is helping design special 60-year-anniversary T-shirts for campers this year.

She added that fundraising for the camping experience has also changed this year, with campers no longer relying on trinket sales to fund the program and instead handwriting letters to local businesses for sponsorship.

With program changes occurring each year, Rabe said it is important to both preserve the traditional experiences Fontana students have experienced for decades, while also ensuring the program is updated and aligns with current school curriculum.

The biggest challenge for us is trying to have that balance between honoring the tradition and still being able to progress with 21st century skills, she said.

Having attended the summer camp as a student herself, Sammons said she still remembers some of the lessons she learned that week about 29 years ago.

Those lessons I learned through camp have stayed with me throughout my life, and I hear that often from students coming back, she said. Some of those lessons are the ones that stay with these kids.

Sammons added that it is important for the program to grow as students, terrain and education evolves over the years.

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: Newly appointed Telangana BJP



president Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Sunday said he would work with the sole aim of bringing the party into power in the state.

Speaking at a party meeting after assuming charge, he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the partys national president J P Nadda for the responsibility given to him.

"KCR (Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao) claims he is the real Hindu, but he is not.

He will perform Yagam and Pujas to remain as Chief Minister and also to see his son as CM. But society will not recognize him as Hindu.

The real Hindu is one who strives for the welfare of others... BJP will come to power in Telangana in the next elections after three years," he said.

Kumar alleged that KCR was spending central government funds on various schemes and claiming credit for the same.

Union Minister of state for Home Kishan Reddy and BJP National Secretary Muralidhar Rao also spoke at the meeting.

Kumar said he would soon visit Bhainsa town, which witnessed violence in January this year.

Nineteen people, including eight police officials, were injured when members of two communities clashed in the town in Nirmal district on January 13 over a trivial issue.

Sixty one people have been arrested in connection with the clashes.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Four youths aged 18 and 19 were arrested by the National Police on Saturday morning in connection with assaulting two tourists.

At around half two in the morning, two women who witnessed the attack on the Paseo Maritimo in Palma called the emergency services. Palma and National Police went to the scene where they were told by the women that they had seen a black car pull up and that two of the four occupants had got out, had attacked the two tourists and had stolen their wallets.

The male tourists, one Dutch, the other German, were treated for injuries resulting from punches and kicks. One needed to be taken to Son Espases Hospital.

The youths and their car were subsequently located. All from Manacor, they appeared in court on Saturday afternoon. They maintained that they did not steal the wallets, that they had got out of the car in order to urinate and had then got into an argument with the two tourists. This had resulted in a fight.

The evidence given by the two women contradicted this version. The case is still open.
We already knew these are strange times. Confirmation isnt necessary.

If it were, this report from the Daily Mail would suffice:

For once, the conversation over closing the US-Mexico border is being driven by 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 wouldnt 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.

Actually, the flow of the virus could come either way. There are many more infections in the U.S. than in Mexico, and this will very likely continue to be the case. But many Mexicans want to enter the U.S., and its possible that, if the virus spreads there, some of them will be infected. (If the virus doesnt thrive in hot weather, it may not become widespread in Mexico, and the warm weather Mexico experiences in the winter may help explain the low number of cases.)

According to the Daily Mail, until now Mexico hasnt taken measures to prevent an outbreak. Unlike some other Latin American countries, the Mexicans have not closed schools or banned entry to people coming from countries with high numbers of coronavirus cases.

If Mexico now is going to get serious about protecting its citizens against the virus, it might make sense to ban travel from the U.S. But given Mexicos prior lack of seriousness, it might make sense for the U.S. to ban travel from Mexico despite the low number of known coronavirus cases there.

Such a ban by the U.S. wouldnt help curb illegal immigration. Thats already prohibited.

Nor is it clear that a Mexican ban on travel from the U.S. would be of much help in this regard, even if Mexico cooperated with the U.S. Few Americans are sneaking across the border into Mexico. Thus, a Mexican travel ban presumably would not entail deploying many resources at the places where Mexicans and others from Central America enter the U.S. illegally.

The Mexican ministers talk about stronger surveillance sounds more like tit-for-tat than serious policy. A ban on U.S. entry into Mexico would likely focus on conventional points of entry.

The bottom line is that Mexico should do what it considers necessary to ward off the coronavirus. And these are, indeed, strange days.
Finance and real estate speaker and podcaster Michelle Russell (R) and her guest attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Ikeda Theater at the Mesa Arts Center, in Arizona, on March, 14, 2020. (Yawen Hung/The Epoch Times)

MESA, ArizonaOur childlike wonder brought us a different view of the world than we have now, but theres more to the story of why we lost that amazement than simply age, says real estate investor, speaker, and podcaster Michelle Russell, after seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts. She believes its also because the myth and legend and tradition that we encountered when we were young disappeared from the world in the meantime.

But its high time it returns, which is why she praised New York-based Shen Yun and its efforts to revive authentic Chinese culture.

[Shen Yun] is amazing, she said after the performance at Mesa Arts Centers Ikeda Theater in Arizona on March 14, 2020. I was sitting there going, Man, they should put this at Disney, like in Epcot Center or something, because the people would love to see that! I mean its so amazing. Its stuff that you heard of when you were young and then it just disappeared.

I think all that tradition needs to be brought back or embraced and treasured and fermented so that  think of all the generations that have missed this.

Mesa Ikeda Theater at Mesa Arts Center. (The Epoch Times)

Shen Yun is a classical Chinese dance company based in New York with the mission of reviving Chinas 5,000 years of traditions, spirituality, and enchantment.

Its fantastic. Its really amazing, Russell continued. Its beautiful. Its, the music is wonderful  Some of the instruments, because Ive never heard them before, I mean, theyre just amazing. I love the show! I love just watching [Shen Yun] and its like a, what would you say? Its like, just beautiful. Like in every wayjust all your senses, your hearing and your sight and just the feelings you get. [Shen Yun] is amazing, amazing.

Russell described the dances that most stood out to her before explaining how profound Shen Yuns cultural revival is in the context of the United States, China, and the world.

I loved the water ones with the, where the sleeves were really long. And then the lanternsoh, my goshthe lanterns were really cool. And the shoes that they were wearing. That one, was it that, the Manchurian one? With the shoes? Those were so cool! I was like, how in the heck did they walk on those?  theres so many parts, she said.

And the men, too. Thoseyou want to clap after every time they do some kind of acrobatics because youre just like, thats amazing, thats amazing, thats amazing. So yes, I like [Shen Yun] a lot.

Her only regret was not bringing an extra guest.

We were thinking of bringing our granddaughter and we thought, Oh, its probably not something for her, and now Im sitting here going, Oh, I wish we brought her, and Im like, next year well definitely bring her, Russell added.

Russells enthusiastic energy only grew as she elaborated on Shen Yuns mission of reviving traditional Chinese culture despite ongoing devastation at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Thats amazing because, just having something that was trying to be pushed away so that, and it was almost extinct, and then they bring it back and revive it. History is so important, like in every culture, she said.

I mean, think about Americans. Were so proud of where we come from  I think Americans especially love all the different cultures. We love being American, but we love taking a piece of our tradition with us and bringing it to life, Russell said. Culture, I think thats so important.

Shen Yun cannot perform in China, its homeland of cultural origin, because of the violent campaign by the CCP to wipe out Chinas true culture and turn all faithful believers of heaven into atheists, the official belief system of communism.

Even in China, thats really sad. Can you, theres people in China who have never seen this, like, in their whole lifetimes, because they were born after, you know, the communist [regime] Can you imagine that? Never being able to embrace a piece thats really part of you and not ever knowing it, you know, so it probably brings tears to peoples eyes when they see [Shen Yun]. Theyre just like, and Russell gasped, Thats me!  So I love that.

With reporting by Yawen Hung and Brett Featherstone.

The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time and has covered audience reactions since the companys inception in 2006.
15.03.2020 LISTEN

When the big mind comes out with a well-thought-out plan, the little minds without ability and capability to comprehend it starts propagating their own doubtful conspiracy theories. Instead of approaching that big mind in a sensible manner to seek better in-depth explanations, they rather choose to rubbish the entire idea, invoking their "It can't be done and it can't be possible" quick fix lazy man's solution.

With the advent of the fatal Coronavirus (Covid-19) culminating in goods flying off shops shelves leaving them totally empty as never witnessed by the current generation before, leading to shortages of essential human needs, the idea to industrialise Ghana cannot be overemphasised.

How long can our current seasonal crop yield that comes in abundance during harvest season and becomes scarce in lean season, help Ghana cope with a world pandemic like the present Covid-19 disease where food and other basic essentials are in panic-buying mode in the developed nations?

As I write, things like toilet paper, certain food items and hand sanitisers have run out in most stores in most of the advanced countries.

It is only processed foods that can last longer to face off the urgent demands as are created by world pandemic disease like the current strain of Coronavirus. Our harvested plantains, cocoa, yam and corn cannot last longer to sustain us alive should the disease last years unlike processed foods.

This is an indisputable fact coming from not only the son of farmers, but a farmer himself, Rockson Adofo.

Therefore, those little minds that have been mocking President Nana Akufo-Addo's "One District One Factory" policy as highly unfeasible and an unintelligent lazy man's approach to running a country or to creating jobs for the youth must please think twice.

Even if his approach has challenges, which of cause it has, why can't we help solve them in the best collective interest of the people and the nation rather than mocking it and trying to chuck it into the skip?

If his industrialisation policy succeeds, will it not answer our problems of periodic food shortages where we are compelled to rely on food importation and handouts from abroad with all their attendant possible contamination of some sort?

The Ghanaian attitude of "We can't do it. It is not possible, must be discarded for our own best interest or else, we are writing our own doom on the wall, if not in the sky.

Once, a senior and a friend of mine, visited me in Paris, having come from Hamburg in then West Germany. He is one Mr Wiafe from Kumawu-Abotanso. This was in the early 1980s.

He said and I quote, "Once I was admitted to the hospital in Hamburg and a certain old White patient of 96 years in the ward whose bed was next to mine said, why are you black people or Africans so lazy? You always look up to us, white people, to supply you with everything. You can't do anything for yourselves. Do you think in the event of world war when we happen to be fighting other countries, we can have time to put ships on the sea loaded with food and drugs to send to you in Africa? No, we cannot, and shall not, do that. So you had better be mindful of your lazy attitude

Mr Wiafe said tears started running down his cheeks. However, the Whiteman told him not to cry as he did not mean to offend him as a person but stating the fact about how they, the White people in truth see the African.

Subsequently I call on all Ghanaians to throw away our opaque political lenses to see clearly to better understand the need to industrialise where food can be processed to stay longer to meet our urgent needs come about as a result of unpredictable or unforeseen circumstances as it is with Covid-19.

More grease to the farsightedness of my present day biblical Joseph, "Akyemkwaa" His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. This sort of big mind is who Ghana needs to take the people from Egypt (dark Ghana of can't do) into the promised land of Canaan (bright Ghana of can do) but not those mocking his visionary policies and programmes for their myopic selfish political aspirations.

Let us all learn a lesson from this ongoing deadly virus come to claim more victims of which about 75% of world population are victims in one way or the other.

I dedicate this publication to Mr Wiafe wherever he is in case he is still alive which I pray he is, and the Big mind President Nana Akufo-Addo.

Rockson Adofo

Sunday, 15 March 2020
WASHINGTON  The case against Nassif Sami Daher and Kamel Mohammad Rammal, two Michigan men accused of food stamp fraud, hardly seemed exceptional. But the tool that agents used to investigate them was extraordinary: a secretive surveillance process intended to identify potential spies and terrorists.

It meant that the men, unlike most criminal defendants, were never shown the evidence authorities used to begin investigating them or the information that the Justice Department presented to obtain the original warrant.

The case is among recent Justice Department prosecutions that relied on the same surveillance powers, known by the acronym FISA, that law enforcement officials acknowledge were misused in the Russia investigation. Those errors have prompted a reckoning inside the FBI and debate in Congress about new privacy safeguards. The attention given to FISA has also cast a spotlight on cases such as the Michigan one, where surveillance tools used to investigate foreign intelligence threats end up leading to prosecutions for commonplace, domestic crimes.

The department says it cant turn a blind eye to crimes it uncovers when scrutinizing someone for national security purposes, even if those offenses werent the initial basis of the investigation. In recent years, inquiries that began with FISA warrants have yielded charges including child pornography and bank and wire fraud.

Current and former officials say just because a FISA warrant produces charges other than national security ones doesnt mean the target is no longer considered a national security threat. Sometimes, particularly when disrupting a terrorism plot, prosecutors may charge other crimes they find evidence of for fear of tipping the targets conspirators to the investigations actual purpose.

But critics say building routine cases on evidence derived from FISA warrants undermines constitutional protections against unreasonable searches. And if the original surveillance application is riddled with errors or omissions, they say, any resulting prosecution is tainted. Though some judges have raised concerns, no court has prohibited the practice. The Supreme Court has never directly confronted the specific issue.

Patrick Toomey, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union national security project, noted that the Fourth Amendment requires the government to describe the type of criminal evidence its seeking before conducting a search.

Our view is that the types of broad searches for foreign intelligence information flips the Fourth Amendment on its head when the government repurposes those searches for domestic criminal prosecutions, Toomey said.

Thats what happened with Daher and Rammal. They were charged in August 2018 with defrauding the food stamp program in a scheme that investigators say was based at a Detroit service station.

The next month, prosecutors told them they intended to use information collected under a warrant approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which authorizes law enforcement to eavesdrop on people it has probable cause to believe are agents of a foreign power.

That meant that while Daher and Rammal could see government evidence about the fraud allegations, they were denied details about the reasons for the national security surveillance.

Though the Justice Department has refused to disclose the application it submitted to the court, its filings make clear the case was part of a broader terrorism-related inquiry. Prosecutors produced a statement from Attorney General William Barr saying the FISA materials held classified information about counterterrorism investigations and that disclosing them would harm national security.

Rammal, who was raised in Lebanon, has since pleaded guilty to fraud. Daher has fought unsuccessfully to see the FISA information and is awaiting trial. His lawyers contend Daher was targeted in a post-Sept. 11 mob mentality Neither men faced terrorist-related charges.

Sami is a nerd with a big ego and imagination, but, he is not a terrorist or a National Security threat, Dahers lawyers wrote.

The Justice Department says the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act explicitly permits law enforcement to use evidence from FISA warrants for domestic criminal prosecutions and that it makes obvious sense to do so.

Congress intended that you not ignore evidence of another crime while youre doing foreign intelligence surveillance, and FISA itself reflects this, Assistant Attorney General John Demers, the departments top national security official, said in a statement. Its nonsensical to ignore evidence of a crime that weve lawfully gathered.

Nonetheless, defense lawyers see the department as straying beyond FISAs original intent.

Critics have long complained about the one-sided nature of the process. Targets of the surveillance, for instance, are consistently denied copies of FISA applications, making it hard for them to know the accuracy of the information given to the court, to learn why precisely prosecutors considered them a national security concern and to contest the legitimacy of the search.

In the Russia case, details of the FISA warrant used on ex-Trump campaign adviser Carter Page became known only because of the highly partisan congressional fight over special counsel Robert Muellers investigation. Later, the Justice Department inspector general found the FBI omitted from its applications key information that should have been presented to the court.

The FBI has since announced steps aimed at ensuring that its wiretap applications are more accurate. The House passed legislation Wednesday containing new privacy protections. The Senate left for the week without approving it, allowing certain FISA provision s to temporarily expire.

Most FISA warrants dont result in criminal prosecution. Page, for instance, has denied wrongdoing and was never charged. Those that do generally involve national security crimes.

But other investigations with a classified or national security focus have ended instead with more routine criminal charges.

In California, a small business owner named Abdallah Osseily was charged by national security prosecutors in 2019 with lying on bank documents and on his naturalization petition.

Prosecutors produced evidence confirming hed been eavesdropped on, but defense lawyers say the recordings didnt come from conventional criminal wiretaps, leading them to believe they were from a FISA warrant. The Justice Department has refused to confirm if thats the case but says the prosecution isnt based on evidence from a FISA warrant warrant. Defense lawyers have nonetheless fought to see the original surveillance application.

Hes not given the opportunity to clear his name or to otherwise challenge the governments accusations that he represents a national security threat, said his lawyer, Bilal Essayli.

Last August, federal authorities notified a think tank fellow and ex-State Department employee that they intended to use evidence from a FISA warrant in his mortgage fraud case.

The man, David Tawei An, was being investigated for his ties to Taiwanese officials when FBI agents encountered what they said was evidence he had submitted a false loan application. An ultimately pleaded guilty to fraud.

One prominent case concerns a former Boeing manager, Keith Gartenlaub, who was targeted with a FISA warrant because agents suspected him of having helped China acquire information on a C-17 military transport plane.

Agents using that warrant to search his computer files said they found images of child pornography. Prosecutors charged him with that but not with spying for China, something he adamantly denies.

He was convicted on the child pornography counts and recently released after nearly two years in prison, though he says the images werent his and were on an old computer multiple people who came in and out of his California beach house had access to.

FISA has become a way to circumvent due process in the legal system, Gartenlaub said. Anybody in my situation cannot defend themselves because you cant see anything.

A San Francisco-based federal appeals court upheld his conviction. But it also said a prosecution for completely unrelated crimes discovered as a result of rummaging through a computer comes perilously close to the exact abuses against which the Fourth Amendment was designed to protect.

The ACLU sees an opening to narrow the governments powers, saying courts are only now starting to grapple with the fairness of national security searches being used in ordinary prosecutions.

These searches, Toomey said in an email, upend bedrock constitutional protections.

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Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP
FILE PHOTO: The first Air France Airbus A350 prepares to take off in Colomiers near Toulouse

PARIS (Reuters) - The French government is not at this stage considering a capital injection for Air France-KLM <AIRF.PA> to help it weather falling revenues due to the impact of the coronavirus on its business, a French finance ministry official said on Saturday.

Citing a source close to the matter, daily newspaper Les Echos had reported earlier in the day that it was under consideration.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Air France-KLM chief executive Benjamin Smith had spoken on Friday to discuss measures that the government could take to support the airline, it said.

"As of today there is no recapitalisation. The subject today for Air France is how to get over this difficult moment to deal with the sharp drop in turnover." the official said, confirming that Le Maire and Smith had spoken.

In an interview on Friday, Le Maire said that the state could help all companies in which France had a stake.

Airlines around the world are grappling with the consequences of the coronavirus outbreak, with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimating global costs would exceed $100 billion.

KLM, the Dutch subsidiary of Air France-KLM, said on Friday it planned to slash up to 2,000 jobs and ask for government support as it cuts working hours by one-third for its entire staff.

Air France declined to comment.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas, Gwen Barzic and Mathieu Rosemain; writing by John Irish; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday proposed the creation of an emergency fund for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations to combat the coronavirus pandemic and pitched India's initial offer of USD 10 million for this fund.

"I propose we create a COVID-19 emergency fund. This could be based on voluntary contributions from all of us. India can start with an initial offer of USD 10 million for this fund," PM Modi said at a video conference with participants from the SAARC nations.

The Prime Minister said the funds could be used by any SAARC nations to meet the cost of immediate actions.

"Our Foreign Secretaries, through our embassies can coordinate quickly to finalise the utilisation of this fund. We are assembling a rapid response team of doctors and specialists in India along with testing kits and other equipment. They will be on the standby to be placed at your disposal if required," Modi said.

"We can also quickly arrange online training capsules for your emergency response teams. This will be based on the model we have used in our own country to raise the capacity of all our emergency staff," Modi said.

The Prime Minister said that India could share with the SAARC partners its disease surveillance software which helps trace possible virus carriers and the people they contacted.

"We had set up an integrated disease surveillance portal to better trace possible virus carries and the people they contacted. We could share this disease surveillance software with our SAARC partners and training on using these," he said.

"Let us also use the existing facilities like the SAARC disaster management centre to pull in the best practices among all of us," Modi said.

The Prime Minister proposed the creation of a common research platform to coordinate research on controlling epidemic disease within the South Asian region.

"The Indian Council of Medical Research can offer help coordinating certain exercises. We can also ask our experts to brainstorm on the longer-term economic consequences of COVID-19," Modi said.

PM Modi remarked that the nations can respond best to the pandemic "by coming together and not growing apart."

"We all agree that we are facing a serious challenge. We do not know what shape the pandemic will take in the coming days. It is clear that we have to work together. We can respond best by coming together and not growing apart. Collaboration, not confusion. Preparation, not panic," Modi said.

Modi said that the region should evolve common SAARC Pandemic Protocols, which could be applied on all borders as well as within the borders.

"This can help to prevent such infections from spreading across our region, and allow us to keep our internal movements free," Modi said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Modi on said the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries should "prepare, act and succeed together" against COVID-19.

"As developing nations, all of us have significant challenges in terms of access to heal care facilities. Our people-to-people ties are ancient and our society deeply interconnected. We must all prepare, act and succeed together," Modi said.

He stressed the importance of vigilance since the region is densely populated. "COVID-19 has recently been classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a pandemic. So far, our SAARC region has listed fewer than 150 cases but we need to remain vigilant. SAARC region is home to nearly 1/5 of all humanity. It is densely populated," said Modi.

Prime Minister Modi briefed the SAARC member countries about India's experience of combating the spread of coronavirus so far.

"Prepare, but don't panic has been our guiding mantra. We started screening entry into India from mid-January itself, while also gradually increasing restrictions on travel. The step-by-step approach has helped avoid panic. We have made special efforts to reach out to vulnerable groups," he said.

The Prime Minister said that "we have worked to quickly ramp up capacity in our system including through training our medical staff across the country. We have also increased diagnostic capabilities. Within two months, we moved from one major facility for pan-India testing."

Modi said that the country has developed protocols for each stage of managing the pandemic.

"We also responded to the call of our people abroad. We evacuated nearly 1,400 Indians from different countries. We also similarly helped some of the citizens of our neighbouring countries," he said.

Underlining the concern of other countries for their citizens in India, Modi said that the foreign ambassadors are being updated about the situation in the country on a regular basis.

"We cannot predict with certainty how the situation will unfold despite our best efforts. You must also be facing similar concern," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
New Delhi/UNI: Raising of Kashmir lockdown issue during video-conference of SAARC leaders on Sunday on how to combat the spread of Novel Coronavirus in the region was slammed by the government sources here who described it as an attempt to politicise a humanitarian issue.

While admitting that no nation can afford to be unresponsive to the situation in wake of coronavirus outbreak, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's Special Advisor Dr Zafar Mirza raised the issue of lockdown in Kashmir. Government sources here said that Pakistan sent their Health Minister who was uncomfortable in speaking and he was given a slip, showing their churlish approach. The sources said that it was a humanitarian issue which Pakistan was trying to politicise, adding that Pakistan's comment does not merit a reaction. It showed what they are, the sources said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposal to interact with SAARC leaders from the region via video conference evoked a prompt response as well his proposal during the conference to create an emergency fund of US $ 10 million found ready support from them.

Government sources said that India is ready to send more Rapid Response Teams to SAARC region, if asked. The sources pointed out that already one fully equipped team is in Maldives. Rapid Response Teams carry with them trained doctors as well as huge diagnostic equipment to detect cases of COVID 19 infection.

The sources said that from Indian side, the emergency fund will be available immediately and it would be coordinated through embassies and missions. The fund will be used as effectively and fast as possible.

During nearly two-hour long video conference, Bhutanese PM Lotay Tshering said that all countries in the region should be on the same page in the fight against novel Coronavirus. He said that SAARC member nations must pool in their limited resources to battle this crisis.

Government sources said though there were only 150 cases in the SAARC region, much less than other regions, it was not an indication that the spread would be contained in the days to come. The sources said that the consensus among all leaders was to put in use best practices, share their experiences and pool together resources in medical and research areas to tide over the crisis posed by the outbreak of the pandemic.

Sources pointed out that India took an early lead in evacuating its 1444 nationals so far -- 336 from Iran, 218 from Italy, 766 from China and 124 from Japan. The sources added that the process was on to further carry out evacuation from Iran and Italy after following stringent protocols.

The sources said that Prime Minister Modi's initiative in bringing together SAARC leaders through video-conference came in for much appreciation, showing India's political will to forge cooperation among SAARC member-nations though the grouping is practically on the back burner. Mr Modi appreciated the effort of his Nepalese counterpart K P Sharma Oli in joining the conference after a surgery.

Admitting that the spread of Coronavirus had impacted global economy which was already bogged down by a slowdown, the sources said that most affected sectors were civil aviation, travel, hospitality, tourism and transport.
OSWEGO COUNTY, N.Y.  Schools in Oswego County will be closed beginning immediately until at least April 14 due to the coronavirus outbreak, the county legislature announced Sunday.

The legislature has also declared a state of emergency out of an abundance of caution, officials said.

There is currently no confirmed COVID-19 case in Oswego County.

All K-12 schools will close beginning immediately, and the order includes all extracurricular activities. The order went into effect at 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

"This is a precautionary measure, so there is no need to panic or hoard supplies, legislature chairman James Weatherup said in a statement. The best thing citizens can do is to follow CDC, State and County health departments guidelines regarding cleanliness and limiting person-to person contact as much as possible. We encourage businesses and organizations to follow State guidelines regarding limiting the size of social gatherings.

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.

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The Tihar Jail authorities said on Sunday that they had asked the hangman to report three days ahead of the scheduled hanging of the 2012 Delhi gang rape case convicts this week.

The four convicts - Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) -are to be hanged together at 5.30 am on Friday, according to an order by a Delhi court earlier this month.

The execution of their death warrants has been deferred thrice so far due to delays by them in exhausting legal remedies.

The Supreme Court will hear on Monday the plea of Mukesh Singh, who has sought restoration of all his legal remedies alleging that his lawyers had misled him.

After the fresh death warrant was issued, the Tihar Jail authorities wrote to their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh, requesting for the service of hangman Pawan Jallad, a jail official said.

Pawan Jallad, a hangman from Meerut, has been asked to report at Tihar Jail on March 17 (Tuesday), three days ahead of the scheduled date of hanging, Director General of Prisons Sandeep Goel said.

According to the jail authorities, dummy executions would be conducted after the arrival of Jallad.

Health check-ups of the convicts is being done once in a day. They are also being counselled on regular basis, the authorities said.

Out of the four convicts, Mukesh, Pawan and Vinay have had their last face-to-face meetings with their respective families.

The authorities have written to the family of Akshay about the date for final meeting before the scheduled date of execution.

The jail authorities have also not stopped the convicts weekly meetings with their families yet.

A 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, was gang-raped and savagely assaulted in a moving bus in south Delhi on December 16, 2012. She died a fortnight later.

Six people, including the four convicts and a juvenile, were named as the accused. Ram Singh, the sixth accused, allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail days after the trial began in the case.

The juvenile was released in 2015 after spending three years in a correctional home.
London, March 15 : A London man was mugged for his toilet paper just moments after leaving a store as the coronavirus pandemic has prompted widespread stockpiling in the British capital, a media report said.

The 56-year-old man, Dinendra was leaving a Savers store in Harringay, north London, on Saturday afternoon when someone ran up behind him and snatched one of the two toilet rolls he was carrying, the Daily Mail newspaper said in the report.

Dinendra, who only went into the story to buy toilet paper, told the Daily Mail: "I went to my local savers and bought two packs of toilet rolls. Someone came up from behind and stole one packet in broad daylight.

"I was shaken and shocked. Is that what we have come to? Its not the value of the toilet roll, its the principle.

"I'm concerned about the vulnerable people, the elderly. In terms of their health and their emotions as well." The store Dinendra was shopping in saw huge crowds forming long queues as worried residents stocked up on goods.

Food retailers have urged customers to shop responsibly during the coronavirus outbreak as shelves have been stripped bare.

The incident comes as scores of shoppers have been panic-buying essentials, including toilet paper, as fears intensify over the spread of coronavirus which has so far infected 1,140 people in the UK, and killed 21 others.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - The Tunisian Ministry of Cultural Affairs has ordered the closure of cinemas, theatres and all public and private spaces for artistic performances, as part of the fight against coronavirus
John Exadaktilos, owner of Ducktown Tavern, uses an air gun to hand out shirts as people celebrate St. Patricks Day in Atlantic City, Saturday, March 14, 2020. The city canceled its parade, due to the coronavirus scare, but people still came out to celebrate. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Even though Atlantic City canceled its 34th annual St. Patrick's Day Parade due to the coronavirus pandemic, bars close to the boardwalk were full of revelers dressed in green still wanting to celebrate Saturday afternoon.

"It's a little ridiculous that we're gonna stop living our lives over a virus like healthy people like her and I can survive," said Egg Harbor Township resident Austin Steck, who was celebrating a combined bachelor bachelorette party at Bourre with his soon-to-be wife Shannon Russell.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced Thursday that the spread of coronavirus in the state has prompted him to recommend the cancellation of all public gatherings of more than 250 people, forcing organizers to forgo the parade this year.

But that didn't stop the thousands of people from flooding the boardwalk and drinking establishments to the delight of business owners who were unsure of what to expect.

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Wayne Heaton, of Brigantine, enjoys the festivities at the Irish Pub in Atlantic City, Saturday, March 14, 2020. The city canceled its parade but people still came out to celebrate. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

The Irish Pub -- a staple in the city and a must stop before, during and after the parade -- was alive with patrons as they cheered everyone that entered the bar.

"The human spirit is they want to go out, they want to have a good time, they want to think positively," said Cathy Burke, who has owned the Irish Pub for 48 years.

Sitting comfortably at the bar Tabitha Brown, of Pitman, sipped on a beer as she talked with her husband Tom. Tabitha, a loyal Irish Pub supporter, said she was not afraid of contracting the virus, adding that she applies hand sanitizer every 20 minutes.

Not far from the Irish Pub, the outside beer yard at the Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall was full as people soaked up the warm afternoon March sun. Talk of the virus was at a minimum as most folks just wanted to escape the drama of the news and focus on what was in front of them, good music and friends.

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People enjoy the festivities at the Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall in Atlantic City, Saturday, March 14, 2020. The city canceled its parade but people still came out to celebrate. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall co-owner Scott Cronick said that at one point during the afternoon it was so busy it was difficult maneuvering through the crowd in the yard and that the inside bar was five people deep.

"We ended up hitting last year's number by four o'clock," he said. "Without a parade with the coronavirus happening."

Cronick has his own ideas on why it was so busy with all that is happening in the world.

"I think that there's a combination that the people that are here are younger, they know that they're a little more resilient to the virus." he said. "Also, maybe it's just anti-establishment, we're not going to let the government tell us where we can go and what we can do."

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A group of people wear masks as they party at Ducktown Tavern in Atlantic City, Saturday, March 14, 2020. The city canceled its parade, due to the coronavirus scare, but people still came out to celebrate. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

About a mile down Atlantic Avenue, the fenced off parking lot behind Ducktown Tavern was jam-packed with a younger crowd.

A group dressed in white Tyvek suits with masks over their nose and mouth, a spoof on the coronavirus pandemic, posed for pictures as they made their rounds around the outside bar.

Ducktown Tavern owner John Exadaktilos smiled as he looked over the crowd while standing atop a storage container shooting T-shirts from an air gun, but understood the concern that some people had.

"Be responsible for your own health, your own well being," he said. "No reason to hurt anybody else because you want to be selfish and go out and possibly miss St. Patrick's Day."

Not missing the festivities was Atlantic City Council President George Tibbett who grabbed a bite to eat at the Irish Pub. He said he wasn't going to stop his everyday events but added that everyone still needs to be cautious.

"Be safe, wash your hands, have a good time and go home."

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John Durham, of Eatontown, dressed like as a Good Luck Care Bear, relaxes by the Irish Pub in Atlantic City, Saturday, March 14, 2020. The city canceled its parade but people still came out to celebrate. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Saturday's activities went against overwhelming advice from federal and state health officials along with the CDC who are urging "social distancing" to help contain the spread of the virus. Major sporting events, schools, cultural institutions and tourist attractions have been shut down to keep people at home.

Sunday morning Gov. Phil Murphy announced that New Jerseyans can expect "more draconian measures" in the coming days and weeks and that people should look to Hoboken and Teaneck, where curfews and calls by local officials to self-quarantine have been put in place.

Scroll below to see more pictures of St. Patrick's Day festivities in Atlantic City.

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Austin Steck, left, and Shannon Russell, right, both from Egg Harbor Township, celebrate their combined bachelor and bachelorette party at Bourre in Atlantic City, Saturday, March 14, 2020. The city canceled its parade but people still came out to celebrate. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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Douglas Harmon, of Pleasantville, waves to friends as he celebrates St. Patricks Day at Ducktown Tavern in Atlantic City, Saturday, March 14, 2020. The city canceled its parade, due to the coronavirus scare, but people still came out to celebrate. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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Michael Dominic, of Long Branch, dances to Irish Music before walking the boardwalk in Atlantic City, Saturday, March 14, 2020. The city canceled its parade but people still came out to celebrate. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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Ben Garfinkel, of Mays Landing, has a drink at the Bourre in Atlantic City, Saturday, March 14, 2020. The city canceled its parade but people still came out to celebrate. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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People enjoy the festivities at the Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall in Atlantic City, Saturday, March 14, 2020. The city canceled its parade but people still came out to celebrate. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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People enjoy the festivities at Ducktown Tavern in Atlantic City, Saturday, March 14, 2020. The city canceled its parade but people still came out to celebrate. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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A group of people enjoy a drink at the Irish Pub in Atlantic City, Saturday, March 14, 2020. The city canceled its parade but people still came out to celebrate. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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People celebrate St. Patricks Day at Ducktown Tavern in Atlantic City, Saturday, March 14, 2020. The city canceled its parade, due to the coronavirus scare, but people still came out to celebrate. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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Tabitha Brown and her husband Tom, of Pitman, enjoys the festivities at the Irish Pub in Atlantic City, Saturday, March 14, 2020. The city canceled its parade but people still came out to celebrate. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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Atlantic City celebrates St. Patricks Day despite its parade being canceled, Saturday, March 14, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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Atlantic City celebrates St. Patricks Day despite its parade being canceled, Saturday, March 14, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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People enjoy the festivities at the Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall in Atlantic City, Saturday, March 14, 2020. The city canceled its parade but people still came out to celebrate. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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Atlantic City celebrates St. Patricks Day despite its parade being canceled, Saturday, March 14, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Atlantic City celebrates St. Patricks Day despite its parade being canceled, Saturday, March 14, 2020.

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People celebrate St. Patricks Day at Ducktown Tavern in Atlantic City, Saturday, March 14, 2020. The city canceled its parade, due to the coronavirus scare, but people still came out to celebrate. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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Atlantic City celebrates St. Patricks Day despite its parade being canceled, Saturday, March 14, 2020. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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Glenn Roberts performs at the Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall in Atlantic City, Saturday, March 14, 2020. The city canceled its parade but people still came out to celebrate. (Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Tim Hawk may be reached at thawk@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Tim on Instagram@photog_hawk and Twitter @photogthawk. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

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Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media

STRATFORD  The American Red Cross is helping three families whose homes were damaged in a fire Sunday morning.

According to a release Jonathon Sandstrom, the fire happened on Light Street and effected six adults and one child.
The following are excerpts from a speech to the Empire Club of Canada by Vickery Bowles, Torontos chief librarian:

As a public institution and government body, one of our core responsibilities is to uphold the fundamental freedoms of thought, belief, opinion and expression as enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. An important part of that commitment is making our spaces available for rent on an equitable basis to any individual or group in our community based on the purpose of the booking.

Last fall, this was a subject of much discussion in the city of Toronto and beyond, prompted by a third party room rental event at Toronto Public Library, which was organized by a group called Radical Feminists Unite, featuring controversial speaker Meghan Murphy. The stated purpose of the event, titled Gender Identity: What does It Mean for Society, the Law and Women, was to have an educational and open discussion on the concept of gender identity and its legislation ramifications on women in Canada.

The issue generated a lot of discussion on social media, most of which was negative, as well as extensive media coverage across the city, the country and the world, most of which was positive ...

Freedom of speech and equity and inclusion are not at odds with each other. In fact, it is just the opposite  they are mutually reinforcing principles and values that are foundational not only to public library service but more importantly to democracies.

Ensuring minority and marginalized voices are heard often leads to greater understanding and tolerance. Pushing controversial and unpopular ideas into the shadows means there is no opportunity for discussion and debate.

Racialized communities, the LGBTQ community and other equity-seeking groups have been successful precisely because their voices have been protected; voices all too often shut down have been heard in the midst powerful opposition  and with this, public perspectives moderate, laws are revised, and change happens all for the greater good ...

People asked how can the library offer a welcoming and supportive environment when people such as Meghan Murphy are allowed to speak? The answer is that reflecting diversity  in terms of people, ideas, books, programs, room bookings  is foundational to creating a welcoming and supportive environment at the library, and this will include content that will be offensive to some.

For more than a century, public libraries have been a democratizing force in our world, supporting a civil society and helping us learn about the world in all its complexity. Today, with so many challenges to freedom of speech  in libraries, political and government forums, on university campuses  its imperative that we continue to have open, uncensored discourse and listen to, respect and learn from each others perspectives.

Now is the time when we must all be open to civil debate on difficult topics. Now is a time when we must address equity and inclusion for all by accepting differences without judgment. Now is a time when we need to hear more voices, not fewer.
Having found its way through some economic turbulence -- including moving its stock to the Over the Counter QX exchange -- Basic Energy Services is making some expansion moves.

After shedding its pumping services assets, Basic has acquired the production operations assets of NexTier for approximately $94 million.

This transaction is a significant positive event for us, Trey Stolz, Basics director of investor operations said in a phone interview. It certainly improves things from an operational standpoint, and it improves our credit profile.

Stolz said company officials have long felt consolidation was needed in the oilfield services industry.

This is our first move in that direction, he said.

He went on to add that the transaction puts the company in a better position both short-term and long-term.

The transaction includes 1,800 NexTier employees who will now join Basic, bringing the companys workforce to 5,000 in 11 states. It will expand Basics workover fleet, which includes 411 high spec rigs and expands Basics footprint in the Permian Basin, California and other basins. The transaction is also expected to generate significant cash flow that will allow the company to further reduce leverage, with liquidity immediately after closing the transaction totaling $65 million.

Besides the completion services, Basic also offers rental and fishing tools, coiled tubing and water logistics.

We see a need for production services for years to come, Stolz said.

The NexTier production operations, known as C&J Well Services, has its roots in San Angelo, where it was formed in 1948 by Frank Pool as Pool Well Servicing. Jack Renshaw, currently senior vice president of C&J Well Services, will join Basic to lead the newly formed Western Region, which consists of all California and Rocky Mountain operations.

Jim Newman, senior vice president, Region Operations, will continue to oversee operations in the Permian and Central Regions, as well as Agua Libre Midstream. Adam Hurley, current vice president, Strategy and Business Development of Basic, will take on the role of chief integration officer, and will be responsible for overseeing the integration process, including optimizing the combined business model and extracting cost synergies.
The number of coronavirus cases in the United States is ticking steadily upward, and with it are Americans collective anxiety levels. But stockpiling massive caches of toilet paper and bottled water for insular forts will only lead to more shortages and more stress. Instead, the best way for us all to prepare is by looking out for one another.

In collaboration with Wirecutter, a product recommendation site owned by the New York Times, here are some ways that you can help your community make it through the chaos  and the virus too, if it does hit closer to home.

Donate to your local food bank

As the virus spreads, food banks could face additional pressures. David May, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, said that the group currently distributes 1 million pounds of food per week. But Mr. May noted that it was also preparing for the possibility of increased demand in case of virus-driven school closings or an influx of workers struggling to get by on fewer hours than usual.

When donating to your local food bank, consider starting with your wallet instead of your pantry. Donating money not only gives food banks flexibility over which supplies  including fresh foods and paper products  to offer but also lets them decide when to refresh their stocks.
There's never been a more dangerous time to invest in cannabis than right now. Pot stocks are plummeting and companies are running low on cash, making consolidation and bankruptcies inevitable in the near future.

A big reason for the struggle comes back time and time again to the legal industry's high pot prices. Whether it's taxes, overhead costs, or just pricey red tape, cannabis companies are struggling to remain competitive against the black market. Unfortunately, winning market share from the black market is a long-term goal for the legal industry, and right now, there are serious short-term problems investors can't ignore. And while North America may be particularly risky today, other parts of the world may offer safer pot plays.

Could cannabis companies in warmer climates make for better investments?

A big disadvantage for North America is that its cold winters limit the opportunities for growing cannabis, especially outdoors. But in places like Uruguay or Israel where the temperature is pretty warm year-round, those same problems don't exist. Uruguay, in particular, is an attractive option as it was the first country that legalized the recreational use of marijuana.

Not only is it possible to grow cannabis more frequently but costs, including wages, are likely to be much smaller as well. Lower costs make it more likely for a company to hit breakeven.

One Canadian-based company, Silverpeak Life Sciences Uruguay, has a subsidiary in Uruguay that it projects will hit breakeven free cash flow this year. Silverpeak is a private company but aims to go public at some point in the future. CEO Jordan Lews said, "We want to go to the capital markets when the conditions are favorable," noting that "the goal is to have the luxury to decide when to go."

Not needing to raise cash is a foreign concept to many North American producers. And it's the type of stability that investors long for to avoid suffering from share dilution and falling stock prices. Unfortunately, cash flow remains a big concern in North America and by being more competitive on price, producers outside of North American can enjoy significant advantages, making them more investable companies over the long term.

One cannabis producer that's expanded into warmer climates is Aphria (NASDAQ:APHA). Through its acquisition of LATAM Holdings, the company obtained licenses in key markets in Latin America, including Colombia, Argentina, and Jamaica. Admittedly, it's still a long-term play for the company. In its 2019 fiscal year, the company generated a modest 4 million Canadian dollars from its Latin American segment. That was just 1.7% of the company's revenue which totaled CA$237 million for the full year.

Is trying to be more competitive in North America a viable strategy?

After slashing its guidance in October for fiscal 2020, HEXO (NASDAQ:HEXO) said it would try to undercut the black market by offering lower-priced products. The company announced its new brand, "Original Stash," would come in lower than not just the average legal price of cannabis in Canada, but below black-market prices as well.

It's an aggressive strategy to try and win market share but it may not be viable given the need to maximize margins rather than to chip away at them. In the company's most recent quarterly results, which HEXO released in December, it reported a negative gross margin of CA$21 million after fair value adjustments. That was mainly due to inventory impairments. But even prior to all the adjustments, the company's gross margin would still have been a very modest 31%. And things weren't any better further down the statement as HEXO's operating loss of CA$56 million also grew significantly from negative CA$14.7 million in the prior-year quarter. While it may be tempting to try and grab market share, focusing on low-cost items may do more harm than good for the company's financials and its stock price.

What should investors do?

Whether investing in cannabis or any other business, it's important for investors to focus on a company's fundamentals to ensure that its business model is sound and generating profits as well as positive free cash flow. For North American cannabis companies, that's simply not a reality for many of them. And finding companies that can stay in the black consistently is tough to do.

That's why investing in marijuana businesses in parts of the world where achieving profitability is more likely is a much safer investment to make over the long term. If Silverpeak or other producers outside of North America go public, they could present much safer investment opportunities for investors who are tired of the volatility they've seen from North American pot stocks.
Linda Leitz is a certified financial planner. She can be reached at linda@peaceofmindfin.com.
The cases of the new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in India rose to 107, with 23 more people testing positive for the infection on Sunday as the country recorded its highest single-day jump while the central and state governments ramped up measures to avoid community transmission of the outbreak.

At least four other people  two in Maharashtra, and one each in Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh  were diagnosed with the illness in preliminary tests, which, if confirmed, will take the total infections to 111 in the country.

Here are the latest updates on COVID 19 from Sunday

 Maharashtra reported 17 new infections on Sunday and has the most Covid-19 cases in India at 31 followed by Kerala-- where three new cases were reported on Sunday-- taking its total to 22.

 15 people in Pune were diagnosed with the disease, five in Mumbai, four in Nagpur, two in Yavatmal and one each in Thane, Kalyan, Kamothe, Navi Mumbai and Ahmednagar.

 Two other cases in Pune and Aurangabad were yet to be confirmed.

 Two new cases were reported from Telangana and one from Rajasthan.

 The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) started the second batch of random testing on Sunday.

 The Mumbai Police on Sunday invoked Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code to prohibit tour operators from organising any gatherings till March 31.

 Assam, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu joined the list of states to have shut down schools and public areas such as cinema halls and malls.

 Government suspended travel through the Kartarpur Corridor from Sunday midnight. It further barred movement of all passengers to the neighbouring country through international border points.

 Union health minister Harsh Vardhan reviewed steps taken by states and Union territories to contain coronavirus and asked for scaling up the capacity of round-the-clock helpline.

 Indian nationals have been asked to avoid all non-essential travel abroad and all incoming international passengers have been advised to monitor their health and consider self-isolation as a precaution.

 France and Spain on Sunday joined Italy in imposing lockdowns on tens of millions of people.

 Australia ordered self-isolation for foreigners arriving in the country and other countries extended entry bans.

 Covid 19 has infected over 160,000 people and killed at least 6,000 people globally and has spread to at least 142 countries and territories.

 The death toll in Italy has climbed to at least 1,800 and the number of positive cases was reported to be more than 21,000. Iran and South Korea are the other worst-affected countries.

 Noida, Greater Noida cinema halls were ordered to stay closed till March 31

 Vaishno Devi trust restricted foreigners and Indians travelers from abroad from visiting the shrine within 28 days of their arrival.

 Lucknow district administration ordered the closure of cinema halls, multiplexes, clubs, discos, swimming pools, gyms till March 31

 Noida administration launched a dedicated email id dmgbncorona@gmail.com and a 24x7 phone line - 0120 2569901 for queries related to coronavirus

 TMC and BJP said they will ask West Bengal State Election Commission for deferring upcoming civic polls in wake of COVID-19
SPRINGFIELD  Baystate Medical Center has treated the first confirmed case of coronavirus, COVID-19, in Hampden County.

Hospital officials revealed Saturday night that the patient has the respiratory virus, which first emerged out of China in December.

We have identified the first COVID-19 patient at Baystate Medical Center and that person is no longer in the hospital and is recovering at home, said Dr. Mark A. Keroack, president and CEO of Baystate Health.

Baystate Health declined to provide further information on the individual.

On Friday, the hospital said that two dozen patients were suspected of having the virus as it dealt with the nationwide shortage of testing kits.

There are a total of 123 coronavirus cases in the state, according to Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Of those cases, 105 are presumptive and 18 are confirmed by the CDC.

At least 50 people have died in the U.S., where there have been more than 2,100 confirmed cases.

The worldwide total is nearing 150,000 on Saturday with more than 5,500 deaths.

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Following backlash over its sick leave policies, Tim Hortons says it is working with 1,500 franchisees across Canada to ensure they follow the advice of public officials amid the coronavirus outbreak  including not requiring sick employees to provide doctors notes.

But the company, owned by a multibillion-dollar fast-food conglomerate, did not provide details on how it will enforce that policy at individual franchises  or on whether employees will compensated for time off when ill.

Press Progress, a non-profit news organization founded by the Broadbent Institute, reported Friday that some Tim Hortons outlets are requiring workers to provide notes from doctors to take unpaid sick days.

In a statement posted to Twitter on Saturday, Tim Hortons said there was a lot of misinformation circulating.

We have been working with our 1,500 restaurant owners in Canada to follow the advice of their local public health authorities in all cases  including not requiring a doctors note when an employee reports in sick, the statement said.

Team members should always stay home if they are sick, it added.

The statement attracted hundreds of comments on Twitter, with many demanding clarity on whether employees will be paid if they do so.

Will you take one more step @TimHortons and ensure that sick employees will not be docked pay? wrote Twitter user Dan Harmer. Many minimum wage employees cant afford to get zero in their paycheques. You and the franchisees need to step up and help your workers.

Restaurant Brands International, the multinational holding company that owns Tim Hortons, Burger King and Popeyes, did not respond to specific questions from the Star about whether sick employees will be compensated.

In an emailed statement, the company told the Star it was working hard to do the right thing for the communities we live and work in.

Two Tim Hortons outlets in Winnipeg are unionized with Workers United; employees at those franchises provide doctors notes at managements discretion  and on managements dime, said union rep Andy Spence.

We were successful in this past bargaining to require the employer to pay for such notes, should they request, for employees who miss up to three days, he said.

Although Tim Hortons Saturday statement says the company is working on a clear approach across Canada, Spence said sick leave policies are usually at franchisees discretion.

Advocates warn that low-wage workers will be disproportionately impacted by COVID-19  especially those who cannot work from home and are not entitled to paid sick days.

The disaster facing workers is being compounded by public policy measures that fail to address the needs of workers, said Deena Ladd, executive director of the Workers Action Centre.

Hundreds of thousands of workers will be without wages as schools and universities close and as public events are cancelled. Neither the Ontario nor federal government has moved to protect workers in this time of crisis.

Under Ontario law, employees are entitled to three unpaid, job-protected sick days a year.

Previously, Ontario workers were entitled to 10 job-protected leave days, two of them paid, and were not required to provide sick notes. Those provisions were reversed by Doug Fords government in 2018.

Speaking during question period at Queens Park last week, Health Minister Christine Elliott said sick notes can be asked for in some circumstances by employers, but employers in Ontario right now understand that we are dealing with a very unusual set of circumstances.

Theyre responding accordingly, she said.

Diane Brisebois, president and CEO of the Retail Council of Canada, which represents 45,000 businesses, said her organization is holding daily calls with members to look at best practices on coping with the outbreak, including sick leave policies.

Its currently a moving target, and I mean that in a positive way, she told the Star.

Most (employers) are currently not requiring doctors notes but theyre also looking for guidance from government, she told the Star.

Brisebois said she was not hearing any thing specific on unpaid sick days, but said some employers were topping up workers employment insurance payments or creating special funds for employees who need to self-isolate.

Walmart Canada told the Star quarantined workers will be paid for the hours they were scheduled to work during their isolation period.

In a letter sent this week to employees and shared with the Star, Starbucks Canada president Lori Digulla said quarantined workers will be eligible for up to 14 days of catastrophe pay.

At the end of 14 days, if partners are still unable to return to work, additional pay replacement may be made up to 26 weeks, the letter says.

Catherine Thomas, senior director of external communication for Loblaw Cos. Ltd., said both full-time and part-time employees who have been mandated by a public health official to enter into self-quarantine will be eligible for 100 per cent pay protection.

In a statement to the Star, McDonalds Canada said corporate-owned restaurants and many franchisees have policies in place to offer paid time off, and do not require employees to present a doctors note during these unprecedented times.

According to a letter shared with the Star, Canadian fashion retailer Aritzias executive vice-president Pippa Morgan told employees that scheduled hours in stores would be decreasing as a result of COVID-19.

In lieu of hours, we encourage you to use your vacation days, if available to you, to offset the time off.

Aritzia did not respond to the Stars request for comment.

The Decent Work and Health Network, a coalition of health care workers focused on income inequality and precarious jobs, has called on provincial and federal governments to institute seven paid sick days for workers, as well as 14 additional days during pandemics.

The group has also called for an end to doctors note requirements, improved access to employment insurance, and an emergency fund for workers who do not have access to EI.

According to the provincial workers compensation board, occupational illness claims made by workers with possible work-related exposure to COVID-19 will be adjudicated on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the facts and circumstances.

Albertas provincial government announced new measures this week to provide workers with 14 job-protected sick days, and waive the requirement to provide doctors notes.

In the United States, Congress passed an emergency coronavirus bill Friday that includes a provision for two weeks of paid sick leave for some workers impacted by COVID-19.

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EDITORS NOTE: This article is part of the Intelligencers focus on providing our community with the information you need to make good decisions during the coronavirus pandemic.

EDWARDSVILLE  Concerns over COVID-19 have prompted several local changes.

While Madison County has no presumptive positive or confirmed cases of COVID-19 at this time, officials are working to assure the public they are doing everything possible to prevent its spread.

The virus is in Illinois and the Bi-State region and although its not yet in Madison County, we anticipate it will be at some point, Health Department Director Toni Corona said.

Corona said people should avoid all non-essential gatherings. She noted recent state action to prevent the possible spread of the disease.

All of these things the state is doing it to promote social distancing, Corona said. This is a key recommendation to prevent community spread of the disease with the least disruption possible to peoples daily lives.

The risk to the general population in the United States still remains low, however, you can be a carrier and transmit it to those who are at risk. Remember them and protect them by your actions, she said.

Chairman Kurt Prenzler said Madison County Health Department is working around the clock to identify any threats to public safety. He said there are things the public can do to protect themselves.

Social distancing is a key action right now, he said. Stay away from larger crowds or if you have the ability to work from home then do so.

Corona encouraged county residents wash their hands, cover coughs and sneezes and stay home if they are sick. More information is on the Madison County Health Departments website at https://www.co.madison.il.us/departments/health/index.php.

Chief Judge William Mudge on Friday announced the Madison County courts of the Third Judicial Circuit will remain open, but with changes and limitations.

The court is reviewing ways to minimize the need for jurors to be summoned to the courthouse; summoned jurors who feel ill should contact the jury commissioner at 618-296-4392. Litigants who feel ill are advised to contact the opposing party or attorney to determine if an agreed continuance can be obtained and submitted to the court. If there is no agreement, contact the circuit clerks office and advise them illness will prevent your attendance.

The court will continue to perform marriages but limit the number of people attending the ceremony. The Department of Probation and Court Services is exploring opportunities to use technology to meet clients needs while reducing in-person meetings.

The Child Abuse Prevention Kick Off planned April 1 has been postponed, as has Fitzs one-year Gotcha Day celebration formerly planned March 27. All courthouse tours and school visits are canceled until further notice.

The Madison County States Attorneys Office is asking the court to enter an order continuing certain traffic and misdemeanor dockets for no less than 30 days. Notice of this continuance will be sent by the circuit clerk, where practical. People with upcoming traffic ticket court appearances set in the next 30 days should wait to receive notice of a later court date, which will be set sometime after April 15. This notice does not apply to driving under the influence, domestic violence or felony criminal cases.

The Edwardsville Public Library will remain open until such time as a focused outbreak is identified in Edwardsville, which could then force a temporary closure. The news was issued in an open letter to the Edwardsville community Saturday, on behalf of Mayor Hal Patton and Edwardsville Fire Chief Richard Rick Welle, who also is the citys emergency management coordinator.

Keeping the library open will provide a resource for information that might otherwise not be available to some citizens, particularly those without internet access.

City of Edwardsville staff and elected officials have taken more appropriate measures, including:

 Library patrons will be asked  before entry  to submit to similar measures, such as thermal temperature checks and hand washing, instituted for public meetings.

 Individuals demonstrating health conditions that could be a threat to others will be asked to leave.

 The Edwardsville Emergency Operations Center will be staffed during normal business hours, and will be ramped up further if needed.

These elements of health monitoring, social distancing and hand washing are the pillars that will support the overall effort to hold down the spread of the coronavirus, stated Patton and Welle.

The joint statement acknowledged that daily lives have been disrupted and will continue to be disrupted.

We believe the city has a responsibility for the continuity of government so that we can be here when you need us most, they continued.

We must demonstrate an informed and measured response, setting an example for the rest of the community. Our response needs to be tailored to the specific threat to our city, based upon facts, reports and recommendations as they become available. We are committed to provide the best service and best information to you through local, county, state, national and international resources.

The basic principles of prevention are the same for all:

 Wash hands thoroughly and frequently.

 Monitor health carefully and stay home if sick.

 Limit social gatherings to smaller numbers with more social distancing.

 Take extra efforts to clean and disinfect touch surfaces.

 Work from home if you can.

 Stay calm.

This is the time to use a measured response and set an example for now and generations to come, Patton and Welle stated.

For more information and web links, visit www.cityofedwardsville.com/coronavirus.
MOBILE, Ala. - Mobile County, the city of Mobile and the Alabama Historical Commission say work will begin immediately on an Africatown Heritage House that will feature artifacts from the slave ship Clotilda.

The plan for the facility was announced Tuesday (March 10) by the Alabama Historical Commission, which said the History Museum of Mobile also will play a major role in developing Clotilda: The Exhibition.

The Clotilda is believed to be the last ship to bring a cargo of captive Africans into slavery in the United States, shortly before the start of the Civil War. Stranded after the war, some of them went on to found Africatown, a community where they preserved their language and folkways for decades.

In early 2019, researchers announced that they had confirmed a shipwreck upriver from Mobile to be the remains of the Clotilda, which was scuttled and burned after its last voyage. Whats left is buried in mud under water in what has been described as a bayou near Twelve Mile Island. While the discovery has fueled excitement about preservation and display of the hull and any artifacts it might contain, researchers have said further study of the site will be needed before any excavation can be undertaken.

The new Africatown Heritage House will be the first facility to serve as a focal point for interest in the ship among area residents and tourists. It is separate from a previously announced Africatown Welcome Center to be funded by RESTORE Act money stemming from Deepwater Horizon Disaster penalties.

Mobile City Council President Levon Manzie said there was an agreement for the city and the county to split the approximate $600,000 cost of the Heritage House.

This is the brainchild of County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood, said Manzie. He said Ludgood had approached himself and Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson about the idea.

Manzie said details about where the citys share of the funding will come from have yet to be finalized, but he said he was hopeful a funding measure would come before the council in the near future.

The County Commission, likewise, has not yet approved a specific funding measure but has had discussions, a spokesperson said. Tuesdays statement from the Alabama Historical Commission quoted Ludgood as saying that it was so gratifying to see federal, state, and local governments and private industry come together to bring another major asset to the Africatown community. Collaborations like these ensure that we will be able to honour and preserve the memory and legacy of the Clotilda and her descendants for generations to come.

Through this exhibit and collaborative effort, everyone will have the opportunity to experience the moving story of the Clotilda and its survivors, said Lisa Demetropoulos Jones, executive director of the Alabama Historical Commission. This exhibit will bring the tragedy of slavery into focus while witnessing the triumph and resilience of the human spirit in overcoming a horrific crime.

According to Tuesdays announcement, Clotilda: The Exhibition will draw on archaeological reports released by the Alabama Historical Commission. The Exhibition tells the stories of the Clotilda and Africatown in the context of slavery and maritime shipping along the Gulf Coast, it said. It includes the histories of the final journey of the Clotilda, the settlement and history of Africatown, and the discovery of the sunken schooner, all through a combination of interpretive text panels, documents, and artifacts.

Our priority is ensuring that the citizens of Africatown get the full benefit of this exhibition, said Meg McCrummen Fowler, director of the History Museum of Mobile. The History Museum of Mobile is honoured to be offering our staffs enormous experience with archeology, anthropology, and public history. Ultimately, though, this exhibition is about Africatown telling Africatowns story.

Tuesdays announcement said the Historical Commission will contribute more than a dozen artifacts from the Clotilda but provided no additional detail. The Africatown Heritage House is to be built adjacent to the Robert Hope Community Center and is tentatively expected to open in fall 2020.

Plans call for admission to be free to Mobile County residents, with admission fees from other visitors to be reinvested to support operations at the site.
Coronavirus has caught many countries around the world. PM Modi once again tweeted on Saturday night, saying, 'Time should be taken for a healthy planet. At 5 pm on Sunday, leaders of SAARC countries will discuss a roadmap to fight the challenge of the coronavirus (COVID-19) through video conferencing. I am confident that by coming together we will get effective results and the citizens of our country will get the benefit.'

Altaf Bukhari's big statement, says, "Jammu and Kashmir will not have demographic change"

According to the media report, the issues that can be discussed on Sunday will include taking more vigilance about the movement of citizens, helping each other with medical or medicines or sharing the experience. Since India is the largest country in the region and has successfully limited the spread of coronavirus so far, PM Modi can be announced to help other countries.

Rebel MLAs of Congress will not return from Bengaluru

India is already helping some countries. For example, on February 26, 2020, the Chinese city of Wuhan was supplied 15 tons of medical supplies from India to fight the coronavirus. Such help will also be given to Iran soon. While India was evacuating its citizens from China and Japan, some citizens of Bangladesh, Maldives, and other countries were also evacuated. India had urged all SAARC countries that if any of their citizens want to be evacuated, India will help in that. Some countries also requested.

Governor issues order to CM Kamal Nath at midnight
The Rajasthan High Court on Sunday asked all lower courts in the state to take all possible precautions against the spread of deadly coronavirus, including the legal and technological steps to avoid overcrowding in court premises.

The principal bench of the high court at Jodhpur here issued a detailed advisory to all subordinate courts in the state to curb crowding within the court premises.

Among the legal measures to avoid overcrowding, the high court also asked the lower courts' judges to favourably consider the plea for exemption from personal appearance by accused, complainant and witnesses.

It also asked them not to insist upon any unnecessary presence of any party and not to pass an adverse legal order in the absence of a party.

"Courts should not insist on the presence of the parties unless it is unavoidable," the high court advisory said, adding district court administration would take appropriate measures to regulate entry of litigants and general public in the court complex to avoid crowding.

The lawyers may also advise their clients not to visit courts unless their presence is directed by the court, the HC circular said.

In criminal cases, the courts were asked to resort to video-conferencing for necessary production of jailed undertrials for extension of their judicial custody and recording of evidence.

It also sought courts to take measures to avoid overcrowding in lock-ups.

The HC circular also directed subordinate judiciary administration to ensure full sanitisation of the court premises through twice-a-day mopping with the requisite chemical disinfectant of courtrooms and chairs, tables and furniture in them, besides the door nobs, hand-railings etc.

In a bid to curb the spread of the deadly virus, the high court has asked subordinate judiciary administration to arrange for through scanning for visitors to the court premises by trained paramedical personnel.

The high court has also banned the holding of any function including elections etc to avoid crowding of courts.

The high court has also scheduled a full bench meeting of the court through video conferencing on March 17 to discuss further measures to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The meeting will be attended by the chief justice of the high court as well as all judges of its Jodhpur and Jaipur benches besides all law officers, including advocate general, additional solicitor general and members of the bar.

Also Read: COVID-19 cases rise to 107; India faces shortage of ventilators, ICU beds

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Photo for illustration (Source: VNA)

Dang Phuc Nguyen, the associations general secretary, said exports were worth 513 million USD in the first two months of this year, a year-on-year decline of 11.9 percent.

Total export value for the full year is expected to be just over 3 billion USD, down from 3.74 billion USD in 2019, he said.

Fruit and vegetable exports have faced difficulties this year due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Exports to China, the biggest buyer, might decrease significantly from last year, he said.

He added that exporters are striving to sell more to other markets to make up for the decline in shipments to China.

Nguyen Hong Son, president of the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said in the last three years many markets with high-quality requirements such as the US, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and some Asian countries have opened their doors to many kinds of Vietnamese fruits.

But he noted that most fruits and vegetables are exported in fresh form, and enterprises need to invest more in processing facilities to meet market demand, particularly in Europe.

According to Nguyen, to boost export to the US and Europe, cultivation methods must be changed to apply global good agriculture practices or higher.

He said storage and packaging technologies must be improved to enable products to last for over 30 days so that they can be shipped to Europe and the US by sea.

Currently our exports are completely done by air, and so prices are high and export volumes are low, Nguyen said.

He recommended that in addition to boosting exports, firms would also need to pay close attention to the lucrative domestic market of 100 million.

"With their increasing incomes, Vietnamese are consuming more products that are good for health, and so demand for fruits and vegetables has increased significantly in recent years," he said.

According to the association, big cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang have huge demand.

Statistics from Saigon Co.op show that sales of fruits and vegetables at its supermarket chains have gone up significantly to around 1,100 tonnes a month.

Son said enterprises have so far focused on exports and paid little attention to the domestic market.

When we have export problems, we recognise that the domestic market is very important.

We should not think that the domestic market will accept low quality. Nowadays consumers in big cities pay close attention to the quality of products, he said.

Besides, firms needed to seek measures to minimise intermediary costs so more consumers could access the products, he said./.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 15

By Elnur Baghishov - Trend

About 2-6 million rials (about $47.6- $142) will be paid to low-income families in Iran, said Iranian President Hasan Rouhani at the meeting with businessmen dedicated to the economic damage of coronavirus, Trend reports citing IRINN.

According to Rouhani, currently, 3 million people have been identified as low-income people and their list is prepared.

Rouhani added that the first installment will be made in the current week (up to 21 March) and monthly payments will be made within the next three months.

"There will be no restrictions on economic and trade activities and public services will continue," Iranian president said.

Iran is one of the recent countries, affected by the rapidly-spreading coronavirus. According to recent reports from the Iranian officials, over 13,900 people have been infected, 724 people have already died. Meanwhile, over 4,700 have reportedly recovered from the disease.



The country continues to apply strict measures to contain the further spread. Reportedly, the disease was brought to Iran by a businessman from Iran's Qom city, who went on a business trip to China, despite official warnings. The man died later from the disease.



Following the reports of coronavirus spread in the Islamic Republic, several countries have taken measures, including closing borders and banning flights.



The Islamic Republic only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on Feb. 19.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio officials are considering closing bars and restaurants to try to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, Gov. Mike DeWine said in a nationally televised interview Sunday morning.

Were certainly looking at that, DeWine, a Republican, said in an appearance on NBCs Meet the Press.

UPDATE: All Ohio bars, restaurants to close 9 p.m. Sunday due to coronavirus - carryout still allowed

https://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/2020/03/all-bars-restaurants-to-close-9-pm-sunday-due-to-coronavirus-carryout-still-allowed-ohio-gov-mike-dewines-sunday-briefing.html

He recounted how his administration over the past week has limited public gatherings, closed K-12 schools, and restricted access to nursing homes and prisons to try to slow the spread of COVID-19 so it does not overwhelm the states medical system. The more severe restrictions were imposed after a Stark County man tested positive for the disease without known contact with someone else who had it, the states first known case of community spread.

Were taking tough steps  Every day counts so much and you just, you cannot wait. Youve got to move very, very quickly, DeWine said. These are tough decisions. Were inconveniencing people. Its making peoples lives change. But weve got to save lives. Everything were doing is to save lives.

And in an interview on CNNs State of the Union," DeWine said the states school closure could be extended for the rest of the school year. On Thursday, DeWine ordered that schools close for three weeks starting on Monday, when schools go on spring break.

Look, the projections, and again this is all projections, Im just going from what medical experts are telling us. This may not peak until the latter part of April or May, DeWine said. Weve informed the superintendents that while weve closed schools for three weeks, the odds are this is going to go a lot longer. And it would not surprise me at all if schools did not open again this year.

The odds are "this is going to go on a lot longer and it would not surprise me at all if schools did not open again this year, Ohio @GovMikeDeWine says about the long-term impact of the coronavirus. #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/i0luWcQVzX  State of the Union (@CNNSotu) March 15, 2020

On Twitter, Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, a Republican, urged DeWine to consider measures short of closing restaurants and bars, such as reducing maximum occupancy to limit crowding.

In lieu of closing restaurants/ taverns I encourage the Governor to consider reducing Maximum Occupancy by a certain percentage across the board. This keeps these businesses open, controls the crowd and may even help spread business around in a community.  Speaker Larry Householder (@HouseholderOH) March 15, 2020

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, another Republican who is the states legal representative, responded on Twitter that Householders suggestion was solid counsel.

With the Sunday shows as the latest example, DeWine has emerged as a major national voice for an aggressive response to coronavirus, particularly as other Republicans, including President Donald Trump, initially downplayed the seriousness of the outbreak and conveyed skepticism of expansive measures that would disrupt the economy. DeWine faced pushback when on March 5, he banned the public from attending the Arnold Classic, a large weightlifting competition and expo in Columbus. The following week, sports leagues including the NBA and the NHL announced they were postponing their seasons.

The White House since has imposed a sea change in its response, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Healths National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Sunday in a separate Meet the Press interview.

He said Americans should expect more closures.

I think Americans should be prepared that theyre going to have to hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing, he said.

Since the states first three cases were reported in Cuyahoga Count last Monday, Ohio has seen a steady increase in confirmed cases as state testing has ramped up. Ohio has 26 confirmed coronavirus cases, two in Belmont, four in Butler, 11 in Cuyahoga, one in Franklin, one in Lorain, three in Stark, two in Summit and two in Trumbull, DeWine administration officials said on Saturday.

At 3 p.m., DeWine and Ohio Health Department Director Amy Acton are expected to hold a media availability in Columbus. UPDATE: This has been delayed until 3:30 p.m.

See other recent Ohio political news:

26 confirmed Ohio coronavirus cases: Gov. DeWines Saturday briefing

Ohioans should postpone many elective surgeries because of the coronavirus, Gov. Mike DeWine recommends

Cuyahoga County short 500 poll workers, part of a larger statewide shortage due to coronavirus

Heres what Ohio college students need to know about voting in the March 17 primary

Ohio students will be out of school for at least 3 weeks. Will they be exempt from testing, hour requirements?
When Juda Engelmayer visited Harvey Weinstein in Bellevue hospital immediately after his trial, he found a broken man.

It was several days before Weinstein would hear his fate after being found guilty of rape and sexual assault (he was eventually sentenced to 23 years) but the Hollywood producer already knew he was facing the prospect of life behind bars.

A shadow of his former self, his spokesperson told the Sunday Independent this weekend that the 67- year-old former movie mogul surveyed his wasted life, and cried.

"He cried when he talked about what he is facing, the prospect of life in prison and the potential of never seeing his children again," said Engelmayer.

"He spent his life going after celebrity, fame, fortune and things," he added. "And when the walls close in on you and you don't have much to look at - you realise what life is about."

For the former movie mogul, it has been a spectacular downfall. The days of Champagne and sushi parties in the French Rivera are over. As are the indulgences of having his every whim tended to as the most powerful man in Hollywood.

Last Wednesday, Weinstein was convicted of criminal sexual assault in the first degree, based on the testimony of former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley, and rape in the third degree, based on the testimony of one-time aspiring actress Jessica Mann.

In her courtroom evidence, Haley described how, despite her protests, Weinstein forcibly removed her tampon and performed oral sex on her. She said: "I just checked out and decided to endure it."

Mann also accused Weinstein of assaulting her multiple times during a relationship she described as "extremely degrading" - she stressed to the judge that her case exemplifies the complexity of rape cases - given that she continued to see Weinstein after the attacks.

After the verdict was read out, Weinstein was handcuffed and led out of the court room without his walker. He was moved to a box-sized cell in the North Infirmary Command of the notorious Rikers Island jail, sharing with two "older gentlemen".

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It has nothing but basic beds, a stainless steel sink and toilet and is open for the world to see.

Weinstein is also under protective custody, given the likelihood of an attack from fellow inmates. Yet, even though he is shielded from physical dangers, his mind won't let him rest. "He is disappointed and disillusioned," said Engelmayer.

"You can see he is not doing well. He wishes he would have focused more on his family and the important things in life.

"He doesn't have a relationship with his older children, they don't talk to him now, and his two younger children have a hard time understanding what is even happening to him right now. They just think their father is away on a work trip. They don't realise that he is never getting back from that work trip."

Last Wednesday, Weinstein was brought back to court to hear that a 23-year-sentence would be handed down. Afterwards, he was rushed to Bellevue Hospital for a second time with heart palpitations. Reports are circulating this weekend that he suffered "a mild heart attack".

Engelmayer said he was concerned that "prison life is not conducive to taking care of his medical needs" and his client is said to be hopeful of a long-term relocation to a medical facility where he can live out his days.

But the reality is that once his health improves, and doctors find him to have fully recovered, there will be no easy way out.

Now at the mercy of one of the toughest prison systems in the world, he is sitting on the lowest rung of the ladder even in prison, with the label of 'sex offender.'

Couple that with the fact that he is a celebrity behind bars and he is terrified of what to expect.

"I think he is very scared," said Engelmayer. "He is scared of the unknown. He has lost his freedom and he has lost his ability to do whatever he wants to do, I'm talking about just walking out of the house and smelling fresh air, going to Starbucks to get a cup of coffee. Life as he knows it is over. He is scared of what is going to come tomorrow, what to expect and how he is going to take care of himself. He is staring into the abyss."

On top of that, while the New York chapter of Harvey Weinstein's criminal prosecution is now over, pending an appeal, it is in no way near the end of Weinstein's trips to the court house.

The legal saga will soon move to Los Angeles, where, last month, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey filed charges of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of restraint and sexual battery by restraint. The charges stem from allegations made by two women who claimed Weinstein assaulted them in separate incidents in hotels in Beverly Hills and West LA in 2013.

With even more prison time looming, it's no surprise that Weinstein's rationale is to get moved to a medical facility, rather than set his sights on an appeal.

If he gets his wish, he could have a private double-sized room, with a TV, shower, bathroom, and even a telephone. When everything is lost, as Engelmayer says, "the little things become the big things" so accusations that the disgraced film producer is putting on an act - feigning heart palpitations and the need for a walking aid - are plentiful.

But Engelmayer isn't paying heed. "I am tired of hearing 'faking'. He was [supposedly] faking his walker and he fell on his head in prison without a walker, he was [supposedly] faking his heart palpitations but the hospital felt the need to give him angioplasty last week.

"I think he is around enough medical professionals in prison who 'don't care about him' that - if they felt that he was faking it, they would say 'go back to your prison cell. You're fine', but they don't feel that way. Either that or he is the best actor in the world. But, let me tell you, he was known for being a producer not an actor."

Asked whether or not Weinstein is a suicide risk, Engelmayer said that was one concern he didn't have. Despite his current demeanour "his mind is able to handle this".

The PR man also doesn't regret taking the world's most vilified man on as a client and said it has been hard to top in his 30 years in public relations.

"Just from sheer experience, working on something of this magnitude that defines a generation to be at the centre of it, you wouldn't get it anywhere else."
AUSTIN  Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster Friday over the coronavirus pandemic, followed later that afternoon by President Donald Trump putting his national emergency powers into effect.

The states official count as of 10 a.m. Friday was 39, but San Antonio reported one case and Austin added a third to two already reported in Travis County, bumping the total to at least 41 Texans with confirmed cases.

The states first drive-up testing station opened Friday in San Antonio, and others are expected to open in Houston, Dallas and Austin in coming weeks, Abbott said. The San Antonio facility will initially be only for first responders, health care workers, operators of critical infrastructure and key resources and certain high-risk patients.

San Antonio officials said the organizations employers will have to set up testing on their behalf, and the employees must meet testing criteria or show symptoms. Results will be provided in 24 to 48 hours.

On ExpressNews.com: Get the latest update on coronavirus and a tracking map of U.S. cases

The governor said it was too soon to provide details on the San Antonio drive-thrus testing capacity. But he credited Mayor Ron Nirenberg and his team for leading the way on the issue.

Our local leaders and partners know their communities best, and I appreciate their swift action in providing these facilities, Abbott said.

The state and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have tested 220 Texans for the virus by so far, and 75 were in the process of being tested as of Friday afternoon, Abbott said. Texas public health labs have the capacity to test 273 people per day, but Abbott said he expects private labs coming online next week to increase the capacity by several thousand per week.

Thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia have issued similar disaster declarations, according to the National Governors Association. Such declarations vary by state, but they generally give governors broader ability to make directives that protect people and property and sometimes indicate that he or she is preparing to request federal aid.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture also approved the Texas Department of Agricultures request for a waiver from federal regulation requiring that schools serve food in a group setting, U.S. Senator John Cornyn said in a statement Friday. This will allow schools to continue to serve free meals to low-income students even during coronavirus-related closures.

Also on Friday, Trump declared a national emergency, opening up $50 billion in federal aid for state and local governments to respond to the outbreak. Trump also said he was giving Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar emergency authorities to waive federal regulations and laws to give doctors and hospitals flexibility in treating patients.

Trump, in addition, announced a range of executive actions, including a new public-private partnership to expand coronavirus testing capabilities with drive-through locations, as his administration has come under fire for being too slow in making the test available. He responded to that criticism by saying, I dont take responsibility at all for the slow rollout of testing.

On Friday, San Antonio officials reported the citys first case of novel coronavirus unrelated to the evacuees at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. It was related to out-of-state travel and not believed to have resulted from person-to-person spread in San Antonio.

Nirenberg declared a public health emergency Friday morning, ushering in sweeping measures to guard against further spread of the virus. The declaration prohibits gatherings larger than 500 people. Officials also strongly recommended that events with 250 to 500 people be canceled, prompting most major theaters to cancel weekend performances and at least two churches to cancel in-person services this weekend.

The St. Patricks Day river parade Saturday and the Tejano Fest with its 175 bands was canceled. Fiesta, the citys 11-day festival that has been running for more than 100 years, has been postponed until November.

The San Antonio declaration lasts for at least a week, but it could be extended by another 30 days by City Council.

The Texas disaster declaration will allow the Texas Division of Emergency Management broader latitude to send its staff where theyre needed most, give state agencies the ability to move resources, such as those obtained through the Strategic National Stockpile, which contains drugs and medical supplies, and authorize the Texas Attorney General to pursue price gouging cases.

Abbott also said he was directing state agencies to restrict visitation at nursing homes, state-sponsored living centers, hospitals and day cares, as well as prisons, jails and juvenile justice facilities; limited exceptions will be allowed for circumstances such as end-of-life visitation, which will require pre-screening.

The governor additionally directed state agencies take advantage of telemedicine and telecommuting opportunities when possible. With more people working from home, Abbott said thatll increase demand of internet bandwith. He applauded private sector moves such as AT&T announcing Thursday that it was waiving internet data overage fees for customers without unlimited access.

Abbott kept a cautionary but optimistic tone and encouraged Texans not to panic, urging them to follow basic health precautions like washing hands frequently, avoiding shaking hands and staying home when sick. He added that stockpiling food and water from local grocery stores is not necessary, and shelves will be replenished.

Weve been through situations like this before, Abbott said. We made it through SARS, we made it through Ebola, we made it through H1N1, and were going to make it through this together as well.

Staff writer Andrea Zelinski and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Storyful

Supporters of world No.1 Novak Djokovic gathered outside a courthouse in Melbourne on January 10 as the player appealed against his deportation from Australia.A bid by the Australian government to delay a court hearing to January 12 was rejected by a federal circuit judge.According to court filings, Djokovics lawyers say he was granted a visa on November 18. An exemption certificate was issued by Tennis Australias chief medical officer on December 30, they said.The hearing was due to start at 10am local time but was delayed due to technical issues. Footage by Marion Theissen shows fans outside the Federal Circuit and Family Court in Melbourne. Credit: Marion Theissen via Storyful
Alabama Power is the latest company to outline its plans related to coronavirus.

We are focused on the safety and well-being of our employees and customers, while ensuring there is no impact to reliable service, said Mark Crosswhite, Alabama Power CEO. Our company is actively implementing strategic plans across our system to maintain the service our customers trust us to deliver.

The company is implementing telecommuting for employees who can perform their duties remotely. Facility tours and external meetings are canceled; work areas are being sanitized. All non-essential business travel  both domestic and international  is canceled. Business offices and appliance centers have undergone extra cleaning in case customers need to visit in person.

For customers, the company recommended contacting customer service at www.alabamapower.com or 1-800-245-2244 to discuss needs and support options due to coronavirus shutdowns.

The company also has suggestions for customers who will be spending more time at home:

Replace air filters in heating, ventilation and air-conditioning units.

Set the thermostat and then forget it. Changing the temperature often during the day is more likely to increase energy use.

Ensure air-conditioning vents are unobstructed and opened to full capacity.

Use natural lighting early in the day and late in the afternoon to reduce energy use.

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.

Heres the latest coronavirus news

Death toll at 58

Nationally, there are 2,800 cases of coronavirus COVID-19 with 58 deaths. Twenty-five of the deaths are associated with the Life Care Center in Washington state.

The virus has been reported in every state except West Virginia.

As of Saturday night, Alabama has 12 cases, including 5 in Jefferson County.

President Trump tests negative

Presidential physician Dr. Sean Conley said the president tested negative for COVID-19.

The test was performed early Saturday with the results returned the same day.

One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation at Mar-a-Lago, the President remains symptom-free, Conley wrote.

The test came after the president came into contact with several people, including Brazilian officials, who tested positive for the virus.

Walmart changes hours

Walmart is the latest retailer to change hours in response to coronavirus.

The nations largest retailer will operate its 24-hour stores and Neighborhood Markets from 6 a.m.-11 p.m. until further notice. The change will allow associates are able to stock the products our customers are looking for and to perform cleaning and sanitizing.

The new hours starts today.

Kroger and Publix have also changed their hours. Kroger stores will open at 7 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. Publix is closing its stores at 8 p.m.

Pentagon stops all domestic travel

The U.S. Department of Defense had issued new travel guidelines for civilian and military personnel.

Starting Monday, all military members will stop domestic travel. Family members and civilians are required to stop all government-funded domestic travel.

Exceptions will be made for some medical personnel and mission-critical work.

The limitations will be in place until May 11.

Drinking bleach wont stop coronavirus, officials warn

A poison control center in Virginia is warning residents that drinking bleach will not prevent coronavirus.

The Blue Ridge Poison Center said in a letter there was a lot of confusing, incomplete and just plain inaccurate information circulating about how to prevent the COVID-19 from spreading.

"Some advice measures simply wont help, and some could be downright dangerous. The Blue Ridge Poison Center at UVA Health warns that drinking bleach will not prevent COVID-19 infections and could cause serious injury, the letter states.

You can follow Al.coms live coronavirus updates here.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-14 22:54:29|Editor: huaxia

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A police officer guides the traffic in the snow at a checking point in Pingfang District of Harbin City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Feb. 29, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei)

As of March 1, 28 provinces have resumed inter-provincial road passenger transport, of which 19 provinces have resumed inter-provincial passenger transport routes and chartered buses.

BEIJING, March 14 (Xinhua) -- China has restored normal traffic order in most areas, as 1,117 of the 1,119 closed expressway entrances and exits across the country have re-opened as of Saturday.

A total 549 blocked national, provincial, county and township roads have re-opened, and 11,198 of the 12,028 highway health and quarantine stations have been removed.

A national teleconference on Feb. 21 required efforts to restore traffic and transportation order with differentiated control in different regions to open up traffic congestion points.

In areas with low risk of epidemic situation, road traffic restrictions should be completely lifted and normal traffic order should be restored, according to the teleconference.

Monitoring information from the Highway Monitoring and Response Center of the Ministry of Transport (MOT) shows the national road network is basically running normally.

As of March 1, 28 provinces have resumed inter-provincial road passenger transport, of which 19 provinces have resumed inter-provincial passenger transport routes and chartered buses.

A total of 126 prefecture-level cities and 192 county-level cities resumed ground public transportation operations. Of the 41 cities that have opened urban rail transit, 36 cities are operating rail transit normally, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

The Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council have made it clear that transportation restrictions on freight vehicles and vessels should be lifted in areas with no serious epidemic situation to ensure that raw materials can be sent in and products can be sent out.

The MOT issued a notice on Feb. 15, making it clear that from Feb. 17 to the end of the epidemic prevention and control, all vehicles passing through toll roads will be exempted from tolls.

The authorities have been facilitating "point-to-point" transportation service to bring migrant workers back to areas and enterprises with concentrated employment, to ensure the safe and orderly return to work of migrant workers.

A total of 27 provinces across the country, including Sichuan, Zhejiang, Shandong and Fujian, have implemented "point-to-point" one-stop direct charter service, said Cai Tuanjie, an official with the MOT.

The number of migrant workers returning to work has reached 78 million, accounting for about 60 percent of the migrant workers who had returned home for the Spring Festival, official data showed.

At Xinyi east toll station, located at the junction of Jiangsu Province and Shandong Province, a 50-seat bus with the red sign of "China Railway Construction Engineering Group employees returning to work transport vehicle" was driving out of the station.

The driver, surnamed Gao, said he had been working for days to pick up migrant workers from Tancheng in Shandong back to Yancheng in Jiangsu to help the company's construction projects resume work as soon as possible. 
HOW important are stories? Are they rice or cheesecake?

The Nieman Storyboards Jacqui Banazynski posted on March 13 about hearing from journalist Lina Vaaben of Denmark how she gave away bags of rice tied with quotes from her favorite writers, as well as cheesecake, to writers taking part in a conference on storytelling that capped her fellowship at the University of Southern Denmark.

Whom did the Agta people value most in their community? In an article posted on niemanstoryboard.org, Vaaben recalled that this was the question anthropologists of the University College London, a public research university, sought to answer by conducting a field study with nearly 300 members of 18 different camps of the Agta, also known as the Aeta, one of the earliest inhabitants pursuing a hunting-gathering life in the northern part of Luzon.

As rice is the resource given to express the importance of a member in the tribe, the participants were given tokens to represent rice and asked to give these to the persons they thought were most needed in their community.

The results were unexpected: the Aetas offered most of their tokens of rice to their tribal storytellers, besting the hunters, fishermen and food gatherers among them.

Publishing their study in 2018, the anthropologists concluded that the storytellers were held in high esteem because they contributed to an understanding of the groups social interaction and reinforced the norms and ethics of the tribe, wrote Vaaben.

For the journalist and teacher, the value Aetas placed on their storytellers seemed to signify that storytelling may perform a beneficial group-level function: The better the stories were told, the better the tribe worked.

Vaaben interviewed Prof. Daniel Smith of the Population Health Sciences at the University of Bristol, who said that in small-scale societies, like the hunter-gatherer Aeta community, storytellers promote the ethics of cooperation and equality in their stories, in keeping with their highly egalitarian social structure.

Story continues

However, in stratified societies with major discrepancies of wealth and power, those who control resources and thus have power also direct the more prominent stories, which can be more self-serving than beneficial to all.

According to Smith in the same niemanstoryboard.org essay, there are scientists who even view stories as serving no social function at all. Humans love stories because their structures appeal to a human cognitively and emotionally, almost like the music Harvard cognitive scientist Steve Pinker refers to as evolutionary cheesecake or what Vaaben equates with something delicious we developed because it meets some of our innate needs.

Vaaben wrote in her essay that she saw the parallels between the egalitarian Aeta community and contemporary society: stories and storytellers matter. As hunters and gatherers of information, journalists as professional storytellers... are providing sustenance of a kind and bear a huge responsibility to do it ethically and with a constructive purpose.

For Banazynski, journalists must recalibrate and remember their mission in times when the instantaneous access to information ironically increases peoples level of anxiety and depth of confusion. By returning over and over again... to the touchstone of credible and transparent sourcing, the press can help the community they cover and try to serve, she said.

With technology turning everyone into a communicator, the opportunities to share stories also confer on citizens the obligations to do so as acts of social solidarity, particularly for those with fewer resources and greater vulnerabilities during crises.

The Aetas are wise for valuing their storytellers, they who transmit and keep alive the stories needed to sustain the tribe: equality, cooperation, gender sensitivity and mutual benefit.

We will do well to anchor our new media and new capabilities on this timeless wisdom.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 23:15:32|Editor: huaxia

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A cathedral is closed due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Barcelona, Spain, March 14, 2020. (Photo by Zhou Zhe/Xinhua)

The death toll jumped to 291. While 517 have recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.



The capital city of Madrid continued to have more cases than anywhere else in Spain, with 3,544 cases as well as 213 deaths.



MADRID, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 7,753 by 14:00 on Sunday, an increase of more than 1,500 in 24 hours, according to the Spanish Ministry of Health, Consumer Services and Social Services.

The death toll also jumped to 291. While 517 have recovered from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

A cathedral is closed due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Barcelona, Spain, March 14, 2020. (Photo by Zhou Zhe/Xinhua)

The capital city of Madrid continued to have more cases than anywhere else in Spain, with 3,544 cases as well as 213 deaths.

On Saturday evening, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced a 15-day partial lockdown for Spain, with immediate effect, in a bid to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

People walk past a closed Barca store in Barcelona, Spain, March 14, 2020. (Photo by Zhou Zhe/Xinhua)

The nationwide lockdown requires all residents in Spain to stay at home unless purchasing food, going to work with no option, or seeking health care.

"The measures we are going to adopt are drastic and will have consequences," the prime minister said, adding that they would be "added to others we will develop in the coming days and weeks and those which are already activated."

Casa Batllo, a renowned building designed by architect Antoni Gaudi, is closed in Barcelona, Spain, March 14, 2020. (Photo by Zhou Zhe/Xinhua)

People walk past closed stores in Barcelona, Spain, March 14, 2020. (Photo by Zhou Zhe/Xinhua)

Some ticket gates at the entrance of a subway station are closed in Barcelona, Spain, March 14, 2020. (Photo by Zhou Zhe/Xinhua)

The almost-empty roads in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Zhou Zhe/Xinhua)

The Placa Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Zhou Zhe/Xinhua)

A woman wearing a face mask walks in the street of Barcelona, Spain, March 14, 2020. (Photo by Zhou Zhe/Xinhua)
Bamako: A Canadian woman and an Italian man kidnapped while travelling through Burkina Faso 15 months ago have been freed and are in good health, the President of neighbouring Mali said on Saturday after meeting the pair.

Edith Blais and Luca Tacchetto, who went missing in December 2018, were found by peacekeeping troops near the northern Malian city of Kidal on Friday, said a spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission, MINUSMA.

Canadian Edith Blais and Italian Luca Tacchetto, right, who were kidnapped 15-months ago in Burkina Faso, meet with UN Stabilisation Mission in Mali chief Mahamat Saleh Annadif. Credit:AP

Jihadist groups with links to al-Qaeda and Islamic State that are active in the region have kidnapped Westerners in the past, though it is not known who was responsible for the pair's abduction or if any ransom was paid.

Blais and Tacchetto, who Canadian media reports said are both in their 30s, were flown on Saturday to the capital Bamako, where they met Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita at the presidential palace.
With construction of Ram Mandir soon to go underway, Shiv Sena has taken a veiled dig at BJP over the issue of construction of Ram Mandir, stressing that the role and contribution of kar sevaks should not be forgotten.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said that people should remember the role of kar sevaks when it comes to Ram Mandir as they have given their blood for the temple.

Raut, in his weekly column in Shiv Senas mouthpiece Saamana, wrote that if not, the result will be like that of Indias fight for freedom where those not involved have got the limelight, and the real warriors are nowhere to be seen.

Adding to this, Raut said that there should be no such type of politics when it comes to construction Ram Mandir.

There will be no problem in getting funds for construction of Ram Mandir, people from all over will donate for the same. Tourists from across the world over come to see Taj Mahal, and they will come to see Ram Mandir also so we should ensure its construction accordingly, the editorial read.

Raut also clarified that chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, who had announced to donate Rs 1 crore using internet banking, will do it from his personal funds. Thackeray will not use public funds for the same.

The construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya is likely to start in April this year and is expected to be completed in the next 30 months, according to Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, on his first visit to Ayodhya after coming to power in Maharashtra, also attacked the BJP. Thackeray had reiterated that his party, Shiv Sena, stands by its Hindutva ideology despite not being an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). I have parted ways with BJP, not Hindutva. BJP and Hindutva are not the same. BJP is not Hindutva, Thackeray had said after visiting the makeshift Ram Lalla temple.
Come March 19, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will set a record of being the first chief minister from the BJP to complete three straight years in office in the state.

Adityanath (47) was sworn in as the 21st chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. He assumed office on March 19, 2017, says the official website of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

He is the fourth chief minister from the saffron party to head the northern state.

Before Adityanath, Kalyan Singh, Ram Prakash Gupta and Rajnath Singh of the BJP had served as Uttar Pradesh chief ministers.

Kalyan Singh had held the high office twice. He became the chief minister of UP for the first time on June 24, 1991, and held the post till December 6, 1992. His second stint was from September 21, 1997, to November 12, 1999.

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He was succeeded by Ram Prakash Gupta, who was the UP chief minister from November 12, 1999, to October 28, 2000.

Rajnath Singh occupied the office from October 28, 2000, to March 8, 2002.

"Yogi Adityanath is from a humble background. He does not belong to the category of 'viraasat ki siaasat' (politics of inheritance). He achieved this position through sheer hard work," UP BJP media coordinator Rakesh Tripathi told PTI.

"Everyone has seen his spirit of waging a war against Japanese Encephalitis in Gorakhpur, and today he has waged a similar war against various illnesses of Uttar Pradesh-- be it crime or corruption. He is credited for the successful organisation of Kumbh in Prayagraj, Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas, Investor Summit and the recently concluded Defence Expo," he said.

The opposition Congress, however, pooh-poohed the three-year rule of the priest-turned-politician.

"It has been three years of blatant lies. Farmers and youths of the state have been duped. 'Jungle raaj' is prevailing in Uttar Pradesh. There is no let-up in crime against women in the state," UP Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh said.

In the 2017 UP assembly elections, the BJP won 312 of the 403 seats, while Apna Dal (Sonelal) got nine seats and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) won four seats.

Later, the Om Prakash Rajbhar-led SBSP parted ways with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Almost a year before the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP suffered shock defeats in the by-polls.

The saffron party lost the Lok Sabha by-polls in Gorakhpur (vacated by Adityanath), Phulpur (vacated by UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya) and Kairana (necessitated by the death of sitting BJP MP Hukum Singh) and Noorpur assembly seat (necessitated by the death of BJP MLA Lokendra Singh Chauhan).

Not taking the defeat to his heart, Adityanath chose to learn from the "mistakes".

He had said the by-poll loss was a "lesson to the BJP" and cited "over-confidence" and the "inability to gauge the understanding between SP and BSP" as prime reasons behind the party's defeat.

"When the election candidates were declared, the SP, BSP and Congress were not together... they had not joined hands then. But suddenly in the middle of the election, the SP and the BSP forged an electoral understanding," he had told the media at his residence.

"The over-confidence and inability to gauge the electoral understanding between the SP and BSP led to the defeat," he had said.

The tables turned in 2019 and the BJP won Kairana, Gorakhpur and Phulpur seats in the Lok Sabha elections that year.

The BJP bagged 62 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2019, while its ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) got two seats. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) bagged 10 seats followed by Samajwadi Party (SP), which won five seats. Congress won one seat.

Adityanath, currently a member of the UP Legislative Council, has been a five-time MP from Gorakhpur (1998, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014).

Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh on four occasions. Her longest tenure was from May 13, 2007, to March 15, 2012.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav assumed the office of UP chief minister on March 15, 2012, and held it till March 19, 2017.

Among the Congress stalwarts who held the office for a significantly long time were Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant (the first chief minister of UP) and Sampoornananda.

Pant's tenure was from January 26, 1950, to May 20, 1952, and from May 20, 1952, to December 27, 1954, says the website of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

Before becoming the UP chief minister, Pant was the Premier from July 17, 1937, to November 2, 1939, and from April 1, 1946, to January 25, 1950, it says.

Similarly, Sampoornananda was the UP chief minister from December 28, 1954, to April 9, 1957, and then from April 10, 1957, to December 6, 1960, the website adds.

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Rebecca Gibney's family reunion has been cut short as her son and husband have rushed back home to New Zealand before the border closes due to coronavirus.

The 55-year-old actress and her husband Richard Bell celebrated their son Zachary's 16th birthday in Sydney on Saturday.

But on Sunday, Zachary and Richard flew back to NZ while Rebecca stayed in Sydney to film Back to the Rafters, a spinoff sequel to Packed to the Rafters.

'Its vital': Rebecca Gibney (left) sent her son Zachary (centre) and husband Richard Bell (right) home to New Zealand before the borders close due to coronavirus - but she has to stay in Australia to film Backed To The Rafters

Rebecca shared an adorable picture with Richard and Zachary on Sunday, announcing they have been forced to rush back to their home country.

'So my boys have flown in and unfortunately flown out to get home to NZ in time before the borders close,' Rebecca captioned the post.

'As much as Im sad to see them go when they only just got here - Im happy they are going home and will be there before the self isolation requirements kick in.

'Im looking forward to joining them soon and I will of course be self isolating when I do.

'I hope everyone follows the directives as its vital we slow down this bugger of a virus for the safety of our elderly and those at risk.

'And please remember we need to keep essentials on the shelves for those that really need it. Love and virtual hugs to all.'

Serious precautions: 'As much as Im sad to see them go when they only just got here - Im happy they are going home and will be there before the self isolation requirements kick in,' Rebecca wrote on Instagram

Just hours earlier, Rebecca posted a photo of Zachary with birthday balloons, proudly complimenting her son.

'Happy early birthday to my heart my love my son Zacman. So proud of the young man you are,' she captioned the post.

'Generous, funny but most important kind. We love you to the moon and beyond.'

But later on Saturday, NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the country would close its borders as of midnight NZDT on Sunday.

All grown up: The 55-year-old actress and her husband Richard Bell celebrated their son Zachary's 16th birthday in Sydney on Saturday

Unprecedented times: Later on Saturday, NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (pictured) announced the country would close its borders as of midnight NZDT on Sunday

'We do not take these decisions lightly. New Zealand will have the widest-ranging and toughest border restrictions of anyone in the world,' Ms Ardern said at a press conference on Saturday.

'I make no apologies. This is an unprecedented time.'

Everyone who arrives in NZ will also be required to self isolate for 14 days to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Globally there have been more than 156,745 cases of coronavirus, with the death tally already surpassing 5,839.

In Australia, as of Saturday afternoon, there have been 280 cases of coronavirus, including three deaths.

Throwback! Rebecca (centre) stayed in Sydney to film Back to the Rafters, a spinoff sequel to Packed to the Rafters. Pictured: The original Packed to the Rafters cast
An eyelash extension expert dubbed 'the best in the business' by beauty editors has revealed the seven most common eye shapes - and how best to style them with individual falsies.

Make-up artist Edy London, whose famous fans include Ellie Goulding, Mel B, Vanessa White, Lisa Snowdon and Trinny Woodall, has worked with some of the world's top beauty brands.

She's represented Maybelline at London Fashion Week, styled numerous shoots for the likes of Essie and NYX, and had her work published in magazines including Tatler, Vanity Fair and Vogue ES.

Her experience as a make-up artist has enabled her to identify and understand individual eye shapes and create tailored lash extensions to suit her clients' looks.

Here she shares with FEMAIL the common mistakes people make when applying eye make-up and lashes, and which style to go for to best flatter your peepers.

Make-up artist Edy London, who names Ellie Goulding, Mel B, Vanessa White, Lisa Snowdon and Trinny Woodall among her famous fans, spoke to Femail about the common mistakes people make when applying eye make-up and lashes, and which style to go for to best flatter your peepers

MONOLIDS

You know you have monolids like actress Lucy Lui if have no crease in your eye or a less obvious crease. These are very common in people of Asian descent.

I usually recommend a gentle curl and longer lashes to be applied at the outer corner.

Most women with monolids have a high set brow, so a little bit of a length won't hurt to fill in the space between the lash line and the brow.

Lucy Lui, pictured at the Tory Burch Fall Winter 2020 Fashion Show in February, has monolid eyes

Edy explained that people with monolids have little to no crease in their eyes. These are very common in Asian descent

ROUND EYES

Round eyes are very feminine; they are usually quite large. Study your eyes to see if you can see any white all around your iris.

For these I recommend very subtle-looking lashes with a light and wispy texture, using a variety of thicknesses and curl.

I'd aim for a shorter lash in the inner and outer corner, with the longest lashes in line with the highest point of the eyebrow.

Katy Perry, pictured here on American Idol last week, has round eyes. Edy recommends a subtle eyelash for this type

Edy described round eyes as 'large and very feminine' and suggested lashes with a light and wispy texture and a variety of thicknesses and curl

ALMOND EYES

Almond eyes are one of my favourite shapes to work on; they are slightly pointed towards the end of the eye, with a wider centre.

The iris is slightly hidden by the lower and upper eyelid. They are usually wider in width.

In terms of eyelashes, the sky's the limit. On an eye shape like this, almost everything looks good.

I am willing to go quite dramatic on the outer corners; I recommend using smokey liner on a lower eyelid to emphasise your shape.

Almond eyes are slightly pointed in shape towards the end of the eye, with a wider centre. Angelina Jolie, pictured at the Maleficent Premiere in October last year, has almond-shaped eyes

Edy explained that 'the sky's the limit' with almond-shaped eyes, as almost every style looks good on them

DOWNTURNED EYES

Downturned eyes feature a downward tilt at the outer corners. It makes your upper lid look much larger, which creates more space between the brow and outside corner.

With this shape we need something to give them a lift; I recommend a dense lash line with cat eye shape eyelashes.

Avoid creating too much of a flick at the end; this would most likely weigh down the lid even more, creating a sad eye - which we definitely don't want!

Anne Hathaway, pictured in New York last year, has downturned eyes, where the outer edge points away from the forehead

For downturned eyes, Edy recommends a dense lash line with cat eye shape eyelashes without too much of a flick at the end

UPTURNED EYES

Upturned eyes, often described as a 'cat eye', are as common as almond shaped eyes - in fact they are very similar, as they too are oval in shape and usually the lower lid appears longer.

This type of eye shape suits any lash extensions - in particular a gentle B curl (a smaller curl that is very natural) with similar length eyelashes all the way across, apart from the inside corners, which need to be much shorter.

The fact that the eye is already upturned means you don't need to play around with the length too much, as it will naturally give a subtle cat eye look,.

If you want to exaggerate the natural eye shape, you can add a few longer lashes at the end.

Mila Kunis, pictured at the Sundance Film Festival in January, has upturned eyes - also known as 'cat eyes'

Upturned eyes are as common as almond shaped eyes and are oval in shape, with the lower lid usually appearing longer

DEEP-SET EYES

Deep-set eyes are set deeper in the eye socket which creates the illusion of a more prominent bone brow.

Many people with this eye shape want to find ways to brighten up their eyes and bring them out.

Deep-set eyes are the only shape that require extra length - mainly for the eyelashes to be more visible, as part of the eyelash is concealed by the depth of the socket.

The curl needs to be very subtle, as often C or D curls (a large, dramatic curl) can look uncomfortable and unnatural on deep-set eyes.

I usually recommend a J curl (a long, curly natural lash) or a B curl in order to look nice and in proportion; anything curlier than this may end up touching your brow bone.

Deep set eyes like Keira Knightly's - pictured at the premier of Misbehaviour in London this week - create an illusion of a prominent brow bone

Deep set eyes are the only shape that requires extra length in the lashes, mainly because part of them are hidden by the depth of the socket

HOODED EYES

You know you have hooded eyes when you have an extra layer of a skin that droops over the crease. Sometimes it can make you look tired - even after eight hours' sleep!

It is a very beautiful shape if you have naturally long lashes, but hooded eyes are very tricky to style with cosmetics because they make even big eyes look smaller than they are.

I am very critical about them because it's my eye shape, and even though I'm a make-up artist, I struggled with it until I found extensions (the fact that I naturally have very short lashes didn't help).

Eye-liner never used to show up, while smoky eyes never worked quite right. Extensions are the one thing I found can rescue the situation; if you have a hooded shape I recommend them to make your eyes pop.

I've even talked some of my clients out of having a Blepharoplasty - surgery to remove the extra layer of skin in your eyes - and encouraged them to get lash extensions instead.

I recommend medium length, and a C curl (a natural curl that's bigger than a B curl) to go over and cover the lid. I personally like mine longest underneath the highest point of my eyebrow.

Jennifer Lawrence, pictured at the Christian Dior Womenswear launch at Paris Fashion Week in September, has hooded eyes, where there's an extra crease below the brow bone

Edy explained hooded eyes are difficult to make up, as it's easy to look tired no matter what
Paris (AFP) - The United States and Britain led a multi-billion-dollar global fightback against economic havoc wreaked by the coronavirus as the European Union shut its borders to travellers from outside for 30 days to stem the pandemic's ferocious spread.

The sweeping measures, never before seen in peacetime, have upended society worldwide and roiled financial markets on fears of a global recession.

The coronavirus outbreak, which first emerged in China late last year, has quickly marched across the globe, infecting nearly 200,000 people and killing 7,900 as governments scramble to contain it.

Following criticism that they were mismanaging their crisis response, London and Washington on Tuesday announced massive economic stimulus packages.

President Donald Trump said the White House was discussing a "substantial" spending bill with Congress that would include immediate cash payments to Americans.

Officials did not give hard numbers but The Washington Post reported the amount could reach $850 billion, with a chunk destined for airlines fearing ruin.

"We're going big," Trump told reporters.

British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak also unveiled an "unprecedented package" of government-backed loans worth 330 billion pounds ($400 billion) for businesses struggling in the sudden economic paralysis caused by mass self-quarantine.

France has pledged a 45 billion euro ($50 billion) aid package.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel meanwhile confirmed the 30-day "entry ban" into the EU.

European countries were already in near-total internal lockdown, with Belgium starting from Wednesday until at least April 5.

The World Health Organization urged the "boldest actions" on the continent, the pandemic's latest epicentre.

In the United States, restrictions continued to build, with Maryland becoming the latest state to delay presidential election primaries and New York City considering curfews.

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Cases in Australia rose to 565, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison's government urged citizens to not travel abroad and banned gatherings of more than 100 people.

Asian hotspots China and South Korea have seen new infections and deaths level out in recent weeks -- China reported just one new domestic case for the second consecutive day on Wednesday -- but numbers are ballooning across Europe.

Africa, with its fragile healthcare systems, has also recorded more than 400 cases, and Latin America has more than 1,100, with the continent's most populated country Brazil confirming its first death on Tuesday.

- 'Invisible enemy' -

Trump, who for weeks has been accused of playing down the crisis, appeared determined to take control of his messaging, declaring he would do everything to fight an "invisible enemy".

"We have to win this war," he said at the White House, where staff and journalists now have to undergo regular temperature checks.

Battered US stocks -- which Trump considers a key metric of his success ahead of the November presidential election -- closed higher after the stimulus announcement.

But markets dipped again in Asia on Wednesday despite that rally.

Trump had acknowledged on Monday that the economy might be sliding into recession.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron also likened the outbreak to war and ordered almost the entire population to stay at home for at least two weeks.

Britain stepped up its own measures following scientific advice that infections and deaths would spiral without drastic action.

Citizens were told to avoid all non-essential overseas travel and large social gatherings, with more stringent restrictions expected in the coming days.

Germany has banned gatherings in churches, mosques and synagogues and said playgrounds and non-essential shops would close, too.

In Ireland, Anthony Whyte, 49, looked out onto the cobbled streets of Dublin from a bar and likened the scene to "a ghost town".

"It's like armageddon," he said.

Usually joyful -- and alcohol-fuelled -- Saint Patrick's Day celebrations were cancelled in Dublin, New York and Boston.

- Markets buoyed -

Following a hammering in recent days, US and European markets bounced back.

Despite the wild swings, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin ruled out a temporary closure of stock markets, saying "Americans need to know they have access to their money".

G7 leaders have vowed to "do whatever it takes" to prevent a financial meltdown.

However, every sector from tourism to food to aviation is affected as the global economy effectively goes into shutdown.

Major world airlines have axed almost all flights temporarily, triggering pleas to help carriers survive.

Italy announced plans to renationalise Alitalia, and France said it was ready to nationalise large companies if necessary.

- Euro 2020 postponed -

The outbreak has wrecked the global sporting calendar. The European football championship was on Tuesday postponed until next year and the Tokyo Olympics -- due to start in July -- hang in the balance, though Japanese officials insist the event will go ahead.

Copa America, South America's top football tournament, was also delayed until 2021 soon after the European announcement.

The French Open was postponed on Tuesday. It is now scheduled to start in September instead of May.

Drugmakers are scrambling for a breakthrough, and it could still take more than a year before a safe vaccine is ready to market. US officials have said the first human trial for a possible vaccine has begun.

French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi and American drugmaker Regeneron said they had started clinical trials for Kevzara, a drug currently used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and which they hope will reduce lung inflammation in severe cases of coronavirus illness.

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Bhopal A war of words broke out between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the first day of the Madhya Pradesh assemblys budget session on Monday amid confusion over whether a floor test will be held, as directed by governor Lalji Tandon.

Speaker NP Prajapati refused to comment on the issue. You will get to know about it tomorrow only. I will not tell you about my decision in advance, he told news agency ANI.

The business list of the state assembly for March 16 on Sunday night mentioned the governors address and vote of thanks only.

State assembly principal secretary AP Singh said, There is no intimation to the state assembly about a trust motion by the government or no confidence motion by the Opposition till now. However, as per rules intimation about such a motion can be given to the state assembly secretariat till one hour prior to the sitting of the House for the day.

The Congress governments problems began last week after 22 MLAs resigned from the assembly in the wake of former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia joining the BJP.

The speaker later accepted the resignation of six members, bringing the strength of the House to 222, with the majority mark at 112. There are two vacancies in the 230-member assembly.

Before the crisis, the Congress had 114 MLAs, and enjoyed the support of four independent legislators, two MLAs of the Bahujan Samaj Party and one legislator of the Samajwadi Party. The BJP has 107 MLAs.

The Congress called back its MLAs from Jaipur where they had been flown on March 11. The number of these MLAs was said to be about 80. A health department official said on condition of anonymity that all MLAs were made to undergo a test to check if they had been infected with the Coronavirus.

The BJP leaders flown to Gurugram may return on Sunday night or Monday morning. We are waiting for instructions, said one MLA on condition of anonymity.

Chief minister Kamal Nath dismissed speculation that his government will fall short of the majority mark in the assembly.

We will not allow the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to succeed in its design. I am confident about the government proving its majority. I would like to request the governor to respect the Constitution and its values and limit himself to the same.

But he didnt make it clear whether the trust vote will be held on Monday as per the governors direction issued shortly after midnight on Sunday.

The BJP wants that the (22) Congress MLAs be held captive in Bangalore when a floor test is held here. Voting has a meaning when all are free to vote in a free atmosphere.

At a cabinet meeting on Sunday, ministers discussed the coronavirus epidemic that has claimed two lives in India, raising suspicion in the BJP camp that the Congress wants to delay the floor test.

The cabinet discussed how the coronavirus outbreak has led to deferring of state assembly sessions or proceedings in several states. However, whether or not it should be replicated in MP will be decided by the House only when it meets, said state minister PC Sharma.

State BJP spokesperson and MLA Rameshwar Sharma said, The Congress government wants to delay the floor test in the name of coronavirus threat as it has been reduced to a minority.

BJP national vice-president and MLA Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, There should be an immediate floor test in the House after governors address as the latters instructions to the government.

In his midnight missive, the governor not only asked for a floor test on Monday but also specified the way in which it should be held.

The only business after my address in the House will be voting on the state governments trust motion. The voting will take place only by pushing the button. No other method will be adopted for the same. Videography of the entire proceedings will be done through independent persons and in any way and the proceedings will not be deferred, delayed or suspended, the governors message read.

Late on Sunday night, Tandon sent another message to the chief minister.

I have learnt through a representation from Bharatiya Janata Party and also from the state assembly secretariat that the state assembly doesnt have the facility of voting by pushing the button. Hence, voting is not possible through this method, the statement read.

Hence, he said, The para (in the earlier missive) that trust vote will be decided by division of votes while pushing the button be read as since the 10th schedule is in force in the state I hereby order that voting on trust motion be conducted by raising hands and it is not done through any other method.

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US President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing about the Coronavirus at the White House in Washington, DC, 14 March, 2020. (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Markets are in for a rocky ride over the next week after US president Donald Trump extended his travel ban to the UK and Ireland.

The US has more than 2,700 confirmed coronavirus cases, with 54 deaths so far. In the UK, 37,746 people have been tested for coronavirus and the total number of confirmed cases has reached 1,140. As of 14 March, there have been 21 deaths.

READ MORE: Coronavirus risks pushing hotel, cafe, and bar businesses into extinction

The extension of the travel ban is set to hurt oil prices (CL=F) (BZ=F) and further smash airlines, which have already been battered by the ban and multiple countries placing their citizens under lockdown.

On 12 March, European stocks suffered it biggest sell off on record and further developments of travel bans, lockdowns, and social distancing are likely to exacerbate the economic impact of coronavirus. Oil, at one point, crashed by 30% and is still hovering around the $32 per barrel mark  down from the mid-$50 level a month ago.

While governments across the world are collectively pledging trillions of dollars worth of stimulus measures to help global financial systems navigated the unprecedented effects of the pandemic, investors are still prepared for market swings since events are rapidly developing.

READ MORE: Coronavirus: UK banks push to scrap tests to prove they can cope with crisis

Britains biggest banks are also allegedly pushing the Bank of England (BOE) to scrap the next series of stress tests amid the rapidly developing challenge of the coronavirus pandemic.

US futures, which European stock markets usually follow closely, are set to all open over 1% lower on Monday.

Aviation in turmoil

While every industry is going to feel the effect of the coronavirus impact, the travel industry are acutely at risk in the current climate.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), an aviation industry trade group, said that airlines could lose between $63bn (50bn) and $113bn in revenues as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

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The prediction represented a sharp jump from last month, when it estimated that the industry would only lose $29bn.

So far, the coronavirus pandemic pushed airline Flybe into collapse, risking 2,000 jobs while Norwegian airlines (NAS.OL) up to half its workforce could face temporary layoffs as it cancelled more flights over the coronavirus pandemic. More pain in the industry has been reported.

On 15 March, the union of aviation workers GMB called for the UK government help iron guarantee jobs for airline workers amid the downturn and also provide state aid, if the situation continues get worse.

READ MORE: Airlines face unparalleled blow from coronavirus outbreak

When the travel ban starts

The restrictions will kick in at midnight on Monday 15 March, eastern standard time (0400 GMT).

American citizens will still be allowed to return home to the US but they will be "funnelled" through selected airports, according to Vice President Mike Pence, who is charged with running the US response to Covid-19 virus.

The announcement came as the White House said Trump had tested negative for the coronavirus. The US president underwent a test days after hosting a meeting at his Florida resort with a Brazilian delegation, some of who tested positive.

Map: Yahoo Finance

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said the travel ban was extended because of the growing outbreak in Britain.

In response, a Foreign Office spokesman said: "This is a decision for the US. We are working to provide as much information and support to affected British nationals as possible.

"We continue to coordinate closely with the US and other international partners on the global response to coronavirus."

What authorities say about travel bans

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has affected millions of people worldwide as the World Health Organisation has reported cases in 135 countries.

As a result of Covid-19, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has issued travel advice warning people against visiting certain countries or areas.

Read more: 'Be considerate'  shoppers urged to stop panic buying

You can visit the FCO website here for the latest travel guidance.

Over the last week, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said while certain travel controls may be justified, general travel bans are not seen as being the most effective. The EU has urged members states, instead, to focus on implementing health screening at borders instead, in order to continue to adhere to the freedom of movement.
"We think this virus is likely to be one that comes year on year ... like a seasonal virus," Sir Patrick said on Saturday. "Communities will become immune to it and that's going to be an important part of controlling this longer term." Officially, the government won't say that herd immunity is actual strategy: "Herd immunity is not our goal or policy. It is a scientific concept," Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Sunday. Ian Donald, an emeritus professor from the University of Liverpool, suspects the government wants younger, healthier people to get infected right up until the point hospitals begin to reach capacity. At that point, authorities will try to slow  but not stop  infection rates. This could be achieved by closing schools, restaurants and maybe even large offices. A man wearing a mask walks over London Bridge in central London with the Tower Bridge behind. Credit:Getty Still confused? Imagine a bucket of water and a plastic jug with a hole penetrating about half-way up its side. The bucket represents the general population, the jug represents the health system and the hole in the side is for people to leave hospital after they recover. The government wants to tip the bucket into the jug at a rate that brings the water near its capacity but never over it. As people leave hospital or recover at home, immunity builds.

While this is happening, the government would try to isolate the elderly and other vulnerable groups from the rest of the population. There are reports Downing Street is considering a ban on visitors to nursing homes and hospitals for many months. "After a while, most of the population is immune, the seriously ill have all received treatment and the country is resistant," Professor Donald outlined in a long Twitter thread. "The more vulnerable are then less at risk. This is the end state the government is aiming for and could achieve." However, Professor Donald and other experts warn there are big risks. For starters, the jury is still out on whether people infected by COVID-19 will never contract it again. Data on infection rates also needs to be highly accurate and the social distancing measures to slow the rate of infection need to be timed perfectly. The public needs to trust the strategy and be prepared to follow the advice over many months. And the "cocooning" of at-risk groups needs to be highly effective. In an open letter to the government, British Society for Immunology president Arne Akbar raised "significant concerns" about the strategy and its "severe" consequences if vulnerable people aren't properly protected.

Loading Professor Akbar also warned the virus was so new that there were many unanswered questions about how it interacts with the immune system. "For example, we dont yet know if this novel virus will induce long-term immunity in those affected as other related viruses do not. Therefore, it would be prudent to prevent infection in the first place." Johnson has been critical of blunt measures designed to stop the virus from spreading, accusing some leaders of bowing to political pressure instead of following the science. Italy and Spain have virtually shut down, while Norway, Denmark and Poland have closed their borders. Unlike Britain and Australia, most countries have also closed schools and universities. The government says these measures may well be enacted in Britain but warns their impact on reducing spread will be limited. It argues asking people with symptoms to stay home for seven days could have a much bigger impact on reducing the size of the peak, possibly by as much as 25 per cent.

Professor Donald says the Italian lockdowns aimed at trying to stop as much infection as possible are appealing, "but then what?" He warns such restrictions are not sustainable for months and will have to be relaxed, leading to a new surge in infections. "So they will have to reintroduce the restrictions each time infection rates rise," he says. "That is not a sustainable model and takes much longer to achieve the goal of a largely immune population with low risk of infection of the vulnerable." Researchers from Imperial College and Oxford University seem to agree. They recently released a chart using red, blue and green lines to show three possible options for the next six months. The red line shows a huge spike in cases if the outbreak is not controlled or managed. The blue line shows a rise in infections early in the pandemic, but a major reduction as harsh social distancing measures are enacted. But that blue line rises sharply to form a 'second wave' as soon as the measures are lifted. The green line  which the UK has gambled on  shows more people infected in the short term than the blue line, but in a way that eventually peters out.
The nuns of Nonnatus House are back in the habit. PBSs Call the Midwife returns for season 9 on March 29, and the nuns and midwives are facing new challenges with population shifts, new rules, and the return of old diseases. Meanwhile, they have to deal with their own experiences of love, loss, and doubt. Heres what we can expect from the upcoming season.

Big changes are on the horizon in Call the Midwife

Nurse Lucille Anderson (Leonie Elliott), Nurse Trixie (Helen George), Nurse Crane (Linda Bassett), and Valerie Dyer (Jennifer Kirby) | Courtesy of BBC / Neal Street Productions

When Call the Midwife began, it was the mid-1950s, and the nuns and midwives were focused on serving the impoverished residents of Londons East End. Characters confronted tough issues like unwanted pregnancy and abortion and scary conditions like preeclampsia and post-partum psychosis.

Now, its the mid-1960s, and while the Nonnatus House team is still hard at work providing crucial medical care to women, some of the issues they face have changed. Season 8 featured an intersex character and a Ghananian family affected by sickle cell disease, as well as the creation of a new cervical cancer screening clinic  then a new innovation in womens healthcare.

Season 9 (which takes place in 1965) will bring more changes in Poplar. Four young doctors arrive at Nonnatus House, which causes a stir among the midwives, while a slum clearance program and budget cuts put the nuns headquarters in jeopardy. Lucille (Leonie Elliott) faces racial prejudice in her work, while Phyllis (Linda Bassett) cares for recent immigrants from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). At the same time, the team must deal with old problems like Diptheria and tuberculosis among the people they serve.

Call the Midwife draws from real life

Fans of Call the Midwife know the show is inspired by the memoirs of real-life midwife Jennifer Worth. But the series has eclipsed the events described in Worths books, which has left the shows creators to chart a path forward. Writer Heidi Thomas has said that she looked to the history of Londons East End as she developed storylines for the upcoming season, especially when urban renewal threatens Nonnatus House.

[I]t reflects what was going on in the East End at that time, and indeed what happened to the original order of nuns who were based there and whose work inspired our series, Thomas told RadioTimes.

I think it would not feel very realistic if they werent under some sort of threat. Their premises are rented, we know theyve already had to move once before because of an unexploded bomb that then exploded, she added. And now everything is being torn down around them. We see that on screen, and it would be very strange if it didnt impact on them, physically and emotionally.

So do the changes in Poplar mean that were nearing the end of Call the Midwife? Definitely not. The show, which airs on the BBC in the U.K, has been renewed for two more seasons. Each season will consist of eight episodes, and there will be an additional two Christmas specials. It seems the nuns of Nonnatus House arent going down without a fight.

Call the Midwife Season 9 premieres Sunday, March 29 at 8/7c on PBS.
Usha Gawane, a domestic help residing in Aundhgaon, approached Aundh Vikas Mandal (AVM) president Vaishali Patkar with a question as soon as Patkar commenced a demonstration on preventive measures regarding Covid-19 (coronavirus) held on Sunday.

My daughter returned from Singapore recently after visiting her husband, but we are still to meet her in person, will it be OK to invite her home? Her in-laws are hesitant about her travel to the city from Daund, asked Gawane. The family has not stepped out of the house, except for bringing essentials from a nearby shop, and are hesitant to have guests at home, she added.

Patkar assures her that if her daughter was checked for Covid-19 by health officials at the airport and then sent home, that means she has not contracted the virus.

Patkar along with other health inspectors are organising awareness programmes about Covid-19 in the slums areas of Aundh and Baner. Aundh Vikas Mandal is an association of citizens from Aundh and Baner.

People should not rely on social media rumours. We aim to spread awareness among domestic helps about Covid-19, said Patkar.

Several precautions should be followed without fail, like washing hands with soap, check for symptoms of cold, cough and fever among their family members and seek medical help whenever needed, said Patkar.

As many of the women complained of non-availability and high prices of masks, I taught them how they could use a piece of cloth as a mask, added Patkar.

Patkar has so far conducted five such programmes in the slums areas of Aundh and Baner and has been invited by the Bibvewadi Residents Association and residents of Tingarenagar to help reach out to the domestic helps there.
STRATFORD  Local officials ask Stratford High School students, faculty and staff to stay home and self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 after a student at the school awaits test results as the towns second presumptive case of the virus.

This is the second time this week a local student has been suspected of having coronavirus.

Lab results for the student are expected to take a couple of days, according to a Saturday night press release from Director of Health Andrea Boissevain and Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson.

The Stratford Health Department is asking that Stratford High School students, faculty and staff stay at home and monitor themselves for symptoms, the release said.

Officials said there will be an update on the students condition as they get additional information.

Boissevain said the town continues to urge residents to take common sense measures to protect themselves, their family and their community from getting and spreading the virus.

Everyone has a role to play in slowing the spread of the disease, she said. This means when the advice is to stay at home, that does not mean going to the mall, or getting together with friends. We need to be careful not to inadvertently expose those who are elderly or who are medically comprised.

In a press conference Tuesday afternoon, local officials alerted the public to the towns first suspected case of the virus.

By Thursday, officials confirmed it and urged more than 300 students, faculty and staff of Wilcoxson Elementary School  where the individual is a student  to self-monitor for symptoms as a precaution.

For more information on coronavirus in Stratford, visit www.townofstratford.com/coronavirus.

Anyone with questions can contact the Stratford Health Department at 203-385-4090 or health@townofstratford.com.
Quarantine, schools, shops and borders closed, gatherings banned, here are the main measures being taken in Europe to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Confinement

Italy's population of 60 million has to stay at home until April 3, but can go out to work, for health reasons or to buy food.

In Spain, four parts of the northeastern region of Catalonia have been quarantined, as have two communes in the Austrian region of Tyrol.

Austrians returning from Italy will be confined.

People returning from the main coronavirus hotspots must stay at home for two weeks in Croatia, Latvia, Russia and Slovakia, Norway and Russia.

Portugal and Spain have banned cruise ships from disembarking, a measure also taken by several Norwegian and French cities.

In France, Luxembourg and Portugal visits to retirement homes have been suspended, while Belgium and Sweden have also imposed restrictions.

Borders controlled or closed

The Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Lithuania and Slovakia have announced the almost total closure of their borders to foreigners, with Slovakia making an exception for Poles.

Germany has stepped up border controls with France.

Ukraine plans to close its borders to foreigners for at least two weeks. Russia will halt flights from the EU on Monday.

Poland has imposed health checks at all it borders.

Austria has suspended rail links, and almost entirely closed its border with Italy. It has also suspended air links with France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.

Several European countries have also suspended flights from Italy.

Slovenia has set up health vetting measures at the border with Italy.

Switzerland has put strict limits on who can cross over from Italy, and looking at entries from the Schengen zone on a "case-by-case" basis.

Serbia on Sunday banned entry for foreign nationals from the worst-hit countries, while neighbouring Bosnia announced it was setting up quarantine tents near its borders.

Schools closed

Schools and universities are closed in Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine.

Pupils will also stay at home next week in Belgium, Croatia, France, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland, and in most German regions.

Gatherings banned

In Belgium, Cyprus and Italy all gatherings have been banned.

The Czech Republic has banned meetings of more than 30 people.

Denmark and France are to drop the threshold to 100 people.

Iceland, from midnight on Sunday, and the Netherlands and Switzerland have outlawed gatherings of more than 100 people as have Austria, Hungary and Romania for indoor meetings, with 500 for those outdoors.

Finland and Sweden have set the bar at 500 people.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on organisers to cancel non-essential events gathering less than 1,000 people, a threshold also in force in Denmark, Poland, Portugal and Romania.

Moscow has banned meetings of more than 5,000 people.

Restaurants and shops closed

Non-essential businesses have been closed in Italy, France, Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Andorra and Spain's Madrid region.

The Netherlands have closed all schools, bars, restaurants, sex clubs and cannabis cafes.

In Belgium, nightclubs, cafes and restaurants will be closed until April 3. Shops will be closed at the weekend, except for grocers and chemists.

In the Czech Republic, restaurants must close between 8:00 pm and 6:00 am.

Berlin clubs and bars will close on Tuesday.

Greece has closed its museums and archaeological sites.

Transport disrupted

Rome's second airport, Ciampino,has been closed from Friday evening, while Fiumicino, which handles international flights, is to close one of its three terminals from Tuesday.

In Slovakia all international airports are closed.

Elections

British local elections planned for May have been postponed for a year.

Italian media has reported that regional spring elections are also likely to be postponed.

France, however, forged ahead with municipal polls on Sunday, with turnout suffering.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2020 AFP
Attacks on Christian Cemeteries Alarm Turkey's Christians

The cemetery of the Santa Maria Catholic Church, Trabzon. ( Hristiyan Haber) Attacks on Christian cemeteries in Turkey have deeply shaken the embattled community in recent months.

Twenty of the 72 gravestones in the OrtakAy Christian Cemetery in Ankara were destroyed on Feb. 14, according to news reports. Six people who carried out the attacks were briefly detained and then released.

"These attacks against cemeteries are making the Christian community across Turkey feel incredibly sad and desperate," Ankara-based pastor Ahsan Azbek told Ahval. "Nobody can watch over the graves of their loved ones like a guard."

One of the destroyed graves belonged to Olga KomshdoAan's son.

"My son lies here," KomshdoAan told the SAzcA newspaper. "He died last year. He was 17-years-old. Children his age came here and destroyed his grave. What type of conscience can accept this?"

KomshdoAan said it was not the first attack on the cemetery.

"They hid the attack on the graves from us. We learned of it through a stonemason. I'm hurting inside so much. If my son were alive, he would not do such a thing. They have carried out similar attacks before, and no one was caught. I want those who attacked the graveyard to be punished. We will sue for material and moral damages," she said.

Another attack was carried out on a grave in the cemetery of the Santa Maria Catholic Church in Trabzon, northeast Turkey, said the news website, Hristiyan Haber.

Zehra Aolak lost her life on Jan. 17 and was buried the next day in the cemetery of the Aya Filbo (Arafilboyu) neighbourhood, 500 m from the church. A wooden cross was temporarily placed at the head of the grave. According to those who attended the funeral, a small group tried to disrupt the ceremony, shouting Allahu Akbar (Allah is the greatest).

Veysel Aolak visited his wife's grave on Feb. 14 and said the wooden cross was broken and had been burned near the grave.

Aolak reported the incident to the police and said that even while his wife's grave was being dug, a man who covered his face tried to steal the cross. When children playing in the cemetery reacted angrily, the man got his dog to attack the children.

Trabzon police said they would launch an investigation into the incident and the provincial governor's office said the burnt cross would be replaced with a new one. The governor's office could not bring itself to refer to the cross as such and called it a "grave marker", according to Hristiyan Haber.

"The environment of hate in Turkey is the reason for these attacks," journalist Seyfi GenA, who reported on the attack on Aolak's grave for Hristiyan Haber, told Ahval.

"But this hateful environment did not emerge out of nowhere. The seeds of this hatred are spread, beginning at primary schools, through books printed by the Ministry of National Education portraying Christians as enemies and traitors. The indoctrination continues through newspapers and television channels in line with state policies. And of course, the sermons at mosques and talk at coffee houses further stir up this hatred.

"And even more disturbing is the fact that the perpetrators are either not caught, or not brought to account even when they are caught," said GenA.

Trabzon's Santa Maria Catholic Church was where a Roman Catholic priest, Andrea Santoro, was murdered in 2006 by OAuzhan Akdin, who was 16 at the time. Ten years later, the killer was released on probation. Akdin said he was treated "like a king" while in the prison.

GenA said education was needed to help reduce attacks and hate speech targeting Christians in Turkey.

"A comprehensive campaign of education regarding hate speech should be launched to raise awareness of the problem," he said.

"Workshops about Christians, equality and equal citizenship should be organised at all educational institutions from primary schools to PhD programmes and through public service ads. Most of those engaging in hate speech are not even aware they are doing it," GenA said.

The Izmir-based Association of Protestant Churches was formed in 2009 to represent and seek equal rights and freedoms for Protestant Christians across Turkey.

"Attacks against cemeteries made us concerned and anxious," said Ali Kalkandelen, the pastor of Istanbul YaAam Aile Church and the president of the Association of Protestant Churches.

"Many Christians felt threatened for their safety. But we Christians also try to live our lives in accordance with the teachings of the Bible and want goodness and love to grow and hatred and fights to end. That is what we are praying for. We also know that being Christian means we are to face challenges and even during these challenges we are to love all people and glorify God," Kalkandelen said.

Kalkandelen suggested the authorities should increase security for cemeteries and churches and bring those responsible for crimes to account.

"But what is even more important is to teach people to love, respect and show tolerance for those who do not belong to their religious group," he said.

"That is why this is not only a security issue. It is about a whole state policy and attitude. People in this country should be taught universal values, human rights and true freedoms and that people of different faiths, and particularly Christians, are not monsters nor enemies. We are people of this land and equal citizens of this country. We love our country and have the same responsibilities, duties and rights as anybody else.

"The state authorities should lead by example and then teach these values to the public in a strategic and planned way -- through books, the educational system, the justice system, and the media," Kalkandelen said.

Physical and verbal attacks against Christians and the cross throughout Turkey are not isolated incidents.

In September last year, in the town of AkAaabat in Trabzon province, the facade of several houses that had been built for tourists were demolished as a result of complaints claiming the buildings resembled crosses.

In July, two people broke a crucifix necklace that was being worn by a young Christian in the western town of Gebze. After swearing and hitting the young man, the perpetrators ran away, according to the Sat-7 Turk news outlet.

"There is deep-rooted hatred in Turkish society against Christians," said Azbek, himself a Christian convert from Islam. "Christians are seen as foreigners and enemies. Those who attack Christian graves are not very educated or, as in the case of Ankara, they are very young. But hatred against Christians is extremely prevalent in all levels of society. The people of Turkey should be reintroduced to the concepts of empathy and love for humanity."
Plans due to be unveiled to rebuild Linwood Islamic Centre as community hub in fusion of Islam and Maori culture.

Christchurch, New Zealand  An ambitious new design concept aims to reimagine the Linwood Islamic Centre, one of two mosques targeted by a gunman a year ago on March 15, in a building that would fuse Islam with New Zealands indigenous culture.

The design concept intends to bring together the worlds of Islam and te ao Maori (the Maori world), becoming a marae-mosque hybrid (a marae is a sacred place for New Zealand Maori and other Polynesian cultures).

The Linwood Islamic Centre was one of two sites targeted by a white supremacist gunman, who killed 51 people in the attack on the Linwood Islamic Centre and the nearby Al Noor mosque. Seven people died at the Linwood Islamic Centre, and an eighth person shortly afterwards in hospital.

A formal ceremony to mark the year that has passed since the attacks was called off amid concerns about coronavirus, but New Zealanders came to pay their respects anyway on Sunday, leaving flowers outside.

An anonymous donor from the United Arab Emirates gave $1.1m to a third party, who then bought the surrounding lots of land  a wide, unsealed carpark at the front, and also a vacant building next door, formerly a fast-food restaurant  on behalf of the Linwood Muslim community.

A woman prepares to lay flowers outside the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, March 14, 2020. A national memorial in New Zealand to commemorate the 51 people who were killed when a gunman attacked two mosques one year ago has been cancelled due to fears over the new coronavirus [Mark Baker/The Associated Press]

Under this plan, the existing mosque  a rundown building that was once a Bahai community centre  will be torn down and a new mosque built in its place. The marae-mosque would become the central hub in a large multicultural centre.

Manifestation of unity

An initial design concept is expected to be unveiled at a private gathering in the Linwood Muslim community on Sunday, with the donor also expected to pay for the construction.

Mazhar Syed Ahmed, a 48-year-old architect who has lived in Christchurch for almost seven years, was at the Linwood Islamic Centre on the day of the attack. He is now part of a small working group that is leading the integrated design.

There are many reasons that this place should represent the New Zealand identity, he said. It would be a tangible manifestation of the unity found in the wake of this tragedy.

According to Syed, Islam does not forbid a hybrid design.

A mosque in Islam doesnt have to be a particular shape, a particular architectural style. It should be orientated towards Mecca, and it should be clean enough to pray. Thats the only basic requirement.

Syed shared an early artists impression of one design concept, in which the curve of New Zealands endemic silver fern is integrated into the mosques raised dome. The tessellations of the fern are multicoloured, intended as a tribute to the multi-ethnic diversity of the Christchurch Muslim community. The dome is surrounded by four tall minarets, each one holding a wind turbine that would harvest extra power reserves.

The koru  a coiled pattern based on the new unfurling frond of a silver fern  is a common symbol in Maori art, carving and tattooing. The symbol was often used in marae throughout New Zealand, but has also been widely reinterpreted elsewhere.

Syed said that, ideally, the design would meet the stringent criteria of the Living Building Challenge.

Mazhar Syed Ahmed prays inside the Linwood Islamic Centre, on a day Friday in late February [Ethan Donnell/Al Jazeera]

This means that construction would follow sustainable building practices, use locally sourced timber to ensure a low carbon footprint, and also be constructed using local labour. The building would give rather than consume, arrayed with thick solar panels, producing enough additional power to share with the surrounding neighbourhood.

However, the plan has not been without its challenges. A new consultant architect has been appointed, and the final design remains undecided, Syed said.

Respecting the Maori

Tyrone Smith, a Maori convert to Islam, has acted as a cultural adviser on the project, connecting the consultant architect with local iwi (Maori tribal group) and mana whenua (iwi or hapu who have traditional authority over land).

Ngai Tahu are the local iwi in Christchurch, while Ngai Tuahuriri are the hapu (Maori subtribe) with traditional authority over the land area now known as the suburb of Linwood. Ngai Tuahuriri, as the people of the land, should, therefore, be consulted before any decisions around construction are finalised.

You should respect the people of the land: hold that conversation. The reason is to keep the flow of balance, in a holistic way.

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Smith said tikanga (Maori custom) and Islamic law both agreed on this point, and referred specifically to the concept of adab in Islam, good manners and a basic sense of humanity.

Proper consultation in these matters was an ongoing attempt to right historic injustices after many Maori were stripped of ancestral lands under the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, he explained.

While there has been some initial consultation, no formal agreement has yet been reached between an adviser for mana whenua and the consultant architect, although Smith is actively coordinating negotiations between the two parties.

The consultations ensure any Maori design elements are incorporated correctly, and the mana (intrinsic value) of the local people is enhanced through the design.

The consultant architect wishes to remain anonymous.

Imam Abdullah Lateef, the spiritual leader of the Linwood Islamic Centre, preferred not to comment about the design until after the design concept had been officially launched.

Remembrance through architecture

The Linwood Islamic Centre was first established in early 2017, operating out of a two-bedroom rental property in Linwood. The mosque moved to a community hall in Philipstown a few months later, relocating finally to its current premises on Linwood Avenue in early 2018.

The mosque was closed for eight days after the attack, reopening on March 23 with a tapu (restriction) lifting ceremony attended by the Muslim community and local iwi.

There are more than 57,000 Muslims in New Zealand, according to the 2018 census, accounting for roughly only 1 percent of the total population. Islam is estimated to be the fastest-growing religion among Maori, more than 1,000 converts in total as at the 2013 census, up from fewer than 100 just 20 years ago. But the faith is still a small minority, only 0.19 percent of the overall Maori population.

The Imam of the Al Noor mosque Gamal Fouda, right, and Tu Tangata motorcycle club president Derek Tait exchange a hongi outside the mosque in Christchurch on Sunday. Islam is estimated to be the fastest growing religion among Maori [Mark Baker/AP Photo]

Large-scale architectural gestures still hold some power in Christchurch, a city that continues to rebuild after the 2011 earthquake that killed 185 people. The Cardboard Cathedral, designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, became a symbol of the citys recovery after it was opened in 2013.

Amid the national outpouring of grief over the mosque shootings, plans were developed for a $9.5m memorial in the form of an elaborate landscaped park and large ornamental water feature. In November, the idea was put on hold.

While the proposal had initial support from the New Zealand Federation of Islamic Associations (FIANZ), other leaders in the local Muslim community labelled the proposal obscene.

Mr Syed said that Islam forbade the commemoration of any event after death, and therefore a memorial was not a natural fit.

A memorial is a dead wall. Its a static wall. You want something that gives back, something that rebuilds the community.

This building, he said, referring to the marae-mosque, should become that icon.
Free grab-and-go meals will be provided to families in the greater Racine area, four days a week at eight Racine Unified School District schools, during the temporary school shutdown for the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, RUSD announced in a Sunday afternoon news release. Two meals for any child under the age of 18 will be available per day.

The meals will be provided from 9-10 a.m. every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday while schools are closed. Families can drive or walk to the schools to pick up the meals, but the child (or children) the meals are for must be present in order to receive the meals.

Each child will receive a breakfast and bag lunch.

The program will be offered at the following locations, starting Monday:

Fratt Elementary School, 3501 Kinzie Ave.

Jerstad-Agerholm K-8 School, 3535 LaSalle St.

Julian Thomas Elementary School, 930 Martin Luther King Drive

Knapp Elementary School, 2701 17th Street

S.C. Johnson Elementary School, 2420 Kentucky Street

Wadewitz Elementary School, 2700 Yout Street

West Ridge Elementary School, 1347 S. Emmertsen Road

Schulte Elementary School, 8515 Westminster Drive

Academic enrichment packets will be distributed at the meal distribution sites. The packets also will be available online at RUSD.org.

Also serving food to young people will be the Racine Family YMCA. The George Bray Neighborhood YMCA, 924 Center St., is seeking donations of bread, meat, fruit cups, fruit, juice, chips and water to distribute during the schools shutdown.

To find out how to help, email Antonio Crane at acrane@ymcaracine.org or Katie Svendsen at ksvendsen@ymcaracine.org.

In a Facebook post, incoming Racine Family YMCA President Ahmed Qawi said that his organization is looking to provide much needed relief to the families that the Racine Family YMCA serve in the George Bray Neighborhood."

Total cases

The total number of people in Wisconsin who have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, is 32, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services announced at 2:40 p.m. Sunday. Thats six more than had been confirmed the day prior.

There is still only one confirmed case in Racine County or Kenosha County. Milwaukee Countys total is seven. Five of the six new cases were in Fond du Lac County. Four of the six new cases were on a cruise where someone else on the boat already had the virus.

Thirty-three cases have been confirmed in total in Wisconsin so far, but one person has already recovered.

Shortages of tests for COVID-19, which has killed more than 5,800 people worldwide and at least 59 people in the U.S. so far, have been reported nationwide, leaving many worried that the true scale of the spread of the virus will remain unknown.

U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., in a tweet published Sunday, said: Recent numbers indicate our labs can only process about 27,000 patients (per) day. So even if we have 2.5 million tests  enough for 989,000 people  it would take well over a month to process them. Thats a problem.

However, in Wisconsin, more than 90% of COVID-19 tests have come back negative, according to DHS.

In the state so far, 346 people have been tested; 33 tests have come back positive and 313 have been negative.

RUSD plan

Mental health clinics at six RUSD locations will remain open while schools are out of session, too.

We recognize the impact school closures have on our school community and are working to make services available to our students and families as soon as possible, Racine Unified School District said Sunday in a news release.

School will not be in session Monday, but the buildings are expected to be open so that parents and students can retrieve belongings and medications. All Wisconsin schools are tenatively scheduled to reopen Monday, April 6, at the earliest.

Mental health clinics at the following locations will remain open, but RUSD has asked parents to contact their therapist to schedule appointments:

Knapp Elementary School, 2701 17th Street.

Fratt Elementary School, 3501 Kinzie Ave.

Julian Thomas Elementary School, 930 Martin Luther King Dr.

S.C. Johnson Elementary School, 2420 Kentucky Street

Wadewitz Elementary School, 2700 Yout Street

Community Pathways clinic at RUSD Community Pathways campus, 2333 Northwestern Ave.







More options

Other free meal options around Racine include:

Hospitality Center, Monday-Friday, pastries 7:30-8:30 a.m. and grab-and-go lunches 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

The Monday Night Hot Meal Program, Mondays, 4:30-6 p.m., 614 Main St.

Kingdom Manna, Saturdays, starts around 5:30 a.m., Horlick Field parking lot 1648 N. Memorial Drive.

Racine changes

Racine County announced Sunday afternoon that county employees are continuing to make alternative arrangements to in-person functions while we assess the continued feasibility of keeping county buildings open.

On Monday, county facilities will remain open, but that could change.

The safety of residents and our employees is our top priority, County Executive Delagrave said in a statement.

Although Sheriff Christopher Schmaling said that nonviolent arrests would be suspended, a press release from the county said: The Racine County Sheriffs Office and Communications Center continues full operations with additional measures implemented to protect the safety of first responders. This includes additional screening questions for all rescue calls to identify possible coronavirus symptoms.

The City of Racine is taking action with more precaution by closing more facilities.

Among city services: the Racine Public Library is closed, all Racine community centers are closed and the Racine Zoo is closed for at least two weeks.

The Health Department Clinic will not be conducting car-seat inspections or distributing Pack n Plays; scheduled immunizations will still be performed but new appointments cannot be scheduled, and STD/HIV testing will be limited to Monday 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and Wednesday 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Prevention is our best defense against an outbreak. If residents take this seriously now, we will minimize the impacts on our community. If we dont, we will be faced with much more difficult decisions moving forward, Mayor Cory Mason said in a statement. As a city, we need to be as adaptive as possible to make sure we mitigate the impacts of coronavirus ... we know that the steps we are asking residents to take are inconveniences to their daily routines, but ultimately it is the best way to reduce the impact of COVID-19 across the community.

WHS Racine closed

The Wisconsin Humane Society is looking to empty its shelters as much as possible in the near future through finding foster homes or adopters.

However, the WHS Racine Campus, 2706 Chicory Road, has closed until further notice.

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.
usmca

NAFTA is dead. Long live NAFTA! In 2018 and 2019, the Trump administration announced that it had signed a renegotiated version of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The administration tried to rebrand the deal, the USMCA, and claim credit. But this deal isnt new or revolutionary.

Labor Law Amendments

One goal of the Trump administration was to update NAFTA. That treaty created a trade zone joining the U.S., Canadian and Mexican economies. The new agreement, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), made a few tweaks to NAFTA. However, the new updates exist to protect U.S. workers against competition. They are particularly hostile toward low-cost labor in Mexico.

When NAFTA took effect in 1994 it transformed many parts of the U.S. economy. It opened opportunities for business to seek inexpensive labor. It also reduced prices for consumers and created open access to products (particularly produce) from all three economies. The USMCA updates and modernizes NAFTA.

The new treaty includes an agreement from Mexico to increase its legal protections for unionization and collective bargaining. This will make labor comparatively cheaper in the United States. It reduces the quality of jobs available to American workers relative to Mexican workers. Current U.S. labor policy has dramatically cut the same protections for unionization and collective bargaining domestically.

In addition the new treaty requires that between 40% and 45% of all auto parts be made by workers making at least $16 per hour U.S. before a car will qualify for tariff-free import. This provision is particularly aimed at low-cost labor market in Mexico. New workers in a U.S. auto plant can expect to make between $14 and $20 per hour.

This section also updates the country of origin rule. That rule prevents third parties from taking advantage of the trade zone by setting a minimum percent of each car that must be made in the U.S., Mexico or Canada in order to qualify for tariff free passage across the border. Under NAFTA this was 62.5%. The USMCA raises this to 70%.

Story continues

Intellectual Property

usmca

Intellectual property has been a key issue in modern trade agreements for the United States. The U.S. has shifted from a production economy to a knowledge and services economy. As a result, trade agreements seek protections for the patents, art and sciences that U.S. companies increasingly export.

The USMCA updates intellectual property sections by requiring that Mexico and Canada give U.S. companies and IP holders the same protections that they give to domestic creators. It also requires both countries to recognize U.S. copyright terms. Those rules dictate that a work retains its copyright for 70 years after the death of the author.

Copyright law may change in the near future. Historically, Congress has periodically expanded the reach of copyright law at the request of the Disney Corporation to make sure that Mickey Mouse never falls into the public domain. At time of writing, the copyright on Mickey Mouses first appearance in Steamboat Willie is scheduled to expire on January 1, 2024. It is likely that Congress will expand the term of copyright protection before then.

The law also requires that Mexico and Canada establish patent systems for U.S. companies consistent with U.S. practices. It also requires that both countries establish the same safe harbor provisions that the U.S. uses to shield technology companies from liability based on the content their users create.

Minor Changes

The USMCA also made a host of small changes to trade among the U.S., Canada and Mexico. These include:

Increasing access to the Canadian dairy market for U.S. farmers. Specifically, it eliminates tariffs on U.S. dairy imports worth up to 3.6% of the Canadian dairy market.

Updating technology and intellectual property sections to include technologies that did not meaningfully exist when NAFTA was signed. That includes electronic books, digital music and media, streaming media and online commerce.

Promising (albeit informally, though the Trump administration) to exempt Canada and Mexico from its ongoing trade wars in exchange for their agreement to this update.

Requiring all three countries to institute criminal penalties for certain forms of cyber theft and copyright violations.

A sunset clause which subjects the entire deal to review in six years and expiration in 16 years if not renewed.

The Bottom Line

usmca

The USMCA is formally a new trade agreement. However, it is in practice nothing more than an update to the aging NAFTA. It includes provisions for new technologies, updated labor practices and significant protections for U.S. intellectual property holders. Those difference may affect your investments.

USMCA Tips



Trade agreements come and go, but your retirement account needs to be around forever. Finding the right financial advisor that fits your needs doesnt have to be hard. SmartAssets free tool matches you with financial advisors in your area in 5 minutes. If youre ready to be matched with local advisors that will help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.

The North American Free Trade Agreement has never been without controversy. There are pros and cons of NAFTA that translate to the USMCA as well. You may want to familiarize yourself with some of the intricacies if you invest in foreign companies.

Photo credit: iStock.com/Kameleon007, iStock.com/wildpixel, iStock.com/Evgeny Gromov

The post Understanding the USMCA, the New NAFTA appeared first on SmartAsset Blog.
The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks!

Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics.

The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc.

The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics.

The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates.

Access to college recruiters and advisors  its harder to line up higher education.

Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family.

Vote

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Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Miranda Viscoli says she didnt know anything about guns before January 2013.

But after the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, in which 26 students and staff members died at the hand of a lone gunman, Viscoli and her group, New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence, have drastically shaped gun laws in New Mexico.

I couldnt just stay angry, Viscoli said. I had to do something.

New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence had a hand in drafting three bills passed in the state Legislature the past two years.

Last year, the group helped draft a law to require background checks on all firearm sales and a bill prohibiting someone under a domestic violence abuse protection order from buying a gun.

This year, New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence helped compose the Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order Act, otherwise known as the red flag gun bill, which was also signed into law.

The bills faced opposition from gun owners and sheriffs around the state who argued the bills were unconstitutional, in violation of the Second Amendment.

Viscoli said all these changes in New Mexico law can be attributed to a huge swell of attention on the issues, particularly among young people. Teenagers around the country got vocal about changing gun laws after 17 people died at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in February 2018.

I think the youth around Parkland has made a huge difference, she said.

Local teens started organizing demonstrations at the Roundhouse and at schools. State Rep. Daymon Ely, who co-sponsored the red flag bill, said Viscoli organizing teenagers to speak at committee hearings had a strong impact on legislators.

Its been very helpful, and kids are powerful advocates for gun control legislation, Ely said. Shes a good organizer and a good motivator.

People say Viscolis ability to work with youth is her greatest asset.

Judy Pacheco, associate director at Youth Development Inc. in Albuquerque, said Viscoli worked with kids in YDIs gang intervention program to create murals that take a stand against gun violence.

Shes really great to work with, Pacheco said. Shes able to educate the kids about the danger of guns. She has a really good rapport with young people. Its just natural.

But before Sandy Hook, Viscoli, a local Santa Fean who attended Santa Fe Prep, says she didnt even know what NRA stood for. She was working on a Ph.D. in art history at UNM at the time.

I was so over my head, she said. I was not in my world at all.

So she said she started researching New Mexicos gun laws. It was so evident that gun violence is a civil rights problem, Viscoli said. The majority of people in this country who are affected by gun violence are people of color. Thats not the country I want to live in.

She and a group of other concerned citizens met online and the group eventually became New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence in January 2013. They were already working on legislation on background checks for gun sales by the end of the month.

The following year, the group started work on the domestic violence protection order bill because they wanted to introduce legislation they thought former Gov. Susana Martinez would sign  but she did not.

It was a pretty bad moment in the history of New Mexico, Viscoli said. Her (Martinezs) message said this is very difficult and complicated situation for everybody involved, including the person whos holding a gun to a womans head  or usually a woman.

Although New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence has been instrumental in shaping legislation, Viscoli said its only about a quarter of what they do. The group works with students and schools, and organizes gun buybacks. All the programs keep Viscoli busy, so she works full-time with the organization and doesnt take a salary for herself. She says maybe one day shell go back to school to finish her Ph.D.

Viscoli says she doesnt personally own a gun, although she does have a safe full of firearms that people gave her for safekeeping. Shes not against them, but does say she has seen the worst of what they can do.

Do I like guns? No, she said. I respect people who like them, like people who go hunting. I think I see so many people who have been affected adversely by gun violence. Ive sat with too many parents crying. I sat with too many students crying who lost their best friends.
Gina Pallotta and Michael Neky were in a celebratory mood as they boarded the Grand Princess in San Francisco on a warm afternoon in late February.

The Modesto couple had married on the same cruise ship 16 years earlier, as it floated along the coast of Cuba. For their anniversary, Pallotta, 61, had booked a mini-suite on a two-week round-trip cruise to Hawaii.

As the Grand Princess and its 3,533 passengers and crew pushed off from Pier 27 in San Francisco around 4 p.m., news about the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, had just begun dominating headlines. New cases were ticking upward worldwide, and hope of containment was diminishing. Passengers aboard the Diamond Princess, a sister ship operated by Carnival Corp.s Princess Cruises, remained marooned off the coast of Japan after 700 people had been exposed to the flu-like disease.

The news had worried Pallotta, and she and Neky, 63, had briefly considered canceling their cruise. But Carnival had assured her that they were screening everyone boarding the ship, barring anyone from countries where the virus had taken hold. There were other precautions being taken, too. Informational signs and bottles of hand sanitizer had been placed strategically around parts of the ship.

Her concerns eased, Pallotta and Neky settled into their state room on the ships Dolphin Deck. They were touched to see that the ships crew had hung a special Happy Anniversary! banner across their doorway.

It was to be a routine voyage for the Grand Princess, which carried 1,111 crew, 2,397 adults and 25 children from 54 countries. As it sailed out of San Francisco Bay on Feb. 21, guests anticipated a relaxing 15-day cruise through the Hawaiian islands, followed by a stop in Baja California, before returning to the Bay Area on March 7.

Earlier that day, all but 62 passengers had exited the 951-foot ship, which had just completed a cruise to the Mexican Riviera. Among them was a 71-year-old man from Rocklin in Placer County, about 20 miles northeast of Sacramento. He left the boat with flu-like symptoms, as did several other passengers.

The mans symptoms would prove to be a cononavirus infection. And in the days ahead, efforts to contain its spread on the Grand Princess would test the thousands of people trapped onboard. The ship, essentially a 107-ton floating city, would end up circling for days near the Farallon Islands as government officials decided how to deal with those aboard after 21 people, including 19 crew members and two passengers, would test positive for the highly contagious disease.

Sequestered in their staterooms, passengers, most of them elderly, would watch the news on their televisions, hoping for updates as the ships captain became increasingly frustrated by breakdowns in communication with government officials on shore. More than a dozen passengers would recount their experiences to The Chronicle, describing moments that ranged from mere annoyance to fears theyd been abandoned, even possibly sentenced to their deaths.

But on Feb. 21, the crisis was still a week off. The Grand Princess slipped under the Golden Gate Bridge and pushed through the fog toward Hawaii.

It was two days into the cruise, and a retired estate planning attorney from Walnut Creek was hoping friends and the ships staff would not make a fuss about his birthday. Cliff Egan was turning 90 on this cruise  his 43rd sea voyage. But it was the first he was making without Grete, his beloved wife, who had recently died in her sleep. He didnt want any special attention.

Egan had booked a room near an elevator on the Aloha Deck. Suffering from equilibrium issues, he relied on a cane, and didnt want to walk any farther than he had to. For his Feb. 23 birthday, two friends ushered him into the Crown Grill. He ordered lobster and, to his relief, the waiters never learned of the special occasion.

The five-day trip across the Pacific Ocean was easy enough, though the weather remained chilly and overcast. As the Grand Princess arrived in Hawaii, Egan decided to stay aboard, attending afternoon lectures on nature and film history. In the evenings, there was always a show of some kind. He especially enjoyed the juggling act. Grete would have liked it too, he thought.

Nancy LaPointe

Other passengers, like Nancy LaPointe, would go ashore. A retired Chrysler employee, LaPointe, 76, had packed a half-dozen books with a plan of spending sea days reading and watching for dolphins on her private balcony on the aptly-named Dolphin Deck. The Poplar Grove, Ill., resident considered herself an avid cruiser. This was already her third voyage of the year.

If youve never cruised, its the best vacation ever, she said. When you get on the ship, you unpack once, and then youre good to go. It was always a tranquil experience for LaPointe, a cancer survivor with autoimmune issues, and her husband, Jim, who is a diabetic.

But once in Hawaii, she was ready to go shopping. When the Grand Princess reached Kauai, she and Jim disembarked. They bought chocolate macadamia nuts, then stopped at Walmart to stock up on elderberry, an herbal supplement that can alleviate cold and flu symptoms.

Joyce and Wai Li, a retired couple from Oahu, also visited Kauai, booking a river cruise and exploring its famed Fern Grotto. They were on the Aloha Deck, too, but in an interior cabin without windows or a private balcony. Theyd been visiting their son, Keane, in San Francisco.

On Feb. 29, the Grand Princess left Hawaii for Ensenada, Mexico, its last stop before returning to San Francisco. Pallotta and her husband celebrated their anniversary, splurging on a special dinner during the ships Formal Night. She wore a sparkly dress and a jeweled bracelet for the occasion. Their concerns about the coronavirus hadnt completely vanished, however. Nervous about picking up germs, the couple had avoided the buffet, which was flanked by bottles of hand sanitizer.

On Wednesday, March 4, Pallotta noticed that things had suddenly changed in the dining room. Bread baskets had been removed from the dining tables. Waiters now wore masks and gloves as they dished out the food from the buffet. Passengers could no longer salt and pepper their own food. Crew members did it for them.

After lunch, the captain made a special announcement over the public address system. The cruise was being cut short. There would be no stop in Baja California the next day, as planned.

We started hearing that something strange was going on, Pallotta said. We were almost to Mexico when the captain advised us to stay in our rooms. When we heard that, we immediately bought bottled water and snacks. We knew we were going to get quarantined.

Gina Pallotta

What passengers on the Grand Princess didnt know yet was that same day, the ailing 71-year-old Rocklin man who had left the ship 12 days before had died after contracting the coronavirus, becoming Californias first fatality from the disease.

Public health authorities rushed to track down passengers who had been on the 10-day voyage to the Mexican Riviera with him earlier in Februarya task that would take weeks. More than 60 of those now on the Grand Princess were among them.

Now, at least 21 people were experiencing symptoms that could indicate they had been infected. On shore, the situation was also becoming dire. At least 62 cases of COVID-19 had been reported in California, with clusters occurring in Los Angeles and Santa Clara counties. The number of kits to test for the virus lagged.

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency. At a press conference, he announced that the state would provide as much time as needed to secure the safety of everyone on board the Grand Princess.

But on the ship, Pallota and the thousands of other passengers and staff wouldnt hear of the coronavirus death until hours later. At around 9 p.m., the captain announced that helicopters would drop off coronavirus test kits in the morning, with 46 people to be tested.

Public health officials have advised that no guests will be permitted to disembark until all results have been received, Princess Cruises said in a press release at the time. Out of an abundance of caution, all guests who have been identified for testing have been asked to remain in their staterooms.

Until then, the Grand Princess was to remain at sea.

On the morning of Thursday, March 5, Joyce and Wai Li updated their son in San Francisco on the ships movement. Activities continued on the Grand Princess mostly as usual, including the daily bible study, though bingo had been canceled.

As passengers gathered on the lower decks to watch two National Guard helicopters drop off the virus test kits, Egan managed to snap a few photos. The Li couple also recorded a video, sending it to their son. A few hours later, the black copters would return to pick up the samples and take them to a laboratory in Richmond.

When passengers arrived for breakfast in the dining room, the crew suggested that they keep an empty seat between them, and maintain a 6-foot distance from other passengers at all other times. The Lis remained optimistic, though, that they would still dock on Saturday in San Francisco as planned.

LaPointe was less sure. She knew the Grand Princess maintained a small library; shed donated about 30 novels to it over the years. She decided shed grab a few extra books, just in case. A few hours later, at lunch, the captain made another announcement: Everyone was to return to their staterooms and isolate themselves immediately.

LaPointe knew that was bad news. With more than 200 days, at least, on this cruise line alone, I knew this was not normal procedure, she said. You knew something was up.

Now Playing: The Grand Princess, a cruise ship carrying more than 3,500 people, including at least 21 with coronavirus, makes its way past San Francisco to Berth 22 at the Ports America docks at the Port of Oakland on Monday, March 9, 2020. Video: Carlos Avila Gonzalez

Pallotta and Neky, the couple celebrating their anniversary, had guessed right. The Grand Princess had been placed under quarantine on a recommendation from officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A second coronavirus death, likely linked to the ship, had occurred in Santa Clara County. New infections were being reported across the state, indicating that the outbreak was widening.

Pallotta and Neky returned to their room on the Dolphin Deck, as did the LaPointes. The Lis and Egan retreated to the Aloha Deck. Crew members in masks slipped room service menus under stateroom doors. Even in lockdown, passengers could order delicacies like twice-baked goat cheese souffle and seafood-stuffed trout.

Around 8 p.m., the speakers in each room crackled with the captains latest announcement: About 55 miles off the coast of California in something of a holding pattern. The ship remains safe and secure.  Testing has been completed. As previously advised, we will receive the first results tomorrow.  May we all stay positive as we wait for more news.

Pallotta thought again about the fact that she had nearly canceled the cruise because of her coronavirus concerns. Now she had another worry: Her husband was about to run out of his diabetes medication.

For the next few days, the Grand Princess drifted in international waters along the California coast. As government leaders worked out logistics that would decide the passengers fate, communication breakdowns meant that those on board  the captain included  were often the last to be informed.

Courtesy Cliff Egan

On Friday, March 6, Vice President Mike Pence went on national television to announce the results of the tests done on Grand Princess passengers and crew. Of the small number tested, 21 had been diagnosed with the coronavirus, larger than any outbreak so far in California. After the ship was allowed to dock, he said, passengers would be put into a 14-day quarantine in facilities on land, while the crew would return to sea on the Grand Princess.

Few people aboard  not the ships captain, those infected or the passengers now confined to their roomshad been informed of any of this news before Pence spoke with the press.

(Cruise officials would later say that the shipboard doctor had been informed while Pence was in the press conference, and was in the process of alerting those who had tested positive.)

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.

Egan saw the announcement as it happened on MSNBC, which he had taken to watching while isolated in his berth day and night.

Do they just want us to stay out here forever until everybody dies off? Egan asked himself in frustration.

The Grand Princess, like the Diamond Princess before it, had become international news. Across the United States, and in countries like India, Australia and Canada, the families of those marooned at sea worried. Many sent messages of encouragement over social media. Passengers responded, posting photos and videos of empty hallways littered with room service trays, or giving interviews to media outlets.

Pallottas husband begged their Modesto congressman, Rep. Josh Harder, for additional diabetes medication. On March 8, the ship received a delivery of 405 medications  for those with the most urgent medical needs  along with other supplies.

Still, the Grand Princess went nowhere.

We were literally going in circles, Pallotta said, the monotony growing as she monitored the ship tracker on her rooms TV. I just kept thinking: Please let us dock. Please start the 14 days.

It had been planned as a special trip, an echo of a romantic moment 16 years before. It didnt turn out that way, she said. It felt like our own leadership was turning their backs on us.

The ships eight whirlpool spas, seven lounges and showrooms, four pools and three main dining rooms sat empty. Fresh fruits and vegetables dwindled on the meal trays delivered three times a day. To help pass the time, passengers relied on activity kits packed with Sudoku at Sea, coloring books and decks of cards, or watched the dozens of movies added to the TV programming. Like her neighbor Egan, Joyce Li would celebrate her birthday on board, but in quarantine.

For some, life on the ship had come to resemble being in a jail or hospital. The Grand Princess announced a fresh air and sunlight program, offering passengers hour-long escapes from their rooms on the deck. Instead of group classes, guided exercise and meditation were offered on the Wake Show, the cruises morning TV program. When the staff dropped off their meals, passengers were required to wear masks while receiving them.

With her supply of books and a private balcony, LaPointe actually found the seemingly endless days at sea peaceful. Despite her age and health concerns, she wasnt worried about contracting the coronavirus. Still, she was glad she had augmented her supply of elderberry.

The ill-fated voyage had not dampened her passion for cruises. My goal is to live on a ship, preferably a Princess ship, in Alaska in the summer, she said. Its cheaper than a nursing home.

Michele Smith

On the morning of Monday, March 9  days after President Trump had suggested that the ship stay at sea so any infected passengers wouldnt inflate the nations COVID-19 count, after the captain had seemingly steered south toward San Diego and then reversed course, after days of waiting and not knowing  the Grand Princess ducked under the Golden Gate Bridge headed for port in Oakland.

Cheers broke out as familiar landmarks passed: Alcatraz Island, the Bay Bridge. They would soon be off the ship and headed home. But first, there would be further quarantine, at Air Force bases and other federal facilities across the country.

The frustrated captain made an announcement as they docked at Pier 22, an outer harbor in Oakland: We have not been receiving timely nor accurate information from the government agencies who are developing and managing the disembarkation plan, making it virtually impossible for me to prepare you and guide you on their processes.

Princess Cruises apologized for the disastrous trip, promising to reimburse every passengers expenses, including Egans $4,500 room and his birthday lobster. It even offered passengers a voucher for another free cruise. Egan wasnt sure whether he would take them up on it.

As he was rolled off the Grand Princess in a wheelchair, among the first groups of people taken off the ship on Tuesday, doctors in hazmat gear checked his temperature and asked if he had been coughing. To his surprise, that was the extent of their examination. Hours later, he was on a chartered bus to Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, a destination some passengers had begun calling Camp Corona.

Ill be here 14 days, he said Wednesday, adding that he felt healthy and his temperature was normal. At that point, I have no idea. Hopefully, there is some way of getting back to my house in Walnut Creek. I dont imagine the bus is personally going to dump me there.

That same day, Pallotta and her husband also were taken to Travis. Their room there, she said, is actually pretty nice, though theyve had long waits between meals.

They fared better than the LaPointes. By Thursday, the couple was still stuck aboard the Grand Princess, waiting to be taken to Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Georgia. By then, 2,042 people had disembarked, and government officials hoped the process would conclude by the weekend. Meanwhile, Princess Cruises canceled all voyages for the next 60 days.

That afternoon, the LaPointes sipped soft drinks as they watched charter buses pull up to the ship, where some still on board dealt with leaking toilets and growing resentment. After a few hours, their group was called. More than a week after their quarantine began, they finally stepped onto dry ground,

Joyce and Wai Li, whod been trapped in a berth without windows or a balcony, were thrilled to finally escape their plush prison, as Joyce called it. But a new ordeal would follow.

As they disembarked from the Grand Princess Wednesday, Wai told the doctors examining him about experiencing a tightness in his chest and a fever, which had by then abated. As Joyce waited in a nearby tent, she watched her husband be whisked into an ambulance that would take him to Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, then to a hotel in San Carlos for quarantine. She wasnt allowed to say goodbye.

They didnt even let me get close to the ambulance, she told her son, Keane. I want to cry.

Today, quarantined nearly 500 miles away at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, she can only wait to learn if her husband tests positive for the coronavirus.

Editor's note: Since this story was published, Grand Princess passenger Wai Li learned Sunday that he has tested positive for COVID-19.

Lizzie Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ljohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LizzieJohnsonnn
15.03.2020 LISTEN

US President Donald Trump has tested negative for the coronavirus, the White House physician has said.

"This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative," Sean Conley said in a statement on Saturday.

Mr Trump underwent a test days after hosting a meeting at his Florida resort with a Brazilian delegation, some of whom have tested positive.

Fabio Wajngarten, an aide to the Brazilian president, was among those later confirmed to have the disease.

"One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation in Mar-a-Lago, the president remains symptom-free," Mr Conley said.

Mr Trump, aged 73, did not self-isolate after that meeting, saying he had no symptoms.

But after a barrage of further questions during a new conference at the White House, he said he would get tested.

He was checked on Friday, the White House physician said.

"I have been in daily contact with the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and White House Coronavirus Task Force, and we are encouraging the implementation of all their best practices for exposure reduction and transmission mitigation," Mr Conley's statement said.

Official US advice is that people who have contact with a confirmed case should stay at home for 14 days.

The US has more than 2,700 confirmed cases, with 54 deaths.

On Friday, President Trump declared a national state of emergency to release $50bn (40bn) to fight the spread of the virus.

What about the Mar-a-Lago visit?

Mr Wajngarten, a press secretary for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, posted a photograph of himself standing close to Mr Trump.

The Brazilian official tested positive several days after that visit.

Other Brazilians in Mr Bolsonaro's entourage at Mar-a-Lago have since tested positive including lawyer Karina Kufa, Senator Nelsinho Trad and Brazil's ambassador to the US, Nestor Forster.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez - who also met Mr Wajngarten during his US trip - announced on Friday that he had been infected.

The Brazilian delegation also met Mr Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

Meanwhile, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, also present at Mar-a-Lago, has announced that he will self-quarantine "in an abundance of caution".

Which other politicians have been tested for the virus?

Earlier this week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he would enter 14 days of self-quarantine after his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, tested positive for the virus.

Speaking to reporters, the prime minister said he was taking advice from doctors and "it was explained to me that as long as I show no symptoms at all there is no value in being tested".

REUTERS: Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez and his wife Begona Gomez

In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's wife Begona Gomez tested positive for the virus, the government confirmed.

Officials said they both remained in the prime minister's residence at La Moncloa in Madrid and were doing fine.

Spain is Europe's worst-hit country after Italy.

Meanwhile in the UK, health minister and Conservative MP Nadine Dorries was diagnosed with the coronavirus earlier this week.

Ms Dorries said she has been self-isolating at home.

Ten more people in the UK have died in the past 24 hours after testing positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths to 21.

Media captionIraj Harirchi mopped his brow at a news conference before testing positive for coronavirus disease.

Last month, Iran's Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi was confirmed as being infected.

The minister was earlier seen sweating profusely at a news conference.

Iran is one of the countries worst-hit by the virus, with more than 600 deaths confirmed.

The virus has spread to every province in Iran, and people are fearful that the true scale of the outbreak is even worse than is being disclosed.

---BBC
Paul Field, a former executive editor of The Mail on Sunday, and one of the most talented journalists of his generation, has died suddenly, aged 48

Paul Field, a former executive editor of The Mail on Sunday, and one of the most talented journalists of his generation, has died suddenly, aged 48.

Paul started his career writing articles for his local newspaper while still at school in Suffolk.

After studying at the University of Hull, he worked at the Daily Mail, the Sunday People and Sunday Mirror before joining The Mail on Sunday as news editor in 2000, aged just 28.

Peter Wright, the then Editor of The Mail on Sunday, said: Paul was a brilliant journalist who joined the paper as its youngest-ever news editor. Not only did he have an unerring instinct for news, he built a team of highly talented reporters. He was devoted to his wife Michaela and their daughters, and will be hugely missed.

Paul later moved to The Sun but was then hired to lead a team of British journalists to New York to relaunch the famous US tabloid the National Enquirer.

Paul was rehired by The Mail on Sunday in 2006. He worked in Dublin as editor-in-chief of the Irish Daily Mail and Irish Mail on Sunday and was associate editor of the Daily Mail.

He was later part of a small team that launched MailOnline, now the worlds biggest newspaper website, and also launched Mail Plus, the groups innovative digital channel.

Paul left to launch Touchcast, a cutting-edge video technology company, and led several other successful digital enterprises, including bMuse, Amalia, Dugout and Staylists.

His hobbies included cake-making and being an amateur DJ.

More recently, he was passionately involved in a campaign about the expansion of the Sizewell nuclear power station close to his Suffolk family home that he loved so much.

He wrote in the Daily Mail: This is about how big business can run roughshod over ordinary people like a bulldozer crushing farmland to make way for a new road.

Paul died on Friday after a suspected heart attack. He leaves his wife and three daughters  Olivia, Amelie and Ruby.
The delivery of the first Airbus ACJ320neo.

Airbus

Acropolis Aviation recently unveiled the interior of its new Airbus ACJ320neo aircraft, of which it is the first operator.

The Airbus Corporate Jet family of aircraft are modified versions of Airbus' passenger jets converted for private use.

The apartment-like aircraft are a step above the most luxurious private jets from Gulfstream, Bombardier, and Dassault.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The Airbus A320neo was a game-changer for airlines and is now being eyed by the private jet industry.

The first next-generation aircraft to be produced by the European manufacturer, the A320neo promised and delivered lower operating costs and increased efficiency compared to the previous generation Airbus A320s.

The aircraft has the same shell of its ever-popular predecessor but features new engines and aerodynamically friendly sharklet wingtips, both aiding in its reduced fuel consumption and providing additional range.

While the passenger model of the A320neo is in use the world over with airlines such as British Airways, Scandinavian Airlines, and Lufthansa, there's a small subset of the aircraft being produced with the world's mega elite in mind.

Marketed as an Airbus Corporate Jet, the ACJ320neo is an A320neo modified for private use for when a regular private jet doesn't cut it. The aircraft is the latest in the ACJ line-up, with aircraft as large as the Airbus A350 XWB being offered in the product line.

UK charter operator Acropolis Aviation took delivery of the first Airbus ACJ320neo in 2019 at Airbus' main production facility in Toulouse, France, after which it went straight to Switzerland to have its luxurious interior cabin installed. Thirteen months later, the aircraft is ready to take passengers and is already jet setting around the world.

Take a look inside the newest private jet to roam the skies.

Acropolis Aviation received its first Airbus ACJ320neo in January 2019 but the aircraft only began flying in March 2020 as it spent 13 months getting its ultra-luxurious cabin installed in Switzerland.

Story continues

Acropolis Aviation Airbus A320neo ACJ

Airbus

Source: Acropolis Aviation

The cabin, designed by Yves Pickardt of Alberto Pinto Interior Design, is the pinnacle of luxury travel designed with comfort and space in mind, comparable to a penthouse suite than an airliner.

Acropolis Aviation ACJ320neo

Acropolis Aviation

Source: Acropolis Aviation

While a passenger-configured Airbus A320neo can seat upwards of 180 people, this corporate-configured variant seats a mere 19 and can sleep 17. The design is aimed at exclusivity rather than capacity.

Acropolis Aviation ACJ320neo

Acropolis Aviation

Source: Acropolis Aviation

The apartment-like design of Acropolis' ACJ320neo is complete with a master bedroom and en-suite bathroom, with the latter being the largest ever featured on an Airbus aircraft.

Acropolis Aviation ACJ320neo

Acropolis Aviation

Source: Acropolis Aviation

The ACJ320neo can fly up to 6,000 nautical miles, able to connect city pairs such as New York and Tokyo, London and Seattle, and Los Angeles and Auckland.

Acropolis Aviation ACJ320neo

Acropolis Aviation

Source: Airbus

The ACJ320neo and A320neo family is based on Airbus' popular A320 product line, featuring a new engine offering and fuel-efficient additions. The aircraft's unit cost is $110 million.

Airbus A320neo.

Regis Duvignau/Reuters

Source: Airbus

The first Airbus A320neo flew in 2014, following 27 years of its predecessor's reign with the previous generation A320 having flown its first flight in 1987.

Airbus A320neo

ERIC CABANIS/AFP/Getty

Source: Airbus

Lufthansa later took delivery of the first A320neo, integrating it seamlessly with its existing fleet of Airbus narrow-body aircraft.

Lufthansa Airbus A320neo

Lukas Schulze/picture alliance/Getty

Source: Airbus

Thanks to an identical cockpit and avionics system, pilots can fly the A320neo with minimal additional training, a key marketing feature of the aircraft that Boeing sought to replicate with its 737 Max aircraft leading to fatal consequences.

Lufthansa Airbus A320neo

Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto/Getty

The aircraft has since joined the fleet of major airlines across the world including British Airways...

British Airways Airbus A320neo

Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto/Getty

And Scandinavian Airlines.

SAS Airbus A320neo

Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto/Getty

The aircraft has also debuted globally, seeing success in the US with low-cost carriers such as Frontier Airlines.

frontier airlines

Kamil Krzaczynski/Reuters

Thanks to its efficiency, airlines have touted the A320neo in fleet renewals and some are using the aircraft as a platform for new airline liveries and branding, as was the case for Aegean Airlines in Greece.

Aegean Airlines Airbus A320neo

Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty

Read More: Greece's national airline is undergoing a massive brand overhaul to be more Greek with the help of a world-class design firm

The key innovation of the aircraft is in its name, with "Neo" being an acronym for new engine option, one of them being the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G-JM,...

Airbus A320neo Pratt & Whitney engine

ERIC CABANIS/AFP/Getty

Source: Airbus

And the other being the CFM International LEAP-1A engine.

Leap 1A engine

Lu Erjia/Visual China Group/Getty

Source: Airbus

While new private jets such as the Gulfstream G650ER can fly farther than the ACJ320neo with a similar passenger load, the latter is a more remarkable status symbol compared to the former intended for the elite of the elite.

Airbus A320neo

ERIC CABANIS/AFP/Getty

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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Washington  Sun, March 15, 2020 12:45 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206abd081 2 News Ireland,coronavirus,COVID-19,travel,travel-ban,united-states,United-Kingdom Free

The United States said Saturday it was stepping up its fight against the coronavirus and extending a European travel ban to include the United Kingdom and Ireland, while acknowledging that some domestic travel curbs were also being considered.

President Donald Trump has decided to "suspend all travel from the United Kingdom and Ireland" effective midnight Monday EST (0400 GMT Tuesday), Vice President Mike Pence told a White House news conference.

"Americans in the UK or Ireland can come home. Legal residents can come home," Pence said, adding that such people would be "funneled through specific airports and processed."

Trump meanwhile advised against non-essential travel, and said officials were considering imposing travel restrictions within the United States.

"If you don't have to travel, I wouldn't do it," Trump told the news conference. "We want this thing to end. We don't want a lot of people getting infected."

Trump spoke to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Saturday about the new restrictions, according to the White House press office.

Anger in Europe

European officials have reacted angrily to Trump's sweeping travel ban, which also caused widespread consternation among travelers.

The original 30-day US ban on travel from the 26 countries in Europe's Schengen border-free zone took effect on Saturday, but notably excluded Britain and Ireland.

A senior administration official said he believed that the new limits on travel from the UK and Ireland would be for the same period of time as the restrictions already imposed on continental Europe.

The administration had hoped to stop anyone from the continent using the UK and Ireland as transit points en route to the United States, the official told reporters in a background briefing, "but that is proving operationally very difficult for us."

Read also: COVID-19: Indonesia still allows flights to and from South Korea amid travel ban

Britain's death toll from the novel coronavirus nearly doubled on Saturday, to 21.

Official figures showed the country has 1,140 confirmed cases -- an increase of 342 from the day before. But a senior health official has estimated that the number of infected people is more likely to be between 5,000 and 10,000.

The Republic of Ireland -- which has taken strict steps to stem the spread of the coronavirus -- so far has 70 confirmed cases and one death.

Flights that take off from the UK and Ireland before 11:59 pm on Monday (0359 GMT Tuesday) will be allowed entry into the United States.

In addition to US citizens and permanent residents, their spouses and the non-American parents and siblings of under-21 children who are citizens will be allowed to enter despite the ban.
Wind Creek Bethlehem casino is voluntarily closing for two weeks as a precautionary measure amid concerns over the coronavirus.

The casino on the citys Southside will close to the public at 6 a.m. Sunday, with plans to reopen at 6 a.m. March 29.

To play our role to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and with a focus on the wellbeing of our employees and guests, Wind Creek Bethlehem will voluntarily close to the public, according to the statement issued Saturday night. While there have been no reported cases of COVID-19 at the property, Wind Creek Bethlehem has decided to close as precautionary measure because the health of our community is most important.

During the temporary closure, the casino has committed to paying salaried and tipped employees.

Pennsylvania has 47 people confirmed with the coronavirus as of Saturday afternoon, state officials announced.

Wind Creek joins five other Pennsylvania casinos that have decided to temporarily close.

Valley Forge Casino in Montgomery County closed Friday morning and Harrahs Philadelphia in Delaware County closed Saturday morning. Gov. Tom Wolfs administration urged people to avoid non-essential travel in those two counties.

The Montgomery County restrictions took effect Friday -- the county now has 20 of Pennsylvanias 47 coronavirus patients--followed by Delaware Countys guidance Saturday, and were expected to remain in place for two weeks.

Then, on Saturday, Wolf announced aggressive mitigation efforts to thwart the virus would extend to Bucks County.

Parx Casino in Bucks County announced Saturday it will also close for two weeks starting at 6 a.m. Sunday. Parx said it will also pay its employees during the closure.

Rivers Casino Philadelphia said it will voluntarily close, effective at midnight Sunday, for 14 days. And the Rivers casino in Pittsburgh also announced a 14-day closure effective at midnight Sunday, triblive.com reports.

While the Bethlehem casino is closed, the property will undergo a deep cleaning.

That is after the casino began enhanced cleaning and sanitizing procedures, including a 24/7 onsite team to clean and sanitize the casino, its adjoining hotel, the restaurants and other public areas; more frequent disinfecting of areas including entrance and exit doors, gaming machines and elevator buttons; and more hand sanitizer dispensing stations throughout the casino floor and property.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. If theres anything about this story that needs attention, please email her. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
'Market falls: is it time to pack up and go home?

That was the stark question posed by a leading investment expert in response to Thursdays 10.9 per cent fall in the FTSE 100 Index  the largest daily correction in the index since the Black Monday stock market crash of October 1987. (I remember it well because it happened at the start of my second week as a cub reporter for a financial magazine.)

The question was asked by Darius McDermott, managing director of Chelsea Financial Services, a company that makes a living from running investment Isa portfolios on behalf of clients. And although rhetorical in nature, it probably reflects how many investors feel after seeing the value of their Isas and pensions decimated.

The UK stock market alone has fallen in value by 30 per cent since the start of the year. A sobering number and if McDermott is correct in his predictions, market volatility will be here for a while. For long-term investors, he says, hard as it may be, I think now is the time to stop looking at your investments. It wont be pretty, but they will recover.

Trust in the markets has faltered but Jeff Prestridge says don't give up on markets

Sound words  I have not looked at my bruised and battered Isa and self-invested personal pension since trying to sort out (unsuccessfully) a direct debit last month that should have been sucking money out of my bank account and into my Isa.

For the record, neither my bank or Isa provider have yet corrected the glitch. So, for the foreseeable future, I will resist looking at the damage inflicted on my investments in the hope, as McDermott says, that eventually, your investments will recover. (Can I hold you to that, Mr McDermott?)

Yet, its McDermotts comments on diversification that strike home most  namely that investors need to keep calm and remember that a diversified portfolio wont have fallen as much as the headlines they are reading. Absolutely. Spot on.

While stock market investors can do little to escape the wrath of the market, they can ameliorate its impact by holding a broad range of funds and assets within their portfolios.

So, gold and bonds and property and also funds set up to be ultra-defensive, concentrating more on the delivery of absolute return rather than relative performance  beating an index.

Funds that will not fall as fast when equity prices nosedive, but equally will not capture fully any subsequent market recovery. Portfolio counterpoints that provide ballast when times get tough  like now.

Here, Wealth looks at some investment funds that can provide welcome stability to your investments. They should only be held as part of a diversified portfolio. So put on your tin hat and arm yourself with all you need to know about our four key defensive funds.

CAPITAL GEARING

Don't be put off by the name. This 495 million investment trust is as defensive as they come with the mandate being to preserve shareholders wealth. It does this by running a multi-asset portfolio, comprising cash, government bonds, gold and equities (17 per cent of assets). Alastair Laing, part of a three-strong investment team that presides over the trust, describes it as a tortoise, stating that the tortoise beats the hare by consistently performing over a long race, not by a short burst of speed.

Laing believes that equity valuations, especially in the United States, remain expensive and that earnings growth forecasts for many companies are overoptimistic. So he expects further market falls. Only then, he says, will the trust begin to look to purchase more equities at attractive prices.

He adds: Capital Gearing retains high levels of cash and defensive assets such as government bonds. These are our dry powder. We hope to rotate this dry powder into equities when company valuations become more attractive.

Over the past month, the trusts share price has fallen 9 per cent, compared to a 29 per cent drop in the FTSE All-Share Index (all data from Financial Express). Although its share price is down 0.9 per cent over 12 months, three and five-year returns are 6.8 per cent and 29.7 per cent respectively. Equivalent figures for the FTSE All-Share Index are losses of 16.9 per cent and 2.3 per cent.

Despite the name, the trust has no borrowings  a ploy used by some rival investment trusts to increase exposure to equity markets. This is another indication of its conservative approach.

Although the trust pays a dividend once a year, sometimes topped up with a special payment, it is not what the trust is primarily about. In the trusts last financial year, it paid total dividends of 35p per share.

To put this into perspective, its share price closed on Friday at 40.80. The trusts annual charges are competitive at 0.68 per cent and are in downward mode. Capital Gearing is one of seven funds (with combined assets in excess of 2 billion) that are managed by Laing and his team at London-based CG Asset Management.

Its mantra is: Understanding risk is the most interesting and challenging aspect of investing. Peter Spiller, founder of CGAM, has run Capital Gearing since 1982, and he still has a firm hand on the trusts tiller along with Laing and Chris Clothier.

Spiller is the longest serving investment trust manager in the country, so has seen it all including Black Monday 1987. Only in one calendar year  2014  has the trusts share price ended the year lower than it started it.

Stock market identification code: 0173861.

RIT CAPITAL PARTNERS

Trusts will come back...In time While the likes of Capital Gearing, RIT Capital Partners, Ruffer and Personal Assets provide all-important portfolio ballast, they should only form part of a diversified investment portfolio. In the past month, some of the countrys longest running and biggest investment trusts have seen their share prices fall horribly. Scottish Mortgage, Witan, Foreign & Colonial and Alliance have registered share price corrections of 20 per cent, 28 per cent, 26 per cent and 27 per cent respectively. It doesnt mean these trusts are poor homes for your money. Far from it. They are globally invested, pay regular and growing dividends (for the time being) and have solid long-term investment records. At some stage, they will bounce back. Stock market identification codes: Scottish Mortgage: BLDYK61 Witan: BJTRSD3 Foreign & Colonial: 0346607 Alliance: B11V7W9

LIKE Capital Gearing, this 2.8 billion trust is driven by a wish to preserve shareholders capital, while aiming to deliver long-term capital growth. Yet with more equity exposure than Capital Gearing  35 per cent of assets according to the latest published details  its short-term performance has been hit harder by the global meltdown in stock markets.

Over the last month, its share price has fallen 14.5 per cent. Over three and five years, the respective figures are 1.4 per cent (fall) and 25.8 per cent (gain). Performance numbers that are all better than the FTSE All-Share Index. The trust was launched 32 years ago, is invested globally, and managed by J Rothschild Capital Management.

It aims for healthy participation in rising equity markets while providing investors with reasonable protection in current falling markets. Apart from equities, it has exposure to unlisted investments (risky) and absolute return investments. The trust pays a dividend twice a year  a total of 34p in its last financial year and in the current one it has already declared an interim dividend of 17.5p (slightly up on last year).

With a current share price of 18.14, the dividend is meagre in yield terms (1.92 per cent), but more compelling than that paid by Capital Gearing. Given it uses external managers to look after some of its assets, ongoing annual charges are on the high side at 1.58 per cent.

Investment trust analysts at Investec rate the trust a buy and say it has an important role to play in improving portfolio diversification.

Stock market identification code: 0736639

RUFFER

THIS trusts mission is to preserve shareholders capital come what may  and has an aim of not losing money in any 12-month period.

Its a goal that the trust has struggled to achieve, delivering positive returns in only two of the last five discrete one-year investment periods. Yet it has coped better than other defensively minded investment trusts in the recent market turmoil.

Over the past month, its share price has held up remarkably well, creeping up by 2.7 per cent  a result of its use of complex financial instruments to protect the trusts 390 million of assets in falling stock markets. Over the past year, its share price has advanced 9.6 per cent.

Ruffer says: When markets are rising strongly, investing with us can be like riding a tractor on the motorway, plodding in the slow lane. Its only when the motorway sinks into boggy marshland that a tractor proves to be a wise way to travel. Investecs analysts describe it as a safe haven, adding: In a rapidly deteriorating environment, we believe investments that can deliver absolute returns or even preserve capital value will be scarce and have significant value.

The trust pays a tiny dividend twice a year  a total of 1.8p in the last full financial year. To put this into perspective, the shares closed on Friday at 2.27. Ongoing annual charges are on the high side at 1.13 per cent.

Stock market identification code: B018CS4

PERSONAL ASSETS

THIS trust is run by experienced fund manager Sebastian Lyon, founder of investment house Troy Asset Management. Troys entire investment mantra is based around caution  shielding investors from permanent losses to their capital  and it is reflected in how Personal Assets is managed.

The 1 billion fund is invested across a range of defensive assets, including index-linked government bonds (31 per cent), cash (21 per cent) and gold bullion (9 per cent). But the rest  just short of 40 per cent  is in leading US and UK equities: the likes of Microsoft, Alphabet and Unilever that have not been spared from the recent brutal write-down in equity prices.

As a result, the trusts share price (unlike Ruffers) has fallen nearly 8 per cent in the past month. Comfortingly, returns over the past one, three and five years have all been positive  1.1 per cent, 2.4 per cent and 25 per cent respectively.

Buying a stake in Personal Assets is made difficult by the fact that shares trade at 400. The ongoing annual charge is 0.91 per cent. Quarterly dividends of 1.40p a share are a feature of the trust.

Stock market identification code: 0682754.
Bengaluru, March 15 : A girl tested positive for coronavirus in north Karnataka's Kalaburagi, while three of her relatives tested negative, an official said on Sunday.

"The girl who tested positive for Covid-19 is a relative of the 76-year-old man who was the country's first victim of the deadly disease on March 10. She is under treatment in the district hospital and her health condition is stable," Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner B. Sharat told IANS on phone.

"Three of the girl's relatives, who also came in contact with the old man, tested negative. They are also in the same hospital's isolation ward under observation," he added.

State Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar said the girl's blood samples were sent to the Institute of Virology at Pune for re-testing, as the first test of her throat swab was done in Bengaluru.

"Till date, 6 COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in the state, including one death. Five positive patients are in isolation at designated hospital in Bengaluru and are stable," Sudhakar told reporters here.

In a related development, the state Primary and Secondary Education Department has postponed the examinations for classes 7, 8 and 9, due to start on Monday.

"The exams have been postponed from March 16 to March 31 as a precautionary measure," Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar told reporters here.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
As infection numbers surge globally, downward trend in China continues with communist party hailing its efforts as major victory.

The downward trend in China has been celebrated by the government as a major victory.

Beijing had initially concealed the outbreak  before putting millions of people in lockdown.

The mass lockdown across Hubei province came into effect at the end of January as well as strict quarantine and travel restrictions across China.

Sixty million people were forced to stay at home, including 11 million from the city of Wuhan.

The World Health Organization has praised Beijings response.

But not everyone appreciated the robust containment measures arguing that those heavy quarantine restrictions came at a cost.

Al Jazeeras Sarah Clarke has more from Hong Kong.
Learning Technologies Group may see sales rise, as companies and governments reflect on the impact of coronavirus.

The company provides digital training courses for businesses and government bodies around the world, including Royal Dutch Shell, Hertz, Visa, LOreal and much of the UK civil service.

The company has grown fast both organically and via acquisition, since it was established just seven years ago. Midas recommended the shares a year later  in 2014  when they were just over 20p.

Today, they are 1.35 having been 1.56 at the beginning of January.

Digital training course provider Learning Technologies Group may see its fortunes grow

Looking ahead, the stock should recover that lost ground and continue to rise, as chief executive Jonathan Satchell is ambitious, the business is well run and its services should become increasingly appealing in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Today, companies spend around 280billion a year training staff. Half of that cash is spent on face-to-face, class-based courses.

At times, there is little to beat personal interaction but such courses are expensive, they often involve travel and cancellation rates are high.

Digital courses, by contrast, can be completed at employees convenience and they can be downloaded on to mobile phones, tablets, laptops and desk-based computers.

Many companies already use digital training courses for a variety of reasons. They are cheaper. They can be distributed quickly, if staff need to learn something at the last minute. They are highly interactive and often involve games and quizzes.

And they are more environmentally sound because no travel is involved.

Critically, too, they can be carried out at home. This is particularly advantageous now, as increasing numbers of workers are either sent home or choose to self-isolate.

Many companies are explicitly advising staff to access digital training modules, while they stay away from the office. Others are likely to follow suit.

Learning Technologies has also developed software that allows companies to monitor their training courses so they know who has completed the training, how individuals performed and what else they need to do progress up the ladder.

Last week, Satchell acquired an American business, Open LMS, which offers similar technology under a so-called Moodle platform, where tech geeks collaborate to develop programmes, largely designed to help schools and universities monitor students. The acquisition was well received by the market, adding another line of business to Learning Technologies growing range of services.

The group reports 2019 figures later this month and brokers expect a 38 per cent increase in revenues to 130million, with profits up 62 per cent to 39.5million.

Satchell expects to deliver sales of 200million and profits of more than 50million by the end of next year and he has a track record of meeting and exceeding targets.

Midas verdict: Learning Technologies shares have risen sixfold in the past six years as the company has expanded and developed a reputation for innovative coursework and clever management of workers progress. With so many shares losing ground, investors may be tempted to bank some profit at 1.35 but they should not sell out completely. Prospects for this business are sound  and coronavirus may well encourage more firms and government departments to take up digital learning. New investors may even consider acquiring some shares, after the recent dip in the price.
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.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
The Jammu and Kashmir police in Rajouri district on Sunday launched an awareness campaign against the coronavirus outbreak and started to make people aware of the spread of the coronavirus.

On the directions of Chandan Kohli, Senior Superintendent of Police Rajouri, police teams from Dharamsal, Sunderbani, Manjakote, and Kandi police stations interacted with people in small groups and made them aware about the coronavirus.

During the awareness campaign, people were advised not to be panic and rather to follow preventive measures to prevent the outbreak of coronavirus.

SHO Kandi Mustaj Ahmed also interacted with people at the Kandi bus stand regarding this issue.

Similar awareness events with small gatherings were held at Lam, Teryath, Kalakote, and Nowshera.

Besides, awareness posters have been pasted and distributed among masses across the district.

As of Sunday, the total cases of coronavirus reported in India is 107, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that Europe has become the new 'epicenter' of the global coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than 15 lakh people with over 4000 deaths.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Fukuoka Prefectural Police tussled with members of a criminal syndicate during a raid of the residence of the gangas boss in Kurume City on Friday, reports Fuji News Network (Mar. 13).

Officers, some attired in riot gear, shoved members of the Dojun-kai outside the residence. At one point, officers attempted to enter the premises by scaling a wall with a ladder.

The raid was conducted in connection with the arrests of a 77-year-old member of the gang and a male employee for a business he runs in Yanagawa City for violations of the Swords and Firearms Control Law.

According to police, the suspects rented a storage space in Okawa City that in January was found to conceal 3 guns and ammunition.

Police first arrested the suspects over an alleged illegal money-lending business. During that investigation, the weapons were found.
There was lots of bad news last week. But heres some good news:

On Thursday, I filled my station wagon with gas for a mere $20. Thanks to a complex set of circumstances on the world oil market, I found gas at a mere $2.19 a gallon.

To get a better understanding of those circumstances, I put in a call to the Oil Price Information Service, the national authority on oil prices that is based in Wall Township.

Chief oil analyst Denton Cinquegrana gave me an overview of the factors that may push prices at the pump to near-record levels in the coming months. Its a simple matter of supply-and-demand, Cinquegrana said

There was this demand shock from the coronavirus coming with the supply shock, he said.

The demand shock is simply explained. Lots of public events have been canceled and lots of people are being told to work from home. The economy is slowing and people are driving less.

The supply shock is a bit more complicated. It starts with a major development in the oil business that went largely unreported amid all the other news: In February, the United States reached its all-time high in oil production at more than 13 million barrels a day.

To put that in perspective, we were producing a mere five million barrels per day a decade ago.

Then, we were at the mercy of OPEC. Now, said Cinquegrana, we are the worlds leading producer of oil and were close to being the swing producer  the country with the capacity to determine the world level of oil production.

The two other big producers, Saudi Arabia and Russia, are not all that happy with that. Both would like to see the price of oil return to what it was in the days when it cost me $40 to fill my tank.

But world demand isnt rising, so the only way to raise the price is by cutting the supply. When the Saudis proposed that recently, the Russians said no. They need the money.

So do the Saudis, but they responded by telling the Russians they would pump more oil and flood the market. The Russians replied that theyd do the same.

This is, for lack of a better term, a cat fight between two of the worlds biggest producers, Cinquegrana said. Its creating a lot of collateral damage.

That damage will come to the producers of shale oil in places like Texas and North Dakota.

Shale oil is also called tight oil because it is wedged into tight places and can only be released by fracking. Its the fracking boom thats behind Americas rise to the status of No. 1 oil producer on earth.

But if the Saudis keep selling oil at what Cinquegrande termed Crazy Eddie prices, then some of those shale-oil producers will have to close up shop. (Meanwhile the Trump administration is stocking up on cheap oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.)

That raises a question I would ask if I somehow got on the panel for the Sunday debate between Democratic presidential contenders Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden:

Last month, the United States reached its highest oil production in history, but thats now threatened by cheap oil from Russia and Saudi Arabia. The frackers produce lots of natural gas as well as oil. If they shut down, should we keep them shut?

I think I know how Sanders would answer. So does James Carville, the political consultant who masterminded Bill Clintons presidential runs.

"Bernie Sanders says he's going to ban all fracking, so he's banning any chance of doing anything - particularly in western and central Pennsylvania, Carville said recently.

Carville, who coined the expression Its the economy, stupid, also denounced Democrats who want to get rid of both fossil fuels and nuclear energy.

Pennsylvania, which produces quite a bit of fracked gas, went for Donald Trump last time because he made a play for the blue-collar vote.

As for Biden, who was born in Pennsylvania, he could hold a debate with himself on the topic.

When the question of fracking was put to him by an anti-fossil-fuel activist recently, the former vice president said, I'd love to make sure we can't use any oil or gas, period.

But if the activist wanted a candidate who would do so immediately, he told the man, You oughta vote for someone else.

So give Biden credit for some common sense. The voters may be sympathetic to anti-fossil-fuel sentiment in the abstract. But if you spend your days monitoring the energy industry, as Cinquegrana does, you will come to the conclusion that getting rid of fossil fuels is easier said than done.

As long as were still relying on those fuels, cheap gasoline may be bad news for the people in the oil-producing regions of the country.

But its good news for us drivers.

And we have the most votes.
(Natural News) While its true that in todays modern world most people practice good hygiene, sometimes, in emergencies, we find that we have to make do with what we have. Or dont have.

Like when, say, there is an outbreak of a new virus we havent seen before and havent quite figured out, and it causes production shortages of hygiene products. Like toilet paper.

If we run short of toilet paper in these conditions, is that really something to panic about? Apparently so, according to Reuters.

The news service reports:

In Australia, major grocers have restricted supplies to one pack per person. In Japan, rolls are chained to the wall in public toilets. In Hong Kong, armed robbers carried out a heist as supplies were delivered to a supermarket.

Toilet paper has emerged as the unlikely No.1 stockpiling target for people across Asia who are worried that the spread of the coronavirus epidemic will lead to supply shortages.

The things the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) is making some people do. Imagine whats going to happen when food gets to be in short supply.

Reuters notes further that other household commodities such as tissues, disinfectants, and staples like rice and pasta are also flying off shelves, though it appears as though toilet paper is what is leading to showdowns in supermarket aisles and, of course, the inevitable social media memes.

Are Western nations going to bring back duels next? Ill fight you for your toilet paper, winner take all?

The unexpected demand for that all-important item has left both sellers and shoppers short. Then again, as psychologists note, since the virus hasnt yet destroyed entire civilizations or brought down nations, people are nonetheless feeling compelled to hoard items like toilet paper because they dont want to need it at some point in the future and not have it.

Coronavirus is another great reason to become a prepper

Then again, whether the outbreak is or is not being over-hyped in most countries, heres what is real: Global supply chains are being disrupted, and that is due in large part to the continued outbreak in China, which has long since become the worlds commodities factory. Toilet paper, not so much, but the means of getting the products to factories that make the stuff have been disrupted. And theres no telling how long thats going to last because no one is certain about the information China is putting out regarding the pandemic except that few people believe it (because its BS, for the most part).

When were buying stuff, things close to the body are very comforting, whether that be food, body care or in this case toilet paper, Adam Ferrier, a Melbourne, Australia-based psychologist who specializes in consumer behavior, told Reuters. (Related: Coronavirus projection model death counts from March 6th through April 4th: How we get from 13 to 580 aggregate deaths in America.)

The size of toilet paper makes it feel like a substantial, big purchase. It makes it feel like youre doing something. It taps back into that need for control. If youre buying a hefty big pack of toilet paper, you kind of feel like youre stocking up. You signify to yourself that youre in control, he added.

Consumers throughout Asia, according to social media posts, are also trying to feel as though theyre in control, as they shuffle through store aisles with overstuffed carts. Yes, toilet paper is among those items.

Shelves are being stripped bare, and to be frank, this is happening in countries where the virus has barely made a presence.

Yes, it could spread and in fact, daily, the virus is spreading. But has it gotten to the point where we need to be stripping store shelves bare and challenging people in aisles, Gimme your toilet paper, or else!

Well, what all of this does prove is that those of us who have, long ago, made the preparations for such emergencies were right to do so. Because all of this coronavirus stuff may just be getting started.

See the latest coronavirus news and information at Pandemic.news.

Sources include:

news.Trust.org

NaturalNews.com
A former Health Minister, Alex Segbefia has asked the government to intensify public education on the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) especially now that it has been confirmed in Ghana.

The Health Minister Kwaku Agyemang-Manu announced on Thursday, March 12 that two cases of the virus have been confirmed in the country.

Even though the disease started in December 2019 and has since been declared as a global pandemic, it seems sensitization of Ghanaians have been low.

Mr. Segbefia, on Citi TVs current affairs show, The Big Issue on Saturday, complained about the low education and asked the government to hit the ground running.

For me, the most important aspect which I think the government has been slow to deal with is public education. Because when we talk about the need for people to know what to do after theyve been in contact or what theyre supposed to be doing generally, youll have a situation where if you havent yet put into the public domain jingles and adverts in our local dialects, you have missed possibly 60% of the population.

He continued, So technically, there is a huge raft of Ghanaians who dont even know what is happening. Because obviously, there is no education ongoing and that is an area that we are too slow in dealing with. There is a need for public education. The government actually has to step up its game in educating us.

Background

In an emergency press briefing by the Information Ministry on Thursday night, March 12, 2020, the Health Minister, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu announced that Ghana had confirmed two cases of the novel coronavirus.

The two cases according to the Minister, tested positive after laboratory tests from the Noguchi Memorial Institute of Medical Research.

The cases were reported as 'imported cases' as both individuals returned to Ghana from Norway and Turkey.

The Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, a day after the reports of the first cases confirmed that the two patients who tested positive for coronavirus in Ghana include a Ghanaian.

He said the patients arrived in Ghana about a week ago from Turkey and Norway.

One of the two people who tested positive for coronavirus came from Norway, the other came from Turkey. One is a foreigner, the other is a Ghanaian based abroad who returned to the country, he said.

GHS educates public

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) on its part to sensitize the public has released information on safety measures Ghanaians can practice to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

The information was recorded in five different languages.

The aim of the exercise, according to GHS, is to reach all Ghanaians of different dialects.

---citinewsroom
Video Grab

New Delhi/IBNS: Joining the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation leaders video conference on tackling coronavirus outbreak challenge, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza on Sunday said the nations in the region should not only hope for the best but also prepare for the worst situation.

"While hoping for the best, we have to prepare for the worst," he said.

"Pakistan shares common concern over the potential of COVID19 affecting South Asia," he said.

"All our countries have confirmed cases. There is no room for any complacency," Mirza said.

The video conference, which was proposed by Indian PM Narendra Modi, was attended by leaders of all the SAARC nations.

Modi proposed to establish a COVID 19 emergency fund.

He said: " I propose we create a COVID-19 Emergency Fund. This could be based on voluntary contributions from all of us. India can start with an initial offer of 10 million US dollars for this fund," he said.

Asking all the SAARC nations to work together, the Indian PM said: " It is clear that we have to work together. We can respond best by  Coming together not growing apart."
The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) said in a coronavirus update on its website that it has temporarily discontinued Saturday truck gate hours at the ports of Savannah and Brunswick as it has "experienced a precipitous drop in imports."



However, there are brighter days on the horizon, according to the GPA.



"Bookings on the water show a strong increase, which is an important indicator for a return to normalcy," the GPA said. "Another positive factor for Savannah is increased demand from importers, with projects coming online such as new distribution centers supplying U.S. factories for domestic production.



"Further, GPA is receiving multiple reports that indicate Chinese supply lines and factories are resuming normal production," it said.



Factories throughout China shut down first for the Lunar New Year and then remained closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Port of Los Angeles has had 41 vessel calls canceled for ships expected to arrive between mid-February and April 1, according to a video update from Executive Director Gene Seroka on Thursday.

"While cargo volume has been soft, manufacturing will begin to ramp up in China, which means we should see a start of having more ships and more cargo coming in the months ahead. While the potential surge in imports may cause some logistical challenges, that likely will mean more work and a boost to the local economy," Seroka said.

Currently, all LA terminals are operational, Seroka said. "We are conducting business as usual."



The port reported the number of container ships at berth Friday was "85% of normal traffic."



The port has canceled public events and suspended school and business boat tours. The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners also has canceled its meeting scheduled for Thursday.

The Port of Long Beach has canceled its Pulse of the Port peak season forecast event, which was to take place March 25.

Story continues

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The Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) is expected to finish the current fiscal with a mere 2-3 per cent growth in cargo handling owing to the economic slowdown and novel coronavirus outbreak, officials said on Sunday.

The KoPT, which was rechristened as Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, had witnessed 10 per cent growth in cargo volume with a pre-tax surplus of Rs 65 crore in the financial year 2018-19. It had handled 63.7 million tonnes of goods last fiscal.

"Our cargo handling growth will be restricted to 2-3 per cent this fiscal. However, other than stoppage of iron ore exports to China due to unavailability of vessels, there has been no major impact in other cargo shipments so far. Iron ore exports had grown manifolds last fiscal," KoPT chairman Vinit Kumar told PTI.

Shipments to and from China account for 25-30 per cent of KoPT's total traffic.

Port officials fear that the slowdown in cargo movement may be more evident in the first quarter of 2020-21 fiscal.

The next few days will be crucial in understanding which way the situation is headed, a port official said.

"A ship takes around 40 days to arrive at Kolkata from ports in China. So far, a few ships have come from the country and the port authorities have tested crew members at Sandheads before the vessels were allowed to dock," he said.

The KoPT is following all standard operating procedures in screening the crew members but there is no restriction in movement of cargo vessels from any country, the official said.

The Centre has barred entry of cruise ships into Indian ports.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Spain's royal house has said that King Felipe VI has renounced any future personal inheritance he could receive from his father, King Emerit Juan Carlos I, over the alleged financial irregularities involving the former monarch.

The royal house said in a statement on Sunday that in addition to renouncing his inheritance, Felipe is stripping Juan Carlos of his annual stipend.

The decision comes amid an ongoing investigation by Swiss prosecutors into an offshore account allegedly operated for Juan Carlos. The account allegedly received 88 million euros (USD 100 million) from Saudi Arabia's late King Abdullah in 2008, which prosecutors believes could be kickback payments, according to the Swiss newspaper Tribune de Geneva.

On Saturday, British newspaper The Telegraph reported that Felipe was named as a beneficiary of an offshore fund that controls the Swiss account with an alleged 65 million euro gift (USD 72 million) from Saudi Arabia given to his father when he was on the throne.

Felipe denied any knowledge of the fund in Sunday's statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A motorcycle rider has died after a collision with a truck in Brisbane's north.

Police said the crash occurred on Sandgate Road in Clayfield about 10.35pm on Saturday, with a 20-year-old Ormiston man pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said the 20-year-old motorbike rider died on Sandgate Road, Clayfield. Credit:Queensland Police Service

The driver and sole occupant of the truck, a 48-year-old Regents Park man, was not injured.

Police are urging anyone who witnessed the crash or who was travelling on Sandgate Road between 10.15pm and 10.40pm and has dashcam footage to contact them.
Jyotiraditya Scindia, whose move of quitting the Congress has pushed the Kamal Nath-led government in Madhya Pradesh to the brink, is likely arrive in Bhopal on Sunday night or early Monday, a leader said.

The rebel Congress MLAs, who have been camping in Bengaluru, are also scheduled to return to the Madhya Pradesh capital by Sunday night, sources said.

Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon had late Saturday night directed Chief Minister to seek a trust vote in the Legislative Assembly on Monday, the first day of the budget session.

"Scindia ji is scheduled to arrive Bhopal on Sunday night or early on Monday morning," said Pankaj Chaturvedi, a close confidante of Scindia.

However, he did not reveal anything about Scindia's plans after arriving in the city.

Scindia had gone to Delhi on Friday after filing his nomination paper for the upcoming Rajya Sabha election as a candidate.

Sources said that on his arrival, Scindia would meet his loyalist MLAs, who resigned from the state assembly and Congress after he left the grand old party.

These rebel Congress MLAs are likely to reach Bhopal on Sunday night or early Monday morning from Bengaluru, they said.

Meanwhile, MLAs, who have been staying at a resort at Gurugram (Haryana), are also likely to return to Bhopal by Sunday night or early Monday morning, party sources said.

On Saturday evening, the Speaker N P Prajapati had accepted the resignations of six Scindia loyalist MLAs, who were ministers in the cabinet.

On the other hand, Governor Lalji Tandon directed Chief Minister late Saturday night to seek a trust vote in the assembly soon after his (governor) address on March 16.

Congress MLAs, who had been camping in Jaipur since Wednesday, returned to Bhopal on Sunday morning. They were taken to Hotel Courtyard Marriot in MP Nagar locality, about a km away from the state assembly complext and the state secretariat.

Twenty-two Congress MLAs loyal to Scindia had resigned on Tuesday, pushing the 15-month-old Kamal Nath government into a crisis.
O.T. Fagbenle may have let slip a major Black Widow spoiler. The film is Scarlett Johanssons first stand-alone movie as Natasha Romanoff and will explore the events between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. As per usual, Marvel has kept a tight lid on spoilers, yet Fagbenles recent post on Twitter may have revealed who is playing the movies main villain.

Black Widows O.T. Fagbenle | Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Turner

Everything we know about Black Widows Taskmaster

Marvel has confirmed that the main antagonist in Black Widow is Taskmaster, a villain with the ability to instantly mimic the powers and capabilities of his enemies. In the comics, the character is often hired by criminal organizations to train their men.

The only problem is that we still do not know who the studio cast to play the iconic villain.

Here's a new officially-released #BlackWidow promo image of Taskmaster eyeing up Black Widow! pic.twitter.com/XAkdkUV1SF  MCU Direct (@MCU_Direct) March 10, 2020

Based on what we know so far, Taskmaster has a major grudge against Black Widow. Unlike other Marvel films in the past, it appears as though Natasha and Taskmaster have deeply personal issues they need to settle, though exactly what happened between them remains a mystery.

The only detail we know is that Taskmaster is the current leader of the Russian spy program that created Black Widow. With that in mind, it is logical to assume that Natasha and Taskmaster have a shared history, a clue that could point to Taskmasters real identity.

Did Fagbenle reveal Taskmasters identity?

According to Screen Rant, Fagbenle plays the part of Rick Mason in Black Widow. Mason is connected to Natasha via SHIELD, though not much is known about their history together.

Marvel has not divulged any information about Fagbenles character, who has also been missing from the promotional trailers. With so much mystery surrounding Mason, Marvel fans have speculated that he will be revealed as Taskmaster.

To add more fuel to the theories, Fagbenle recently let slip a major spoiler on Twitter. In a recent post about Black Widow, the actor used the hashtag, TM. We dont know if the tag was an accident or not, but Mason is definitely a likely candidate for the role.

Not only do Mason and Natasha have a history together, but his connection to SHIELD would have put him in a position to become a major villain like Taskmaster.

Who else could be Black Widows Taskmaster?

At this point, there is no telling who Marvel has tapped to play the role of Taskmaster. So far, most theories agree that the Black Widow villain will be played by an already announced cast member, but that might not be the case.

There is a chance that Taskmaster could be played by a surprise actor that has yet to be linked to Black Widow at all. After all, this would not be the first time Marvel has surprised fans in the casting department.

The studio brought in Matt Damon for a small role in Thor: Ragnarok without anyone knowing, and few expected Thanos (Josh Brolin) to pop up at the end of The Avengers.

Still reeling from this morning's action-packed trailer for Marvel Studios' #BlackWidow? Let's break it down: https://t.co/XVFQuEK2q5  Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) March 9, 2020

The only thing we know for sure is that Black Widows Taskmaster is not Natasha, David Harbours Red Guardian, or Florence Pughs Yelena. Harbours character is shown fighting Taskmaster in the trailer while Yelenas frame is just not big enough for her to be the villain.

Beyond that, it is really anyones guess who is playing the character.

Did Marvel make this controversial change to Taskmaster?

In the Black Widow comics, Taskmaster proves to be a dangerous foe because he can instantly mimic an opponents movements. For characters like Natasha, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and Captain America (Chris Evans/Anthony Mackie), this is a major problem.

But in a new Black Widow trailer, fans are speculating that Taskmaster is using some kind of artificial intelligence in his mask to supplement his abilities.

This is exciting news for Marvel fans who enjoy seeing new technology. But it is a major disappointment to viewers who were hoping the studio would stick closer to the comics.

Nothing official, of course, has been confirmed, so fans will have to wait until we get closer to the premiere to find out for sure. Black Widow is scheduled to open in theaters on May 1, 2020.
Trump supporter Jack McGovern, 67, pulls up in his car to take a picture of the Fox News tractor trailer parked outside the Scranton Cultural Center on March 4., the day before President Trump made his first visit of 2020 to the battleground state of Pennsylvania, for a Fox News town hall-style event at the former Masonic Temple and Scottish Rite Cathedral. Read more

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt is in many ways a poster child for todays Republican Party. A businessman whose company was accused of shady practices (sound familiar?), he ran for the top job in the Sooner State in 2018 as an ultra-conservative whose distrust of Big Government extended even to the science of vaccinations.

I believe in choice, Stitt said when explaining why he not only did not inoculate his own kids  who were home-schooled  but would not sign a bill requiring vaccinations to attend public school in Oklahoma. And weve got six children and we dont vaccinate, we dont do vaccinations on all of our children. So we definitely pick and choose which ones were gonna do."

 READ MORE: Disaster socialism: Will coronavirus crisis finally change how Americans see the safety net? | Will Bunch

Stitts anti-vax extremism didnt stop either Vice President Mike Pence from campaigning for him or his election that November as Oklahomas 28th governor. Given that history, it probably wont surprise you to learn Stitts gut reaction to todays coronavirus crisis, and the growing advice from health experts to mostly stay at home and practice social distancing.

On Saturday night, Stitt tweeted a photo of him and two of his unvaccinated sons mugging for the camera in a crowded food hall and bragging that its packed tonight! #supportlocal #OklaProud. He later deleted the tweet amid a social media outcry, but the episode felt emblematic of a bigger phenomenon that many have noted as the coronavirus crisis escalates  that how seriously one treats the global pandemic may depend on ones politics.

Some of the evidence is anecdotal. Garrett Felber, an assistant professor at the University of Mississippi, posted on Twitter Saturday night that it was "[t]ruly incredible to travel from Oregon, where people are buying out stores, to Nashville, where were met by a driver to [the] carpark who tells us this is overblown and will be over in a month. Felber called his journey from the sometimes lampooned epicenter of modern leftism to Fox News-fried, blood-red Tennessee [a] study in the power of media.

This isnt just Felbers imagination. Pollsters are seeing something with the coronavirus crisis that theyve not seen previously in national emergencies: A steep partisan divide in peoples concern over its seriousness. The numbers in a new NBC News-Wall Street Journal survey released on Sunday morning are stark.

Democrats are twice more likely (61 percent) than Republicans (30 percent) to say they plan to stop attending large gatherings like the crowded food hall visited by Oklahomas Stitt and his kids. Theres a similar Democrat-Republican divide over canceling travel plans ( 47-23 percent), a belief that daily life will change (56-26 percent), and worries that they or a family member might contract coronavirus (68-40 percent).

Whats up with that? Many are quick to blame Americas denier-in-chief, President Trump. (The slow, inept and often dishonest response from the Trump White House has been so predictable that I havent even columnized about this, because I dont know what more to say beyond I told you so.) The presidents weeks of dont-spook-the-stock-market denial  which peaked when he told a packed South Carolina rally on Feb. 28 that coronavirus concerns were the Democrats new hoax, post-impeachment  has certainly resonated with his GOP base that has increasingly become a cult of personality.

But coronavirus may also be another case where Trumpism is a symptom of a deeper disease  one that festers in a media petri dish where the average Republican spends his or her waking hours immersed in talk radio and outlets like the Fox News Channel or Fox Business. Downplaying the health warnings from white-coated eggheads with all their university degrees  in a way that amplified Trump and ridicules the liberal media  was right in their wheelhouse.

In the most publicized incident, Fox Business prime-time host Trish Regan went even too far for her conservative bosses in a monologue that accused Democrats of using the coronavirus crisis to destroy and demonize this president, against a logo that read, Coronavirus Impeachment Scam. (She was later put on hiatus.)

Regan may have been an extreme case, but she was also emblematic of a feedback loop between Trump and conservative media in seeking to downplay the public health threat. On March 6, the president visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and cited what he was seeing on Fox News as evidence coronavirus in America was under control, just an hour after that networks medical correspondent told viewers there was no evidence coronavirus was more serious than the flu (most experts strongly disagree).

Wrote Margaret Sullivan, the Washington Posts on-fire media columnist: Imagine if [Fox mogul Rupert] Murdoch ordered the network to end its habit of praising him as if he were the Dear Leader of an authoritarian regime and to instead use its influence to drive home the seriousness of the moment.

Yet thats hard to imagine  because the misinformation about coronavirus from a Republican president and his state-run media isnt an anomaly, but the culmination of a war on science, expertise and intellectualism that has been going on for more than a generation. To be sure, the anti-vax conspiracy theories of Oklahomas Stitt are on the extreme end of this (although just last November Fox and Friends, Trumps favorite show, lauded actor Rob Schneider for standing up for free speech in an anti-vaccine diatribe).

Instead, consider the daily denial of climate-change science on Fox News and other conservative media as Patient Zero, now contaminating viewpoints on coronavirus. Even in 2019, with wildfires and floods linked to a warming planet ravishing the globe, Fox News continued to host so-called experts like Patrick Moore who told Fox and Friends the climate crisis isnt only fake news, its fake science or gobbledygook like Diamond and Silk insisting any climate change was just the speed of the Earths rotation.

 READ MORE: As floodwaters rise, GOP lawmakers are frantically building levees of climate denial | Will Bunch

Late last year, a Pew Research study on climate change found that while Democrats strongly believe that U.S. government isnt doing enough to address the problem, among Republicans there was a generational divide, Many younger GOPers actually agreed that Washington should do more, but only 31 percent of baby boomer or older Republicans felt that way. Call this the Fox News effect. The bases denial of science accepted by 98 percent or more of the worlds climatologists has given the Trump administration political cover to roll back all sorts of needed environmental rules and please his Big Oil and Gas donors.

Thats bad, but now heres what worries me  a lot  about the response to coronavirus in this smog of misinformation. The average median age of a Fox News viewer last year was 65, which means that half of a typical audience are senior citizens. Overlap that with the statistics on the coronavirus, which so far have shown that the virus is more deadly the older that patients get. The early evidence that the death rate among those over 80 years old and older is roughly 15 percent, with the numbers beginning to accelerate at age 50. Thats some Venn diagram.

Simply put, the folks who are watching Fox News and believing Republican pols like Trump or Stitt are the same folks telling pollsters they dont plan to stop going to busy restaurants or flying on airplanes, and  unfortunately  are often the same people wholl require hospitalization or will perish if they contract the virus from those crowds. It is exactly the worst fear for those of us whove been screaming that denial of science which has become central to what it means to be a Republican in the 21st century  will ultimately have dire consequences.

With coronavirus cases in the United States still rising exponentially, there are some signs even the conservative media can no longer ignore this, with a few Fox News host like Tucker Carlson urging a more aggressive response. Thats good, but I worry that its too little, too late. If you have an older relative who gets most of their news from conservative media  and almost everyone I know has at least one  talk to them and try to give them the best real-time information. Its so important. Your TV remote should never be an implement of death.
Tricky Clues

So, I have no idea what Darth Vaders childhood name is, nor have I road-tripped through Yukon Territory. So there was a spot, the middle square of 24A, that was beyond my ken. I used a bit of deduction to get the ALCAN Highway  ALaska CANada  before giving up and checking the answer for my own piece of mind.

Another big gotcha that I notice is 51D, which could easily be beats instead of BESTS. Since 62A, SCARS, isnt a throwaway, I thought this was a challenging spot for a Monday. And one more  a variant spelling this time. Did you know that SKOL has never been in the Times puzzle? Of course, Skoal has been, several times, but I think the omission of that A adds a little difficulty. A good excuse for some celebratory aquavit, perhaps? Otherwise the cluing today is bright and breezy.

1A: Were all washing our PAWS a lot lately, so Im OK with Mr. Cee anthropomorphizing the odd kitty. Fanciers know that cats resort to paws only as face-cleaning appendages, preferring to rely on their highly specialized tongues to do the job.
ATHENS, Greece - A tanker carrying around 190 migrants run aground in rough weather just outside the port on the Cycladic island of Kea, near the Greek capital, the coast guard said Monday.

The tanker hit the outside of the breakwater at the port in the early hours of the morning, in gale-force winds and rough seas. All passengers managed to disembark of their own accord, and were being temporarily housed by the municipality in a local hotel, the coast guard said.

Further details on the tanker werent available. It was unclear where the ship had sailed from and what its intended destination was.

While thousands of migrants head to eastern Aegean Greek islands from the nearby Turkish coast, they generally use inflatable dinghies. Kea, the Cycladic island nearest the Greek capital, is far from the Turkish coast. It is rare, though not unprecedented, for migrant smugglers to use cargo ships or tankers to ferry migrants to Greece.
A colorful sign directs people where to leave donations for the Williamstown Food Pantry in the foyer of the St. Patrick and Raphael Parish Center on Southworth Street.

North County Food Pantries Alter Pickup Routines

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  Food pantries in Northern Berkshire County are grappling with how to keep serving residents in need while keeping everyone safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the St. John Paul Charity Center food pantry in Adams announced it will be closed until further notice, both the Al Nelson Friendship Center in North Adams and the Williamstown Food Pantry have opted to modify their routines to continue to remain open.

Carol DeMayo, who runs the Williamstown Food Pantry, said absent any formal direction from officials, she and her team decided to pre-bag items and leave them on a table outside the pantry's outside door for people to drive by and grab this Wednesday, March 18, which is the pantry's regular distribution day. Volunteers will not be able to assist clients, and after the distribution is complete, they will wash and sanitize the tables used.

"We're going to try to pre-pack as best we can," said DeMayo, adding that while most people will get the same items, such as soup and pasta, she knows the pantry's clients well enough to be able to customize as needed for people who are vegetarian or diabetic, for instance. "Take a number, sit in your car, and we'll wave when it's ready."

Similarly, the Al Nelson Friendship Center will distribute one pre-packaged box of food per household at the front door of the food pantry at 45 Eagle St. this coming Wednesday during its normal distribution hours. This is a change from its usual operations, during which people typically gather to wait down the street at First Baptist Church. The food pantry volunteers also will no longer be able to give rides home.

"We'll see how it goes and re-evaluate it afterward," said food pantry-co-founder Mark Rondeau, who said the changes were made after the center's board met twice last week to discuss how to maintain operations. "It's so new, everybody's sort of making it up as we go along."

Rondeau said the pantry takes a van weekly to the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts and so they are pretty well-stocked and prepared for this week's distribution -- though donations of regular food staples and personal care items like toilet paper and soap are always appreciated.

"We're pretty good. We can always use peanut butter," he said.

Over in Williamstown, the situation is a little different. DeMayo said the food pantry is still taking donations of both money and items, which can be left in the foyer of parish center on Southworth Street, where the outer door is always open.

But she said the pantry is in desperate need of personal care items like soap and toilet paper, which DeMayo said she was unable to purchase for the food pantry this week at area stores. She said she fears only being able to give each client one single roll of toilet paper.

"We could not buy any it anywhere," she said, adding that they are also short on soaps of all kind, dish soap, laundry detergent and bleach. And though the pantry had recent donations from students at both Pine Cobble School and Williamstown Elementary School, regular food supplies are running low, as well.

The pantry usually serves 20 to 30 people, but DeMayo said she wasn't sure if there would be fewer people coming this week because they are scared to come out or more people because of the shifting economic landscape. Two weeks ago they served 29 families, but she said she wouldn't be surprised if they had to add extra distribution days to accommodate delays in supplies as well as more families in need.

"No matter which we way we turn, everybody's nervous," she said. "I'm worried, everybody's worried, but we have to do the best we can."

Other food pantries

Stephentown, N.Y.: The Stephentown Food Pantry continues to serve the community with food assistance during this time. Extra health precautions and accommodations have been put in place so clients can be served as safely as possible. If someone needing food is sick and/or wishes to avoid contact with others, they should phone the food pantry at 518-487-8606 and leave a message with their phone number. Arrangements can be made for them to pick up a prepacked food bundle. Or they can designate a friend to collect their food for them.

The Stephentown Food Pantry offers assistance to residents of Stephentown, N.Y., and Hancock, Mass. The pantry is open every Saturday morning, weather permitting, from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Stephentown Federated Church, 1513 Garfield Road (County Route 26). Appointments are not needed. As always, requests for help are confidential. The pantry is an equal opportunity provider. For information, call 518-487-8606.

Even before the current health crisis Stephentown Food Pantry use was increasing. The pantry relies entirely on community donations of money and food items to keep operating. If you would like to help out, please send your check made out to the Stephentown Food Pantry to the Stephentown Food Pantry treasurer at P. O. Box 387, Stephentown, NY 12168. Donations can also be made to the Regional Food Bank of Northeast New York, 965 Albany Shaker Road, Latham, NY 12110. Mark it for use by Stephentown Food Pantry and your contribution will be available for us to purchase low cost food from the Food Bank.
A trainee officer of the Indian Forest Service (IFS) who returned from Spain recently has tested positive for COVID-19.

This is the first case of novel coronavirus in Uttarakhand.

Speaking to ANI, Uttarakhand Additional Director Health Yugal Kishor Pant said: "A trainee of IFS has recently returned from Spain along with a team. Samples of 25 people were sent for testing, out of them, reports of 10 people have come. 17 people have tested negative for coronavirus while one person that is the IFS trainee tested positive."

Additional Secretary said, "A team of doctors is finding out how many people the infected person had came in contact with as they will also be kept in isolation. "

According to official sources, the Uttarakhand government has declared novel coronavirus an epidemic and shut all multiplexes, cinema halls, degree colleges and technical institutes across the state till March 31.

As of Sunday evening according to official estimates put out by the union health ministry total number of confirmed cases in India stood at 107. Further, according to Kerala health minister two more people have tested postive for COVID19 in Kerala on Sunday evening, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 21.

Two patients have died, one from Delhi and the other from Karnataka.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
T he mother of a 17-year-old boy stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack has shared her ongoing heartbreak as an exhibition shining a light on the families of victims of violent crimes opened in London.

Speaking on what would have been Shaquans 23rd birthday, his mother Jessica Plummer said she still feels like she is in a dream, five years on from his death.

I woke up this morning and (realised) my son is not there, she said.

It's like Im still living in a dream and it's like something that never happened because I'm not accepting it.

"People say you need to accept - but if they are going through the pain like myself they will understand.

17-year-old Shaquan Sammy-Plummer / Jessica Plummer

Ms Plummer and six other families - five from London and one from Leicester - are part of the Wake Up exhibition that opened at University of East London this week.

It displays recorded interviews reconstructing the last moments of their loved ones and their thoughts on what needs to change to reduce violent crime.

Curator Allison Vitalis said the lasting effects of violent crime is often ignored in the UK and vital support for affected families is lacking.

I want people to understand some of their pain and also to realise that they really need help, she said.

One of the biggest issues is funding for providing support, with Ms Vitalis saying there's "no funding out there".

Allison Vitalis curator of Wake Up Exhibition

Ms Plummer described the opening of the exhibition as heartbreaking but was grateful for a platform for her and other families to share their experiences.

We can talk about how we feel, how much we are hurting how much we miss our loved ones and the fact that its five years on and we still feel the same and knife crime is still on the rise.

No matter what we do we don't see any changes but we parents don't get any support.

We get to the trial and it's like everything is about the perpetrator - we have no say. The trial is worse than your child getting killed.

You have nobody to hold your hand - you're just in that place on your own.

We don't get justice because, at the end of the day, our children don't come back to us.

The only place we have is in the cemetery.

Ms Plummer, who lives in London, and has since started the Shaquan Sammy-Plummer Foundation, said breaking the silence to tell others about their loved ones and how they feel is a big step towards fixing the issue.

Shaquan was a very loving kind hearted boy who loves everybody just like his mum. He was a very nice young man, a lovely, lovely and loving young man.

We don't want anymore young children dying.

(This exhibition) is a way of educating parents and young people as they come in and listen to the pain and suffering we are going through. By listening it is helping them to help their young children.
PIETA House has announced this Sunday that all Darkness into Light walks across Ireland are to be postponed until later in the year due to Covid-19.

The walks, which raise awareness and funds for the charity, were due to take place on May 9 in four Limerick locations: Kilmallock, Limerick City, Murroe and Newcastle West.

Over 250,000 people were expected to come together in the pre-dawn hours of May 9 in almost 20 countries worldwide.

CEO Elaine Austin has reassured the many local organisers and fundraisers that the event, which has such significance for the many Irish people whose lives have been touched by suicide, will go ahead at a later date.

While the decision to postpone this years event was difficult, the safety of local committees, fundraisers and the thousands of people who gather together to participate in Darkness Into Light is our highest priority. The event will indeed take place, but at a more appropriate time when the threat of the coronavirus has passed. We are assessing an autumn date and will confirm this as soon as possible.

The postponement of Darkness Into Light leaves Pieta with a very significant funding gap. Pieta provides free counselling to those who are engaging in self-harm or have suicidal thoughts and provides free bereavement services to those who have been touched by suicide.

The charity relies on the generous support of those who walk each year at Darkness Into Light in order to provide this important national mental health service free of charge, and the event also supports 17 like-minded charities in Northern Ireland.

The need for public support for Pieta is greater than ever added Austin, especially now when so many people are feeling stressed and anxious during this time of crisis. I am appealing to all those who had planned to walk with us on May 9th to donate at Pieta.ie so that our vital services can continue. It is important at this time that people do not feel alone.

"Furthermore, I am asking the wider public to think of those who need our support and to visit Pieta.ie to donate. We rely on the support of the public for 80% of our funding and we need their help more than ever.

Marguerite Sayers, Executive Director, Electric Ireland, expressed her solidarity with the Pieta

cause and echoed Elaine Austins comments.

Electric Ireland has been a long-term partner of Pieta and a supporter of the vital services that they provide. We know that it has been a difficult decision to postpone this years event, but also believe that it is the only prudent and

safe course of action based on the current Coronavirus situation. This postponement will have a huge impact on Pietas ability to raise vital funds and provide ongoing counselling. Ironically, demand for Pietas services may increase over coming weeks as

people come to terms with the impact of the pandemic. In Electric Ireland, we are working hard with Pieta to keep the organisation viable and we would therefore also urge our customers and the wider public to please register for the Darkness Into Light walk later in the year, or to donate directly at Pieta.ie."

For more information or to make a donation, visit www.pieta.ie/donate or call (01) 541 4746.




People wait in line to go through customs at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in Grapevine, Texas, on March 14, 2020. (Austin Boschen via AP)

Long Lines for Returning Americans Amid Increased Medical Screenings at Airports

Americans returning to the United States from abroad are seeing long lines and hours-long wait times for medical screenings at airports, as stricter travel restrictions are being implemented over the novel coronavirus.

Over the past few days, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency and a travel ban on travelers from Europe, most recently extending the ban to Britain and Ireland on March 14, which were previously exempt. Foreign nationals who have visited countries such as China, Iran, and certain European countries are blocked from entering the United States.

Returning U.S. citizens and permanent residents who had been in countries deemed a risk must arrive at one of the 13 airports listed by Homeland Security, as of March 13. Among the official list is John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington state.

In an acknowledgment of the lengthy wait times, the Department of Homeland Securitys (DHS) acting Secretary Chad Wolf said the department is working on increasing the scope of screenings. In some places, including Chicagos OHare International Airport, some passengers waited for over four hours.

DHS is aware of the long lines for passengers who are undergoing increased medical screening requirements, Wolf said on Twitter on March 15. Right now, we are working to add additional screening capacity and working with the airlines to expedite the process.

Wolf said he understood that the situation was very stressful for passengers. The World Health Organization (WHO), after resisting for weeks making the declaration, announced on March 11 that the spread of the virus was a global pandemic.

In these unprecedented times, we ask for your patience, Wolf said. It currently takes ~60 seconds for medical professionals to screen each passenger. We will be increasing capacity but the health and safety of the American public is first & foremost.

In a March 15 Twitter post, Trump said theyre doing very precise Medical Screenings at our airports.

Pardon the interruptions and delays, we are moving as quickly as possible, but it is very important that we be vigilant and careful, he said. We must get it right. Safety first!

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport also commented on the long wait times in a Twitter post.

We ask for your patience as CBP/CDC agents are conducting enhanced screening for passengers, which may cause additional delays, the airport said on March 14. These measures are important for the health and safety of all.

Meanwhile, some airlines are reducing the number of flights. American Airlines announced on March 14 that it will reduce international capacity by 75% year over year from March 16 to May 6. It will suspend most international flights to Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and South America.

This change is in response to decreased demand and changes to U.S. government travel restrictions due to coronavirus, the airline said in a release.

American Airlines said it anticipates domestic capacity will also drop in the coming months.

On March 14, the Trump administration said it wanted Congress to financially support the U.S. airlines negatively hit by the virus. United Airlines said March 14 that it would begin cutting flights to the United Kingdom. Southwest Airlines moved toward flight cuts, and Delta Air Lines plans to start cutting flights to the UK, according to Reuters.

Canada is one of the few countries that has not banned foreigners from entering.

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.

The vast majority of people recover. People with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover, according to WHO.

Travelers from restricted countries in Europe, China, and Iran are advised to self-quarantine for 14 days after reaching their final destination in the United States. The virus first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Acting Brazillian Ambassador to the US, Nestor Forster, has tested positive for coronavirus. According to reports, Forster sat at US President Donald Trump's table on March 7, during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago. The Brazilian Embassy announced Forester's positive result in a press conference on March 13.

Testing for Trump 'not necessary'

As per reports, Forster is the third person to test positive for coronavirus after visiting the Presidents South Florida resort the previous weekend. According to reports, the US President's physician, Sean P. Conley, said that people who were in close vicinity to the President had tested positive but President Trump did not need to be quarantined or get tested for coronavirus at the moment.

In the memo, Conley added that that Trump's interaction with the infected was low risk for transmission as per CDC guidelines and since Trump has yet to show any symptoms, testing would not be necessary.

As per reports, the Pentagon in the United States has announced new domestic travel restrictions for service members and their families. The announcement was made on March 13 and is an attempt to try and contain the outbreak. According to the memo, all domestic trips are cancelled till May 11.

Read: Google Denies Trump's Claim Of Nationwide Coronavirus Portal, Calls It A 'trial Website'

Read: Google Engineers Helping To Build Self Check Website For Coronavirus: Donald Trump

The US President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency in the United States due to the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic. According to reports, public life in the US has come to a halt.

Large scale testing

On March 13, US President Donald Trump said that Coronavirus testing on a large scale will begin soon. While the US President tweeted this announcement, he did not provide any further information. The tweet was made in the context the Centers of Disease Control and the Obama administrations handling of pandemics in the past.

In his tweets, Trump said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is one of U.S. organisations leading the fight against the deadly infection, had inadequate and slow testing methods for large scale pandemics. The US President didn't elaborate on what exactly these inadequacies were.

Read: Trump's Doctor Confirms He Shook Coronavirus-positive Person's Hand But 'no Need For Test'

Read: Trump Will 'Most Likely' Get Tested For COVID-19 After Initially Saying He Won't

After that Trump said that all the 'Red Tape' had been cut and that large scale testing will begin soon. Trump also took this chance to criticise his predecessor, Obama, and claimed that the former President had made changes that made things all the more complicated.


A 28-year-old casting director



was arrested on Sunday from a Mumbai suburb for allegedly uploading private photographs of a 27-year-old budding actor with her male friend on social media, police said.

The accused has been identified as Mahavir Tak alias Nakul.

According to a police official, the victim's boyfriend is also a casting director, whom Tak had given Rs 3 lakh towards casting work for a serial a few months ago.

However, as the latter did not start work on the project, Tak demanded his money back and took away the mobile phone of the another casting director.

In December last year, one of the friends of the actress told her that he had seen her private photographs with her boyfriend on social media, the official said.

"We have arrested the accused on the charges of molestation and under the sections of Information Technology Act. He was produced before court on Sunday which remanded him in police custody," an Oshiwara police station officer said.

According to police, Tak had created fake accounts on various social media platforms.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
"To see entire generation of Bergamo residents taken in this way - it is unthinkable," said one doctor working inside the Hospital Pope John XXIII, where nearly 150 people have died in recent days. Loading The small town of Medicina, just outside Bologna, is mourning the death of three men,all friends, who frequented the same social-recreation centre. Francesco Nanni, 77, was the club's vice-president, Oddone Tolomelli, was the centre's cook, known for the excellent ragu sauce he made, while Luigi Balduini was the club's handyman and a passionate card player with a fixed seat at the corner table. All died of coronavirus complications and more than a dozen others have fallen ill. In the Tuscan city of Prato, at least eight elderly have been infected in a senior home. Since the more stringent lockdown measures were passed, 9,000 senior centres across the country have been closed, leaving thousands of elderly isolated in their homes.

Some have been abandoned by caregivers who no longer want to take public transport. Others have been approached by fraudsters posing as healthcare workers saying they need to do COVID-19 testing or disinfect their homes. Loading Of the country's 13 million elderly, approximately five million live alone. For them, the shutdown of their recreational centres and inability to see their grandchildren and extended family has created a new level of anxiety and solitude. "They are alone, being bombarded all day by information on television - we're not talking about anything but this outbreak - and they are not seeing their grandchildren, so there is less contact with one of the things that gives them the most joy," Eleonora Selvi, spokesman for the Senior Italia Federanziani association for the elderly, told The Sunday Telegraph. In both the Lodi province and in Bergamo province, elderly couples both became infected and died within hours of one another in the last week. Severa Belotti, 82 and Luigi Carrara, 86, died in hospital after being confined for days at home with fevers. They had been married 60 years.

"The psychological impact on the elderly population has been dramatic," Selvi said. "To say 'you will be sacrificed in ICU because there are more elderly victims and you have less of a chance of making it', well that is an alarming situation." Loading Pressure on the intensive care capacity in Bergamo increased after 71 of the region's doctors, nurses and healthcare workers tested positive for the virus. Many of them now lie in crowded intensive care wards with oxygen helmets hooked up to respiration tubes. One exasperated anaesthesiologist revealed this week that the lack of available breathing machines and beds were already forcing doctors to make devastating decisions about who to save and who to let die, based on age and health conditions. "We decide depending on their age and the condition of their health. That is not me saying that, but the medical procedure manuals," Christian Salaroli, 48, told Corriere della Sera, the Milan daily. "If a patient aged 80-95 has massive respiratory problems, plus organ failure, then its all over." Salaroli added that Lombardy's strained hospitals were also taking a devastating emotional toll on his colleagues. Experienced nurses are breaking down in tears and doctors with nerves of steel now trembling.

The government has scrambled to respond, striking an urgent deal with China to ship 30 tons of emergency equipment, including breathing machines, oxygen helmets and masks, which arrived in Rome on Friday from Shanghai, along with nine Chinese COVID-19 medical experts. Loading In Milan, plans are under way to transform - in a week's time - an unused trade fair pavilion into a dedicated COVID-19 field hospital with 600 ICU beds. The new protocol for treating the elderly was produced by the civil protection department of the Piedmont region, one of those hardest hit, and was signed by Mario Raviolo, the director of the regional crisis unit. The document, which sources said was expected to be applied throughout Italy, says: "The growth of the current epidemic makes it likely that a point of imbalance between the clinical needs of patients with COVID-19 and the effective availability of intensive resources will be reached.
President Donald Trump said Sunday that he's strongly considering a full pardon for Michael Flynn after the Justice Department ordered a review of the criminal case against Trump's first national security advisor.



"I am strongly considering a full pardon," Trump said in a Twitter post.

Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about the nature of his conversations with the Russian ambassador prior to Trump's inauguration as president.

He was originally charged by special counsel Robert Mueller, who was tasked with investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and any links between Trump campaign members and Russian officials.



Flynn is in the process of trying to withdraw his guilty plea, claiming that he's the victim of misconduct by prosecutors.



Attorney General William Bar has ordered a review of Flynn's case by an outside prosecutor, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri Jeffrey Jensen.



Flynn's sentencing is on hold as a judge reviews his claims.



--CNBC's Dan Mangan contributed to this report
The UK/IR Chapter of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) over the weekend inaugurated the West Midland (Telford) Branch on the 7th March 2020 at Oakengate, Telford, UK.

As part of the NDCs preparation to recapture power, the party has started to open up more branches in the diaspora. The West Midland is one of the most densely populated areas where Ghanaian reside.

The party elected nine officers to spearhead its affairs in the West Midlands locality.

The NDC UK/IR Chapter chairman, Alhaji Alhassan Mbalba opined that although there was a ruling on the implementation of the peoples representation act, ROPAL, the Electoral Commission could struggle to bring ROPAL to the diaspora community before the election 2020.

On his part, the Milton Keynes Branch chairman, Mr Conrad Dumbah underscored the need for existing branches to support new branches to grow. He argued that the expansion of the branches was crucial for the partys overall agenda of making the NDC attractive in the UK.

The special guest speaker of the occasion was the president of the Ghana Union Midlands, Dr Quaye Botchway. In his address, Dr Botchway said, Grassroots in the political context, is about the use of people in a given district, region, or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at the local, regional, national, or international level

The ultimate source of your authority will reside with the people at the grassroots level, so dont delude yourself into feeling protected by the organs of Government, Dr Botchway advised.

In his acceptance speech, the chairman of the newly inaugurated branch, Mr Kenneth Johnson appealed, to members of the chapter to embrace variety and focus their minds on the elections. He argued that, with renewed mind and commitment, the NDC could win the elections with minimal efforts.

Let us work hand in hand in order to return His Excellency John Dramani Mahama to the flagstaff house to rescue our country from the corruption, ineptitude, incompetence, nepotism, cronyism and laziness that has engulfed the NPP administration led by Nana Addo, Mr Johnson emphasized.

The members of the inaugurated branch pledged their unwavering support for HE John Dramani Mahama. They hinted, they were giving it all to the general election and urged everyone to adopt more branches or constituencies.

The inducted officers are as follows;

1. Mr Kenneth Johnson - Chairman 2. Ms Evelyn Kudiabor - Treasurer 3. Mrs Kate D. Jones - Secretary 4. Mr Felix J Charway - Youth Organiser 5. Mrs Isabelle Peace Diateson - Womens Organiser 6. Mr Alexander Ayittah - Communications Officer 7. Mr Frank Nyarko - Executive Member 8. Mrs Rita Armah - Executive Member 9. Mr Augustine Nyarko - Organiser

There were many speakers at the function such as former chapter chairman, Mr Emmanuel Kofi Kwakye.

Mr Kwaakye recounted the formation of the branch and the many hurdles the executives and members had to endured. He wished the branch well and said he was optimistic the branch will grow from strength to strength.

There were representatives from other sister branches such as Birmingham Branch, South London Branch, East London Branch and the NDC Proforum UK.
Matt Lucas was last week announced as a new co-host on The Great British Bake Off, replacing Sandi Toksvig.

He joins Noel Fielding plus judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood in the Bake Off tent.

Im chuffed to bits to be joining the most delicious show on television. I cant wait to break bread with Noel, Prue and Paul and meet the brilliant bakers. And bearing in mind my love of cake, Ive already ordered some much larger trousers in anticipation. See you in the tent! he declared.

Noel Fielding said, I love Matt. I love his warmth and his comedy and his big joyful smile. I think if we play our cards right we could become the next Chas and Morph.

Paul Hollywood said Im a genuine fan of Matts, it is such great news he will be joining us in the tent, hes a fantastic addition to the team.

Prue Leith added, The combination of Matt Lucas and Noel Fielding! Will we stop laughing and get any filming done?

Richard McKerrow, CEO and Executive Producer, Love Productions said, Its extremely exciting to have Matt joining the Bake Off family, hes a phenomenal talent with a huge heart and we cant wait to enjoy the mischief and mayhem he and Noel will inevitably create in the tent. Our new batch of bakers will be in very safe hands.

Filming for the eleventh series begins in coming weeks.

The Great British Bake Off airs in Australia on LifeStyle FOOD.
Gurdaspur (Punjab) [India], Mar 15 (ANI): The devotees have express disappointment on the Ministry of Home Affairs' decision to temporarily suspend the travel and registration for Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan from Monday.



"For several years we had been demanding the opening of Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor so that the Indian Sikhs could get the opportunity to pay respect to this religious site," said Rashpal Singh, one of the devotees who visited the Gurudwara on Sunday.

He also said, "I pray that the coronavirus pandemic ends soon and the devotees are again be able to visit the religious site."

Jaswinder Kaur, another devotee, said, "I am lucky to have had got the visit the religious site but some many won't be able to visit the Gurudwara for some period. I pray that this pandemic ends soon so that I can get another chance for the darshan."

"Each person travelling through the Kartarpur corridor to Pakistan is being thoroughly checked for any symptoms of coronavirus," Adesh Sharma, medical officer, told ANI.

He also said, "We are taking their temperature and keeping a note of their travel history by checking their passports."

Meanwhile, the government has also restricted international passenger traffic through land check-posts to contain the spread of COVID-19.

All passenger movements through immigration land check posts at borders with Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar will be suspended from March 15 till further orders, the ministry had said last week.

The ministry also issued a list of check posts which are exempted from this notification.

"There will be intensified health inspections at all these entry points and any traveller whether Indian or Nepalese or Bhutanese or from any other country showing COVID-19 symptoms or with a recent travel history to one of seven COVID-19 outbreak countries namely Italy, Iran, China, Spain, France, Germany and Republic of Korea shall be subjected to quarantine in the appropriate facility of state or central government," the ministry said in a statement.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that Europe has become the new 'epicentre' of the global coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than 15 lakh people with over 4000 deaths. (ANI)


Traditional economic theories of our rational behaviour struggle to explain these scenarios. Under traditional models, we should buy toilet paper only if we need toilet paper, and panic buying and hoarding is completely irrational, especially given there is no threat to ongoing supply.

John Nash, famously played by Russell Crowe in the film A Beautiful Mind, won a Noble prize in economics for explaining why when humans need to co-operate to reach the best outcome, they often fail, leaving everyone worse off. His work helps explain why the rush on toilet paper is occurring.

Things are even more serious for Australians finding it harder to buy essential medicines, as demand runs so hot that shortages are emerging. Not shortages created by suppliers unable to keep up production (theyve drastically expanded capacity), but shortages created by people panic buying.

We are into week two of the great toilet paper run of 2020, and things are getting serious at our place.

Woolworths is banning change of mind refunds on goods such as toilet paper. Credit:AAP

What these traditional models miss, and Nash was able to show, is that our optimal strategy will depend on what other people are doing. The so-called Nash equilibrium arises when we must cooperate with others to reach the optimal outcome.

The example often taught in economics classes is that of two criminals caught by the police and interviewed separately. They have a choice of denying everything (co-operating with their co-accused) or betraying the other (not co-operating). If they both co-operate and remain silent, they each get one year behind bars. If one breaks the deal and betrays the other, that prisoner walks free while the other  who keeps silent  gets three years (and vice versa). If they each betray the other, they both get two years.

This dilemma now applies to the great toilet paper run of 2020. To be honest, economics tutors around the country are silently relieved that they can now swap out the very tired example of the two prisoners for the much fresher example of the loo paper.

We normally all co-operate by buying toilet paper and other grocery items only when we need them, and the shops stock enough to meet our demand. In response to the possibility of being quarantined or an imagined shortage of goods, some of us thought we had better buy more than we needed. Suddenly, the social co-operation that underpinned the market for toilet paper and other essentials was broken.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Health Dr Tony Holohan pictured outside Government buildings Picture: Gerry Mooney

Pub representatives have said they are "seeking clarity" on how pubs should operate during the outbreak when they attend a meeting in Government Buildings this afternoon.

The groups will meet with political representatives today after a clip of people socialising in a Dublin pub circulating online was met with calls for pubs to shut.

The Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) said pubs not adhering to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's advice against mass gatherings of more than 100 people is "seriously irresponsible."

"The LVA welcomes the responsible actions taken by the majority of Dublin pubs over the weekend, with a large number deciding to close of their own volition and others seeking to follow the guidelines to the best of their ability by limiting numbers, implementing strict hygiene protocols and spacing out tables," a spokesperson said.

"We are also aware of social media reports of a small number of pubs flouting the coronavirus guidance. These pubs have been seriously irresponsible and their behaviour is completely and utterly unacceptable.

"From the outset, the LVA has been calling for clear expert guidance from the Government and the Expert Advisory Group to ensure there is a consistent approach for all 7,000 pubs around the country.





"Protecting the public health is the overriding priority.

"The LVA is fully committed to playing our part. We will absolutely support whatever measures the Government deems necessary at todays meeting."

The Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) will also attend the meeting this afternoon.

Padraig Cribben, VFI Chief Executive, says publicans have "tried their best" to introduce social distancing measures, but it has proved to be "an impossible task."

Publicans have tried their best to implement social distancing guidelines but for many its proved an impossible task. While we fully support the governments health guidelines our members do require urgent clarity about how to manage the current situation.

We stand ready to help in any way we can but the government must give us clear and unambiguous instructions that we can pass on to members. Like all small business owners, publicans are worried about the future.

We hope today will bring some certainty about the immediate future. Business supports are essential if the trade is to make a comeback.

The meeting comes after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he "may seek enforcement powers" from the Dail to deal with pubs and clubs that are not complying with his advice against indoor gatherings of more than 100 people.

Mr Varadkar repeated the advice he issued on Thursday recommending no indoor gatherings of 100 people should take place, and that those that have been out socialising this weekend should avoid the elderly or people suffering with medical conditions.

His comments come after a clip of people socialising in a pub in Dublin was circulated online yesterday, leading the hastag #CloseThePubs to trend on Twitter.

Hundreds of pubs across the country have voluntarily closed over the Covid-19 crisis already, with more expected to follow suit.
The Bishop of Limerick has confirmed that all Masses - not just Sunday Mass - will no longer be held in public as the country continues to fight against the outbreak of Covid-19.

Bishop Brendan Leahy also called for people who aren't immediate family to avoid going to funerals.

In a message read out to parishioners at St Johns Cathedral in Limerick today, Bishop Leahy will say that "radical measures" are needed to combat the virus.

For the sake of a few weeks, we need to make sacrifices," he said.

"Of course, we are afraid of cutting back in business and services; thats completely understandable but we are at a point where it is now so evident that if we dont take short-term sacrifice, we will hurt long term.

We will hurt economically but we will hurt from a health perspective. And people will die.

While the Bishop said the government hasn't called for a lock-down, people should reduce their interactions with one another, he added.

"Ireland is known for its good social cohesion. This is a unique, unprecedented crisis calling for us like never before to pull together to stop the virus spreading.

While wanting to attend a funeral is understandable, to do so could "enter into the realms of recklessness", he said.

"Social distancing must be observed now as difficult as that is. Once this crisis has passed, and it will pass, another ceremony can be arranged for all those who should not now attend."

Bishop Leahy added that social media should be used to communicate with each other, instead of meeting in person.

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Two teenagers, both 14, have been charged with murder following the death of 15-year-old Angus Beaumont, who was stabbed in the chest in Redcliffe on Friday night.

Police alleged the 15-year-old boy was stabbed in what was believed to be an unprovoked attack.

Angus Beaumont, 15, died in an alleged stabbing attack at Redcliffe, north of Brisbane, on Friday night Credit:Change.org

The boy was allegedly stabbed when three males confronted a group of four teenagers in a car park off Anzac Avenue in Redcliffe about 8.10pm.

He was rushed to Redcliffe Hospital but could not be saved.




Haiti - Politic : Meeting of the new Minister of the Interior with the National Federation of Mayors





Thursday, Audain Fils Bernadel, the new Minister of the Interior and Territorial Communities, accompanied by the members of his Cabinte, held his first working meeting with the Executive Committee of the National Federation of Mayors of Haiti (FENAMH) which brought together of the presidents of the departmental associations of mayors of the country.



During this meeting, Minister Bernadel invited the mayors to fully assume their role and to contribute to meeting the basic needs of the population. On the other hand, he insisted on the need for all mayors, without exception, to update their financial records to be submitted to the audit of the Superior Court of Accounts and Administrative Litigation CSC/CA, with a view to the obtaining discharge from their management of public funds.



In addition, Bernadel took the opportunity to announce certain provisions of its administration aiming to settle progressively and in the short term, the arrears of allowances due to the mayors and the Councilors of Administration of the Communal Sections (CASEC) as well as the session costs of the Administration Communal Sections (ASEC) and city delegates. He also pledged to advocate at the highest level of the State to guarantee local elected officials access to the investment funds provided for in the national budget.



The presidents of the departmental associations of mayors asked in particular for a reform of the fields of competence of the elected officials, to remove all the confusion at the level of the attributions of the various local authorities, often at the base of conflicts of jurisdiction.



Discussions also focused on the need to come together to strengthen the preparation of the population with regard to the threat of the introduction of Covid-19 on national territory. The mayors, under the direction of the Ministry have agreed to develop prevention and awareness-raising actions by commune, intended to prevent and protect their population from the spread of Covid-19.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Update: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to order bars, restaurants to close dine-in services over coronavirus concerns

Michigan bars and restaurants need to get serious about shrinking crowds ahead of St. Patricks Day, according to state officials and hospitality industry representatives.

During a Sunday afternoon press conference from Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, joined by public health officials and industry representatives, urged business owners and customers alike to make public health their top priority, even if it means sacrificing revenue from big bar tabs on Tuesday.

Reducing capacity to 50%, encouraging take-out orders and abiding by the 250-person limit set for public gatherings in an executive order signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are all ways to keep Michigans service industry operating while also stopping the spread of coronavirus, Nessel said.

Ingham County will be following Oakland Countys lead and reducing capacity at all bars and restaurant to 50%, officials announced during the press conference.

This reduction lessens crowds and takes the 250-person limit a step further in pushing for social distancing for small- and large-capacity businesses alike, Ingham County Health Department Director Linda Vail said.

We know from fire codes and maximum capacity in buildings that safety is not a one size fits all number," Vail said. Likewise in a public health emergency.

The Oakland County Health Division issued the 50% capacity order and released a sign that businesses can post on their doors after state officials announced Saturday night the number of confirmed Michigan cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, had risen to 33 as of March 14.

The half-capacity cap goes into effect Monday, March 16, for establishments in Ingham and Oakland counties. The only statewide mandate on establishment capacities is the executive order limiting gatherings to 250.

Representatives from the Michigan Restaurant Association and Licensed Beverage Association spoke to the importance of following the precautions as a way to keep the hospitality industry afloat despite the major revenue hit.

There is no question that bars and restaurants already have taken a hit and will continue to due so during the coronavirus outbreak, Scott Ellis, Executive Director of Michigan Licensed Beverage Association, said.

Bars and restaurants are known as gathering places so its going to be a tough year on businesses that rely on days like St. Patricks Day, he said. Many are already losing business on canceled events.

Participating in the reductions is a precautionary measure so the hospitality industry does not completely shut down, he said.

This is something that has happened in other parts of the world that would cripple Michigans hospitality industry," he said. By being diligent now we can avert a larger crisis.

While acknowledging that St. Patricks Day is one of the biggest bar days of the year, Nessel warned that liquor licenses could be revoked if businesses violate the executive order.

Thats a pretty extraordinary reason to follow the law, she said. We hope that will incentivize them to do the right thing.

In a message to young, healthy residents who are less at risk of contracting coronavirus, Nessel urged them to act as though they are already a carrier of the virus and practice social distancing instead of going out on St. Patricks Day.

Your actions today affect the futures of your friends and family members," she said. By not violating these orders and by observing strict social distancing and hand washing measures the life that you save could be your own or could be the life of someone you love.

MORE MICHIGAN CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE 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:

 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.

Below is a county-by-county map of Michigan tracking confirmed COVID-19 cases, followed by a map of possible exposure sites and a chart based on the states daily reports. The maps will be updated as more reports are released.

If you are reading this story on mobile and cant see the map, click here to view it on the web.

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More coronavirus coverage on MLive:

Coronavirus price-gouging addressed by Gov. Whitmer

How to find free lunch for Michigan kids with schools shut down

Coronavirus maps show cases and exposure sites in Michigan

With 9 coronavirus cases, Oakland County orders restaurants, bars to cut customer capacity

Coronavirus has Michigan spring-break travelers scrambling: Its all up in the air

Coronavirus concerns change Kroger store hours, Meijer deli service in Michigan
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have officially completed their royal duties, though they still technically remain royals until the end of the month. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been at odds with the media since they wed, and they recently decided to step back from their roles as working royals in favor of a more private.

The couple might constantly battle rumors about their relationship and dynamic, but the two made something extremely clear through their recent hand-hold at a royal engagement: Theyre very much in love.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images

Harry and Meghan stepped back from the family to live a more fulfilling life

Back in January, Harry and Meghan announced that they would officially put their royal duties behind them. The two had returned from a six-week break in North America, and it seemed to be the one thing that thoroughly convinced the two they needed to leave. Ever since joining the royal family, Meghan and Harry have had a difficult time winning over the public. The media has given Meghan a lot of negative attention, and it didnt bode well for her and Harry. While some people gave the couple heat for leaving, others completely understood.

People have suggested the couples marriage wont last

Harry and Meghan wed back in May 2018 in what appeared to be a fairytale wedding. It seemed like it was the start of the best adventure of their life, but still, some people dont think the two will last. Princess Dianas former psychic once said that Harry and Meghan wont stay married for more than three years. Meanwhile, Kelvin Mackenzie, royal expert and former editor of The Sun, said Meghans rise to the top will end up causing the couples demise.

The two had a heartfelt hand-hold at a recent engagement

Despite what people say, Harry and Meghan continue to let the world know how strong their relationship is. A video surfaced on Twitter that zoomed in on the couple holding hands as they stood for their standing ovation at the Mountbatten Festival of Music.

The video showed the couple rubbing their fingers on one anothers hands and gripping each others hands very closely. Though they werent speaking, that body language clearly indicated that each of them wanted to remind the other how in love they are.

It seems they are working hard to keep their marriage strong

There will always be people who will try to tear the couple down, but they only continue to stand back up. Theyve been through a lot with the media, and though some believe its had a negative impact on their relationship, that doesnt actually appear to have been the case. Meghan and Harry seem stronger than ever, and it was clear from the way they were affectionately holding each others hands.

The couple removed themselves from a toxic situation, and now that theyre living on their own, it will likely only make their relationship stronger. And being far away from their in-laws might build those relationships even more, too.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Senior Congress leader DK Shivakumar is a busy man nowadays. On Saturday, the newly-appointed KPCC president went around Bengaluru meeting many senior party leaders seeking their blessings and taking their suggestions on how to rebuild the party. Starting from senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, he met Opposition leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, former Union

Minister KH Muniyappa and outgoing KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao.

In the coming days he is expected to meet senior Congress leaders, including Janardhan Poojary and Veerappa Moily. A senior Congress leader, on condition of anonymity, told The New Sunday Express, The Congress is in a do-or-die situation. It needs cooperation from various leaders. At present, there are many factions within the party which is not a good sign.

This is why we are losing elections. There is a need to show unity and Shivakumar has started meeting every single leader who is prominent in their respective region. He has a tough road ahead, but the party high command believes that he will bring all of them together to rebuild the party. Shivakumar is also meeting his party workers at the grassroots level.

Some of them had gathered at his Sadashivanagar residence. They came with bouquets and shawls to felicitate him. Shivakumar will take charge of the KPCC in April. Right now, Assembly Sessions are on in Karnataka. There are Parliament sessions going on in Delhi too. Once they are done in the first week of April, he will conduct a huge event where national leaders will be invited, said sources.
Two top doctors believe an experimental drug has helped save the lives of American coronavirus patients

George Thompson, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California Davis Medical Center, was part of the team that administered the drug, remdesivir, to a sickly American woman who tested positive for the virus on February 26.

'We thought they were going to pass away,' Thompson told Science magazine Friday about the patient - who was the first known 'community spread' case in the United States.

However, 36 hours after the woman was admitted to hospital, doctors decided to treat her with remdesivir, which is administered by intravenous drip and 'cripples an enzyme named RNA polymerase - used by many viruses to copy themselves'.

Two top doctors believe an experimental drug has helped save the lives of American coronavirus patients. George Thompson, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California Davis Medical Center, is pictured at left. Richard Childs, an assistant surgeon general and lung specialist at the National Institutes of Health, is seen at right.

The patients were treated with remdesivir, which is given by intravenous drip and 'cripples an enzyme named RNA polymerase - used by many viruses to copy themselves'. A stock image is pictured

Because the patient was in critical condition, the doctors were able to get 'compassionate use permission' from the FDA to test remsdesivir outside a clinical trial setting.

Within a day, the woman saw a drop in her 'viral load' and her condition began to improve.

Thomson did not reveal whether the patient has been discharged from the hospital due to privacy concerns, but stated that she is 'doing well'.

Similarly, remsdesivir helped 14 Americans who tested positive for coronavirus after they traveled on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Richard Childs, an assistant surgeon general and lung specialist at the National Institutes of Health, told The Wall Street Journal Friday that the patients were treated with the experimental drug in a Japanese hospital.

Childs described the patients as 'critically ill people and their average age is 75'.

'Many of them were probably going to die in a short amount of time, and two weeks later nobody has died and more than half of them have recovered. It's just absolutely amazing,' he remarked.

Remsdesivir helped 14 Americans who tested positive for coronavirus after travelling on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship

Coronavirus cases have continued to rise in the US, with 2653 testing positive as of Saturday afternoon

However, both doctors concede that more testing needs to be done in regards to remsdesivir.

Thompson says the drug could cause liver toxicity in certain patients, and says other companies have also been coming forward with experimental drugs that could be effective.

Meanwhile, Childs says of remsdesivir: 'It's going to take us a while to figure out what the impact of the drug has been'.

However, a 'randomized, controlled clinical trial' to evaluate the safety and efficacy of remdesivir in hospitalized adults diagnosed with coronavirus has begun at the University of Nebraska, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Other companies have been coming forward with experimental drugs that may also be effective in the fight against coronavirus
Paul Dunning has recently been appointed as Chair of Trustees of the Quiet Waters Christian Retreat Centre. He explains how he got involved and how others can do the same.

Paul Dunning has recently been appointed as Chair of Trustees of the Quiet Waters Christian Retreat Centre. He explains how he got involved and how others can do the same.

Magdalene Group: Women's Specialist Practitioner The Norwich-based Magdalene Group needs a Womens Specialist Practitioner to provide gender and trauma-informed support to women experiencing multiple disadvantage and provide support to female sex workers and victims of sexual exploitation and coercion. Read more

Ringsfield Hall offers residential trips on Norfolk border Ringsfield Hall provides children with outdoor residential opportunities through school trips. Activities relate to nature, care for the planet and very special care and respect for the physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of each child. Read more

Ministers outreach at Sheringham model boat lake Local Christian, Graham Pickhaver has been sharing his testimony by giving out tracts at the model boating lake in Sheringham. Read more

Chance to meet Norwich Christian leaders at lunch Christian church and ministry leaders are invited to the first Transforming Norwich lunch of 2022 on Wednesday January 26 at St Stephen's Church in Norwich city centre. Read more

God of the second chance Jane Walters encourages us to embark on a new start with Jesus as 2022 gets underway. Read more

Yarmouth church provides free hot food for needy Kingsgate Community Church in Yarmouth has re-started their Hot Food Hub, providing free hot meals for local people in need. Read more

Norwich Christian unity service set for RC Cathedral All Christian churches and groups are invited to an ecumenical service on January 20 at St John's Cathedral in Norwich to pray for Christian unity. Read more

Aylsham Christian charity seeks needy recipients The Cressey Henry Page Charitable Trust has been helping the poor of Aylsham for nearly 500 years, and is now seeking more needy people who need help. Read more

Centre offers Christian holidays on the Norfolk coast With stunning locations in North Norfolk and North Wales, Christian Endeavour Holiday Centres are places to relax the body, replenish the mind, and rejuvenate the soul. Read more

YMCA Norfolk needs two Wellbeing workers YMCA Norfolk is looking for a Wellbeing Engagement Worker and a Business Support Officer - Wellbeing Matters. Read more

Two Norfolk churches share in 473k grants boost Two historic Norfolk churches are to share in a 473,700 funding package from the National Churches Trust, the UKs church building support charity. Read more

Hundreds fed at free Norfolk Christmas dinners Hundreds of people who would have spent Christmas Day alone were fed and entertained across Norfolk by church and charity groups. Read more

Norwich church volunteer inspired by kindness A woman who has volunteered for The Salvation Armys Toys and Tins Appeal since 2016 said she will carry on doing so for as long as possible. Read more

Norwich pastor publishes new book Dr Alan Clifford, pastor of Norwich Reformed Church, has published a book on the life and ministry of 18th century church leader Edmund Calamy the Elder. Read more

Life is full of uncertainties for us all says Dean The Dean of Norwich Cathedral, the Very Rev Jane Hedges, say that for every single one of us, at the moment, life is full of uncertainties. Read more

Pantomime cast take part in Norwich carols The cast of Norwich Theatre's pantomime Dick Whittington and his Cat attended a Christmas Carol concert at St Peter Mancroft Church on Thursday December 23 to spread festive cheer and the Christmas message. Read more

Bishop's Christmas refugee message In his Christmas message the Bishop of Norwich the Rt Rev Graham Usher, says at Christmas we look back to the story of someone who soon after his birth, became a refugee, we look back to a story to help navigate our future. Read more
Americans returning to the U.S. after visiting certain foreign countries  including most of Europe  will be required to fly into one of 13 designated airports equipped to perform medical screening for coronavirus infection, according to senior officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) who briefed reporters on background about the latest travel restrictions meant to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Starting Saturday, most foreign nationals whove visited China, Iran or one of the 26 countries in Europes Schengen Area  where citizens can travel freely across national borders  within the past 14 days are barred from entering the United States. These travel restrictions will soon be expanded to include the United Kingdom and Ireland, which were exempted from the original order announced by President Trump three days ago.

United States citizens and legal permanent residents whove visited one of the restricted countries within 14 days will be rerouted by their airlines, at no additional expense, to one of the 13 designated airports.

And all of them will be subject to a 14-day quarantine in the U.S.  at home under self-quarantine in most cases, or in a guarded facility for those considered at highest risk of spreading the virus.

Travelers walk through an almost empty departures area at the international terminal at Logan International Airport in Boston on Friday. (Joseph Prezioso / AFP via Getty Images)

The regulation includes travelers whose U.S.-bound flight segment originates somewhere else.

If youre flying from Africa but you were in Europe last week, you still have to come through one of those 13 airports, a senior DHS official explained.

The 13 airports are:

Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), Massachusetts

Chicago OHare International Airport (ORD), Illinois

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Texas

Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW), Michigan

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), Hawaii

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Georgia

John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York

Los Angeles International Airport, (LAX), California

Miami International Airport (MIA), Florida

Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), New Jersey

San Francisco International Airport (SFO), California

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), Washington

Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), Virginia

Story continues

Upon arrival at one of the designated airports, travelers will proceed through regular customs clearance and then on to enhanced entry screening, where DHS-contracted medical personnel will question returning travelers about their medical history and health status. Randomly selected passengers and anyone whose history suggests possible coronavirus exposure will undergo temperature screening. Travelers who exhibit potential signs of the coronavirus or other red flags will then be referred to medical personnel from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stationed at the airports for a more in-depth medical review, the official said, and anyone deemed to be possibly infected will be quarantined at or near the airport according to local health ordinances.

Everyone else covered by the new restrictions will be provided with information on the coronavirus and instructed to self-quarantine at home for 14 days. The DHS officials said that personal information collected from each traveler during the secondary screening process, including their name, contact information and address of final destination, will be passed along to local health officials who will monitor their self-quarantine regimens.

President Trump at a press briefing about the coronavirus pandemic alongside members of the coronavirus task force on Saturday. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

DHS officials noted that such procedures have already been in place at 11 of the 13 designated airports since the beginning of February, when Trump announced the first set of coronavirus-related restrictions on travel from mainland China. In late February, those restrictions were expanded to include Iran. A senior DHS official said that since Feb. 2, only 17 people whove returned to the U.S. after traveling to China or Iran have been placed in guarded quarantine facilities. Over 30,000 people, however, have been asked to self-quarantine at home, a number that is expected to grow as the new restrictions on travel from European countries goes into effect.

The latest round of travel restrictions have caused some confusion since they were first announced by Trump during a televised address from the Oval Office on Wednesday evening. Contrary to Trumps statement that he was ordering a 30-day suspension on all travel, including cargo, to the U.S. from Europe, except the United Kingdom, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf released a statement clarifying that the restrictions would would apply only to foreign nationals whod recently visited the 26 countries in Europes Schengen Area.

During Saturdays press briefing, the senior DHS official emphasized that the ban on entry to the U.S. does not apply to U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents and their family members under age 21, as well as foreign diplomats and others on official government travel, although they will have to fly into designated airports and be screened. Cargo flights are not covered by the restrictions.

On Friday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, stated that Europe has now become the epicenter of the pandemic, with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from China.

While Trump has repeatedly touted his early decision to halt travel to the U.S. from China as a success, the U.S. has seen the coronavirus spread across the country in recent weeks, prompting Trump to declare a national emergency on Friday as nationwide cases surpassed 2,000.

During a press briefing at the White House on Saturday, Trump suggested that he was considering restricting domestic travel for parts of the United States that have been most heavily affected by the epidemic, though no specifics were provided. A few hours later, a senior DHS official told reporters that there is no expectation of any domestic travel restrictions at this time.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:
Mysuru: The renowned Mysore Palace will remain closed for tourists for a week from March 15 to 22, in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, Mysore Palace committee said on Saturday.

The Karnataka government has ordered shutting down for a week all places and activities where people gather in large number including swimming pools, shopping malls, schools, colleges and cinema halls, state Health Minister B Sriramulu said amid the coronavirus threat.

This comes after Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa chaired an emergency meeting with ministers and senior officials on Friday to discuss the situation.Earlier, schools in the state had announced early summer vacation for their students this academic year as a precautionary measure. Other public places have been shut down in the state amid the coronavirus scare.

The central government had on Thursday said that the death of the 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi in Karnataka was confirmed to be caused due to co-morbidity while he was also tested positive for COVID-19. The man visited Saudi Arabia on January 29 and returned to India a month later on February 29.

Till date, India has reported two deaths and 84 confirmed cases of the deadly coronavirus.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. The virus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan last year has spread to more than 100 countries worldwide, infecting over 1,30,000 people.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Vacations have been cut short, students studying overseas have scrambled to get home, upcoming trips have been canceled.

The spread of coronavirus across the globe has affected nearly every aspect of the travel industry, and untold travelers, as well.

The new ban on travel from Europe to the U.S., announced Wednesday by President Donald Trump and in place for 30 days, shocked many in the industry, including numerous travelers from Cleveland. The ban does not affect U.S. citizens, although that was not clear initially.

Read more: Travel chaos and miscommunication in the era of coronavirus

We heard from many travelers in response to a Call for Readers published earlier this week in The Plain Dealer and on cleveland.com.

Heres what they had to say:

Clevelander Alan Glazen, in Portugal for a meeting, heard the announcement of the new ban and scrambled to rebook his flights home.

Was on two computers and two phones till 4 a.m. frantically trying to get home before Friday. The prices were soaring at such a rate that before we could pay for a reservation, the price doubled. We ended up having to pay $7,500 in economy for three of us. And then we read that Trump got it wrong! Americans can return at any time!

Glazen ended up canceling his new flights, and was scheduled to fly home Monday. But its still not clear whats going to happen, he wrote. On the other hand, 30 days in Lisbon is not an unpleasant possible outcome.

**

Cindi and Dale Darin are also worried about their travel back to Northeast Ohio. The Brecksville couple spend the winter in southern Spain, with a planned return to Cleveland in late March.

They wrote: We have 18 days remaining before our flight home, but with the lack of thoughtful leadership demonstrated by our President, we have no idea what is to happen next. Our lease runs out at the end of the month, our visas run out at the end of the month, our plane tickets had us flying through Dublin, Toronto then to CLE. With an announcement that travel has been cut to and from Europe, except for U.S. citizens, we are not sure how or when we will get back. We cannot even make plans because of the lack of knowledge provided by our leadership. Hopefully this is just going to be another memorable Spanish adventure, but I really wish our government would have a plan that would allow us to deal with their ineptness.

**

Jim Clark of Brecksville is worried about his son, who traveled to Germany last week to attend a funeral. He is scheduled to return home on Thursday.

I texted him Wednesday, passing on Trumps misinformation that We will be suspending all travel from Europe, except the United Kingdom, for the next 30 days. When the travel restriction was later clarified (somewhat), it became probable that he should be able to return, although flight availability and testing/quarantine requirements are still unknown.

(Editors note: The travel ban from Europe to the U.S. was expanded by the president on Saturday and now includes Great Britain and Ireland, starting Monday.)

**

Diana Molchan of Hinckley wrote about a May trip to Italy planned with her husband and three adult children. We planned to start in Naples, with stops in Rome, Florence, and a couple smaller towns. Then we'd take a night train to Vienna and also visit Bratislava and Budapest before flying to Istanbul and then home.

She continued, As this virus began to make the news, my initial thought was that it wouldn't be that bad and perhaps Europe would be a little less crowded. It didn't take long before we realized that the situation was a lot bigger than that. We haven't yet canceled anything, but it's looking less and less like we're going to be able to make the trip.

**

Steve Cremer of Hudson had two trips canceled in recent weeks. The first was a Viking Cruise, scheduled to start in April from the Netherlands, which he will be able to reschedule for any time in the next two years.

The second was a spring break trip to Cancun for his daughter. The travel agent kept saying there are few [coronavirus] cases in Mexico and travel was OK. After researching, it looks like Mexico isnt testing much in tourist areas and with an average stay of 5-6 days and an incubation period of 5-14 days, many wont show symptoms until well after they return. Plus, as numbers go up with kids on break going there, hanging out in close proximity, as well as new State Department alert[s], it seemed prudent to cancel, or risk at minimum a quarantine upon returning or not being allowed to return for a while.

He was pleased to find out that that trip, too, can be rebooked for travel into 2021.

Writes Cremer: We feel that the primary task for us at this time is decrease the risk to those around us as well as ourselves. The likelihood of becoming severely ill is low as an individual, but looking at the lesson from Italy, its apparent a huge spike in cases will overwhelm the health care system and we need to mitigate the intensity of the epidemic.

**

Art Thomas of Lakewood is scheduled on an April cruise to and through Europe, but is having second thoughts. I was looking forward to a transatlantic crossing that begins with seven days at sea, followed by port visits to the Azores, Normandy, Paris, Bruge, and terminating in Amsterdam.

Thomas is now hoping the Holland America cruise is canceled. My thought is that even if 100% of the passengers and crew are virus free, that could change at any time after visiting the first port. For that reason, I intend to not take the cruise, even if HAL does not cancel it. Our deadline for doing this is March 31. These will be some tense days.

**

Finally, a couple from Pepper Pike shared their story about why they cancelled a recent trip to Los Angeles.

My wife and I, who are in our early 80s and in very good health, were scheduled to fly to LAX for a wedding near L.A., to be followed by a four-day vacation in Southern California. After a lot of thought and discussion, we decided that we would be uncomfortable in airplanes and airports in California. We felt that there would be many people in the airports and on the planes leaving who had disembarked from cruises. Although we didnt feel threatened, because of our good health, we felt that we would be uncomfortable and feared the possibility of being quarantined in California for two weeks. If were going to be quarantined, wed rather be confined to our own home.

Read more: Tourism to Cleveland, region, likely to drop due to coronavirus concerns
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A 19-year-old man was being held Saturday night in connection with multiple stabbings that occurred Saturday at Sams Club, according to the citys spokeswoman.

Jose Gomez was arrested after four people  two children and two adults, one of whom was a Sams employee  were injured, according to the press release. He was arrested by an off-duty Border Patrol agent.
Vittorio Gregotti, an Italian architect who designed the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics stadium, died Sunday at the age of 92 after catching the novel coronavirus, Italian media said.

Gregotti died of pneumonia after being hospitalised in Milan having contracted COVID-19, the AGI agency and the Corriere della Sera newspaper reported.

He also designed the Arcimboldi Opera Theatre in Milan, a futuristic structure built to allow the opera season to continue while the La Scala underwent renovation in 2002-2004.

Paying tribute, fellow Italian architect Stefano Boeri called Gregotti a "master of international architecture" who "created the story of our culture".

"What a great sadness," he wrote on Facebook.

Gregotti's wife Mariana Mazza has been hospitalised at the same Milan hospital, Corriere della Sera said, without providing details on why.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Oneida County Executive, Anthony Picente, Jr., during a 3pm Sunday briefing, said there are still no positive coronavirus cases in Oneida County. He urged people not to listen to rumors, saying that any official word of a positive test in the county will come from his office or the governor's office, and that he would immediately share with the public, news of any positive test results. He says the county had more negative test results overnight, and is currently awaiting results on about 15 people.

Picente said county government is working on ways to address the daycare needs of parents affected by his announcement on Friday that the county's public schools would be closed until April 14th. He said the daycare needs of healthcare workers must be addressed first, saying that they are everyone's first line of defense against the virus itself.

The county is also assisting local districts in providing food for underprivileged children. Many schools in the area have set up or are setting up food plans for students. The county asked you to contact your school for more information on that.

Picente, during his address, directed all senior centers in the county to close until April 14th, adding that frozen meals would be delivered to seniors in need once a week. The county executive has also made a request, through NYS Homeland Security, to cancel Wednesday's village elections and says if there is no action, he might take action regarding the elections.

Picente says the DMV will be closed for a week, and the situation re-evaluated on a weekly basis.

Picente says a call center will be set up on Monday, with different numbers to call for different questions and concerns. Picente and Congressman, Anthony Brindisi, will give an additional update on the coronavirus Monday at 9:45 a.m., during which Brindisi says they will make a major announcement.

The latest numbers in New York State show that 729 people now have the coronavirus. Three people have now died from the virus, the latest, a 79-year-old woman with multiple, major, underlying health issues, who died Sunday, in a New York City hospital.
A man in his late 50s has died after testing positive for coronavirus.

The man, who had underlying health conditions, was being treated at the Bristol Royal Infirmary.

His death takes the number of people who have died in the UK after contracting the virus to 22.

Health officials have not yet announced the number of new daily cases for Sunday.

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

As of 9am on Saturday, 21 people were confirmed to have died after contracting Covid-19.

A total of 1,140 had tested positive for the virus since the outbreak began.

In a statement, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust said: "Sadly, we can confirm that a man who was being cared for at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, and had tested positive for Covid-19, has died.

"The patient who died was in his late-fifties and had underlying health conditions.

"The family has been informed and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time. We will not be commenting further and ask that everybody respects the family's privacy."

The man was from the North Somerset area.

Councillor Don Davies, leader of North Somerset Council, said: We are so sorry to hear this news and our heartfelt condolences are with the family and all who knew him as they come to terms with their loss.

I understand that the family have requested privacy at this difficult time and I ask that everyone respects their wishes.

I am sure the news will be met with sadness in the wider community and it is important that everyone remains calm and follows the latest national advice on the steps needed to reduce the spread of infection.

Matt Lenny, director of public health at North Somerset Council, said: We are working with health colleagues to do everything we can to stop the virus spreading and ensure the people of North Somerset are protected.
Midland ISD Superintendent Orlando Riddick said earlier this month that should Midland ISD follow the playbook that created Gen. Tommy Franks Elementary it would scar the community.

Riddick said closing Sam Houston Collegiate Prep is not what the community needs and there is no desire to take 300 kids, send them elsewhere and turn the lights off.

That is what Midland ISD did with the former Crockett Elementary campus in east Midland. Crockett was in peril in terms of its academic performance because its streak of failing academic years was also among the longest in the state.

The Midland ISD board decided in 2017 to close the campus, move the student population to other campuses and reopen the campus as Gen. Tommy Franks Elementary with a student population from what has been called the 349 corridor -- generally north of Loop 250 and east of State Highway 349. This past year, Franks ranked as one of four Midland ISD schools to earn either an A or B from the Texas Education Agency, making it one of the top-performing campuses in Midland.

The academic turnaround at this campus is good for the neighborhood and the entire community, said Trevor Hawes, a member of the Midland ISD Communications Office, in an email when asked if closing Crockett left a scar in east Midland.

Hawes added in the email response that the strategic plan of an academic turnaround within the district has changed since district leaders decided on the academically successful conversion to Franks. Hawes said Midland ISD now uses a Call for Quality Schools process to solicit innovative ideas to improve learning, particularly at our underperforming neighborhood schools.

The Call for Quality Schools, according to the district, allows Midland ISD to seek partners inside and outside the district to design new and reimagine existing in-district schools, programs, and to identify new and existing talent to support our most at-need students.

The call for quality schools is part of the Lone Star Governance program, developed by Midland ISD board members and led by Board President Rick Davis, before Riddicks arrival in Midland. Part of the Lone Star Governance program is to allow certain autonomy for campuses and their leaders. With the Call for Quality Schools, Midland ISD has been busy with its Midland on the Move transformation, making changes that include use of in-district charter schools.

The use of in-district charters, going back to those initial Lone Star Governance meetings in late 2016 and early 2017, was a change for a school board that was somewhat wary of charter school concepts. Leaders at that time, such as James Fuller, said they also had not always seen eye to eye with the Texas Education Agency, which was working with Midland ISD on Lone Star Governance, because of the districts academic performance

At least twice in the past five years, including last year, the Texas Education Agency has sent letters to MISD because of issues with failing schools.

The result of the transformation, thus far, has included designating Milam, Carver Center, Goddard Junior High and Bunche Elementary as innovation schools. Midland ISD also has contracted to work with two out-of-community corporations for in-district charter work. This year, the Dallas-based Young Womens Preparatory Network came into Midland and partnered with Midland ISD to open the Young Womens Leadership Academy.

This upcoming fall, IDEA Public Schools will be the operator of a second in-district charter, taking over Travis Elementary in southeast Midland. Travis now is among the campuses across Texas with the longest failing streaks. Travis has failed for five straight years compared to Crockett, which failed seven-straight years before closing. Sam Houston Collegiate Preps four-year failing streak also is among the longest in the state. Midland ISD officials said the campus current academic performance has left district leaders with no alternative.

A third alliance could be approved at Midland ISDs board meeting this month. A company called Third Future, which operates three charter schools in Colorado, is interested in taking over Sam Houston as an in-district charter. This potential merger has been addressed in a board meeting, at a meeting with parents and staff members and at a community meeting earlier this month. Third Future executive Mike Miles is the former superintendent at Dallas ISD. While Third Future is still in its infancy, Miles, like Riddick, has been connected with the national group Chiefs for Change. Miles also was superintendent in Dallas when current Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath was a Dallas ISD board member.

One meeting about the Call for Quality Schools took place before spring break at Midland College. A second was planned for. Wednesday but is among meetings canceled because of the coronavirus.

At the meeting at the Carrasco Room at MC, Riddick said the Call for Quality Schools will take time to implement and bring success.

He said the first year was about finance, and the second year was spent developing the model. The third year has been about implementation, Riddick said.

In response to questions, Riddick said he has heard that Midland ISD may be moving too fast to bring this type of change to the community.

I dont think we are moving fast enough. We have kids who dont have the time, he said.

Riddick said he couldnt be certain of any of the transformational programs being implemented. He also questioned why anyone would think the appropriate path forward is to do the same thing over and over and over.

We have to do something; that is what I am doing, he said. If it fails, I will do something else.
Actually unspools in a double helix of innuendoes and accusations at the height of the #MeToo movement.

Amber and Tom have arrived at Princeton University as freshmen. Amber is Jewish; Tom is African American. They spend a night together in a haze of alcohol.

The Vortex Theatre will stage Anna Zieglers Actually beginning on Friday, March 20. The show repeats on weekends through April 12.

Before their first freshman trifecta Amber and Tom have flirted after psych class, hooking up drunk and then appeared as adversaries at a hearing to adjudicate an accusation of rape. The play balances both points of view.

At first, Ziegler gives every reason to believe that Amber is not only willing to have sex, but is also the aggressor. Tom can be impulsive and cavalier; he enjoys playing the field.

She stops and he pulls her back, director Jen Stephenson said. It calls in questions of consent.

The pair deliver monologues directly to the audience.

We get to see the joy that their characters had up to this point, Stephenson continued. We get to see her other sexual experiences that she feels similarly about.

We look at them now and we think we didnt really give consent in that situation. Also, what happens if you give consent, then change your mind?

To complicate the fog, Tom traces a history of being targeted as an aggressor, especially when it comes to white women.

Black men, especially through relationships with white women, have been inappropriately accused of things they did not do, Stephenson said.

The play refuses to take sides, leaving that decision up to the audience.

Thats my favorite part, Stephenson said.

Actually stars Marcus Ivey (The Heart is a Lonely Hunter) and Nadine Pineda (Fun Home.) Stephenson previously directed Pump Girl at Mother Road Theatre.
Copyright  2020 Albuquerque Journal

Events have been postponed, schools have been ordered to shut down for weeks, and even some church leaders have canceled services, but homeless shelters and meal sites  serving hundreds of people who are likely at high risk for complications from COVID-19  are staying open.

This poses challenges for medical providers, staff who work at shelters around the city and advocates as they try to figure out how to best keep homeless people safe and the virus from running rampant.

They go to a meal site where there might be 100 to 300 people eating dinner or lunch at the same time. Theyre going to a shelter where there are a lot of people sleeping in relatively close proximity to each other, said Lisa Huval, the deputy director of the citys housing and homelessness efforts. I think without really proactive efforts  because this is very contagious  this could easily spread at some of these sites that serve a large volume of people at one point in time.

Huval said service providers, city, county and state officials and representatives from the New Mexico Department of Health have been holding regular conference calls trying to figure out the best way to keep homeless people from contracting COVID-19 and spreading the virus throughout the population.

She said that the Albuquerque area has nine shelters with a total of about 900 beds.

Individual shelters and other places are working through their own plans, Huval said. The city has a role to play in just bringing all these stakeholders together and also identifying where are the core challenges.

High risk factors

Its difficult to determine exactly how many homeless people live in Albuquerque, and the numbers fluctuate night by night, month by month.

Officials estimate that approximately 5,000 households experience homelessness over the course of a year in Albuquerque.

A spokesman for the New Mexico Department of Health said the department doesnt know whether anyone who has been tested for COVID-19 is homeless. But authorities have said the majority of the people who have tested positive for the virus so far contracted it while traveling or through contact with household members who tested positive.

Huval said there is no evidence that rates of infection are higher among homeless people, but that several factors could make the majority more susceptible to severe symptoms. Although coronavirus is highly infectious, it is deadliest for older people and those with compromised immune systems.

We think people experiencing homelessness are definitely at high risk of having complications if they do contract COVID-19, Huval said. One is that many folks are older, many also have underlying health conditions, which we know is another high risk factor, and of course, people have difficult life situations and that can compromise their immune system and make them more vulnerable to illness.

Jenny Metzler, the executive director of Albuquerque Healthcare for the Homeless, also noted that many of the preventative measures people are taking to head off the spread of the virus  such as frequent hand washing, quarantining and social distancing  are much more challenging for those who dont have homes.

People are living either in encampments or very crowded shelters or other settings, Metzler said. Of course its exacerbated and exponential almost by definition.

She said her facility has not recommended any of its clients get tested yet, but they are anticipating that will be a challenge, too. If we have people who need to be screened and assessed and need to be referred for a test, are they going to get on public transit? Do we have our staff transport them, Metzler asked. Were talking to (city and state officials) and trying to think how there could be a better systems approach.

Screenings soon

The Westside Emergency Housing Center, the citys largest shelter 20 miles outside town, serves between 300 and 450 men, women and families each night and employs 82 workers with 22 on staff at a time.

Huval said the centers staff have set up a pod, which can sleep between 50 and 75 people, to use as an isolation unit for those who might be experiencing symptoms. She said they hope to start conducting screenings, including taking temperatures, at the pickup locations before people get on the bus to the shelter.

The Medical Reserve Corps could start screenings people at pickup locations at Coronado Park north of Downtown and Gods Warehouse on East Central as early as Monday.

Were going to have tents set up so we can provide some degree of privacy for people as theyre being asked these screening questions, Huval said. If someone answers yes to the screening questions, they will be transported out to the Westside Emergency Housing Center in a van specifically set aside for that purpose.

Huval said that at the shelter they will keep people who might have COVID-19 in separate rooms until they can get tested and the results returned. If the test comes back positive, they will be kept in an isolated pod with other people who also tested positive.

Those folks will be in the isolation pod for whatever period of time they need to stay, I assume thats the 14 days or until they recover, Huval said.

She said staff will also look for people who may start experiencing symptoms while theyre at the shelter, and workers are cleaning all surfaces every two hours.

Providing care

In response to questions, an NMDOH spokesman said the department is concerned about homeless populations contacting COVID-19.

We are working and communicating with homeless advocates and service providers in New Mexico to implement and adapt CDC guidance for our states homeless population, spokesman David Morgan wrote in an email.

Metzler said her staff has been talking with Health Care for the Homeless sites across the country about what they are doing to address the outbreak and how to keep their staff healthy and able to continue providing care for those who need it.

She said they are also considering ways to reach those who dont feel comfortable going to get services.

Were looking at very possibly mobilizing street medicine for people who are not coming into shelters or clinics so we can reach them and really make sure we can get our services out to people, Metzler said.

North of Downtown on Friday morning, many homeless people continued to gather in small groups or encampments on sidewalks and city parks.

One man, Eric, who has been homeless since he moved to Albuquerque in 2017 said he plans to take his chances on the streets, living in a tent in an encampment with a couple of other people, rather than going to a shelter.

Last December, Eric said, he got sick with the flu twice at the shelter and he is not eager to return.

However, he said, hes not consumed with worry over the virus, either.

I know everyone else is worried about it, but we cant choose when we go, Eric said.
New Delhi: In the wake of the coronavirus scare, Zee TV in a statement on Sunday said that the channel is putting a temporary halt on onsets visits as a precautionary measure and no bytes or special stories will be allowed until the situation is under control.

"In view of the growing concern regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, Zee TV is putting a temporary halt onset for the safety of all the members of the media. Apart from onsets, no bytes or special stories will also be allowed, unless prior committed and lined up for a particular day. This is being done as a precautionary measure and as soon as the situation improves, we shall resume onset access," the statement read.

Various events, award functions, interviews, shooting schedules and matches have been called off amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Cinema halls, shopping malls and clubs have been closed in parts of India to contain the virus that has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Meanwhile, the Federation of Western Indian Cine Employees (FWICE) on Saturday suggested that shooting schedules of all the films and television shows should be stopped across India for a brief period amid the outbreak. A meeting of FWICE, Indian Motion Pictures Producers' Association (IMPPA) and Indian Film & Television Directors' Association (IFTDA) will be held on Sunday to take a decision to stall all the ongoing film and television shoots.

The number of novel coronavirus cases in India rose to 107 on Sunday, which includes one death each from Delhi and Karnataka.
Mr Ejezie Rowland, the National President, Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), has stated that the storylines of Nollywood movies are not responsible for the wave of crime in the country.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja, Rowland reacted to a report quoting Babatunde Fashola as saying that the industry encourages rituals and kidnapping.

Read Also: Facebook Closes London Offices After Employee Was Diagnosed With Coronavirus

Recall Fashola made his remark at the 4th Annual Public Lecture/Symposium organised by the United Action for Change, which had the topic Insecurity: Taking Action Against Organised Crime.

According to the minister, Nollywood movies are the foundation for some of the countrys predicament, adding that their storylines always centered on rituals, kidnapping, robbery, occultism, and cultists.

Reacting to this, the AGN President said that it would be unkind for anyone to blame Nollywood movies and its storylines for the current wave of crime in the country.

Such statement is not based on logical fact and will not, in any way, affect the industry.

Nollywood is not the cause of the ills that have bedevilled the country; some of the crises in the country have been there before the coming of Nollywood.

Before Nollywood came into existence in the 1990s, the country had grappled with series of crime. Some of the countrys ills predated Nollywood.

He said that the minister should rather appreciate Nollywood for its contribution to the country by providing jobs for unemployed graduates.

Rowland said that Nollywood had helped to curb the rate of unemployment in the country by engaging those who could have been armed robbers.

The AGN president stressed that the last film that was shot by his crew employed hundreds of people, adding that such was the situation for other films shot on daily basis.

For instance, in Asaba, about 20 films are going on at different locations and in those locations, we have at least 300 people working for two or three weeks.

Many women of `easy virtue have found their ways into the industry, thereby jettisoning their old ways and embracing a new life.

Do you know how many prostitutes have changed from their line of businesses to Nollywood? Do you know how many `idle minds have changed from their dangerous thoughts because of Nollywood?

Nollywood has proffered solutions to some of the vices bedeviling the country, he said.
Education officials and industry experts are debating the future of online learning. The discussion is important because recently hundreds of universities in the United States have moved classes online because of the spread of the new coronavirus.

For Asha Choksi, the rise of internet-based or online study programs has led to major improvements in higher education.

What its done is, its actually given a lot more power to students in terms of how, when and where they learn, the head of research for Pearson Education told VOA. Her company supervises online learning programs.

Colleges and universities worldwide have been looking for ways to provide high quality education off campus and outside of normal business hours. The decision by many schools in the U.S. to suspend in-person classes during the recent coronavirus crisis has shown how important online teaching can be. And demand for such programs is increasing.

A growing industry

The financial advising company Tyton Partners valued the online program management industry at over $1.5 billion in 2015.

Choksi, however, argues that her company is creating a path to higher education for people who might not have been able to get a degree otherwise.

Pearson Education is one of a growing number of companies that have partnered with schools to create online study aids and full degree programs. Classes meet online through video conferencing. In this way, students are able to communicate with each other and their professors even when they are far away from school.

Online learning also permits older students, who work full-time and support families, to work on their education in their free time. It can be helpful for people who might have difficulty coming to a college campus, such as disabled students or those who live far from any college or university.



Not so fast

However, recent research suggests the majority of college students and professors prefer in-person instruction. In addition, some experts are concerned that companies supervising online learning programs are not clear about the policies they have with the schools they serve.

Last year, the EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research published two opinion studies on online higher education programs. Researchers asked over 40,000 American undergraduate students and 9,500 professors what they thought about these programs. In both groups, at least 70 percent of people said they prefer in-person instruction.

Students see in-class lectures as opportunities to engage with instructors, peers, and...content, the researchers wrote. Faculty satisfaction with their overall technology experience has declined.

In-person learning is especially important in fields like healthcare and teaching. Online education can never really take its place, said Stephanie Hall. She is a fellow with the independent policy research group The Century Foundation.

Students need to experiencewhat it is theyre learning about, reading about or hearing about in the classroom. And I dont know yet the degree to which technology can facilitate that, said Hall.

She added that it is not just the user experience that is the issue. Her organization has released several studies about a number of online program managers, known as OPMs. These include companies such as Pearson Education, 2U and Academic Partnerships.

When schools make agreements with OPMs to run their online programs, they often do not make important information available to students, Hall said. This includes how much control the company has over the design of the program or whether the faculty leading the classes were involved in their design.

In addition, many colleges and universities advertise online programs as a low cost opportunity for students. But in some cases, students attending in person classes get financial aid and online students do not. This is another detail which many schools do not make clear to students.

Hall argues that rules for these programs are very limited. She said schools should be required to give all of this information to students. She also believes agreements between the schools and companies are too long and should be renewed each year. In this way, companies will improve to keep the contract.

But Asha Choksi says OPMs are already working to make their systems better. And no one can predict what these programs or higher education will look like in the future.

She noted that the EDUCAUSE study mainly centers on the opinions of traditional students, meaning those between 18 and 24 years old. In her opinion, the study does not deal with the needs of non-traditional students who just do not have the time to enter traditional programs.

Although there is a debate, online higher education is here to stay, Choksi said.

Im Anne Ball.

And Im Pete Musto.

Pete Musto adapted it for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

Quiz - Students, Professors Push Back on the Growth of Online Education Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

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Words in This Story

campus  n. the area and buildings around a university, college, or school

degree  n. an official document and title that is given to someone who has successfully completed a series of classes at a college or university

prefer  v. to like someone or something better than someone or something else

undergraduate  adj. used to describe a student at a college or university who has not yet earned a degree

lecture(s)  n. a talk or speech given to a group of people to teach them about a particular subject

opportunities  n. amounts of time or a situations in which something can be done

engage with  p.v. to become involved with someone or something

peer(s)  n. a person who belongs to the same age group or social group as someone else

faculty  n. the group of teachers in a school or college

facilitate  v. to make something easier
Prabhu Chawla By

Dynasty is survives and thrives on power, transcending geographical boundaries. Political dynasts are travelers of opportunism, who migrate from perch to perch so long as better returns are guaranteed. Political identities are negotiable since Indian royals thirst for the halcyon days of thrones and palaces. The royal movement of Gwalior dynast, the 49-year-old Jyotiraditya Scindia, to the saffron citadel from the Congress habitat where he had grazed sumptuously for 18 power packed years reflects the growing fear among their Highnesses of being denied their political privy purse.

It may be argued that the Scindia princeling was denied the fruits of this self deserved entitlement. He saw the numerous positions he had occupied in UPA times, such as chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister and even AICC General Secretary with CWC membership as paltry trimmings considering his popularity and influence. It is different matter that he acquired the dubious distinction of becoming the only Scindia to lose an election.

His family legacy compels him to be faithful to his clans political history. Jyotiradityas legendary grandmother, the virtuous Vijay Raje Scindia left the Congress in 1967 to topple the state government of the wily DP Mishra. She became the first woman deputy chief minister of Madhya Pradesh in the first coalition government. Her son Madhavrao Scindia, who succeeded her, fought on a Jan Sangh ticket in 1971 but joined the Congress later to remain undefeated in eight consecutive Lok Sabha elections.

He trounced the mighty Atal Behari Vajpayee. In the 1990s, he left the party when the new prime minister PV Narasimha Rao accepted his resignation after an air crash though there were no causalities; it was a royal offer of conscience but the cunning Telugu doyen ignored his aviation ministers pedestal positioning. Scindia then floated his own party only to return to the Congress when Sitaram Kesari became party president. Soon after his tragic death in an air crash in 2001, son Jyotiraditya succeeded him in politics. History repeated itself as spent force, because, for 18 years, he felt ignored, humiliated and irrelevant. His former party alleged that he desired to be the MPCC chief or a Rajya Sabha member so that he could return to the palatial bungalow in Lutyens Delhi where he had been staying for over three decades.

He was very close to Rahul Gandhi who was his college mate. When Kamal Nath upped him in the chief ministerial race, Rahul had confidently tweeted a photo of his on December 13, 2018, of Kamal Nath on his right and Scindia on his left with the suggestive caption The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.Leo Tolstoy. The Gandhi dynast perhaps overestimated the patience quotient of the Scindia Parivar. The dynasty came full circle after Jyotiraditya joined the rest of the family who are part of the Sangh Parivar. The princely peregrination reinforces the growing trend that the contours of Indian statecraft will always be defined by dynasts.

They may not hold important positions but their moves and merger plans are likely to shake and shape the future, the making and unmaking of state governments and even the Centre in the long run. Jyotiradityas party run has caused convulsions in the heart of India. If Kamal Nath whose son incidentally is a Congress MPfalls, the neo-saffron Srimants immense relevance could transform him into a powerful future challenger to the local saffron establishment. His aunt Yashodhara Scindia is a BJP MLA and was repeatedly a minister in the Shivraj Chauhan government. His other aunt, Vasundhara, who has been marginalised for the time being, ran a parallel BJP caucus as Rajasthans CM.

Since both youth and charisma appear to be on Jyotiradityas side, he would turn out to be a major player if his patience lasts longer in BJP than in his former abode. Geology outlines the subtext of Indian politics. Pundits are watching the moods and moves of other dynasts in various political parties. Soon after Jyotiraditya chose the exit door, all eyes are on Sachin Pilot, the erudite son of the affable late Rajesh Pilot. Sachin feels that his legitimate right to assume the Rajasthan throne was denied though the Congress won under his leadership as PCC president.

Instead, vintage conciliator Ashok Gehlot was chosen because he is a master of faction management. It is unclear where Sachin stands on Jyotiraditya. But, how long his patience will last is anybodys guess. In Haryana, Deepinder Hooda, who won two Lok Sabha elections with record margins, lost in 2019. He is the son of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda, who was instrumental in winning 31 Assembly seats for the Congress in a last minute campaign spell. He felt that Deepinder is the best candidate for the single Rajya Sabha seat which the Congress is owed from Haryana.

In Gujarat, the party had to reward Bharat Solanki with a RS berth since father Madhav Sinh Solanki was both chief minister and Union Minister; who had tried to save the Bofors accused by pleading with the then Swiss foreign minister to deny India information about payoffs. Its not just the Congress which is infected with the Dynastvirus, which has traveled far and wide across familial political topography. The party gets maximum traction because its top post is reserved for a Gandhi since the past few decades. In fact, innumerable offspring of former and current ministers from across parties are given Assembly and Lok Sabha seats, including the BJP. In Bihar, it named Vivek Thakur, son of former Union minister CP Thakur as its candidate for the lone RS seat. A survey of the BJPs mid level leadership reveals that dynasts will run all state units at some point in the future because power is the family oxygen.

Regional parties have become adept at grabbing and retaining power within the household. Outfits such as DMK, Shiv Sena, RJD, BJD, SP, JD(S), NCP, NC, SAD, JMM, RJP, TRS and YSRC are family-owned concerns, which control almost half of Indian states. Their succession lines are clearly defined. India is the only democracy in the world where dynastic rule is endorsed and legitimised by the ballot. The tragedy is that family- owned political enterprises lacking internal democracy are Indias elected rulers. The Scindia travel plan proves that the only person more loyal than the king is the king himself.

PRABHU CHAWLA prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com Follow him on Twitter @PrabhuChawla
A security guard walks past a propaganda banner saying, "Do Not Leave Home Often During Holidays, Wear a Mask When Going Out, Keep a Distance and Do Not Shake Hands When Meeting" in Temple of Heaven Park, Beijing on Feb. 15, 2020. (Andrea Verdelli/Getty Images)

Truth is the Only Comfort: Chinese Citizens Fed Up With Beijings Coronavirus Propaganda

The Chinese regime has deployed its gargantuan propaganda machine to boost its leadership in its all-out war against the coronavirus outbreak. But its efforts do not appear to be winning the hearts and minds of its citizens.

Campaigns by Chinese state-run media to promote positive propaganda on its outbreak containment efforts have spurred fiery backlash online, while those living under lockdown in regions hit hard by the virus have consistently vented their frustrations onlinein posts which are often later scrubbed by Chinas internet censors.

In a February video propagated by Chinese state media, 14 nurses from Chinas northwestern Gansu Province get their heads shaved as a precautionary measure before being dispatched to the frontlines in coronavirus epicenter Wuhan. Several wept during the ordeal, while others looked visibly upset.

The nurses who purportedly volunteered to undergo the procedure were lauded as heroes by state media. Yet many Chinese netizens who saw the video, which has millions of views, thought differently.

To shave off their hair as a group  use their sacrifice to put out this performance, then create publicity hypesuch an act is far too cruel, a Chinese commentator wrote on Shanghai-based media Eastday. State-run media Gansu Daily, which first published the video, later deleted the post from Weibo, Chinas Twitter-like social media platform.

But the outrage has not been limited to onlinein the countrys worst-hit virus zone Wuhan, locals, in a rare show of defiance, took to voicing their displeasure with authorities handling of the outbreak in unconventional ways.

On March 5, when Sun Chunlan, the countrys Vice Premier, visited a residential compound in Wuhan along with a group of officials, locals who were sealed inside their apartments greeted them by yelling out complaints from their windows.

Its fake, everythings fake! One woman shouted. Their shouts continued until the officials exited the compound.

However, authorities made sure this episode wouldnt be repeated when Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited Wuhan five days later. Footage circulating online show police wearing hazmat suits standing guard inside peoples apartments and on their balcony. In a notice on Chinese super-app WeChat, a local residential committee officer at a building complex in Wuhan said the officers would stay in residents homes for around an hour for security clearance.

Anybody with a clear mind will not fail to see that this is purely an inspection show, Chinese political commentator Yuan Bin wrote in a column for the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times.

A Chinese man wears a protective mask as he sits outside Beijing station in Beijing, China, on March 13, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Beijings Propaganda Playbook

A recently leaked document from Hubei Province, whose capital is Wuhan, revealed that authorities have deployed huge efforts at tightening the flow of information and shaping the official narrative amid the outbreak.

Officials have engaged at least 1,600 trolls in the province alone to aggressively monitor online speech and scrub any information critical of the regime.

The main goal is to enhance the promotion of the positive side, the document said, in part by having a wartime propaganda mechanism in place to control public opinion online and offline, big and small, with minute precision.

The propaganda efforts, according to the document, should focus on illuminating the effective containment measures, and vividly retelling the moving deeds of medical staff, officials, police officers, and volunteers.

Further, it asked all media to step up their promotion of exemplary figures and heroes from the outbreak frontlines, with the goal of having each state and provincial outlet feature two to three such models in their daily reporting.

In line with such directives, the provinces major media have published over 50,000 outbreak-related reports by mid-February, the document said, with some articles garnering hundreds of millions of views.

Hyping the regimes capability to handle the virus, the central government also declared 113 medical teams and 506 medical workers as model citizens.

A Chinese man takes a gate ticket from a woman on the other side of a makeshift barricade wall intended to control the entry and exit of outsiders in Beijing, China, on Feb. 25, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Truth Is the Only Comfort

Wang Zhonglin, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Secretary of Wuhan, triggered an outpouring of rage after he recently called for a thorough appreciation education to teach the public to be grateful to the Party for its outbreak response.

Wuhan people are heroic people who also know how to be grateful, Wang said on March 6, according to state-affiliated Changjiang Daily.

The remark did not sit well with local residents. Gratitude should be self-initiated, right? Gao, a Wuhan local, told The Epoch Times. Saving Chinese people is its obligation, the basic responsibility of a government  what is there to be grateful about?

Hu, who lives in the Jianghan District of Wuhan, said the official has reversed the proper order. He should thank the people of Wuhan, Hu told The Epoch Times.

More people, locked in their homes, lamented the struggle in obtaining fresh food supplies and sustaining their lives. One resident, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he had been skipping meals every day to cut down expenses.

They have buried us alive, Wuhan resident Xin told The Epoch Times, adding that certain food prices have surged by up to ten-fold. Officials, however, are able to abuse their privileges and obtain the products at cost, Xin said.

Xin had recently filmed a video to protest their lack of supplies, for which he was reprimanded by local police officers. They dont solve the problems, but only go after people who raise the problems.

We commoners can only pray for heavens blessings, we live one day at a time.

Jiang, who lives in Wuhans Qingshan District, the same area where locals heckled officials from their windows, labeled the CCP as the most shameless regime in the world.

Nobody believes in the CCP anymore, he said.

Zhang, also from Wuhan, believes that locals experiences of this crisis have made people less willing to cooperate with the regime.

When locals circulate the images of police in hazmat suits in their homes, theres a message they are trying to convey: we cant talk, and dare not talk, she said, referring to the measures adopted during Xis visit to the city.

Truth is the only comfort.
As part of its coronavirus closures of state parks in Bucks County, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has canceled the annal spring whitewater release from Nockamixon Dam into Tohickon Creek, which was scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, March 21-22.

The spring release usually happens on the third weekend in March and normally attracts hundreds, even thousands, of whitewater kayakers, canoeists, rafters and others from throughout the region and beyond, as well creek-lining crowds of spectators.

That wont be happening this year, as DCNRs response to coronavirus concerns includes the closures of both Nockamixon State Park and Ralph Stover State Park, where most launch their craft for the whitewater run, as well as all events in all of Pennsylvanias 121 state parks and 20 state forests.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PENNSYLVANIA: Click to see where cases of the coronavirus are in Pennsylvania are located. Please note that the pins mark the exact geographic location when available. If said location is not available, it marks the center of the county.



In a previous announcement of this springs event, DCNR noted, Water releases are eagerly awaited by whitewater paddling enthusiasts, drawing skilled kayakers, canoeists and occasional rafters from throughout the northeastern United States.

Most launch their craft at Ralph Stover State Park, near Pipersville, Bucks County, and travel some four miles along the Tohickon Creek to its junction with the Delaware River at Point Pleasant.

DCNR officials remind boaters that this is technical whitewater with Class 3 and 4 rapids that require boating skills. Boaters should be aware of and abide by the safety code of the American Whitewater Affiliation. Boaters must wear appropriate personal flotation devices; take appropriate precautions to prevent hypothermia; and use only craft designed for this type of water.

The next whitewater-release event is scheduled for the first weekend in November.

For more information, visit the DCNR website.

Text PennLive to 717-745-7532 to sign up to have breaking news and essential updates about the coronavirus delivered right to your mobile device. Data and messaging rates may apply.

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.
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Congress MLAs and Independents who were lodged at a Jaipur resort arrived in Bhopal on Sunday ahead of the floor test ordered by Governor Lalji Tandon in the assembly on Monday.

Flashing victory signs, the MLAs claimed that the Congress government  which was plunged into a crisis following the exit of Jyotiraditya Scindia and 22 MLAs  would prove majority in the floor test.

Congress leader Harish Rawat, who was accompanying the MLAs, exuded confidence and said the party was also in touch in rebel MLAs.

We are ready for the floor test and we are confident of winning it. We are not nervous, BJP is. Those (rebel) MLAs are also in touch with us, he said.

In a late-night move, Lalji Tandon asked Assembly Speaker Narmada Prasad Prajapati to hold a floor test on Monday, days after 22 Congress MLAs resigned and pushed Kamal Naths 15-month-old government to the brink of collapse.

In his order, the Governor said: "The Madhya Pradesh Assembly's session will commence at 16 March, 2020, at 11 am, and after my address to the assembly, the first work to be conducted will be voting on trust vote.

Earlier on Saturday, in a letter to Union home minister Amit Shah, Nath urged him to ensure the "release" of 22 Congress legislators he alleged were being held "captive" in Bengaluru.

Please use your power as Union home minister so that 22 Congress MLAs held captive can safely reach Madhya Pradesh and participate in the Assembly session beginning from March 16 without any allurement and fear," the four-page letter, shared by the Congress with the media, said.

Nath assured Shah in the letter that his Congress government in the state will provide excellent security to these 22 MLAs, if they are "released", referring to the demand of CRPF cover for the legislators.

The CM added that on March 3, BSP MLA Rambai and his family members were freed from the "captivity" of BJP leaders in Gurugram (Haryana). Later, three Congress MLAs and an Independent were taken to Bengaluru by BJP MLA Arvind Singh Bhadoriya as was evident from the list of passengers of the charter plane, he alleged.

On March 9, 19 MLAs were taken to Bengaluru by BJP leaders by three charter planes, Nath claimed. Their "personal communication facilities" (mobile phones) were taken away and they were held captive and the Karnataka BJP is bearing the expenses of their stay in Bengaluru, he alleged.

"This is an unprecedented situation" because on the one hand the BJP is holding them captive and on the other hand it is demanding a floor test, Nath said, adding that a trust vote has no meaning in this situation.

I am concerned about the safety of these MLAs and in my opinion, floor test in assembly is meaningless as 22 MLAs are being held captive, Nath wrote.

Twenty-two Madhya Pradesh MLAs, supporters of Jyotiraditya Scindia who left the Congress to join the BJP, have resigned, reducing the Kamal Nath-led government to minority in the Assembly.
On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was taking sweeping action to control Covid-19 and the USCCB President responds saying God does not abandon us.

By Sr Bernadette M. Reis, fsp

In a formal proclamation issued on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump declared a National Emergency regarding the Covid-19 coronavirus. That same day, Archbishop Jose Gomez, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) responded with a reflection and prayer.

Sweeping actions

President Trump declared in the proclamation that he has taken sweeping action to control the spread of the virus in the United States. This includes denying entry to foreigners who may have been exposed to the virus in other parts of the world. He also described preventive and proactive measures meant to slow the virus from spreading as well as to treat those who have already contracted it. Health care facilities were also requested to assess their preparedness should there be a surge in those needing medical help.

Pastoral response

Archbishop Jose Gomez, in his role as President of the USCCB, published a reflection and prayer. The coronavirus is forcing us to recognize the fragility of our lives, the reflection states. It also reminds us of our common humanity  that the peoples of this world are our brothers and sisters, that we are all one family under God.

God does not abandon us

The Archbishop went on to mind us that God does not abandon us, that He is with us even in this moment of trial and testing. He encourages the faithful to anchor their hearts in Jesus and to intensifyprayer and sacrifices. Let us draw closer to one another in our love for him, and rediscover the things that truly matter in our lives, he writes.

Prayer for the sick

Specifically, he recommends that, in union with the Pope, that the faithful pray for those who are sick and those who have lost loved ones because of the virus. May God console them and grant them peace, he prays. Among others in need of prayer, the Archbishop mentions doctors, nurses, caregivers, public health official and civil authorities. May God grant them courage and prudence as they seek to respond to this emergency with compassion and in service to the common good his reflection reads.

Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe

Archbishop Gomezs reflection concludes with a prayer to the Holy Virgin of Guadalupe, Queen of the Angels and Mother of the Americas invoked as the health of the sick and cause of our joy. In it, he asks for Mary to intercede with Jesus as you did at the wedding at Cana, so that we may be spared the worst of this illness; grace and deliverance for those already afflicted with the virus.
Most exits from Echmiadzin will be closed for commuters after authorities have designated the central Armenian town as a potential coronavirus hotspot in Armenia.

In a live broadcast on Facebook late on Sunday, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said that 18 out of 28 coronavirus cases identified in Armenia so far have been linked to a notorious engagement party in Echmiadzin held by a woman who had returned from Italy and later tested positive for the infection.

Many of the 300 people who are currently under quarantine in Armenia are those who may have had close contacts with Echmiadzin patients.

Pashinian said that starting at 11 pm on March 15 only three out of 27 exits from Echmiadzin, a town of some 45,000 residents located about 20 kilometers to the west of capital of Yerevan, will continue to operate. Temperature screening will be conducted at the exit points, said Pashinian, asking those who have fever to quarantine themselves.

Echmiadzin (also called Vagharshapat) is also an important religious center in Armenia. The seat of the Catholicos of All Armenians, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, is located in the town.

During the live broadcast the prime minister also reported about the recovery of Armenias first coronavirus patient who was hospitalized on March 1. He said the 29-year-old man who had been evacuated from Iran is going to be discharged from hospital soon after testing negative for the second time.

Meanwhile, Pashinian said he himself had to undergo another test for coronavirus earlier on Sunday after having contacts with a Meghri resident who had tested positive.

The prime minister and his wife Anna Hakobian had already taken tests with negative results on Saturday as they spent a night in self-isolation in the town of Sevan.

Pashinian said then they had decided to be tested after local media raised concerns about Hakobians contacts with the wife of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro during a visit to that Latin American country on March 7. The Brazilian leader has since said he tested negative for the virus after it was discovered that an aide and another senior government official were infected.

Pashinian said results of his new test would be available soon, and until then he would remain in self-isolation in Sevan.

Earlier this week, citing risks to public health posed by the novel coronavirus infection, Pashinian suspended his political campaign ahead of next months constitutional referendum. As for the referendum, he said today: No political goal can be above public health. The prime minister added that the referendum issue, as well as the issue of declaring a state of emergency in some parts of the country will be discussed on Monday and in the coming days.

In the referendum scheduled for April 5 Armenians are to be asked to vote on a constitutional amendment that would lead to the dismissal of seven of the Constitutional Courts nine members installed before nationwide protests swept Pashinian to power in 2018.

The seven, including Constitutional Court Chairman Hrayr Tovmasian, would be replaced by judges to be confirmed by the National Assembly, in which Pashinians My Step bloc holds a majority.
At design school in America, Payal Jain got to see the fabulous embroideries by French master Francois Lesage. However, what Payal didnt realise was that the outstanding handwork had been created by skilled Indian artisans. Of course, Lesage never revealed it, till much later.

Payal would soon discover a similar truth about Fendis mirror-work bags that were all the rage in the 80s and sold for thousands of pounds  they were done in a small village in Gujarat!

The New York Times recently published an article titled Luxurys Hidden Supply Chain revealing the exploitation of Indian workers by big fashion houses as they rake in the moolah and the workers toil in caged windows with no emergency exits and are made to work 17 hours a day. Ironically, many designers claim to have known about this exploitation even before the NYT article but now it was out in the open.

The West has been exploiting our rich traditional heritage without even bothering to give us due credit. Thats why I held the first South Asian Conference in Delhi, on March 3, 2020 where we talked about how we can stop incidents such as the Rana Plaza disaster, which killed 1,134 and injured over 2,500 people, articulates Payal, referring to the eight-storeyed building, called Rana Plaza, that housed a couple of garment factories, which ended in shambles when the building collapsed in 2013. We need to make our factories safe and fair and have a certification like in other countries around their imports and exports, she adds.

Lucrative and vulnerable

Garment export is a prominent industry in South Asia and a major source of revenue for countries in this region, especially India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Sustainability and working condition inside the factories and workers well-being are critical issues for the growth of this sector.

However, India, the third largest exporter of textiles in the world whose textile and apparel export is expected to cross US$ 82 billion by 2021, is one of the biggest polluters. It employs a work force of over 45 million  60% of whom are estimated to be women  which contributes roughly 15% of Indias current export earnings. The focus on this industry has amplified since the Rana Plaza tragedy.

Looking at the critical state of affairs, we decided to organise a conference focused on sustainability in the broader impact on South Asia and includes the garment industry in South Asia-India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives, adds Payal.

Aniket Satam, a designer and fashion professor in Mumbai, attempts to bring in a change. I believe in growing with people who helped me grow. So, my main pattern master is my pattern cutting professor herself. Moreover, we have a fixed payment system, which ensures that payments get directly transferred into employee accounts. Additionally, we also offer health insurance. A healthy and safe work system is what enriches our business.

However, Aniket points out how as Indians, we dont respect our own artisans enough. Most of the premium embroidery and surface develop export houses hail from India so I think making them aware and sensitizing them to those facts is the need of the hour, he says.

Aniket talks about how our own designers show the same level of workmanship in their couture and pret lines. They use the same embroideries for both markets... The karigaar earns same. While western embroiderers wear a lab coat and put two beads and charge a bomb! Is that fair?

The middle path

One prime challenge is the middle men that international couture houses approach thanks to the geographical barriers. Fashion designer Rina Dhaka, agrees that one needs to work directly with clusters, adopt them and if they are associated with a cooperative or NGO, eliminate the middleman.

Payal says, I work in Banaras and Lucknow with clusters and I look after the artisans there. But when I work in Gujarat, I have a middleman there who understands the local language and so I utilize his assistance to help me communicate, but my using that resource is restricted to just that.

Other designers such as Aneeth Arora have adopted clusters. There are more upright designers such as Paromita Banerjee and Pratima Pandey who work only with craftsmen and one craft all year round so that the artisans dont have to go seeking work.

However, unlike Paromita and Pratima, Aartivijay Gupta, known for her eclectic prints, has a different agreement with her craftsmen. To begin with, she doesnt work with them for longer than 30 to 60 days on an average. Moreover, payment is as per artwork, not daily or monthly as the effort is to push them more into art so they pursue it further. We work with different artisans every season. And as the art form is different every season, we usually have the artisans making specific artwork for us, which we buy off, elaborates Aartivijay.

Threading a change

Designer Gautam Gupta counters as a myth that workers in the industry put in more than the standardised hours. The physical labour itself is too much for them to work for more hours. Moreover, in the handloom sector to incentivise weavers one has to pay more than they get in power-loom sector. So they get Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 per month for 8 hours work per day, he states. There might be some small units that work on jobs work and get work from bigger units that have such appalling and inhuman conditions.
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Linkedin Thomas Perls (The Jakarta Post) -  Sun, March 15, 2020 11:47 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206abab22 3 Opinion social-distance,social-distancing,COVID-19,coronavirus-prevention,Wuhan-coronavirus Free

As the coronavirus spreads into more and more communities, public health officials are placing responsibility on individuals to help slow the pandemic. Social distancing is the way to do it. Geriatrician Thomas Perls explains how this crucial tool works.

What is social distancing?

Social distancing is a tool public health officials recommend to slow the spread of a disease that is being passed from person to person. Simply put, it means that people stay far enough away from each other so that the coronavirus  or any pathogen  cannot spread from one person to another.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes social distancing as staying away from mass gatherings and keeping a distance of 6 feet or 2 meters  about one body length  away from other people. In New York City, for example, theaters have closed temporarily, many conventions around the world are being canceled and schools are closing all across the U.S. Ive stopped taking the train during rush hour. Now I either work from home or drive in with my wife, or I take the train during off-hours so I can maintain the 6-foot distance.

Social distancing also means not touching other people, and that includes handshakes. Physical touch is the most likely way a person will catch the coronavirus and the easiest way to spread it. Remember, keep that 6-foot distance and dont touch.

Social distancing can never prevent 100 percent of transmissions, but by following these simple rules, individuals can play a critical role in slowing the spread of the coronavirus. If the number of cases isnt kept below what the health care system can handle at any one time  called flattening the curve  hospitals could become overwhelmed, leading to unnecessary deaths and suffering.

There are a few other terms besides social distancing that you are likely to hear. One is self-quarantine. This means staying put, isolating yourself from others because there is a reasonable possibility you have been exposed to someone with the virus.

Another is mandatory quarantine. A mandatory quarantine occurs when government authorities indicate that a person must stay in one place, for instance their home or a facility, for 14 days. Mandatory quarantines can be ordered for people who test negative for the virus, but have likely been exposed. Officials have imposed mandatory quarantines in the U.S. for people on cruise ships and those traveling from Hubei province, China.

Why does social distancing work?

If done correctly and on a large scale, social distancing breaks or slows the chain of transmission from person to person. People can spread the coronavirus for at least five days before they show symptoms. Social distancing limits the number of people an infected person comes into contact with  and potentially spreads the virus to  before they even realize they have the coronavirus.

Its very important to take a possibility of exposure seriously and quarantine yourself. According to recently published research, self-quarantine should last 14 days to cover the period of time during which a person could reasonably present with symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. If after two weeks they still dont have symptoms, then its reasonable to end the quarantine. Shorter quarantine periods could happen for asymptomatic people as tests to rule out the virus become widely available.

Why is social distancing so crucial?

At the moment, its the only tool available to fight the spread of the coronavirus.

Experts estimate that a vaccine is 12 to 18 months away. For now, there are no drugs available that can slow down a coronavirus infection.

Without a way to make people better once they fall sick or make them less contiguous, the only effective tactic is making sure hospital-level care is available to those who need it. The way to do that is to slow or stop the spread of the virus and decrease the number of cases at any one time.

Who should do it?

Everyone must practice social distancing in order to prevent a tidal wave of cases. I am a geriatrician who cares for the most vulnerable people: frail older adults. Certainly, such individuals should be doing all they can to protect themselves, diligently practicing social distancing and significantly changing their public ways until this pandemic blows over. People who are not frail need to do all they can to protect those who are, by helping to minimize their exposure to COVID-19.

If the public as a whole takes social distancing seriously, overwhelming the medical system could be avoided. Much of how the coronavirus pandemic unfolds in the U.S. will come down to individuals choices.

---

Thomas Perls, Professor of Medicine, Boston University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Three presumptive cases of COVID-19, all involving people who had recently travelled, were announced Sunday, raising the number of infected people in Manitoba to seven.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 15/3/2020 (667 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Three presumptive cases of COVID-19, all involving people who had recently travelled, were announced Sunday, raising the number of infected people in Manitoba to seven.

Manitoba's chief public health officer, Dr. Brent Roussin, said the additional cases involve a man in his 70s from Winnipeg; a woman in her 70s from the Interlake, and a woman in her 50s from Winnipeg.

The province already had four confirmed cases: a Winnipeg man in his 40s who had travelled to South Korea, the Philippines and Japan, two men in their 30s who were exposed through travel, and a Winnipeg woman in her 40s, who had travelled to the Philippines.

Roussin advised all Manitobans, including health providers, to cancel or postpone non-essential international travel.

"By cancelling or postponing our international travel plans, we're limiting the importation of this virus back into Manitoba," he said.

"People without symptoms: there is no need for you to be tested."

He said travellers who are abroad should strongly consider returning to Manitoba as soon as possible.

"There are growing travel restrictions in many parts of the world. You could become ill when you are away, or be forced to quarantine, so consider all of these when travelling," Roussin said. "Now is not the time to travel outside of Canada."

Lanette Siragusa, chief nursing officer, says 900 people have been tested for the novel coronavirus. John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press

He also said anyone who had returned to Manitoba after travelling internationally in the last 14 days, should self-isolate.

"We know in Canada, the vast majority of cases are travel-related," Roussin said.

The province said plans are being made to screen health care workers who return to Manitoba from international travel.

900 tested

"Now is not the time to travel outside of Canada."

Nine-hundred people have been testing for the novel coronavirus at four testing sites in the city in the last three days, said chief nursing officer Lanette Siragusa.

Health Links, a telephone line designated for health-related calls, received more than 1,000 on Saturday.

International travellers who have cold or flu symptoms within two weeks of coming back to Canada should contact Health Links at 204-788-8200 or toll-free at 1-888-315-9257, the province advised.

Roussin said there are two groups of people who should be tested: those who have returned from international travel who have symptoms  respiratory problems such as shortness of breath, a fever or cough  and those who are symptomatic and have been in contact with a known case.

Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba chief provincial public health officer, said Sunday that three people are presumptive positive for COVID-19. That increases the number of cases in the province to seven. John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press

He emphasized that people who have no symptoms, should not ask to be tested.

"People without symptoms: there is no need for you to be tested," Roussin said. "There is a growing demand on our lab. We want to make sure we can test as many eligible people as possible."

"I strongly discourage Manitobans from being fearful, and panicbuying and hoarding supplies."

Health Sciences Centre

Health Sciences Centre, the province's largest hospital, began restricting the number of public entrances starting Sunday, so that visitors could be screened for COVID-19.

These restrictions will protect patients who may have underlying medical conditions that put them at greater risk of severe illness due to COVID-19.

Patients will only be allowed one visitor at a time. Exceptions will be made at a managers discretion for special circumstances, such as visitors who require an escort or those seeing patients nearing the end of their lives.

At the entrance at 700 William Ave. on Sunday, members of the public were allowed into the building and directed to stand in line so they could be questioned about their health, including whether they had recently returned from travelling internationally. Once cleared, they were asked to use hand sanitizer before visiting a patient.

Scrap sick notes

Shoppers have emptied the shelves of paper products at the Superstore on St. Anne's Road Saturday. SUPPLIED

Roussin stressed that businesses must allow workers to call in sick without having to produce a sick note. Requiring such a note, he said, puts an unnecessary burden on health care professionals.

"Our system needs to focus on this pandemic, not on signing notes for individuals right now," he said.

He said employers need to understand it is necessary to contain the virus, so workers who have symptoms should be allowed to work from home.

"As Manitobans, we need to come together and find a way to reduce the impact of this virus," he said.

Siragusa said Sunday the Access Centre in Thompson would accept patients for testing starting on Monday. It will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Other centres in rural Manitoba will open next week, she said.

Similar measures are being considered for other health-care facilities throughout the province and at long-term care homes.

Roussin cautioned Manitobans to stay calm and understand there is no evidence of community-wide transition of COVID-19. He said Manitoba is being proactive by taking measures so quickly.

"I strongly discourage Manitobans from being fearful and panic-buying and hoarding supplies," he said.
Last year, the Rev. Elaine Ellis Thomas enrolled in a doctoral program with an unusual name at Drew Theological School of Drew University in Madison: Prophetic Fire and Pastoral Identity in a Fluid Culture.

In her words, the program delves into priestly ministry in a challenging world.

Little did she know that the fire part would prove prophetic. Researching the history of All Saints Episcopal Parish in Hoboken, where she has been the rector for almost two years, she heard about a wave of fires that devastated the Mile Square City in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Scores of people died, including many children.

I started talking with people here, including firefighters who were on the job at the time, she said. Many fought back tears.

She soon realized that all these years later, there was still "room for some kind of healing.

The fires came at a time when landlords sought to convert tenements and other buildings into market-rent apartments and condos, beginning the gentrification of a now prosperous Hoboken.

This transformation of the community,'' Ellis Thomas said, "was never addressed.

There was never a public acknowledgment by the city or any city agency, she said, adding: Its like a dirty little secret in this town.

Ellis Thomas had spent time working at the Institute for Healing and Memory in Cape Town, South Africa, where she discovered that the perpetrators and victims of apartheid did not know each other.

And that observation held for the Hoboken fires.

All these insights led her to choose this subject of community healing and remembrance as the topic of her doctoral dissertation.

Now in her second year of study, she is doing preparatory research before she begins writing. As part of her research, she scheduled three community events, the last of which is an interfaith service of remembrance that was originally set for this 4 afternoon at her church, 701 Washington St., but will be rescheduled due to area closures in light of the coronavirus.

On Feb. 29, she organized a storytelling gathering at All Saints Church with the first reading of a new play by Joe Gallo in part addressing the Oct. 12, 1981, fire at 67 Park Ave., where two people died. It included voices of the police dispatchers along with some key figures from back then.

Ellis Thomas played the role of Franciscan Sister Norberta Hunnewinkel, who was a tenant activist at the time and eventually became the founding director of the Hoboken Shelter, which arose in response to the many fires.

Another character is Thomas Molta who was an EMT back then. He since retired as a Hoboken fire captain and now heads the Hoboken Ambulance Corps.

Some 35 people attended and participated in a discussion afterward, Ellis Thomas said.

One of the participants was Marisol Zenon of Union City, who was 11 years old at the time of the April 30, 1982, fire at 14th and Bloomfield streets. She lost seven family members. Her aunt jumped out of the building and died.

The attendees found the experience of storytelling and remembering very meaningful, Ellis Thomas said.

Long-time residents have told Ellis Thomas they are grateful that someone is remembering, but some have questioned why Ellis Thomas is doing this since some people believed to have been behind some of the fires are still living in town and have never been brought to justice.

Ellis Thomas research thesis is the churchs role in community healing and how to help people to relive the memories so they are not forgotten.

This process is occurring, she said.

On the day known for LepreCon in Hoboken -- last Saturday, March 7 -- Ellis Thomas scheduled a pilgrimage to several of the fire sites, a firehouse and In Jesus Name Charities, which April Harris, a Jersey Journal Everyday Hero, founded in 1981 to respond to the needs of the displaced fire victims.

None of us had any idea what was about to be unleashed,'' Harris recalled. "There was a law in place that made it profitable to empty apartments. It was called vacancy decontrol. It meant a vacant apartment could rent at whatever the new tenant was willing to pay. This was arson for profit.

Ellis Thomas accent hints that she hails from the South, and she does: North Carolina and Tennessee. After raising her family, she entered Yale Divinity School at age 50 and has been a priest for six years. She served first in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and then Charlottesville, Virginia, during the deadly Aug. 12, 2017, alt-right protest.

Her passion for the fire project has the potential to elevate the poor and displaced who are not entirely known or seen, she said.

In other words, their memory has a place here.

The Rev. Alexander Santora is the pastor of Our Lady of Grace and St. Joseph, 400 Willow Ave., Hoboken, NJ 07030. Email: padrealex@yahoo.com; Twitter: @padrehoboken.

Pilgrimage sites

These sites were visited March 7:

67 Park Ave., where two died and 13 were injured in a fire on Oct. 12, 1981;

311 First St., where two died and one was injured on Oct. 26, 1979;

131 Clinton St., where 21 died and four more were injured on Jan. 21, 1979;

300 Bloomfield St., The Hoboken Shelter;

411 Clinton St., In Jesus Name Charities;

Eighth and Clinton streets, Rescue 1 Firehouse 7;

12th and Washington streets, where 11 died and four were injured in a fire on Oct. 25, 1981;

151 14th St., where 13 died and three were injured on April 30, 1982;

13th Street and Willow Avenue, Tom Olivieri Park, site of a proposed fire memorial plaque.
Two former prime ministers and 2022 presidential hopefuls_ Lee Nak-yon, left, of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), and Hwang Kyo-ahn, right, of the main opposition United Future Party (UFP) _ will clash in the strategically-critical Jongno district in the April general election. / Yonhap



By Yi Whan-woo



At least four constituencies in Seoul have emerged as hotly-contested districts in the April 15 parliamentary election, with potential presidential hopefuls and other high-profile figures ready to take on their respective opponents.



The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the main opposition United Future Party (UFP) have confirmed their candidates in 37 of 49 constituencies across the nation's capital as of Sunday.



The four  Jongno, Gwangjin B, Dongjak B and Songpa B  are drawing more attention than the other 33. This is because their candidates, according to political sources, best represent the liberal and conservative sides of Korean politics and that voter sentiment there can influence the course of the campaign in Seoul.



Dubbed as the country's "No. 1 politics street," Jongno is seen as the city's most fierce battleground as the parties' leading heavyweights are competing; Lee Nak-yon of the DPK and Hwang Kyo-ahn of the UFP.



Lee has been expanding his political presence as a 2022 presidential hopeful, after wrapping up his term of two years and eight months in January as the country's longest serving prime minister.



Trailing Lee in the polls of prospective presidential candidates, Hwang was the last prime minister for ousted President Park Geun-hye.



For each contestant, victory would mean a springboard for a presidential bid as well as a threshold to consolidate their leadership in their respective party.



In Gwangjin B, President Moon Jae-in's former spokeswoman Ko Min-jung will launch her first parliamentary bid.

She will compete against former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, one of the UFP's potential presidential hopefuls.



Although she is a political rookie, Ko is familiar with the public as she was an anchorwoman for national broadcaster KBS from 2004 to 2017.



Oh seeks a successful political comeback after losing a referendum on free school meals during his second mayoral term and resigning in 2010.



The two are in a neck-to-neck race, with Oh ahead at 38.5 percent support and Ko at 35.9 percent support in the most recent poll conducted by Hankook Research from March 2 to 3.



Gwangjin B has been home turf for the ruling party, with Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae serving her five Assembly terms from 1996 to 2020 before joining the Cabinet.



But Oh's side says it remains confident, arguing he has been "living there for the past year, has been interested about the district affairs and given support accordingly."



In Dongjak B, Lee Soo-jin of the DPK will take on the UFP's four-term lawmaker Na Kyung-won. The ruling party picked Lee as her academic and career backgrounds are similar to Na's.



Both went to Seoul National University and were former judges.



The two, however, are opposite in their political affiliation.



Lee was an outspoken critic of Yang Seung-tae, a former chief justice who was accused of exerting his influence over politically sensitive trials in exchange for support from Park Geun-hye during Park's presidency.



Na was in the center of the political offensive against Cho Kuk, a corruption-ridden and short-lived justice minister under President Moon, when she was a floor leader of the UFP's predecessor Liberty Korea Party in 2019.



In Songpa B, the UFP's Bae-hyun jin will make her second attempt for an Assembly seat against the DPK's Choi Jae-sung. The latter defeated the former in the 2018 by-elections in the same district.
Recently, a Singaporean couple who just returned from China got married in a rather distinctive style. For starters, the bride and groom were missing from the ceremony, only to make their toasts and speeches entirely over a video call, much to the amusement of their guests seated in the wedding hall.

With the Coronavirus scare gripping the world over and health experts recommending people reduce unnecessary physical contact with others (heck! Even the French have recommended no cheek kissing!) there certainly seems to be a change in the language of love like never before. The virus is known to travel in human saliva, which should make kissing on the lips off limits. And why wouldnt it? Physical touch is a crucial aspect of romancing and love. So what is love going to be like with the virus playing truant?

Closer home, renowned comedienne Neeti Palta, who believes that eye contact is crucial in love, believes Corona maybe a blessing in disguise. Corona virus is here to do away with frivolous relationships and make way for true love. Firstly, with everyone wearing masks people are rediscovering the concept of looking into anothers eyes, says Neeti. They are no longer falling in love with just a pretty face. Secondly, with rules such as no cuddling, kissing or holding hands, this virus is preparing young couples for what lies in the future of all long term relationships. If they already start off on that foot then there will be no disappointments in the future. In fact, when they finally do kiss many years down the line, they can say, aap pehle jaise nahin rahe. This is bound to happen in any long-term relationship. Partners stop hugging, touching or kissing each other, she quips with a chuckle.

Corona has nothing on true love

COVID-19 has not yet been completely successful in stopping couples around the world, armed with facemasks as they are, declaring their love in mass weddings across South Korea and the Philippines.

According to Mallika Reddy, the founder of sustainable fashion brand Cancelled, the human race, which has been through lot worse such as war and plague, will come out of this because in the end, love always wins. Cuddling is only one expression of love. If people cannot cuddle, theyll find another way to express love. Everything, including the economy, will be affected for a short while but things will fall back in place soon enough. We are resilient and have the strength to rise beyond it all. Love will not end due to a virus, says Mallika.

Are partners reducing or stopping physical contact because of the virus situation? Relationship expert Dr Nisha Khanna feels that during this period, one can work at understanding the fears of ones partner and how he/she handles panic or emergencies such as the Coronavirus scare. Love is not only about passion, but also about caring, trust, understanding and respecting each other. Couples do not need to avoid dating, but yes they can definitely reduce their physical contact and try to connect more on intellectual and emotional levels, reasons Dr Nisha. We can even take this time to spend more time on compatibility aspects and can make a checklist of what we expect from our partner in the long run, even as you try to learn each others fears etc.

The viral fear

The virus will inevitably spread though we dont know how common or how serious it will be. No matter what, awareness and not giving in to panic might be the mantra to address the disease, which WHO recently designated as a pandemic.

Corona is a huge problem, no doubt about it, but the fear and furore surrounding it is much worse. Bandaid and blanket advices such as avoid handshakes or kissing can do more harm than good. I would say, practise safety in a manner thats most scientific and comforting to you, and personalise the solution to yourself. The fear of the disease is deadlier than the disease itself, advises medical practitioner Dr Sofiya Sujad.

On a lighter note, given how corona compels people to swap kisses with elbow bumps and dinner dates with phone dates, Dr Nisha believes Coronavirus can also prove to be a double-edged sword for long-term relationships. If a relationship, such as extramarital affair, is based on physical touch there are a lot of chances for it to fizzle out owing to lack of contact, adds Dr Nisha as she signs out.
The prospect of the coronavirus leading to redundancies in under-pressure companies could spark an upsurge in employment litigation, warns Kyran Fitzgerald

The Taoiseachs announcement in Washington DC has shocked many people. Out of the blue, the Irish economy is faced with a so-called black swan event which has raised the prospect of large scale redundancies.

There is a concern that employers could mishandle the situation that has arisen so unexpectedly and that one outcome will be a large upsurge in

employment litigation and in demand on the services of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) and the Labour Court.

Many employers  particularly those in highly exposed sectors like hospitality and retail  may be tempted to lay off staff in significant numbers in the hope that this will stem the flow of financial losses as cash flow begins to dry up.

However, businesses need to tread with care.

Many firms  in particular, those in trade associations  will have been advised to include lay-off provisions in their employment contracts, giving them the right to introduce unpaid lay-offs in the event of an economic emergency.

However, those firms which have not put in place contractual agreements, or have downloaded some form of agreement off the internet could find themselves in a difficult place.

Dublin solicitor Richard Grogan believes that many labour under a serious misconception that staff can be simply sent home without pay.

In reality, assuming no agreement to the contrary, you have to pay them for as long as you sent them home. It doesnt matter if this is a day, a month, or a year.

Some employees believe that they can unilaterally opt to stay at home. In such circumstances, they will not be entitled to any continuing payment.

It is a different story if they are asked by the HSE to self-isolate. They will be legally protected from dismissal in such circumstances. According to Mr Grogan, if a firm lays people off, the employees concerned have the right  after four weeks have elapsed  to send their employer notice of intent to claim a redundancy payment.

The employer, in turn, has just seven days  not seven working days  in which to notify the employee or employees that they will be offered full-time work within two weeks. If this notice is not given, the employee automatically becomes entitled to a redundancy payment.

The tax authorities and, for that matter, the banks, are being as flexible as possible when it comes to easing back on demands for outstanding Vat, or loan payments. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has confirmed that the Revenue Commissioners will not be charging interest on tax due for the time being.

Nobody wishes to see good people forced out of business as a result of an event so entirely out of their control.

The Government is anxious to minimise the amount of lay-offs given the implications for the public finances. However, large scale job losses will be unavoidable.

A key challenge for the authorities will be to facilitate the transfer of workers to roles such as caring and transport where they will be needed.

Laws governing the selection of employees for redundancy or lay-off cannot be wished away. That said, there is some scope for creativity on the part of firms and businesses faced with this sudden slump in demand for their services.

During the financial crisis, workers, trade unions, and employers worked together in many cases to ensure that the load was shared. As a result, jobless levels in Ireland never approached those in Greece or Spain.

A number of legal rulings on lay-offs are worth considering. In 2012, the Employment Appeals Tribunal  now subsumed into the Workplace Relations Commission  ruled that a Co Kilkenny firm was entitled to lay off four employees without payment.

In this case the respondent firm relied on a specific condition in the workers contracts of employment allowing for a period of unpaid lay-off and the firms employee handbook contained a clause to that effect.

The tribunal sympathised with the workers concerned but noted that it was the established custom and practice in the industry in question that employees not be paid during a period of lay-off.

However, this ruling will not be relevant if the necessary contractual terms do not exist and such custom or practice does not pertain.

The WRC and Labour Court  which considers appeals  will not be able to bend the law in favour of an employer simply on the grounds that the business is faced with a crisis.

Businesses will also be considering whether to make people redundant on a permanent basis. In this scenario there must be a genuine redundancy situation and selection criteria must be objectively applied.

Consultation with the employee or employees affected must be real and substantial. In a recent decision, the Labour Court awarded 20,000 to the employee of a technology firm, Tolerance Technologies, after the chairman, Kevin Foley, concluded that the worker was selected without prior notice, the redundancy kicking in with immediate effect.

No alternatives to dismissal were explored. He was not offered redeployment within the group. The worker was not afforded a right of appeal or offered representation.

Employers are advised to give careful thought to criteria. In redundancies, it is the job, not the individual that is being removed. If the job is later filled, this will present plenty of ammunition to the displaced worker.

The drafting of criteria is no easy task. Employers could opt for traditional last in, first out getting rid of newcomers.

But, as Mr Grogan points out, this could result, for example, in a restaurant having to dismiss a valued head chef who has recently arrived.

Management needs to look carefully at the business to assess which functions are critical and which are less so.

Employers are advised to consult employment law specialists  many are already doing so.
Students wear protective masks in the wake of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in Chikmagalur, Karnataka. (PTI)

Bengaluru: Amid growing number of coronavirus cases, the Karnataka government on Sunday postponed examinations of class 7, 8 and 9 till March 31, 2020.

The revised dates for examinations will be announced after reviewing the situation. The directive was issued by state education minister S Suresh Kumar on Sunday morning.

On Friday, the government had shut all educational institutions, malls, and clubs for a week.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had said no one should travel unless it is an emergency.

"All malls, cinema halls, pubs, wedding ceremonies and other large gatherings in the Karnataka have been banned for next one week," Chief Minister Yediyurappa had said.

Notably, the number of coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 93, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare today.

So far, two deaths due to the Covid-19 have been reported in the country. In the wake of spurt in cases of coronavirus across the country, the central government on Saturday decided to treat the deadly virus as a "notified disaster".

Coronavirus, which originated in China's Wuhan city in December last year, has so far spread to more than 100 countries, infecting over 1,30,000 people. The

World Health Organization (WHO) has declared coronavirus a pandemic.
Many houses were destroyed on Sunday following a huge explosion that rocked different parts of Lagos state.

According to residents of Ijegun, Ikotun, Egbeda, Abule Ado, Okotoa, Isheri Olofin, FESTAC, Satellite Town, the explosion didnt spare them.

The roof of our building is off and a nearby school is on fire, TheCable quotes a FESTAC resident as saying.

Read Also: Woman Who Survived Gas Explosion Shares Amazing Transformation Photos

According to the report, an official of the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority (LASEMA) said that a pipeline exploded around Abule Ado in Amuwo Odofin local government area of the state.

More details shortly
Energy stocks are getting hammered along with the rest of the market, but for a slightly different reason.

OPEC met with Russia last weekend, hoping to formalize an agreement to cut crude oil protection and raise prices. As the coronavirus from China spreads, oil prices keep falling, and the outbreak is certain to hurt the global economy.

Saudi Arabia had already agreed to drop production to manage reduced demand and keep prices stable.

InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips

But Russia was having none of it. Not only did it reject the production cuts but said it would pump more to make up for OPECs reduced supply. Apparently heated words were exchanged by the Russian oil minister and the next in line to the Saudi throne, Mohammad bin Salman.

Saudi Arabia then moved to start an all-out price war.

Oil prices fell, and then Covid-19 hit the U.S. Major economic activity became restricted to slow its spread. And oil prices dropped even more, as the market fell.

These energy stocks are all F-rated in my Portfolio Grader tool that I use to find Growth Investor plays. Avoid these seven companies like Covid-19.

Energy Stocks to Sell: Exxon Mobil (XOM)

Source: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) is one of the worlds largest integrated oil companies. Usually thats a good thing, since in troubled times it can cut back on say, exploration and production, and continue to focus on downstream marketing and retail sales.

But in a situation like this, there is no sector of the business that is doing well. And its too big to cut back across the board in any meaningful way quickly enough. Thats the trouble XOM stock is in now.

Its exposed at every level and its global exposure makes it worse, not better. There is no place to turn.

XOM stock is off 47% year-to-date. And crude and natural gas prices continue to plummet. The upside is, it has a sizable 8.3% dividend thats pretty safe. But there could be more than that in downside left.

Story continues

BP (BP)

Betting on BP Stock Is Risky, but Potentially Rewarding

Source: TK Kurikawa / Shutterstock.com

BP (NYSE:BP) is off 42% in the past month. Remember this is one of the oil giants and has a $90 billion market capitalization. This is not a small company where its stock price rises and falls like the sun.

BP, like most of the other integrated oil majors, is in trouble because theres nowhere to turn in this kind of market. And now the global economy is looking shaky.

And the fact is, if everyone is avoiding travel, shopping and public school, that directly and indirectly kills its business.

Granted the stock is providing a 11.6% dividend now. But this is far too soon to jump in to get that. Theres more downside left and that bottom hasnt been found yet. Meanwhile, other stocks have much better prospects due to revolutionary technology.

ConocoPhillips (COP)

Source: JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock.com

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is a major global exploration and production (E&P) company with other integrated operations. It has a good share of natural gas in its portfolio as well.

But this is a very demand-based end of the business, and one of the most volatile. When energy prices were steady, it was ideal for COP since it could produce at a stable margin and create efficiencies to maximize those margins.

Also, the U.S. economy was expanding, so it could sell into the market and deliver good numbers every quarter.

Now, all that has changed. With decreasing demand, its access to and ability to supply energy products is not helping move the needle.

The stock is off 56% in the past year, and 52% in the past month. The downside momentum is still very strong. Dont be tempted by its 6% dividend.

Occidental Petroleum (OXY)

Source: Pavel Kapysh / Shutterstock.com

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) is another global E&P player. It also has some midstream and downstream operations, but its business is pulling energy out of the ground.

And thats not a great business right now. As a matter of fact, its a terrible business right now.

The stock is off 82% in the past year and 70% in the past month. And you can be sure, it wont be long until its massive 26.8% dividend gets cut. Im all for bargain hunting if a company is actually a good buy, but dont bottom fish this thing right now; its still a falling knife.

Carl Icahn announced this week that he is looking to pick up a 10% share of the company here. That may sound encouraging, but unless you have a very long time frame and as much capital to be wrong as Icahn does, your best bet is to avoid this one for a while.

PetroChina (PTR)

Source: IgorGolovniov / Shutterstock.com

PetroChina (NYSE:PTR) is one of Asias largest energy companies, but it hardly comes close to its global peers.

Its one of two companies that supplies most of China with its energy needs and has created a fast-growing company that is building its global reputation by creating partnerships with larger majors.

Yet while its long-term future is bright, given the support of the Chinese government, its short-term fate is a little less certain. First the U.S.-China trade war, and now Covid-19. Thats a big one-two punch.

The stock is off 50% in the past year and it has just announced that its going to suspend shipments of liquified natural gas (LNG) imports for at least the next quarter. That was a deal it had with XOM and others. Thats not a good sign of the demand in China.

Devon Energy (DVN)

Source: Jeff Whyte / Shutterstock.com

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) is a decent-sized North American E&P company, with a $2.9 billion market cap.

While most energy companies are struggling here, this is a good example of how the upstream sector is being impacted. Its usually the sector thats most leveraged to supply and demand issues with oil and natural gas production. (The select few energy stocks that make my Growth Investor list right now are midstream and downstream companies).

DVN stock is off 67% in the past month and 74% in the past 12 months. This is a difficult trend and its not a place where you should walk in thinking the worst is over.

Its possible there may be an overreaction to the potential for a global recession, but its not worth betting on right now.

This is a risky sector that shouldnt be a risky investment, given all the oil and natural gas in the North American shale deposits where DVN works. Steer clear for now.

Cimarex Energy (XEC)

Source: Pavel Kapysh / Shutterstock.com

Cimarex Energy (NYSE:XEC) is another E&P thats half the size (by market cap) of DVN. Yet its problems are just as big.

XEC operates in the Southwest shale regions, including the big daddy of them all, the Permian Basin. But it doesnt matter how much oil and natural gas you can produce if there isnt a market that wants it.

Shutting down wells or running them at half capacity is not what E&P companies want to do. But that is what has to be done. Some analysts are betting that this situation is overblown and are stepping in, but theyre in the very small minority.

The stock is off 62% in the past month and 78% in the past 12 months. This is another one to avoid in one of the hardest-hit sectors in the energy patch.

The bottom line, though, is that energy companies are in a terrible position right now. Besides $30 per barrel oil, you have to consider that in the United States the stocks are basically not sold in 33 blue states; theyre divesting due to environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) investing philosophies.

Instead, the companies Im particularly keen on now are facilitating the spread of ultra-fast internet worldwide  anywhere theres a cell tower.

The 5G Buildout Is an Incredible Opportunity for Investors Right Now

Within two years, most cell phones will be 5G enabled and be able to wirelessly handle television streaming. With 5G, well have cable modem speeds on any device; no need to plug in. Thats a big deal for rural areas  the very same areas that are also key to President Donald Trumps reelection. So, by pushing 5G over the goal line, Trump will deliver a big win for his base  and strike a blow against Chinese rivals like Huawei Technologies.

But, in the big picture, 5G is about much more than trade wars and faster downloads. Because 5G is 100 times faster than 4G, itll allow your internet devices to work in real time. That advancement is a game changer for tech companies.

With the 5G infrastructure market set to grow at an annual rate of 67% over the next 10 years, the entire market will go from $780 million to nearly $48 billion. This buildout is where I see opportunity with 5G stocks now.

Cable companies can do their best to fight back with fiber optics  but they cant compete with the convenience of a smartphone, once its got ultra-fast 5G. Thats how my 5G infrastructure play will capture more market share from the broadband cable companies.

The stock Im targeting is enjoying an influx of big money on Wall Street, and it has strong fundamentals, too  making it an A-rated Strong Buy in my Portfolio Grader system.

Click here to watch my new, free briefing on this extraordinary technology and the opportunity with 5G stocks.

When you do, youll see how to claim a free copy of my new stock report, The Netflix of 5G, which has full details on this company  and what makes it such a great investment.

Louis Navellier had an unconventional start, as a grad student who accidentally built a market-beating stock system  with returns rivaling even Warren Buffett. In one recent feat, Louis discovered the Master Key to profiting from the biggest tech revolution of this (or any) generation. Louis Navellier may hold some of the aforementioned securities in one or more of his newsletters.

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Hundreds of European tourists, mostly French, massed in Marrakech airport demanding flights to go home after Morocco banned all flights with 30 countries.

In Agadir, dozen French tourists staged a sit-in in front of their countrys consulate, asking for their repatriation.

Morocco halted flights with France, in addition to Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Portugal as well as Canada and Brazil, and a number of other countries in the Middle East and Africa.

Nevertheless, Moroccan authorities have acceded to the request of several countries affected by the coronavirus epidemic to repatriate, via their carriers, their nationals from Morocco.

These countries include Algeria, France, Belgium and Germany.

The authorized flights to Morocco will be operated without passengers, and crewmembers will be required to stay on board the aircraft during stopovers.

Some Spanish tourists have been authorized to leave Morocco, after an exceptional opening of the land borders with the occupied Moroccan city of Sebta.

The flights suspension decisions were made in consultation with the leaders of the concerned countries and come as part of Moroccos preventive measures to avoid the spread of the coronavirus in the country, especially that all the persons who tested positive to the virus in Morocco came from abroad.

Morocco is still in the first stage with 18 cases contracting the virus abroad with only one locally transmitted case, a Moroccan woman who was infected by her husband settled abroad.

Morocco recorded its first case of COVID-19 on March 2. Among the infected persons, six are French.

Moroccos decision to halt flights will deal a blow to the tourism sector but that is a necessary sacrifice to protect the health of its citizens,

France confirmed 4469 cases including 808 on Saturday and 12 deaths the same day, bringing the number of total deaths to 91.

The European country has order the closure of schools, shops, cafes, bars, restaurants, nightclubs, cinemas and asked people to stay home.
Meteorologists expect a potent storm to track across the center of the country later this week, bringing a return to wintry conditions -- just as the start of spring arrives.

The far-reaching storm system has already been responsible for much-needed snowfall across the Sierra Nevada and will next travel through the Intermountain West on Wednesday.

All the while, the Plains and Midwest will ride a temperature rollercoaster.

Prior to the arrival of the storm, it will feel a lot like spring as many cities will experience above-average temperatures as warm and humid air is drawn northward from the Gulf of Mexico.

Temperatures in places like Denver will soar into the middle 60s F on Wednesday ahead of the storm.

The storm will help to draw warm and humid air northward, while it draws cold air southwest. It may produce severe weather from the southern Plains into the Ohio Valley later in the week. At the same time, the storm will unleash wintry weather from Colorado to the Upper Midwest.

After mild conditions just a day before, temperatures across the Front Range, in central Colorado and southeastern Wyoming, will return to the 30s and 40s by Thursday, allowing for precipitation to fall in the form of snow. The vernal equinox arrives late in the day on Thursday across the U.S.

The developing storm will stretch the threat for snow across portions of the central and northern Plains and Upper Midwest.

Blizzard warnings were issued Tuesday morning for portions of western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming.

"At this time, it appears the best chance for heavy snow will be across parts of Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska as the storm emerges from the Rockies," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Courtney Travis.

A general 3-6 inches of snow is forecast to fall over parts of the central Rockies, central and northern Plains and the upper Great Lakes region.

From 6-12 inches of snow is forecast in parts of Colorado, Wyoming and western Nebraska, as well as a portion of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. An AccuWeather Local StormMax of 20 inches is most likely from southeastern Wyoming to northeastern Colorado and the Nebraska Panhandle.

Story continues

In addition to the snow, portions of eastern Wyoming, western Nebraska, northeastern Colorado and South Dakota will likely experience crashing temperatures and a stiff, northerly wind. The storm may become intense enough to create strong winds and blizzard conditions.

A quick-moving storm in southern Canada late this week could interact with this parent storm moving across the Plains, possibly changing the impacts and location of the heaviest snow.

Exactly how these two storms interact will determine how much snow could fall across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes.

AccuWeather meteorologists believe it is more likely the two storms remain separate. Only if the storms phase together might more snow and wind spread closer to the Canadian border, with blizzard conditions possible much farther to the east in parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin late Thursday into Thursday night.

The forecast will need to be monitored closely in the Twin Cities, Fargo, North Dakota, and Green Bay, Wisconsin. In these areas, the forecast could change from a light snow event to an intense storm should the track adjust.

The forecast into Friday in the Plains and Upper Midwest will once again be dependent on the interaction of the two systems, although drier weather is expected in the Plains, with improving conditions throughout the day around the Great Lakes.

The bulk of the snow and wind looks to be centered over southern Canada and Michigan before the storm traverses into northern New England.

Behind the storm, a brief cooldown is predicted as the storm pulls cooler air down from Canada into the Midwest.

Both Friday and Saturday will likely feature below-average temperatures, and a northerly wind will cause RealFeel Temperatures to dip even lower.

The actual temperatures Thursday night and Friday night from Denver to Green Bay are expected to dive down into the teens and lower 20s.

In the wake of the storm, conditions will calm down through the weekend across the Plains and into the Midwest as an expansive area of high pressure sinks southward from Canada.

Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Good morning. The ides of March are come, and some call the day bad luck, a warning to be careful, to check your six. Of course, it was a bad day for Julius Caesar  stabbed to death at a meeting of the Roman Senate on this day 44 years before the birth of Christ  but, for the rest of us, Im hoping its the opposite, a chance to mark the coming spring, a chance to believe in the future. We ought to cook in any event, both for the joy of it and to prepare for the coming week.

Today, for instance, you could make Alison Romans fine new recipe for spicy pork noodle soup (above). You could have that as supper. And while the soup simmers, you could begin to get ready for your St. Patricks Day meal, fishing out the homemade corned beef youve been curing a week and preparing to reheat on Tuesday.

You didnt do that, with the pink curing salt and the time? Thats just fine: Get a slab of corned beef at the market and cook it on through today. You can reheat the meat with carrots and cabbage on Tuesday (or reheat it and shred for Irish tacos). Serve with mashed cauliflower or one of these side dishes. Frozen Irish coffee for dessert!

Monday night, for between the soup and the meat: sweet and spicy tofu with soba noodles. (Check out the reader notes, and maybe youll roast the tofu in a hot oven instead of searing it in a pan. It makes the dish even simpler, one of our subscribers wrote.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 22:06:55|Editor: huaxia

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ADEN, Yemen, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The military tension between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) on Sunday continued to escalate amid heavy deployment of forces in the southern port city of Aden.

"Security units loyal to the Aden-based STC were deployed around the Republican Palace and prevented the government's ministers from holding a meeting inside the building," a local government official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

"The security forces loyal to the STC set up several checkpoints at the main entrances of the cabinet headquarters and forced the ministers to go back," he said.

There is still no official press confirmation from the Saudi-backed Yemeni government about the incident in Aden.

However, an STC official denied that their forces had prevented the Yemeni government members from reaching the Republican Palace in Aden for a scheduled meeting.

"All the government's ministers are currently based in Saudi Arabia including the prime minister and our forces increased presence everywhere in Aden for security reasons," the official said, also on condition of anonymity.

"Only some secretaries of the government ministers are available these days inside the palace and they were allowed to freely reach their offices without any interruption," the STC source added.

On Thursday, the newly-recruited southern military forces decided to raise its combat readiness in Aden, citing soaring tension with the government forces.

The recent tension is set to escalate after Saudi Arabia prevented senior southern political leaders from returning to Aden on Thursday.

The STC, a key ally of the Saudi-led Arab coalition, has released a press statement through their media outlets to protest the Saudi statement that the STC "could trigger a devastating popular uprising in the south."

The impoverished Arab country has been locked in a civil war since late 2014 when the Houthi rebels overran much of the country and seized all northern areas including the capital Sanaa.
Two hundred and thirty-four Indian evacuees from coronavirus-hit Iran, worst affected country in the Middle East, who arrived in the capital on early Sunday morning, have been quarantined at an Indian Army Wellness Centre in Jaisalmer.

"Wellness Centre at Jaisalmer is a fully equipped facility to help Indian citizens undertake mandatory quarantine period under the supervision of skilled medical authorities. Soldiers have volunteered to provide care and support to our countrymen returning from overseas," the Army said.

The stranded Indians, including 131 students and 103 pilgrims, were airlifted by Iran's Mahan Air flight.

"234 Indians stranded in #Iran have arrived in India; including 131 students and 103 pilgrims. Thank you Ambassador @dhamugaddam and @India_in_Iran team for your efforts. Thank Iranian authorities," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar wrote on Twitter earlier.

Among the 234 people, 131 of them are students and the rest are pilgrims.

Jaishankar thanked the Iranian authorities for facilitating the evacuations of Indians.

Iran is among the worst affected country from the coronavirus with 12,729 cases and 611 deaths so far.

In the past few days, India has carried out several evacuations of Indians nationals from Iran.

This was the third batch of Indians arriving from Iran. The second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims had arrived from Iran on Friday.

The first batch consisting of 58 nationals were brought back in a C17 military transport aircraft on Tuesday followed by another evacuation of 44 individuals on Friday.

Meanwhile, 84 positive cases of coronavirus have been reported so far from across India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
This photo shows a man busking in a face mask at an unusually-empty night market in Chiang Mai, as the number of visitors to the region has plunged due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus. AFP Photo

Australia set to quarantine international arrivals

Australia on Sunday announced anyone arriving into the country will face mandatory 14-day self-isolation, in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Australia set to isolate international arrivals to contain virus outbreak

The wife of Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, his office said late Saturday, just hours after he announced a near total lockdown nationwide.

Both Begona Gomez and her husband were well, and were at their official residence following the new measures introduced by the health authorities, said a government statement.

Seychelles confirms first cases of coronavirus

The Seychelles has confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus, which has now hit 25 countries in Africa, largely spared by the pandemic until recently.

Public Health Commissioner Jude Gedeon announced late on Saturday that two citizens returning from Italy on March 11 had tested positive for the virus.
YEREVAN, MARCH 15, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan will make an important announcement over the prevention works of the spread of the novel coronavirus, ARMENPRESS reports Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Avinyan said in a Facebook Live.

He said that the Health ministry of Armenia will soon get rapid-tests kits, which give an opportunity to preliminarily confirm or deny the existence of the coronavirus, which will be mainly used at the border check-points and Zvartnots airport.

The Deputy PM informed that yesterday a consultation was held to discuss the economic consequences of the coronavirus, adding that particularly services have suffered mostly. In a very brief period we will develop a plan which will try to mitigate or prevent the negative consequences, he said.

Referring to the expected charter flight from Italy to Armenia, Tigran Avinyan noted that upon their arrival to Armenia they will be quarantined for 14 days. He emphasized that everyone coming from Italy will be quarantined irrespective of the flight.

Avinyan concluded his live broadcast emphasizing that the Government has developed solutions for any scenario, even the worst.

By now 26 people are confirmed to be infected with coronavirus in Armenia.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
Researchers have discovered a communication network in plants which helps them respond to a hormone involved in pest resistance, a finding that may help develop crops that can withstand insect attack.

The study, published in the journal Nature Plants, noted that the hormone called jasmonic acid is particularly important for a plant's defense response against fungi and insects.

"This research gives us a really detailed picture of how this hormone, jasmonic acid, acts at many different levels," said Joseph Ecker, study co-author from Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the US.

"It enables us to understand how environmental information and developmental information is processed, and how it ensures proper growth and development," Ecker said.

In the study, the scientists used the plant Arabidopsis thaliana -- a widely studied small flowering plant in the mustard family -- whose genome has been well characterised.

The researchers said the findings from studying A. thaliana can be applied to other plants, including those grown for food.

They added that jasmonic acid is found not only in A. thaliana, but throughout the plant kingdom.

"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," said study co-author Mark Zander from Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

The researchers started with plant seeds grown in petri dishes, and kept the seeds in the dark for three days to mimic the first few days of its life, when it is still underground.

"We know this growth stage is super important," said Mathew Lewsey, another co-author of the study from La Trobe University in Australia.

The study noted that 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 added.

After three days, the plants were exposed to jasmonic acid, following which the researchers extracted the DNA and proteins from the plant cells, and estimated the exact location in the genome where these molecules regulated cell function.

Using various computational approaches, the team could identify genes important for the plant's response to jasmonic acid, and for the cellular cross-communication with other plant hormone pathways, the study said.

According to the scientists, the genes MYC2 and MYC3 rose to the top in their degree of importance across the system.

They said the two genes are involved in producing proteins that regulate the activity of thousands of other genes.

"In the past, the MYC genes and other transcription factors have been studied in a very linear fashion," Lewsey said.

"Scientists look at how one gene is connected to the next gene, and the next one, and so on," Zander added.

According to him, this method is inherently slow since there are a lot of genes and lots of connections.

"What we've done here is to create a framework by which we can analyse many genes at once," Zander explained.

He said by assessing these gene networks and subnetworks, scientists can understand the architecture of the whole plant hormone system.

"We now have this very comprehensive picture of which genes are turned on and off during a plant's defense response," Zander said.

"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," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Delhi Violence: Genesis of Carnage

by Ram Puniyani

They say history repeats itself first as a tragedy and then as a farce. In the case of India, communal violence not only keeps repeating itself, the pattern of the tragedy keeps changing every next time. Some features of the violence are constant, but they are mostly under the wraps. The same can be said about the Delhi violence (February 2020). The interpretations, the causative factors are very discernible, but those who are generally the perpetrators have a knack of shifting the blame on the victim community or those who stand for the victims.

As the carnage began presumably in the aftermath of the statement of Kapil Mishra of the BJP, which was given in front of a top police official, in which he threatened to get the roads emptied. The roots of violence were sown earlier. The interpretations given by the Hindu nationalist camp is that the riot is due to the changing demographic profile of the area with Muslims increasing in number in those areas, and coming up of Shaheen Bagh which was presented as a Mini Pakistan. As per them, the policies of the BJP in matters of triple talaq, Article 370 and CAA, NPR, NRC has unnerved the radical elements and so this violence.

As such before coming to the observations of the activists and scholars of communal violence in India, we can in brief say that violence, in which nearly 46 people have died (the figure is now 53), include one from the police and another from the intelligence. The majority of the victims are Muslims. The violence started right under the nose of the police and the ruling party. From the videos and other eyewitness accounts, police not only looked the other way around, at places it assisted those attacking the innocent victims and burning and looting selective shops. Home Minister Amit Shah was nowhere on the scene. For the first three days the rioters had a free run. After the paramilitary force was brought in, the violence simmered and slowly reduced in intensity. The States AAP Government, which in a way is the byproduct of the RSS-supported Anna Hazare movement, was busy reading Hanuman Chalisa and praying at Rajghat with eyes closed to the mayhem going in parts of Delhi.

Communal violence is the sore point of Indian society. It did begin during the colonial period due to the British policy of Divide and Rule. The root cause was the communal view of looking at history and pro-active British acts to sow the seeds of Hindu-Muslim divide. At another level the administration and police under the British were fairly neutral. On one hand was the national movement, uniting the people and creating and strengthening the fraternal feeling among all Indians. On the other were Muslim communalists (Muslim League) and Hindu communalists (Hindu Mahasabha, RSS) who assisted the British goal of divide and rule, promoting hatred between the communities. After partition the first major change was the change in the attitude of the police and adminis-tration which started tilting against the Muslims. Major studies by Dr Asghar Ali Engineer, Paul Brass and Omar Khalidi demonstrated that the anti-Muslim bias was discernible during and after the riots.

Now the partisan role of the police has been visible all through. The Sri Krishna Commission report brought out this fact; as did the research of the Ex-DIG of UP Police Dr V.N. Rai. Dr Rais studies also concluded that no communal violence can go on beyond 24 hours unless the state administration is complicit in the carnage. In one of the violence, investigation of which was done by a Concerned Citizens Team (Dhule, 2013) this author observed that the police itself went on to undertake the rampage against Muslims and Muslim properties.

The general observation about riots is that violence sounds to be spontaneous, as the Home Minister is pointing out, but as such it is a well- planned act. Again the violence is orchestrated in such a way that it seems Muslims have begun the riots. Who casts the first stone? To this scholars point out that the carnage is so organised that the encircled community is forced to throw the first stone. At places the pretext is made that they (minorities) have thrown the first stone.

The pretexts against minorities are propa-gated, in Gujarat violence the Godhra train burning, in Kandhamal the murder of Swami Laxamannand and now in Shaheen Bagh! The Hindu-Muslim violence began as riots. But it is no more a riot, two sides are not involved. It is plain and simple anti-minority violence, in which some from the majority community are also the victims.

This violence is possible as the Hate against this minority is now more or less structural. The deeper the Hate against Muslims and partly against Christians, has been cultivated since long and Hindu nationalist politics, right from its Shakhas to the social media, have been put to use for spreading Hatred. The prevalent deeper hate has been supplanted this time by multiple utterances from the BJP leaders, Modi (Can be recognised by clothes), Shah (press EVM machine button so hard that the current is felt in Shaheen Bagh), Anurag Thakur (Goli (bullet) Maro), Yogi Aditya Nath (If Boli (Words) do not work Goli will) and Parvesh Varma (They will be out to rape).

The incidental observation of the whole tragedy is the coming to the surface of the true colors of the AAP, which not only kept mum as the carnage was peaking but also went on to praise the role of the police in the whole episode. With the Delhi carnage Goli Maro seems to be becoming the central slogan of the Hindu nationalists. This violence in Delhi has been the first one in which those getting killed are more due to bullets than by swords or knifes! The leaders slogans do not go in vain! Courts, the protectors of our Constitution seem to be of little help: as one of them like Muralidhar Rao gives the verdict to file against hate-mongers, he is immediately transferred.

And lastly, lets recall the academic study of the Yale University. It concludes that the BJP gains in electoral strength after every riot. In India the grip of communalism is increasing frighteningly. Efforts are needed to combat this Hate and the Hate-mongers.

The author, a retired Professor at the IIT-Bombay, is currently associated with the Centre for the Study of Secularism and Society, Mumbai.
An older person who has a total hip replacement may need to recuperate at a skilled nursing center  institutions that have been hit hard by the coronavirus. As you can imagine, in this time, thats probably not the best thing for that patient, Dr. Freeborn said. There are a lot of downstream consequences of these decisions to either proceed or, in our case, not to proceed.

If physicians at EvergreenHealth believe a surgery should still occur, they could appeal to a panel, which aims to decide in 30 minutes.

Kim Dammann, 45, was scheduled to have surgery to repair her Achilles tendon on Tuesday at a Seattle hospital, but on Friday she got an email saying it would be delayed.

It is not voluntary surgery, but I guess it is not critical enough to do now, she said.

As an oncology nurse herself, I get it, Ms. Dammann said. We do need the beds, and we do need the doctors.

If she cannot get the surgery, she may need to wear a cast for several months instead so the connective tissue does not tear entirely. With a cast on her right foot, she may not be able drive to work at the hospital.

People across the country have begun reporting delays in getting access to medical care. A woman in San Jose said her surgery had been canceled. A man said his father was notified that his planned lung cancer surgery in Boston, set for Monday, was going to be canceled. Later, he said, his father was told that the hospital had decided to do the surgery after all.

Many transgender people expressed worry on social media that surgeries they had long looked forward to would be canceled. Really worried my top surgery will get canceled among the coronavirus stuff, Rachel Davis, a woman in Colorado, posted on Twitter. Its most of whats keeping me going right now.
JERSEY CITY  One man was injured and five residents were displaced in an early morning two-alarm blaze on Claremont Avenue in Jersey City Saturday.

The fire at 103 Claremont Ave., a two-family home, was reported at 2:34 a.m., Jersey City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said. The second floor appears to have suffered extensive damage.

One of the residents was taken to the Jersey City Medical Center and treated for burns on his neck and back, Wallace-Scalcione said.

Margarita Rojas, who has lived next door for more than 20 years, told The Jersey Journal on Saturday that her daughter smelled the smoke coming from the back, near her room, around 2 a.m.

After grabbing her two cats, Rojas, her daughter and her daughters boyfriend watched Jersey City firefighters fight the blaze. Rojas commended the JCFD for doing a great job and getting the blaze under control in just about an hour.

The 48-year-old said the fire started on the second floor.

Smell of burnt wood was still present as Rojas swept her front deck Saturday morning. The American Red Cross was notified of the fire, Wallace-Scalcione said.
Donald Trump tested negative for the coronavirus, his doctor said, as the U.S. president extended a travel ban to Britain and Ireland to try to slow the spread of a pandemic that has shut down much of the daily routine of American life.

After White House officials took the unprecedented step of checking the temperatures of journalists entering the briefing room, Trump told reporters he took a test for the virus on Friday night. On Saturday evening, his physician, Sean Conley, said the results were negative.

The U.S. president met with a Brazilian delegation last week, at least one member of which has since tested positive.

Trump said Americans should reconsider non-essential travel, and that his administration was also considering domestic travel restrictions.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the country has recorded 2,226 cases of the new coronavirus but has not yet reached the peak of the outbreak.

"This will get worse before it gets better," Surgeon General Jerome Adams said at the briefing. But, he added, "99% of people will recover and people need to know that."

Critics have accused Trump of focusing too much on markets, which on Friday saw the three major Wall Street indexes gain more than 9% after having had their worst day since 1987 on Thursday.

All three indexes were nevertheless down at least 8% for the week and about 20% below mid-February record highs.

At the briefing, Trump told reporters he was "honored to see that the stock market set a record in a short period of time over a 45-minute period." He called it an "all-time record" that he hoped would be repeated daily.

"They said, 'Sir, you just set a record in the history of the stock market. That was pretty good. Those great companies that were there, they couldn't have been too unhappy about it ... They are all big, publicly listed companies, so they did a good job," he said before turning the microphone over to Vice President Mike Pence, who is running the White House's response to the outbreak.

Pence said the administration was extending to Britain and Ireland travel restrictions that were first imposed on China and expanded this week to continental Europe.

Trump spoke to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday about the new restrictions, the White House said.

AIRLINES PLAN FLIGHT CUTS

U.S. airlines, which have already been battered by the restrictions and a steep drop in demand, said on Saturday that they were preparing more flight cuts. Pence said the new restrictions will take effect at midnight on Monday.

Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said Trump decided to add Britain to the travel ban because of the rising number of coronavirus cases there. Health authorities in England announced on Saturday a further 10 deaths caused by COVID-19, almost doubling the number of fatalities in Britain since Friday.

A senior DHS official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Britain and Ireland were added because the United States was not able to effectively determine whether travelers from those countries were trying to sidestep the European travel ban.

"The travel investigation couldn't be effectively managed on our side," the senior DHS official said.

U.S. citizens and legal residents will still be able to return home and will be funneled through certain airports, Pence said.

The vice president also told reporters that visits to nursing homes were being suspended to protect the most vulnerable. A nursing home in Washington state has been the site of most of the U.S. deaths caused by the coronavirus.

On Saturday, officials in New York confirmed that state's first two fatalities from the outbreak: an 82-year-old woman in New York City's borough of Brooklyn, and a man in his 60s in Rockland County, north of the city. Both had underlying health problems, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

Nationwide, at least 58 people have died.
YEREVAN, MARCH 15, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Healthcare Arsen Torosyan has called on the church and citizens to avoid organizing masses to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Honestly I dont know what the religious organizations in our country have decided about continuing or suspending their rituals, but I would like to remind that at least in South Korea and our neighboring Iran the novel coronavirus outbreak began due to religious ceremonies. Therefore, I am calling upon our citizens and all religious organizations to avoid mass rituals, cancel them until the epidemic danger is completely eliminated. Public health is above all, Torosyan said.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
National Grid, a major utility company serving Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York, is suspending all collections-related activities due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The suspension of activities, including service disconnections, was implemented to lessen any financial hardship experienced by customers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We recognize that this pandemic has brought many challenges for our customers and we want to do our part to lessen any financial impact they may face as the result of the outbreak," said Badar Khan, interim U.S. president for National Grid. "We are committed to our customers' well-being during this difficult time."

The electric, natural gas and clean energy company serves more than 20 million people.

The company is also limiting external visitors to National Grid facilities, restricting travel by employees between company office locations and stopping all international business-related travel.

Ensuring the health and safety of our employees and customers is our number one priority, Khan said. We have a comprehensive emergency response plan in place to keep the lights on and the gas flowing for our customers. Our pandemic team is meeting daily and were closely monitoring all developments associated with this evolving and complex virus.

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New Delhi: The rise in zoonotic diseases like the coronavirus disease, or Covid 19 is linked to the loss of biodiversity and forests, public health experts and scientists have said. Zoonotic diseases are those that spread from animals to humans.

There is a consensus among scientists that a rise in zoonotic diseases--Nipah, Ebola, Avian Influenza, Zika, Coronavirus to name a few in recent decades  is driven by biodiversity loss and climate change.

In a press briefing held in New York by the Global Alliance of Indigenous Peoples on Friday, indigenous leaders said the Covid 19 outbreak was a result of loss of native forests and habitat.

The coronavirus is now telling the world what we have been saying for thousands of yearsthat if we do not help protect biodiversity and nature, then we will face this and worse future threats, said Levi Sucre Romero, a BriBri indigenous person from Costa Rica who is the Coordinator of the Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests.

Scientific studies have already flagged this link. The Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (Similar to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) in their report last year said that zoonotic diseases are significant threats to human health, with vector-borne diseases accounting for approximately 17 % of all infectious diseases and causing an estimated 700,000 deaths globally per year.

Emerging infectious diseases in wildlife, domestic animals, plants or people can be exacerbated by human activities such as land clearing and habitat fragmentation, the report said. It also highlighted that around 25% of species in the animal and plant groups were under threat, suggesting that around one million species are already confronting extinction.

The World Health Organization has said there is now evidence of the link between the 2019-nCoV and other similar known coronaviruses (CoV) circulating in bats, and more specifically those of the Rhinolophus bat sub-species.

But the route of transmission to humans is still unclear. The most likely hypothesis is that an intermediary host animal played a role in the transmission of this disease.

According to a 2010 study in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, about 60% of emerging human pathogens are zoonotic. Of these pathogens, over 71% have wildlife origins.

There is no doubt that zoonotic diseases are on the rise. One of the reasons for their rise, among many others, is that animals are coming in contact with human habitation. Chikungunya, for example, also came through an intermediate host. More interactions are happening between animals and humans, which may not have been the case earlier. Some emerging zoonotic diseases include Bacterial Anthrax, Brucella, Leptospira, Salmonella, Kyasunar forest disease, Avian influenza, Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic fever, Nipah, Corona among others, said Dr Shobha Broor, former head of department of microbiology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

Now we know that COVID 19 may not have come from snakes. Even from evolutionary perspective, pangolins and bats are more closely related to us than snakes. There is a definite link of forest loss, climate change and these zoonotic diseases. In Karnataka for the past few years, there are reports of the Kyasanur forest disease particularly from Shimoga. There is agreement that it has got to do with habitat loss. Also, cattle enter forest areas transferring infections to wildlife and vice versa, said Kartik Sunagar, assistant professor, Evolutionary Venomics Lab at Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science.

Many mammals, like bats and rodents, harbour virsues and bacteria that can spillover from wildlife populations into humans. Sometimes these spillover events can cause outbreaks, like the one we are experiencing now. Meta-analyses of spillover events across the world suggest that they are more likely to occur when the number of mammal species in an area is high, such as in tropical, biodiverse environments. But other important drivers of spillover are land conversion (e.g. forest clearing for agriculture or developmental activities) and human population density. In parts of India, all three of these are high: we have high biodiversity, high land conversion and high human population density. We must better understand the dynamics of spillover in such situations, said Uma Ramakrishnan, Associate Professor, Senior Fellow, Wellcome Trust, National Centre for Biological Sciences.
Three people believed to be organizers of a human trafficking ring were sentenced Friday in a Turkish court to 125 years each in prison for the death of Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi, Turkish state media reported. The lifeless body of three-year-old Aylan lying on a beach in Turkey was captured in a photograph that became a symbol of the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis.

The Bodrum High Criminal Court in Mugla sentenced the defendants for the crime of "killing with eventual intent."

The traffickers, fugitives from justice, had been captured by Turkish security forces this week in the southern province of Adana, according to state news agency Andalou.

A number of Syrian and Turkish defendants were found responsible for the accident and were sentenced to prison time. The three defendants sentenced had fled trial, Andalou reported.

Aylan was one of 14 Syrian refugees, including eight children, who took a boat that sank in the Aegean Sea while en route to Greek islands. Aylan's brother Galip, 5, and mother Rihan, 35, also died. His father, Abdullah, survived.

"The waves were so high, and the captain panicked and jumped into the sea," Abdullah said. "I took my wife and children in my arms, but they were all dead."

The family was fleeing the Syrian town of Kobani, which was decimated when ISIS tried to seize it, leaving nearly everyone there homeless.

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Nevada: Amidst global concerns over the COVID-19 outbreak, Amazon has also suspended the re: MARS 2020 annual AI event. The event's cancellation update is posted on the official website, noting that guests will receive a full refund of the registration fee who purchased tickets for the event.

Hotel rooms booked through the conference website will also be cancelled free of charge.

The re: MARS 2020 was scheduled to be held from June 16-19 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The company will be looking at other ways to engage the community, which could mean a possible online-only event similar to Apple`s WWDC 2020.
No one exemplified oligarch ostentation quite like the beguiling, Kazakh-born socialite Goga Ashkenazi.

Shimmering in a Swarovski crystal-encrusted backless dress, she announced her arrival on the scene ten years ago in spectacular style at her 30th birthday party.

The event featured fire-eaters, peacock-feathered stilt-walkers and a girl swinging from a trapeze pouring vodka into ice sculptures shaped like naked men.

Goga Ashkenazi, pictured, off-sets her carbon footprint every time she flies on her private jet

Ten years ago, the socialite was photographed next to Prince Andrew, right, while celebrating her 30th birthday

And sitting on the top table was Prince Andrew, welcomed as my very, very close friend. Weeks later, Goga and a string of glamorous women celebrated Andrews own milestone  his 50th birthday  at St Jamess Palace.

Now The Mail on Sunday can reveal that, ten years on, Gogas life, like Andrews, has altered significantly.

No more a limelight-loving party animal, Goga is rarely seen on the social circuit, preferring a less hectic, though by no means frugal, existence. These days, she says, it is all about sustainability rather than conspicuous consumption.

So Goga has gone green? Well, not completely. She still has her private jet, but where she was once chauffeured around in a 137,000 Bentley, she now cycles and walks when she can.

I have changed all of my cars and I am offsetting all the miles that I fly, she declared.

Every mile that I fly goes towards reforestation. I am also teaching my children about sustainability.

Her 40th birthday last month was a much quieter affair than that 30th  as was Andrews 60th party following his fall from grace over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

Goga spent her birthday with friends in Costa Rica, a favourite eco-tourism destination. Andrew was not among them this time. Goga lives in a 17th Century Milan palazzo where her fashion firm Vionnet has its headquarters, and says she wants to make eco-friendly garments and ultimately establish the first entirely sustainable fashion brand. Gogas two sons, meanwhile, live in her 27.5 million home in Holland Park, West London, with her mother and a nanny.

Born Gaukhar (which means Diamond) Erkinova Berkalieva in Kazakhstan, she grew up in Moscow, the daughter of a senior Communist Party official, and was later educated at Rugby School and Somerville College, Oxford.

It is not altogether clear how she became so well-connected but during an interview with this newspaper a few months after her 30th birthday, she explained: Late in 2003, one of my fathers old friends told us about a tender which was coming up in Kazakhstan. He thought our family could help put it together because we knew so many people in positions of power.

Oil and gas-rich, Kazakhstan was fertile ground for entrepreneurs. With their political connections, Goga and her sister were ideally placed. It didnt require any money really. Thats the joy of it. The government gave us the money to put the deal together.

Others say it was oil and banking kingpin Timur Kulibayev, son-in-law of the president of Kazakhstan and the father of Gogas two children, who was instrumental in establishing her wealth and influence. It was Kulibayev who eventually bought Andrews marital home Sunninghill Park  for 3 million above the 12 million asking price.

Goga dismissed her alleged fixer role in the house deal, saying during an interview: I introduced them, thats all. It just happened one was looking for a house and the other wanted to sell.

Whatever the truth, Andrew and Goga remain friends. Like his other high-profile socialite pal, Ghislaine Maxwell, Goga is fantastically loyal and has sprung to his defence over the Epstein affair.

Goga has always denied rumours linking them romantically. Such nonsense, she told The Mail on Sunday. Andrew has been a very good friend of mine since we met at a dinner party in 2001 Hes very clever and I dont know why people have it in for him.

For now, both she and Andrew are moving out of the limelight but as a friend said: Im not sure it is possible for Goga to drift away. We havent heard the last of her.
The sum will be allocated to a project named Strengthening the resilience of smallholder agriculture to climate change-induced water insecurity in the Central Highlands and south-central coast regions of Vietnam (SACCR).

The project will be carried out by the MARD with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in six years, benefiting over 222,400 residents, or 10% of the population in the provinces of Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan, especially women and ethnic people.

It is designed to modernise irrigational systems, improve water security and livelihoods, provide knowledge in climate risk and climate resilience agriculture, and strengthen access to agro-climate information, credit and markets.

In addition, the project is expected to assist more than 335,000 indirect beneficiaries through training courses and technical assistance, access to climate risk information and best practices of smart agriculture aligned with climate change.

The non-refundable aid aims to supplement and foster an investment of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in modern irrigational systems in drought-hit provinces in Vietnam, ensuring benefits of the poor and most vulnerable people, said Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam.

It also adds up to efforts of the Vietnamese Government to bolster resilience of vulnerable coastal communities to climate change-related impacts, with an ongoing project funded by the GCF since 2017.
US President Donald Trump is not infected with coronavirus: the result of his test was negative, BBC reported referring to the White House physician.

"This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative," Sean Conley said in a statement on Saturday.

Donald Trump has earlier met in Florida with a Brazilian delegation, some members of which were infected with a coronavirus. Fabio Wajngarten, an aide to the Brazilian president, was among those later confirmed to have the disease. "One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation in Mar-a-Lago, the president remains symptom-free," Mr. Conley said.

The 73-year-old US president did not isolate himself after this meeting, saying he had no symptoms. However, after further questions during a news conference at the White House, he said he would get tested.
TDT | Manama

Now onwards, applicants of Birth and Death certificates will receive the certificates in their mailboxes through Bahrain Post within 24 hours of applying. To avail the service, applicants should submit their requests either online via Bahrain.bh or physically at the Birth and Deaths Unit at the iGAs headquarters in Isa Town.

In addition to the regular service delivery costs, a maximum additional delivery fee of BD1 is chargeable, regardless of the number of applications requested to the same delivery address. However, in case the delivery package is not received, recipients will be notified to contact their post offices to arrange for collection.

The arrangement follows an agreement between the iGA and the Ministry of Transportation & Telecommunication, represented by Bahrain Post, recently at iGA headquarters in Isa Town. The service is in line with iGAs efforts to further improve its services and deliver them to the public in an efficient and timely manner.

iGA Chief Executive, Mohammed Ali Al Qaed and Bahrain Post Assistant Undersecretary, Shaikh Bader bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, signed the deal in the presence of senior officials from both parties. Commenting on the deal, Al Qaed said: Partnerships with government entities are vitally important to us, particularly with organisations such as Bahrain Post, which is known for its extensive experience and an excellent reputation in postal service delivery in the Kingdom. This partnership aims to further improve customer satisfaction and the quality of services provided to the users, in line with iGAs commitment to implementing government directives to enhancing its user experience by streamlining online transactions through a variety of channels, and reduce the need to physically visit service centres.

Shaikh Bader Bahrain Post Assistant Undersecretary expressed his delight in signing the deal. He said, We are happy to be signing this agreement with the iGA, which is in line with the Bahrain Posts objective to work with ministries and governmental entities to raise the quality of service delivery in the Kingdom. We constantly look for new ways of cooperation with entities to better serve the public, raise develop quality standards, and contribute to achieving Bahrains economic vision.
Emergency responders including the garda Public Order Unit are currently dealing with a massive outbreak of anti-social behaviour in West Dublin tonight.

Both gardai and the Dublin Fire Brigade were dispatched to the Orchard Lawns area of Cherry Orchard, where two vans have been set on fire.

The incident broke out around 8pm amid reports of up to 30 youth running amok in the area.

"No injuries have been reported and no arrests have been made currently" a garda spokesman said in a statement.

"The Public Order Unit has been deployed to the area as a precaution.

"The blaze has been dealt with by DFB. A scene is currently preserved for a technical examination", the statement read.
- Julia Montes has stirred buzz in the online community after meeting a fan in Thailand

- The fan even uploaded a photo of himself together with the Kapamilya actress on his social media account

- The actress is said to be in Thailand to shoot her upcoming series, "Burado" together with Nadine Lustre

- The said post also garnered various reactions and comments from netizens on social media

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Kapamilya star Julia Montes has buzzed the online community with a photo that was recently posted on social media.

It can be recalled that the actress has finally returned to the showbiz industry with an action-packed series entitled 24/7 after being away from the limelight.

KAMI learned that the said photo was posted by Julia's fan who spotted the actress in Phuket, Thailand.

It can be worth noting that Julia has an upcoming series called Burado with Nadine Lustre, Paulo Avelino, Zanjoe Marudo, and Thai actor Denkhun Ngamnet.

In his online post, the fan thanked Julia for giving him the opportunity to take a selfie with her, "Thank you beautiful Julia for the selfie."

The said post also garnered various reactions and comments from netizens with some claiming that the actress recently went to Thailand for her series, Burado.

"Ang fresh naman!"

"Sana all! Ang ganda niya sobra!"

"Sigurado akong ang pretty niya in person."

"Burado taping in Thailand. Hirap niyan baka 1 month sila stranded doon dahil sa lockdown."

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As reported earlier by KAMI, Angel Locsin, Bea Alonzo, and other famous celebrities commented on Julia Montes Instagram post. The talented Kapamilya actress recently posted a lovely photo of her on the said social media platform.

Julia Montes is a Filipina-German actress. She gained a solid footing in her career when she played the role of "Clara" in the remake of Mara Clara. The actress is rumored to have a child with Coco Martin but both celebrities have neither confirmed nor denied the rumor.

POPULAR: Read more news about Julia Montes

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TikTok is taking over the world. If you haven't joined this beautiful platform yet, but want to take a look at its hilarious videos, this video is for you! Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel !

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 15)  A councilor in a Negros Oriental town has died due to COVID-19, Governor Ruel Degamo announced on Sunday.

This brings the death toll in the country due to the virus to nine and the fatality rate to nine percent  higher than the global average of three to four percent. However, the official Department of Health tally still stands at eight.

The 64-year-old town councilor, the 39th patient with the viral disease in the country, had visited Greenhills in San Juan City and attended the Philippine Councilors League convention in SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.

The provincial health office earlier said the patient went to Manila on February 28 to attend a convention, went to Greenhills, and took an early morning flght back home on March 7. He was earlier admitted to the Allied Care Experts Dumaguete Doctors, Inc. and was transferred to the Silliman University Medical Center.

Greenhills houses a prayer hall which was frequented by a 62-year-old patient with COVID-19, considered to be the first local case of the disease. He and his 59-year-old wife, who also contracted the disease, have also died.

This story is breaking and will be updated.
Ajman Free Zone has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi German Hospital Ajman with the aim of providing health services to customers, investors, and employees.

This step came as part of Ajman Free Zones efforts to provide services of various levels to customers and investors, to enable them to run their business easily and conveniently. The region not only provided services to facilitate the establishment of businesses, but also extended beyond that with the provision of various services to meet the interests of investors.

The MoU supports the aspirations of Ajman Free Zone to improve health services provided to its members and to support them by reducing fees for medical statements in case of illness or having any accident while maintaining the best medical practices provided and pledged by the hospital.

We are pleased to sign the Memorandum of Understanding with the Saudi German Hospital Ajman, as it will secure high-level medical services it will provide to customers, investors, and

employees. On our part, we are continuing to provide various services and facilities that make investors happy and make them focus on following their work to achieve the best results. There is no doubt that Saudi German Hospital Ajman is one of the most prominent medical facilities recently added to the emirate to contribute to serving the population and improving their health level, said Fatma Salem, Acting Director General at Ajman Free Zone.

Dr Reem Osman, CEO of Saudi German Hospital  UAE said: We really appreciate Ajman Free Zone authorities showing their interest to make SGH Ajman as their preferred healthcare partner. SGH Ajman is a one stop shop for all healthcare services in the Emirate of Ajman and for the people in the Northern Emirates. We will work to provide the best services to its clients, investors, and employees, in a way that positively reflects on the health of these groups, which is another form of empowerment. We are optimistic and positive for this cooperation with Ajman Free zone, to improve the health standards and quality of life for all its clients, families and members.

Saudi German Hospital will also organise a number of awareness programs and health activities within the Free Zone to raise awareness of the various segments of urgent health matters. -- Tradearabia News Service
At this point, tests at the state level are still limited to individuals who are really sick, have had all other illnesses ruled out or were likely to have been exposed to the virus through travel or another person.

However, now that private lab testing has opened up, England said there will be a sharp increase in the number of people who can get tested.

Its a freaking miracle that the world was able to develop a test, a good test, for a brand new organism within weeks. Thats amazing, England said. Its a different era that were in. But the CDC is not set up as a big production facility. So, yes, they can make this test, but they can only turn out so many at a time. Thats why its really good that these private labs have come on board to do it as well.

The testing process

Even with private labs open for testing, people will still have to go through a community physician to be evaluated for the virus first. Private labs will not be accepting walk-ins.

Only health-care physicians can take samples at this time, England said.

According to England, anyone with coronavirus symptoms  fever, cough, difficulty breathing  should consult their doctor. If the doctor rules out all other illnesses, a nasopharyngeal swab will be done and sent to a local lab.

Dont go to the emergency room unless youre so sure that you need to be in an emergency room, because theyre getting overwhelmed with people who are just scared, England said. And I understand why people are scared. This is scary. But the vast majority of people are going to be very mild cases that dont require hospitalization.
Hundreds of thousands of Australians and foreign visitors face heavy fines or police action if they fail to comply with a compulsory 14-day isolation period as the country effectively shuts itself off from the rest of the world in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The new measures were announced on Sunday night as two more deaths from coronavirus were reported in Sydney, taking the national total to five.

Scott Morrison announces the effective shutdown of international tourism, saying people coming to Australia will have to self-isolate for 14 days. Credit:Jacky Ghossein

A 90-year-old woman died in the Dorothy Henderson Lodge aged care facility in Macquarie Park on Saturday. A 77-year-old woman from the Sunshine Coast died in a Sydney hospital after becoming unwell on a flight on Friday. A Queensland Health spokesman said: "It is understood she had an underlying health condition."

In a major step-up of the country's response to the virus, all people from overseas coming into Australia will have to self-isolate for 14 days after the federal government, states and territories moved to lock down the country. Those who refuse to comply face fines or even imprisonment.
Lucknow, March 15 : The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh will soon set up a tribunal to claim compensation from those who damage government and private property.

According to the government spokesman, the tribunal will be headed by a retired district judge.

The government spokesman said that the decision taken by the claim tribunal will not be challenged in any court. The tribunal will have the power to attach the property of the accused and also publicize their photograph so that common people do not buy property belonged to them.

The tribunal will be able to deploy claim commissioners for damage assessment.

The Yogi government had, on March 5, put up roadside hoardings in Lucknow with photographs of people who have been asked to pay compensation for damage to public property during anti-CAA protests.

A political controversy had broken out over the posters as the Samajwadi Party and the Congress had also put up posters naming BJP leaders.

While Samajwadi party leader I.P. Singh had put up a poster with rape accused former BJP leaders - Chinmayanand and Kuldip Sengar, the Congress had directly targeted Yogi Adityanath and deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya by listing their criminal records on the poster.

The Allahabad High Court which had taken suo motu cognizance of the matter last week, had directed the Lucknow administration on March 9 to remove posters displaying pictures.

The state government challenged the High Court order in the Supreme Court on Thursday but the apex court told the Uttar Pradesh government that there was no law that could back their action and referred the case to a three-judge bench.

Meanwhile, in an unexpected move on Friday, the Yogi Adityanath government 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 tribunal will be set up in accordance with the provision of the ordinance.

The matter is scheduled to come up for hearing in the High Court on Monday.
Former Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, has faulted the Kano State government over the issuance of his dethronement letter.

Sanusi in a video circulating online said he is moving on and doesnt want to go back to the throne following his banishment.

According to the deposed Emir, his removal was so badly done that he could have challenged it in court if he wanted the throne back.



I have done what I could in six years, Im moving on. I dont want to go back. The truth is, if I had wanted to go back, the dethronement letter was so badly written, it was not done professionally. The easiest thing is just to go to court.

Its a simple, fair hearing, did you query him? Did you ask him to defend himself? Did you even call him to ask him any question? Thats all but I think we should go on to a new phase in life, he said.

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"Our housing market is stellar," she said.

But it's business growth that brings in a higher amount of revenue to the town and that is part of what she is focused on for the future.

The town has extended utilities to the south past the Indiana Toll Road and that area is being marketed for commercial growth, Darnell said.

The Kmart building near the corner of Ind. 49 and Indian Boundary Road was also torn down recently, clearing the way for new commercial development in that area, she said.

There are also existing buildings along Broadway that are available for businesses and empty lots that could be zoned for that use, she said.

"That's my big deal - get businesses here," she said.

Fisher said there have been plenty of rumors about the future use of the prominent intersection at Ind. 49 and Indian Boundary Road where the Kmart building once stood. But she had yet to see any proposal.

"It is our understanding there is going to be retail development there," she said.

She said there is support in the community for something other than big box stores.
We dont have to worry too much about whether this response or that response demands specific payments here and there, Kurtzhals said. We are aware that there will be huge expenditure within the system. But were not too concerned about it because we have a direct line of communication from the national government to the regional government to the hospital directors.
As mainstream Democrats ponder the real possibility that Bernie Sanders will remain in the race for the partys presidential nomination until the convention in Milwaukee, it is worth considering how the party handled a similar challenge in 1944.

The renomination of President Franklin Roosevelt for a fourth term was a foregone conclusion, but that of his vice president  the staunchly liberal and fiercely pro-Soviet Henry A. Wallace  was not. Though vice presidents have little official power beyond resolving tie votes in the Senate, they reside a heartbeat from the presidency. And though Roosevelts medical diagnosis was a well-kept secret (even from him), his advanced congestive heart failure was, by the spring of 1944, visible in his pallor, trembling hands and declining weight.

Party leaders were alarmed and determined to act. They considered Wallace to be both an electoral liability and a man whose views and judgment rendered him incapable of filling Roosevelts shoes should his health fail entirely. They couldnt persuade the president to ditch his friend outright and anoint another running mate, but Roosevelt agreed to give Wallace the weakest of endorsements and to allow an open convention in July.

Henry Wallace had name recognition and a passionate liberal base, yet his detractors well outnumbered his supporters. But anti-Wallace Democrats werent able to coalesce around any one of the obvious candidates. House Speaker Sam Rayburn, Director of the Office of War Mobilization Jimmy Byrnes and Senate Majority Leader Alben Barkley were the best-known alternatives. The president liked Supreme Court Justice William Douglas. But all these men had their own electoral drawbacks.

Bernie wins support as a generational view of socialism has changed Sanders espouses a form of "Democratic Socialism" that is just fine with generations too young to remember Red Scares, columnist E.R. Shipp says.

Determined not to let the vice presidential nomination fall to a man who had, just before the convention, spent four weeks traveling around Siberia lavishing praise on Stalin, top Democratic Party officials settled on a lesser-known but electorally sound figure who had demonstrated keen political skills and policy sense: Missouri Sen. Harry S. Truman.

The case for Truman was straightforward. He was an experienced 10-year senator; respected, personable, centrist. He was a loyal New Dealer, but no radical. A border-state man, he was in the South, but not of it. He could win Dixie votes yet not lose Northern ones. Labor liked him. Black leaders liked him. Colleagues like him. Nobody loved him, but that was not in the job specs.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Bob Hannegan persuaded Roosevelt to put his willingness to run with Truman in writing. Together with DNC Treasurer Edwin Pauley, DNC Secretary George Allen and Postmaster General Frank Walker, he then set out to sell the leaderships choice to the convention in Chicago. It was a masterful effort.

Initially, they encouraged delegates who had qualms about the Missourian as vice president to vote for their local favorite sons. This produced the desired result. After the first round of voting, Wallace led, but with just 37% of the 1,176 delegates. Truman garnered 27%, and the remaining votes were scattered among candidates to the right of Wallace. These votes now needed to be shepherded toward Truman.

The coronavirus crisis exposes the stupidity of Trump's health care policies Trump's hostility to public health programs blinds his administration to how to use the tools already at hand to combat the threat, columnist Michael Hiltzik says.

Legend has it  a legend nurtured by serious historians (David McCullough) and fantasists (Oliver Stone) alike  that the leaders offered delegates ambassadorships or postmasterships in return for Truman votes. Yet there is no basis for it. Unbeknownst to either McCullough or Stone, the claim, I found, originated with a Wallace-supporting union lobbyist, Calvin Beanie Baldwin, seven years after the fact, together with the caveat that he had no evidence to back it.

In fact, the claim makes little sense. Roosevelt would never have turned over control of ambassadorial posts to party functionaries for the sake of nominating Truman, a man he barely knew. As for postmasterships, the post office had been part of the civil service since 1883; its jobs were unavailable for patronage. Instead, the Democratic leadership simply made its watertight case: The battle was now between Wallace, a man who wanted to import economic democracy from Russia, and Truman, a man who could help the ticket and run the country if necessary. The choice was therefore obvious.

That logic did the trick. Truman romped to the VP nomination on the second ballot, with 88% of the vote. The rest, as they say, is history. FDR won, and the Missourian became president on Roosevelts death the following April. Among many other great accomplishments, Truman would preside over the creation of the Marshall Plan and NATO  historic and crucial initiatives that Wallace would openly and bitterly oppose.

As for the party leaders who had orchestrated Trumans rise in 1944, they were wholly unapologetic about their intervention.

Why Democrats are concerned Bernie Sanders will win the nomination Polls show Sanders beating Trump, columnist Carl P. Leubsdorf says, so why do Democratic leaders not believe he can win?

When I die, Hannegan would tell a journalist a few years later, I would like to have one thing on my headstone  that I was the man who kept Henry Wallace from becoming president of the United States.

It is the people who elect presidents, Pauley reflected, but it is the politicians who try and give them the best field to select from. Having become convinced that Wallace could only bring disaster to the nation and our party, (we did) our job both as citizens and practical politicians.

In 2020, the parallels are compelling. Although democratic socialist Bernie Sanders, like Wallace in 1944, has substantial and impassioned left-wing support, a majority of Democrats appear to prefer a more moderate candidate. It is uncertain, however, that the primaries will give the one moderate remaining, Joe Biden, the 1,991 delegates required to win the nomination on the first ballot at the July convention. Delegates will then become unbound, and 775 superdelegates will come into play, with many Sanders supporters ready to fight.

No, Trump is not going to be a dictator Trump himself may have at last learned a lesson, that you have to stop and listen and learn from others and try to avoid carelessness, columnist Jay Ambrose says.

The difference between 2020 and 1944 is the power of the party leadership, which is much reduced today. And unlike Bob Hannegan in 1944, todays DNC chair, Tom Perez, cannot claim to speak for a sitting Democratic president. Interventions by Barack Obama or Nancy Pelosi on behalf of Biden will no doubt anger Sanders supporters, but there is neither a case based on precedent nor one in principle for a hands-off approach by the so-called establishment.

Fielding a far-left candidate, Democrats are likely to hand Donald Trump, enabled by an obeisant Republican Congress, another four years to undermine Americas cohesion at home and its standing abroad. The country needs an alternative to Donald Trump, and the Democratic Party needs firm, competent, and  yes  moderate leadership to deliver it.

Benn Steil is director of international economics and the historian in residence at the Council on Foreign Relations, as well as the author, most recently, of The Marshall Plan: Dawn of the Cold War. He wrote this for the Los Angeles Times.
Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: In the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, the Kartarpur Corridor will be shut down for an indefinite period from March 16 by the union government. yesterday, the Pakistan government banned its citizens from travelling to the shrine. A senior official of the Border Security Force (BSF) said, "In the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, as a precautionary measure to contain and control the spread of the disease the travel and registration for Kartarpur Sahib is temporarily suspended from March 16.

Sources said that the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a formal notification in this regard.

Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikhs, Jathedar Harpreet Singh had on Friday appealed to the Union Government not to shut down the corridor. "Unless the government imposes a travel ban on all foreign countries, it should not seal the corridor," he had said.

The corridor is a 4.6 km long passage with two Integrated Check Posts on either side of the Indo-Pak border. It starts from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district of India and goes till the Kartarpur shrine in Narowal district of Pakistan.

The closure of the corridor was on the cards as the Union Government on Friday closed the Attari border. No foreign national will be allowed to cross the Radcliffe line. The Indians coming back will be allowed to enter but they will be quarantined for fourteen days. With this move, the trade with Afghanistan also came to a standstill as the truck drivers from Pakistan and Afghanistan will not be allowed to enter.

In the first 100 days of the opening of Kartarpur Corridor, from November 9(2019) to February 19(2020), 50,403 devotees have paid obeisance at the historic Darbar Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan where the first Guru of Sikhs Guru Nanak spent last 18 years of his life.

The highest number of pilgrims went in December last year, 23,383, while in last 21 days of November 11,194 devotees visited. In January the number fell down to 10,056 and in first nineteen days of February 5,770 pilgrims went. On an average 504 devotees visited the gurdwara through the corridor, in the December the average was the highest between 600 to 1000 pilgrims per day.
A growing number of borough halls and township offices are closing their doors to the public, or making other adjustments, in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Officials in Wormleysburg announced Sunday that their offices will be closed to the public through March 27.

Borough staff can still be reached at 717-763-4483.

The office, located at 20 Market St., maintains a drop-off slot next to the front door for bill payments, permit applications and other correspondence.

Events scheduled in borough council chambers or Knisley Hall are canceled through the end of the month, as are council and committee meetings.

Swatara Township announced it will close its building to the public starting Monday, and it will be closed until further notice. Residents can still call or email the staff and make payments through the mail or a secured drop box.

Lower Paxton Township is limiting all public business to the municipal centers lobby and vestibule area. No meetings will be held beyond that point. Staff can still be reached through phone and email.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PA. Hover your mouse or tap a county to see the exact number of cases per county. Municipalities, when known, are indicated by a blue pin. Tapping the pin will tell you what we know about the case.



Lower Swatara Township is asking residents to conduct their business with the township over the phone or through email, when possible. Sewer payments can be taken online or at a drop-off box at the front doors. Any business that requires an in-person visit will be restricted to the lobby.

Derry Township has closed the Hershey Public Library through March 29.

In Lower Allen Township, all public meetings that had been set for March have been canceled.

Silver Spring Townships offices are closed to the public until March 30. Township staff will still be working as normal.

And Hampden Townships offices will be closed for in-person visits and meetings through April 2.

In Littlestown in Adams County, public access to the borough offices is closed until May 1, but borough departments can be contacted by phone and email. Payments can be sent through the mail, paid by credit card or paid online.

Text PennLive to 717-745-7532 to sign up to have breaking news and essential updates about the coronavirus delivered right to your mobile device. Data and messaging rates may apply.

This post has been updated to include more municipalities.

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.
The US military released video on March 13 showing the aftermath of a strike conducted on an alleged militia site on Thursday.

In a statement, the Department of Defense said strikes were conducted in response to missile attacks on Camp Taji, on March 11, which left three service members dead  two from the US and one from the UK  while wounding 14 others. It blamed the attack on an Iranian-backed militia.

The Pentagon said that the March 12 US strikes targeted facilities belonging to Kataib Hezbollah across Iraq.

According to the US military, this video was filmed from the air on March 13 in the vicinity of Al-Musayyib, a town south of Baghdad.

The United States will not tolerate attacks against our people, our interests, or our allies, Secretary of Defense Mark T Esper said in a Pentagon Statement. As we have demonstrated in recent months, we will take any action necessary to protect our forces in Iraq and the region. Credit: Department of Defense via Storyful
To his surprise, Joey Hoofdman found out he was related to (clockwise from right) Marsha Elvers, Martijn van Halen, Peter Liefhebber  and many others

To his surprise, Joey Hoofdman found out he was related to (clockwise from right) Marsha Elvers, Martijn van Halen, Peter Liefhebber  and many others

Joey Hoofdman still gets goosebumps when he describes the moment he saw a picture of his biological father for the first time. The resemblance was striking and undeniable. The slightly aquiline nose, the straight-set eyebrows and the curve of his jaw  even the fall of his tousled blond hair was so familiar it was like looking into a mirror.

It came as little surprise: Joey had spent his unhappy childhood convinced that he could not be related to his volatile parents, a torment that almost drove him to suicide. But finding his biological father was not, as he might have hoped, a joyful moment of discovery. In fact, the truth was far more troubling.

The man staring back at him from the screen on his phone was Jan Karbaat, a Dutch fertility doctor who had successfully helped Joeys mother conceive. It meant he had inseminated her with his own sperm instead of her husbands as they had agreed. And Joeys mother had no idea.

It thrust Joey into the centre of one of Europes biggest medical scandals. The trusted doctor had, without his patients knowledge or consent, been using his own sperm to inseminate the women who came to him desperate for a child.

At the time of his death in 2017, he was thought to have had 22 recognised children from several marriages, and was suspected of secretly fathering 22 more with his patients  without their permission. Now, three years on, there are at least 61 known offspring conceived in this way, and it is feared he may have fathered hundreds more over a period of nearly 40 years.

After finding Karbaats photograph on the internet, Joey, 33, was left in no doubt that he was one of them. When I tell this story I still get an electric shock through my body, he says today. Id been so sure my father was not my real father, and this picture meant I wasnt losing my mind. I sent it to my friends and asked them who it was, and they all replied, Its you, Joey.

But what it meant was more complicated. Something like this had never crossed my mind.

For Joey, and the 60 other confirmed children, the extent of the scandal is only now becoming clear. It has consumed the Rotterdam suburb of Barendrecht, where Karbaat ran his private clinic from 1980 until it was shut down by the Dutch government in 2009 amid reports of record-keeping irregularities.

The quaint suburb, with a population of around 48,000, is surrounded by green fields, windmills and the meandering banks of the Oude Maas river. But Karbaats misconduct has left many residents questioning if they might be related, with concerned husbands and wives carrying out hasty DNA tests.

Fertility doctor Jan Karbaat secretly fathered at least 61 children with his patients  without their permission

He also distributed vials of semen to clinics in the US, Belgium Germany and Denmark. Could they also have been his own?

At the centre of the scandal, of course, are children like Joey, the legacy Karbaat has left in his wake. The half-siblings communicate on WhatsApp, new members joining all the time. Some say Karbaats actions have overshadowed their entire lives; others that he has done them no harm.

Joey now has at least 60 half-siblings  ironic given that, as a child, a supportive family is exactly what he lacked. His earliest memory growing up in Rotterdam with an elder brother and younger sister is of his parents fighting. I wished I was not from my family and imagined being someone elses child, he said.

He left home at 15, and when his legal father died in 2012, the unanswered questions about his parentage were brought into sharper focus. He became depressed and sought help from a psychiatrist, who urged him to speak to his mother. It was early 2017 when he finally worked up the courage to do so. Shocked by his questions, his mother admitted visiting Karbaats clinic but insisted she had seen the vial with his fathers name on it before she was inseminated. She was shocked and angry. She wouldnt talk to me. She thought I was implying she had been unfaithful.

Joey retreated to his car and Googled Karbaats name. There was a picture of the doctor in his younger years  and details of rumours that the doctor had used his own sperm. It was horrible, shocking. I didnt know what to think.

Joey got in touch with a Facebook group run by a woman who suspected she was also one of Karbaats children. She put him in touch with a private investigator, who gave Joey a set of DNA tests. He persuaded his siblings, and his fathers two children from his first marriage, to take swabs.

The results were explosive. Joey was not related to his fathers eldest two children, which meant he could only have been conceived with an unknown donors sperm. Not only that: his elder brother had been fathered by a different donor. Only Joeys sister was revealed to be fully related to their parents.

I went to visit Karbaats house, full of questions. I spoke to his wife who kept telling me to ask my mum, to come back later and the doctor would give me a tour of the clinic.

Karbaat was, at the time, desperately ill. She knew that and didnt mention it. A week later he died.

The only way to get answers was to track down others wanting them, too. Joey attended a court hearing in which a small group was trying to force Karbaats family to release DNA evidence that would allow them to carry out tests to confirm that the doctor was their father.

At the hearing he met Moniek Wassenaar. There was an easy familiarity between the two, which only deepened when they returned to her Amsterdam home. I thought, [The decor is] the same style Id use in my own house. We decided to see if we were related and did a test. Two days later the results were back  we were half-siblings. That was the first match. It was very emotional.

Joey put his results on a genealogy site that matches DNA results with others around the world. Very quickly, it paired him with Inge Herlaar, 39, an HR professional and mother of two who had grown up in Barendrecht. Inge had been curious about her heritage since, aged 25, her father had confessed that she and her brother had been conceived using a sperm donor. My father was caring and nice, the kind of father you wish everyone could have, Inge recalls. There was no doubt that he was still my father. But I was curious. I liked the idea my biological father could be Jon Bon Jovi.

A week after sending her DNA to the genealogy site in June 2017, Inge received a call from Joey. He said, I think Im your half-brother. I was really stunned. We met two weeks later with three others, who I found out were all my half-siblings.

We were searching for the same features, the same life events. One of them, Marsha, was just so similar to me  Ive since found out we share so many genes that our mothers must be somehow connected, too.

While Inge was shocked about her link to the notorious case, she insists that Karbaat doesnt really appeal to me.

If you think Jon Bon Jovi could be your father and it turns out to be Karbaat, thats a little disappointing, she jokes. But I dont feel a connection with him. I have a father already, who raised me and loved me.

Still, she insisted her American husband Wim, 61, take a DNA test to prove they werent related. She will also insist her sons test their partners before they have children  just in case. Before this happened I thought nurture was more important than nature, that we are all a product of the way we are raised. But meeting Marsha, and all of the others, makes me realise youll never change that blueprint. Many of the Karbaat children are doctors or health professionals. Its strange.

A court decision in early 2019 finally allowed Karbaats DNA to be released for testing, which means more siblings keep joining the group. When I saw it written down, I broke, Joey admits. It was very emotional, almost too much to process. Now Im no longer angry but I am curious. I have the puzzle in my head but I cant put the pieces together.

Both Inge and Joey worry they may have inherited Karbaats personality traits. Inge explained: In HR, we often have to make decisions to let people go, and I worry if Ive made the right decision. So I always try to discuss it with colleagues. Karbaat didnt do the right thing so I have to try.

At first I was asking my friends to tell me if I was being manipulative, Joey recalls. I wanted to know if I was doing things, tricking people, in a way I wasnt aware of. To have a more human understanding of him as a person would be helpful.

Most of Karbaats legal family  except one son who provided some DNA  have refused to help the group.

Joey said: We heard from the Karbaat familys lawyer that he has put in his will that if family members decide to cooperate with us they would not get any money from his estate. He is blocking it, taking his secrets to the grave.

It is cruel. He told a newspaper weeks before he died that there were no children, that we were seeing ghosts. He was still denying it until the end.

The impact on their mothers has been no less stressful. Joeys mother, who learned her three children have three different fathers, has struggled hard to come to terms with the news.

Inge says it has been terrible for her mother. Its such an intimate thing to do to someone, she adds.

The extended family is still learning how to function. It is a lot of work to keep in touch with them all and every new member needs support. Not all of them get along, Inge confides, like any family, in a way. On the other hand, youre well connected. If I have a problem, I have a lawyer. There are several doctors. If something pops up I can call a sister or a brother. Its really funny  and very convenient.

None of Karbaats children will ever be able to confront their biological father to ask why. I only have the information from the media, explains Joey. Maybe he did it because of the money, maybe he had a God complex. Thats what everyone says. But I think, at the start, he just wanted to help mothers to have children. Later, he evolved and it became about needing money or the status. The sad reality is that Joey and his half-siblings will never get the answers from him.

The next step is a class action in Hollands civil courts where 53 people  including children of Karbaat, others conceived at his clinic and former patients  are claiming damages against Karbaats estate. They will return to court, hopefully for a final time, to hear the verdict within the next few weeks. Joey hopes to reclaim the money he has spent on DNA tests, and compensation for the damage done to his mother.

But not all have joined the action. Some, like Inge, are just happy to have found connections with their half-siblings.

I cannot help that he is my father, and his legitimate children also cannot help that he is their father, she shrugs.

Last month, Joey and Inge visited Karbaats grave in Rotterdam. It was the closest I could get to him, Joey says.

To tell him everything and to forgive him. That was the most important thing so I could have peace of mind. Im still not responsible for his wrongdoings and his actions but I need to forgive him to move on. I deserve that.

The Immaculate Deception will be available weekly on Apple, Spotify and all podcast providers from 18 March
The number of cases of Covid-19 in Italy has surged higher again.

Some 3,590 more cases of the coronavirus have been reported in a 24-hour period, nearly 100 more than the increase the day before.

The additional infections reported today represent the countrys biggest day-to-day increase.

Italys Civil Protection chief Angelo Borrelli announced the latest number of cases, bringing the total number of people with the new coronavirus to 24,747. The number of deaths had increased by 368 to 1,809.

According to the World Health Organisation, the vast majority of people who get Covid-19 recover within weeks.

Italys national health institute chief Silvio Brusaferro said it was not known if Italy was reaching its peak and might start seeing the number of new cases decline.

Meanwhile, the countrys foreign minister said China was sending 150 pulmonary respirators now and more later to help treat seriously ill Covid-19 patients in Italy, the centre of Europes coronavirus pandemic.

Selfies sent by parishioners lie on the benches of the Robbiano church in Giussano, northern Italy, as Masses for the faithful have been suspended following the country's coronavirus emergency. Pic: AP

Foreign minister Luigi Di Maio also said on Sunday that China would be shipping five million masks for medical staff.

A day earlier, the top health official in the hard-hit region of Lombardy complained publicly about the quality of the masks that Italys central government had shipped to hospitals in his area, likening them to toilet paper.

Lombardy has recorded 13,272 infections and 1,218 deaths alone.

China, which appears to have turned the corner on its own Covid-19 outbreak, will also be sending medical crews to aid the Italians, Mr Di Maio said.
WASHINGTON - The case against Nassif Sami Daher and Kamel Mohammad Rammal, two Michigan men accused of food stamp fraud, hardly seemed exceptional. But the tool that agents used to investigate them was extraordinary: a secretive surveillance process intended to identify potential spies and terrorists.

It meant that the men, unlike most criminal defendants, were never shown the evidence authorities used to begin investigating them or the information that the Justice Department presented to obtain the original warrant.

The case is among recent Justice Department prosecutions that relied on the same surveillance powers, known by the acronym FISA, that law enforcement officials acknowledge were misused in the Russia investigation. Those errors have prompted a reckoning inside the FBI and debate in Congress about new privacy safeguards. The attention given to FISA has also cast a spotlight on cases such as the Michigan one, where surveillance tools used to investigate foreign intelligence threats end up leading to prosecutions for commonplace, domestic crimes.

The department says it cant turn a blind eye to crimes it uncovers when scrutinizing someone for national security purposes, even if those offences werent the initial basis of the investigation. In recent years, inquiries that began with FISA warrants have yielded charges including child pornography and bank and wire fraud.

Current and former officials say just because a FISA warrant produces charges other than national security ones doesnt mean the target is no longer considered a national security threat. Sometimes, particularly when disrupting a terrorism plot, prosecutors may charge other crimes they find evidence of for fear of tipping the targets conspirators to the investigations actual purpose.

But critics say building routine cases on evidence derived from FISA warrants undermines constitutional protections against unreasonable searches. And if the original surveillance application is riddled with errors or omissions, they say, any resulting prosecution is tainted. Though some judges have raised concerns, no court has prohibited the practice. The Supreme Court has never directly confronted the specific issue.

Patrick Toomey, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union national security project, noted that the Fourth Amendment requires the government to describe the type of criminal evidence its seeking before conducting a search.

Our view is that the types of broad searches for foreign intelligence information flips the Fourth Amendment on its head when the government repurposes those searches for domestic criminal prosecutions, Toomey said.

Thats what happened with Daher and Rammal. They were charged in August 2018 with defrauding the food stamp program in a scheme that investigators say was based at a Detroit service station.

The next month, prosecutors told them they intended to use information collected under a warrant approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which authorizes law enforcement to eavesdrop on people it has probable cause to believe are agents of a foreign power.

That meant that while Daher and Rammal could see government evidence about the fraud allegations, they were denied details about the reasons for the national security surveillance.

Though the Justice Department has refused to disclose the application it submitted to the court, its filings make clear the case was part of a broader terrorism-related inquiry. Prosecutors produced a statement from Attorney General William Barr saying the FISA materials held classified information about counterterrorism investigations and that disclosing them would harm national security.

Rammal, who was raised in Lebanon, has since pleaded guilty to fraud. Daher has fought unsuccessfully to see the FISA information and is awaiting trial. His lawyers contend Daher was targeted in a post-Sept. 11 mob mentality Neither men faced terrorist-related charges.

Sami is a nerd with a big ego and imagination, but, he is not a terrorist or a National Security threat, Dahers lawyers wrote.

The Justice Department says the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act explicitly permits law enforcement to use evidence from FISA warrants for domestic criminal prosecutions and that it makes obvious sense to do so.

Congress intended that you not ignore evidence of another crime while youre doing foreign intelligence surveillance, and FISA itself reflects this, Assistant Attorney General John Demers, the departments top national security official, said in a statement. Its nonsensical to ignore evidence of a crime that weve lawfully gathered.

Nonetheless, defence lawyers see the department as straying beyond FISAs original intent.

Critics have long complained about the one-sided nature of the process. Targets of the surveillance, for instance, are consistently denied copies of FISA applications, making it hard for them to know the accuracy of the information given to the court, to learn why precisely prosecutors considered them a national security concern and to contest the legitimacy of the search.

In the Russia case, details of the FISA warrant used on ex-Trump campaign adviser Carter Page became known only because of the highly partisan congressional fight over special counsel Robert Muellers investigation. Later, the Justice Department inspector general found the FBI omitted from its applications key information that should have been presented to the court.

The FBI has since announced steps aimed at ensuring that its wiretap applications are more accurate. The House passed legislation Wednesday containing new privacy protections. The Senate left for the week without approving it, allowing certain FISA provision s to temporarily expire.

Most FISA warrants dont result in criminal prosecution. Page, for instance, has denied wrongdoing and was never charged. Those that do generally involve national security crimes.

But other investigations with a classified or national security focus have ended instead with more routine criminal charges.

In California, a small business owner named Abdallah Osseily was charged by national security prosecutors in 2019 with lying on bank documents and on his naturalization petition.

Prosecutors produced evidence confirming hed been eavesdropped on, but defence lawyers say the recordings didnt come from conventional criminal wiretaps, leading them to believe they were from a FISA warrant. The Justice Department has refused to confirm if thats the case but says the prosecution isnt based on evidence from a FISA warrant warrant. Defence lawyers have nonetheless fought to see the original surveillance application.

Hes not given the opportunity to clear his name or to otherwise challenge the governments accusations that he represents a national security threat, said his lawyer, Bilal Essayli.

Last August, federal authorities notified a think-tank fellow and ex-State Department employee that they intended to use evidence from a FISA warrant in his mortgage fraud case.

The man, David Tawei An, was being investigated for his ties to Taiwanese officials when FBI agents encountered what they said was evidence he had submitted a false loan application. An ultimately pleaded guilty to fraud.

One prominent case concerns a former Boeing manager, Keith Gartenlaub, who was targeted with a FISA warrant because agents suspected him of having helped China acquire information on a C-17 military transport plane.

Agents using that warrant to search his computer files said they found images of child pornography. Prosecutors charged him with that but not with spying for China, something he adamantly denies.

He was convicted on the child pornography counts and recently released after nearly two years in prison, though he says the images werent his and were on an old computer multiple people who came in and out of his California beach house had access to.

FISA has become a way to circumvent due process in the legal system, Gartenlaub said. Anybody in my situation cannot defend themselves because you cant see anything.

A San Francisco-based federal appeals court upheld his conviction. But it also said a prosecution for completely unrelated crimes discovered as a result of rummaging through a computer comes perilously close to the exact abuses against which the Fourth Amendment was designed to protect.

The ACLU sees an opening to narrow the governments powers, saying courts are only now starting to grapple with the fairness of national security searches being used in ordinary prosecutions.

These searches, Toomey said in an email, upend bedrock constitutional protections.

_____

Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP
On Sunday, a resident of Pimpri-Chinchwad tested positive for coronavirus (Covid-19) taking the total number of cases in Pune district, including areas under the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), to 16, district collector Naval Kishore Ram said. With this the district has the highest number of coronavirus cases in the state.

The patient, according to the civic administration, returned from Japan and underwent tests on Saturday.

The National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, on Sunday confirmed that he tested positive. The 37-year-old male is reported to be stable, Ram said.

Of the five persons, who tested positive in Pimpri-Chinchwad late on Saturday, four came in contact with a member of a group of 40 people, who had returned from Dubai on March 1.

Punes zero patients, a couple, were part of that group. The fifth positive case reported in PCMC on Saturday is that of a 21-year-old man who has a recent travel history, including Thailand. The driver of the taxi that brought the Dubai-returned couple from Mumbai to Pune is the only other case that was reported last week.

Family members of the Dubai-returned group are infected. The person who returned from Thailand was part of a 93-member group. We are tracking all those people who he may have come in contact with, Ram said.

Schools, colleges, public parks, cinema theatres, and gymnasiums in Pune are shut and shopping malls to remain closed till March 31.

Ram said that only those stores selling medicines, food or vegetables inside the shopping malls will be allowed to remain open.
Governments and police across India are busy tracking people who slipped out of isolation wards or evaded screening for the novel coronavirus infection, which has claimed two lives in India.

Such incidents pose a massive public health risk because of the possibility of mass transit systems, or big gatherings getting exposed to the virus. India has 84 confirmed cases as of Saturday.

The latest case was reported from Jharkhands Koderma district, where the health department has sounded a lookout for a 30-year-old man, who is absconding after being asked by doctors to be screened at the hospital on March 13. The man had returned from a Gulf country in February. The district health department didnt find him at his registered address, and have now asked the police for trace him.

In Maharashtras Nagpur city, five people suspected of being infected with the virus escaped from a hospital but were traced later by the police. The five people escaped from the isolation ward of Mayo General Hospital late on Friday.

One of them had tested negative, reports of four others were awaited. We have traced them and they will be brought back to the hospital by the administration, S Suryavanshi, sub-inspector of Nagpur police station, said.

In Kerala, two foreigners who slipped out of Alappuzha medical college hospital on Friday after doctors advised them to take Covid-19 tests and get quarantined were located later in Cochin international airport and quarantined, police said. The couple from the United States, now settled in London, had reached Kochi on March 9 and moved to Alappuzha on March 12. One of them later developed diarrhoea and other complications and came to the medical college hospital for a checkup.

In the hospital, they were advised to go to the virology hospital and told to get quarantined. Hospital authorities said they walked out of the premises under the guise of making some phone calls and vanished.

Another such incident was reported from Thiruvananthapuram, where a resident of Haryana ran away from the medical college after he was advised to get admitted to the isolation ward on Friday. He was subsequently located in a hotel and quarantined in a hospital.
A top Kaiser Permanente executive said Sunday the large health care organization will postpone all non-urgent medical and dental procedures in Oregon and Southwest Washington through the end of the month, providing only urgent and emergency care or virtual appointments online.

Kaiser is anticipating an influx of patients amid the coronavirus outbreak and wants to reserve its medical staff and supplies in anticipation of an onslaught, said Wendy Watson, chief operating officer of Kaiser Permanente Northwest. Kaiser appears to be the first major Oregon medical provider to make such a decision, though others appear to be considering similar steps.

We have what we need right now, Watson said. What were worried about is if the use stays high.

No Kaiser employee has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to Watson, but she said the organization is considering that members of its own medical staff may be unable to work at times in the future because of exposure to the coronavirus or because they have contracted COVID-19, the disease associated with the virus.

Additionally, Watson said the school closures Gov. Kate Brown ordered to begin this week may prevent some staff from coming to work and lead to worker shortages.

Meanwhile, Watson said the outbreak is affecting production of critical medical supplies including goggles, swabs, face shields and masks  just as demand for those items is picking up. By eliminating the use of those supplies for appointments that arent urgent, she said, Kaiser can keep them in reserve for critical needs.

Kaiser is also postponing many dental appointments for the same reason. By reducing dental appointments by 75%, Watson said Kaiser estimates it can save 100,000 masks and 250,000 gloves per month for use caring for patients with critical needs.

Kaiser began notifying patients this weekend that they will need to reschedule their appointments, Watson said. In some cases, she said, patients may be able to substitute an online meeting for an in-person appointment.

Kaiser hospitals have already postponed 420 surgical or procedural cases scheduled for this coming week. Watson said the health organization will reassess the situation at the end of the month and decide whether to extend the delays.

Watson said Kaiser is taking similar steps in all the regions where it operates, which cover eight states plus the District of Columbia.

Kaiser Permanente is a managed care organization that provides medical care to 621,000 members in Oregon and Southwest Washington, and dental care to 291,000. Its one of the areas largest medical providers, operating two hospitals in the region plus 36 medical offices and 21 dental offices.

Other major Oregon medical providers indicated Sunday they also are considering delays in routine or elective procedures but none have announced such a decision yet.

Its an ongoing discussion internally, but no decisions have been made. said Providence Health & Services spokesman Gary Walker.

Kaiser says its hospitals are treating just one COVID-19 patient currently, the first person identified with the disease in Oregon on February 28. That man, who has not been publicly identified, has been hospitalized for more than two weeks. Kaiser declined to comment on his condition.

Thirty-six people in Oregon have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to state health authorities, who reported the states first death due to the outbreak on Saturday. The victim was a 70-year-old man hospitalized at Portlands Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Gov. Kate Brown ordered a halt to large gatherings last week and shut down schools in hopes of containing the outbreak.

There remains a shortage in tests for coronavirus in Oregon across the country. Watson said Kaiser is continuing to use the Oregon Health Authoritys protocol for allocating coronavirus testing, limiting tests to those who need hospitalization for respiratory symptoms that cannot be explained by the flu or other established medical diagnoses.

Kaiser is still facing supply constraints on tests, Watson said, but hopes to begin in-house testing by the end of the month.

Kaiser has begun offering online screening to patients concerned they may have symptoms related to the coronavirus, and Watson said several hundred people daily are taking advantage of that option.

Already this weekend, Kaiser said it has converted 73% of outpatient appointments to virtual care by phone or video. The organization said 785 patients had virtual care Friday, up 600% from before the COVID-19 outbreak.

Correction: This article has been corrected to note that it requires a 75% reduction in dental visits, not a 25% reduction, to achieve the savings in supplies that Kaiser expects.

Oregonian reporter Brad Schmidt contributed to this report.

-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699

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The United States has expanded its travel ban imposed on European countries in view of the coronavirus pandemic to the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The move came as President Donald Trump reviewed measures that his administration was taking to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has so far claimed 55 lives in the country.

The new travel restriction will come into force on Monday night, Vice President Mike Pence told reporters on Saturday after a meeting of the White House Task Force on Coronavirus.

"They've had a little bit of activity unfortunately," Trump told reporters at a White House conference in response to a question on the travel ban on the United Kingdom and Ireland.

"We made a unanimous recommendation to the President that we suspend all travel from the UK and Ireland. That will be effective midnight, Monday night, Eastern Standard Time," Pence said soon thereafter.

American citizens and legal permanent residents in the UK or Ireland can come home, Pence said. They will be "funneled through specific airports and processed," he added.

"We continue to emphasize that the risk of serious illness for the average American remains low, but data shows that seniors with serious underlying health conditions are our most vulnerable population, the people most susceptible to serious medical outcomes," Pence said.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad F Wolf said the decision to expand the travel ban to the UK and Ireland was taken due to the rising number of cases there.

"These restrictions bar travel for certain foreign nationals who have been present in the UK or Ireland in the past 14 days," he said.

"These restrictions to the UK and Ireland, just like the Schengen zone and China and Iran, do not apply to air cargo, maritime cargo, economic shipping, or the like," Wolf said.

As per the latest report, 55 people have died in the US and there have been nearly 2,500 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country. Globally, the deadly virus has claimed the lives of 5,811 people with 155,218 confirmed cases.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
OTTAWA - The federal government is retooling messaging for travellers arriving in Canada amid criticism that it's not doing enough to ensure thousands of people entering the country don't drive a national spike in COVID-19 cases.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 15/3/2020 (667 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emerges from Rideau Cottage to hold a news conference in Ottawa, on Friday, March 13, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand

OTTAWA - The federal government is retooling messaging for travellers arriving in Canada amid criticism that it's not doing enough to ensure thousands of people entering the country don't drive a national spike in COVID-19 cases.

But even as border officials are updating signs and pamphlets in order to ensure everyone coming in goes into self-isolation, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday the question of whether to close the border overall remains up for discussion.

Hundreds of Canadians are on their way back to Canada as the novel coronavirus continues its global march, its epicentre now in Europe where borders are closing, flights are being cancelled and entire towns are being ordered into seclusion to control the spread of the illness.

On Saturday, the federal government had urged travelling Canadians to return home while they still had the chance, but the Liberal government continues to face pressure to close Canada off as well from the outside world.

Trudeau said Sunday that what decisions his cabinet will make will be guided by science.

And Canada's top public health official said what the science shows at the moment is that closing borders didn't work for other countries, and what's more important is how the society works together.

That's why all travellers are being asked to self-isolate, as they can't be forced to do it, Dr. Theresa Tam said at a news conference in Ottawa.

"It is impossible to be essentially keeping tabs on every single traveller that comes in," she said.

"This is a social phenomenon, this is a societal response and everybody must take that responsibility. Public health is going to do what it can."

On Sunday, authorities were updating signage and information at airports in the wake of many travellers reporting that as they re-entered Canada from abroad, they were being given no details about what to do  unless they were arriving from the three historic hotspots for the illness: China, Iran and Italy.

Tam said the epicentre of the outbreak has now shifted to Europe as a whole, and as the situation continues to change, so too will the information travellers receive.

While Tam said all Canadians need to be taking what measures they can to curb the spread of the illness, she did not suggest the border close.

"We have to maintain essential movement of people and services as well," she said.

Canada now has more than 320 cases of COVID-19, with all 10 provinces reporting infections though most, so far, are directly linked to travel. There has been one death, and a number of the early cases are now considered recovered.

Trudeau acknowledged Sunday that things are changing fast, and nothing is off the table  including shutting the border and making isolation and screening at the border mandatory.

"We are hearing the concerns people have had," he told CTV's Question Period in an interview outside his home, where he and his family remain in self-isolation following his wife's diagnosis with the illness.

"The shift in posture from the United States of course gives us significant things to think about and we will be discussing it later today among other measures at our cabinet meeting."

This week, U.S. President Donald Trump closed his country to travel from Europe.

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The Opposition Conservatives have been calling for Trudeau to shut down the borders, and reiterated that call Sunday.

Asking people to act isn't good enough, said the party's critics on health and public safety in a statement.

"It's not enough for the government to simply announce a policy, they must ensure it is being enforced and that front-line staff have the necessary resources and supports," Matt Jeneroux and Pierre Paul-Hus said.

Trudeau's wife Sophie was diagnosed with COVID-19 following a trip to the United Kingdom. He said she continues to recover and currently has a headache but it is not worse than a bad cold.

While other world leaders, including Trump, have been tested as a result of being in close contact with those who have the virus, Trudeau said the advice he has received is that the test would be wasted on him as he continues to show no symptoms.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 15, 2020.
A person from Latvia was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Vietnam on Sunday, according to test results returned by the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City.

The new patient was born in 1987 and comes from Latvia.

He has become the 54th COVID-19 patient in the Southeast Asian country.

He is vacationing in Vietnam. He has visited Ho Chi Minh City and Phu Quoc Island off Kien Giang Province, located in the southern part of the country, with no pre-existing conditions.

On March 8, the Latvian and his wife, born in 1988, arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on board flight TK162 from Spain.

He boarded flight QH1521 to fly to Phu Quoc on March 9 and stayed at La Nube Residence until March 13.

He flew back to Ho Chi Minh City aboard flight QH1524 on Friday and stayed at hotels in District 1 and District 4.

At 4:00 pm on Saturday, he showed symptoms of a fever and went to the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases for a check.

His test returned positive the same day.

His sample was then sent to the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, where he was confirmed to be infected with the virus on Sunday night.

Health authorities in Ho Chi Minh City are calling for all passengers on board the flights TK162, QH1521, and QH1524 to contact local medical centers or dial 0869577133 for help.

Those in contact with the passengers are advised to get in touch with the nearest healthcare facilities for a check and further assistance.

Vietnam has confirmed 54 COVID-19 cases so far, with 16 having fully recovered and been discharged from the hospital by February 26.

Nine patients are being treated in Hanoi, three in Da Nang, and five in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Southeast Asian country treats Vietnamese patients for free.

It has announced that foreign patients have to pay for their treatment although their testing and quarantine fees are still waived.

No mortality has been reported in Vietnam to date.

Vietnam now bans arrivals from the Schengen Area and UK and suspends its visa-on-arrival policy for all foreigners.

The new policy will be in effect for 30 days from 12:00 pm Sunday, March 15, and will not affect arrivals for diplomatic or official purposes.

Vietnam will consider stop issuing tourist visas to visitors from the U.S. on a state-by-state basis, depending on the development of the epidemic in that country.

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The ailing US industry is bracing for more turmoil with the coronavirus pandemic expected to deliver an economic shock to the sector -- just when people need credible information the most.

The impact is expected to be especially difficult for the newspaper sector, which has endured a decade where 2,000 publications have disappeared and newsroom jobs have fallen by half.

organizations are expected to take a hit from drops in advertising in an economic downturn, and could see declines in subscription revenue as readers pare expenses.

Conferences and events that some organizations have used to supplement their incomes is also likely to disappear as long as the health emergency persists.

"If you're ad supported and now heading into a period of short-term economic contraction that's very bad for your business," said Gabriel Kahn, a journalism professor at the University of Southern California who follows industry economic trends.

"For smaller local players that's a direct hit they can't easily recover from."



The free Seattle weekly The Stranger this week warned of an impending crisis and asked readers for donations, noting that "90 percent of our revenue -- advertising, ticketing fees, and our own events -- is directly tied to people getting together in groups.

The coronavirus situation has virtually eliminated this income all at once."



At the same time, the epidemic offers "an opportunity to turn the tide of the past few years" and rebuild trust with readers, University of Oregon journalism professor Damian Radcliffe said.

"At a time of a national and international public health crisis, communities need reliable, informed journalism more than ever." Radcliffe said several organizations have dropped paywalls as an effort to show "journalism as an act of public good."



Kahn agreed that for many newsrooms, "this is the moment they can develop a connection with their audience and establish their value."



Joseph Lichterman, head of editorial and digital strategy at Lenfest Institute, which owns the Philadelphia Inquirer, said news organizations will face huge challenges in covering the crisis as well as an opportunity.

"People tend to trust local media more than national media, so you want to have strong local news organizations," he said.

But he added that news organizations are being pressed to expand coverage as the health crisis worsens, creating additional problems.

"They have to deal with the logistics of keeping the business afloat and making sure their staff is safe," he said.

Some research has pointed to the importance of local media in dealing with an epidemic, among other public interest matters.

A 2018 study by University of North Carolina researchers noted that trackers at the Centers for Disease Control rely on local news reports to monitor the spread of many diseases.

"The CDC relies on the news stories in local papers to provide them with an early warning system, which is critical in containing the spread," the report said.

"So far, social media has been much less reliable." The research noted that many US communities had become "news deserts" without a local news organization.

Kahn said the crisis could exacerbate the divide between the news industry's winners and losers, with the stronger ones emerging.

"The best in class probably come out ahead and the herd gets winnowed," he said.

Many local and regional newspapers have been in flux with the merger of the Gannett and Gatehouse chains, and the bankruptcy of another major player, McClatchy.

Joshua Benton, who heads the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University, said it remains unclear if the corporate owners will be more interested in their bottom line than their journalistic mission.

"All of these companies are now either owned, run, deeply in debt to, or being puppet-mastered by one or more hedge funds or private equity firms," Benton said in a blog post.

"At an absolute minimum, expect another and bigger wave of layoffs. In the worst case, could a coronavirus-aided recession be the thing that leads to the wave of daily newspaper closures people have been anticipating -- but not seeing -- for the past decade?"



Lichterman said the nonprofit model used in Philadelphia and elsewhere, often with philanthropic support, has some promise but that newsrooms "need to do a better job of articulating their value" to readers.

"The path we see forward is direct reader support, that has to be a key part of the solution," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
One year into a new North Dakota court program, collaborators say its areas of focus have become clearer for better serving youth and families involved in both the juvenile justice and child welfare systems and for reducing referrals to juvenile court.

North Dakota's Dual Status Youth Initiative launched in January 2019. It was born from a yearlong study and recommendations in 2018 from the Robert F. Kennedy National Resource Center for Juvenile Justice to a group of state court, corrections and human services officials.

Last month, the initiative's Executive Committee met to review a third-party evaluator's critique of the program's first six months.

The evaluation said "North Dakota has been highly successful" in launching the initiative, with positive outcomes for youth, but noted there could be better compliance with some "programmatic" elements, such as improving counties' consistency in holding interventional meetings with families.

By the numbers

A work group is set to form by May to address areas of significance from the evaluation, such as disproportionate involvement of Native American youth -- a rate of 2.5 times their proportion of all North Dakota youth.

The initiative's work group would aim to include members from law enforcement, schools and tribal social services, said Court Improvement Program Coordinator Heather Traynor and Dual Status Youth Coordinator Jennifer Skjod.

Collaborators of the initiative also plan to share its results with other groups, such as the Legislature's interim Judiciary Committee, which is undertaking a study of North Dakota's juvenile justice system, and the newly formed North Dakota Children's Cabinet.

"We're just really trying to find places where this could fit in," Skjod said.

Data for a 1-year review of the initiative will go to the evaluator next month.

The crucible for the initiative was a memorandum of understanding between North Dakota's Supreme Court and Department of Human Services to securely share data related to children involved in both systems.

On average, 42% of youth referred to juvenile court each month are dual status youth, Traynor said.

The 6-month report outlined 881 youth the initiative encountered in its first six months from March through August 2019, 340 of whom were involved in both systems and 541 of whom are involved in one system and have been with the other.

Traynor provided numbers after one year, from March 1, 2019, to Feb. 29, 2020: the program encountered 1,396 youth, 603 of whom were involved in juvenile court and child welfare and 793 of whom are involved in one system and have been with the other.

One common scenario of dual status youth is truancy combined with parental issues at home, Traynor said.

'We have to keep an eye on that'

Key to the initiative is meetings with youth and their families to map out an interventional plan for their success, with a juvenile court officer, a child welfare worker and potentially other parties, such as school staff.

The meetings are mandatory for youth concurrently involved in both systems, but discretional for the other subset of youth.

A contracted counseling service is available in 16 North Dakota counties to facilitate "family-centered engagement meetings."

"Multidisciplinary team meetings," which are similar but lack the third-party facilitator, are available instead in other counties.

The 6-month report noted compliance for holding these interventional meetings hasn't been consistent, that after six months the meetings were held in less than half of the cases in which they are required -- only as much as 47%.

North Dakota's top juvenile corrections official sees progress in the first six months, such as positive feedback from families and good implementation in some regions around the state of the initiative's practices.

But there's more to do, Division of Juvenile Services Director Lisa Bjergaard said.

"We know that that report shows that less than 50% of the kids who should have this intervention are actually receiving it, and so some of that is because this is first six months' data and it's a new process," Bjergaard said. "And I think in the second six months we can expect that the number of kids and families who are given the intervention should continue to improve, but I think we have to keep an eye on that."

The Department of Human Services is overseeing a redesign of county social services into 19 mostly multicounty human service zones. The department's vision is to make family centered engagement meetings available statewide, said Children and Family Services Division Wellbeing Administrator Diana Weber.

"We're currently redesigning how we provide in-home case management services, and in doing that we're looking at how FCE meetings could become part of the warm hand-off between child protection services and in-home case management," Weber said.

The department has to look at which providers could offer the meetings and where, she added.

Goals

A big goal of the initiative is to reduce the overall referrals and subsequent referrals to juvenile court, Skjod said. She receives data on youth in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems to sort and then notify juvenile court officers and child welfare workers in counties.

"Sometimes we have kids that get up to 10 subsequent referrals in a year," Skjod said. "If we can somehow show that the meetings and the different diversions that are being implemented are successful in helping these kids, maybe stop them after the second referral, maybe after the third referral ... keep them from getting deeper and deeper."

The 6-month report noted that 80% of North Dakota youth in correctional custody are dual status youth. That's another area of focus.

"If we can work with these kids to stop them from getting to that point, that would be ideal," said Traynor, the Court Improvement Program coordinator.

Traynor said it will probably be two or three years before the initiative's results could show a potential reduction in referrals to juvenile court. The one-year report is likely to show the effects of the 2019 Legislature raising the age of culpability from 7 to 10, she said. That change took effect Aug. 1, 2019.

Bjergaard said it's important to provide the support and resources for court and child welfare services to continue the initiative's work.

"I think it's just so important that we really do all we can to be aspirational about this work and really shoot for the moon," she said. "We have to be willing to try bold, new strategies to reduce the impact that deep-end systems have on kids and families."

Reach Jack Dura at 701-250-8225 or jack.dura@bismarcktribune.com.

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A view of the shrine of Sikh leader Guru Nanak Dev in Kartarpur, Pakistan. (PTI)

New Delhi: Pilgrimage and registration for Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara in Pakistan will be suspended beginning Sunday midnight in view of the Coronavirus outbreak, the home ministry said.

The government has also suspended movement of all types of passengers through international border points with Pakistan from 00:00 hours of March 16 in view of the threat from coronavirus.

In wake of COVID19 India outbreak, as a precautionary measure to contain and control spread of the disease, the travel and registration for Sri Kartarpur Sahib is temporarily suspended from 00:00 hours on March 16, 2020, till further orders, a home ministry spokesperson said.

On Saturday, the government had announced suspension ofall types of passenger movement from 00:00 hours on March 15 through the Indo-Bangla, Indo-Nepal, Indo-Bhutan and Indo-Myanmar borders barring a few specified border checkposts.

All types of passenger movements through all the immigration land check posts located India-Bangladesh, India-Nepal, India-Bhutan and India-Myanmar borders will be suspended with effect from 00:00 hours on March 15, except through a few posts,and at India-Pakistan border with effect from 00:00 hours on March 16 untill further orders, according to an home ministry order.

The decisions have been taken in view of the coronavirus threat, a home ministry official said.

In November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated a dedicated corridor connecting Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab with Kartarpur Sahib gurudwara in Pakistan.

Indian pilgrims of all faiths are allowed to undertake round the year visa-free travel to the historic gurudwara, the final resting place of founder of Sikhism Guru Nanak Dev ji.
Italy on Saturday reported 175 deaths from coronavirus, raising the toll to 1,411

The Indian students in Air India flight which took off from Milan for India (ANI)

Milan/New Delhi: A total of 218 Indians, including 211 students, stranded in coronavirus-hit Italy have arrived in India, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said. He further said all of them will be quarantined for 14 days.

218 Indians including 211 students from Milan landed in Delhi. All will be quarantined for 14 days. GoI is committed to reach out to Indians in distress, wherever they are!, Muraleedharan tweeted.

Appreciate Govt. of Italy for their support and team @IndiainItaly @cgmilan1 @airindiain @DrSJaishankar, he added.

218 Indians including 211 students from Milan landed in Delhi. All will be quarantined for 14 days. GoI is committed to reach out to Indians in distress, wherever they are!



Appreciate Govt. of Italy for their support and team @IndiainItaly @cgmilan1 @airindiain .@DrSJaishankar  V. Muraleedharan (@MOS_MEA) March 15, 2020

A special Air India flight carrying 211 Indian students, who were stuck in Italy after flights were cancelled due to coronavirus outbreak, departed for India on Saturday.

The flight which took off from Milan also has seven compassionate cases.

"211 students & 7 compassionate cases departed by AI flight #Milan. All those who helped us through this difficult situation, special thanks to @airindiain team & Italian authorities. Consulate will continue to ensure the welfare of all Indians in northern #Italy," Indian Consulate in Milan tweeted.

The evacuation by India was carried out after the World Health Organisation declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and said that Europe is the new epicentre of the lethal virus.

Italy on Saturday (local time) reported 175 deaths from coronavirus, raising the toll to 1,411.

Earlier,Air India had announced the cancellation of all flights to Kuwait and Italy till April 30.

India has carried out evacuations from several countries in the past few weeks.

It has brought back its citizens from China, Japan and Iran as the number of cases of coronavirus continue to rise in these countries.
Mangaluru, March 15 : The Karnataka Bank has reached out to its shareholders to allay any fear and panic about the safety of deposits and health of the Bank, and not to be carried away by any misleading and concocted reports on India Today channel about the safety of the Bank published and circulated with malicious intent.

In a communication to shareholders following media report of a M-cap to deposit ratio, Mahabaleshwara M. S., Managing Director and CEO said the bank is committed to continue efforts to strengthen the fundamentals of the bank and also to create value enhancement for all stakeholders.

"We remain committed in further strengthening the CRAR of the Bank by augmenting the capital through Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP)for which we are thankful to our shareholders for their approval", the MD said.

Following the moratorium imposed on the Yes Bank by Reserve Bank of India on March 5, a report by a television channel India Today, was telecasted on safety of some banks including Karnataka Bank, "using an absurd and flawed so called M-Cap to deposit ratio".

Later this report was also circulated widely in social media. "The above report by TV Channel India Today infused a lot of anxiety and panicky situation among the depositors in particular and other stakeholders in general and also raised a doubt about the safety of the Bank", the bank said.

"The aforesaid report by television channel is totally incorrect, mischievous and likely to mislead the public and depositors by creating shadow of doubt about safety of the Bank", the statement said.

"With a view to allay any fear and panic about the safety of deposits and health of the Bank, we have issued press releases dated March 11, 2020 and also clarified the same in social media. The Bank has also taken appropriate legal action against such incorrect and misleading publications", Karnataka Bank has said.

The bank said that the very next day of telecast of media report, Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor to Government of India, Governor, RBI, Chairman of SBI (who is also the Chairman of Indian Banks Association) and other experts in the matter clarified that so called M-cap to deposits ratio is non-existent in the financial world and nowhere used in the world to measure the health of banks. In fact, the solvency and strength of banks is measured globally by referring to Capital to Risk Weighted Assets ratio i.e. CRAR only.

"The CRAR of the Bank as per audited financials as on March 31,2019 was at 13.17 per cent which is well above the CRAR of 10.825 per cent prescribed by Reserve Bank of India. It is amply clear that your Bank is well capitalised indicating solvency of the Bank and with sound financial position measured among other parameters like Net NPA (2.95 per cent) and Provision Coverage Ratio (PCR) (58.45 per cent) as on March 31, 2019.

"We, hereby confirm and reassure our depositors, shareholders and other stakeholders that your Bank is professionally managed and has a proven track record of consistent profit. The lending philosophy is largely assets based financing with adequate security cover. We are a financially sound and well capitalised Bank marching towards celebrating our centenary year in 2024", Karnataka Bank said.
BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda has issued an order for all the State units of the party to postpone their major programmes in the wake of rising coronavirus cases in the country.

Nadda also asked party members to hold 'Jan Jagran' to spread awareness about the deadly virus among people.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases across India has reached 107 (including foreign nationals), according to the Ministry of Family and Health Welfare on Sunday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Katie Price has reportedly lost 107,000 on her perfume business as the firm which outsourced the products went bust.

Jigsaw International - which went into liquidation in 2017 - is said to have owed the former glamour model, 41, 132,000, but has only managed to recover 25,000, according to The Mirror.

The firm helped create the reality star's successful fragrance line, launching Stunning in 2007, Besotted a year later, Precious Love in 2010 and Kissable in 2013.

Financial issues: Katie Price has reportedly lost 107,000 on her perfume business as the firm which outsourced the products went bust (pictured earlier this year)

Records show that the perfume and cosmetics wholesaler's accounts from February 2016 are still overdue.

Katie's own calendar company Jordan Trading Ltd was put into liquidation in March 2017 after owing nearly 200,000 to the taxman.

In November 2019, the mother-of-five was declared bankrupt at a court after facing further legal action over her spiralling debts, said to be worth 800,000.

The CBB star had been pursued by creditors and the taxman after revealing she has spent her entire 45million fortune.

MailOnline has contacted Katie's representatives for further comment.

Bust: Jigsaw International - which went into liquidation in 2017 - is said to have owed the glamour model, 41, 132,000, but has only managed to recover 25,000 (pictured in 2009)

Once-successful: The firm helped create the reality star's fragrance line, launching Stunning in 2007 (pictured), Besotted a year later, Precious Love in 2010 and Kissable in 2013

Earlier this month, Katie was ordered to hand over 175,000 for revealing a sexually explicit tape of her cage fighter ex-husband Alex Reid, which 'destroyed his life.'

The businesswoman married Alex, 44, in 2010 and divorced him a two years later in March 2012.

During their relationship, Katie obtained video and pictures of the sportsman performing a sexual act and later disclosed them to friends.

He sued her and at the High Court, Price was told to pay 25,000 in damages and 150,000 in costs.

Difficult: In November 2019, the mother-of-five was declared bankrupt at a court after facing further legal action over her spiralling debts, said to be worth 800,000 (earlier this year)

Judge Mr Justice Warby branded her behaviour 'persistent, flagrant, arrogant, high-handed and inexcusable.'

Amid her finance issues, Katie disabled her Instagram account, MailOnline exclusively revealed earlier in the week.

The Brighton native made the decision to quit the photo-sharing platform after previously hinting that she needed to 'take a break' from the 'horrible' world of social media.

Court case: Katie was ordered to hand over 175,000 for revealing a sexually explicit tape of her cage fighter ex-husband Alex Reid, which 'destroyed his life' (pictured in June 2016)

Katie has kept her Twitter account, which boasts 1.9 million followers, but has not been active on the micro-blogging site since January.

'Katie's Instagram with a following of over 2M has today been disabled,' a source close to the star confirmed to MailOnline.

'Following on from her last emotional post Katie has made the move to disable her account. Katie will be returning to social media but not until she is ready to do so.'
San Francisco, March 15 : Students in Fresno, California will now be able to learn the Punjabi language as part of an after-school program, it was reported.

The Fresno Unified School District (FUSD) launched the new program in response to the Global California 2030 Initiative, which besides Punjabi, will also teach Arabic, Spanish, French and Mixteco, the India-West news reported.

Currently, the languages are taught at five elementary schools, with one of the languages taught at each school.

The statewide 2030 goals for the initiative, as per the school publication, are to triple the number of students who earn the seal of biliteracy, quadruple the number of bilingual programs, establish 100 state-approved bilingual teacher preparation programs and double the number of teachers authorized to teach in two languages.
TDT | Manama

Bahrain-based Solartecc Green Energy Factory is building a 25 MW capacity solar module manufacturing facility at the Bahrain International Investment Park. The production equipment will be supplied by Italian provider Ecoprogetti, PV Magazine reported. The manufacturer will produce high-efficiency mono PERC modules, an Ecoprogetti spokesperson told PV Magazine.

The line has a current capacity of 25 MW but it may be easily expanded to 50 MW. Production is planned from the third quarter, when Solartecc will manufacture double-glass and glass-backsheet panels and polycrystalline products. The panels produced there may have all kind of applications, from the residential segment to the large scale business, added the Ecoprogetti spokesperson.

Completion of the fab will make Solartecc Bahrains second solar module maker after the appropriately-named SolarOne, which owns and operates a 15 MW facility in Askar, a village on the southeastern coast. Bahrain wants to bring 255 MW of solar generation capacity online by 2025 using net metering, tenders for large scale projects and a renewable energy mandate for new buildings, the magazine reported.

In mid-January, the Solar Energy Unit of Bahrain and the United Nations Development Program launched a 3 MW tender for solar arrays at eight locations containing 66 government buildings. The Kingdoms renewable energy target envisages 700 MW of solar, wind and energy-from-waste generation capacity by 2030.
Joe Biden addressing the National Education Associations annual meeting in 2012. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Joe Biden earned a formidable labor endorsement on Saturday night: Americas largest union, the National Education Association, formally recommended Biden to members as the Democratic Partys presidential nominee, and pledged to mobilize its 3 million members  most of whom are women  on his behalf.

In a statement calling Biden a tireless advocate for public education, NEA president Lily Eskelsen Garcia said the former vice-president understands that as a nation we have a moral responsibility to provide a great neighborhood public school for every student in every Zip code.

As president, he is committed to attracting and retaining the best educators by paying them as the professionals that they are as well as increasing funding for support staff and paraprofessionals, she continued. And Biden will fire Betsy DeVos and replace her with an Education secretary who comes from a public-school classroom and believes that educators must have a seat at the table when crafting education policy.

The NEAs Saturday vote effectively concludes a nearly yearlong endorsement process, and its decision to back Biden now, on the eve of his first one-on-one debate with Bernie Sanders, is significant. Union leadership has likely concluded that Bidens front-runner status is about to become permanent.

The endorsement also comes relatively late in the cycle compared with the strategies of other unions. The American Federation of Teachers, the nations second-largest educators union, jointly endorsed Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren in February. Its president, Randi Weingarten, later endorsed Warren in an individual capacity days later.

Both Biden and Sanders already enjoy substantial labor support. Earlier this March, Biden announced that hed earned the endorsements of UNITE HERE and United Food and Commercial Workers locals in Michigan, Mississippi, Florida and Illinois. By that point, the former vice-president had also drawn the support of a number of Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union locals, and the formal endorsement of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union, among others. Sanders, meanwhile, has earned plenty of labor support too, including endorsements from the American Postal Workers Union and National Nurses United and a number of powerful locals belonging to the AFT, UNITE HERE and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.

Endorsements are important, but they dont always guarantee that a unions rank-and-file members will vote the same way as their leaders. Sanders won the Nevada Democratic caucuses in no small part because members of the states powerful Culinary Union defied their leadership, who did not endorse a candidate but campaigned against Sanders and Elizabeth Warren over their support for Medicare for All. Teachers are also a consistent source of major donor support for Sanders. HuffPost reported in February that while Biden led an internal AFT poll in tandem with Warren, teachers are Sanderss top donors by profession. At the time, Warren was the second most popular beneficiary of their financial support, and Biden was third.

This post has been updated to clarify the nature of the NEAs recommendation to members.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 19:57:19|Editor: huaxia

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BEIRUT, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese Health Ministry announced on Sunday that the number of COVID-19 infections in Lebanon increased to 99, LBCI local TV channel reported.

The ministry urged all citizens to stay home in a bid to restrict the spread of the virus.

Lebanon has also allocated few days ago 39 million U.S. dollars from a loan given by the World Bank for the fight against the virus.

The country is expected to declare a state of emergency later in the day.

On March 4, Lebanese Health Minister Hamad Hassan said that Lebanon is cooperating with China in fighting against the virus, adding "China has offered needed medical tests to help in detecting the virus."
On Wednesday, seeing the administration's coronavirus response floundering, President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, with no relevant experience, asserted himself, going so far as to have his "supermodel sister-in-law's father, Kurt Kloss, an emergency room doctor" crowdsource "suggestions from his Facebook network."

Kushner's role in the coronavirus response is a reminder of his immense power in the Trump Administration - power that caused serious friction with former chief of staff John Kelly. Kelly's rocky, short-lived time in the White House began with high hopes, with observers believing the general would bring a grown-up sense responsibility to the administration's reported disorder.

But it was not to be. The story of Kelly's tenure - and departure - and his relationship with Kushner is crucial to understanding the interpersonal dynamics involved in staffing a presidential administration. Kelly has discussed the powerful influence exerted by Kushner and the president's daughter, Ivanka. Following a campaign to bring Kelly into the administration, the two became disillusioned with him, for reasons ranging from the downgrading of Kushner's security clearance to Kelly's questioning what the couples' duties in the administration actually were. Kelly's consistent criticism of Kushner was one of a number of factors leading to his eventual dismissal from the administration at the end of 2018.

In this, Kelly is not the first military man to join a presidential administration, only to be sidelined by more loyal - and less experienced - aides. As historian Tevi Troy writes in his entertaining and informative new book, "Fight House: Rivalries in the White House from Truman to Trump," during the administration of Harry Truman, conflicts arose between Truman's protege, Clark Clifford, and Secretary of State George Marshall that would rupture the relationship between Marshall and Truman. What these conflicts reveal is that, to best serve the country, presidents must have advisers with diverse perspectives, including those willing to challenge them. When, they don't there is real danger of errors.

Truman had become acquainted with Clifford during the late 1930s, when Clifford was a lawyer in St. Louis and Truman represented Missouri in the U.S. Senate. The two shared a similar background that included a Midwestern upbringing, an interest in Missouri politics and a love of American history. Truman soon came to view Clifford as a trusted confidante, while the ambitious Clifford saw the president as a political mentor.

As Troy writes, while Truman did rely on his cabinet to formulate policy, the president also organized his staff in a highly informal manner. Rather than creating a disciplined hierarchy in which cabinet secretaries briefed and advised the president, many of Truman's advisers had a variety of different roles. As with Kushner, Clifford was a trusted member of the president's inner circle whose role was undefined. "I never received any instructions from any other staff member; I got them from the president," Clifford recalled. Unsurprisingly this model was frustrating to Marshall, who had come from the regimented world of the military.

In 1948, this structure produced an explosive confrontation between Clifford and Marshall over the recognition of Israel, with Truman siding with his protege. Truman knew the issue presented him a no-win situation, so before making a decision, he wanted to hear the cases for and against recognition. Knowing Marshall opposed recognition, the president asked Clifford to make the case for bringing Israel into the community of nations.

When the three met, Marshall argued that due to the number of Muslim states dominating the region, Israel would immediately be overwhelmed by Arab forces. Clifford agreed the Middle East was unstable. But he contended that the establishment of a democratic nation could have enormously positive national security benefits not only for the United States but for the entire world.

Clifford's powerful moral case failed to move the secretary of state, who stared at him in utter fury. When Clifford finished, Marshall remarked to the president, "I don't even know why Clifford is here." In Marshall's view, Clifford was "a domestic adviser and this is a foreign policy matter." But then Marshall went too far, contending that Clifford's only interest in arguing for the recognition of Israel was one based on domestic politics. The president had had enough, tersely reminding Marshall, "Well, general, he's here because I asked him to be."

Marshall, clearly livid over his belief that electoral politics was dictating American foreign policy, informed Truman that he would not support the president in the upcoming election if Clifford's position on Israel was upheld.

Though this stinging rebuke from the man Truman admired more than any other in his administration was hard for the president to accept, Truman agreed with Clifford and the United States recognized Israel a few days later. Marshall never spoke to Clifford again nor was he known to even utter the younger man's name for the rest of his life. The feelings were mutual. Clifford thought little of Marshall, referring to him in his memoirs as a man of "little notable sense of humor." Echoing Kelly's opinion of Kushner, Marshall's resentment of Clifford may also have been due to his unhappiness with Truman's informal command structure.

While the two situations have differences, there is a crucial commonality. In every administration there are figures who share a personal connection with the president, which makes them far more important than their titles might indicate. Their roles have ranged from Harry Hopkins' service as special envoy to Churchill and Stalin during the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt, to Robert Kennedy's involvement in numerous domestic and foreign policy issues during his brother John's presidential tenure.

As with Clifford and Truman, Kushner and Trump share similar backgrounds. Both grew up wealthy, as sons of men who achieved success in the New York real estate world. The two also have similar outlooks, particularly in their disdain for an elite who showed them little respect as they made their way around New York's Upper East Side. Like the Kennedys, they also share a family connection.

While Truman continued to view Marshall as one of the great figures of his time, the general's cold, aloof demeanor was a poor match for a president who surrounded himself with a tight group of friends from Missouri, and who enjoyed cards, whiskey and other activities for which the serious-minded military man had little to no affinity. As with Marshall, Kelly - who had devoted his life to the military - was a strict taskmaster who had little in common with the disorganized and temperamentally unpredictable president he believed it was his duty to manage and serve. In an interview in late October 2019 as the Ukraine scandal began to be revealed, Kelly told the Washington Examiner that he urged the president not to "hire a yes man, someone who won't tell you the truth - don't do that." This advice turned out to be a prescient, if ignored, recommendation.

Trump's big mistake, in fact, might not only be relying on Kushner to help set policy in areas about which he knows little, but also firing Kelly. There is no doubt the enmity between Clifford and Marshall made life difficult for Truman. Nor did he side with Marshall. But the conflict served a vital purpose. The intensity of opinion allowed the president to hear two unvarnished points of view, thereby giving Truman the opportunity to make a thoughtful decision on an important issue. Truman possessed the humility to understand that the presidency required him to be surrounded by those who were comfortable speaking truth to power. At a moment of crisis like we're facing today, Trump desperately needs such figures if he has any hope of mitigating the coronavirus outbreak.

- - -

Jurdem is an American political historian and author of "Paving the Way for Reagan: The Influence of Conservative Media on U.S. Foreign Policy."
The home minister was chairing a meeting with a 24-member delegation from Jammu and Kashmir's Apni Party, led by its president Altaf Bukhari

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that the Central government has no intention to bring a demographic change in Jammu and Kashmir, which has also been assured by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech in the Lok Sabha.

"Home Minister (Amit) Shah after engaging with the delegation on about 40 odd issues raised by them emphasised that there is no intention of the government for demographic change in the region and all such talks have no basis at all. He said that the government will work with all sections of the society to realize the hopes of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir at an early opportunity," an official statement said.

The home minister was chairing a meeting with a 24-member delegation from Jammu and Kashmir's Apni Party, led by its president Altaf Bukhari at the Ministry of Home Affairs.

During the meeting, Shah assured the delegation that the Modi-led NDA government will take all steps for the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir and expressed confidence that visible changes will be seen on the ground in next three to four months.

He said the prime minister, in his address to the nation after the abrogation of Article 370, had said the same thing and even Shah himself in his speech in the Lok Sabha on August 6, 2019, had expressed the same. The Home Minister said this is also good for India's interest, as the region is a border area.

Referring to steps like the release of people from preventive detention, restoration of internet, relaxation in curfew, Shah said all decisions on such relaxations are being taken by the prime minister and implemented by Home Ministry are based on the ground realities and not due to any pressure.

Jammu and Kashmir will have a better domicile policy than other states in the country, he said and added that a reasonable economic development policy will be drafted soon after wide consultation. He also said that an attractive industrial policy will be announced for the rapid economic development of the Union Territory soon.
Actor Alia Bhatt celebrated her 27th birthday with sister Shaheen and her girl gang including Guilty actor Akansha Ranjan. In videos and pictures that are now online, Alia can be seen cutting not one, but two cakes as others sing the Happy Birthday song.

ALSO WATCH | Spotted: Alia Bhatt Cuts A Cake On Her Fans Birthday

In a video shared by Meghna Goyal, reportedly a close pal of the actor, Alia can be seen blowing the candles on her birthday cakes and later picking up two knives and deftly cutting both the cakes with them. In another picture, Alia, Shaheen, Akansha sit waiting for the clock to strike 12 to cut the cake. Akansha too shared funny videos with Alia, one of which shows them laughing and having fun. Alias older sister Shaheen gave fans a proper look at how the venue was decorated for the celebrations and a better look at the cakes.

Shaheen Bhatt shared these pictures from Alia Bhatts birthday celebrations.

Akansha Ranjan too shared pictures from Alia Bhatts birthday celebrations.

Alia is casually dressed in a cream shirt and a pair of shorts. Missing from all these pictures is her boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor. Her parents -- filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and mother Soni Razdan, too are not visible in the pictures.

Alia, meanwhile, remains a busy star -- through much of 2019, she had been shooting for Ayan Mukerjis ambitious fantasy drama Brahmastra. She will be seen opposite Ranbir Kapoor for the first time in her career. The film was initially scheduled to be released on Christmas 2019. The extensive VFX involved has been the reason for the delay.

Also read | Neha Dhupia addresses Roadies controversy after weeks of vitriol: My dads WhatsApp is flooded with abuses

Alia began shooting for Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Gangubai Kathiawadi last year. It is based on a book by Hussain Zaidi called Mafia Queens of Mumbai. It revolves around an owner of a brothel in Kamathipura, Mumbai. She was to work with Salman Khan in Bhansalis Inshallah, but the project got shelved. She will also be seen in SS Rajamoulis RRR, in which she will be paired opposite Ram Charan. The actor began the year 2019 with a bang -- thanks to the release of Zoya Akhtars Gully Boy.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
The Covid-19 response headquarters has been set up to efforts against the coronavirus.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal in a video address has urged Ukrainians to refrain from traveling, even within the country's borders.

"Today, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine took a number of steps to implement the decision of the National Security and Defense Council. They are aimed at countering and preventing the spread of coronavirus in Ukraine," he said in the corresponding appeal posted on his Facebook page Saturday.

"Today, Ukraine remains a country where the situation with coronavirus develops by a moderate scenario," he said. "Fortunately, there are no clusters and major outbreaks of the disease."

"We are doing everything so that they do not emerge," said Shmyhal.

The Covid-19 response headquarters has been set up to efforts against the coronavirus, process the latest data on coronavirus and provide analytical findings.

Shmyhal also emphasized that from 00:00 on Monday, March 16, Ukraine will close its borders for foreigners.

Read alsoCoronavirus update: Ukraine to suspend all air travel March 17

"From March 16, we will shut border checkpoints and passenger traffic between Ukraine and other countries. Therefore, I urge citizens of Ukraine who are now abroad to return home as soon as possible," Smyhal added.

UNIAN memo. As of the morning of Sunday, March 15, three lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus have been detected in Ukraine. One of the cases recorded turned out to be lethal.

On March 11, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to introduce quarantine across Ukraine from March 12 to April 3.

All educational facilities shall suspend operations for three weeks, while all public events across the country have been canceled or rescheduled.

The terms of quarantine may change depending on the development of the epidemiological situation in Ukraine.
FRANKFURT, Germany, March 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Innoplexus AG has made its proprietary Ontosight AI search platform available to medical researchers around the globe to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic with immediate effect. The platform is already being used by researchers from Germany, USA, and India.

'Flattening the curve' necessitates health organizations to take on early measures focused on containment. Various countries, such as Taiwan, Singapore, and Japan, have already succeeded in the containment of the Coronavirus. The use of Big Data analytics, new technologies, and proactive testing all played a central role in making this possible.

Currently, most countries lack this specific expertise and are spending extensive resources on managing mitigation, to make the virus as inoffensive as possible. The better a country's healthcare system can function, the lower the mortality rate, and the higher the share of the population that can be treated.

Innoplexus' Commitment to Improve Global Health Response Rates

Innoplexus is committed to enable rapid research for the development of tests and treatments for COVID-19. Today the company announced that it will share an open license for general access to its Ontosight AI Search platform to help researchers learn more about the novel coronavirus. Government science advisers in a dozen countries are asking to make data on the disease more widely available. Innoplexus is thereby answering the call of the US, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, and the UK to make publications available to the research community.

In an Innoplexus blog post " Coronavirus: Why governments need a decisive action plan " on their website, they look at global learnings and hope to aid and contribute to COVID-19 research by sharing their platform tools to assist research team's efforts.

"We hope that we can contribute to the scientific community's research efforts of how the disease functions and spreads, to be able to assist in hypothesis generation as a predictive platform for ongoing and future work to develop therapeutics," said Gunjan Bhardwaj, CEO of Innoplexus AG.

"We realize that the work of many other labs and organizations will be needed around the globe to respond to COVID-19 with speed and agility. Innoplexus hopes to add impact to these efforts."

Innoplexus

Innoplexus is a leading global AI-based platform for drug discovery and development with over 250 employees and 100+ patent applications including 12 grants in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and blockchain technologies. Innoplexus' solutions can generate real-time insights from hundreds of terabytes of structured and unstructured private and public data, thereby facilitating continuous, informed decision-making for its customer base at an unprecedented speed. Founded in 2015, Innoplexus AG is headquartered in Eschborn, Germany, with offices in Pune, India, as well as Hoboken, and San Francisco, United States.

Contact:

Jakob Semmler

Marketing

Innoplexus AG

Frankfurter Strae 27, 65760 Eschborn, Germany.

Phone: +49 6196 9677 311

Email: [email protected]

www.innoplexus.com

SOURCE Innoplexus AG

Related Links

https://www.innoplexus.com/


With the world panicking on the outburst of the novel Coronavirus, legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan on Sunday shared a detailed precautionary video to combat the spread of the virus.

The 77-year-old actor shared an animated video on Twitter with a voice-over of him explaining the precautionary methods.

"T 3470 - Each of us needs to make that effort for each of us .. Be safe! Be well !!," his tweet read.

The shared measures include points such as covering your mouth while coughing and sneezing, do not spit, using of soap to repeatedly wash your hands, maintaining a safe distance from people who have fever and cough.

It also included the point of an immediate visit to the doctor if you have fever, cough or difficulty in breathing and also staying indoors if suffering from cough and cold, opt-out public gatherings.

The video concluded on the emphasis of spreading information but not rumours.

Many big names from the Bollywood industry have been putting their best foot forward in raising the awareness about the novel coronavirus spread.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed that India's tally in the number of positive cases for coronavirus has reached 107 on Sunday.

In the wake of spurt in cases of coronavirus across the country, the Central Government on Saturday decided to treat the deadly virus as a "notified disaster".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Express News Service By

NEW DELHI: The last rites of a 68-year-old woman who died in the national capital of coronavirus were delayed for a few hours on Saturday as the authorities at the CNG crematorium at Nigambodh Ghat initially refused to cremate the body to seek the advice of municipal and medical authorities. Doctors from the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and from MCD had to be called and it was only after they intervened that the cremation could take place.

The crematorium is run by the Nigambodh Ghat Sanchalan Samiti. The situation is sensitive across the world. We had to seek instructions from the MCD and medical authorities. They said the cremation will be done using CNG and the officials came to supervise the process, said Suman Gupta of the Samiti. The municipal authorities said the victims family had not intimated the crematorium. The family landed at the Nigambodh ghat without any prior information. The staff were not ready to ahead with the cremation procedure because they were scared, said Ashok Rawat, Medical Health Officer of North MCD.

When the matter was brought to my notice, I went to the ghat, intervened and the cremation was done at the earliest. The MCD will also issue a regulation to RML Hospital and Safdarjung on how to proceed if further deaths occur. India reported its second coronavirus casualty on Friday with the Union Health Ministry confirming the death of the woman who had tested positive for the contagious viral disease after coming in contact with her son, who caught the virus after travelling abroad recently.
Agent Michael Pelligrino, center, Mercer County Prosecutor's Office, talks with Trenton police officers. (Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Many towns across the country hold small, informal "Coffee with a Cop" events, but in Trenton it's big.

Freddie and Rosa Rosado, owners of a McDonald's in the city where they were both born and raised, are all about the local community. So they routinely fill the seats in their restaurant, located across the street from Trenton Central High School, with first responders and their friends and families for the presentation of their Coffee with a Cop Community Service Awards.

The Rosados also created the Detective Pablo Santiago Memorial Award, named for the Mercer County Sheriff's Officer who took his own life on December 26, 2018. Remembering Santiago ( a former community service award winner) in her remarks, Rosa Rosado said "He was a person who was all about giving back to the community. A total role model. The definition of community service is his name."

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Mercer County Agent Michael Pelligrino, center, was presented the Detective Pablo Santiago Memorial Award. (Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Mercer County Agent Michael Pelligrino had worked closely with Santiago in various capacities. In accepting the award, he remarked, "I was told by a noble man one time that the two most important days in your life are the day that you are born, and the day you find your purpose."

Pelligrino is the state's first Resiliency Officer part of a new statewide initiative meant to focus on police department mental health.

He continued, "When Pablo passed away, there's not a day that goes by that I don't walk into my office and I know what my purpose is." And my purpose is very simple. And that's to facilitate people in self-discovery so that they can flourish.

"And that's my goal for each and every law enforcement officer, every first responder and every person I come into contact with."

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(Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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Trenton Firefighter Alisa McNeese, right, talks with members of family members of deceased Mercer County Detective Pablo Santiago. In November of 1995, McNeese became the city's first female firefighter. (Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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Trenton Firefighter Alisa McNeese, right, holds her award while Trenton Fire Director Derrick Sawyer says a few words (Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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Trenton Firefighter Emanuel Guerra speaks after receiving his award. In back from left are Rosa and Freddie Rosado, (Guerra) East Ward Councilman Joseph Harrison and Trenton Fire Director Derrick Sawyer. (Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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From left, Trenton Police Detectives Herbert Flowers and Walter Rivera stand to receive their awards. In back are Fire Director Derrick Sawyer and at right, Mayor Reed Gusciora. (Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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Two (uniformed) Mercer County Sheriff's Officers, George Dzurkok III, left and Matthew Sickler, right, pose with their awards. With them from left, McDonald's co-owner Rosa Rosado, East Ward Councilman Joe Harrison, (Dzurkok) Trenton Fire Director Derrick Sawyer, Mayor Reed Gusciora, (Sickler) and Mercer County Undersheriff Robert James. (Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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McDonald's employee Anyeli Runaldo offers refreshments to those in attendance. (Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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From left, Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri with Agent Michael Pelligrino, who was presented the Detective Pablo Santiago Memorial Award. (Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

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RELATED

2 local officers lauded at 'Coffee with a Cop' event (VIDEO)

Coffee with a Cop can break down barriers | Opinion

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Midland ISD reversed its course Saturday evening, and announced that spring break will continue this week as the community deals with the impact of coronavirus.

The district had stated on Friday that it would resume classes as scheduled on Monday. The situation, as it turned out, was a fluid one as MISD board member Bryan Murry went to the Reporter-Telegrams Facebook page Saturday afternoon, saying MISD plans have changed. News release is pending.

Murry said that the district had a conference call with the Texas Education Agencys Commissioners Office.

I know the administration is trying to get this right, taking in all the advice they can Murry wrote in the comments of a story.

Then, about 6:15 p.m. Saturday, Midland ISD reported the news in a letter to its parents.

As of (Saturday), that date has been pushed back two weeks. School will not be held the weeks of March 16 or 23, according to the letter.

Midland ISD stated that the week of March 16 will be considered an extended spring break for students, and that essential staff -- central office staff, principals, assistant principals, principal secretaries, MISD police, nursing staff and child nutritional services, maintenance, transportation and custodial -- will need to report to work on Monday.

We will use this time to plan academically for what could potentially be an extended period of time away from school buildings and to assess facility and Child Nutrition Services needs, the letter stated. The district is working through steps to support student learning during the week of March 23 and beyond should the need arise. Any staff member who is on the essential staff list but feels unwell should stay home and contact their supervisor.

A press release was sent out to the local media shortly after.

Before the announcement, Midland ISD was going against the grain, asking its 26,000students to come back to the districts campuses this week. The district stated on social media that a decision based upon CDC guidance, as of (Friday), classes will resume on Monday.

Midland Christian, St. Anns Catholic School, Trinity School and Hillcrest School all had announced their intention to continue spring break.

Even Midland Mayor Patrick Payton went to social media Saturday morning to comment on the decision inside a longer post about how the community is dealing with coronavirus and the navigation of this very fluid challenge.

Payton stated on his mayors Facebook page that he expressed my hope and full support to MISD that they not fully return from spring break.

In his post, he added that Midlanders should assume the best even though we might disagree and that on Friday morning he expressed his feelings about when students should return from the week away from school.

As of the writing of this message (MISDs) plan is to return, Payton wrote. I am assured the decision is still fluid and not final both in scope and reach. I will assume the best while I might disagree with the path.

Ector County ISD had a press event Friday to announce classes would resume as scheduled on Monday. On Saturday evening it also had reversed course, stating the district will be closing all schools for at least the next two weeks.

Greenwood ISD Superintendent Ariel Elliott said in a statement Friday evening that his district had decided to hold teacher workdays on Monday and Tuesday to plan and prepare should staff need to offer instruction online or by alternative methods.

This will also give GISD administration an opportunity to identify and communicate with staff and families who have traveled to areas where the COVID-19/Coronavirus has been identified, Elliott wrote. Classes will resume on Wednesday.

Also, Midland College and University of Texas Permian Basin have extended their spring breaks by one week.

UTPB will move all instruction online beginning March 23, and UTPB STEM Academy students are off until March 27, according to a press release from a university spokeswoman.

***

The following is the letter sent out to Midland ISD families, regarding plans having to do with the coronavirus.

Dear Midland ISD Family,



Yesterday we shared with you that we planned to come back from school as scheduled on Monday, March 16. As of today (Saturday, March 14), that date has been pushed back two weeks. School will not be held the weeks of March 16 or 23.

The week of March 16 will be considered an extended Spring Break for students. Essential staff consisting of central office staff, principals, assistant principals, principal secretaries, MISD Police, nursing staff and CNS, maintenance, transportation and custodial will need to report to work on Monday. We will use this time to plan academically for what could potentially be an extended period of time away from school buildings and to assess facility and Child Nutrition Services needs. The District is working through steps to support student learning during the week of March 23 and beyond should the need arise. Any staff member who is on the essential staff list but feels unwell should stay home and contact their supervisor.

Closure is not a decision we take lightly, and we understand the impact this has on families and businesses across our community. Midland ISD is working closely with our City, County, and community leaders and partners to address food and child care needs. We will be sharing more information about resources available as soon as possible via midlandisd.net.

We appreciate your understanding during this time. We encourage all families to follow the CDC Guidance during this time to help keep our community healthy and safe.

***

The following is Paytons Facebook post in its entirety

As we continue to daily navigate this very fluid challenge allow me to share a few points:

Continue practicing excellent personal care and hygiene. Pay attention to the facts and not to the 24 hour news cycle, or questionable social media banter.

Understand that everything is changing very fast. Friday the 13th started without a declaration from the Governor and all that changed by the afternoon. There is a lot of information traveling around; be patient while remaining vigilant in personal care.

Assume the best even though we might disagree. Friday morning I expressed my hope and full support to MISD that they not fully return from Spring Break; as of the writing of this message their plan is to return. I am assured the decision is still fluid and not final both in scope and reach. I will assume the best while I might disagree with the path.

City, county and local leaders are in constant contact about this ever changing and challenging landscape. I am planning on a Mayor's press conference Monday afternoon at 4:30 from the Bush Convention Center; stay tuned.

Finally, a huge thank you to proactive organizations, churches, etc who are doing what they can to help flatten the curve so we might possibly remain COVID-19 free.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 13:47:00|Editor: zyl

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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Insider attack from the Taliban outfit claimed the lives of seven police in the southern Kandahar province on Sunday, police said.

"The gruesome incident took place in Charshakhi area of Zhari district at around 2:00 a.m. local time," provincial police spokesman Jamal Barikzai told Xinhua.

Barikzai said the culprit on the Taliban payroll made his good escape after committing the crime, and efforts are underway to bring him to justice.

The Taliban militants haven't commented.
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The City Council will close its offices at City Hall on Monday until further notice as the coronavirus outbreak continues to plague New York City.

Johnson said in an email to City Councilmembers over the weekend that Mayor Bill de Blasio issued an order Monday temporarily suspending the deadlines for the councils budget hearings, Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) votes, and its upcoming stated meetings.

As a result, City Council meetings will be canceled next week and the councils offices at 250 Broadway will also close down.

Council Staff are not to report to 250 Broadway and City Hall unless asked to as part of our effort to move Council staff to a work-from-home posture, Johnson wrote. The aforementioned offices will be otherwise closed until further notice.

NEW YORK STATE CAPITOL TO CLOSE TO VISITORS

On Saturday evening, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said Brooklyn Assembly members Helene Weinstein and Charles Barron tested positive for the coronavirus.

Though they said Heastie said Weinstein had not been in Albany since early March, the capitol and legislative office building will undergo an intensive cleaning and all legislators that came in contact with Weinstein and Barron would be tested for the coronavirus.

Starting Sunday the state Capitol will be closed to visitors, they said.

Barrons wife is Councilwoman Inez Barron of Brooklyn. Speaker Johnsons office could not immediately be reached to confirm whether Inez Barron had also tested positive for the virus.

It has come to my attention that two of our Assembly colleagues  Helene Weinstein and Charles Barron - have been diagnosed with COVID-19. It is important to note that both members have not been in Albany since early March for separate reasons.  Carl E. Heastie (@CarlHeastie) March 15, 2020

The mayor told reporters at a press conference Thursday City Hall would not close down.

There is no City Hall closure, said mayoral spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein on Saturday evening. The Speaker has closed his offices, but that is not what the mayors executive order does. We are offering telecommuting for some personnel, but the building remains open and our work continues.

The decision to close the City Councils offices comes as New York City saw its first coronavirus-related death Saturday, an 82-year-old woman who had pre-existing conditions who died in Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn.

By Saturday the number of positive coronavirus cases rose to 613 across the state, including 269 cases in New York City. To date, Speaker Johnson said the state has done 4,700 coronavirus tests.

Next week, teachers all across New York City have vowed to plan a mass sick out on March 18 over the mayors refusal to close down the citys public schools during the outbreak.

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Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol speaks in a YouTube broadcast press conference after a monetary board meeting held Feb. 27, where the central bank decided to keep the key rate unchanged at 1.25 percent. / Yonhap



Temporary rate-setting meeting likely to be held this week



By Kim Bo-eun



The Bank of Korea has been under growing pressure to lower the key rate as the economy becomes increasingly more vulnerable due to external shocks of the coronavirus that has now spread to the U.S. and Europe.



An emergency meeting of the chiefs of the government's bodies in charge of economy and finance was convened Friday after the U.S. stock market suffered its worst crash since 1987 as stocks plunged 10 percent, Thursday, local time.



BOK Governor Lee Ju-yeol's unprecedented attendance at the meeting has raised expectations that the central bank will hold an emergency rate-setting meeting this week.









The BOK left the 1.25 percent key rate unchanged at a monetary board meeting held Feb. 27, despite lowering Korea's GDP forecast for this year to 2.1 percent from 2.3 percent. Lee then said the central bank would take a wait-and-see approach.



At the time, the BOK was expected to execute a rate reduction at a scheduled rate-setting meeting in April. But a BOK official said the central bank is currently discussing the possibility of an emergency meeting.



The need for a swift rate adjustment has grown based on forecasts of a greater-than-expected economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis. Circumstances have turned for the worse, with WHO's declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic last week.



The U.S. Federal Reserve on March 3 executed an emergency rate cut of half a percentage point, bringing down the range to 1 percent to 1.25 percent, to combat economic slowdown due to the coronavirus outbreak. It was the Fed's first 50 basis point cut since December 2008 during the financial crisis at the time.



The Bank of England also slashed its rate by 50 basis points to 0.25 percent Wednesday. The Bank of Canada made an emergency rate cut of 50 basis points to 0.75 percent, March 13.



Analysts expect the BOK's rate cut to take place this week, in time with the passage of an extra budget bill at the National Assembly. The bill is set to be voted on, Tuesday.



The Fed's additional rate adjustment meeting is also scheduled for this week. Investment banks said they expected the Fed to return to zero rates.



There are forecasts that the BOK could reduce the key rate by 50 basis points, but the more dominant view is a 25 basis point cut.



Park Chong-hoon, chief economist at Standard Chartered Bank Korea, said, "The BOK is expected to make a rate cut of 25 basis points. This is because there is a rate-setting meeting scheduled for next month."

"The central bank needs to leave room for an additional cut if economic indices for March worsen."
UK govt evokes wartime Blitz spirit for fight against coronavirus

Pedestrians cross the road as a woman wears a protective mask in London .

Reuters, London :

Britain's government has called for a national effort similar to the one which helped the country survive during the Second World War as it prepares to fight the spread of coronavirus.

"Our generation has never been tested like this," health minister Matt Hancock wrote in the Sunday Telegraph. "Our grandparents were, during the Second World War, when our cities were bombed during the Blitz.

"Despite the pounding every night, the rationing, the loss of life, they pulled together in one gigantic national effort. Today our generation is facing its own test, fighting a very real and new disease. We must fight the disease to protect life.

Hancock said measures the government planned included isolating people aged over 70 for up to four months.

"We will be setting it out with more detail when it's the right time to do so because we absolutely appreciate that that is a very big ask of the elderly and the vulnerable and it's for their own self-protection."

He said the announcement would come "certainly in the coming weeks, absolutely."

The government is also asking manufacturers to retool their production lines to start producing more ventilators and instructing private hospitals to get ready to take coronavirus patients who cannot be treated in overstretched public hospitals.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been criticized for not implementing more of the measures taken in other European countries, such as increasing social isolation and banning mass gatherings.

Hancock, however, said the government's plan was based on credible scientific advice, adding that the underlying data used for its modeling would be published in the coming days.

He said the concept of herd immunity - where the virus spreads through the population to increase overall resistance - was not part of the government's strategy.

He said the government was ready to ban mass gatherings if necessary.
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Linkedin (Reuters) Seoul  Sun, March 15, 2020 14:05 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206ac314a 2 World South-Korea,disaster-zone,coronavirus,COVID-19 Free

South Korea on Sunday reported 76 new coronavirus cases and three more deaths, a fall in new cases to double-digits for the first time in over three weeks, as President Moon Jae-in declared the hardest hit provinces "special disaster zones".

It is the first time South Korea has declared a region a disaster zone from an infectious disease and under the status the government can subsidize up to 50 percent of restoration expenses and exempt residents from taxes and utility payments.

South Korea, which has the highest number of cases in Asia after China, now has a total to 8,162 confirmed infections and 75 deaths, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said (KCDC).

South Korea has been experiencing a downward trend in new cases and the latest numbers are significantly lower than the peak of 909 cases reported on Feb. 29 and down from the 107 recorded on Saturday.

Citing extended economic fallout from the coronavirus, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on Sunday: "We will brace for all possibilities. We will minimise the impact on the economy of the people."

South Korean President Moon Jae-in declared Daegu and North Gyeongsang province as "special disaster zones", the presidential Blue House spokesman Kang Min-seok said.

Read also: South Korea sees more virus patients released than new infections

Forty-one of the new coronavirus cases were from the city of Daegu, where a secretive church at the centre of the outbreak is located. The church has linked to over 61% of cases, KCDC Deputy Director Kwon Jun-wook told a briefing on Sunday.

A total of 120 patients were released from hospitals and for the third day in a row the daily number of those recovered exceeded that of new confirmed cases since South Korea's first case was confirmed on January 20.

The drop in new cases come after most of the mass infection cases linked to the church members were identified, said Kwon.

"What's more important now is the remaining clusters of infection that is quietly making headway in the community."

He pointed to a call center in Seoul, medical centers and nursing homes across as the new clusters.

Starting Sunday, South Korea began to subject visitors from France, Germany, Britain, Spain and the Netherlands to stricter border checks, after imposing similar rules for China, Italy and Iran suffering a major outbreak.

Apart from measuring temperature at the airport, visitors from those countries now need to download an app the South Korean government rolled out to report whether they have any symptoms related to the virus everyday.

South Korea has been testing hundreds of thousands of people and tracking potential carriers like detectives, using cell phone and satellite technology.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is extremely anxious to know the origin of the pandemic-triggering novel coronavirus first found in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and is ready to help the ongoing Chinese investigation looking into the roots of the pathogen.

So far, the WHO, which the worlds top UN body for public health, has not been involved in the multi-layered and critical probe  set up to find the virus animal origin and the exact sequencing of the animal-to-human interface.

The coronavirus pandemic or the Covid-19 disease has until Sunday morning killed more than 5840 people and sickened over 157000 globally, a vast majority of them in China.

The WHO would be ready, but currently the investigation is being done by the government, into the origin (of the virus), Gauden Galea, the organisations China representative said, adding As far as we can see, we have not been involved in it.

We are extremely anxious to know where the virus came from.

The animal origins may take a very long time to identify. If you look at SARS, it took 10 years to identify the source after it happened; if you look at MERS, we are seven years down the line, and we are not yet sure still. So, this is not a story that is going to end quickly, Galea said.

There are several areas where additional research and inquiry is necessary to help the global community respond to this outbreak and prevent an outbreak in the future. WHO has discussed the question of animal-origins of Covid-19 on multiple occasions and is prepared to join Chinas efforts to research this issue.

Bats and pangolins have been said to be the source of the virus but scientists are still researching aspect, and whether an intermediate animal host played a part in the zoonosis.

The initial sequences of the transmission arent clear either.

For example, its not clear if the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan was the only source or there were multiple sources in the city, Galea, working at WHO since 1998, said.

Theres a big lesson that has been learned. But at this point, we still need that fuller investigation to know was it (the market) really the origin or was it one of the multiple events that had happened in Wuhan over a period? And that can only be done with further investigation, Galea said.

Galea said it was very important for the investigation to be done to ensure such an outbreak doesnt recur from the same source  and before it fades from memory.

The epidemiology has to be done and, and chased through to the first case if its possible and to the first exposure, Galea said in an interview with the HT in Beijing over the weekend.

The WHO has been involved with the Chinese government in monitoring and containing the outbreak formally since January 3, preceded by three days of informal exchanges from December 31.

By January 3, the WHO had put in place an incident management team comprising members from its Beijing office, regional headquarters in Manila and the Geneva headquarters.

We know for certain that there was a cluster associated with the Huanan seafood market (in Wuhan) in December. And, that was very clear. You can see that from the environmental samples, from the geographical distribution and from the time connections between the cases and so on. It was a very clear cluster, Galea said.

Not all cases were connected to the market, however.

We do know that even in the first cluster there were cases that were not reportedly associated with the seafood market and those cases need to be investigated.

It is our understanding that the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention is looking into these cases. It is important to do this and do it fast before memories fade way. It is very important to be able to go back to the origins, the WHOs China head said.

Independent of who identifies, when identifies, the epidemiological investigations (into) the human side, as well as the human-animal interface, need urgent and detailed investigation, Galea said.

We do not want whatever source originated it, to do it again unexpectedly.If you dont have the sources, you are always open to it happening again. On this part, we cannot be more anxious to get the answers, Galea said.

Galea headed the first WHO team that went to Wuhan on January 20 and January 21.

Later, in February, a WHO-China joint team also visited Wuhan and Beijing among other places.

Galea hopes China will continue to share information.

We continue to ask questions, Galea said, adding until now China has shared a new package of knowledge whenever identified by the authorities.
Relatives of quarantined people stand outside a state shelter where passengers suspected of been infected with Coronavirus are quarantined as a preventive measure. AFP Photo

San Salvador: El Salvador's congress has declared a state of emergency and approved a partial suspension of the country's constitution to tackle the coronavirus epidemic.

The measures include a restriction on free movement and assembly for a period of 30 days, allowing health officials to ban public gatherings.

"We have given the government legal mechanisms to deal with this serious health situation," congressional president Mario Ponce said after Saturday's vote.

El Salvador has yet to record a confirmed case of the COVID-19 outbreak.

On Wednesday the country banned entry to all foreigners for three weeks and imposed mandatory 30-day quarantines for citizens returning from abroad.

President Nayib Bukele also suspended school and university classes nationwide.
Donation Will Assist in Feeding of New Rochelle Residents Including Senior Citizens and Children Who Ordinarily Rely on School Programs for Meals

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y, March 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Stop & Shop today announces it will make an emergency delivery of 33,000 pounds of food to HOPE Community Services, the largest food pantry and soup kitchen in New Rochelle. The pantry is located just outside the containment area in the community hit hardest by the coronavirus in the United States. The food distribution is scheduled for Friday, March 13, 2020 at 2 p.m. at HOPE Community Services located at 50 Washington Ave, New Rochelle, NY.



HOPE Community Services will distribute the food to New Rochelle residents in need, including families and their children who attend the shuttered New Rochelle schools and would ordinarily receive meals at school. The donation will also allow for HOPE to make deliveries to a half dozen senior communities across New Rochelle. Although they are not quarantined, many of the elderly residents say they are afraid to leave home because they are at risk of getting ill.

Many of the elderly residents that we serve on a daily basis have told us that because they were at high risk to contract the coronavirus, they were fearful to leave their home to pick up their provisions from the food pantry, said Walter Ritz, Executive Director of HOPE Community Services. With New Rochelle schools closed, many children who are provided breakfast and lunch each day were not receiving those meals. Stop & Shops concern for the residents of New Rochelle is so greatly appreciated. I cannot begin to thank them enough for the care, compassion and generosity they have shown in helping us to care for our friends and neighbors who are most at risk.

We are so grateful that were able to help HOPE Community Services in assisting the residents of New Rochelle at this critical time, said Jennifer Brogan, Stop & Shops Director External Communications & Community Relations. Were committed to fighting hunger year-round, but during times like this its more important than ever to support the communities we serve and provide food to our neighbors in need.

Story continues

The Stop & Shop emergency shipment will include the following: peanut butter, rice, pasta, canned tuna, tomato sauce, shelf stable milk, jelly, cereal, canned soup, canned vegetables, canned fruit, beans and mac and cheese.

To ensure the health and safety of HOPEs staff and volunteers, all will be required to wear protective gloves. All work and serving surfaces will be deep cleaned several times a day, and HOPEs pantry program will occur outside the building.

About HOPE Community Services

With the assistance and support of a host of volunteers, HOPE opened the doors of its first Soup Kitchen in 1984. Since its early days, HOPE has grown to become the one of largest emergency Food Pantry and Soup Kitchen in the county. Although HOPE Community Services was founded to respond to hunger in the community, it quickly became apparent that food was not the only thing our clients were lacking. Clothing, language skills, emotional support, immigration services, and other daily necessities were also needed. HOPE Community Services expanded its services to meet the needs of its diverse client population.

About Stop & Shop

A neighborhood grocer for more than 100 years, todays Stop & Shop is refreshed, reenergized and inspired, delivering new conveniences for customers. Committed to helping its communities enjoy better food and better lives, Stop & Shop has a longstanding history of giving back to the neighborhoods it serves with a focus on fighting hunger and helping children to enjoy a healthy lifestyle. The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC is an Ahold Delhaize Company and employs more than 61,000 associates and operates over 400 stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. To learn more about Stop & Shop, visit stopandshop.com.

Contact:

Maura OBrien 347-325 -381 maura.obrien@stopandshop.com

Walter Ritz HOPE Community Services 914-636-4010 X 1 wjritz@hope-cs.org
The Government of Turkmenistan and the United Nations signed the Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for 2021-2025 at a ceremony in Ashgabat.

The event was attended by the government officials and representatives of the Mejlis (parliament), a number of ministries and departments, the Institute of State, Law and Democracy, as well as foreign embassies and international organizations accredited in Turkmenistan.

The document aims to enhance interaction between Turkmenistan and the UN in various areas, including maintaining economic stability and growth, protecting the social rights of the population, improving the health care system and maintaining the ecological balance.

The ceremony participants emphasized the importance of the cooperation framework in the light of interaction between Turkmenistan and the UN in the interests of well-being and sustainable development at the regional and global level.

 TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2022
Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty took to social media on Sunday to celebrate the first month of her newborn daughter.

The actress tweeted a heartwarming picture on the special occasion that was captioned: "Your first milestone, my princess SAMISHA... Happy One month to you. Love you to the moon and back..."

Shilpa and her husband Raj Kundra welcomed their baby girl Samisha Shetty Kundra on February 15.

According to various reports, they had the child through surrogacy.

The couple has a son named Viaan who was born in May 2012.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)








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Date: 26 February, 2020.

Place: Edmonton, Province of Alberta, Canada.

Just about a couple of weeks ago, more specifically on 26 February, a very unusual incident was registered in the city of Edmonton, Alberta.

According to an anonymous report published on Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) online database, a local resident who was looking at the stars at night allegedly spotted what he described as a group of reddish-orange lights hovering over the Canadian city.

Standing in Parkallen [neighbourhood], facing west, at approximately 7:15 p.m. (MST), with perfectly clear gorgeous skies; again, looking to the west (I was observing Venus over the crescent moon, admiring how bright Venus looked), I happened to scan over the horizon to my right (to the north) and saw three insanely bright, reddish-orange round lights in sequence that were slowly, but steadily heading eastward, the witness described. They glowed, they were not blinking. I knew it wasnt a plane or the space-ex satellites (Id observed those heading overhead well over a month ago: these were nothing like overhead satellites, nor was it a plane or helicopter), he asserted.

The Alberta resident explained that he could not see if these light were part of a single craft or if they were three separate objects. I couldnt tell if they were three separate lights, or one set of lights; but they were massive from where I stood, he said. Then, I thought to myself, My God! A UFO!, and in that exact moment they blinked sequentially, once each inside of half a second and then returned to their solid, glowing state, he described.

They continued eastbound until they were out of my view from the buildings, tree line and clouds rolling in from the east, the Canadian expressed. The entire sighting lasted approximately 4 minutes, he continued.

Draw your own conclusions

For more information: https://mufoncms.com/cgi-bin/report_handler.pl?req=view_long_desc&id=106447&rnd=
WASHINGTON  Are you staying away from large public gatherings? No longer eating out at restaurants? Decided to remain at home rather than go on vacation?

You must be a Democrat.

A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released Sunday said that Democratic and Republican voters are reacting differently to the coronavirus, both in how they are responding to the crisis and how they say President Donald Trump is handling it.

For example, Democrats are much more likely to shun large gatherings, to stop eating at restaurants, and to stay home rather than take a trip.

Republicans are less likely to do any of those.

Simply put, it is very clear that partisanship has infected our views of the coronavirus, said Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who helped conduct the poll.

That partisan divide is evident on other questions as well. For example, 56% of Democrats said they believed there would be major changes in their day-to-day lives because of covid-19, compared with 26% of Republicans.

And while 79% of Democrats said the worst was yet to come, only 40% of Republicans did.

One Republican, Assembyman Parker Space, R-Sussex, said individuals, not the government, should decide how to protect themselves from the coronavirus. He said concerns were overblown, like a six-inch snowstorm that somebody turns into a blizzard.

In New Jersey, 69 people have tested positive for the virus as of Saturday, and at least two have died.

Partisanship also has colored Americans views of the way Trump was handling the crisis, with 84% of Democrats and 52% of independents expressing disapproval while 81% of Republicans approved of his actions.

The poll of 900 registered voters was conducted March 11-13 and had a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.
MBSs Vision 2030 aims to diversify the kingdoms economy, but analysts say oil price war could jeopardise those plans.

It was the last thing a slowing global economy needed.

With the coronavirus pandemic hammering international travel, supply chains and production, Saudi Arabia delivered another shock to the system by declaring an oil price war.

On March 6, having failed to convince Russia to agree to deep production cuts aimed at shoring up crude prices against the demand destruction unleashed by coronavirus, Saudi Arabia-led OPEC retaliated by announcing it would start pumping crude with abandon.

The next day, the kingdom lowered the price it charges for oil. Come March 9, the markets delivered their verdict. Oil prices crashed 30 percent at one point  the biggest one-day drop since the 1991 Gulf War.

Though some of those losses were pared, announcements of pending production boosts next month by the kingdom and other Gulf producers ensured oil prices had their worst week since the 2008 financial crisis.

The price war is a gamble for the kingdom, one that could either pay off or land it in a deep hole.

Dramatically lower oil prices set up Saudi Arabia, which can produce oil more cheaply than any other country, to steal market share: both from the worlds second-biggest oil producer-Russia-as well as higher-cost United States shale oil producers.

But analysts say it could come at a cost to Saudi Arabia and the ambitious plan of its de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), to break the kingdoms oil-dependence and set it up for a more prosperous future.

A transformation in trouble

Crude accounts for roughly 80 percent of Saudi Arabias revenues, and that level of fossil fuel dependence comes with huge drawbacks.

As oil prices rise and fall, so too do the kingdoms fortunes, which can stall plans and force tough spending choices.

The future is also moving against oil, with the Paris Climate Agreement spurring more governments to reduce emissions and petroleum products like plastic raising environmental alarms.

The kingdom needs to diversify its economy, and soonest. But that is easier said than done. Overdependence on any commodity for export effectively salts the earth where other productive sectors could take root.

Vision 2030 seeks to spring the kingdom from this trap by reinvesting fossil fuel wealth into sustainable industries of the future, shrinking a bloated state sector, and creating a thriving, diversified private sector to employ the kingdoms youthful workforce.

And the government does not see itself doing all of this alone. A successful transformation also hinges on convincing investors, both foreign and domestic, to buy into MBSs vision.

On many counts though, the blueprint for transformation was struggling even before Riyadh fell out with Moscow.

Vision 2030 was already lagging on most of its interim targets for 2020, Laura James, senior Middle East analyst at Oxford Analytica, told Al Jazeera.

A cornerstone of raising cash to reinvest into other sectors was the much-hyped initial public offering (IPO) of Saudi state oil giant Aramco.

As it neared its delayed debut late last year on Riyadhs Tadawul stock exchange, an attack on Aramcos facilities in September reminded investors of the geopolitical risk festooning the company and its operations.

After failing to attract sufficient international interest, MBS pressured wealthy Saudis to step up and buy a piece of the company. The IPO raised a record $29.4bn, effectively valuing the firm at $1.7 trillion- well shy of the $2 trillion MBS had originally sought.

Now, the oil price war is hammering shares of Saudi Arabian Oil Co -as Aramco is officially known.

The stock fell 12 percent last week and continued to slide on Sunday, after Aramco announced it is cutting capital spending this year in response to coronavirus, and reported a 21 percent decline in 2019 net profits due to lower oil prices.

On Monday, Aramco is due to hold a webcast to discuss its full-year results. Company executives could be grilled over whether pumping crude full-throttle is in the best interests shareholders.

Another Vision 2030 metric  foreign direct investment (FDI) in the kingdom- has also been lacklustre. Though it recovered to $3.2bn in 2018 having not even cracked $2bn the previous year, FDI was still way down from the $8.1bn achieved in 2015 and a mere fraction of the $29.2bn the kingdom attracted in 2010, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Growth in the kingdoms non-oil private sector is another benchmark. It was looking promising, until it started slowing in December and continued to decelerate in January. February saw the slowest growth in two years, as output and new orders fell, thanks to disruptions spawned by the coronavirus.

Now, the fiscal stress of an oil price war could make non-oil sector growth even harder to achieve.

Austerity on tap

The kingdom has healthy foreign exchange reserves, roughly $500bn, to ride out a price war, and it does enjoy the lowest production costs among all oil producers.

The Saudis can still turn-out a profit at these low oil prices, at least for a time, Tarik Yousef, director at Brookings Doha Center, a nonprofit public policy organization, told Al Jazeera.

Balancing its budget, however, is another story.

The International Monetary Fund reckons the kingdom needs oil to fetch around $83 a barrel to balance its state budget.

Global benchmark Brent crude last traded at $33.84 a barrel on Friday.

Goldman Sachs reckons that should oil prices average $30 a barrel over the next two quarters and the kingdom boosts output by 10 percent, its budget deficit could swell to 12 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year -nearly double its fiscal deficit target.

That would increase the governments financing requirement by $36bn.

There could be a silver lining. Goldman estimates that if oil prices recover to $60 a barrel by the end of 2021, the kingdoms budget deficit could narrow to less than 2 percent of GDP by 2022.

But if oil prices only recover to $50 a barrel by the end of next year, Goldman sees the budget deficit remaining wider for longer, implying an additional $63bn in funding requirements over the next two years.

More drama

Austerity measures may have been in the cards before the kingdom declared a price war, as Riyadh prepared for slowing oil demand in the face of coronavirus.

State agencies were asked to submit proposals for slashing 20 to 30 percent from their 2020 budgets before the kingdom fell out with Russia, Reuters News Agency reported, citing sources. One source said salaries would not be touched, but projects and the awarding of new contracts could be delayed.

With salaries largely protected, the impact could be on capital expenditure, which will have a knock-on impact on the private sector and likely hinder diversification efforts, said James.

Shielding salaries helps maintain loyalty, which is important for any ruler, especially one surrounded by intrigue.

The price war was not the only Saudi drama unfolding while the alliance between OPEC and Russia was collapsing.

Two of the royal familys most influential members, Prince Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz, the youngest brother of King Salman, and Mohammed bin Nayef, the former crown prince and interior minister, were reportedly being detained in Riyadh. Both men are seen as legitimate contenders for the throne, sparking speculation that at the very least, MBS was making a move to consolidate his power.

The price war threatens stability at a time where MBS is already facing political pressure and possibly threats from within the royal family as evidenced by the recent arrests, said Yousef.

Which makes pulling off an economic transformation like Vision 2030 that much harder, say analysts.

Its tougher for oil-dependent countries that need higher prices to fund their budgets, Jim Krane, Wallace S Wilson Fellow in Energy Studies at Rice Universitys Baker Institute for Public Policy, told Al Jazeera.

If they cut spending too much, they could have a rebellion on their hands. Saudi Arabia is vulnerable in this respect.
The Racine Unified School District has gone well beyond the parameters established by the Wisconsin Legislature for use of Community Service Fund money, including $23 million for an aquatic center next to Case High School. As a result, the Legislature is now looking to rein in RUSD and like-minded school districts.

The Legislature established the Community Service Fund in 1983 to allow districts to recoup costs for services like community recreation programs, community use of facilities, food service programs for the elderly and noneducational after-school programs.

Such programs are active at Knapp Elementary, which Unified operates as a community school. Such schools are operated in conjunction with the United Way of Racine and offer school-based mental health services, extended learning programs and programs for families and adults in the schools immediate neighborhood.

That, to us, is an appropriate use of Community Service Fund dollars. But RUSD has stretched the definition of community service to the point where its about to snap.

Starting in summer 2015, the community service levy has been exempted from revenue limits, while other levies were not. Unifieds community service tax levy increased from to $1.6 million in 2016-17, decreased to $1 million in 2017-18, quintupled in 2018-19 to $5 million and then doubled this year to $10 million.

RUSDs excessive use of the Community Service Fund is best exemplified in two statistics from the state Department of Public Instruction: Unifieds $10 million Community Service Fund levy comprises 9 percent of the statewide CSF levy of $112 million, but Unifieds students comprise only 2 percent of the states student population.

The Community Service Fund allows Wisconsin public school districts to create opportunities for children and families across the community, said Racine Unified Superintendent Eric Gallien in a statement. These funds must be used for projects and initiatives that have the primary function of serving the community. 

Which brings us to the aquatic center.

The aquatic-center proposal arose in the wake of the August 2018 closure of the Case High School swimming pool due to its deterioration. Rather than have the Case, Horlick and Park swimming teams share the pools at Horlick or Park, or rebuild the Case pool, a $23 million facility that is to serve all three schools and, we are told, the community at large was proposed and is now moving forward.

Given its estimated price tag, and what it will undoubtedly end up costing beyond that, well repeat what we wrote in this space in November: The aquatic center proposal should have been put to a referendum.

State Rep. Bob Wittke, R-Caledonia, who was a member of the Racine Unified School Board from 2016-19, said he supports Unifieds use of the Community Service funds for efforts like community mental health initiatives but questions its use for construction of the aquatic center.

I dont believe at this time that the Racine Unified School District should get in the business of offering a communitywide aquatic center, Wittke said. I just believe that the district has the job of educating kids, and based on results we could use every effort focused on that at this point.

In the view of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, if school districts have to go to referendum and get approval from voters to build schools, they should have to do the same to build aquatic centers and clinics.

Its a loophole we should close, he said. Hopefully sometime soon.

If Racine Unified had stayed relatively small in its use of Community Service Fund money  had stayed on the path of neighborhood mental-health clinics and facilitating community use of the REAL School Fieldhouse (the former Sturtevant SportsPlex)  it probably would have escaped scrutiny from Madison, and wouldnt be facing the prospect of state legislation curbing Community Service Fund use.

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What peril does your laptop have to deal with on a daily basis? A spilled coffee? Maybe a drop onto the office floor?

That's child's play to some people. Their line of work means their laptops have to survive being dropped underwater, or even an actual car chase.

Here are 4 industries that are notoriously brutal on their computers.

1. The Police Department

If you've seen the inside of a police car recently, we hope it wasn't for the wrong reasons.

However, if you have taken a peek inside, you may have marveled at the level of technology they have.

Police officers need a rugged and durable laptop that is fast enough to access the information they need to keep us safe. Their vehicles may also contain things like a trunk-mounted 4 camera DVR system to capture and record crucial video footage.

2. The Fire Department

The life-and-death nature of the fire department's work means they need the most durable and reliable computer solutions to help save lives. Today's modern fire trucks need to be able to perform in high-stress environments, with no time for technical hiccups.

Some trucks feature a thermal imaging camera integrated into the boom ladder control system, which allows the boom operator to see 40 meters above the ladder. At the same time, their control station needs to be able to perform in extreme conditions that are often wet and dirty. These controls also have to stand up to extreme heat or cold.

3. Paramedics and EMTs

Time is everything in the world of emergency response. Highly skilled and highly stressed paramedics and EMTs need a computer system that can keep up with the demands of their job.

Today's ambulances are equipped with touchscreen displays and custom software that gives workers instant access to the best possible route to their destination, and even an aerial view of the patient's location. Once they arrive, they also have quick access to the patient's full medical history.

This ensures that emergency response workers can get to their call as quickly as possible, while preparing them for exactly what awaits them when they arrive.

4. Chef

This one may surprise you, unless you've worked in a busy restaurant. The devices in the kitchen have to perform in conditions that are almost exclusively hot, dirty, and greasy.

Any lag or downtime can bring the entire restaurant to a halt. This can result in a lot of aggravated employees. Meanwhile, your frustrated customers will leave your restaurant and possibly even leave bad reviews online.

This is why high-volume and high-stress restaurants like The Keg have invested in rugged touchscreen "back of house" reference systems to keep their kitchens moving, while keeping their customers coming back for more.

The average device probably wouldn't last an hour (much less a full workday) in any of the work environments we've talked about today. Tough conditions demand tough technology.

If any of the tech we've talked about today sounds like something your company could use, you should look into what's available in today's rugged PC marketplace.
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Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan  Sun, March 15, 2020 18:30 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206acf378 1 National COVID-19,Malaysia,coronavirus,outbreak,Gathering,Kuala-Lumpur,North-Sumatra,Wuhan-coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia Free

Health authorities in North Sumatra are tracing some 350 residents of the province who attended a mass religious gathering in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia so they can observe them to curb the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

North Sumatra Health Agency head Alwi Mujahit Hasibuan said the contact tracing was begun following reports that a number of people who attended the event have tested positive for COVID-19.

We are looking for them not to say they are infected, but to prevent an outbreak [in North Sumatra], Alwi told reporters in Medan on Friday.

Among those who have returned from Kuala Lumpur, he added, were some from Medan, Binjai and other cities in the province. He called on the mass gathering participants to contact the health agency or recommended hospitals and to call the agency at 082164902482.

We hope they reach us immediately so that we can monitor and observe their health, Alwi said.

Earlier reports said that Malaysian authorities were tracking about 5,000 citizens across the country believed to have been potentially exposed to the virus at the religious event held at a mosque between Feb. 27 and March 1 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 attended the event.

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.

On Sunday, the Malaysian Health Ministry announced 190 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, most of which were related to the religious gathering.

Read also: No tracing yet of Indonesians attending Kuala Lumpur event after positive COVID-19 cases

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 the Borneo Bulletin.

Separately, The Straits Times reported that Singapores Health Ministry had found that at least 90 Singaporeans attended the event. Two of them tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.

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. (asp)
A Chinese H-6K bomber patrolling islands and reefs including Huangyan Dao in the South China Sea. File photo: Xinhua

US warships, regardless of their large displacement and advanced technologies, are actually "paper tigers" in the South China Sea, as China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has the overwhelming advantage there, military experts said on Saturday after the US once again sent naval vessels to the South China Sea days after Chinese armed forces expelled a US warship that illegally entered the waters.

The US amphibious assault ship America and littoral combat ship Gabrielle Giffords sailed together during operations in the South China Sea on Friday, the US Pacific Fleet said on its Twitter account on Saturday.

An amphibious assault ship, loaded with short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) fighter jets in addition to helicopters, is a type of large surface vessel with a flat flight deck, often seen and used as a small aircraft carrier, analysts said.

And, F-35B STOVL stealth fighter jets are seen taking off from the amphibious assault ship in a photo the US Pacific Fleet released with the tweet.

"Although it looks like the US amphibious assault ship is very powerful as it has a large displacement and can operate F-35Bs, but can it really land on an island or reef in the South China Sea? Can its F-35Bs actually fight anything? [No,] the PLA has full control over the South China Sea," Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Saturday.

The same goes for the littoral combat ship: seemingly advanced, it is only lightly armored and is operating in a small group, Song said, noting that the US vessels could be easily outnumbered.

The US operation on Friday came after the PLA aerial and naval forces expelled the US guided missile destroyer McCampbell, which trespassed into China's territorial waters close to the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, on Tuesday.

The US side is using "freedom of navigation" as an excuse to repeatedly enter the South China Sea to flex its muscles and cause trouble, which are acts of hegemony that violate international law threatening peace and stability in the region, PLA Southern Theater Command spokesperson Li Huamin said on Wednesday.

"[The US' operation on Friday] is another typical 'freedom of navigation' operation by the US, but it is clearly pointed towards China, particularly China's Nansha and Xisha islands in the South China Sea," Song said.

The US is attempting to deny China's sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea, showing military presence and supporting other countries in the region that are illegally occupying Chinese islands and reefs, Song said.

While China is talking with ASEAN members over the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, the US does not want to see the South China Sea become an area of peace and stability, instead it aspires to build the sea into an area of tension to contain China's growth, Song said.

China has undisputed sovereignty over the islands in the South China Sea and nearby waters, and the Chinese military remains highly vigilant at all times. It will take any necessary measure to safeguard national sovereignty, peace and stability in the South China Sea, Li said after the trespassing incident involving the US.

"China will do its best to safeguard peace in the South China Sea, but if any country from outside the region is determined to stir up trouble, the Chinese military will not fear a fight," Song said.
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

COVID-19: Health ministry framing guidelines to handle casualties

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 15: 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.

2 suspected coronavirus patients flee from hospital

India reported its second casualty due to coronavirus on Friday with the Union Health Ministry confirming the death of the woman who had tested positive for the contagious respiratory disease after coming in contact with her son who acquired the virus after travelling abroad recently.

The first casualty was a 76-year-old man in Karnataka who died on March 10.

"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," the health ministry official said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines on 'Infection prevention and control of epidemic and pandemic-prone acute respiratory infections in health care' recommends proper use of personal protection equipment in accordance with standard precautions to avoid direct contact with body fluids while moving a body from isolation room or area.

About mortuary care and post-mortem examination, WHO recommends packing and transporting a body with acute respiratory infection to a morgue, crematorium or burial by ensuring it is fully sealed in an impermeable body bag before being removed from the isolation area to avoid leakage of body fluid.

"When properly packed in a body bag, the body can be safely removed for storage in the mortuary, sent to the crematorium, or placed in a coffin for burial," it said.

The global health body advises using personal protective equipment such as disposable, long-sleeved, cuffed gowns for handling bodies; if the outside of the body is visibly contaminated with body fluids, excretions, or secretions, it has to be ensured that the gown is waterproof.

Coronavirus: Number of positive cases rise to 84, says Health ministry

It further recommends that mortuary staff and burial team apply standard precautions like proper hand hygiene and use appropriate personal protective equipment, including facial protection, if there is a risk of splashes from the patient's body fluids or secretions onto the body or face of the staff member.

"Transmission of lethal infectious diseases associated with mortuary care has been reported... manage each situation on a case-by-case basis, balancing the rights of the family with the risks of exposure to infection," WHO said.

Respiratory pathogens which are transmitted through large droplets, include adenovirus, avian influenza A (H5N1), human influenza and SARS-CoV.

"During an influenza pandemic, the circulating human virus is expected to be transmitted in the same manner as seasonal influenza viruses. Hence, droplet precautions should be applied in addition to standard precautions," it said.

The cremation of the 68-year-old west Delhi resident was performed on Saturday under the supervision of medical authorities.

Doctors from the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital and from civic bodies oversaw the cremation after the crematorium staff reached out to the authorities seeking directives on ensuring that the infection didn't spread from the body, delaying the last rites by a few hours.

"The situation across the world is sensitive. We had to seek instructions first from MCD and medical authorities. They said the cremation will be done using CNG and the officials had come to supervise the process," Suman Gupta of the samiti said.

The number of coronavirus positive cases in the country has risen to 84 which includes the two deaths in Delhi and Karnataka, according to the Union Health Ministry.

Seven persons who had tested positive, including five from Uttar Pradesh, and one each from Rajasthan and Delhi have been discharged after treatment, a health ministry official said.

Coronavirus: Two more new cases found in Yavatmal; Maha count 22

So far, Delhi has reported seven positive cases and Uttar Pradesh 11. Karnataka has six coronavirus patients, Maharashtra 14 and Ladakh three while Jammu and Kashmir reported two cases. Rajasthan, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab have reported one case each.

Kerala has reported 19 cases, including three who were discharged last month after they recovered from the contagious infection. Of the country's 84 confirmed cases 17 are foreigners -- 16 Italian tourists and a Canadian.

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Story first published: Sunday, March 15, 2020, 10:00 [IST]
Hong Kong: CE inspects CSD mask production

Chief Executive Carrie Lam visited the Correctional Services Departments Lo Wu Correctional Institution to inspect the new production line for surgical masks, which was launched today.

In the face of the coronavirus epidemic, the department has steadily increased its production of surgical masks since January, raising the output from about 1.1 million masks per month to the current level of about 2.5 million.

With new production lines coming into operation, the total output of face masks is expected to further increase to 5.4 million per month.

Mrs Lam helped package the masks and thanked volunteers, comprising the departments off-duty and retired personnel, for their devotion to the production work to meet the keen demand for masks.

Later, Mrs Lam handed out face masks to families in Tin Shui Wai and visited elderly people in a village in Lau Fau Shan to learn about their lives during the epidemic and to distribute anti-epidemic kits.

She also reminded them to pay attention to personal hygiene.

The Chief Executive had earlier decided to pass all face masks donated to the Government by various sectors to non-governmental organisations so that they can distribute them to underprivileged groups.

This story has been published on: 2020-03-15. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The newborn baby in London who became the world's youngest coronavirus victim is reportedly 'out of danger and recovering'.

The child's mother was rushed to hospital days ago with suspected pneumonia but her positive result was only known after the birth.

They were treated at separate hospitals - the baby at North Middlesex and the mother at a specialist infections hospital.

The newborn baby in London who became the world's youngest coronavirus victim is reportedly 'out of danger and recovering'. Stock picture

The baby is being treated at North Middlesex Hospital where it was born, and the mother has been moved to a specialist infections hospital

According to The Sun, the baby is now 'out of danger' and recovering well.

It is believed the baby was infected after the birth from coughs or sneezes and it was tested within minutes of its arrival.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has advised that healthy babies should not be separated from infected mums and can be breastfed.

Officials have advised the pregnant women and babies are at low risk from coronavirus and are likely to only endure mild symptoms.

The UK's death rate doubled overnight as a further ten patients died from the coronavirus. The total number of cases in the UK leapt from 820 this morning to 1,140 on Saturday

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 coronavirus death rate doubled overnight to 21 and infections hit 1,140.

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

Meanwhile, Britain's over-70s will be told to stay at home for four months in a governmental bid to end the coronavirus crisis, it was revealed last night.

Mass isolating of the elderly - even if they are not ill - will begin within the next 20 days as Boris Johnson ratchets up efforts to tackle the UK's ballooning outbreak.

Although the drastic measures have been drawn up to protect those most vulnerable to the killer COVID-19 infection, it brings serious concerns about the wellbeing of pensioners cooped-up for such a long time.

Regular social outings will have to be scrapped and pangs of loneliness could compound an already stressful isolation experience, psychologists have warned.

Instructing the over-70s to remain indoors forms part of a wider package of emergency powers due to be officially rolled out by Downing Street this week.

Tomorrow NHS England will hand out new guidelines for hospitals which will tell trusts they can scrap routine surgery and outpatient appointments, the Sunday Telegraph reports. It comes as senior forecaster Julian Jessop warned the paper that Britain could suffer a six per cent drop in GDP over coming months.

Banning mass gatherings, allowing the police to detain suspected virus victims and forcing schools to stay open were already revealed to be part of the strategy going forward.

And last night the government's coronavirus blueprint was fleshed out further as more impending measures emerged:

Troops will be deployed to guard hospitals and supermarkets, where panic-buying unleashed carnage on Saturday

Thousands of private hospital beds will be drafted to relax the pressure on the NHS, which threatens to be overwhelmed as cases climb

Business will be urged to serve the national interest by overhauling production lines to instead manufacture essential medical equipment such as ventilators

Whole families will be told to isolate themselves even if just one member falls ill with coronavirus

The police are planning to sideline pursuing minor misdemeanors and only investigate crimes involving a loss of life to free up officers

Tomorrow NHS England will hand out new guidelines for hospitals which will tell trusts they can scrap routine surgery and outpatient appointments, the Sunday Telegraph reports. It comes as senior forecaster Julian Jessop warned the paper that Britain could suffer a six per cent drop in GDP over coming months.

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

Banning mass gatherings, allowing the police to detain suspected virus victims and forcing schools to stay open were already revealed to be part of the strategy going forward.

And last night the government's coronavirus blueprint was fleshed out further as more impending measures emerged:

The government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) yesterday advised that the next interventions - shielding the vulnerable and household isolation - 'will need to be instituted soon'.
Weary travelers returning to the U.S. amid coronavirus-related travel restrictions were greeted by long lines and hourslong waits for required medical screenings at airports.

Posts on social media indicated passengers at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport waited upward of four hours in winding lines, eliciting criticism from elected Illinois officials.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker tweeted at President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, noting that the customs process is under federal jurisdiction and demanding they take action to address the crowds. His concerns were echoed on Twitter by his fellow Democrats, Illinois Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth.

"This is unacceptable, counterproductive and exactly the opposite of what we need to do to prevent #COVID19," Duckworth tweeted. "The Trump Administration must send more support to O'Hare immediately."

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PENNSYLVANIA: Click to see where cases of the coronavirus are in Pennsylvania are located.



While U.S. citizens, green card holders and some others are allowed to return home, travelers from Europe are being funneled to one of 13 U.S. airports where they are subject to health screenings and quarantine orders.

Acknowledging the long lines at those airports in tweets posted just after midnight, the Department of Homeland Security's acting secretary said the screenings take about a minute per passenger.

"Right now we are working to add additional screening capacity and working with the airlines to expedite the process," Chad Wolf tweeted. "I understand this is very stressful. In these unprecedented times, we ask for your patience."

The dense crowds at the selected airports  among the busiest across the country  formed even as public health officials call for "social distancing" to stem the spread of the virus.

Austin Boschen was returning from a spring break trip to Jalisco, Mexico, with his girlfriend and described the situation at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport as "atrocious, no semblance of a line beyond the barriers and no officials or staff around to direct."

He and his girlfriend managed to get near the front of the crowd and learned people there had already been waiting for two hours, he wrote in an email; he reached the head of the line 2 1/2 hours later, and then waited another hour and a half to see an agent.

"The entire time people in the crowd would yell out in anger, and Customs officers would yell at people to not take pictures," he wrote. "Short chants among the room would start and stop periodically. It was very tense at times, the crowd was very agitated."

In the end, he and his girlfriend missed their original flight, and then missed a rebooked flight, finally managing to catch a third after racing across the airport.

"I'm less concerned about having to stand here for the amount of time that I am, and more concerned about where the people are traveling from that are around me and what they may or may not have been exposed to," another traveler, Dorothy Lowe, told WFAA-TV at Dallas/Fort Worth.

The Texas airport's Twitter account responded to passengers who raised concerns about the cramped conditions, saying that its customer experience team was taking "extra precautions" and that hand sanitizer was available in all terminals. Meanwhile, O'Hare and Chicago police offered queuers bottled water and snacks, according to the airport's Twitter account.

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. People with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover, according to the World Health Organization.

Travelers from restricted countries in Europe, China and Iran are being advised to self-quarantine for 14 days after reaching their final destination in the U.S.

"If you don't have to travel, I wouldn't do it," Trump said.

The worldwide outbreak has sickened more than 156,000 people and left more than 5,800 dead, with thousands of new cases confirmed each day. The death toll in the United States climbed to 57, while infections neared 3,000.

Hospitals across the U.S. are working to expand bed capacity and staffing to keep from becoming overwhelmed as the caseload continues to mount.

"We have not reached our peak," said Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health. "We will see more cases, and we will see more suffering and death."

Millions of Americans braced for the week ahead with no school for their children for many days to come, no clue how to effectively do their jobs without child care, and a growing sense of dread about how to stay safe and sane amid the relentless spread of the coronavirus.

Tens of millions of students nationwide have been sent home from school amid a wave of closings that include all of Ohio, Maryland, Oregon, Washington state, Florida and Illinois along with big-city districts like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Some schools announced they will close for three weeks, others for up to six.

___

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Christine Barber, 57, has been jailed after fleecing an elderly woman out of 222,742

A callous carer who drained a 93-year-old woman's bank account has been jailed for two years.

Christine Barber, 57, fleeced frail Patricia Normanton's 222,742 savings and splurged the money on her daughter's tuition fees, a new car and donations to a cat charity.

From October 2017 to April 2018, Barber repeatedly withdrew large sums from her victim's account after sneakily setting up mobile banking.

When police eventually caught wind of her stealing and turned up at her Kirkby, Merseyside, home, Barber opened the door to them and said: 'It's to do with that bloody woman, isn't it?'

On Friday, Liverpool Crown Court heard the defendant had 'bled her victim almost dry' before Barber was sentenced to two years behind bars after pleading guilty to theft.

Barber had known Ms Normanton since she was child, and, coincidentally, began caring for the nonagenarian at her Bootle home.

Even after she left her job with Warren Care, Barber, from Shakespeare Avenue, continued to make visits and obtained the pensioner's bank details.

When Ms Normanton moved into a care home and came to pay her residency fees, it became apparent she was lacking the funds.

This is because Barber had enjoyed a six-month spending spree where she paid her daughter's tuition fees, bought a 9,000 Renault Clio and gave 4,000 to a cat charity.

On Friday, Liverpool Crown Court (file photo) heard the defendant had 'bled her victim almost dry' before Barber was sentenced to two years behind bars after pleading guilty to theft

The mother-of-two hid the true source of the money from her son and daughter, texting them that 'a wealthy old lady had given her the money as she did not want her grand-daughter to have it. She had two houses and wanted to give it to charity.'

Jailing Barber, who showed no emotion, Judge David Aubrey QC said that the victim, who has since died, had been 'in the autumn of her life' and was elderly and vulnerable.

He said: 'Over a sustained period of time, between 5th October 2017 and 18 April 2018 you fleeced her... you bled her accounts almost dry.'

He said that references about Barber, who has no previous convictions, spoke of her as caring, supportive and friendly.

'You may be friendly, you may be supportive, but as far as your victim, 93 years of age, was concerned you were anything but caring.'

The judge said she had taken advantage of a very vulnerable elderly lady 'for your own financial ends.'

Prosecutor Simon Duncan said that the victim had been reimbursed by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Julian Linskill, defending, said that it was difficult to understand why Barber 'had gone so far off the rails.'

She had not been working as a carer at the time of the offences but it was accepted she had 'drained three major accounts belonging to Patricia Normanton.

'She left very little by way of money in the accounts to the extent that those in charge of her care were concerned she would not long have the money in order to pay for her care in the home.

She was left almost destitute as a result of her depredations.'

Mr Linskill said, 'She could not remember all the withdrawals. She certainly doesn't seem to have splashed money on herself and quite a considerable amount has been spent on her family.'

He told the court that Barber has a degree in psychology and cares for her partner, who has suffered a stroke, and also looks after her son who has physical problems.

She has referred herself to mental heath services and is being treated for depression.

As Barber was led to the cells her crying daughter, who sat with her brother, shouted out to her, 'I love you.'
Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, Sunday, visited Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, days after he received a letter from the monarch, over the lingering traditional rulers issues.

Recall that the Alaafin of Oyo wrote a letter to Kayode Fayemi, over the query issued to 16 monarchs in the state.

In the letter, the Alaafin cautioned the governor to thread carefully, adding that the Yoruba race is different from other races.

Read Also: Alaafin Of Oyo Writes Fayemi Over Query Sent To 16 Monarchs In Ekiti

In the wake of this, Fayemi has gone to the Alaafins palace.

As of time of this report, it is unclear whether the visit is connected to the letter and monarchial issues in Ekiti.

More photos below:
US President Donald Trump gestures as CEO of Bank of America Brian Moynihan (L) speaks during a meeting with banking leaders to discuss how the financial services industry can meet the needs of customers affected by COVID-19 at the White House in Washington, DC on March 11, 2020.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said Sunday the coronavirus has united the world in its battle against the fast spreading pandemic.

"We're in a war to contain this virus," Moynihan said on CBS. "The interesting thing is everybody has the same common enemy across the whole world. So, it's a question of how we do that as employers?"

Moynihan noted that Bank of America, along with other banks, is helping out consumers impacted by the virus outbreak with payment deferrals on credit cards and mortgages.

"You don't want people to be penalized because of the coronavirus, he said.

His comments came as the coronavirus has infected more than 156,000 people worldwide and has killed more than 5,800 people. In the U.S. alone, more than 2,900 people have been infected while at least 57 have died from it.

The virus has also led companies to take drastic measures to mitigate fallout from the outbreak. Nike closed all its U.S. stores while some airlines are suspending long-haul flights.

The stock market has also taken a massive hit from the virus, with the S&P 500 closing in a bear market last week, thus ending the longest bull expansion on record.

"This is a quick change from what was a solidly growing economy," Moynihan said. He added, however, banks are coming into this outbreak "with capital liquidity that is so different than the last crisis."

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Casual workers are set to lose hundreds of dollars by self-isolating on the government's coronavirus containment plan.

The Greens, Labor party and unions have called for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to provide greater financial assistance for Australian casual workers to prevent them from working while potentially sick with coronavirus and further spread the disease.

Casual staff forced to self-isolate are eligible for sickness allowance welfare payments of $280 per week for singles or $302 for those with dependent children.

However, 60 per cent of Australian casual workers earn more than $400 per week, which would leave infected staff out-of-pocket from their two week isolation period.

Casual workers are set to lose hundreds of dollars by self-isolating using the government's coronavirus containment plan (stock image)

Adam Bandt said the government must do more for casual workers to be steady while absent from work during the coronavirus pandemic

Greens leader Adam Bandt told the Sydney Morning Herald that the government should do more for casual workers during the pandemic.

'Unless we support the millions of people reliant on casual and insecure work, they may feel forced to come to work instead of staying at home, which will make things worse for everyone,' Mr Bandt said.

'As we all stay at home more, you still have to pay the rent and buy food, but casual workers stand to lose hundreds of dollars a week under the government's hard-hearted response.'

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

Mr Bandt planned to propose a 14 day coronavirus sick leave payment bill in parliament.

The coronavirus has drastically changed working conditions for many staff, with big businesses including Westpac and Woolworths pledging to give casual staff paid leave if potentially infected by the virus.

A quarter of Australians will be given $750 as part of Scott 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.

A man moving a trolley of boxes through Sydney CBD wearing a face mask on Friday

Help for casuals Casual workers will no longer have to wait to receive sickness payments under Newstart. 'People who are casual employees that wouldn't be able to go to work or because they have to self-isolate or, indeed, have the virus, they would be able to access that payment,' Mr Morrison said. 'The normal assets test rules apply to those as they do to all these payments, but the waiting period will be waived to enable them to access that payment and that will provide that support. Many other countries don't have that in the system.' Advertisement

The payments totalling $4.8billion will begin on 31 March and will be transferred automatically through the tax system.

'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.

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.

'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.
Our weekly roundup of books that should be on your radar.

We love stories, and even in the age of Netflix-and-chill, there's nothing like a good book that promises a couple of hours of absorption  whether curled up in bed, in your favourite coffeehouse, or that long (and tiresome) commute to work. Every Sunday, we'll have a succinct pick of books, across diverse genres, that have been newly made available for your reading pleasure. Get them wherever you get your books  the friendly neighbourhood bookseller, e-retail website, chain store  and in whatever form you prefer. Happy reading!

For more of our weekly book recommendations, click here.

***

Author Dean Koontzs thriller The Eyes of Darkness and the non-fiction book End of Days: Predictions and Prophecies about the End of the World by psychic Sylvia Browne have captured the public imagination, spurring conspiracy theories and panic because of their seemingly prescient quality. Online stores are flooded with counterfeit books offering rampant misinformation about the novel coronavirus, while reliable information about COVID-19 can be sourced from the World Health Organisation website. Fiction like Albert Camus The Plague and AG Riddles Pandemic whose plot revolve around pandemics are seeing an uptick in sales all over the world.

In a time of worldwide panic, as one turns to books for answers, heres a roundup of books that variously discuss pandemics and life in times of a health emergency.

 FICTION

The Companions

By Katie M Flynn

Simon and Schuster | Rs 1,915 | 272 pages

Writer Katie Flynns debut novel is set in California in the near future, which is under quarantine in the face of a highly contagious virus. In this world, the dead can be uploaded to machines to service the living. While the wealthy in the companionship program choose to upload their consciousness so they can stay with their families, the less fortunate are rented out to strangers, among them 16-year-old Lilac. She runs away once she realises she can defy commands, in search of her killer, setting off a chain of events that reach Siberia and beyond.

Read more about the book here.

Severance

By Ling Ma

Macmillan Publishers | Rs 1,187 | 304 pages

Novelist Ling Mas debut novel Severance is an apocalyptic satire, following Candace Chen, an unfulfilled Bible product coordinator in Manhattan. Following the passing of her parents, shes committed to carry on with a routine, not noticing the fast-spreading Shen Fever. Alone, she photographs the abandoned city as the anonymous blogger NY Ghost. She soon meets a group of survivors travelling to a place called Felicity and led by IT tech Bob. But Candace has a secret she knows Bob will exploit, and must decide whether she will potentially have to escape from her rescuers.

Read more about the book here.

The Book of M

By Peng Shepherd

HarperCollins | Rs 599 | 496 pages

Peng Shepherd's debut novel The Book of M tells the story of people caught in a catastrophe. In the middle of an outdoor market in India, a mans shadow disappears. This phenomenon quickly spreads, and those afflicted gain a strange new power, but at the price of memory loss. Two years later, Ory and Max have escaped the Forgetting by hiding in an abandoned hotel. Their new life seems almost normal until one day, Maxs shadow disappears, and knowing it will make her dangerous, she runs away. But Ory refuses to give up the time they have left together, and sets out to find her.

Read more about the book here.

A Journal of the Plague Year

By Daniel Defoe

Oxford University Press | Rs 250 | 304 pages

Author of the famed Robinson Crusoe, seventeenth-century English writer Daniel Defoes Journal of the Plague Year offer an account of Londons 1665-66 bubonic plague. Based on his childhood memories, Defoe also sources historical documents to create a realistic effect of the plague on the city. It details the daily life, medical precautions, mass panics, and his narrators solitary travels, who decides to stay in the city through everything.

Read more about the book here.

 NON-FICTION

Pandemics: What Everyone Needs to Know

By Peter C Doherty

Oxford University Press | Rs 699 | 272 pages

Nobel Prize-winning medical researcher and immunologist Peter C Doherty explains the causes of pandemics, details how they can be counteracted with vaccines and drugs, and how one can be better prepared in the future. He explains how the main threat comes from respiratory viruses like influenza and SARS. He discusses how global warming, rising population, and growing antibiotic resistance complicate efforts to contain pandemics. He also stresses that pandemics can be fought effectively, and explains how.

Read more about the book here.

The Psychology of Pandemics: Preparing for the Next Global Outbreak of Infectious Disease

By Steven Taylor

Cambridge Scholars Publishing | 178 pages

Professor and Clinical Psychologist at the University of British Columbia, Steven Taylor focuses on the psychological factors that influence the spread of pandemic infections and the related emotional stress and social disruption. Psychological factors play a role in nonadherence to vaccinations and in how people cope with the threat and related losses. They also play a role in the spread of excessive fear, stigma and discrimination. The book offers a comprehensive analysis of the psychology of pandemics, describing reactions, reviewing factors of psychological vulnerability, and offers methods for addressing these problems.

Read more about the book here.

Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present

By Frank M Snowden

Yale University Press | Rs 3,074 | 600 pages

History of Medicine Professor at Yale University, Frank Snowdens book investigates the medical and social history of major epidemics, highlighting the connection between epidemics and societal change. From the Black Death to the present day, he looks at how mass infectious outbreaks have shaped society, transforming the arts, religion, intellectual history, and warfare. The book also discusses the evolution of medical therapy, plague literature, poverty, the environment, and mass hysteria.

Read more about the book here.

The Pandemic Century: One Hundred Years of Panic, Hysteria, and Hubris

By Mark Honigsbaum

Hurst Publishers | Rs 1,545 | 464 pages

Journalist and medical historian Mark Honigsbaum narrates last centurys scientific struggle against its enduring enemy  the contagious disease. He looks at how diseases spread and how consequently, racial, religious, and ethnic tensions increase, reconstructing epidemiological mysteries and the ecology of infectious diseases. He also details doctors dedicated to finding answers, incompetent public health officials, and brilliant scientists.

Read more about the book here.
Click here to see the March 16, 2020 update

The state of Pennsylvania reported there were 63 positive cases of coronavirus as of March 15, 2020.

This map includes five additional cases beyond the official state total that were announced Sunday afternoon. Allegheny County announced a fourth coronavirus case, Philadelphia announced two more cases and Chester County announced two more as well..

Here is the locator map and details of the known cases. If you are unable to view the map below, please click this link.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PA. Hover your mouse or tap a county to see the exact number of cases per county. Municipalities, when known, are indicated by a blue pin. Tapping the pin will tell you what we know about the case.



Please note that starting March 15, the state has changed how it labeled cases from confirmed positive and presumed positive to either negative, pending or positive.

Allegheny County

 Two adults from Pittsburgh, who live in the same household. One is in their 70s and the other is in their 60s. Both are in isolation at home.

 An adult in their 60s is in isolation at home.

 An adult in their 60s is hospitalized at Jefferson Hospital in Jefferson Hills.

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.

 An adult, who had been in contact with the affected cardiologist from Montgomery County. They are in isolation at home.

 An adult, who recently traveled to Spain, is in isolation at home.

Chester County

 A 56-year-old woman from West Pikeland, who had contact with a presumptive positive person in another state. She is in isolation.

 A 30-year-old man from North Coventry, who was confirmed on March 14.

 A 54-year-old man from Goshen, who was confirmed on March 15.

 A 20-year-old woman from Goshen, who was confirmed March 15.

Cumberland County

 Two adults and a child were diagnosed. Their ages and gender have not been released.

 Two additional people from the county, whose ages or gender were not released, have been diagnosed.

Delaware County

 An adult woman, who recently returned from a conference in Boston. She was treated at Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland.

 An adult man, who is employed at George W. Hill Correctional Facility. He contracted it from his son, a police officer who had tested positive for the disease in Montgomery County. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, 34 people including 11 inmates have been quarantined.

 Five other people from the county, whose ages or gender was not released, were diagnosed.

Lehigh County

 An adult from Bethlehem, who works for the Lehigh Valley Health Network. They are in isolation at home.

Luzerne County

 An adult from the county, who was diagnosed after traveling, is in isolation at home.

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

 A three additional people from this county has been diagnosed. Their ages and gender has not been released.

Montgomery County

 A person from East Norriton Township, whose age or gender has not yet been released, has been diagnosed.

 A person from Douglass Township, whose age or gender has not yet been released, has been diagnosed.

 Two people from Lower Providence Township, whose age or gender have not yet been released, were 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. Officials believe he contracted it from a pediatrician at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphias location in King of Prussia. He is in isolation at home.

 A second person from Perkiomen Township, whose age or gender has not yet been released, has been diagnosed.

 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 six 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.

 Two people, whose age or gender have not yet been released, were diagnosed in the township.

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.

 Five additional adults from the county, whose age or gender have not been not released, have been diagnosed.

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. He is in isolation.

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.
An email I received last week started like this: Your (sic) a funny guy with your race baiting cop hating, your product is garbage we the people dont buy your plantation politics. You made a living off the backs of hard working people selling hate.

This is typical of emails I receive practically on a weekly basis from those upset that I have the audacity not only to share my opinion, but back it up with facts. I certainly do not hate police officers. Much of my professional resume reflects the years I spent as a patrol officer. Those years reflected personal growth, development of close friendships, and provided valuable insight that only those in law enforcement experience first hand.

I served on a municipal police department in Virginia at a time when there were very few people of color, fewer women, and no one who claimed openly to be gay. But, times have changed somewhat. There are federal and state laws, as well as specific policies, designed to provide equal opportunity and prohibit discrimination in the workplace. Prohibited discrimination, depending on the jurisdiction, includes that based on race, creed, gender, sexual orientation or military service status.

Plainly stated, a business or government entity usually is violating a law if it discriminates, or allows discrimination or harassment, against members of various protected categories.

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD), specifically, is in place for very good reasons. In the past, the covered classes of people had limited chances to securing employment. The workplace was the domain of White males, to the systemic exclusion of many others.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the American Disabilities Act of 1990 offer protections by the federal government, while the NJLAD protects us in New Jersey. It is stronger than the federal laws, and in fact, is one of the strongest anti-discrimination laws in the nation.

Anti-discrimination laws are also important because if people are not employed due to illegal discrimination, they file for unemployment benefits, housing and food assistance  all at a cost to taxpayers.

But, as I have stated in the past, there are some foul signals emanating from within the law enforcement community that demonstrate failures regarding selection and promotion of personnel.

Just three months into 2020, and a New Jersey state trooper has been charged with aggravated assault after a road-rage incident in December. In November, a former Trenton police detective was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to repeated sexual assaults against two children. Former Bordentown Chief Frank Nucera is now appealing his conviction for lying to the FBI, and faces retrial on federal hate-crime charges after a jury failed to reach a verdict on them.

Last month, another state trooper was charged with receiving child pornography from a fellow trooper who was indicted last year for allegedly possessing it. The Vineland police department is ensnared in a legal brouhaha involving a captain who claims he was retaliated against as a corruption whistleblower, and a suspended chief who contends in a new lawsuit that hes being pushed out unfairly.

Wait, there is more. Just last week a Gloucester Township officer was found guilty of two counts of official misconduct in a case stemming from allegations that he pushed a 13-year-old girl and slapped her in the face while restraining her in a group home.

Around the same time, disheartening allegations started slowly coming out of the Gloucester County Prosecutors Office.

County Prosecutor Charles A. Fiore resigned under a cloud March 5. Days later, a female detective filed a workplace discrimination lawsuit claiming she was harassed and denied promotions by staff members over her sexual orientation, and that Fiore himself made crude remarks to her.

If the allegations are true, not addressing such concerns indicates failure to understand the meaning and significance of the NJLAD. Another detective in the office claims in a civil lawsuit that he was harassed and discriminated against due to his military service.

I certainly hope these claims are not accurate, but if they are, the penalties should be swift and severe. During this volcanic eruption, sworn depositions from numerous detectives indicate they have heard disparaging remarks about gay men and women, inappropriate discussions of oral sex, and the use of the N-word in the office.

In other job settings, I witnessed fistfights because the N-word was directed at a guy who would not stand for it. Those wounds rarely, if ever, heal. This is reminiscent of a good ol boys club completely out of control. How does this happen? It likely involves poor staff recruitment, poor supervision, and promoting people who are unable or unwilling to adhere to department policies or the NJLAD law.

This will happen time and time again in police agencies until recruitment and training is changed significantly. Not everyone has the temperament, self-control, professionalism and ability to maintain the high standards required of those we empower to legally take a life.

No more excuses, no more wasted time, as public safety is at risk.

Milton W. Hinton Jr. is retired as director of equal opportunity for the Gloucester County government, and is past president of the Gloucester County Branch NAACP. Email: miltonw@imap.cc. Twitter: MiltonHintonJr@WritestheNation.

Send a letter to the editor of South Jersey Times at sjletters@njadvancemedia.com

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
Since 2013-14, buffalo meat had been the largest export item in the agri commodity basket for a few years. Since the coronavirus outbreak in January, Indian exporters have received no fresh orders from Southeast Asian and West Asian countries, which cumulatively contribute nearly 65 per cent of Indias overall buffalo meat shipment.

Buffalo meat exports have come to standstill after Malaysia, Vietnam and Turkey, the three major destinations of Indias exports, stopped placing orders following the global coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

This is the worst ever crisis for these exporters.

Since 2013-14, buffalo meat had been the largest export item in the agri commodity basket for a few years. Since the coronavirus outbreak in January, Indian exporters have received no fresh orders from Southeast Asian and West Asian countries, which cumulatively contribute nearly 65 per cent of Indias overall buffalo meat shipment.

With coronavirus gradually spilling over to Chinas trade partners and other countries now, buffalo meat exports have come to a standstill.

Many consignments that were shipped to various countries, including Hong Kong, Vietnam and Malaysia, ahead of the New Year celebrations in China on January 25, 2020, are still stuck at ports due to the lockdown there. Those who had already shipped their consignments before the Chinese New Year are still waiting to get paid from importers there.

Exporters fear default in buffalo meat shipments could be in millions and may create business hurdles in the future.

Trade with Malaysia and Turkey were also hit due to their anti-Indian stand over abrogation of Article 370 and 35A in Jammu and Kashmir.

There is absolutely no orders received since the coronavirus outbreak in China. Tonnes of exported buffalo meat await clearances at various ports. Millions of dollars of receivables are still pending due to the lockdown there. We are trying to convince local authorities of importing countries to clear the consignments and deposit them in cold storages there, said Soeb Khan, managing partner, Fresh N Frozen Tech, a Hyderabad-based manufacturer and merchant of buffalo meat.

The delay in clearing consignments at importing ports resulted in huge amounts of demurrage being paid over and above the container and freight charges.

Data compiled by the Agricultural and Processed Foods Export Development Authority (Apeda) showed that Indias buffalo meat exports declined by 8 per cent in value terms to $2.8 billion between April 2019 and January 2020 compared with $3.05 billion in the corresponding period last year.

In terms of quantity, however, the decline was a mere 2.4 per cent to 1 million tonnes.

Photograph: Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters.
In a first-of-its kind initiative, the CRPF has decided to provide a comprehensive health cover and pay full premium for family members of its about 2,200 personnel who were killed in the line of duty since its raising.

The country's largest paramilitary force, with 3.25 lakh personnel in various ranks, has launched a theme of 'proud of our martyrs, we celebrate their valour' as part of its 81st anniversary on March 19.

The healthcare cover and other measures are being launched as part of this theme.

"We have decided to provide a comprehensive health care cover to family members of all our martyrs. The force will pay the full premium for these services and it will be drawn from the welfare fund," CRPF Director General (DG) A P Maheshwari told PTI.

This will benefit the families of our 2,200 martyrs and will also fill the existing gap in ensuring better healthcare to those whose loving family member laid down their life for the nation, the DG said.

Till now, the family of a slain trooper used to make self-payment of premium to avail government health care benefits.

For the lowest rank of constable or jawan, the premium amount is Rs 30,000 per annum and its goes up with the rank to Rs 1.20 lakh for officers.

A senior official said the DG was informed about the issue when he met troops in various 'sainik sammelan' meetings in the country.

Families of 40 personnel who were killed in the Pulwama terror attack last year were extended this full premium paid facility and hence a special sanction was accorded by the DG to bring all martyr families under this healthcare umbrella, the official said.

Special health cards will also be issued to these families in due course, the official said.

The force, as part of its new welfare initiatives to help its troops incapacitated in combat operations, has also inked MoUs with disability support and information technology training organisations.

"We want to re-skill our soldiers who have had to undergo amputation or some sort of disability during operations. We do not want that their self-esteem is affected by these developments.

"By collaborating with these expert institutions the aim is to provide alternate skills to these troops," DG Maheshwari said.

He said troops will be trained in streams like artificial intelligence, cyber space techniques, languages and even to hone vocal skills so that they can be absorbed in various jobs within the force, be it desk jobs, classroom lectures to officials, handling control room duties and working as announcers during ceremonial or other events.

The force will also soon tie-up with the IIIT-Hyderabad from where the specially-abled CRPF troops can obtain, through distance learning, a one-year certificate degree in various information technology areas, the force chief said.

The anniversary parade and other celebrations of the force to be held this week across the country have been cancelled in view of coronavirus precautions.

However, a team 20 senior officers led by the DG will lay wreath at the martyrs column at a CRPF base in Gurgaon to mark the 81st raising day to launch the latest theme-based mission of welfare of martyrs and specially-abled troops, the official said.

A special blood donation drive where one lakh troops will participate in the noble cause is also being undertaken, he said.

The Central Reserve Police Force was raised in 1949 and it is the lead internal security and anti-Naxal operations force of the country apart from being the mainstay for counter-terrorist tasks in Kashmir valley.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices.
We are in a very different country to the one that went to the polls on February 8. The election results gave no clear indication to the parties what the people wanted, other than a vague suggestion of 'change'.

Last week saw the first real indications of the government that might be formed, and it's either 'historic' or no change at all, depending on how you look at it. A Fianna Fail-Fine Gael-Green-plus coalition might seem historic, but it would not be that much different to the Government we have had for the past four years.

What has changed is the position of the party leaders. Though always appearing supremely confident, Mary Lou McDonald must have felt some self-doubt when she followed Sinn Fein's poll numbers last year, but now she has a real prospect of becoming Taoiseach. Her only challenge is to how to cause an election without seeming to want one.

Mary Lou's counterparts in the 'big' parties are not so secure.

Micheal Martin's TDs were patient with his 'don't-rock-the-boat, we're-responsible' approach of the last nine years, but they're getting antsy now. Martin was given the benefit of the doubt after a creditable performance in 2016, but Fianna Fail looked unprepared for last month's election. It wasn't quite an open goal, but Martin didn't even hit the target.

There was no clear message from Fianna Fail as to what it was for. The front bench was either invisible or ill-prepared. The manifesto looked as if it was thrown together at the last minute, and panicky policies didn't stand up to scrutiny. Fianna Failers are now wondering whether Micheal Martin is their Neil Kinnock. Well-meaning - but, ultimately, a loser.

He has been worse since the election. Fianna Fail has become hostage to the misfortunate commitments he gave in the election no government with Sinn Fein, no government with Fine Gael. Because Martin has to get into government. Fianna Fail has never been in opposition for this long - and he will be removed if he doesn't become Taoiseach.

So one of the commitments had to give, and Martin chose the wrong one. He is doubling down on his position that Sinn Fein is not suitable for government. That's laudable in ways, but if he is thinking about his party's future, it's the wrong option.

Leaving Sinn Fein in opposition will allow it to eclipse Fianna Fail, depriving it of its traditional working-class support. And it feeds the Sinn Fein narrative of a political system that's sewn up by cronies afraid of change.

Fianna Fail and Fine Gael's decision to open talks has a lot of hurdles ahead, and seems to have stumbled at the first one. It was grossly incompetent that they announced they would begin the process to form a government with the Greens - without first seeking the Greens' approval for the process. It won't have helped that Fianna Failers were dismissing the Green suggestion of a national government as daft.

If Martin knows his party, he must know that a party Ard Fheis won't pass a deal with Fine Gael, especially one in which Fianna Fail doesn't provide the Taoiseach. Coronavirus is his only chance.

Martin will appeal - no doubt sincerely - to the national interest. At a time of a national emergency, we need a stable government. But if no Ard Fheis can be held because of the ban on mass gatherings, a ballot of members might be easier to control. There'll be no stream of councillors excoriating him and Fine Gael reminding the members of why it's a bad idea. A virtual Ard Fheis is still unlikely to pass a deal with Fine Gael, but it is his best hope.

Coronavirus could also end up saving Leo Varadkar. He was anaemic in the election campaign, but so far during the Covid-19 crisis he's been clear and competent. In last Thursday's address to the nation, he struck the right tone, mixing concern and reassurance with decisive action.

Emergencies tend to bring people together. We depend more on our governments, and look to them for comfort and direction. Opposition parties, in particular Sinn Fein, won't be able to be too critical, and end up providing a supporting role.

If this is with us for months, rather than weeks, there will be no Dail to elect a new government, even if one were agreed - ministers and MPs across Europe are testing positive for coronavirus.

No new election can take place.

How we react to a crisis can have a major impact on how we perceive our leaders. The incompetent response to the wildfires in Greece, in the summer of 2018, ended Alexis Tsipras's chances of re-election.

If Ireland is seen to deal with the Covid-19 crisis competently, Varadkar could emerge a strengthened figure, fit to fight another election in the autumn.
MBABANE  The World Health Organisation (WHO) has offered to assist the Kingdom of Eswatini establish a coronavirus testing laboratory.

Currently, tests for suspected cases are sent to neighbouring South Africa.



Minister of Health Lizzy Nkosi yesterday announced the good news from the WHO and said the assistance would be at no cost.

The laboratory will be situated at the Lubombo Referral Hospital, which is also the main place for the isolation of suspected and confirmed cases, she said.

The minister said the initial idea was to have the laboratory in Mbabane but it was then decided that Lubombo would be ideal.



Even though WHO would be offering assistance, Nkosi said government would need about E22 million to pay for the other part of the laboratory.

She said the need to have this amount of money would result in the delay of the other part of the clinic to be set up but the part by WHO would be in place next week.



Adhering to strict practices



According to the WHO, Laboratories undertaking testing for COVID-19 virus should adhere strictly to appropriate biosafety practices.

Biosafety practices include that of testing on clinical specimens from patients meeting the suspect case definition should be performed in appropriately equipped laboratories by staff trained in the relevant technical and safety procedures.



National guidelines on laboratory biosafety should be followed in all circumstances.

The WHO says there is still limited information on the risk posed by COVID-19, but all procedures should be undertaken based on a risk assessment.

Specimen handling for molecular testing would require BSL-2 or equivalent facilities. Attempts to culture the virus require BSL-3 facilities at minimum.
Commending the efforts of PM Modi to organise a joint link-up with all G20 leaders, Australian PM Scott Morrison, on Saturday, said that Australia would obviously support it. He said that he was aware that PM Modi was keen to organise a meeting of all G-20 leaders to battle Coronavirus which has caused over 5000 deaths globally. India has recorded 107 cases testing positive as of date, with two deaths.

BMC Commissioner explains why Maharashtra has the highest Coronavirus cases; lauds govt

Morrison lauds Modi's G-20 link up efforts

"I'm also aware that (Indian) Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen to organize a link-up between all the G20 leaders. I think that's a commendable initiative. Australia obviously supports that," said Morrison.

MHA suspends passenger movement through all immigration check points at Indian borders

Morrison too calls for G-20 meeting

Morrison announced further measures Sunday to combat the spread of the new coronavirus and called for an urgent G20 meeting to address the financial implications of the crisis. He said that together with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, they agreed to hold an urgent meeting with the G20 finance ministers and governors as the coronavirus outbreak is having a serious economic impact across the globe. He also asked all Australians to maintain a common-sense attitude while facing the outbreak. Australia has witnessed 3 deaths as of date due to COVID-19.

PM Morrison on virus and need for G20 discussion

Coronavirus crisis in India

As of date, the total number of positive cases in India has risen upto 107, with two deaths in the country. 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. India has also closed the India-Pakistan border and restricted passenger movement at the border with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Myanmar. The government is monitoring all suspected cases and issued preventive advisories - visit the official government here: MINISTRY OF HEALTH & FAMILY WELFARE

BIG: SAARC video conference on Coronavirus to be held on March 15; PM Modi to lead India
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

Gaumutra party held to ward of coronavirus

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 15: 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.

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.

Punjab govt shuts down cinema halls, bans public gatherings due to coronavirus scare

Asking for forgiveness from the virus on behalf of meat eaters, he pledged that Indians will never eat meat again.

"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.

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.

Union Fisheries, Dairying and Animal Husbandry Minister Giriraj Singh told reporters on March 6 the World Organisation for Animal Health as well as Indian food safety regulator FSSAI have said there was no scientific evidence to prove transmission of coronavirus from animals to humans.

"The false rumour has hit thousands of farmers engaged in this business. The livelihood of farmers and the people engaged in the entire value chain have been affected. I humbly request people not to fall prey to such rumours," the minister had said.

While medical practitioners across the world have said there is no cure as such for coronavirus, Chakrapani claimed that cow urine is the "only cure" for COVID-19 and requested global leaders to consume the "miracle liquid" and lead by example in the fight against the contagious viral disease.

"All our leaders and officials consume 'gaumutra'. But they do so behind closed doors and when they are sick. It doesn't work like that," he said, insisting that cow urine should be consumed on a daily basis to keep diseases at bay.

Coronavirus: Number of positive cases rise to 84, says Health ministry

"They (leaders) are ashamed of the gift gods have given us. Cow urine is pure elixir.

Every person should drink it." The event began with a 'yagna' and prayers to the cow and the virus itself, asking it to leave peacefully and not kill any more people. A large poster in the backdrop depicted an avatar of Hindu god Narsingh as coronavirus.

Chakrapani emphasised that global leaders should import 'gau mutra' from India as the cow giving the "miracle elixir" must be of an Indian breed only.

"They (global leaders) should get cow urine imported from India because the almighty resides only in the Indian cow and not in any foreign breed," the Mahasabha chief said.

"I request all the presidents and prime ministers of the world to take cow urine on a daily basis. You have all these scientists who don't know the cure, we have the cure given to us by the gods," he claimed.

Kriti Bhushan, former DG of Directorate General of Health Services, told PTI there is no scientific evidence behind claims that cow urine can cure coronavirus.

"In medical science, we only call something a cure after testing it on a 100 people or more. This is a unilateral claim and has no basis to it. In fact, currently there's no cure available for coronavirus. A lot of scientists are continuously working to find a solution," he said.

Rajesh Sharma, a volunteer at the event, vouched for its "miraculous" properties while offering the drink to others around him.

"You have just one glass today and by tomorrow morning you will know the difference.Gaumutra can cure all diseases, I can give it to you in writing," Sharma claimed.

Savita, a housewife from Paschim Vihar, came all the way to attend the 'gaumutra party'.

"I drink gaumutra on a daily basis, there is nothing healthier than this. Everyone in my family drinks it," she said while sipping from a glass full of cow urine.

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Story first published: Sunday, March 15, 2020, 8:05 [IST]
By ANI

PANAJI: In order to help prevent the spread of coronavirus the Roman Catholic Church in Goa on Saturday issued advisory asking people to not kiss the Holy Cross and urged priests to purify their hands with sanitisers.

The advisory issued by Archbishop of Goa Daman and Diu, Filipe Neri Ferrao also urged people to not shake hands and offer a Namaste instead.



Coronavirus LIVE UPDATES | Five more test positive in Pune suburbs, cases in Maharashtra rise to 31

"On Good Friday, at the Veneration of the Cross, discourage people from kissing the Cross. The blessing with a raised Cross would be adequate. Those who desire could come in a queue, make reverence with a bow and go back. Holy water stoops may be kept dry," the advisory stated.



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"I exhort the clergy, the religious and the faithful of this archdiocese to constantly and earnestly pray to the almighty, both for the deliverance of those affected by the disease and for the protection of the rest of the population against the looming virus," said Ferrao.

Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared it as a pandemic. Globally, atleast 145374 confirmed cases have been reported and more than 5400 people have lost their lives due to the disease.

So far, India has detected 93 positive cases of COVID-19.
BEIJING, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said China will continue to provide as much assistance as it can to South Korea to support the latter's fight against the COVID-19 outbreak.

In a message of sympathy recently sent to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Xi said the Chinese side stands ready to join hands with the South Korean side to win the fight against the epidemic at an early date, so as to protect the life and health of the people of the two countries and the wider world.

China and South Korea are friendly neighbors that help each other and stick together through thick and thin, Xi said, adding that the South Korean government and people from all walks of life have previously expressed their sympathies to China over the epidemic and provided a lot of help, and that President Moon stressed in particular that China's difficulties are South Korea's difficulties.

The Chinese leader pointed out that epidemics know no borders, and all countries worldwide are part of a community with a shared future, and that the Chinese government and people empathize with the South Korean side in its struggle against the epidemic and related difficulties.

Xi also said that he attaches great importance to the development of China-South Korea relations, and is willing to work with Moon to jointly lift the China-South Korea strategic cooperative partnership to higher levels for the benefit of the two countries and their people.
Amid the deadly coronavirus outbreak, an Indian Citizen on Sunday lauded the government of India for the precautionary measures taken by them to control the spread of the virus. Rajat Gupta shared his personal experience on Facebook during his travel from Dallas to New Delhi.

In his social media post, he said that as soon as his plane landed in Delhi all the passengers were screened by the health officials at the entrance of the aircraft. He also mentioned that the process was very quick and precise to avoid any inconvenience. Further, he mentioned that from immigration to baggage collection each of the passengers was supervised well by the airport staff. He said that each and every zone was cordoned off so well by the official to make sure the quick exit of the passengers from the airport.

READ | What Happens After A Person Tests Coronavirus Positive? AIIMS Director Dr Guleria Answers

Lastly expressing his happiness he said, "Hats off to Indian govt. Sometimes we fail to complement our own country's govt even though they are ahead in so many things than their counterparts which are supposedly developed countries."

See the post here:

According to the Ministry of Health and family welfare so far a total of 12,29,363 passengers have been screened at airports as of March 15. Earlier the Ministry had announced that all international flights and passengers will now have to undergo screening, and not just the 12 countries listed earlier in the travel advisory.

READ | CAB Suspends All Games Till March 31 Due To Outbreak Of Coronavirus

Coronavirus in India

As of date, the total number of positive cases in India has soared up to around 107 as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Along with it, two deaths have been reported in Kalaburagi and West Delhi respectively. 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. The government is also monitoring all suspected cases and issued preventive advisories. Earlier on Saturday, the Central Government decided to treat the deadly virus as a "notified disaster".

READ | COVID-19: China Eases Travel Restrictions After Two Months Of Lockdown

The Coronavirus outbreak

First detected in Wuhan in December 2019, COVID-19- the novel coronavirus has affected nearly 141 countries in the world. Presently, there are over 152,428 confirmed cases of COVID-19 which has led to the death of 5,720 people. As there is no vaccine or specific antiviral medicine to treat COVID-19, countries have been grappling with all possible mechanisms to contain its scope. So far, China, South Korea, Italy, and Iran have witnessed the most number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.

READ | Coronavirus Live Updates: Cases Rise To 107, PM Modi Calls Uddhav As Maha Toll Reaches 32
417 Bangladeshis returned from Italy in two days

Staff Reporter :

A total of 186 more Bangladeshi nationals returned home from Italy on Sunday, taking the total number of returnees from the worst coronavirus-hit country in Europe to 417 in the last two days.

Sources at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport said the Bangladeshis who returned today on two flights were sent to Hajj Camp at Ashkona on completion of their screening at the airport.

Of them, 152 came back on a flight of Emirates Airlines in the morning while 34 others on another Emirates Airlines flight around 4:34pm, said Dr Shamima, duty doctor at the airport health centre.

On Saturday, 231 Bangladeshi expatriates returned home from Italy in three batches.

Of them, 142 allowed to go back to home on condition that they would remain in quarantine at their respective houses while the rest 89 were sent to the Ashkona Hajj Camp and a 20-bed hospital in Pubail of Gazipur for quarantine.

With Sunday's 186, the number of quarantined Bangladeshi expatriates under the government supervision has reached 275.

Replying to a query, Dr Shamima said the decision about the 275 returnees, who are now in the Hajj Camp and the Gazipur hospital, might be taken after Monday noon.

On Saturday, 142 Bangladeshis returned from Italy in the first batch while

58 more in the second bath and 31 others came back in the third group.

Of the 31 Bangladeshis, 14 were sent to quarantine at the Gazipur hospital and while the rest to the Hajj Camp.

Bangladesh on Saturday reported two new coronavirus cases.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and Health Minister Zahid Maleque disclosed the information at an urgent press briefing at state guesthouse Padma at night.

They said Bangladesh suspended on-arrival visas for all countries and snapped both-way travel with Europe until March 31 to keep Bangladesh safe.

Meanwhile, the first three coronavirus patients detected in Bangladesh have recovered fully and been discharged.

The death toll from coronavirus or COVID-19 has reached 6,069 globally as of Sunday evening.

A total of 162,588 cases were reported from around the world, according to worldometer.
Major retailers are closing their doors or reducing their open hours across the United States in an effort to blunt the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Why it matters: While the closures may help slow the outbreak, they will also hamper the already-stressed retail industry, according to CNBC.

Driving the news: Nordstrom, Macy's, Bath and Body Works and Sephora are the latest stores to close for several weeks and service customers online only.

Foot Locker's North America stores will remain closed through March 31.

North America stores will remain closed through March 31. Nike said Sunday that all of its stores in the U.S., Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand will close from Monday through March 27, CNBC reports. A spokesperson said all workers will still be paid while the stores are closed.

said Sunday that all of its stores in the U.S., Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand will close from Monday through March 27, CNBC reports. A spokesperson said all workers will still be paid while the stores are closed. Abercrombie & Fitch will close all of its stores outside of the Asia-Pacific region between March 15 and March 28. It has about 850 stores worldwide, per CNBC.

will close all of its stores outside of the Asia-Pacific region between March 15 and March 28. It has about 850 stores worldwide, per CNBC. Apple on Tuesday announced it will close all of its retail stores worldwide indefinitely, except in China. CEO Tim Cook said hourly workers will continue to receive pay while stores are closed.

on Tuesday announced it will close all of its retail stores worldwide indefinitely, except in China. CEO Tim Cook said hourly workers will continue to receive pay while stores are closed. Urban Outfitters , which operates 600 stores under various brands, will close temporarily until at least March 28 but continue to pay workers.

, which operates 600 stores under various brands, will close temporarily until at least March 28 but continue to pay workers. Patagonia closed all of its stores, offices and other operations on March 13. Rose Marcario, the company's CEO and president, said employees will receive their regular pay during the closure.

closed all of its stores, offices and other operations on March 13. Rose Marcario, the company's CEO and president, said employees will receive their regular pay during the closure. Walmart is closing its 24-hour locations overnight to restock products and clean the stores. Stores that were open 24 hours will now operate from 6am to 11pm, according to USA Today.

By the numbers: The U.S. had 5,700 cases of the virus and 94 deaths as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University.
President Donald Trump declared Sunday, March 15, a national day of prayer over the the new coronavirus.

Right after declaring the outbreak of the viruswhich emerged in mainland China last yeara national emergency, he made the prayer day declaration.

It is my great honor to declare Sunday, March 15th as a National Day of Prayer. We are a Country that, throughout our history, has looked to God for protection and strength in times like these, he wrote on Twitter on Friday. No matter where you may be, I encourage you to turn towards prayer in an act of faith. Together, we will easily PREVAIL!

.No matter where you may be, I encourage you to turn towards prayer in an act of faith. Together, we will easily PREVAIL!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2020

Late on Saturday, he also said he is planning to watch an online church service.

It came as Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson praised Trumps declaration for a day of prayer.

I hope that we as a nation can use this as an opportunity to pull together for good. You know, President Trump is going to be recommending a National Day of Prayer. And you know, weve gotten away from prayer and faith a lot in this country, Carson said during a Saturday press conference. Those are things that made America zoom to the top of the world in record time. And those are the things that will keep us there too, he added.

Its worth noting that the first Sunday of every March since the 1980s has been a National Day of Prayer.

A number of churches and religious organizations have suspended worship services amid the pandemic. One of the largest, the Mormon church, said last week that it is canceling all services and meetings across the world.

State and local officials across the United States have recommended against large public gatherings to mitigate the spread.

In making the national emergency declaration last Friday, Trump said that $50 billion in disaster relief funds to state and local governments will be freed up. We will overcome the threat of the virus, Trump said.

Trump also waived interest on all student loans held by federal government agencies and ordered the Energy Department to purchase large quantities of crude oil for storage. He also called on states to set up emergency centers, hospitals to activate emergency preparedness plans, and provided new powers to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Nearly 3,000 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the United States, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. After emerging from and spreading across the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the coronavirus spread all over the country before extending across Chinas borders to more than 100 countries.

From The Epoch Times
ROSE (roz) n. One of the most beautiful of all flowers, a symbol of fragrance and loveliness. Often given as a sign of appreciation.

RASPBERRY (razbere) n. A sharp, scornful comment, criticism or rebuke; a derisive, splatting noise, often called the Bronx cheer.

Amid the daily tsunami of news this week about the widening coronavirus pandemic, its hard to think about anything else. With that in mind, heres an all-coronavirus edition of Roses and Raspberries.

We hereby deliver:

 ROSES to the cleaning crews working tirelessly to keep the germs at bay. At schools and hospitals, restaurants and retail shops, government offices and private workplaces all over the mid-valley, workers are donning rubber gloves and rolling up their sleeves to combat the microscopic invader that has us all on edge. As we all know by now, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can lurk on all sorts of surfaces, where it can then infect more people. Cleanup crews are the unsung heroes of the epidemic, fighting back with powerful disinfectants and more frequent cleansing of tables, chairs, desks and touchpoints such as light switches, elevator buttons and doorknobs. Their efforts help protect us all.

 ROSES to the health care providers on the front lines of the crisis. As more and more reports of patients testing positive for COVID-19 have cropped up in Oregon, doctors, nurses, health navigators and other providers are facing ever-greater demands for their services. They also have to deal with the anxiety of people who think they may have been exposed to the coronavirus and, in some instances, must explain to their patients that still-scarce testing resources need to be reserved for the most urgent cases. That situation should start to ease soon as production and distribution of test kits ramps up around the country, but the wait can be torture for people who think they or their loved ones may have been exposed to the virus.

 ROSES to the public health workers whose job it is to monitor the outbreak and try to limit its spread. These are the people at your county health department who are called upon to investigate reports of infectious diseases such as COVID-19, determine whether a person is actually infected and take steps to keep the disease from being passed on to others. That can include excluding a patient from schools, childrens facilities or food service facilities, and in some cases complete quarantine may be warranted. Public health workers also interview patients to determine how they may have been infected and who else may have been exposed to the disease through contact with the patient.

 ROSES to everyone isolating at home in self-imposed quarantine. The decision to stay home from work can be an agonizing one for dedicated employees who dont want to leave their co-workers in the lurch, disappoint their bosses or let their customers down. But in the face of a rapidly expanding pandemic such as COVID-19, the responsible thing to do is to stay home if you think you may have been contracted the disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise that people at medium to high risk of having the disease should self-quarantine for two weeks (the incubation period of the disease), staying at home and limiting their contact with other people. If you havent tested positive or developed symptoms of COVID-19 at the end of that time, it should be safe to go back to work or school.

 ROSES to all the good Samaritans who are looking out for friends, neighbors, co-workers, church members and even just casual acquaintances who may need some help to weather the outbreak. If youre one of those goodhearted people who have been checking in on the elderly or those with compromised immune systems, making sure theyre OK and offering to keep them supplied with food and other necessities so they dont have to go out, we salute you. Times of crisis put us all to the test, but they can also bring out the best in people.
Maria Gomez wheeled her grocery cart out of her East End home around sunrise Saturday morning. She hopped on the 50 Broadway bus, transferred to the 5 Southmore and arrived 90 minutes later at Cesar E. Chavez High School in Allendale.

Gomezs story was a familiar one for the hundreds of people who turned out for Houston ISDs first food distribution event Saturday morning in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The district partnered with the Houston Food Bank to dole out packages of produce and meat to a line that stretched out of the high schools parking lot and around the block.

For some, the fresh food will substitute for the school meals students no longer will receive now that HISD  along with most other school districts  has shut down through the end of March over concerns about the spread of the new coronavirus. All HISD schools provide students with three free meals a day through a federal program geared toward low-income areas, and at Chavez High School, 87 percent of students are economically disadvantaged, according to Texas Education Agency data.

Now Playing: People wait in their vehicles for the distribution of food at Milby High School on Monday, March 16, 2020, in Houston. Schools are closed to prevent the further spreading of the new coronavirus, which was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization last week. The school district, in partnership with the Houston Food Bank School Market program, will offer daily food distribution at five area high schools, through Friday, March 20. Video: Chron

Others, like Gomez, showed up Saturday over fears that their local grocery store or supermarket would run out of food, an especially difficult situation for those who rely on public transportation. Some were low on cash because they work commission-based jobs that have been hit hard by the pandemic.

More Information HISD Food Distribution sites: Monday, March 16 Milby High, 1601 Broadway, 9 a.m. - noon Wisdom High, 6529 Beverly Hill, 9 a.m. - noon Kashmere High, 6900 Wileyvale, 1 - 4 p.m. Madison High, 13719 White Heather, 1 - 4 p.m. Northside High, 1101 Quitman, 3 - 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 17 Milby High, 1601 Broadway, 9 a.m. - noon Wisdom High, 6529 Beverly Hill, 9 a.m. - noon Kashmere High, 6900 Wileyvale, 1 - 4 p.m. Madison High, 13719 White Heather, 1 - 4 p.m. Northside High, 1101 Quitman, 3 - 6 p.m. Wednesday March 18 Bonham Elementary, 8302 Braes River, 9 a.m. - noon Forest Brook Middle, 7525 Tidwell, 9 a.m. - noon Furr High, 520 Mercury, 9 a.m. - noon Jane Long Academy, 6501 Bellaire, 1 - 4 p.m. Kelso Elementary, 5800 Southmund, 1 - 4 p.m. Mitchell Elementary, 10900 Gulfdale, 1 - 4 p.m. Revere Middle, 10502 Briar Forest, 1 - 4 p.m. Sam Houston High, 9400 Irvington, 1 - 4 p.m. Waltrip High, 1900 W. 34th, 3 - 6 p.m. Westbury High, 11911 Chimney Rock, 3 - 6 p.m. Wheatley High, 4801 Providence, 3 - 6 p.m. Thursday, March 19 Ashford Elementary, 1815 Shannon Valley, 9 a.m. - noon Austin High, 1700 Dumble, 9 a.m. - noon Clifton Middle, 6001 Golden Forest, 9 a.m. - noon Cullen Middle, 6900 Scott, 9 a.m. - noon Sharpstown High, 7504 Bissonnet, 1 - 4 p.m. Sterling High, 11625 Martindale, 1 - 4 p.m. Tinsley Elementary, 11035 Bob White, 1 - 4 p.m. Wesley Elementary, 800 Dillard, 3 - 6 p.m. Worthing High, 9215 Scott, 3 - 6 p.m. Yates High, 3650 Alabama, 3 - 6 p.m. Friday, March 20 Benavidez Elementary School, 6262 Gulfton, 9 a.m. - noon Black Middle School, 1575 Chantilly, 9 a.m. - noon Booker T. Washington High School, 4204 Yale, 9 a.m. - noon Burbank Middle School, 315 Berry, 9 a.m. - noon Chavez High School, 8501 Howard, 1 - 4 p.m. Fondren Middle School, 6333 S. Braeswood, 1 - 4 p.m. Henry Middle School, 10702 E. Hardy, 1 - 4 p.m. Jones Futures Academy, 7414 St. Lo, 3 - 6 p.m. Key Middle School, 4000 Kelley, 3 - 6 p.m. North Forest High School, 10726 Mesa, 3 - 6 p.m. See More Collapse

Its well worth it, to be honest, Gomez, 65, said of her three-hour roundtrip journey. I already know what the deal is. It depends what they bring in the truck. You either get produce, you get fruits, you get pasta, sometimes theyll even give you meat. It just depends what is available.

Maria Camora showed up to Chavez High School Saturday with her 12-year-old daughter Melissa, who attends Stevenson Middle School nearby. Camora said she has had trouble finding basic goods at Walmart and Fiesta Mart, and work has been slow for her house-cleaning business during the pandemic.

People are scared to have somebody else come to their house, she said.

Volunteers, most of whom were HISD employees, distributed the food like an assembly line. Sporting school apparel and disposable gloves, each person handed out a different item: potatoes, oranges, split peas, frozen egg products, broccoli, eggplant and more. The food bank rolled in at least three separate trucks throughout the three-hour event, each carrying different types of food.

Some of the food also came from the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which donated leftover items after shutting down earlier this week over coronavirus concerns, according to HISD Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan.

The large turnout prompted HISD to vastly expand the program for the coming week.

After witnessing first-hand, the enormous need in the community at our first distribution site, it was clear that we needed to increase our efforts to help more families in partnership with the Houston Food Bank, Lathan said in a prepared statement. Our top priority right now is doing our part to ensure that our children are being fed during these unprecedented times, and I am thankful to all who are stepping up to serve families.

HISD will have five distribution sites on Monday and Tuesday, but then expand to at least 10 a day for the rest of the week.

On Friday, state Rep. Armando Walle, D-Houston, called on HISD to add sites at Sam Houston and Booker T. Washington high schools or their feeder schools. Both are located in north Houston without any nearby food distribution locations.

Lathan said HISD officials intended to use the Saturday event to gauge demand for the food distribution sites, though she did not say where the additional sites might be added.

That was one of the reasons we were doing this single location today, to be able to assess what we needed to do over the course of the next several weeks, she said. Remember, were talking about two weeks now, but we dont know what will happen in the next two weeks.

Christyn McCloskey, the principal at Stevenson Middle School, was one of the volunteers handing out food Saturday morning. She showed up shortly before 9 a.m. and found the line wrapped around the entire block, which she said surprised her.

Eighty percent of our district is economically disadvantaged, and its higher at my school specifically, McCloskey said. A lot of our families depend on school for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So, to be able to provide this is amazing and really, really helping to serve the need.

jasper.scherer@chron.com
National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah on Sunday called on all political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir to unite in demanding the shifting and ultimate release of hundreds of people detained in August when the region was divested of its special status and statehood.

Before we allow politics to divide us, I appeal to all political leaders in the state to unite behind the call to the Union government to bring back all detainees from Jammu & Kashmir from prisons outside the state pending their release. While we would like to see them all released as soon as possible, pending that they should be shifted..., said Abdullah, who was released from detention on Friday.

Abdullah, 82, was among those detained in August along with two other former chief ministers, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, who remain under detention. A communications blackout and a lockdown were also imposed in Kashmir to prevent protests against changes to Jammu & Kashmirs constitutional status in August.

Abdullah, a member of Parliament, said he has consciously avoided making any political statements since his release. While I believe a free and frank exchange of political views is essential so that we can take stock of the momentous changes that J&K has seen after 5th August 2019, we are still some way away from an environment where such political discourse will be possible. This is especially so considering the number of people detained in August last year who remain in jails outside J&K,  said Abdullah in a statement.

Abdullah said he was acutely aware that compared to hundreds of Kashmiris he has been far more fortunate. I was detained at home and my family had access to me. Yesterday [Saturday] when I went to meet my son, Omar, also detained under the Public Safety Act, I had to travel a kilometre from my home to be able to see him. For families of most of the detainees meeting their loved ones is not nearly as easy.
An 18-year-old Coolock man is in a critical condition in hospital after being shot in Dublin last night.

The incident happened on Fairlawn Road close to the Tolka Valley Park in Finglas shortly after 10pm.

The victim was in a car with another man when they drove to Fairlawn Road.

It is understood the man, who is known to gardai, then got out of the car but was shot while in the open.

He then ran back to the car he had been in and escaped the scene.

There were reports that a second car was also seen speeding from the area.

The alarm was raised when the victim and his associate came across a garda patrol in the Kippure area of Finglas at the opposite end of Tolka Valley Park minutes later and alerted them as to what had happened.

The emergency services were contacted and the shooting victim was rushed to Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown before being transferred to St Vincent's Hospital where it is understood he underwent surgery.

He is believed to have been shot at least twice and suffered abdominal injuries, and was described as being in a critical but stable condition today.

Gardai in Finglas are investigating the shooting, which they believe is part of an ongoing feud.

No arrests have yet been made.
Hearing on the criminal trial of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been postponed for two months due to restrictions imposed by the Coronavirus in Israel, which is among the world's strongest countries. Netanyahu was scheduled to appear in a district court in Jerusalem on Tuesday on charges of cheating, betrayal, and bribe in connection with several scams, according to news agency AP report. The court said that it is currently deferring the hearing till May 24. Netanyahu has been accused of taking advantage of expensive gifts from rich friends in return for benefiting them. However, he continues to deny these allegations.

Italy: So many people died due to coronavirus

In view of the increasing cases of Coronavirus, the Parliament of El Salvador i.e. the Congress has declared Emergency. Congress has also approved to partially suspend the constitution of the country to deal with this epidemic. After the emergency comes into force, there will be a free movement of people for 30 days, as well as their place will be blocked. Not only this, administrative officials will also get the right to stop people from gathering at one place. El Salvador has taken this step as a precaution because there is no confirmed case of Covid-19 in the country so far.

High court reprimands arbitrariness of Imran government

In view of the danger of Coronavirus, Kazakhstan has also declared an emergency in the country. According to the news agency Reuters, Kazakhstan's President Qasim Jomart Tokayev declared an emergency in the country and banned all types of visits. Travelers coming from outside are also banned. The order issued by the President's office states that Kazakhstan is prohibiting entry and departure for all except the diplomats and guests invited by the government. This emergency is currently scheduled for April 15.

Corona terror did not make difference, civic elections held in this country
Sixty is the new 45, 80 is the new 60, and 100 is  well, really dang old. But even centenarians know that once you stop learning, you star...
A person in Newark tested positive for the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19, city officials announced Saturday evening.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said there was possibly a second case in the city in a tweet about an hour after the city said there was one confirmed case. Both are in home confinement, Baraka said.

As of tonight we now have one possibly two confirmed cases of coronavirus in Newark. We will address at press conference tomorrow at 12. We are monitoring closely while they are on home confinement.  Ras J. Baraka (@rasjbaraka) March 15, 2020

A city spokeswoman did not release additional information about the person who tested positive for the illness.

The mayor and Department of Health and Community Wellness Director Mark Wade will hold a press conference Sunday afternoon about the two individuals. Baraka will also give details about an executive order he will sign to help residents and businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

New Jersey has also confirmed its second coronavirus death. New York State also confirmed on Saturday that two people there died, including a woman in New York City.

New Jersey state officials on Saturday afternoon said Essex County had seven confirmed cases of COVID-19, which brings the states total to at least 69. It was not immediately clear if the Newark case was included in the states numbers.

Barakas sixth state of the city address at New Jersey Performing Arts Center was postponed earlier this week, and the Essex County sheriff suspended evictions and foreclosure sales indefinitely.

Newark is the states most populated city, with an estimated population of about 282,000. Bergen County has been hardest hit by the virus so far, accounting for at least 31 cases of the states total.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @BeccaPanico.
Mexico City, March 15 : The Mexico City government marked 10 years of the legal recognition of same-sex marriage by holding a mass wedding, which saw the participation 140 same-sex couples.

Legal recognition of same-sex marriages entered into effect in March 2010 in Mexico City, the first region of Mexico to reform its civil code, reports Efe news.

"We acknowledge that it has not been easy to gain these rights, but we are moving towards a free society and promoting inclusion, respect and equality," Civil Registry chief Manuel Becerra said on Saturday during the celebrations.

Since the legalization, 13,134 same-sex unions have been registered in the capital, of which 6,997 were gays and 6,137 were lesbians, the legal services department of Mexico City said on Saturday.

After the reform, states such as Coahuila, in the country's north and Quintana Roo in the south eastern region, have changed the civil codes to allow sam-sex unions.

In 2015, Mexico's supreme court ruled that state laws which do not recognize the rights of same-sex couples were unconstitutional.

Nineteen of Mexico's 32 states currently allow the union, while in the rest of areas, a legal appeal is needed first.

Apart from this landmark, Mexico City has revised the gender of 4,789 transgender individuals since 2015 after the law came into effect.

"We are not going to lose the objective, you have the right to an identity and unhindered development of personality," Becerra said.

Becerra also highlighted the first ever birth certificate to have been issued in Braille, implying the inclusion of visually impaired people.

The Civil Registry in a statement said that the marriages and identity changes are part of its human rights strategies and added that it also contemplates information campaigns about paperwork and services in a "Rainbow Caravan".
OSLO, March 14 (Reuters) - Norway on Saturday advised its citizens not to travel to any foreign country for the next month, while Norwegians currently abroad should consider returning home as soon as possible amid the coronavirus outbreak, the foreign ministry said.

The spread of the virus, and the risk that other nations will restrict travel, made the recommendation necessary, the ministry added. (Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
The aisles and aisles of empty store shelves give the appearance that the United States, improbably and alarmingly, is running out of food.

But the nations biggest retailers, dairy farmers and meat producers say that isnt so. The food supply chain, they say, remains intact and has been ramping up to meet the unprecedented stockpiling brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

Even so, shoppers can most likely expect to see empty shelves intermittently, as the nations network of food producers, distributors and retailers are stretched as never before. Industries that are calibrated to supply consumers with just enough of what they need on a given day cannot keep up with a nationwide surge of relentless shopping fueled in large part by fear.

Food suppliers and retailers are now not only struggling to satiate crushing demand for canned soup and oat milk, they are battling a perception that the scary scenes at the grocery store reflect a fundamental breakdown.

There is food being produced. There is food in warehouses, said Julie Anna Potts, chief executive of the North American Meat Institute, a trade group for beef, pork and turkey packers and producers. There is plenty of food in the country.

Our stores are getting stocked every day, Ron Vachris, chief operating officer of Costco, said in an interview Saturday. Transportation is functioning, our suppliers are working around the clock and the flow of goods is strong.

The National Chicken Council said it was not seeing any disruptions in production and noted that there were ample surplus supplies of chicken in cold storage  totaling more than 950 million pounds, according to government data.

Still, the fear is palpable. The more empty shelves people see, the more panic-buying ensues, the more food is out of stock.

The panicky buying is testing the food systems capacity in the near term. Over the past few weeks, sales of rice have increased more than 50%, according to data from research firm Nielsen. Canned meat is up more than 40%. And sales of other essentials like beans, pasta, peanut butter and bottled water have also risen substantially, with a sharp spike this month. Kroger told its suppliers that demand had surged 30% across all categories in recent days. (For comparison, the companys sales for all of last year rose about 2%.)

Orders for hot dogs at Walmart and Costco increased by as much as 300%, meat suppliers say. In response, some hot dog plants have added Saturday and Sunday shifts and have started shipping packages they were storing for Memorial Day cookouts. And hot dog makers say they have a years supply of spices like garlic.

Another strategy that is helping ease the strain: Some food supply is being diverted to grocery stores from restaurants, school cafeterias and college campuses that have closed.

The food is there. Its just going into different spots, said David McInerney, chief executive of FreshDirect. Cruise ships are not using up all of the avocados. We have a giant surge of avocados.

Retailers say the frenzy started about two weeks ago, when customers could not find hand sanitizers and wipes, which were actually in short supply. But that set off a wave of panic buying that spread in recent days to include bread, canned goods, milk and frozen food.

These items are moving through the supply chain, but cannot reach the stores quickly enough so retailers have asked suppliers to produce more.

But even as farmers and slaughterhouses ramp up, producing food takes time. In the poultry industry, it takes 10 days for a chicken egg to incubate and hatch, and then five to six weeks for the bird to grow to maturity. For some chicken suppliers, the process takes even longer, depending on the type of bird.

Across the industry, youre talking about 50 days to get to a customer, said Matthew Wadiak, who runs Cooks Venture, a chicken supplier based in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Fifty days ago, we didnt know this was even on the horizon. There was essentially no way to plan for it.

Wadiak said some of Cooks Ventures customers  like the Berkeley Bowl grocery stores in California  had quadrupled their orders in recent days.

People are very short today. Retailers are short on products, Wadiak said. So were helping out where we can, and I know that were not meeting the full demand.

Its clear that the modern supply chain, for all its efficiency and speed, is not equipped to deal with this kind of surge.

Algorithms, perfected by Amazon, can pinpoint exactly how much inventory a warehouse or particular store must keep on hand during a typical week, right down to the soup can. But no algorithm could predict this extraordinary moment, leading to widespread out-of-stocks of hundreds of household necessities.

When the shelf is emptied in the course of 24 hours and the safety stock was built intent upon protecting a week or two of demand, you get this tremendous dislocation, said Mark Cohen, director of retail studies at Columbia Business School.

The trouble is that the hoarding hasnt abated. Were just seeing the very beginning of this kind of behavior, he added. The question is: How long will it take for industry to catch up?

If the illnesses surge, of course, there could be a slowdown in production and distribution, food industry official say. But the extent of any problems could vary across the food chain. Slaughterhouse workers tend to work side by side, possibly making them at a higher risk of spreading the virus. But many dairy farmers operate in sparsely populated rural areas, improving their chances of staying healthy.

Still, industries are starting to make contingency plans in case large numbers of workers producing and delivering food are incapacitated by the virus or roads are shut down as part of the effort to control the pandemic. Representatives for companies that deliver food in refrigerated trucks, for example, are working with local and state officials to make sure they can still make deliveries during quarantines. Some refrigerated warehouse workers could rotate in 14-day shifts to make sure there is backup.

On Friday, officials from every part of the food chain  from fresh produce suppliers to refrigerated warehouses  met outside Washington, D.C., to discuss responses to the pandemic, including ideas for how to bolster parts of the system against disruptions.

For now, the most pressing issue is getting more food on the shelves, while the supply chain is largely unaffected by illness.

Will there potentially be some hiccups, and might you go to the store and not see everything every time? said Lowell Randel, vice president for government and legal affairs at the Global Cold Chain Alliance, a trade group representing the refrigerated warehouse and delivery industry. Yeah. But thats a short-term disruption and not an indicator that the overall supply chain is not functioning.

As this cycle continues, however, there is less chance suppliers can catch up with demand, stressing retail workers, who are already vulnerable to contracting the virus because of their constant interaction with the public.

Starting Monday, grocery chain Stop & Shop will reduce its hours in stores to give employees more time to restock shelves, but also to allow the workers to get more rest and stay healthy, a spokeswoman said.

Many Walmart stores will also no longer be open all night. The company said it was reducing hours at its stores, starting Sunday, to help ensure associates are able to stock the products our customers are looking for and to perform cleaning and sanitizing.

Even if these efforts help slow down the current frenzy, retailers are expecting that the panic buying could come in waves, as the illnesses spike.

Shopping for food is something that makes you feel in control, said Blake Waltrip, chief executive of the a2 Milk Companys U.S. operations, which has increased production in recent days. Even when everything else feels totally out of control.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
DERBY  Kim LoCicero intends to be a good neighbor.

LoCicero, a registered nurse and Shelton resident, recently opened a State Farm Insurance office, the first in Derby, at 412 Roosevelt Dr., in the same plaza as Matteis Deli.

LoCicero spent more than 20 years working as a hospice nurse at Connecticut Hospice in Branford and said she knows firsthand how to help families in their most difficult and challenging times.

I served hospice patients and their family in their homes, hospitals and skilled nursing facilities, she said. It was an extremely rewarding career where I was blessed to have worked with the best caregivers. I decided it was time to make a change and pursue a new career path with State Farm. State Farms mission and values are similar with what I was accustomed to with Connecticut Hospice.

Derby Chief of Staff Andrew Baklik said the city is pleased to have LoCicero and her new business here. The business employs LoCicero and four team members.

We welcome Kim and wish her luck in her new venture, Baklik said. We anticipate that there will be many more business owners who jump onboard here in Derby as the revitalization efforts ramp up. We commend Kim for seeing the benefit in planting roots here and we look forward to her continued success.

LoCicero and her family recently moved to Shelton, and when she found the Derby space was available, jumped at the opportunity to open her own business.

Derby is a thriving and growing community that is revitalizing its downtown with restaurants, shops and living, LoCicero said. I am the only State Farm agent in Derby. I am excited to join the community and become more involved.

Making the transition from hospice nurse to insurance agent was not that big of a stretch for LoCicero, a mom of two college-age kids.

As a hospice nurse, I spent many years working with patients, having difficult conversations, while devising a plan of care to best meet their needs and wishes, she said. My hospice background has always been about helping people and providing personalized care. Im here to help people live life confidently, and I look forward to serving the Derby community.

With two sons now in college, LoCicero said she wanted to make a career change, and having her husband in the insurance business made it easier to make that transition. LoCicero is licensed in property and casualty, life, health and financial service products.

My husband is also a State Farm agent in Stratford, so I was very familiar with the company and its values, LoCicero said. I was also privileged to know many other State Farm agents. I decided I wanted to own my own business, and help people recover from the unexpected and realize their dreams.

The business ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. April 29. Invited guests include Mayor Richard Dziekan and Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce President Bill Purcell.
A quarter of the staff at Seattles Life Care Centre  which has seen the bulk of coronavirus deaths in the US  have tested positive for the disease, health officials have revealed.

The centre, located in the suburb of Kirkland, has seen at least 27 deaths.

On Saturday, as the national death toll reached 57 and the number of infections passed 2,500, officials in Washingtons King County, which includes Seattle, revealed the toll on staff and carers at the centre.

The King County health department said of 95 of the 180 staff at the centre who had shown symptoms, 47 had tested positive for the virus, 24 tested negative, 1 had tested inconclusively and the results for 5 people were pending.

It said, another 15 of the staff had undergone testing on Saturday.

The original number of residents being cared for at the centre before the crisis struck was around 120. Since then, 66 have been transferred to hospitals. At least 27 have died.

First responders, medical, and care staff county-wide, including those at Life Care Centre are encouraged to actively monitor themselves for symptoms per CDC guidelines, the department said.

With three more deaths in Washington state and the first reported deaths in Louisiana and Virginia, 57 Americans have now died because of coronavirus.

 Coronavirus: Call to prayer changed to 'pray in your homes' in Kuwait

Two deaths in New York and two deaths in Florida were reported also on Saturday.

Globally, there are at least 155,423 confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 5,800 deaths, ABC News said.
A federal inmate, who was being housed at the Morgan County jail in Decatur, died today after falling ill and being taken to a hospital, the authorities said.

Jerry Lynn Acklin, a 58-year-old from Fayetteville, Tennessee, died shortly after 4 p.m. at Decatur Morgan Hospital, according to the Morgan County sheriffs office, which is responsible for the jail.

Acklin became ill Friday night with stomach pain and internal bleeding, said Mike Swafford, a sheriffs office spokesman, in a message to AL.com.

Due to the heightened state of awareness it is important to note that there were no symptoms that relate to or would indicate COVID-19 (Coronavirus), according to a press release from the sheriffs office.

Initial information suggests Acklin suffered from an underlying medical condition, Swafford said. An autopsy will be performed by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.

Acklin had been in the Morgan County jail, which houses federal inmates, since Feb. 25, records show.

He was charged with violating the terms of federal supervised release, according to court documents. Acklin was sentenced in 2009 to 24 months in prison, plus 10 years on supervised release for possession of child pornography. Hes accused of violating the terms of supervised release by possessing child pornography late last year, according to warrant request filed in federal court. Acklin was scheduled to appear in court later this month.

Further information wasnt immediately available.
Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel on Sunday promulgated an ordinance for recovery of damages to public and private properties from rioters and protesters and to provide for setting up of tribunals to adjudicate claims for damages and recover them.

Titled "the Uttar Pradesh Recovery of Damages to Public and Private Property Ordinance, 2020" was promulgated two days after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath approved the ordinance in a Cabinet meeting on Friday.

It was promulgated four days after the Supreme Court refused to stay the Allahabad High Court's March 9 order for removing the state government's name-and-shame posters displaying photographs and names of the alleged rioters involved in damaging properties during in anti-CAA protests in December last year.

As per the statement of object and reasons (SOR) of the ordinance, it aims at dealing with "all acts of violence at public places and to control its persistence and escalation and to provide for recovery of damage to public or private property during hartal, bundh, riots, public commotion or protests".

The ordinance, as per its SOR, is also aimed at, among others, for setting up claim tribunals to investigate the damages caused and to award compensation related there to".

The governor promulgated the ordinance invoking her extraordinary legislative power under Article 213 of the Constitution which empowers a governor to promulgate it when the state's legislative assembly is not in session and upon his or her satisfaction for existence of circumstances for its promulgation.

The UP Cabinet had approved the ordinance on March 13, a day after a vacation bench of the apex court, comprising justices U U Lalit and Aniruddha Bose, refused to stay the Allahabad High Court's order for removal of the government's anti-CAA stir, name-and-shame posters.

While hearing an urgent plea by the state government seeking a stay of the the high court order, the apex court had refused to grant relief to the government saying that there was no law to support its action.

"The cabinet has approved the UP Recovery of Damage to Public Properties Ordinance, 2020 for recovery of losses of the government and private properties during political processions, illegal agitations," UP Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna had told reporters after the Cabinet meeting on Friday.

"As per the SC decision to constitute a 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 had said.

The Supreme Court had on Thursday told the Uttar Pradesh government that there was "no law" which backs its action of putting up posters on roadsides with details of those accused of vandalism during anti-CAA protests in Lucknow.

The top court, while referring the appeal of the state government to a larger three-judge bench on the ground that it needed "further elaboration and consideration", put a poser on whether the Fundamental Right to privacy of alleged protesters can be waived by the state by condemning "them for all times" to come.

The Uttar Pradesh government had moved the top court challenging the Allahabad High Court order.

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.)
Not all movie business is losing in this new pandemic era. As a result of coronavirus curiosity, Steven Soderbergh directed Contagion is now the second-hottest movie in the Warner Bros catalog.

The 2011 killer virus flick starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Kate Winslet and Jude Law has gained newfound popularity as coronavirus rapidly spreads around the world. Fears of coronavirus have prompted movie watchers to go back to the thriller, a fictional account of a pandemic that kills 26 million people worldwide.

According to Warner Bros., the film ranked 270th in views in the company's catalog at the end of 2019, when the existence of COVID-19 was not yet public knowledge. Now, it's the second most-watched movie, bested only by the Harry Potter films.

Contagion has been trending on Amazon Prime Video and iTunes as well, with people willing to even pay to watch a 10-year-old movie, reported the New York Times.

The film is about a mysterious disease that kills Paltrow after she travels to Hong Kong for business and follows her back to the US, spreading rapidly. What's remarkable is the similarity in the symptoms and prevention of that virus and COVID-19. The film shows that the virus spread on contact and attacked respiratory systems of the affected.

"It was very deliberately designed to be a cautionary film. We got the science right," producer Michael Shamberg told Buzzfeed News. However, the virus in the film is way more deadly than what coronavirus has proved to be so far.

Though eerily similar to the current viral outbreak, writer Scott Burns told Fortune that the hysteria in the film is the most important thing to pay attention to. "The similarities between our Contagion and the coronavirus are immaterial, accidental and really not that important. What is more important and accurate is the societal response and the spread of fear and the knock-on effects of that. That is proving to be accurate," he said.

Follow @News18Movies for more
Twelve new coronavirus positive cases have been reported in Singapore, taking the total number of such cases to 212 in the island-nation.

Nine out of the 12 new patients were infected while travelling abroad, officials said on Saturday.

The latest cases bring the total number of coronavirus-infected patients in Singapore to 212, out of which 105 have fully recovered, the Health Ministry said in its daily update.

Fourteen people are in critical condition. Others are stable or showing signs of improvement, it said.

Singapore will block entry or transit for visitors with travel history to Italy, France, Spain and Germany within the last 14 days from Sunday 11.59pm, amid a surge of COVID-19 cases in Europe, the ministry said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nestled in a canyon in Northern California is Mossbrae Falls, a pristine, curtain-like cascade that has become a forbidden paradise in a landmark showdown over access.

It is one of the most unique and prettiest waterfalls anywhere. A wide swath of silver streams, about 50 feet high and 75 yards wide, emerge from a lush canyon wall and then plunge into the river below. It is located in the Upper Sacramento River Canyon with access from the small town of Dunsmuir, north of Redding.

In the most famous visit to Mossbrae Falls, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took President George H.W. Bush to see the phenomenon during his time in office.

The trek to Mossbrae is somewhat treacherous. Visitors pass No Trespassing signs and hike north from Dunsmuir along railroad tracks in the river canyon. In the past five years, two hikers have been struck by trains but survived.

To solve the safety issue, a new trail to Mossbrae Falls was proposed and now extends to within 1,800 feet of the viewing site. A large consortium of local interests, which include nonprofit organizations, city and county government entities and foundations, support it.

The final piece of the new route would include a bridge over the river and a short trail along the riverbank, owned by Union Pacific, to the viewing site. A private funder has donated $340,000 for the project, said Tom Hesseldenz, a landscape architect who designed the trail for the Mount Shasta Trail Association. A foundation is waiting in the wings for railroad approval to likely cover the rest of the cost.

Negotiations have dragged for years, and now many involved in the project say Union Pacific is ignoring attempts for permission to complete the final missing link to create a safe, legal public trail to the falls. Union Pacific did not immediately return phone calls from The Chronicle.

Were just shaking our heads, Hesseldenz said. Theres a huge safety issue here, and the trail would solve it.

In the past, Union Pacific has affirmed its private property rights in a universal statement: Walking on or near railroad tracks is not only dangerous but is trespassing. We ask that people stay away from trains and other railroad property, including track, trestles, yards and equipment.

The city of Dunsmuir, Siskiyou County Sheriff Jon Lopey and state Sen. Brian Dahle support building the final leg of the new trail for legal access and public safety.

John Harch / Special to The Chronicle

Waterfall like no other

For many who have seen it, visiting Mossbrae Falls can feel like you are being allowed entry into one of natures shrines. The curtain effect of the falls is a phenomenon, and you might sit on a rock along the river and try to take it all in. Many stand at rivers edge opposite the falls and let its cool mist wash over them.

The source of the water is a series of volcanic springs located high above the river. From the springs, the water cascades down a steep hillside before spilling over a canyon wall above the river.

Locals have long walked the railroad tracks to the site, 1.2 miles one way. If a train shows up, theres little room to get out of the way. It can be dangerous, most agree.

In recent years, photos of Mossbrae Falls have appeared on book covers, calendars and social media sites. That has spiked visitor traffic. The Trail Association verified that hundreds of visitors on some days last year hiked along on the railroad tracks to the falls, said John Harch of the Trail Association.

To solve it, Hesseldenz designed a new trail to be extended from an existing trail to nearby Hedge Creek Falls in north Dunsmuir. The trailhead is easy to reach from Interstate 5, with a large parking area just off the Mott Road exit.

From here, its a short walk downhill to Hedge Creek Falls, a chute-like falls with a rocky brink, where the trail is routed behind the falls. At high water, this too is a one-of-a-kind experience.

From Hedge Creek Falls, a new trail was completed in early winter that extends down the canyon to the proposed site of a hikers bridge and the Upper Sacramento River.

From here, pending approval by Union Pacific, the bridge will cross over the river and the final 1,800-foot leg completed to provide a full frontal of Mossbrae Falls.

Showdown

Lopey, the Siskiyou County sheriff, said he was concerned about the safety of people hiking on the railroad tracks and, last fall, wrote to Union Pacific asking the railroad to get on board with the new trail. In the letter, Lopey said the new trail would reduce the likelihood of injuries, deaths, emergency incidents, and liability.

Earlier this winter, Francisco Castillo of Union Pacific responded to the letter and said that Union Pacific was committed to finding a mutually agreeable solution that addresses the concerns of all parties.

Since then, Union Pacific has been unresponsive, Hesseldenz said. In the same vein this past week, my calls to Castillo were not returned. I finally left a message asking if the railroad supported or opposed the final leg of the project, again without an answer.

The solution is so painfully obvious, Hesseldenz said. Theyre dragging their feet. We could have done this a year ago, before the most recent injury.

Mossbrae Falls is located a short distance downstream from Cantara Loop, the site of the railroads 1991 derailment and spill, the worst inland spill in California history.

Its ironic that Dunsmuir is known as a railroad town, that it still supports the Dunsmuir Railroad Days festival, sponsors a railroad museum and supports a depot in town, and that many who live here will say they have railroading in their blood.

We could still have the bridge and trail extension completed this summer if Union Pacific would just give us the go-ahead, Hesseldenz said.

Tom Stienstra is The Chronicles outdoor writer. Email: tstienstra@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @StienstraTom
ITHACA, N.Y.  When Cornell University administrators emailed students last week, sobs were heard in libraries and labs. People wiped tears from friends faces  then slathered on hand sanitizer.

After spring break, the email said, they should not come back. The school would start to close dorms after March 28, and students were to go home; courses would be held online for the rest of the semester. Schools across the country followed suit, taking similar measures to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, which began to appear in more college populations this weekend.

A few days later, Cornell suspended classes altogether, for three weeks, to allow students to focus on getting home.

Separating people is, of course, precisely what such drastic measures are intended to do. But at ground level, they bring confusion and pain.
Broadway musicals bring joy to so many people, for so many reasons. Theres really a musical for almost anyone. Whether you like modern musical takes, jukebox musicals, or dramatic ones that have you on the edge of your seat, Broadway has them. And for those who love some history or real-life aspects to their musicals, we have the list for you.

The cast of SIX starring Adrianna Hicks, Andrea Macasaet, Abby Mueller, Brittney Mack, Samantha Pauly, and Anna Uzele during BroadwayCon 2020, January 24, 2020 | Walter McBride/Getty Images

If you like to learn something while watching a play or transported back to a time and place unlike right now, these musicals will do the trick. But as with anything thats based on a true story, things are often exaggerated in showbusiness.

1. Six

Taking it all the way back to King Henry VIIIs reign over England in the 16th century, this modern spin on his six wives shows just how much they had to put up with.

Imagine: his wives come back  two were divorced, two beheaded, one died, and one out-lived him  formed a pop group and belted numbers about their time as his wife. Thats Six. Each wife has their own song and is for anyone obsessed with the Tudor period in England.

2. Hamilton

Hamilton doesnt need much of an introduction or explanation as to why you should see it. It tells the story of Alexander Hamiltons rise through American politics and military through the Revolutionary War and his fight for a national bank afterward. It also touches on the scandal that rocked his marriage and more. Set to the stylings of hip hop and other more classical broadway tunes, Hamilton will delight any history-loving Broadway fan.

3. Spring Awakening

Spring Awakening tells the story of teens in 19th century Germany that live in the rigid society of the time. Its based on the play Fruhlings Erwachen by Frank Wedekind. The musical covers topics of queerness, abortion, rape, death, and much more, but if you think its a heavy musical by todays standards, just know the original play premiered in 1906.

It was heavily banned in Germany and beyond because of the topics that impacted these kids and also because it was a satire about religion and the sexually-oppressive culture of Germany at the time. The musical mixes its tough topics with 1990s-esque punk rock, so you know its a good time. When youre not left crying, that is.

4. Beautiful: The Carol King Musical

Based on the life of Carol King, Beautiful shows just how much she helped shape the music of the 1950s and 1960s. During the Brill Building stage of pop music, a lot of hits we know and love were created by King, including Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow and One Fine Day. It also shows how King grew into the powerhouse solo artist shes known as today, something she didnt always think she could be.

5. Evita

One of the most-famous musicals on Broadway, ever, Evita tells the story of real-life Argentine political leader Eva Peron, First Lady of Argentina to Juan Peron in the late 1940s. It focuses heavily on Eva, following her throughout her poverty-stricken life into her dreams to become an actress in Buenos Aires.

She was a powerful speaker and fought for labor rights as well as womens suffrage in the country. The musical was made into a movie in 1996 starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas. It went on to win Best Original Song that year at the Oscars along with Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy and Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes.

6. The Sound of Music

Made immensely popular by The Sound of Music starring Julie Andrews, the musical is a classic. Its set in pre-World War II Austria and focuses on a military captain and his several children. Maria is the nun-in-training that comes to watch over the naughty little ones and ends up changing all of their lives for the better. Its based on the true story of the von Trapp family and how they then fled Austria to escape the Nazis who wanted Captain von Trapp to join them. But dont worry: The real-life von Trapps took a train out of the country, not on foot.

7. Les Miserables

Les Miserables is probably one of the most heartwrenching yet beautiful musicals to exist on Broadway. It takes place during a revolution and protest in France (although its not historically accurate to say it is the French Revolution) and shows several different sides to the conflict and how they are all equally affected.

The lead character that connects them all is Jean Valjean, a peasant who served nearly 20 years in jail for a loaf of bread. This musical went on to also become a feature film, has toured several times, and made countless people cry.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that the Houston Latino Film Festival has been postponed due to concerns about the coronavirus outbreak.

Filmed over six years, the environmental justice documentary The Condor & The Eagle quickly moves to Houston, where activists Bryan Parras and Yudith Nieto are seen working as community organizers in Manchester, a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood along the Houston Ship Channel and next to industry.

Directed by the French husband-and-wife team Clement and Sophie Guerra, production of the film was funded by a mix of grants and crowdfunding. Released in October, the film has been shown at film festivals in New York, Arizona and other states. The documentary was expected to make its Houston debut March 22 at the Houston Latino Film Festival, which has since been postponed due to concerns about the coronavirus outbreak.

Working from the viewpoint that climate change is rooted in patriarchy, colonization, modernization and racism, Clement Guerra said the goal of the documentary was to show participants going from isolation to empowerment. Guerra said he and his wife chose Parras and Nieto as subjects for the film because of their work in Houston and in particular, the Manchester neighborhood.

Other groups were also present, but they were mostly white privileged people who listened little to what the community said and needed, Guerra said. Yudith and Bryan stood out as emerging leaders from the communities themselves.

THE FIGHT AT HOME: Activists fight industry in their own backyards

The film documents the travels of Parras and Nieto to the U.N. Climate Summit in New York, the oil fields of Oklahoma, the tar sands mining operations in Fort McMurray, Alberta, and drilling operations in the Amazon Rain Forest, where they connect with Native American activists fighting environmental damage in their communities.

Although they saw shocking environmental degradation along the way, Nieto said, the experience was empowering.

We were all going through a journey realizing that we werent alone, Nieto said. This wasnt just happening in Houston and the Gulf Coast. It was happening in Oklahoma, the tar sands of Canada and to the people of the Amazon. We were able to see the bigger picture.

Among those waiting to see the film is Nietos grandmother, Maria Cruz, who still lives in the neighborhood. Cruzs house off Avenue O sat directly under a black cloud of smoke during the March 2019 fire at the Intercontinental Terminals Co. down the ship channel.

We dont have anything against the companies, Cruz said. We just want them to buy our houses and give us enough money for new houses.

Since the documentary was filmed, Parras joined the San Francisco-based environmental group Sierra Club in May 2017 where he became an organizer for the organizations Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign.

Bryan is a movement leader who inspires people to take action and whose work supports communities all over the globe that are fighting back against dangerous fossil fuel projects, Sierra Club Beyond Dirty Fuels Director Kelly Martin said. In his work with the Sierra Club as well as local community organizations, Bryan tirelessly speaks up against the corporate polluters that are poisoning communities and the regulators who are failing to hold them accountable.
Come March 19, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will set a record of being the first chief minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party to complete three straight years in office in the state.





Adityanath, 47, was sworn in as the 21st chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. He assumed office on March 19, 2017, says the official website of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

He is the fourth chief minister from the saffron party to head the northern state.

Before Adityanath, Kalyan Singh, Ram Prakash Gupta and Rajnath Singh of the BJP had served as Uttar Pradesh chief ministers.

Kalyan Singh had held the high office twice. He became the chief minister of UP for the first time on June 24, 1991, and held the post till December 6, 1992. His second stint was from September 21, 1997 to

November 12, 1999.

He was succeeded by Ram Prakash Gupta, who was the UP chief minister from November 12, 1999 to October 28, 2000.

Rajnath Singh occupied the office from October 28, 2000 to March 8, 2002.

"Yogi Adityanath is from a humble background. He does not belong to the category of 'viraasat ki siaasat' (politics of inheritance). He achieved this position through sheer hardwork," UP BJP media coordinator Rakesh Tripathi said.

"Everyone has seen his spirit of waging a war against Japanese Encephalitis in Gorakhpur, and today he has waged a similar war against various illnesses of Uttar Pradesh -- be it crime or corruption. He is

credited for the successful organisation of Kumbh in Prayagraj, Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas, Investor Summit and the recently concluded Defence Expo," he said.

The opposition Congress, however, pooh-poohed the three-year rule of the priest-turned-politician.

"It has been three years of blatant lies. Farmers and youths of the state have been duped. 'Jungle raaj' is prevailing in Uttar Pradesh. There is no let-up in crime against women in the state," UP Congress

spokesperson Ashok Singh said.

In the 2017 UP assembly elections, the BJP won 312 of the 403 seats, while Apna Dal (Sonelal) got nine seats and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party won four seats.

Later, the Om Prakash Rajbhar-led SBSP parted ways with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Almost a year before the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP suffered shock defeats in the bypolls.

The saffron party lost the Lok Sabha bypolls in Gorakhpur (vacated by Adityanath), Phulpur (vacated by UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya) and Kairana (necessitated by the death of sitting BJP MP Hukum Singh) and Noorpur assembly seat (necessitated by the death of BJP MLA Lokendra Singh Chauhan).

Not taking the defeat to his heart, Adityanath chose to learn from the "mistakes".



He had said the bypoll loss was a "lesson to the BJP" and cited "over-confidence" and the "inability to gauge the understanding between Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party" as prime reasons behind the party's defeat.

"When the election candidates were declared, the SP, BSP and Congress were not together... they had not joined hands then. But suddenly in the middle of the election, the SP and the BSP forged an electoral understanding," he had told the media at his residence.

"The over-confidence and inability to gauge the electoral understanding between the SP and BSP led to the defeat," he had said.The tables turned in 2019 and the BJP won Kairana, Gorakhpur and Phulpur seats in the Lok Sabha elections that year.

The BJP bagged 62 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2019, while its ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) got two seats. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) bagged 10 seats followed by Samajwadi Party (SP), which won five seats. Congress won one seat.

Adityanath, currently a member of the UP Legislative Council, has been a five-time MP from Gorakhpur (1998, 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014).

Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh on four occasions. Her longest tenure was from May 13, 2007 to March 15, 2012.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav assumed the office of UP chief minister on March 15, 2012, and held it till March 19, 2017.

Among the Congress stalwarts who held the office for significantly long time were Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant (the first chief minister of UP) and Sampoornananda.

Pant's tenure was from January 26, 1950 to May 20, 1952 and from May 20, 1952 to December 27, 1954, says the website of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

Before becoming the UP chief minister, Pant was the premier from July 17, 1937 to November 2, 1939 and from April 1, 1946 to January 25, 1950, it says.

Similarly, Sampoornananda was the UP chief minister from December 28, 1954 to April 9, 1957 and then from April 10, 1957 to December 6, 1960, the website adds.
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Adhering to an ideology is not inherently wrong by any measure. However, when strict ideological embrace portends certain defeat in a national election to determine the fate of the country, a pragmatic person will moderate their position. It is a sad commentary on America, but there is a group of ideologues who will stand their ground regardless of the consequences to the nation  these are the emoprogs waging war to take down the Democratic Party.

These so-called Bernie or bust emoprogs apparently have failed to ponder exactly why dirty Don Trump, the Russians, and Republican voters are supporting Sanders to be the Democratic nominee for president. It certainly isnt because Sanders is a Democrat, and certainly not because they embrace any of his fantastic socialist policies. It is because they know that in a general election Trump would win easily if Sanders is the nominee.

No matter how disastrous Trumps tenure in the White House has been, a large segment of Americans will not support most of the policy proposals being proffered by Sanders and promoted by his ignorant supporters. Those supporters, no matter how altruistic their motivation, or their demand for free stuff, fail to comprehend that most Americans are not interested in suffering the exorbitant personal cost of providing the free stuff Sanders and his zealous followers demand. The majority of American voters understand that nothing in life is free, not even in so-called democratic socialist countries.

Sanders likes to point to other nations ability to provide something such as national healthcare, but he never talks about their high taxation necessary to fund that healthcare. For example, Sanders says his kind of socialism is more akin to Sweden and Denmark as opposed to Cuba or the former Soviet Union when queried how much his health plan will cost or how he intends to fund it. Mr. Sanders said on national television that he doesnt know what it will cost. Estimated cost over 10 years, according to the Urban Institute, is roughly $34 trillion. It is worth looking at how Sweden or any other nation with a national health plan pays for it.

Sweden, England, Norway, Denmark and similar, what Sanders calls, democratic socialist nations have tax rates that would spark an honest-to-dog violent revolution in America. It is also noteworthy that in those countries, citizens pay for private health insurance to supplement the national coverage  exactly like American retirees receiving Medicare coverage.

In each of those democratic socialist countries, the marginal income tax rate hovers around 50% on incomes over about $80,000 annually, and a flat income tax rate of close to 25% for all others. Add to that are payroll and value added taxes. In Sweden, particularly, the revenue generated by oil contributes greatly to providing free healthcare as well as government pensions.

Despite having access to national health care, this authors colleagues in those democratic socialist countries all pay for supplemental insurance coverage to avoid long waits for elective procedures.. It is nearly impossible to believe a majority of Americans will suffer a monumental tax hike, or the abolition of private health insurance that Sanders promotes; a fact not lost on Republicans and why they desperately want Sanders to run against Trump.

Nearly as ideologically untenable as a gargantuan hike in tax rates to fund national health care is the fantastical Green New Deal. Of course it is critical to address climate change, but not by proposing a Utopian fantasy that is unattainable even in ten years. The deal is not just about going green either. It provides free housing, free income for those unable and unwilling to work, free government-provided healthy food to every American, a ban on 99% of cars, elimination of fossil and nuclear fuels, free college for life, guaranteed government jobs, and eliminating air travel.

Those proposals drew a sharp rebuke from the co-founder of an international environmental group as pure fantasy. And, the rebuke did not address the high cost to taxpayers to provide all that free stuff the majority of Americans will reject when they learn the high financial and personal costs. As it has been estimated by people who are pragmatists, the plans authors proposed marginal tax rate of 70% will barely raise $700 billion over a decade; an amount that does not begin to cover even a fraction of all that free stuff and is in addition to the cost of free health care.

Now, what began this piece was the socialist ideologues strict adherence to their Bernie or bust position. Democratic-leaning voters have taken the position that they will vote for whichever nominee Democrats choose  even if that nominee is NOT a Democrat. It is that important to get Trump out of the White House. However, the ideologues in the emoprog movement have already stated emphatically that unless their socialist champion is at the top of the Democratic ticket, they will either stay home or vote for another candidate. It is a telling sign that these neverBiden sycophants are not bothered by the damage Trump will wreak on the nation with four more years in the White House. That scenario validates the notion that strict adherence to an ideological candidate is a danger to the nation.

As Jason Easley reported here, the polls showing Sanders winning a national election against Trump are a mirage. Sanders and his supporters make a lot of noise, but that unrelenting din cannot cover the fact that America is still a center-right country; another fact not lost on Republicans. In fact, as far back as August the RNC sent out promotional letters pledging to fight to the death to prevent everything Sanders is proposing, with a special emphasis on nearly every aspect of the Green New Deal. And, the RNC has already branded all Democrats as socialists who will force hardworking taxpayers to provide all that free stuff for ideologues on the radical far left.

The worst part of this ideological revolution is that it is being promoted by a career politician who knows none of the Utopian fantasies will ever be embraced by most Americans, not one Republican, or moderate Democrats. They all comprehend the electorate is unwilling to suffer an enormous tax hike to provide all that free stuff.

No doubt all Democrats, and even some Republicans, want all Americans to have access to healthcare, but there are other reasonable proposals the people would accept more willingly. However, those same people understand that nothing is free, and that any ideology claiming otherwise is a fantasy  a fact residents of democratic socialist nations know too well.
: A 28-year-old cadre of the banned



CPI (Maoist) from Sukma district of neighbouring Chhattisgarh surrendered before Telangana police on Sunday.

Sodi Unga, who joined the CPI (Maoist) in 2015, surrendered before police in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district of Telangana, police said in a release.

They said he came to realise that there was less support for Maoists among the public and decided to give up arms and lead a peaceful life.

Police requested all maoist cadres to give up their activities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ben Batterham, 35, found Ricky Slater, 34, at his Newcastle home in March 2016

A father who was cleared of murdering a convicted rapist he found lurking in his newborn daughter's bedroom has opened up on the night that turned his world upside down.

Ben Batterham, 35, discovered Ricky Slater, 34, at his home at Newcastle, north of Sydney, in March 2016 before chasing him outside, putting him in a chokehold and punching him until police arrived.

Mr Batterham spent two months behind bars before he was found not guilty of the murder and manslaughter of Slater, who died in hospital a day after the struggle.

In his first in-depth interview since the incident, Mr Batterham told 60 Minutes he did what 'any father would have done'.

'This could happen to anyone. It could happen to you, it could happen to me,' he said.

Monique Batterham told her husband: 'I don't think it's your fault that we had to go through it, at all'

Mr Batterham was celebrating his 33rd birthday with a friend when he saw Slater walk out of his three-month-old daughter's bedroom at around 3am.

The pair 'locked eyes' before Mr Batterham chased the invader out of the house.

'My head was doing backflips... I was very upset. It's my castle, people should always defend their homes,' he said.

As Mr Batterham chased the intruder down the street, he fell and hit his face on the concrete.

A passer by offered him a phone to call police.

'I've just been robbed,' Batterham could be heard saying in a recording of the Triple-0 call he made that night.

'I've chased a guy down the street and I've tripped over and I've smashed my mouth.'

Hiding in bushes, Slater was close enough to hear the call and made a run for it, with Mr Batterham following behind while on the phone to the Triple-0 operator.

Ricky Slater, who lost consciousness during a struggle following the home invasion, died after suffering a lack of oxygen to the brain

Richard James Slater's mother, Beryl Dickson, said the 34-year-old 'had a problem' with ice and confirmed a photograph of a man smoking from a lit pipe was her son (pictured)

'What was he wearing?' the emergency employee asked, before Mr Batterham started yelling and running after Slater.

'Where are you?' the operator questioned, but Mr Batterham had caught up to Slater and pinned him to the ground.

He put the thief in a chokehold and repeatedly punched him in the head until police arrived.

Slater - who was found with three knives, cannabis and ice in his bag - died a day later after suffering three heart attacks.

An initial post-mortem examination found the cause of Slater's death was a lack of oxygen to the brain.

Police alleged Mr Batterham choked the criminal to death. He was released on bail after a petition to free him amassed tens of thousands of signatures.

But the ordeal was far from over.

Batterham and his family (pictured) received death threats and went into hiding

Slater was an Indigenous Australian and his death was falsely labelled a racially-fuelled hate crime by sections of the community.

Mr Batterham and his family received death threats and were forced into hiding.

'If I heard a noise I'd jump up in the middle of the night and I'd stand in the house - pitch black,' Mr Batterham said.

'I think some nights I'd stand there for an hour or two almost convincing myself that there was someone in the house at the time.'

His PTSD was so severe he began to drink heavily, which breached his bail conditions.

Mr Batterham was then caught drink driving.

He was jailed for three months and placed in solitary confinement for his own protection.

An upset Beryl Dixon (right) mother of Ricky Slater is seen leaving Newcastle Court after a not guilty verdict was delivered, in Newcastle, Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Monique Batterham said her husband went through 'dark stages', but she never questioned his decision to chase Slater.

'[Slater] was in my daughter's room,' she said.

'I don't think it's your fault that we had to go through it, at all,' she told her husband.

Their infant daughter spoke her first word while visiting her father in jail.

What the jury didn't know: The horrific criminal history of Ricky Slater - Ricky Slater was convicted of raping a 16-year-old girl in 2007 and received a minimum four-year jail sentence. - But the jury in Ben Batterham's trial was never told of his criminal history. - The teenage girl had been expecting a visit from her boyfriend when she heard a knock at the door of her South Tamworth home. - She opened the door to find Slater standing pantless on her doorstep. - Slater had rocked up at the girl's front door on previous occasions, but this time managed to force his way inside. - After barging in Slater shut the door, grabbed the girl by the hair, punched her in the back of the head and put his hand over her mouth as she tried to scream. - He then raped the girl, threatening to stab her if she didn't stay quiet. - Before the rape he was convicted on numerous occasions on drug, assault, driving and theft offences. Advertisement

Mr Batterham smiled and nodded to the jury when the not guilty verdict was handed down last November.

Slater's mother, Beryl Dickson, immediately walked out of the courtroom.

'My son was choked by that bastard... look over your back for the rest of your f**king life, you f**king c**t,' she screamed outside court.

Defence lawyers insisted throughout the trial that Mr Batterham never intended to kill Slater or cause him serious harm.

They said Slater had a lethal level of meth in his system and that was the true cause of his death.

Forensic toxicologist and pharmacologist Dr Michael Kennedy argued Slater suffered a heart attack due to the high level of meth in his system and his existing heart condition.

Slater's mother Beryl Dixon kisses her son goodbye before his life support was turned off

'My son was choked by that bastard... look over your back for the rest of your f**king life, you f**king c**t,' Slater's mother screamed outside court

NSW's top forensic pathologist Johan Duflou testified that research showed levels of 0.54 milligrams per litre was shown to cause death.

However, he said Slater's death could not be solely blamed on his drug toxicity and there were other factors in play.

'I would include methamphetamine toxicity, I would include the fact that the deceased was held in a face down, prone restraint position, and if there was neck compression,' he told the court.

Prosecutor Wayne Creasey told the court off-duty policeman Peter Mahon saw Mr Batterham punch Slater a number of times to the head when he was on top of him, pinning him to the ground with his left arm around his neck.

Mr Batterham was telling Slater: 'You motherf**king piece of s**t. How dare you break into my daughter's bedroom. She's only seven months old.'

His partner and baby daughter were not at home when Slater broke in.

When Mr Mahon told Mr Batterham to let Slater go, the chef said: 'No, he will try to run.'

Mr Creasey said when Mr Batterham did eventually relax his grip, Slater bit him on the hand.

Mr Batterham was bitten twice, had his tooth chipped and cheekbone injured during the struggle.

Benjamin Batterham ,centre, is seen leaving Newcastle Court after a not guilty verdict was delivered, in Newcastle, Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Mr Batterham was bitten twice, had his tooth chipped and cheekbone injured during the struggle with Slater on Cleary Street, Newcastle

Mr Batterham did not testify in his own case but wrote a letter to the jury that was read out in court.

'I never intended to cause Mr Slater any serious harm. I wanted to apprehend him and get back was stolen,' he wrote.

'I admit I was angry and I hit him, but I was only trying to keep him from getting away. He was constantly struggling and fighting, he bit me on the right arm.

'All I wanted was for him was to stop.'

Former judge Anthony Whealy told 60 Minutes the case should never have gone to trial.

The prosecution tried to prove Batterham set out to kill Slater, but the case collapsed due under the weight of medical evidence.

'Nothing he did contributed to the death,' Mr Whealy said.

'This man was on methamphetamine, he was overweight, he was very unfit and he had been forced to run more than 500 metres at top speed, and his heart just gave out.'

Even judge Desmond Fagan, who presided over the case, believed Mr Batterham shouldn't have gone to trial.

'The decision to charge Mr Batterham would have been unreasonable even if the prosecution had been in possession of only the evidence that had emerged by the end of the committal,' Mr Fagan said.

'The charge should have been withdrawn.'

The director of public prosecutions refused to be interviewed by 60 Minutes.

In December Batterham was awarded compensation for money spent on his defence.

The sum was reported to be about $1 million.




She recently revealed she had to make the make the first move on her lucky boyfriend Ian Stirling.

And Love Island host Laura Whitmore looked incredible in a black mini-dress as she posted a throwback holiday snap on her Instagram on Saturday.

Irish presenter Laura, 34, showcased her long legs in the halterneck dress as she posed on a bridge surrounded by lush South African greenery.

Sunkissed: Love Island host Laura Whitmore, 34, wowed in a skimpy black mini-dress in a throwback holiday snap from her trip to South Africa posted to her Instagram on Saturday

Laura complemented the striking pink star print dress by adding a classic pair of cream pumps and aviator sunglasses.

Blonde beauty Laura wore her locks in a stylish side-parted chignon and pouted up a storm for the camera.

Following the Love Island finale in February, Laura enjoyed some quality time with her Scottish beau Ian, 32, in the majestic South African cape.

A trying time: Having wrapped series six of Love Island, Laura and beau Iain Stirling took some time to enjoy South Africa last month

Obviously reminiscing over her recent getaway, Laura captioned the snap 'Taking the time to look back through photographs and make albums, do other people still do that?!'.

The Survival of the Fittest contestant followed the caption with the poignant #makingmemories hashtag and a shout out to the famous coupling up show.

Laura's upbeat post was even picked up on by former X Factor presenter Kate Thornton.

Candid: Love Island host Laura Whitmore has said that she 'hasn't even thought' about the summer series of the ITV2 dating show after Caroline Flack's death

Kate, 47, left a rather au-current quip on the post, writing: 'Its on my 'to do' list when we go into lockdown.' followed by a laughing emoji.

Laura took over presenting the ITV2 show from from Caroline Flack, who tragically took her own life on 15 February.

Laura recently admitted she needs time to 'reflect' and to look after herself following a 'difficult' series of Love Island.

Reflect: The Irish presenter, 34, who took over presenting from Caroline for the winter edition, added she needs time to 'reflect' and to look after herself following a 'difficult' series (pictured with Caroline in 2019)

Speaking in a new candid podcast interview, Laura admitted it's nice to 'have a break' from the show and 'not talk about it' with her boyfriend Iain, who narrates Love Island.

Talking on JD In The Duffle Bag Podcast with Grazia, she said: 'I havent even thought about the next series to be honest. I really enjoyed doing series 6 but it was very difficult. It had huge highs, huge lows.

'For a lot of people who worked, we all need a bit of time away from the show just to reflect and look after our own selves and self-care. Its very soon to be talking about the summer at the moment because we just need time to ourselves.'
Results came back negative for two patients at Doctors Hospital who had been tested for novel coronavirus this week, the hospital and Laredo Health Department announced Sunday morning.

READ MORE: Coronavirus panic in Laredo: Here's what you need to know

We want to thank Doctors Hospital of Laredo and the medical community in working closely with the health department and city officials to assure we continue to provide the best prevention actions for our community, Public Health Director Dr. Hector Gonzalez said in a statement Sunday.

Results also came back negative for COVID-19 for a patient at Laredo Medical Center on Saturday, according to the City of Laredo.

The Health Department is currently investigating another report from a local clinic; that patient is under quarantine with respiratory symptoms, the city said in a news release.

We are currently still in influenza season and the City of Laredo Health Department still monitors and investigates for the flu and other respiratory infections including potential COVID-19, reads the release.

As of Sunday, Laredo still has no cases. The Health Department reminds the community to not panic, but to continue taking enhanced hygiene measures.

READ MORE: CBP refutes rumor of Laredo international bridge closures due to coronavirus

The City of Laredo Health Department COVID-19 hotline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 956-795-4954.
JFK Airport in New York was quiet late Saturday after the United States - which has already barred travellers from mainland Europe - said it would extend the ban to Britain and Ireland.

The departure hall was largely deserted, with just a few flights due to take off.

The U.S. has seen 59 deaths from coronavirus and more than 2,100 cases.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some, it can cause more severe illness, especially in older adults and people with existing health problems.
A day ahead of the floor test in state Assembly, Congress MLAs, who were lodged in a Jaipur resort following the political crisis in Madhya Pradesh, arrived at Bhopal airport today.

In view of their arrival in the state, security has been tightened at Bhopal airport and section 144 has been imposed.

These MLAs were accompanied by senior Congress leader Harish Rawat, who exuded confidence of Kamal-Nath led government winning floor test in the Assembly.

He claimed that BJP is nervous about the floor test.

"We are ready for floor test tomorrow and we are confident of winning it. We are not nervous, the BJP is," Rawat told reporters here.

On being asked about the rebel MLAs who have supported former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, the former Uttarakhand Chief Minister said: "Those (rebel) MLAs are in touch with us."

Meanwhile, Congress leaders including Digvijaya Singh and Shobha Oza arrived at Chief Minister Kamal Nath's residence.

Congress on Saturday issued a whip to all its MLAs for the legislative assembly session in Madhya Pradesh which is scheduled to be held from March 16 to April 13.On Saturday, Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon has directed that a floor test will be held in the assembly on Monday.Following political uncertainty in Madhya Pradesh for Kamal Nath-led government, both BJP and Congress have moved their legislators outside of the state and lodged them in luxury hotels, apparently in a bid to keep their respective flocks intact.On March 11, while BJP moved its MLAs to a luxury hotel in Gurugram, Congress moved its legislators from Bhopal to Jaipur.Scindia's decision to leave Congress was followed by the resignation from 22 party MLAs loyal to him. The legislators who have resigned include six ministers.Earlier, allegations were levelled against the BJP for reportedly holding hostages at least eight Congress MLAs from Madhya Pradesh against their will at a luxury hotel in Gurugram's Manesar and Bengaluru.Several Congress leaders, including Digvijaya Singh, had accused the BJP of trying to poach its leaders.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Theres more than just toilet paper missing from Alabamas grocery store shelves. If youre looking for childrens fever reducer, a thermometer or dried rice and beans, you may come out empty-handed.

The COVID-19 outbreak in Alabama is growing, with the number of cases growing daily. Instruction from officials for people to stay home and avoid large social gatherings has people rushing to the grocery stores to stock up for what could be weeks of staying at home.

Based on visits to Birmingham-area Sams Club, CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens Pharmacy, Walmart and Publix found there was low or no-stock of certain items.

Click here to read the latest updates on coronavirus in Alabama.

Pharmacy items

Fever reducer for both kids and adults was either sparse or completely gone at Publix, Walmart, CVS and Walgreens. Immune support supplements including Emergen-C, Airborne and black elderberry were also gone or in low quantity.

Tylenol for adults and children was scarce at Birmingham-area pharmacies and grocery stores on Sunday, March 15, 2020. (Anna Beahm | abeahm@al.com)

Some stores had expensive thermometers (Publix had a fancy one that cost $50), but all the affordable standard thermometers were sold out.

Publix and Walgreens were both sold out of caffeine supplements. Walmart had very low stock of cold and flu medicines, but both Walgreens and CVS still had those medicines in stock.

In general, pharmacies seemed to have more of a stock of food items than major grocery stores. However, pharmacies were in short supply of some supplements and medicines.

Dry goods and non-perishables

Lots of dry goods were missing from the shelves Sunday afternoon. Items like beans, rice, pasta and instant noodles were either sparse or gone.

There was basically no bread at Publix. Walmart had no bread except for some store-brand bread and Sara Lee bread. (Workers were stocking the shelves, so I can only assume these items had been freshly re-stocked).

Peanut butter was also in short supply. However, shoppers didnt seem to care about the organic or alternative nut butters, like almond butter, cashew butter and sunflower butter. In both Walmart and Publix, those items were still available. Sams Club had plenty massive containers of peanut butter. Shoppers had no love for jellies and jams -- both Walmart and Publix still had these items.

Regular peanut butter, like Jif, was hard to find organic options and peanut butter alternatives remained on the shelves of Birmingham-area grocery stores on Sunday, March 15, 2020. (Anna Beahm | abeahm@al.com)

Canned beans and vegetables were also in short supply. Sams Club was sold out of canned beans and baked beans. There were very low quantities of canned beans at Walmart and Publix. Sams Club still had some rice, but it was basically gone at Publix and Walmart.

Sugar and flour were sold out at Walmart. However, alternative flours like almond flour and alternative sweeteners were still available.

Sugar and flour were sold out, but alternatives like almond flour and artificial sweeteners were still available. (Anna Beahm | abeahm@al.com)

Frozen and refrigerated foods

Alabamians must love potatoes because both frozen and fresh potatoes were in short supply. Frozen and refrigerated biscuits were also scarce. Eggs were completely sold out at Publix. Milk was low in stock, but plenty milk alternatives like almond milk and soy milk were available.

Frozen vegetables were in short supply. However, workers were actively restocking these items at both Publix and Walmart. Frozen fruit was still in stock.

Fresh chicken was basically sold out at Publix. Meat alternatives like veggie burgers, tofu and other soy proteins were still available. Refrigerated lunch meats, bacon and hot dogs were also scarce.

Lunch meats and fresh meats were in low supply at Birmingham-area grocery stores on Sunday, March 15, 2020. (Anna Beahm | abeahm@al.com)

Cleaning supplies and personal hygiene

No surprise here: basically all cleaning supplies and disinfectants were missing from the shelves. Disinfectant multi-purpose cleaners were sold out. However, some of the natural cleaners remained on the shelves.

"Natural" cleaners like Mrs. Meyers and Method were still available while it's not-so-natural cleaners like Lysol and Mr. Clean were sold out in Birmingham-area grocery stores on March 15, 2020. (Anna Beahm | abeahm@al.com)

Diapers were still available, however wipes were mostly gone. Plenty of baby formula and baby food remained on the shelves.

Hydrogen peroxide was still available at Sams Club. However, rubbing alcohol, gloves and face masks were sold out.

Some workers at Sams Club were wearing gloves.

What wasnt sold out?

Alcohol seemed completely unaffected. And it appeared shoppers didnt care about fresh produce (except for potatoes). However, Walmart was sold out of collard greens, turnip greens and mustard greens.

AL.com is offering a free service so you can receive the most urgent coronavirus updates on your cell phone. To sign up, subscribe to Alabama Coronavirus Urgent Alerts. You can follow our coronavirus live updates here.
Israeli scientists at the MIGAL Galilee Research Institute had worked for four years and had successfully developed a Coronavirus vaccine for chickens which passed clinical trials. When they saw the genetic sequencing of the COVID-19 virus, they realized that they could quickly adapt their chicken vaccine to the human virus. Ella Dagan, a spokesman for MIGAL told europorter:

When the genetic sequence of the new coronavirus COVID-19 was published, the researchers realized that the two viruses have the same infection mechanism similarities so they can use it, with small amount of adaptation, to achieve an effective human vaccine in a very short period of time.

Dr. Shahar, one of the scientists at MIGAL saw Gods hand in this. He told nocamels.com:

Its a little bit like fate that we were working on this coronavirus vaccine at the same time that the world was suddenly hit by this epidemic of coronavirus for humans.

MIGAL created its vaccine by synthesizing two proteins. Unlike vaccines that are created by injecting a dead or weakened disease-causing virus, there is little danger that a synthetic virus will give patients a disease.

Its vaccine creates antibodies in the mucosal immune system of the body which consists of thin permeable barriers to infection in the lungs, gut, eyes, nose, throat, uterus, and vagina. Dr. Chen Katz, MIGALs biotechnology group leader, gave europorter a detailed cellular-level description of how MIGALs vaccine works:

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 (a cellular process in which substances are brought into a cell by surrounding the material with cell membrane, forming a vesicle containing the ingested material), causing the body to form antibodies against the virus.

Israels Minister of Science and Technology, Ofir Akunis, is expediting the human vaccine through Israels approval process. According to eureporter:

The minister has instructed the Director General of the Ministry of Science and Technology to fast-track all approval processes with the goal of bringing the human vaccine to market as quickly as possible.

Dr. Katz of MIGAL told Times of Israel that Israels approval process only involves about two months of actual testing:

The clinical testing experiments themselves are not so long, and we can complete them in 30 days, plus another 30 days for human trials. Most of the time is bureaucracy -- regulation and paperwork.

CEO David Zigdon of MIGAL told europorter that MIGDALs goal is to get their vaccine approved in just three months:

Given the urgent global need for a human Coronavirus vaccine, we are doing everything we can to accelerate development. Our goal is to produce the vaccine during the next 8-10 weeks, and to achieve safety approval in 90 days.

There are at least two American COVID-19 vaccines in the works:

Moderna Therapeutics has developed a synthetic virus made from mRNA and has gotten it approved by NIAID (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) for testing with human subjects. Those tests wont begin until April Regeneron Pharmaceuticals will soon have a treatment that will serve as a vaccine for those who don't have coronavirus and a treatment for those who do. They will inject coronovirus antibodies directly into the bloodstream instead of relying upon a vaccine to create those antibodies. They used a similar treatment to prevent and cure Ebola.

The Israeli government could approve the Israeli vaccine in as little as three months. President Trump may have to intervene in order to get NIAID moving just as fast with an American vaccine.
Delhi has recorded its seventh coronavirus case, an Italian evacuee who has been kept in isolation at the Safdarjung hospital, the health department of the city government said on Saturday.

A 69-year-old woman, the sixth coronavirus case reported in the national capital, succumbed on Friday.

Her 46-year-old son has been infected by the virus, the health department said.

The man, a resident of Rajasthan, tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday and was kept in isolation at the Safdarjung hospital after being quarantined at an Army camp in Manesar, it said, adding that he was an evacuee from Italy.

Six passengers returned from Germany's Frankfurt on March 14 and were kept in a government quarantine facility in South district, the department said.

Till date, 1,73,814 passengers from coronavirus-hit countries have been screened at the Delhi airport and placed under surveillance. As many as 4,511 passengers from the affected countries were screened on Saturday.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal chaired a high-level meeting with the health minister and other top government officials to review the quarantine facilities in the national capital.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 22:18:27|Editor: huaxia

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A recovered patient salutes to medical staff at the Chongqing Public Health Center in southwest China's Chongqing, March 15, 2020. The last patient diagnosed with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been cured and discharged from the center, bringing the number of COVID-19 patients being treated in hospitals to zero in Chongqing. (Xinhua/Wang Quanchao)

BEIJING, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The municipalities of Tianjin and Chongqing on Sunday became the latest in a crop of provincial-level regions that have reduced the number of COVID-19 patients to zero.

After recovery, the last COVID-19 patient in Chongqing, a 52-year-old man, was discharged from a hospital in Changshou District around 11 a.m.

"Thank you for giving me the celebrity treatment," the cheerful patient told a group of journalists who greeted him with a flurry of camera flashes. "But do remember to blur my face."

The southwestern municipality has registered a total of 576 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, including six deaths. It has not reported any new infections for 19 consecutive days.

At 4:50 p.m., Tianjin also saw its last COVID-19 patient walk out of the hospital. The northern municipality has so far registered a total of 136 confirmed cases and three deaths.

On Saturday afternoon, central China's Hunan Province also saw its last COVID-19 patient discharged from hospital.

The female patient surnamed Liu received a bouquet and took a group photo with doctors and nurses after walking out of a hospital in Changsha, capital of Hunan.

Both Chongqing and Hunan neighbor the hardest-hit province of Hubei and have faced arduous tasks of preventing a widespread transmission in local communities.

According to initial counting by Xinhua, 12 provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland are clear of the novel coronavirus infections after their last COVID-19 patients had been discharged.

They include Tibet, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Shanxi, Yunnan, Fujian, Jiangsu, Jiangxi and Anhui, apart from the latest additions of Hunan, Chongqing and Tianjin.

Meanwhile, China's Macao Special Administrative Region also discharged its last COVID-19 patients from the hospital earlier this month.
Trader Joe's products can inspire some fanaticism among its customers. From the single-serve bananas, the cauliflower rice, the Everything but the Bagel seasoning and more  the grocery store's dedication to traveling internationally to find the latest and greatest new products, has made it a fan favorite.

But apparently Connecticut has pretty basic grocery needs even at Trader Joe's. Workwise decided to look into each states' most popular Trader Joe's food searches by state. Connecticut's biggest search: Brussels sprouts. But we're not alone, the cruciferous vegetable was actually the number one most searched Trader Joe's item in the country. At least Americans are eating their greens.
Australia is likely to have at least 1,000 coronavirus cases in just two weeks, a biosecurity expert has warned.

Professor Raina MacIntyre, the head of Biosecurity at the University of New South Wales's Kirby Institute, said the number follows from the 25 cases two weeks ago to the 298 official infections around the nation on Sunday night.

Australia is more likely to follow a similar spike to Italy - which has risen from less than 100 cases a month ago to more than 21,000 on Sunday night - and less likely to follow a controlled, flattened curve such as Singapore or Hong Kong unless drastic social isolation measures are imposed.

Prime Minister points out the different possible progression pathways of the virus. It's vital to flatten the curve and slow down the rate of transmission to stop hospitals being overwhelmed

NSW Health said on Sunday that confirmed cases had risen to 134 in the worst-affected state

'It really depends on the decisions that are made in the coming days and weeks,' Professor MacIntyre told The Daily Telegraph.

'Every day is critical... the further we go into this the less and less prospect there is of effective control.'

People must stay home in social isolation to reduce transmission, health experts have warned for weeks.

Slowing the spread of the virus is crucial to ensuring the hospital system is not overwhelmed.

Italy is a developed Western nation with a modern health system and a population of more than 60 million people - yet its hospitals have been completely overwhelmed.

Italy had just over 21,000 coronavirus cases as of Sunday night.

Italian hospitals are now being forced to ration care and are denying treatment to elderly patients based on their age and whether they have other conditions that make them less likely to survive.

Top medical experts in Australia have warned that Australia is just weeks behind Italy unless drastic measures are taken.

On Thursday NSW Chief Medical Officer Dr Kerry Chant estimated that 20 per cent of the population - around 5million Australians - would get coronavirus.

That means around half a million Australians may need intensive care, based on statistics from Italy which show 10 per cent of patients were sent to ICUs.

Professor Raina MacIntyre has warned that Australia's infection curve will look more like Europe's and less like South Korea's unless drastic social isolation measures are taken

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

Australia currently has around 2,500 ICU beds, only enough to cover 0.01 per cent of the population at once.

Professor MacIntyre said unless the government closes places where people gather such as schools, and expands travel restrictions to Europe, then Australia is likely to lose control of the infection curve.

Australia is also unlikely to contain the virus as effectively as South Korea which is aggressively testing hundreds of thousands of people who are at risk, whether or not they have symptoms.

'In Australia I think there's a shortage of test kits - that's an urgent issue that's being worked on at the moment,' Professor MacIntyre told the Daily Telegraph.

Five people have so far died of covid-19, the disease caused by coronavirus including four from New South Wales and one from Perth as of Sunday night.

New South Wales has been hit the hardest with the state's health department confirming 134 infections on Sunday including two new deaths: two women aged 77 and 90.

The 90-year-old woman was a resident of the embattled Dorothy Henderson Lodge aged care centre in north-west Sydney, where another resident, aged 95, died of the virus earlier this month.

The 77-year-old woman had recently arrived in Sydney, NSW Health said on Sunday evening.

Sydney University confirmed that a first-year student had tested positive on the weekend and had been hospitalised.

About 80 people have been told to isolate themselves for 14 days.

Six locations on the university's campus were being 'intensively cleaned' according to NSW Health guidelines, the university said in a statement.

Another resident of BaptistCare aged care home Dorothy Henderson Lodge in Sydney's Macquarie Park died of coronavirus on Saturday, according to NSW Health

Makeshift beds at the Spedali Civili hospital in Brescia, Italy on March 13. Italy's hospitals have been overwhelmed by just over 21,000 coronavirus cases

Professor MacIntyre said people would have to prepare themselves mentally to change the way they live their lives.

Those in denial who think they are still going on planned holidays would need to consider cancelling travel.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Sunday a 30-day ban on cruise ships and compulsory 14-day isolation periods for everyone arriving in Australia.

He stopped short of closing schools but said social distancing would be increased.

Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said authorities may conduct localise lockdowns in hotspot suburbs as seen in South Korea and Italy, The Australian reported on Sunday.

Professor MacIntyre had earlier warned that Australia could be hit harder than China by the deadly virus due to its aged population.

'The disease is clearly more severe the older you get,' she told Daily Mail Australia in February.

'So we would see proportionately more severe disease because we have more older people than China does.'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial has been postponed until May 24 due to concerns about coronavirus, Jerusalem's District Court said Sunday. Netanyahu, the first Israeli premier ever to be indicted in office, had been scheduled to stand trial from Tuesday over alleged bribery, fraud and breach of trust. In a statement, the court noted that given the coronavirus pandemic it had been instructed to hear "only urgent matters". "We have decided to postpone the first hearing (in Netanyahu's trial) until May 24," the court said. Israel has 200 confirmed cases of the virus with tens of thousands of people in home quarantine. Netanyahu has been charged with a range of offences including receiving improper gifts and offering a media mogul lucrative regulatory changes in exchange for favourable coverage. He denies wrongdoing. Despite the indictments, Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party won the most seats in March 2 elections and he is aiming to form a new government. But Likud and its allies fell short of the 61 seats needed for a majority in the Knesset, or parliament. It was Israel's third inconclusive vote in less than a year. Netanyahu has called on his main challenger Benny Gantz of the centrist Blue and White party to form an emergency, national unity government to tackle the coronavirus crisis. Gantz has said he is open to discussing the proposal, with negotiations set for this week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trial for corruption which was due to open on Tuesday has been postponed until the end of May over concerns about the spread of coronavirus
Two days after his release from detention under PSA, regional National Conference (NC) president and former chief minister Farooq Abdullah Sunday urged all political leaders to unite and demand the release of detainees lodged outside J&K jails.

In his first stamen after being released on Friday after seven months in detention, octogenarian Abdullah said he had consciously avoided making any political statements. While I believe a free and frank exchange of political views is essential so that we can take stock of the momentous changes that J&K has seen after 5th August 2019, we are still some way away from an environment where such political discourse will be possible, he said.

Flamboyant Abdullah said before we allow politics to divide us, I appeal to all political leaders here to unite behind the call to the union government to bring back all detainees from J&K in prisons outside pending their release.

While we would like to see them all released as soon as possible, pending that they should be shifted to J&K. This is a humanitarian demand & I hope others will join me in placing this demand in front of the government of India, the NC chief demanded.

The three-time chief minister, who had gone to meet his incarcerated son Omar Abdullah on Saturday, said, I am acutely aware that compared to hundreds of Kashmiri families I have been far more fortunate.

I was detained at home & my family had access to me. Yesterday when I went to meet my son Omar, also detained under the Public Safety Act, I had to travel a kilometre from my home to be able to see him. For families of most of the detainees meeting their loved ones is not nearly as easy. Their loved ones have been detained in jails spread across a number of states. They get two visits a month for which they have to spend large sums of money they can ill afford traveling to & to stay in the vicinity of these prisons, he added.

The former CM said the already onerous financial burden is made worse by the health risk they now face because of the novel coronavirus. At a time when people are being advised not to travel these families are being forced to put their lives at risk in order to meet their loved ones for a few short but very precious hours, he added.
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The impression given out in the media exchanges by former

Governor Emeka Ihedioha and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over

his aborted homecoming on Thursday, March 12, 2020, is that he is being

victimised for the political exigencies of the incumbent Governor Hope

Uzodinma. The former Governor and his handlers go on to make the impression

that he has been exiled from the state by the incumbent government. This

spurious claim was reinforced by the State Secretary of the party, Hon. Nze Ray

Emeana, on Channels TVs Sunrise Daily programme on Friday morning, March 13,

2020. He claimed, among other things, that Ihedioha was banished from the

state.

The true position of things on the ground in the state does

not agree with the mind-game as played by the PDP and the former Governor. This

has been reiterated by several commentators in the state and beyond who insist

that the PDP may be playing to the gallery with their bogus claim of

banishment. Even among the chieftains of the PDP, there is sharp disagreement

on the claim. Some say that the party hierarchy played into the hands of their

opponents, the state government and the All Progressives Congress (APC). Others

say that the arrangements for the return of their leader was mismanaged by the

party hierarchy and some other interests.

It is common knowledge that the former Governor was billed

to return home after being away for close to two months, since January 14, 2020

[He left actually on 12 Jan]. The party and his supporters decided to give him

a heroic welcome. We do not think that anyone would ordinarily have a problem

with any sort of welcome given to anyone, especially a former Governor. But in

this instant case, while the plans for the heroic welcome was going on, the

police in the state said they had intelligence report that some group of

persons have concluded plans to use the intending return/visit of Rt. Hon.

Emeka Ihedioha to Imo State on Thursday 12/3/2020, to foment trouble and as

such cause breach of public peace in the state.

We presume that the state government, through its own

intelligence gathering mechanism, might have got the same or similar

intelligence report. In a press release by the Chief Press Secretary/SA Media

to the Governor, Mr. Oguwike Nwachuku, on Wednesday, March 11, the state

government said that they were aware of plot (sic) by the Peoples Democratic

Party (PDP) in the state to stage protests tomorrow, Thursday, during which

they will again pour insults on the Supreme Court Judges for refusing to

reverse their earlier judgment on the Imo governorship case. Mr. Nwachuku

added that The government is fully aware of the plan by the PDP to hide under

the guise of welcoming ousted Governor Emeka Ihedioha back to Imo to stage the

protests. Their plan is to make it look like Imo people trooped out to welcome

him and hide under that cover to display placards condemning the Supreme Court

Justices for refusing to reverse their judgment in favour of Ihedioha and the

PDP.From the airport they plan to proceed to Owerri, the state capital to

continue with the protests.Government is also aware that they have imported

thugs from neighboring states for this purpose because the few members left in

their ranks cannot make the impact they crave for.

It is our consideration that no serious minded government or

governor would ignore serious intelligence pointing to possible breakdown of

law and order. It behoves the governor, as the Chief Security Officer of the

state, to act in such a manner as to maintain public peace and further secure

the lives and property of the citizens of the state. But did Governor Hope

Uzodinma banish Ihedioha from the state? Did the police ban the PDP and their

supporters from receiving their leader? Evidence points to the contrary.

Instead of behaving arbitrarily, the state government rather called on

the security agencies to take note of this devilish plot by Ihedioha and the

PDP and take necessary steps to ensure that there is no breach of peace (sic)

in the state. Furthermore, the state government reiterated the fact that Imo

people cherish the peace which the coming of Governor Hope Uzodimma has brought

to them and will not take kindly any act geared towards truncating it, more so

if such acts are deliberate.

With a Governor that has high democratic ethos, the state

government added that it would no longer tolerate unbridled affront on

constituted authorities in the name of the exercise of freedom of expression,

noting that There must be an end to every litigation and that of Imo governorship

tussle which came to an end on 3rd March 2020 cannot be an exception. The

State Police Command on its part did not take lightly the intelligence report

available to it. Speaking through its Public Relations Officer, SP Ikeokwu

Godson Orlando, the Imo State Police Command on Wednesday banned rallies and

assemblies in the state, saying: there should be no rally, gathering or

assembly of any kind in relation to the visit. It stated that the reason for

the ban on rallies and assemblies was to avoid such [the return/visit of the

former Governor] being hijacked or used by mischief makers to cause, or such

rallies, gathering or assembly snowballing into breach of peace (sic). The

police also warned the supporters of both the PDP and the APC, the former Governor

and the incumbent to maintain decorum and law and order.

In spite of the foregoing, there are complaints in the

media as to how a reception for a cherished leader by his people could become

violent or disrupt peace and order in the state. We have also read that the PDP

claimed that it had organized protests before and did not take to violence. We

consider the ensuing scenarios leading to the aborting of the return of the

former Governor and its attendant squabbles, to be a case of the witch crying at

night and the baby dying at dawn. Several persons have pointed at a number of

scenarios. For example, the state government quoted a statement made by the

former governor recently. From the statement released by Ihedioha after the

refusal of the Supreme Court to reverse its earlier judgment, where he said

that the Judges of the Apex Court will not go unpunished, it was obvious that

he was still up to some mischief. This planned protest is only part of

it, said the APC. They point at another scenario, saying that on

Wednesday, March 4, then Secretary to the Government of Imo State, Hon. Uche

Onyeagucha, in an interview on Channels TVs Politics Today, vowed that

the PDP, Ihedioha and their supporters would not recognize Uzodinma as the

Governor of Imo State, describing him as a Supreme Court-imposed Governor of

Imo State, adding that is what he would remain for the period he would

be in office.

There is also the issue of creating two governors in the

state at the same time, a kind of putting two captains on one ship. The PDP had

mounted large billboards where it boldly described Ihedioha as the Peoples

Governor. To make the matter worse, during his appearance on Channels

Televisions Sunrise Daily on Friday morning, the State Secretary of the party,

Nze Ray Emeana, for more than five times, referred to Ihedioha either as The

Governor, The Peoples Governor or Our Governor. He added that though Uzodinma

was imposed on the state by the Supreme Court, the people of the state were

free to choose their Governor. These scenarios, coupled with the police

intelligence and the allegation that some thugs were hired, was enough for the

police to stop rallies and protests.

On the other hand, some people claim that the PDP has

forgotten recent history. They argue that the party wanted Governor Uzodinma to

accept what they did not accept when they were in power in the state. According

to this school of thought, following the activities of the assets recovery team

set up by Ihedioha and the skirmishes that accompanied it, Ihediohas

predecessor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, had returned to the state on Tuesday,

August 20, 2019, and addressed his supporters. He was quoted in the media to

have said that he was giving Ihedioha what he termed the last warning over

his intimidation of Imo citizens. According to the vanguard newspaper of

Wednesday, August 21, 2019, Okorocha said: I have returned back (sic).

Everywhere will be calm. It is time to know who is stronger. You think I am not

hearing what is happening. I am hearing but I just keep quiet. I hear how they

are destroying my projects. It is not my fight. It is the fight of God (sic).

The state government then led by Ihedioha did not take

lightly the reception given to Okorocha and the statements he was quoted to

have made. The next time Okorocha was billed to return home was on Friday,

August 30, 2019. The PDP and the state government mobilized thousands of youths

to the Sam Mbakwe Airport. The crowd led by the then Secretary to the

Government of Imo State, Hon. Uche Onyeagucha, arrived Sam Mbakwe Airport by

10aam, and stayed up to 2pm waiting for Okorochas arrival. Okorocha

deferred his return but never claimed banishment.

Addressing the mammoth crowd at the airport, Onyeagucha

said: We heard that Rochas said he was coming to Imo State today. That was why

we asked you all to come together, ka kpokirikpo gbaa nihu nihu [an

expression suggesting violent confrontation]. We are proud of the way you

responded. We directed each local government chairman to come with his people.

We have waited for him till 1pm. But we cannot postpone this fight. We are

aware that he might have boarded a flight going to Enugu, Port Harcourt or

Asaba. But that wont save him. If he likes let him run to Ogboko, we will

pursue him to Ogboko. If he likes let him run to Spibat, we will pursue him to

Spibat. If he runs to his house beside Concorde Hotel, we will pursue him to

that place. What we are sure of is that he must leave Imo State, so that we

would rebuild it for keke drivers, okada riders, civil servants and traders,

youths, children, the aged and pensioners  and for even the dead. But since we

have waited till now and he hasnt returned, I want to beg you, the matter is

not over yet. I want all of us to go back home. We will proceed to IICC. We

will sit there and wait, to find out whether he had diverted to Port Harcourt,

Asaba or Enugu, in order to come by road. But by whatever means he is coming,

once we get the information, we will pursue him to that place. Even if he is in

a hotel, we will meet him there (sic).

To be continued.

Collins Ughalaa could be reached via

email: ughalaacollins@gmail.com, or via telephone: 07066222944.
British food retailers have written a joint letter to their customers asking them to buy responsibly in the wake of shoppers stockpiling over fears about the new coronavirus.

In an extraordinary development, 12 of Britains biggest grocers will publish advertisements in national newspapers today and tomorrow. Entitled Working to Feed the Nation, the letter reassures shoppers about steps being taken to ensure adequate supplies in stores and asks them to be considerate: We understand your concerns but buying more than is needed can sometimes mean that others will be left without. There is enough for everyone if we all work together.

The supermarkets behind the letter include the Big Four -- Tesco Plc, J Sainsbury Plc, WM Morrison Plc and Asda Group Ltd -- as well as the discounters Aldi and Lidl. Other retailers that have signed up include Marks & Spencer Plc, online grocer Ocado and Waitrose.

The spread of the coronavirus across Europe, which is now the epicenter of the pandemic according to the World Health Organization, has fueled the urge to stockpile. Tesco, Britains largest grocer, has already had to move to restrict sales of antibacterial products, dried pasta, long-life milk, childrens medicines, water and tinned vegetables to five items a person in stores. Other grocers have restrictions in place too.

Earlier this week, the government also eased time restrictions on delivery trucks in built-up areas so that supermarkets can restock their shelves at night.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive officer of the British Retail Consortium, the industry trade body, said U.K. grocers are working incredibly hard to keep shops well-stocked but added: In the face of unprecedented demand as a result of coronavirus, food retailers have come together to ask their customers to support each other to make sure everyone can get access to the products they need.

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A 41-year-old Punjab native, returning to Amritsar from Malaysia, was declared dead after his flight landed here, officials said on Sunday.

Hukam Singh's flight reached here late Saturday night. Singh belonged to



Gande village of Gurdaspur district.

Amritsar'sCivil Surgeon Parbdeep Kaur Johal said Singh's body has been kept in the government hospital here.

It will be handed over to his family after postmortem, she said.

Dr Johal said immediately after landing of the flight, the passenger was shifted to a hospital near the airport, where doctors declared him "brought dead".

The exact cause of his death will be known only after the postmortem, she added.

According to the family of the deceased, during travel in the flight, Singh is believed to have suffered a sudden chest pain and subsequently a message was conveyed to the international airport authorities here and an ambulance was kept ready before the flight landed.

Immediately after the landing of the flight, the family members shifted him in an ambulance to a private hospital near the airport where Singh was declared "brought dead".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hanoi is considering opening more bus routes operating at night to reduce traffic congestion during the day.

A Hanoi Transport Department representative who did not want to be named said Saturday they are currently drafting a plan for the midnight-daybreak routes, which would involve extending working hours of bus stations between midnight and 5 a.m.

Currently, buses at Hanois main terminals mainly operate during the day or evening, and seldom offer overnight services.

"This (new overnight tours) will increase the efficiency of the bus stations, meet the needs of passengers, reduce congestion during peak hours and facilitate traffic management," the representative said.

The departments new overnight bus routes plan will also focus on these long trips. Once the plan is complete, the department will consult with businesses and government agencies before submitting it to the City Peoples Committee and Ministry of Transport.

However, the proposed plan has attracted a few critics, too.

Bui Danh Lien, Vice President of the Hanoi Transport Association, said passenger numbers are mostly concentrated early morning or late afternoon, and bus terminals in the city are running at just 50-60 percent of their capacity.

Extending working hours on night routes would create wasteful expenditure for businesses and increase costs at bus stations, and the addition of more overnight routes would also disrupt inter-provincial traffic plans set by the Ministry of Transport, making traffic more dangerous, he said.

Nguyen Van Quyen, chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association, said it was also necessary to study the needs of passengers travelling after midnight, because current bus services have largely met the actual needs.

Meanwhile, the Covid-19 epidemic has already reduced the number of passengers travelling between Hanoi and other provinces in February by 40-50 percent year-on-year, according to a report by the Hanoi Transport Department.

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.
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.
It's easy to feel disappointed if you buy a stock that goes down. But sometimes a share price fall can have more to do with market conditions than the performance of the specific business. So while the Chengdu Expressway Co., Ltd. (HKG:1785) share price is down 12% in the last year, the total return to shareholders (which includes dividends) was -5.3%. And that total return actually beats the market return of -15%. Chengdu Expressway hasn't been listed for long, so although we're wary of recent listings that perform poorly, it may still prove itself with time. The share price has dropped 12% in three months. However, one could argue that the price has been influenced by the general market, which is down 11% in the same timeframe.

View our latest analysis for Chengdu Expressway

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

Even though the Chengdu Expressway share price is down over the year, its EPS actually improved. It's quite possible that growth expectations may have been unreasonable in the past.

The divergence between the EPS and the share price is quite notable, during the year. But we might find some different metrics explain the share price movements better.

Chengdu Expressway's dividend seems healthy to us, so we doubt that the yield is a concern for the market. In fact, it seems more likely that the revenue fall of 57% in the last year is the worry. The market may be extrapolating the decline, leading to questions around the sustainability of the EPS.

You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

SEHK:1785 Income Statement, March 15th 2020

It's probably worth noting that the CEO is paid less than the median at similar sized companies. It's always worth keeping an eye on CEO pay, but a more important question is whether the company will grow earnings throughout the years. This free interactive report on Chengdu Expressway's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

Story continues

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. In the case of Chengdu Expressway, it has a TSR of -5.3% for the last year. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

While they no doubt would have preferred make a profit, at least Chengdu Expressway shareholders didn't do too badly in the last year. Their loss of 5.3% , including dividends, actually beat the broader market, which lost around 15%. Things weren't so bad until the last three months, when the stock dropped 12%. The recent drop implies that investors are increasingly averse to the stock -- quite possibly due to a deterioration of the business. In times of uncertainty we usually try to focus on the long term fundamental business metrics. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For example, we've discovered 4 warning signs for Chengdu Expressway that you should be aware of before investing here.

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on HK exchanges.

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



We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Thank you for reading.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 19:18:53|Editor: xuxin

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MANILA, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines reported 29 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and three new deaths on Sunday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 140 and death toll to 11.

Huang Xilian, Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines, said on Sunday China will do its best to help the Philippines arrest the fast spread of the COVID-19 cases in the country, adding that a first batch of free COVID-19 test kits for the Philippines is on the way.

The Philippines on Sunday started implementing a 30-day lockdown in Metro Manila to limit the movement of people in the region in a bid to contain the spread of the virus. Majority of the COVID-19 patients are residents of Metro Manila, home to nearly 13 million people.

From March 15 until April 14, domestic travel to and from Metro Manila will be restricted. The government also announced travel restrictions for all foreign nationals coming from countries reporting local transmissions of COVID-19.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque has advised people to take steps to protect themselves from the virus, for example, by following good hand hygiene and good respiratory hygiene.

Duque reiterated that people of all ages can be infected by the virus. Older people, and people with pre-existing medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease appear to be more vulnerable to becoming severely ill with the virus, he added.
As fears of a coronavirus pandemic sweep across the country, Nigerians have been buying up face masks, hand sanitizer at skyrocketing prices.

The first case of the novel coronavirus disease was detected in Lagos was announced by the Federal Ministry of Health on February 28. The ministry of health disclosed that an Italian man was the index case, who had arrived in the country aboard a Turkish Airlines flight.

After the news broke, Lagosians trooped to supermarkets and pharmacies to purchase coronavirus-related products. Thus, face masks and hand sanitizers became hot commodities, especially in Lagos.

Certain precautionary measures are expected to be taken by supermarkets and pharmacies since lots of customers troop in daily and they are also expected to provide these protection products at demands.

On March 10, checks by Information Nigeria reveals that hand sanitizers were completely off the shelf at a supermarket located at Adeniran Ogunsanya, Surulere, Lagos.

During a friendly conversation with a security operative at the supermarket, the young man said the sanitizers are currently out of stock and are yet to be supplied.



The spot meant for the products had been replaced with liquid hand wash soaps, Information Nigeria observed.

A customer at the supermarket got really upset after she accidentally picked a handwash instead of a sanitizer and a cashier confirmed it was indeed not available on the shelf.

At another popular supermarket located at Tejuosho complex in Yaba area of Lagos, hand sanitizers were also out of stock, and the products replaced with hand wash soaps.

Its quite worrisome to find out that hand sanitizers and similar products are off-shelf and are likely not available in most parts of Lagos.

When celebrities complained on social media that the prices of face masks had skyrocketed, many didnt believe it. Although face masks arent really of any importance to those who are not sick but it is still essential if for those who have developed flu.

Information Nigeria visited a pharmacy in Bariga area of Lagos. While at the pharmacy, the pharmacist wasnt willing to reveal the price of face masks.

A man, who was present when prices were inquired, secretly revealed they are actually out of stock due to a spike in demand. Although he affirmed the product is sold for N200, rather than the regular N50.

At another popular pharmacy in Lagos, a face mask costs 200; a bottle of hand sanitizer, 50ml, goes for N800

Multiple pharmacies and supermarkets in Lagos had hiked the prices of these commodities or claimed they are run out of stock.

Although, the disease isnt extreme in Lagos state and the government has assured citizens to remain claim as efforts are being made to ensure the safety of its citizens.
Agatha Aboe from Accra, Ghana has been shortlisted to win a coveted humanitarian honor at the Bond International Development Awards 2020, London, UK.

Agatha is nominated for her tireless work with charity Sightsavers, where she has been credited with helping to eliminate Trachoma in Ghana.

In 2018 the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that Ghana was the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to eliminate trachoma. The Ghanaian Ministry of Health has already awarded Agatha a Citation of Honour, stating: The story of the elimination of trachoma in Ghana cannot be completed without the mention of her name. She stood as a strong pillar and saw the programme through from beginning to end.

Agatha, a Sightsavers Global Trachoma Advisor based in North Dzorwulu, Accra, introduced the idea of conducting house-to-house searches for people with trachomatous trichiasis, the most severe stage of trachoma, which can lead to irreversible blindness. Her tireless work and dedication in Ghana helped result in the country making history by becoming the first sub-Saharan African country to eliminate trachoma in June 2018.

Its very exciting to be nominated for a Bond award, says Agatha. Blinding trachoma has plagued humanity for thousands of years, but we are now on the cusp of ending it. It is an honour to have spent a large part of my career working to help achieve this mission.

David Agyemang, Programme Manager, Sightsavers Ghana, says: "Agatha's actions directly increased treatment coverage across the country and ensured that no one was left behind. Demonstrating leadership by example, Agatha personally led searches in the Northern and Upper West regions of Ghana, travelling through very difficult terrain to go door-to-door ensuring everyone was reached. Her presence greatly encouraged local case finders to go that extra mile in their work."

Now in its seventh year, the Bond International Development Awards celebrate the exceptional work undertaken in the development sector that often goes unrecognised. The Humanitarian Award specifically honors the hidden heroes helping to deliver this demanding work in creative, unusual and exceptional ways.

Agatha is joined by two other deserving finalists in this category, with the overall winner announced at a prestigious ceremony on March 23 in London.

Mike Wright, Director of Membership and Communications at Bond, says: The standard of entries this year has been particularly high across all award categories, which is a great reflection of the hard work and innovation currently taking place in the sector. We are particularly delighted to be honoring such a diverse range of humanitarians and shining a light on these inspirational individuals and the incredible work they are doing.

The Bond International Development Awards form part of Bond Annual Conference, Europe's biggest international development event, bringing together diverse organisations and thinkers to share ideas and discuss emerging trends in the international development and humanitarian sectors.
What effect does coronavirus have on pregnant women?

Pregnant women do not appear to be more severely unwell if they develop coronavirus than the general population. As this is a new virus, how it may affect you is not yet clear. It is expected the large majority of pregnant women will experience only mild or moderate cold/flu like symptoms.

More severe symptoms such as pneumonia appear to be more common in older people, those with weakened immune systems or long-term conditions. There are no reported deaths of pregnant women from coronavirus at the moment.

If you are pregnant you are more vulnerable to getting infections than a woman who is not pregnant. If you have an underlying condition, such as asthma or diabetes, you may be more unwell if you have coronavirus.

What effect will coronavirus have on my baby if I am diagnosed with the infection?

As this is a very new virus we are just beginning to learn about it. There is no evidence to suggest an increased risk of miscarriage. There is also no evidence that the virus can pass to your developing baby while you are pregnant (this is called vertical transmission). It is therefore considered unlikely that if you have the virus it will cause abnormalities in your baby.

Some babies born to women with symptoms of coronavirus in China have been born prematurely. It is unclear whether coronavirus caused this or the doctors made the decision for the baby to be born early because the woman was unwell. As we learn about the risk of pre-term birth and coronavirus infection, we will update this information.

What can I do to reduce my risk of catching coronavirus?

The most important thing to do is to wash your hands regularly and effectively as soon as you come from public places to your home or workplace. There is useful advice on the NHS website on the best way to reduce any infection risk, not just for coronavirus, but for other things like colds and flu.

What is the travel advice if I am pregnant?

If you are in the UK, you should follow the advice given by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which is being regularly updated in line with the evolving situation.

All individuals, including pregnant women, should ensure they have adequate insurance arrangements prior to travel. You should also check that your travel insurance will provide cover for birth and care of your newborn baby if you give birth while abroad.

What should I do if I think I may have coronavirus or been exposed?

If you are pregnant and you have either a high temperature or a new, continuous cough, you should stay at home for 7 days.

Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital. You do not need to contact NHS 111 to tell them you are staying at home.

You should contact the maternity unit looking after your pregnancy to inform them that you have symptoms suggestive of coronavirus, particularly if you have any routine appointments in the next 7 days.

You should use the online coronavirus service, or call NHS 111 if:

you feel you cannot cope with your symptoms at home

your condition gets worse

your symptoms do not get better after 7 days

If you have concerns about the wellbeing of yourself or your unborn baby during your self-isolation period, contact your midwife, or out-of-hours, your maternity team. They will provide further advice, including whether you need to attend hospital

How will I be tested for coronavirus?

The process for diagnosing coronavirus infection is changing rapidly. At the current time, only people with severe symptoms who require overnight admission to hospital will be tested.

If you do require a test, you will be tested in the same way as anyone being tested, regardless of the fact that you are pregnant. Currently, the test involves swabs being taken from your mouth and nose. You may also be asked to cough up sputum, a mixture of saliva and mucous.

What should I do if I test positive for coronavirus?

If you test positive for coronavirus, you should contact your midwife or antenatal team to make them aware of your diagnosis. If you have no symptoms, or mild symptoms, you will be advised to recover at home. If you have more severe symptoms, you might be treated in a hospital setting.

Why would I be asked to self-isolate?

You may be advised to self-isolate because:

You have symptoms of coronavirus, such as a high temperature or new, continuous cough

You have tested positive for coronavirus and youve been advised to recover at home

What should I do if Im asked to self-isolate?

Pregnant women who have been advised to self-isolate should stay indoors and avoid contact with others for 7 days. The NHS guidance on self-isolation currently recommends people should:

Not go to school, work, NHS settings or public areas

Not use public transport

Stay at home and not allow visitors

Ventilate the rooms where they are by opening a window

Separate themselves from other members of their household as far as possible, using their own towels, crockery and utensils and eating at different times

Use friends, family or delivery services to run errands, but advise them to leave items outside.

You may wish to consider online fitness routines to keep active, such as pregnancy yoga or Pilates.

Can I still attend my antenatal appointments if I am in self-isolation?

You should contact your midwife or antenatal clinic to inform them that you are currently in self-isolation for possible/confirmed coronavirus and request advice on attending routine antenatal appointments.

It is likely that routine antenatal appointments will be delayed until isolation ends. If your midwife or doctor advises that your appointment cannot wait, the necessary arrangements will be made for you to be seen. For example, you may be asked to attend at a different time, or in a different clinic, to protect other patients.

How will my care be managed after I have recovered from coronavirus?

If you have confirmed coronavirus infection, as a precautionary approach, an ultrasound scan will be arranged 14 days after your recovery, to check that your baby is well. This 14 day period may be reduced as more information on how infected people are in recovery becomes available.

If you have recovered from coronavirus and tested negative for the virus before you go into labour, where and how you give birth will not be affected by your previous illness.

What do I do if I feel unwell or Im worried about my baby during self-isolation?

Pregnant women are advised not to attend maternity triage units or A&E unless in need of urgent pregnancy or medical care.

If you have concerns about the wellbeing of yourself or your unborn baby during your self-isolation period, contact your midwife, or out-of-hours, your maternity team. They will provide further advice, including whether you need to attend hospital.

If attendance at the maternity unit or hospital is advised, pregnant women are requested to travel by private transport, or arrange hospital transport, and alert the maternity triage reception once on the premises, prior to entering the hospital.

Will being in self-isolation for suspected or confirmed coronavirus affect where I give birth?

As a precautionary approach, pregnant women with suspected or confirmed coronavirus when they go into labour, are being advised to attend an obstetric unit for birth, where the baby can be monitored using continuous electronic fetal monitoring, and your oxygen levels can be monitored hourly.

The continuous fetal monitoring is to check how your baby is coping with labour. As continuous fetal monitoring can only take place in an obstetric unit, where doctors and midwives are present, it is not currently recommended that you give birth at home or in a midwife led unit, where only midwifes would be present.

We will keep this advice continually updated as new evidence emerges.

Will being in self-isolation for suspected or confirmed coronavirus affect how I give birth?

There is currently no evidence to suggest you cannot give birth vaginally or that you would be safer having a caesarean birth if you have suspected or confirmed coronavirus, so your birth plan should be followed as closely as possible based on your wishes.

However, if your respiratory condition (breathing) suggested that urgent delivery would be needed, a caesarean birth may be recommended.

There is no evidence that women with suspected or confirmed coronavirus cannot have an epidural or a spinal block. However, the use of Entonox (gas and air) may increase aerosolisation and spread of the virus, so your maternity team will discuss all the options with you in early labour to ensure you are aware of the pain relief options available to you.

What happens if I go into labour during my self-isolation period?

If you go into labour, you should call your maternity unit for advice, and inform them that you have suspected or confirmed coronavirus infection.

If you have mild symptoms, you will be encouraged to remain at home (self-isolating) in early labour, as per standard practice.

Your maternity team have been advised on ways to ensure you and your baby receive safe, quality care, respecting your birth plan as closely as possible.

When you and your maternity team decide you need to attend the maternity unit, general recommendations about hospital attendance will apply:

You will be advised to attend hospital via private transport where possible, or call 111/999 for advice as appropriate

You will be met at the maternity unit entrance and provided with a surgical face mask, which will need to stay on until you are isolated in a suitable room

Coronavirus testing will be arranged

Your birth partner(s) will be able to stay with you throughout, but visitors should be kept to a minimum

Could I pass coronavirus to my baby?

As this is a new virus, there is limited evidence about managing women with coronavirus infection in women who have just given birth; however, there are no reports of women diagnosed with coronavirus during the third trimester of pregnancy having passed the virus to their babies while in the womb.

Will my baby be tested for coronavirus?

Yes, if you have suspected or confirmed coronavirus at the time your baby is born, your baby will be tested for coronavirus.

Will I be able to stay with my baby/give skin-to-skin if I have suspected or confirmed coronavirus?

Yes, if that is your choice. Provided your baby is well and doesnt require care in the neonatal unit, you will be kept together after you have given birth.

There are some reports from China which suggest women with confirmed coronavirus have been advised to separate from their baby for 14 days. However, this may have potential negative effects on feeding and bonding.

A discussion about the risks and benefits should take place between you and your family and the doctors caring for your baby (neonatologists) to individualise care for your baby.

This guidance may change as knowledge evolves.

Will I be able to breastfeed my baby if I have suspected or confirmed coronavirus?

Yes. At the moment there is no evidence that the virus can be carried in breastmilk, so its felt that the well-recognised benefits of breastfeeding outweigh any potential risks of transmission of coronavirus through breastmilk.

The main risk of breastfeeding is close contact between you and your baby, as you may share infective airborne droplets, leading to infection of the baby after birth.

A discussion about the risks and benefits of breastfeeding should take place between you and your family and your maternity team.

This guidance may change as knowledge evolves.

If you choose to breastfeed your baby, the following precautions are recommended:

Wash your hands before touching your baby, breast pump or bottles

Try and avoid coughing or sneezing on your baby while feeding at the breast;

Consider wearing a face mask while breastfeeding, if available

Follow recommendations for pump cleaning after each use

Consider asking someone who is well to feed expressed breast milk to your baby

If you choose to feed your baby with formula or expressed milk, it is recommend that you follow strict adherence to sterilisation guidelines. If you are expressing breast milk in hospital, a dedicated breast pump should be used.

What is the advice if I am a healthcare worker and pregnant?

We understand that it must be an anxious time if you work in healthcare and you are pregnant. To the best of our knowledge, pregnant healthcare professionals are no more personally susceptible to the virus or its complications than their non-pregnant colleagues.

However, infection with coronavirus may pose some risks to your unborn baby. There is a possible risk of fetal growth restriction, or of premature birth if you become seriously unwell.

You should discuss your individual circumstances your local Occupational Health department.

Source: The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
CROMWELL  The towns population of residents who are older than 55 has grown to 34 percent and that number is expected to grow over the next two decades.

Senior Center Director Amy Saada says on average, We see about 100 seniors per day at the center.

But she is also concerned about those seniors who cannot easily get to the center, and those who are house-bound.

Its those that we know who are living in town but who dont attend the Senior Center that we want to connect with, Saada said. We want to be able to help connect these people to community supports and decrease social isolation and loneliness.

It is a real and potentially life-threatening issue, Saada said.

Social isolation and loneliness have been linked to higher risks for a variety of physical and mental conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, a weakened immune system anxiety, depression, cognitive decline and more, she said.

People who find themselves unexpectedly alone due to the death of a spouse or partner, separation from friends and family, retirement, loss of mobility, and lack of transportation are at particular risk, Saada said.

In an effort to reach out and connect with home-bound seniors, Sadda last year sought funding for a part-time outreach coordinator in her budget.

Despite conducting a number of interviews, Saada was unable to find a qualified candidate.

After conversations with Town Manager Anthony J. Salvatore, Saada asked for funding for a full-time elderly outreach/program coordinator.

The position was included in the budget compiled by Salvatore and Director of Finance Marianne Sylvester that was reticently presented to the Town Council.

The budget was approved by the council, but must still pass the Board of Finance before residents vote on it on May 5.

Given the number of seniors in Cromwell, We really need a professionally degreed person to be here full-time, Saada said in an email.

With the position now being made full-time with benefits, Saada said, We hope we can attract qualified candidates.

Depending on the benefits package, officials estimate the position will cost approximately $60,000.

Salvatore said he agreed to include funding for a full-time position because Saada was able to show there is a demonstrated need to have an assistant in the Senior Center.

Ms. Saada asked and I concurred with her request because we are seeing both a growth in the number of our seniors, and in those who use the Senior Center, as well as a growth in the kinds and numbers of programs and activities they want, Salvatore said.

This position represents another way of providing a much-needed service to that part of our population, and in particular to those who, for whatever reason, are not able to make it into the center, he said.

Assuming her request is approved, Saada said the coordinator will develop, coordinate and implement a wide variety of Senior Center programs and activities held at the center.

In addition, the coordinator will also be tasked with community outreach for the purpose of contacting and connecting with the elderly, identifying needs of services and assisting them in obtaining community services, Saada said.

Doing so is important because, Studies have shown that people who engage in meaningful productive activities with others tend to live longer, boost their mood, and have a sense of purpose, Saada said.
It looks like Jonethen Musulin and Connie Crayden are already over.

The Married At First Sight couple, who are still together on the reality show, spent the weekend apart while appearing to make no secret of their apparent split.

While Jonethen spent Friday night getting cosy with Instagram model Montana Lowrey, his 'wife' celebrated her birthday without him on Saturday in the same city.

Is this the proof it's all over? MAFS' Jonethen Musulin and Connie Crayden (pictured) have sparked speculation that have split up after he was spotted out with another woman on Friday

On Friday, model Montana shared a dimly-lit mirror picture inside Melbourne cocktail bar Peaches with Jonethen, 27, who placed an arm on her side.

A picture later appeared on Instagram page MAFS Funny of the pair looking cosy in a booth together, sparking speculation they have may been on a date.

'Can't I have a drink with my friend,' Jonethen hit back at the rumours on Instagram, denying there was anything romantic happening between them.

Cosy! On Friday, Jonethen, 27, went out for drinks with Instagram model Montana Lowrey (right), who shared a dimly-lit picture inside a cocktail bar of them together (left)

'Just friends': A picture later appeared on Instagram page MAFS Funny of the pair looking cosy in a booth together, with Jonethen insisting they are just friends

The long-haired hunk was then nowhere to be seen as Connie, 28, celebrated her birthday at Melbourne's Rice Paper Scissors on Saturday night.

She debuted her new fringe and haircut while out for cocktails with her girlfriends.

The group of women then partied at nightclub Yah Yah's, with no sign of Jonethen.

Single and ready to mingle? The long-haired hunk was then nowhere to be seen as Connie, 28, celebrated her birthday at Melbourne's Rice Paper Scissors on Saturday night

Where is he? The group of women then partied at nightclub Yah Yah's, with no sign of Jonethen

On Married At First Sight, Connie and Jonethen became one of this year's strongest couples following their instant connection at their wedding in February.

However, things quickly started to fall apart between them afterwards.

They have since spent most of the experiment arguing, with Jonethen now fearing there's no romantic connection, as Connie tries to salvage their relationship.

Throwback! On Married At First Sight, Connie and Jonethen became one of this year's strongest couples following their instant connection at their wedding in February
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Sunday asked all political parties in Jammu and Kashmir to jointly appeal to the Centre to shift all those detained since last year back to the Union territory on humanitarian grounds.

Highlights Farooq Abdullah called for the release of all detainees from the Union Territory He asked leaders of all political parties to unite in the call for shifting those detained back to J-K The NC president was released on Friday after seven months of detention

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah was released on Friday after the government revoked the Public Safety Act (PSA) against him.

Abdullah was placed under detention with several others, including his son Omar Abdullah and the chief of Peoples Democratic Party Mehbooba Mufti, last year, when the Centre scrapped the special status to Jammu and Kashmir and imposed massive security restrictions and a communication lockdown.

The 82-year-old leader released a statement on Sunday, saying he has been avoiding making any political statements since he was released from detention.

Abdullah said he advocated for a free and frank exchange of political views in order to take stock of the momentous changes that Jammu and Kashmir has seen since August 5 last year.

We are still some way away from an environment where such political discourse will be possible. This is especially so considering the number of people detained in August last year who remain in jails outside J-K, he said.

The NC president called for unity among Jammu and Kashmirs political leaders before we allow politics to divide us.

I appeal to all political leaders in the state to unite behind the call to the Union government to bring back all detainees from Jammu and Kashmir from prisons outside the Union territory pending their release, the former chief minister said.

While we would like to see them all released as soon as possible, pending that they should be shifted to J-K. This is a humanitarian demand and I hope others will join me in placing this demand in front of the government of India, he said.

The member of Parliament, who represents Srinagar in the Lok Sabha, also pointed out he has been far more fortunate than the hundreds of Kashmiri families, whose relatives are under detention.

I was detained at home and my family had access to me. Yesterday, when I went to meet my son Omar, also detained under the Public Safety Act, I had to travel a kilometre from my home to be able to see him, he said.

Farooq Abdullah was referring to his meeting with Omar Abdullah on Saturday for the first time since both were detained last year.

Abdullah was accompanied by his wife Molly Abdullah and daughter Safia Abdullah to Hariniwas in Srinagar, where Omar Abdullah, also a former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, has been detained.

Omar Abdullah was slapped with PSA last month after a six-month-long preventive detention beginning August 5 ended.

He pointed out it has not been as easy for the families of most of the detainees.

Their loved ones have been detained in jails spread across a number of states. They get two visits a month for which they have to spend large amounts of money they can ill afford travelling to and staying in the vicinity of these prisons, Farooq Abdullah said.

The NC leader said the financial burden on them is made worse by the health risk they now face because of coronavirus.

At a time when people are being advised not to travel, these families are being forced to put their lives at risk in order to meet their loved ones for a few short but very precious hours, he said.

Farooq Abdullah had said after his release that he would not make any political statements immediately and will rather speak for the people of Jammu and Kashmir in Parliament.

He, however, demanded the immediate release of his son Omar and Mehbooba Mufti along with other political leaders still under detention.
New Hartford, N.Y.  Karen Lorraines liver cancer puts her squarely in the high-risk category for the novel coronoavirus.

But Lorraine still attended todays 7:30 a.m. worship service at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church in New Hartford to worship her God.

I feel like He is with us 24/7, so I can take this one day to show up at His house, said Lorraine. I have no symptoms, and prayer has a lot to do with that.

Faith in the time of a pandemic has taken on different faces. While many Catholic churches remain open for now, dozens of houses of worship across Central New York are closed today and might be for weeks. Some are holding services online, including the 3,000-member Abundant Life Church in Cicero.

Many religious leaders say its critical to close church doors to keep people from spreading the virus to each other, particularly because many churches have a high percentage of members 60 or older, considered at higher risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19.

The rapid spread of COVID-19 requires that we act, Bishop John Macholz wrote to the Upstate New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in canceling services for at least three weeks. Some may see these measures as drastic. I consider them prudent.

Other churches, including Our Lady of the Rosary, are still bringing people to worship together in a shared, sacred space.

I think it stresses the importance of worship in Catholic life, said Rev. Joseph Salerno.

About 75 parishioners were scattered about the sanctuary, half as many as usual for the early service, Salerno said. Catholics throughout the seven-county Diocese of Syracuse, including Oneida County, are not obligated to attend Sunday Mass until further notice, Bishop Douglas L. Lucia announced Friday.

While Our Lady of the Rosemary and other Catholic churches remain open, Salerno said he didnt know for how long.

Parishioners at the New Hartford church saw subtle changes to protect them from the virus. Hymnals were stored away; Salerno said they would sing popular hymns by memory. Instead of offertory baskets being passed among the pews, they sat stationary on a table at the rear of the sanctuary, near the bottle of hand sanitizer. Salerno encouraged parishioners to take the host in their hands instead of their mouths. No one shook hands.

The scene was similar at St. Josephs in Camillus, where a crowd that was just a fifth its usual size shook no hands and passed no baskets.

In the village of Skaneateles, just two churches held services this morning: St. Marys Catholic Church and the Skaneateles United Methodist Church, said the Methodist pastor, Joellyn Tuttle. After the service, congregants agreed to keep meeting on Sundays, she said.

Our church, through a sense of mission and (the need) for fellowship, voted to continuing to gather for worship if things remain status quo, she said. "In this time of uncertainty, its good to have a faith anchor as long as the health protocols are followed.

Salerno called upon his flock to shop for, and deliver medications to, people unable to leave their homes.

This is either going to bring out the worst in us or its already beginning to bring out the best in us, as times of crisis often do, he said. Lets try to be considerate and compassionate toward each other in every possible way we can.

Syracuse.com reporter David Figura contributed to this report.

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Bhopal, March 16 : After staying at a hotel in Gurugram's Manesar for five days, the BJP MLAs from Madhya Pradesh reached here on a special flight in the wee hours of Monday. The MLAs were taken to a hotel from the airport.

Ahead of the budget session of the state Legislative Assembly scheduled to begin on Monday, the MLAs reached the state capital at around 2 a.m on Monday.

Leader of Opposition Gopal Bhargava and BJP state President BD Sharma received the MLAs at the Raja Bhoj Airport. Meanwhile, special security arrangements were made at the airport.

Earlier, Chief Minister Kamal Nath met Governor Lalji Tandon at Raj Bhavan late Sunday night. After the meeting, the Chief Minister told reporters that the Assembly Speaker will decide the steps to be taken in Vidhan Sabha.

Former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said that the Assembly Speaker will act as per the state government's decisions.

On Sunday, Pankaj Sharma, Kamal Nath's media advisor, claimed that 9 BJP MLAs will support Congress during the floor test of the Assembly.

Sources said the rebel Congress MLAs on Sunday yet again sent their resignations from Bengaluru, demanding the Assembly Speaker to approve it.
Plan and communicate  internally and externally  to minimise the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on your business

Dont bury your head in the sand or wait for your trade association to lobby for support. You are the master of your own destiny so control your controllables and plan for the uncontrollables. Stock picture

If the Charles Haughey legacy is in part characterised as Gubu, then this current crisis might well be described as Gurtage. We are experiencing a gargantuan and unprecedented reaction to a global event.

It is quite incredible how the world has changed in the last few weeks.

Like you, Im sure, I have been monitoring the disturbance and trauma created by Covid-19 and Im particularly bothered by the economic consequences. Of course Im concerned about the health risks. Im being diligent and taking extra but reasonable precautions. And of course I feel for the victims and their families.

In the meantime, and for better or worse, there are mixed government responses. While our government acted quickly, the Cheltenham Festival went ahead and the London Underground is still running. Airlines are still operating while many factories in China are in restart mode. However, I was booked to facilitate a global sales conference this week in Germany. Fifty people from 20 European countries were due in Mainz for three days. Justifiably, the event was postponed.

Spare a thought for the independent family hotel that has no way of replacing a big chunk of lost revenue. I have also spoken to a number of my Irish hotel clients this week and they have similar stories to tell. And of course, the St Patricks Day festivals have been cancelled, an enormous hit to those directly servicing the domestic and international tourism trade.

Retailers are at risk at both ends of the supply chain. Inbound supply will be affected for goods from China. Outbound route to market for traditional bricks-and-mortar shops will be threatened by a possible migration to online if shoppers get even more worried about going out and about.

The knock-on impact of these and other examples are real and very serious. And its often the B2C sectors which feel it first. But I believe we have to maintain perspective and not let this very unfortunate outbreak cause a macro-economic change of business sentiment. For that reason, I think its a good idea to take some time out to consider the consequences for your business and plan accordingly. Agility is key. Some tips for immediate action and to build resilience:

1 Reach out to key stakeholders

Speak to trade associations, suppliers and even competitors where relevant to get early visibility of emerging impacts in your sector.

2 Form a resilience team

Form a temporary cross-functional steering group internally, reporting to the chief executive.

Depending on your business type or size, set time aside for team members from commercial, finance, operations, HR and supply chain to get into a room to talk. First, they should come up with a plan to protect your team against the virus.

Then they should apply a Swot framework  strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats  to the key pillars such as people, product, route to market, brand and internal controls. Consider all risks to your business, then rate them in terms of the scale of impact and timeframe. Then make recommendations for corrective actions.

One client of mine imports components for their technology product from Italy. That factory is closed for the foreseeable future, which means my client has to either source the components elsewhere  easier said than done  or reforecast sales targets downwards.

3 Contact customers

Your customers might be just as concerned as you. As you learn more about the implications, speak to your key customers to reassure them you are all over this and planning like crazy.

Reassure them they are still in good hands. Dont let competitors slip in behind you with some attractive offers.

4 Challenge your cost base

Since 2008, businesses have already built expertise in reducing costs. Public companies in particular have had to do it as shareholders applied pressure.

Therefore you might feel you cant get blood from a stone. But do look at this again. Some variable costs should scale up and down with sales. But are you on to this? And can you do anything with your fixed costs? Is agility in your culture?

5 Communicate with your own team

Dont forget to pay due respect to your own people. Include them in your planning. At the very least, let them know what youre doing and reassure them as much as you can.

Rather than letting people go and reducing payroll, could you work collaboratively with them to reduce cost and/or increase productivity?

One company Im aware of held a meeting with its full team to discuss the crisis. An idea came from the floor that everyone should temporarily cut their salary by 20pc. That was an amazing gesture. Perhaps this team remembers the challenges of 2008 and is now being proactive.

6 Check your balance sheet

Can you look again at your balance sheet and see if you can unlock some assets or liabilities?

At the start of the global crisis in 2008, many large companies acted quickly and reduced debt. They then sat on their cash and were ready to pounce quickly when opportunities presented themselves. We have no idea how long this crisis will last but if it is protracted, cash will be king as we come out of it and value will be there to be had.

7 Use the temporary downtime wisely

I participated in a webinar this week for conference speakers from around the world.

Cancellations are our new temporary reality, which releases some downtime for research and writing. If you have unplanned downtime, what can you do with it? What about organising that training programme you have been parking?

The last word

In addition to this crisis, there is another reality in our world. Every spurt of economic growth is followed by a downturn.

Weve had a global economic boom for the last 10 years. You need to listen to senior economists and form your own view of where the world is right now, regardless of the virus.

Dont bury your head in the sand or wait for your trade association to lobby for support. You are the master of your own destiny so control your controllables and plan for the uncontrollables.
(Natural News) In recent months, the coronavirus pandemic  originating from Wuhan, China  has been taking the world by storm with more cases being reported daily. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently announced that there are more than 118,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide and that 4,291 have lost their lives to the infectious disease. According to Tedros, the WHO expects to see the number of cases and deaths climb even higher in the weeks ahead. Because of this, healthy-minded people are looking into ways to strengthen their bodys immune system in an attempt to find some sort of protection against the novel coronavirus.

How do you protect yourself against coronavirus?

COVID-19 is a flu-like disease caused by a member of the coronavirus family that is closely related to the SARS and MERS viruses that have caused outbreaks in the past. The disease is caused by a virus designated as SARS-CoV-2 by the Coronavirus Study Group (CSG) of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. COVID, on the other hand, is short for coronavirus disease. Those with confirmed cases reported symptoms such as coughing, fever and shortness of breath. However, severe cases of COVID-19 can lead to pneumonia and death.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released guidelines on simple ways to prevent illness by limiting exposure to the virus. However, boosting the immune system can also help the body fight off infections like the coronavirus. Below you can find a few science-backed, natural ways that can provide adequate protection against the novel coronavirus pandemic. (Related: Natural ways to boost your immunity as coronavirus spreads.)

Elderberry

Elderberry is considered one of the most used medicinal plants in the world and has become a popular supplementary food against symptoms of the flu and common cold. While there are many species of elderberry, Sambucus nigra is often used for medicinal purposes due to the many health benefits it provides. However, Health Impact News reported that buying a prepared formula made with S. nigra is better than making your own from fresh berries. This is because elderberry contains natural toxins called cyanogenic glycosides which can cause vomiting, nausea, cramps and diarrhea.

Recent research has established that elderberry could reduce the effects of the common cold and influenza. A study done by researchers from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem enrolled patients who exhibited flu-like symptoms and asked them to take 15 milliliters (mL) of elderberry syrup four times a day for a testing period of five days. Their findings revealed that those who took the elderberry syrup recovered four days earlier than participants who took regular flu medications or a placebo.

Furthermore, another study, published in the journal Nutrients, gave 312 economy class passengers a 300 milligram (mg) dose of elderberry extract three times per day. The researchers found that passengers who got sick during the flight experienced much tamer symptoms and had shorter periods of illness, suggesting a significant reduction in cold duration and severity.

Colloidal Silver

Colloidal silver products are popular among holistic health circles and are touted as an effective antibacterial agent. However, recent studies have shown that colloidal silver can handle infectious viruses as well. In a study published in the Journal of Nanotechnology, a research team comprising of members from the University of Texas and Mexico University in Nuevo Leon found that silver nanoparticles could kill HIV-1 and other types of viruses in only three hours. The team incubated HIV-1 virus samples at 37 C and observed that the silver nanoparticle-preparations they tested eliminated 100 percent of the virus.

There are also studies that focused on the efficacy of colloidal silver against respiratory viruses similar to the novel coronavirus. A study published in the International Journal of Nanomedicine found that silver nanoparticles reduced the viral infectivity of human parainfluenza virus type 3. Researchers from the University of Naples theorized that silver is capable of doing so by blocking the interaction of the virus with the cell.

Vitamin C Supplements

Vitamin C is an essential vitamin, meaning that the body cannot produce it on its own and it must be gained from external sources. However, the vitamin plays many roles that promote overall health. A large portion of the world, especially in Asia and continental Europe, consider Vitamin C as a potent antiviral agent. Health Impact News reported that China has conducted several clinical trials that involved the intravenous application of vitamin C to treat patients with coronavirus.

While vitamin C has not been tested against coronavirus until recently, previous research has already established its effectiveness against other types of viral infections, such as influenza. A study conducted by researchers from the Seoul National University College of Medicine looked into the anti-viral immune response of vitamin C and found that it exhibits responses even at early times of influenza virus infections through the increased production of the antiviral cytokine interferon (IFN)-a/B.

Following safety precaution guidelines and even quarantining people can be effective ways to reduce the spread of coronavirus. However, these methods do not help in the event of coming into contact with the virus itself. Because of this, strengthening your immune system using natural ways should be considered as a viable and effective prevention protocol to keep yourself safe from the pandemic.

Sources include:

HealthImpactNews.com

WHO.int 1

WHO.int 2

Khou.com

Symptoma.com

CDC.gov

Healthline.com

MDPI.com

Phys.org

DovePress.com

ClinicalTrials.gov

ImmuneNetwork.org
Heidi Klum Unable to Get Coronavirus Test, Is Feeling Feverish at Home

Supermodel Heidi Klum wrote to her millions of social media followers that she has been sick for days and is unable to get tested for the new coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19.

In an update, the 46-year-old said she was staying at home so she wouldnt potentially infect anyone else.

Hi, everyone, I just wanted you to know why I have not been sitting in my Americas Got Talent seat, Klum said. It started all with like a chill, feeling feverish, cough, runny nose. Im just not feeling good, so thats why Ive stayed home, to not infect any other people.

The model said she couldnt get a test for the virus, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, despite several attempts.

I hope its just a cold. I would love to do the corona test, but there just isnt one here, she said. I tried with two different doctors, and I just cant get one.

Several members of Congress have highlighted the lack of testing in recent days.

There are frustrations with the testing, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), the chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, told reporters on Thursday. We are going to haveand I suspect are having, and I think they alluded to it in therea supply chain problem, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said.

Shoppers browse barren shelves at a supermarket in Larchmont, N.Y. on Friday, March 13, 2020. (John Minchillo/AP Photo)

Klums remarks came after Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks confirmed that both he and his wife, Rita Wilson, contracted the virus in Australia.

Hello, folks. @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, the actor wrote last week on Instagram.

His statement continued: 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.

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the United States has confirmed more than 2,900 cases of the virus as well as 57 deaths. Around 40 deaths have been confirmed in Washington state.

The virus sickened tens of thousands of people in mainland China before spreading to more than 100 other countries. Some critics have said the communist regime failed to stop the spread of the mysterious new virus because it jailed and silenced doctors who had initially reported on its highly contagious nature.
France is on stage 3 alert in battle against coronavirus

Highest level of alert; closure of all places not essential to the public life announced.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and Director General of Health Jerome Salomon, announced new precautions to keep the coronavirus from spreading.

Salomon said France would be moving to Stage 3 of emergency preparedness to battle the coronavirus. "We must now do everything to delay, to slow down, to clip this epidemic curve," he said.

"WE MUST CHANGE OUT BEHAVIOR"

Philippe said as of midnight Saturday, all "places receiving the public" that are "not essential to the life of the country" will be shuttered until further notice. Restaurants, and cafes -- staples of French culture -- will need to close, along with cinemas and nightclubs.

"It is urgent, it is now that we must change our behavior," he said.

Public transport will operate throughout France, but the Philippe asked that it be used in a limited capacity  for work and only if there is a need to be there in person.

Philippe feels the public must take curbing the disease more seriously in its day-to-day conduct, urging the nation to "avoid gathering as much as possible, limit friendly and family gatherings" and to leave home only to shop for essentials or to exercise.
Sometimes, hackers will literally just walk through your door. That appears to be the case at Melbourne Polytechnic, and security lapses at Alinta Energy could allow the same to have happened there.

Authorities were quick to blame the reckless Hong Kong owners of Australian energy giant Alinta Energy after privacy concerns of its 1.1 million customers, but a subsequently disclosed breach  of over 50,000 staff and students at one of Melbournes largest vocational schools  is a reminder that even domestic security is being regularly compromised.

Inside the Melbourne Polytechnic breach

Technical and further education provider Melbourne Polytechnic disclosed that it had been hit by a highly complex data breach sometime between September and December 2018, with Victoria Police notifying the university of the breach in October 2019 after an extensive investigation.

The training institute  which, ironically, counts cybersecurity courses amongst its catalogue  wrote to around 55,000 staff, students, and suppliers to warn them that cybercriminals may have compromised information including their Melbourne Polytechnic email username and password, drivers license, passport details, banking details, tax file number, and superannuation details.

Health information was also said to have been compromised, with the university advising that it is unlikely that this information will be able to be used to undertake further criminal activity but offering counselling for concerned members of the community.

Security consultants rate healthcare information as being extremely valuable online, further corroborating efforts to build exploitable victim profiles for identity theft.

Yet with more than 50,000 staff and student emails potentially compromised, resale of healthcare data is only one of several potential consequences from the breach.

Such information provides fresh fodder for credential-stuffing attacks  in which Melbourne Polytechnic access details could be used both to try accessing victims accounts on other cloud-based services, and to access institutional email accounts that could be used to reset passwords on related services.

Alint Energy skimps on controls to protect privacy

The Melbourne Polytechnic breach highlights the continuing exposure many companies have to compromise  and comes on the heels of revelations that major energy supplier Alinta Energy has not been implementing suitable controls to protect the privacy of its customers.

The company  which collects and stores personal details including contact details, birth dates, Medicare and passport numbers, credit card details and health information  failed many key elements of a June 2019 privacy compliance audit by EY, according to an investigation by the Sydney Morning Herald, Melbourne Age, and ABCs 7.30.

Despite the requirements that Australias Privacy Act places on companies to protect personally identifiable information (PII), EY warned that the energy giant lacked appropriate internal oversight and doesnt meet the requirements of privacy laws.

The company, a leaked EY report warned, takes an ad hoc approach to retention and deletion of [PII], the transfer of sensitive information resulting in business areas developing their own approach to managing privacy which, at times, doesnt consider all PI or doesnt met the requirements of privacy laws.

Most of the companys business areas were not aware of policies governing data retention, disposal and de-identification, EY concluded.

Many intrusions take easy advantage of poor security, with long-term consequences

The unveiling of Alinta Energys inadequate privacy practices highlights the extent to which many organisations continue to offer themselves to hackers on a silver platter  a shortcoming that was also noted in the Melbourne Polytechnic case.

Far from the common image of malicious hackers surreptitiously breaking into target networks under cover of night, forensic analysis of the breach suggested that the perpetrator simply walked onto the Melbourne Polytechnic and began using one of its networked computers.

The extended timeframe of the breach  some 18 months passed between the beginning of the period of potential compromise and disclosure of the breach, and notification of affected individuals this month  means those individuals data has likely been diffused far and wide online, most likely for sale.

IT administration staff reset the passwords of affected users after being notified of the breach  but the gap between the hack and its disclosure to Melbourne Polytechnic meant that affected accounts were left exposed throughout most of 2019.

The institute does not know whether the data taken in the breach has been used for malicious purposes, but has directed victims to national identity theft and cyber support service IDCare to learn how to manage the potential impacts of the breach.

Police have charged an individual over Melbourne Polytechnic breach, with the case expected to go to trial later this year.
OSLO, March 13 (Reuters) - Travellers from countries outside the Nordics arriving at the Norwegian capital's main airport will not be admitted into the country, the municipality where the airport is located said on Friday.

"Foreign travellers from countries outside the Nordics arriving at Oslo airport will have to return home," Ullensaker municipality said on its website, citing new restrictions from the government and Norwegian health authorities.

Norwegians arriving at Gardermoen airport, located outside Oslo, will immediately be sent home into quarantine. (Reporting by Victoria Klesty; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
The EU on Sunday imposed restrictions on exports of masks and other protective medical equipment as it seeks to protect its own supplies for the fight against the coronavirus epidemic.

Announcing the measure in an online video, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also warned that EU countries imposing border checks were threatening supply chains and increasing the risks of shortages.

The move came as Germany became the latest EU country to partially close its borders, halting crossings from France, Austria and Switzerland as of Monday in a bid to slow the spread of COVID-19.

"We adopted today an export authorisation scheme for protective equipment. This means that such medical goods can only be exported to non-EU countries with the explicit authorisation of the EU governments," von der Leyen said.

"This is the right thing to do because we need that equipment for our healthcare systems."

The restrictions apply to a range of equipment including masks, as well as protective glasses and visors, face shields, mouth-nose protection and protective garments.

The ruling will apply to Britain, which is still in its post-Brexit "transition" as it leaves the EU, and will therefore continue to receive EU exports of gear and be expected not to export beyond the bloc.

Von der Leyen stressed the need for EU countries to share equipment among themselves, hitting out at national export bansimposed notably by France and Germanyas counterproductive.

Earlier in the day, internal market commissioner Thierry Breton said that following "intense discussions" with Berlin and Paris, they had agreed to allow exports, in particular to Italy, Europe's worst affected country.

Production of protective equipment in the bloc is concentrated in a few countriesthe Czech republic, France, Germany and Poland.

Von der Leyen said the commission was working with industry to boost production and would launch a joint procurement programme with national governments on Monday for coronavirus testing kits and ventilators for treating seriously ill patients.

Supply chain warning

With Europe now the epicentre of the pandemic, the EU has been ramping up its efforts to coordinate the fight against the virus across all its 27 members.

Von der Leyen on Friday vowed to do "whatever is necessary" to help Italy, which has seen nearly 12,000 infections and more than 1,400 deaths.

As panicky shoppers stripped supermarket shelves bare of some products in several member states, she warned that the EU's internal market must keep flowing.

"Thousands of bus and truck drivers are stranded at internal borders on parking lots, creating more health risks and disrupting our supply chains," she said.

"If we do not take action now, shops will start facing difficulties in refilling their stocks of certain products coming from elsewhere in the single market."

She spoke as Germany, the EU's economic powerhouse, joined a raft of other nations in restricting border crossings.

While the German measures currently only apply to three countries, other neighbouring countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Denmark have also closed their borders or introduced severe restrictions.

And Estonia and Lithuania said Saturday they will shut their borders to most foreign visitors.

"In this moment of crisis it is of utmost importance to keep our internal market going," von der Leyen said.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2020 AFP
The Fisheries Commission (FC) has advised the Ghana National Canoe Fishermen Council (GNCFC) to impress upon their members to register their canoes before January 2021.



According to the Commission, no unregistered canoe would be allowed to register after the stipulated time period.



The move is to help streamline operations in the fishing industry.



Madam Rebecca Sackey-Mensah, an officer with the Marine Fisheries Management Division in Accra, said this when she addressed canoe owners and other stakeholders in the fishing industry.



This was part of the Western Regional Fisher to Fisher dialogue held at Agona-Nkwanta in the Ahanta-West municipality.



The meeting, which had earlier taken place in Sekondi and Axim, was under the auspices of the GNCFC and the Fisheries Commission; and funded by USAID.



Madam Sackey-Mensah warned canoe fishers that with effect from 1 January 2021, no unregistered canoe would be allowed to go to sea.



She said 15,000 canoes have so far been registered nation-wide with 3,600 out of 4562 registered in the Western Region.



She urged Chief Fishermen in the Western Region to ensure that their members provided accurate data to be able to access their cards.



She said the card would deal with issues affecting the supply and acquisition of pre-mix fuel and cautioned that those who have not registered their cards would not be supplied with pre-mix fuel.



Madam Sackey-Mensah also urged canoe owners to furnish the Chief fishermen with vital information to complete their cards.



Nana Emmanuel Odwire, the Western Regional Chairman of the GNCFC, advised Canoe owners to register with the council to fight the common cause.



He asked the Council to take contributions and raise funds to organize programmes instead of relying on Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) alone for sponsorship.



Prof Godfrey Baidoo-Tsibu, the Western Regional Director of Fisheries, called on fishermen to use the approved processes to catch their stocks.



He said the Commission received reports of two serious cases of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) two weeks ago which resulted in the death of one and the amputation of one arm of the other.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Hyderabad, March 15 : Hyderabad's famous Salar Jung Museum was Sunday closed for a week following the shutdown ordered by the state government as a precautionary measure to contain possible spread of coronavirus.

The museum authorities announced that the museum will remain closed till March 21. The announcement came hours after the state cabinet decided to declare holidays for all educational institutions and banned public gatherings.

The government announced closure of cinema halls, pubs, bars, clubs, gyms, swimming pools, museums, zoo parks, indoor and outdoor stadiums.

Popular as the world's largest one-man collection of antiques, the museum located on the banks of Musi river is considered a must on the itinerary of tourists.

Every day 3,000 to 4,000 people visit the museum and on weekends and holidays the numbers go up to 6,000.
Seoul, March 15 : The coronavirus outbreak in South Korea, which has infected 8,162 people and killed 75 as of Sunday, has rattled the country's political scenario ahead of the April 15 parliamentary elections, changing the way candidates campaign and shifting the overall focus to how the government has handled the pandemic.

Experts have said that the outcome of the elections was widely expected to depend on the government's response to the outbreak as the current assessment was sharply divided between supporters of the ruling Democratic Party and opposition parties, the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported.

The outbreak in the country, which was first reported on January 20, has not only halted conventional election campaigning but also taken away voters' interests from political parties' election pledges and candidates, the Yonhap report said.

As the government calls for the "social distancing" drive to stem the spread of the virus, the familiar scenes of election campaigning -- meeting voters, shaking hands and public speeches -- are no longer being seen in South Korean politics.

Abandoning face-to-face contacts with voters, preliminary candidates for the elections are focusing on online electioneering and doing coronavirus-related volunteer work.

Two high-profile politicians who will contest in Jongno in central Seoul, a symbolic constituency in Korean politics, are no exception.

Former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and Hwang Kyo-ahn, chief of the main opposition United Future Party (UFP), have sprayed antiseptic in Jongno as volunteer work in recent weeks.

Ahn Cheol-soo, chief of a minor party, travelled to the hardest-hit southeastern city of Daegu earlier this month to do medical volunteer work for 15 days. Ahn has a medical doctor's license.

Meanwhile, the DP has appealed for voters to lend support to the government's drive to fight the coronavirus and minimize the economic impact of the pandemic, said the Yonhap News Agency .

"The early overcoming of the COVID-19 situation and emergency responses to the economic crisis are the way to stage election campaigning and tide over the national difficulty," DP chairman Lee Hae-chan said at a party meeting Saturday.

The party has called for increasing an extra budget worth 11.7 trillion won ($9) by another 6 trillion won.

The main opposition UFP, meanwhile, highlighted what it called the government's failure to contain the coronavirus at the early stage of the outbreak, the report said.

The conservative party has condemned the government's reluctance to impose an entry ban on Chinese and the bungled supply of face masks to the public.

In a recent survey on 1,001 people by Gallup Korea, 43 per cent of the respondents said they want the ruling party to be victorious in the election. Those who think more opposition candidates should be elected also accounted for 43 per cent.

Political analysts said the outbreak was likely to dent the voting rate as voters may refrain from visiting polling stations on infection concerns.

The voter turnout for the 2016 parliamentary elections was 58 per cent.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 15, 2020 15:17 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206ac9470 1 National Jokowi,Wuhan-coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,COVID-19,coronavirus,outbreak,outbreak-in-Indonesia,pandemic Free

President Joko Jokowi Widodo has called on all Indonesians to practice what epidemiologists call social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

Under the current conditions, its time for us to work from home, study from home and worship at home, Jokowi said at a press conference at Bogor Palace in West Java on Sunday. Its time for us to work together, to help each other, to unite and cooperate. We want this to be a community movement, so that the COVID-19 problem can be addressed to the fullest.

As of Sunday afternoon, Indonesia has announced 117 confirmed COVID-19 cases, five of which have ended deadly. Regional heads in a number of areas  including Jakarta, Banten and West Java  have decided to temporarily close schools and public areas in an effort to contain the coronavirus.

Jokowi said he would leave the decision whether or not to declare a state of emergency up to the respective regional head.

As a large country and an archipelago, the spread of COVID-19 varies from region to region, he said. Therefore, I ask all governors, regents and mayors to continue to monitor their respective regions and consult with medical experts and the National Disaster Mitigation Agency [BNPB] to determine the emergency level in their regions.

He added that the government guaranteed it had enough stocks of staple goods to meet everyones needs.

We have also prepared economic incentives, as has been announced by the Coordinating Economic Minister, so that the business world can carry on as usual, he said.

Jokowi said that while Transportation Minister Budi Karya had tested positive for the virus, the rest of the Cabinet would continue to work hard to address the effects of the pandemic.

I ask all the people of Indonesia to stay calm, not to panic, to stay productive and to be more alert, so that we can slow down and stop the spread of COVID-19, he said. (kmt)
Israel's president on Sunday summoned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his challenger, Benny Gantz, to an emergency meeting in hopes of breaking the deadlock that has paralyzed the political system for the past year and could threaten the country's response to the coronavirus crisis.

President Reuven Rivlin announced the meeting after a day of consultations with the country's political parties ahead of his decision on who should lead Israel's next government.

With rival sides evenly divided following the country's third inconclusive election in under a year, a unity government may be the only way out of the deadlock, which comes as the government confronts an increasingly serious coronavirus threat.

The president is responsible for designating the candidate he thinks has the best chance of being able to form a government by securing a parliamentary majority.

That task has been complicated by the results of the March 2 election. Netanyahu's Likud party emerged as the largest single party, but short of a 61-seat parliamentary majority with its allies of smaller religious and nationalist parties.

Netanyahu's opponents, representing a slim 62-seat majority, recommended to Rivlin on Sunday that Gantz be named the prime minister-designate. However, the opposition is deeply fragmented with the predominantly Arab Joint List and the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu among them giving Gantz slim odds of being able to cobble together a government.

Yisrael Beitenu's leader, Avigdor Lieberman, and two members of Gantz's own Blue and White, say they will refuse to be part of a government that relies on support from the Joint List. Another lawmaker originally supportive of Gantz has refused to endorse either side.

Lieberman told the president that he supports Gantz, but also called for the formation of an emergency unity government to deal with the coronavirus threat.

Netanyahu, in his caretaker role, has invited Gantz to join him in an emergency government. Gantz has left the door open to such an arrangement, but also dismissed the offers as insincere.

Facing a difficult decision, Rivlin summoned the two men to his residence late Sunday in hopes of breaking the deadlock. Earlier, he implored for a power-sharing unity deal.

Anyone who has watched the in recent days understands that this is a time of trial, and that these are not regular consultations, he said. We must now deal with forming a government as soon as possible ... at this complex time. Over the past week, the coronavirus scare has overshadowed the country's precarious political standoff which comes as Netanyahu prepares to go on trial for corruption charges.

Netanyahu got an important reprieve on Sunday when the Jerusalem court handling the case postponed his trial for two months because of restrictions connected to the coronavirus outbreak.

Netanyahu was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday to face charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in connection to a series of scandals. But following the emergency health measures the government enacted restricting the gathering of people in public places, the court announced that it was pushing back the hearing until May 24.

Netanyahu is accused of receiving expensive gifts from wealthy friends and offering to exchange favors with powerful media moguls. The long-ruling Israeli leader denies any wrongdoing and says he is the victim of a media-orchestrated witch hunt.

Netanyahu's lawyers had previously appealed for a delay, saying they needed more time to review evidence. But it was swiftly rejected on the grounds that the March 17 hearing was a procedural reading of the charges only and that the defendant's response was not needed.

However, after Netanyahu announced a new series of coronavirus-related restrictions late Saturday, including the barring of gatherings of more than 10 people, the Justice Ministry announced a state of emergency in the courts as well.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that it would not surprise him "at all" if schools in his state did not reopen this school year due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The big picture: DeWine on Thursday became the first governor in the country to announce that all public and private schools in his state would close for three weeks or more.

DeWine explained that while students may not be as hard hit by the virus, they could act as carriers and infect more vulnerable members of society, such as grandparents or parents with underlying conditions.

There are currently at least 26 reported cases of coronavirus in Ohio.

What he's saying:

"Look, the projections  and again, this is all projections. I'm just going by what medical experts are telling us. You know, this may not peak until, you know, the latter part of April or May. So we've informed the superintendents, while we've closed schools for three weeks, that the odds are this is going to go on a lot longer and it would not surprise me at all if schools did not open again this [school] year."

 Mike DeWine
The Assam government on Sunday ordered shutting down of educational institutions, gymnasiums, swimming pools and cinema halls with immediate effect till March 29 in the wake of novel coronavirus outbreak.

Assam Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna, addressing a press conference here said, "Even though no positive case has been detected in the state so far, we are taking all precautionary measures."



He said barring board examinations, all exams scheduled till the specified date have been cancelled.

"All programmes scheduled at government auditoriums have also been cancelled. We hope those owned by private firms will also follow," he said.

The chief secretary said all the deputy commissioners have been asked to discourage any public gathering in their districts.

He said the state government is fully equipped to handle any crisis arising out of the pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Following a public meeting at the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in November 2019, a handful of drug makers sent comments and suggestions to the agency on how to reorganize and improve the Office of New Drugs (OND). Some of the companies to submit suggestions include: Pfizer, Amgen, Sanofi, Regeneron, and Janssen.

The comments include a variety of suggestions, with some focused on applying guidance consistently, others on novel clinical trial designs, and still others on better communications and guidance from the Agency about expectations.

Guidance Inconsistencies

For example, in its comments, Pfizer noted that the 1995 ICH E1A guideline specifies that 100 patients exposed for a minimum of one year is considered to be acceptable to include as part of the safety database, but that there is wide variation in actual expectations across divisions. Pfizer also noted that it has seen/experienced inconsistencies around waiving the collection/submission of non-serious adverse events for drugs that have a well characterized safety profile, as outlined in the 2012 Agency guidance, Safety Reporting Requirements for INDs and BA/BE Studies.

Sanofi also touched upon inconsistencies in its comment, noting, Often, due to lack of a broader line of sight into FDA decisional points or feedback, or other comparator data, companies rely on anecdotal experience to gauge and anticipate differences between review divisions. This approach can be susceptible to bias and misinterpretation. Broader, more holistic analysis of performance metrics and regulatory decisions can provide a more objective assessment of consistencies and differences in regulatory review.

Novel Clinical Trial Designs

In its comments, Amgen discussed how the Complex Innovative Trial Designs pilot is a good opportunity to address issues related to novel designs. However, more timely and iterative FDA advice is needed. Approaches taken for various aspects of innovative trials may be untried and require rapid feedback from FDA to reduce sponsor risk. Amgen also noted that advice from different regulators around the world on innovative trial designs can be different, or even conflict, and that difference can increase uncertainty of a company around pursuing an innovative approach.

Guidance from the Agency

In its comments, Janssen called on the FDA and OND to facilitate more quick and informal communications with sponsors. The comments cited back to a specific instance where during a review of a combination product using a suppliers 510(k)-cleared needle safety device, Janssen received an information request to justify not conducting simulated use testing. However, as simulated use testing had already been submitted in the suppliers 510(k) and referenced in the biologics license application (BLA), Janssen was unclear what additional information the agency was requesting. Eventually, the ambiguity was resolved in a Type C meeting, but an informal meeting could have quickly provided the necessary guidance.

Amgen commented that accumulated FDA experience could provide helpful insights to sponsors and should be shared more quickly and broadly. Amgen made the recommendation that the FDA share current case examples and information from its implementation experience by publishing FAQs or a Q&A section on FDAs webpage associated with specific guidance. Such a change would allow for more timely updates with current information for sponsors to consider as FDAs knowledge and experience develops.

Conclusion

PhRMA also submitted comments and asked FDA to provide additional guidance on a handful of topics, including novel data sources, simulation and analysis, novel clinical trial designs, and novel statistical methods.

There were other comments made focused on different parts of the OND reorganization. If you are interested in reading more about the comments, they can be found here.
Bhopal, March 15 : The Madhya Pradesh BJP on Sunday issued a whip to all its MLAs to remain present in the House during the Assembly session that begins on Monday.

The MLAs have been asked to vote in favour of the party during the trust vote.

The whip was issued by BJP chief whip and MLA Narottam Mishra.

The BJP MLAs are currently lodged at a resort in Gurugram in Haryana.

Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon has directed Chief Minister Kamal Nath to seek a trust vote in the assembly soon after his address on March 16.

On Saturday, the Madhya Pradesh Congress Legislature Party issued a whip to all its MLAs to remain present in the Assembly from March 16 to April 13 during the budget session, and vote for the government.

The whip was issued by Congress chief whip and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Govind Singh.
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.
SOFIA, March 15 (Reuters) - Bulgaria will ban incoming flights from Italy and Spain as of midnight (2200 GMT) on March 17 as part of measures to contain the spread of coronavirus, its transport minister said.

Rosen Zheliazkov said on Sunday that Bulgarians who wanted to return home from these countries would have Monday and Tuesday to do so and would face 14 days quarantine.

He said the Balkan country, on the gateway between Asia and Europe, will ensure the free transport of goods and escort heavy trucks that need to pass through its territory. (Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; Editing by Alexander Smith)
Faced by the increasing threat of COVID-19 spread, the Army is to track down a group of Sri Lankans who had arrived from Italy and evaded quarantine, a top official said on Sunday.

They had arrived between March 1-9 and allegedly escaped the quarantine process where they ought to have travelled from the Colombo international airport to the quarantine centre in the eastern district of Batticaloa.

Sri Lanka Army has taken over the quarantine process of the returnees.

"One of the ways in which the Army ensures national security is guaranteeing the safety of citizens. Our work in the quarantine process in such action," Army chief Gen Shavendra Silva told reporters.

He said the military intelligence will be deployed to track down the escapees.

There are over 1,700 people in quarantine right now with 10 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

All passengers from 11 countries are now being quarantined, airport officials said. All flights to Sri Lanka from the UK, Norway and Belgium are suspended.

The Civil Aviation Authority also announced the closing down of the Jaffna international airport operations in view of the threat. Jaffna operates flights to Chennai.

The Catholic church has cancelled its Sunday masses for two weeks. Tomorrow has been declared a special holiday to minimise public gatherings. Already all public events have been cancelled.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Health officials have confirmed a case of COVID-19 in Sangamon County.

The Illinois Department of Public Health said a 71-year-old woman who went Thursday to the emergency room of Memorial Medical Center tested positive for coronavirus. She was in critical condition Saturday in the hospitals intensive care unit, according to the hospital.
Things have been changing very rapidly in Gibraltar this week, as the government keeps up to date with developments regarding the coronavirus situation.

On Wednesday, the government advised those over 70 and anyone with chronic health conditions to keep their movements in public to a minimum. It also began to send COVID-19 statistics every afternoon by text message to all mobile phone users in Gibraltar.

Abortion referendum postponed

On Thursday it was announced that the referendum on changing the abortion law in Gibraltar, which had been due to take place on 19 March, was to be postponed.

On Thursday bars, restaurants and nightclubs were also told that they had to close by 8pm, but this proved ineffective and two days later it was announced that all catering establishments were to close altogether, with the exception of the airport and hotels. However, hotels are only permitted to cater for people who are staying there.

Many of Gibraltars tourist attractions are closed now, and all visits from cruise ships have been stopped.

Bus service

One measure which was introduced early was to ban those aged 60+ from using the local bus service, in order to protect the elderly who are at risk from the illness. This is about to change. With effect from Monday 16 March, only schoolchildren may use the bus services, which have already been scaled down. An adult accompanying a schoolchild may also use the bus service, but only if they are under the age of 60. Bus drivers are required to check identification to ensure that passengers are complying with this regulation.

Religious services are no longer being held in places of worship.

Spanish lockdown

On Saturday evening, following the Spanish governments decree to declare a State of Alarm, the Gibraltar government issued a statement calling on: All Gibraltarians resident in Spain and  all cross frontier workers to familiarise themselves with the terms of the said Decree and the effect that the restrictions on movement might have on them".

New self-isolation guidelines The Gibraltar government has updated its information about who needs to self-isolate immediately. In a statement, it says: The Director for Public Health has advised new criteria for self-isolation. If you have any of the following symptoms you should immediately go home and self-isolate for 10 days. Please call 111 as soon as you can to tell us about your symptoms and a dedicated infection control practitioner will guide you from there. The symptoms to look out for are fever, cough, shortness of breath, nasal congestion or a runny nose. Remember, most people who are not in a vulnerable category will experience mild symptoms and will recover well at home. At this critical time, it is important that we do all we can to support our healthcare workers by following their advice, staying at home and not going to the hospital or Primary Care Centre with these symptoms unless specifically instructed to do so. This could save the life of someone you love. "If your symptoms last longer than 10 days or get worse during the 10 days, please call 111 again or call a GP for advice so that medical staff can help you. "After the 10 days, if you feel well and no longer have a high temperature, you can go back to your normal routine. It is important to know that coughs might last for several weeks after the COVID-19 infection has cleared. As long as you no longer have a fever after 10 days, there is no need for you to stay self-isolated.

The statement continued, "Additionally, cross frontier workers are recommended to check with their employers to determine whether their places of work will be operating on Monday at all. The Government of Gibraltar has made further statements on restrictions of businesses in the catering trade which will impact many frontier workers.

"Noting the terms of the said Decree, Her Majestys Government of Gibraltar therefore recommends that residents of Gibraltar should not travel into Spain, on foot, in a vehicle or by any other means, unless such travel is for essential purposes. All Gibraltarians who need to visit Spain for reasons which are essential, should also familiarise themselves with the terms of the State of Emergency declared in that country.

The chief minister, Fabian Picardo, said the Gibraltar government was clarifying with Spanish colleagues that people coming to work in Gibraltar could continue to do so in the normal way. There have been no further updates on this issue since then.

Avoid travel to Spain

Regarding the Spanish lockdown, he went on to say about the measures: We must respect them and as a neighbour we must assist them in these measures having the required effect. We should entirely avoid travelling to Spain for any reason if it is not essential, and, if in Spain, any Gibraltarian must ensure we adhere to the terms of the decree. the virus knows no frontiers, and we will continue our own work, based on our Public Health professionals advice, to implement the best plan for Gibraltar to slow down the inevitable spread of the virus in Gibraltar and in that way help the most vulnerable in our community.

From midnight on Sunday there was a complete ban on all military personnel resident in Gibraltar from travelling to Spain, issued by the Commander British Forces Gibraltar.

At present, all schools in Gibraltar remain open. The government has taken advice from Public Health professionals and it is deemed safer to keep children in school and away from other public spaces and contact with the elderly and vulnerable as much as possible. This situation is being reviewed on a daily basis.
New Delhi: As many as 234 Indians who were among the people stranded in Iran amid the coronavirus outbreak have arrived in India. A Mahan Air flight carrying the Indians onboard landed in Delhi at 3:10 am on March 15. Among the 234 people, 131 of them are students and the rest are pilgrims.

"234 Indians stranded in Iran have arrived in India; including 131 students and 103 pilgrims. Thank you Ambassador @dhamugaddam (Dhamu Gaddam) and @India_in_Iran team for your efforts. Thank Iranian authorities," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar tweeted today, thanking the Iranian authorities for facilitating the evacuations of Indians.

In another development, a special Air India flight carrying 211 Indian students, who were stuck in Italy after flights were cancelled due to coronavirus outbreak, departed for India on Saturday and will be arriving in the national capital at around 10:30 am today. The flight which took off from Milan also has seven compassionate cases.

"211 students & 7 compassionate cases departed by AI flight #Milan. All those who helped us through this difficult situation, special thanks to @airindiain team & Italian authorities. Consulate will continue to ensure the welfare of all Indians in northern #Italy," Indian Consulate in Milan tweeted.

The evacuation by India was carried out after the World Health Organisation declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and said that Europe is the new epicentre of the lethal virus.

Iran is among the worst affected country from the coronavirus with 12,729 cases and 611 deaths so far. Italy, on the other hand, has reported 175 deaths from coronavirus, raising the toll to 1,411. Earlier, Air India had announced the cancellation of all flights to Kuwait and Italy till April 30.

In the past few days, India has carried out several evacuations of Indians nationals from countries like China, Japan and Iran as the number of cases of Coronavirus continue to rise in these countries.
Miami (AFP) - In the living room of her Miami home, Cuban-American Carmen Pelaez is losing patience with Bernie Sanders.

She wants the progressive Vermont senator to drop out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination before her state, Florida, votes on Tuesday along with three others.

But Sanders, though he has fallen seriously behind former vice president Joe Biden, insists he is not giving up. And so a frustrated Pelaez finds herself shouting at her TV screen.

"Why is he staying in?" the 48-year-old artist demands to know. "For the four votes he's going to get in Florida?"

Pelaez, a filmmaker, writer and actor, was born in the United States to Cuban parents. The demographic of the parents' generation -- made up of people who fled the repressive communist regime of the Castros in Cuba -- traditionally has leaned strongly Republican.

But Pelaez, unlike her family, says she is a "die-hard Democrat" who cast an early vote for the progressive Elizabeth Warren before she dropped out of the race.

She is now backing the moderate Biden, who she sees as the ideal candidate to defeat Donald Trump in November.

She's wary of Sanders, who describes himself as a "democratic socialist" -- making him too radical in the eyes of many American voters.

That feeling is widespread in Florida's Hispanic community, with its large numbers of exiles not only from Cuba but from other socialist-run Latin American countries, including Venezuela and Nicaragua. For them, America's Democratic Party leans too far left.

Sanders did nothing to allay their doubts when he proved reluctant to declare Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro a "dictator" or when he told a TV interviewer last month that Fidel Castro had, at least, improved literacy rates in Cuba.

"He has always said good things about the Latin American dictators," Pelaez said. "That tells me that he doesn't see our humanity the same way as he sees the humanity of the Americans. Why should we deserve dictators?"

Story continues

"Every time Bernie opens his mouth and reaffirms his status as a socialist, it sends more Hispanic voters to Biden in Florida," Fernand Amandi, a Florida-based political consultant, told Politico.

The latest polls in that populous state give Biden a huge lead of 30 to 40 points over Sanders.

- Fears of socialism -

Those projections paint a bleak picture for Sanders, who is desperately in need of the state's 248 delegates to the party's nominating convention.

After losing another big state, Michigan, to Biden last week, the senator trails his rival by around 150 delegates in the race to amass the 1,991 needed to win the nomination outright.

In a speech Wednesday, Sanders said he was winning the "ideological debate" but acknowledged that he was "losing the debate over electability" -- that is, the all-important goal for many Democratic voters of finding the candidate best able to defeat Donald Trump.

The current consensus in the party points to Biden as the candidate best-positioned to achieve that goal.

Sanders's expected defeat in Florida -- he also trails in polls in Ohio, Illinois and Arizona, the other states voting Tuesday -- should put an end to his presidential hopes, for while his pro-immigrant language has attracted voters in some states, Florida's Hispanic community appears immune to it.

"The Hispanic voters of Florida are very familiar with Latin American socialist extremism and clearly see in Bernie Sanders a candidate who favors these regimes of the extreme left, which is totally incompatible with their values," conservative political analyst Giancarlo Sopo told AFP.

But not everyone agrees.

Andy Vila, a 21-year-old student who left Cuba at the age of six, is among the many young Americans who fervently support "Bernie," drawn by his proposals on health care and education.

Unlike many other exiled Hispanics, the word "socialism" does not fill him with dread.

"They want to use fear and intimidation to tell us that we can't vote for this candidate," he said.

Still, Vila says he harbors no illusions: Sanders is going to lose, and he knows it.

And at some point Vila believes Sanders will withdraw and throw his support to his erstwhile rival.

"I think Sanders is finally going to rejoin the battle against Trump because he understands which of the two (between Biden and Trump) is the greater danger," he said.

In any case, neither Biden nor Sanders appears to stand much chance of defeating Trump among Cuban-American voters in Florida, a crucially important state in the November elections.

According to a Telemundo poll, more than 70 percent of voters in the Cuban diaspora prefer Trump over either Democrat.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 15:23:29|Editor: huaxia

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SAN SALVADOR, March 15 (Xinhua) -- El Salvador's congress has declared a state of emergency and approved a raft of emergency measures aimed at containing the spread of novel coronavirus.

The measures restrict entry to and exit from the Cental American country for 30 days and allow the authorities to ban public gatherings.

Schools have been suspended across the country over coronavirus concerns.

The congress has given the government legal mechanisms to cope with the grave situation, congressional president Mario Ponce said after Saturday's vote.

El Salvador has not reported a single confirmed case of coronavirus to date.
A significant number of non-essential retailers are preparing to close their shops amid the Covid-19 restrictions in order to secure their longer-term viability. Essential stores are considered to be supermarkets and chemists in other countries with tighter restrictions.

A number of small fashion shops in Dublin closed on Friday, with more expected to follow in the coming days

Retailers reported a footfall drop of up to 90pc in the worst affected sectors.

David Fitzsimons, chief executive of representative group Retail Excellence, said the impact of the virus over the coming weeks would lead to fundamental changes in Irish retail and a significant number of permanent closures in the longer term.

"It's an incredibly challenged time for us," he told the Sunday Independent.

He said retailers were having to accept that temporary closures might be inevitable.

"In a time of crisis, nothing is off the table - the closure of all non-essential stores is something we need to consider," he said. "We believe retail trading is going to dissipate and get worse slowly over the next few weeks, so we need to look at things from a health and safety perspective but also in terms of guaranteeing business into the future."

He said the current crisis would lead to the biggest ever restructuring of the retail industry. "When we come out of this, the retail industry in Ireland will look completely different. Potentially we will have lost 10pc of our footprint," he said.

Fitzsimons added that by remaining open as trade deteriorates, retail jobs could be placed in jeopardy.

"A temporary lay-off and closure of the store will actually be a positive," he added.

Such a move would allow staff to go on social welfare, and reduce the health risks. For some, business interruption insurance could come into effect.

However, not all retailers would welcome a shutdown.

Fitzsimons says that on average he believed non-essential retail was down 35pc.

A letter from Retail Excellence to members said that many suppliers were helping retailers. "We are aware of many supportive suppliers who are significantly extending credit terms (120-180 days in some cases with the probability of further extensions), changing buying agreements to sale and return and many are offering significant contributions to mark-downs in preparation for the return of normality," it said.

However, it said commercial landlords had generally not yet offered flexibility.
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


The Investigation Agency (NIA) special court on Friday convicted Sri Lankan Arun Selvarajan for all the charges and sentenced him to five years of rigorous imprisonment with fine of Rs. 20,000 in connection with Thameem Ansari Espionage Case.

"The Case was originally registered on September 17, 2012, at Q Branch Police Station, Trichy, Tamil Nadu under section 3, 4 and 9 of Official Secrets Act read with section 120B of IPC after the arrest of Thameem Ansari, a native of Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu on September 16, 2012, for conducting espionage at the behest of Pakistan Intelligence officers led by accused Amir Zubair Siddique posted at the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo, as part of the conspiracy to carry out terrorist acts in India. NIA had re-registered the case 1st May 2013 and taken over the investigation," a press note from the NIA read.

"Later, accused Arun Selvarajan was arrested in this case on September 10, 2014, for engaging in similar espionage activities, at the behest of Pakistan Intelligence officers. The investigation had established that the accused persons Thameem Ansari and Arun Selvarajan pursuant to the conspiracy hatched with Pakistan intelligence officers had conducted espionage at various defence establishments and sensitive locations in the state and transmitted such classified information to Amir Zubair Siddique thereby threatening the sovereignty and security of India," the presser added.

NIA said that trial against Thameem Ansari continues.

"On March 6, 2015, a charge-sheet was filed against Thameem Ansari and Arun Selvarajan. Later, supplementary charge-sheet was filed against Arun Selvarajan on March 30, 2016. Charges were framed against Thameem Ansari and Arun Selvarajan on January 8, 2018, and trial had commenced on January 29, 2018. Accused Arun Selvarajn has now been convicted for all the charges against him. The trial against Thameem Ansari continues," the presser said.

The NIA further said that the investigation is continuing against the absconding accused Mohammed Anver Mohammed Siraj Ali native of Sri Lanka besides the Pakistan intelligence officer Amir Zubair Siddique and others.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A lawyer from Nigerias Niger-Delta region, Inibehe Effiong, has questioned the validity of President Muhammadu Buharis decision to present the Niger Delta Development Commissions (NDDC) budget without the active participation of its governing board

In an application filed on March 11 at a Federal High Court in Abuja and seen by PREMIUM TIMES on Friday, the lawyer wants the court to determine whether the existence of the commissions governing board is not a condition precedent for the creation of a budget document for the NDDC.

In his suit with the number, FHC/ABJ/CS/349/2020, Mr Effiong cited section 18 (1) of the act enabling the establishment of the Niger Delta Development Commission which states that its board shall submit through the President and Commander in Chief of the Federal Republic, a budget to the National Assembly for the next succeeding year.

Mr Effiong asked the court to determine whether the provisions of the section mentioned above does not invalidate the submission of the budget by President, Muhammdu Buhari without the constitutional involvement of the NDDCs governing board.

He requested the court to set aside the entire process that birthed the recently approved budget of the NDDC and restrain the interim management committee set up by President Buhari from exercising what Mr Effiong described as the powers exclusively preserved for the NDDCs governing board by its enabling act.

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Mr Effiong also described as unlawful, President Buharis inauguration of the Niger Delta development advisory committee in the absence of the governing board.

President Buhari sent the NDDCs 2019, 2020 budgetary allocation to the National Assembly on November 26, 2019 seeking its approval, without the inauguration of the approved board.

The lawmakers approved the budget earlier this month.

Appointing a substantive governing board for the NDDC has been enmeshed in political crisis as different leaders of the APC from the Niger Delta battle for control.

Nominees earlier sent to the Senate and approved by the lawmakers were opposed by the Minister of the Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio, who eventually had his way as Mr Buhari later dropped the nominees.

The president in February set up a committee to monitor the NDDC and later appointed a new interim management for the agency.




Haiti - News : Zapping...





Cap-Haitien : seized of weapons several suspects

Saturday, following the seizure of weapons at the Port of Cap-Haitien Wednesday morning https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-20433-icihaiti-security-drug-seizure-the-blts-not-idle.html , the General Directorate of Customs informed that customs agents and agents of the Brigade for the Fight against Drug Trafficking (BLTS) proceeded to arrest 3 suspects Jimmy Paul, Guerlandine Paul and Jerry Jean-Francois, suspected of involvement in this arms trade.



Arrests of members of a Gang of Village of God

Friday March 13, the Police of Port-au-Prince arrested at the exit of Village of God a young girl, Duval Pierre Tina suspected of collaborating with members of the gang of Village of God, specialized in kidnapping activities, murder and hijacking of cargo trucks. Two other individuals suspected of being members of the same Gang, Dossou Berthony and Herode Lazarre, were also arrested.



International Conference on Agricultural Innovation in Haiti

The Feed The Future (FTF) Project, Support for Agricultural Research and Development (AREA) with the American Agency for International Development (USAID - Haiti), organized last week a major international scientific conference on research and agricultural innovation in Port-au-Prince. Over 200 researchers, agricultural professionals and students from government institutions, universities and the private sector gathered to learn more about the results of agricultural research and extension programs carried out by AREA researchers to improve the Haiti's agriculture and productivity. The main areas of learning for the participants: the improved bean lines developed by FTF and AREA researchers, the high potential of Amaranth classified as a highly nutritious food and revolutionary experiences in soil management in order to help farmers better manage their resources and increase their yields and incomes



Name of the victims of the fire at the Ophelinat

Names of the 15 victims (out of 18) including 13 children, died following the fire of the orphanage of the Church "Understanding the Bible" at Fermathe 55, on February 13th https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30027-haiti-flash-fire-at-an-orphanage-15-children-died.html : Nedjie Arisme 4 years, Vanise Arisme 3 years, Valande Medelus 4 years, Roseline Louis 6 years, Lovena Luberice 6 years, Solens Mitille 4 years, Flovensky Louis Jean-Baptiste 18 years, Guerrier Alfledithe 11 years, Berthony Justin 6 years, Renel Desir 3 years, Marvens St Felix 4 years, Dieulouis St Vilus 4 years, Ricardo Dorlus 6 years, Adeline Cesar 39 years, Carlo Gedeon 34 years old.



The American architect Kelley and the Maison Larsen

The American architect Stephen Kelley was on a mission last week in Port-au-Prince to work on the restoration site of the Larsen house which will house the future Art Center. Specialist in the restoration of historic monuments, he has already worked a lot on gingerbreads in Haiti. During this mission, he notably worked with Farah Hyppolite, responsible for the Gingerbread program of the FOKAL Foundation, partner of the Art Center, with the Carasso Foundation and the Fondation de France, who enabled the purchase of this house in December 2019 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29570-haiti-heritage-the-art-center-buys-the-gingerbread-house-of-the-larsen-family.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















New Delhi: The number of novel coronavirus cases in the country rose to 110 on Monday, with Maharashtra reporting the highest followed by Kerala, while over 450 stranded Indians were flown back from Italy and Iran, the two worst affected countries after China, and quarantined.

Extending the border restrictions in view of the coronavirus outbreak, the government has suspended travel and registration of pilgrims to Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara through the corridor from Sunday midnight, besides movement of all types of passengers to Pakistan through international border points.

Earlier, the government had announced suspension of all types of passenger movement from 00:00 hours on March 15 through the Indo-Bangla, Indo-Nepal, Indo-Bhutan and Indo-Myanmar borders barring a few specified border checkposts.

In a video conference of SAARC members, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed setting up a COVID-19 emergency fund with India committing $10 million initially for it, and asserted that the best way to deal with the pandemic was by coming together, and not growing apart.

Apart from Modi, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza, participated in the video conference.

According to Union Health Ministry, there are 110 cases in India so far, including the two persons who died in Delhi and Karnataka and 17 foreigners.

Twelve more people have tested positive in Maharashtra, taking the number of cases to 31, it said. But state health minister Rajesh Tope said there were 32 cases.

Delhi has so far reported seven positive cases, Kerala 22 and Uttar Pradesh 11. Karnataka has six coronavirus patients while Ladakh three and Jammu and Kashmir had two. Telangana reported three cases. Rajasthan also reported two cases. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab have reported one case each.

In Karnataka, the daughter of a septuagenarian who was the first coronavirus fatality in India has reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. The woman has been admitted to the Kalaburagi district hospital and her condition is stable, Department of Health and Family Welfare said in a statement.

Earlier, state health minister B Sriramulu told reporters in Kalaburagi that a 5km buffer zone has been created around the area where the 72-year-old man died on March 10. Of the four suspected coronavirus cases in the family of the deceased, three have tested negative while the fourth one was found to be carrying the virus.

In Kerala, 20 Dubai-bound passengers were detained at the Kochi airport after a UK national, who was under surveillance but sneaked out and joined the group, tested positive for novel coronavirus, official sources said.

Earlier, the over 280 passengers of the Dubai-bound Emirates flight, which the group had taken, were offloaded at the airport. The flight left for Dubai in the afternoon after the 20 passengers were detained.

The UK national has been taken to an isolation facility at a nearby government hospital, a Cochin International Airport Limited spokesman said.

Kerala has launched an intensified medical check up in inter-state border areas for people entering the state by rail and road.

As many as 302 people are in isolation wards of various hospitals across the state.

The Mumbai Police on Sunday clamped prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC to stop tour operators from conducting any kind of group tours to foreign or domestic destinations till March 31.

Maharashtra has already invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 that gives wide-ranging powers to officials to enforce measures, including that of lockdown and quarantine, required to tackle an outbreak.

Shopping malls, schools and colleges have been closed in the state till March 31.

Elections to rural and urban local bodies in Andhra Pradesh have been put off for six weeks by the State Election Commission in view of spread of coronavirus, according to State Election Commissioner N Ramesh Kumar. They were originally scheduled for March 21.

More states ordered closure of schools and public places like cinema halls and malls where people gather in large numbers.

The Tamil Nadu government directed closure of all kindergarten and primary schools till March 31.

Chief Minister K Palaniswami also issued orders for closure of cinema halls and malls till the month end in 16 districts bordering Kerala and Karnataka, where the number of COVID-19 cases is on the rise, an official release said.

The Assam government too ordered shutting down of educational institutions, gymnasiums, swimming pools and cinema halls with immediate effect till March 29 in the wake of novel coronavirus outbreak.

Uttarakhand government has declared novel coronavirus an epidemic and shut all multiplexes, cinema halls, degree colleges and technical institutes across the state till March 31, official sources said.

However, the central 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 and that it is "not a health emergency" in India at present.

Meanwhile, the government continued to evacuate Indians stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran and Italy.

A total of 218 Indians, mostly students, from Milan landed at around 9.45 AM at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in Delhi and were taken to an ITBP quarantine facility in south-west Delhi's Chhawla area.

More than 230 Indians brought back from Iran reached New Delhi at about 3:15 AM and were quarantined at the Indian Army Wellness Centre in Jaisalmer, the third batch to be evacuated from that country.

They had arrived in Delhi on a Mahan Air flight from Tehran and were ferried by two Air India flights to Jaisalmer, IGI airport officials said.

The first batch of 58 Indian pilgrims were brought back from Iran on Tuesday and the second group of 44 Indian pilgrims had arrived from there on Friday.

Italy is the second most affected country after China with over 1,400 deaths and 21,000 cases of coronavirus. It is followed by Iran where over 700 people have died and nearly 14,000 cases have been detected.

Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said all paramilitary forces, including the CRPF, the ITBP, and the BSF, have been advised to keep ready quarantine camps for COVID-19 suspects as a preparatory measure.

With the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaring COVID-19 a pandemic, a health ministry official said over 4,000 people who had come in contact with 93 positive cases have been identified through contact 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 personal protective equipment (PPEs), trained manpower, rapid response teams are being strengthened further in all states and union territories.

An order has been placed for the procurement of an additional over 80,50,000 N95 masks and personal protective equipment for healthcare workers, the health ministry said.

It also clarified the 71-year-old man from Maharashtra's Buldhana who admitted to a private hospital and died during treatment on Saturday has tested negative for coronavirus infection. He had returned from Saudi Arabia recently and had diabetes and high blood pressure.

The government had on Wednesday suspended all visas, barring a few categories like diplomatic and employment, in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

India-Bangladesh passenger train services between Kolkata and cities in the neighbouring country were also suspended from Sunday as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19.

The Eastern Railway said services of Maitree and Bandhan Express trains will remain suspended from March 15 to April 15 or till further orders, whichever is earlier.

(With PTI inputs)
Six Nigerian soldiers were killed in an ambush by jihadist gunmen in the restive northeast, military sources told AFP.

The assailants opened fire on an army convoy on Sunday near the village of Mayanti, near the border with Cameroon, in an area plagued by attacks by insurgents.

"We have lost six soldiers in an ambush by Boko Haram terrorists," one officer told AFP.

A second source, giving the same toll, said the military convoy had been on its way to the nearby town of Banki when they were targeted by heavy gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades.

The decade-long jihadist uprising has killed 36,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes in northeast Nigeria.

The United Nations has complained of a surge in violence in the conflict zone in recent weeks.

Anger has been growing among local residents about the army's failure to stem the attacks.

The military has repeatedly claimed that the insurgency has largely been defeated but attacks against civilians and soldiers continue on a near daily basis.

The conflict has spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional coalition to fight the insurgents.

The jihadists fighting in northeast Nigeria have split into rival groups with one loyal to longtime Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau and another affiliated to the Islamic State group.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Trend

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan have had a telephone conversation today.

The heads of state exchanged information on the measures taken by the two countries to combat coronavirus infection.

The presidents agreed to temporarily suspend reciprocal visits of Turkish and Azerbaijani citizens by air and land at 00.00, March 15, 2020 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection.

The heads of state hailed the successful development of brotherly and friendly relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Passengers wear face masks at Vinh international airport (Photo: VNA)





As from March 16th, 2020, Vietnam requires that foreign citizens in Vietnam as well as Vietnamese citizens must wear face masks in public places where there are many people, such as supermarkets, airports, bus terminal or public transport means.

All passengers on domestic and international flights to and from Vietnam must wear face masks during the entire duration of their flights and when entering the airports.

Vietnam has informed diplomatic representative agencies, consular offices and representative missions of international organisations in Vietnam about the new requirements./.
'162m of the fund will enable their authors to discover breakthrough technologies or bring them closer to market, which could become the basis of a startup or spin-off company.' (stock photo)

Researchers from University College Cork, University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin, as well as a number of Irish startup companies, were among the successful applicants to a new 344m European pilot innovation fund.

The Irish universities were chosen from among what the European Innovation Council (EIC), which runs the fund, described as 100 game-changing ideas from across Europe

Some 63 of the ideas are at research stage and 162m of the fund will enable their authors to discover breakthrough technologies or bring them closer to market, which could become the basis of a startup or spin-off company.

Separately, 44 of the awards, representing almost 182m, went to startups and innovative SMEs to develop and scale up their innovations.

Dublin-based ProVerum Medical was awarded a grant, while Galway-based Rockfield Medical Devices was awarded grants and equity to finance commercialisation of its healthcare system.

The most recent success bring the awards under the EIC Accelerator SME Instrument to more than 110m under the Horizon 2020 programme.

"Encouraging Irish researchers and entrepreneurs to compete internationally for funding is key to Enterprise Ireland's strategy to enhance the Irish research system, the spin-out environment and support Irish companies to scale and expand their reach," said Garrett Murray, national director at Enterprise Ireland for Horizon 2020, the programme which funds the awards.

A significant increase to the EIC pilot budget is expected to be adopted by the European Commission this month, with more companies expected to benefit, paving the way for the launch of a fully-fledged programme.

A one-off EIC Accelerator call for 'green deal' startups and SMEs is expected with applications due on May 19. Grant funding of up to 2.5m is available, with the option of equity investment of up to 15m.

New opportunities for companies with women CEOs or equivalent positions have also been announced, to ensure 25pc of all finalists in the EIC Accelerator Pilot are women-led companies.
Republican Rep. Devin Nunes of California.

Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Lawmakers continued to suggest it was safe to patronize public areas amid the increase in coronavirus cases in the US.

"One of the things you can do, if you're healthy, you and your family, it's a great time to just go out and go to a local restaurant," Nunes said on Fox News. "Likely, you can get in easily."

Other lawmakers faced backlash for portraying themselves in crowded places, despite the health warnings.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calculated there were over 3,000 coronavirus cases and at least 60 deaths, a dramatic increase as health officials advised people to conduct "social distancing" and to avoid public areas.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Lawmakers on Sunday continued to suggest it was safe to patronize public areas amid the increase in coronavirus cases in the US. The statements came as National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director, Dr. Anthony Fauci, explicitly expressed a desire to see a "dramatic diminution of the personal interaction."

Republican Rep. Devin Nunes of California cited concerns with local businesses not being able to weather the decrease in sales due to lower customer turnout amid the public health warnings.

"One of the things you can do, if you're healthy, you and your family, it's a great time to just go out and go to a local restaurant," Nunes said to Fox News "Sunday Morning Futures" host Maria Bartiromo. "Likely you can get in easily."

"Let's not hurt the working people in this country that are relying on wages and tips to keep their small business going," he added. "Just don't run to the grocery store and buy $4,000 of food. Go to your local pub."

Other lawmakers faced backlash for portraying themselves in crowded places, despite the health warnings. Republican Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt on Twitter uploaded a picture of himself with two kids at a food hall in Oklahoma City on Saturday.

Story continues

"Eating with my kids and all my fellow Oklahomans at the @CollectiveOKC," Stitt said in a photo caption. "It's packed tonight!"

Stitt's tweet was removed, but a spokesman said the governor "will continue to take his family out to dinner and to the grocery store without living in fear and encourages Oklahomans to do the same," according to the Associated Press.

President Donald Trump looks on as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health Anthony Fauci speaks during a news conference on the COVID-19 outbreak at the White House on February 26, 2020.

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty

The US has reported over 60 deaths and more than 3,200 coronavirus cases across at least 49 states and Washington, DC, a dramatic increase as health officials advised people to conduct "social distancing" and to avoid public areas. Other countries, such as China and Italy, imposed strict, mandatory lockdowns to deal with its coronavirus cases.

President Donald Trump on Friday declared a national emergency on Friday, freeing up $50 billion to assist in handling the influx of coronavirus-related cases.

"I would like to see a dramatic diminution of the personal interaction we see in restaurants and in bars," Fauci said to CNN on Sunday. "Whatever it takes to do that, that's what I'd like to see."

Some lawmakers explicitly warned their constituents not to go out to public and crowded spaces amid the ongoing health crisis.

"To everyone in NYC but ESPECIALLY healthy people & people under 40 ([because] from what I'm observing that's who needs to hear this again): PLEASE stop crowding bars, restaurants, and public spaces right now," Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in a tweet on Saturday. "Eat your meals at home. If you are healthy, you could be spreading COVID."

Rep. Nune's broader point about the struggling small businesses was also addressed by Ocasio-Cortez, who urged the Trump administration to "take decisive action NOW to protect restaurant workers, small businesses, & other vulnerable workers."

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas concurred with Ocasio-Cortez and replied, "Good advice  not just for NYC, but everywhere. If you can stay home, stay home. And wash your hands."

Despite previously signaling optimism over controlling the coronavirus in the US, the Trump administration took executive action by declaring a national emergency, following the stock market's historic drop. On Monday, the S&P 500 index dropped 7% at the start of trading, triggering the 15-minute "circuit breaker" stop in trading.

The House on Saturday passed a bill to lessen the economic impact, which includes a paid sick leave program granting two weeks of leave; and unemployment benefits for people who live in states that see a 10% increase in unemployment. The bill now heads to the Senate, and then to Trump's desk.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Emma Corrin has been filming more new scenes for The Crown season 4.

The actress, who plays Princess Diana in the Netflix drama, was spotted in London on Saturday stepping off a Concorde, with British Airways emblazoned across the side of it, waving to onlookers.

The scenes are thought to be a replication of when she returned to the UK from Vienna in 1986 - wearing a similar electric blue ensemble.

Come fly with me: Emma Corrin [L] was seen stepping off an original Concorde as she replicated Princess Diana's [R] 1986 flight home from Vienna on the supersonic airliner for The Crown season 4 this weekend

In the scenes, Emma, 24, exuded Diana's cheery demeanor in the fetching outfit, her blonde mane windswept in the March breeze.

With actors playing BA staff standing by as she left the vessel, Emma was seen walking down the steps and onto the tarmac.

The Princess would have been the same age when she took the flight, which also saw husband Prince Charles accompany her.

Josh O'Connor - who plays the king-to-be in the series - was not pictured, however.

Regal replica: The scenes are thought to be a replication of when she returned to the UK from Vienna in 1986 - wearing a similar electric blue ensemble [pictured R on board the flight in question]

Touching down: Emma as been filming more new scenes for The Crown this weekend

On location: The actress was spotted in London on Saturday stepping off a Concorde, with British Airways emblazoned across the side of it

Hi! She was seen waving to onlookers in the scenes

The plane was positioned in front of a green screen, which will have a particular image projected onto it in the edit.

The royal couple's flight was piloted by Captain Dave Leney, whose crew was introduced to the Prince of Wales and Princess Diana before they embarked on their four-day trip to Austria.

The airliner - which was a British/French-designed turbojet-powered supersonic passenger plane - was first flown in 1969. It entered service in 1976 and continued flying for the next 27 years until 2003 when it was retired.

The plane flew at twice the speed of sound and was even developed for space travel.

In the scenes: Emma, 24, exuded Diana's cheery demeanor in the fetching outfit, her blonde mane windswept in the March breeze

Descent: With actors playing BA staff standing by as she left the vessel, Emma was seen walking down the steps and onto the tarmac

Arrival: The Princess would have been the same age when she took the flight, which also saw husband Prince Charles accompany her

Where is he? Josh O'Connor - who plays the king-to-be in the series - was not pictured; however another male actor appeared to be portraying another passenger

Welcome home: The royal couple's flight was piloted by Captain Dave Leney, whose crew was introduced to the Prince of Wales and Princess Diana before they embarked on their trip to Austria

Green screen: The plane was positioned in front of a green screen, which will have a particular image projected onto it in the edit

Virgin flight: The airliner - which was a British/French-designed turbojet-powered supersonic passenger plane - was first flown in 1969

Brief: Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued flying for the next 27 years until 2003 when it was retired

Regulars: The royals frequently used it, with Queen Elizabeth II flying on it to Barbados on her Silver Jubilee in 1977, in 1987 and in 2003, to the Middle East in 1984 and to the United States in 1991

The royals frequently used it, with Queen Elizabeth II flying on it to Barbados on her Silver Jubilee in 1977, in 1987 and in 2003, to the Middle East in 1984 and to the United States in 1991.

The Queen Mother celebrated her 85th birthday aboard the plane, which was a present from British Airways in August 1985.

The scenes come after it was announced that Angus Imrie, son of Calendar Girls actress Celia Imrie, will play Prince Edward in the show.

Best known as Josh in Radio 4 soap The Archers, and 'Creepy Jake' in Phoebe Waller-Bridge's TV comedy Fleabag, the actor, 25, will portray the prince between 1979 to 1990.

Newcomer: Emma plays Diana during the Thatcher years - 1979 to 1990

Tragic: It's presumed the Diana's 1996 death will feature at the end of season 4

The fourth season covers the Thatcher years, during which time Edward attended Scottish public school Gordonstoun before going on to study at Cambridge University.

He later dropped out of the Royal Marines and worked for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Theatre Company when he dated actress Ruthie Henshall.

He will appear in the new series alongside a number of other up-and-coming British actors, including Tom Byrne as Prince Andrew and Erin Doherty - who is reprising her role from season three as Princess Anne.
30 years on, martyred IAF officials to get justice as trial against Yasin Malik is set to begin

Name of IAF officer who was killed by Yasin Malik to be added to War Memorial

IAF hero gets justice: Why it is time up for Yasin Malik

First Yasin Malik, now Javed Mir: Our martyred IAF heroes are getting justice at last

Enough grounds to proceed: The crimes of Kashmir separatist Yasin Malik

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 15: There is enough evidence to proceed against Yasin Malik and others in a terror case, a National Investigation Agency court has said. The court hearing a matter relating to the killing of four unarmed Indian Air Force Officers in Kashmir in 1990.

Prima facie there is enough evidence to prosecute Malik and six others, the court also said. The court is of the certain view that sufficient grounds exist for drawing presumption that accused Yasin Malik, Ali Mohammad Mir, Manzoor Ahmed Sofi alias Mushtafa, Javed Ahmed Mir alias Nalka, Nana ji alias Saleem, Javed Ahmed Zarger and Shoukat Ahmed Bakshi, prima facie have committed acts of terror.

Farooq Abdullahs detention revoked by Jammu and Kashmir govt after 7 months

The crimes of Yasin Malik:

Malik has without a doubt been one of the notorious players in Kashmir. His cases date back to several decades back and over the years, he has successfully dodged the law, while continuing to propagate in favour of Pakistan.

The cases against him are not ordinary. They range from acts of terror, causing unrest. In fact a 30 year old case, in which he was accused of killing Indian Air Force Officials was also re-opened.

His name has cropped up in terror funding cases since 1995. Moreover he is also an accused in the abduction of Mehbooba Mufti's sister.

Malik, whose organisation JKLF was banned by the Centre, is also facing two CBI cases.

These relate to the kidnapping of Rubaiya Saeed, daughter of then Union home minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, in 1989, and the killing of four IAF personnel in 1990.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) registered a case on May 30, 2017 against separatist and secessionist leaders, including unknown members of the Hurriyat Conference, who have been acting in connivance with active militants of proscribed terrorist organisations Hizbul Mujahideen, Dukhtaran-e-Millat, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and other outfits and gangs.

First Yasin Malik, now Javed Mir: Our martyred IAF heroes are getting justice at last

The case was registered for raising, receiving and collecting funds through various illegal means, including hawala transactions, for funding separatist and terrorist activities in J&K and for causing disruption in the Valley by way of pelting stones on the security forces, burning schools, damaging public property and waging war against India, the probe agency said in the FIR.

Hafiz Saeed, the Pakistan-based chief of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the front for the banned LeT, has also been named as an accused in the FIR.

Yasin Malik and ten others were chargesheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the Terrorist and Disruptive Act. The CBI named Yasin Malik as the main accused in both these cases.

The CBI moved the J&K high court seeking vacation of the stay and also shifting of the proceedings to Jammu. In 2009, the Srinagar bench had granted an interim stay of the trial before the special anti-terror court.

The HC held that the Srinagar bench had no jurisdiction to decide a case that is being tried in a Jammu special court. Justice Gita Mittal further held that the petitions filed by Malik and others at the Srinagar wing could not have been taken up for consideration.

The JKLF is also responsible for illegal funnelling of funds for fomenting terrorism. The JKLF is actively involved in raising of funds and its distribution to Hurriyat cadres and stone-pelters to fuel unrest in Kashmir Valley as well as for subversive activities.

The organisation was also involved in the kidnapping and killing of Ravindra Mhatre, an Indian diplomat posted the UK, in 1984. A week later, India executed Maqbool Bhat, a JKLF activist, who had been sentenced to death.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, March 15, 2020, 8:32 [IST]
Holy mosque and Dome of the Rock have closed, but Muslim prayer will still be held outdoors in the Al-Aqsa compound.

The Islamic authority that oversees Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem has announced that the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock will close their doors to worshippers as a precaution against the new coronavirus, adding that outdoor prayers will still be allowed at the complex that houses Islams third holiest site.

The Islamic Waqf department decided to shut down the enclosed prayer places inside the blessed Aqsa mosque until further notice as a protective measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus. All prayers will be held in the open areas of the Aqsa Mosque, the director of Al-Aqsa mosque, Omar Kiswani, told Reuters news agency on Sunday.

On Saturday, the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs ordered mosques and churches to be closed in all the governorates in the occupied Palestinian territories until further notice as part of efforts to curb the coronavirus, the official Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

Mosques across the occupied West Bank called through loudspeakers for Muslims to perform the regular daily prayers at home rather than at mosques, aiming to restrict gatherings of people, according to Wafa.

Palestinian Authority spokesman Ibrahim Melhem said three more cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, raising the total number of infections to 38.

Palestinian officials confirmed the first cases in Bethlehem on March 5, subsequently declaring a state of emergency and shutting down Bethlehems Church of the Nativity, while the Israeli army sealed off the city.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh announced a 30-day lockdown in a special broadcast, saying the measures were essential to contain the disease.

Public parks, tourist sites, schools and educational facilities have closed and all major gatherings including sporting events and conferences have been cancelled.

Meanwhile, Israels Health Ministry announced on Sunday that 200 Israelis have so far tested positive for the coronavirus.

The health ministry announced that as of Sunday all educational institutions, shopping centres, restaurants and places of public gathering are closed while gatherings of more than 10 people have also been banned.
The upcoming civic elections in West Bengal are likely to be postponed over the novel coronavirus pandemic as the ruling TMC appealed to the State Election Commission on Sunday to defer the polls, a demand that found resonance among the Opposition parties too.

A final decision will be taken by the SEC following an all-party meeting on Monday.

Elections to 107 municipal bodies of the state and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation are being viewed as a litmus test for the TMC and the BJP, a year ahead of the crucial Assembly polls.

Sources claim the state government was earlier was keen on holding the elections between April 12 and 26.

"The final decision will be taken after seeking opinion of all political parties and the state government on Monday," an SEC official said. "But with the ruling party itself demanding the polls to be deferred, it is most likely that the polls would be deferred."



In a statement, the Trinamool Congress said it would appeal to the SEC for postponing the upcoming civic polls amid the COVID-19 crisis.

"Elections will come and go, but must take a backseat when society is faced with such a threat," it said. "We urge all political parties to join hands and fight this together."



State BJP president Dilip Ghosh said the party would support any decision taken by the government keeping in mind the larger public interest.

"We are ready for polls, but in the wake of this crisis, if for the larger interest of the people, the state government and SEC takes a decision, we will support it," Ghosh said.

Senior Congress leader Pradip Bhattacharya said his party would always support a decision that had been taken considering public sentiment.

"In the wake of this crisis, if the elections are deferred by few days, there is no harm in it," Bhattacharya said.

CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty echoed him, saying it was for the state government and the SEC to take a call on the matter, but the party would support any "pro-people decision" regarding the matter.

The state government had on Saturday announced closure of all educational institutions till March 31 as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus, which has killed over 6,000 people globally. The board exams, however, will continue as per schedule.

According to Union Health Ministry, the number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in the country rose to 107 on Sunday, with Maharashtra reporting the highest positive cases, followed by Kerala.

Two persons have died in Karnataka and Delhi due to the coronavirus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
E-commerce companies are seeing an increase in demand for products such as fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, flour, rice, and lentils, and personal hygiene items like sanitisers and soaps and household cleaning products. Other products include instant noodles, baby food and Ayurvedic items. There is even a huge spike in pet food, said a person.

Though the spread of coronavirus (covid-19) cases in India has had some impact on the ride-hailing and online food ordering segments, it has come as a boon for the e-commerce companies as more people prefer buying goods, especially grocery items, vegetables and other daily needs from online platforms.

According to industry insiders, e-commerce companies such as Flipkart, Amazon, Big Basket, and Grofers have witnessed about 20-30 per cent spike in orders as customers are avoiding visiting crowded places like malls and supermarkets.

In such an environment, where an increasing number of people are also working from home, these firms are doubling down to bring convenience to customers and win their trust.

In the last two weeks, there has been at least a 25 per cent spike in orders. This has put extra pressure on the delivery network, said an e-commerce industry executive.

These companies are seeing an increase in demand for products such as fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, flour, rice, and lentils, and personal hygiene items like sanitisers and soaps and household cleaning products. Other products include instant noodles, baby food and Ayurvedic items. There is even a huge spike in pet food, said a person.

These trends are similar to the pattern in China, where consumers increasingly relied on the internet to get their daily supplies and other products because of covid-19, according to experts.

We have seen a very clear uptick in terms of orders, which have grown by 20-30 per cent compared to last month, and it is picking up pace as more people decide to order online, said Vipul Parekh, co-founder of Bigbasket, one of the largest online and food grocery stores.

It is partly driven by new customers coming online because they dont want to go to the (physical) stores, and there are also existing customers who are stocking up much more products over fears of things running out, added Parekh.

SoftBank-backed e-commerce company Snapdeal said that the overall order volumes remain strong, with some categories showing fast growth. The sale of masks and hygiene products like sanitisers and hand wash jumped 25X on Snapdeal in the last five days.

Over 50 per cent of masks listed for sale on Snapdeal were sold on the day India reported the first suspected case of covid-19. Neoprene masks and N95 masks are the top sellers.

Customers are also buying home use products like floor cleaners, microfiber dusters, surface cleaning liquids, towel sets and bedsheets, which point towards an increased emphasis on hygiene.

We have witnessed an increase in the purchase of 4G routers as more users equip themselves to work from home, said Snapdeal. Products like manicure and pedicure sets are being bought to minimise the need to visit beauty salons.

MoEngage, an intelligent customer analytics and cross-channel engagement platform, which works with internet-first brands said it was also seeing a shift in consumer behaviour because of the outbreak.

Our platform has over 400 million monthly active users and we are certainly seeing an increase in the number of users choosing to shop online instead of visiting supermarkets and stores especially for day-to-day items like grocery, said Raviteja Dodda, founder and CEO, MoEngage.

E-commerce firms are putting in extra efforts to monitor their supply-chain and delivery network, and have put in place thermal scanners and guns to check the temperature of their staff. Big Basket said it was ensuring the safety of customers and making sure its employees wear disposable gloves and masks while the grocery crates are wiped down regularly.

It is also monitoring the body temperature of all the delivery executives before and after they deliver products. It is not just about customer safety, we also want our delivery people to be safe, said Parekh of Bigbasket.

The company is in the process of implementing a no-touch option, where customers dont need to come in direct contact with delivery people, and products can be left at the doorsteps of customers.

In the last 15 days, the demand for sanitisers has increased by 559 per cent, face mask has increased by 334 per cent, hand wash has increased by 81 per cent, and disposable gloves has increased by 66 per cent, said Sandip Chhettri, COO, TradeIndia.com, an online business-to-business platform.

Apart from the three major cities (Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru), there has been a surge in demand in cities like Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Gurugram, Surat, Pune and Srinagar, said Chhettri.

This is a golden opportunity for the e-commerce industry to build trust with customers as ordering on platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart and Big Basket is becoming a lifeline for them, said an e-commerce industry executive.

Suppose there is a lockdown because of covid-19, e-commerce firms are more than willing to partner with the government and provide essential commodities to the people in a safe manner, said the person.

While there is a spike of products on online retail platforms, other consumer internet companies such as ride-hailing firms including Ola and Uber are witnessing 40-50 per cent drop in rides in major cities as fewer number of employees are commuting to offices, according to sources.

What is also contributing to this drop is that there is a user perception about hygiene issues, as they think the taxis might have been used by international travellers.

Photograph: Reuters.
The recent plunge in oil prices has put the financially ravaged U.S. shale industry in the spotlight over the past week, but the market downturn will blow a hole in the budgets of oil-producing countries as well.

At the company level, the pressure is rapidly mounting. Spending cuts have been immediate, but the credit quality of the oil and gas industry is straining. S&P said that it was reviewing credit ratings of the energy sector. We are not going to be as patient as we were before, said Michael Grande, a senior director at S&P Global, according to the FT, referring to the last downturn five years ago. S&P suggested that Devon Energy and Hess Corp., for example, could lose investment-grade status.

Meanwhile, roughly $110 billion in energy debt sold by U.S. companies has slipped into distressed territory. Junk energy debt could receive multiple notch downgrades, Thomas Watters, a managing director at S&P Global, told investors on a call, according to the FT.

At the same time, much of the worlds oil production is extracted by national oil companies. Their governments depend on oil revenues for their budgets.

Credit ratings agency Fitch said that a wave of sovereign downgrades could be forthcoming if oil prices remain at low levels. Countries that are in a somewhat vulnerable external position and have a fixed exchange rate are of course particularly vulnerable, Jan Friederich, a Middle East and Africa sovereign analyst with Fitch, told Reuters.

Russia has stated that it can withstand oil prices in the range of $25 to $30 per barrel for six to ten years. Russias Energy Minister Alexander Novak went further, declaring that Russian oil companies will remain competitive at any forecast price level. Russia has a few things working in its favor, such as a flexible exchange rate that allows oil firms to earn dollars but pay expenses in rubles. A declining oil price tends to be offset somewhat by a weaker local currency. Related: Oil Prices Rise As Trump Declares National Emergency Over Coronavirus Outbreak

In that context, Saudi Arabia is less flexible, needing to shell out foreign exchange to prop up its fixed exchange rate. The Saudi government can do that for a long time, but not forever. In addition, while Saudi Arabia has some of the lowest oil production costs on the planet, the budget requires oil prices in the mid-$80s per barrel to break even. Riyadh apparently believes it can force out high-cost producers before the pressure on its own finances becomes too great to bear.

But smaller oil-producing countries with fixed exchange rates could be in more trouble. Nigeria, for instance, does not have the deep pockets of Saudi Arabia. It too has to defend a fixed exchange rate, and during the last market downturn (2014-2016), the government imposed currency controls to stop the outflow of dollars. Today, only a week after the OPEC+ collapse, there are already signs of a shortage of dollars in Nigeria.

There are other countries at risk, including Iraq, Oman, Angola, Suriname and Gabon, according to Fitch. None of the Gulf Arab states can balance their budgets with oil at $40 per barrel or lower, according to S&P and Reuters.

Mexicos Pemex may have shielded itself somewhat from a rather large hedging program, but the state-owned oil firm has been at the precipice of having its credit rating downgraded further for quite some time. Last year, Fitch put Pemex into junk territory, but additional downgrades would trigger even more capital flight. Mexico also has the unfortunate reality of having its economy depend on the U.S., which is about to go into a deep freeze of mass coronavirus quarantines. Related: Why 2030 Isnt The Magic Year For Electric Vehicles

Canada has a more diversified economy, but is still staring down recession because of the oil price plunge. Albertas provincial government may turn back to mandatory production cuts to ensure a survival price for its industry, as Premier Jason Kenny put it. Unfortunately, we do expect to see a number of layoff announcements in the next two to three weeks, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said on Wednesday. Canadian Prime Minister, under quarantine because his wife tested positive for the coronavirus, said on Friday that he will soon introduce an economic stimulus package.

And, of course, the U.S. itself is also a major oil producer, even as oil makes up a much smaller share of the economy relative to others. A recession for the U.S. economy seems highly plausible.

Ultimately, the longer the oil bust lingers, the more danger oil-producing countries will find themselves in.

Investors have sold off $41.7 billion in emerging market stocks and bonds since late January when the coronavirus started to grow worse. The oil sell-off will compound this capital flight. It is a very large number, Robin Brooks, chief economist at the Institute of International Finance told the FT. This means another big tightening in financial conditions for emerging markets, because thats what outflows are, a sudden stop.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
TWIN FALLS  Several Magic Valley school districts will close this week in an attempt to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, including Twin Falls, Jerome, Cassia County, Minidoka County and Blaine County.

Twin Falls schools close immediately

Twin Falls School District announced on Sunday that school will immediately close until the end of spring break on March 30.

In an abundance of caution and to help diminish the likelihood of transmission of the virus throughout our community, TFSD schools will be closed for students this week, the statement says.

All classroom instruction, athletics, preschool, child care, enrichment programs and other student programs are canceled. Staff will continue to report to work to prepare for the possibility of an extended closure.

We know that child care is a top concern for families and we will be working with our local health care agencies to return to normal operations as soon as would be advisable, the statement says. We will be working with custodial staff to thoroughly clean and disinfect our buildings prior to students returning from spring break.

The district says its developing a food service option and a plan to disseminate classroom materials in the event of an extended closure.

Cami Flournoy, a teacher at OLeary Middle School, said there are still some logistics to be worked out, but closing schools is important for community safety.

I think now is the time to be proactive and get ahead of the curve by closing our schools for the foreseeable future, she said. The health and well-being of our community on the whole needs to be our main focus. Closure now will prevent panic and long term detrimental effects later.

Last week, the district implemented a series of precautions to prevent spread of the virus, including limiting crowds and moving parent-teacher conferences over the phone. Those conferences have been canceled, a district spokeswoman said.

Jerome schools close Wednesday

Jerome School District announced on Sunday that schools will close from Wednesday until the end of spring break on March 30. Classes will still be held on Monday and Tuesday this week to minimize impact of a school closure, superintendent Dale Layne wrote in a statement.

As a district we are listening to the medical experts as well as taking into consideration the wishes of our community, Layne said. During this time, we will examine the current conditions and determine if school will be back in session March 30th, or if the closure will need to be extended.

Staff will work with students on Monday and Tuesday to prepare for the possibility of an extended break.

Cassia County schools close Tuesday

Cassia County School District also announced on Sunday that schools will close starting Tuesday until the end of spring break on March 30. Schools will remain open Monday for a previously scheduled half-day, and students and staff will prepare for the closure by working to organize learning materials and access to digital curriculum.

Trustees would like to emphasize the need for caution over panic, a district statement says. School administrators and officials will work with families to address learning and food needs. As this is a developing situation, more information and details will be communicated to the community as they become available.

Minidoka County schools close Wednesday

Minidoka County School District announced on Sunday that it will also start spring break early, holding classes Monday and Tuesday before closing Wednesday.

In order to ensure the protection of our students and staff, who often come into contact with those who are most susceptible to this particular virus, we have determined that we will be starting spring break three days early, Superintendent Ken Cox wrote in a statement to parents. We will re-evaluate progress of the virus in our community during spring break and will keep you informed as to when school will resume.

Students are encouraged to attend class Monday and Tuesday to get information about how they can access learning material from home. Devices to complete assignments will be sent home with students on Tuesday.

Patrons are asked to limit their travel during spring break to avoid spreading or contracting the virus.

Blaine County schools close immediately

Blaine County School District announced on Saturday that its facilities will close through April 5 after a case of the virus was confirmed in the area.

We are in coordination with (the South Central Public Health District) and decided in an abundance of caution to close schools, board chairman Keith Roark said in a statement. We realize this will cause hardship for many of our families in regards to child care and daily nutrition. We hope to announce plans for providing nutrition services soon.

Wendell schools close immediately

Wendell School District will close all schools and cancel all activities until the end of spring break on March 30, according to the districts website.

Xavier Charter closes immediately

Xavier Charter School will close this week, administrator Gary Moon told the Times-News on Sunday.

We will evaluate the situation and send updates to our families over spring break, he said.

Other area districts

Last week, Kimberly and Buhl schools canceled classes on Monday to give staff time to prepare for the possibility of a more extended closure, though the closures have yet to be extended further. A Sunday Facebook post from Kimberly School District said administrators were meeting with area leaders, and an update will be sent out by Monday morning.

Administrators and board members in Filer School District will meet Monday to make a decision. Superintendent John Graham told the Times-News the district is developing a plan to provide online instruction and prepare students with resources in the event of an extended closure.

Little stops short of closing all public schools

Gov. Brad Little declined to order a statewide closure of schools on Sunday, instead telling school leaders that the decision on whether to close to slow the spread of coronavirus should be made locally.

Little made the decision one day after state public health officials announced that the number of Idaho residents infected with the virus had jumped to five, and a few hours after the Idaho Education Association teachers union urged the governor to close schools statewide for at least three weeks.

During a conference call with school leaders, Little said that he knew it was a tough decision but believed it was one best made locally, in conjunction with local public health officials.

Given the circumstances we have now, we need to do all we can to escalate awareness and preparedness, Little said. Prepare for the worst-case scenario, but we should also de-escalate alarmism  and that is critical.

Currently, school districts have the ability to exclude students who are diagnosed or suspected of having COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. Districts can also order schools closed with an order from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare or from a local public health district.

Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen, who was also on the call, said school closures put a burden on some health care workers. Jeppesen said thats because they may have to work fewer hours or stop working altogether to care for children who are home all day.

I will tell you up front that the CDC and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare bias is that we would prefer for schools to stay open at this time, Jeppesen said, using the acronym for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Theres no epidemiological evidence that closing schools actually slows the spread of the disease.

Jeppesen also said the number of confirmed cases is likely to grow as community spread of the virus accelerates, so closing schools too soon could mean they are closed for longer than necessary.

Make sure that you have clear plans for when you reopen, how you do that, he said.

Idaho public health officials announced the states first confirmed case of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, on Friday. By Saturday evening the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare had confirmed that four more people had tested positive for the illness.

They included two in Ada County, one in Blaine County, one in eastern Idahos Teton County and one in the south-central Idaho public health district. Health officials did not say where in the district the patient lives, but it includes Twin Falls, Cassia, Jerome, Minidoka, Gooding, Lincoln, Camas and Blaine counties.

All but one of the patients are under the age of 60 and recovering at home, public health officials said. The woman in the south-central district is over the age of 70 and is being treated at a hospital.

On Sunday morning, Idaho Education Association president Layne McInelly urged the governor to close schools statewide in an effort to slow the spread of the virus so that hospitals arent overwhelmed by a huge number of patients at once. The practice is often called flattening the curve, a reference to graphs that show how many patients could be expected to become critically ill at one time.

Education leaders are uniquely positioned to help flatten the curve and stave off a massive health crisis, McInnelly said in a prepared statement. Recognizing that school buildings often hold more than 250 people, five days a week, we must close our schools immediately for the health of our communities, students and staff.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The extreme heat on the planet Mercury likely helps make ice on its polar regions, according to a study which suggests how water could arise, and collect as ice on planets rife with all the necessary components.

The researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology in the US, said while asteroids may have delivered most of Mercury's water, the planet's extreme daytime heat, combining with its ultracold polar craters -- that never see the sunlight -- could also be acting as an "ice-making chemistry lab".

In their new study, to be published in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters on Monday, they modelled the complex conditions on Mercury, including solar winds that pelt the planet with charged particles, many of which are key to the ice making chemical process.

"This is not some strange, out of left field idea. The basic chemical mechanism has been observed dozens of times in studies since the late 1960s," said Brant Jones, study co-author from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

"But that was on well-defined surfaces. Applying that chemistry to complicated surfaces like those on a planet is groundbreaking research," Jones said.

According to the scientists, minerals in Mercury's surface soil contain what are called hydroxyl groups (OH), which are generated mainly by the subatomic particles protons.

Based on their study, they said extreme heat helps to free up these hydroxyl groups, energise them to smash into each other, and produce water molecules and hydrogen.

The water and hydrogen then lift off from the surface and drift around the planet, the researchers said.

While some of these water molecules are broken down by sunlight or rise far above the planet's surface, others land near Mercury's poles in permanent shadows of craters that shield the ice from the sun, they explained.

Since the Solar System's first planet does not have an atmosphere, and thus no air that would conduct heat, the molecules become a part of the permanent glacial ice housed in the shadows, according to the scientists.

"It's a little like the song Hotel California. The water molecules can check in to the shadows but they can never leave," said Thomas Orlando, another co-author of the study.

"The total amount that we postulate that would become ice is 1013 kilograms over a period of about 3 million years. The process could easily account for up to 10 percent of Mercury's total ice," Jones said.

The study is based on data from the MESSENGER spacecraft which sent back images and data from Mercury, corroborating previous signatures for ice picked up years earlier by Earth-based radar.

According to the researchers, the ice found from the spacecraft's data was dingy and lurked in permanent shadows in polar craters on Mercury, which is pocked by meteorite and asteroid scars, much like Earth's moon.

"The process in our model would not be anywhere near as productive on the moon. For one, there's not enough heat to significantly activate the chemistry," Jones said.

The scientists said the subatomic particles protons from solar winds are more plentiful on Mercury than on Earth, where a mighty magnetic field whips solar wind particles, including protons, back out into space.

They said Mercury's field is only about 1 percent as strong, and it swirls protons down onto the surface.

"These are like big magnetic tornados, and they cause huge proton migrations across most of the surface of Mercury over time," Orlando said.

These protons, according to the researchers, implant themselves into the soil all over the planet, forming as the hydroxyl groups (OH), which then diffuse to the surface, where the heat does the rest.

"I would concede that plenty of the water on Mercury was delivered by impacting asteroids," Jones said.

"But there's also the question of where asteroids laden with water got that water. Processes like these could have helped make it," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Those who want to conserve the forest blamed Bolsonaro. His pro-development rhetoric, they say, has emboldened farmers, ranchers and land grabbers to invade and burn protected lands for development. Those who want to monetize the Amazon, meanwhile, said there wasnt anything unusual about the fires. And if there was? It was the fault of the left.
Obviously, with all that's going on, they couldn't shake hands. Even a handshake, though still a rather formal greeting between two brothers, might have saved the day.

There's scope in a handshake for one to go for the warmer, two-hand clasp, or a bit of extra vigour to convey some delight in finally being face-to-face.

If the brothers had shook hands, there would have been opportunity, too, for the wives to make some physical contact - a hug across the row of church seats, maybe even a kiss on the cheeks.

They didn't have to mean it, but it certainly would have looked better than what actually happened. Covid-19 cancelled any chance of that, of course, but even that couldn't account for the chilliness of the greeting between two once-close brothers, which marred the final moments before Megxit.

Last Monday's Commonwealth Day service in Westminster Abbey was the final major royal outing for Harry and Meghan before Megxit and their stepping down as senior royals came into effect.

Harry had been in the UK since the last week of February, and was joined by Meghan - without their son Archie - a matter of days before the final big show.

It spoke volumes that this was obviously the first time they'd seen each other and it wasn't even in private, where any stiffness could be worked through discreetly. Instead, it was in public, in a formal setting, with the eyes of everyone upon them.

There had, reportedly, been a bit of a kerfuffle before the ceremony happened at all. Harry and Meghan had noticed the order of service and how, unlike last year, they were not part of the top-tier royal family party processing in to the abbey behind the Queen.

Instead, the Sussexes were to sit in their seats and wait for the Queen to arrive, followed first by Charles and Camilla, then William and Kate.

Harry was, apparently, very upset about the optics of this. As a source told a US publication during the week, Harry feels that if even one member of his family took the side of him and Meghan when they decided to step down, then the mood around this move could have been very different.

Video of the Day

However, when Harry became upset about not processing into the abbey with the rest of his family, apparently William and Kate sought to soothe things by deciding that they too would take their seats in advance and leave only Charles and Camilla with the Queen. What was obvious, however, is that this decision was made about Harry and Meghan, and not with them.

What was obvious, when William and Kate arrived to their seats, in the front row of seats, while Harry and Meghan sat behind, beside Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, was that they hadn't laid eyes on the Sussexes in advance.

William went oddly about picking the order of service off his seat before he sat down, turning his back on his brother and sister-in-law, who were both beaming super-hard and issuing their hellos to his bald head rather than his face.

Meghan, fair play to her, kept the smile in place. She is, after all, an actress. Meghan has training to make her capable of masking what the others really, really could not.

William, once he actually looked at Harry and Meghan, said a stiffly smiling hello.

Kate, whose eye Harry seemed most keen to meet, did not seem to utter a word in their direction, or look their way. She had the pinched and pale face of someone who might have had a row recently, or might even have been crying. Reports last week spoke of Kate's great sadness at the rift with Harry, and how she misses the closeness they once had.

Lip-readers had a field day with the encounter.

Harry was reported to have said to Meghan, immediately the Cambridges sat down: "He literally said: 'Hello Harry,' and that was it, and he didn't say anything more than that."

This may have been an accurate lip-reading, but there was nothing to support that he specifically meant his brother.

As Kate turned back to talk to Sophie Wessex in the seat behind her, Prince Edward leaned over to Meghan and Harry, who lifted his scowling face from his order of service and tried to chat. Meghan squeezed his shoulder reassuringly, she kept smiling, and she continued smiling as they followed the Queen out of the church later.

Harry had a face like thunder. William had the face of a disappointed dad. Kate looked simply worn out.

It was, undeniably, a sad end to it all. No jolly sending of the Sussexes on their way, no spirit of wishing them well, even if the move was considered unwise by all who love Prince Harry. It was bitter and it seemed like a family irredeemably broken.

Interestingly, in the course of the prank calls released this week, Harry seemed to sum up his attitude to his position in his family.

The calls, conducted over Christmas and the New Year by Vovan and Lexus, allegedly Russia's answer to Ant and Dec, and purporting to be Greta Thunberg and her father, Svante, saw Harry hold forth on Donald Trump, private jets and his own status.

"I was in the military for 10 years," he said, "so I'm more normal than my family would like to believe." There's defiance there, mixed rather unappealingly with a sense of being the victim and a dose of feeling misunderstood by people whom he might wish would show a bit more empathy.

As Harry and Meghan finally exited the top tier of his family, an unnamed friend told a US publication about how sad they both feel and how, ultimately, the prince is putting his wife and child first, even if that means losing his extended family. It's a hard choice to make, and it leaves you invested in your spouse to an extent that can suffocate rather than save the relationship.

But if the sibling encounter told us anything last week, it's that Harry is definitely out on his own now. It's not exactly what he wanted, but it's where we're at.
A Fianna Fail TD has said that the decision by US President Donald Trump to add Ireland and the UK to the travel ban, introduced to limit the spread of Covid-19, was "necessary".

The restrictions will come into force from 4am on Tuesday morning Irish time.

Under the restrictions, American citizens, Green Card holders and others are still allowed to return home to the US  but will be funnelled to 13 airports and be subjected to health screenings and quarantine orders, according to reports.

US Vice President Mike Pence said there had been a unanimous recommendation from health experts to extend the travel ban.

In our taskforce meeting today the president has made a decision to suspend all travel to the UK and Ireland, effective midnight Monday night, eastern standard time, Mr Pence

Read More:

Anyone not resident in the United States flying from Britain, Ireland, or any Schengen-area state will be turned away.

Niall Collins, Fianna Fail's spokesman on foreign affairs, says it is a drastic step for a drastic moment.

"We live in exceptional times, which is completely unprecedented and I think the travel ban, whilst it is extreme, I think it is necessary," Mr Collins said.

The view I am getting from the public is that whatever measure needs to be taken, should be taken to try and contain and to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.

[snippet1]987600[/snippet1]
A LIMERICK priest has called for the government to formally close all pubs nationwide in a plea to help contain the spread of coronavirus.

Fr Seamus Enright, preaching behind closed doors at the 12 noon Mass in the Redemptorists, requested the government to close the pubs immediately to do so before St Patricks Day.

"Masses have been suspended, hospital appointments cancelled, schools and playgrounds closed. It is beyond belief that pubs are still open."

He praised those publicans and restaurant owners who have already put the common good first and closed their premises.

In the same sermon, Fr Enright urged people to follow the government guidelines and to reduce social interaction to a minimum.

"We need to find imaginative and creative ways of supporting each other and to watch out for the elderly and the vulnerable. Please dont see others as the enemy and dont demonise individuals or groups."

Fr Enright urged people to continue supporting charities like Trocaire and the Society of St Vincent de Paul: "Think of those who are worse off than we are and who are suffering more than we are. Jesus asks us to remember the least of our sisters and brothers. Please dont hoard food. Jesus also challenges his followers not to be afraid. Every time we are tempted to give in

to fear we are invited to remember the challenge of Jesus and to make a conscious decision not to panic and not to give in to fear."

"Lent for Christians is a time for sacrifice," he added, "we are invited to incorporate the governments guidelines about hand washing, sneeze/cough hygiene and limiting social interaction into our Lenten observances."

Meanwhile, Bishop of Limerick Brendan Leahy has said that we cannot wait for a government workplace shut down and, must instead, take responsibility on ourselves.

The stakes are, he said, too high with peoples lives on the line and the health system unable to withstand the pressures. So, it is clear that we, as a public, cannot afford to be nonchalant about social gatherings any more, he said.

In the message, which he will read at the end of todays midday Mass streamed live on http://www.limerickcathedral.com/live-stream/ from St. Johns Cathedral, Bishop Leahy says that everything about our social habits have changed and that we must rise as a people to meet this unprecedented challenge.

He also confirmed that all Masses - not just Sunday Masses - will no longer be held in public until further notice. And he appealed to people not to attend funerals unless they are immediate relatives or particularly close friends. Doing otherwise would, he added, be reckless.

A great saying found in all religions tells us: do onto others as you would want done onto you. Its the Golden Rule and its application is never more timely than in the face of the radical measures we have to take in stopping the spread of the Coronavirus. What we can and ought to do is take responsibility. And we need to start by reviewing our lifestyle completely for the coming weeks in light of the Golden Rule.

For the sake of a few weeks, we need to make sacrifices. Of course, we are afraid of cutting back in business and services; thats completely understandable but we are at a point where it is now so evident that if we dont take short-term sacrifice, we will hurt long term. We will hurt economically but we will hurt from a health perspective. And people will die.

He continued: While the Government hasnt yet called for a lockdown, could we not already voluntarily do our part to effectively, as much as we can, reduce our interactions with one another. Ireland is known for its good social cohesion. This is a unique, unprecedented crisis calling for us like never before to pull together to stop the virus spreading.

While essential services need to run, it makes sense for business long term to take a few weeks of severe cutbacks, he said, to try and get rid of this virus that will otherwise cause havoc. Closing down for a matter of weeks all non-essential services was inevitably what happened in Wuhan, China and, it would appear, won the battle for them against the Coronavirus. If we dont learn from this, we could pay dearly. And if we do move to a widespread work closure except for vital services, supports will need to be there for those affected  businesses and staff.

He continued: The message from public health authorities is that its best if we can stay at home most of the time. This has its challenges but we need to be creative about this and not shy away from this as a social policy for the next few weeks. Social distancing is vital. Families have been told to avoid children mixing with others. I would appeal to young adults in particular to do their part.

Its not easy, I know, but for the sake of the ones you love, cut right back on all social outings at this time. Loving your parents and grandparents as yourself requires this. Ive heard of some bars having large crowds across urban Ireland, in particular, and in Limerick as well, since government stepped up its measures on Thursday. No one likes to seem a killjoy but its hard to understand how a policy of social distancing can really take effect if our social life is going on as normal. The very people not respecting this are the very people that could be putting their own loved ones at risk  the elderly and others vulnerable to this virus.

Regarding funerals, he said: No one should attend funerals unless they are immediate relatives or very particular friends. While I do, of course, understand the desire of others to attend, to do so if not members of immediate family or a very particular friend could enter into the realms of recklessness. And, of course, in keeping to the HSE advice, there should be no hand-shaking or hugs regardless. Social distancing must be observed now as difficult as that is. Once this crisis has passed, and it will pass, another ceremony can be arranged for all those who should not now attend. They can then gather and pay their respects in that great Irish way and let the family know they share their loss. In the meantime, phone-calls, texts and social media can be used to convey support at this very difficult and extraordinary time.
Desperate shoppers have swarmed a fresh toilet paper delivery in a mad scramble to stock up on the essential product amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Shocking footage shows the hoard of customers at an Aldi supermarket in West Footscray, in inner-west Melbourne, pushing and shoving each other to get a their hands on a packet.

Hundreds of people had squished into the store in the hopes of getting the high-demand item.

Staff didn't have time to unpack the delivery and were handing out the packs of toilet paper as shoppers begged for a packet.

The mad scramble to get toilet paper is continuing in Australia as shoppers scramble amid coronavirus panic

Some shoppers can be heard screaming at the security to throw the toilet paper over the counter.

The chaotic scenes come as supermarket shelves are stripped of essential items amid coronavirus panic.

Australia has more than 200 confirmed cases of the virus and three people have died from the illness.

The pandemic has seen Australians panic-buying and stockpiling items such as rice and pasta. However, toilet paper rolls have been the most sought-after item.

Shocking footage shows the hoard of customers at an Aldi supermarket in West Footscray, in inner-west Melbourne, pushing and shoving each other to get a their hands on a packet

The pandemic has seen Australians panic-buying and stockpiling items such as rice and pasta. However, toilet paper rolls have been the most sought-after item (pictured: shopping lining up outside Wooolworths)

Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths were forced to introduce a one-pack limit on toilet paper due to shortages.

Both supermarkets have now introduced buying limits for basic food items.

The panic comes as the coronavirus pandemic threatens to grind the world to a halt.

Globally, the infection has spread to more than 150,000 people across 112 countries, and killed at least 5,500 people.

Woolworths, Coles, and Aldi imposed one packet per customer limits on toilet paper and asked the public to show courtesy to staff and other shoppers

A video posted this week, understood to have been filmed at an Aldi store in Western Sydney, showed customers stampeding into the toilet paper aisle as soon as the shop's doors opened

The virus has forced Italy, Spain and China into lockdown in a bid to stop the spread of the killer illness.

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

Restaurants, shops, cinemas, nightclubs and cafes will shut for the foreseeable future in France.

However, supermarkets, pharmacies, banks and petrol stations will remain open.

America has also shuts its doors to travellers from Europe.

Australia has taken milder approaches thus far, with the government banning gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday.

Australians have been urged to reconsider the need to travel during this time.

A travel ban has already been put in place for mainland China, Iran, South Korea and Italy.
International arrivals could face hefty fines and even jail time if they ignore the compulsory 14-day quarantine after arriving in Australia.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Sunday that from midnight all people coming to Australia will have to self-isolate for two weeks, with the states to use existing laws to enforce the measure to combat the coronavirus.

'It's a matter for state authorities as to what penalties they place on that (ignoring quarantine),' Mr Morrison said.

People arriving into Australia on international flights will be required to go into 14-day quarantine and if they are found to be flouting the lock-down they could face huge fines and jail

In NSW people who are caught flouting the compulsory quarantine face fines of $11,000 and six months jail.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said police will have the powers to use existing laws against those who break the quarantine.

'I want to assure all our citizens that our Health Minister, through the Public Health Act, has the ability to enforce those provisions,' she told The Sydney Morning Herald.

'We currently have enough laws in places but gazetting them in the right way to provide certainty is what is important to us.'

Each state and territory will stipulate the penalties however some states will apply the rules under existing Emergency Management Acts which carry large fines and jail time

In Queensland people ignoring quarantine will be dealt with under the public health emergency law, The Australian reported.

Non-compliance of the law results in a fine of up to $13,000.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said police would be conducting random checks to enforce quarantine.

'I know these may seem tough measures, but we have your families' interests at heart and I really need everyone to comply with this in the coming weeks and months ahead,' she said.

Residents caught in South Australia can face a fine of up to $25,000.

Meanwhile in Western Australia residents can face fines up to $50,000 or 12 months jail under the Public Health Act and the Emergency Management Act.

Mr Morrison has even encouraged people to 'dob in' anyone they know who is flouting the 14-day quarantine order.

'It's legal enforcement, that will be the change,' Mr Morrison said.

'If your mate has been to Bali and they come back and they turn up at work, they will be committing an offence so I think it's up to all of us that we are ensuring it is in place.'

Scott Morrison explains the scenario modelling of coronarvirus outbreak. Officials are hoping to flatten the curve to ensure the health system is not overwhelmed

People are seen dressing in personal protective equipment outside the international departures terminal at Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne

The prime minister also announced cruise ships will be banned from docking in Australian ports for at least 30 days.

'This is very important. What we have seen in recent weeks is more countries having issues with the virus and that means that the source of some of those transitions are coming  transmissions are coming from those countries,' he said.

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 forced isolation for international comes after New Zealand imposed the same restrictions last week.

From Monday, gatherings of more than 500 people have been banned.

Limitations on large gatherings in enclosed areas such as theatres are expected to be made later in the week.

Mr Morrison said the measures were to restrict social interactions and lower the risk of widespread outbreak.

'There will be no more handshakes...which was something that was not needed a few weeks ago. It is a precautionary step,' he said.

'There will be further intrusions and there will be further restrictions on people's movements.'

Mr Morrison said the measures were to slow the spread of the deadly illness over the next six month to ease the pressure on the health system.
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 arent the only things youll receive.

You are going to get a lot of spam, said Monica Matthews, creator of the How 2 Win Scholarships website. You are going to be inundated.

Dont let a barrage of emails deter you from signing up  or sticking with  a scholarship website, though.

You dont have to repay scholarships, making them the best way to pay for college. You can win private awards before you even know where youll go to college. And giving a scholarship site some basic data can simplify your search by identifying potential matches.

Heres 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, youll receive messages about award deadlines but not part-time jobs, for example.

Our aim is to keep students informed, said Kathryn Knight Randolph, Fastwebs 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, said Marianne Ragins, publisher of the Scholarship Workshop website. 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 websites privacy policy to understand how it handles your personal information and your rights.

Create a dedicated email: Providing an email address is the price of doing business with many scholarship search engines.

Our service is free, Randolph said. With that comes working with advertisers and people who want to market to students.

That doesnt 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 this email address, like your first and last name with an additional number, symbol or dash if needed.

Be sure to check this accounts spam folder. Important messages like acceptance notices from scholarship providers could end up there by accident.

Use a site that doesnt require registration: The scholarship sites that dont require an email address are unlikely to save your results or send you reminders, but youll avoid marketing messages.

To see if you prefer to not share your email, try sites such as CareerOneStop from the Department of Labor and the College Boards Scholarship Search. Ideally, youll use both kinds of sites, registered and not, and several scholarship search engines.

Five is a good place to start, said Kristina Ellis, creator of the College Ninja website. You dont want to get too overwhelmed.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Avoid websites that charge a fee, because 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, said Shauna Grant, financial aid director at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

If it feels invasive, put the brakes on, Grant said.

Ragins says you need to know what youre 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.

If youre not prepared to have your name put in a marketing bucket, then dont do it, she said.

Dont rely on websites alone: Search sites are a great way to find scholarships, but they shouldnt be your only strategy. Consider:

 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.

Ryan Lane is a NerdWallet writer.
Officials with the Douglas County Health Department say an Omaha woman confirmed with the coronavirus Friday experienced symptoms prior to traveling.

And with no other link to a confirmed COVID-19 case, the woman in her 60s is considered the first case in Nebraska caused by so-called community spread.

At a news conference Saturday evening in Omaha, Gov. Pete Ricketts reiterated that a second confirmed community-spread case in Douglas County would trigger moves to close schools for an extended period and limit gatherings to no more than 50 people.

Already, several school districts, colleges and universities have canceled in-person classes, some churches have called off services and businesses have taken steps to allow employees to work at home.

Health officials reminded people to wash their hands, to stay home if they are sick, to not touch their face and to maintain what is becoming well-known as social distancing as the best ways to prevent the spread of the virus.

Ricketts reiterated that everyone should have two weeks of food on hand in the event they need to be quarantined.
All eight of her family members are now moved to quarantine.(PTI)

Bengaluru: Wife of Covid-19 infected Bengaluru techie has been booked by Agra police for not following quarantine instructions, after she reportedly fled to Agra via Air and train, where her parents live. All eight of her family members are also moved to quarantine.

Her husband, who works in the Bengaluru office of Google.Inc, was tested positive for coronavirus on Friday, after returning from their honeymoon in Europe.

There are discrepancies in the details given by Google and Agra police officials regarding the wifes travel dates.

According to the husband, she left for Delhi on the same day they both landed in Bengaluru, which could mean that neither was she in quarantine at that time, nor did she know that her husband has been contracted with coronavirus.

However, health officials in Agra said that the young womans family was resistant to cooperate when they were asked to test for coronavirus and move into isolation.

While the family members test results have come as negative, the young womans samples were sent for tests a second time.

Media reports say that she has been tested positive for the virus in the second test.
Student tests positive for Covid-19 and Wits reaches out to affected class

Wits University has just been informed that the medical student who has been quarantined since last Wednesday has tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19)

The student was asymptomatic and attended classes last Monday and Tuesday, without knowledge that the student had contracted the virus.

In light of this, the University has made the following immediate decisions:

The cancellation of all contact classes for the Graduate Entry Medical Programme 1 - MBBCh 3 classes. The academic programme will continue online.

All students in the affected students class have been instructed to go into self-quarantine for 14 days with immediate effect.

The Faculty is personally reaching out to each of the 350 students who could be affected. They will receive the full support of the Faculty, including the requisite monitoring and testing.

The Dean of Students, Mr Jerome September will coordinate arrangements for students who live in residences, and who require self-isolation. All students who require assistance should contact Thembelihle Dlamini on 0728390223. Those who require counselling can call the 24 hour Wits student support number on 0800 111 331.

The Department of Healths WhatsApp number is 0600123456 and provides additional information about COVID19. The NICD website (www.nicd.ac.za) is a credible source of information on COVID-19.

The Wits Senior Executive Team is meeting this afternoon to decide on the way forward for the Faculty and all other University activities. An update will follow this evening. In the interim, we appeal to the Wits community to remain calm. Please be assured that we are managing this issue and making decisions based on the best medical advice available.

This is an anxiety causing time for the University community and the country as a whole. However, if we all take a pragmatic approach to this pandemic it is very likely that the country will get through this crisis. Importantly, it is everybodys responsibility to protect themselves so that we also protect all other South Africans and most importantly the most vulnerable in our society.

We will get through this difficult period together.

SENIOR EXECUTIVE TEAM

WITS UNIVERSITY

15 MARCH 2015 (13:30)
Some people will still go out. Maybe they cannot stay home because of their work or other obligations, or maybe they simply refuse to heed public health warnings. Those people are not only more likely to get sick themselves, they are more likely to spread simulitis, too.
The Karnataka government on Sunday said that six positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the state till date including one death.

"Till date Six COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in Karnataka state including one death," said a govt press note.

The state has strengthened all surveillance and containment measures against the possible spread of disease.

"The five coronavirus positive cases are in isolation at designated hospital in Bengaluru and are stable," it said. (ANI)

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases across India reached 107 (including foreign nationals), according to the Ministry of Family and Health Welfare on Sunday.

The disease which originated in China's Wuhan city in December last year has so far spread to more than 100 countries, infecting over 1,30,000 people.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared coronavirus a pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Whether actor Rajinikanth's unequivocal message to his fans that he never aspired to be a chief minister and only intends to head his yet-to-be-born political party is a sagacious decision or not, it has only strengthened the perception of him being reluctant to take the plunge into politics with all the conviction and fortitude it demands.

The actor's exhortation to his fans to usher in a change in the existing political system and preference for youngsters in the party's hierarchy and committee of experts to guide the government is nothing but a reflection of his political ...
Bernie Sanders will never be president of the United States of America. His eight-year insurgency is now all over, bar the shouting.

Joe Biden's victory in the Michigan primary last Tuesday saw the last hopes of the 'Bernie Bros' evaporate. The former vice president under Obama is most likely going to be the Democratic nominee to take on Trump later this year. His lead is now almost unassailable, and the coalition of voters he has assembled is broad and committed.

Bar calamity, Biden, on the third time of asking, will win the opportunity to run for US president. Oddly, Biden Vs Trump starts today at 8pm eastern time in Washington, DC with the first head-to-head debate between the Democratic frontrunners. And Sanders could be Trump's greatest weapon. This is Sanders' final campaign, the last stand of his progressive movement. He has little to lose. A dangerous opponent. Debates rarely matter, until they do. A cutting, well-targeted takedown live on national television can have an impact on a campaign - particularly when a candidate is forced into a mistake that confirms a preconception voters had about their candidacy or undermines a foundational strength.

Elizabeth Warren skilfully destroyed the argument that Michael Bloomberg would be an electable candidate by exposing his derogatory comments towards women and the perceived racism of his stop-and-frisk policing programme in New York.

Similarly, in the last election cycle, Chris Christie effectively ended Marco Rubio's campaign for the Republican nomination by forcing him into a repetitious cycle of inane talking points - thus confirming a worry that Rubio was charismatic but insubstantial.

It's possible Sanders will take a conciliatory approach to the debate. Use the moment to push Biden to the left on his issues and take the opportunity to bring the Democratic Party together. By calmly questioning Biden on his policies, he could give his opponent the chance to show the essential Sanders' coalition that he is open to representing their interests.

But Sanders' comments last week should make the Biden camp wary and ready for aggression. Just a few days ago, he said: "On Sunday night, the American people will have the opportunity to see which candidate is best positioned to defeat President Trump". Meanwhile his aides have told The New York Times - off the record - that their candidate sees this as the last chance to challenge Biden on his record.

If Sanders goes for that aggressive approach he may seek to expose Biden's supposed weaknesses around his mental agility, his progressive credentials or his support for agreements like Nafta that are unpopular with the white, working-class voters he requires.

Biden not only requires a win in this debate, he has to come out unscathed. That's not an easy task. He must guard against Sanders' attacks and reach out to the entire Democratic base. But he must also take the opportunity to start honing his attack lines on Trump. The wider public have started paying attention - he can't squander the moment.

These attacks have been designed to dampen down Republican turnout in key demographics - working-class men and white women across swing states such as Pennsylvania.

Trump has a clear plan to fill converted but unmotivated Biden voters with despondency and inactivity. Biden has to do the same to Trump. Throughout much of his presidency, Democrats have attacked Trump on his morality and motives. This won't work. Trump has historically stable approval ratings. His base hasn't been dented. They know he's not moral, they know his motives aren't always virtuous. They knew that in 2016 so they don't judge him by that criteria.

His next campaign demands a new tactic - look at his competence and his delivery, not his comments or morality.

Biden wants to focus the discussion around this election on 'a battle for the soul of America'. This is just fine as a motivating message for his own base - but it does nothing to detract from Trump's support levels.

One of the most effective attacks on Trump so far has come from a previous supporter. Ann Coulter, a controversial right-wing pundit and anti-immigration campaigner, was an early high-profile Trump surrogate. She's turned on him since because of his inability to construct a significant wall on the border.

Trump ran his campaign on the visual slogan of 'Build the Wall'. Its absence is a glaring symbol of his inability to deliver. Democrats don't want the wall, but they could use it as a missing monument to Trump's betrayal of his base.

None of this is to suggest that Trump hasn't been effective. He has. To many of his supporters he's delivered on his promises on trade and on judicial appointments.

But the Democratic campaign has to highlight the weaknesses. And not the weaknesses from the perspective of their voters - they need to undercut his message with Trump sympathisers. Dampen down their enthusiasm and give those wavering, an excuse to justify staying at home on election day.

Trump's ability - or inability - to get things done will be put into starker focus as the US fights Covid-19. Biden's response to Trump's handling of Covid-19 has been more direct - calling out his "adversarial relationship with the truth" but it's now time to go further and wider than the pandemic.

What impact the virus will have on the world, never mind a November election, is the great unknown right now.

Initial polling shows that reaction is dividing down party lines. Last week, 61pc of Republican voters weren't worried about catching the disease, while more than two thirds of Democrats were. Everything - even an undiscerning virus - is partisan in American politics now.

It remains to be seen if this will last.

Will Trump's smokescreen of international travel bans give his voters an excuse to continue their support or will the fallout undermine their trust in his competence and the Trump economy? Biden must do everything in his power to make sure it's the latter.

So tonight, the aim isn't just surviving the dying sting of a vanquished socialist, it's landing the first successful blow on the incumbent interloper.

Lorcan Nyhan is head of careers with The Communications Clinic
As colleges and universities nationwide shift to online classes in an attempt to curtail the spread of the coronavirus, the usual spring break college tours have been upended.

Things are changing fast, so its important to check with individual colleges, but most prospective student visits, including events and overnights for admitted students, are off the table for now. With campuses closed, frustrated high school juniors face tour cancellations, and seniors wont be able to set foot on most campuses to feel the vibe before their deposits are due on May 1, National College Decision Day.

Choosing a college can be a stressful decision any year, and the special circumstances this spring call for extra resilience. Parents can help their teenagers keep their perspective and stay levelheaded, weighing the pros and cons of the schools on their lists remotely. In addition to the usual factors like academic and social opportunities and financial aid offers, the public health crisis may make some families prioritize closeness to home.

Following are some ways students can get creative to gather their information for college decisions while maintaining plenty of social distancing.
Students on hunger strike demanding DU shutdown

A group of DU students formed a human chain demanding the closure of the campus amid growing fears over spreading coronavirus infection. This photo was taken from in front of Raju Sculpture on Sunday.

bdnews24.com :

A group of Dhaka University students have gone on hunger strike to demand the closure of the campus amid growing fears over the spread of coronavirus infection.

Four students launched the strike at the altar of the Raju Memorial Sculpture on campus on Saturday night and were joined by another on Sunday morning.

The protesters are Hasan Biswas, Jonaid Hossain, Yasin Arafat Plabon,

Arafatul Osmani and Rakib Rana Masum-all third year students in different departments of the university.

"Although no one in the university has been infected with the coronavirus as of now, we, the students are the most vulnerable. We have to be on the alert everywhere, be it the hostels or classrooms," Hasan, one of the strikers, told bdnews24.com.

"Bangladesh has already reported a few cases of the coronavirus. Therefore, our campus should be closed before it spreads here. We had to go on hunger strike as it is a grave matter."

The university authorities are yet to address their concerns, he complained.

"At least 40 of us live in a room that has space for four people. It's the same in the classroom. The coronavirus spreads rapidly. At least a thousand of us will be infected in an hour if anyone around us catches it. Therefore, we want the university to be closed," said another protester Junaid.

Another group of students also called on the university authority to temporarily halt academic programmes on the campus and create awareness to prevent the spread of the virus during a human-chain protest on Sunday.
The Duke of York's new PR expert helped to massage Saudi Arabia's image following global outrage over air strikes that killed thousands of Yemeni civilians.

Mark Gallagher, a specialist in crisis management who is nicknamed the 'backroom fixer', has been drafted in to handle Prince Andrew's reputation following the scandal over his friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

His firm Pagefield Global was hired by the Saudi government in 2018 following the deaths of thousands of Houthi rebels in Yemen, and helped to develop a pamphlet promoting Saudi aid to Yemen that was distributed to British MPs.

New PR: The Duke of York's new PR expert had a key role in transforming Saudi Arabia's image following the outrage over air strikes which killed scores of Yemenis

Mr Gallagher's list of clients has also included the Azerbaijan government, which has faced fierce criticism for its human rights record.

His appointment as the Duke's PR adviser comes after it emerged that Andrew had hired an extradition lawyer whose clients have included Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Clare Montgomery QC has been taken on to advise on the FBI inquiry into Epstein.

Geoffrey Berman, the US attorney leading the inquiry, claims the Duke has refused to co-operate.

Mr Gallagher helped to exonerate high-profile figures who were falsely accused of child abuse by fantasist Carl Beech as part of the Metropolitan Police's Operation Midland.

A source told PR Week: 'Mark understands there are always two sides to a story and Operation Midland was a classic example of exactly that.

'He has no doubt the Duke will be exonerated.'

Mr Gallagher declined to comment last night.
An influential former Chinese property executive who called President Xi Jinping a "clown" over a speech he made last month about the government's efforts to battle the coronavirus has gone missing, three of his friends told Reuters. Ren Zhiqiang, a member of China's ruling Communist Party and a former top executive of state-controlled property developer Huayuan Real Estate Group, has not been contactable since March 12, they said. "Many of our friends are looking for him," his close friend and businesswoman Wang Ying said in a statement to Reuters, ...
While state officials held a press conference Saturday afternoon to announce that the total coronavirus cases in New Jersey had jumped to 69, the numbers were already out of date.

Moments later, the Bergen County executive released numbers for the states most populous county that showed there were six more cases than the state reported.

State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said her department updates its online tally of COVID-19 cases once a day. Sometimes local health departments get numbers more quickly, especially as more commercial labs expand testing capabilities for New Jerseyans.

The laboratories are supposed to be calling or faxing the local health department of the jurisdiction of where the individual resides immediately, Dr. Christina Tan, the states epidemiologist, said. So thats why sometimes these local health departments, who are the lead in these investigations, will sometimes be getting the results before the department of health.

The state announced its first coronavirus case on March 4, and the patients gender, age and hometown were released to the public a day later. The state released the hometowns of the first four cases last week, too.

As the number of cases in New Jersey climbs, state officials are only providing information about cases on a county basis  not town-by-town. The states online coronavirus tracker also reduces its numbers and then increases them at certain points in the day.

It makes tallying the number of cases increasingly difficult. And as municipalities release information about cases within their own borders, it becomes unclear if those are additional cases not yet reported by the state.

State officials did not confirm Saturday if cases that were reported by an individual municipality were included in their own data. Still, Gov. Phil Murphy said the state is not having any gaps in reporting positive cases.

"The number we give you is not garbled, Murphy said Saturday. At that moment in time, that is the number. Recognizing that over the course of 24 hours that number moves around. ... We are giving you the very best numbers we can give you.

Stephanie Silvera, an epidemiologist and Montclair State University professor, said knowing the towns of cases may be nice to know, but most New Jersey residents travel outside their hometowns anyway. It may be possible the state is tracking the individual municipalities of each case, she said, but not releasing the information for privacy reasons.

If youre talking about a small municipality and you say three people (have coronavirus), by the end of the Facebook day people are already figuring out who it is, Silvera told NJ Advance Media.

Silvera said the opening of new testing centers indicates that New Jersey is well past containment or even contact tracing. She said it shows the state is moving towards screening, which is more cost-effective than contact tracing.

Bergen County plans to open a new testing facility on Monday. A drive-thru testing area opened to certain patients in Hudson County, an area with fewer cases than Bergen County.

Still, Silvera urged that cooperation between all local, county, state and federal officials is paramount during a public health crisis. Consistent messaging would help to alleviate fears, she added.

Good public health communication is the key and very often, unfortunately, its where we have the most breakdown, she said. There needs to be communication from the local, the county, the state, the federal level and back.

If you would like updates on New Jersey-specific coronavirus news, subscribe to our Coronavirus in N.J. newsletter.

Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @BeccaPanico.
Basavaraj Bommai: Another leader with origins in Janata Parivar, who made it big outside the party

No DCMs, no Vijayendra: What the Bommai Cabinet looks like

Karnataka govt postpones exams for classes VII to IX till March 31

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Bengaluru, Mar 15: The Karnataka government has announced postponement of annual examinations for classes seventh to ninth till March 31 as part of measures to prevent spread of coronavirus, which has claimed one life and affected five others in the state.

Revised exam dates will be declared later and the students would have study holidays till then, an Education department circular said here. "As a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the annual examination of class seventh, eighth and ninth has been postponed till March 31," the Director of Public Instruction said in the circular on Saturday.

Coronavirus: This surgical shop in Kerala's Kochi is selling face masks at Rs 2

This was applicable to all schools, including private and unaided schools, it said. However, there would be no change in the exam schedule for class X, set to beginning on March 27, the order said. The class XII board examinations were already underway and would continue as scheduled, officials said.

The government has already announced holiday for students up to class six as part of precautionary measure to contain the pandemic.

On Friday, it has announced lock-down of malls, cinema theatres, pubs and night clubs for a week and asked advised IT and other professionals working in air-conditioned places to work from home for time being, for about a week.

India under lockdown: Confirmed coronavirus cases jump to 107

A 76-year old man from Kalaburagi died on March 10 while being treated for suspected coronavirus, becoming India's first COVID-19 fatality. Five others, who have tested positive for coronavirus, are undergoing treatment.

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Story first published: Sunday, March 15, 2020, 13:07 [IST]
A pipeline explosion on Sunday killed at least 15 people and destroyed about 50 buildings after a fire broke out in a suburb of Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital, emergency services said.

Several people were injured and taken to hospital, according to Ibrahim Farinloye, zonal coordinator for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

Plumes of smoke billowed into the air as people watched, while firefighters tried to quench the flames, a Reuters witness said.

Farinloye said some of the buildings collapsed while many roof-tops were blown up. He said the cause of the explosion was not known.

"We cannot actually say immediately what caused it. There was fire on the pipeline," Farinloye told Reuters. "The explosion destroyed over 50 residential houses."

Pipeline fires in Nigeria, Africa's biggest crude oil producer, are common and they are mostly caused by theft and sabotage. The methods used to steal oil often result in accidents that cause fires.

"The fire started with smoke," one eyewitness said. The smoke was coming up and later we heard a sound ... and some houses collapsed even the roofs."

It was not immediately clear what, if any, impact the pipeline fire would have on the operations of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

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British Ambassador to Spain Hugh Elliott has released a video message informing citizens of the "big implications" of the drastic measures brought in on Saturday by the Spanish government due to the coronavirus crisis.

The message comes after the British government advised against all but essential travel to Spain and recommended that all tourists return home.

More information Travel advice from the British governmentGet updated information here

The ambassador reminds residents and tourists still in Spain that the key requirement of the government's decree is to stay at home and only go out for very specific reasons.

These include to buy food and other essential items and medication, to go to a hospital or health centre, to go to work - if working at home is not possible - and to carry out caring duties.

British tourists have been advised to go back to the UK. / SALVADOR SALAS

"It's really important that we all comply with this," said the ambassador, reminding British nationals that the aim of the measures is to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The embassy has also advised British nationals to sign up for alerts to receive the latest travel advice regarding Spain from the British government.

The Spanish government has not restricted flights to the UK, said the ambassador and tourists are expected to be able to return home, although they are encouraged to check with their airline or travel company.

"Wherever you are in Spain you should follow the instructions of the local authorities," stressed the embassy in a statement.

"These are challenging times," said the ambassador, who finished his message by saying "a big thank you" to the Spanish health professionals.

The ambassador's message can be viewed here.
UPDATE: Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker closes all Massachusetts K-12 schools for 3 weeks, bans restaurants and bars from serving patrons on site through April 17

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said he has no plans to institute a statewide shelter-in-place for two weeks, a rumor that has been percolating as the U.S. grapples with the coronavirus pandemic.

Baker said during an appearance on WCVBs On The Record that the notion he is planning on announcing a quarantine for 14 days is a rumor.

Senior leaders in business, health care and politics and community leaders have all asked him about the rumor.

We have no plans to do that, Baker said.

The governor stressed that people need to consume accurate information and avoid wild speculation that is being disseminated.

The rumor explains the rush on toilet paper, food, hand sanitizer and other items, Baker said.

The governor declared a state of emergency last week as officials across Massachusetts work to combat the spread of coronavirus.

As of Saturday, there were 138 cases of COVID-19 in Massachusetts. The Biogen conference in Boston last month is now tied to 104 of the cases

Baker also banned gatherings of 250 or more people across the state. The ban did not include places in which people are in transit, like airports, bus and train stations, medical facilities, polling locations, shopping malls and grocery stores.

The order also did not apply to restaurants provided the establishments encourage social distancing. South Boston bars saw crowds Saturday night and as of Sunday, the restaurants and bars in South Boston agreed to shut down for the day.

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In April 1914, as Europe was moving towards war, Dakar, the capital of present-day Senegal, was hit by an epidemic of bubonic plague that within a year, according to one account, wiped out nearly 15 percent of the citys population.

In response, the French colonial authorities imposed harsh measures on the African population, which included restrictions on movement, the establishment of quarantine camps, forceful vaccinations and the burning of homes. The epidemic was part of what has come to be known as the Third Plague Pandemic that circled the globe between 1855-1959, during which European administrators across Africa implemented similar measures in other colonial cities. Nairobis business district, for example, was razed down following an outbreak in 1902.

Plague epidemics on the continent had predated the arrival of the Europeans, and Africans were not unaware of the dangers they posed. Still, in places like central Kenya, plague was not a significant cause of African morbidity and mortality. Colonial medical officials were, however, concerned about the threat epidemics posed to the extractive colonial economy, the flow of migrant labour from Africa to Europe and production in cash-crop growing areas. The measures they imposed on the locals were unpopular, and Africans quickly became loath to cooperate with the colonial authorities or to report cases in their homesteads knowing it meant the destruction of their homes. More than a century later, a similar dynamic is at work as the world confronts yet another pandemic.

Since it was first identified in China in late December, the coronavirus has swept across the world, killing thousands and wreaking social and economic havoc on a massive scale. Disregarding the advice of the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as global health experts, many countries have resorted to imposing travel restrictions, the latest being the sweeping US ban on all travel from Europe.

African governments too have been scrambling to contain the virus before it establishes a firm toehold on the continent. As is the case in much of the rest of the world, initial fears and efforts focused on the possibility of importing COVID-19 from China. Across the continent, air links with China have been severed and, in some countries such as Kenya, this has led to a spike in racist anti-Chinese sentiment. Yet as publics and governments were looking east, the virus sneaked in from an entirely different direction.

As of this week, at least 18 African countries, 14 of them in sub-Saharan Africa, have so far reported a combined total of almost 200 coronavirus cases. The majority of infections outside Egypt, where there are the most reported cases but where the source of the virus is disputed, originated in Europe. In Burkina Faso, which was the latest to confirm the presence of the virus, a couple was quarantined after returning from a trip to France. Nigeria was introduced to the virus by a 44-year old Italian while the cases in Cameroon and Togo involved people who had been travelling in Europe. In fact, according to the WHO, Europe is now the epicentre for the pandemic, reporting more daily cases than China did at the height of its outbreak.

For a continent with long historical ties to Europe, measures such as indiscriminate travel bans will be difficult to swallow, akin to burning down the house. For example, according to a report by the Kenyan government, arrivals from Europe last year dwarfed those from China, with five arrivals from the Old Continent for every one from the Peoples Republic. In fact, arrivals from Europe were double those from Asia and the Middle East combined and accounted for 45 percent of visitors to Kenya from the top 12 countries outside the African continent. Given that two-thirds of international visitors to Kenya came to holiday, pumping $1.6bn into the local economy, and helping to sustain over a million jobs, a strategy of shutting the doors to Europe begins to look rather unappealing.

Of course, this has not stopped some countries from trying. Uganda has asked Italians, Spaniards, Germans and the French not to come and has also banned international conferences on its soil including the United Nations Group of 77 and China Summit, which had been expected to attract more than 6,000 delegates. Across the border, Kenya has issued a similar ban, which will mean foregoing much-needed income for the regions economies.

Yet questions linger over the sustainability of travel bans for a continent where travel and tourism remain one of the key drivers of growth. Although Africa captures a tiny fraction of the global tourism market, the industry still accounted for 8.5 percent of the continents gross domestic product in 2018 and employed over 24 million Africans. With the virus now present in over 115 countries, the Kenyan transport minister has noted the impossibility of stopping flights from them all.

The decision by the WHO to declare COVID-19 a global pandemic is itself an admission that containment efforts have failed. Last week, WHO officials had said that declaring a pandemic would be tantamount to throwing in the towel on containment and would be a signal to governments that efforts should focus instead on mitigation: treating patients, developing and providing vaccines and reducing the strain on health systems and society.

For African countries, it should be treated as a caution against wrecking an important source of livelihoods by imposing indiscriminate travel bans. That does not mean abandoning reasonable precautions to stop infected persons getting into the continent, but rather changing focus to ramping up capacity for free testing for the virus, shoring up dilapidated health systems to deal with local infections, and, importantly, public education  measures that some countries are now implementing.

However, huge gaps remain. At a press briefing on Friday to announce Kenyas first confirmed case, the Cabinet Secretary for Health offered contradictory advice, alternately asking the sick to stay at home and then later saying the responsible thing was actually to head to the hospital. The panic buying that followed the announcement exemplified a lack of faith in the governments ability to manage the epidemic driven largely by its failure in the preceding weeks to prepare the population for what was coming.

The continent could look to Asian countries such as Singapore and South Korea, where public information coupled with widely available free testing and contact tracing as well as rigorously enforced isolation of infected cases has minimised the need for Italian-style shutdowns.

Africa can beat COVID-19. It just doesnt need to burn down the house to do it.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
SYLHET: Visitors throng the 6th International Trade Fair in Sylhet organised by Sylhet Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday.
Two Air flights carrying over 230 Indians from coronavirus-hit landed in Jaisalmer on Sunday morning and the passengers have been quarantined at the Indian Wellness Centre at Jaisalmer.

While External Affairs Minister said that a total of 234 Indians have been evacuated from Iran, defence spokesperson Col Sombit Ghosh said, "236 persons have landed in Jaisalmer by two Air flights this morning."



Jaishankar said the batch comprises 131 students and 103 pilgrims.

"234 Indians stranded in have arrived in India; including 131 students and 103 pilgrims.Thank you Ambassador Dhamu Gaddam and @India_in_Iran team for your efforts. Thank Iranian authorities," Jaishankar tweeted.

"They are being quarantined at the Indian Wellness Centre at Jaisalmer," Col Ghosh said.

The centre is fully equipped and a functional facility to help Indian citizens undertake the mandatory quarantine period under the supervision of skilled medical authorities.

Soldiers have volunteered to provide care and support to the countrymen returning from overseas, he said.

The Wellness Centre is working in synergy with the Civil Administration, Airport authorities and Air Force to ensure proper care is provided to the evacuated citizens.

This is the third batch of Indians evacuated from

A second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims had arrived from Iran on Friday.The first batch of 58 Indian pilgrims were brought back from Iran on Tuesday.

Iran is one of the worst-affected countries by the outbreak and the government has been working on plans to bring back Indians stranded there.
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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse)  Sun, March 15, 2020 14:06 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206ac36be 2 News Disneyland,Avengers,travel,destination,theme-park Free

A training center for the next generation of Avengers opens this summer at Disneyland Resort, where new recruits can train with some of the worlds greatest superheroes including Spider-Man, Iron Man and Black Panther.

Called Avengers Campus, the training center is located at what is described as a former Stark Industries complex owned by Tony Stark and opens at Disney California Adventure Park.

Assemble at Avengers Campus! Coming to #DisneyCaliforniaAdventure in summer: https://t.co/xlgV1hrCmR  The Avengers (@Avengers) March 11, 2020

Different locations are hosted by different Avengers. Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure, for instance, takes guests on an interactive escapade and teaches trainees how to sling webs and test-drive a new invention, the Web Slinger vehicle.

Avengers Campus will be a place where fans and guests can finally step into the universe they love, and stand alongside some of their favorite heroes, said Dave Bushore, vice president of Franchise Creative and Marketing for Marvel Studios in a statement.

Read also: Disney closes US and Paris theme parks, delays 'Mulan' over virus

The optimism inherent in Avengers Campus captures the diversity, power and teamwork these extraordinary characters possess, and now they come together to unite people from all over the world under one guiding principle: We are stronger together.

Visitors can also train with Black Panther and Wakandas elite guards, the Dora Milaje, and Doctor Strange, who will train recruits in the ways of the mystic arts at an ancient Sanctum.

Iron Man also debuts his new armor, the Mark 80, at the Avengers Campus, while Ant-Man and The Wasp likewise make their first appearance at the Disney park.

Avengers Campus opens July 18 at Disney California Adventure. A version of the attraction is set to come to Disneyland Paris in 2021 and Hong Kong Disneyland in 2023.
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece said it would ban road and sea routes, as well as flights, to Albania and North Macedonia on Sunday, as well as banning flights to and from Spain to stem the spread of coronavirus.

Only cargo and citizens who live in Greece will be allowed to travel to and from Albania and North Macedonia, authorities said.

Athens also extended travel restrictions to Italy, saying it was banning passenger ship routes to and from the neighboring country, while no cruise ships will be allowed to dock at Greek ports.

The health ministry said on Sunday there had been one more fatality from coronavirus, raising the total number of deaths to four, and a total of 331 confirmed cases.

With mass gatherings banned and cafes, bars, gyms and playgrounds closed, authorities will also impose entry checks at supermarkets from Monday to avoid overcrowding.

Greek Orthodox Church governing body, the Holy Synod, will hold an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss attendance.

Separately, the Greek Olympic Committee said that the Olympic flame handover ceremony for the Tokyo 2020 Games scheduled for March 19 will be held without an audience or journalists present.

(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Edmund Blair, Kirsten Donovan and Alexander Smith)
Hours after Madhya Pradesh



Governor Lalji Tandon directed Chief Minister Kamal Nath to seek a trust vote in the Assembly on March 16, the Congress MLAs, who had been camping in Jaipur, returned to Bhopal on Sunday.

Talking to PTI, a Congress MLA confirmed that the party legislators have returned to the state capital from Rajasthan.

The Congress expressed confidence that it will prove its majority in the House, while the opposition BJP claimed that the ruling dispensation has been reduced to minority as 22 of its MLAs have resigned.

"We are confident of proving our majority," state Public Relations Minister P C Sharma said.

He said although the governor has asked the Congress government to seek a trust vote after his (governor's) address in the Assembly on Monday, the Speaker was empowered to decide the proceedings of the House and he would take a call on it.

However, BJP chief whip in the Assembly, Narottam Mishra, said, "The Congress has lost its majority. The governor is saying that was in a minority. I am not saying this...it has been mentioned it the governor's letter sent to chief minister."



The Kamal Nath-led government has been facing deep crisis following the resignation of 22 Congress MLAs after former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the party on Tuesday.

On Saturday, the Speaker had accepted the resignations of six ministers. With this, the strength of the House has come down to 222 and the majority mark is now 112.

The resignations of 16 other rebel legislators, have not been accepted so far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The former international model chats to Chloe Brennan about her favourite people, places and things.

The person

It's hard to choose just one. My boyfriend, Conor, who I moved to Sydney to be with, but of course my beautiful family and my doggies, Ralph and Lulu, too.

The memory

Arriving back to Ireland from Australia, to surprise my family. Seeing the look on their faces was very special, and made the long trip worth it.

The moment of the day

First thing on a Saturday morning - Conor and I go for a long walk while the sun rises and the world wakes up.

The song

Beautiful People by Chris Brown featuring Benny Benassi has been my favourite song since it came out. I think it just brings back really happy memories for me.

The movie

My forever favourite movie will always be Mean Girls. I think I've watched it 50 times!

The book

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. Everyone needs to read this book or watch the movie - it's incredible.

The hero

My beautiful mother, Sari - for everything she has done for us throughout the years, and because of the amazing rock that she is.

The outfit

A little white dress, gold jewellery and cute sandals will always be my go-to outfit here in Sydney. A simple classic.

The accessory

Gold hoop earrings - my outfit never feels complete without them. Even if my outfit is super casual, I feel somewhat done up with them on.

The gadget

I have to go for the obvious and say my phone - I couldn't live without it! Especially Google Maps.

The smell

My Liz Earle Skin Replenishing Body Balm is the most divine smell in the world. I am obsessed.

The friend

I have so many amazing friends that I've known since I was five, and I'm so grateful for that. One of my best friends is my sister Andrea. She's my sidekick for life.

The beauty product

I keep my beauty routine very simple, but my favourite product is probably The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%. It's worked wonders on my skin.

The pet hate

When someone is rude and has bad manners. It's not hard to smile and be pleasant, and you never know how a simple smile or a few nice words can brighten someone's day.

The celebrity

Emma Watson, because she really uses her fame to promote positive change.

I also loved her in Harry Potter.

The holiday

Somewhere warm and tropical. I went to Bali a few years ago and fell in love with it. The people there were genuinely some of the nicest I've ever met.

The hotel

I stayed in a great hotel in Abu Dhabi called Traders. It had its own private beach, which made it very special.

The advice

Positive thinking can change your life. You can manifest anything you want, as long as you believe it will happen. Be grateful for what you do have, as opposed to looking at what you don't have.

The drink

Sparkling rose has been my go-to drink here in Sydney.

The bar

The Doss House in Sydney. It is the cutest little Irish bar that plays live Irish music on a Sunday.

The hobby

Going to the gym. I truly am a much happier person when I'm in the routine of going to the gym five or six times a week. It's an outlet for me, and it clears my mind.

The part of my body

Probably my eyes. They're Conor's favourite part of me, too.

The virtue

Kindness. You never know what's going on in people's lives, so it's important to be kind. The world could do with a little bit more of it nowadays.

The vice

I love sugar and chocolate. I don't think I could go a day without chocolate and if I did, it'd be a sad day!

The taste

Sourdough bread. I could eat it for every meal, every day.

whiteandgreenhome.com
Ahead of examinations beginning Monday, the Lucknow University has directed candidates to maintain distance among themselves in exam halls in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

In an office memorandum issued on Saturday, Controller of Examinations (University of Lucknow) Lt Colonel (retd) A K Mishra also asked students to practice social distancing.

"At least one metre distance must be maintained between two examinees," he said.

Symptomatic candidates will be made to sit in isolation rooms, the memorandum said.

All schools and colleges in the state where examinations are not on are closed till March 22.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Get to know the Forbes Vietnam 30 Under 30 florist

Forbes Vietnam names Ha Minh Khoi one of the 30 most outstanding faces under 30 years in 2020 in its February edition. Photo courtesy of Khoi.

Ha Minh Khoi overcame childhood hardship to become a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree for his vibrant, creative arrangements.

Inside a small floral shop on Ho Xuan Huong Street in Hanoi, a squinting Khoi stands back to admire a vibrant bouquet.

"For me, flower arrangement is more than just a job to make money. It is a form of art," the 29-year-old declared.

One of nine children, Khoi was born into a poor farming community in rural Chau Duc district of southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. To support their family, the siblings often harvested corn and gathered yellow apricot tree flowers, popular during Tet or Lunar New Year holiday.

Khoi said poverty haunted him throughout his childhood. One time, his brother was so ill, his mother had to feed him on discarded food found in Hanoi, and that his parents had to eventually sell their metal roof to cover the medical bills. However, their less fortunate life did not diminish his 67-year-old mother Nguyen Thi Ans love for flowers.

With a budget of VND30,000 ($1.3) for food, she still spent VND10,000 ($0.4) on flowers. An gives all her children a vase of flowers each year on their birthdays.

Khoi inherited the passion from his mother, volunteering to arrange flowers at a local church as a kid. During middle school, he invested money, bought flowers and sold them from his doorstep to local boys to gift their girlfriends. After graduating high school, he came to Saigon to apply for an apprenticeship at a flower shop. In just two months, the young apprentice became the main floral arranger. But Khoi's income is still low compared to former classmates who found jobs after graduating college.

"At the time, I realized being hard-working and having the right skills are not enough, and that I had to improve my value," he said.

Khoi later switched to another flower shop where he was promised training by foreign experts, developing his skills by reading more books and watching YouTube videos. For his 23rd birthday, he received more than 10 cakes and other gifts from grateful customers.

Khoi poses next to his Xuan Doan Tu (Spring Reunion) arrangement created for Spring 2020. It took him two weeks to prepare and one day to complete with the help of four others. Photo courtesy of Khoi.

Khoi's foreign teacher advised him to take an exam to become a member of the American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD), a long-standing organization specializing in discovering and promoting the art of flower design as a professional profession.

He passed the theory round with 50 questions in 40 minutes about flower arrangement techniques, but Khoi could not go to the U.S. to take the practice exam. Two times, he failed to obtain the visa because of his English skills.

With keen determination, he registered to attend a 6-month English course at HCMC Youth Cultural House. After a third exam, Khoi impressed the U.S. Consulate interviewer with his improved capabilities. He finally came to the U.S. to take the practice exam in 2016. At the age of 25, Khoi became the first Vietnamese to become an AIFD member.

Around Christmas 2016, he was invited to France to oversee an arrangement of buttercups, hyacinths, and tulips to grace the cover of floral art magazine Nacres Spring 2018 issue.

Nacre stated Khoi's work carries vitality and a pure Asian beauty that lent a fresh touch to the European magazine.

Khoi's Nacre arrangement. Photo courtesy of Khoi.

Khoi went on to win the Vietnam International Floral Expo, featuring 14 contestants representing 14 countries, in 2018.

Using his savings, Khoi opened a flower shop in Hanoi at the end of last year and earns between VND300 million (nearly $13,000) to over VND1 billion (over $43,000) a month.

Nguyen Le Don Vinh, a colleague, recalled staying awake for three days to complete an order, after which Khoi suffered a nose bleed, collapsed and was hospitalized to receive a saline transfusion.

"I have never seen anyone as perfectionistic or passionate," Vinh said, adding aesthetic always trumped profit.

Nguyen Chi Thanh, 41, a wedding organizer, remarked: "An artist with a strong passion like Khoi can surpass any limitation."

This spring, another of Khois arrangements made the cover of Narce.

Forbes Vietnam named him one of the 30 most outstanding faces under 30 years in 2020 in its February edition.

"During a workshop at Boerma Instituut International Floral Design School Holland, the Netherlands, in February last year, German floral designer, teacher and author Gregor Lersch 'was touched and impressed' after talking about Khoi's talents," Forbes Vietnam wrote.

One afternoon in early March, a customer entering his shop ordered a small arrangement for his wife, saying he was after something displaying delicacy, vitality and that represented reunion.

Khoi smiled and nodded, donned his apron, picked up a pair of scissors and commenced to craft a basket of brilliance.
Rohani rejects rumors about lockdown in Tehran, other cities as Iran's coronavirus deaths hit 724

03/15/20

Source: Press TV

President Hassan Rouhani has dismissed rumors that Iran is planning to put Tehran and other cities under quarantine amid the coronavirus outbreak. Rouhani also said after a meeting with members of the government economic bureau as well as representatives of the private sector that talks were underway with neighboring countries to facilitate cross-border trade.



President Rohani chairing the coronavirus response center in Tehran

March 14, 2020 photo by Islamic Republic News Agency



"We have no such thing as quarantine at all. There have been rumors that certain jobs and stores in Tehran or some cities will be quarantined. They are not true," he said.

"There will be no quarantine neither today nor during, before or after Nowruz," he added, referring to the Persian New Year holiday which begins on March 20.

Rouhani also stressed that people are free to pursue their professions as they like, while the government continues to offer its services as usual.

"However, we are doing our best so that the government's economic activities and services are offered in a way that will keep people at home longer and prevent them from mingling as much as possible," he noted.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the president said Iran was holding talks with its neighbors to facilitate cross-border trade and transportation of goods.

Rouhani outlined the government's plans to help people and businesses overcome difficulties in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

These measures include giving cash handouts to those with low wages and offering tax and utility breaks of up to three months.

The new coronavirus, called COVID-19, initially emerged in China late last year and is now spreading in Europe and across the Middle East.

724 Iranians killed; 13,938 infected



Official Iran's statistics on coronavirus as of March 15

Infections: 13,938

Deaths: 724

New Cases: 1,209

Recovered: 4,590

Kianoush Jahanpour, the head of the public relations and information center of the Iranian Ministry of Health, said Sunday the virus had claimed 113 lives in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall death toll to 724.

Jahanpour said that 1,209 fresh cases were added to the number of confirmed infections during the period, bringing the total to 13,938.

"The good news is that more than 4,590 of the overall confirmed cases have recovered" and the patients have been discharged from hospitals, he added.

The official said people should cancel all travel and stay at home so that the situation would improve in the coming days.

Jahanpour called on Iranians to "take the coronavirus seriously" and especially be mindful of elderly relatives who are most vulnerable to the infection.

Related Photos by ISNA:

The Grand Bazaar in Tabriz











The Bazaar in Qazvin







The Bazaar in Arak







Life in city of Isfahan















Life in capital city Tehran












Kamil Krzaczynski

Warren Buffet once quipped that the airline business was such a lousy investment that somebody should have shot down the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk to save the world a lot of money.

For years the sage of Omaha followed his own advice and held off from investing in airlines. And then, in 2016, he changed his mind.

By the end of last year, his investment vehicle, Berkshire Hathaway, owned more than 8 percent of each of the four main U.S. airlines, Delta, United, American, and Southwest.

As late as last month Buffet bought another $45 million in Delta stock after the price fell 20 percent as a result of the novel coronavirushe obviously misjudged how bad it was going to get.

On Friday Delta cut 40 percent of its flights, ending all flights to Europe for the next month and parking 300 airplanes. The Delta CEO, Ed Bastion, waiving his own salary for six months, said, The speed of the demand fall-off is unlike anything weve seenand weve seen a lot in our business.

Now Buffets airline holdings have lost more than a third in value, falling to around $6.3 billion

The stress test hitting the worlds airlines has no precedent in its severity.

So here are two things to look for:

Who is going to take the worst hits and what will the eventual outcome look like?

In the short term its wise to look at what Alan Joyce, the head of the Australian airline Qantas, said: Its survival of the fittest.

In fact, Buffets change of heart about airlines is a clue to how some of the fittest got that way. Behind their strength is a single tool: yield management.

The whole art of running an airline is matching the capacitythe number of seats available on a route over 24 hourswith the demand. Over the last decade smart algorithms have enabled managers to keep jiggling prices on each seat according to demand to maximize profits almost right up to boarding time.

Given that degree of precision, and the consolidation of the U.S. airline market, where the four major carriers that Buffet invested in control 80 percent of the flights, the fittest and therefore likeliest to survive are right here in America.

Story continues

The weakest are mostly in Asia. One of the worst hit is Cathay Pacific, based in Hong Kong. They suffered the effect of a double-whammy: months of anti-government street protests and then the virus. The airline has just cut its capacity by 65 percent and expects a huge loss in the first half of 2020.

In Europe there has already been one failure, the British short-haul airline Flybe, which the British government refused to bail out, andas previously reported in The Daily BeastNorwegian, Europes third largest budget airline, needs another large cash injection to stay flying. The two top budget airlines, Ryanair and easyJet, are in a far stronger position.

But in Europe the elephant in the room is British Airways. Its CEO, Alex Cruz, sent out a message to his employees starkly headed The Survival of British Airways. He said that they faced a crisis of global proportions like no other we have known.

The truth is that British Airways has a problem that none of the big American airlines faceand its one that the Americans deliberately avoided.

Although British Airways is a worldwide premium brand it is actually part of a conglomerate, the International Airline Group, that combines Iberia, the Spanish national airline; Vueling, a budget airline based in Barcelona; Aer Lingus, the Irish airline; and LEVEL, a low-cost transatlantic carrier based in Paris.

This is a mixture of business models that the American airline chiefs have deliberately stayed away from. It combines the legacy name, British Airways, a business with traditionally high profit margins, with others with far less brand value that are in intensely competitive markets where profits are elusive. Vueling, for example, swung from a loss of 11 million Euros in 2017 to a profit of five million Euros in 2018. Aer Lingus has had a similarly erratic record.

As a result, automated capacity management, the magic sauce that transformed the profits of American airlines and gives them a vital resilience now, doesnt work when a legacy international market is locked in company with more precarious markets that become even more precarious in a crisis like this one. The weak drain away the profits of the strong.

And this is where, for American travelers, the outcome beyond the crisis gets really interesting.

By far the most profitable route for British Airways is across the pond, between London and New York. Its known as the billion dollar route because it is the only one of the airlines routes to produce as much as $1.15 billion in annual profits. And nearly a third of the seats are in business and first, by far the most lucrative. With the new ban on flights from Britain to the U.S. this gusher is now shut down.

All the airlines flying the Atlantic, from Europe and the U.S., make good money because the fares reflect what is, in essence, a fixed marketfixed not by a cartel but by limited airport capacity. Throughout the main European hubsLondon, Frankfurt, Amsterdams Schiphol, and Paristhere is a shortage of gates so acute that the market in gates has become a kind of casino for high rollers.

So its a fair bet that, given the extreme effects of the current meltdown of airline finances, that once the coronavirus pandemic is over, the airlines will be so keen to duke it out to get their transatlantic routes back to profitparticularly to win back business travelers who have had to learn teleconferencingthat there will, for a while at least, be a bonanza of bargains for passengers.

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Last week, because of the health crisis at home, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar had to pull out of an event in New York marking the 25th anniversary of Riverdance.

There were diplomats there from every country represented at the United Nations, invited as part of the Department of Foreign Affairs' charm offensive designed to win for Ireland in June a two-year seat on the UN Security Council.

To enthusiastic cheers Jean Butler, who with Michael Flatley choreographed and led the first shows, told the audience: "There is a tenacity and a determination in the Irish spirit that is embedded in our culture, in our literature, in our playwriting, in our drama, in our dance, in our music, in our visual arts - it is part of us and that's why I think Ireland will bring that spirit to the seat at the UN if they're elected in June."

Unfortunately, over the past few years the competition with Canada and Norway for this status symbol has seen Ireland at its worst.

To win the seat it is necessary to secure the backing of 129 nations - two-thirds of the votes - and since 22 of those are members of the Arab League and others are totalitarian, Ireland has shown itself unwilling to give a fair hearing to Israel or to defend Christians being shockingly persecuted throughout the Middle East.

Along with this has gone a toleration of anti-Semitism that has led to Israel seeing Ireland as its bitterest opponent in Europe.

In 2018 the Irish Senate passed the Occupied Territories Bill proposed by Frances Black - an independent senator who sang beside Martin McGuinness's coffin - that would ban and criminalise "trade with and economic support for illegal settlements in territories deemed occupied under international law", which are most notably Israeli.

The UN is a game of numbers and virtue-signalling. It has long since ceased to be a positive force in the world

It was supported by pretty well every political party apart from Fine Gael, which, being in government, had to take account of the measure's probable illegality under EU law and its potential to derail Ireland's relationship with the US.

But the government displayed no desire to defend Israel against one-sided and vicious pro-Palestinan disinformation.

Indeed, it showed its true colours by allowing the Department of Foreign Affairs to ignore its international duty as the lead EU nation on textbook development in the education sector in Palestine by turning a blind eye to a new curriculum full of hatred of Jews and pro-terrorist propaganda.

In 1998 UN General Secretary Kofi Annan admitted that UN behaviour gives "a regrettable impression of bias and one-sidedness. It has sometimes seemed as if the United Nations serves all the world's peoples but one: the Jews".

Fifteen years later his successor Ban Ki-moon admitted that Israel was still suffering from "unfortunate" bias and discrimination.

Nothing has changed under Antonio Guterres, who replaced Ban Ki-moon in 2017.

It's not just the preposterously misnamed Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that is biased against Israel, so too is the Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the atrocious United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which has destroyed generations of Palestinians by telling them that uniquely they can pass refugee status from generation to generation, which keeps them in dreadful camps nurturing hatred.

Nothing has been done to challenge the Security Council practice of passing more resolutions against Israel than against all other participants in armed conflicts combined.

As UN Watch has said: "Examination of the Security Council's record reveals unambiguously that Israel is often condemned, that the Palestinians receive uniquely favourable treatment, that violence against Israel is often ignored, and that a host of major human rights abuses around the world escape comment."

In explaining what Ireland would bring to the Security Council, Foreign Minister Simon Coveney included among its core values "the realisation of human rights for all, and the empowerment of women and girls".

Does anyone think that is in any way achievable in a Security Council dominated by China and Russia? Or that Ireland will swim against the pro-Arab tide?

The UN is a game of numbers and virtue-signalling. It has long since ceased to be a positive force in the world.

With the challenges Ireland is facing with coronavirus, I hope it doesn't have the distraction of playing cynical politics on the Security Council.
(Natural News) The new coronavirus sweeping across the world is the perfect killing machine for the elderly and the infirm, the head of a U.S. nursing association said. Mark Parkinson, head of the American Health Care Association, made the statement after a series of deaths in several nursing homes and long-term care facilities in the United States.

The deaths were all confirmed to have been caused by COVID-19, a disease caused by a new coronavirus which, after originating from Wuhan in China, has since infected other parts of the world.

The grim reality is that, for the elderly, COVID-19 is almost a perfect killing machine, Parkinson said, adding that Americans who have relatives and friends in nursing homes or other long-term care facilities must stop visiting their relatives and friends in nursing homes to halt the spread of the disease.

Instead, Parkinson suggested that the concerned family members phone, text or video-call their loved ones until the circumstances change for the better.

We are encouraging all people, including family members and loved ones, to not visit nursing homes and assisted living facilities, Parkinson said.

Tim Killian, the spokesman for one of the nursing homes implicated in the outbreak, said during a news conference Sunday, that 55 positive tests have been linked to their facility, Life Care Center of Kirkland. (Related: Seattle nursing home now seen as possible epicenter of U.S. coronavirus outbreak)

There are about 1,200 long-term care facilities in Illinois, where Life Care Center of Kirkland is located, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have been linked to the spread of the coronavirus in the United States, with Life Care Center of Kirkland currently leading with 19 deaths, or 61 percent of the nations total.

According to Killian, 21 of the cases are current Life Care residents, while the rest are those who are currently in hospitals, or patients who were moved to different facilities. Killian added that there are 28 uninfected residents in the facility.

Killian, at a news conference, said their staff members have found the new virus to be unpredictable and unbiased in who it affects, noting that they have seen patients who, despite being in relatively good health, suddenly develop symptoms.

Weve had patients who, within an hours time, go from showing no symptoms to going to acute symptoms and being transferred to the hospital, Killian said.

And weve had patients die relatively quickly under those circumstances, Killian added.

In addition, Killian mentioned that about one-third of Life Cares entire staff, or about 65 people, are currently reporting symptoms, but added that only 30 have been tested so far.

According to the University of Washington School of Medicine, while it is possible for them to test all of Life Care Center of Kirklands staff for the new coronavirus, the federal government has not given them any testing kits.

CDC tested only 77 people this week; coronavirus testing too slow

Despite the worsening status of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had tested fewer than 100 people this week.

In addition, aside from the CDC, only a single private laboratory is performing coronavirus tests in the U.S., contradicting government statements about private testing centers playing a critical role in ensuring testing for every American.

The U.S. has 1,583 positive coronavirus cases and 38 deaths as of this writing.

Health officials faced a back-and-forth with Congress this week regarding their slow response to the disease, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has now declared to be a full-blown pandemic.

The U.S. health departments response to the outbreak has been met with criticism as well as comparisons to that of other countries, such as that of South Korea, which has reportedly launched drive-through coronavirus testing locations.

This is not a problem we can test our way out of, Stephen Redd, MD, head of the CDCs Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, said during their inquiry with Congress on Wednesday.

Despite public criticism, however, CDC Director Robert Redfield, said during a different hearing that public health labs run by individual states are now ready to test up to 75,000 people.

Redfield also added that 75 public labs were ready to perform tests across the United States. The laboratories each have the capacity to perform 100 tests per day.

Despite Redfields claim, however, the COVID Tracking Project  a database that updates the test statistics from states and the federal government  says only 7,617 people have been tested in state-operated laboratories as of this writing.

For Tuesday, according to the database, for example, the 50 states cumulatively tested only 2,728 people, which translates to an average of 55 people per state.

According to former Department of Homeland Security official Juliette Kayyem, these low testing numbers could lull Americans into a false sense of security about the severity of the disease, which has killed 4,961 around the world.

If Americans conclude that life will continue mostly as normal, they may be wrong, Kayyem said.

To monitor updates about the pandemic, visit Pandemic.news.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

WGNTV.com

BusinessInsider.com

News.Yahoo.com

COVIDTracking.com
Published on 2020/03/15 | Source

The design of Genesis' new G80 premium sedan is receiving rave reviews from U.S. auto media.

Advertisement

Genesis, Hyundai's luxury brand, unveiled images of the G80 last week and plans to launch it here late this month. It will make its debut in North America at the New York International Auto Show in mid-April.

U.S. auto magazine Car and Driver said, "The new model looks like it will make a significant jump upmarket, as evidenced by its bold exterior styling that incorporates the Genesis brand's signature pentagonal grille and similar headlights and taillights as the GV80".

Auto website Autoblog said, "The G80 was already a handsome four-door with responsive handling and noteworthy luxury touches. Design-wise, in joining the corporate aesthetic... the all-new G80 ups its game everywhere".

According to another auto website, Motor1, the car's design is elegant "throughout exterior cues such as the headlights and character lines running along the car".

Motor Trend magazine said the interior details, including a 14.5-inch infotainment screen, are "second to none".
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina began the SAARC conference, by thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his initiative suggested that the Health Minister, Secretaries of SAARC nations should also hold similar video conferences to discuss specific areas of cooperation. Hasina also thanked India for bringing 23 Bangladeshi students from virus-hit Wuhan last month.

PM Modi on March 15 led the video conversation with SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) leaders to evolve a joint strategy to fight the novel coronavirus outbreak in the region. Leaders from the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bhutan all met through video conferencing to discuss their plan for the pandemic.

Read: Maldivian President At SAARC: No Country On Its Own Can Succeed In Combating COVID-19

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh thanks PM @narendramodi for bringing back 23 students of her country from Wuhan #SAARCfightsCorona  PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 15, 2020

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina thanks PM @narendramodi for organizing the Video Conference, discussion on various new ideas and calls for continued dialogue between our experts and officials on follow-up actions #SAARCfightsCorona  PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 15, 2020

Hasina mentioned that as of March 15, there are two imported cases of COVID-19 from Europe and said that there is no local or community transmission of any coronavirus case in Bangladesh. Hasina further added that Bangladesh has set-up a national committee to provide guidance to concerned people from all ministries at all levels. Bangladesh has also undertaken massive awareness-raising campaigns in every part of the country through all media platforms, including social media.

Read: PM Modi Participates In SAARC Video Conference To Formulate Joint Strategy To Combat Coronavirus

'4 newly-built hospitals for coronavirus patients'

Hasina added that Bangladesh has exclusively dedicated four newly-built hospitals for coronavirus patients and has separate beds in every hospital in all districts for housing COVID-19 patients. Hasina said that vacant buildings across the country are being identified for setting-up makeshift hospitals. Hasina said that Bangladesh has trained health workers at municipal levels and school children are also being trained to follow necessary hygiene.

Read: Afghanistan Welcomes PM Modi's SAARC Proposal On COVID-19 Crisis, Stresses On Unity

Sheikh Hasina also proposed that all SAARC countries need to cooperate and collaborate closely to fight the pandemic. Hasina said, "We believe it is extremely important to establish an institution to prevent and fight any against public health threats in the South Asia region in the future. Bangladesh will be happy to host such an institution if you all currently agree." Hasina also appreciated that after such a long time all the SAARC leaders got together.

Read: Sri Lankan President Accepts PM Modi's Proposal To SAARC Nations On Coronavirus Crisis
Naftogaz expects arbitration hearing on Crimea asset losses as early as May

16:10, 15.03.20 4770

With interest, Naftogaz's claims against Russia amount to $8 billion.
Britain on Sunday said its criticised plan to deal with coronavirus was designed to "protect life" in a "sustainable" manner as it prepared to unveil "wartime-style" measures to tackle the outbreak.

The government has yet to implement the kind of tough measures that continental Europe has adopted, but health minister Matt Hancock said Sunday it would announce emergency powers on Tuesday, which are expected to include a ban on mass gatherings.

"We are absolutely ready to do that," he told Sky News's Sophy Ridge. "We'll take the right action at the right time," he said, adding that "the time is coming."



Britain's death toll from the disease rose on Sunday as health officials announced 14 more people had died, bringing the total number of fatalities to 35.

Official figures showed the country has 1,372 confirmed cases -- an increase of 232 from the day before.

Critics have accused the government of not acting quickly enough to contain the spread, but the government has said that it is taking the advice of experts, including behavioural scientists, on when to deploy the measures.

"The goal here is to protect life, the measures have to be sustainable," he later told the BBC. "We will stop at nothing to fight this virus".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Jaipur, March 15 : Two persons who had tested positive -- 69-year-old Italian man and 85-year-old Jaipur resident with travel history to Dubai -- have tested negative twice and were now coronavirus-free, according to health officials here on Sunday.

Three patients, including 70-year-old Italian woman, now in Rajasthan, become coronavirus-free after treatment at SMS Hospital, said Rohit Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary (Health).

Complimenting doctors on their achievement, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said: "Happy to share, three #corona patients, including two senior citizens with comorbid issues at SMS hospital, #Jaipur have been treated successfully & their test reports are now negative. My heartiest compliments to SMS doctors & staff for their commendable & dedicated service in treating corona patients." "This news should reassure those feeling stressed. My appeal to people is to take precautions and avoid visiting crowded places. State govt is continuously monitoring the situation & enhancing medical facilities for corona testing & treating patients. This news should reassure those feeling stressed," he tweeted.

Of the 402 samples tested in Rajasthan, 393 turned negative and four positive. Five samples are still under test.

While three have tested negative, a 26-year-old local youth, who had a travel history, tested positive on Saturday.

In Rajasthan, total 417 samples have been tested. Of this, four tested positive, 406 negative and seven were still being processed, said Singh.
Germany staked its claim Sunday to ongoing work into a vaccine against the coronavirus, after media reports claimed US president Donald Trump was trying to poach research from a German company.

"The German government has a strong interest in producing vaccines in Germany and Europe," a spokesperson for the economy ministry told media group Funke.

The ministry also pointed out that the government had the power to scrutinise foreign takeovers of German companies, "especially when it comes to national or European security".

According to a report in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, Trump is trying to secure exclusive rights to a potential vaccine against the global health threat that has now killed some 6,000 people, which is being worked on by biotech firm CureVac.

The vaccine would then be "only for the United States," a source close to the German government told Die Welt, whose front page on Sunday read "Trump vs Berlin".

Yet a US official told AFP Sunday that the report was "wildly overplayed".

"The US government has spoken with many (more than 25) companies that claim they can help with a vaccine. Most of these companies already received seed funding from US investors." The official also denied that the US was seeking to keep any potential vaccine for itself.

"We will continue to talk to any company that claims to be able to help. And any solution found would be shared with the world." CureVac investors also told German media that they would not sell the vaccine to a single state. "We want to develop a vaccine for the whole world," said Christof Hettich, CEO of CureVac's primary investor dievini Hopp Biotech Holding.

CureVac, founded in 2000, is based in the German state of Thuringia, and has other sites in Frankfurt and Boston.

The firm markets itself as specialising in "development of treatments against cancer, antibody-based therapies, treatment of rare illnesses and prophylactic vaccines." The lab is currently working in tandem with the Paul-Ehrlich Institute, linked to the German health ministry.

Last week, the firm announced that CEO Daniel Menichella had been replaced by Ingmar Hoerr, just weeks after Menichella met with Trump, his vice-president Mike Pence and representatives of pharma companies in Washington.

"We are very confident that we will be able to develop a potent vaccine candidate within a few months," CureVac quoted Menichella as saying on its website shortly after the visit.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
School chiefs and teaching unions are to hold crisis talks with Education Secretary Gavin Williamson today as pressure mounts for a month-long classroom closure to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Ministers have so far resisted calls to follow France, Italy and Ireland, which have sent children home for an extended Easter break.

British officials say crucial staff such as NHS workers would have to take time off work for childcare if schools were closed.

But amid calls for greater clarity from the Government, Mr Williamson will today meet school leaders to discuss the next move.

He was warned that one tactic, to allow larger class sizes if teachers are off sick, could backfire by spreading the virus between more pupils.

School chiefs and teaching unions are to hold crisis talks with Education Secretary Gavin Williamson today as pressure mounts for a month-long classroom closure to slow the spread of coronavirus

Another option understood to be under discussion by ministers for the exam boards to delay the tests until September, after students return from summer holidays.

Last night a Downing Street source told The Telegraph that discussions were ongoing, but refused to rule out exams being pushed back.

The talks were scheduled as ministers from Britain's largest teaching union, the National Education Union, said members were demanding to know 'why schools aren't closing if mass gatherings are to be suspended'.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, joint general secretaries, Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, wrote: 'Every day we are getting increasing numbers of questions from teachers and support staff asking why the Westminster government isn't following the pattern of other countries in calling for periods of school closure.'

Last week, Mr Williamson insisted that the 'impact of closing schools on children's education will be substantial, but the benefit to public health would not be'. He said he was 'particularly mindful' of increasing the strain on the workforce of public services such as the NHS.

Mr Williamson was backed by Association of School and College Leaders general secretary Geoff Barton, who said: 'Young people are safest and are best served by focus on the routines, the rhythms of learning.'

Ministers have so far resisted calls to follow France, Italy and Ireland, which have sent children home for an extended Easter break

However, Mr Barton urged the Government to suspend all Ofsted inspections immediately, with the exception of establishments with safeguarding concerns. In response, the watchdog said it would look 'very favourably' on schools that asked for inspections to be deferred during the outbreak.

Schools and colleges have been drawing up contingency plans to enable children to follow lesson plans online in the event of a long shutdown.

Writing in the Times Educational Supplement, primary school teacher Matthew Murray warned that relaxing maximum class sizes in primary schools 'could exacerbate an already worsening public health situation, as well as harm the wellbeing of school staff members'.

He asked: 'When the rest of society is seeking to avoid large gatherings, should this logic not apply to schools too?' Northern Ireland initially rejected calls to follow the decision of Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to close all schools and colleges for two weeks.

But on Friday, Stormont First Minister Arlene Foster suggested schools will soon be closed for 16 weeks in the North.

Meanwhile, schools in Scotland are drawing up plans.

Larry Flanagan, of the Educational Institute for Scotland teaching union, said: 'There is a hope to get to the spring break without blanket school closures and then if incidents of the virus have increased, it may be necessary to close all schools.'
A British couple have had to leave their 99-day 68,000 cruise early amid the coronavirus crisis - even though no-one on board caught the deadly bug.

Dave and his wife Helen, from Bletchley Heath, Kent, departed from Southampton for Australia on the 10th of January.

The journey - to celebrate their 70th birthdays - was cancelled due to coronavirus fears.

Dave and his wife Helen, from Bletchley Heath, Kent, embarked on a 99-day 68,000 cruise onboard the Queen Mary 2 (pictured) that departed from Southampton for Australia on the 10th of January. When they got to Fremantle it was announced that their trip was cancelled

They sailed to Fremantle, in Western Australia, where organisers told them they would have to leave the ship immediately and fly home - even though no-one on board was diagnosed with the bug which has infected more than 150,000 and killed 5,000 worldwide.

Those who are medically unable to fly and have obtained a doctors' note to prove it are able to stay onboard the ship to be sailed home.

It would take them 24 days to get back on The Queen Mary - which would be classed as a merchant vessel in this instance.

Those who are medically unable to fly and have obtained a doctors note to prove it are able to stay onboard the Queen Mary 2 (pictured) to be sailed home

Dave said: 'We were under a silent quarantine for a time. No-one was to know that we were on quarantine before we were allowed anywhere near Australia.'

The country's Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Sunday that from midnight all people coming to Australia will have to self-isolate for 14 days.

Dave added: 'Someone said they were offered a first class ticket home.

'We have heard someone else was offered a holiday in Australia.

'I don't want to fly. I don't like to fly that is why we take cruises. They brought us here by ship, they should take us back again.'

The couple have been offered discounts on future cruises as compensation for the inconvenience.

Denise Howes, 59, from Ringwood, Southampton, couldn't wait for her Caribbean cruise with husband Nigel, 60, which would depart from New Orleans. But the trip was cancelled at the last minute

But Dave said: 'I won't be going anywhere near a cruise.'

Meanwhile Denise Howes, 59, from Ringwood, Hampshire, couldn't wait for her Caribbean cruise with husband Nigel, 60, which would depart from New Orleans.

But when the couple arrived in the US, they found that their cruise on the Carnival Glory was cancelled and they are to fly back to the UK tomorrow.

Donald Trump yesterday extended the United States' coronavirus travel ban to people from the UK and Ireland, scuppering work and holiday plans for many Britons.

Mrs Howes said: 'The cruise was to celebrate our 40th anniversary.

'We are very very disappointed but on the other hand the worry is being ill and being away from home.

Mr and Mrs Howes found that their cruise on the Carnival Glory (pictured) was cancelled and they are to fly back to the UK tomorrow

'I would rather be home and be ill than be here and be ill.

The couple don't know when they will be heading back and Mrs Howes said it is 'very very scary'.

It comes as more than 600 British passengers  many of them elderly  were last night stranded on a cruise ship in the Caribbean after it was blocked from a string of ports after a coronavirus outbreak onboard.

Forty people on the Braemar, operated by British cruise firm Fred Olsen, have tested positive for coronavirus and passengers  including the sick  now face the prospect of a voyage back across the Atlantic lasting up to ten days.

MS Braemar docks into Jamaica on March 4th, 2020. Passengers now face a nightmare ten-day trip back home as five test positive for coronavirus

The stricken ship, carrying 682 mostly British passengers and 381 crew, was refused permission to dock in Freetown in the Bahamas due to the outbreak.

Instead, it was yesterday forced to anchor 25 miles off the northern coast of the Bahamas, where extra food, fuel and medical supplies were delivered by helicopter.

Cunard - the company that runs the Queen Mary 2 - said: 'We have decided to cancel Queen Mary 2s Round World Voyage.

'This is due to the escalating Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation across the globe and considering the latest advice regarding international cruising.'

Passengers appear cheerful as MS Braemar docks into Jamaica on March 4th, 2020, before five on board tested positive for the virus. The stricken ship, carrying 682 mostly British passengers and 381 crew, was refused permission to dock in Freetown in the Bahamas due to the outbreak

Carnival Cruise said in a statement on Monday: 'Carnival Cruise Line announced today that it is pausing operations immediately across its fleet of ships based in North America and will resume them on Friday, April 10.'

It added: 'Throughout this COVID-19 situation that has now turned into a global pandemic, we have implemented higher and higher levels of screening, monitoring and sanitation protocols to protect the health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we serve.

'While Carnival has not had a diagnosed case linked to our operation we realize this situation is bigger than the cruise industry and we will continue to do our part to support public officials to manage and contain this unprecedented public health challenge.

'We are contacting booked guests directly regarding their cruise and their options.

'Our guests have been tremendously patient and understanding as we have reacted to a rapidly changing situation and a desire to be responsive to authorities in the U.S. and the destinations we visit.

'We are very sorry that this decision will disrupt the vacation plans for our guests and look forward to resuming operations and providing our guests safe, fun and memorable vacations.'
Governments would have been financially better off if all new enrolments since 2011 had gone to public schools, according to new research which questions the view that private schools lead to big taxpayer savings.

The paper debunks the oft-repeated claim that private schools save the public purse up to $8 billion a year, and argues the true figure is closer to $1 billion, and potentially less.

The School Money-go-round, by researcher and former principal Chris Bonnor and Sydney University academic Rachel Wilson, found the per-student taxpayer spend in some brackets of disadvantage is less at public than private schools.

"Since 2011, in fact, governments would have come out ahead [in terms of recurrent funding] if all new school enrolments had gone to public schools," Mr Bonnor said.
The Ontario government says its introducing new protections this week for workers who are required to take unpaid leave during self-isolation or quarantine periods  including removing a requirement to obtain doctors notes.

Meanwhile, the province says its asking hospitals to scale back elective surgeries in order to retain capacity for managing the COVID-19 outbreak.

In a statement issued Sunday, Premier Doug Ford said he had directed government to draft legislation responding to the COVID-19 outbreak that will include measures to ensure employers provide protected leave.

Our government is protecting workers so they can focus on their own health, and the health of their families and communities, without fear of losing their jobs, the premier said.

Ford has tasked Labour Minister Monte McNaughton with stickhandling legislation this week  in an emergency session of the legislature, which will be recalled during March break  ensuring workers get paid even if they are in isolation or quarantine.

My number one priority as minister has been the health and safety of workers in Ontario, McNaughton said on Twitter Sunday.

Anyone who needs to take precautions because of COVID-19 shouldnt have to worry about losing their job, he said.

Opposition leader Andrea Horwath said the New Democrats will be co-operating to draft and pass a bill to help people in Ontario weather the storm.

Im pleased that the government is now drafting emergency legislation to help Ontarians cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.

The new measures will apply both to employees who are in self-isolation or quarantine, or those who are providing care to others. Ontario has reported 142 COVID-19 cases as of Sunday evening.

Ivana Yelich, the premiers spokesperson, did not say whether the legislation would include any provisions for paid leave.

The NDP will be working hard to ensure the emergency legislation helps people take time off work without losing a paycheque, Horwath said.

We want to ensure no one faces consequences for missing a rent or mortgage payment through no fault of their own.

On Sunday, Ontarios health minister also announced plans to limit elective surgeries across the provinces hospitals to preserve capacity as cases of COVID-19 continue to grow in Ontario.

The move comes following consultations with the Ontario Hospital Association and is supported by the provinces chief medical officer, the province said in a statement Sunday.

As part of their pandemic planning, hospitals will be asked to start carefully ramping down elective surgeries and other non-emergent clinical activity.

Health minister Christine Elliot said the province has been diligently monitoring and taking decisive action to contain the spread of this new virus.

We must also carefully consider how to best maximize resource and prioritize services.

Deena Ladd of the Toronto-based Workers Action Centre said waiving doctors notes requirements was very important so that were not clogging up hospitals and emergency rooms and walk-in clinics.

But she said the measure alone was absolutely not sufficient.

Most workers go paycheque to paycheque. For low-wage workers its even more intense because most dont have drug and dental benefits. They dont have paid sick days. And then theyre losing their income, she said.

Worker advocates have called for Ontario to implement 14 paid sick days for quarantines, and seven permanent paid sick days.

Previously, Ontario workers were entitled to 10 job-protected sick leave days, two of them paid, and were not required to provide doctors notes.

Those provisions were reversed by Fords government in 2018. Workers entitlements were reduced to three unpaid, job-protected sick days.

But the spread of COVID-19  and its disproportionate impact on low-wage workers, many of whom cannot work from home  has sharpened policy-makers attention to workplace leave policies.

Steven Del Duca, the newly elected leader of Ontarios Liberal Party said he was pleased the government is taking a collaborative approach.

We will be studying the legislation closely and are hopeful the government will introduce paid leave along with a number of other measures because workers should not have to choose between paying their bills and self-isolation.

Albertas provincial government announced new measures to provide workers with 14 job-protected sick days, and waive the requirement to provide doctors notes.

In the United States, Congress passed an emergency coronavirus bill Friday that includes a provision for two weeks of paid sick leave for some workers impacted by COVID-19.

Ladd said more measures were needed to help workers cope with the fallout of businesses and institutions shutting down, including an emergency relief fund for workers who do not have access to federally administered Employment Insurance.

Additional details of our governments ongoing efforts to support Ontario families during the difficult period ahead will be announced in the coming days, the premiers statement said.

We look forward to working with the federal government on further measures to enhance financial support for businesses and workers.

Senior Progressive Conservative officials said Sunday Ford will reassure Ontarians on Monday that stores will remain open.

Ford has been in constant contact with retailers and suppliers to ensure there are no shortages, said high-ranking insiders, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal deliberations.

The premier is expected to emphasize that LCBO outlets will remain open as more and more Ontario residents are confined to their homes, sources said.

Finance Minister Rod Phillips will meet with reporters Monday at Queens Park. Phillips is expected to announce next steps for his March 25 budget, which is expected to be postponed or radically scaled back.

Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

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JACKSON COUNTY, MI  All Jackson District Library locations are closed amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

The branches will be closed through at least April 5, spokesperson Will Forgrave said.

There were 33 reported Michigan cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, as of late Saturday, March 14, state officials said. There were no reported cases in Jackson County.

Drive-through coronavirus testing available in Jackson

Due dates for materials are extended to April 30, Forgrave said. No items should be returned until then, officials said.

Ebooks, streaming movies and more will still be available online with a library card.

Coronavirus maps show cases and exposure sites in Michigan

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has closed all K-12 schools, banned gatherings with more than 250 people and set restrictions for hospital visits.

In Jackson County, the Center for Family Health and Community Action Agency have modified services to help prevent the spread of coronavirus. Numerous school districts are offering free lunch pickup for children 18 and younger. The city of Jackson suspended water shut offs and the Jackson County Jail banned in-person visits.

MORE MICHIGAN CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE HERE.

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Coronavirus cases in Michigan climb to 33

Detroit Pistons Christian Wood tests positive for coronavirus, but agent says he feels fine

MSU extends virtual classes through semester, postpones commencement due to coronavirus

Governor clarifies coronavirus-related hospital visitation restriction, allows parents

Coronavirus concerns change Kroger store hours, Meijer deli service in Michigan

With 9 coronavirus cases, Oakland County orders restaurants, bars to cut customer capacity

Drive-through coronavirus testing available in Jackson

Coronavirus has Michigan spring-break travelers scrambling: Its all up in the air

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.
Representative image

The Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group has issued a travel advisory for its operatives to steer clear of coronavirus-hit Europe, described as "the land of the epidemic".

According to The Sunday Times, the latest issue of the ISIS 'Al-Naba' newsletter refers to a new set of "sharia directives" warning against travel to Europe.

The Middle East-based terror outfit, which has in the past encouraged operatives to plot attacks in Europe, also instructed those of its followers who may have become ill with coronavirus not to leave the region, in order to prevent the disease spreading.

The newsletter says that the "healthy should not enter the land of the epidemic and the afflicted should not exit from it". It also instructs followers to "cover their mouths when yawning and sneezing" and to wash their hands regularly.

The newsletter refers to a "plague" described as a "torment sent by God on whomsoever He wills", adding: "Illnesses do not strike by themselves but by the command and decree of God."

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

ISIS has lost a lot of ground in the Middle East after a series of defeats, but it remains active in Iraq and Syria in a fragmented form. The Middle East has also been hit by the coronavirus outbreak, with Iraq reporting 101 cases and 10 deaths from COVID-19.

Europe is now the epicentre of the worldwide pandemic, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), with Italy, France and Spain all banning public gatherings and the UK set to follow suit as the virus claimed over 5,300 lives around the world.

In Italy, 2,547 new novel coronavirus cases were reported and 252 deaths on Saturday, the highest number of deaths in a single day since the outbreak began.

Italy has now confirmed 21,157 cases, second highest in the world after China.

As of Saturday, in Spain the number of coronavirus infections have reached 5,753 people, half of them in Madrid.

The deadly virus has claimed over 5,300 lives and infected more than 142,000 people across 135 countries and territories, with the World Health Organisation describing the outbreak a pandemic on Wednesday.
A senior doctor says Queensland's health system won't be able to cope with the peak of a coronavirus outbreak 'no matter how much planning we do'.

Dr Francis Ware from the Queensland Children's Hospital in Brisbane, says people should start social distancing now, rather than waiting for official advice from the Government.

She argues that with Queensland Health predicting one in four Australians will contract the virus, there won't be enough medical staff, hospital beds and masks to treat that many people.

'We can't do this - no matter how much planning we do, because Queensland hospital beds are filled up with non-COVID patients at the moment,' she told the ABC.

Should an outbreak occur, there would be no capacity to treat other medical needs, said Dr Ware.

Queensland Health Minister, Steven Miles (pictured) has urged businesses to start preparing for its staff to work at home, while a senior Queensland doctor, Dr Francis Ware, says the state can't cope with peak cases of coronavirus, 'no matter what we do'.

Queensland now has 46 confirmed cases of the virus, including federal Home Affairs Minister, Peter Dutton (pictured)

Dr Francis Ware has said that Queensland's hospitals (the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital is pictured) can't cope with a peak coronavirus outbreak because the state's hospital beds are filled up with non-COVID patients 'at the moment'

'We're not going to stop requiring care for appendicitis, heart attacks, babies,' she added.

Another problem she raised concerns medical staff shortages as fewer hospital beds would be available due to the inevitably of staff getting sick.

Staff will have to remain at home to look after ill family members and because they will also likely be carrying the virus.

In response, Dr Ware said tougher measures need to be introduced to stop the spread of the virus in the community.

'We desperately need to stop the spread of this virus in our community. Just going home when you're sick will not stop the spread of the virus,' she said.

That tougher measures haven't been employed has confused Dr Ware, because Queensland Health provided medical staff with data stating more than 20 per cent of the state's population could require hospitalisation.

She said with the data out people need to start social distancing themselves.

However, a Queensland Health Spokesperson told abc.com the organisation stood by its planning and was well prepared and resourced to cope with increasing coronavirus cases.

Queensland Heath Minister, Steven Miles (pictured with Queensland Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk) expects more people to be diagnosed with the coronavirus today

Queensland now has 46 confirmed cases of the virus, including federal Home Affairs Minister, Peter Dutton, and the state's numbers rose by 11 on Saturday  the sharpest jump yet.

Queensland Health Minister, Steven Miles said he expects more people to be diagnosed with the virus today and it is now time for businesses, where possible, to get staff to work from home.
YEREVAN, MARCH 15, ARMENPRESS. Conditioned by the spread of the novel coronavirus, extra measures are taken in Etchmiadzin city, ARMENPRESS reports PM Pashinyan informed during a Facebook Live. He informed the most part of the 27 roads entering to the city will be locked, only 3 of them will operate.

We have to ask the residents of Etchmiadzin to use only 3 of the 27 roads for the exit of the city starting from 23:00. We ask you to use only Vagharshapat-Yerevan, Vagharshapat-Ashtarak and Vagharshapat-Masis roads (Vagharshapat is the official name of Etchmiadzin-edit.). The rest will be closed. The body temperature of the travelers will be checked and those citizens that will have higher than normal body temperature will be asked to self-isolate, the PM said.

He noted that at the moment there are two patients in a higher-risk health condition, who are aged 67 and 71, but they feel good.

The number of citizens infected with coronavirus is 28, but one of them has been cured and discharged. 27 are still in hospital.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
As a precautionary measure against the threat of the coronavirus spread, the Lucknow district administration on Sunday ordered forthwith closure of cinema halls, multiplexes, clubs, discos, swimming pools and gyms.

These facilities will remain closed till March 31, Lucknow District Magistrate Abhishek Prakash said in an order, issued on Sunday.

"All the owners, managers and coordinators of cinema halls, multiplexes, clubs, discos, swimming pools and gyms in the district have been directed to close them with immediate effect till March 31," the order said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A total of 136 countries and territories were imposing an entry ban or stricter quarantine procedures for travelers from coronavirus-hit South Korea on Sunday, up four from the previous day, the foreign ministry said.







As of 9 a.m., 61 countries and territories were barring the entry of travelers who have been in Korea at least in the past two weeks, joined by Poland, Latvia, Norway and Ecuador.







Poland imposed an entry ban on all foreigners who do not have residence permits starting Sunday.







Latvia decided to bar all foreigners from entering the country between March 17 and April 14.







Norway and Ecuador strengthened quarantine controls by imposing an entry ban on all foreigners. The countries previously required self-quarantine on arrivals from Korea and other virus-hit countries.







Norway's entry ban, set to take effect Monday, comes even as Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha asked for Norway's cooperation in permitting necessary human exchanges between the two nations during her phone talks with her Norwegian counterpart earlier this week.







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 here.







Including China, the number of countries and territories enforcing stricter quarantine programs on people from Korea remained unchanged at 18.







Fifty-one countries and territories were conducting stricter immigration controls and requiring or recommending isolation for visitors from Korea.







South Korea reported 76 new cases of the coronavirus Sunday, bringing the total number of infections to 8,162. (Yonhap)


US president had initially dismissed concerns after being exposed to at least three people who tested positive.

US President Donald Trump has tested negative for the new coronavirus, his physician said, following concerns over his exposure to COVID-19.

Trump agreed to the test after coming into contact with several members of a Brazilian presidential delegation visiting his Florida resort who have since tested positive.

Prior to his testing on Friday, the Republican president said his personal physician told him he did not show symptoms and did not need to take the test. But the 73-year-old president decided to do it anyway after repeated questions from reporters about why he was hesitating to undergo screening when he had been exposed to at least three people who have tested positive.

This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative, the presidents physician Sean Conley said in a memo on Saturday.

COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, has killed at least 51 people in the US and upended daily life across the country, with millions working from home and schools shut.

New York, the most populous US city, saw its first coronavirus death on Saturday, as store shelves were stripped bare after days of panic buying.

Across the Hudson River in Teaneck, New Jersey, Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin called for a citywide self-quarantine after 18 cases were confirmed in the township.

What we are saying is that we are ground zero, Hameeduddin said. Expect or act as though youre going to infect somebody or somebody is going to infect you.

The pandemic has now infected more than 2,200 people in the US. Globally, it has killed more than 5,800 people in at least 137 countries.

Ban extended to UK and Ireland

Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence announced further curbs on travel to the US, saying a ban imposed on European nations over the pandemic would be extended to the UK and Ireland on Tuesday.

The restrictions threw airports across the country into disarray, with incoming travellers forced to wait hours for medical screenings before passing through customs.

Acting Homeland Security secretary Chad Wolf said his office was working with airlines to improve screening times.





Trump advised against non-essential travel and said officials were also considering imposing domestic restrictions.

If you dont have to travel, I wouldnt do it, Trump said at a White House news conference. We want this thing to end.

In an official proclamation, he also named Sunday a national day of prayer for all people who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump declared a national emergency on Friday, freeing up some $50bn in disaster relief funds.

The US House of Representatives also passed a bill  crafted by Democrats in consultation with the Trump administration  to provide billions of dollars for free virus testing, emergency paid sick leave and family leave.

It is expected to pass the Republican-majority Senate.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.-- An intimate congregation of parishioners came together at the Church of St. Clare in Great Kills Sunday morning, despite the Archdiocese of New York cancelling masses due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

We will follow the Archdiocese guidelines, however, we will do our best to stream live on our website, a spokesperson of the church told the 8:30 a.m. Mass crowd, adding that a live stream of Masses will be available online weekly. We encourage you to follow the directions of the Archdiocese, but for today I am so happy you are here to pray together and participate at Mass at a time when we need God more than any other time.

The congregation, consisting of less that 40 people, whose cars took up half the St. Clares parking lot . Most parishioners sat a noticeable distance away from each other during the hour-long service.

There was no holy water in the cups in the doorways of the church, due to the standard practice during Lent. In addition, the church practiced a hands-off approach to blessings. Those who gave out the Eucharist applied hand sanitizer before making their way to the crowd.

Those who attended church were visibly emotional during the morning service, and said they were not willing to speak to the Advance about whether they felt safe attending mass amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The church website states weddings and funerals at St. Clare will continue as scheduled, along with weekly charismatic prayer services, bible study and Friday Stations of the Cross.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

The Archdiocese of New York officially announced the cancellation of Mass on Saturday. Archbishop of New York Timothy Cardinal Dolan urged archdiocesan parishioners to keep those affected by the disease in their prayers.

Let us pray for all who are sick, as well as doctors, nurses, caregivers, and all those working hard to combat the disease, he said. "We should also remember those whose lives have been otherwise disrupted, especially anyone who has lost income from a loss of work during this difficult time.

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The Nigerian military and the State Security Services (SSS, also called DSS) were used for electoral malpractice and voter intimidation in 2019 general elections, a United States government report has stated.

The military and the SSS report to the president, with President Muhammadu Buhari winning re-election in 2019 and his party winning majority seats in the National Assembly.

The report released on Wednesday, titled 2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in Nigeria, said there is evidence that the security agencies intimidated voters, election observers, and INEC officials, particularly in the southern part of the country.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is the independent electoral body responsible for overseeing elections by regulating the process and preventing electoral misconduct.

During the year INEC conducted the presidential election, National Assembly elections, State House Assembly elections, and local elections in all 36 states plus the FCT, as well as gubernatorial elections in 30 states.

There was evidence military and security services intimidated voters, electoral officials, and election observers. In addition violence in several states contributed to lower voter participation and added to the sentiment the army is a tool of the ruling party in many parts of the country, particularly in the South.

For example, widespread violence and military involvement in electoral processes, including during the vote collation process, significantly scarred the governorship election in Rivers State.

INEC Logo

Additionally several of INECs resident electoral commissioners (RECs) reported DSS operatives intimidated them when the RECs attempted to protect voting materials. Some RECs reported security service personnel visited them multiple times prior to the elections.

Press reported certain RECs claimed the DSS was surveilling the RECs and that they had been brought to DSS offices for questioning, the report read.

INEC conducted the presidential and National Assembly elections on February 23, while governorship and state assembly elections were held on March 9.

Supplementary elections in five states were also held in March.

Judicial Banditry

The U.S government also said there was a widespread perception that the judiciary is corrupt and intimidated by the executive and legislative branches, making it difficult for it to function independently.

There was a widespread public perception that judges were easily bribed and litigants could not rely on the courts to render impartial judgments.

The constitution and law provide for an independent judiciary in civil matters, but the executive and legislative branches, as well as business interests, exerted influence and pressure in civil cases. Official corruption and lack of will to implement court decisions also interfered with due process.

The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) in June last year had identified the suspension of the former Chief Justice Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, by President Muhammadu Buhari days to the election as seen to lack due process and reportedly undermined judicial independence.

Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen, suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) [Photo Credit: The Guardian]

It also spoke on the impact of the initial postponement of the elections.

Severe operational shortcomings resulted in the elections being postponed by a week just five hours before polling was due to start on 16 February, the EU had said.

Vote Buying

The U.S. government said the last general election recorded a historically high level of vote-buying in Nigerian elections.

It said the menace was apparent in the re-run Osun elections in September 2018, and the Kano gubernatorial elections on March 8, 2019.

There were reports that corruption including vote-buying were historically high during the 2018-19 electoral season. Examples of vote-buying were apparent in the re-run of the Osun gubernatorial election in September 2018, and during the Kano gubernatorial election on March 9, the report said.

International and local observers had raised concerns at the roles of government institutions who participated in the elections that resulted in a high level of voter intimidation in both elections.

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YIAGA Africa, a local election observer group, through its Watching The Vote (WTV), described the Osun polls that brought in Adegboyega Oyetola of the ruling APC in Osun State as fraudulent and anti-democratic.

Governor of Osun state, Gboyega Oyeola

INEC fixed the re-run for September 27, 2018, after declaring the election inconclusive when it held on September 22. Ademola Adeleke, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, scored 254,698 votes to beat Mr Oyetola, APC who polled 254,345 votes.

For the Kano elections, the E. Mission had identified various levels of violence and voter initiation in many parts of the state. It also accused both INEC and security agencies of doing little to address the violence that characterised the Kano elections.

Vote buying is a practice of inducing voters to make them vote for a particular candidate during an election.

According to a survey conducted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the South-south region of Nigeria had the highest prevalence of vote-buying during the 2019 national elections, which also showed people with formal education were more involved in the problem.
Firebrand SC leader and Bhim Army president Chandrashekhar alias Ravan on Sunday announced the formation of a new political outfit and said that it would strive to emerge as the 'voice' of the poor and downtrodden in the country.

The new party named 'Azad Bahujan Party' was announced at a meeting of Bhim Army workers from across the country at Basai village in Noida.

Some former legislators and leaders of other SC outfits were present at the meeting chaired by Chandrashekhar. The colour of the party flag was also blue like the BSP flag.

The police had denied permission for holding the meeting in the wake of the coronavirus scare and locked the venue. Bhim Army workers, however, broke the lock and held the meeting there, sources said.

Police said that they would take action against the workers.

Chandrashekhar had declared that he would form a political party and has invited former and disgruntled BSP leaders to join him in fighting for the rights of the Dalits, minorities and other oppressed'' communities in the country.

Thirty-seven-year-old Chandrashekhar, who has, of late, emerged as the 'poster boy' of the anti-CAA protests in the country, had a few days back joined hands with some caste-based UP outfits and declared to contest polls with them.

Although Chandrashekhar had earlier offered to work with BSP supremo Mayawati, he decided to go solo and form his own separate political outfit after her rebuff.

Chandrashekhar had shot into limelight after he led protest rallies of the SC community in Saharanpur following the killing of two SC members allegedly by the 'Thakurs' during a procession last year. He had been arrested and the BJP government in the state had slapped the National Security Act (NSA) on him.
34 new officially confirmed cases in Wales  UK Gov Health Minister Everyone will be asked to make sacrifices, to protect themselves and others

This article is old - Published: Sunday, Mar 15th, 2020

Public Health Wales has stated there are 34 officially confirmed new cases in Wales compared to yesterday, with a total of 94 cases.

However, yesterday the local Health Board stated routine community testing had ceased, so such figures now likely only show confirmed tested cases at hospitals or key worker groups tested as the number of people affected and self isolating grows.

We have copied the full Public Health Wales update below to help those trying to read it elsewhere due to website issues with PHW.

Official advice states anyone with a new, continuous cough or high temperature is now advised to self-isolate for seven days, stay away from your GP, pharmacy or hospital. Only contact 111 if your condition worsens considerably.

The latest information is

 Public Health Wales in their update this lunchtime states there are 34 new cases in Wales (you can read their full update here, however as per the last few days their website has capacity issues)

 Public Health Wales in their update this lunchtime states as of 11am today Wrexham has no *new* cases.

 Overnight UK Gov Health Minister Matt Hancock has written an new article outlining the latest plans in the fight against the spread of coronavirus, including a push to get more ventilators built, and painting a stark picture of what will be needed in the UK in the coming months. The article speaks of maximum transparency however initially was published behind a paywall via the Telegraph newspaper. It is reproduced in full below.

 Yesterday it was sadly confirmed an elderly man who tested positive for coronavirus had died in Chester, the man in his 80s was being treated at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

 Non-urgent hospital appointments and routine surgery are to be cancelled in Wales

 Welsh Government state they are working against a scenario that would see 20,000 deaths from coronavirus in Wales.

 Supermarket Chief Execs are writing to customers to reassure them supply chains are and will be fine, for example Sainsburys have said  we have more food and other essential items coming to us from manufacturers and into our warehouses and distribution centres. Please think before you buy and only buy what you and your family need.

 Tomorrow will see another live press conference style update from Ministers in Cardiff.

 Tuesday will likely to see UK wide emergency powers to be announced via a Coronavirus Bill.

All the latest information about coronavirus is available on the Welsh Government website at https://gov.wales/coronavirus and https://llyw.cymru/ coronafeirws.

The full article / update overnight from the UK Health Minister is below

The coronavirus outbreak is the biggest public health emergency in a generation.

It calls for dramatic action, at home and abroad, of the kind not normally seen in peacetime.

Our goal is clear. The over-riding objective is to protect life. Sadly 21 people have already died in the UK, and the fact that most had underlying health conditions does not make the grief of their families any lesser, nor our compassion for their family and friends any weaker. We must all do everything in our power to tackle this virus.

We have a plan, based on the expertise of world-leading scientists. Herd immunity is not a part of it. That is a scientific concept, not a goal or a strategy. Our goal is to protect life from this virus, our strategy is to protect the most vulnerable and protect the NHS through contain, delay, research and mitigate.

We are working through our clear action plan. Like all our decisions, the plan is based on the bedrock of the science, with maximum transparency. We will do the right thing at the right time, based on the best available science.

To protect life, we must protect the vulnerable, and protect the NHS and flatten the curve.

From the moment coronavirus emerged, we have followed those goals.

We have acted to contain the spread of the virus so far. We have carried out some of the highest number of tests in Europe, our surveillance testing is among the most sophisticated in the world and the UKs plans for the rapid response to and mitigation of the spread of an epidemic are ranked number one above any other country by the Global Health Security Index.

Most importantly of all, thanks to our record levels of tracing the number of people who came into contact with the first people who caught the virus, the initial growth was slowed significantly, and the growth of the virus in the UK has been slower than many major European countries. This action has already prevented the NHS being put under greater pressure in its hardest season of the year. We have bought valuable time to prepare.

Last week we stepped into the next phase of our response. We took action to advise anyone with symptoms, however mild, to stay at home. This advice from the Chief Medical Officer will be reinforced with a national communications campaign so everyone knows what they can do: how you can play your part.

The new campaign will set out the latest clinical advice, for people to stay at home for seven days if they develop a high temperature or new continuous cough. We can all keep doing our bit by continuing to wash our hands more often, for 20 seconds or more and having plenty of tissues around to catch it, bin it, kill it. Following this new advice may sound simple, but it could be lifesaving for others around us, especially the most vulnerable.

Today, we take further action, with a call to arms for a drive to build the ventilators and other equipment the NHS will need. We are better equipped thanks to the NHS than most other countries, but we will need many more. We now need any manufacturers to transform their production lines to make ventilators. We cannot make too many.

In the near future we will take further steps. SAGE has advised the next planned effective interventions will need to be instituted soon, including measures to shield older and medically vulnerable people from the virus.

Everyone will need to help to ensure they get the support they need to stay at home, and to protect them from the consequences of isolation: loneliness, and a lack of support. Government, local councils, charities, friends and neighbours will need to be part of the national effort to support the shielded. We will provide expert advice and support as soon as we progress to this phase.

Next week we will publish our emergency bill, to give the Government the temporary powers we will need to help everyone get through this. The measures in it allow for the worst case scenario. I hope many of them wont be needed. But we will ask Parliament for these powers in case they are.

Our generation has never been tested like this. Our grandparents were, during the Second World War, when our cities were bombed during the Blitz. Despite the pounding every night, the rationing, the loss of life, they pulled together in one gigantic national effort.

Today our generation is facing its own test, fighting a very real and new disease. We must fight the disease to protect life. Everyone will be asked to make sacrifices, to protect themselves and others, especially those most vulnerable to this disease.

With our clear action plan, listening to the advice of the best science, and taking the action we all must, I am sure we will rise to this challenge.

The Sunday Public Health Wales update:

Updated: 12:35pm, Sunday 15 March 2020

Dr Giri Shankar, Incident Director for the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said:

We can confirm that 34 new cases have tested positive for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Wales, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 94.

Public Health Wales is working within the phased approach to tackling the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outlined in the UK Coronavirus Action Plan  to contain, delay, research and mitigate.

We are working with our partners in the Welsh Government, the wider NHS in Wales, and others now that we have entered the delay phase. This is now not just an attempt to contain the disease, as far as possible, but to delay its spread.

The advice for the public changed. People no longer need to contact NHS 111 if they think they may have contracted Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Instead, anyone who has a high temperature or a new continuous cough should stay at home for seven days. They should not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.

They should only contact NHS 111 if they feel they cannot cope with their symptoms at home, their condition gets worse, or their symptoms do not get better after seven days.

The public play an important role in this new phase. By following the latest advice, you will protect yourself, protect the most vulnerable, and delay and flatten the peak, which will reduce the pressure on NHS Wales and minimise the impact of the virus.

The move into the delay phase, will include working closely with health boards, NHS 111 and the Welsh Government towards transitioning away from community testing and contact tracing. Testing will now focus on cases admitted to hospital, in line with national guidance, and based on symptoms and severity.

The move away from community testing gives us greater capacity to test in hospital settings, where the most vulnerable patients will be cared for.

While there is no longer a need to identify every case through community testing, we will still need to and will be able to report on Novel Coronavirus level in Wales. In a similar way to our seasonal flu reporting, we will be undertaking routine Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) surveillance which will help us understand the picture in Wales.

We will therefore continue in the short term to report numbers of confirmed cases, which will give us some indication of the picture in Wales.

The table below shows the number of cases by local authority as of today Sunday, 15 March. Please note that at the time of publishing, the residential area of 9 of the confirmed cases today were still being confirmed.
By PTI

BHOPAL: Holding of a floor test on Monday, as directed by Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon, found no mention in the List of Business (LoB) issued by the state Assembly secretariat on Sunday night.

The LoB has mentioned only about the Governor's customary address on the first day of the Budget session and the motion of thanks.

The principal secretary of the Legislative Assembly could not be reached for his reaction despite repeated attempts.

However, former minister and an expert on legislative matters, Choudhary Rakesh Singh Chaturvedi told PTI: "Governor is the head of the state while Speaker is the head of the Assembly, who has all powers vested in him.

A speaker works as per his discretion and according to the rules and procedures of the House".

On Saturday late night, the governor directed Chief Minister Kamal Nath to seek a floor test, four days after the Congress-led government was pushed to the brink following resignation of 22 MLAs, who are believed to be loyalists of former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, who has since joined the BJP.

Chaturvedi opined that the governor should not have ordered a floor test without physically verifying the resignations of the 22 MLAs.

On Tuesday, 19 MLAs had e-mailed their resignations to the governor.

"How can the governor be confident that the letters of these MLAs are genuine and are not written under any pressure," he asked.

"Moreover, the governor's secretariat has also not given its proper advise on the matter.

If any resignation is accepted in this manner, then tomorrow a Naxalite can kidnap a legislator and on gun-point force him to write his resignation letter," Chaturvedi said.

"Before writing a letter to the CM directing him to seek a trust vote, the governor should have asked the Assembly's secretariat to provide him the list of MLAs belonging to each political party and acted accordingly, or he should have directed the Opposition party to parade the MLAs," he said.

Meanwhile, former principal secretary of the Assembly, Bhagwan Dev Israni said the state Assembly can always come out with the supplementary business list in the night or even in the morning of a session.

Israni said that the governor has directed the chief minister and the Assembly under Article 175(2) of the Constitution to seek the trust vote.

"However, it is the discretion of the speaker to conduct the proceedings," he said.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Gopal Bhargava rushed to meet the governor on Sunday night, after the LoB was released.

"The Congress government wants to evade the floor test.

This is unconstitutional as the governor has issued clear directives that the Kamal Nath should seek trust vote just after his (governor's) address (to the House) on Monday.

"We have conveyed to the governor that the agenda of the state Assembly for Monday doesn't include this (holding of floor test), and he assured me that a suitable action will be taken," Bhargava added.
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump said Sunday he is considering a full pardon for former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about dealings with Russias ambassador before Trump took office.

Flynn attempted to withdraw the guilty plea in January, saying federal prosecutors had acted in bad faith and broke their end of the bargain when they sought prison time for him.

I am strongly considering a Full Pardon! Trump tweeted. The president also cited an unspecified report that the Justice Department had lost records related to Flynns case. In response, Flynns lawyer, Sidney Powell, tweeted, Thank you, Mr. President and said the persecution of his client is an egregious injustice.

Prosecutors had initially said Flynn was entitled to avoid prison time because of his extensive co-operation, but the relationship with the retired Army lieutenant general grew increasingly contentious after he hired a new set of lawyers.

Flynn is one of six Trump aides and associates charged in special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into ties between the Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign.

He pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition period and provided extensive co-operation to Muellers team of investigators.

His attorneys raised repeated misconduct allegations against the government  which a judge has since rejected  and prosecutors have responded by calling into question whether Flynn truly accepts guilt.

Last month, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered Flynns sentencing hearing to be cancelled until further order of the court. He gave both Flynn and the Justice Department more time to submit filings on Flynns request to withdraw his guilty plea, including claims he received ineffective legal assistance from his former lawyers.

Following Flynns attempt to withdraw his plea, the Justice Department abruptly offered a more lenient sentencing recommendation.

The latest sentencing filing still seeks a sentence of up six months, but unlike before, prosecutors explicitly state that probation would be a reasonable punishment and that they would not oppose it.

Trump has not been shy about using his clemency powers in high-profile cases.

Last month Trump commuted the the prison sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and pardoned former New York City Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik. Among the others getting a break from the president were financier Michael Milken and Edward DeBartolo Jr., the former San Francisco 49ers owner.

Trump has faced criticism for weighing in on the cases of former aides. When he confirmed his most moves in February, he said he had yet to think about pardoning longtime confidant Roger Stone, who awaited sentencing at the time, or granting clemency to Flynn or former campaign chairman Paul Manafort,

But he made clear he was sympathetic to their plight. ``Somebody has to stick up for the people, Trump said.
Good Morning, welcome to Information Nigerias Newspaper headlines for today, 15th March 2020.

Here are the major headlines.

Why I Couldnt Abandon Dethroned Sanusi  El-Rufai

Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the Kaduna state governor has opened up on why he couldnt desert the deposed Emir of Kano state, Sanusi Lamido during his troubles.

FRSC Orders Clampdown On Overloaded School Buses

The Federal Road Safety Corps(FRSC) has announced that overloaded school buses plying major roads would now be arrested. According to Dr Boboye Oyeyemi who made the announcement in a statement on Saturday, the move is expected to reduce crashes involving vehicles conveying school children.

Immigration Changes Recruitment Website

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has announced that it has changed its recruitment portal to www.Immigrationrecruitment.org.ng. The Service Public Relations Officer (SPRO) Mr. Sunday James disclosed this in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.

What I Could Have Done To Keep The Throne  Sanusi

Muhammad Sanusi II, who was recently dethroned as emir of Kano, says if he wanted to, he would have challenged the dethronement in court because the process was not properly done. The former emir was dethroned on Monday by the Kano state government led by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.

Deji Adeyanju Commends Buhari For Containing The Coronavirus

Popular human rights activist, Deji Adeyanju has taken to his Twitter handle to commend the Muhammadu Buhari led Government for efforts made to curb Coronavirus.

Alaafin Of Oyo Writes Fayemi Over Quarries On 16 Monarchs In Ekiti

The Alaafin of Oyo, Lamidi Adeyemi, has written to the Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, over a recent query sent to 16 monarchs in the state.

Court Orders IG, DSS To Release Dethroned Sanusi

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.

Coronavirus: Nigerias Second Cases Test Back To Negative

According to the Ministry of Health, the second confirmed coronavirus case in Nigeria has tested negative. Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire made this statement while giving an update on the case of coronavirus in Nigeria.

WHO Commends Nigerias Method Of Containing The Global Pendemic

The World Health Organization (WHO) has commended Nigerias method in containing coronavirus, which it described as pandemic.

Sanusi Sues IG, DSS Over Unlawful Detention

Deposed Emir Sanusi Lamidos team of lawyers led by Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), on Thursday, filed a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/357/2020 before the Federal High Court in Abuja joining the Inspector General of police and his Department of State Service(DSS) as respondents.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 08:11:04|Editor: Liu

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WELLINGTON, March 15 (Xinhua) -- A passenger on a cruise ship in New Zealand port Akaroa is being tested for the COVID-19, reported local media Stuff on Sunday.

Three passengers on board the Golden Princess cruise ship had been quarantined by the ship's doctor. One of the three had developed symptoms of COVID-19 and was being treated as a suspected case. That person is to be tested on Sunday with results expected on Monday.

It is understood that two of the three people isolated have been in contact with a confirmed case in the past 14 days.

Passengers on board the ship are not being allowed off the ship which arrived in Akaroa on Sunday morning. The ship travelled to Akaroa from Dunedin in South Island. A total of 3,700 passengers and 1,100 crew members were expected to be on board.

New Zealand has just announced tough travel restrictions to protect the country from COVID-19 on Saturday. According to the restrictions, travellers will have to self-isolate on their arrival to New Zealand, except for those coming from the Pacific Islands. All passenger cruise ships will be asked not to come to New Zealand until June 30.

There are now six confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand, only one of whom is being treated in the Hospital.
Terrorists from the al-Qaeda group in the Levant, Al-Nusra Front, stand among destroyed buildings near the front line with Syrian government soldiers in a Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp south of Damascus on Sept. 22, 2014. (Rami Al-Sayed/AFP/Getty Images)

International Counter-Terrorism Group Addresses Ever-Changing al-Qaeda Threat

News Analysis

The Warsaw Process Counterterrorism and Illicit Finance working group convened in Marrakech, Morocco, on March 45, with the goal of working out a solution to counter the potential threat posed by al-Qaeda and its affiliates, in preparations for the ministerial-level meeting to be held in Washington this year.

Al-Qaeda, overshadowed by ISIS over the past several years, took advantage of this situation to strengthen and expand its abilities to operate, adapt to using new technologies, and exploit conflicts and vulnerabilities in different parts of the world, e.g. the wars in Yemen and Syria, according to a statement from the working group.

Despite losing its main leader in 2011, al-Qaeda adapted to the changes in the worlds political situation and exerted its ideological influence. Its affiliates still pose a threat to the entire African continent, and there is a possibility for al-Qaeda to engage in a relationship with ISIS, according to the statement. Al-Qaeda also operates in Asia and the Middle East.

Al-Qaedas tactics and methods may also evolve. It could exert more attacks outside of conflict zones, utilize more low-cost technology, and develop more effective use of the internet as well as a sophisticated network of communication tools, threatening global security and stability, the group stated.

Tactics to Counter al-Qaeda

Addressing the ever-changing al-Qaeda threat requires a multidimensional comprehensive approach, which addresses the root causes of terrorism, the group stated.

The working group, led by The United States, Poland, Morocco, and Kenya, composed of 55 participants representing Eastern and Western Europe, North and South America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the European Union, United Nations, and Arab League, devised a set of tactics to collectively counter al-Qaeda threats, and in the long run degrade the al-Qaeda network and prevent radicalization and recruitment, the group stated.

Among the tactics suggested are sanctions on individuals and entities designated by the United Nations and diplomatic efforts to engage third countries, particularly in and around conflict zones, under governed space, and areas with established al-Qaeda affiliates. Improvement of aviation security to prevent al-Qaeda from attacking commercial aviation, sealing borders to prevent transfer of material, funds, and personnel by al-Qaeda, and the use of advanced screening technologies to prevent al-Qaeda members from traveling were also recommended measures.

Participants also agreed that individuals who committed terrorism-related offenses and are affiliated with al-Qaeda should be prosecuted and convicted through law enforcement. The dangerous and destructive al-Qaeda propaganda and ideology should be discredited and exposed through forums, the internet, or in-person to discourage vulnerable members of communities from being deceived and recruited by al-Qaeda.

Measures also need to be adopted to cut terrorism financing that often occurs through problematic non-governmental or charitable organizations.

Participants should also engage with third countries through diplomatic efforts to promote all recommended measures in these countries and help them build capacity of law enforcement, prosecutorial, judicial, intelligence, border security, military, engaged in countering al-Qaeda.

The Warsaw Process is a joint initiative of countries from around the world under the joint leadership of the United States and Poland, aimed to bring security to the Middle East and promote the regions development. The participants of the founding meeting held in Warsaw in February 2019 created seven working groups, each focused on a different aspect of issues including countering terrorism, maritime and aviation security, cybersecurity, energy security, refugees, human rights, and missile non-proliferation.

Saudi-born Osama bin Laden is seen aiming a weapon in this undated photo from Al-Jazeera TV. (Photo by Al-Jazeera/Getty Images)

Al-Qaedas Origins

Al-Qaeda was designated as a terrorist organization by the Department of State in 1999 and became well-known after the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001. However, the close relationship between terrorism and communism is not commonly known.

Al-Qaeda founders Osama bin Laden and Abdullah Azzam were both influenced by the ideology of Sayyid Qutb, also known as Qutbism. The 9/11 Commission Report (pdf) also describes Azzam as a disciple of Qutb. Bin Laden adopted and expanded the ideology of Qutbism.

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri giving a speech at an undisclosed location. (AFP/Getty Images)

Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was the second in command of al-Qaeda, was influenced by Qutbs teachings since his youth and was a disciple of Qutb. Zawahiri was bin Ladens mentor, and since the assassination of bin-Laden in 2011, has been the leader of al-Qaeda.

Qutbism is the pursuit of violence to destroy the rotten old society or jahiliya, calling upon jihadis to lay down their lives for an ideology that will supposedly usher in human liberation, wrote Andrew McGregor from The Jamestown Foundation. Qutb regarded all societies governed by secular laws or abiding to secular ethics as old societies. Not only Western societies, but even some Muslim societies were considered by Qutb to be old societies.

Qutb studied socialism and became a member of the Communist Party in his youth, and his ideas were steeped in the rhetoric of Marxism-Leninism. Qutb was actually a Communist International liaison for the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and the Communist Party of Egypt, according to Robert R. Reilly, a senior fellow at the U.S. Foreign Policy Committee.

Qutb expanded the concept of Islamic jihad to proactive and unrestricted war with the goal to overthrow old societies. In Arabic, jihad means to struggle or to fight, and it is commonly understood as holy war. Mainstream Muslims may think of jihad as internal conflict (self-perfection) or defensive jihad.

At the core of the communist doctrine is the liberation of mankind, not only in an economic sense, but also in the destruction of social norms imposed by traditional morals and culture, such as family.

This so-called liberation is pursued by dividing people in society into the oppressor and the oppressed, e.g. the rich exploit the poor, capitalists oppress workers, and landowners oppress peasants. By turning the oppressed against the oppressors and instigating struggle between them, and advocating means like violence and killing, communists overthrow the existing social structures and seize power.

Qutb advocated jihad as the means for people to overthrow the old society through violent means and liberate themselves from its oppression.

Lenin developed the concept of a communist political party that would organize workers and peasants and lead them to a successful revolution. Qutb replaced the Leninist party with Islamic extremist organizations.

Although for obvious reasons jihadi ideologues do not cite Lenin as an inspiration, their concepts and logic, especially Sayyid Qutbs, betray this influence.  Two key concepts from Qutb come straight from Lenin: jamaa (vanguard) and manhaj (program), said Glenn E. Robinson, associate professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and research fellow at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of CaliforniaBerkeley.

The Soviet Union has tried to export socialist revolution around the world since 1919 when Third Communist International was established, with one of its targets the Muslim world in the Middle East. Its first success was the establishment of the Persian Socialist Soviet Republic in Irans Gilan Province in 1920 governed by a Soviet regime. The regime tried to dispossess landowners and eradicate the religion there.

These actions were met with strong opposition from aspects of Muslim society that held deep religious faith and the Soviet regime in Gilan was ousted in a few months. Although direct export of socialist revolution failed, communism was able later to influence the creation and development of Islamic extremism.
Fairfield, MT (59436)

Today

Cloudy. Gusty winds this evening. Low 37F. Winds SW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy. Gusty winds this evening. Low 37F. Winds SW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
Kochi, March 15 : A group of foreign tourists including a coronavirus positive British national was stopped from flying to Dubai at Cochin airport on Sunday, the officials said.

The patient arrived in Kerala on March 2 and reached Munnar on March 7. But on March 10 he developed symptoms of coronavirus and was asked to remain under observation at a state owned resort. Since then he was in the observation camp.

This particular group was asked to remain in isolation as the second test result of one of them was awaited.

But the entire group broke all the protocols and headed for the Cochin airport on Sunday.

At the airport they went through the immigration and boarded the aircraft to Dubai.

But as soon as the authorities got winds that there was coronavirus affected person among the passengers, they asked all the 270 passengers to evacuate the aircraft and go through the health checkup.

They all have been moved to the hospitals.

Local legislator P.T. Thomas expressed dismay on what has happened and the local authorities at Idukki and Kochi are now probing on how this goof up occurred.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Traders' body CAIT has appealed to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to direct regulator IRDAI to mandate insurance firms to introduce coverage for disruptions to businesses on account of the outbreak.

In a letter to Sitharaman, CAIT suggested that insurance companies may be mandated to introduce 'disruptions due to coronavirus' as an additional cover to fire and materials damage policies, and the existing policyholders may be offered an option to add the additional cover.

Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal highlighted the need for insurers to come up with need-based policies like cover against mosquito-borne diseases and vector-borne diseases, which can cover hospitalisation expenses due to or fixed benefits upon its diagnosis.

CAIT has also sent a similar representation to Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to take up the matter with Finance Ministry.
Thomas Pallini/Business Insider

A surge in COVID-19 cases across the US is encouraging would-be travelers to cancel their holiday flights.

Four major US airlines have eliminated change and cancel fees permanently, while others have travel waivers to make it easier to cancel when plans change.

Most airlines won't offer a refund, however, unless a flight is canceled or there is a schedule change, so flyers should be strategic when they cancel.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The airline industry's hope for an air travel resurgence during the holiday season may be dashed as some travelers are looking to avoid flying amid a coronavirus surge.

Rising COVID-19 cases and new lockdown orders from governors across the US that limit how many people can be at Thanksgiving dinner are forcing travelers to rethink their holiday plans. And for some, that means staying off of airplanes, despite the industry's push to show that flying is safe.

For those looking to stay home, airlines are being more flexible this year out of any year prior when it comes to changing plans. In the US, four major airlines eliminated change and cancel fees permanently in an effort to increase bookings despite the ever-changing landscape of the pandemic.

American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and Alaska Airlines have done away with the fees, normally a huge revenue driver, while others have waivers to allow limited changes with restrictions.

But even though airlines are using words like change and cancel, the policies often have restrictions about which travelers are often unaware. While there might not be a change fee, for example, customers will have to pay any difference in airfare.

Here's what you need to know about changing or canceling a booking as coronavirus continues to impact travel.

Four major US airlines are eliminating change and cancel fees for domestic and limited international travel

United Airlines was the first major international airline to eliminate change fees over the summer for its flights within the US or to the Caribbean and Mexico. Passengers with economy tickets and above, excluding basic economy, can make changes or cancellations as many times as they'd like.

Story continues

Award ticket holders can similarly make changes or cancel their flights. In order for the miles to be redeposited without a fee, however, the passenger must cancel greater than 30 days from the day of departure.

Passengers with basic economy tickets who book or have booked their flights before December 31, 2020, are able to change their flights under United's earlier change fee waiver.

Travelers can rebook or cancel on United's website, mobile app, or by calling 1-800-864-8331.

American Airlines' new policy is a bit broader and includes the US, Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean, as well as all "long-haul international" trips that originate in North or South America, though American hasn't yet defined which routes classify as long-haul international. Ticket holders in all classes except basic economy can make changes or cancel their flight without a fee if they've booked after August 31.

Passengers who also bought a ticket before September 30, 2021, for travel between March 1 and December 31, 2020, regardless of cabin class, can make a one-time change for free under American's existing travel waiver.

Travelers can rebook or cancel on American's website, mobile app, or by calling 1-800-433-7300.

Delta Air Lines is allowing customers with tickets booked between March 1 and December 31, 2020, to change their flights with no fee for up to a year after they've purchased. Tickets purchased before April 17, however, can be extended until December 31, 2022.

Beginning in 2021, Delta passengers with flights within the US, Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands can make changes or cancel without a fee, except for basic economy passengers.

Travelers can rebook or cancel on Delta's website, mobile app, or by calling 1-800-221-1212.

Alaska Airlines is also permanently eliminating change fees to its domestic and international destinations for all fares except "saver" basic economy. Passengers with a saver ticket, however, can make changes or cancel if they've purchased before December 31, 2020.

Travelers can rebook or cancel on Alaska's website, mobile app, or by calling 1-800-252-7522.

While change fees are waived, travelers will still have to pay a fare difference in most cases for all airlines.

Most US airlines are waiving cancel and/or change fees for flights to any destination

In addition to American, Delta, United, and Alaska, all major US airlines adjusted their policies to allow flyers to book or cancel flights.

JetBlue Airways, Allegiant Air, Spirit Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Spirit Airlines, and Sun Country Airlines have all issued flexible travel policies to allow for changes.

Allegiant Air is allowing a one-time flight change for existing bookings.

Frontier Airlines is allowing passengers with existing and new bookings to change or cancel without a fee for flights through January 7, 2021.

Hawaiian Airlines is allowing passengers with new and existing bookings from March 1 to December 31 to change or cancel without a fee.

JetBlue Airways is waiving change and cancel fees for passengers with new existing bookings until February 28, 2021.

Sun Country Airlines is waiving change fees for bookings greater than 60 days out. Travelers can also purchase a change fee waiver, which allows for a one-time change within 60 days of travel.

Spirit Airlines is waiving change and cancel fees for bookings made until December 31, 2020.

While the fee to change or cancel is being waived, travelers will still have to pay the fare difference in most cases for the flights to which they're rebooking.

Southwest Airlines hasn't issued a travel waiver as all of its flights can be changed or canceled without incurring a fee. Changes made, however, do incur a fare difference and those canceling their bookings without holding refundable tickets have the funds go into a travel bank.

How to get a refund and not just a credit for future travel

Just because an airline is canceling a ticket, does not mean that travelers will get their money back. Most airline tickets are non-refundable meaning that even if the ticket is canceled, the airline will likely not give the money back to the customer unless certain conditions are met.

The policy is in place to prevent unnecessary bookings as well as prevent the airlines from losing money in the event of a mass cancellation event such as a pandemic. Airlines will instead keep the funds and allow them to be used on a future booking, encouraging customers to rebook for a later date and still fly with the airline.

If airlines allowed for refunds during the COVID-19 pandemic, they would lose millions with no guarantee that passengers would rebook especially since the demand for travel is still low.

When a flight is impacted by a schedule change, however, the traveler can request a refund. A schedule change is any change made to a flight by the airline and not by a passenger, including a change in the departure or arrival times, or aircraft type.

Read more: Airlines constantly adjusting their schedules means you can easily change your flight for free or get a refund  here's how

That's why passengers who want cash instead of travel credit or a voucher should wait until the last minute to see if their flight ultimately ends up being changed, delayed, or canceled. Even a small flight delay on the day of departure can make the case but some airlines do require 24-hour notice for a cancellation or that the cancellation is made before the flight's scheduled departure, so set an alarm as a reminder to cancel.

If your flight has been changed previously, keep that in mind as the trip nears as a potential way out. For most major US airlines, a schedule change of an hour or two and even an aircraft change can be grounds for a refund.

Standard travel insurance policies likely won't cover coronavirus.

According to industry analyst for CreditCards.com Ted Rossman, the regular policies that travelers can buy from their airlines won't cover claims that cite coronavirus as the reason for cancellation.

"The only travel insurance that would be helpful in that scenario is when you pay extra for a 'cancel for any reason' plan," Rossman told Business Insider's David Slotnick. "If you're just canceling out of fear of traveling and getting sick, that's not a good enough reason."

Some policyholders who get sick before travel or having a compromised immune system may be able to successfully file a claim, but would likely require documentation from a doctor.

Credit card companies offering cards with built-in travel insurance have also said coronavirus is not a reason to file a claim.

Social media and airline websites and mobile apps can be used to change or cancel flights if waiting on hold isn't an option.

With the influx of calls to change or cancel travel, wait times for airlines have been exceeding normal lengths and it can take hours to get an agent on the phone. Most bookings can be changed or canceled online via the airline's website but for those who require special assistance and can't wait multiple hours on hold, social media offers another option.

Airlines can assist with most booking changes or cancellations via their Twitter accounts over direct message or use a phone's messaging service. Wait times may be similarly long but travelers won't have to wait on hold to reach an agent.

For international airlines without US phone numbers, social media may be the best way to get in contact with an airline. Some airlines also offer a live chat function on their websites for easy access to an agent, though wait times similarly may vary.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 05:42:27|Editor: huaxia

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Video: What Trump and Pence say at the press conference on March 14. (Xinhua/Tan Yixiao)

"We suspend all travel from the UK and Ireland, that will be effective midnight Monday night eastern standard time," said Vice President Mike Pence at a White House briefing.



WASHINGTON, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The White House announced on Saturday that the United States is extending Europe travel restrictions to Britain and Ireland due to COVID-19, which will be effective Monday midnight eastern standard time.

"We suspend all travel from the UK and Ireland, that will be effective midnight Monday night eastern standard time," said Vice President Mike Pence at a White House briefing.

He added that U.S. citizens and legal residents in Britain and Ireland are able to return to the United States through specific airports.

Photo taken on March 10, 2020 shows a stop sign and a plane approaching to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

U.S. acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said later at the briefing that the restrictions bar travel for foreign nationals who had been present in Britain and Ireland in the past 14 days.

These restrictions will not apply to air and maritime cargo and economic shipping, noted Wolf.

The travel ban that Washington imposed on 26 European nations has been effective since Friday midnight.

U.S. President Donald Trump (Front) addresses a news conference at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on March 13, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Trump declared a national emergency on Friday to open up 50 billion U.S. dollars in federal aid to help combat the spread of COVID-19 across the country.

The United States reported 2,488 COVID-19 cases as of Saturday noon with at least 51 deaths, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Britain reached 1,140 as of Saturday morning, an increase of more than 300 over the last 24 hours, according to the latest figures released by the British Department of Health and Social Care.

(Article by Xinhua Reporter Liu Pinran) 
Four terrorists of Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba were killed in a gun battle with security forces on Sunday morning in Jammu and Kashmirs Anantnag district, an official of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) said.

The encounter took place in the Dayalgam residential area.

An encounter broke out with terrorists at around 10.40am today (Sunday) in Dayalgam residential area in Anantnag. After the operation, troops recovered dead bodies of four terrorists, a CRPF official said, according to IANS.

A team of security personnel from Jammu and Kashmir police, CRPF and the Indian Army cordoned off the area on Saturday night after receiving a specific input about the presence of terrorists.

The security forces zeroed in on the house where the terrorists were holed up and were fired at, triggering the encounter.

Ammunition was recovered from the encounter site during the search operation.

In another operation on Saturday, police in Handwara captured a terrorist alive along with an AK 47 assault rife after getting a specific input.

Sopore Police also launched a joint operation with security forces on the same day based on a credible input about the presence of newly-recruited terrorist in Bulgam area of Sopore.

He was also captured alive and has been identified as Danish Ahmed Kakroo from Chesti Colony in Baramulla. Initial probe suggested he had joined terrorist ranks a day before.

Weapon and war-like stores were recovered from the terrorist and further probe is underway, officials said.
BALTIMORE  The United Mutual Brotherhood of Liberty doesn't headline the pages of history textbooks. The group and its leaders rarely get mentioned in the same lists as the NAACP, Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee or other civil rights groups that came after them. Yet researchers argue that many of these groups might not exist without the Brotherhood of Liberty  a group that, like the NAACP and Du Bois Circle, points to Baltimore's influential role on black civil rights advocacy and organizing after the American Civil War.
Hospitals are preparing to move patients to alternative facilities from tomorrow to make room for an expected surge of people with Covid-19, as a leading expert predicted that 50,000 people could require critical care during the crisis.

The measure is intended to clear space for the rising number of Covid-19 patients who are expected to need high-level hospital care as the number of confirmed cases soars.

The death of a second person with the virus here was confirmed along with 39 new cases. The total number of cases here stands at 129, with a further 34 in the North.

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The increase comes as Tanaiste Simon Coveney advised against non-essential travel to six European countries, including the Czech Republic and Denmark. In the United Kingdom, the NHS confirmed 10 patients who tested positive for the coronavirus have died, bringing the death toll in the UK to 21.

As new confirmed cases of the virus rose across Europe, Spain's government announced tight restrictions on movement and the closure of restaurants and other establishments as part of a two-week state of emergency.

The Licensed Vintners Association (LVF) called on the Government here to give clear guidance to the pub sector as the Covid-19 pandemic led to widespread closures of bars, restaurants and pubs across Europe.

The French government ordered all non-essential public locations to shut from midnight last night after cases of the virus rose by more than 800 to 4,499.

The Taoiseach last week announced school and college closures and restricted public gatherings of more than 100. Donall O'Keeffe, chief executive of the LVF, which covers the Leinster region, said more specific guidelines were required for pubs. "We are not debating it, we are not opposing it. We will follow it. But we felt that the advice on Thursday was not specific enough for the licence trade," he said.

The Health Service Executive has asked voluntary and private ambulances to be on standby from tomorrow morning to help transfer some patients to private hospitals and other facilities, while patients who are deemed fit enough will be discharged.

Senior consultants told the Sunday Independent that they do not know how many patients to expect in the coming days.

"There is a growing sense of apprehension, that there could be something calamitous coming down the road but we are also trying to not spook the public," said one consultant who asked not to be named.

Prof Sam McConkey, who has been studying the progression of the coronavirus since the outbreak started in China three months ago, said: "When I look at even a good-case scenario, I am looking at something like 50,000 people in Ireland getting respiratory failure, meaning they need oxygen, meaning they need to be in hospital. Optimistically, that could be spread over six to 12 months."

Prof McConkey is head of the department of international health and tropical medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons.

Dr Tom Ryan, an intensive-care consultant and former president of the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association, said 4pc of confirmed cases would require critical care.

Concerns about the progress of the coronavirus continue to mount.

 The HSE said yesterday that GPs were getting a "very high" number of calls from people wanting to be tested for Covid-19. The HSE said it was working to ensure sufficient testing facilities were in place by tomorrow and asked people with cold-type symptoms to self-isolate until then. "While we appreciate people's concern about Covid-19, we would ask for their patience as we respond to the increasing requirement for testing."

 The Department of Social Protection reported an "unprecedented increase in claims and queries" across several of its income support schemes. There are fears of widespread job losses in the hospitality industry. The Restaurants Association of Ireland chief executive Adrian Cummins estimated that around 2,000 people in the sector had been temporarily laid off and 30,000 jobs could be lost if the crisis lasts. He is seeking a specific aid package for struggling businesses so they can recapitalise and get back on their feet when the emergency is over.

 Tanaiste Simon Coveney yesterday advised against non-essential travel to the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Malta, Poland, and Slovakia, which have also closed their borders. The number of cases worldwide surged to 154,259, with 5,798 deaths. Mr Coveney urged Irish people to be cautious in making travel plans, particularly to Europe, given the growing number of countries imposing restrictions on entry and exit.

 Taoiseach Leo Varadkar met with his Northern Ireland counterparts yesterday to discuss the different UK and Irish strategies to deal with Covid-19. For instance, while schools and colleges in the Republic have closed, they remain open in the UK and in Northern Ireland. Mr Varadkar said the virus "knows no borders, no nationality".

He added: "There will be differences of approach over the next few weeks and months, we are different jurisdictions and there are differences and there will be differences, but the differences that exist are mostly around timing.

"What there isn't any difference about is our common objective, which is to slow down this virus in its tracks and push it back as much as possible and limit the harm to human health and human life."

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin yesterday said Covid-19 was an "unprecedented challenge" but that Irish people would beat it.

Expand Close Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin. Photo: Gareth Chaney, Collins / Facebook

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Whatsapp Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin. Photo: Gareth Chaney, Collins

In a statement to the Sunday Independent, he said: "Every aspect of our public service and private sector will come under extraordinary pressure and every citizen in every community will be required to play their part. I have no doubt in my mind that we are equal to this challenge.

"The manner in which our entire medical community has come together in the face of this threat has been inspirational. Their energy, innovation, commitment and fearless approach to protecting our people is something to behold. Their resilience is the most important asset we have - it is important we honour it and thank the women and men of the HSE every chance we get."

He added: "Covid-19 will pass. By staying strong and united in our communities and as a country we will minimise the damage that it causes. We will beat this."

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The global pandemic has led to nations closing their borders, with US President Donald Trump last night extending a European travel ban to the UK and Ireland. The ban takes effect at midnight US eastern time tomorrow.

The HSE is currently working to identify around 10,000 beds, in various locations, for Covid-19 cases. Cillian De Gascun, director of the National Viral Reference Laboratory, told the Sunday Independent that the health service is now moving to the "home isolation" model for those who test positive and are mildly unwell, to ease pressure on hospitals.

HSE chief operations officer Anne O'Connor told the Sunday Independent last week that the health service was in talks with hotels to provide isolation facilities for non-acute cases. She said beds for moderate and acute care would be found at facilities that could provide specialist support, but "other beds purely for isolation that are not beds for sick people" could be sought in hotels.

Expand Close ITALIAN EXPERIENCE: Paramedics carry a hazardous medical waste box as patients lie on camping beds in an emergency structures set up at the Brescia hospital, Italy. Photo: Luca Bruno / Facebook

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Whatsapp ITALIAN EXPERIENCE: Paramedics carry a hazardous medical waste box as patients lie on camping beds in an emergency structures set up at the Brescia hospital, Italy. Photo: Luca Bruno

Widespread testing for the virus is also ramping up this week, with 12 drive-through test centres expected to open around the country. Ms O'Connor said the health service aims to have about 27 locations in place quickly. Patients can be referred to the centres and have swabs taken by testers while they sit in their car.

The Government is this weekend considering how best to ensure childcare supports for frontline workers, following the closures of creches and schools last week.
President Donald Trump observed Sunday's National Day of Prayer for Americans affected by the killer coronavirus by livestreaming a local Georgia church service.

The president announced the special day over the weekend saying, 'In our greatest need, Americans have always turned to prayer to help guide us through trials and periods of uncertainty'.

Although most religious services have ceased congregating due to the coronavirus outbreak which has infected over 3,000 nation-wide and led to at least 58 deaths, many are turning to livestreams to worship.

The president tuned into a sermon by Pastor Jentezen Franklin of Free Chapel Church in Gainesville, Georgia on Sunday morning.

President Donald Trump declared Sunday as a National Day of Prayer for Americans affected by the killer coronavirus and for the nation's response efforts

The president tuned into a sermon by Pastor Jentezen Franklin of Free Chapel Church in Gainesville, Georgia on Sunday morning (pictured above during service)

The president announced the special day over the weekend saying, 'In our greatest need, Americans have always turned to prayer to help guide us through trials and periods of uncertainty'

The president praised Pastor Jentezen Franklin for his sermon on Sunday

Pastor Franklin tweeted his thanks saying: 'Honored and thankful President @realDonaldTrump! Praying for you'

Few worshipers attend services Sunday at St. Philip African Methodist Episcopal Church in Atlanta

Pastor Russ Schlecht leads an online service on Sunday in front of an empty sanctuary at the Eastside Foursquare Church in Bothell, Washington

Trump tweeted: 'Today is National Day of Prayer. God Bless everyone!'

He followed up saying: I am watching a great and beautiful service by Pastor Jentezen Franklin. Thank you!'

Pastor Franklin tweeted his thanks saying: 'Honored and thankful President @realDonaldTrump! Praying for you.'

Trump first announced the special day of prayer on Friday.

'No matter where you may be, I encourage you to turn towards prayer in an act of faith. Together, we will easily PREVAIL!' he tweeted.

'I ask you to join me in a day of prayer for all people who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic and to pray for Gods healing hand to be placed on the people of our Nation,' the president wrote in a statement shared Saturday.

He asked the public to think about the doctors, researchers, and first responders who put their lives on the line in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Trump shared this statement on Saturday saying 'In our greatest need, Americans have always turned to prayer to help guide us through trials and periods of uncertainty'

'I now encourage all Americans to pray for those on the front lines of the response, especially our Nations outstanding medical professionals and public health officials who are working tirelessly to protect all of us from the coronavirus and treat patients who are infected; all of our courageous first responders, National Guard, and dedicated individuals who are working to ensure the health and safety of our communities; and our Federal, State, and local leaders,' Trump shared.

Earlier that same day he told reporters that he was tested for the COVID-19, after days of dodging the question, and the tests came back negative.

On Friday the president declared a national state of emergency allowing him to access $50billion in emergency funds to give to states in need and unveiling drive-thru testing in Walmart, Target and CVS parking lots.

President Trump and Pastor Franklin pictured together in 2015

As of Sunday over 3,000 people were infected with the virus and at least 60 dead in the US

Trump has closed American borders to European foreigners in light of the outbreak, as Italy, Spain and France announce lockdowns in their own countries to combat the spreading disease.

Churches have seen a surge in online viewership due to the outbreak, CNN Business reports, as locals have been advised to remain indoors to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral based in Seattle said their livestream viewership more than doubled last week.

Churchome, the megachurch frequented by celebrities like Justin Beiber, has reported a 60 percent surge in app sign-ups after shuttering its Seattle location.
The entire region was declared a Red Zone on March 8. People are not allowed to move in or out of it, or even within it, without a permit. But this is no Wuhan, China; the permit is actually a form that anyone can download online. In a typically Italian combination  a love of bureaucracy and an allergy to authority  people issue permits to themselves.
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Although there were plenty of platitudes during International Womens Day festivities for the progress women have made in an inherently patriarchal world, there was precious little attention afforded to the ongoing radical religious assault on womens basic human rights in an allegedly free and equal society.

It is likely the case that many Americans are unaware that March is Womens History Month in the United States; it is not simply a one day acknowledgement of the contributions of well over half the worlds population. It is celebrated in many nations to specifically highlight the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. That is all well and good, but in many patriarchal nations dominated by religious extremists women are marginalized as second class citizens simply because they are not male. In America, a nation governed by a small primitive religious cult, womens second class status is in jeopardy of being downgraded to that of a slave subservient to men  particularly radical religious men in power desperate to maintain control over half the population.

Obviously, American women have made progress over the course of the nations history, but for a nation touting itself as steeped in equality for all, women have had to fight tooth and nail for every bit of progress. For dogs sake, despite a constitutional amendment proclaiming equal rights for all citizens, there is still an ongoing struggle to get the so-called Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed and ratified.

In a free and equal society the concept and necessity of an equal rights amendment is an absurd exercise. However, America has never considered women as equal to a man and now that extremist evangelical Christians running the government have fully embraced a 1968 papal encyclical, women are on the verge of losing their basic human right to self-determination regarding their own bodies. It is a basic human right that dyed-in-the-wool religious extremists made barely a month ago because it involved the prospect of men losing their right to control their bodies.

In an attempt to make a point about womens rights last month, an Alabama state legislator proposed legislation mandating that all men over the age of 50, or those with three children, subject themselves to being neutered via vasectomy. As expected, there was immediate outrage from the religious right males, led by extremist evangelical Senator Ted Cruz, claiming that their reproductive rights could not be infringed upon  especially by legislation proposed by a woman.

The point of the legislation was lost on the so-called pro-life opposition who claimed that, We are grown up. We can do what we want to. After we got out of our parents house. We do what we want to. It is precisely the same sentiment that women, and too few men, have stated for a few decades.

In Life News, a pro-fetus website, they cited men and women who claimed that the Alabama legislators bill is a violation of [mens] basic human rights even as they defended the religious fanatics decades-long war to violate womens basic human rights.

Some Americans may be cognizant of the religious Republican assault on womens rights, but they may not know that it is being perpetrated at the highest level of government and is not solely the purview of fanatics in Republican-led states. Trump won the unwavering support of the religious right by pledging to do their bidding against womens rights if they helped put him in the White House; a pledge he followed though on. In fact, besides appointing a pair of anti-womens rights activists to the Supreme Court, one of Trumps supporters on the High Court has openly advocated for an opportunity for the new, more religious, Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Clarence Thomas also took the time to lodge a threat that after banning abortion, birth control is next on his hit list. Thomas, like radical Christian extremists, embrace the Vaticans ban on contraceptives which confirms why he voted in favor of Hobby Lobbys religious owners religious freedom to ban their employees access to contraceptives.

Whether it is misogyny targeting women running for the nations highest office, or fervent opposition to women earning the same pay as a man in the same job, or sexual abuse victims being portrayed in a decidedly negative light, there is a distinctly misogynistic bent driving the religious Republican assault on womens rights. It is noteworthy to mention that one of the primary goals of the Affordable Care Act was to better provide women with the same quality of healthcare, and life, as men enjoy; likely one of the reasons Republicans have spent the past ten years attempting to eradicate Obamacare out of existence.

It is a travesty that while much of the world was acknowledging womens progress and contributions to society, the media failed to even mention that American women are facing the very real threat of being relegated to third class citizen status, behind men and fetuses. That this vile anti-women crusade is being perpetrated by Republicans controlled by a minority religious cult is an abomination. Particularly because a majority of Americans, including rank-and-file Catholics, believe abortion is a womans choice.

It is dereliction of duty that the media is not reporting that the drive to wipe out womens progress is on the verge of success, or that American women face the real and present danger of being relegated to third class citizen status. That is not progress, but it is part and parcel of womens history in America.
Students urged to build themselves for country's well being: Dr Azadi

Chattogram Bureau :

Pro-Vice chancellor of International Islami University (IIUC) Chattogram Prof Dr Mohammad Ali Azadi said, it is quite impossible to provide something for the welfare of the country unless buildup yourself.

He called upon the students of Economics Department to play constructive role for the economic development of the nation.

He disclosed it while addressing the orientation programs of newcomers of MSS course arranged by IIUC Economics and Banking Department at a city posh restaurant as chief guest on Friday .

Chairman of the Banking Department Dr Md. Shariful Hoque presided over it.

Treasurer of IIUC Prof Dr AbdulHamid Chowdhury, Member of the Finance Committee of IIUC Prof Ahsanullah, Dean of Social Science DrAbdul Mannan Chowdhury Advisor of Economic and Banking Deptt Dr. Saiful Islam delivered speech on the occasion as special guests.

Coordinator of EB Department & MSS Programme Md.Amjad Hossain moderated the orientation programme.


By UNI

MALAPPURAM: Police on Sunday arrested a man for posting derogatory remarks against Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja in the social media platform Facebook.

Police sources said, Anshad, native of Vettathoor near Melattur near here was taken into custody for having written derogatory comments against the Minister in a Facebook post recently.

An expatriate businessman in Melattur, the culprit is alleged to have made provocative remarks in his post in his FB account by name Anshad Malabari.

He is said to have made some sexual remarks while responding to another post in the FB.

That apart, his post is alleged to have been provocative of communication riots and religious divide, sources said.

The accused have been sent on bail after recovering his mobile phone. The police have sent the mobile phone to cyber cell for further investigation.
Most cases of COVID-19 are mild and require sick individuals only to remain at home and minimize the spread of disease while they recover, the release said. While there is no medication to treat COVID-19, Good information can be found at the Centers For Disease Control website (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/ ) on how to protect yourself and what to do if you are ill, the release said.
The Morrison government has quietly mothballed an inquiry which would have paved the way for long-promised laws to protect gay students and teachers from being expelled or sacked from religious schools.

The Australian Law Reform Commission has not yet started work on the inquiry, which was first referred to it nearly a year ago. President Sarah Derrington requested the deadline be extended until 12 months after the government's Religious Discrimination Bill passes Parliament - which is not guaranteed - making it highly unlikely any recommendations will be legislated before the next federal election.

Attorney-General Christian Porter made the change on March 2 but it was not announced by the government. The amendment appeared on the relevant webpage on the ALRC website last week.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Attorney-General Christian Porter. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Porter told The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age the delay "makes good sense as it will enable the commission to take into account the extraordinarily far-reaching public consultation process we undertook in developing the Religious Discrimination Bill".
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath has called a Cabinet meeting here on Sunday (March 15) in the wake of state Governor Lalji Tandon's direction to his government to seek a trust vote in the Assembly on Monday. The meeting is likely to be begin at 11 am, sources said.

The cabinet is likely to discuss the Governor's letter sent on Saturday night, in which he asked the government to seek a trust vote in the Assembly soon after his (governor's) address on March 16, they said.

Meanwhile, the Congress MLAs, who were camping in Jaipur, are likely to return to Bhopal by noon, sources added.

On Saturday, the Assembly Speaker had accepted the resignations of six ministers, out of the total 22 rebel Congress legislators. With this, the strength of the House has come down to 222, with the majority mark 112.

The resignations of 16 other rebel legislators, who are in Bengaluru, have not been accepted yet.
The Soli radar system used for the hands-free gesture navigation on the Pixel 4 is the staple of the phone's marketing as it's the first and only phone to utilize the tech. Just the other day, Google gave us a look at what the radar sees and it's fascinating.

Check out the three clips below. Google says the tech doesn't require a detailed image of the user or the user's body, eliminating all privacy concerns about the Soli radar. The first image shows a person getting closer to the phone, the second one is reaching for it while the third is the swipe gesture.

That's all the radar needs, so from then on, Google's developers had to create an algorithm for the software to recognize the different actions. They had to take into account every person's unique way of performing a said gesture. After all, not all humans move their hands in the same way - some gestures would look different depending on the user. Moreover, the developers also had to think of an algorithm to filter out the background movement so it doesn't get detected as a gesture..

Interestingly, Google was faced with a challenge to develop new signal processing techniques to reduce the interference from audio vibration. With this issue out of the way, the company was able to make Motion Sense work with music playback.

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As some area companies send employees home to work in the face of the growing coronavirus pandemic, thats not an option for Charlottesvilles oldest independent bookstore.

New Dominion Bookshop owner Julia Kudravetz said she increasingly has been thinking about the staff at businesses like hers as the number of cases of coronavirus in Virginia climbs.

As of Saturday evening, there have been 41 confirmed cases of the virus, including one death, in Virginia. There are no known cases in Charlottesville and Albemarle County.

People who have hourly staff, you know, theyre very vulnerable  people who cant work from home, who need to be there in order to either ... sell food or sell books, she said. Even though people who have contract jobs, or white-collar jobs are able to work from home, the majority of my staff is not able to work from home, and thats something thats really weighing on me.

Many local companies are asking employees, when they are able to, to work from home, or are making other changes when thats not possible.

Public health officials have said the best way to slow the spread of the virus is through social distancing  limiting physical contact between people. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions recommendations for an infectious disease outbreak response plan, employers should consider whether they can establish policies and practices  such as telecommuting and staggering shifts  to decrease physical contact among employees.

Kudravetz said the Virginia Festival of the Book, which was scheduled to start Wednesday but was canceled due to the virus, traditionally has been one of the most important times of the year for New Dominion. The shop now has thousands of dollars worth of books that were purchased to sell during the festival that will need to be returned.

We will get credit for them, but we wont be able to sell them unless people come in and buy them without the authors [present], Kudravetz said. That is a disappointment, and also I was counting on that income to pay my employees and to be a part of our March income ... I worry about being able to keep my hourly employees safe and be able to pay them because they cant work from home for the most part.

New Dominion is staying open for the foreseeable future, but with reduced hours, and all major surfaces will be cleaned several times a day. Kudravetz said if customers call or email the store, staff members will deliver or mail books. Shes also encouraging those who cannot make it in but want to support the small business to buy gift cards for future use.

We are here, and we hope that books will be a light during dark times, she said.

The number of workers in Virginia who telecommute regularly has increased 43% since 2010, according to Hamilton Lombard, a researcher at the University of Virginias Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service.

It is interesting that the trend had been developing the last couple years and then you have an event like this, sometimes forces ... innovation faster than it was going to happen otherwise, he said.

In 2018, approximately 8.2% of workers in the Charlottesville metro area typically worked from home.

One interesting thing with Charlottesville is just its proximity to the D.C. area, and then the federal government really pushing telework earlier than a lot of other people did, so I think you have a fairly large presence of people who are government workers in the area, but theyre employed in D.C., Lombard said.

WillowTree, which has 265 employees in Charlottesville, is asking its entire staff to work from home for the foreseeable future starting Monday.

Christy Phillips, chief talent officer at the mobile applications development company, said the expectation is that only employees without a good remote work option will come into the office.

Then were asking that if people are in the office, that they are spreading out and keeping distance and no one is congregating in the office, she said. ... Its not prohibited to come in, but you really should only be coming in if you do not have a good remote work option.

Phillips said the company started making a plan the last week of February, and addressing network connectivity issues to allow teams with certain clients to be able to work from home, and communicating that leadership was monitoring the situation and answering questions about things such as travel. Training was done for the whole company, with additional training done with team leaders.

Were looking at the well-being of everyone because working remotely, especially when youre used to seeing these people every day and working together, can suddenly feel very isolating, Phillips said. We are looking at kind of fun things that we can do to stay connected to each other, whether thats setting up video calls to just have a cup of coffee with someone for 10 minutes and talk or eat lunch together, and do things like that.

Gregg Carrier, director of people and culture at ChartIQ, said the Charlottesville company already offers unlimited paid time off and allows telecommuting at any time. As the coronavirus started to spread globally, the company reemphasized those policies.

As weve watched it expand, it just became more and more clear to ... where, at this point, our policy is, dont come into work unless you feel its absolutely necessary to do your job, he said.

The financial charting and data visualization software company, which has about 60 employees in Charlottesville, is continuing to monitor the situation and might end up completely closing the office to employees.

For us, its balancing ... the impact on our teams safety and health, but this question has systemic impact, he said. ... Can we flatten the curve of transmission of the disease and help our community and help our society more by staying at home, but balancing that against the obvious impact to our local community of, we will not be downtown and buying lunch every day if we make that move. Those are not businesses that can pivot into a remote work environment ... There are a lot of aspects of this that we weigh when we think about something like this.

Crutchfield Corp., an online and retail electronics sell with stores in Albemarle County and Harrisonburg, has many employees working from home already and has been evaluating whether to close the stores.

Were trying to balance two different things out and were trying to make sure that people can make a living, and were being responsible in that regard and being good and we want to be good community members, to make sure people are safe, the companys chief human resources officer, Chris Lilley, said.

We also want to make sure that were contributing and not depleting in any way our community response, because that social distancing piece, its really important to us at this point.

All call center employees that can work from home are currently doing so, he said, and those who cant are spread out in the building to create social distancing. In the companys distribution center, breaks are being staggered, employees are being spread out and more cleaning is being done.

Weve put into place guidelines for folks that have done personal travel and are self-quarantining folks at home for a two-week period, if in fact, theyve had travel on a plane or anywhere with more than 100 people, Lilley said. Were taking some pretty significant steps to not only reduce the social interactions that people are having, but to make sure that were being responsible stewards of the community, as well.

Charlottesville-based WorldStrides, which books school and other group trips, is currently making plans for employees, and is postponing all of its travel programs over the next month.

Were a global company, so were working office by office to make decisions about who can work from home to continue to support our customers during a pretty extraordinary time, said Beth Campbell, vice president of content and communication.

At this point, there are no plans to lay off employees, she said.

Were working out of the office primarily, Campbell said. We are working on plans to give many of our team members the flexibility to work from home.

CFA Institute, which has 432 employees in Charlottesville, is doing a work-from-home test for all of its U.S. workers Tuesday.

Well have basically our whole workforce working from home to evaluate our ability to conduct business in a virtual setting in the U.S., and well think further about, first of all, how the virus news evolves, and about the results of that test as we make decisions going forward, said Mike Murphy, CFA Institutes director of inclusion and community.

He said the company is flexible about employee working arrangements and is encouraging people to take home their electronic devices and equipment each day.

In a statement, a State Farm representative said the company is telling employees who can work from home to do so. Not every employee currently has the ability to work from home, and may continue to work in one of the facilities, but the company is moving quickly to make it possible for most staffers to work from home.

We are prioritizing tools for employees who are customer-facing, Anna Bryant, a State Farm public affairs specialist, said in a statement. If an employee or a family member are at higher risk or a member of a special population as defined by the Centers for Disease Control, they can visit with their leadership about options, including paid administrative leave.

The United Way of Greater Charlottesville and the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation also are having employees work from home for at least the next two weeks.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 12:56:38|Editor: huaxia

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HAVANA, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The Cuban Tourism Ministry said Saturday that as the novel coronavirus rages worldwide, the country's tourism industry has seen a decrease of 12 percent so far in March, with major cancellations from Canadian and Italian tour operators.

"Cuba continues to be a safe country. The island keeps open to foreign visitors. Tourists are welcome here," Barbara Cruz, head of merchandising at the Tourism Ministry, told reporters at a news conference.

Cuba received 98 percent of tourists expected to arrive in the country for the first two months of the year, she added.

"Cuba has medical personnel in all tourist facilities, and isolated areas have been set up for the treatment of suspected cases of the novel coronavirus," said Grisel Lopez, head of quality control at the Tourism Ministry.

"Cuba complies with the International Health Regulations, and the prevention and control plan seeks to maintain high hygiene standards in tourist facilities nationwide," she said.

Cuban tourism industry represents a big proportion of hard currency for the Caribbean island but dropped in 2019 partially due to the U.S. sanctions.

Earlier this year, the Cuban government said the country expected to receive 4.5 million travelers in 2020.
New Zealands seventh and eighth cases of COVID-19 were announced today in two travellers recently arrived in New Zealand.

A man in his 60s visiting from Australia, who was tested in Australia prior to flying to New Zealand, has now been confirmed as positive by the Australian authorities.

The man arrived in Wellington at 12.05am on Saturday morning March 14 from Brisbane on Air New Zealand flight number 828 and was informed later that morning by his Australian doctor of his positive test result.

The man, now symptom free, is now in self isolation with his partner and another family member, both well, and cooperating fully with Public Health staff. He does not require hospital care or other medical treatment.

Public Health staff will be checking with their Australian counterparts about what advice was provided to the man prior to travelling.

The eighth case is a woman in her 30s travelling from Denmark who arrived in Auckland via Doha on QR 920 on Tuesday March 10 and then flew from Auckland to Christchurch on Jetstar flight JQ225 arriving at 8am on March 10. The woman travelled to Queenstown by private rental vehicle.

The woman was unwell and hospitalised for one night. She is now recovering well and being discharged. She will recover in self isolation and will be monitored daily by health services.

Contact tracing on flights has been changed to be the two seats in all directions: front, back, both sides and diagonal. This is supported by current evidence and is in line with the same approach taken by European authorities.

In both instances public health staff are conducting contact tracing and requesting close contacts stay in self isolation for 14 days from the date of potential exposure.

Healthline knows the seat numbers and will be able to advise anyone on the flight, whether they are considered a close or casual contact.

Anyone who was on this flight and is concerned or would like information should contact the Healthline number 0800 358 5453. Interpreters are available.

The fact both of todays cases relate to overseas visitors from countries previously outside the travel restrictions reinforces our wider border restrictions announced yesterday, says a Ministry of Health spokesperson.

COVID-19 is now present in over 100 countries, many of which have community outbreaks. Reducing the flow of people coming into New Zealand, and ensuring those who do still come immediately self-isolate are essential frontline tools to limit the risk of wider outbreaks here.

New Zealand now has eight confirmed cases based on positive test results and two probable cases. The two patients previously in hospital  one confirmed case and one probable case, are now recovering at home with daily checks by health staff.

Close contacts of the confirmed cases in self isolation are being monitored daily by health staff.

Three passengers aboard the Golden Princess cruise berthed at Akaroa today have been quarantined and are being tested for COVID-19. Two of the three people have been identified as close contacts of a confirmed case.

One of the three has developed symptoms of COVID-19 and is being treated as a suspected case. This person is being tested today with results expected tomorrow.

All on board are not being allowed off the ship until results are known.

I would like to again thank the more than 6,700 New Zealanders who have already completed self-isolation.

Were working to scale up our support for the increased numbers who will be in self-isolation and ensuring they have adequate support and information to ensure it is conducted successfully and safely.

The evidence to date is that it self-isolation has been a success, as there have been no cases outside of immediate family members of those who have bought COVID-19 into the country and wider community spread relating to them has been averted.

The Ministry of Health would like to reiterate again that we all have a role in keeping out COVID-19, stamping it out and slowing the progression of COVID-19 in New Zealand. A fundamental part of this is not going to work or going to places where there are other people if you are sick or even starting to feel sick.

These steps remain critical to New Zealands response to COVID-19.

The Ministrys advice for the public remains the same. Anyone feeling unwell should ring Healthline on the dedicated COVID-19 number: 0800 358 5453 or ring ahead to their General Practice and they'll be advised what to do.

Healthline continues to be very busy and coping with more than double the usual number of calls and continues to ensure it has the resources to manage.

Planning is underway for scaling up the countrys ability to contact trace individuals exposed to others with COVID-19. These measures remain critical to limit the risk of spread.

New Zealand will continue to see isolated cases. Close contacts of any cases will be contacted, provided with advice and put in monitored self-isolation as recommended by the World Health Organization to limit the risk of spread in the community.

With regard to concerts and other large gatherings we have coming up, the Ministrys advice is to please stay home if youre unwell and that organisers of any gatherings should assess any public health risks before continuing with the event.
New Delhi, March 15 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to lead India in a video-conference to be attended by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) member nations on Sunday evening.

The conference, which aims to promote the World Health Organisation's advice to avoid public gatherings, is being organised following Prime Minister's proposal on Friday seeking formulation of a joint strategy by SAARC member nations to control and monitor the Covid-19 outbreak.

The Prime Minister's initiative was welcomed by all members of the SAARC nations comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Modi's appeal got prompt response from Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

On behalf of Pakistan, Dr Zafar Mirza, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan will be attending the conference. Pakistan's response to the proposal came late in the night with the country's Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui saying the threat of COVID-19 required coordinated efforts at global and regional levels.

"Timely action for a healthier planet. Tomorrow (March 15) at 5 PM, leaders of SAARC nations will discuss, via conferencing, a roadmap to fight the challenge of COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus," the Prime Minister had tweeted on Saturday.

"I am confident that our coming together will lead to effective outcomes and benefit our citizens." In a tweet on Saturday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar also said: "Coming together for the common good! 15 March, 1700 IST. PM Narendra Modi will lead India at the video conference of all SAARC member countries, to chalk out a common strategy to fight COVID-19 in the region." The initiative assumes significance because since 2016, SAARC has been mostly inactive. Modi had refused to attend the 2016 SAARC summit which was to be held in Islamabad, following the Uri terror attack perpetrated by Pakistani terrorists. After Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan also withdrew from the meet, the summit was called off.

SAARC summits are held biennially and are hosted by the member states in alphabetical order. The last summit was held in 2014 at Kathmandu. However, Sunday's video conference, though without Imran Khan, will break the ice.

With the novel coronavirus claiming over 5,000 lives across the globe, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on India's neighbours to interact via video-conferencing and draft a strategy to prevent further spread of the infection.

As of March 14, Covid-19 has infected over 1.50 lakh people across the world.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
VINEET UPADHYAY By

RISHIKESH: India runs the largest healthcare welfare scheme in the world and is set to lead in terms of healthcare under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Saturday. Our government under the leadership of PM Modi has provided a platform (to the countrymen) in last six years. India runs largest healthcare programme in the world. He has envisioned to provide healthcare to all 130 crore Indians, Shah said, at the second convocation ceremony of the AIIMS-Rishikesh.

The Modi government has done unprecedented work in healthcare including the launch of Ayushman Bharat Scheme along with creating infrastructure, he said. Remembering former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Shah said the BJP stalwart did a lot for Uttarakhand.

Atalji gave six new AIIMS to the country, and we are taking his dreams forward. Sixteen AIIMS are under process. The AIIMS-Rishikesh where we stand today was planned and built under his leadership, said the chief guest for the convocation. We will build at least one AIIMS in every state.

We have created over 2,90,00 MBBS seats in government-funded medical institutions and 1,70,00 seats for post-graduation. We aim to become leaders in medical field too.

The Centre has planned to open four new medical colleges at Pithoragarh, Almora, Rudrapur and Haridwar, he added.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has launched as -a-Service 5G Portfolio in the UAE. This new portfolio of as-a-service offerings is to help telecommunications companies build and deploy open 5G networks.

The portfolio will accelerate telcos path to revenue growth with 5G and enable them to rapidly deploy 5G services to deliver dynamic, personalised, and real-time experiences to employees, customers and citizens.

HPEs open strategy and commitment to the 5G market aligns with the interests of the Administration and the Federal Communications Commission, who are encouraging US companies to demonstrate leadership in 5G innovation.

HPE's edge-to-cloud, platform as-a-service strategy is uniquely positioned to help telcos capitalise on the 5G opportunity, by leveraging a cloud-native software stack for 5G core, optimised telco core and edge infrastructure blueprints, and Wi-Fi 6 enabled services.

Built on open and interoperable platforms combined with carrier grade infrastructure and modular software components, the portfolio of offerings allows telcos to incorporate more automation, become more agile, and deploy new 5G services faster across the telco core, the telco edge and into the enterprise.

At the telco core  a new HPE 5G Core Stack. This open, cloud-native, container-based software stack provides telco customers with the core network capabilities required to rapidly deliver new 5G services to subscribers and enterprise customers.

At the telco edge  HPE continues to innovate with the most dense, ruggedised general-purpose platform enabling Virtual Radio Access Networks (vRAN) and Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC). These purpose built offerings from HPE provide telcos with an IT service environment at the cellular network edge.

At the enterprise edge  innovative Aruba Central services, including Air Pass WiFi/5G roaming and Air Slice SLA management. These services help telcos extend the 5G footprint to the enterprise edge  where people, devices and things interact to drive positive business outcomes  by allowing seamless access to Wi-Fi connected users and IoT devices.

Infrastructure delivered as-a-service with HPE GreenLake - available via a pay-as-you-go, managed services and elastic model, these offerings provide telcos with an attractive, fast ramp for rolling out 5G services by enabling them to reduce upfront capital investments and reduce risk by leveraging specialised and proven telco and enterprise edge hardware and software.

Openness is essential to the evolutionary nature of 5G and with HPE 5G Core Stack telcos can reduce operational costs, deploy features faster and keep themselves open to multiple networks and technologies while avoiding being locked-in to a single vendor approach, said Phil Mottram, vice president and general manager of the Communications and Media Solutions business unit at HPE.

HPE has one of the broadest 5G portfolios in the market and is uniquely positioned to help telcos build an open multi-vendor 5G core, optimise the edge with vRAN, and deliver connectivity and new compute services to the enterprise using MEC and Wi-Fi 6.

5G promises to revolutionise the technology landscape, but the journey to pervasive 5G is in its early stages. To fully realise the benefits and power of 5G, a standalone 5G core needs to be combined with the nascent 5G radio access networks. Previous generation networks have often depended on proprietary vertically integrated systems from a single vendor, but 5G offers the opportunity to move to open, cloud-native platforms that utilise commercial off-the-shelf servers along with modular software components from different vendors, allowing telcos to monetise innovative new 5G services faster.

At the edge of the telco network, legacy network infrastructure in the RAN also uses proprietary network technology that results in high operational costs and limited agility. Furthermore, the higher frequencies of 5G have issues penetrating buildings, therefore telcos will need to be able to utilise both 5G RAN and Wi-Fi 6 networks in the enterprise in order to provide uninterrupted service to their customers as they enter shopping malls, campuses and office buildings.

HPEs open 5G portfolio offers the solution to these 5G challenges at the core, at the edge, and in the enterprise and promises to unleash the potential of 5G, enabling a host of new applications across a range of industries, including automotive, education, financial services, government, manufacturing and utilities.

These edge-to-cloud 5G-ready technologies are available on a pay-as-you-go or subscription basis via HPE GreenLake to help accelerate the rollout of 5G infrastructure without upfront capital outlays and to help manage the uncertainty of timing and sizing their 5G deployments.

With HPE GreenLake, telcos can grow and expand their network as new users come online and pay monthly based on measured utilisation. Through HPE GreenLake, the 5G infrastructure can be operated on behalf of the customer to free up resources to focus on innovation at the network and enterprise edge.

The true value of 5G can only be realised when radio access networks are combined with a 5G core network. This will enable holistic management, data sharing, and slicing into virtual 5G networks with dedicated usage and characteristics.

The promise of 5G will be unleashed through open, modern platforms, interoperable with existing networks to allow telcos to bring new 5G services to the market quickly while bridging from previous generation networks.

HPE 5G Core Stack is a cloud-native, containerised 5G core network software stack that accelerates the journey to new 5G revenue streams, seamlessly integrates with previous generation networks and is future-ready for upcoming advancements in 5G standards.

The HPE 5G Core Stack will be available as an integrated software and hardware platform, based on validated HPE Telco core and edge blueprints, and supported within HPE GreenLake. By deploying a truly open, cloud-native 5G core, telcos can swap out network functions as needed, enabling them to respond to market developments and avoid vendor lock-in.

To streamline new services at the telco edge, HPE continues to innovate at the 5G edge and is developing new infrastructure solutions designed to power both vRAN and MEC solutions at the telco edge or on the enterprise edge.

At the boundary between the telco and enterprise edge, telcos need to be able to offer new edge compute services, and enterprises need an efficient way to consume them.

Today, when subscribers enter a building and manually switch to the enterprise Wi-Fi network to maintain high-performance connectivity inside, subscriber access and visibility can be lost, limiting the telco operators ability to deliver services. Using Passpoint technology and the new Aruba Air Pass service, cellular subscribers can now securely and automatically roam onto participating Aruba enterprise customer Wi-Fi networks using their SIM credentials and be visible to mobile network operators.

This technology extends the 5G footprint into the enterprise while allowing telcos access to Wi-Fi connected users and IoT devices, and is essential for maintaining high service levels and the ability to create and monetise new services.

HPE will partner to accelerate opportunities building on Aruba Air Pass and Air Slice to further enhance the integration of the network and customer edges by enabling subscribers to seamlessly roam from 5G cellular to Wi-Fi networks along with guaranteed quality of service, all cloud-managed by Aruba Central. Aruba Central is a unified network operations, assurance and security platform that simplifies the deployment, management and service assurance of wireless, wired and SD-WAN environments.

5G has the potential to revolutionise our digital lives and the combination of 5G and Wi-Fi 6 presents telcos with an unlimited array of possibilities for offering subscribers new and compelling services that can transform the user experience, said Keerti Melkote, president of Intelligent Edge at HPE and founder of Aruba Networks. With a broad portfolio of innovations that span from the telco core to the enterprise edge, HPE is the only platform as-a-service company that can deliver the infrastructure, software solutions and the technical expertise to support global telcos in their quest to fully realise the promise of 5G.

HPE has over 30 years of experience in the telecoms industry, with more than 300 telco customers in 160 countries. In the core, 700m subscribers across 82 carriers depend on HPE Mobile Core software, and HPE was recently recognised by Frost & Sullivan with the 2019 Leadership award for Global 5G Infrastructure Enabling Technology.

The full HPE 5G Core Stack will be available globally in the second half of 2020 through HPE GreenLake as-a-service.

HPEs telco optimised edge and core blueprints, and the telco edge optimised platform HPE Edgeline EL8000 are available today, directly or through HPE GreenLake. Aruba Air Pass and Aruba Air Slice are generally available today. -- Tradearabia News Service
A fresh spate of rockets targeted an Iraqi base north of Baghdad on Saturday where foreign troops are deployed, Iraqi and US security sources told AFP, in a rare daytime attack.

It was the 23rd such attack since late October on installations across Iraq where US troops and diplomats are based, with the latest rounds growing deadlier.

None of the attacks have ever been claimed but the US has blamed hardline elements of the Hashed al-Shaabi, a network of armed groups incorporated into the Iraqi state.



At least 33 rockets hit Iraqi air defence units at the Taji air base on Saturday, the countrys military said, in one of the largest such volleys yet.

The initial toll is two wounded Iraqi Air Defence personnel who are in very critical condition, said Tahsin al-Khafaji, spokesman for Iraqs Joint Operations Command.

The US-led coalition said three of its members were also wounded in the attack.

Iraqs military said it had found another 24 missiles at a nearby launching site and had detained the owner of the plot of land as well as security forces from an adjacent checkpoint for questioning.

The US-led coalitions surveillance capabilities have been impaired by cloudy weather in recent days, which a US official said may have contributed to the attackers readiness to launch the rockets during the day instead of under the cover of night.

Taji is overcrowded with members of the US-led coalition helping Iraq fight jihadist remnants, after units were moved to the air base from other installations.

It came three days after a similar attack on the base killed two American military personnel and a British soldier  the deadliest such incident at an Iraqi base in years.

Iran launched ballistic missiles at US troops in Iraq while the Iraqi parliament voted to expel all foreign soldiers from its soil, a decision that has yet to be implemented.

Some 5,200 American troops are based in Iraq as part of the US-led coalition helping local troops root out the remnants of the Islamic State group.

Top US military and civilian officials had long expressed frustration that Iraqs government was not doing enough to prevent rocket attacks targeting US troops and diplomats.

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JOURNALIST: Turkey has created a powder keg in Evros. Do you see a risk of provocation?

N. DENDIAS: The situation that has taken shape in Evros in recent weeks is the result of the Turkeys exploitation of human suffering and its shameless use of innocent people to force the situation and reap political and economic gains. The Mitsotakis government has a constitutional duty to protect the national territory and its borders, which are also the borders of Europe. The countrys law enforcement authorities have the situation well in hand and, admittedly, are doing an excellent job of ensuring that the borders are not violated. Ankara chose to play the migration card because it is perhaps the only one it thinks it can play in order to exert enough pressure on the EU while also exploiting the issue domestically, distracting public opinion from the impasses created by the governments choices in foreign policy and other areas. Greece is on the front line, but it is not the main target of this blackmail. And this was the real reason behind President Erdogans urging of Greece to open the gates, given that these people on the border want to get to northern Europe. In any event, he got a clear response from both Greece  which secured Europes borders  and Europe.



JOURNALIST: What has Greece requested from the EU in order to deal with the refugee crisis, and what has it received?

N. DENDIAS: From the very outset, Greece requested the tangible support of the EU member states and institutions, given that this crisis doesn't concern just Greece: it is a European crisis in which Greece happens to be on the front line. As you know, the EU Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs Councils met last week, at Greeces initiative and with specific requests. I am satisfied with the fact that Europe really did respond to our request in the initial stage, sending assistance in the form of personnel, via Frontex, along with material and financial support. And there is also a discussion under way for the relocation of unaccompanied minors to the other EU member states. We have made it clear  in every direction and at the highest level  that Greece will not shoulder the burden created by the choices of third parties. In any event, our country will continue to carry out its duty, which is to protect Europes borders.



JOURNALIST: Will Greece agree to become a prison for desperate people if the EU is unwilling to show solidarity and participate in de-congesting our refugee centres?

N. DENDIAS: Right now, Europe is under intense pressure from mass population movements from the east, on its land and sea borders. And this is the result of an organized operation that Turkey is encouraging and orchestrating. As I said earlier, this matter concerns the whole of Europe and needs to be dealt with collectively, based on the principles and values that govern European culture. Greece has shouldered a huge burden from the refugee and migration crisis of recent years, and it can no longer shoulder a disproportionate burden in this crisis. Whats more, Europe will have to continue to make clear that Turkey cannot use these people as political pawns. In the meetings I had with my colleagues, and following the visit of the EU leaders to Evros at the Prime Ministers invitation, there seems to be momentum in the right direction: a decisive and rational approach to Turkey and the problems it is creating. European solidarity is perhaps more vital now than ever before. And this is why Greece expects the support of all the member states, without exception. And of course it hardly bears repeating that there is an urgent need to create a common European asylum system.



JOURNALIST: Is there a likelihood of a heated incident?

N. DENDIAS: Turkey tried to present us with faits accomplis again in Evros, but our reaction was firm and strong. Unfortunately, Turkey has proven consistent in its destabilising conduct virtually everywhere on its periphery, from Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean to North Africa and the Middle East. It's effort to infiltrate Libya through the signing of the two blatantly null and void memoranda, in order to exploit the adverse situation in the country, is a first-class example of the expansionist and revisionist policy Turkey is exercising at the expense of international peace, stability, the sovereignty and sovereign rights of third countries. As for the likelihood of a heated incident, diplomacys job is to work to avoid this. In any case, our country is prepared for any eventuality. Our preparedness, which was made clear in Evros, certainly functions as a deterrent. This was a decisive response, and we will continue to respond decisively in as many instances as necessary. At the same time, the extensive network of alliances and mutually beneficial synergies that Greek foreign policy has methodically forged is also contributing to the substantial weakening of actions aimed at destabilising and undermining peace in the region.



JOURNALIST: Can Albania be used by Turkey to increase the pressure on Greece? Can Ankara use Bulgaria as a Trojan horse in the region?

N. DENDIAS: Greece is implementing a positive agenda the Western Balkans. The most recent initiative was the Thessaloniki Conference. This agenda is aimed at consolidating peace and prosperity in the region, with the European accession of these countries as the main vehicle. We firmly believe that not only accession, but also the accession perspective itself can help to solve the structural and domestic problems these countries are facing. And, since you asked about Albania, Greece has stood by this country in difficult times, as was the case with the recent earthquake that hit northern Albania. We support Albanias European perspective, but always  as I have often repeated  on the condition that it complies with the European acquis and the conditionality in place. This includes meeting its obligations to the Greek National Minority. Unfortunately, the recent property law does not meet the minoritys expectations. Our friendly neighbouring country, Albania, needs to realise that good relations with Greece will have immediate and long-term benefits. We have very good relations with Bulgaria  with the vast majority of the members of its government. I have met with my Bulgarian colleague at various fora and we have common goals and excellent cooperation on many issues. We see all the countries of our region through a positive prism, and our goal is the greatest and closest possible cooperation with them. So, I dont think Albania or Bulgaria are functioning as Trojan horses, to use your phrase. In fact, I believe that both of these countries need friendship and cooperation with Greece, especially at a time and in a region where conditions are shifting on a daily basis and threats and challenges are increasing.
WASHINGTON  The House of Representatives passed a sweeping bill early Saturday addressing the impacts of the coronavirus outbreak, aiming to soften the economic blow that many Americans are expected to feel as stores close, people stay home and stock markets plunge.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., hashed out the details of the plan's safety net benefits last week, disagreeing over how much paid time off should be extended to workers. Mnuchin and the White House had raised concerns that too much paid leave would hurt businesses already reeling from the financial effects of the outbreak, while Pelosi and the Democrats argued that a permanent paid leave program needed to be extended to all workers.

President Donald Trump has said he supports the legislation, and the Senate is expected to pass it sometime this week.

Heres what is included:

Free coronavirus testing

The bill calls for free testing for anyone whose doctor says a test is needed. Patients would not be responsible for any deductibles or copayments.

The free testing would extend to those on Medicaid or Medicare and provide a pathway for uninsured people to get free testing through federal coverage programs.

Expanded family and medical leave  for some

The House bill would expand the existing family and medical leave program.

Under current law, employers are required to give up to 12 weeks of job protected medical leave (meaning you cannot be fired), but they are not required to provide any pay during that time.

The House bill, however, would provide paid leave for workers if they have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, if they are caring for a family member who has it or if they are caring for a child or another dependent because of a school or care facility closing.

The bill would provide those who qualify with two-thirds of their average monthly earnings, with a cap of $4,000, for up to 12 weeks. The benefits could be paid retroactively and would be available for those who had to leave work starting Jan. 19.

Story continues

But there's a catch: The benefit would apply only to companies with fewer than 500 employees. Anyone employed by a company larger than that  which is more than half of all American workers  would be ineligible.

Image: U.S. House Speaker Pelosi delivers statement ahead of House coronavirus economic aid package vote on Capitol Hill in Washington (YURI GRIPAS / Reuters)

Paid emergency sick leave  (also) for some

In addition to the expansion of paid family leave, the bill would also establish a new paid sick leave program calling for employers to immediately grant 14 days of paid sick leave that could be used by infected people, caretakers and parents whose children's schools have been closed.

This benefit, too, would be available only to people working at companies with fewer than 500 employees. Small businesses (defined as having 50 employees or less) would be reimbursed for providing the 14 days of additional paid sick leave.

For employers who already provide paid sick leave, the additional leave made available under the House bill should still be provided, and employers would not be allowed to make changes to their existing policies to avoid offering additional paid leave.

Unemployment benefits

The bill would provide additional funds to states that experience a 10 percent increase in unemployment.

States would be required to loosen eligibility requirements for unemployment, such as work search requirements or waiting periods.

Food assistance

The bill would allocate an additional $500 million to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, which provides access to food for low-income pregnant women and mothers with young children who have lost their jobs because of the outbreak.

An additional $400 million would be granted to the Emergency Food Assistance Program, which would help food banks meet the increased demand they are likely to experience.

The bill would allow for states to provide families whose children receive free or reduced-price school meals with money to buy food in the event of school closings. The assistance would kick in after five consecutive days of canceled school.

It also calls for emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program aid to families with children who receive free or reduced-price meals at school. The work requirements for SNAP would be suspended under the bill.

For older Americans, the bill would provide emergency funding for programs like Home-Delivered Nutrition Services, which provides meals to senior centers and homes of older adults who live alone.

Protections for health care workers

Many health care workers could be at risk of being exposed to the coronavirus, especially as care facilities fill up with sick patients.

The bill would require state and local hospitals and nursing facilities, some of which are not subject to certain federal regulations, to comply with additional safety and health plans.
WFH for Private offices in Delhi, restaurants & bars to be shut as Omicron-led to sudden rise in Covid cases

SAARC: PM Modi proposes emergency fund to tackle coronavirus

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 15: SAARC nations on Sunday vowed to jointly combat coronavirus as Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed an emergency fund with an initial offer of USD 10 million from India and asserted that the best way to deal with the pandemic was by coming together, and not growing apart.

The underlying message of the video conference was unitedly taking on the virus, but Pakistan used the occasion to raise Kashmir issue, calling for immediate lifting of the "lockdown" there to allow disease containment measures.

Apart from Modi, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza, participated in the video conference.

In his opening remarks, Modi said India's guiding mantra to deal with the virus was "prepare, but don't panic". "We were careful to not underestimate the problem, but also to avoid knee-jerk reactions," he said.

In a significant message, Modi asserted that it was important for the SAARC member countries to work together and said the region can best respond to the coronavirus pandemic by "coming together, not growing apart".

Modi said it was important to focus on collaboration, not confusion, and preparation, not panic.

Mirza, in his remarks, also hailed China for its efforts to deal with coronavirus and urged other SAARC nations to learn best practices from it. Raising Kashmir, he said, "Equity in health is a fundamental principle of public health.

In this regard, let me say that it is a matter of concern that COVID-19 has been reported" from Jammu and Kashmir. "In view of the health emergency, it is imperative that all lockdown" there must be lifted immediately, he said.

"Opening up communication and movement would facilitate dissemination of information, allow distribution of medical supplies and allow containment...to proceed unimpeded," Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Mirza said.

After initial remarks by the leaders, Prime Minister Modi made a series of suggestions which were hailed by the SAARC leaders and representatives.

"I propose we create a COVID-19 Emergency Fund. This could be based on voluntary contributions from all of us. India can start with an initial offer of 10 million dollars for this fund. Any of us can use the fund to meet the cost of immediate actions," Modi said.

He said the member nations' foreign secretaries, through embassies, can coordinate quickly to finalise the utilisation of this fund.

"We are assembling a Rapid Response Team of doctors and specialists in India, along with testing kits and other equipment. They will be on stand-by, to be placed at your disposal, if required," he told the SAARC leaders.

India had set up an Integrated Disease Surveillance Portal to better trace possible virus carriers and the people they contacted and it could share this disease surveillance software with SAARC partners, Modi said.

"Looking ahead, we could create a common research platform, to coordinate research on controlling epidemic diseases within our South Asian region. The Indian Council of Medical Research can offer help coordinating such an exercise," he said.

Modi also thanked Oli for participating in the video conference almost immediately after his recent surgery and congratulated President Ghani for his recent re-election. The new Secretary-General of SAARC also joined in but did not speak. Modi also highlighted the steps taken by India to combat the virus.

"We started screening people entering India from mid-January itself, while gradually increasing restrictions on travel," Modi said.

Step-by-step approach helped avoid panic and India made special efforts to reach out to vulnerable groups, he said. India also responded to the call of its people abroad and evacuated nearly 1,400 Indians from different countries, he said. Modi also said India helped some citizens of neighbouring countries by evacuating them from coronavirus-hit nations.

Maldivian President Solih backed coordinated approach to deal with COVID-19, asserting that no country can deal with the situation alone.

Lankan President Rajapaksa said SAARC leaders should formulate a mechanism to help the economies of the region to tide over problems posed by coronavirus.

He also proposed setting up a SAARC ministerial-level group to deal with issues related to coronavirus. Hasina hailed PM Modi's suggestions to deal with the pandemic and called for taking the initiative forward by more such video conferences, including one with health ministers of SAARC nations participating.

"Our collective efforts will help us devise a sound and robust strategy for SAARC region to fight coronavirus," Nepal PM Oli said. Bhutanese PM Lotay Tshering said that it was important for all countries of the region to be on same page to combat coronavirus.

Mirza, in his initial remarks, said no nation can afford to be unresponsive to the situation in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. "We share common regional concerns on COVID-19. While hoping for the best, we have to prepare for the worst," the Pakistan PM's Special Assistant on Health said.

Modi had on Friday proposed formulation of a joint strategy by the SAARC nations to fight coronavirus, a suggestion that was backed by all the member states.

Calling on the SAARC nations to set an example for the world, Modi had reached out to the eight-member regional grouping and pitched for a video conference among its leaders to chalk out a strong strategy to fight coronavirus, which has killed more than 5,000 people globally.

His appeal got a prompt response from Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister Oli, Bhutanese premier Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Hasina and the Afghan government, all of whom welcomed the proposal.

Pakistan's response to the proposal came in after the rest, with the country's Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui saying Mirza will be available to participate in the video-conference.

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Story first published: Sunday, March 15, 2020, 21:37 [IST]


The world is an exoplanet -- a planet that orbits a star outside our own solar system. The exoplanet, called WASP-76b, is made mainly of gas.

WASP-76b sits about 640 light years away from Earth. It is nearly two times the size of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system.

WASP-76b is part of a family of exoplanets considered ultra-hot gas giants. The planet is extremely hot because it is very close to its parent star, which is almost twice as big as our sun.





WASP-76b takes as long to go around its axis as it does to go around the star. The result is temperatures of more than 2,400 degrees Celsius on the planets star-facing side. This makes WASP-76b one of the most extreme exoplanets in terms of its climate and chemistry.

Researchers from Switzerland and other parts of Europe observed WASP-76b with a powerful telescope belonging to the European Southern Observatory. The observatory is based in Chile. It provides astronomy support to a number of European countries.

Instruments attached to the observatorys Very Large Telescope helped collect information about the exoplanet. Research findings were recently published in the journal Nature.

Scientists have learned that the planet is so hot that molecules separate into atoms. The extreme heat also causes metals, like iron, to evaporate into the atmosphere. The researchers say the iron likely changes into liquid on the cooler side of the planet, and then almost surely turns into rain.

Christophe Lovis of the University of Geneva was one of the lead researchers of the study. He told The Associated Press that such a process is thought to produce droplets of metal falling from the sky.

The research team believes that the iron rain is likely to be extremely dense and strong. Lovis said, Its like in the heavy steel industry on Earth where they melt iron, and so you see this melting, flowing metal. Thats pretty much what we are talking about here.

David Ehrenreich is a University of Geneva astronomer who helped lead the research. He told the Reuters news agency that this kind of hot, iron rain might only happen on ultra-hot exoplanets.

The extreme atmospheric conditions met in WASP-76b and its siblings - other ultra-hot gas giants - are not found anywhere in our solar system and would be very difficult to reproduce in a lab, Ehrenreich said.

Astrophysicist Maria Rosa Zapatero Osorio of the Center for Astrobiology in Madrid, Spain, was also part of the research team. She said of the findings: The zoo of planetary systems is far beyond our expectations.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from The Associated Press, Reuters and the European Southern Observatory. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

Quiz - Researchers Observe Faraway Planet that Likely Receives Iron Rain Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

_________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

ultra  adj. extremely

axis  n. a real or imaginary line on which something rotates

sibling  n. a sister or brother
Mettimano said he had been in touch with the Districts Department of Human Services about what to do if the virus gets into a shelter. D.C. was trying to gear up centers where homeless people can go for treatment, quarantine, et cetera. Were not doctors, were not a medical facility, so we dont have the ability to diagnose or address the disease.
Reporters and editors from The Republican met Friday with Baystate Health president and CEO Dr. Mark A. Keroack and Dr. Andrew W. Artenstein, the health systems chief physician executive, for an update on the outbreak of COVID-19 in Massachusetts.

The doctors  both of whom have extensive backgrounds and training in infectious diseases  said the new coronavirus is likely already present in the Pioneer Valley, even if no cases have yet been reported in official data from the state Department of Public Health.

Here are five key takeaways from the discussion; portions of the interview have been lightly edited or condensed:

You can transmit the virus before you realize youre sick.

Dr. Keroack: Its now clear that somebody whos infected with this coronavirus can carry a large amount of virus in their nose and mouth well before they feel very sick. Because infectious individuals are hard to detect, and because the entire population is naive  not immune to this new virus  we expect that were soon going to be dealing with a large number of patients with either expected or confirmed infection.  We know that the virus spreads on airborne droplets, when you sneeze or when you cough. It also can be spread when someone touches their face, gets it on their hands, and then shakes hands; then that person may inoculate their own nose, or mouth, or eyes.

If you have symptoms, call your doctor, hospital or clinic first  dont just show up.

Dr. Keroack: We have developed a variety of screening protocols for medical practices and the emergency department, which are our front doors. Were trying to get people to reach out via telehealth or by phone, first, before coming in physically, so that they can be screened over the phone about whether they need to come in or not. This is to basically keep people who are infectious at home, and also to protect our employees.

Dr. Artenstein: The answer to this is not to walk into an emergency department or walk into a doctors office. That might be the answer under usual conditions. ... The truth is, its really important to prevent the spread of infection ... that folks, especially those that arent highly symptomatic, those who are mildly symptomatic, follow other procedures.

Dr. Andrew W. Artenstein talks with reporters and editors at The Republican on March 13, 2020. (Don Treeger / The Republican)

The lack of testing is creating uncertainty.

Dr. Keroack: There has been a lot written about the test kits, and problems with the test kits. There has been a shortage for the CDC to produce them, and thats meant the Department of Public Health in Massachusetts is experiencing shortages, and theyre having to ration them to people who are most severely ill and at greatest risk. That means that oftentimes when we call up to get a patient tested through the DPH were told the patient doesnt fit those criteria, because of the shortage. We then will send the testing to a commercial lab  but the turnaround time there is three to four days. Were told that it might be several weeks before we have the reagents we need to start doing testing ourselves at Baystate, which typically would just be a four-hour turnaround.

There are some countries that are testing 10,000 people a day. Unfortunately the CDC was kind of slow to get a workable test kit out, and theyre trying to catch up quickly. I hope they get there soon. But other countries are really testing a lot more people; theyre testing at a level we would love to test at today.

Dr. Artenstein: This thing is moving very quickly. Again, the testing  thats a big issue. It makes clinical decision-making difficult, because a lot of it is based on the available information, so it adds uncertainty.

Closing schools isnt a silver bullet  and it may have unintended consequences.

Dr. Keroack: For me, of all the various social distancing methods, this is the one that probably I wouldnt immediately go to. ... Prior attempts to contain viral spread by closing schools  flu, for example, which does affect kids a lot more  have not been successful for a number of reasons. Once you close the schools, then what happens to the kids? They either start congregating in homes or daycare centers and they start spreading stuff around anyway. And then youve taken out (of work) all the people who would be watching those kids  many of whom are health care workers. So it would not be the first thing Id be thinking of.

Dr. Artenstein: Its a domino thing. In an area where health care is one of the key employers, you can expect that theres a lot of parents of young children who work in health care systems locally.

Dr. Keroack: Right in the middle of the winter our health system is running near peak capacity anyway, so were looking at ways of  how do we open up more beds, get more staff online. If we needed 100 new beds, 200 new beds for whatever scenario comes down the Pike, were starting to do that planning now.

Baystate Health President and CEO Dr. Mark Keroack talks with reporters and editors at The Republican on March 13, 2020. (Don Treeger / The Republican)

What the doctors are doing  and what you can do to help prevent the spread of the disease.

Dr. Keroack: Ill tell you what Ive done. We have suspended all meetings, at Dr. Artensteins instruction, of more than 20 people. There are a number of community meetings  that Im not going to be going to. Im trying to stay away from crowds. Every Friday I go to dinner with my wife; tonight were going to do takeout. Im in my 60s, and a man, so Im a higher risk group of getting really sick if I get corona. ... Im hopefully going to stay clear of this for the next few weeks, but I dont know. Its so easy to pick this up. I have modified my behavior a lot.

Dr. Artenstein: Reassess your own situation. If youre in one of those higher risk groups, certainly take serious stock. And if youre not in one of the higher risk groups, still take stock. I like to think about this as temporary. Its not pleasant, because its not the way we like to go through life in a free society.  But, on a temporary basis, especially for the global public health  which benefits all of us, our families and our neighbors and everybody else  its wise to take certain precautions.  Make some modifications if it makes sense. And, obviously, we do need to retain our health care workforce, and thats a vital concern of mine because again, those are not replenishable resources in the short term.  So thats why were really hoping people take seriously the social distancing, some of the individual responsibilities and things people can do in smaller groups. Thats why I applaud cancelling or changing meetings to virtual meetings, and gatherings in the short term, if it will diminish the risk of further transmission.
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Linkedin Riza Roidila Mufti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 15, 2020 12:11 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206abc21d 1 National Budi-Karya-Sumadi,Transportation-Minister-Budi-Karya-Sumadi,transportation-ministry,COVID-19,COVID-19-Indonesian-patients,coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus,Wuhan-coronavirus-in-Indonesia,outbreak,outbreak-in-Indonesia,Jokowi,Pratikno Free

The government announced Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi had tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday but rumors that the minister was ill had been circulating for days before the announcement.

Budi, who has long suffered from asthma, had been absent from a number of events he was scheduled to attend since the beginning of the month. Prior to that, he had been on a number of work-related trips, including to Kertajati Airport in West Java and Luwu and Toraja in South Sulawesi. He was also active in the evacuation of Indonesian crew members from the virus-stricken cruise ship Diamond Princess on March 2.

On March 10, in response to reporters questions about Budis absence, Transportation Ministry spokesperson Adita Irawati said Budi was suffering from typhoid symptoms and resting at home.

Budi attended on March 11 a Cabinet meeting on land disputes in North Sumatra at the State Palace in Central Jakarta. The meeting was led by President Joko Jokowi Widodo.

Attendees included State Secretary Pratikno, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD, Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani, Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar, State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir, Home Minister Tito Karnavian, Attorney General ST Burhanuddin, Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Air Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, National Police chief Gen. Idham Azis, as well as North Sumatra Governor Edy Rahmayadi and acting Medan Mayor Akhyar Nasution, among others.

Later that day, Budi also met with the Dutch minister for infrastructure and water management, Cora Van Nieuwenhuize, to discuss cooperation between Indonesia and the Netherlands in the transportation sector.

Kami juga menandatangani Joint Statement (Pernyataan Bersama). Kami sepakat untuk meningkatkan kerja sama di bidang transportasi, serta pengembangan kapasitas dan kapabilitas sumber daya manusia perhubungan. pic.twitter.com/8DhQeyOSAY  Budi Karya Sumadi (@BudiKaryaS) March 11, 2020

On Thursday, the Transportation Ministry installed a disinfectant box in front of the Karsa building at its offices in Central Jakarta. Visitors were required to enter the box to be sprayed with disinfectant and have their temperatures checked.

Budi Setyadi, the ministrys land transportation director general, said the installation of the box was part of a trial for COVID-19 prevention measures that could be implemented at transportation hubs across the country.

On Friday, Adita once again denied rumors that Budi had been infected by the virus.

Regarding rumors circulating about the transportation ministers health, we hereby state that Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumad is being treated in a hospital due to typhoid and asthma, which he has suffered from for a long time, Adita told The Jakarta Post. Right now, the minister is in stable condition and being monitored by doctors.

On Saturday night, after announcing that Budi had tested positive for COVID-19, Pratikno said that the health minister had acted quickly to anticipate the possibility of other ministers getting infected by the virus.

We want to emphasize that many people who test positive can recover quickly, he said. Once the President received the information, he ordered the health minister and all his ranks to work even harder to protect the public.

Pratikno declined, however, to say when Budi had been admitted to the hospital or when he had likely been infected.

As of Sunday morning, Indonesia has reported 96 confirmed cases of COVID-19, resulting in five deaths. Eight patients have since recovered.
Disney's 'Star Wars

The space opera was supposed to be released on Tuesday, March 17. Instead, the final Skywalker Saga became available late Friday, March 13 (local time), in most digital stores, reported Deadline.

The move has been spurred by the spreading coronavirus pandemic, as millions of people are staying at home amid the crisis.

Earlier on Friday, Disney also has announced that 'Frozen 2' would hit the Disney Plus service in the U.S. on Sunday -- three months early to the scheduled release date.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
15.03.2020 LISTEN

Let me express thanks to Mr. Cyrus McGee, for his input to my discussion at bay, which especially, centers on the roles of the Liberian Journalists Union, known as PUL, as well as members of the independent media, in the wake of persistent physical attacks on independent journalists in Liberia. I also wish to thank Mrs. Varnetta Johnson Freeman for her contribution to the subject for I appreciate diverse views from everyone irrespective of one's political, cultural or religious beliefs.

Nevertheless, allow me to respectfully disagree with Mrs. Freeman especially on her notion that it is binding upon journalists (including Liberian) to serve the public with news for its the publics rights to know and as such they, public, cant and shouldnt be denied such right.

First of all, Mrs. Freeman says that one's right to gaining access to information is fundamental, which according to her shouldn't be denied-she makes a reference to the "FOI policy" and I agree, to some extent. At the same time, to my surprise though, she states nothing absolutely regarding the rights of professional media men (and women?) whose rights, and in some cases, lives have been, continue to be compromised, amid continuous beatings and other humiliations by loose security men, following Monrovia authorities around. This is despite she's a part of the media too.

Indeed, she's making such observation at a time when the FPA is showing the world, yet a photograph of another wounded Liberian reporter- the victim reportedly got wounded at the hands of the same group of securities. In other words, by our sister's logic, even in the face of such brutalities, journalists in Liberia must still go ahead anyhow, bury their heads in the sands and pretend "all is well" (for they don't have feelings or families) and they are supposed to obey, and report the news anyhow. That the gathering and dissemination of information must go on uninterrupted, even at the expense of the lives of journalists as the public has the right to know.

This line of logic, in my mind, begs the question as to whether we, journalists have fully read, and understood what the "FOI's" bargaining entails. Thats because, I personally know that every agreement, or, an agreement of such nature for that matter must have two sides to it; that it must also come with certain conditions, meaning, imposing responsibilities to all parties which I strongly believe is the case here: not only with the FOI but any other legal or none legal entity.

In addition, do we not know that we, journalists also have equal rights just as the "public" which has a right to know? Or are we not supposed to be counted as human beings for that matter? Do we not know that we, journalists have the right to stay alive before we can even think of serving the "public" or "government?" Also, are we not aware that the first law of nature is self-preservation? That a journalist must make sure to stay alive; it is only then that he or she would be able to practice or serve?

By the way who says Liberian journalists do not have rights to live, think or report freely?

Of course, we journalists do, and that is why we banded together and challenged countless attacks mounted against independent media entities under Samuel Doe's rule. The press also challenged the regime's draconian rules placed on journalists' activities including a ban that prevented us from protesting unwarranted attacks on the press. This included at least a week long news blockade on all government's entities and functionaries, the same I had suggested to the PUL, to which Mrs. Freeman disagrees.

How many times are we going to listen to this type of lecture by colleagues like Mrs. Freeman while Liberian reporters come under increasing, unjustifiable attacks from Mr. George Weah's loose security forces? This is after one was killed in a similar attack by the same group few months ago, an incident whose full account is yet to be provided by both PUL, the GoL and its executive mansion security guards.

Also how long will members of the independent media endure humiliation when the same public that we serve cannot see reason to rise up and stage a mass protest in defense of the Independent media? When last did the public (with some exception to civil society's advocacy groups, as well as college, and university students groups), protest for, or publicly defend a journalist found to be in grave danger at the hands of government's security personnel during the course of the reporter's duty?

Not a single case can be cited as far as we know. True, its a good thing for journalists nationwide to serve the public as in the words of Mrs. Freeman-this is about the public's rights to be informed regarding unfolding events in and outside of Liberia. Equally, the public hasn't shown respect for its own roles as is normally the case in other African countries and elsewhere whenever local reporters and photographers come under such arbitrary attacks from the power that be. All the public has done in Liberia is, stand by idly and witch, even though efforts have been made at educating the public her role in such situation.

At any rate it seems to me that either the local public doesn't know its own obligations or roles in the event a journalist come under attack, or that it is just squarely reneging on her responsibility to protect local journalists-the preserver of democracy-so that journalists too can in turn fight to protect freedom of expression for all and at the same time work hard to keep democracy intact.

In any bargaining situation, there have to be some type of expectation and responsibility on all sides and the relationship between the press and the public thus is no different. Though somewhat of a silent kind, that's still very much the case here between the independent media in Liberia and the local public. To put it bluntly, such relationship is expected to remain reciprocal, say mutual. It's more like, "Do me I do you" type of game like musicians P-Square would say.

Unfortunately, that has never been the case in Liberia. Indeed, there, the Independent press has been left in the cold in the face of adversity and nothing seems to be changing. Yet, Mrs. Freeman goes on to suggest that journalists can bury their heads in sands, go on with normal life amid the chaos and the like without expressing disgust over such wicked behaviors, or say boycott their services to government entirely for at least a week just as we did under former dictator Samuel Doe in the 80s, and forced members of his regime to show respect and honor to the press.

One even wonders where has the "FOI" (a ceremonial memorandum of understanding) been all this time, amid the harassment, beatings, in addition to the recent suspicious murder of a journalist through beating which is yet to be fully investigated by the Press Union of Liberia (PUL), Female Journalists Association of Liberia (FeJAL), as well as the GoL? Further, are we Liberian journalists sincere to ourselves by remaining mute on the many grievous matters taking place in our country today? And do we also remember the warning from late Zenu Korboi Miller, shortly before his untimely demise that "it could be you?"

True, many of us calling ourselves "journalists" in Liberia today, no doubt have betrayed the journalism profession and its ethics, thus helping, one way or the other to worsen situation and run the nation aground. And we know this attitude is due to a variety of reasons: chiefly, is the issue of Conflict of Interest and lack of sincerity, matters which to some extent have caused deep separation among Liberian journalists and press organizations mainly at home. As a result, some within these journalist groups now have the audacity to hail wickedness by the current regime all perhaps, because they stand to benefit from it. For their friends are now at the helm of power; they are therefore no less guilty of wickedness just the perpetrators.

How sad, especially when all this is being done at the expense of men and women who believe in true independent journalism, such that was taught us yesterday by the likes of veteran journalists such as former Daily Observer editors: late Rufus Marmah Darpoh and Stanton Peabody. Remember Mr. Darpoh was among people who paid dearly a price for remaining independent and was the only journalist/publisher to be flown to the notorious Belle Yallah in the 80s where he was repeatedly tortured for months on Doe's orders.

The irony thus is that many Liberian reporters still think they can engage in acts that border on Conflict of Interest and/or dishonesty and still be recognized as independent journalists rather than government's PRs, although it is totally impossible for one to serve two masters, according to Matthew 6:24.

It is not possible for a reporter to receive, or accept a "gift" of value of some sort from a news source and still think he or she can go ahead and do a well-balanced reportage on that individual when the very person is for example, associated with scandalous affairs. By indulging in Conflict of Interest or dishonest conducts the reporter's judgment becomes beclouded and thus blurs the lines between facts and the untruth. Such act also contradicts the journalistic greed and there's no gray area to it. In this case the reporter may deprive the public of its fair rights to know the truth, hence, we as journalists must avoid such compromises in our work.

Unfortunately, some colleagues have provided some kind of "justifiable explanations whenever they are faced with the hard question of whether or not to accept a gift of high "value" from certain powerful state patrons. A good example is when President George Weah presented a newly constructed mansion to FeJAL to be used as its headquarters and offices. Such "gift" can be a "temptation" and a betrayal to the ethics of this noble profession and we are to avoid such at all cost.

Since that fabulous "gift" Liberian journalists and the rest of the world have seen changes in many ways although not for the good of journalists and society. The acceptance of "gifts" like the one given by Mr. President appeared to go a long way in silencing certain media personnel and entities against speaking out like they did in the past and the reason is clear-some have held right onto the pen in one hand while stretching the other to receive gifts.

As we all witnessed lately, scores of media entities have been threatened with closure, or were arbitrarily shut down at once at some point at least temporarily by the present regime; numerous journalists attacked severely by ruthless securities, thereby resulting to the death of one journalist as far as reality has shown. Still, the PUL, as well as members of most independent press in the country including owners and publisher, haven't taken needed concrete steps to curtail such repugnant culture (unlike in the past), to show the international community that they are indeed tired of such cruelty at the hands of government securities.

On the other hand, how do we expect certain groups, institutions to speak up against such horrible human rights abuses including the murdered of a renowned journalist when many from within are themselves no less guilty of Conflict of Interest, dishonest, especially, having already gobbled the devils Kafu that which can be almost seen spinning in their bellies?

Whatever the situation history will surely recall the hood and bad deeds, that the strong-minded rejected accepting "gifts" of any kind from potential public news source in that we believe doing amounts to nothing less than compromising our own editorial judgment concerning the "giver" or patrons. No matter how tempting such gifts may be we must strive to resist them; they represent temptation in disguise. It's damaging to any journalist who's desirous of making a difference in his career. That's why we forewarned against receiving the president's unsolicited gift to FeJAL.

The truth is, one definitely can't count himself as being independent while at the same time extending his/her hands towards such fabulous gift as Mr. Weah's, a controversial figure and highly potential news source. Those who have done so in the past by encouraging and soliciting valuable gifts from their news sources accordingly, ended up making little or no impact on the local journalistic landscape.

Hence it is very important for young beginners in this noble profession to do research and get better understand of the ethics of the profession. I guarantee that doing so would help them resist the temptation of accepting gifts of any kind from their news sources.

My generation of journalists, many of whom covered those brutal wars, managed to follow much of the rules though it can be difficult, living in Africa. (I have gone to great length, writing on this subject plus many more in the past. See i.e., Liberia: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf-Why Has She Changed? /FPA, Oct.1/13).

Unprofessional conducts aren't just limited to the mass media in Liberia. Our local bar association and Medical association as well as many other groups have their share of such ugly acts. It's fair to say it's a global issue. Nevertheless, I admonish us all not to move back to the days after Samuel Doe's controversial 1985 presidential elections when Mrs. Miatta Sharman, then Doe's NDPL chair-lady, described dishonest journalists as "journalistic prostitutes."

Similarly, we journalists must do all possible to dissuade Liberian journalists who still hold low-esteem of themselves and think they can't independently stand on their own without engaging in dome type of undercover "agent" job for the local NSA, even though it potentially undermines excellent journalism in Liberia and at the same time places lives of our colleagues on the line. This is nothing less grievous and a disgrace to doers and the profession and must be discouraged.

There's a complete distinction between independent journalism versus doing public relations job i.e., working for a government press entity, including a pro-government media or a private company. The good thing is we all have a choice here: we can either remain independent and diligently serve humanity or, go ahead and sell ourselves very cheap to the power that be as some of our friends did in the post-war act that has re-emerged which remains an affront to excellent journalism we all so dearly sacrificed and fought to protect and preserve over the years.

Note: Though this article starts out addressing Journalists Cyrus J. McGee and Varnetta J. Freeman, it is however for the most part meant to examine the above topic: Conflict of Interest, a chronic problem that all Liberian journalists and their counterparts elsewhere have to wrestle over daily in their reportage.

James Kokulo Fasuekoi is an associate editor for The AfricaPaper.Com, a continental US-based online news magazine. An award-winning journalist, author, hes a documentary writer and heads the Midwest chapter of ALJA. He was twice a 2017 Bush Foundation Scholar.
Once flights are allowed to resume, airlines will need weeks or even months to train pilots and prepare stored aircraft for commercial service (stock photo)

THOUSANDS of Irish citizens stranded in Spain are to be helped home over the next 96 hours - after which there will be no guarantees.

Spain has reported 2,000 new coronavirus cases and more than 150 deaths in the past 24 hours.

Tanaiste Simon Coveney has spent today in negotiations with the Spanish government, Aer Lingus and Ryanair to try find a way out for Irish people.

Independent.ie understands as many as 20,000 Irish people in Spain at the moment. Some are holidaymakers while others are resident there.

A growing number of flights have been grounded in Spain due to preventative measures against coronavirus which have resulted in a reduction in the number of air traffic controllers on each shift.

All restaurants, bars, hotels, schools and universities, and other non-essential retail outlets, have been closed as part of a nationwide lockdown.

People can only leave their homes to buy food, to go to work if they cannot work remotely, to seek medical attention, or to assist the elderly.

Both Aer Lingus and Ryanair have struggled with flying to and from Spain over the weekend.

Ryanair had announced it would severely reduce flights to and from Spain, the Balearic Islands and Canary Islands until March 19. However, Independent.ie understands CEO Michael OLeary was directly involved in the talks with government today about putting on special flights to get Irish people home between tonight and Thursday.

Mr Coveney said: I understand the deep concern about returning home from mainland Spain or the Canary and Balearic Islands in the coming days. We have been working closely with our colleagues in the Spanish government and have an orderly plan in place with Ryanair and Aer Lingus supported by the Spanish government.

"My Spanish Foreign Affairs and Transport counterparts have assured me that Spanish airports remain open and the country is not bringing about a flight ban. They further assure me that Spanish airspace remains open for Irish airlines to bring citizens home. I reaffirmed Irelands solidarity with Spain at this difficult time and thanked their frontline authorities for dealing with this unprecedented challenge.

Global travel is becoming increasingly difficult as the coronavirus emergency spreads.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is advising against non-essential travel to Czech, Cyprus, Denmark, Malta, Poland and Slovakia.

Italy is viewed as totally off-limits for Irish travellers.

People are being strongly advised against travel in Brazil, and in the wider Latin America & Caribbean region.

President Donald Trump has banned EU citizens, including Irish people, from entering the United States.

What you need to know:

The Spanish government has assured Ireland that airports and airspace remain open

Irish airports and airspace remains open

Both Ryanair and Aer Lingus have been in contact with customers via email and social media channels on how to book

Customers should book or make changes to existing bookings directly with them

We continue to advise Irish citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to Spain

Spanish airports are asking passengers to travel to the airport in small groups and at their allotted time

Do not travel to a Spanish airport unless you have a booking

Anyone returning from Spain should follow HSE advice

We look forward to resuming the close links between Ireland and Spain in the coming weeks

Department of Foreign Affairs travel advice and contact information is available at https://www.dfa.ie/travel/travel-advice/coronavirus/
Jazeera Airways has announced that its fleet of 14 aircraft has been placed at the disposal of the State of Kuwait to support its efforts to return Kuwaiti citizens to the country as well as serve for transporting medical products and equipment needed.



Jazeera Airways also announced that all its departing and returning flights from and to Kuwait were suspended from March 13. The step follows a decision by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to suspend all flight operations at Kuwait International Airport to prevent an outbreak of COVID-19 virus.



Passengers affected by actions taken during the coronavirus situation will have cancellation and change fees waived on any bookings from March 7 to April 30.



Before suspending its flights to all destinations, Jazeera Airways operated all flights in full compliance with DGCA regulations. Jazeera had taken immediate steps to suspend flights to countries affected by the virus while reducing its flight frequencies to all other countries significantly to minimise risks of contamination, knowing that while operating these limited flights, the airline had also taken additional precautionary measures to ensure the safety of all passengers and employees to help minimise the risk of spreading the infection. The airlines operational and precautionary measures were coordinated under the directives of the DGCA and Ministry of Health.



Jazeera Airways is now building a dedicated auxiliary special medical facility in coordination with DGCA and the Ministry of Health at Jazeera Terminal 5 (T5) at Kuwait International Airport to screen all inbound passengers and test them for coronavirus before entering the arrival hall. The new facility is a remote extension of the Jazeera Terminal 5 (T5) and will be ready when the Kuwaiti Government announces the reopening of Kuwait International Airport to passenger traffic. - TradeArabia News Service
There were cryptic and confusing announcements in midair. Long lines to clear customs. And waits of as long as seven hours in crowds with other travellers.

As the federal government rushed on Saturday to implement president Donald Trumps restrictions on travel from Europe, part of an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus, chaos ensued at some of Americas biggest airports.

In Dallas, travellers posted photos on Twitter of long, winding lines. In New York, customs agents in paper and plastic masks boarded a flight from Paris. And in Chicago, where travellers reported standing in line for hours, Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois tagged Mr Trump in a series of angry tweets about the long waits, saying, The federal government needs to get its s@#t together. NOW.

They gave us water and snacks but no updates on how long or what stages we had to go through, said Gabrielle Osterman, a college student who missed her connecting flight in Chicago after a seven-hour wait to clear customs. Ms Osterman, who had travelled from Frankfurt via London, said officials asked about her symptoms and took her temperature before giving her a mask to wear.

Paige Hardy, an American student who left behind her graduate studies in London because she feared a broader travel ban, said a series of confusing announcements in the air and upon landing in Dallas led to alarm on the plane late Saturday. She posted a video on Twitter of travellers being asked to raise their hands if they had been in mainland Europe. Because of the delay, she also missed her connecting flight.

It truly felt like an apocalyptic scenario, said Ms Hardy, who left many of her belongings in England and was unsure if she would be able to return.

The confusion at Americas international travel hubs came as concern spread about the coronavirus pandemic, which has been identified in more than 2,700 people in the United States and has prompted Mr Trump to declare a national emergency.

Hardy Williams works to disinfect areas of the international arrivals terminal at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on March 13 2020, the last day Europeans can fly into the US before a 30-day travel ban (Getty Images)

On Saturday, days after announcing restrictions on travel from mainland Europe, Mr Trump said foreigners in the United Kingdom and Ireland would soon be barred from travelling to the United States. American citizens, legal permanent residents and their family members under the age of 21 who have visited the European countries in the past two weeks are allowed to return to the United States, but airlines will rebook their flights to one of 13 designated airports.

Under the new screening rules, when travelers arrive at a designated airport, they are to be interviewed by a customs officer, who will also review the persons travel history using a Homeland Security database. The officer will ask them about their current medical condition. If they dont show symptoms, they will be asked to quarantine in their homes for 14 days. Depending on their symptoms and previous medical history, travellers could be subject to an additional screening by a medical professional at the airport. They could also be subject to a federal quarantine.

At this time, we are working quickly with our partners to operationalise a plan which will outline where these travellers will be routed and what the screening process will be, Marcus Hubbard, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said.

The Department of Homeland Security referred an interview request about Saturdays delays to US Customs and Border Protection, whose officials did not immediately respond. Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of Homeland Security, said on Twitter that he was aware of the delays and was working to add staffing.

I understand this is very stressful, Mr Wolf posted. In these unprecedented times, we ask for your patience.

At OHare airport, the process was clearly not working. Even local airport officials urged their federal counterparts to add staff.

Passengers onboard an airplane from Heathrow Airport London, in mid air, headed to Dallas react to new health regulation announcement concerning Covid-19 (@TURNTHEPAIGEH/Reuters)

Muhammad Hamda, a Florida resident who had been visiting relatives in France, said it took him more than five hours to get through customs in Chicago. He said airport workers provided water and snacks, but he was annoyed because the delay caused him to miss his connecting flight to Tampa, Florida.

Its a big mess, Mr Hamda said. Now we have to spend the night at the airport until our flight home tomorrow morning.

Tim Clancy landed in Chicago on Saturday evening after returning from a study program in Greece. Mr Clancy said he had been waiting in line for nearly three hours and still had a long way to go. He was surrounded by hundreds of other passengers also waiting to get their temperatures taken.

Im not sure what this is doing to curb any coronavirus, Mr Clancy said in a phone interview while he waited. If anyone had it, it would spread to everyone around with so many people jammed in such close quarters.
It might be raining hard, but Kat Graham is not letting the bad weather ruin her day.

The Vampire Diaries actress channeled true Hollywood glamour on Saturday, in spite of rare Los Angeles thunderstorm she found herself in.

The 30-year-old was seen under a large umbrella as she left the chic Petit Ermitage hotel in West Hollywood, California, showing off her gorgeous legs in a cute and coordinated outfit.

Rainy day chic: Kat Graham channeled true Hollywood glamour on Saturday, in spite of the quiet atmosphere and rare thunderstorm she found herself in

Graham sported a lovely over-large striped blazer that doubled as a dress, which she wore over a dressy white blouse with large cuffs.

She also donned heeled white ankle booties which stood out in the gloomy day.

The All Eyez On Me starlet carried a fabulous pyramid-shaped white purse on her arm.

The Petit Ermitage hotel has a lovely rooftop patio restaurant, but surely only the interior section was inhabited on the rainy day.

Striking a pose anyway: The Vampire Diaries actress was seen under a large umbrella as she left the Petit Ermitage hotel in West Hollywood

Legs: Graham sported a lovely over-large striped blazer that doubled as a dress, which she wore over a dressy white blouse with large cuffs

Kat, who appeared on The IMDb Show earlier this week, is a busy lady with two movies coming out in the next month.

She's been occupied with promoting both the Emperor  which follows the real life story of escaped slave Shields Green  and Cut Throat City, about a heist that takes place in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Graham also made an appearance earlier this week on Good Mythical Morning in Los Angeles.

For both of those appearances, the star chose another blazer look, in wide pinstripes, worn over high-waisted trousers and a bandeau bralet top.

Kat is also working on the television rom-com Fashionably Yours.

That film is about a fashion magazine editor who decides to throw in the towel, leave the city and move back home, only to meet and fall in love with the mover she hires.
YEREVAN, MARCH 15, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian governmental task force dealing with the prevention of the novel coronavirus spread has instructed state agencies and ministries to consider the possibility of organizing remote work for some of their staffers for a ten-day period.

Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan, the Chair of the task force, said the remote work decision particularly concerns staffers above the age of 60 or those who have health conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular or respiratory diseases.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
Fred Sanford of the Sanford and Son sitcom routinely faked having a heart attack to manipulate his son. Placing his hand over his heart, Fred would yell, "This is the big one! I'm comin' to join you, Elizabeth!"

For three and a half years, Democrats along with their fake news media minions have sought "the big one" to remove Trump from the White House.

All of their this-is-the-big-one attacks on Trump have bombed out: Russian collusion, Stormy Daniels, Michael Cohen, the Mueller Report, the Ukraine phone call, the 25th Amendment, the Emoluments Clauses, quid pro quo, bribery, and far too many for me to remember.

Barely able to contain their excitement, Democrats and fake news media believe they have finally found their kryptonite to take down this Superman president. They are confident that their insidious, evil manufactured hysteria over the coronavirus is The Big One that will end Trump's presidency.

Any one of the bogus attacks launched against Trump would have ended the candidacy or presidency of any other Republican. Clearly, God's hand of protection is on Donald J. Trump. Their latest attack, corona-mania, will fail also.

We have seen Democrats and fake news media repeatedly use their tactic of creating a false narrative, which they demand that everyone embrace. Anyone with the guts to rebel is publicly humiliated, branded irresponsible, deemed a truth-denier, diagnosed crazy, a racist, sexist, and homophobe.

Horrifyingly, Democrats and fake news media seek to criminalize and imprison anyone who disagrees with their false narratives. A coalition of attorneys general sought to prosecute anyone who disagreed with Obama's belief in man-made climate change. Obama's DOJ vowed to prosecute anyone who contradicts his statement that Islam is a religion of peace.

And yet, Obama-worshiping progressives accuse Trump of behaving as if he were a king.

Democrats' and fake news media's latest bogus narrative which they demand that we embrace is the coronavirus as the worst thing that has ever hit America, and we're all gonna die because Trump is in the White House. Anyone who dares to publicly say otherwise is immediately gang assaulted by the media.

Well aware of the consequences of daring not to embrace this narrative, like falling dominoes, corporations are canceling all public gatherings.

The Bible speaks of evildoers setting a trap for someone only to fall into it themselves. "If you set a trap for others, you will get caught in it yourself" (Proverbs 26:27). "Let them be caught in the trap they set for me" (Psalm 35:8).

In their frenzied quest to use corona-mania to "destroy Trump," Democrats and fake news media find themselves caught in their own trap  in the awkward position of advocating for homeschooling. Democrats are aggressively seeking to ban homeschooling. Progressives despise homeschooling because it stops them from indoctrinating students with hatred for Christians and America while implementing the LGBT agenda.

Democrats and fake news media say screw your constitutional right to free speech. They decide the "correct" view of an issue. If you do not conform, they will destroy you.

Here are a few examples. Trump along with a majority of Americans are fine with "legal" immigration. Democrats and fake news media say if you do not surrender to their desire for open borders and rolling out the red carpet to illegals, you are a racist hater of people of color.

Christians along with other Americans instinctively know that marriage is between one man and one woman. When a Muslim gunman massacred homosexuals in a bar, Democrats and fake news media absurdly said everyone who supports marriage is responsible for the massacre.

Do you see how their tyrannical bullying works, folks? If you do not surrender to Democrats' and fake news media's mandated view of an issue, they will lie about you and make your life Hell on Earth.

Continuing to prove himself to be a courageous, peerless voice of truth, I tip my hat to Rush Limbaugh for refusing to surrender to Democrats' and fake news media's mandated bogus doom-and-gloom narrative about the coronavirus.

When I turned on my TV, I heard a reporter say, "And now, the effects of the coronavirus." I thought, in reality, the coronavirus has had very little effect. The reporter was really reporting on the irresponsible, despicable hysteria created by Democrats and fake news media solely to take out Trump. They will fail.

Need a break from corona hysteria and anti-Trump media? Watch something uplifting.

Lloyd Marcus, The Unhyphenated American

Help Lloyd Spread the Truth

https://www.trumptrainusa2020.com/

http://LloydMarcus.com
U.S. Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden has won the backing of the National Education Association, the largest U.S. teachers union with 3 million members.

"Joe is the tireless advocate for public education and is the partner that students and educators need in the White House, NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia said in a statement on Saturday.

"He understands that we have a moral responsibility to provide a great neighborhood public school for every student in every ZIP code."

The endorsement comes days before Biden competes against U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders in Democratic presidential primary contests on Tuesday in Florida, Illinois, Ohio and Arizona.

The former U.S. vice president, whose wife, Jill Biden, is a teacher and NEA member, said he was honored to get the endorsement of a "powerful voice for public school educators and students across the country."

Eskelsen Garcia said Biden has committed to attracting the best educators and paying them as professionals, as well as increasing funding for support staff.

Biden and many of his former rivals for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination vowed to replace Republican President Donald Trump's education secretary, Betsy DeVos, if they beat Trump in November.

Biden told a crowd of Iowa educators in January that "four years of Betsy DeVos is enough."

The NEA backed Hillary Clinton in 2016 over Sanders.

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By PTI

PUNE: Two persons have been arrested for allegedly abducting and raping a woman inside a vehicle near Alandi town in Pune district, police said on Sunday.

The incident took place on Tuesday and the duo was arrested the next day from Pimpri Chichwad township, they said.

"The woman was on her way to her residence to Chakan Chowk in Alandi. The accused came in a tempo and offered lift to her," senior police inspector Ravindra Chaudhar said.

"But instead of dropping her home, the duo took her to a deserted place and raped her," he said.

She later escaped from their clutches and sought help from a security guard, who in turn informed the police control room, Chaudhar said.

After the incident, Alandi police had registered an offence against the duo and arrested them from Pimpri- Chinchwad, he said.

The tempo involved in the crime has been seized, police said, adding that the case was being investigated.
What do you write about someone who has seen and done it all, been through hell and back, currently lives between heaven and hell, and has become an absolute legend in their lifetime? This is the challenge of profiling the prolific and transcendent Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, who has created 300 albums of genreless, but no less influential, music and art  both solo and in bands like Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV  since he/r teens, growing up in England.

I'm 30 years old, and identify as non-binary. S/he is 69, and has created he/r own category to encapsulate he/r singular experience of gender, called "pandrogeny." I want tattoos, but fear the pain of a needle. S/he not only has numerous tattoos, but has fearlessly gone under the knife so that s/he could become he/r late partner, the artist Lady Jaye. I have, thus far, been in love with one person that I hoped would last forever, and they could be dead for all I know. Though P-Orridge says Lady Jaye has "left he/r body," s/he was and remains the love of he/r life. P-Orridge even went to Benin, Africa to have Lady Jaye properly immortalized in the form of a figurine that s/he talks, consults, and prays with daily.

Though it may seem we have very little in common, P-Orridge and I are ultimately bonded by love  a religion so powerful, it works with or without faith.

---

Love is sacred, P-Orridge tells me, and s/he knows this because s/he lives it. There are many examples in art and culture supporting this idea, but even if it is promoted, how widely is it accepted, and then, actually practiced?

Queer musicians such as Olly Alexander have written songs about the sacrament of love like in Years & Years' "Sanctify." Lana Del Rey's entire discography is, by this point, an iconic, repetitive time-warp capturing the pitfalls and triumphs of practicing love as devotion. Reality shows from The Bachelor to Flavor of Love depict competitive, conditional love afforded by the monetary gain of its contestants. Spiritual guru Marianne Williamson teaches weekly courses based on the seminal A Course In Miracles text, in which she proffers the virtues of a much-needed  and much-lost  "return to love."

When P-Orridge was 17, s/he recorded he/r first album while enrolled at a West Midlands, England private school, and was enduring bullying. Back then, the music s/he made was "terrible," but it was an exorcism of personal demons. In art and the occult, s/he found a sacred calling, and the ability to express "exceptional revelations," to "inspire everyone else to understand themselves a bit better"  a type of love both selfless and, ultimately, unconditional.

Lady Jaye & Genesis P-Orridge (Photography: Serena Jara)

P-Orridge continued to make music and tour the world. Combating Christian dogma and the church's oppression of people for centuries, s/he created Thee Psychick Bible, which outlined TOPY's guiding principles, "occulture" texts, and he/r own observations on the subject of love as the sole answer to a world perpetually in manmade crisis. It has been translated to many languages, including Spanish, French, and most recently, Russian.

P-Orridge has lived long enough to see types of social progress in he/r home country of England, and in America, where s/he has lived since the '90s. S/he witnessed and closely followed the Civil Rights Movement of the '60s, and seems to have always been guided by the principles of love as a tool for progress. S/he co-founded in the '80s a radical group, Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth (TOPY), for those seeking individual liberation through community-building and magic. Unlike the cult it was publicly accused of being, the group consisted of "only leaders, and not followers," according to P-Orridge. TOPY's very existence made he/r a target for the English government, and following a raid about 10 years later, s/he decamped to the U.S.

Consider government leaders throughout history who have risen up against radical artists and activists like P-Orridge  people using their bodies to make bold anti-establishment statements, often by literally putting their money where their mouths are. Consider the rise of Trump in America, and his insistence on finding ways to oppress the most marginalized among us, from divisive rhetoric and promoting various forms of LGBTQ discrimination to separating families at our borders. Voices like P-Orridge's have staked their reputations and legacies on promoting unity, as afforded by love of one another, even as s/he criticized "thee [sic] sleeping masses." Upon realizing s/he was an artist, P-Orridge believed he/r role was "to care for others, altruistically."

"Isn't the body really just another tool for which you can experience sensation?"

"It's what you can give back to the species, in the hope that it improves everybody's experience of being alive," s/he says. "And the body is not the person." As Lady Jaye used to say, "The body is a cheap suitcase that carries around the consciousness." The body may wear out or betray itself until someday it is discarded, but consciousness doesn't.

In recent years, P-Orridge has endured a prolonged battle with leukemia. Earlier this year, s/he said he/r live shows with Psychic TV in Europe would likely be he/r last, after touring and playing for 50 years. Whether you find inspiration or repulsion from he/r art and beliefs, what does it mean to lose a voice like P-Orridge's? While s/he is still here, he/r revolutionary thoughts on what motivates us  gender, body, politics, money, love all matter. And they will continue to once he/r physical body is not here.

---

Today, P-Orridge is very familiar with the body's inevitable self-destruction, as if s/he weren't before, having surgically altered he/r entire body to match the love of he/r life as an artistic project and an exploration of what the body can handle. Because if it really is just a cheap suitcase, as Lady Jaye once said, you can decorate it how you like  adding or subtracting items as needed in the name of enhancement.

P-Orridge wrote a book detailing the whole thing retrospectively. It's a thick, hardcover assemblage of intimate photographs and essays called S/HE IS (STILL) HER/E. Sitting in he/r Lower East Side home, I'm flipping through copy 647 of only 1,323 printed editions while also reading news items about he/r battle with leukemia, which began in the 2017 while on tour with Psychic TV. Seeing photos of fluid drainage from he/r lungs on Instagram, all while watching he/r take breaths from oxygen tanks in he/r living room is surreal. S/he's in high spirits, but also in a great deal of discomfort.

Genesis P-Orridge (Photography: Serena Jara)

In S/HE IS STILL HER/E, P-Orridge elaborates on pandrogeny, created after s/he met Lady Jaye in 1993. "Thee body has been at thee centre of all art. It's thee great mystery of existence, thee body versus death, thee mortality fear that runs so deep. While it's there, have fun with it. Fuck you, DNA!" In one black-and-white post-op image, s/he writes: "We never felt we were physically attractive. It took Jaye a couple of years to persuade me that s/he meant it when s/he said we were beautiful. S/he's thee only person who's told me that we're beautiful and we've believed it. No one else  not my kids, my parents, no one."

Considering all the physical transformations s/he has undergone, whether intentionally or naturally, P-Orridge says that the body is a vessel, but not how organized religion might teach. "You get these holdovers that still get repeated in society today: 'Your body is a temple, and it must be kept clean and pure!' and we say to that, 'Well, why do we want it to be such?'" s/he says. "Isn't the body really just another tool for which you can experience sensation? At its best, the body is good for sensation. And mobility. Until it isn't."

Perhaps when a person is dying, they become clearer not only on deciphering their own lives, but the world around them  something P-Orridge has spent he/r whole career exploring, from the disastrous state of climate change to American political uproar du jour. What seems to be keeping he/r alive is generosity, from within and outside the self. P-Orridge tells me that a GoFundMe, started by fans and friends to help cover medical expenses, raised around $62,000. "It saves my ass to this day," s/he says. "It is still so moving to know that my cancer diagnosis revealed how deeply people care for and trust me." Optimism, despite he/r health challenges, is also keeping P-Orridge going. "We will always report back as best we can on any given health situation, we will look for the best way to explain it. Now: would you like some tea?"

"Hating what's different, what we don't understand, and thus not being unified  that is perhaps the original sin."

As P-Orridge prepares English-style tea with milk and honey, I notice the Psychic TV crosses and other occult memorabilia lining the walls of he/r studio apartment. There are serpentine walking staffs and symbols representing the number 23, which holds special significance to P-Orridge. In numerology, it is often cited as a number representing freedom and fluidity with deep spiritual and religious context. In Christianity, Psalm 23 is often invoked as a sort of "last rites" passage: Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

It is the sacred number of Eris, the goddess of discord. In Islam, the Quran was revealed over the course of 23 years to Prophet Muhammed. For P-Orridge, the number 23 dates back to he/r fellowship Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth. It's a number of sacred ritual designed to achieve a deeper understanding of self, in order to be serviceable to others. But also, 23 is the number of typical chromosomes found in human sex cells. Our scientific understanding of sex has evolved over the past century to include sexes that go beyond X for female and Y for male. This nuanced understanding of sex and gender is what P-Orridge has always represented and advocated for.

---

The most instant way to understand P-Orridge's ideas of gender fluidity is through the surgically altered love story of P-Orridge and he/r beloved "other half" Lady Jaye. The long story starts like many a love at first sight tale  like, "truly, unconditionally in love. And obsessed," P-Orridge says. The two met in the early '90s when P-Orridge watched transfixed as Lady Jaye paced back and forth in a basement chain smoking. Lady Jaye was a registered nurse. They soon embarked on cross-country road trips and art-making around the world, together.

This romance developed until the couple wished to be fully absorbed into each other's lives. For millennia, this wish has been at the center of how many couples define and solidify their unions, for better or for worse. In the biblical story of Adam and Eve, which P-Orridge specifically cites, God created Adam, then fashioned Eve from his rib or the side of his flesh. P-Orridge believes this original, divine state of humanity of one being part of another, is what "we've been seeking to return to." As Christians worship the story of creation, for P-Orridge and Lady Jaye, becoming each other in the flesh was their own divine ritual.

Musty Dagger & Genesis P-Orridge (Photography: Serena Jara)

"It's not male or female, not either/or  just complete," P-Orridge says. "We thought it was important to remind people of that idea, and as artists, we figured the best way to do so was visually. The body has always been the subject in art, from the get-go. If we are going to survive as a species, we have to stop the endless cycle where someone must be scapegoated, then attacked and destroyed  whether it's within groups, in society or in a war for land. How do we start to change human behavior, so that it's not being governed by being trained to hate what's different, when we are all unified, and already complete? Hating what's different, what we don't understand, over and over again, and thus not being unified  that is perhaps the original sin."

After a life-threatening house fire in California, a court case with producer Rick Rubin, and paying off medical bills from injuries P-Orridge sustained from the fire, s/he and Lady Jaye reviewed what was left over financially to begin their series of surgeries.

"Hating what's different, what we don't understand, and thus not being unified  that is perhaps the original sin."

"We had about $650,000 left," s/he explains. "We thought, we could be sensible and put this in a bank or a 401k and not have to worry about bills for a long time, and live a comfortable, safe life. Or, we could decide that this lump of money gives us the freedom to not have to work at all, and spend it all on making art and creating new options and possibilities. We looked at each other and realized we may never get that chance again." As Lady Jaye once said, "See a cliff, jump off."

Upon finalizing calculations and risk assessment, P-Orridge says that s/he and Lady Jaye came to an agreement. Considering the procedures they wanted to undergo to match one another, the process would take up to 10 years. Having also survived raids in he/r Brighton home of he/r life and work archives, following accusations of "satanic abuse" of "cult members," which were later disproven, the 1995 marriage of P-Orridge and Lady Jaye gave rise to a third form of being. Padrogeny was born between the two of them as a holistic way of life by doing as well as believing. "It's a word with no baggage or political association," P-Orridge says. "It doesn't even have to entail gender. We are at a point now where we can decide we want to have green skin or fur all over us, or I would love to be able to have gills and live underwater. It's only our imaginations that limit what our bodies can become."

In S/HE IS STILL HER/E, there are photos of P-Orridge and Lady Jaye in identical hair and makeup, nude or clothed. Lady Jaye taught P-Orridge to love hair salons, about wearing sexy heels and shoes that you could also run to catch a bus in. He/r favorite image of shoes were the Yves Saint Laurent heels worn by Catherine Deneuve in the French 1967 classic Belle de Jour, which were dragged through the mud after Deneuve was untied from a tree. P-Orridge and Lady Jaye shared shoes; their natural size was a women's 7.5.

Genesis P-Orridge (Photography: Serena Jara)

As a nurse, Lady Jaye was able to film the face and implant surgeries P-Orridge underwent. There are photos of P-Orridge with needles in he/r penis, and penis pumps attached to he/r breasts, and close-ups of Lady Jaye's removal of varicose veins. Both of their heads are wrapped in post-op bandages as they wear furs. After both getting 60 sets of lip injections at $700 per visit, P-Orridge got a metallic mouth, inspired by actor Pierre Clementi's metal teeth in Belle de Jour. The dentist's invoice was more than $38,000. He/r dentist told her s/he had the "Rolls-Royce of mouths."

The graphic images of transformation, P-Orridge says as I flip through the book, are only terrifying if you haven't yet come to terms with the fact that underneath our clothes, we are all naked. "In evolution, mutation is law. And who says that we're finished evolving?" P-Orridge says. "There have been papers found by Stephen Hawking where he's saying we'll be superhumans in the future, and yet, it has taken how many hundreds of thousands of years to become what we are now? People are scared of breastfeeding, of sexual activity, of evolving. How will those in power react when someday people go, 'I'm gonna have four horns and two dicks'?"

---

P-Orridge and I continue talking about the environment, magic, twins, and how grief has transformed he/r. After Lady Jaye died, P-Orridge wanted to put an offering into the Ganges river in Nepal, one of their favorite places together. The water of the Ganges is said to be sacred too. A year later, a longtime friend and collaborator, Hazel Hill McCarthy III, suggested P-Orridge take a trip to a coastal town in Benin called Ouidah  an area known both for its voodoo festivals celebrating high priests and priestesses, and its unusually high population of twins. Globally, the number of twins born per every thousand births is seven. In Benin, that number is 32.

When P-Orridge immersed he/rself in the culture, s/he learned that the people of Ouidah believe twins can be born from different mothers. It was decided then that Lady Jaye was P-Orridge's twin. Every year the town hosts a twin festival that lasts two weeks: the first week honors twins who have died, and the second honors those who are still alive. During this time, P-Orridge says s/he and McCarthy were invited to participate in a special ceremony by the town's high priestess of twins. There, songs were sung for Lady Jaye in he/r honor, and a doll was fashioned in he/r likeness, which P-Orridge carries in a pouch and gives food and water. It is her way of maintaining contact with the love of he/r life. The process helped he/r realize that grief can be celebratory. I watched the whole experience with P-Orridge, captured in an hour-long documentary by McCarthy called Bight of the Twin.

"We can decide we want to have green skin or fur all over us, or I would love to have gills and live underwater. It's only our imaginations that limit what our bodies can become."

"You know, in the West, it's almost a matter of shame," P-Orridge says, holding Lady Jaye close to he/r bosom between sips of oxygen from an air can. S/he exhales: "You're not supposed to bother people with the fact that someone has died. You're supposed to feel like it's your fault  that grief is something to be ashamed of, because now everyone feels awkward around you. But in Benin, they say, 'They're still alive. Here they are.' You still talk to them because they are still around. That's a much more positive and healthy way to deal with someone dying, don't you think?"

---

Well into the afternoon, we begin staging a few photos of P-Orridge with he/r monk-like Pekingese dog, Musty Dagger, who once belonged to a member of the Smashing Pumpkins, and was taken in to ease the grief of losing BigBoy, the dog s/he owned with Lady Jaye. Since this interview, Musty Dagger has died, or as P-Orridge would say, "Dropped the body."

After a few shots, Musty Dagger grows restless. P-Orridge sets he/r eloved pet down and joins me on he/r couch. P-Orridge and I shift to activism, and how people seem to be more mobilized than ever since Trump became President. We discuss Trumpian politics and how rapidly news spreads through social media to fuel out fears. Of course, P-Orridge is quick to remind me that though Americans are currently sucked into this vortex, the fight against such fear is as ancient as patriarchal rule itself. It's not just the government we're fighting against, s/he says.

"I've always felt like there's nothing more precious than fighting for the world  for the species," s/he says. "It has always seemed like the only option. They, meaning the people in control  which is partly the government, partly bigger corporations, partly bigots, and party organized religion  want to continue to control by pitting us against each other. And control needs time, like a junkie needs junk. Control runs by perpetuating itself."

How do we break free from the prison of our 24-hour news cycle, I ask he/r. It seems everything we consume is designed to make us feel hopeless. And that's because, P-Orridge says, "it is."

But change, as we've seen through history, happens in stages. S/he explains it in circular language: because when we don't learn from the past, the worst parts of history and mankind's influence of it, repeat themselves  again and again.

Genesis P-Orridge (Photography: Serena Jara)

"First you change yourself, then you change your bedroom, and then you change your house, and then you change the street you live on, and then you change the area you live in, and then you change the town," P-Orridge explains. "It's incremental, in other words. You just change the bits you can."

S/he continues: "But then you'll notice that when you've changed your house, the person next door has changed theirs, and then you get together and you both change the street. And then, all the people on the street think, 'Let's change this town.' So, that's where optimism comes in. You also find out who else is an activist, who has realized similar things, and has a similar desire to guide the future differently."

P-Orridge shares a recent example of how s/he has had to advocate for he/rself, while on tour with Psychic TV. At a Phoenix stop, s/he got a call saying the band's gig might need to be cancelled. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence had announced they were going to protest at the venue due to a policy stating that trans people couldn't use the restroom they felt was appropriate.

"So we rang the club, and spoke to the guy who ran it, and we said, 'This is impossible,'" P-Orridge says. "He goes, 'Oh, don't worry. You can use my private toilet. You don't have to use the men's toilet.' And I said, 'Well that's even worse.' You're giving me this special privilege as though you pity me? Is it a pity bathroom or is it because you don't want to lose any money? It's not acceptable." The band cancelled the show and moved to another club in Phoenix. At the next place, Psychic TV was told by club owners they couldn't perform because of the building owner's religious views. If Psychic TV played there, the club could be shut down.

"The audience became this amazing, weird mix of people who had their breasts removed, people who had normal breasts, people who are just growing breasts..."

During that same trip, the final try for a Phoenix show was in a biker bar. "It was fabulous," P-Orridge recalls. "There was no AC and it was a red moon outside. Halfway through the gig, we said 'fuck it' and tore our shirts off and went topless. Then the audience followed suit, and it became this amazing, weird mix of people who had their breasts removed, people who had normal breasts, people who are just growing breasts, and so on. It was brilliant."

Before the show, having caught wind of Psychic TV's difficulties in securing a venue to play in, an ABC News crew approached P-Orridge and asked he/r to comment about the discrimination s/he experienced, and why s/he had such strong views about it. "I looked right in the camera, and said, 'Transsexuals are the stormtroopers of the future.'"

---

That line rings in my head days after our six hours together, and I call P-Orridge again. "It is up to you to make sure you make a difference," s/he reminds me over the phone. I tell he/r that I am feeling hopeless about an anti-trans memo that Trump released last October. In the memo, the Department of Health and Human Services outlined a biological, old-world definition of sex and gender arguing that both exist within a binary based on "immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth." There within, the memo also discussed eliminating prior steps forward for trans healthcare, housing, and other means of social support services. It would also institute archaic practices such as sex testing, based on one's birth-assigned genitalia, and using birth certificates to definitively decide someone's gender.

I mention that there is a protest against the memo starting in Union Square, and that I feel too tired to go  something many of us experience these days, and often use as an excuse. Not missing a beat, P-Orridge hears the notes of resignation in my voice and calls bullshit. S/he's right.

"Go out and fight for what you believe in," s/he says. "Who cares that you're tired? You still can, so why not do it? It's a shame to sit around waiting for change when we can do something about it. Because the truth is, the majority who have somehow colluded in this power system are equally to blame for where we are now. Everyone who didn't bother to vote is to blame, as well."

I'm reminded of a chance encounter with P-Orridge on the Lower East Side about a month before this interview. S/he came into a Mexican restaurant wearing a "Thank God For Abortion" T-shirt by Viva Ruiz, portable air tank in tow. S/he walked with the support of one of he/r many wood-carved walking sticks. As I approached he/r, wanting to say hello, s/he ordered a stiff drink. I asked if I could sit and chat with he/r for a moment, which stretched into hours.

Only a week prior, s/he had been in the hospital getting large sacs of fluid drained from he/r lungs. S/he talked about fear that the country could, at any moment, become a totalitarian police state. S/he spoke about physically fighting evil forces who threatened he/r, so I cautiously brought up he/r perilous health condition. S/he looked at me with an expression that was peaceful, but unflinching. "It's a tragedy, where we are," P-Orridge said, trailing off. "I wonder if I'll be here to watch."

If s/he's still fighting, for life, for love, for humanity  why can't we?
In a police crackdown against illegal sand-mining in the state, nine persons have been arrested from six districts of Punjab in a night-long operation, state police chief Dinkar Gupta said on Sunday.

The six were arrested in a special operation launched by police on Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's orders, said the police chief, adding the arrests were made from six districts in an operation on the night intervening Saturday and Sunday.

"Nine persons were arrested in special operations, which also led to seizures of 18 vehicles being used illegally during night for sand mining," said Gupta.

He said arrests and seizures were made during the raids in Rupnagar, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar City, Jalandhar Rural, Moga and Fazilka districts. The seized vehicles and equipment included heavy earth moving machines, tractor trolley and tippers.

So far, nine cases have been registered by the police and further investigations are in progress, said the DGP, adding similar raids will be carried out daily.

The special operation against the illegal sand mining has been launched on the orders the chief minister, who had received some reports and complaints of illegal sand mining during night.

The special operations, to be conducted in all districts concerned, will involve officers of the mining department. Police will accompany the civil administration officials deputed by deputy commissioners, he added.

Giving details of Saturday night's operations, Gupta said among those arrested included three from Rupnagar,where the raiding team nabbed them with two sets of machinery. In Moga, two persons were apprehended and two tractors and trolleys were seized.

A special checking drive last night in Hoshiarpur led to the arrest of one person and confiscation of tractor trolleys.

In Jalandhar commissionerate, one case was registered against a farmer for illegally mining his own fields, he said.

In another raid in Jalandhar Rural, four persons were arrested for indulging in night mining activities, said Gupta.

Reiterating his commitment to eliminate illegal mining completely from the state,Amarinder Singh in a statement here on Sunday said all-out efforts were being made by the government to check such mining activity.

Top officials of the districts where such mining was taking place, especially in the cover of darkness, had strict instructions to take immediate cognisance and action on any complaint, he said, warning that no laxity in this regard would be tolerated.

The DGP said the chief minister has also directed police to extend all support to the mining department and concerned district officials in launching special raids against night mining. Every complaint was being taken seriously and nobody found guilty of involvement would be spared, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Prominent Civil Rights Advocacy group HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has described as inefficient and ineffective the workings of the publicly funded National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other Lagos State GOVERNMENT's funded first responders over their abysmal failure to respond to the distress calls of the school children trapped in the suspected petroleum Pipeline explosions in Lagos which may have led to the undetermined number of human casualties. THE LAGOS STATE GOVERNMEMT MUST SET UP A JUDICIAL PROBE PANEL ON THIS DISASTER AND MANY OTHERS AND FIND LASTING SOLUTIONS TO THESE AVOIDABLE DISASTERS.

HURIWA said the Abule Ado petrol pipeline explosion in Lagos happened and it took the relevant public funded first responders several hours to respond to the raging fires which in the opinion of the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) Shows that institutions such as the Lagos State Fire Service, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Lagos State Emergency Management agency are in need of comprehensive overhauls in order to bring them in speed WITH the 21st century demands of urgency, efficiency and effectiveness which are the central attributes of FIRST RESPONDERS in the event of either natural or man-made disasters.

"From available documentary evidence it is clear that but for the swift efforts of ordinary Nigerians made up of mostly young Nigerian boys who rescued most of the students of the Bethlehem Catholic Boarding School, the number of casualties would have been multiplied. There are clear enough evidence to show that for many hours the fires raged and the victims were left to their own device if not for the humanitarianism of those brave Lagos youths who actively coordinated effective rescue operations through unorthodox means with no facilities. The Federal government must do something radical and fundamental to salvage the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) from its current deteriorated standards. On the part of the Lagos State governmemt we are shocked that these kinds of disasters keep repeating themselves intermittently with the attendant high tolls of casualties and the State administration has not bothered to put in place effective strategies to curb these occurrences. The Lagos State government must be blamed for allowing the development of factories and residential buildings such as boarding schools to be located within short distances from such explosive facilities like the NNPC PIPELINES. The Lagos State administration should be blamed squarely for letting such accidents to be choreographed and orchestrated through the Lagos State government's lack of urban development planning strategies and due to corruption by the Housing developmemt departments of the state government ".

HURIWA condemned the National Emergency Management Agency for failing in its mandate and for rushing to the media to claim that the the explosion which occurred at Abule Ado, Trade Fair axis of Lagos State was not caused by a disruption of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation oil pipeline just as HURIWA carpeted the acting Coordinator, Lagos Territorial Office, NEMA, Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, for making what he calls the senseless and ireational clarification in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos in which he Mr. Farinloye in a poor judgment said contrary to information earlier put out on social media, the explosion which occurred about 9 a.m. was unconnected to pipeline vandalism. "Why should NEMA official spoke from the background of hearsay and rumours? Did they carry out forensic investigations to ascertain the real cause of that explosions which as we understand consumed many inmocent school children? Is there no longer logic and scientific research methods in that GOVERNMENT funded office to such a ridiculous extent that the official could grant media interview to give his opinion on the cause of a disaster that is yey to be scietifically investigated? This professional rascalism in the administration of public offices in Nigeria must stop".

HURIWA recalled that the NEMA'S Lagos COORDINATOR told the media as follows: From the information given by officials of the Lagos State Fire Service, who are currently on the ground, the implosion is not connected to pipeline but MIGHT have occurred in a factory located in the Abule Ado area. Emergency responders are on the ground while others are still on their way to the scene. The situation is under control and we hope to get more information soon to ascertain its cause".

HURIWA lamented that in less than five years, the current administration under President Muhammadu Buhari has completely destroyed the National Emergency Management Agency and has rendered the agency so inefficient so much so that NEMA is no longer working the way it used to do some few years back when the publicly funded First responsers were highly efficient and effectively responsive to distress calls in moments of emergencies all over Nigeria. "Now NEMA has become an empty talking drum and a shell of its former self to an extent that a huge fire broke out in Lagos and ordinary Nigerians were there at the scenes of this Emergency and were doing the jobs of NEMA and FEDERAL and LAGOS STATE FIRE SERVICE and for at least the next one hour there was no official first responders in place. This is a national scandal. NEMA needs to be overhauled and made to begin to work as it used to be before the hierarchy of that agency was politically hijacked by non professionals who see it like a cash cow. The FEDERAL GOVERNMENT must act now to stem the deterioration of the national capacity to respond to emergencies ".
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 15)  Several areas outside of Metro Manila have issued travel restrictions to stem the spread of COVID-19.

Restrictions began as early as Saturday, March 14, in some areas as authorities continued to report a rise in COVID-19 cases in the country. On Thursday, 15 new cases were recorded, bringing the country's total number of COVID-19 cases to 217 with 17 deaths.

Here is a list of areas which have imposed travel restrictions, along with other specific directives.

AKLAN PROVINCE

Effective Monday, March 16: No entry of all persons entering by sea and air.

Exempted: Residents of and those working in Aklan; persons involved in the delivery of goods and commodities; medical doctors and returning medical personnel in the province; government officials. More details here.

ALBAY PROVINCE

Effective Wednesday, March 18: Restricted entry via land, air and sea.

Exempted: Cargoes of basic and essential goods.

AURORA PROVINCE

Effective Sunday, March 15: Travel ban on foreign and local tourist and non-residents who will enter the province.

Exempted: Those who will deliver food, basic commodities, non-residents who will provide basic services and public utilities, government officials with authoritzed transactions, and those travelling for medical and humanitarian reasons.

Other reminders: Tourists, travelers and visitors in the province are advised to leave the area as soon as possible. More details here.

BACOLOD CITY

Effective Sunday, March 15: All land, air, sea travel to and from the city is restricted.

BATANES

Effective Monday, March 16: Travel to the province is restricted.

Exempted: Only residents, workers, and those who need to attend to obligations and urgent matters as determined by the provincial health office will be allowed entry.

BATANGAS

Effective Sunday, March 15: Classes and school activities in all levels are suspended until April 14.

Public transport over land and sea within the province is still available for workers.

BAYAMBANG, PANGASINAN

Effective Saturday, March 21 until March 28: Entry to and exit from the municipality is not allowed

Other reminders: All access in Barangay Bical Norte will be closed. Residents are restricted to their homes. The Health Department earlier confirmed a person from the barangay succumbed to COVID-19.

BOHOL

Effective Monday, March 16: Suspension of domestic and international air and sea travel to the province

Other reminders: All foreign vessels are banned in all ports of entry, crew are also not allowed to disembark

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY

Effective Thursday, March 19: Restricted movement. Residents may only go out to buy necessities or for work.

Exemption: Cargo movement to and from the city is unhampered. More details here.

CEBU PROVINCE

Effective Sunday, March 15: No entry of flights from Metro Manila and Dumaguete City.

Effective Monday, March 16: No entry of flights from Cagayan de Oro, Legazpi City, and Clark International Airport; travelers arriving at Pier 1 and all seaports in Samboan and Santander.

Effective Tuesday, March 17: No entry of all domestic passengers from domestic airports; travelers arriving at Pier 1 and all seaports of Toledo, Tuburan, Tabuelan and Tangil.

Effective Wednesday, March 18: No entry of travelers arriving in all other seaports within the province.

Other reminders: Delivery of cargo entering Cebu will not be impeded. Shipping personnel or crew shall not be allowed to disembark if the ship is from Luzon, Cagayan De Oro, Legazpi City and Dumaguete City. More details here.

CORON, PALAWAN

Effective Sunday, March 15: Domestic travel, both by air and sea, to and from Coron is suspended. All residents are prohibited from traveling out of the municpality.

Exemptions: Residents may be allowed to leave in cases of emergency or other special reasons. 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.

DAVAO CITY

Effective Sunday, March 15: No entry of all flights from Clark Airport. More details here.

ILOCOS NORTE

Effective Sunday, March 15: All individuals exhibiting COVID-19 symptons will be denied entry.

Other reminders: All cruise ships and commercial shipments are banned.

ILOILO

Effective Sunday, March 15: No travelers will be allowed into the province.

Exempted: Government workers, medical personnel, health officials, humanitarian workers who will travel to the province. Residents of Iloilo City traveling to and from the province.

ORIENTAL MINDORO

Effective Saturday, March 14: Land and sea travel are banned.

ORMOC CITY

Effective Wednesday, March 17: Non-residents cannot enter the city.

Exempted: PNP and AFP officials on official travel, officials on board government vehicles, treasurers from other local governments on board a government vehicle

SAN JOSE, OCCIDENTAL MINDORO

Effective Sunday, March 15: Ports and terminals temporarily closed to non-residents.

Exempted: Non-residents who work within the municipality and residents who work outside of the municipality will be allowed entry upon presentation of an ID.

Other reminders: Festivals, events, activities, mass gatherings are cancelled and/or suspended. Classes in all levels, public and private are suspended from March 15 to March 29.

PUERTO PRINCESA, PALAWAN

Effective Sunday, March 15: All domestic, air travel to and from Puerto Princesa City are suspended.

Other reminders: Classes in all levels are suspended from March 14 to March 21

ROMBLON

Effective Monday, March 16: Tourism and other related activities are suspended until further notice.

Other reminders: Transport service providers are required to have all passengers fill out a health declaration form. Returning residents and non-residents working in the province must show IDs or proof of residency before being allowed to enter.

Effective Sunday, March 15: No entry of all flights from Clark Airport. More details here.

TACLOBAN CITY

Effective Saturday, March 21 until April 12: No travel to and from the city.

Exempted: Doctors, nurses and health workers based in the city, patients in need of medical treatment, government officials and uniformed personnel who are part of the city's surveillance team, delivery services of goods, and media workers.

ZAMBOANGA CITY

Effective Monday, March 16: Suspension of all incoming land, air, and sea transport to the city.

Exempted: Cargos of vessels from Malaysia may unload, but officers and crew are not allowed to disembark (effective March 15 to April 15). More details here.

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.

Commonly reported COVID-19 symptoms are fever, dry cough and shortness of breath. Those with severe and critical symptoms should call the Health Department at (02) 8-651-7800 local 1149-1150.
Cairo

Two passenger trains collided Thursday in the Egyptian capital amid bad weather condition, injuring 13 passengers, officials said. The accident caused a brief suspension in rail services. Khaled Megahid, spokesman for the Ministry of Health, described the injuries as minor bruises and scrapes and that none was life-threatening.

The trains involved in the collision were numbers 991 and 989, both coming from the Upper Nile delta and on their way to Cairo. The accident happened between the Ramses and Imbaba train stations. The collision happened when one train coming from Aswan collided into another locomotive coming from the Sohag governorate from behind.

Khaled Megahid, spokesman for the Egyptian Ministry of Health, said that 13 people were injured in the accident, and that the injuries were described as minor bruises and scrapes. Megahid said that the injured were taken to the Nasser Institute Hospital in Shoubra.

Following the accident the Railways Authority announced the suspension of train traffic throughout the country due to current weather conditions, which was cited as the reason behind the collision. A strong rainstorm struck much of Egypt on Thursday, resulting in most sectors giving employees the day off

Weather forecasts predict that the storm will continue until Saturday. The government advised the public to stay indoors throughout the duration of the storm to avoid casualties. Minister of Health and Population Hala Zayed is overseeing a crisis management team which operates 24 hours a day at the ministry to assess developments and follow up on any emergencies that could arise because of the inclement weather.
Whistleblowers are critical to journalists; their disclosures can inform the public and help hold the powerful accountable. They can reveal wrongdoing that government officials or corporate titans would rather keep under wraps. Their insights can help reporters ask the hard questions and seek documents and data that can cut through a public relations spin.

But whistleblowers usually arent held in high esteem by their colleagues or their bosses.

Thesauruses reveal how many, historically, have viewed these individuals. The synonyms are overwhelmingly negative: snitch, rat, tattletale, blabbermouth, and so on.

In the 1960s and 70s, the image of whistleblowers began to improve, with insiders playing key roles in exposing Watergate, the Pentagon Papers, the My Lai massacre and domestic intelligence abuses. These insiders revelations coincided with the so-called golden age of investigative journalism and a more assertive Congress less willing to trust the executive branch.

Whistleblowers have come a long way both in broader American culture and in terms of the actual laws protecting them. In 1978, new federal laws were passed with implications for whistleblowing in the government: the Civil Service Reform Act, which improved whistleblower protections; and the Inspector General Act, which created watchdogs throughout the government that could investigate whistleblower tips.

Since then, Congress has seen the need to improve protections for whistleblowers in private industry and to repeatedly improve laws protecting federal workers. A 2013 report by the Congressional Research Service documents 40 federal laws on the books with whistleblower protection and anti-retaliation provisions that cover a variety of public and private sector employees. Eleven of those laws were enacted since 1999. The states have followed suit. As of 2010, 34 states had whistleblower protection laws on the books covering at least some employees.

(Although there is a proliferation of laws protecting whistleblowers, the average designation of individuals as whistleblowers doesnt always match the protections legally available. Experts on whistleblower law urge caution before assuming protections will cover ones disclosure.)

The expanding passage of these laws is one sign that both the right and the left sides of the political spectrum have come to value whistleblowers, at least in principle.

For instance, the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012  improvements to the law that covers most federal employees  was passed by Congress with unanimous consent and signed into law by Former President Barack Obama. In the Senate, its co-sponsors ranged from Republican Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Susan Collins of Maine to Democrats Daniel Akaka of Hawaii and Claire McCaskill of Missouri. In the House, Representatives Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland), who often opposed each other during House Oversight Committee hearings, were strong allies who jointly pushed through the legislation on their end.

However, this consensus can break down when it comes to individual claims. As with many matters, information is often viewed through the prism of partisan politics. Individual whistleblowers and their claims are no exception.

Linda Tripp, the Defense Department employee who became a confidante of White House aide Monica Lewinsky during Bill Clintons presidency, is a case in point. Tripp secretly taped conversations with Lewinsky about her affair with Clinton  the recordings were used by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr to accuse Clinton of lying to investigators and became the basis for Clintons impeachment.

Whistleblower or snitch? Americans views of Tripp in the late 1990s landed largely based on ones partisan preference. As The Washington Post put it in their profile of her: Tripp has emerged as an instrument of political vengeance, or of political comeuppance, depending on which side you are on. Opinions are likely to be strong, without nuance and, sometimes, nakedly partisan.

Without the press, whistleblowers may have a hard time being heard and achieving any impact. A little more than one year into the Trump administration, this relationship is perhaps more important than ever before.

During the George W. Bush administration, Richard Clarke, who had been a top national security official in the White House over three administrations  both Democratic and Republican, faced intense partisan attacks after he disclosed to the public that President Bush failed to take the threat of Al Qaida seriously prior to the 9/11 attacks.

While there are numerous instances where whistleblowers and their disclosures do not strike partisan chords, this trend will likely continue whenever there are political stakes. Anonymity is one potential solution: keep the debate focused on the message rather than the messenger.

But, the use of anonymous sources creates its own challenges. In this era where talk of deep state conspiracies and fake news has pervaded public discourse, journalists have to weigh their options. Named attribution may improve credibility with some audiences. But reporters should also be mindful and respectful of their sources and the dangers they face.

In both high-profile and more run-of-the-mill whistleblower situations, anonymity is a shield, albeit imperfect, for retaliation one may face in their career and social life.

But anonymity on its own isnt always enough to protect sources, especially when national security secrets are involved. The Obama administration prosecuted a number of intelligence officials who were sources for the press, such as Tom Drake, a former National Security Agency official who blew the whistle on a wasteful program. The state of technology, making it easier to track employees actions and identify leakers, and a more aggressive posture by the Justice Department set the stage for this surge in prosecutions.

This trend may be continuing under President Donald Trump. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced last fall a tripling of the number of leak investigations. While some of these cases clearly have to do with genuine espionage, given recent Justice Department indictments, Trump has tweeted messages such as, Information is being illegally given to the failing @nytimes & @washingtonpost by the intelligence community (NSA and FBI?) and After many years of LEAKS going on in Washington, it is great to see the A.G. taking action!

In the first weeks of the new administration, Trumps first spokesman, Sean Spicer, attacked State Department employees who used the agencys Dissent Channel to raise concerns about Trumps travel ban. These career bureaucrats have a problem with it? Spicer said. They should either get with the program or they can go. State Department regulations state that employees who use the Dissent Channel are supposed to be protected from retaliation.

Although legal protections have come a long way, whistleblowers are still vulnerable, especially when their revelations embarrass and anger powerful individuals.

Journalists and whistleblowers need each other. Without inside sources, reporters can find it more difficult to obtain internal documents, learn about wrongdoing and their ability to ask informed questions can even be crippled. Without the press, whistleblowers may have a hard time being heard and achieving any impact.

A little more than one year into the Trump administration, this relationship is perhaps more important than ever before.

Nick Schwellenbach is the Project On Government Oversights (POGO) director of investigations. He has extensive experience working on whistleblower matters as a journalist and advocate. He also previously worked at the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, the main federal agency responsible for protecting federal whistleblowers.

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Old habits die hard and the Chinese Communisty Party was initially slow to recognise  or admit to  the significance of the new coronavirus that was first reported in the city of Wuhan last November. But, as I News writes, that same authoritarian streak may also explain why mainland China then moved decisively to contain the disease with a de facto quarantine of Hubei, the epicentre province. Chinas falling rate of new infections could make it a case study on how to bring the coronavirus under control. It still accounts for more than half of all global Covid-19 cases, yet it has almost capped them: while China has recorded a total of 80,945 cases, that was up by just 22 on Friday. By contrast, Britain announced 208 new cases.

The main measure imposed by the Chinese government is a strict lockdown: on 23 January, Wuhan and 15 other cities in Hubei province were placed under strict quarantine after the area was inundated with coronavirus infections. Healthcare workers were drafted in from all over the country to help, and two hospitals were built in just over a week to care for the rising number of patients.

The lockdown affected some 56 million people. Public transport services shut down, including buses, railways, flights, and ferries. Wuhans airport, railway station and metro transit system closed, and no-one could leave the city without permission. Soon after, factories, offices and schools closed.\

Monitoring movement

Authorities use popular social platforms and apps to monitor movement, with a green, yellow and red traffic-light system on mobile phones helping officials determine if the user should be allowed past guards at train stations and other checkpoints.

There are other measures. Businesses close at 6pm to get sprayed with disinfectant. Street fumigation takes place regularly. Building sterilisation takes place several times a day. Passengers have to wear face masks to ride in taxis, take public transport, or enter any business. Temperature readings are mandatory upon entering an office building. Entire neighbourhoods are blocked off to non-residents, with security personnel patrolling.

China also moved to mitigate any economic damage. Beijing required banks to waived penalty interests for the virus-hit businesses and agreed to speed up investment in new infrastructure in the region, including 5G networks and data centre.

As other countries impose containment measures, Chinas experience is only partly replicable. Europeans may be less inclined to follow strict instructions from a hierarchy. Yet some of the Chinese success is being credited less to obedience to a police state than to a collective sense of responsibility.

Suppressing Covid-19

Across Hubei, the message about public health struck home, prompting people to wash hands more regularly, reduce travel and not overburden health systems.

Chinas method is not the only Asian example in suppressing Covid-19. Singapore moved quickly and also succeeded in halting the spread, with just over 200 confirmed coronavirus cases there and no deaths.

The countrys experience with the 2003 Sars outbreak in which 33 people died meant that precautions were already in place. These included ready-made government quarantine facilities and a 330-bed, state-of-the-art national centre for managing infectious diseases that opened last year. And as a small island city-state, Singapore could easily track points of access and departure.

Citizens who returned to Singapore from affected countries were immediately placed under quarantine conditions  and anyone caught giving false information to the authorities faces six months in prison.
Natural gas futures finished higher on Friday as investors reacted to rising demand for risky assets and heightened volatility in commodity markets, especially the energy sector. Prices were also supported by colder trends in the latest weather forecasts.

NatGasWeather issued colder guidance overnight, reversing milder trends from Thursdays data, and underpinning the market from the opening on Friday. Colder trends were focused around weather systems moving into the northern United States around the middle of next week and also March 21-24, the forecaster said, and Natural Gas Intelligence (NGI) reported.

On Friday, May Natural Gas settled at $1.901, up $0.016 or +0.85%.

NatGasWeather Sees Increasing Demand

The weather data has been inconsistent all week, jumping between milder and colder trends, NatGasWeather said. But with the latest data gaining back demand, this could be part of the reason prices are higher overnight and back over $1.90 for the April contract. However, its difficult to know with any certainty since huge hourly moves continue in most major equity and commodity markets, with oil and equities up nearly 5% in overnight trade.

EBW Analytics Group Says Bulls in Control

In what has been a volatile week, as of early Friday, natural gas bulls were firmly in charge once again, according to analysts at EBW Analytics Group, NGI reported.

The European model once again reversed course, regaining nearly all of yesterdays losses, the EBW analysts said. Further, price movements in the natural gas market continue to be accentuated by equities, which are up sharply this morning on hopes for federal legislation to address the coronavirus crisis.

We expect seesaw trading to continue, with the market torn between very weak near-term fundamentals and bulls expecting production to plummet and natural gas to post gains.

Story continues

Coronavirus Shutdowns Could Impact Demand

Analysts at Genscape, Inc. said theyre operating with a baseline assumption that natural gas demand impacts from efforts to contain the outbreak could resemble the impact of the weekend reductions in consumption, Natural Gas Intelligence (NGI) reported.

At present, it appears that the coronavirus-triggered precautions are compelling more employees to work from home, closing some businesses and shutting schools, trends common to weekends, Genscape senior natural gas analyst Rick Margolin said. Generally speaking, the weekend effect lops demand by about 7% compared to mid-week levels. Since 2014, the effect in March is actually smaller, about a 4% drop versus weekdays.

Natural Gas Intelligence also reported that Genscape estimates show this would mean a roughly 3 Bcf/d decline in demand for March. For April, the impact of week-end like conditions would mean a 5 Bcf/d drop compared to weekday levels, and for May this would be a 5.6 Bcf/d drop-off.

The actual impact, though, could likely be greater than a standard weekend effect as some businesses retreat from even baseline operations, businesses that do normally operate during weekend are removed from the stack; large-gathering energy-drawing events like sporting matches and conferences are canceled; and the fact that this doesnt account for any potential recessionary impacts, according to Margolin.

Technical Analysis

The main trend is up according to the daily swing chart. It turned up early last week. However, momentum shifted late last week with the formation of a closing price reversal top on March 11 and its subsequent confirmation on March 12.

A trade through $2.044 will shift momentum to the upside and signal a resumption of the uptrend.

A move through $1.801 will change the minor trend to down. A trade through $1.657 will change the main trend to down.

The key support zone comes in at $1.851 to $1.805.

The key resistance zone is $1.943 to $2.010.

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

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MULTAN, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Mar, 2020 ) :District administration decided to set up Quarantine, an isolation place, at District Headquarters Hospital, Shershah road as measure against possible threat of Coronavirus.

A Quarantine is a restriction which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It often used in connection to disease or illness preventing the movement of those who may have been exposed to a communicable disease but do not have a confirmed medical diagnosis.

Additional District Collector (Revenue) Muhammad Tayyab visited DHQ hospital and monitored arrangements for establishing Quarantine. Chief Executive Officer Dr Munawar Abbas informed that the isolation centre would be comprised of 100 beds.

Every bed will be in a separate room. He informed that infrastructure for 25 beds was ready. However, the work for in progress for remaining 75 beds.

Earlier, washing of the DHQ Hospital was done. Similarly, the adjacent Kidney Centre was also being washed, he informed.

Managing Director Multan Waste Management Company Nasir Shehzad Dogar also visited DHQ Hospital and inspected cleanliness arrangements.

He stated that MWMC was alert and cooperating with district administration in efforts against Coronavirus.

He also observed that the Company would also ensure washing in Fish Market.

He also urged citizens to pay focus on cleanliness as individual could play vital role in this regard.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 19:04:10|Editor: huaxia

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A 9-member Chinese expert team has arrived in Italy to help the country fight #coronavirus epidemic. Let's hear what local people have to say about this move? #FightVirus
Three informational meetings regarding a proposed landfill expansion in the Slate Belt were postponed due to concerns about COVID-19.

Waste Managements public meetings scheduled for March 18 and March 19 in Plainfield Township, Wind Gap and Pen Argyl have been canceled.

The meetings were scheduled to provide information about the companys request to have 211 acres abutting the Grand Central Landfill in Plainfield Township rezoned for use as solid waste processing and disposal. Rezoning is required for the landfill to expand.

Health and safety for our employees and our community is our first priority, Waste Management Community Relations Manager Adrienne Fors wrote in a statement. With the uncertainties of the coronavirus (COVID-19), we are postponing our community meetings focused around our expansion plans until a later date.

The landfill has the capacity to receive trash for about eight more years, according to Waste Management representatives. The $42 million expansion would extend that for another 20 years.

Grand Central must wait until the landfill has less than five years of capacity left before it can apply for an expansion permit from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

The expansion can only happen if Plainfield Township decides to rezone the land bordered by Pen Argyl, Delabole and Bocce Club roads. Company representatives said the process will be a long one so they would like to begin the rezoning phase as soon as possible.

Wednesday, landfill representatives gave a brief presentation about their plans to the Plainfield Township Board of Supervisors.

Multiple residents from the township and surrounding communities who spoke at the meeting urged supervisors to deny the rezoning request. Complaints about truck traffic and odors emanating from the landfill have been longstanding complaints from many who live near the landfill.

Fors said there are many benefits that would result from an expansion. The landfill expansion is estimated to generate $100 million in taxes and fees over 20 years that will go to the township and neighboring Wind Gap and Pen Argyl.

We are a long-standing corporate citizen and good neighbor in the Slate Belt, Fors wrote in an email. Grand Central Landfill provides a valuable environmental service to the surrounding communities and commercial/industrial customers. Expanding our existing disposal facilities to take advantage of existing infrastructure conserves resources and eliminates the significant carbon footprint associated with developing another disposal facility.

John Best is a freelance contributor to lehighvalleylive.com. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Lets face it: For many of us, certain situations  a pandemic, for instance  require the company of wise old men named Jack Daniels, Jim Beam and Jose Cuervo.

A strong drink can be a strong diversion when youre holed up in your home trying to aid in containing the spread of coronavirus. And it seems the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, which runs all the states Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores, has recognized the need for keeping the doors open at the stores. Theyre the only places in the Keystone State where you can buy a bottle from a major brand of hard liquor.

But the liquor outlets may be going to way of many retail stores that have closed in recent days as the number of coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania ticks up.

On Saturday night, the PLCB announced a phased closure of Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores and licensee service centers in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties to help slow the spread of coronavirus, known as COVID-19.

All 88 stores in the four counties will open on Sunday if they are among the stores that normally carry Sunday hours. The phased closures then kick in starting Monday. Only 30 of the 88 stores will open for regular hours on Monday with 9 p.m. closures scheduled that night. (Visit the PLCB website for the complete list of which stores will open Monday). All 88 stores will then close until further notice on Tuesday.

At this time the PLCB plans to continue to operate its e-commerce fulfillment center, and Pennsylvania residents can shop for wine and spirits at www.FineWineAndGoodSpirits.com, having purchases shipped directly to their homes, the board said.

The phased closures come on the heels of testing showing more cases of coronavirus in the four counties than any other region of the state. As of Sunday morning, there have been 47 total cases statewide, including one in Northampton County.

Earlier last week, the PLCB indefinitely suspended all product tastings, bottle signings, educational seminars and other group events at all 598 stores across Pennsylvania and began limiting public access to its office facilities. Its also reinforced enhanced cleaning and disinfecting procedures to employees at all its stores. The Lehigh Valley stores currently remain unaffected by the phased closure plan, but that could change depending on future developments, the PLCB cautions in its release.

Toward the end of the month, the PLCB will re-evaluate its operations, guided by the strategy developed by the Governors Office and the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the board said.

Nick Falsone may be reached at nfalsone@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickfalsone. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Spring City, TN (3/14/20) --- For the second consecutive weekend the new Mountain View Raceway opened its gates Saturday afternoon for on-track practice hosting all comers.

A variety of the highly popular Late Model, Open Wheel Modifieds, Dwarf and Street Stock/Hobby type race cars practiced, running speeds in the 85-90 MPH range on the quarter mile high banked clay oval.

But all eyes were on a few new classes seldom featured in tracks around the Tennessee Valley. Tommy Thompson of Ten Mile, Tn. debuted a #3 Midget Sprint Car last weekend, while a few race teams from upper East Tennessee brought their Classic race cars to try out the 1/4 mile high banked bullring.

Practice for any and all classes continues every Saturday in March at 2 p.m. with the grand opening race being Saturday night, April 4.

Updates can be found online at www.MountainViewRaceway.com and on their Facebook page.






Provincial jails and federal prisons are indefinitely suspending visits with inmates to reduce the possible transmission of COVID-19 in correctional facilities, while offenders who are usually required to serve time on the weekend are being allowed to stay home.

We are taking immediate action to ensure the safety of both our staff and those in our custody, reads a statement released late Friday and attributed to both provincial health minister Christine Elliott and Solicitor General Sylvia Jones. We all need to stay vigilant and do our part to ensure the health and well-being of all Ontarians.

Inmates serving weekend sentences will still be required to report to their facility in order to receive a temporary absence from custody before they can return home.

That doesnt make any sense, said Daniel Brown, a Toronto defence lawyer and vice-president of the Criminal Lawyers Association. He said the weekend inmates should be allowed to call-in from home. Its nonsensical to bring people who are potentially sick and potentially infectious to the jail simply to be told to go home.

The province says lawyer visits will still be permitted, but Brown said he heard from several lawyers who were unable to visit their clients at the Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton on Saturday. A person who answered the phone at the jail on Saturday afternoon said it wasnt clear whether lawyer visits were permitted. Spokespeople for the province couldnt explain the discrepancy, but reaffirmed that lawyers should still be able to see their clients.

Lawyers interviewed by the Star expressed concern that inmates could be subject to more lockdowns  when they are confined to their cells, sometimes for multiple days, and all visits are cancelled  as a result of the governments response to COVID-19.

Jail is an isolating place at the best of times and its a combustible situation when prisoners are locked up for extended periods of time, which is likely whats happening now in the jails in order to deal with the pandemic, Brown said. Adding to that a loss of contact with the outside world and a loss of privileges and a loss of educational programs I think its a recipe for disaster inside the jails.

A spokeswoman for the province said professional visitors who deliver programming, like lawyers, will still be permitted into the jails.

Brown pointed to the fact more than two-thirds of inmates in Ontarios jails are awaiting trial and legally innocent, and he said the province should look closely at who they might be able to release. There are safety precautions that are necessary in the circumstances, but perhaps the greater issue is examining who actually needs to be in jail right now, he said.

In federal prisons, inmates can have video visits with family members, the Correctional Service of Canada said. We are taking steps so that our institutions and offices continue to be safe and prepared, reads a statement issued late Friday. CSC has dedicated health-care services in our institutions and thorough procedures in place to handle cases of influenza and other respiratory illnesses, such as COVID-19.

But Lisa Kerr, a law professor at Queens University who works with the Queens Prison Law Clinic, said in an email that CSCs response to the pandemic has been extremely limited.

We have seen nothing more than the standard direction to wash hands along with this cancellation of inmate visits, she wrote. While at first glance it does seem to make sense to limit the introduction of illness from the community, there are hundreds of staff members who will have to continue to come and go on a daily basis.

Like Brown, Kerr said more needs to be done and a bolder approach would be to consider conditional releases for inmates in minimum security, as well as temporary absences, work releases and, in some cases, compassionate releases.

These mechanisms are already available in law, and would free up space and resources for the staff and inmates who will remain inside these institutions for weeks to come.
Rushing a coronavirus vaccine without adequate testing "can actually make the disease worse," scientists say.



From Reuters, "As pressure for coronavirus vaccine mounts, scientists debate risks of accelerated testing":

Drugmakers are working as quickly as possible to develop a vaccine to combat the rapidly spreading coronavirus that has infected more than 100,000 people worldwide.



Behind the scenes, scientists and medical experts are concerned that rushing a vaccine could end up worsening the infection in some patients rather than preventing it.



Studies have suggested that coronavirus vaccines carry the risk of what is known as vaccine enhancement, where instead of protecting against infection, the vaccine can actually make the disease worse when a vaccinated person is infected with the virus. The mechanism that causes that risk is not fully understood and is one of the stumbling blocks that has prevented the successful development of a coronavirus vaccine.



Normally, researchers would take months to test for the possibility of vaccine enhancement in animals. Given the urgency to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, some drugmakers are moving straight into small-scale human tests, without waiting for the completion of such animal tests.



"I understand the importance of accelerating timelines for vaccines in general, but from everything I know, this is not the vaccine to be doing it with," Dr Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told Reuters.



Hotez worked on development of a vaccine for SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), the coronavirus behind a major 2003 outbreak, and found that some vaccinated animals developed more severe disease compared with unvaccinated animals when they were exposed to the virus.



"There is a risk of immune enhancement," said Hotez. "The way you reduce that risk is first you show it does not occur in laboratory animals."

The Israelis are attempting to rush a vaccine out in just a few months and are claiming they had a coronavirus vaccine "already in development before [the] outbreak" out of "pure luck."





According to Jersualem Post, Israelis say In a few weeks, we will have coronavirus vaccine. Vaccine was ALREADY in development before outbreak. Says Israeli scientist: Lets call it pure luck. We decided to choose coronavirus as a model for our system."https://t.co/rFVAW0P7qg  James Perloff (@jamesperloff) March 12, 2020



Incidentally, last year an Israeli firm claimed to have "cured cancer."



The news went around the world and made the top of Drudge.



It turned out it was allegedly all a scam to raise money.



Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said we need at least around a year and a half to make sure any new vaccine is safe and effective.





Dr. Anthony Fauci testifies it will take considerable time to develop a coronavirus vaccine, noting misinformation on the topic that has circulated. Trump has repeatedly asserted a vaccine is coming soon. Fauci says going too fast could be "detrimental" to public health. pic.twitter.com/yWAacI8Z7J  Oliver Willis (@owillis) March 11, 2020



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Wise people always remind us to never let a good crisis go to waste.

Wise people with evil inclinations have, of course, taken this sage advice to heart, often exploiting crises, sometimes even arguably manufacturing them, in order to achieve nefarious ends. Naomi Klein, for example, in her 2007 book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, develops precisely this thesis. She studies crises, such as the Iraq War or Hurricane Katrina, as moments when political and economic leaders took advantage of peoples physical and emotional distraction, their fear and vulnerability and desperate need, to push through neoliberal policies that effectively rolled back civil rights and democracy, furthered economic inequality, and basically consolidated power even further in the hands of the few.

So, the question before us is whether we can make the crisis of the coronavirus outbreak an opportunity to clearly see the flaws, or perpetual and ongoing crises that are typically less visible, in U.S. society that any major crisis tends to draw into relief, or whether the coronavirus outbreak will further threaten the health of our already weakened and teetering democracy in America.

What can we learn from what is going on, if we are paying attention?

Well, here are a few thoughts:

Perhaps the defining hallmark of neoliberalism, as Ill discuss throughout this piece, is its rejection of any concept of a determinable public good and its insistence that there are only private interests. This neoliberal kernel of thought undergirds the bootstrap ideology so prevalent in American culture, the idea that people need to pull themselves up through their own efforts and stop asking for help or blaming societal conditions for their miseries and deprivations. On a more extreme level, this thought kernel is also the premise for attacks on the social safety net, on so-called entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, and generally on progressive policies that want to leverage tax dollars to provide vital social services, programs, and infrastructure for the American people. Neoliberal voices frequently refer to this package of programs as free stuff, even though the programs that provide safety nets are typically insurance programs into which most Americans pay.

The conditions drawn into relief by the coronavirus make clear, however, that we cannot separate private interests from the public good, or, more to point, that serving the public good is vital to our abilities to pursue and further our private interests. The two are intimately intertwined. We must ensure others are taken care of if we are to be taken care and be able to take care of ourselves and get the care we need.

Lets look at the situation in concrete terms. A person with coronavirus without paid sick days who cant afford to miss work shows up to your workplace, to the school your children attend, or to the cafeteria where you eat. Whats worse, the person has poor or no health insurance so he cant get tested, and there are no public provisions for testing. You are now at risk. Your private interests are impacted by the fact that we do not have an adequately resourced public health system and response.

Or, think about the healthcare workers who contract the virus because of an inadequate public health response and thus cannot be available to treat you when you are in need.

It is not uncommon in our American world to hear people complain about taxes to help support someone else or give someone else a lunch or a doctors visit. But the bottom line is that we all need to participate in taking care of each other out of our own self-interests. And the reality, if were honest, is that we already do this.

Stop and think about all the people you depend onwhether you ever see them or notfor the food you eat, the medicine you get, the information communicated to you, the heat in your home, the water you drink, and so on and so on.

Albert Einstein stopped to think about our inevitable interdependence in 1949 when he reflected on what he termed the essence of the crisis of our time. He wrote:

It concerns the relationship of the individual to society. The individual has become more conscious than ever of his dependence upon society. But he does not experience this dependence as a positive asset, as an organic tie, as a protective force, but rather as a threat to his natural rights, or even to his economic existence. Moreover, his position in society is such that the egotistical drives of his make-up are constantly being accentuated, while his social drives, which are by nature weaker, progressively deteriorate. All human beings, whatever their position in society, are suffering from this process of deterioration.

Einstein profoundly asserts that dependence is not weakness but strengthand, more to the point, undeniable reality. Our fear and denial of this dependence is actually what threatens us.

If I deny my dependence on others, will I seek to make sure those others are healthy, well-fed, housed, have the basic conditions necessary to sustain their lives? If I dont do that, I actually end up endangering my own existence because I need them to make my life possible.

As Einstein reminds us, In relatively densely settled populations with the goods which are indispensable to their continued existence, an extreme division of labor and a highly-centralized productive apparatus are absolutely necessary.

We tend to de-value others and their labor in the U.S., arguing over which lives matter, often insisting some dont.

And yet, as Einstein explains in the essay Ive been quoting titled Why Socialism?, valuing others lives is essential to sustaining our own.

Recognizing the reality of our mutual dependence may be the basis for actually developing a democratic economy that properly values peoples lives and labor, including our own, ensuring access to all the resources that make our lives possible.

If we pay attention, the developments of the coronavirus crisis might provide the insight and impetus to realize this transformation.
You may have seen the pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge during her visit to Ireland wearing this green goddess of a dress (pictured) which fashion watchers have spotted is by hot label The Vampires Wife. Good to know Kate is courting cool British designers and keeping ahead of the curve.

This is not just a Vampires Wife dress, its a shiny Vampires Wife dress, an iridescent metallic silk chiffon dress thats getting a wearing in March, not at The Royal Variety Performance in November. Kate knows that this spring shiny is the instant route to glamour.

And its a lot easier than it looks, because you dont have to do the throat-to-calf version like the Duchess of Cambridge. Designers have embraced shine across the board: from sequinned tank tops at Louis Vuitton, via metallic shirts at Paco Rabanne and sparkly Lurex trousers at Missoni, to the bigger party statement pieces, like Saint Laurents glossy leopard print dress or Dolce & Gabbanas shantung parrot green trouser suit.

The Duchess of Cambridge was spotted wearing an emerald green shiny dress by The Vampire's Wife during her visit to Ireland

The message on the catwalks was you dont have to be going to Studio 54 to get your shine on. It doesnt even have to be after dark. Most of the shiny clothes on the catwalks were simple, classic easy pieces they just happened to be made in something a lot like lame or high shine satin.

There are two ways to go with the new shiny. All the way  with a slithery evening dress  or just substitute something you like to wear, and already own in silk, or stretch cotton, for the shiny new version. Conventional clothing  an ordinary blouse, a bias cut skirt  can become something more interesting and glamorous glistening in the light.

A statement blouse  big sleeved, tie necked and poufy  is a must-have of the moment so why not make it shiny too? Topshop do a grey striped sateen blouse (35 topshop.com) and Alexa Chungs new capsule collection includes a glossy pale blue pointy collared shirt (130 alexachung.com). Massimo Dutti do a high-neck, high- sheen peach shirt (69.95 massimodutti.com) and a pearly grey satin slip skirt (89.95 masssimodutti.com) while & Other Stories have a shiny pewter leather skirt (118 andotherstories.com). Metalicised leather is quite a big commitment, to be fair, but you never know.

Metallics: The rules Wear shiny separates, one at a time, with boots.

If in doubt try sateen or high polished leather.

Introduce a bit of shine with bags, trims, shoes.

Try a jacket with satin lapels. Advertisement

Shiny is having an impact on leather in general, even when its brown or black it should be glossy and polished or have an iridescent glow like Gannis snake foil leather jacket (525 ganni.com). And if you are wearing leather a slippery satin shirt always looks good next to it.

Golds and nudes and neutrals are a good place to start with shine. & Other Stories do a wrap-over gold lame dress, that but for the V neck, is a dead ringer for Celines gold lame knee-length jump suit which  thanks to Celine looks like something you might wear in the day with black boots.

Zara does a rose gold tea dress with short puff sleeves that could also look pretty under a jacket (49.99 zara.com) and & Other Stories has a pale duck egg blue bias-cut puff sleeved dress thats a bit like the dresses Erdem has done for this autumn (85 andotherstories.com).

At the other end of the shine spectrum  there is a 1970s mood in fashion, again  is a purple and red striped lurex pleated skirt in Zara (49.99 zara.com) that could be fun worn with a sweater and black boots. You may want to dial down the polish, with a tan leather belt or a chunky cream turtleneck, loafers, boots or woolly scarf.

Polished accessories are a good place to start experimenting, from high-shine patent slingbacks (if Pradas are too steep at 555, try Ganni.coms, 225) to shoulder bags in fire engine red patent (515 Byfar.com) or shiny gloves.

Wet look gloves? If not now, during the coronavirus crisis, then when?
By Olanrewaju Adesanya

The Executive Director of the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex Management Board,Chief (Mrs.) Lucy Omosefe Ajayi has counseled victims of explosion that rocked the Abule-Ado environ early today not to give in to despair over the sad occurrence.

Chief Ajayi in her ever proactive manner that behoves a worthy amazon,made a quick dash to the area this morning having gotten the information of the sudden but shocking incident,which has destroyed many dwellings,business locations and schools.

The LITFCMB boss enjoined the individuals she met at the areas quite close to the trade fair centre, not to go close to the site of the ugly occurrence till the cause has been unravelled, as no one can state the cause of the explosion yet and their safety is paramount.

Accessing the impact of the explosion around the area,it was discovered that the Bethlehem Girls College Abule-Ado and Kovies secondary school were the worse hit as the school rooftops got blown off as well as their window pane shattered,scores of people were injured as well.

Many buildings in the area were not spared by the shattering tremor of the explosion,the administrative block of the LITFCMB was also affected, as the glass shades were smashed.

The ED in company of some staffers,including her Chief of Staff,Mr.Victor Odigie inspected the doors,windows and ceilings of the complex shattered by the explosion.

It needs no gainsaying that the ruins caused by the explosion is a damning one,which will gulp a lot of money to restore back to shape, as many of the affected parts of the building were replaced not quite long ago in the ongoing rehabilitation of the Complex by the ED.

Chief Ajayi the Yeye Meso of Ado kingdom, while consoling the victims pleaded with the public to be law abiding and calm.

The fire fighters are at their best with the help of law enforcement agents to put things in order.

I urge all to stay calm and keep a distance from the scene of the explosion to ensure your safety first,that is paramount. 

According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Acting Coordinator for Lagos Territorial Office,Mr.Ibrahim Farinloye,the explosion was not caused by NNPC oil pipeline disruption contrary to the widely circulated report.

Farinloye who described the sad occurrence as an implosion,relying on the information afforded by the Lagos State Fire Service on ground, links it to a factory located in Abule Ado area.

He noted that,Emergency responders are on ground while others are still on their way to the scene. The situation is under control and we hope to get more information soon to ascertain its cause.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 20:16:16|Editor: huaxia

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Video: New York City slows down over coronavirus concerns on March 14. (Xinhua/Zhang Mocheng)

"Emotions are running high throughout the world. People are suffering globally."



WASHINGTON, March 15 (Xinhua) -- All nations need to work together to fight the COVID-19 outbreak and "collectively win," or "fight each other and collectively lose," a leading U.S. expert has said.

Despite there being room for correction and improvement, the immediate priority is "for all nations to work together to stop the scourge, and make sure that new drugs can control the infections and new vaccines can prevent future tragedies," Robert Kuhn, chairman of the Kuhn Foundation, said in a recent email interview with Xinhua.

Robert Lawrence Kuhn, chairman of the Kuhn Foundation, speaks during an interview with Xinhua in Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the United States, Oct. 15, 2018. (Xinhua)

"Emotions are running high throughout the world. People are suffering globally," he said. "It is sadly easy to inflame feelings with glib rhetoric or politically tinged remarks."

"Rational people on all sides need to work together, not let fringe comments upset the necessity of working together to fight our common enemy that threatens the well-being of the world," said the U.S. expert.

"Truly, humanity will fight the virus and collectively win or fight each other and collectively lose," Kuhn added.

"Humanity has a choice: either we can all work together ... or we will all suffer the consequences of self-centered interests in an out-of-control spread of a global epidemic and in an out-of-control undermining of the global economy," he said.

Video: UN chief urges declaring war on COVID-19 on March 13. (Xinhua/Xie E)

The COVID-19 outbreak that has affected at least 114 countries and killed more than 4,000 people is now officially a pandemic, the World Health Organization announced on Wednesday.

(Article by Xinhua Reporter Yang Shilong) 
Ex-president managed to return to thecountry before the border was closed due to Covid-2019 spread

Fifth president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko flew to Kyiv from abroad on the night of March 14-15. Strana.ua agency reported that. The former leader managed to return to the country before the border was closed due to the spread of Covid-19.

Journalists of the outlet met him near the Hall of official delegations in Boryspil airport.

As we reported before, Petro Poroshenko who flew to Spain instead of appearing for interrogation at the State Bureau of Investigation, wants to urgently return to his homeland. Strana.ua news agency reports that citing the sources in the European Solidarity party.

According to journalists, the ex-president traveled to Spain for a detoxification treatment course in one of the clinics. And he had to stay there for at least another week.

"However, in connection with the closure of the flight, he is now considering the possibility of flying to Kyiv, interrupting the course ahead of schedule in order to be able to return before March 17," the media source reported.
Volkswagen's expansion in electric cars will open up new business opportunities in storing and managing energy, encroaching on business currently dominated by utilities and energy firms, chief strategist Michael Jost said on Thursday. Electric car batteries could be used to stabilise the energy grid by charging the battery in times of excess supply and selling electricity back to the grid at times when supplies of electricity from wind and solar power are low, Jost said.

"By 2025 we will have 350-gigawatt hours worth of energy storage at our disposal through our electric car fleet. Between 2025 and 2030 this will grow to 1 terawatt-hours worth of storage," Jost told journalists in Berlin. "That's more energy than is currently generated by all the hydroelectric power stations in the world. We can guarantee that energy will be used and stored and this will be a new area of business."

The German carmaker is not alone in looking into this field. German utility E.ON has been working with Japanese carmaker Nissan to develop so-called vehicle-to-grid (V2G) services. Volkswagen is launching the ID:3 electric car this year. A basic version will cost less than 24,000 euros ($27,000) in Germany, once green car tax breaks and incentives are deducted, putting electric cars on par with combustion-engined variants.
The Council of Senior Scholars at Al-Azhar, Egypt's top Sunni Islamic institution, has said that it is permitted under Sharia Law to suspend mass prayers, including the Friday prayer, to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

The Friday prayer is a congregational prayer that must be held and attended at mosques every Friday at noon. In Islam, group prayers (jama'ah) are considered preferable to praying by oneself.

All five daily prayers in Islam are also held as congregational prayers at mosques across the country, but it is not a religious duty for Muslims to perform all prayers in congregation.

"Due to the rapid spread of the virus, its lethality, and the lack of a cure, Muslims are exempted from attending the Friday prayer or mass prayers at mosques," the council's statement said.

"The council affirms that it is permissible for the state to legislate the temporary halting of Friday or congregation prayers whenever it sees that such gatherings will lead to the spread of this dangerous virus," it added.

The religious institution said that the move is necessary given that infected people might not show any symptoms of the virus and are thus likely to spread it everywhere they go.

Al-Azhar supported its decision by citing the Hadith (the Prophet Muhammad's sayings) and Islamic jurisprudence.

The council also urged officials to take every preventive measures to combat the spread of the virus, and called on the elderly and those suffering from other health problems to stay home and abide by the necessary precautionary procedures.

Following Al-Azhar's announcement, the Ministry of Endowments said that all mosques nationwide will remain open during the times of the five daily prayers

"Mosques throughout the country are open during the times of the five prayers and the ministry has not issued any directive to close them," the ministry said on its website. It added that Al-Azhar's decision is mainly about the permissibility of shutting down mosques "when necessary."Egypts Al-Azhar is a leading Sunni Islamic institution and the world's oldest Sunni school of learning.

On Saturday, the Egyptian Ministry of Endowments closed all mausoleums and shrines nationwide and suspended classes at Islamic cultural centres affiliated with the ministry for two weeks.

It said that mosques will be open only for daily prayers and the weekly Friday sermon, stressing that any other gatherings or events at mosques will be suspended.

The Coptic Orthodox Church has also announced the suspension of most of its activities for two weeks.

The Church said that the daily mass may be split up into several smaller services to avoid large gatherings, especially on days off and on special occasions. The Church also urged those suffering from high temperature or flu symptoms to not take part in masses and called on people to avoid shaking hands.

Egypt registered 17 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, bringing the total of number of cases detected in the country to 110. The country has recorded two deaths so far: a 60-year-old Egyptian woman and a German tourist.

Since its outbreak in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, the coronavirus (COVID-19) has infected nearly 170,000 people globally and killed more than 5,900.

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My sense is we are still willing to listen to those in authority. Even from Switzerland, I am paying most attention to what the Australian government says. But that will only remain the case if our leaders take us into their thinking, more than they ever have before. When were told the government has received advice, we must be told the reasons behind that advice. And not just some reasons  the actual reasons. For example, we keep hearing that this or that response is proportionate. You might as well tell us a decision is reasonable. Its gibberish. Tell us whats actually going on.

This is a lot to expect from a group of politicians who have risen during a period in which political language has become utterly empty. We have seen Orwells phrases tacked together like the sections of a prefabricated hen-house superseded by key words poured on top of each other like slops in a bucket. Politicians sentences are so often constructed, these days, to repel meaning  to keep us out rather than invite us in.

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And yet it is possible to do the opposite. Angela Merkel, last week, delivered a typically frank (and grim) evaluation, preparing her nation for the worst. Boris Johnson gave a press conference with his chief medical and scientific officers that was, and I am as shocked as anyone to be writing this, a masterclass in lucid explanation.

Scott Morrison has shown glimpses of this ability, especially early on. But in the past week a vague sense of chaos crept in. He compared coronavirus to a bad flu, which gave the wrong idea. He said hed go to the footy, then said he wouldnt, with confusing reasons offered for each. Other developments, not his fault, didnt help, notably the Grand Prix debacle.
Is school closed tomorrow?

In New Jersey, we now know a majority are closed Monday. As coronavirus cases climb each day, an estimated 400 districts are closing and turning to at-home learning plans or forced breaks.

Hundreds of districts have announced closures and most are included in the searchable database below. (We will continue to provide an updated list of school closings as soon as new information is available by the state.)

Of course, this list of school closures could be moot if Gov. Phil Murphy takes action and forces all schools to close in the wake of the worldwide pandemic. The governor already has said its inevitable state officials will close all schools. And earlier Sunday, he said more draconian steps are likely coming as the state dials up its response to the coronavirus.

We had been and are now actively working with districts on extended closure plans to prepare for potential statewide closures, Murphy said said Friday. 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.

(Note: Newark schools were not included in the states list Sunday morning but all district schools will be closed. This information has been added to the searchable list below.)

As of Saturday afternoon, the state Health Department logged 69 positive cases of coronavirus and 1 death. Since then, some counties added to their counts, bringing the total closer to 75.

Murphy announced a second death Saturday night of a woman in her 50s. She had been treated in Monmouth County.
Close polluted beaches

Sydneys northern beaches could be closed permanently if councils accept a plea by 80 doctors to stop swimmers risking their health in dirty water. The doctors have called on Manly and Warringah councils to close 15 beaches until the NSW Health Department can prove they are safe. Dr Peter Macdonald [from Manly] said the doctors feared there could be an outbreak of disease if people kept swimming.

Bunch of whingers

British movie master David Puttnam has branded Australian filmmakers a bunch of whingers on his return from a Sydney lecture tour. Puttnam, who produced the international blockbusters Chariots of Fire, Midnight Express [and] The Killing Fields  blamed Australias flagging movie industry on the welfare state mentality of filmmakers. He said the Aussie film industry was the most subsidised in the world.

Chaplin, Hitler share stage
Amid growing coronavirus cases, the Karnataka government on Sunday postponed examinations of class 7, 8 and 9 till March 31, 2020.

The revised dates for examinations will be announced after reviewing the situation. The directive was issued by state education minister S Suresh Kumar on Sunday morning.

On Friday, the government had shut all educational institutions, malls, and clubs for a week.

Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had said no one should travel unless it is an emergency.

"All malls, cinema halls, pubs, wedding ceremonies and other large gatherings in the Karnataka have been banned for another one week," Chief Minister Yediyurappa had said.

Notably, the number of coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 93, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare today.

So far, two deaths due to the COVID-19 have been reported in the country. In the wake of spurt in cases of coronavirus across the country, the Central Government on Saturday decided to treat the deadly virus as a "notified disaster".

Coronavirus, which originated in China's Wuhan city in December last year, has so far spread to more than 100 countries, infecting over 1,30,000 people. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared coronavirus a pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A teachers' union has warned that all schools in England have already been affected by the coronavirus outbreak and called for Ofsted inspections to cease.

The National Education Union (NEU), the largest teaching union in Europe, has written to the watchdog warning that schools are having to manage "parental and student anxiety".

They are also making special arrangements for vulnerable pupils and staff, and planning work in the event of closures, the letter from the NEU says.

The government was facing mounting calls to shut educational establishments down on Sunday, when "close the schools" was trending on Twitter in the UK.

It comes after the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) called on the government to immediately halt all Ofsted inspections on Saturday.

The watchdog has said it will defer visits to any school or college affected by the virus.

But the letter, from the NEUs general secretaries, said: "We are very concerned, given the serious challenges that Covid-19 poses for schools, that Ofsted is still planning to conduct inspections.

We fail to understand that, in light of the governments decision to move to the delay phase, Ofsted has revised its deferral policy to defer inspections on providers that are affected.

We have to ask the question  can you name any school in England which has not been affected by Covid-19?

It adds: Even if there are no reported cases in schools, all leaders and staff are highly alert and responding to a range of pressing concerns and issues about the management of Covid-19, all of which involve changes to school routines and an intensification of already excessive workloads.

Addressing hundreds of headteachers at its annual conference in Birmingham, Geoff Barton, general secretary of ASCL, said it was not a time for business as usual but a time of national emergency.

 Ohio Governor says schools may not open again this year

Mr Barton also called on Ofsted to show it understands the extraordinary pressures on schools. One school leader, he said, currently has 15 members of staff off because of coronavirus.

It simply cannot be right that schools and colleges are judged in a high-stakes manner in these extraordinary circumstances, he said.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson was due to meet with headteachers unions on Monday to discuss the variety of concerns that school leaders have over coronavirus.

Addressing the ASCL conference, Sean Harford, Ofsteds national director of education, said: We will be proactive in asking schools and colleges if they want to request deferral because of coronavirus and clearly we will look very favourably on all such requests.

The chief inspector has asked to be personally involved in any decision not to defer, Mr Harford said.

Speaking to the media, Mr Harford added Ofsted was "not able to say that we're ceasing inspections, that's something for the government to decide" and would need "legislative change" to do so.

An Ofsted spokesperson said: Ofsted is working closely with the DfE and monitoring the situation day by day. In line with current government advice, normal inspection activity should be maintained as far as possible.

However, the spread of the virus presents serious challenges for providers that are affected.

In line with the potential for this to be an exceptional circumstance, we will carry out a risk-assessment with the providers when we announce the inspection. This will give the leaders/managers of providers the opportunity to inform Ofsted about any current coronavirus impact on their provision.

Using this information, we will make an assessment and a deferral decision, as appropriate. When inspections go ahead, inspectors will be sensitive to increases in user absence or absence of key staff, and will reflect this in the inspection report.

On Friday, Mr Williamson told heads: "At present we are clear that the best course of action is to keep schools open unless you are advised to close by Public Health England."
One dust mask priced at $10.

Case of water priced at $35.

Hand sanitizer priced at $60.

Michigans Attorney General and Better Business Bureau offices are fielding complaints of business owners price-gouging common supplies and food purchases that are in high demand due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Assistant Attorney General Joe Potchen, who oversees the states Consumer Protection Division, said more than 75 price-gouging complaints had been filed during the Sunday, March 15 press conference.

The complaints come from different cities and on various products from a 900% markup on hand sanitizer in Dearborn to 60% markup on rice and lentil beans in Farmington Hills, Potchen said.

We will not tolerate people attempting to swindle and scam others based on their fears and uncertainties during these trying times, Potchen said.

An executive order signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Sunday mandates a business or individual must not sell any product in Michigan at a price that is more than 20% higher than what the business or individual offered or charged for that product as of March 9.

This order makes price-gouging a crime, Attorney General Dana Nessel said. The Consumer Protection Act can only mandate civil penalties, she said.

While its unlikely a business owner will be arrested on the spot, they may be subject to criminal penalties after the attorney generals office reviews the complaints, Nessel said.

Within 24 hours of receiving complaints the attorney generals office will send letters of inquiry or a notice of intent to sue for price-gouging, Potchen said.

There have been four stores that the office received numerous complaints about. Those four businesses have been notified, Potchen said. The businesses were not identified during the press conference.

The Better Business Bureau has created a Facebook page dedicated to reporting price-gouging across the state, said Melanie Duquesnel, President and CEO of Better Business Bureau Eastern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.

She asked that consumers post photos and receipts to the Price Gouging in Michigan Facebook page.

After reviewing complaints, the Better Business Bureau is finding that its not just small, independent stores increasing prices, Duquesnel said.

Initial findings show some local stores part of large scale retailers that are acting in bad faith without the corporations knowledge, she said.

If a shopper suspects price-gouging at a large scale retailer, Duquesnel suggests first alerting the management team. If the problem persists, then take photos and submit a complaint, she said.

Know that there are people here to help you, she said.

Shoppers who see price-gouging can call the states Consumer Protection Hotline at 877-765-8388 or file a complaint online at michigan.gov/agcomplaints.

MORE MICHIGAN CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE 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:

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.

Below is a county-by-county map of Michigan tracking confirmed COVID-19 cases, followed by a map of possible exposure sites and a chart based on the states daily reports. The maps will be updated as more reports are released.

If you are reading this story on mobile and cant see the map, click here to view it on the web.

More coronavirus coverage on MLive:

How to find free lunch for Michigan kids with schools shut down

Michigan urges bars and restaurants to limit crowds to fight coronavirus spread

Coronavirus has Michigan spring-break travelers scrambling: Its all up in the air

Coronavirus concerns change Kroger store hours, Meijer deli service in Michigan

Governor clarifies coronavirus-related hospital visitation restriction, allows parents
US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump on Saturday (March 14) said that the Families First Coronavirus Response Act passed the House due to strong support from President Trump.

She added that the new Act will help the impacted Americans in several ways as they will be able to get coronavirus tests done for free and American workers will get paid leave, The Act will also strengthen unemployment Insurance and will provide protections/relief to small business.

With the strong support of @POTUS, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act passed the House.

Heres some of the ways it supports impacted Americans Free COVID19 tests

Paid leave for US workers

Strengthens Unemployment Insurance

Small business protections/relief  Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) March 14, 2020

For his part, President Trump has declared Sunday (March 15) a National Day of Prayer for all affected by the coronavirus and stressed that Americans have always turned to prayer to seek guidance in time of crisis.

"As we continue to face the unique challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, millions of Americans are unable to gather in their churches, temples, synagogues, mosques, and other houses of worship," the President said hours after he declared a national emergency in the US amid rising coronavirus cases in the country.

It is to be noted that coronavirus has killed at least 58 people and infected 2,816 others in the US. "But in this time we must not cease asking God for added wisdom, comfort, and strength, and we must especially pray for those who have suffered harm or who have lost loved ones. I ask you to join me in a day of prayer for all people who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic and to pray for God`s healing hand to be placed on the people of our Nation," he added.

Meanwhile, President Trump has tested negative for the coronavirus, the presidents personal physician confirmed on Saturday. Trump decided to undergo test after coming in contact with several members of a Brazilian presidential delegation which met him at his resort in Florida and some members of the delegation ha now tested positive for the deadly virus.



"This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative," the president's physician Sean Conley said in a memo. "One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation at Mar-a-Lago, the President remains symptom-free," he added.
Matters get worse if the in-network hospital is approaching capacity and the patient is healthy enough to be sent to a hospital across town with spare beds. If the second hospital is outside her insurance network, she could potentially receive a second surprise bill. A third could come from the ambulance that transfers her  it too might not be in-network, and no one will think to check during a crisis. She could get a fourth surprise bill if her coronavirus tests are sent to an out-of-network lab. And so on.

Even in normal times, patients with private insurance receive roughly one surprise bill for every 10 inpatient hospital admissions.

These are not normal times.

Federal law currently provides little protection. The Affordable Care Act does cap an individuals out-of-pocket spending  but the cap only applies to in-network care. For surprise bills, the sky is the limit.

Reputable providers will appreciate that now is not the time for price gouging. But many wont and will seek to exploit peoples medical needs for financial gain, much as they did before the coronavirus began to spread. They may calculate that can collect enough money charging exorbitant fees for out-of-network services  and still make it to an airport ahead of a mob carrying pitchforks and torches.

We need more than gauzy commitments from the president. We need a law to ban bills incurred from out-of-network providers for medical care associated with the coronavirus outbreak. Unless that commitment is ironclad, people may not believe it. And if they dont believe it, they wont get tested.

To date, Congress  cowed by a furious public relations campaign led by private equity and specialty physicians  has been unable to pass a law banning routine surprise billing. Though Congress has moved closer to a watered-down deal in recent months, neither the House nor the Senate has actually passed a bill.

The coronavirus should refocus Congresss attention. At a minimum, the legislature should quickly pass a temporary measure to limit out-of-network charges for coronavirus testing and treatment.
RIGA, March 14 (Reuters) - Latvia will stop nearly all foreigners entering the country from Tuesday in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the country's prime minister said on Saturday.

All international travel, by air, railway, sea and road, will be cancelled from midnight on Monday, Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said at a news conference. In addition, all public gatherings of over 50 people are banned with immediate effect, he said.

"The main aim is to do everything possible to avoid more people becoming ill with coronavirus," Karins said.

Latvians and foreigners with residency rights in Latvia will be able to enter the country, and tourists will be able to leave after the deadline, he said.

Latvia has confirmed 26 cases of coronavirus, with no deaths. (Reporting by Gederts Gelzis Writing by Johan Ahlander Editing by James Drummond)
Your phone starts buzzing and tells you that an Amber alert has been issued. Or you see signs on the highway that bring one to your attention. In New Jersey, one went out on Sunday afternoon for brothers Jamarcus Russell, 11 and Jaquan Russell, 8, and their sister, Jasmine Russell, 9.

They are believed to have been abducted by their father, Travis E. Russell, 36, who made threats against their welfare after he assaulted their mother and her new boyfriend, according to the alert.

It is the first time the Amber alert system has been deployed in New Jersey since last September, when Dulce Maria Alavez, a 5-year-old girl, went missing from a playground in Bridgeton.

What are Amber alerts?

Amber alerts, also known as child abduction emergency alerts, are messages distributed by a child abduction alert system to ask the public to help find abducted children.

How did they come into effect?

Officially, AMBER is an acronym for Americas Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response," but it was originally named after Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old from Texas who was murdered after being abducted in 1996.

How do Amber alerts work

Amber alerts are distributed by commercial and public radio stations, internet radio, satellite radio, TV stations, text messages and cable TV by the Emergency Alert System and NOAA Weather Radio. Emails, electric traffic signs, commercial billboards and SMS text message alerts are used as well.

Police organizations that investigate child abductions decide if an Amber alert will be declared. The alert typically features the name and description of the abductee, a description of the suspected abductor and a description and license plate number for the abductors vehicle if available.

The latest New Jersey Amber alert came on the afternoon of Sunday, March 15, starting around 4:15 p.m. The alert said that Travis Russell was seen driving a silver 2017 Nissan Altima, with New Jersey plate H53MCS, on I-295 South in Delaware around 3:15 p.m.

Jeremy Schneider may be reached at jschneider@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Schneider. Find NJ.com on Facebook

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. 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.
(@fidahassanain)

All stars of Mere Pass Tum ho are attending an event in Dallas, Texas.

WASHINGTON: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-March 14th, 2020) Hira Mani, Adnan Siddiqui and Humayun Seed smiled together as they met at an event in the United States here on Saturday.

In a joint photo, all stars of Mere Paas Tum Ho were smiling in an event in Dallaas in Texas.

The friends and fans of the trio made interesting comments on the picture that went viral on social media.

They all performed their character perfectly in drama serial Mere Pass Tum Ho.

Humayun Saeed, the reports say, will be seen in London Nahin Jaunga opposite Mehwish Hayatan upcoming film which will be released later this year.
Bars and restaurants in South Boston will be closed Sunday in a voluntary agreement aimed at slowing the spread of coronavirus.

State Senator Nick Collins, who represents South Boston, issued a statement Sunday about the closures. Establishments in South Boston had several patrons Saturday night.

As we are in uncharted waters here and all need to heed the advice of public health professionals to help stop the spread of COVID-19, South Boston bars and restaurants will be closed today as part of a voluntary agreement, Collins wrote Sunday.

Collins thanked Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, elected officials, the businesses and the Licensing Board for taking the proactive measures to protect the publics health.

We are all in this together and its imperative now that we all do all that we can to keep our communities safe, Collins wrote.

TY Mayor Walsh, my fellow South Boston officials, Licensing Board & license holders for working w us & taking these sound proactive measures to protect the publics health. We are in this together &its imperative now that we do all that we can to keep our communities safe.  Nick Collins (@nickcollinsma) March 15, 2020

The annual St. Patricks Day parade in South Boston, scheduled to take place Sunday, had already been canceled due to coronavirus concerns.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health said on Saturday that there were 138 cases of coronavirus in the state including the first case on Cape Cod.

Related Content:
chiefinance wrote:

Hello, folks! So I have a bit of a good problem here, and I need the advice of fellow GMAT Club comrades. Im an international student from Africa. I currently work in Africa, but I attended one of the elite NESCAC colleges and majored in math (on full funding). I work in the finance industry, and Im also a CFA charterholder. I had a 710 GMAT with 50Q. Im 32 (33 by matriculation). These are my admissions outcome:



 Simon: Full tuition scholarship

 Carlson: Full tuition plus stipend of $10K per year for living expenses. Total award value is $125K. Deans Fellow scholarship

 Fisher: Graduate Assistantship which provides full tuition waiver, student fee waiver, health insurance and living stipend. The award value is over $145K. I

literally have to pay nothing, but it requires 20 hours per week

 Kelley: 75% tuition waiver plus health insurance

 Tuck: Waitlisted, but Ive kinda moved on from this



The truth is that finance is a really big issue. I could not attend Darden last year (despite 1/3 tuition scholarship) as I could not get a no-cosigner loan due to a complication in handling my college student loan payment. I live in an African country where earning $20K per year places you among the top 5%-10% of earners. So, you can imagine how low my standards are in terms of salaries and earnings. My goal post-MBA is to get a decent finance gig. I know that I have the experience and skill sets for high finance (especially investment management), but Im realistic, so any good job in finance (Corporate Finance, Financial Analyst, etc.) works. Given my significant financial constraints, Carlson and Fisher look like the best options. However, choosing Carlson means I have to borrow $12K per year as my savings is about $4K. Fisher is practically free, but Im wondering if the time commitment of the Graduate Assistantship wont derail my MBA experience. Please help advise me.

Congrats for the admission for all those schools.I personally would choose Kelley over those schools (excluding Tuck), especially that Kelley is STEM program. However, I totally understand your financial situation as I come from same poll in Africa too. So, if you reach the extent that borrowing 12k is huge for you, then you might think in taking loans from or any financial institution or simply accept Fisher and rest assure that commitment of the Graduate Assistantship wont derail my MBA experience. I personally knew a friend in Kelley who was teaching undergrad during her MBA in Kelley and was head of supply chain club and enjoyed her MBA.Good luck
There might be only a few headlines which could be as concerning to a Central New Yorker as the one which appeared in the Syracuse Post-Standard on March 2, 1900.

STATE FAIR MAY LEAVE SYRACUSE

The New York State Fair, the annual end-of-summer extravaganza, is the oldest event of its kind in the country, dating back to 1841. It started in Syracuse but traveled to different parts of the state in the years that followed. Auburn, Elmira, New York City, Saratoga Springs, Utica, Rochester and others were given an opportunity to host the Fair.

In 1890, the Syracuse Land Company donated 100 acres in Geddes to the state Agricultural Society and it was believed that the Fair had finally found its permanent home.

"STATE FAIR MAY LEAVE SYRACUSE" is a headline that no Central New Yorker wants to see. But the moving of the late-summer event looked very possible in March 1900. Heritage MicrofilmHeritage Microfilm

But in early 1900, feelings began to change.

A State Fair bill working its way through the New York Senate wanted to give the State complete control of the Fair.

It would appropriate $100,000 for the Fair, including $50,000 to pay off the mortgage on the Fairgrounds, $10,000 on paying off debts, $30,000 for improvements, and $10,000 for the paying off of the reversionary rights held by the Syracuse Land Company which stipulated that the Fairgrounds could only be used for the Fair itself.

That was a sticking point. The Land Company valued the reversionary rights at $32,000.

The State Senate warned that if the Land Company drove a hard bargain, the state would stop paying on the Fairgrounds mortgage and take its Fair somewhere else.

Which many in Albany thought was a good idea.

The 1899 State Fair was not a success and had lost money.

An Albany informant told the Syracuse Herald that the Fair might be better off anywhere but Syracuse.

There is a widespread feeling throughout the State, he said, that Syracuse has had the Fair long enough and does appreciate it. To my knowledge several counties are ready to bid for it if a change is considered. Some cities would offer good inducements to get it.

Buffalo, the nations eighth-largest city at the time, for example, seemed like a ready-made replacement, as it prepared for the Pan-American Exposition, spread out over 342 acres, due to open in May 1901.

The site of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo seemed like it could be used for a replacement for the State Fairgrounds if the Syracuse Land Company played hardball. Courtesy of WikipediaCourtesy of Wikipedia

What is there to prevent the Pan-American projectors from offering to the State those beautiful buildings for the permanent use of the State Fair, the informant asked. I do not say that this will be done, but it is possible, if not probable.

There was more; the people who attended the Fair were not being served.

The people who have visited the Fair during the last few years have not had much return for their admission fee, and thousands who were once interested in the Fair as exhibitors and visitors now go no more.

The future of the State Fair in Syracuse would be up to the Syracuse Land Company.

If it held out for the full $32,000, and tried to make a big profit for turning over the rights to the Fairgrounds, the Fair would undoubtedly go elsewhere.

What would they do?

In the end, the trustees of the land company decided to accept the states offer of $10,000, voting unanimously to put the good of the community over its own self-interests.

This action was taken because the trustees want the Fair kept in Syracuse and whatever opinions may have been held concerning the value of the stock, the trustees determined for the best interests of Syracuse to accept the offer, the Syracuse Herald reported.

On April 20, 1900, Lieutenant Governor Timothy Woodruff announced of wholesale improvements to the Fairgrounds, including a fancy new entrance, a one-mile race track, sodding of the grounds and the building of new roads and paths.

The improvements would bring a new prestige to the New York State Fair and the Herald predicted that would be absolutely no danger that the Fair will ever be taken away from Syracuse.

This cartoon, from the March 4, 1900 Syracuse Herald, was published the day after the Syracuse Land Company decided to accept New York State's proposal on the rights to the Fairgrounds. In it, Lt. Gov. Timothy Woodruff points his "favorite horse," the State Fair, away from Buffalo, east, back towards Syracuse. Heritage MicrofilmHeritage Microfilm

The 1900 State Fair in August was a hit, with record attendance.

The State Fair this year has been a financial success, Woodruff announced on the final day. It is a great thing and we dont propose to stop now. We are going to keep right at it until it is the greatest show of its kind in the country.

That spirit continues today, with a new, $63 million Exposition Center and talk of a new 18-day Fair.

To be held right here in Syracuse.

READ MORE

1925: To halt the spread of disease, Syracuse declares a war on spitting

1913: Auburn says good-bye to Harriet Tubman at her emotional funeral

NYS Fair flashback: Aerial daredevil suffers fatal accidents in 1920

This feature is a part of CNY Nostalgia, a section on syracuse.com. Send your ideas and curiosities to Johnathan Croyle at jcroyle@syracuse.com or call 315-427-3958.

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.
Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo presides over a meeting with senior military leaders at the Ministry of National Defense complex in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, March 9. Jeong said the military should take active and pre-emptive measures in the nationwide efforts to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, as the country faces a military threat from North Korea's missile provocations and a nonmilitary threat from the virus at the same time. Courtesy of Ministry of National Defense



Military urged to set new manuals for time of epidemics



By Jung Da-min



South Korea is now facing both conventional and nonconventional security threats at the same time.



Among the traditional threats is North Korea's weapons development. The North resumed missile launches this year, firing multiple short-range projectiles over the East Sea on March 2 and 9, in what it claims to be continued winter-time exercises.



At the same time, the COVID-19 situation has shown that an infectious disease can be a nonconventional security threat as it affects the country's defense posture.



The COVID-19 spread has put the military under a "quasi-war" situation. Since the military reported its first infection of a Navy member who visited the southern city of Daegu, which has become an infection hotbed since mid-February, the number of COVID-19 patients inside the military has increased to 38 as of March 11. As a result, the military has been enforcing strict quarantine measures, restricting travel of its personnel and canceling outdoor military exercises.



The United States Forces Korea (USFK) has also reported nine infections as of March 11, with one of them being a USFK soldier and the others being family members or civilian employees with the USFK. Raising its alert level to "high" to put its members at health protection condition Charlie, the second-highest level behind Delta, it is keeping strong preventative control measures in place, restricting travel of its personnel to and from military bases.



Joint exercises between South Korea and the U.S. have also been affected. In late February, the allies decided to delay their regular springtime joint exercise, a combined command post training that was scheduled to kick off March 9. Following the postponement, the South Korean military's other joint drills with foreign militaries have also been delayed or cancelled over concerns regarding the virus.



Among such exercises is joint counter-terrorism training between South Korea and Mongolia. The South Korean Army was planning to send 18 members of its special forces to Mongolia for the drills in late April, but the Mongolian side asked for the exercise to be delayed.



While military exercises to counter traditional threats are being halted, the South Korean military has stepped up to actively engage in the government's efforts to contain COVID-19, especially after the administration raised its national alert level to the highest "red" on a four-tier system, Feb. 23.



Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo held a meeting with senior military commanders Feb. 28 and called on the military to "mobilize all of the resources needed in time of war," saying the current situation was no different from a wartime situation. The military has since been mobilizing service members to sites of "battle" against the virus such as hospitals or factories manufacturing protective gear such as face masks.





Army soldiers disinfect vehicles near Gyeongsan Station in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, March 4. Yonhap





Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, second from left, visits a face mask manufacturer in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, March 7, to encourage Army soldiers who have been assisting in mask production there. Courtesy of Ministry of National Defense





Members of the Armed Force CBR (chemical, biological and radiological) Defense Command's special taskforce spray disinfectant inside a building at Kyungpook National University in virus-hit Daegu, March 4. Courtesy of Ministry of National Defense



Seventy-five new graduates of the Armed Forces Nursing Academy have received media attention, as they headed to the Armed Forces Daegu Hospital to help patients in the virus-hit city, right after their graduation and commissioning ceremony, March 3.



Minister Jeong held a second meeting with senior military commanders March 9 and ordered the military to take measures to support the government's newly introduced mask rationing program.



"Our military should be committed to protecting lives and the safety of our citizens in a time of crisis where the military threat from North Korea's missile provocations and the nonmilitary threat from the virus infections exist at the same time, taking active and pre-emptive measures," Jeong said.



So far, about 1,100 military medical personnel have been mobilized for COVID-19 containment efforts, while military units are also mobilizing service members for other tasks including mask production and transportation.





Newly commissioned Armed Forces nursing officers receive instruction at the Armed Forces Nursing Academy in Daejeon, March 2, a day before they head for Daegu, the southern city hit hard by the COVID-19 epidemic. Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-seok
When Osime Brown was issued deportation orders, the first thing he did was ask his mother whether there was a bus he could take from Jamaica to visit her in Dudley. The severely autistic 21-year-old is facing removal to a country he hasnt set foot in since he came to the UK aged four. His mother, Joan Fairclough, is worried sick.

If he is deported he will die, says the former mental health nurse, 53. Seconds later she begins to cry, adding: He wouldnt cope. If he cant even cope here, how is he going to cope in a environment and a culture he doesnt know? He would be exploited because of his vulnerability.

The Home Office issued Brown with a removal notice in August 2018 on the basis of a series of criminal offences he committed as a teenager, which culminated in a five-year sentence for robbery, attempted robbery and perverting the course of justice. He is currently in jail at HMP Stocken in Rutland, where he has been self-harming to the point where he has hundreds of scars on his arms and body.

(Joan Martin)

His deportation was set for 3 December, until a last-minute appeal was lodged. That has since been dismissed pending a final appeal in the immigration courts which is expected to be heard this month.

The young mans mother and siblings, along with a clinical psychologist and many who know Brown, believe his deportation marks a culmination of failings by statutory agencies over the years to acknowledge his learning disability, and subsequent failure to provide him with adequate support to cope with the challenges that come with it.

As a young child, Brown learnt to talk and walk late and developed a stutter. He received speech and language therapy at school, but he never had statutory assessment regarding his learning difficulties and special educational needs.

They didnt take much notice of what was behind his behaviour, says Fairclough, talking about Browns experience in school. They used to say he was disruptive and rude. They put that down to being unruly. I had to fight and fight and fight to get him assessed.

It wasnt until after he was permanently excluded at the age of 16, after years of struggling to interact socially at school, that his autism was diagnosed.

Shortly after this, Brown is said to have left home and moved into local authority care after telling social services that his mother was too strict. Fairclough says this move was taken without her permission and that it caused great distress to the family, and was ultimately detrimental to her sons wellbeing.

Osime Brown as a child in his family home (Joan Martin)

He was moved 28 times to different places within 12 months by social services. For people with autism thats the worst thing to have happened. They like routine, which he had at home, says Fairclough. I went to all the social services meetings. One of the officers said this child needs to go back to his mum because hes from a loving home, but nothing happened.

It was while he was in the various care placements that Brown was arrested for stealing the phone from another young person along with a group of friends. The case took two years to come to trial, but he was eventually sentenced to five years in prison.

They exploited his disability. He was an easy target to push the blame on to, says his mother. His autism means he always likes to please the people hes with. He can be easily led and manipulated because he is very trusting.

Describing the moment he was sentenced in court, Fairclough says: He had a blank look on his face. He was looking out of space. During the court proceedings he even climbed up and pointed to himself on the monitor that was showing them walking around in the shopping centre. He did not comprehend what was happening.

A psychological assessment of Brown by chartered psychologist John Hall, carried out in October 2019, states the way in which his life was managed when he was in care was wholly misguided and extremely damaging, and that had he not been placed in care he may not have found his way into a life of criminality.

There is every reason to believe that, had [Fairclough] been listened to and instead of removing Brown from his family when he was barely 16, it would have been possible to support his mother to manage him in a situation where people loved him and who were prepared to impose a structure on his life, states Hall.

Osime as a child with his mother, Joan Fairclough (Joan Martin)

On entering jail, the prisons healthcare service assessed Brown and found that he was suffering from an underlying anxiety disorder and emotionally unstable personality disorder, and post-traumatic distress disorder (PTSD).

When Fairclough first went to visit her son in prison, she was surprised to see his arm in bandages. It soon transpired that he had started cutting his hands, arms and body while locked up in his cell  which his mother says she was not informed about.

Hes not in a good state, says Fairclough. Last time I visited him he was crying because his tummy hurt. He laid his head in my lap and said: Mummy my belly, my belly.

Fairclough says she is also concerned about her sons physical health, after discovering he had fainted a number of times while in jail due to an apparent heart condition  which she believes has come about as a result of him being given large doses of antipsychotic medication in prison.

While current law stipulates that any sentence of over 12 months triggers an automatic deportation order, Browns lawyer, Brendan Okwor of Legacy Law Solicitors, said the young mans case was exceptional.

He came here when he was four years old, he doesnt even know where Jamaica is. He was asking if Jamaica was in Manchester, says Okwor. He doesnt know where he comes from. His family members are here. His mum, his siblings, his dad lives in America. He has no one to return to.

The Home Office has stated in a letter to Brown that there would not be very significant obstacles to his integration in Jamaica: You are familiar with the culture of Jamaica as you were raised by your mother/relatives in Jamaica for the first four years of your life.

It goes on to state: The skills and experiences you have acquired while living in the UK will assist you in your attempts to re-establish yourself in Jamaica, enabling you to financially provide for yourself and live an independent life in Jamaica.

Hall disputes this argument, stating in his report that Brown had failed completely to establish himself in the UK, even with the support of social services, so being transferred to a considerably less-resourced country would hardly be any easier for him.

The psychologist pointed out that the mental health system in Jamaica was grossly inadequate and would render Brown at serious risk were he to be returned to that country.

He added: In my opinion it would be an act of pure folly to do as the Home Office propose as the consequences for Brown would not only be life-changing in a very negative direction, but potentially life-threatening.

Fairclough says that every time she mentions the deportation order during a prison visit, Brown shuts down and starts to rock and cover his ears.

He doesnt have anybody there. He hasnt been back to Jamaica, he doesnt know Jamaica. When he found out the Home Office wanted to remove him he said: Mum, is there a bus that I can come back on? His removal would be a death sentence.

If the immigration appeal fails, Fairclough hopes Browns criminal case can be re-opened to take account of his learning disability, describing it as a total travesty and miscarriage of justice.

A Home Office spokesperson said: It would be inappropriate to comment further while legal proceedings are ongoing.

Cllr Ruth Buttery, cabinet member for children and young people at Dudley Council, said: We do not comment on the personal information involving individual cases, however, looked after children will always be our number one priority.

Osime's family has set up a crowdfunder to raise funds to appeal his deportation order, which can be found here.
Americans returning to the United States from abroad are seeing long lines and hours-long wait times for medical screenings at airports, as stricter travel restrictions are being implemented over the novel coronavirus.

Over the past few days President Donald Trump declared a national emergency and a travel ban on travelers from Europe, most recently extending the ban to Britain and Ireland on March 14, who were previously exempt. Foreign nationals who had visited countries such as China, Iran, and certain European countries are being blocked from entering the United States.

Returning U.S. citizens and permanent residents who had been in countries deemed a risk must arrive at one of the 13 airports listed by Homeland Security, as of March 13. Among the official list includes John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington state.

In an acknowledgement of the lengthy wait times, the Department of Homeland Securitys (DHS) acting secretary Chad Wolf said they are working on increasing the scope of their screenings. In places like Chicagos OHare International Airport, some passengers waited for over four hours.

DHS is aware of the long lines for passengers who are undergoing increased medical screening requirements, Wolf said on Twitter on March 15. Right now we are working to add additional screening capacity and working with the airlines to expedite the process.

Wolf added that he understood the situation was very stressful for passengers. The World Health Organization (WHO), after resisting for weeks on making the declaration, announced on March 11 that the spread of the virus is now a global pandemic.

In these unprecedented times, we ask for your patience, Wolf continued. It currently takes ~60 seconds for medical professionals to screen each passenger. We will be increasing capacity but the health and safety of the American public is first & foremost.

In a March 15 Twitter post, Trump said they are doing very precise Medical Screenings at our airports.

Pardon the interruptions and delays, we are moving as quickly as possible, but it is very important that we be vigilant and careful, he added. We must get it right. Safety first!

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport also commented on the long wait times in a Twitter post.

We ask for your patience as CBP/CDC agents are conducting enhanced screening for passengers, which may cause additional delays, the airport said on March 14. These measures are important for the health and safety of all.

Meanwhile, some airlines are reducing the number of flights. American Airlines announced on March 14 that it will reduce international capacity by 75% year over year from March 16 to May 6. It will suspend most international flights to Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and South America.

This change is in response to decreased demand and changes to U.S. government travel restrictions due to coronavirus, the airline said in a release.

American Airlines said it anticipates domestic capacity will also drop in the coming months.

On March 14 the Trump administration said it wanted Congress to financially support U.S. airlines negatively hit by the virus. United Airlines Co said late Saturday it would begin cutting flights to the United Kingdom, Southwest Airlines moved toward flight cuts, and Delta Airlines Inc plans to start cutting flights to the United Kingdom, according to Reuters.

Canada is one of the few countries who have not banned foreigners from entering.

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. People with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover, according to WHO.

Travelers from restricted countries in Europe, China, and Iran are being advised to self-quarantine for 14 days after reaching their final destination in the United States. The virus first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

From The Epoch Times
The GST Council has not taken the issue of to recurring technical glitches in the GST Network (GSTN) kindly and has asked its technical supporter Infosys Limited to come up with a solution by July.

To take stock of the situation and fix accountability of continuous failures in the GST Network system, the council, in its 39th GST Council meeting, summoned Infosys Non-executive Chairman Nandan Nilekani.

Nilekani, who made a presentation addressing the system-related issues being faced by taxpayers in the GSTN, sought time till January 2021 to fix the system but the council asked him to iron out the issues by July 2020.

"The GST Council has a few expectations, which will be formally informed to Infosys," Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharam said in a press meet after the council meeting.

Among the major "expectations" is to enhance the load capacity of the system from 1.5 lakh users at the moment to 3 lakh. The council also wants a rollout of the new return system and e-invoicing.

Nilekani demanded more skilled manpower and better hardware to enhance the capacity, to which the council agreed.

Nilekani told the council members that to augment the GSTN capacity, hardware procurement process had been initiated, but it had been slightly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

The Infosys Chairman also suggested that to smoothen the rollout of the new return system, and to ensure better uptake of the new return, the transition should be made incrementally.

He suggested the process should be initiated by addressing the compliance-related issues first, so the tax evasion problem and gaming of the system due to non-linking of FORM GSTR-1 and FORM GSTR-3B could be addressed immediately.

The journey could start with linking details of the statement of outward supplies in FORM GSTR-1 to the liability in FORM GSTR-3B. This would be followed by linking of the input tax credit in the FORM GSTR-3B to details of supplies reflected in FORM GSTR-2A.

He added to tackle evasion and prevent gaming of the system, the implementation of Aadhaar authentication and spike rules would also be initiated.

The council also asked Nilekani to be present in the next three meetings and update on the status of implementation of the decisions and support the timely implementation of various initiatives.

The council also decided to defer the implementation of the new return system and e-invoicing from October 1 from April 1, 2020.

Also read: Mobile phone prices to go up as GST Council raises tax to 18%
Chiquita Thursby and Yordano Tesfailasce couldn't believe what they saw when they arrived at Costco.

"We saw the line around the block and we thought the world had gone mad,'' Thursby said of the crowd gathered outside the store in Lawndale, California, on Friday morning.

They had to wait an hour for two cases of bottled water, the most water they were allowed to buy. And paper towels and toilet tissue were sold out. Suddenly, the crowds, the empty shelves, the rationing made the coronavirus much more than headlines.

"Before it was a scare,'' Thursby said. "Now it's real.

At stores across the U.S., shelves are being picked bare. The coronavirus is spurring panicked shoppers to stock up on products ranging from cleansing wipes to peanut butter as they prepare to hunker down in the midst of the growing pandemic.

It's a story that continued to play out Saturday and Sunday as shoppers went from store to store to find the supplies and food they wanted to have on hand.

"They're acting like this is the end of the world,'' said Lynette Young, a nurse in Los Angeles, who was amused by the rush as she bought ginger ale and cleaning supplies at a local Walmart. "If they regularly stocked up, they wouldnt have this problem.

Over the weekend, the world's largest retailer, Walmart, and grocery stores chains such as Kroger, Publix, Aldi, Harris Teeter and more closed some locations or reduced hours so that staffers can spend time deep cleaning and restocking shelves with new merchandise. Store without a food focus such as Urban Outfitters, Apple and Nike also announced temporary closures to help abate the spread of the virus as government and health officials continued to stress social distancing.

Restaurants and COVID-19: Dine out or eat in during the coronavirus crisis? Here's what public health and food safety experts say

Coronavirus rationing: Target, Walmart limit purchases of hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, toilet paper

Story continues

Costco experienced lines that stretched for blocks as shoppers stocked up in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak

Shoppers decide to brave crowds

Health officials have asked people to maintain a safe distance from each other to slow the spread of COVID-19, which has caused the deaths of 41 Americans and led President Donald Trump to declare a national emergency Friday afternoon.

But shoppers are apparently willing to brave a crowd if it means immediately getting their hands on necessities, instead of waiting for an online order.

"Fear typically makes people want it now,'' says Suketu Gandhi, partner and leader for digital supply chain at Kearney, a global strategy and management consulting firm. "And deliveries are experiencing delays."

So many people showed up at Woodman's Food Market in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on Thursday afternoon, that the normally 24-hour grocery store shut its doors before midnight. It planned to shut down again, at 10:30 pm. Friday, so the staff could restock the shelves.

Steve Haze, the store's manager, said the store saw a 50% increase in its normal volume of business, a spike he'd rarely seen during his 21 years working at Woodman's.

"Y2K. That was about it," Haze said of the frenzied shopping that occurred when some people feared systems would go awry at the dawn of the new century. Now, the store is having to restrict the number of paper products and bottled water customers can buy. "We are the only one left in Waukesha with toilet paper, so that's why everybody is here."

Jolene and Christine Chan wait in line at a Costco in Lawndale, California

At the Costco in Lawndale, roughly 200 people waited in a line that stretched three blocks.

Ive never seen anything like it, says Christine Chan of Los Angeles. Ive never had to wait in a line to get into Costco.

Shoppers at a Walmart in Gardena, California, were greeted by a notice saying they couldn't buy more than two packages of toilet paper, hand sanitizer or cleaning wipes, only to discover that by 9:30 am, they were already too late.

Bottled water sold out in 15 minutes. And by mid-morning the store looked like a deserted warehouse, with no paper towels, no toilet paper and no soap. Rice and beans were also hard to find.

Meanwhile, customers at a Target in Manhattan Beach, California were having trouble getting their hands on a shopping cart. And in Red Bank, New Jersey, 30 people were lined up outside Lou Scaduto Jr.'s Super Foodtown grocery before it even opened.

"It is like pandemonium," said Scaduto, president and CEO of Food Circus Super Markets, which owns five Super Foodtown locations. "They are literally buying everything. ... I have never seen so much toilet paper go off the shelf."

Chiquita Thursby and Yordano Tesfailasce waited one hour to get their allotted two cases of water at a Costco in California

But are things really that bad?

Retailers have acknowledged that they are struggling to keep up with the demand for certain products like disinfectant and paper towels. And hand sanitizer, which people need to keep replenishing because they're likely using more of it than usual, may remain difficult for shoppers to come by.

"Hand sanitizer is going to be very difficult to have 100% in stock ... for some time,'' Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart, said during a Friday news conference in which Trump announced measures to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. "We're still replenishing it and shipping it, but as soon as it hits the stores, its going.''

Some retailers are steering items to locations with the worst shortages, and even limiting purchases to make sure there's enough to go around.

"The panic is largely unnecessary because most retailers are able to replenish products fairly quickly,'' says Neil Saunders, managing director of the retail consultancy Global Data. "Also, products like toilet paper are not being used more than usual so people who have already stocked up will not keep buying them.''

Costco's CFO Richard Galanti said in an earnings call with investors last week that stores are "getting deliveries daily, but still not enough given the increased levels in demand on certain key items. ... I would assume that over the next few weeks or several weeks thatll abate. But it depends what else happens with the virus."

Putting a limit to hoarding

In the meantime, Costco and other retailers have begun to limit the amounts shoppers can buy of certain products.

Wegmans customers can't purchase more than four 1-gallon containers of water, and no more than three containers of items like rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide. Additionally, shoppers can purchase a maximum of two containers of disinfecting wipes, and only a single family pack of toilet tissue.

"We continue to receive shipments of these products and are sending them out to stores as soon as they arrive,'' the grocery chain said in a statement.

Target is limiting toilet paper, various forms of wipes and hand sanitizer to one per customer. And no one can buy more than two 24-bottle packs of water.

Kroger began limiting the amount of cold, flu and sanitary products that could be purchased in a particular order on March 2. "We believe that everyone deserves to have access to fresh, affordable food and essentials, especially in times of uncertainty,'' Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen said in a statement to customers.

Walmart has also given its store managers the "go ahead" to limit how many items a customer can buy, if the product is in particular demand. It's also bypassing warehouses in some cases, getting goods right to stores, and focusing on particular regions where shortages are most acute.

Southeastern Grocers, parent company of Winn-Dixie, BI-LO, Harveys and Fresco y Mas grocery stores, is updating "stocking plans throughout each day to ensure ... that the products our customers need are on the shelf," Joe Caldwell, the companys spokesman said in a statement to USA TODAY. Its stores are limiting customers to two items each in categories like first aid and household cleaning products.

And Aldi, which says it's focusing on keeping pre-made meals, pantry staples, water and cleaning supplies in stock, says its customers might also see purchase limits and added that "some of these products may be temporarily unavailable in some of our stores.''

Shoppers may have to visit several stores

Some shoppers are having to make several stops to find what they need, or a store where they can simply get in the door.

Moses Elkaim stopped by a ShopRite in Union, New Jersey, Thursday evening only to be told by security that he would have to wait at least 30 minutes before he could enter the overcrowded store.

He left. But a nearby Walmart was also not an option. It was so full, Elkaim said, that he saw cars parked in spots he'd never seen filled at that time of night.

Eventually, he was able to pick up vegetables, eggs and other groceries at a store closer to his home in New York City. And after encountering some empty shelves elsewhere, he was finally able to buy toilet paper at a Lidl store he passes on his way to work.

"I've seen reactions when it's raining or snowing," says Elkaim, a print production manager. "This is something really different. People were very civil but you could tell by the seriousness in their faces that this is something else.  Everybody was on a mission. They were not looking to come home empty handed."

But some felt concerns about shortages and a shopping surge were overblown.

Rick Sloan, who was making his usual trip to Costco in Spartanburg, South Carolina, said lines were long, but he was still able to get in and out relatively quickly. He also had no problem finding bottled water and tissues, and said he didn't feel the need to stockpile items.

"I think it's kind of ridiculous," Sloan said, "and I think the media is responsible for it."

Walmart changing store hours: Walmart cuts hours at 24-hour stores and other locations nationwide starting Sunday due to coronavirus

Coronavirus cutting store hours: Retailers, including Walmart, Publix, Kroger, H-E-B, and more are reducing hours. How late is your store open?

Panic buying leads to empty shelves  and more panic

Stunned shoppers have flooded Facebook with photos of empty store racks. But the lighthearted posting of pictures belies the anxiety that is fueling the frenzied buying taking place in many parts of the country.

"When people are unexpectedly denied access to resources we have long taken for granted, like toilet paper, and sanitizer, it is incredibly easy to become overwhelmed by the uncertainty," says Kelly Goldsmith, an associate professor of marketing at Vanderbilt University who has studied consumer behaviors around scarcity.'

The empty shelves and freezers left behind by panicked buyers worry the next shopper who can't find what they need  triggering more anxiety.

"Panic breeds panic,'' says Saunders of Global Data. "Pictures of empty shelves on social media cause a ripple effect where more and more people panic about not being able to get the products they need, so in response they go out and stock up. It's a vicious circle.''

Thursby and Tesfailasce said after their experience at the Costco in Lawndale, they've come up with a plan. They'll head back there Saturday. But this time, they'll arrive at 5 a.m. with chairs, and just sit and wait for the store to open.

"I'm ready now,'' Thursby said.

Share your thoughts with USA TODAY

Fill out the form below or share your thoughts through this link for possible inclusion in USA TODAY's continuing coverage.

Contributing: Jefferson Graham of USA TODAY; David P. Willis, Asbury Park Press; Alexander Coolidge, Cincinnati Enquirer; Jim Riccioli, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Samantha Swann, Genna Contino, Greenville News; Will Cleveland, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle; Jennifer Sangalang, Florida Today

Follow Charisse Jones on Twitter @charissejones and Kelly Tyko @kellytyko.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus panic shopping: Toilet paper shortage at Walmart, Target
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are said to be eyeing up a new charity office in a former BBC building, a source has told The Sun on Sunday.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced they were stepping down as senior members of the Royal Family in January and completed their final engagements in the UK last week.

Despite them starting a new life in the US and Canada, the couple have allegedly been on the lookout for a new UK base when they leave their Buckingham Palace offices at the end of the month.

They are said to have chosen a space at the former BBC Television Centre in White City, where ITV now films some of its programmes.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are said to be eyeing up a new charity office in a former BBC building, a source has claimed

The area in particular is run by co-working space Soho Works, a venture started up by Soho House - the hotel and private members club.

The operation advertises itself as a 'workspace for creative thinkers', with a global community made up of Soho House members and 'people from creative industries who work and collaborate together in spaces that are designed to inspire'.

One of the couple's close friends, Markus Anderson, of Peterborough, Ontario, is a consultant for the elite club brand Soho House and is said to have introduced Meghan, 38, and Harry, 35.

Markus is so close to the former actress that she refers to him as uncle to her beloved dogs.

The Sussexes enjoyed one of their first dates in London at Soho House's Dean Street Townhouse, and Meghan is thought to have held her hen party at the chain's Soho Farmhouse in Chipping Norton, Oxon.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, pictured at the Mountbatten Festival of Music at the Royal Albert Hall in London, are said to have chosen a space at the former BBC Television Centre in White City, where ITV now films some of its programmes

The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) Television Centre in west London. The centre, in London's White City area, opened on 29 June 1960 but closed its doors in March 2013 (pictured) and was sold off for office space and residential flats

Travalyst, Harry's sustainable travel group, already operates out of offices in the old BBC building.

A source told The Sun on Sunday that the offices seem like a 'perfect choice' for the couple given their well-known links to the chain.

Facilities at Soho Works Loft for private events

Podcast recording equipment

Private phone booths

Screening rooms

Members' kitchen

Bookable meeting rooms

Break-out spaces

Lockable storage

Courier delivery service Advertisement

'It would give them the privacy to do their charitable work but also a space with a bit of buzz,' they told the publication.

'They would be able to get in and out without anyone noticing, with three exits and a drop-off point. It's a no-brainer for them to put their charity there.

'Although the family has moved to Canada they still fully intend to maintain charitable activities here and felt it was vital to find a home for a new office in London.'

The secure centre, which has card access-only doorways as well as a large, apartment-style loft with a separate library, lounge, meeting rooms and reception room for private functions, also features podcast recording equipment.

Femail has reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment.

Travalyst, Harry's sustainable travel group, already operates out of offices in the old BBC building (pictured)

A source said the Soho Works offices seem like a 'perfect choice' for the couple given their well-known links to the chain

From March 31, the monarch's grandson and American former actress Meghan will no longer use their HRH styles as they pursue a new private life continuing to support charities close to their heart as they become financially independent.

Yesterday it was reported Harry and Meghan have accepted an invitation from the Queen to join her at Balmoral this summer - and they could bring son Archie along for the first time.

The Sussexes are also expected to spend time with the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at Birkhall, Charles's retreat on the Balmoral estate, according to Roya Nikkhah writing in The Sunday Times.
12 suspended MPs not ready to apologise, what do we talk to opposition, Goyal in RS

Abhishek Singhvi to introduce private member bill in RS for enforcing two-child norm

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Mar 14: Senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi is set to table a private member bill in Rajya Sabha that calls for enforcement of a two-child norm through incentives and disincentives.

The Population Control Bill, 2020 has monetary implications and therefore it required the President's permission for its introduction in Rajya Sabha. President Ram Nath Kovind has granted the permission.

"Bill moved by me in the Rajya Sabha for enforcement of 2 Child Norm with incentives and disincentives for non compliance," Singhvi said in a tweet on Saturday.

"For married couples who live below the poverty line and undergo voluntary sterilisation/operation, I suggested that the Centre give them a one-time lump sum amount of Rs 60,000... if the single child is a boy or Rs 1 lakh if the single child is a girl," he said.

In the Bill, the disincentives for those who do not comply include barring them from contesting elections, getting promotions in government services, receiving government subsidy - barring those in the BPL category - or applying for Group A jobs, the Congress leader said.
New Delhi, March 15 : At least 218 Indians including 211 students from Milan landed in Delhi on Sunday, the Minister of State for foreign affairs V. Muraleedharan said.

He tweeted: "218 Indians including 211 students from Milan landed in Delhi. All will be quarantined for 14 days. GoI is committed to reach out to Indians in distress, wherever they are! Appreciate Govt. of Italy for their support and team @IndiainItaly @cgmilan1 @airindiain." The persons, stranded in Milan's Italy, boarded special aircraft of national carrier Air India, operated on a Boeing 787, sent by the government to evacuate stranded Indians due to coronavirus outbreak.

Of the 218, 7 are other nationals.

The India embassy in Italy said on twitter on Sunday: "211 students & 7 compassionate cases departed by AI flight from Milan. Thanks to those who helped us through this difficult situation. Special thanks to Air Indian team and Italian authorities. Consulate will continue to ensure welfare of all Indians in northern Italy." Responding to which the External Affairs Minister thanked Binoy George, the Consul General of India in Milan. "Thank you CG @georgebinoy Keep up the good work." tweeted the minister.

The national carrier's special ferry flight took-off from New Delhi on Saturday afternoon.
Goldsboro, NC police officer Micheal Rivers sat down to have lunch with a homeless woman and his gesture went viral. (Photo: Cassie Barnes/Chris Barnes)

A North Carolina police officer has gone viral after a passerby caught a precious moment between him and a homeless woman.

On Wednesday, Chris Barnes posted a Facebook photo taken by his wife Cassie. According to Barnes, Cassie was on her lunch break when she spotted Goldsboro police officer Michael Rivers sitting on the side of the road with a homeless woman when she decided to snap a photo. The pair were sharing a pizza and soda as they conversed.

Barnes captioned the picture, Cassie was out on her lunch break and observed Goldsboros Finest enjoying lunch with a homeless person. Law enforcement does so much for our community, with a lot of it going unnoticed. We see you Goldsboro P.D. Keep up the good work.

The picture has been shared thousands of times on Facebook with people praising the officers actions. Leading by example!! An awesome man!! A commenter wrote.

So heartwarming to see this photo, another person said.

Some of the best people are displaced and great are those who share with them, someone said.

Barnes tells Yahoo Lifestyle, I think people are doing something positive and what can be more positive than a police officer sitting down and breaking bread with a homeless woman on the side of the road?

Officer Rivers, who is an 8-year veteran of the Goldsboro Police Department, recalls seeing the woman earlier that day. I was leaving the parking lot of Walmart and she was standing by the stop sign, he tells Yahoo Lifestyle. Her shirt read, Homeless the fastest way of becoming a nobody. I hated that she felt that way.

Rivers says he spoke to her briefly. I always try to talk to the homeless just to see how they got into their situation, you know? Because, like I tell everybody, it can happen to any one of us...at any given moment.

Micheal Rivers of the Goldsboro, North Carolina Police Department stopped to eat pizza with a homeless woman, on the side of the road. (Photo: Michael Rivers)

After Rivers drove away, he circled back to ask if the woman was hungry and if she wanted food. She was honored by his offer.

Rivers bought pizza and Mountain Dew and when the pair sat down to eat, he learned of her family struggles and told her, Hey, you still got stuff to live for...you still got your life ahead of you. Its never too late.

Story continues

Rivers, who does recruiting for the Goldsboro PD, hopes to send a message of compassion for others.

When the younger or newer guys come in, I let them know, Hey, treating the community like human beings is the most important thing in the world, he says. ...And part of that message is, You dont have to charge everybody for everything. So if we as police officers show that love and compassion to everybody, no matter their age, financial background or race, the world would be a better place.

Related Video: Homeless Shelters Ill-Prepared for COVID-19, Advocates Say

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As Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a SAARC conference to combat the unprecedented outbreak of deadly coronavirus on March 15, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih not only thanked the former for a timely call for regional initiative but also mentioned that no country on its own can succeed in combating the virus. PM Modi led the conference as the confirmed cases in the country surpass 100 and have also witnessed two deaths, while as of Sunday, Maldives has 13 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

President @ibusolih welcomes PM @narendramodi s suggestion of setting up a COVID Emergency Fund #SAARCfightsCorona  PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 15, 2020

Read - PM Modi Participates In SAARC Video Conference To Formulate Joint Strategy To Combat Coronavirus

While also mentioning that it was Maldives who had called for a SAARC meeting back in 2003, Maldivian President mentioned that they are fortunate to have received assistance from India and also conveyed his appreciation to PM Modi who led the entire conference and welcomed all leaders of SAARC. Meanwhile, PM Modi highlighted that as developing countries, the outbreak has posed certain challenges and therefore all countries should 'prepare, act, succeed together'.

'Most destructive measure'

Solih also mentioned that the outbreak is showing most destructive measure in the Maldives because of its vulnerability to external measures and added that the country's tourist arrivals started to decrease few weeks before the first case was detected on March 7. In February, Maldivian President said arrivals declined by 14.3 per cent and already in the first ten days of March the arrivals have declined by 22.8 per cent. Moreover, if the sharp decline in tourism continues, Solih said there will be a 35 per cent drop in 2020 and the reduce in tourist arrivals has impact on Maldives' economy.

It is the tourism which contributes to more than 25 per cent of the Maldives economy and is the source of over 66.67 per cent of foreign currency into the country. Moreover, any job creation and revenue generation are directly or indirectly dependent on tourism and both China and Italy, which are severely hit by the deadly outbreak are number one and number three respectively source markets for Maldives' tourists. However, since arrivals from both the countries have been restricted, Maldives is experiencing serious shortfall in foreign currency earning, which is estimated to be $450 million.

Solih said, If the foreign currency shortfall continues, it will have a detrimental impact on the Maldives economy, which has an extremely high dependency on imports. The revenue and foreign currency shortfall are also seriously hampering the Governments ability to respond to COVID-19 rapidly.

The decline means serious shortage in total Government revenue. Current estimates show that if tourist arrivals continue to decline, Maldives will be looking at a shortfall in Government revenue between USD 135.9 million and USD 446.6 million this year. , he added.

Read - Pak PM's Aide To Participate In SAARC Video Conference On Coronavirus

PM Modi also elaborated on India's approach to the outbreak which has rocked the world since December 2019 and stated that the guiding mantra has been to prepare but do not panic. PM Modi also applauded the knee-jerk reactions along with proactive steps taken by the authorities. PM Modi also acknowledged that India had started screening the international arrivals by mid-January itself and gradually increased the travel restrictions. According to Modi, the step-by-step approach has helped the authorities to not create any panic while developing multiple facilities for pan-India testing of the fatal virus.

Read - BIG: SAARC Video Conference On Coronavirus To Be Held On March 15; PM Modi To Lead India

Read - Pakistan Accepts PM Modi's Joint SAARC Strategy Proposal On COVID-19
Cathy Bernal and Kevin Wright, a social worker and an IT director respectively, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Venice Performing Arts Center in Florida, on March 14, 2020. (Linda Lee/The Epoch Times)

VENICE, Fla.For five thousand years, Chinese civilization thrived on divinely-inspired beliefs and cultural practices that led to inventions and innovations that made it a mystical, artistic, and technological powerhouse. But then, it was almost lost to the ravages of an authoritarian regime. Today, Shen Yun Performing Arts is breathing new life into the beauty and artistry of traditional Chinese culture, a fact that Florida theatergoers Kevin Wright and Cathy Bernal are grateful for.

I really like the colors and the acrobatics, said Wright, who works as a director in the field of information technology. The combination of everything is beautiful. The music is really well put together. The choreography is amazing. And the comedy elements in there as well are very nice.

Wright attended New York-based Shen Yun with Bernal on March 14, 2020, at the Venice Performing Arts Center in Florida.

[Shen Yun] feels like going to a totally different culture, Bernal, a social worker, said. The environment is just beautiful. The music, the costumes. I loved the perfection. It feels so perfect, all the moments, and also the expressions of the dancers is very emotional. So, I love it.

Wright said he didnt think he could explain it better than Bernal did, but added, Each scene is different. You can tell all the costumes andtheres so much time put into it. It looks beautiful when its all together.

Soulful Storytelling Transcends Boundaries

Of Shen Yuns roughly 20 vignettes, classical Chinese dance is the primary medium used to portray stories as well as ethnic and folk dances. To create the most colorful, memorable performance that they can, Shen Yuns artists choose stories drawn from Chinas many dynasties and legends and even from present-day events going on in the country.

I loved the stories. You can see not only the aesthetics but also the meaning behind the stories. And I think its just amazing how theres no words, but you can feel the meaning behind it. So, beautiful, Bernal said.

As for the spiritual component to the performance, Bernal pointed out the way the unique artistry expresses Chinas soul.

Yes, theres a connection, as I said. There is no need for words. The music, the expressions in the dance, all the emotion put into the movement, it really shows the meaning and that human connection. So, there is no need for words, she said.

I agree, Wright added, but one thing we were talking about was, there is this connection between cross-culture pieces, where you have pieces [in Shen Yun] like Mongolia, where you have this cowboy theme going. And there is that in America as well in different parts. We have many things in common.

The effort of Shen Yuns artists to restore authentic Chinese culture to the world is a welcome one for the pair.

Yes. I think this is good for all generations, Wright said. I liked that [they] put some more newer events and political issues that are still going on. The scenes set in modern times illustrate Chinas traditional values, albeit in an unfortunate context. In China today, those who wish to practice their faith in the divine are persecuted.

Thats a part of history that should be taught, Wright added. I think its good. You need all the sides to show the history from everywhere and its shown well. Its nice.

Bernal had the last word and Wright agreed with her eloquent insights.

[Shen Yun] really transcends, she said. As we said, its cross-cultural. The spiritual part is not only about religion, because theres so many different religions [depicted in the performance], there is a human spiritual component that we can all relate to, and I think it is very well expressed in the pieces.

With reporting by Linda Lee and Brett Featherstone.

The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time and has covered audience reactions since the companys inception in 2006.
Passengers on another Princes Cruises ship have been prevented from disembarking over the novel coronavirus, this time off the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand, Canterbury District Health Board (DHB) officials confirmed at a news conference Sunday.

The big picture: New Zealand has introduced some of the world's toughest border restrictions to combat the virus.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Saturday New Zealand had banned all cruise ships from entering the country until June 30 and all travelers coming from abroad must self-isolate for 14 days upon their arrival.

One of three passengers quarantined aboard the Golden Princess, docked at Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula, is being treated as a suspected coronavirus case after displaying symptoms, a Canterbury DHB official said. The other two had been in contact with the patient in the past two weeks.

Of note: Princess Cruises, owned by Carnival, announced Thursday that it's pausing global operations for two months in response to the outbreak.

Its Diamond Princess ship saw one of the first major outbreaks of the virus outside of China when it docked at Japan in January, with some 700 passengers infected and several deaths from the virus reported.

Go deeper: Princess Cruises to pause operations for 2 months due to coronavirus

Editor's note: This article has been updated with more details and context.
On Legal Tools in Enforcing "Community Quarantines"

More at: https://pinglacson.net/2020/03/15/on-legal-tools-in-enforcing-community-quarantines/

As the "community quarantine" to address the COVID-19 threat starts, the Philippine National Police should exercise caution in handling the situation.

Republic Act 9271, the Quarantine Act of 2004 - replacing a very old Republic Act 123 of 1947 - is silent on the movements of persons in the streets as it only covers domestic and international seaports and airports.

Hence, law enforcement authorities may not be legally equipped to conduct arrest unless local ordinances are available for its enforcement.

For its part, Congress may need to amend R.A. 9271 to adopt to this new normal, the COVID-19, and God knows what else would come to hit us in the future. Hopefully we've seen the last of its kind even as we pray that cure will come sooner than soon.

Having said that, the people are enjoined to fully cooperate. After all, these are extraordinary times that call for extraordinary measures.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 15

Trend:

Taking into account that COVID-19 infection is widespread in the world and urgent measures are being taken in this regard on a global scale, including the declared state of emergency in some countries, we strongly recommend the Azerbaijani citizens to refrain from foreign visits and carry out these visits only in cases of urgent need, Trend reports citing MFA press service.

We ask our citizens to familiarize themselves with the information provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) in this regard and to follow the WHO recommendations in order to protect themselves from novel Coronavirus.

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public

The Government of Azerbaijan has been taking serious measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and the information on these measures to ensure the health of all our citizens, whether in Azerbaijan or abroad, is regularly circulated by the Operative Headquarter of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

We ask our citizens in foreign countries to comply with the quarantine rules on the spread of COVID-19 established by the countries where they are currently, to follow the information provided by the Embassies and Consulates of the Republic of Azerbaijan in these countries, and to contact our diplomatic missions for any problems they may face. The hotlines of our diplomatic missions operate in this regard. Our citizens can also contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan by the following e-mail address: [email protected]

The addresses of all Embassies and Consulates of the Republic of Azerbaijan abroad are posted on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan (www.mfa.gov.az). Citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan permanently or temporarily residing and staying abroad are recommended to register with the consular department of diplomatic missions to receive the necessary assistance in emergency situations and other threats.

In connection with the danger of the spread of COVID-19, mutual visits of the Republic of Azerbaijan and other countries with air and land routes are temporarily suspended. In this regard, information on the mechanisms of returning to the country of our citizens who are abroad and want to return to Azerbaijan will be brought to their attention. Our citizens returning from the countries where COVID-19 infection is spread will be examined and, if necessary, will be kept in quarantine for 14-28 days.

The difficulties we face are temporary, and to overcome them it is necessary that each of us is mobilized and follow certain rules.
At Vincent Middle School, students missed so much class time due to false-alarm bomb and other threats in the past few weeks that administrators extended the school day by 30 minutes on Friday  the last day of school before spring break.

Fortunately, these threats were bogus, Principal Missy Gimble explained to parents in a letter sent home the day before. However, this has interrupted teaching and learning significantly.

Vincent logged 12 instances of terroristic threats, a category that includes bomb threats, so far this school year, according to Beaumont ISD statistics produced on Saturday.

The false alarms continued despite Superintendent Shannon Allens beseeching parents a week and a half ago to talk with their children about the seriousness of making threats. That outreach came after a number of threats and scares at BISD campuses in recent weeks, starting with one that led to the evacuation of Vincent and a lockout at Amelia.

Related: BISD Super: talk to children about the dangers of threats

Those actions were prompted by threats written on a restroom stall regarding a possible explosive device, the district said through a spokeswoman. Subsequent incidents appear to be copy-cat, officials told The Enterprise.

Karen Wallace, who has a child at Vincent and one at neighboring Amelia Elementary, said more notice about Fridays extended school hours would have helped.

We as parents dont mind making up the missed time, but one days notice is not enough for some of us who have jobs, Wallace said. Lets say they still dismiss, by hall, after staying till 4:35. That means it will take till 4:50 till I can pick up my son, So I will not make it home till 5.

She added, In my opinion theyre trying to make it a punishment not only for the students, but parents as well. The good suffer for the bad.

Wallace said there was another incident at Amelia on Friday, as administrators from districts across the region met to discuss preparations for the COVID-19.

BISD did not respond to requests for details about that incident.

Related: Lockdown lifted at Beaumont middle, elementary schools after bomb threat

But officials have said arrests were made in relation to the first incident, and that the district worked in conjunction with multiple agencies including the BISD and Beaumont police departments, the Beaumont Fire Marshals Office, Texas Department of Public Safety, the FBI and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Details on the arrests were not released, and there was no word on whether the incidents are related.

Vincent was eventually cleared, and the lockout at Amelia lifted, but additional threats came the following day.

Top hits: Get Beaumont Enterprise stories sent directly to your inbox

With the frequency of threats increasing, parents like Wallace said they dont feel safe sending their kids to school.

I didnt send my son today as well as a lot of other parents for fear that all the threats are leading up to something, she said. The school is not available to answer the phone or talk to parents some of the day as they are breaking up fights or dealing with these really disrespectful children.

Other parents agreed, calling the situation ridiculous.

A similar threat scrawled on the stall of a bathroom at Vidor High School at the beginning of the year caused similar disruptions, with threats at schools in the Evadale and Hardin-Jefferson districts shutting down schools around the same time.

isaac.windes@hearstnp.com

twitter.com/isaacdwindes
In this peculiar new Ireland of empty supermarket shelves and panic-buying, the food on our tables has never seemed more relevant, writes John Daly.

While the uncertainty around Brexit might have been the key concern of just a month ago, it has quickly moved to the back row as the impact of Covid-19 becomes the single key challenge facing all businesses in the food and drink sector.

In a world where food provenance will become consumers primary concern, Irelands world status in sustainability and quality will surely see the industry emerge a winner when the current crisis passes.

On the supply chain side, there may be knock-on delays to inputs sourced from abroad such as ingredients and packaging. Delays in exporting may also be a consideration, particularly exports to markets where travel and movement is restricted, said Owen McFeely, director of retail and consumer practice at PwC Ireland.

On the upside, many Irish food and drink companies have done their Brexit planning and have been ready for potential disruption.

This planning is now standing to businesses as they are able to quickly mobilise their Covid-19 contingency plans, said Mr McFeely.

With increased Brexit certainty at the end of last year, many companies had planned significant capital investment for 2020, which had been on hold during the negotiations.

However, the uncertainty of Covid-19 will challenge the industry and force a reassessment of 2020 plans, said Mr McFeely.

Another issue is the potential impact on employees and their health, including the knock-on effect of absenteeism. Due to the nature of the industry, working from home may not be an option for many Irish food and drink companies as it is for other sectors.

In the longer term, you have the wider impact of an economic downturn and its associated impact on consumer confidence. There is a high degree of uncertainty with regards to this and we can only continue to assess the situation on an ongoing basis, said Mr McFeely.

While Irish SME food companies are optimistic about their growth prospects, they are less certain about the future performance of the economy, according to recent research by PwC and Love Irish Food.

With the vast majority focusing on the home market for growth, expansion into export markets is an area for potential development. Notwithstanding the current Covid-19 restrictions, eight-out-of-10 Irish food companies had expected revenue growth in 2020, of which a third anticipated revenue growth in excess of 10%.

With up to a third of owners having delayed investment over the last three years due to Brexit uncertainty, their current optimism is underscored by plans for capital investment in 2020, of which one in 10 indicated would be in excess of 3m.

The markets with the greatest potential for the Irish food and drink sector include the local Irish market with our research showing that Irish consumers have a preference for shopping local, said Mr McFeely.

International markets, including the more mature UK, EU, and US along with the growing Asia and African economies, continue to provide export opportunities for Ireland. That said, the effects of Covid-19 on exports to some of these markets may be impacted in the short term as movement and consumer demand are affected.

However, with strong trade relationships built up over many years, trade will quickly pick up again as we emerge from the current crisis. Whilst the current crisis will challenge the industry in the short-term, a return to more normal trading conditions will ultimately occur as the world tackles and deals with Covid 19, said Mr McFeely.

A stunning Irish success story  and one that will still be enjoyed in many places over St Patricks Day  is Jameson Irish Whiskey, now in double- and triple-digit growth in more than 70 markets across the world.

It continues to spearhead the renaissance of the Irish whiskey category with the brand achieving its 30th year of consecutive growth, selling 7.7m cases in 2018/19, up from 7.3m cases the previous year.

Jameson is quickly becoming a truly global brand, said Conor McQuaid, chairman and chief executive of Irish Distillers.

In the US, the Irish whiskey category sold 4.5m nine-litre cases in 2018, with sales of Jameson representing 78% of total Irish whiskey sales.

In those local bars that are Irish owned or themed, bar staff took Jameson to their hearts and were instrumental in introducing customers to the brand and spreading the word  and you really cant get a greater endorsement than that.

He added that the popularity of Jameson in the US was the tailwind to the global renaissance of Irish whiskey, and Jameson in particular, over the last 30 years.

Another Irish brand with significant export potential is Five Farms Irish Cream, a farm-to-table product crafted from single batches of West Cork cream combined with premium Irish whiskey.

In a joint US-Irish venture between McCormick Distilling Company in Missouri, one of the oldest distilleries in the US, all of the ingredients are sourced and produced from five family-owned farms in the Barryroe area, all of which are located in a single cluster.

The people from McCormick who came over were so impressed to see the land and cows feeding out in the open, most of their set-ups have cows feeding inside on the likes of maize, said group spokesman Laurence Sexton.

Its great to see grass-fed milk regarded as premium. Thats our advantage  being capable of having cows out on grass for up to 300 days a year.
Hong Kong: Quarantine measures strengthened

The Department of Health today announced that health quarantine arrangements on inbound travellers from overseas will be further extended in response to the latest global COVID-19 situation.

Following the Government's announcement of the Red Outbound Travel Alert (OTA) issued on Ireland, the UK and the US, the Department of Health will strengthen health quarantine arrangements on people arriving from these countries as well as Egypt, of which a red OTA is in force.

From midnight on March 19, the department's Port Health Division will issue compulsory home quarantine orders to people arriving in Hong Kong who have been to Ireland, the UK, the US and Egypt in the past 14 days, regardless of whether they are Hong Kong residents.

Meanwhile, quarantine measures announced earlier for people arriving in the city who have been to Korea, Iran, Hokkaido in Japan and the Schengen Area in Europe in the past 14 days remain unchanged.

In the past two weeks, 26 out of 46 confirmed cases of the virus in Hong Kong were imported cases, while seven other cases involved patients visiting places outside the city during part of the incubation period, the Government said.

It urged members of the public to avoid all non-essential travel.

If it is unavoidable to travel, people should wear surgical masks and continue to do so for 14 days upon their return to Hong Kong.

This story has been published on: 2020-03-15. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
US President Donald Trump (C, pictured with members of the Coronavirus Task Force at the White House) reportedly is trying to poach German scientists working on an experimental vaccine against the virus

The United States and Germany are vying to produce an exclusive vaccine against the coronavirus which is being developed in a German laboratory, Die Welt daily reported Saturday

According to the paper, US President Donald Trump is trying to poach German scientists working on an experimental vaccine against a global health threat that has now killed some 5,500 people with a view to having an exclusive licence rolled out in the United States.

Such a vaccine would be "only for the United States," a source close to the German government told Die Welt, though Berlin would reportedly is looking to make offers of its own to biotech firm CureVac, based in the German state of Thuringia.

The company, founded in 2000, has other sites in Frankfurt and Boston.

The firm markets itself as specialising in "development of treatments against cancer, antibody-based therapies, treatment of rare illnesses and prophylactic vaccines."

The lab is currently working in tandem with the Paul-Ehrlich Institute, linked to the German ministry of health.

It specialises in vaccine research.

"The German government is very interested in having the development of vaccines and active substances against the novel coronavirus undertaken in Germany and Europe," a health ministry spokesman told Die Welt, adding that the government was in "intensive" talks with CureVac.

As CureVac CEO, Daniel Menichella found himself invited on March 2 to the White House to meet with Trump, his vice-president Mike Pence and representatives of pharma companies working on how to respond to the pandemic, the company revealed on its website without indicating if financial offers had been put on the table.

"We are very confident that we will be able to develop a potent vaccine candidate within a few months," CureVac quoted Menichellawho has since given way to founder and incoming CEO Ingmar Hoerras saying following his Washington visit.

Explore further Health officials tell Donald Trump that coronavirus vaccine is at least a year away

 2020 AFP
For the first time, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders wont be sharing a debate stage with several other opponents.

The two rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination will go head-to-head, one on one.

The former vice president and the senator from Vermont will square off in a debate at 8 p.m. tonight. It will be broadcast live on CNN and Univision. Youll also be able to watch the debate on CNNs website, which will stream it live.

Biden, a native of Scranton, has surged in recent weeks and holds a lead in the delegates needed to secure the nomination. After winning several states on Super Tuesday, Biden followed up by winning four more primary contests last week.

Hes also picked up endorsements from some of his former rivals for the nomination, including Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Andrew Yang. Biden has made the argument that hes the candidate that can bring the Democratic party together and also appeal to moderates and is best suited to take on President Donald Trump.

Sanders stressed last week that hes staying in the contest even as Biden has seized the momentum in the race. Sanders also touted the endorsement of the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. He insists his Medicare for All plan is a necessity to help 87 million Americans who are uninsured or underinsured. He has also noted sharp differences with Biden in their policies in the past.

A typical debate would likely focus on the economy, health care and immigration and those topics are bound to come up. But its a virtual certainty that Biden and Sanders will be talking about the coronavirus pandemic that has altered American life.

It will be several weeks before Pennsylvania voters get to cast their ballots in the Pennsylvania primary on April 28. The Pennsylvania primary is typically too late in the primary season to have a meaningful say in nominating presidential candidates. But analysts say theres chance the Keystone State primary could be significant this year.

CNNs Jake Tapper and Dana Bash and Univisions Ilia Calderon will moderate the debate.

Text PennLive to 717-745-7532 to sign up to have breaking news and essential updates about the coronavirus delivered right to your mobile device. Data and messaging rates may apply.

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Coronavirus and closing businesses: Gov. Tom Wolf is urging but not forcing it

Bad times raise the leadership bar; Gov. Wolf is meeting it | John Baer
John Scalzi | AP

U.S. state officials like Gov. J.B. Pritzker are upset that federal agents have created huge lines and crowds at U.S. airports as Americans return from vacations in Europe. And he says the U.S. airports are going to see even worse problems on that front Sunday because there are even more flights returning.

He tells ABCs This Week that the federal government should have known when President Donald Trump gave the orders that European travel back to the United States was going to be cut off, that there would be influx of people.
TWIN FALLS

As states surrounding Idaho reported more cases of COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus, Gov. Brad Littles office created a Coronavirus Working Group. On Friday, hours before the states first case was reported, Little declared a state of emergency.

But for Idahos Spanish-speaking communities, there is not yet a state-level plan to reach them specifically about COVID-19. The Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs told the Times-News on Tuesday that it has not been given specific instructions for reaching the Hispanic community from the Department of Health and Welfare or the governors office.

We have not been involved in that conversation, Margie Gonzalez, executive director of the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs, said. I am very interested in getting that information out to our community. We would love to carry out that order if its given.

The commission is visiting Gooding County and will be in the Magic Valley until Tuesday, but it will not be bringing informational material with it. The Department of Health and Welfare has been in touch with public health districts about the potential of bringing the Commission on Hispanic Affairs on board to translate and coordinate outreach should the need arise.

A comprehensive plan, in addition to the coronavirus website created by the governors office that is available in multiple languages, will be finalized in the coming weeks, the governors office said.

Thats always the risk, Marissa Morrison Hyer, spokeswoman for Gov. Little, said earlier this week before a case was confirmed here. Idaho has been preparing as best as it can. A case is inevitable, but Idaho is prepared.

The South Central Public Health District, which covers the Magic Valley, is using its infectious disease plan among others to mitigate the potential spread of the virus, which includes translating informational material to Spanish and disseminating it with the help of community members.

We rely on community members to reach out to us if there are gaps because they know their friends and neighbors better than anyone, Brianna Bodily, spokeswoman for the South Central Public Health District, said. We dont want to miss anybody.

La Perrona, the Jerome-based Spanish radio station, will on Monday give away a box of supplies, including hand soap, hand sanitizer, face masks and a six-pack of Corona  for respite in the event of self-quarantine, the station said on Facebook  to one listener. It has also been keeping listeners updated as more information becomes available.

A part of (Latino) culture is taking something morbid and making light of it, said Ben Reed, host of La Perrona. But in no way do we want to minimize whats going on. Were trying to get the word out there and keep people informed on cancellations.

Reed is bringing on epidemiologists and other health professionals on air to talk about the virus. He has not heard directly from the health district, but hes received its press releases. Magic Valley school districts have asked him to help spread information to a Spanish-speaking audience.

Lee Family Broadcasting, which broadcasts La Perrona, LatinX 97.5 and La Patrona, is continuously discussing how to keep the public informed, Reed said.

Every single day we have a coronavirus segment, Reed said. I also air news programs from Mexico to try and get a global perspective.

The health district is relying on its Spanish-speaking staff to work with the community and to translate material. It is taking measures to avoid the misunderstanding of material translated by staff members who are not certified medical translators.

One of the ways we do this is we use common language, Bodily said. We dont use a lot of jargon and overcomplicate the information. We talk like humans, basically.

It also has a contracted translation service staffed with certified translators in any language that is spoken in the Magic Valley.

Bodily said anyone suspecting they are infected with COVID-19 should call their health care provider first before going out to a hospital or lab to seek testing in order to minimize the risk of infecting others. The public health district also has a hotline for COVD-19 questions that can be reached at 208-737-1138.

Whatever language you speak, we are here to answer your questions, Bodily said. We will make sure we have an answer for you.

Megan Taros is a Times-News reporter and Report for America corps member covering the Magic Valleys Hispanic community and Jerome County. You can support her work by donating to Report for America at http://bit.ly/supportRFA.
Reading, PA (19601)

Today

Mostly sunny and bitterly cold. It will feel like it's in the single digits and low teens..

Tonight

Partly cloudy and extremely cold. Wind chills around or below 0 degrees.
Paris Texas, an award-winning bar and restaurant on High Street in Kilkenny is closing due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

"At Paris Texas Bar & Restaurants we have tired, successfully (we hope), to comply with all the recommendations of the HSE Ireland to ensure the safety of our staff and customers.

Given the scale of the Covid19 pandemic, these measures are not enough to guarantee the safety of you, our loyal customers, our staff or their families.

This situation leaves us with only one choice, to close Paris Texas Bar & Restaurant for a minimum of two weeks in line with government recommendations (currently the 29th of March).

We will close our doors from seven tomorrow evening, Sunday the 15th of March.

We appreciate the fantastic support we have had from all of our customers, staff and suppliers.

Stay safe and we will keep you posted."
The Trump administration is struggling to win back the confidence of hospital leaders after three years of pitched battles, with the industry pushing for urgent help from the White House as the coronavirus crisis begins to swamp emergency rooms.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma on Friday announced new moves to roll back industry regulations, two days after hospitals pled their case to Verma in a White House meeting that left many unsatisfied. Among the changes: Streamlined deployment of doctors, fewer time-consuming inspections and less red tape around how hospitals run operations during a crisis.

It gives hospitals and providers on the front lines the maximum flexibility so that they can focus on patients that need help, Verma said on Fox and Friends on Saturday. The American Hospital Association hailed the moves as a solid step.

But hospital leaders say that the new announcements only touch the surface of their needs, as they worry about shortages of crucial supplies, risks to their workers and the possibility of an industry bailout as coronavirus patients swarm their facilities. An expert on an American Hospital Association webinar last month predicted as many as 1.9 million ICU admissions from the coronavirus outbreak over the next few months, swamping existing facilities. There are only about 100,000 ICU beds across the U.S. health system.

Meanwhile, the cost of care for some severely ill coronavirus patients has already been estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, as hospitals deploy significant measures to keep the patients alive while protecting their own workers against infection. At least three hospital systems in Seattle, the center of the nation's most extensive outbreak, have already announced a halt on elective procedures in order to devote more resources toward the coronavirus patients already swarming their facilities.

I think there will be hospitals that could be pushed to the edge financially, said Chip Kahn, head of the for-profit Federation of American Hospitals, warning that hospitals will absorb a surge of coronavirus cases while postponing elective procedures that tend to be better for hospitals bottom lines. Some hospital leaders have quietly floated that theyll need federal funding to pay for rented hotels or other arrangements as their hospital wards are quickly overrun by the coronavirus outbreak.

Story continues

The risk of failure is severe: Public health experts have warned that the U.S. coronavirus outbreak, which is in its early days, could be on track to resemble the increasingly dire situation in Italy, where patients have overwhelmed that nations health system. Thats left hospitals calling for extreme measures from the White House and scrambling to prepare emergency steps of their own while they wait for a response.

But in the face of the looming crisis, hospital executives said that leaders were underwhelmed by their Wednesday meeting with Verma, who spent much of the hour-long session taking notes but failed to calm industry fears about swamped emergency rooms and medical supply shortages, according to three individuals with direct knowledge of the meeting. Vice President Mike Pence briefly joined the meeting but departed to join other officials as they worked to prepare the president for his Oval Office address.

For our guys, it did not scream confidence, said one individual briefed on the meeting. We came out of it with bigger questions about whether the administration has done its homework to protect the supply chain, as hospitals try to stock up on masks, swabs and other key materials that could quickly become hard to find, said another individual.

Kenneth Raske, president of the Greater New York Hospital Association, compared the current situation to a World War II mentality, where were going to have to put extra shifts on in manufacturing and get this stuff out the door.

The only one that can do that is the federal government, and we need the president and vice president to make a priority of that, he said.

Kahn, who was among the attendees at Wednesdays meeting, praised Verma but put responsibility for the administrations slow start on the White House, contending that federal health officials had to wait for authorization to get started on a series of initiatives.

But hospital leaders havent had time alone with President Donald Trump  even as leaders of other health sectors, like the insurance industry, the pharma industry and the lab industry, have been granted extended face-to-face meetings with the president and Pence.

CMS didn't respond to questions about the meeting with Verma, but defended its efforts to engage the hospital industry.

A spokesperson pointed to a new weekly call to brief hospitals on coronavirus  with the first call with FDA Commissioner Steve Hahn drawing more than 1,600 listeners  and other steps to build closer ties.

"CMS created a strategic working group with the American Hospital Association and the Federation of American Hospitals which began meeting last Monday," a spokesperson said, adding that the group included a "small number" of hospital CEOs.

"We believe that for the health system to respond adequately to the coronavirus, the entire health system must be engaged," the spokesperson added.

The tensions between hospitals and the Trump administration have persisted for years.

The hospital industry went to war with the White House in 2017 over Trumps efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, saying that rolling back the sweeping health law would harm patients and do damage to their bottom lines. Theyve continued that fight as Trump has tried to strike down the law in court, with American Hospital Association CEO Rick Pollack calling the position misguided.

Hospitals also have fought over numerous Medicaid changes spearheaded by Verma, including a new fiscal accountability proposal that would tighten hospitals ability to collect Medicaid funding. Hospitals currently use a variety of financial arrangements to pump up their Medicaid revenue, such as supporting state taxes that allow them to draw down even more money in federal matching funds. Verma has called the arrangements industry-friendly gimmicks and wants to do away with them.

Hospitals were already concerned about the rule  and moreso with coronavirus staring them in the face, said Joel McElvain, a partner in King & Spaldings health care group whos represented hospitals in lawsuits against the administration. McElvain warned that states would need to come up with new financial arrangements to support hospitals if the rule, a top priority for Verma, is finalized during the coronavirus outbreak.

Its a time when rural hospitals are already struggling and facing real difficulty if worst-case scenarios come true in the coming weeks, McElvain said.

Meanwhile, hospitals have spent years fighting back against a slew of Trump administration funding cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and public health initiatives. Among Trumps most recent proposals: an $18 million cut to the federal health departments own hospital preparedness program, announced just last month, on the eve of the coronavirus outbreak.

The hospital preparedness program exists so hospitals prepare for this exact thing, said a former HHS official. The whole point is to prepare them so they can respond to all hazards - from hurricanes to pandemics to biological attacks.

While Trumps battles with the pharmaceutical industry have gotten considerable headlines, some of his aides have believed that hospitals were a larger problem, citing the costs that ever-larger systems have passed along to patients and pointing to policies that they say gamed the system. They also havent agreed with hospitals warnings that their bottom lines have suffered under this administration.

The argument is so ridiculous, said Brian Blase, who advised Trump on health policy before leaving the White House last year. I dont think there are a lot of policies that came out that took revenue away from hospitals, he added, noting that hospitals successfully sued to block Trumps billion-dollar cut to a drug-discount program and other regulations opposed by hospitals have been similarly stalled.

Amid the historic public health threat, hospital officials are loath to renew a public battle too and criticize the administration.

We have been very clear that we have had serious concerns with a number of other policies from the Administration, including the issues of Medicaid expansion and cuts to hospital outpatient department visits, a spokesperson for the American Hospital Association told POLITICO. Right now, of course, our focus is on working with the government and other stakeholders at all levels to address the current emergency.

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams speaks in the briefing room of the White House in Washington, Monday, March 9, 2020, about the coronavirus outbreak. Standing behind Adams are Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, from left, Vice President Mike Pence and Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Seema Verma. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

But some hospital leaders did express frustration on Saturday after Surgeon General Jerome Adams warned that hospitals may need to postpone elective surgeries to handle the crush of coronavirus patients.

Hospital & healthcare systems, PLEASE CONSIDER STOPPING ELECTIVE PROCEDURES until we can #FlattenTheCurve! Adams tweeted on Saturday, adding that such procedures could further the coronavirus spread, tax medical stockpiles and put further pressure on doctors and nurses.

The message from the nations top doctor was seen as alarmist and premature, worrying hospital officials that it would prompt patients to postpone crucial care. I do think its unfortunate what the surgeon general said, said Kahn, adding that he hoped Adams and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who similarly warned of the need to cancel some procedures, would walk back their statements. I dont think were anywhere near a point where we know we would have to do something like that.

The coronavirus outbreak has served as justification of hospitals yearslong warnings over federal policies that the industry saw as hamstringing their finances and preparedness, executives said. Now, the same government that sought to cut pay rates and layer on new regulations is relying on hospitals as the nations chief defense against the pandemic.

Governments tend to, on a day-to-day basis, underestimate the importance of the health care community and look at it not so much as an economic contribution as an economic deficit, Raske said, emphasizing that the attitude extends well beyond the Trump administration. That tendency hits reality in a crisis.

Hospital leaders also have warned about the dearth of ventilators to treat the sickest patients  an issue that Verma has failed to directly address in multiple interviews, including being grilled by Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Friday night over whether hospitals will have enough.

"You know, Tucker, I don't want to make drastic predictions here, right?" Verma said. "Because this situation is changing every single day. And based on the information we have, we know that we have to be aggressive," she added, touting yesterday's moves to increase flexibility for hospitals and relax regulations.

That was one of the most incompetent and absolutely incoherent responses to whats going on right now, Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota infectious-disease expert, told Carlson a few minutes later.

CMS did not directly respond to questions about whether there is a dearth of ventilators.

Meanwhile, hospital executives have noted the dark irony of Washingtons sudden focus on mass treatment capacity after years of efforts to crack down on hospital reimbursement prompted providers to shrink their facilities.

Im really worried about how, when this finally blows over, what Congress does, said one lobbyist. Are we actually going to learn from this?

We love hospitals, countered Blase, Trumps former health policy adviser. Hospitals are going to be at the front lines of this and have an enormous job. But there shouldnt be policies that give them advantages they shouldnt have.


Blood banks at Kenyas public hospitals are dangerously understocked, forcing many patients to ask for donations themselves.

According to World Health Organization guidelines, a country like Kenya with 47 million people should be collecting up to a million units of blood every year.

Yet on average, only about 164,000 units are collected, mostly from schools and universities.

Doctors say blood is also running low because many Kenyans are reluctant to donate, mainly because of cultural and religious reasons as well as personal fears.

US funding for transfusion services was pulled last year.

Al Jazeeras Catherine Soi reports from Nairobi, Kenya.
The Trinamool Congress on Sunday said it will appeal to the West Bengal State Election Commission for deferring the upcoming civic polls in view of



the COVID-19 crisis.

"Elections will come and go but must take a back seat when society is faced with such a threat," it said in a statement issued late in the evening.

The All India Trinamool Congress will appeal to the State Election Commission of West Bengal to defer the upcoming municipal/corporation elections in light of the COVID-19 crisis, it said.

"We urge all political parties to join hands and fight this together," the statement added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A total of 218 Indians, including 211 students, stranded in coronavirus-hit Italy have arrived in India, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said.

He further said all of them will be quarantined for 14 days.

"218 Indians including 211 students from Milan landed in Delhi. All will be quarantined for 14 days. GoI is committed to reach out to Indians in distress, wherever they are!," Muraleedharan tweeted.

"Appreciate Govt. of Italy for their support and team @IndiainItaly @cgmilan1 @airindiain @DrSJaishankar," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Few hours after the Health Ministry announced Saturday nine new coronavirus cases, the Ministry of Transport issued a statement saying that the head of the department Abdelkader Amara has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.

Abdelkader Amara, the first member of the Moroccan cabinet to test positive for the novel coronavirus, had paid a working visit to Hungary March 9 to 11.

Hungary has confirmed 30 cases of the coronavirus as of Saturday evening.

On Thursday, March 12, Amara attended the weekly government cabinet meeting.

Later, after he felt some symptoms such as abnormal fatigue and a headache, he took a test for COVID-19. The test came back positive.

Amara tweeted Saturday that he was not suffering severe symptoms and was able to continue his duties.

In accordance with medical instructions, the minister will be isolated at home with his spouse and son for 14 days. He will be working from home.

With the Ministers infection, the number of cases recorded in the country since March 2 amounts to 18.

According to the Health Ministrys tally announced before Amaras case, 11 of those infected with the virus are Moroccan while six are French. They include 10 men and 7 women.

The average age of the infected persons is 51 years, with a baby of 9 months as the youngest case and an 89-year-old lady as the oldest, The oldest woman passed away on March 10.

All the persons who tested positive to the virus in Morocco came from abroad. Actually, eight of the nine new cases reported Saturday are Moroccan expatriates living in Spain (4 cases), Italy (3 cases) and France (1 case), who arrived in Morocco between February 24 and March 12. The ninth case, a Moroccan woman, was infected by her husband who lives abroad.

Morocco took several precautionary measures to prevent further spread of the virus, suspending flights to and out of the country with a number of countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, as well as Canada and Brazil. All passenger ship traffic was also suspended.

Morocco has also cancelled several trade, cultural, and sporting events as well as religious festivals (Moussems) and decided to close schools and universities starting from Monday March 16.
15.03.2020 LISTEN

The World Health Organization (WHO), I strongly believe, has done its possible best regarding the outbreak of the COVID-19, by subjecting it as " Pandemic" and recommending possible measures to all countries.

It strongly appears that the government of Ghana has been lukewarmic, if not extremely passive about this deadly disease.

Most scientists in the country also seem not be much concerned about it; despite their quest of preaching their adage, "prevention is better than cure". Those suggestions by the Ministry of Health appear so weak and will only help at the micro (individual) level.

What I believe we must do as a country is to close all borders and restrict all international, and if possible regional travels.

Internally, just as most meetings, events and gatherings have been cancelled or suspended, I unequivocally call on the Ministry of Education and Heads of Schools to suspend all academic and non-academic activities to help reduce/prevent the number of likely recorded and suspected cases.

We must know that, this "Pandemic Disease" is closer than we can imagine, and everyone is at risk.

Our lives are far significant and precious than the educational endeavours and examinations we are eagerly seeking for, despite the outbreak of the COVID-19.

Let's act now. It's now or never!!!

Author: Theophilus Quaicoe

Global Peace Ambassador, Ghana.

E-mail: [email protected]
Photo credit: Chris Jackson - Getty Images

From Harper's BAZAAR

The Queen and other members of the royal family are cancelling travel plans in light of coronavirus.

The monarch, 93, has postponed trips to Cheshire and Camden that were planned for later this month due to the ongoing spread of the virus, calling it a sensible precaution.

Photo credit: Neil Mockford - Getty Images

A press release from Buckingham Palace read: 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. Audiences will continue as usual. Other events will be reviewed on an ongoing basis in line with the appropriate advice.

The queen was due to visit Jodrell Bank Observatory and Square Kilometre Array Global Headquarters in Macclesfield as well as Bentley Motors Factory in Crewe on 19th March. Later, she was due to visit Camden in London on the 26th.

The news comes at the same time Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles cancel overseas visits to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus and Jordan, which were scheduled from 17th to 25th March.

Photo credit: WPA Pool - Getty Images

Clarence House issued a similar statement, saying: 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.

As of Thursday (12th), Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared the UK was entering the delay phase of its four-fold plan to tackle the spread of Covid-19.

In a press conference, he warned the government would be introducing social restrictions such as imposing a seven-day self isolation for those who have a persistent cough or other symptoms, and avoiding making contact with elderly people.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 15

Trend:

After the temporary suspension of passenger transportation by air and land between Azerbaijan and Turkey in accordance with the mutual agreement, Turkish Airlines and Azerbaijan Airlines operated flights on Istanbul-Baku route to evacuate Azerbaijani citizens from Turkey, Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers told Trend.

Moreover, Azerbaijan Airlines have launched charter flights to evacuate Azerbaijani citizens from Turkey in coming days as well.

The citizens wishing to return to Azerbaijan should get registered in the Azerbaijani embassy in Ankara or Consulate General in Istanbul, reads the message from the Operational Headquarters.

The advantage will be given to the following citizens:

- Those residing in Turkey temporarily

and for short-term;

- Using the territory of Turkey for transit purposes:

- Having AZAL tickets for the coming days;

- Elderly, sick persons and persons with young children.

The returnees will be screened and, if necessary, will be placed in 14-28-day quarantine.

The Operational Headquarters calls on all citizens to seriously observe the quarantine regime.
As Americans batten down the hatches and prepare to confront the coronavirus, many are turning to television as a source of comfort. But fans who tune in to watch the March 15 episode of When Calls the Heart will see a storyline that mirrors the current situation in some ways, as the residents of Hope Valley face the spread of a serious illness.

Hope Valley battles a chickenpox outbreak

Ava Cooper and Paul Greene in When Calls the Heart | 2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Ricardo Hubbs

In the WCTH episode Sweet and Sour, Elizabeth (Erin Krakow), Carson (Paul Greene), and Faith (Andrea Brooks) deal with an outbreak of chickenpox in Hope Valley. For nurse Faith, the spread of the illness and her dedication to her job ends ups jeopardizing her future. And when Rosemary (Pascale Hutton) falls ill, Leland (Kavan Smith) dedicates himself to caring for her.

Meanwhile, Gowen (Martin Cummins) is in the middle of a legal dispute, which concerns Lucas (Chris McNally), his silent partner. And Bill (Jack Wagner), the judge in the case, has to try to convince people to be on a jury.



Lucas and Nathan spar over Elizabeth

The competition between Lucas and Nathan (Kevin McGarry) for the affections of Elizabeth also appears to be heating up. In a preview for the episode, the saloon owner and the mountie are seen putting their difference aside to help keep Hope Valley safe. But its clear that they arent exactly best buddies.

As the two prepare to ride out of town, Nathan chastises Lucas for being late. He then hints that he knows the real reason he volunteered to help, implying that he just wants to impress Elizabeth. Lucas counters that he cares about the town, just like Nathan, though its clear theyre really talking about their feelings for the widowed schoolteacher. But they agree to put their feelings aside and for the greater good.

Lucas, despite our mutual feelings for the town, I appreciate the help, Nathan says.

In another clip from the upcoming episode, Nathan and Lucas have an awkward encounter with Elizabeth outside of the school, which appears to leave Elizabeth flustered.

Kevin McGarry talks about his onscreen rivalry with Chris McNally

Kevin McGarry in When Calls the Heart | 2020 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Ricardo Hubbs

The rivalry between Lucas and Nathan has loyal Hearties taking sides, with some hoping Elizabeth will settle down with the dashing saloon owner and others wanting to see her with another mountie after the death of her husband Jack.

Its fun to be part of something thats divided the fanbase, McGarry said during an appearance on Hallmarks Home & Family on March 13.

The fans may be divided, but has Elizabeth made her choice? Not yet. And Krakow has said that its hard for her to decide between the two men, as they both have good qualities. In Season 6, Nathan and Lucas start to make their feelings even more apparent and Elizabeth is left wondering how she will ever choose when the last thing she wants to do is hurt either of them, the actress told Kurt Manwaring in an email interview.

When Calls the Heart Season 7, Episode 4 airs Sunday, March 15 at 8/7c on Hallmark Channel.

Read more: When Calls the Heart Ratings: Nearly 3 Million People Watched Season 7 Premiere

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The Ministry of Labour is seeking to implement pandemic leave for all public officers, including those who are not eligible for sick leave, during the COVID-19 pandemic and parents who have no one to take care of their children during the mandatory closure of schools this week.
He is best known as Josh in Radio 4 soap The Archers, and most recently appeared as 'Creepy Jake' in Phoebe Waller-Bridge's TV comedy Fleabag.

Now, Angus Imrie, son of Calendar Girls actress Celia Imrie, has landed his biggest role to date: as Prince Edward in The Crown.

The hugely popular Netflix drama's fourth season covers the Thatcher years from 1979 to 1990, which Edward began as a 15-year-old schoolboy at Scottish public school Gordonstoun before going on to study at Cambridge University.

Crown role: Angus Imrie is pictured with his actress mother Celia

He later dropped out of the Royal Marines and worked for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Theatre Company when he dated actress Ruthie Henshall.

Imrie, 25, will appear in the new series alongside a number of other up-and-coming British actors, including The Durrells star Josh O'Connor as Prince Charles, Tom Byrne as Prince Andrew and Erin Doherty reprising her role from series three as Princess Anne.

Imrie has impeccable acting credentials, even if his family background is rather unorthodox. His mother Celia, 67, became known for her comedy work alongside the late comic Victoria Wood, and went on to star in hit movies such as Calendar Girls and Mamma Mia!

Angus was born when she was 42 after she struck an arrangement with his father, the late actor Benjamin Whitrow, to have a child.

In her 2011 memoir, Celia recalled meeting Whitrow, then a father-of-two who was separated from his wife. He had asked her if she was married; she, in return, talked of her desperation to have a child.

'Ben and I walked on the beach one day as I laid out my terms,' she wrote. As long as he understood I would not ask for anything, I wouldn't want to live with him, or marry him, would never ask for money for the child and I would be responsible for choosing and paying for the child's education, accommodation, clothing  everything.

'If Ben could take all that on board, I said, then his offer to fulfil my wish for a child would be wonderful. He has proved to be a marvellous father.'

After Whitrow's death in 2017, Celia revealed that they had, in fact, been in a romantic relationship.

Angus, who was educated at London public school Dulwich College and studied at Lamda, won the 2014 Spotlight Student Drama Festival Most Promising Actor award.
When women's comments are ignored during meetings, it's considered a microaggression. Source: Getty Images

Women are 89% more likely than men to report experiencing subtle discrimination known as microaggressions in the workplace, according to a new survey from Verizon Media.

The survey from Yahoo Finance parent Verizon (VZ) questioned 264 male and 223 female employees around the U.S. (not including Verizon employees) to better understand how workplace issues affect men and women differently. Women respondents were more likely to report facing certain barriers than men. They were less likely to feel their employers supported them professionally, or to agree that their workplaces offered flexibility for caregivers.

And notably, they were significantly more likely to say they faced gender-based microaggressions  with 17% of respondents reporting theyd faced this subtle discrimination. Thats compared to just 9% of men.

They add up over time

In a post-#MeToo era spurred by allegations against accused serial sexual predator Harvey Weinstein, microaggressions might not garner as much attention or alarm as more egregious harassment, unwanted advances, and even assault in the workplace. However, workplace microaggressions  unconscious or subtle bias against marginalized groups like racial minorities and women  can take a toll, even though they may not spur legal action.

The reason theyre called microaggressions is that theyre subtle, or smaller things, said L. Camille Hebert, a professor at the Ohio State Universitys College of Law, who specializes in employment matters. They still add up in the sense of ... they end up making women feel like they dont have a place in the workplace. ... They add up over time so they have some of the same effects on women as harassment does.

For those who might be unfamiliar with the term microaggressions, one common example that experts cite occurs when a female or a minority raises a point during a meeting that others in the meeting overlook. Later, when a white male colleague makes the same point, other colleagues may heap praise on the same sentiment that was just ignored. Or, as Hebert noted, perhaps a coworker or supervisor will ask a male employee about substantive, work-based subjects while inquiring about a female employees family.

For their part, Verizon Medias survey respondents offered examples such as being told they were too assertive. One respondent described these perceived microaggressions as small jabs, not thinking Im qualified enough, ignoring statements at meetings.

Story continues

The law doesnt necessarily provide a clear remedy for this type of behavior, according to David Yamada, director of the New Workplace Institute at Suffolk University in Boston.

Thats because the main legal standards to consider when judging whether a work environment is hostile are whether the behavior is severe or pervasive  neither of which would typically apply to subtle discrimination that could be an unconscious, one-off comment or action. Moreover, these behaviors dont typically result in a concrete action, like loss of a promotion or job, which could also make an employer legally liable for sexual harassment.

Still, microaggressions are not a sign of a healthy workplace, according to Hebert and Yamada.

My guess is in a workplace where you have a lot of microaggressions, you probably also have more serious behaviors as well, because the serious stuff is usually culturally validated and enabled, Yamada said. Its not like you would go from zero to, say, the worst kinds of sexual harassment possible without behaviors in between that may or may not be liability issues.

The surveys other findings include that women are less likely than men to feel supported in their professional endeavors  61% of females versus 72% of males. And more men (52%) than women (42%) believe there is flexibility for caregivers in their workplace.

Erin Fuchs is deputy managing editor at Yahoo Finance.

More on Womens History Month:

Barbara Bushs advice to women in the workplace: Dont let others define you

Empowering women is smart economics: Former Trump adviser

Why Keds is creating a new handbook for women
Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the Federation (AGF), says he is not involved in the dethronement and detention of Muhammadu Sanusi.

Sanusi was dethroned as emir of Kano on Monday and banished to Awe in Nasarawa state but a federal high court in Abuja ordered his freedom.

Malami had been accused by an aide of Sanusi of ordering the detention of the dethroned Emir.

In a statement on Sunday, Umar Gwandu, special assistant on media and public relations to Malami, said the AGF has no hand in the dethroning and banishment.

Read Also: Gandujes Aide Fumes Over Cartoon On Sanusis Dethronement

He added that the minister will not comment further on the development since it is already in court.

The issue of who does what over the dethronement saga has been effectively submitted for judicial determination. The matter is consequently subjudice, he said.

And I will not comment one way or the other over a matter that is pending before the court.
COVID-19 has killed a member of the clerical body that appoints the supreme leader, according to Iranian state media, the latest official in the country to die of the highly infectious disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Ayatollah Hashem Bathayi Golpayegani, 78, died two days after testing positive for the new coronavirus and being hospitalised, state news agency IRNA reported on Monday.

Golpayegani represented Tehran in the assembly of experts, an 88-strong body of Muslim scholars that appoints and monitors Irans supreme leader.

At least 12 Iranian politicians and officials, both sitting and former, have now died of the illness, and 13 more have been infected and are either in quarantine or being treated.

Capacity concerns

The country has been scrambling to contain the rapid spread of coronavirus which so far has infected some 14,000 people and killed 853  129 of whom over the past 24 hours, according to official figures,

The number of coronavirus deaths and infections has been on the rise ever since the first two fatalities were announced on February 19.

The official leading Irans response to the new coronavirus acknowledged on Sunday the pandemic could overwhelm health facilities in his country, which is battling the worst outbreak in the Middle East while under heavy US sanctions.

If the trend continues, there will not be enough capacity, Ali Reza Zali, who is leading the campaign against the outbreak, was quoted as saying by IRNA.

Iran is believed to have about 110,000 hospital beds, including 30,000 in the capital, Tehran. Authorities have pledged to set up mobile clinics as needed.

Zali also acknowledged many of those who have died from COVID-19 were otherwise healthy, a rare admission by local authorities that the virus does not only prey on the sick and elderly.

Health ministry figures show while 55 percent of fatalities were in their 60s, some 15 percent were younger than 40.

Severe illness





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 in a matter of weeks.

The virus has infected more than 150,000 people worldwide and killed more than 5,800. More than 70,000 people worldwide have recovered after being infected.

In Iran, the virus has infected a number of senior officials, including cabinet ministers, members of parliament, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members and health ministry officials.

Senior Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri returned to work on Sunday after testing negative, the presidencys website said. He was absent from official meetings last week, and the semi-official Fars News Agency reported he contracted the virus.

Authorities have nevertheless been slow to adopt measures taken by other hard-hit countries. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday ruled out a general quarantine and said the government was working to keep the borders open.

Dalia Samhouri, a senior regional official with the World Health Organization, said both Iran and Egypt, two of the most populous countries in the Middle East, were likely underreporting cases because of the nature of the virus, which can be spread by individuals who show no visible symptoms. Egypt has reported 110 cases, including two fatalities.

We can easily say that the current figures are an underestimation of the actual figures, she said.

Humanitarian aid

Iran has struggled to respond in part because of crippling sanctions imposed by the Trump administration after the US withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal. The US says it has offered humanitarian aid but Iran has rejected it.





Countries across the Middle East have imposed sweeping travel restrictions, cancelled public events and called on non-essential businesses to close for the coming weeks.

Qatar will bar entry to arriving air passengers except for citizens from Wednesday for at least two weeks, the government said as it announced a $23bn economic stimulus in response to the new coronavirus.

The country is the worst affected in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), with 401 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Sunday. It has not reported any fatalities but has closed universities, schools, gyms and cinemas as well as cancelling many public events including the MotoGP.

In the skyscraper-studded city of Dubai, a global business and travel hub in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), authorities announced on Sunday all movie theatres, arcades and gyms would be closed through the end of the month.

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, also shut down its amusement parks and museums through the end of the month, including Louvre Abu Dhabi.

In Lebanon, police used loudspeakers to order people to evacuate the citys famous Mediterranean boardwalk. The small country, which has reported 99 cases and three deaths, has already closed all restaurants and nightclubs, halted flights from several countries, and tightened border controls. President Michel Aoun urged people to stay home.

Jerusalems Al-Aqsa Mosque is the latest in a series of religious sites where access has been halted or strictly limited. Saudi Arabia has suspended the Umrah pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina and could be forced to limit or cancel the much larger Hajj later this year.

On Sunday, it announced the temporary closure of all mosques and called off Friday prayers.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The Seychelles has confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus, which has now hit 25 countries in Africa, largely spared by the pandemic until recently.

Public Health Commissioner Jude Gedeon announced late on Saturday that two citizens returning from Italy on March 11 had tested positive for the virus.

"As we learnt these two people had been in contact with a sick person, we decided to do the tests this morning and the results were positive," he said.

"We have now put in place the process to trace all people who were in contact with the patients, but as they are in an early stage the risk of spreading is weak."

The virus has rapidly spread across African countries in recent days with Rwanda, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Mauritania all announcing their first cases on Saturday.

East African hubs Ethiopia and Kenya have also recorded infections.

In the island nation of the Seychelles, normally empty supermarkets were besieged with panicked shoppers on Sunday. Nairobi has also seen panic-buying.

The Seychellesa popular tourist destinationhas blocked cruise ships and travellers coming from South Korea, Iran, China and Italy.

Rwanda has shut schools and churches for two weeks and banned concerts and large gatherings. Kenya has suspended international conferences and banned major public gatherings.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2020 AFP
In order to continue cooperation with Russian enterprises, American companies will need to obtain a special permission

Open source

The US Department of Commerce banned the export of services and goods of two Russian companies, Technomar and Avilon. The document is published on the website of the US Federal Register.

It is reported that sanctions were imposed because Russian enterprises may act in violation of national security interests or US foreign policy. These enterprises purchased US goods for Technopole, which has been under sanctions since 2016, bypassing the licensing requirements.

American companies will be able to further cooperate with Russian enterprises that are under sanctions, but for this to happen, they will have to obtain special permission from the US Department of Commerce.

It is known that the Technomar company is engaged in the development and sale of computer software, and the Avilon company is engaged in the wholesale of automobiles, as well as construction and installation works.

In addition to Russian companies, the legal list also included legal entities from China, Iran, Pakistan and the UAE.

As we reported before, the Council of the European Union has officially lifted the sanctions on former Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov and former Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Eduard Stavytsky.
(Natural News) The Chinese government is known for being extreme when it comes to tracking people, and now theyve found a way to continue their creepy surveillance even when people are wearing masks. A Chinese firm has announced that it has developed the countrys first facial recognition technology capable of identifying people who are wearing masks.

The news comes at a time when nearly everyone in the country is wearing surgical masks outdoors with the hope of avoiding the virus. Although there are lots of questions surrounding just how helpful wearing a mask actually is, one thing is for certain: It makes surveillance a lot more complicated.

Enter Hanwang Technology Ltd. Also known as Hanvon, their technology has expanded facial recognition beyond recent developments like being able to identify those with facial hair, glasses and makeup to figuring out who is who with half their face covered by a mask.

The companys president told Reuters that when its connected to a temperature sensor, their tech can measure a persons body temperature wile identifying their name and then process the results if it detects temperatures in the fever range.

They worked with a sample database containing around 6 million unmasked faces and a smaller database of masked faces to fine-tune their technology. Work on the system got underway in January when the coronavirus outbreak there started to pick up momentum, and it hit the market within a month.

Theyve put this technology in two categories of products. One will carry out what is known as single channel recognition  for example, for identifying people at office building entrances. The second is more powerful; it can recognize people using several channels and entails multiple surveillance cameras. Its able to identify all the individuals in a crowd of as many as 30 people in just one second.

The company says that the recognition rate for those with masks is 95 percent, while that of people without masks is 99.5 percent.

Client numbers growing as coronavirus spreads across the world

Chinas Ministry of Public Security, which is in charge of the police, is one of their biggest customers. They can use the technology to cross-reference images with their own database of names and keep track of people as they circulate.

Hanvon also has around 200 other clients, and that number is growing. So far, most of their customers have been domestic, but more foreign interest is expected as the virus continues to spread around the world.

However, the system does have one shortcoming: It is unable to identify people who are wearing both a mask and sunglasses as all of the essential facial information used by the system is lost.

Theyre not the only ones working on this technology; SenseTime has also recently improved its own facial recognition technology so it can better identify people who are wearing masks by looking only at their eyes and upper nose area. Their technology also makes use of thermal imaging cameras to detect those with a fever, and its already being used in three public locations.

Its not clear just how much face masks can help stem the spread of novel coronavirus. The CDC, HHS, and U.S. Surgeon General  none of whom are honest sources  have all told Americans that they dont need to wear masks as theyre not effective in this regard, while others maintain that they can indeed block infections. Those questions aside, however, theres also the fact that most people simply dont know the correct way to use them and that a shortage could mean that health care providers who have a true need for them wont be able to obtain them.

The best ways to avoid coronavirus are limiting close contact with others, washing your hands frequently, and avoiding touching your nose, mouth and eyes.

Sources for this article include:

DailyMail.co.uk

NYPost.com

MarketWatch.com
My daily commute is making me paranoid.

As COVID-19 spreads, I have become hyperconscious of how close I am to others, the things I touch and if they could make me sick.

What do I touch on an average commute? Turns out pretty much everything. Then what do I do with my hands? What else? I touch my face  a lot.

I convinced Star digital producer Braydon Holmyard to follow me to work, making notes on my touch points and then what I do next over the course of three streetcar transfers.

Next, I enlisted the help of Cynthia Carr, an epidemiologist and health policy expert, and Dr. Monika Dutt, a physician who works in public heath, to critique my commute and tell me how I should change my behaviour to stay healthy.

I admit, this is an imperfect experiment: I knew I was being watched but tried to honestly follow my impulses. If I needed to touch a handrail on the streetcar in order to keep my balance, I did. I sanitized my hands when the urge struck, more often than I would have in the past.

Heres a breakdown of what we recorded, in five-minute intervals.

8:35 a.m.

I touched my face before getting on the streetcar. Then I pulled out my wallet to tap my Presto.

I touched four bars to steady myself on the way to a seat, then tucked my hair behind my ear.

Carr said the need to touch the bars is an exercise in risk reduction. If we take the messaging too far about possible spread of virus through contaminated surfaces, we risk making other decisions that are more likely to harm us, she said. The bars that you touched to balance yourself are there exactly for that reason  public safety.

From a risk reduction standpoint, touching the bars is safer than a fall.

I took my backpack off, put it on my lap and sat down.

I sat beside one person on this streetcar.

Droplet transmission of infections can occur when youre close to someone, Dutt said. You do often need to be around people and often those social interactions are important. But if you see someone coughing, try to sit at least one metre away from them if possible.

8:40 a.m.

I fix my hair.

Touching my hair bothers Carr and Dutt less than some of my other behaviours. An infection getting from the back (or) side of your head into the eyes or mouth would be less likely, Dutt said.

I pull out my phone to check a message.

We know that phones can have bacteria and viruses on them, Dutt said. We handle them all the time and rarely clean them. Consider cleaning your phone occasionally and of course wash your own hands regularly.

I touch my chin.

This is real life and you have not touched your mouth, nose or eyes, Carr said.

My chin is too close to my mouth, Dutt points out, warning me to avoid the area.

8:45 a.m.

I get off the streetcar to transfer and pull a strand of hair out of my mouth.

The wind is blowing, which means I am constantly moving my hair out of my face while walking to the next stop.

These two points are slightly higher risk, Carr said. But I didnt put my hands in my mouth. You are pulling your hair out of your mouth  you are not putting your hands in your mouth.

Its important to be reasonable, Dutt said. This type of thing happens. We dont need to be completely obsessed.

Until we do.

I touch my face.

Noooo!!! Dutt wrote.

Not ideal, Carr said. It is a habit to keep working on, and most importantly avoid your mouth, nose and eyes.

I, finally, use some hand sanitizer while waiting for the streetcar.

Carr said I should have used the hand sanitizer before the face touch. According to statistics you are going to touch your face again so this will be helpful for the next time, she said.

8:55 a.m.

Pull out my wallet and presto, then tap to transfer.

Good examples of the daily items we touch regularly and never clean, Dutt said.

Remove my backpack and put it on my lap before sitting down alone next to a window.

You use these items daily and often put these items down on surfaces when you are paying for things ... If you dont keep (clean) the items you touch all day long, it provides a vehicle for germs to reach you, Carr said.

Someone gets on and sits directly beside me. Someone else sits down across from me. Theres also someone sitting close behind me, less than one metre away.

Dutt said droplet transmission is possible within two metres. She said it is something to keep in mind  especially if someone is coughing or sneezing.

I inexplicably touch the window.

Smooth hard surfaces are happy places for viruses, Dutt said.

Scratched an itch under my eye.

Your eyes are a particularly easy surface for viruses to enter, Dutt said, noting that anything I picked up on the window could now be transferred to my face.

The proximity of these two actions is possibly my riskiest behaviour, Carr said. People sitting by the window are often looking that way which means they are often breathing on the window ... if someone were to cough or sneeze in that direction, there could be respiratory droplets on that window, she said. That said, though, its unclear how long droplets containing a virus could survive on the window.

9 a.m.

I text.

Given our phones are often attached to our hands, we should be more conscious of keeping (them) clean, Dutt said.

I unconsciously touch my lip, then continue texting.

It is possible that when you used the phone this time, you may have come back in contact with that virus and then transmitted it to your mouth, Carr said. Her advice? Just keep sanitizing the phone as often as possible.

Flipping through my purse to find my hand sanitizer. When I finally find it, I use it.

Great! Dutt said. Sanitizer can be as effective as soap and water when hands are not visibly soiled.

Our streetcar is short-turning, so I press the stop button and need to hold a bar to steady myself.

Many, many hands touch both of these items, Dutt reminds me.

At the streetcar stop, I check my phone while we wait for the final transfer  a 10-minute wait.

9:15 a.m.

Very tight quarters on third and final streetcar. We manage to sneak on through the back doors, but were extremely close to about five others.

Neither expert was as worried about the sardine-can ride as I expected: since no one was coughing or sneezing, risk was low.

I text again.

We are at the final stop and get off at an underground terminal.

There are stairs, but I dont touch the railing while Im walking up. At the top, I sanitize my hands.

Hand sanitizer is good, Dutt said, especially due to how many things I touched.

Coffee time. I open the door to the coffee shop and pick up my cup from the mobile-order counter.

Even if regularly cleaned, door handles are definitely high-touch surfaces, Dutt explained.

Ideally you would sanitize your hands after opening that door, Carr said.

Arrival at work.

According to both experts, its time to wash my hands aggressively.

Keep washing your hands (and) using hand sanitizer, keep sufficient space between you and others ... and try not to touch your face, Dutt said.

Wash your hands with hot water and soap for at least 20 seconds as soon as you arrive at work, Carr recommended. Sanitize your phone now too.

You touched your face seven times in 30 minutes, Carr points out in an email. There is a huge range of estimates about how many times an hour or day people touch their faces.

Carr stressed it is important to remember that touching your hair or the side of your face isnt how the virus enters your system.

It doesnt enter your body through your hair or skin. The mode of entry is your mucus membranes  primarily the mouth and nose, Carr said.
Even if it's not a huge purchase, we think it was good to see that Richard Rees, the MD, Company Secretary & Director of Sietel Limited (ASX:SSL) recently shelled out AU$68k to buy stock, at AU$6.80 per share. That might not be a big purchase but it only increased their holding by 1.9%, and could be interpreted as a good sign.

See our latest analysis for Sietel

Sietel Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent purchase by Richard Rees is the biggest insider purchase of Sietel shares that we've seen in the last year. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at around the current price of AU$6.80. That means they have been optimistic about the company in the past, though they may have changed their mind. If someone buys shares at well below current prices, it's a good sign on balance, but keep in mind they may no longer see value. Happily, the Sietel insiders decided to buy shares at close to current prices.

In the last twelve months Sietel insiders were buying shares, but not selling. You can see the insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

ASX:SSL Recent Insider Trading, March 15th 2020

Sietel is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insider Ownership of Sietel

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. Our data indicates that Sietel insiders own about AU$6.8m worth of shares (which is 12% of the company). We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. Whilst better than nothing, we're not overly impressed by these holdings.

Story continues

So What Do The Sietel Insider Transactions Indicate?

It is good to see the recent insider purchase. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. On this analysis the only slight negative we see is the fairly low (overall) insider ownership; their transactions suggest that they are quite positive on Sietel stock. 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. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Sietel you should know about.

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.
With malice toward none, with charity toward all, the president sought to bind the wounds of the nation

In August 1864, President Abraham Lincoln was so unpopular and the war so hated that he was certain he would not be reelected in November. In Every Drop of Blood: The Momentous Second Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2020, $28), journalist and historian Edward Achorn tells the remarkable story of how Lincoln won a second term, and then on Inauguration Day gave a timeless speech in which he argued that the war had been just and that nations new task was to heal the wounds of both battle and bitterness.

How did Lincoln turn the tide? Before the election, Lincoln was seen by Radical Republicans as a timid man who had not provided the stern leadership needed to win the war. Democrats viewed him as a vile tyrant who had all but destroyed America by throwing his political enemies, including newspaper editors, in jail without due process and by pressing to make African Americans the social equals of whites. Lincoln wrote on August 23, This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be re-elected. Shermans capture of Atlanta in September finally made it seem the war might be won, and Lincoln was able to persuade the public, as he put it, that it is not best to swap horses while crossing the river. Finally, he worked very hard to get pro-Lincoln soldiers to the polls.

Set the scene at the U.S. Capitol on Inauguration Day, March 4, 1865. It had been raining for days, and the accumulated dirt and horse manure on the streets of Washington had turned into a watery yellow mud that splashed up on everybody and everything. Tens of thousands of people had been undeterred, though, and came to Washington to celebrate, more than filling every hotel. That morning, fierce winds tore through the city. Reporters lamented the ruined dresses of women who came to the Capitol for the inaugural events  a very big deal in those days. There was some fear that Lincoln would not be able to adhere to tradition and take the oath on the steps of the Capitol, on a wooden platform built for the occasion. But the rain let up enough for that to happen, and as he rose to give the speech the sun burst through the clouds. Many in the audience thought that providential, a sign from God that better times were coming.

In writing his second inaugural address, Lincoln spent many months trying to make sense of the war and find a way to ease the hatred that divided the states. When did this process start and how did he craft his thesis? Lincoln seemed haunted by the question of what this hellish war meant. How could a just God permit so much death and agony? How could He not side with North, which in Lincolns view was fighting to save the last best hope on Earth for human freedom? How could He seemingly be against both sides? In 1862, he wrote down some of these thoughts and concluded that Gods purpose might be something different from the purpose of either party. He mined these thoughts in the Second Inaugural Address, concluding that the war was Gods judgment on America for the evil of slavery, and the country was obligated to use all necessary means  however horrific  to finally root it out.

Lincoln believed that God would punish AmericaNorth and Southfor the great sin of slavery and that he owed the country an explanation for the price it had to pay. Talk about how his religious beliefs were expressed in the inaugural address. Lincolns address was remarkable. He had struggled to save America at great cost and stood on the brink of finally winning this ghastly war. Yet there is no hint of triumphalism in his words. The speech is all about the suffering that both North and South had endured. One of the few things still uniting Americans in early 1865 was their intense Christian faith, including the belief that a just God watched over them. Lincoln tapped into that to make the argument that neither side had triumphed  that the war had been in Gods hands since no human could have imagined its magnitude. And God, Lincoln speculated, was using the war to end slavery. As he poignantly put it, if God willed the war to continue until every drop of blood drawn with the lash applied against the enslaved shall be paid by another drawn by the sword, the judgments of God could be deemed true and righteous together. It is in this context that Lincoln spoke so beautifully of binding up the nations wounds and proceeding with malice toward none, with charity for all. Both sides had been wrong. Both sides had perpetuated slavery. Both sides had to come together and move on.

Explain how the Book of Genesis words about tyranny formed the core of Lincolns moral beliefsincluding his hatred of slavery and his veneration of the Union. Lincoln had always been struck forcefully by a passage in Genesis, in which God punishes Adam for his disobedience by condemning him, and his successors in human history, to lifetimes of work to survive. As God puts it, In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. At the core of Lincolns moral beliefs  at the core of his hatred for slavery and love of individual liberty  was the belief that every man deserved to keep what he had earned from the sweat of his brow. No government, no aristocracy, no slaveholder had a right to deprive a fellow human of what they had earned for themselves. During his celebrated debates in 1858 against Senator Stephen Douglas, he said this was the real issue that would grip America long after he and Douglas were gone. Lincoln said of tyranny: No matter what shape it comes, whether from the mouth of a king who seeks to bestride the people of his nation and live by the fruit of their labor, or from one race of men as an apology for enslaving another race, it was the same tyrannical principle.

Lincoln believed that public opinion was central to whom would hold power in a representative democracy and that it was how well a speaker could frame an argument that meant the difference between winning and losing. The secret of Lincolns rise to power was his ability to connect to voters through his words. He worked and worked to be understood by the common people. The reporter Noah Brooks told a funny story about the reaction to Lincoln in the 1850s by one ornery Democrat who pounded his cane on the ground as he listened. Hes a dangerous man, sir! A damned dangerous man, the Democrat said. He makes you believe what he says, in spite of yourself! Lincoln understood the power of language in a system of self-government such as ours. Our government rests in public opinion. Whoever can change public opinion, can change the government, practically just so much, Lincoln said. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed. Consequently, he who molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions. You can imagine how encouraging that is to someone like me, who works in his day job as an editorial writer and editor!

What was it about Lincolns mastery of the English language and particularly his use of the rhythms of the King James Bible that made his inaugural address so timeless? Lincoln did not read widely but he read deeply. He read the King James Bible and the works of William Shakespeare over and over. He particularly loved a line in Hamlet: Theres a divinity that shapes our ends; rough-hew them how we will. He knew all about rough-hewn wood, of course, but when you think of it, that phrase is pretty much the theme of Second Inaugural Address: that humans might have fought the war, but God shaped its ends. People said he read the Bible as he would a good book. Sometimes when he was feeling miserable about the war, he would slump on a couch and start reading it and found great relief. Aside from any dimension of faith, he found it a fascinating source of wisdom about dealing with problems and what it means to be a human being. Im sure it was very useful to him as a politician, too, given the intense religious feeling of the voters. The resonance, tone and even language of the Second Inaugural are straight out of the Old Testament: a just God ultimately controls the world, and humans inevitably suffer at times for their errors and sins. The beautiful balancing of with malice toward none, with charity for all sounds to me like something from the Psalms or Shakespeare  the most lovely use of the English language you can find anywhere.

Talk about the reaction of prominent listeners to the speechFrederick Douglass, Walt Whitman, John Wilkes Booth. One of the key themes of the book is Frederick Douglasss evolving opinion about Lincoln. Well into the war, as a former slave, Douglass considered Lincoln a despicable, conniving, immoral politician who did not care about the fate of African Americans. He had hoped another man would be nominated in 1864, someone like then-Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase, who was a much more staunch abolitionist. But in time Douglass came to understand what Lincoln was doing: bringing the public along so that it would support radical changes such as the end of slavery and civil rights for former slaves. Douglass, as a black man, is barred from attending inaugural activities inside the Capitol, so he listens to the speech standing in the mud in front of the platform. He is amazed that here was a president who could express with such power that slavery was an evil so great that it had to be destroyed, even at the cost of the immense suffering in the war. That night, he is determined to shake Lincolns hand at a reception at the White House. Again, as a black man, he has a difficult time getting in, but when he does, there is a very moving scene. Here comes my friend Douglass, Lincoln says when he sees him in line. Lincoln presses him for his opinion of the speech. Mr. Lincoln, that was a sacred effort, Douglass says.

Walt Whitman is covering the inauguration for The New York Times. He treats the event poetically, describing the scene in glowing language. He doesnt comment on the speech itself. I wonder if he could even hear it. What Ive always found fascinating was his description of Lincoln after the speech. Lincoln, he wrote, looked very much worn and tired; the lines, indeed, of vast responsibilities, intricate questions, and demands of life and death, cut deeper than ever upon his dark brown face; yet all the old goodness, tenderness, sadness, and canny shrewdness, underneath the furrows. Whitman seemed to understand, before almost anyone else, the mythic nature of Lincoln  this prairie lawyer and calculating politician who told dirty jokes  as a great American hero.

The popular actor John Wilkes Booth stalks Lincoln at the inauguration. He is pulled out of line when he gets close to the president, and many people later believed he would have killed Lincoln that day if he had not been stopped. Booth later told a friend, What an excellent chance I had to kill the president, if I had wished, on Inauguration Day! I was on the stand, as close to him nearly as I am to you. His friend asked him what good it would have done to kill Lincoln, Booth answered, I could live in history. One of the great ironies of this day is that, as that sun beams down on Lincoln, no one knows he will be dead in six weeks, gunned down by Booth at Fords Theatre.

An abbreviated version of this interview appeared in May 2020 issue of Americas Civil War.
General Secretary of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP), Murtala Mohammed says the focus of the Electoral Commission (EC) is not the cost involved in compiling a new voters register but rather the success of the 2020 general elections.



According to him, the Electoral Commission (EC) will be held responsible should something go wrong with the elections.



Addressing the cost-concern raised by IMANI Ghana, the PPP General Secretary on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show said that the policy think-tank should not compare the machines that the EC intends to buy, as the models and the specifications of the machines differ.



He added that the prices of the machines may not be the same as IMANI Ghana intends to compare the prices of the new machines to those that Kenya and Nigeria used in their elections respectively; adding that IMANI Ghana does not know the specification of the machines that Ghana is going to buy.



Ask IMANI which one we should buy? They will not able to tell you. They are comparing the cost with that in Kenya but the price will differ depending on the model and specifications of the machines . . . does IMANI know the specification of the machines Ghana is going to buy? They are just making conjecture and speculation, they dont know, he argued.



According to him IMANI are now talking about procurement breaches and when asked they mention evaluation, "but there have been changes in the evaluation and the process went successfully so what is the breach now?"



He, however, mentioned that IMANI Ghana is now a lone ranger in its persistent fight against the purchase of new machines as the other Civil Society Groups that used to support IMANI have backed down after reading letters from the manufacturers that they cannot upgrade their old machines; hence, the need to get new ones.





Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Two weeks ago, Dr. Drew Pinsky was sounding an alarm. Unlike the media, though, he wasnt shouting "We're all going to die!" Instead, Pinsky sounded an alarm about the corrupt, uninformed, morally reprehensible American press, which was intentionally creating a panic.

A few days ago, Dr. Drew was back, this time on the Washington Examiners Examining Politics podcast, with Larry OConnor hosting. And once again, Dr. Drew was complaining in powerful terms about how terrible the media's coronavirus coverage is and about the profound disservice it's doing to America.

While he refuses to speculate about the medias motives in stoking panic, Dr. Drew wants as many people as possible to know that what the media says is wrong; that the current disease, while definitely serious, is not worse than the H1N1 flu season America survived in 2009-2010; and that common-sense behavior will see America through this flu too.

The following audio is just a little longer than 6 minutes, with Dr. Drew speaking fluidly and intelligently on a topic that can be frightening and confusing. If you have the time, make sure to listen because everything he says is important.

If you dont have the time, the transcript is below, although its not as good reading it as it is listening to an impassioned Dr. Drew.

"Stop listening to journalists. They don't know what they're talking about." @DrDrew went on with @LarryOConnor slamming the media for drumming up panic surrounding the coronavirus, urging Americans to listen to Dr. Fauci and the @CDCgov . pic.twitter.com/omd3CKXrBn

Dr. Drew: I dont claim to know whats motivating the media but, my God, their reporting is absolutely reprehensible. They should be ashamed of themselves. They are creating a panic that is far worse than the viral outbreak. The bottom line, everybody, is listen to Dr. Anthony Fauci of the CDC, do what he tells you, and go about your business. Thats the story.

Theres not one doctor Ive spoken to that disagrees with me. Not one. I ran into an agreement with Dr. Oz last night. He was saying the same thing. Were all telling you the same thing: Stop listening to journalists. They dont know what theyre talking about.

Listen to the CDC, listen to Anthony Fauci, and do not listen to anybody else. This is the job of those people. Theyre highly trained professionals. They know what theyre doing. Just follow their directions.

You know, I saw a CNN reporter this morning talking to an infectious disease doctor from Vanderbilt, very fine infectious disease doctor but I wanted to scream at him, Tell these people to stop! Tell the press to stop.

They went, Oh, my God, what about the testing? We dont have testing!

And the doctor just simply, calmly went, No, no. We have private and public testing. Were rolling it out. We have the same as other countries.

Oh, but we dont, we dont!

Shut up! We do.

And by the way, you dont test people willy-nilly. The way medical tests are done is you have criteria for the test, doctors determine that criteria, you apply the test.

Testing randomly is called a screening test but then thats no longer a diagnostic test. You do diagnostic tests when the index of suspicion of the illness is high. Otherwise, you dont test.

If you have an index of suspicion that is moderate, you tell people to stay home. Thats it.

Its awful that people get sick. I know. I got H1N1. It sucked. I treated people with it. It was awful. And we have another awful virus circulating around now. And by the way, if you combine corona and influenza this year, its still just a moderate flu season. Its not even a severe flu season.

So all these horror stories about a lack of ventilators and hospital beds being full, that is total B.S. Total B.S.

Do not be alarmed by the word pandemic. which the CNN reporter seemed to discover this morning. Let me translate for you the word pandemic. Pandemic is a, is a technical term that means (a) a new virus; (b) widespread.

Do you think we have that? Yes, we do.

Can you name for me the last pandemic? Well, we had one about ten years ago. It was the H1N1 and, oh my God, did the world come to an end then?

I actually got H1N1. It was brutal. I dont like the fact that people have to get sick. But we are biological beings and we have these viral outbreaks and were in one now. We dont have treatments. We dont have vaccines yet, though we will. In the meantime, we have containment and contain it we will. Period.

Wash your hands. Get your flu shot. That should be the story. Wash your hands, get your flu shots. Every sentence should end with that. Because youre way, orders of magnitude more likely to die of the flu than the coronavirus.

We have 18,000 dead from the flu, 280,000 hospitalized so far in this country. We have 26 dead from coronavirus [now its 48]. Which should you be more concerned about? Tell me that. Just do the math.

If you are over the age of 70, maybe the age of 75, particularly if you have any chronic medical conditions and if you are a smoker over 50, you should be behaving differently than the rest of us. You should be, essentially, staying home for a while. You shouldnt be going to public events. You should do some social distancing. For a couple of weeks, until this thing blows over. And thats it.

The rest of us? Go about your business. Im traveling all over the country this week and the planes are full, the airports are full, people are wearing masks, foolishly.

Why is anybody listening to anybody else? This is a medical problem. Did you [the media] hop into the H1N1 epidemic? Were you guys all involved with that? Were you criticizing the CDC and the government during the H1N1 epidemic? That one was worse.

Where were you guys? We couldnt have done it without you. Oh, wait a minute. We did fine. You dont even remember it.

Listen, the story should be, The World Health Organization and the CDC and the equivalent agencies in the various countries across the world should be taking a bow. We should be tipping our hats to them for doing an extraordinary job.

We have a new illness. We identified it. We know the epidemiology. We created a test for it. We dont yet have a vaccine and a treatment, but its underway and, in the meantime, we are containing it. They should take a bow. We should be tipping our hates to them.

Could things have been done faster? Always. Always. Thats the way medicine is. We contemplate. We think. We try to do no harm before we jump in. This is like saying, The surgeon took too long doing the operation. The surgery worked out great but I wish hed been, you know, not spent the last two hours thinking about the risks and benefits of that surgery.

This is insanity. This is a level of insanity that has me angry. This is not, the medical profession is fine with it. Well, yeah, yeah, a little bit faster wouldve been good, a little more private sector involvement wouldve been good. Yeah.

Larry OConnor: In a few weeks, this is going to phase out. Is that just because there is a flu season and you expect the COVID-19 to, sort of, follow the same timeline as your typical flue season?

Dr. Drew: I dont expect it. I guarantee it. Viruses have a life. They come on, they grow, they plateau and they go away. Theres a time chorus to the life cycle of every influenza, every viral outbreak. And we are in the uptick right now, we are about to hit the plateau, we will contain, and then it will start to die out. It hates heat, it hates humidity, and it will go away.

If this gets into the homeless population. . . . Well, if the government would like to spend some of that $8 billion, why dont they go and take care of the most vulnerable population we have in the country, which are people who are immunocompromised, living in concentrated environments, not vaccinated, with no sanitation.

We have 60,000 of them in Los Angeles. If this gets into that population, I will sing a different tune.

Larry OConnor: But Dr. Drew, I just saw the governor of California take to his Twitter feed and give everyone instructions about how to properly wash their hands. That should solve the problem there in the homeless population, right?

Dr. Drew: Oh, yeah. Thatll be the end of it. We got no problem. There, they, theyre washing their hands in the LA river with all the excrement and urine and blood that pours off our streets. That should be perfect.
SIOUX CITY -- Some churches have begun canceling services after Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Saturday night announced the first case of community spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Sunnybrook Community Church in Sioux City, which had previously planned to hold services on Sunday, announced in a Facebook post early Sunday morning that their 9:30 and 11 a.m. services would be held online rather than in-person.

Sioux City's Central Baptist Church, which had also planned services this weekend, announced that all services on Sunday were canceled due to virus concerns.

No cases had been confirmed in Woodbury County as of Sunday afternoon.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds addressed the state Saturday night on the status of the COVID-19 outbreak. An "older adult," a resident of Dallas County, was diagnosed with the virus -- that case was determined to be the result of "community spread," meaning the infection has no known source. The Dallas County case brought the state's total number of infections to 18, and then four more cases were announced Sunday evening, bringing the total to 22.

"Leaders of institutions and (organizers) of events should begin to act on their contingency plans related to large gatherings, including church services, as Iowans prepare for worship tomorrow. Iowans should not hold or attend large gatherings of more than 250 people, and consider making adjustments for smaller gatherings with high-risk groups," Reynolds said in her address Saturday night.

The Iowa Conference of the United Methodist Church announced through a tweet Saturday night that that Bishop Laurie Haller is urging churches to suspend in-person worship services for the remainder of March.

In response to Haller's advisory, Grace United Methodist Church in Sioux City canceled its in-person services on Sunday, along with its services for the next two weekends, according to an email from the Rev. Jim Shirbroun. Grace United services are broadcast on KSCJ and parishioners are encouraged to listen to the broadcast.

The Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church on Sixth Street has suspended all of its services, meetings and activities until further notice, according to a notice on the church's Facebook page.

The wave of church service cancellations happens to fall in the middle of Lent, a significant time of year for Christian worship.

Sioux City's First United Methodist Church announced in a statement on its website that all activities at the church through Saturday are postponed. The church will announce later this week whether services will be held March 22.

St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Sioux City did not apparently cancel its services Sunday, but did post a statement on Facebook saying that members who aren't feeling well are encouraged to stay home. Those who do come to church are advised to sit ideally six feet apart and avoid physical contact where possible -- for example, the Hand of Fellowship (the traditional practice of shaking hands) will be replaced by the Wave of Fellowship (waving at one another).

Morningside Lutheran Church also announced in a Facebook post that they were planning Sunday services at the normal times, but that further updates may be announced later. Like the other churches, Morningside Lutheran encourages those who are unwell to stay home and is discouraging physical contact. The offering plate was placed in the back rather than being passed around, and Sunday school there was canceled.

Augustana Lutheran Church has canceled its Sunday school until further notice.

The Diocese of Sioux City did not make any further public announcements beyond the mandates issued Friday by Bishop R. Walker Nickless, allowing parishioners who are older, unwell or sincerely worried about their health to stay home from church. His mandate also put in place several regulations on church hygiene.

The status of worship services at most other Sioux City congregations was not immediately available as of Sunday afternoon.

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France's health minister said on Sunday that 120 people had now died from coronavirus in France, up from 91 on Saturday.

Oliver Veran told France 2 television that the number of cases had risen to about 5,400 cases up from 4,449 on Saturday.

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Cotonou, Benin (PANA) - Benin has mobilised nearly seven billion CFA francs for urgent actions against the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, the Ministry of Health said in Cotonou on Sunday
The political drama in Madhya Pradesh is all set to shift to the assembly after the governor directed Chief Minister Kamal Nath to seek a trust vote on Monday and Speaker NP Prajapati said he will first give a ruling on whether to hold the floor test.

IMAGE: Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath with governor Lalji Tandon. Photograph: ANI Photo

As the rebellion led by Jyotiraditya Scindia threatened the survival of its government, the Congress appeared keen on putting off the trust vote and asserted that it is the Speaker's prerogative to decide about the proceedings of the House, but a buoyed BJP maintained that he was bound by the governor's direction.

After the Speaker accepted the resignation of six Congress MLAs on Saturday, the party now has 108 legislators. These include 16 rebel legislators who have also put in their papers but their resignations are yet to be accepted.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has 107 seats in the House which now has an effective strength of 222, with the majority mark being 112.

To add to the ruling Congress's woes, it is yet uncertain whether it will continue getting the support of four Independents, two Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs and one MLA from the Samajwadi Party.

The week-long political drama saw both the Congress and the BJP herding their MLAs to resorts outside the state due to fears of poaching. While the Congress MLAs returned on Sunday from Jaipur, the BJP too was bringing back its legislators from Haryana to attend the first day of the session on Monday.

Both the parties have issued whips to their MLAs.

On Saturday night, Governor Lalji Tandon wrote to Kamal Nath asking him to seek a trust vote in the Assembly soon after the governor address on Monday, saying his government was in minority.

Referring to resignations of 22 Congress MLAs, the Governor said: "Based on the above facts, prima facie, I believe that your government has lost the confidence of the House and it is in minority.

"This is a very serious issue and therefore as per the constitutional provisions and for protecting the democratic values, it is necessary that on March 16, soon after my address, you seek the trust vote in the Assembly."

"Under Article 174 and 175(2) of the Constitution, I am empowered to direct that MP Assembly session will begin on March 16 at 11 am with my address. Soon after that the only work to be done is voting on trust vote," the letter.

The governor also directed that the trust vote be held by division of votes and the process be recorded on video by the Vidhan Sabha through independent persons.

He said it "must be completed under any circumstances on March 16, 2020 and it should not be adjourned, delayed or suspended".

But the Assembly Speaker on Sunday remained non committal over the trust vote.

This will be known tomorrow... I will read out my ruling tomorrow," he told reporters when asked if the trust vote will be held on Monday.

There were indications on Sunday that the beleaguered Congress government might seek to buy time from the Speaker to win back some of its 16 rebels MLAs.

The governor has directed the chief minister to seek confidence vote after his address. But, the Assembly Speaker decides the proceedings of the House, MP Law and Legal Affairs Minister PC Sharma argued.

What all will be done in the House, the Speaker decides, the minister contended and expressed confidence his party will prove majority on the floor comfortably.

The party has alleged that the BJP was holding the rebels MLAs captive at a hotel in Bengaluru, a charge denied by the saffron party outright.

Another Congress MLA said that the floor test "might not take place on Monday" and the issue could even go to court.

As suspense remained on whether a trust vote will be held or not on Monday, sources said both the parties were mulling legal recourse in case the proceedings do not go their way.

"The Congress has lost the majority. The Governor is saying that it is a minority. I am not saying this. This has been mentioned in the letter sent to Chief Minister by the Governor, the BJP chief whip in the assembly, Narottam Mishra, said.

BJP vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe said Chief Minister Kamal Nath should step down as the Congress government has become "lame-duck" after the resignation of the 22 MLAs.

BJP legislative party sources said that it will vociferously press for the trust vote after the Governor's address.

The opposition party claims that the political crisis in the state is due to internal fighting in the Congress and it has nothing to do with it.

The 19 rebel Congress MLAs are likely to return by Monday morning, a source close to Jyotiraditya Scindia, who has joined the BJP, said.

Amid the political slugfest, state public relations minister PC Sharma on Sunday demanded that all the MLAs be screened for coronavirus.

"The MLAs who have returned from Jaipur and also those who have gone to Haryana and Benguluru should undergo coronavirus tests. It is important as the virus has spread in Jaipur and Haryana," he said.

Meanwhile, a team of doctors reached hotel Courtyard by Marriot in MP Nagar here, where Congress MLAs are put up after coming from Jaipur, for coronavirus screening.

State Minister of Health and Finance Tarun Bhanot had earlier said the legislators would be screened for the virus.
Supermarkets are cracking down on what shoppers can purchase as panic about the coronavirus epidemic leads to wide-spread stockpiling.

The chaos saw people scrabbling to load up with loo rolls, long-life milk and pasta in a bid to prepare for the worst as the coronavirus death toll hit 21 yesterday while the number of infected soared past 1,000 in the UK alone.

Sainsbury's - which has a five-product limit on certain items - emailed millions of its customers today to urge them not to stockpile and insisting there were enough supplies of food and essential items for 'everyone'.

Supermarkets are cracking down on what shoppers can purchase as panic about the coronavirus epidemic leads to wide-spread stockpiling. Pictured: Two men with trolleys full of goods are pictured outside a Costco store in Manchester

Panic-buying customers formed huge queues in an Aldi supermarket in Liverpool as they stocked up on goods

Empty freezers can be seen in a Morrisons store in London as shoppers stock up on frozen goods

Chaos this week saw people scrabbling to load up with loo rolls, long-life milk and pasta in a bid to prepare for the worst as the coronavirus death toll hit 21 yesterday while the number of infected soared past 1,000 in the UK alone. Pictured: Bare shelves in a Morrisons store in London

Shelves in Sainsbury's in Portishead, Somerset, had limited stock after shoppers stockpiled goods

Shelves in Sainsbury's, New Cross Gate in London were completely clear of products as scared shoppers resorted to panic buying

Huge queues formed outside Costco in Cardiff as people desperately stockpiled goods as the panic about coronavirus intensifies

Tesco - Britain's biggest supermarket - has rationed the sale of anti-bacterial products, dried pasta, tinned vegetables, toilet paper and tissues to five packs at a time starting online on Sunday morning and in stores on Saturday afternoon.

Waitrose has introduced a limit to products - including hand sanitizer - that can be bought online.

In Boots, bottles of children's paracetamol Calpol are being sold at only one at a time.

Asda in Dalgety Bay, Dunfermline, had empty shelves after shoppers stocked up today

Huge queues formed outside an Asda in East London this morning as shoppers flocked to get their hands on essential items

Morrisons (an empty store in London, pictured) has placed 'a maximum order number' on certain products - according to a statement on its website

Shoppers seeking a Morrisons (empty store in London pictured) home delivery have been instructed to tell the store if they are self-isolating so goods can be left on the doorstep

Morrisons has placed 'a maximum order number' on certain products - according to a statement on its website.

Shoppers seeking a Morrisons home delivery have been instructed to tell the store if they are self-isolating so goods can be left on the doorstep.

Asda has a two-product limit on items including cleaning products and hand sanitizer while Aldi has limited shoppers to four items in store.

Sainsbury's chief executive Mike Coupe sent a message this morning in a bid to relax the nerves of desperate shoppers.

It was apparently sent in response to images of supermarket shelves stripped bare of toilet rolls and long-lasting food like pasta and rice.

In a personalised statement to shoppers, he urged them to 'think before you buy and only buy what you and your family need'.

Shelves were almost completely bare after panicked shoppers stocked up on long-life items

The fruit and vegetable aisle was cleared out as frantic shoppers stocked up as coronavirus panic increased

He said in his email: 'You will have seen that, due to the ongoing uncertainty around the full impact of Coronavirus, supermarkets have been much busier than usual and customers are choosing to stock up.

'I wanted to personally reassure you that we have more food and other essential items coming to us from manufacturers and into our warehouses and distribution centres.

Two shoppers bought nappies from a Morrisons store in London

'If we all shop just for the food that we and our families need, there will be enough for everyone.

'I also wanted to let you know that at Sainsbury's, we are working really hard to ensure this remains the case.

'Over the past two weeks we have: Ordered more stock of essential items from our suppliers, put more capacity into our warehouses and set limits on a small number of items, including some cleaning products, soap and pain relief.

'This is a precautionary measure - if everyone shops normally, there will be enough for everyone.

'There are gaps on shelves because of increased demand, but we have new stock arriving regularly and we're doing our best to keep shelves stocked. Our store colleagues are working tirelessly and doing the best job they can.

'Which brings me onto a request.

'Please think before you buy and only buy what you and your family need.

'If we all do this then we can make sure we have enough for everyone.

A 56-year-old shopper was mugged for his toilet paper just moments after leaving a Savers store in Harringay, north London yesterday. Pictured: Other shoppers leaving the store yesterday

'And please help elderly and vulnerable friends, family and neighbours with their shopping if you can.

People frantically stocked up in Savers, north London yesterday before a man was mugged

'I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and to thank our colleagues who are all working incredibly hard to ensure we can continue to serve our customers well.'

Yesterday a 56-year-old shopper was mugged for his toilet paper just moments after leaving a Savers store in London.

Dinendra was shopping in Harringay, north London, around 3.30pm when someone ran up behind him and snatched one of the two toilet roll packets he was carrying.

He was left shaken after the broad-daylight attack and lodged a report with the police - but insists 'it's not the value of the toilet roll, its the principle'.

Dinendra - who only went into the story to buy toilet paper - said: 'I went to my local savers and bought two packs of toilet rolls.

'Someone came up from behind and stole one packet in broad daylight.

'I was shaken and shocked. Is that what we have come to? Its not the value of the toilet roll, its the principle.'
Passengers faced long waits on March 14 at designated US airports, where they were subject to new enhanced screening measures for the coronavirus after returning from Europe.

There were reports of hours-long waits at several hubs, including Dallas-Fort Worth, New Yorks JFK airport, and Chicagos OHare airport, on Saturday.

US Vice-President Mike Pence announced on the same day that from Monday onward the existing ban on travel from continental Europe would be extended to visitors from the UK and Ireland.

American citizens and legal residents were still permitted to return from Europe, however they were funneled through several designated airports for health screening.

In this video, filmed at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, a queue of people can be seen in one area. Twitter user Ezequiel Contreras, who uploaded the footage, complained that he had been waiting for three hours in the airport. Credit: Ezequiel Contreras via Storyful
Visa, the worlds leader in digital payments, has announced the appointment of Malak AlSaffar as the Country Manager for Bahrain.

AlSaffar has a strong history with Visa. She started her career with Visa six years ago as a member of the legal team, before moving into business development in 2018. Malak brings over eight years of diverse industry experience, having worked with top-notch law firms in the Middle East.

Shashank Singh, Visas General Manager for Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar, said: We are excited about Malaks appointment as Visas Bahrain Country Manager. With proven management and leadership skills and a strong understanding of the Bahrain business, I am confident she will further deepen our local partnerships that will enable us to continue to drive the expansion of electronic payments and help to achieve Bahrains digital commerce objectives.

Backed by progressive regulations and a forward thinking government, Bahrain is emerging as a fintech hub in the region. As the payment landscape continues to evolve and diversify, Visa is committed to continue supporting its partner banks, new entrants and the government, the company said.

AlSaffar said: I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead our operations in an exciting market such as Bahrain. As a Bahraini myself, it excites me to drive changes in my home country, which is soon becoming a hot spot for new and innovative solutions." - TradeArabia News Service
Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Cruelty, Betrayal, Resurgence: Notes from the Republic at a (...)

We must concede that the honourable Home Minister of India has an impeccable sense of priorities.

While bodies were still being gathered and counted in northeast Delhi, he was promptly off in Kolkata to ensure that the abject defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Delhi Assembly elections was not repeated in the municipalities of West Bengal.

And if that required zestful supporters there as well to be shouting the shoot the traitors slogan, so be it. Shah made no complaint.

It is another matter that the West Bengal Police equally promptly did what the Delhi Police did notregister FIRs against the culprits and arrest a few them.

Recall what the loyal Attorney General said in court with respect to the originators of the slogan in the Capitalthat time was not ripe for lodging FIRs against notables of the ruling party who had weaponised and poisoned the social and political ecology of the city leading up to the Delhi elections. As a cooperative DCP stood by, the call to killings had been given by a Bharatiya Janata Party scion still smarting from his defeat in the Assembly elections.

If Justice S. Muralidhar thought that argument from the States law officer was corny, he was duly rewarded for his uppityness by being shunted out at the proverbial midnight hour to go man some other court, where an enemy government is in place.

The matter was further straightened out by the honourable Chief Justice at the subsequent hearing, where the government was granted four weeks to return with their thoughts. The next hearing will follow in six weeks, on April 13, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre day.

The Ruling Partys Desperation

Like it or not, the story returns to Shaheen Bagh. Never in their wildest sectarian dreams had the Hindutva Right-wing contemplated that Muslim women empowered by the benevolent state during the triple talaq munificence would come to present the face they did at Shaheen Bagh. Whereas the Hindutva forces would have expected Muslim housewives to return to their hijabs, wonder of wonders, they came out not as Muslim women but citizens of India, complete with the national flag and the Constitution, to protect not Muslim rights alone but to defend the democratic republic.

As the days went by, this conundrum began to be unbearable. And after some initial quietude, the BJP thought it best to make this Muslim effrontery the substance of their electoral campaign in Delhi.

The more impervious that the man on the street seemed to the tactic, the more the calumny and abuse intensified. A parliamentarian of the BJP was heard to caution how among the grannies at Shaheen Bagh were suicide bombers and potential rapists from whom the neighbourhood would not be safe.

The police received instructions to barricade routes wholly unconnected to the site of the protest so that some righteous anger could be whipped up from commuters against the women at Shaheen Bagh, who refused to oblige either by going violent or raising anti-national slogans.

Lo and behold, where the whole point and purpose of the CAA legislation was to fracture the polity in a far-reaching and constitutionally decisive way, quite the opposite seemed to be happening: not only did Muslims come forth as citizens, but were now joined by men and women of all denominations in a confounding consolidation of secular citizenship. This was a fine, unintended consequence of grievous implications for the Hindutva Right-wing, who had hoped the CAA measure would be the thin end of the Hindu Rashtra wedge.

And, as if by some alchemy hidden hitherto from the surveillance of the big brother, the virus of peaceful protests spread through the length and breadth of the republic, un-dislodgeable by either fake persuasion or forthright displays of clout.

Where the nation had gone somnolent for years, an incredible madness of citizen resolve seemed suddenly to have become a deluge of unmanageable proportions.

All of this left the powers-that-be to mobilise to dog-whistles, and to have at them.

An added incentive might have been to demonstrate to Donald Trump how our democratic republic was indeed plagued by radicalism of the impugned sort.

The Aam Aadmi Party

If the proliferation of citizen-power presented the ruling Frankenstein with a monster of peoples resurgence across the board, it equally presented the victorious AAP with a dilemma.

Having received overwhelming electoral support form all subaltern sections, including Muslims, how was the Kejriwal dispensation now to declare itself in the precipitate cauldron of allegiances?

To its shame, it chose to betray its electorate by opting for a course of not just eclectic but cynical pragmatism. The AAP simply turned its back on the issues raised by the women at Shaheen Bagh, using the disingenuous argument that the CAA was, after all, a matter that concerned the Centre rather than the State Government. And, further to that, the matter was best left to the judiciary.

It must be said with great sadness that this political abdication from the principles on which the constitutional republic was founded will for long remain a blot on the Kejriwal party and government that had garnered such unprecedented commendation from the hoi polloi. Most laudable as the general welfarism of the praxis of the AAP has been, it will need to ponder whether it can have any sort of national future should it stay away from addressing the fissures and injustices that render the republic fragile and unconvincing.

The Women and the Youth

Let there be no mistaking: the magnificent resurgence of we the people that India is now witness to is not the doing of dithering, organised political forces. It is the women of India who have for the most part been determined to assume the republic. So sentient and dogged has been this new leadership that writers, artists, intellectuals, well-informed working people have received the adrenaline to follow that leadership, with a recovery of conviction and hope lost to them for years now.

Suddenly, the numbing, authoritarian prose of edict is coming to be submerged by the verve and searing truth of poetry in street and lane, nook and corner. As the emperor comes to be more and more without clothes, the pall of gloom and fear that has hitherto paralysed the polity falls off the common Indian, who now feels she can make bold to critique the Modi era in ways and areas thus far forbidden.

Remarkably, even as the Shaheen Bagh phenomenon has drawn such vile calumny from scions of the ruling establishment, other voices within it have felt the beauty of the happening. No less than the erstwhile Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Sumitra Mahajan, has made an enthused public averment in praise of the women of Shaheen Bagh. By no means an ordinary occurrence that, you might agree.

Much as one hesitates to make an argument form nature, let us for now in this rather inebriating moment acknowledge that women have a capacity for truth rather more than most men, especially in politics.

A further instance of this has been made available by another talented woman from the BJP. Meenakshi Lekhi, who pleaded in court on behalf of women officers in the Army denied the right to permanent commission, found the integrity and courage to charge that the Army had misled the court in the matter.

Where for six suffocating years, the nation has been pulverised into never critiquing the security establishment, what a path-breaking averment has come from the reputed advocate.

This gathering popular revulsion against the events of the last week has indeed obliged some leaders of the BJP to demand action against the culprits of their own clana most salutary recovery from a man who had some months ago made gauchely ignorant statements about the goings-on in Kashmir.

Northeast Delhi

The attacks we have witnessed leave little room for facile consolations. The deaths in the Capital city bring irremediable shame and guilt to India.

And yet, stories emerge of incomparable humanity from among the cinders and the corpses. Not an occasional story but many indeed of Hindus rescuing Muslims and vice versa, of neighbours setting up human chains to protect the houses and places of worship of the impugned other. Stories that one rarely accosts when it comes to inter-racial carnages in other parts of the world.

That is an India worth living and dying for.

Can we hope that in the electoral contests to come, the Hindutva Right-wing and its governments, who have demonstrably failed to deliver to the nation and its hard working people an improved livelihood across all economic and human indices, will nonetheless take warning from the consequences of its cynically sectarian politics and governance and desist from repeating the course it chose to follow in Delhi?

On that it must be said that, regrettably, the jury is out, given the ideological ecology of the making and political history of these forces.

That any attempted repeat of its follies are now likely to receive far greater pushback than before seems much more likely. Such hope resides in the awakening the republic has seen and that is underway with increasing conviction and energy.

It is to be hoped that organised political forces in the opposing secular camp will have learnt lessons from the spontaneous leadership furnished so numerously and concertedly by we the people. Should they fail yet again, there is no telling how the future of the republic may shape in the decade to come.

For now, let us salute the women and youth of India for what they have done and continue to do.

(Courtesy: thewire.in)

The author, who taught English literature at the University of Delhi for over four decades and is now retired, is a prominent writer and poet. A well-known commentator on politics, culture and society, he wrote the much acclaimed Dickens and the Dialectic of Growth. His book, The Underside of ThingsIndia and the World: A Citizens Miscellany, 2006-2011, came out in August 2012. Thereafter he wrote two more books, Idea of India Hard to Beat: Republic Resilient and Kashmir: A Noble Tryst in Tatters.
Fashion and home furnishings retailer Laura Ashley is racing to secure a rescue deal by the end of the month to avoid running out of cash.

The company is battling to avoid collapse as it struggles with a slide in high street shopping. A rescue deal would avert potential disaster for 2,700 staff at its 150 shops.

The chain, known for its floral wallpaper and summer dresses, said in a statement issued to The Mail on Sunday last night that it was in talks to agree a 15million loan.

But the company warned that the spread of coronavirus could further impact the business if shoppers desert high streets, and said that it 'continues to monitor the situation closely'.

The chain was established in 1953 by Laura Ashley and her husband Bernard using quintessentially English patterns and designs. But in recent years, it has struggled to find favour with customers amid growing competition and hard times on the high street.

Designer Laura Ashley pictured in 1976 for a documentary. Her company faces collapse

Exterior of the Laura Ashley store on Oxford Steet, London, undated

Retailers have pleaded with Prime Minister Boris Johnson for tax breaks to give the ailing retail sector a lift.

But so far the Government has offered financial assistance only to small firms.

In the Budget last week, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a package of measures to support high street shops but only about a third of retailers are believed to be small enough to qualify.

Experts fear a wave of casualties  particularly among those already struggling with large debts  if there is a prolonged fall in shoppers during the coronavirus pandemic.

Laura Ashley said it has drawn up a plan to revive the company's fortunes but the new strategy is still in its 'early stages'.

The firm suffered a lacklustre Christmas period but it said last night that sales in the six weeks to March 7 had surged 27.7 per cent compared with the same period a year ago.

A 1980s Laura Ashley advertisement. Now the fashion house needs a cash injection

Laura Ashley shop in Truro, Cornwall, undated. The chain was established in 1953

Sources said any agreement could still be a fortnight away. Interested parties are understood to include Gordon Brothers, an adviser to retail companies in financial straits. The firm could not be reached for comment.

Sky News separately reported that another potential rescuer Hilco, which owns DIY retailer Homebase, is considering handing Laura Ashley the loan.

Laura Ashley, which is listed on the London Stock Market with more than 200 million sales a year, said a month ago that it had secured a loan from US bank Wells Fargo, understood to be for 20 million.

But it said last night 'the company has continued to review its funding requirements' and is now 'in advanced discussions with a third-party lender'. The statement added: 'There has been a reduction in the amount that the group can draw down under its debt facility.

'If the group is unable to secure commitment for the requisite level of funding by the end of March, the company will need to consider all appropriate options.'
The sample of a 71-year-old man who died on Saturday while under quarantine in Buldhana in Maharashtra for suspected exposure to novel coronavirus has returned negative, a health official said on Sunday.

It was feared earlier that the septuagenarian became the first victim of Covid-19 in the state, which has reported 32 confirmed cases as on Sunday.

The man, with a history of diabetes and high blood pressure, had returned from the United Arab Emirates some days ago, an official said.

"He was admitted in Buldhana general hospital, where he died on Saturday. His sample, which was sent to Nagpur for testing, has returned negative," Civil Surgeon Premchand Pandit told PTI.

There have been no deaths due to viral transmission in Maharashtra so far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mumbai: Federation of Western Indian Cine Employees (FWICE) on Saturday suggested that shooting schedules of all the films and television shows should be stopped across India for a brief period amid coronavirus outbreak.

A meeting of FWICE, Indian Motion Pictures Producers' Association (IMPPA) and Indian Film & Television Directors' Association (IFTDA) will be held on Sunday to take a decision to stall all the ongoing film and television shoots.

"The idea of the meeting is to discuss about stopping shooting of films and TV serials for sometime due to coronavirus as a lot of people usually work on the sets. We have to keep in mind the safety of all the members of associations against Corona outbreak," BN Tiwari, President of FWICE, told PTI.

"In the meeting, we will discuss if the proper course of action is not taken on the sets regarding the safety of members the shoot has to be stopped, if they are following all the necessary precautions then in some cases the shooting schedules should not be disturbed," he added.

Tiwari said a meeting with Producers Guild of India and TV broadcasters will also take place on Monday.

Various events, award functions, interviews, shooting schedules have been called off amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

On Saturday, actor Shahid Kapoor announced that the team of his upcoming film "Jersey" has decided to suspend the shoot of the film to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Yash Raj Film also delayed the release of Dibakar Banerjee-directed "Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar". "Angrezi Medium", starring Irrfan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Radhika Madaan and Deepak Dobriyal, is braving the panic around the virus spread by going ahead with its release.

Tillotama Shome's film "Sir" has been postponed. The release of Hollywood movies "A Quiet Place 2", "Mulan" and new James Bond movie "No Time to Die" has been delayed.

Cinema halls have been closed in Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Karnataka, Rajasthan and in parts of Maharashtra till the end of this month, to contain the virus that has been declared a pandemic by the WHO.

The deadly virus originated in China's Wuhan city in December last year and has killed over 5,000 people and infected more than 134,000 globally.

The number of novel coronavirus cases in India rose to 83 on Saturday, which includes one death each from Delhi and Karnataka.
Proud owners proved just how much they love their pets by sitting down to enjoy a meal with their furry friends.

The creative owners have been taking to the British Facebook group Rate My Plate to share the spectacular array of culinary delights that have garnered their animals' attention.

Among the inventive photos is one displaying the Pappa John's pizza one pet owner decided to order so that she and her canine could 'spend 'more quality time together' and another of the meal for two one owner prepared for his dog.

Here FEMAIL has collated some of the best animal dates which made it onto the list.

One anonymous cat owner decided to take the British Facebook group Rate My Plate to share a picture of the dinner for two they would be enjoying with their cat

In response to the comical post, Laura Caffrey, originally from London and now living in Eindhoven, Netherlands, said she and her 'date' had decided to order in so they could spend 'more quality time together'

Meanwhile Fraser Ford, from Dundee, shared an image of the meal for two he would be sharing with his pet canine

Another animal lover, Elain Ann Howard, from Horwich, said that her providing her dog with this 'generic, beef-flavoured, corn-based snack' was what helped her 'cement true love' with the pet

Meanwhile Rhiannon Green, from Stanley, Durham, said her cat was clearly 'not interested in food'

Cat lover Justin Cull, from an unknown location, shared a image of his 'proper cute cat date' sat behind the table with a spoon and knife

While Peyton Joseph, from London, decided to share a picture of her pet who seemed to be paying close attention to her spaghetti

Elsewhere Naomi Smith, from an unknown location, joked that her cat was looking at his favourite meal sat in the cages above him

And Rachel Litwin, from Leighton Buzzard, said her date had already helped himself to her crisps

Gemma Fate, who lives in Oberburen, Switzerland, and is originally from Swansea, said her pet had been sitting opposite her KFC meal in bed last night

Deciding to take a spin on things, Victoria Brown, from an unknown location, said her 'date' was cooking for her

While Natasha Braddock, from Axminster, on the eastern border of the county of Devon, shared a picture of the breakfast she would be having with her dog

Tilda Emery, from Canberra, Australia, shared a picture of the roast dinner she had prepared for her cat and said her 'date' had 'high standard'

While Elena O'Neill, from London, shared a picture of her canine who was 'waiting for leftovers'

Elsewhere Tim Jones, from Christchurch, New Zealand, shared an image of the bacon he had cooked for his cat

While Jennifer Ross, from an unknown location, said her pet had managed to work their way onto her plate

Joining in on the trend, Chris Chambers, from an unknown location, shared the meal for two he would be having with his cat
A small farmer has prevailed over a seed firm in the Supreme Court (SC), leading to new legal rights for agriculturists, when the judge in the case ruled that cultivators growing seeds for companies and selling the harvest back to them under contracts were not engaged in any commercial activity, but merely eking out livelihoods.

In a country like India, where agriculture was in a very imperiled state, a farmer, even if he or she undertakes contract farming, is a consumer, not a commercial agent, the judge said. When confronted with a large company, such farmers qualify for all protections under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, the SC verdict delivered on March 6 said.

The case pitted Ambika Devi, a small muesli grower from Kerala, against the Hyderabad-based Nandan Biomatrix. The company had sold her seeds of white muesli for experimental cultivation with a promise to buy back the grains at an attractive price.

Devi moved court when the company did not buy the harvest, causing financial losses to her.

The dispute, at a basic level, was whether farmers who carry out farming under a contract that obliges them to buy the seeds from a firm and sell the produce back to the same company is a commercial agent or a consumer.

The verdict by Justice Mohan Shantanagoudar, experts say, has larger implications in contract farming, which is widely practised in the country. Food companies commonly enter into large-scale commercial buyback contracts with farmers. For instance, US snack and beverage giant PepsiCo offers exclusive, protected potato seed varieties to farmers for use in manufacturing branded snacks.

There are very few cases where farmers have successfully established their rights as consumers under the Consumer Protection Act at the Supreme Court, said Kavitha Kuruganti of the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture.

Kuruganti said the SC verdict was significant in the context of a lack of legal backing for contract farming in the country. The Union government does have a Model Contract Farming Act and some states do have provisions, but there is very little enforcement on the ground, she said.

The status of a consumer invoked all protections under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, while saving Devi from the complexities of commercial contract laws, which are disproportionately won by industrial players. The court viewed Devi as a consumer who bought a service from the company, which was supposed to not only buy back the produce but also provide technical guidance, which it didnt.

The judgement sets a precedent for all buyback contract farming, lawyer Santosh Paul, who appeared for Devi, said.

Devi said the verdict means companies would now not be able treat farmers like me unfairly.

The primary point was that the SC said there was no resale of any product in the market in furtherance of a commercial clause by farmer, Bobby Agustine, another lawyer for Devi, said.

The lawyer for the seed company, Raghenth Basant, said the court rejected his plea that the cultivation and sale of muesli by the farmer was for a commercial purpose.

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Amid the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and an increase in virus cases in India, the Uttarakhand government has decided to ban mass gatherings. State Minister Madan Kaushik, on Sunday, informed about the government's decision to ban mass gatherings, including seminars and protests in the state.

Moreover, all government and private programs have also been banned for a month and the district magistrates have been permitted to act against anyone who is found violating these orders.

The state government has already declared the deadly virus as an epidemic and has passed an order to shut all theatres and educational institutions till March 31. However, Medical colleges of the state have been excluded from the order.

READ | Uttarakhand government prepared to deal with Coronavirus: CM Trivendra Singh Rawat

Coronavirus in India

According to the latest figures available on Sunday, the total number of positive cases of Coronavirus in India has soared up to 107 as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Two deaths have been reported in Kalaburagi and West Delhi respectively. 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. The government is also monitoring all suspected cases and has issued preventive advisories.

Taking into consideration the rising number of Coronavirus cases, the Central Government on Saturday decided to treat the deadly virus as a "notified disaster."

READ | Coronavirus: Uttarakhand schools to remain closed till March 31

The Coronavirus crisis

First detected in Wuhan in December 2019, COVID-19- the novel Coronavirus has affected nearly 141 countries in the world. Presently, there are over 156,948 confirmed cases of COVID-19 which has led to the death of 5,839 people. As there is no vaccine or specific antiviral medicine to treat COVID-19, countries have been grappling with all possible mechanisms to contain its scope. So far, China, South Korea, Italy, and Iran have witnessed the most number of confirmed cases of the novel Coronavirus.

READ | Coronavirus: 53 people, including foreign tourists placed under observation in Uttarakhand

READ | Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh reviews preparedness for coronavirus

(With inputs from ANI)
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Fredrick Adu Anim has said the police will continue to work hard to thwart criminal activities in order to create a serene environment for members of the public.



He said in 2019 a total of 71,730 crimes were recorded as against 73, 975 in 2018 which showed a decrease of 2,245.

Mr Adu Anim who is also the Greater Accra Regional Commander, said this on Friday during the celebration of the 2019 West Africa Security Social Activity (WASSA) organized by the Regional Command.



He said, Without being complacent, the command is still working hard to conquer motorbike and street robberies which are taking greater numbers in our crime data analysis.



He said there would be no excuse for the service and other stakeholders if they failed to work hard to ensure peace during and after the 2020 general elections.



DCOP Adu Anim said the police service would remain resolute, professional and dedicated in the discharge of its duties.

He said the Police Service had no room for errant officers who violates the law or compromise in any form; he said in 2019 the force penalised 17 officers for various disciplinary infractions.



The Commander urged all personnel to work extra hard to redeem the dwindling image of the service and approach their duties with diligence and also treat members of the public with utmost civility.



Madam Elizabeth Sackey the Deputy Greater Accra Regional Minister urged the Police to be guided by their professional and ethical principles in the discharge of their duties to earn the confidence of the public.

She said the publics perception of the police was still not the best so they must work hard in a comprehensive manner to restore their image.



Madam Sackey said it was important for the Police to get themselves acquainted with the electoral laws as the nation approaches the 2020 general elections to enable officers to take decisions with confidence.

She said government would ensure adequate training for personnel of the service to enable them to deal effectively with crime.



The Accra Command awarded some personnel of the service and also donated bags of rice, toiletries, among other items to the Teshie Childrens Home.



Ten personnel including Chief Superintendent of Police Mr Julius Kpebbeson, a Divisional Commander were recognized for their outstanding performance during the year 2019.

Source: GNA









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Paris, March 15 : Some 70,000 polling stations opened on Sunday in France in the first round of municipal elections amid widespread restrictions to fight the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

Almost 48 million voters are eligible to case their votes elect mayors in 35,000 municipalities for the next six years in an unprecedented environment, reports Efe news.

France has seen almost 4,500 confirmed infections and more than 90 deaths from the virus, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019 and has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.

A few hours after the government announced the closure of all non-essential public establishments in a bid to slow the spread of the outbreak, polling stations were ready to receive citizens.

The participation rate will be closely monitored to answer the question of whether fears over the contagion will result in a low turnout.

There have been growing calls for the authorities to delay the electoral appointment because of the exceptional circumstances.

President of Occitanie Carole Delga asked for a postponement after Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced the closure of bars, restaurants, cinemas and non-essential stores.

"In view of the latest statements by the prime minister and the growing concern of the population, I think that the most sensible thing would be to delay the municipal elections," she said in French on Twitter.

The government debated an electoral delay on Thursday, shortly before the President Emmanuel Macron addressed the nation in a televised speech.

But leaders of the main parties strongly opposed a postponement and even went as far as to say that doing so would amount to an institutional coup d'etat.

Polling stations have been equipped with hand gel, a person dedicated to cleaning, signs on the floor to keep distance between voters and messages reminding citizens to avoid contact with each other.

They must also give priority to elderly or frail people and allow them to cast their votes without having to wait in queues.

The Interior Ministry will publish turnout figures at 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT) when voting will close and the count will begin.

Polls have predicted a good result for environmentalists, stability for conservatives and socialists, a moderate rise in the extreme right and a bad result for Macron's party.

If the predictions are fulfilled, Paris will be in socialist hands and Marseille in that of the conservatives with Macron's party looking to win Lyon.

The far-right could win Perpignan, the largest city in its history, and environmentalists could secure a victory in Bordeaux.
Queensland's Labor government has extended an annual $50 rebate on household power bills for the next three years, at a cost of $300 million.

The rebate started in 2018, and Deputy Premier Jackie Trad announced on Sunday that it would continue for a further three years, with the rebate automatically added as a credit to electricity bills later this year.

Treasurer Jackie Trad announced on Sunday the $50 electricity rebate would continue for another three years. Credit:AAP

The $50 credit will apply to homeowners, tenants, customers who receive an electricity bill from their landlord or body corporate, and customers in communities with card-operated meters.

AAP
A special NIA court has jailed a Sri Lankan national for five years and fined Rs 20,000 after convicting him for spying on Indian defence installations at the behest of Pakistan intelligence officers as part of a conspiracy to carry out terrorist attacks in the country.

Arun Selvarajan has been convicted for all charges against him including the IPC, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention)Act, the Official Secrets Act, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, the Foreigners Act besides the Passport Act, an NIA spokesperson said.

In September 2012, Thameem Ansari, a native of Tamil Nadu's Thanjavur district, was arrested for conducting espionage at the behest of Pakistan intelligence officers led by Amir Zubair Siddique, who was posted at the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo, as part of a conspiracy to carry out terrorist acts in India, the official said.

A case was registered on September 17, 2012 at Q Branch Police Station in Tamil Nadu's Trichy city under sections of the Official Secrets Act read with section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the agency said.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) re-registered the case on May 1, 2013 and took over the investigation.

Later, Sri Lankan national Selvarajan was arrested in the case on September 10, 2014 for engaging in similar espionage activities at the behest of Pakistan Intelligence officers, it said.

Ansari and Selvarajan, pursuant to the conspiracy hatched with Pakistan intelligence officers, had conducted espionage at various defence establishments and sensitive locations in Tamil Nadu besides transmitted classified information to Siddique, thereby threatening the sovereignty and security of India, the NIA said.

On March 6, 2015, a charge sheet was field against Ansari and Selvarajan under sections of the IPC, the UA(P)Act and the Official Secrets Act. Selvarajan was also charged with sections of the NDPS Act. A supplementary charge sheet was filed against Selvarajan on March 30, 2016 under sections of the Foreigners Act besides Passport Act.

Charges were framed against Ansari and Selvarajan in January 2018. Selvarajan has been convicted for all the charges against him. However, trial against Ansari continues, the NIA said.

Investigation is continuing against the absconding accused Mohammed Anver Mohammed Siraj Ali, a native of Sri Lanka besides the Pakistan intelligence officer Siddique and others, the NIA added.

Image credit: PTI

(Picture for representation)
Etihad Airways has announced temporary changes to its route network in light of the current coronavirus situation worldwide.



In a statement, the UAE airline said: "Due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, and its continuing impact on air travel services globally, Etihad Airways continues to follow UAE and international government and regulatory authority directives and has implemented a series of consolidated network changes."



It went on to say that the decision was also being carried out to ensure the "safety and convenience" of its customers and staff, and to "to minimise operational disruption during this period".



The Etihad statement noted that all flights to Milan have been suspended until April 30, while flights to Rome (EY85/86) were suspended until April 30. Flights to the same city (EY83/84) were suspended until June 30 as well.



The airline noted that all flights for Istanbul, Beirut, Casablanca and Rabat will be suspended from March 16 to 31.



All flights for Amman, Madrid and Barcelona are suspended from March 17 to 31, the national airline added.



It went on to note that flights to Jakarta will be reduced from double-daily to daily, with the suspension of flights EY472/471, from March 18 to June 30.



As for flights to Seoul, flights will be reduced from daily to four flights per week - operating on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays - beginning from March 30 to April 30.



All flights for Hong Kong have been suspended until June 30, it continued.



Bangkok flights will be reduced from triple-daily to double-daily, with the suspension of flights EY406/405, from March 21 to May 2.



Etihad Airways went on to note that previously announced network changes remain in place. These include suspension of all flights for Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Madinah, and Kuwait up until March 31.



Bahrain and Muscat flights have been reduced from triple-daily to double-daily until March 31. All Shanghai flights continue to be suspended until March 28, while all Chengdu flights remain suspended until further notice.



Lastly, all Nagoya flights continued to be suspended until June 30.



The airline noted that future changes to the route network may occur due to government directives in key markets.



"Etihad Airways is working closely with regulatory authorities in the UAE and overseas and is continuing to monitor this situation closely," it added.



For passengers impacted by flight cancellations, procedures are in place for fare refunds or for flight changes when services resume, the airline continued.



Etihad Airways is urging guests whose flights are impacted by COVID-19 travel restrictions to refrain from calling the airlines customer service lines unless their flights are scheduled within the next 48 hours.



"Contact Centres are currently experiencing significant congestion and long waits. The immediate priority is to assist those guests with imminent travel," it noted. - TradeArabia News Service
She always wanted us to get a good education for a better life, she said. And in her 50s, she went back to college and got a bachelors degree from Fordham University. One of the things my mother always taught me was, Feel the fear and do it anyway. Jump out there and do it.

As president of the college, Gaba said no two days are the same. While she spends most days in meetings with faculty, students and community members, its the challenges that make her job exciting.

Its the best job Ive ever had, she said. Theres so many challenges here, and its very different for me. The college is in a position where were doing a lot of things, a lot of challenging projects, so Im here at the right time, and Im very happy about that.

And the learning never stops, even for her staff.

I like that Im always learning from her, said Erin Mercer, public relations and social media manager for Atlantic Cape. She definitely has the air of leadership about her, and you can tell that she is constantly educating herself.

Mercer added that Gabas background is inspirational and that a lot of people can see themselves in her story.
An abandoned border collie who became a national hero for his efforts in rescuing injured koalas during the horror bushfire season is set to win our hearts all over again.

The adorable rescue dog called Bear is starring in a new Foxtel documentary that will air this week.

Abandoned by his former owners due to his hyperactive and obsessive-compulsive nature, Bear has been trained to detect live koalas and is the only dog in the world that can sniff out faeces and fur from up to 100m away.

Meet Bear, an abandoned pet turned koala detection dog who has been recognised for his vital work during the recent bushfires in NSW and Queensland

Bear was deployed to devastated regions of New South Wales and Queensland during the recent fires, where he helped wildlife rangers track down at least 50 injured and orphaned koalas that survived the destruction of their habitat.

Conservationist Tyson Mayr, also known as the Naked Traveller, joined the detection dog on his rescue efforts and is presenter of the one hour documentary Bear: Koala Hero.

'It is so incredible to watch because when he's not working he really looks like an untrained dog, he's so excitable and so full of energy. He's a big goofball,' Mayr told the Daily Telegraph.

'But the second they give him the call, he's ready for work and off he goes.'

Bear (pictured enjoying a well earned break) was abandoned by his former owners due to his obsessive-compulsive nature

Wearing socks to protect his paws, Bear is sent into burnt-out areas and sits very still to alert his handler when he smells a koala nearby.

'Follow the amazing work of Bear and his handlers as they spend the summer of 2020 scouring burnt-out bushland in southern Queensland and beyond searching for sick and injured koalas,' a description for the documentary states.

The Border Collie-Koolie cross is one of five pooches part of Sunshine Coast University's Detection Dogs for Conservation program, which assists conservationists protect endangered wildlife in partnership with the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Bear helped rescued at least 50 injured koalas that survived the devastating bushfires

His efforts during the recent bushfires caught the eye and earned the admiration of Hollywood star Tom Hanks.

Described as a passionate and enthusiastic field worker by his handlers, Bear was abandoned by his former owners after becoming too bored being cooped up in a small unit.

Bear: Koala Hero premieres on Foxtel's LifeStyle channel on Wednesday March 18 at 8.30pm.
Publican Benny McCabe, who shut down his chain of 15 heritage pubs across Cork city on Saturday, said the decision will cost his business millions but that common sense had to prevail.

And he said he will continue to pay his 300-staff for as long as he can  for at least the next two weeks and beyond, if the money doesnt run out.

My staff are worth too much to me to put their health at risk, he said. And I will need my team around me again when we reopen.

We are just pressing pause. This will take a national effort but everyone needs to take a breath, calm down and prepare for reopening the doors again in a few weeks.

Mr McCabe made the announcement more than a day before Health Minister Simon Harris recommended all pubs to close their doors. Dozens of Cork bars, restaurants and cafes followed suit ahead of the ministers recommendation, with many citing the health and welfare of staff and patrons as their primary concern.

Mr McCabe, who runs some of Corks most popular venues including The Crane Lane, The Mutton Lane Inn, The Oval, The Rising Sons Brewery, and Sin E, said he has spent the last two weeks liaising with suppliers, the banks, Revenue and City Hall in anticipation of having to close the doors.

He said they have been understanding and supportive but he said businesses in every sector will need increased government support and assurances to survive the crisis.

We bailed out the banks and bondholders. Now its time for us to get support, he said.

The Government must ensure there are no evictions as a consequence of non-payment of rent and there can be no threats from landlords.

Just tell the landlord you cant pay the rent. Simple as that. We are just pressing pause here.

There will be hundreds if not thousands of layoffs in the next few weeks but this will be short-lived, we will open again and we will all need the staff again.

He also said he feels that people will look back on the staging of Cheltenham and the behaviour of customers in pubs in Temple Bar on Saturday as colossal mistakes.

We have worked on building this business over the last 25 years with the custom and support of the people of Cork and now is the time for solidarity across the city and wider regions with our healthcare workers and emergency services, he said in a statement on Facebook.

He promised events to support bands and DJs when his pubs reopen, and announced plans to stage a St Patricks Day event in June.

You are our beating heart, he said.

He encouraged people to use the shut-down period to reflect on how business is done in Ireland, how we live our lives and to explore what it means to be kind.

One hundred years ago this year, Cork was burnt to the ground, he said.

This is a different scenario but Cork will prevail as before. Mind yourselves and Ill see you in a couple of weeks.
The Russian government said on Saturday it was closing the countrys land border with Poland and Norway to foreigners from midnight as a precautionary measure to try to stop the spread of coronavirus, Reuters reports.

It said the closure would apply to all foreigners passing through those border points for tourism, study, work or private visits. Citizens of neighboring Belarus and official delegations would be exempt, it said in a statement.

Russian authorities, who have already taken a slew of measures to cancel flights and trains, impose quarantine rules, and partially close Russias long land border with China, said on Saturday they had registered 14 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. The country previously had 45 cases.

Nobody in Russia has yet died of the virus, they say. Some doctors have called the statistics into question however given what they say is the patchy nature of testing.
The number of novel coronavirus cases in the country rose to 93 on Sunday, which includes two persons who died in Delhi and Karnataka, the Union Health Ministry said.

While a 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi who had recently returned from Saudi Arabia died on Thursday, a 68-year-old woman in Delhi who had tested positive for coronavirus passed away at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital on Friday night.

Delhi has reported seven positive cases and Uttar Pradesh 11 so far. Karnataka has six coronavirus patients while Maharashtra 19, Ladakh three and Jammu and Kashmir 2.

Besides, Rajasthan also reported two cases. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab have reported one case each.

Kerala has recorded 22 cases, including three patients who were discharged last month after they recovered from the contagious infection with flu-like symptoms.

The total number of 93 confirmed cases includes 17 foreigners -- 16 Italian tourists and a Canadian, the ministry officials said.

Amid rising coronavirus cases in India, 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 and that it is "not a health emergency" in India at present.

With the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaring COVID-19 a pandemic, a Health Ministry official said over 4,000 people who had come in contact with the 93 positive cases have been identified through contact 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 personal protective equipment (PPEs), trained manpower, rapid response teams are being strengthened further in all states and union territories.

The Centre as part of its measures to contain the spread of the disease on Friday announced that people will be allowed to travel through 19 of 37 land border checkposts from Saturday midnight and services of the 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, the official said.

The government on Wednesday suspended all visas, barring a few categories like diplomatic and employment, in an attempt to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

It has asked Indian nationals to avoid all non-essential travel abroad.

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. PTI PLB DV

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San Leandro has cancelled or postponed large events and gatherings and taken other steps during the coronavirus outbreak, officials said Friday, and its school district is closing campuses and stopping activities through April 3.

Steps taken by the city include relaxing noise ordinance enforcement "in order to allow certain specific stores, such as Costco, the ability to receive delivery of products that have been in high demand since this outbreak, whenever such delivery may arrive at the store, including evenings."

Mayor Pauline Russo Cutter is postponing her State of the City address to a date to be determined and the Chamber of Commerce is postponing its Taste of San Leandro benefit.

Programs at libraries and community centers serving high-risk populations such as seniors, as well as youths, have been suspended.

During the schools closure "Students should stay home and minimize social contact as much as possible to keep caregivers and adult family members safe," the school district said. "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 and public health experts tell us that unless children stay in their homes away from other people for the duration of the closure, then they still run the risk of potential exposure."

San Rafael is closing city community centers and suspending all community classes, programs, recreation leagues, and events starting Saturday and continuing through the end of the month.

Library programs are also cancelled, although branches will remain open.

City Hall will also remain open and provide regular services.

The city said the facility closures and event cancellations will be reevaluated and that additional closures may be announced as the situation evolves.

A decision on April programming and facility closures is expected by March 27.

The San Rafael City Council will hold its scheduled meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, but to encourage social distancing, the city is offering ways to submit public comment in advance such as letters or emails.

The city said it will also offer real-time online commenting on agenda items through YouTube Live.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Friday announced the city and county of San Francisco have issued an order prohibiting all non-essential events of 100 people or more in an attempt to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 disease.

The order, made by the Health Officer of the city and county, went into effect Friday.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health had previously recommended canceling or postponing events of 250 people or more and prohibiting events of 100 people or more.

The department also recommended organizations that serve vulnerable populations cancel gatherings of more than 10 people, officials said.

The order does not apply to essential government services, transit, office space, hotels, residential buildings, grocery stores, shopping malls, retail establishments, hospitals, medical facilities and community service organizations like food banks, officials said.

In an attempt to allow for social distancing, restaurants that have a capacity of between 100 and 500 people are allowed to continue operating as long as they reduce their occupancy in half up to a maximum of 100 patrons.

Also in San Francisco, five more confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus were reported Saturday in San Francisco, bringing the city's total to 28, health officials said.

In an effort to slow the COVID-19 spread, the city on Friday banned public and private gatherings of more than 100 people through April 30.

In addition, the city has restricted visitors and non-essential staff at Laguna Honda Hospital and the skilled nursing facility unit at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital until April 21.

There is also a ban on visitors at skilled nursing facilities throughout the city.

An El Cerrito resident fatally shot a suspected burglar apparently trying to break in to a home on Cutting Boulevard early Saturday, police said.

Residents at the home called police about 1:15 a.m. to report that someone was inside their garage. A man who lived there armed himself and went to investigate, while his wife and daughter stayed in a bedroom, police said.

The man spotted someone who appeared to be trying to enter the home via a glass back door. The resident shouted at the person, but they didn't leave, police said.

The resident felt threatened and shot at the suspect in defense of himself and his family, police said.

The suspect ran away and was found in the road near the home by police. The suspect, whose name was not released pending notification of family, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police believe the suspect was trying to break in to the home and had likely burglarized other houses in the area.

A four-time felon was sentenced on Friday to six years in state prison for a hit-and-run collision in East Oakland two years ago that killed a 9-year-old girl, prosecutors said.

Kevin Lee Payne Jr., 23, cried and told a courtroom packed with family members and friends of Zayda Monge of Oakland that he's sorry for his role in the collision at the intersection of 35th and Paxton avenues shortly after 9 p.m. on April 10, 2018.

Payne pleaded no contest on Feb. 14 to vehicular manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident and reckless driving with serious injury, a charge based on Monge's death and the injuries to three other people.

Piedmont schools will join other neighboring districts and close for the next two weeks in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, the school board decided Friday.

At a special meeting called to discuss school closures, the Piedmont Unified School District Board of Education unanimously approved shuttering school facilities from Monday through March 27.

In addition to classes, sports, dance, dramatic productions and all extra-curricular activities are cancelled. Any rentals of school sites are also cancelled, the board decided.

The district is planning for online instruction while schools are closed, and the goal is for teachers to email online homework and learning activities for students starting Tuesday afternoon, according to the district's web site.

The Piedmont district will maintain some essential services, to continue payroll and other functions, but the district office will be closed to visitors during the school closure.

The district plans to work with the Alameda County Public Health Department and state school officials to decide whether to reopen schools on March 30.

San Francisco police are investigating a fatal shooting in the city's Tenderloin neighborhood early Saturday morning, police said.

Officers responded at 1:50 a.m. to the shooting reported in the area of Jones and McAllister streets.

No other information about the case was immediately released by police, who are asking people to call (415) 575-4444 with any tips that will lead to an arrest in the shooting.

City officials in Palo Alto on Friday reported the closure of several city facilities in an attempt to slow the spread of the COVID-19 disease.

The city is also instituting a hiring freeze, effective immediately.

Facility closures that will go into effect Saturday include libraries, the Art Center, recreation facilities including the Mitchell Park Community Center and Teen Center, Lucie Stern Community Center, the Junior Museum and Zoo, the Children's Theatre, the Rinconada Pool and the Palo Alto Animal Shelter, officials said.

City-related events and programs at the Cubberley Community Center are also being suspended.

Open Space Preserves and parks will remain open, and there will be enhanced cleaning at playgrounds.

Beginning Monday, access to City Hall will be by appointment only.

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.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan reviewed on Sunday the status of actions taken by the states and Union Territories for prevention and containment of coronavirus and directed officials to scale up the capacity of the round-the-clock control room helpline in view of increased volume of queries.

According to a health ministry statement, Vardhan was apprised of the emerging international and national status of COVID-19 at the meeting as he took stock of the status and preparedness of the states and UTs in terms of quarantine facilities, isolation wards, adequacy of personal protective equipment and other items.

He reviewed in great detail the steps taken by the states to foster 'social distancing' in great detail and advised them to maintain hygiene and cleanliness in hospitals, and adhere to all laid down protocols for containment and management of the disease, the ministry said.

The health minister said the 71-year-old man from Maharashtra's Buldhana who was admitted to a private hospital and died during treatment on Saturday, tested negative for coronavirus infection. He had returned from Saudi Arabia recently and had diabetes and high blood pressure.

A health ministry official said both the first and second confirmatory tests for coronavirus are free for all citizens.

About the two COVID-19 deaths in the country, Vardhan said both of them had pre-existing co-morbidities.

"Contract tracing of these cases is being rigorously pursued. So far, this has led to identification of more than 4,000 contacts who have been put under surveillance, the Union health minister said.

Vardhan directed officials to scale up the capacity of the 24x7 control room helpline by adding more lines and deploying additional human resource, to answer the queries about COVID-19, according to the statement.

The measures taken for avoiding non-essential travel and mass gatherings was also reviewed by Vardhan at the meeting. The outcomes of the discussions at the meeting shall be put up to the Group of Ministers (GOM) on COVID-19 at their meeting on Monday, it said.

As part of the government's efforts to evacuate Indian citizens from coronavirus-affected countries, an Air India flight from Italy's Milan arrived in Delhi this morning carrying 218 evacuees who were quarantined at the ITBP camp in Chhawla as per protocol, the health ministry said



The third batch of 236 evacuees from Iran also arrived on Sunday and they were quarantined at the Army facility in Jaisalmer. The passengers were tested prior to their departure from Iran and all were reported to be asymptomatic, it said.

The ministry also said that 265 passengers from coronavirus-hit countries have been quarantined at Thiruvananthapuram, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

According to the health ministry, the number of novel coronavirus cases in the country rose to 107 on Sunday. Twelve more people have tested positive in Maharashtra, taking the number of cases in the state to 31, it said. But state Health Minister Rajesh Tope said there were 32 cases.

Delhi has so far reported seven positive cases, Kerala 22 and Uttar Pradesh 11. Karnataka has six coronavirus patients while Ladakh three and Jammu and Kashmir had two. Telangana reported three cases. Rajasthan also reported two cases. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab have reported one case each.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Though hes already completed his final royal engagements as a senior member of the British royal family, Prince Harry is still in the U.K. His wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex has returned to Canada to be with their son, Archie Harrison amid the coronavirus outbreak. However, the duke is still plotting his next moves following Megxit.

As of April 1, 2020, the Susssexes will no longer be senior working members of the royal family. As a result, they will no longer be beholden to royal rules and they will also become financially independent whole focusing on projects and charity work that speaks to them.

Though the pair have already been testing out normal life since late 2019 while living on Vancouver Island in Canada, royal experts are concerned that Prince Harry will find life post-Megxit too challenging.

Royal experts and Queen Elizabeth are deeply concerned about Megxit

Though the Sussexes seem happier than theyve ever been, what they are doing is unprecedented. As a result, no one, including Queen Elizabeth believes that Megxit will actually work.

Of course they are besotted with each other, royal expert Camilla Tominey told ITV News. But thats not to say the love they have for each other and their child and their dream life in North America that theyre not going to face challenges. And that its not going to be difficult particularly for Prince Harry to leave everything that hes known. This is an institution he was born into, he knows nothing else.

Additionally. the queen has put a 12-month review clause in the Sussexes Megxit agreement. Putting that 12-month review in place goes to show you that the Queen will be watching them like a hawk, Julie Montagu Viscountess Hinchingbrooke said in the Channel 5 documentary, Royals: A family in crisis. She will want to see everything that they are doing, what they are making money from and how it is affecting the Royal Family. So there must be some concern from the Queen about what their intentions are.

Many royal experts are convinced that the duke and duchess or at least Prince Harry, will eventually return to the royal fold.

Prince Harry thinks hes more normal than the rest of his family

Though hes been a member of the British royal family for his entire life  the prince is also used to doing everyday tasks. On Vancouver Island, he and Meghan, live like a regular young couple with a young child.

According to the prince  the military prepared him for a no-frills existence. You forget, I was in the military for ten years so Im more normal than my family would like to believe, he quipped during a leaked phone call. But certainly being in a different position now gives us the ability to say things and do things that we might not have been able to do. And seeing as everyone under the age of 35 or 36 seems to be carrying out an activists role, gives us the opportunity to try and make more of a difference without being criticized. Oh no, I think its much better.

Royal experts believe Prince Harry will find non-royal life too challenging

Most royal fans and experts believe that the prince is making a grave error and that he will deeply regret his decision to choose his wifes peace and happiness over his family.

I hope after a year he rethinks and comes back and rejoins the firm, royal photographer Arthur Edwards told The Sun. Hes a boy whos never had to worry about parking his car, hes never had to worry about sorting out his tax returns or his insurance. All of this is going to be new to him. No one is going to do that for him now, hes either going to have to do it himself or employ someone to do it. Hes going to find life, as most of us do, pretty tough. Hes 35 and hes never had to do anything like that and he may wish hed never gone down that road.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday rejected the opposition's charge that the budget session ended without people of the state getting any relief.

He was replying to a query on the opposition giving his government "15 out of 100 marks".

"What was the budget for? Wasn't it for the common man?" he asked.

Thackeray said the opposition was not serious about the situation caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak.

He added that his government was committed to enact a law to curb crimes against women, which could not be tabled this time as the session was curtailed.

"The beginning is good and I am confident that in the next five years, the government will take strong steps to make the state prosperous," he said.
Addressing the SAARC conference on mooting a common strategy to combat COVID-19 on Sunday, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani welcomed the initiative taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to Ghani, his countrys biggest vulnerability was the open border with Iran. Thereafter, he suggested various proposals such as creating a SAARC task force, a common framework for telemedicine, ensuring essential cross-border trade and India taking the lead in distance education.

Moreover, he advocated that India being a member of both SAARC and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation should try coordinating between the two organisations. As per Ghani, this would provide a reality check on whether the experience of China could be replicated in the South Asian context. The conference was also attended by Maldives President Ibrahim Solih, Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, Bhutan PM Lotay Tshering, Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli and Special Assistant to Pakistan Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza.

Read: PM Modi Leads SAARC Conference On Coronavirus, Shares 'Prepare, Don't Panic' Mantra

Into unknown territory

Thank you, Mr Prime Minister. Thank you for taking this important initiative. We are into unknown territory. Our vulnerability comes from our openness. Our great vulnerability is that we have an open border with Iran, one of the major centres and the flow cannot be stopped.

Request a task force of SAARC

I have the following 5 proposals. One, modelling of diffusion impacts the scenarios in management. Unless we model the diffusion we will be facing, assumptions from China, the US or Iran are not suitable for our situation. I request a task force of SAARC to be able to do this.

Read: Maldivian President At SAARC: No Country On Its Own Can Succeed In Combating COVID-19

Importance of telemedicine

Second, telemedicine- because the impact of this on the poor and the vulnerable is very significant. If we could create a common framework for telemedicine for diagnosis of related issues, as advances take place we will be able to coordinate. Third, as a landlocked country, which is simultaneously the heart of Asia, closing of borders while essential will result in significant problems regarding the availability of medicine, food and basic goods. If we coordinate to be able to control flows that both allows transactions to take place while focusing on essentials...

Distance education and SCO-SAARC coordination

How do we keep women, youth, children occupied? India in South Asia is a leader in distance education. Can the satellite in India be made available so we can keep people because social distancing is necessary? In my proposal, since India is both an important member of the Shanghai Council, if we coordinate between the SAARC and Shanghai Cooperation Council- how much of the experience of China is replicable in our situations. I thank you for this opportunity.

Read: PM Modi Participates In SAARC Video Conference To Formulate Joint Strategy To Combat Coronavirus

Read: Coronavirus Live Updates: 'Prepare, But Don't Panic,' PM Modi Addresses SAARC Nations
In the earlier incident police said, the victim was approached in the 1300 block of W Street NE about 7 p.m. on March 8 by two assailants, each with a handgun. One took her phone, police said. She tried to get away but shots were fired at her, the police said.
The Indiana Court of Appeals has admonished a Newton County judge for making a transgender Hoosier jump through numerous unnecessary hoops trying to change his name and gender marker before unlawfully denying the request.

In a 3-0 decision, the appellate court said Newton Circuit Judge Jeryl Leach, a Republican who has served since 2001, "fail(ed) to uphold and apply the law" in this case, and "disparaged and manifested a bias" toward (the plaintiff) based on (the plaintiff's) gender."

"The court's treatment of (the plaintiff) here was disrespectful and inappropriate," wrote Judge Edward W. Najam Jr., for the appeals court.

Since 2014, the Court of Appeals repeatedly has said all a transgender person in Indiana has to do to obtain a change of name on government documents and change a birth certificate gender marker is show the person is making the request in good faith and without a fraudulent or unlawful purpose.

The court also has said transgender Hoosiers are entitled to a waiver of the newspaper publication requirement that generally applies to other name change requests, and entitled to have their court records sealed, since there is a "well known potential for harm or harassment" of transgender individuals in Indiana.
ANN ARBOR, MI  The Ann Arbor YMCA is closed until April 6 as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

The downtown branch, 400 W. Washington St., and the Ypsilanti YMCA Child Development Center, 1111 S. Wallace Blvd., and Ann Arbor YMCA Child Development Center are closed, the organization announced in a news release.

The YMCA initially announced closing from March 13 to 15 for deep cleaning after learning that a person with a confirmed case of COVID-19 used the facilitys locker room and pool areas from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, March 9, according to the Washtenaw County Health Department.

The reopening date is now set for April 6, though it is subject to change, depending on the impact of the outbreak, the YMCA announced.

Ann Arbor YMCA temporarily closing due to contact from person with confirmed coronavirus

We will be diverting all available members of our childcare staff team to our Glacier Hills YMCA Child Development Center, 1200 Earhart Road, Ann Arbor YMCA CEO Toni Kayumi said in the release. We plan to keep that location open as long as possible to serve as a coronavirus crisis response childcare site, so the senior living communitys employees can continue to serve their residents, and St. Joseph Hospital and other Trinity Health employees can attend to those in need of medical care during the pandemic.

Children of other medical professionals and first responders who are enrolled in childcare at the downtown Ann Arbor YMCA and the Ypsilanti Child Development Centers can attend the Glacier Hills site, if space is available, according to the news release.

Coronavirus maps show cases and exposure sites in Michigan

There were four confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Washtenaw County, and a total of 33 statewide, as of late Saturday, March 14, state officials said.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has banned gatherings with 250 people or more. The Washtenaw County Sheriffs Office warned residents they can face fines or jail time if they violate the order.

In addition to the YMCA, the health department has named two other possible exposure locations in connection with the Washtenaw County COVID-19 patients:

Detroit Metro Airport, 9000 Middlebelt Road, Romulus, North Terminal in the afternoon, approximately 12 p.m.-1 p.m. Monday, March 9.

The Hair Spot, 1512 North Maple Road, Ann Arbor, 5:15 p.m.-5:45 p.m. Monday, March 9.

MORE MICHIGAN CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE HERE.

Possible coronavirus exposure locations named across Michigan

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Coronavirus concerns change Kroger store hours, Meijer deli service in Michigan

With 9 coronavirus cases, Oakland County orders restaurants, bars to cut customer capacity

Drive-through coronavirus testing available in Jackson

Coronavirus has Michigan spring-break travelers scrambling: Its all up in the air

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.
Veteran actor Shabana Azmi is glad that the discourse around the LGBTQ community is a lot more open today, with even mainstream cinema portraying them with compassion.

Azmi starred in filmmaker Deepa Mehta's acclaimed "Fire" (1996), about a lonely woman in love with her sister-in-law, played by Nandita Das.

The actor recalls how the trio were asked if they were lesbians at the London Film Festival because they had done "Fire".

"Today, it's fine. I must give credit to the mainstream industry that instead of making them a subject of ridicule, they are watching them with empathy," she says.

In an interview with PTI, the actor says she was aware during "Fire" that some would be "outraged, moved and shocked", but at least a dialogue would start in a society, which was so afraid of the "other" that it hated them and was quick to stigmatise.

"Starting a dialogue is the maximum you can do with a part or a film. I felt if the audience could empathise with the two sister-in-laws, then they would be able to extend that empathy to the other race, nation, colour, the other choice. You demonise the other because you don't know them."



The actor now features in "Sheer Qorma", an upcoming love story between two queer women, played by Swara Bhasker and Divya Dutta.

Azmi says doing "Sheer Qorma", directed by Faraz Arif Ansari, was a logical move forward after "Fire".

"There has definitely been a great change in society as there should be. It is far more visible now, there's far greater acceptability, considering that even in mainstream cinema you get to witness it. Earlier it would just be a subject of ridicule, but it's shown with empathy and compassion.

"The notion of family is changing today. It's no longer the heterogeneous family of man woman child. Now two women have children, two men are having children, single mothers are having children. So the notion of family is expanding, which is healthy."



The 69-year-old actor says her character in the film, that of a mother trying to adjust to the revelation of her daughter's sexuality, represents many people, who have difficulty facing the truth.

"She's a woman who doesn't say, 'This is just unbearable.' She tries to cope with it but feels really stretched because as long as it was abroad, it was there, but she has brought this home. When she's confronted by her daughter, that makes her realise.

"I see so many people who have had troubles accepting this of their children but finally they come around because the mother's love wins."



While Bollywood films have been often criticised for an inaccurate or caricaturish representation of the LGBTQ community given its huge impact on the mindset of masses, Azmi believed it would be a stretch to say that films alone have played a role in othering the community.

"Anybody, who strikes out as looking different, who's more visible, the society in any case finds it difficult to adjust to the LGBTQ community. Anyone who wants to look different is looked at (strangely)."



To give perspective, the actor recalls an incident where a gay friend of hers arrived to pick her up in the US, dressed in a faux fur long jacket, diamond necklace, with an eyeliner, and she had remarked, "If he could have dressed up soberly."



"And he said, 'Excuse me for breathing!' I said no, it wasn't about breathing but attracting attention. He said, 'You think it's about attracting attention but this is the way I want to be.' That really started for me the feeling that we are so conditioned that we are easily outraged by anyone who doesn't fit the norm."



Azmi says it's important to understand that minorities and oppressed communities have to take dramatic steps for their identities to be seen and included. This is why, she says, she understands why people from LGBTQ community developed their own fashion sense, art and culture.

"When there's this kind of social shift and change, you have to do something dramatic which captures people's attention. So the LGBTQ community, dressing in a way which brings visibility to them, is a way of seeking comfort. Why should they have a problem of, first, coming out in the open, then dressing the way they feel like."



Another criticism against Hindi cinema over the representation of LGTQ community has been that often such characters are one-dimensional with nothing apart from their sexuality given any importance.

Azmi says it's a fair argument that members of the community shouldn't only be represented for their sexuality.

"You can't define a person from the LGBTQ community only by that. There are so many aspects to them and that's fair to demand, that you don't see me only as this."



With "Sheer Qorma", scheduled to be premiered at BFI, London on March 21, Azmi hopes the conversation moves ahead and her character resonates with people..

"I hope when the mother accepts, she represents the people who have troubles with it. She comes with her own sets of conditioning and prejudices, to finally realisewhich I hope people do toothat love is not a sin.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As Alabama officials removed many of the barriers to testing last week, a new one emerged: shortages of supplies needed to collect nasal and oral samples.

Don Williamson, executive director of the Alabama Hospital Association, has been in close contact with facilities across the state. He said some are now reporting shortages of supplies necessary for testing. Doctors and hospitals use special swabs and vials to collect material for testing in labs operated by the Alabama Department of Public Health or private companies.

Heres where you can get tested for coronavirus in Alabama

On Thursday, the department of Public Health began approving all requests for testing. By Friday, the number of cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, had jumped from zero to six. The number increased to 12 on Saturday.

A couple of the hospitals said they had no collection kits, he said. Some are okay. Some have maybe 15 kits, or 25 kits. I would suspect this will become a bigger problem as testing ramps up.

The equipment in short supply isnt particularly specialized, Williamson said. But it is specific. Providers must use synthetic swabs, not cotton, and special vials.

Theres been a run on everything, Williamson said.

The problem could get worse if people flood the hospitals seeking tests.

Collection kits seem to be a growing problem, Williamson said.

Swabs arent the only problem. To prevent the spread of disease, hospital staff must wear protective equipment including masks and face shields while collecting samples. Not all hospitals have enough protective equipment, Williamson said.

Thats one of the reasons state health authorities advise people to seek testing only if they have the symptoms of the illness. Fever is the main one, followed by a dry cough, fatigue and chest tightness.

People without symptoms should not ask for tests, said Dr. Scott Harris, state health officer for Alabama. If you are not sick, you will test negative.

As private companies jump into coronavirus testing, supplies could increase. Assurance Scientific Labs is conducting tests at two locations in Vestavia Hills and Bessemer. Company officials said they had the capacity to run 10,000 tests. Quest Scientific and LabCorp also perform testing but still rely on clinics and hospitals to collect samples.

Williamson said some hospitals might purchase additional supplies from one of those private companies.

Some hospitals have contracts with private companies and we may see more of that in the future, Williamson said.
The black and white scenic views featured here are just some of the more than 400 photographs published 122 years ago in a book titled Ireland in Pictures.

The pictorial was compiled by a well-known Irish immigrant, John Frederick Finerty, a native of Galway, Ireland, who was, among other things a journalist and served as a Democratic congressman from Illinois.

He was also passionate about his homeland, so much so that, in 1882, he established an Irish weekly newspaper, The Citizen, in Chicago. He also published several books, including Ireland in Pictures.

The publication date was deliberate, as the book was a way for Finerty to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Led by a group known as the United Irishmen, the rebellion was an unsuccessful attempt to quash British rule.

Finerty traveled throughout the United States speaking on Irelands plight for freedom, and was no stranger to Butte or Anaconda. He visited several times in his lifetime and was always given a warm welcome.

In 1902, the editorial board at the Anaconda Standard had a special edition of his book published with a new cover, as a gift to readers who bought a years subscription, which back then was a whopping $10.

The original book cover focused on an iconic Celtic symbol of Ireland, the harp, which is said to represent the immortality of the soul. The symbol once graced a flag that was flown during the 1798 rebellion. The harp is still used today, whether it be on shirts, coins or even stamped on a pint of Guinness.

The 1902 edition featured symbols of the countrys four provinces  Connaught (west), Ulster (north), Leinster (east) and Munster (south).

Calling it the grandest premium offer of the year, the Anaconda Standards subscription campaign was a sound business tactic.

Early-day Butte judge, Jeremiah Lynch wrote Ireland in Pictures is a model of the printers art, and the Anaconda Standard is certainly to be commended for placing before its subscribers and the public generally a work of such merit.

Undersheriff John P. Fitzgerald called it the finest book of the kind I ever saw, and Butte businessman P.J. Brophy said It affords an afternoons recreation in the simple study of the engravings and involves not one moment of wasted time.

Attorney R.P. OBrien called the photographs the best collection of pictures of famous Irish places I have ever seen.

In the books preface, Finerty wrote  Glimpses of Irelands tragic but changeful story are comprised in the written, as well as the pictured, portions of these sketches.

He described the book as a monument to Ireland, and for America an instructor.

At present, copies of the book are somewhat rare, but can be found at rare book establishments, auction sites or through internet stores.

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Dear Ms Jean Mensah,

I feel it a matter of urgency and an obligation to convey to your attention a rumour that is circulating among some people and in certain quarters, in case it could be of any relevance to you.

It is said, "There is the slightest truth in every rumour, and again, "To be forewarned is to be forearmed"

It is being alleged that there are some people, especially, a very important person that you trust so much, who are with you at the Electoral Commission head office but are scheming against you. They intend to sabotage your plans to start the registration of qualified Ghanaians onto a new electoral roll for election 2020 and thereafter.

The source of the rumour is credible. However, those in the know and are quite suspicious of the activities and conduct of a particular person at the office, for a reason or the other, may be feeling reluctant to convey it to your attention.

They may coldly, but naively, come out publicly to acknowledge that they knew it coming, and had even rumoured it, should it come to pass. Would it not be too late by then to do anything about it? Would it not have been much better if they had tipped you off to take precautions to avoid the scheme happening in the first place?

How could the rumourmongers claim to support your cause if they knowingly let you fail by the scheming of your saboteurs? Does a stitch in time not save nine? Could they not have a clever way of secretly informing you of the rumour just to let you be aware of what could possibly happen to let you put in place contingency plans?

However, it is said in the gospel of Matthew 10:36 that "A mans enemies will be those of his own household." Has this proverb or biblical confirmation not oftentimes proved true in our personal lives?

I feel it as an obligation to alert you to the rumour doing rounds whether it is true or false. It does not cost you much, or anything, to be aware of a rumour against your person or plans to take the necessary precautions to avoid such a diabolic intention materialising.

Some of those that you have entrusted with the purchase, or the provision, of certain materials, for the registration of people onto the new voter register to start on the date officially scheduled, thus 18 April 2020, may intentionally dubiously disappoint you. Their materials may allegedly not be ready. This is to give credence to the views of those vehemently opposing the compilation of a new voter register, arguing on timelines and the high cost involved.

You are mandated by the nation's Constitution to organize credible, peaceful and transparent elections for the country. Therefore, I support your view and determination to organise a new registration of people for the impending general election due to take place on 7 December 2020.

Unless it is some natural disaster or a worldwide crisis as it is with the ongoing Coronavirus (Covid-19) that will come to halt your plan, please, do go for it.

To emphasize on the credibility of my advice to you to be careful of those that you have entrusted with certain tasks to make the registration happen on the day and date scheduled, look at the story of the recent past Inspector General of Police, Mr Asante Apeatu, and his Executive Secretary of Police, Mr Tuubo.

Little did IGP Asante Apeatu know that not only he was in the same office with, but also having, a snake under grass (enemy) as his Secretary. This could have resulted in Mr Apeatus being ordered by the President to proceed on a compulsory leave just fifteen days to his formal date of departure from the police force into retirement.

Ghana politics is so dirty that you can hardly trust anyone when it comes to executing policies and programmes you deem to be in the best interest of the nation and the people when such persons feel they cannot get the chance to achieve their corrupt motives.

Why would Julius Caesar turn round to Brutus and ask, Et tu Brute (And you Brutus)? Was Caesar not shocked to the bone to see his trusted friend Brutus as being one of his assassins? He never believed Brutus could plot against him let alone, stab him to death. What about Judas Iscariot, the trusted friend of Jesus Christ betraying him?

A word to the wise is enough.

Rockson Adofo

Sunday, 15 March 2020
Cancellations soared 39.4 per cent for the startup, with managing director Yeswanth Munnangi saying the coronavirus threat started to affect bookings from February. "We are bracing for a big impact from a revenue perspective over the next four to six months," he says. Travel business owners say they are being squeezed by customers seeking refunds and extra costs including cancellation fees from airlines and cruise lines. Travel agent Elizabeth Ellis is almost hoarse with laryngitis but is still on the phones trying to rebook and chase refunds for clients of her agency Cherrybrook Travel in the Sydney suburb of Westleigh.

Cherrybrook has had a 50 per cent drop in new bookings and Ellis says this is falling further every day. She says the impact of the virus will be felt most-severely by small businesses like Cherrybrook, which has a turnover of about $2 million a year. Cherrybrook Travel employees Elizabeth Ellis, Caroline Daley and Judy Mahony in the office in Westleigh Village. Credit:Kate Geraghty "It's killing us," she says. "Tour companies are all doing their best but it is all falling back on us and we are not coping. We have to sit on the phone for hours." Ellis was on hold for eight hours to a cruise company enquiring about a client's booking only to be cut off.

"It is just a new situation every single day," she says. "In the last month this whole industry has been turned upside down and every day is worse." Travel insurance generally does not cover pandemics and travel businesses are finding their business insurance also falls short. Cherrybrook Travel's Elizabeth Ellis (centre) was on hold for eight hours to a cruise ship company for a client. Credit:Kate Geraghty Dennis Bunnik, the co-founder of Bunnik Tours, says he is bracing for major disruptions through March, April and June and hopes things will settle down after that. "There is no insurance we are aware of that you can take for these things," he says.

Bunnik Tours has been operating for 25 years and Mr Bunnik says the company will draw on its long experience to try and get through the coronavirus threat as it prepares to juggle the $80 million of tours it has sold this year. "As a travel company we have been through many crises before, the Sri Lanka bombings, SARS, September 11, these things come out of left field," he says. "It comes down to having the experience and strong financial management over many years. We have zero debt and high cash reserves." Bunnik Travel's co-founder Dennis Bunnik. Mr Bunnik says the company is cancelling trips where travel has been stopped to countries and offering refunds to clients, the situation is more unclear where customers choose to cancel the trip themselves. "Customer wellbeing and minimising risk are our main priorities, the financial side of this is the third element," he says.

One travel business looking on the bright side is Luxury Escapes, with founder Adam Schwab saying while many customers are postponing their upcoming trips there are still "savvy" travellers booking deals for holidays six months away. Luxury Escape's high-end holiday deals are not refundable but the business is offering free change of dates for travellers. If people want to postpone the trip we are doing everything we can to accommodate them," Mr Schwab says. "What we allow is to change dates and hotels are generally allowing it." January was a record month for Luxury Escapes with the business on track to turn over $500 million but Mr Schwab says Luxury Escapes will take a hit from coronavirus, it is unclear how big it will be. "The main risk travel businesses face is global pandemic risk," he says. "Some competitors will go out of business, less-well-funded ones, it might be a chance for us to work with hotel brands we haven't worked with in the past," he says.

Loading Mr Schwab predicts the travel market will rebound quickly with "huge demand" in two to three months time. "The tap will turn back on, so there will be a silver lining," he says. In his "war room" Mr Black is also optimistic as he negotiates a further 230 TripADeal customers off a cruise ship in Rome to the airport to fly home to self-isolation. "We think it might be a minimum three months' severe downturn, but what happens at the end of this? History tells us it comes back incredibly strong almost like an avalanche," Mr Black says. "Aussies, we love to travel, so if businesses get through it, there is a lot of light at the end of the tunnel."
A further 14 patients who tested positive for the coronavirus have died, the Department of Health has said, bringing the death toll in the UK to 35.

There were a total of 1,372 positive tests for coronavirus in the UK as of 9am on Sunday, up from 1,140 at the same time on Saturday, the department said  a rise of 232.

On Saturday, the death toll nearly doubled, rising from 11 to 21.

The new figure came soon after it emerged the government will ask elderly people to self-isolate for up to four months.

A total of 34 people have died from the virus in England, while there has been one death in Scotland.

NHS England said the patients whose deaths were announced on Sunday were aged between 59 and 94, and they had underlying conditions.

Health secretary Matt Hancock said people aged over 70 would be asked in the coming weeks to self-isolate for up to four months to protect them from the virus.

Asked if that time frame was in the governments plan, he told Skys Sophy Ridge On Sunday: That is in the action plan, yes, and we will be setting it out with more detail when it is the right time to do so, because we absolutely appreciate that it is a very big ask of the elderly and the vulnerable, and its for their own self-protection.

The move would happen in the coming weeks, he said, adding: "The measures that we're taking, the measures that we're looking at taking, are very, very significant and they will disrupt the ordinary lives of almost everybody in the country in order to tackle this virus."

Boris Johnson is to urge manufacturers to shift their production lines to build ventilators, amid concerns that critical care facilities will come under intense pressure as the crisis intensifies.

The government is in talks with private hospitals about the possibility of taking over beds, and there could be a shift to household isolation rather than individual self-isolation.

Experts on the UK's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) set out the need for extra action to slow the spread of the disease, advising that the next interventions would need to be instituted soon.

Recommended How to protect yourself from coronavirus

Public Health Wales confirmed 34 new cases of Covid-19 in Wales on Sunday, bringing the total number confirmed in the country to 94.

Eleven new cases were confirmed in Northern Ireland, bringing the total number of known cases there to 45.

Elsewhere, the Society for Acute Medicine warned that one of the biggest issues facing the NHS in tackling coronavirus is staffing.

Dr Nick Scriven, immediate past president of the society, said: "The biggest concern I have in terms of management of Covid-19 is staff and what happens when hospital and community workers become ill or go into isolation.

"Or when schools close and NHS staff have to look after young families."

Additional reporting by PA
The Army, which is running coronavirus quarantine facilities, has told a parliamentary panel that all necessary steps are being taken to safeguard the troops from the infection, including examining all meat products supplied to them.

In its response to the Standing Committee on Defence, the Army said most of the meat products used by the troops were frozen.

It also told the panel about steps such as setting up quarantine facilities in Manesar and Jaisalmer for civilians to contain the spread of the virus.

So far, the Army has established such facilities in Suratgadh, Deolali, Jodhpur, Kolkata and Chennai. Most of the Indians brought back from coronavirus-hit countries are kept at the quarantine facilities maintained by the Army.

"We are inspecting all meat products but we have not come across any such case," the Army told the panel, adding that it was holding regular meetings with officials of the health ministry.

The panel submitted its report to the Lok Sabha on Friday.

"The frozen meat products and whatever rations that have to be sent to the border posts have already been stocked. We have checked all meat products. We will follow all the directions given to us by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The PMO is also monitoring the situation," the Army told the panel headed by BJP MP Jual Oram.

It also told the panel that it had instructed its personnel in the Indian embassy in China, where the coronavirus is believed to have originated, to take necessary precautions.

"The committee was assured by the representatives of the Ministry of Defence that all necessary precautions to safeguard our troops from the virus are being taken. Since the virus can spread to animals also, all meat products for supply to soldiers are properly being examined," the panel observed.

In another response to the panel as regards the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier-1 (IAC-1), the Navy indicated that it was likely to berth it at a private shipyard.

"The case for leasing of the 260 m berth at M/s L&T Shipyard, Kattupalli for a period of eight years (2022-2030) for interim berthing of IAC 1 on the East Coast has been taken up with MoD.

"The total financial implications for leasing the berth, along with ready-to-use infrastructure, are Rs 30.48 crore per year plus Rs 48 crore refundable deposit. The case is being progressed for an early approval of MoD," the Navy said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Shinhan Bank call center employee wearing a mask works at the bank's Gangnam District gu office in Seoul, Friday. The bank installed higher partition walls to prevent the spread of COVID-19. / Courtesy of Shinhan Bank



By Park Jae-hyuk



Shinhan Bank has become the nation's first commercial bank to allow its customer service center employees to work from home, amid growing fears of potential mass infection of COVID-19 at call centers.



Since the cluster infection at Metanet Mplatform call center in Seoul's Guro District, outsourced by Chubb's ACE American Insurance, the authorities have urged financial services companies to make their call centers less crowded.



In response, Shinhan decided to let 150 workers do their jobs from home starting Monday.



The bank said Sunday its 448 employees who work weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at call centers in Seoul and Incheon will work from home on rotation.



If the situation gets worse, the number of call center staff working from home will be 250 per day.



Shinhan installed VoIPs and laptops equipped with the company software in the employee's homes.



According to the bank, those who work from home will not need access to customers' personal information, because they will just explain financial products and ways to use non-face-to-face channels.



If they need access to personal information, they will be able to forward their calls to their colleagues working at offices.



Shinhan said employees who offer services in sign language and who handle voice phishing reports will continue to work at their offices.



In addition, the bank widened spaces between call center workers and raised the height of partition walls to 97 centimeters from 60 centimeters, as part of measures to prevent the spread of the virus.



"As fears have grown over the spread of COVID-19 in crowded offices like call centers, we decided to allow our workers to work from home in line with government policies on infection control," a Shinhan Bank official said.



"We will do our best to protect our customers, employees and local communities."



Shinhan's precautionary approach is expected to prompt other financial services firms to consider allowing their call center staff to work from home.



Most financial firms have said they are unable to allow their call center employees to work from home, due to possible personal information leaks and a lack of systems.



Instead, they have sent part of their work force to additional offices or adopted the shift system.



According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, there are 63,000 employees who work for 701 call centers of financial firms nationwide.


We recall, on the night of March 11, the Camp Taji military base where the forces of the American coalition are deployed, was already shelled. The missile attack became the 22nd in a row against American military interests in the country since the end of October. More than 15 small missiles reached their goals. Three people were killed, including two US soldiers, and 10 were injured.

The @CJTFOIR confirms at least (25) 107mm rockets impacted Iraq's Camp Taji base hosting Coalition troops, March 14 at 10:51 a.m. (Iraq Time). 3-Coalition WIA, 2-Iraqi WIA. Assessment and investigation ongoing, follow @OIRSpox & @SecMedCell for updates. https://t.co/q3ybQYJU40 pic.twitter.com/3JqyMnqQYq

Earlier US Assistant Secretary of Defense Jonathan Hoffman stated US has no intentions to withdraw its military contingent from Iraq

"At present, we have no plans to withdraw troops from Iraq," he said at a briefing at the department.

"We continue to talk with our Iraqi masters. We still want to be friends and partners of a sovereign and prosperous Iraq," Hoffman added.

He noted that the "obvious" is the fact that US troops in Iraq are "good forces," and their presence in Iraq "allows NATO to also participate in the mission to combat IS."

According to Hoffman, the Pentagon did not receive any instructions regarding the withdrawal of troops.

"Our hope and our goal now is for US security forces to remain in the region to help ensure security and make Iraq a prosperous country," he said.
Tinu Cherian Abraham By

If only those who have returned from #Corona-affected countries are a bit more sensible and self-quarantine themselves for some time, other people dont have to fear. Please do that for greater public good and safety. Self-quarantine isnt the same as being jailed. You can still communicate and be in touch with family & friends. There is no reason to fear. You're doing this for the safety of yourself, your loved ones, friends, colleagues and the community around you.

I was on an official US trip to California. I reached Los Angeles on March 1. I was there almost a week and was supposed to go to New York city but due to escalating coronavirus situation, on the advice of the company, I decided to cut short my trip and return to India immediately. I started my return trip from LA on Saturday, March 7. I missed my connecting flight at Frankfurt, Germany, due to delay of the incoming flight and had to stay at the airport for close to 23 hours.

I restricted myself mainly to the Business Lounge and Transit hotel within the airport. I neither ventured out of the airport nor roamed too much inside the airport. I didn't see many people wearing masks, neither at Los Angeles nor Frankfurt airports. I sanitized my hands frequently and even chanced upon actor Vivek Oberoi at the airport. The flight had very few passengers -- the business class had only 4-6 people of the 30-35 seats.

ALSO READ: Not sure about home quarantine, isolation? here's your guide

I reached Bangalore Airport early morning on March 10 (Tuesday) and was greeted by medical officials screening passengers at the airport. It was a bit scary as hundreds of people were standing in long queues, that too in close proximity. The risk of exposure to the disease if anyone was already infected was high. They were only checking for body temperature and enquiries on last visited countries.

We had sent our children to my brother's house even before I had landed at home. This was heartbreaking because I had not met them for weeks and will not be able to see them for many days to come.

My wife has been very supportive and decided to stay with me to take care of us. We know that puts her at risk as well, but we have taken our marriage vow of 'being together in health and sickness' too seriously.

But we are taking all precautions and keeping a physical distance between us. We sleep in different rooms and I am restricting my movements even inside the house. This is a difficult time for us. But we are hoping to come out of it stronger and healthier.

I am talking to friends and family members over phone or video chat. You need this emotional help in this isolation. If not corona, just anxiety can cause you more harm.

I work from home during the day. Later, I keep myself engaged by watching TV, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, and reading books and listening to music.

I have told visitors and guests not to come home. They will understand as I have told them that I am doing this only as a precaution.

(Tinu is a communications and PR professional with a multinational IT and Tech company)
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Linkedin (Reuters)  Sun, March 15, 2020 15:07 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206ac898b 2 Entertainment Steven-Spielberg,series,Amazon,coronavirus,COVID-19 Free

The filming in Mexico of a big budget Steven Spielberg-produced Amazon mini-series, starring Spanish actor Javier Bardem, has been suspended due to concerns about the coronavirus, according to a letter sent to cast and crew on Friday and seen by Reuters.

The production entitled Mexica, which centers on the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, began filming two weeks ago on location in Mexico City. Mexico has so far confirmed 26 cases of coronavirus.

Only a skeletal wrap crew will continue working through next week, and cast and crew were informed that production might resume in December depending on how the public health crisis develops.

The projects budget is believed to be tens of millions of dollars, and dozens of local contractors will be affected by the suspension.

Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The move came after the cancellation of the Guadalajara International Film Festival, set to kick off in Mexicos second biggest city late next week, and as US studios delayed filming.

Read also: Disney to release 'Frozen 2' on streaming platform three months early

Walt Disney Co on Friday said it has halted production on some live-action films for a short time on concerns over the rapidly spreading coronavirus.

Warner Bros. Pictures said on Saturday the company had put production of The Batman movie on hold for two weeks.

Some 153,025 people have been infected by the coronavirus across the world and 5,788 have died, according to a Reuters tally.
While his peers were listening to pop and rap music, Juantio Becenti was ordering the scores of Beethoven and Mozart.

The Farmington-based Navajo composer will premiere his commissioned Divertimento No. 5, Melodrama at Chatter Sunday on March 22, at the Las Puertas Event Center.

The work blends atonality with melody through independent movements for seven instruments. Becentis music has traveled from the mythical red rock country of southern Utah to the concert halls of New York.

He began piano lessons in elementary school in Montezuma Creek, Utah. He devoured classical music, moving between the honor choir and concert bands,.

Ive always sensed a power in music, Becenti said. I used to have whole cycles of scores by classical composers. I would acquire the CDs and just follow along.

Hed dreamed of becoming a classical composer since high school.

In elementary school, Id have them photocopy manuscript paper.

At 17, he won a full scholarship to New Hampsires Walden School music camp. He was one of 50 students accepted from across the globe.

The goal was to have a resident ensemble and for each student to compose for the resident ensemble, he said. I consider that my first piece; that was in 2000.

He prefers to compose in images.

Its fairly atonal, Becenti said. I dont usually work within keys. Its a more intuitive way of writing.

Melodrama highlights each instrument within a short movement.

Its like little stage pieces; theres no formal scheme, he said. Its a melodrama without text.

Chatter also will play music by Claude Debussy, Charles Ives and the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu, all chosen in consultation with Becenti to highlight some of his influences and provide stylistic contrast for his work.
The latest suspected coronavirus case in Chandigarh is of a middle-aged male tourist from the United States who landed in Delhi on February 19.

After travelling through the region, mostly on a bicycle, he reported to the Emergency of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) on Sunday with flu-like symptoms.

However, after being admitted in the isolation ward, he left the premises, said PGIMER officials. Later, a team from the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program, Chandigarh, tracked him down and he was taken to Government Multi Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16.

He was counselled and has been shifted to the isolation ward of GMSH for further assessment. His samples have been sent for testing, said a senior health official, not wishing to be named.

Two test negative

Meanwhile, a middle-aged woman from Zirakpur with travel history to Dubai was also admitted to the isolation ward of GMSH on Saturday night. However, her test reports came negative on Sunday. A senior citizen with travel history to Bhutan, who was quarantined in Panchkula on Saturday, has also tested negative for Covid-19.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has cautioned that more families will lose their loved ones to the coronavirus but has taken a distinctly different approach to tackling the outbreak.

Below is the scientific and public health argument behind the British approach.

WHERE IS THE UK?

The United Kingdom is about four weeks behind Italy and other European countries. Between 5,000 and 10,000 people are believed by scientists to be infected in the United Kingdom..

DELAY AND REDUCE THE PEAK

What you want to do is protect people in the most infectious period, said Patrick Vallance, the British governments chief scientific adviser.

Britain wants to delay the peak and to push the peak down, he said, to prevent the National Health Service from being overwhelmed and to push the peak into the summer months when the health service is less burdened.

Scientific and medical experts say they are adopting a staged approach, not bringing in more stringent measures until the infection rate increases significantly, which may not happen until a few weeks from now.

They say the science of the virus is broadly agreed internationally but countries will take different measures to tackle the spread.

TIMING IS CRUCIAL

There is no point isolating the entire population at such an early stage as too few are infected, people get fed up with staying at home and a prolonged period of isolation could result in loneliness, the scientists say.

Currently, the British government is asking people to stay at home and self-isolate for 7 days if they have coronavirus symptoms.

Closing schools is not logical at this point as they would have to stay closed for 13-16 weeks, many children would resist social distancing for so long and parents, including those working in the National Health Service, would be forced out of the workplace.

In essence, more stringent isolation measures will be needed but not yet.

We do need to do it at the last point it is reasonable so that people maintain their energy and enthusiasm to get through what will be quite difficult things to do, said Chris Whitty, Englands Chief Medical Officer.

Isolating the entire elderly population so early is not logical, according to the governments scientific advisers.

Asking elderly people to stay at home - that is one thing that you really have to time... so that it coincides with the period at which the epidemic is at its peak, Johnson said. That is one of the reasons we are not triggering that draconian measure now.

NO WHIPLASH

Isolating the population would suppress the virus temporarily but it would then release it back into population and the entire health crisis would be repeated.

If you completely locked down absolutely everything probably for a period of four months or more then you would suppress this virus, Vallance said. All of the evidence from pervious epidemics suggests that when you do that and then you release it, it all comes back again.

PROTECT THE VULNERABLE

The disease has five days of mild viral illness, when sufferers could be very infectious, and then a small proportion of people have a second phase in which they have some sort of immune response which causes the damage. The elderly and sick are the ones in the gravest danger.

HERD IMMUNITY

The British scientists do not believe the virus can be eradicated at this stage and that it will return.

We think this virus is likely to be one that comes back year on year and becomes like a seasonal virus and communities will become immune to it and thats going to be an important part of controlling this longer term, Vallance said. 60% is the sort of figure you need to get herd immunity.

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By PTI

PUNE: The district administration is mulling imposition of Section 144 of the CrPC in Pune to check the spread of novel coronavirus, a senior official said here on Sunday.

Addressing reporters, Pune Divisional Commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar said the administration has decided to change its strategy to control the spread of the coronavirus in view of the rising number of cases, which stood at 16 in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, as on Sunday.

Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) authorises the Executive Magistrate of any state or territory to issue an order to prohibit the assembly of four or more people in an area.

Significantly, at least four cases in Pune are the "first contacts" as they had not travelled to foreign countries, said the divisional commissioner.

He said no positive case was reported from Satara, Sangli, Solapur and Kolhapur districts.

The Maharashtra government has already imposed the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 to provide for the better prevention of the spread of dangerous epidemic diseases.

"District collectors and the municipal commissioner have been empowered to control the virus. Collector will take all the preventive measures in their respective districts. We are providing them an adequate number of required masks and medicines," he said.

District Collector Naval Kishore Ram said strict action will be taken against those who are found boycotting families of the patients affected with the novel coronavirus.

"Such an act is shameful for the city like Pune. I have ordered officials to take strict action against such people," he said.

Meanwhile, Pune Zilla Parishad Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ayush Prasad said that a portal--Integrated Data Surveillance Program (IDSP)--has been launched to gather real-time data of coronavirus patients in the dedicated control room.

The IDSP is developed by the MKCL, a Government of Maharashtra enterprises, he said.
Yellow Vests defy coronavirus ban in France

Hundreds of protesters, some wearing protective medical masks, had marched early on Saturday from Montparnasse train station, chanting anti-Macron slogans.

French security forces fired teargas and clashed with anti-government Yellow Vest protesters who were demonstrating in Paris on Saturday in defiance of a ban on mass gatherings that aims to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

In a televised address to the nation on Thursday, President Emmanuel Macron announced school closures and urged people to avoid close contact for fear of propagating the virus that has killed 79 people in France and infected more than 3,600.

POLICE USED TEAR GAS AGAINST PROTESTERS

The government on Friday banned all gatherings of more than 100 people. Paris police had already turned down requests for protesters to convene at sensitive sites, including the Champs Elysees where there were violent clashes between security forces and protesters almost a year ago to the day.

Its Saturday, demonstration day. Some people think that the coronavirus wont touch them and refuse to respect the advice, said a riot police officer in front of a heavily armed vehicle blocking the road that leads to the presidential palace.

Yellow Vests defy coronavirus ban in France WATCH

Central Paris had earlier been in lockdown, with police searching bags over concerns the protesters would seek to return to the Champs Elysees. The police cordon had been eased by lunchtime.

Riot police used teargas and stun grenades in attempts to disperse the crowds and clashed with individuals as about 2,000 security forces were deployed across the city to manage the situation.

The security forces are currently pushing back a portion of the cortege composed of determined individuals, who are trying to continue in a direction that has not been declared, the Paris police said on Twitter, adding that 79 people had been arrested.
Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam speaks during a news conference on COVID-19 in Ottawa on March 15, 2020. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

Our Window to Flatten the COVID 19 Curve Is Narrow, Says Canadas Top Public Health Officer

Dr. Theresa Tam raised the risk level associated with the growing COVID-19 pandemic on Sunday even as retailers and top politicians reassured Canadian that any restrictive measures would not result in shortages of food or other basics.

Both the Retail Council of Canada and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said supplies of groceries and other basics would continue to flow even if the outbreak of the novel coronavirus triggered widespread store or border closures.

That possibility loomed larger after the countrys chief public health officer stopped describing the situation as low-risk.

Our window to flatten the curve of the epidemic is narrow, Tam said at a news conference. We all need to act now. COVID-19 is a serious public health threat.

Tams new assessment did not immediately trigger fresh advice to prevent the spread of the pandemic. Tam repeated previous government messages about avoiding large public gatherings, practising social distancing, and avoiding travel outside of Canada.

She did clarify, however, that Canadians returning from trips abroad should immediately go into self-isolation for 14 days rather than simply self-monitoring.

Fears associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have triggered a rush on drug and grocery stores across the country as people flocked to buy basics en masse.

While the Retail Council of Canada said the current high demand for food, toilet paper and other staples is understandable as the number of positive cases continues to climb, it urged Canadians not to succumb to panic.

Marc Fortin, president of the councils Quebec chapter, said supply chains continue to function as normal and goods will continue to flow even if major trading partners close their borders in a bid to curb the spread of the virus.

Groceries and pharmacies are considered essential services, so they will remain open, he said. We have plenty of food, plenty of goods.

Fortin said about 70 per cent of commonly purchased items are produced domestically, ensuring their continued availability in Canadian stores. He acknowledged the situation is more precarious for fresh produce and other items being imported into the country at this time of year, but said retailers have suppliers in a variety of countries and have contingency plans in place.

Trudeau also urged retail restraint on Sunday during an television interview with CTVs Question Period conducted outside his home, where he is currently in self-isolation along with his family.

He said Canadas supply chains to date have not been affected by the tightening border restrictions around the world, merchandise is still coming across the border, and theres no need to start hoarding supplies.

Yes, stock up a little bit so you dont have to go to the store every two or three days like we usually do, but make sure that youre not taking more than you need, he said. Your neighbours, or vulnerable people, will need to access supplies as well.

Trudeau said a measured approach will be important in all aspects of life as Canadians navigate the outbreak, which has so far infected more than 300 people in the country, and caused one death.

The number of cases continued to climb on Sunday, with Ontario reporting 39 new cases, bringing the total to 142. Health authorities in Quebec reported 11 new cases, prompting Premier Francois Legault to call for the closure of public places in the province such as bars, gyms, libraries, and movie theatres.

Legault did not include stores or restaurants in his message, but urged eateries to operate at 50 percent capacity in order to promote social distancing.

The Manitoba government reported three more cases in that province, bringing the total to seven.

And authorities in Nova Scotia said COVID-19 had officially reached that province after three people tested positive for the virus. Premier Stephen McNeil responded by announcing schools and day-care centres would be closed for two weeks following March break, which is set to begin Monday.

Most people diagnosed with COVID-19 experience mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, and the vast majority of those who contract the virus recover.

However, for some, including Canadians aged 65 and over, those with compromised immune systems and those with pre-existing conditions, the illness can be much more severe. Among the Canadians diagnosed with the illness so far, fewer than 15 percent have required hospitalization.

The growing number of cases has prompted widespread closures of schools and universities, mass cancellation of large-scale events, multimillion-dollar economic stimulus packages from governments, and the suspension of the Parliament until April 20.
Angelina Jolie kept a cheerful smile on her face when she was seen grocery shopping with her daughter Vivienne, 11, in Los Angeles on Saturday.

The 44-year-old movie star stopped by the health food store to stock up, despite the hoards shopping amid coronavirus fears.

However the Maleficent actress maintained a sunny disposition as she and her daughter carried their bulging paper bags through the parking lot.

Out and about: Angelina Jolie kept a cheerful smile on her face when she was seen grocery shopping with her daughter Vivienne, 11, in Los Angeles on Saturday

Angelina, who shares her six children with her ex-husband Brad Pitt, was ready for the inclement Los Angeles weather and threw on a beige raincoat.

She slipped into a stylish layered white dress for her day out, popping on a pair of nude flats and bronze aviator sunglasses.

Vivienne and her twin brother Knox were born in the South of France in 2008 and are the youngest of their parents' children.

The former couple once known as 'Brangelina' also share daughters Zahara, 15, and Shiloh, 13, plus sons Maddox, 18, and Pax, 16.

Keeping prepared: The 44-year-old movie star stopped by the health food store Lassens to stock up amid a flurry of panic buying brought on by coronavirus fears

However: The Maleficent actress maintained a sunny disposition as she and her daughter carried their bulging paper bags through the parking lot

In a Time magazine essay for International Women's Day Angelina revealed that two of her three daughters have recently had to be operated on.

'I have spent the last two months in and out of surgeries with my eldest daughter, and days ago watched her younger sister go under the knife for a hip surgery,' wrote Angelina, whose oldest daughter is Zahara, 15.

She heaped praise on Vivienne, writing: 'I have watched my daughters care for one another. My youngest daughter studied the nurses with her sister, and then assisted the next time.'

Staying safe: Angelina, who shares her six children with her ex-husband Brad Pitt, was ready for the Los Angeles weather and threw on a beige raincoat

Eminently stylish: She slipped into a stylish layered white dress for her day out, popping on a pair of nude flats and bronze aviator sunglasses

Angelina added: 'I saw how all my girls so easily stopped everything and put each other first, and felt the joy of being of service to those they love.'

The Hollywood legend began her romance with Brad in 2005, when he infamously left his first wife Jennifer Aniston for her.

The two married at their Chateau Miraval in the South of France in 2014, but two years later Angelina filed for a divorce that has not yet been finalized.


Italy on Sunday reported 368 new deaths from the coronavirus outbreak as the countrys death toll hit 1,809 while the number of positive cases rose to 24,747 from 21,157 on Saturday, the countrys civil protection authority said.

Governments around the world have stepped up restrictions on the movement of their citizens to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed nearly 6,000 people globally.

Authorities voiced growing concern on Sunday over how much longer the strained health systems in northern regions worst hit could cope with the relentless rise in new cases.

The countrys experience has offered an alarming example for other European countries that have begun seeing sharp rises in cases.

The World Health Organization says Europe is the worlds epicentre of the virus, and Italy has the highest number of cases.

One doctor told The Independent how medical staff are being forced to ration care to patients with elderly patients being denied care based on their age and whether they have other conditions.

Lombardy, the heavily populated area around the financial capital Milan, has been Italys worst-affected region, with 966 deaths and 11,685 confirmed cases, more than half the national total.

The health systems there and in other rich northern regions such as Emilia Romagna and Veneto, are considered among the best in Europe, but have been pushed to their limits.

Authorities have been working to set up hundreds of intensive care beds in a specially created facility in an exhibition centre but are waiting for sufficient respirators and qualified staff.

The numbers have continued to grow. Were close to the moment where we will have no more intensive care beds, Lombardy governor Attilio Fontana said.

But worries are also looming over the much less well equipped south, where tens of thousands have arrived from the virus-affected regions.

Nello Musumeci, president of the Sicily region, said at least 31,000 people had come from northern and central areas in the past 10 to 12 days and registered with authorities  but the real number was much higher.

How many other thousands have entered without showing the same sense of responsibility? he told RAI state television.

The army might have to be deployed to oversee points of arrival, he said.

With the public health crisis also creating economic turmoil, the government is expected to confirm a multi-billion-euro package of measures to support businesses and workers affected by the shutdown.

SOURCE: AFP/REUTERS/AP
Whenever a new photo or trailer comes out promoting a big franchise like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, fans analyze it like archaeologists and/or historians, looking at every pixel with a magnifying glass or making 30-minute videos analyzing two-minute trailers.

Sometimes the information they glean is useful, but other times its not, because when it comes to set photos and trailers, things arent always what they seem, especially when it comes to Marvel. Brie Larson made that clear when she explained what was really going on with a much-debated set photo.

What fans thought the Captain Marvel photo was about

Brie Larson | Aaron J. Thornton / RedCarpetImages.net

Some time ago, a photo circulated of Larson in her Captain Marvel costume while doing a fight scene. The setting appeared to be on Vormir, the place of the Soul Stone where a person who wants that stone has to sacrifice something near and dear to them to get it.

In Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos killed Gamora to get the stone. In Avengers: Endgame, when the heroes went back in time to get the stone, Black Widow famously sacrificed herself so Hawkeye could get the stone.

So what was Captain Marvel doing on Vormir? Fans began to theorize that she had something to do with that battle, especially after Marvel revealed the scene was originally much more elaborate.

Thanos appeared on the scene and there was a battle, with Natasha dying an even uglier death than she ultimately got, before the filmmakers decided to scale back the sequence to what we see in Endgame now, with Natasha and Clint having their fight, but with no Thanos in sight, and certainly no Captain Marvel.

So with that photo circulating, that proves that Carol was part of the battle at one point, doesnt it?

What Brie Larson says the Captain Marvel photo really was

With Marvel, fans should learn by now never to trust their own eyes or ears. Larson posted the photo on her Instagram. Although this was the Vormir set, the moment was never meant to be part of any movie, whether it was Captain Marvel, Avengers: Infinity War or Avengers: Endgame. It was simply a camera test to see how the costume looked, and I was still learning how to move in a leather wetsuit. Good times, she wrote. .

Larson has said in several interviews that she filmed her first scenes for Marvel on Avengers: Endgame, even though Captain Marvel came out first. As a consequence, Larson didnt even fully know what her powers were supposed to be when she started shooting.

Such confusion is not uncommon among Marvel actors, such as Tom Holland, who have been known to ask exactly who it is theyre fighting. So secretive is Marvel that they dont always tell the actors whats going on in the script.

Given all this good-natured subterfuge, is it any wonder Gwyneth Paltrow never seems to know what movie shes working on at any given moment?

Marvel is not above fibbing in the name of promotion

Marvels movies are such malleable creations that theyre often being rewritten after principal photography has been completed and the editors have begun shaping the final movie. Especially with stories as complex as the ones in Infinity War and Endgame, change is inevitable.

However, fans noticed that the Infinity War trailer showed the Hulk in his usual mean and green form charging in the battle on Wakanda. However, in the final film, Banner actually struggles to make the Hulk appear and wears the Iron Man Hulkbuster armor during the battle.

It is not at all uncommon for trailers to include footage that ultimately doesnt get used. The trailers are usually cut before the film is finished, so something may not play exactly as the trailer shows it. However, one could also argue this fibbing is preferable to a trailer that actually gives plot points away. In any event, complaints about the Marvel movies blow away like dust from a Thanos snap because the grosses speak for themselves.
A Belfast law firm is to take a case on behalf of a family in Co. Armagh over the decision not to close schools in Northern Ireland.

Today, the North's Education Minister Peter Weir insisted schools would only shut there when the time is right.

If we are to best protect our loved ones we need the right interventions at the right time making the most impact. I support the advice therefore of the Chief Medical Officer and the Scientific Advisory Group of Experts that now is not the time to close schools.  Peter Weir (@peterweirmla) March 15, 2020

He tweeted: The time will come when it is right from a public health point of view that schools will need to close. Schools and parents/guardians should begin to plan arrangements for that long period of closure including childcare for their children.

The time will come when it is right from a public health point of view that schools will need to close. Schools and parents/guardians should begin to plan arrangements for that long period of closure including childcare for their children.  Peter Weir (@peterweirmla) March 15, 2020

In a statement, Belfast law firm Phoenix Law said: We are instructed by the mother of a child who attends a primary school in County Armagh.

Our clients daughter suffers underlying health problems, including severe asthma and therefore is at a greater risk of harm should she contract the Coronavirus.

It is our clients case that the current position is unlawful and contrary to the necessary protections afforded to all citizens under the human rights act.

For these reasons, we have been instructed to put the various public bodies on notice of our intention to apply for judicial review.

Darragh Mackin, a solicitor at Phoenix Law who acts for the mother, said: It is clear that the respective public bodies have each failed in their respective obligations to our client, and indeed all children, by continuing to require their attendance at school in circumstances in which they would be at an increased risk of contracting the condition.

There is no time for any further delay. The necessary policies and decisions all need to be taken in a manner that recognises the real and immediate risk.

The wider international community has spoken. Their advice cannot and should not be ignored.

Today, 11 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Northern Ireland, the North's Department of Health announced.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases in Northern Ireland to 45 and is the biggest one-day increase there to date.
The previous president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, flew to Kyiv from Spain on the night of March 14-15, having managed to return to the country before the border was closed at midnight on March 17. Journalists of the Strana.ua met near the Hall of official delegations.

"He didnt answer questions - he was cheating on our correspondents, got behind the wheel of a Mercedes and drove away. His son Mykhailo was masked. Judging by the fact that he and his family freely left the terminal, they did not send him to quarantine," 112.ua reported citing Strana.ua.

He arrived in the capital of Ukraine aboard the Cessna 560XL Citation XLS OE-GjM from the Austrian registrations. This is a lightweight twin-engine business class aircraft with a full-height cabin.

Poroshenko ordered a charter flight, which, according to media sources, cost him 28 thousand euros.

The politician left Ukraine on Sunday, March 8, because of which he failed to appear for questioning at the State Bureau of Investigation.
Massachusetts health officials said that 799 patients have been tested for coronavirus as the governor has faced criticism for a lack of disclosing that data regularly.

The State Public Health Laboratory has been testing people since Feb. 28. The newest number of people tested, released Sunday, is up from the 475-total shared by Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders on March 14.

The Department of Public Health has implemented the US Centers for Disease Control and Preventions updated guidance on clinical testing protocols, which means clinicians are required to only submit one nasal swab, rather than the previous requirement to submit both nasal and throat swabs, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health said in a statement.

The change in clinical testing protocols means the State Labs testing capacity will increase to roughly 400 patients a day, doubling the previously 200 patients a day capacity.

Clinicians in Massachusetts now have more flexibility to determine which patients should be tested without having to call DPHs Epi Line.

National labs have now been approved by the FDA to conduct testing. This allows clinicians to submit specimens for testing directly to these labs.

This change will enable more people to be tested and for more tests to be conducted, the state Department of Public Health said. With more clinical labs in Massachusetts working to get FDA approval, even more testing capacity will be coming online soon.

Health experts have blamed the Trump administration for being slow to react to the COVID-19 pandemic including testing. Before Sundays release of testing numbers, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has also been criticized for not detailing how many people had been tested.

In a March 13 message on Twitter, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said, In a rapidly moving public health crisis, we need more transparency about how many people have been tested and what the results have been. I urge the Governor to move with more urgency.

During an appearance on WCVBs On The Record, Baker and Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel were asked if the state planned on releasing daily statistics on the number of people tested.

Massachusetts has the fourth highest amount of COVID-19 cases in the country, a total of 138 as of Saturday.

We will put out all the information that we have in a way that is accurate and timely so that individuals can be informed, Bharel said.

Without saying daily statistics would be released, Baker added that as the number of tests increase, there will be several still being processed. The state needs to find a way to maximize how the information is being released while being accurate.

Several tests will be in process, he noted.

I think youre going to see tons more testing and with tons more testing youll probably see a significant increase in the number of people, Baker said.

Dr. John Patrick, a retired emergency medicine physician at Mount Auburn Hospital, told the Boston Globe that a lack of dissemination of statistics on the number of tests performed could erode public trust.

Massachusetts health officials said it would be releasing testing figures once a week on the DPHs website. Other states provide daily updates.

The Saturday release of total COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts showed 19 cases were confirmed by the CDC. A Biogen conference in Boston last month is tied to 104 of the 138 cases reported by DPH on Saturday.

While declaring a national emergency, President Donald Trump discussed the new testing strategy in which hundreds of thousands of people will be screened at drive-thru centers, the Associated Press reports.

South Korea and Germany have been using the strategy which allows people to be given a throat or nasal swab while in their vehicles, the Associated Press reports.

During his appearance on On The Record, Baker said Massachusetts will see drive-thru centers soon, although he didnt want to be pinned down on a specific time frame.

Baker and Bharel said neither of them have been tested. They both said they are not experiencing any symptoms. Both said they would be tested if needed.

Related Content:
As coronavirus spread across China, researchers there moved quickly to follow it.

The result was a study of thousands of cases that reveals how the outbreak may affect Canadians across age and gender, and who is most at risk  those aged 80 and older and a higher proportion of men compared to women.

The study also shows that the disease is highly contagious, according to its authors, and continued to be transmitted across China even as officials in that country took extreme measures to shut it down.

How it will spread in Canada remains to be seen.

China implemented some pretty significant measures to combat this, said Toronto epidemiologist Jeff Kwong. They locked down tens of millions of people and they did a lot of what we call contact tracing.

Yet, according to the study, the virus spread extremely rapidly from a single city to the entire country within only about 30 days.

Moreover, it has achieved such far-reaching effects even in the face of extreme response measures, says the study, including the complete shutdown and isolation of whole cities, cancellation of Chinese New Year celebrations, prohibition of attendance at school and work, massive mobilization of health and public health personnel as well as military medical units, and rapid construction of entire hospitals.

The research, which was reviewed and fast-tracked by the China Centre for Disease Control and Prevention Institutional Review Board, looked at more than 70,000 incidents and calculated age, gender and severity, among other factors, for 44,672 confirmed cases. It was published in China CDC Weekly.

We asked Kwong, who is associate director of the University of Torontos Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases and a family doctor at Toronto Western Hospital, what could happen here.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Is the data from China representative of what could happen elsewhere?

Its not like its a study of the first 50 cases, the report is based on nearly 50,000 lab-confirmed cases. I would expect that were going to see that same pattern elsewhere.

What about the breakdown by age? Is that fairly representative of what could happen in Canada?

It depends on the population. Thats the thing.

Lets say that this disease affects older people the most, which is what were seeing from the study. We happen to have more older people in Canada relative to the overall population than China.

Italy is quite a bit older still than Canada, so you can see why their hospitals are at capacity, from what Ive read.

Would you expect to see the same severity of cases here as in China?

I think, if anything  because we have a slightly older population  we may end up seeing more severe cases here.

But, on the other hand, because theres less pollution here and lower rates of smoking, maybe we wont see as many severe cases as China. Its hard to say.

Looking at the data, at what age do people become more susceptible?

Id say the risk really starts increasing at age 60.

When a case is considered critical, what does that mean?

Critical would refer to a case where people have so much fluid in their lungs that they cant breathe anymore, what we call consolidation.

Its like a really bad pneumonia, or their lungs are failing. Then we have to put them on ventilators.

The case fatality rate in the study was 2.8 per cent for men and 1.7 per cent for women. Would you expect it to be similar here?

I think the case fatality rates are likely to be similar here. An 80-year-old in China is not that different than an 80-year-old in Canada.

The only difference is how many 80-year-olds there are in China as a proportion of the entire population.

And then the question is, how many hospital beds do you have?

If you were younger, wouldnt you want to get the virus so that you could be immune to it?

There are definitely people who are thinking that  but our goal is to protect those most vulnerable.

We used to do things like chickenpox parties, but the risky thing here is  lets say you do get it, and youre young. You could have a really mild infection and not realize youre spreading it to someone who is vulnerable. So you go visit your parents, or your grandparents and you give it to them, and they get really sick.

How much more deadly than the flu is COVID-19?

With seasonal influenza, there is about 0.1 per cent chance of dying. If you look at reported cases of the novel coronavirus, its around 2 per cent.

But if you factor in all the unreported cases, then the percentage that are fatal would go down. So maybe the true per cent of fatalities is lower  but still a lot more significant than influenza. And the other thing with influenza is that only 10 or 15 per cent of the population will get it in a season.

What did you think of the figure federal health minister Patty Hajdu used  that 30 to 70 per cent of the population could be infected?

Its a big number. Theres no getting around that  you have a population of 37 million.

The thing to keep in mind, when they say 30 to 70 per cent its not like tomorrow, 30 to 70 per cent of Canadians are going to have it. Its not like we may even reach that proportion in a year. That may be the number over the next three or five years.

Will it be like the flu and come back every year?

Thats what we dont know. We dont know if its going to continue on through the spring or summer. Or if it will be like the other respiratory diseases that tend to go away in the summer and come back in the next fall/winter.

Why do viruses like the flu come and go?

Nobody knows why. We know that influenza viruses like cold and dry weather, or they like hot and humid.

So in temperate countries like Canada, where you have four seasons, you get a flu season in the winter. But in certain tropical countries closer to the equator, theyll have influenza circulating year around. But why they go away we dont know

What would you expect this virus to do?

Its anyones guess at this point.

If anyone says they know whats going to happen, theyre just guessing.
We are all on a journey. I was raised on the south side of Chicago, where the Bible, blues and barbecue could be read, heard and tasted. My grandmother took me with her on her Sunday morning rounds as a traveling musician to Baptist and Pentecostal churches. This exposure to conservative evangelical Christian teachings and mores, the stories blues songs told of human joy and pathos, and stories I heard at my kitchen table impressed upon me as a teenager the importance of seeing ourselves as whole persons  mind, body and soul. I was reminded that we had a responsibility as citizens to try to help society be a better place for everyone, that we are members of a global community.

I developed a kind of observer-participant stance and appreciation for diversity of religious thought and expression. I attended a Lutheran church next-door to where we lived. This early engagement with Christian diversity set the foundation for my own spiritual journey.

When I was 11 years old I became a member of a large Baptist church. The pastor was someone I admired and wanted to be like. I grew to love the spirituality of African-American religious experiences and the social justice teachings of politically progressive churches.

These experiences served as a foundation upon which my sense of self and vocation were built, an anchor as I have attempted to serve others. This endeavor has taken place in many parts of the United States, in the academy, in ecumenical and multi-faith settings and around the world.

There is diversity among and within religious communities. Despite the perception that members of religious congregations seem to think alike, many hold diverse theological interpretations and beliefs. They also engage in varied spiritual practices.

Having faith  and doubts about what it means to have faith  is more a dynamic of thinking and feeling among church members than what often is evident.

I see the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as an example of one of the many paths by which one can be led to God and live according to the values Jesus taught. The story of Jesus life, death and resurrection is, for me, as a matter of personal faith, the way  but not the only way  to God.

The diversity of creation itself suggests to me that there is more than one way to understand God and practice religious faith. How can we look at the diversity of the world yet claim God only expresses Gods self in one way?

I cannot recall a time when I did not think about or sense the presence of God. I have always felt God was present in the world, even when I personally felt distant from God. The reality of God for me does not mean that I have never had a crisis of faith or wondered about the mercy and justice of God  why children suffer, innocent people die or God seemingly allows evil in the world.

As a member of the clergy and a clinical social worker, I have attempted to lift up how religion and spirituality is an essential part of our human experience. I recognize some people embrace religious sentiments that are less than constructive. The religion of the oppressed often is very different from that of their oppressors. Tolerance of religious diversity and its complexity can be a unifying aspect of our culture instead of a divisive one.

We can accept the pluralistic nature of our society without religious diversity being a threat to our own heritage or identity. The respect for such diversity is crucial to free society. In the best of a free environment, people can live their faith without imposing it on others; this restraint applies to governments as well as the citizenry.

The essence of religious teaching and spiritual awakening is how they provide us with a sense of connection to one another and to the wider world. This, for me, inspires awe, wonder and humility. Our religion becomes idolatry when we make gods out of our doctrines and religious practices. Our wholeness begins with the affirmation that there is only one race and it is human. We have not created ourselves. Our chance of destroying one another increases without a sense of humility, of being related to one another as human beings and part of something more powerful than we could ever imagine.

One of my spiritual mentors was Howard Thurman, a Christian theologian and mystic. He always strove to find the universal in the particular. He recognized that we cannot ignore the things we feel distinguish us, butdo ourselves and others an injustice when we fail to see our universal human experience. How does our understanding of religious diversity help us to find sense of community?

We do not live in harmony so much as we attempt to bring things into harmony. We live with ambiguity, accepting things that are not absolute. However, sometimes we interpret our religious beliefs to iron out the wrinkles of our uncertainly and comfort the stress of the contradictions of life.

We can use these limitations as an opportunity to grasp some of lifes mystery, as God, however God is defined, is part of that mystery. The risk of taking mystery out of life is the loss of passion for life. Passion is not fanaticism. The essence and beauty of religion and being a spiritual person is lost when it is expressed as absolute ideology.

The more I have striven to be open to others religious or spiritual points of view, the more it has helped me to critique and discern the value of religion and spirituality for myself. The goal of relating to others in this way is not to agree or disagree with their position, but to understand how they see themselves and the world. This is the relational nature of our work as human beings.

The quality of our relationship with other people is what location is to the value of real estate. Our destruction and growth as human beings takes place in the relationship we have with other people, ourselves and what we consider the ultimate source of life. To know onlyfacts about a person or their worldview is to potentially treat them as an object. Genuine empathy for others minimizes that potential. Our concern for others motivates us to invest in their well-being. This kind of regard for people is our pathway to seeing and understanding the diversity of religion and spirituality.

The Rev. Frederick J. Streets, former chaplain of Yale University, is pastor of Dixwell UCC Church in New Haven and member of the faculty at Yale Divinity School.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 15, 2020 18:16 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206acf1e4 1 Politics Agus-Harimurti-Yudhoyono,Democratic-party,SBY,chairman-election,chairmanship,Susilo-Bambang-Yudhoyono Free

Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, the eldest son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has been elected as the Democratic Partys new chairman by acclamation on Sunday, following in his fathers footsteps.

The decision was made after a plenary session, held during the partys fifth national congress in Jakarta, conducted a verification and declared Agus eligible to become the partys new chairman.

Thats right, [he was] elected by acclamation, said Democratic Party executive Ferdinand Hutahaean, as quoted by kompas.com on Sunday.

During the registration of his candidacy, AHY had already received 93 percent of the votes from the partys regional executive boards (DPD) and branch executive boards (DPC).

AHY is the fifth politician to hold the position after Subur Budhisantoso helmed the party from 2001 to 2005, Hadi Utomo from 2005 to 2010, Anas Urbaningrum from 2010 to 2013 and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono from 2013 to 2020.

Agus had served as the partys deputy chairman since October 2019 after his duties as the partys joint election command chief ended following the 2019 general election.

Many observers have said Agus may run for president in 2024. (asp)
Mumbai, March 15 : Crisis-hit Yes Bank has allotted 1,000 crore equity shares to seven private banks and the state-run State Bank of India for a total consideration of Rs 10,000 crore.

IDFC First Bank is the latest to enter the SBI-led rescue team with an investment of Rs 250 crore. Investment by private banks has so far reached Rs 3,950 crore.

In a regulatory filing, Yes Bank said: "395,00,00,000 equity shares have been issued and allotted to the (private) investors for an aggregate subscription consideration of Rs 39,50,00,00,000, calculated at a share price of Rs 10 per equity share comprising of Rs 2 face value and Rs 8 premium." Further, SBI which would hold 49 per cent stake in the cash-strapped lender has been allotted 605 crore shares for Rs 6,050 crore. Under the Reserve Bank-proposed reconstruction scheme for Yes Bank, SBI shall not reduce its holding below 26 per cent before completion of three years from March 14.

SBI, the largest public sector bank in the country, has in fact committed Rs 7,250 crore. On Thursday, it said that its Executive Committee of Central Board (ECCB) has approved the purchase of 725 crore shares in Yes Bank at Rs 10 per share.

Among the private players, ICICI Bank and Housing Development Finance Corporation committed Rs 1,000 crore each. Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank committed to invest Rs 600 crore and Rs 500 crore respectively.

Both Federal Bank and Bandhan Bank have been allotted shares for Rs 300 crore each as per their commitment and IDFC First Bank has been issued equity shares in the crisis-ridden bank for a consideration of Rs 250 crore.

The private investors including the banks will be mandated to have a lock-in period for 75 per cent of their investment in the bank. The remaining 25 per cent of the shareholding allotted to each investor shall be freely transferable and shall not be subject to any lock-in.

The government on Saturday notified the scheme of reconstruction for cash-strapped Yes Bank Ltd., paving the way for the lender to resume full operations.

The private sector bank has been put under a moratorium by the Reserve Bank of India since March 5 which has restricted deposit withdrawals. Under the terms of the notified scheme, this moratorium will now be lifted at 6 p.m. on March 18.

According to the government notification, Yes Bank's authorised share capital will be revised upwards from Rs 1,100 crore to Rs 6,200 crore. The number of total equity shares will stand altered to 3,000 crore of Rs 2 each aggregating to Rs 6,000 crore. Authorised preference share capital shall continue to be Rs 200 crore.

The government has also decided to exempt all investors in the Yes Bank from payment of capital gains tax for any deemed profit or gains on account of subscription of shares.

The office of the administrator of Yes Bank 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, and the current administrator of Yes Bank may take over as Managing Director and CEO of the bank.
Since beginning of year, about 500 samples have been tested for infection

Open source

As of the morning of March 15, only three cases of Covid-19 infection were recorded in Ukraine, and another 12 reports of suspected infection are under investigation. The press service of the Ministry of Health reports that.

"As of the morning of March 15, three laboratory-confirmed cases of Covid-19 were registered in Ukraine: in the Chernivtsi region - two cases and in the Zhytomyr region - one (lethal). In total, from the beginning of 2020, 79 reports of suspected Covid-19 [were observed] (3 cases confirmed by laboratory, 64 - negative, no coronavirus, 12 - investigated)," the report said.

The department noted that since the beginning of the year, the virology laboratory of the Center for Public Health has tested about 500 samples for the new coronavirus infection Covid-19.

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. 112 Ukraine TV channel conducted the broadcast.

Ukraine closed regular flights with other countries. Cargo checkpoints in airports, railroads, seaports and roadways will continue to operate.
A leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has declared support for the embattled national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, over the crisis rocking the party.

Mr Tinubu, in a statement he personally signed, also said those behind the crisis were preparing for the 2023 general election.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Oshiomhole was suspended by an Abuja high court based on an earlier controversial suspension by the APC in Edo, Mr Oshiomholes home state.

Hours after the suspension, the APC announced three new members of its National Working Committee, including Waziri Bulama as acting national secretary, a move condemned by some leaders of the party.

A federal court in Kano later gave a different order that Mr Oshiomhole should continue in office.

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.

Amidst the controversy, the assistant national secretary of the party, Victor Gaidom, circulated a statement announcing a National Executive Council (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.

However, a court in Lagos Thursday ruled that a NEC meeting of the APC cannot hold except the trio of Waziri Bulama, Abiola Ajimobi, and Paul Chukwuma are in attendance. The three were the appointments announced after Mr Oshiomholes suspension as acting national secretary, acting deputy national chairman and acting national auditor respectively.

Tinubus Position

In his statement, Mr Tinubu said the driving symptoms of those behind the APC crisis is their belief that the events of 2023 will be decided before we even exit the year 2020.

He described Mr Oshiomhole as a tireless campaigner and mobilizer for the APC that deserves to be supported despite his imperfections.

It is against this backdrop that we should view the present ploys and plots to undermine the APC National Chairman. The Chairman is human; thus, he has his merits as well as his flaws.

Yet his humanity cannot be grounds for his dismissal. If so, the position will forever go vacant.

The Chairman has been a tireless campaigner and mobilizer for the party. He has steered the party through difficult elections.

His contributions should not be undervalued now that the bulk of elections are behind us, the former Lagos governor said.

He also condemned the call for the NEC meeting by Mr Gaidom and said such crisis was not in the interest of Mr Buhari.

those afflicted with the 2023 virus do a grave disservice to President Buhari and his administration, he said.

Read Mr Tinubus full statement below

2023: A DIFFERENT FORM OF AILMENT

Due to alert responses of Lagos and Ogun state governments, actively supported by the federal machinery, Nigeria was able to quickly identify and isolate the two cases of the novel Coronavirus 19. This action, thus far, has stopped the spread of the disease into the wider community as has been seen in other nations. We are grateful to God and to all those involved in the response effort, particularly the brave and committed medical teams on the frontline.

While Corona has been presently contained in Nigeria, we must be alert to another sickness that seems rampant within a certain segment of society. That sickness is old Ambition-virus 2023. This illness afflicts many in the political class along with their allies in the media. Those touched by this malady find that their ability to tell time and discern the difference between the present and the future has been strongly impaired. The carriers of this sickness are confused as to the very season our nation now finds itself. They conflate things, which no sensible person would conflate. The primary symptom of their malady is the driving tendency to believe the events of 2023 will be decided before we even exit the year 2020.

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Consequently, everything they say and do is geared toward obsessive jockeying for position to control and manipulate a race still three years away. In doing so, they recklessly undermine the very party which they claim to serve and weaken the administration of President Buhari to which they claim to be loyal. They line up to run a race for which the track has not even yet been constructed. Put another way, they seek to pluck the fruit before the seed is even planted. As such, their actions border on the pathological. True, ambition is inherent in human endeavour. Without it, nothing great is achieved. However, strong ambition applied in the wrong way has never done anything positive. At best, it results in confusion. Usually, its results in something worse. No matter how great ones ambition and how able one may be, nobody can rush or speed time. That is beyond the realm of human capacity. To do so is to contest against fate itself. When it ends, such a contest rarely ends well.

In a well-structured society, people come to understand that the time for politics is seasonal; it is periodic. The responsibilities of governance are what is perpetual. Many of our politicians sadly have inverted this reality. Politics and electioneering are secondary to governance for they are but tools of governance, the platforms by which one demonstrates his or her worthiness to lead a great people. The more a person obsesses over and constantly engages in political manoeuvring is a warning sign. Not only is he prone to the 2023 virus. He likely has little to offer in the way of good governance. He wants to hold public office that you might serve him not he serve you. For if he had adequately studied and been acquainted with the ways and means of progressive governance, he would be focused on that important task at the present moment. He certainly would not drown himself and all around him in harmful political intrigue.

It is against this backdrop that we should view the present ploys and plots to undermine the APC National Chairman. The Chairman is human; thus, he has his merits as well as his flaws. Yet his humanity cannot be grounds for his dismissal. If so, the position will forever go vacant.

The Chairman has been a tireless campaigner and mobilizer for the party. He has steered the party through difficult elections. His contributions should not be undervalued now that the bulk of elections are behind us. To do so would be an act of ingratitude. It is no secret that the Chairman and Edo Governor Obaseki are in dispute. This is unfortunate. However, the party has moved through proper procedures within the proper organs of the party to hopefully resolve this spat. All party members know this. Such decisions are part and parcel of internal party governance. Yet, motivated by ambitions that have nothing to do with the quality of the Chairmans performance, people shunned the agreed party reconciliation mechanism and resorted to other means to oust him. These self-help attempts are unwarranted. These attempts reveal more about the mala fides of their perpetrators than they do about the Chairman.

The plotters launched their attack solely because they perceive the chairman as an obstacle to their 2023 ambitions. People went to court knowing full well the party constitution prohibits such action because these people had not yet exhausted all internal disciplinary procedures. We even had a national deputy secretary improperly call for a NEC meeting on the basis that he believed himself the acting national chairman. Clearly, this man would not have summoned the temerity to make such a move had he not been instigated by powerful individuals who he thought would reward or, at least, protect him for committing the wrongful act.

Those engaged in these manoeuvres see themselves as clever or cunning. They do so because they only understand the mean craft of political intrigue. They have yet to understand the value and long-term utility of democratic governance. Thus, they embark on the strangest of quest. They would rather dismantle and weaken the institutional core of their party just to gain control of that weakened edifice in order to pilfer the party nomination, which they crave. This is more than sad.

Many of us expended sweat, tears, toil and sleepless nights to build this party. Our personal sacrifices were not insignificant. We built this party not simply as a vehicle for personal ambition. We built the party because we saw it as perhaps the only enduring hope to bring progressive governance to this nation. Those who now seek to abuse the party by using it as their personal device do it great harm. They should not be allowed to sacrifice this collective enterprise at the altar of their self-aggrandizement. Somehow, some way they should find in themselves the bearing to adhere to the democratic spirit on which the party was founded. To be an APC member means more than merely carrying a membership card. It means to believe in a set of ideals and principles geared to our highest purpose as a party and a nation.

In a broader context, those afflicted with the 2023 virus do a grave disservice to President Buhari and his administration. They should be trying their best to help the president. Instead of seeing President Buhari as our present leader and commander-in-chief, their sole contemplation is upon his eventual exit. Yet, not even a full year has passed since his second inaugural. How can they be committed to helping him realise his mandate when the fullness of their gaze is affixed to seizing this very mandate for themselves?

The president is faced with many challenges. He is fighting hard on security to keep the population safe. He is pushing for economic reforms that will augur future sustainable growth. His disdain for corruption remains unwavering. Add to it now the Corona crisis and its resultant social as well as economic impact. Politicians express loyalty to him but the words of too many of our politicians are like butter under a burning sun; they melt quickly away. Better to be loyal in deed. Instead of trying to manipulate party and other mechanisms solely to their political gain, it is time to shelve political intrigue for the time being. It is time for all party members to truly see what is at stake and work with Mr. President for the collective good of the nation.

This means we must rally around President Buhari. Instead of everyone saying they are working for the party and nation but going their separate ways based on their selfish designs, we must help him build a stronger national consensus on policies that will ensure safety and bring greater prosperity. If need be and when called upon, we must offer ideas and suggestions that move policy and progress forward. This is the time for governance. It is not the moment to bring the politics of 2023 into 2020. In due course, 2023 shall come. Nothing can prevent it. However, that time is not today. If we are earnest, the present offers sufficient work and challenges for us without trying to add to it by rushing the future. Let us dedicate our energies to helping President Buhari win the present. In this way, you better secure the future for the nation, the party and even for whatever personal ambitions you may nurture.

I have said what is on my mind in hopes that some people may leave the 2023 frenzy and commit themselves to the harder yet more rewarding task of improving progressive governance, whether within the party or at the local, state or federal levels. Yet, I am not so naive to think all will heed this counsel. The stubborn, those obsessed with the obsession of their ambitions, will ignore all advice. They will constantly pull 2023 into all that occurs in 2020. Their vision is blurred and judgment made faulty by their ailment. We are democrats so we cannot physically quarantine them. However, we can quarantine their ideas and antics by not falling prey to them. This is the best way we help President Buhari fulfil his mandate and inoculate our party and the nation from grave folly.
In the thick of Coronavirus, which has managed to plunge the world into a state of a health crisis, even the Islamic State (ISIS) issued an advisory to tackle the disease in their weekly al-Naba newsletter. Although the set of guidances largely encompassed religious than scientific advice, the ISIS in an infographic also listed preventive measures to keep the disease at bay.

Through its weekly, the ISIS asked its fighters to "stay away from the land of the epidemic," with Europe being the epicenter of Coronavirus. Apart from urging its fighters to wash their hands, further elaborating, ISIS asked them to do so even if one wakes up in the middle of the night as one "does not know where his hand spent the night." "Cover their mouths when yawning and sneezing," the ISIS advisory added.

READ| US counter-intel agency puts Russia, ISIS & 'public disclosure groups' on same threat list

Joining the Coronavirus precautionary fray, ISIS further urged the infected fighters to not leave the area in order to prevent the spread of the virus. Calling it a "torment" sent by God, the terror organisation, in addition, said, "illnesses do not strike by themselves but by the command and decree of God." Though the ISIS has mostly lost control of most of its so-called caliphate in the Middle East, it still holds pockets of power in parts of Iraq and Syria.

ISIS pores over religious texts. Comes out in favor of putting your trust in God but also in favor of quarantine, hand-washing & running from the sick like from a lion. Their rivals in Qom stopped after No. 1. Thx to @ajaltamimi for his translation https://t.co/b08Jffvj6t  Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) March 13, 2020

Most Middle Eastern countries including--Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAQ, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman have reported cases of Coronavirus, majorly in those with a travel history to Iran. Across the world, over 150,000 have been reported until Saturday morning with over 5,800 deaths. Iraq reported 110 cases of Coronavirus until Sunday afternoon and 10 deaths. Meanwhile, there have been no cases reported in Syria, drawing concerns towards the country's grim health services. The World Health Organisation on Wednesday declared the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, outbreak as a pandemic, months after the virus spread from China's Wuhan.

READ| With Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's death, what's next for ISIS?

What is Coronavirus?

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. Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people, according to the WHO. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans.




Among the art establishments currently shut down because of the COVID-19 national emergency is The Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Because of the global pandemic, they've cancelled performances up until March 31  for the safety of both their audiences, as well as employees.

In an announcement posted to the Met Opera's website, the company has said that the value of any tickets purchased for cancelled shows will be credited to patrons' accounts, which can be used to buy tickets in the future. In addition to these refunds, the opera will also be streaming free shows.

Related | YUNGBLUD Is Livestreaming His Concert

"Each night for the duration of the closure, starting Monday, March 16, the Met will stream encore presentations from the award-winning Live in HD series of cinema transmissions on the company website for free," the website states. The first show will to be made available for streaming is the 2010 performance of Bizet's Carmen.

"We'd like to provide some grand opera solace to opera lovers in these extraordinarily difficult times," said Met General Manager Peter Gelb in a press release. "Every night, we'll be offering a different complete operatic gem from our collection of HD presentations from the past 14 years."

The "Nightly Met Opera Streams" begin at 7:30 PM beginning March 16th, and will remain available via the homepage of metopera.org for 20 hours. To see the schedule for the performances, and for more information, click here.

General Manager Peter Gelb announced today that in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the cancellation of performances, the Met will offer a nightly series of free web streams that will bring opera to audiences while the house is darkbeginning March 16 at 7:30PM ET. pic.twitter.com/M6QkDSelON  Metropolitan Opera (@MetOpera) March 13, 2020
The Delhi Police on Sunday arrested a person, who had allegedly posted a picture on his WhatsApp status where he was holding an illegal firearm during Holi celebrations.

The accused was identified as Vinit (19). The police also allegedly recovered a country-made pistol along with two live cartridges from the possession of the accused.

According to the police, a screenshot reached the police through informers, following which the Narcotics Squad of the south district conducted a raid on Maharishi Valmiki Marg in Ambedkar Nagar, where they apprehended the accused.

The police have stated that the accused was a school drop out and had clicked himself with the firearm to show off.

A case under Section 25 of the Arms Act has been registered against the accused in this regard. Further investigation is underway.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mothering Sunday, a day of joy for so many women, can be both poignant and desolate for the childless and those yearning for a baby.

As the flowers, cards and chocolates land this Sunday, women who are trying to conceive  one in seven couples experiences problems  often feel more isolated and lonely than ever.

To mark Mothers Day, a social network app for women contending with infertility  Peanut TTC (Trying to Conceive)  is this week launching a film, The Silent Struggle, in partnership with the Fertility Network. Produced by an all-female crew who are themselves all trying to conceive, it features the stories of women who have faced  or are going through  the same, often lonely, experience. Here, four participants tell their stories . . .

New film The Silent Struggle,reveals the experiences of women who have struggled with trying to conceive. Pictured Left to right: Grace Jackson, Michelle Cherrill, Aparna Adams and Danielle Brathwaite

BMI is too high for NHS

Grace Jackson, 34, an NHS nurse, lives in Kentish Town, North London, with husband Matt Hansom, a 32-year-old teacher.

Wed been married for two and a half years when, in February 2019, we started trying for a baby.

After six months wed had no success so I went to my GP. She said: I think it might be your weight. At the time I was 16st 5lb with a BMI of 36.5. At 5ft 6in tall, I was clinically obese, which lessens your chances of conceiving.

The doctor sent me off to an active health group, I started eating healthily and began to lose weight quite rapidly.

Then, by September, when wed still had no luck conceiving, we went to the GP for fertility testing. All my investigations were normal but Matt, we learnt, had a problem which means his sperm cant swim well enough to fertilise an egg without help from IVF. Its a genetic condition so lifestyle changes wont improve it.

I was really shocked: in tears. I knew we were about to embark on a tortuous and emotionally draining journey, and it has put our relationship under strain.

For Matt, its been a struggle. He feels inadequate  not able to do the one thing a man is supposed to do: father a child. Nothing I say makes him feel better.

I find Mothers Day hard, too; a reminder that Im separated from it by my childlessness. I feel Ive also faced discrimination because of my size. I had no idea that my weight and BMI would exclude us from having IVF treatment on the NHS. We were expecting to be referred to an NHS fertility clinic, but we were turned down because I was still around 10lb too heavy, with a BMI, by then, of 32.

The upper limit for free NHS treatment is 30.

Grace Jackson, 34, who lives in North London, revealed she and her husband are using their savings and money from their family to fund an IVF cycle (file image)

When we found that out, in December last year, I was completely devastated. It made me feel that both my body and Matts had been rejected. I felt a whole range of emotions: first inadequate, then angry, then sad and hopeless, and finally defiant. I would get that 10lb off!

But when we began to look into the NHS processes, we realised that until Id reached the weight criteria, I would not be eligible for ovarian testing on the NHS, which is important because if my egg reserves were low wed need to act quickly. Any delay could compromise our chances of success.

So we decided to embark on private fertility treatment, and Ive now had tests which show my ovarian reserves are normal to slightly low, so its just as well that were starting treatment promptly.

Well meet the cost of an IVF cycle, which is around 7,000 to 8,000, from our savings and family have chipped in, too.

My BMI at the first private consultation was 31.5  I now weigh 14 st  and the clinic said I didnt have to lose more weight. I start hormone treatment, to stimulate my eggs so they are ready for retrieval for IVF, in a couple of weeks.

The success rate for couples like us is 65 per cent. Were optimistic it will work first time.

Its rough, but i have hope

Michelle Cherrill, 27, an executive assistant, lives in Islington, North London with husband Nick, 25, an IT administrator.

Its been a rough year. I have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) which means its difficult to get pregnant. Weve been trying for a year and I feel a sense of anxiety that my body doesnt work properly. Its been dark at times.

When I was 22 or so I started growing a beard; I gained 30 lb and clumps of my hair were falling out, which was terrifying.

Then my periods stopped completely. I went to my doctor and he said: Well put you on birth control.

That should sort it out.

Only in the last year, though, since Nick and I started trying for a baby, have I realised how much PCOS affects fertility.

Ive been to five or six different doctors, both NHS and private, and theyve said, You just have to learn to live with it, which is heartbreaking.

Michelle Cherrill, 27, from North London, explained having polycystic ovary syndrome has affected her fertility (file image)

The symptoms erode your self-esteem. When Nick and I started dating in 2014, Id get up early to pluck out my facial hair.

I told him, I dont think well be able to have kids, and asked if hed be open to adoption.

Hes been incredibly supportive and kind. Last November, I found a wonderful doctor  I see her privately  who has taken my PCOS seriously. Shes done a scan and blood tests and put me on an incredible medicine, metformin, which were hoping will stimulate my fertility.

The focus now is balancing my hormones and Ive had a period, so Im feeling much better.

Im hopeful today but Ive been through times when Ive felt very alone with my thoughts, especially before I got to sleep.

My Mum lives in California and I speak to her at bedtime. She doesnt seem to be able to relate to my problems, to understand how sad Ive been feeling.

My little sister is pregnant and Mum says, Youll be such a cool aunt  and of course Im so happy for my sister but I cant help thinking, I wish I were pregnant too. Its bittersweet.

Then when Mothers Day comes its difficult. I look at mums with children and think: Thats a club I want to be part of one day.

Im optimistic. I know my time will come. And I know there are lots of people going through the same problems as us. I am thinking positively. Thats my mantra: the journeys hard but make the best of it. Go on that date night, book that holiday, look forward in hope.

Thinking of an egg donor

Aparna Adams, 38, a project manager, lives in South-East London with husband Ashton, 44, a teaching assistant in a special needs school.

Aparna Adams, 38, who lives in South-East London, revealed she's trying to lower her BMI, in order to be eligible for NHS fertility treatment (file image)

On Mothers Day, I always send my Mum flowers and a card.

I struggle to find one that carries the full weight of my emotion, but I send it each year  and get no response.

Its almost four years since I last saw or heard from my Mum. No texts, letters, phone calls. Its a complete estrangement from both my parents.

They came to Britain from Bangladesh in the 1970s. Dad, 74, is a retired architect; mum, 67, is a retired social worker.

They sent my sister and me to a private primary school in East London, where we had elocution lessons and learnt discipline.

Having raised me to be an independent, career-minded woman, they wanted me to marry an equal, both in education and profession. In their opinion, Ashton didnt measure up. It came down to an ultimatum: my parents chose not to see me again because they dont think Ashton is the right man for me.

But we keep the door open.

Talking to other women in the same situation has really helped ease my sense of isolation - Aparna Adams

We continue to reach out to them and hope. But Mothers Day always fills me with a sense of loss; not just because of mums absence from my life but also because Ashtons mum passed away ten years ago.

And theres another dimension to our sadness, too. Pretty much as soon as we were married in 2017, we started trying for a baby. We were both aware that because of our age, the sooner we began the better. But weve had no luck.Being a mum would change the way we experience Mothers Day, and turn it into a positive day filled with love and celebration of parenthood and family.

Wed pinned so much hope on having a family of our own. Every six months or so wed go to the GP, get referred for blood tests, and then when they came back normal, wed be told to give it another six months.

In the past month or so we decided, because we werent getting enough information from the NHS, wed have fertility tests with a private clinic. They showed that I have a low ovarian reserve and Ashton has a problem with his sperm, too, which means we have a very low chance of conceiving naturally. Weve been advised that IVF would be our best bet for starting a family.

Ive also been told my BMI is too high. I have to lose 3st 2lb and start treatment before I turn 40 next year, to be eligible for NHS fertility treatment, or 11 lb to be treated privately now. So we understand now what we need to do. My aim is to get down to the right BMI range in four months and try an NHS IVF cycle.

Its easy to be overwhelmed by the emotional toll and the decisions that need to be made. Should I try using an egg donor? How many cycles can we afford, financially and emotionally?

Talking to other women in the same situation has really helped ease my sense of isolation. And Ashton and I have become much more compassionate as we work together and look forward to the day we can share our love with a future family.

It helps to share my miscarriage hell

Danielle Brathwaite, 25, a PA, lives in South London and is now single. She has a daughter, aged five.

Danielle Brathwaite, 25, from South London, said she's experienced three miscarriages in quick succession (file image)

Ive had three miscarriages in quick succession and they caused the breakdown of my relationship. The strain of the loss was just intolerable. I was overwhelmed with grief and tried to take my own life.

Although I already have one child, Miami, whos five, the yearning for a second was acute.

My first miscarriage was in the spring of 2017, at eight weeks. After, I was sad but still hopeful. I thought: Well be fine next time.

I became pregnant again in the summer of 2017 but all was not well. I went to hospital in about the sixth week because I was losing blood. They checked my hormone levels and said there was a chance the baby could be okay.

My partner and I had booked a break in Barcelona. We thought: Its so stressful, lets just get away. But it was there that I lost my second baby  this time at 12 or 13 weeks. Id just come out of the shower in the hotel when it happened. I felt traumatised.

This Mothers Day will be bitter-sweet - Danielle Brathwaite

We took our tiny baby to the sea, said a prayer and let it go into the waves; my child. I just felt this awful emptiness; such loss and grief.

Then in October I found out I was pregnant again, but by Christmas Day I was bleeding heavily. I lost the baby and felt terribly low.

I felt my partner just didnt get it; that he didnt understand the loss I felt or know how to respond to me. And I was so caught up in my own emotions, I didnt appreciate that he was grieving, too  just in a different way.

I was at home on my own when I took an overdose. I just swallowed every tablet I could find in the house. I felt sick and faint. Thank God my nan rang soon after. My voice was distant and slurring. She said, You dont sound well  and thats when I told her what had happened.

She called an ambulance, and at hospital they gave me a pill to make me vomit. After that, I thought: I must be of some use if Im still here.

My relationship broke down after that. My partner tried to be supportive and encouraging. Hed say: These things happen all the time. You have to pick yourself up. But I felt I wanted to grieve alone.

Since then, through Peanut TTC, Ive met so many wonderful women who can relate to what Ive been through. Theyre like sisters. It has helped to know that others share my experiences; theyre not as rare as Id thought.

This Mothers Day will be bitter-sweet. Im thankful for my daughter but I consider myself a mum of four. Ill mourn the babies Ive lost  and look forward in hope.

Download Peanut app and follow @peanut on Instagram to view the Silent Struggle video this Friday.
A Connecticut man was arrested in Berks County after police say they pulled him over and found a 25-year-old woman with multiple stab wounds in his car Saturday.

Troopers had been alerted by authorities in East Hartford, Connecticut, that Henry Benitez-Navarro, 31, may be heading their way on Interstate 78, according to the Pennsylvania State Police at Hamburg.

State police say they tracked Benitez-Navarros cell phone along I-78 around 11:53 p.m. Saturday. When troopers spotted him, he exited the highway and attempted to reenter at Exit 30 in Hamburg, but state police from three stations pulled him over.

They identified Benitez-Navarro as the driver and found a 25-year-old woman in the front seat with multiple stab wounds.

She was taken to an area hospital and is in stable condition.

Police in Connecticut are charging Benitez-Navarro with attempted homicide and kidnapping. He is being held at Berks County Prison pending extradition.

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Do not panic if you've got the coronavirus, and here is why. Recently, An American woman does recover from her positive coronavirus using home treatment and gets cured. But, staying home when feeling ill is the smartest move.

Who is she?

Elizabeth Schneider resides in Seattle, one of the cities in Washington state where most fatalities were recorded in the US as COVID-19 is all over the world.

With a PhD in engineering, the 37-year old said that she is sharing her experience with the virus so those with a mild strain can be cured by self-quarantining at home.

She added that although she was healed at home the treatment would be different for those with worse health conditions like the elders who are most vulnerable.

Quoting Elizabeth Schneider,"That means that we need to be extra vigilant about staying home, isolating ourselves from others."

U.S. health officials mentioned that Mainland China statistics identified 80% as mostly mild cases and the rest went to intensive care. These patients who were close to critical condition were those over 60 with a myriad of dangerous health conditions that can compromise the chance of survival.

How she did get it?

Elizabeth Schneider contracted the virus from a party on February 25 and she had flu-like symptoms about three days after the party. It was later confirmed that there were five positive patients from the same party.

During the middle of the day, there was a bad headache, fever, and body aching all over. Promptly, she left the office of the company she worked for, as a marketing manager, and went home earlier.

After taking a quick nap and waking up, she had a high fever running, that was at 39.4C.

Also read: How Coronavirus Infection Starts in the Body, Leading to Death

Next came these symptoms after the point of her high fever. She was shivering uncontrollably as her body fought the virus ( which she was not yet aware of). The chills were tingling at her fingertips which concerned her.

She then bought flu medicines to treat the visible symptoms that she had. A friend was requested to take her to the hospital emergency room, though the fever abated and was less in succeeding days.

Her brush with the coronavirus days after

Since she got cured, she followed all the coronavirus reports. Soon, the first US case of an elderly person was found in late January.



After getting well from home treatment, there were deaths registered due to coronavirus. Most of her symptoms were flu which was cured by over the counter medicines.



Her case is one of the lucky few who escaped severe complications like those who were compromised by the contagion affecting the lungs. She came close but the virus was not as virulent in her system as others.

Cases and deaths are increasing

Washington is the hotspot of the coronavirus infection in the U.S. with 260 cases and 12 deaths due to complications. For the whole U.S., it is 1,100 cases as of writing and 30 deaths that is more than twice the 12 deaths initially reported.

Elizabeth Schneider had none of the common signs of the virus, like coughing or hard breathing that she concluded she did not the contagion.

After getting a flu shot, though thinking it was a different strain. She was sent home by the attending physician and told to drink lots of water.

The big revelation was that several individuals had the same problem. All the individuals with symptoms were not diagnosed with the flu because they had no symptoms. She had a test from researchers in Seattle Flu Study, and she was positive for COVID-19 on March 7.

All is well and ends well

Getting the news that despite getting COVID-19, made her family and friends happy. Her story as the American woman who had the coronavirus while eventually recovering at home shows that there is hope. But you need to be tested to check which is the best preventive measure for you.

Related article: Hand-washing vs. Hand Sanitizers: Which Works Better to Avoid Coronavirus Spread?

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Nepal government on Sunday announced to transform three hospitals in Kathmandu to treat the COVID-19 patients as a preparation to fight against possible outbreak in the country.

Minister for Health and Population, Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal, made the announcement while addressing the Upper House meeting.

"We already have separated 155 isolated beds. In case if this infection spread all around, rather than sending the patients to hospitals, especially talking about the capital and its periphery, we have decided to focus on three hospitals which will give utmost priority to the infected patients and others would be transferred to another hospital. This would not disrupt the services being provided to the public," Dhakal said in an address at National Assembly.

The Shukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, Patan Hospital and Kirtipur Hospital will be dedicated to treating the infected patients.

"Currently in Kathmandu Valley, we only have around 170 ICUs in operation," Dhakal informed.

As a heightened measure, Nepal has cancelled all on-arrival visas making it compulsory to get the permit to enter the country only after submitting a health report not late than a week.

As per the minister, a total of 464 people have undergone tests for possible infection of coronavirus and none of the reports turned positive except for the case that was reported first.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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On Saturday, Alexandria, 22, was struggling to breathe, so she called 911 and was rushed to an isolation unit at a Seattle hospital.

She had had a fever for days and was tested for the flu and strep throat, and given a chest X-ray. But, she said, the doctors told her she would not be tested for coronavirus because she hadnt traveled to China and was not in the at-risk age range.

After being discharged with a diagnosis of a viral infection, with no recommendations about home isolation, she was escorted out of the hospital, where she waited on the street for her partner to pick her up.

Related: Unprepared America wakes up to coronavirus, gradually then all at once

It took four days before another physician heard her symptoms, sent her in for coronavirus testing, and she was diagnosed positive.

Since January, when Washington reported the first case of coronavirus in the US, the state has been the central focus of the American outbreak, documenting the most cases and deaths associated with the infection in the country. Its position in what has now been declared by the World Health Organization as a pandemic can be attributed to everything from individual missed opportunities for diagnosis and state funding gaps to restrictive federal guidelines for testing.

But at the same time, those high numbers can also be attributed to the simple fact that the state diagnosed its first case before the rest of America and was forced to jumpstart its testing and surveillance response.

Dr Scott Lindquist, the Washington state epidemiologist for communicable disease, explained that Washington is not at the countrys center of this outbreak, but rather at the leading edge.

We are leading the rest of the country, he said. They are using all our experience as theyre finding the same amount of activity in their state.

As of Thursday, state officials have confirmed 457 cases in Washington across 13 counties, including 31 deaths.

Following guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), early testing in Washington was done through the CDC and limited to individuals who had symptoms and a travel history to China or contact with a known case. These guidelines have since broadened, allowing academic and corporate labs to conduct testing and healthcare providers to decide who is eligible for the test.

Story continues

As of Thursday, state officials have confirmed 457 cases in Washington across 13 counties, including 31 deaths. Photograph: Ted S Warren/AP

Janet Baseman, the associate dean for the University of Washingtons School of Public Health, said she doesnt think theres anything that could have been done differently at the state and local level, as officials were following the federal guidelines. But if there had been more people tested earlier it could have had an important impact on exposure.

We would have found the cases earlier, and if we would have found the cases earlier, people who tested positive would have been able to take extra precautions to isolate themselves and to possibly keep other people from becoming exposed, thereby limiting transmission, she said.

The University of Washingtons virology lab was one of those spaces that was prepared early to contribute to additional testing. Keith Jerome, the head of the virology division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, said developed a test that detects the virus and worked with the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through February to get approval to start testing.

But the lab wasnt able to start until 2 March, after the FDA changed its policy to say labs that have validated tests could begin testing immediately.

The University of Washington lab can currently handle about 1,000 samples a day, and by next week may be able to process as many as 4,000 samples. Jerome said theyre working toward being able to test 10,000 samples a day, but also to simply get the word out that there are labs with plenty of capacity for testing.

According to the CDC website, between 18 January and 10 March, the highest number of samples collected for testing in a single day was 404.

Jerome said right now its not a priority to look at how the situation should or could have been handled, since they need to focus on responding to the outbreak at hand. But, in the future, when officials do take a careful look at how the outbreak developed, he said its very possible that theyll determine that more people should have been tested sooner.

He said its also possible they conclude that we should have tapped into the tremendous expertise that certain academic laboratories have in this kind of thing. To kind of keep them out of the response in the early days may not have been the right decision.

But the factor that may have truly solidified the states central position in the outbreak of coronavirus in the US was when the infection struck an acute nursing home in Kirkland, Washington, on the outskirts of Seattle.

Although most coronavirus infections cause mild symptoms, for people older than 60 years and those with chronic illness or weakened immune systems, it can cause more severe issues.

Over the last three weeks, the facility has seen 13 people associated with the center be diagnosed with coronavirus and die. Originally home to 120 residents and 180 employees, the center has now seen those numbers drastically reduced, with 63 residents testing positive for the virus and 66 employees showing symptoms, according to a report released by the facility on Thursday.

Washington states health department said Saturday that 18 CDC employees had been at the facility, and they along with Seattle and King county public health have provided technical assistance to the centers staff. The department said it has also provided the facility with an infection control expert, and there is a team of clinicians on site from the US health and human services department.

The states health department has spent $3.4m on coronavirus response. Lawmakers are currently in the process of approving $200m to go toward fighting the outbreak.

Lindquist said the public health system in Washington has been severely underfunded for years. If the funds theyve requested in the past had been approved and in place at the start of this outbreak, they would have been more prepared to handle it.

For example, during the 2019 legislative session, local health partners advocated for $100m in ongoing funding to support activities in such areas as communicable disease. The final budget included $22m in funding, according to the state health department.

I think we would have had more people working here, so we could have processed things with the latest technology instead of having to upgrade as were going along in this, he said. We would have had enough machines to do this, we would have had enough staff to do this, we would have had enough epidemiologists to give help to the counties that were overly burdened.
State governments are increasingly calling for the closure of bars and restaurants, a drastic step to enforce "social distancing" that follows similar measures in Europe, where the coronavirus outbreak has put tremendous strain on health resources.

Driving the news: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would issue an executive order at 5 pm Tuesday closing all bars and nightclubs for 30 days. Restaurant closures will be determined by municipality, but those that remain open must comply with CDC guidelines restricting gatherings to less than 10 people.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper ordered all restaurants and bars in the state to close for dine-in customers on Tuesday and will be expanding unemployment insurance for workers impacted by the virus.

Gov. Roy Cooper ordered all restaurants and bars in the state to close for dine-in customers on Tuesday and will be expanding unemployment insurance for workers impacted by the virus. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday ordered the statewide shutdown of all non-essential businesses, including restaurants, which will be takeout only. Grocery stores and pharmacies will remain open.

Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday ordered the statewide shutdown of all non-essential businesses, including restaurants, which will be takeout only. Grocery stores and pharmacies will remain open. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy jointly announced Monday that the states will temporarily shut down movie theaters, gyms and casinos  and allow bars and restaurants to only offer takeout.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy jointly announced Monday that the states will temporarily shut down movie theaters, gyms and casinos  and allow bars and restaurants to only offer takeout. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Sunday afternoon that the state government will issue an order closing all bars and restaurants in Ohio beginning at 9pm ET.

Gov. Mike DeWine announced Sunday afternoon that the state government will issue an order closing all bars and restaurants in Ohio beginning at 9pm ET. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Sunday ordered all bars and restaurants in his state to be closed from Monday evening through March 30.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Sunday ordered all bars and restaurants in his state to be closed from Monday evening through March 30. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker banned gatherings of over 25 people on Sunday and ordered restaurants to be takeout only from Tuesday through April 17.

Gov. Charlie Baker banned gatherings of over 25 people on Sunday and ordered restaurants to be takeout only from Tuesday through April 17. California Gov. Gavin Newsom called on all bars, nightclubs and wineries in his state to be closed in an official guidance, adding: "We have the capacity to enforce if necessary." He also called for all Californians above the age of 65 and those with chronic conditions to self-isolate.

Gov. Gavin Newsom called on all bars, nightclubs and wineries in his state to be closed in an official guidance, adding: "We have the capacity to enforce if necessary." He also called for all Californians above the age of 65 and those with chronic conditions to self-isolate. Washington announced Sunday the temporary shutdown of restaurants, bars and entertainment and recreational facilities statewide. Restaurants can continue take-out and delivery service.

announced Sunday the temporary shutdown of restaurants, bars and entertainment and recreational facilities statewide. Restaurants can continue take-out and delivery service. Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist announced Monday that the state would temporarily shut down "bars, restaurants and other establishments."

What they're saying:

"Establishments can stay open for carry-out and delivery. What we can't have is people congregating and seated. Every day we delay, more people will die. If we do not act and get some distance between people, our health care system in Ohio will not hold up. The loss won't only be those impacted by COVID19, but the danger is also to everyone else who needs hospital care for other issues."

 Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine

"I tried earlier this week to appeal to everyone's good judgment to stay home, to avoid bars, not to congregate in crowds. It's unfortunate that many people didn't take that seriously. The time for persuasion and public appeals is over. The time for action is here. This is not a joke. No one is immune to this, and you have an obligation to act in the best interests of all the people in this state."

 Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker

The big picture: Despite Ohio only reporting about 30 cases, DeWine has been among the leading governors in the country sounding the alarm about the threat of the coronavirus.

DeWine was the first governor in the country to close all schools statewide, and said on CNN earlier Sunday that he wouldn't be surprised if schools did not reopen again this academic year.

He added at his press conference Sunday afternoon that he eventually plans to close Ohio's daycare centers, and he urged parents to take their children out of daycare if possible.

What to watch: As was the case with school closures, expect more states to follow suit. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, made a plea on the Sunday morning talk shows for young people to stop flooding bars and restaurants.

"I think we should be overly aggressive and get criticized for overreacting," he said. "I think Americans should be prepared that they are going to have to hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing."

Editor's note: This article is being updated with new shutdowns.
Making a strong pitch for SAARC nations to jointly combat coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday proposed setting up a COVID-19 emergency fund with India committing USD 10 million initially for it, and asserted that the best way to deal with the pandemic was by coming together, and not growing apart.

Apart from Modi, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Special Assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister on Health Zafar Mirza, participated in the video conference.

The underlying message of the video conference was unitedly taking on the pandemic, but Pakistan used the occasion to raise Kashmir, with Mirza calling for the "lockdown" to be eased in Jammu and Kashmir to deal with the coronavirus threat.

In a significant message, Modi asserted that it was important for the SAARC member countries to work together and said the region can best respond to the coronavirus pandemic by "coming together, not growing apart".

Modi said it was important to focus on collaboration, not confusion, and preparation, not panic.

Mirza, in his remarks, also hailed China for its efforts to deal with the coronavirus and urged other SAARC nations to learn best practices from it.

After initial remarks by the leaders, Prime Minister Modi made a series of suggestions which were hailed by the SAARC leaders and representatives.

"I propose we create a COVID-19 Emergency Fund. This could be based on voluntary contributions from all of us. India can start with an initial offer of 10 million US dollars for this fund," Modi said.

"We are assembling a Rapid Response Team of doctors and specialists in India, along with testing kits and other equipment. They will be on stand-by, to be placed at your disposal, if required," Modi told the SAARC leaders.

India had set up an Integrated Disease Surveillance Portal to better trace possible virus carriers and the people they contacted and it could share this disease surveillance software with SAARC partners, Modi said.

"Looking ahead, we could create a common research platform, to coordinate research on controlling epidemic diseases within our South Asian region. The Indian Council of Medical Research can offer help coordinating such an exercise," he said.

In his opening address, Modi said the South Asian region has reported less than 150 coronavirus cases, but "we need to remain vigilant".

"Prepare, but don't panic" has been India's guiding mantra in dealing with coronavirus outbreak, he said.

"We started screening people entering India from mid-January itself, while gradually increasing restrictions on travel," Modi said.

Step-by-step approach helped avoid panic and India made special efforts to reach out to vulnerable groups, he said.

India also responded to the call of its people abroad and evacuated nearly 1,400 Indians from different countries, he said.

Modi also said India helped some citizens of neighbouring countries by evacuating them from coronavirus-hit nations.

Maldivian President Solih backed coordinated approach to deal with COVID-19, asserting that no country can deal with the situation alone.

Lankan President Rajapaksa said SAARC leaders should formulate mechanism to help the economies of the region to tide over problems posed by coronavirus.

He also proposed setting up a SAARC ministerial-level group to deal with issues related to coronavirus.

Hasina hailed PM Modi's suggestions to deal with the pandemic and called for taking the initiative forward by more such video conferences, including one with health ministers of SAARC nations participating.

"Our collective efforts will help us devise a sound and robust strategy for SAARC region to fight coronavirus," Nepal PM Oli said.

Bhutanese PM Lotay Tshering said that it was mportant for all countries of the region to be on same page to combat coronavirus.

Mirza, in his initial remarks, said no nation can afford to be unresponsive to situation in wake of coronavirus outbreak.

"We share common regional concerns on COVID-19. While hoping for best, we have to prepare for worst," the Pakistan PM's Special Assistant on Health said.

Modi on Friday had proposed formulation of a joint strategy by the SAARC nations to fight coronavirus, a suggestion that was backed by all the member states.

Calling on the SAARC nations to set an example for the world, Modi had reached out to the eight-member regional grouping and pitched for a video-conference among its leaders to chalk out a strong strategy to fight coronavirus, which has killed more than 5,000 people globally.

His appeal got a prompt response from Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister Oli, Bhutanese premier Tshering, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Hasina and the Afghan government, all of whom welcomed the proposal.

Pakistan's response to the proposal came in after the rest, with the country's Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui saying Mirza will be available to participate in the video-conference.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 20:20:50|Editor: xuxin

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PHNOM PENH, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Ministry of Health said on Sunday that one more foreigner tested positive for COVID-19, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the kingdom to eight.

The patient is a 35-year-old French man, who, along with his wife and 4-year-old son, flew from Paris to Phnom Penh with a transit flight in Singapore, the ministry said in a statement, adding that they arrived in Singapore Friday night before taking an MI 602 flight from Singapore to Phnom Penh on Saturday.

They arrived at their home in Phnom Penh on Saturday morning and Cambodian health authorities located them on Saturday evening after they got information from the Singapore health authorities that the French man tested positive for the coronavirus, it said.

The statement, citing the patient's remarks, said that his samples were first taken for a test at the Singapore airport due to his high body temperature, but Singaporean health officials let him continue his flight to Cambodia and told him to wait for the results later.

The man said he had properly worn a face mask while taking the flight from Singapore to Cambodia, and his body temperature was normal at that time, according to the statement.

Cambodia's Ministry of Health secretary of state and spokeswoman Or Vandine said the samples of the man were taken for a diagnosis at the Pasteur Institute of Cambodia Saturday night.

"The results from the Pasteur Institute of Cambodia, released at 14:30 in the afternoon on March 15, 2020, showed that the 35-year-old French man was positive for COVID-19 virus," she said.

Currently, the patient is put in an isolation room at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital for treatment, she said, adding that the samples of the man's wife and son were also taken for tests, but the results were unavailable yet.

To date, Cambodia has recorded a total of eight COVID-19 patients, including a Chinese man, a Cambodian man, three British nationals, a Canadian man, a Belgian man and a French man.

In a bid to curb the spread of the virus, Cambodia has decided to ban entry of travelers from Italy, Germany, Spain, France and the United States for 30 days starting from March 17, and from Iran, starting from March 18.

The Southeast Asian country has also allowed all public and private school students in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap City to take an early vacation from Saturday.
A shocking news was reported from Gujarat where a 40-year-old step-father raped his 16-year-old stepdaughter for over 2 years and impregnated her. The incident came to light from Rajkots Navagam village when the minor girl was diagnosed with a pregnancy of 4 months. Owing to this her mother on Thursday night approached Rajkot Mahila Police Station to file FIR against her husband.

As per reports, the mother of the minor girl took her to a private hospital as she was not feeling well on approaching them they asked the victims mother to take a pregnancy test. The victims mother was taken aback when the result confirmed that her daughter is pregnant and when she questioned her daughter she narrated the ordeal.

She told her mother that from past two years her step-father has been raping her and threatened to kill her if she tells anyone regarding the same. This left her mother in utter shock and after learning this she immediately approached the police station. The police too immediately swung into action and started hunting the man to arrest him. So far no arrest has been made as they have not been able to find the accuse.

As per TimeNow report, the man hails from Nepal and around 13 years ago victims mother and a man tied the knot after her first husband left her. When the two got married the victim was 3-year-old. The mother also has a child from her victims step-father.

Also Read: Rajasthan: Man allegedly rapes, murders his landlord's 6-year-old daughter in Jhalawar
As more doctors help patients die, a debate rages over what constitutes 'unbearable suffering.' Here's everything you need to know:

What is 'assisted' dying?

Thousands of suffering people, most of them in Europe, are given lethal drugs each year to end their lives under a doctor's care. When the debate over the issue gained prominence in the 1990s, the medical community drew a distinction between euthanasia, when a doctor administers an injected dose to a person too ill to swallow drugs, and assisted suicide, in which the patient performs the deed. Since then, "assisted dying" has emerged as an umbrella term. The Netherlands was the first country to legalize the process, in 2002, followed closely by Belgium; the Dutch now see upwards of 6,000 assisted deaths annually, and Belgium had more than 2,600 last year. When it was first made legal, doctor-assisted death was seen as a way to spare terminally ill, pain-racked patients unnecessary suffering in their final days. But definitions of what kind of anguish is unbearable have in many cases widened over time, leading to debate about when a doctor is justified in helping a patient die.

Where is it legal?

The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada, Switzerland, and Colombia. And last month, German courts overturned a 2015 law prohibiting assisted suicide, and the Portuguese parliament passed a bill to legalize it, although that bill has yet to be signed into law. In Australia and the U.S., the practice is legal in certain states. Patients sometimes cross borders in pursuit of aid in dying; since 2017, when Anne Bert, a French novelist suffering from the degenerative neurological disorder Charcot disease, publicized her intention to end her life in Belgium at age 59, Belgian clinics have seen a sharp increase in requests from French patients. We now get "one or two calls per week, compared with one every six months before," said Dr. Francois Damas. Most patients who desire the service, though, are too ill to travel for the necessary consultation, second opinion, and mandatory waiting period.

Story continues

How are the criteria expanding?

Both Belgium and the Netherlands began allowing assisted suicide in 2002 for patients in "constant and unbearable physical or psychological pain" attested to by at least two doctors. The first to die that way were terminal cancer patients. But over the years, the criteria for "psychological pain" has been applied more and more broadly, and to more people without terminal illness. The Belgian law was expanded in 2014 to include minors, who must get their parents' permission to end their lives. In 2015, of the 2,022 patients who opted for euthanasia in Belgium, 299 did not have fatal illness. One case that drew debate and criticism in Belgium was that of deaf twins Marc and Eddy Verbessem, 45, who chose to die in 2012 because they were going blind and would soon be unable to communicate with each other. Of the 6,585 assisted deaths in the Netherlands in 2017, 83 cases cited psychiatric suffering alone.

Are there accusations of overuse?

Some activists say that helping depressed people kill themselves is not compassionate care. "Almost all serious psychiatric patients think that their situation is 'unbearable' and 'without perspective,'" says Rene Stockman, a priest and mental health expert with the Catholic order Brothers of Charity, citing the legal criteria patients must meet. There have also been highly publicized concerns over possible revocation of consent. In 2016, a Dutch dementia patient, 74, who had said in an advance directive written several years earlier that she would rather die than go into a nursing home, was sedated before being injected with a deadly drug cocktail. The woman, who was no longer lucid enough to understand what was happening, was restrained by her family when she woke up and began struggling during the procedure. Her physician, who was not named in court, became the first in the Netherlands to be tried for improper euthanasia; the doctor was acquitted last year.

How do supporters respond?

Supporters of assisted dying say that the safeguards are adequate, or even too onerous. They argue that thousands of nursing home patients  reliable statistics are impossible to come by  starve themselves to death each year. Canadian doctor Ellen Wiebe had a 102-year-old patient so desperate to end her agonizing spinal pain that she tried to kill herself in her nursing home using a pair of scissors. "This woman was clearly not depressed," Wiebe said. "I was so grateful that I could honor her wishes and end her suffering on her terms." Dignitas, the Swiss nonprofit founded in 1998 that has helped more than 3,000 people die surrounded by loved ones, says that its services are far preferable to letting ill people "make a lonely, risky suicide attempt."

What is the trend in the U.S.?

Oregon was the first state to legalize assisted dying, in 1997; since then California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Jersey, Washington, Vermont, and the District of Columbia have followed. Activists point to Oregon as evidence that legalization need not lead to a slippery slope of expanded criteria. Oregon's standards have not changed: Candidates must have a terminal illness that will cause death within six months, be over 18 and mentally competent, and be able to take the life-ending medication themselves. The practice remains relatively rare; in 2018, 168 people in Oregon died by assisted suicide.

The case of Tine Nys

Belgium's first criminal case concerning euthanasia was resolved Jan. 31, when three doctors were acquitted of unlawfully poisoning Tine Nys, 38, a heroin addict who had suffered from depression for years and had attempted suicide several times. Her parents and sister, present at her death in 2010, said she had not received adequate mental health treatment before her decision. Her sister, Sophie, said Nys may have manipulated the system by faking the tests to obtain an autism diagnosis. Because autism is "incurable and chronic," it meets one of Belgium's legal requirements for euthanasia. Nys' own psychiatrist refused her permission for assisted suicide; the doctor who approved it, Lieve Thienpont, diagnosed her with Asperger's syndrome and gave the go-ahead after meeting her just three times. But doctors said all procedures had been followed correctly, and the jury deliberated just eight hours before acquitting. Witnesses, including Nys' friends, said she had been "determined to die."

This article was first published in the latest issue of The Week magazine. If you want to read more like it, try the magazine for a month here.

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Onitsha, Eastern Nigeria, Sunday, March 15, 2020 -The latest claims by the Nigerian Government through the Nigerian Army that some Boko Haram insurgents are Christians have clearly and further confirmed that the so called counterinsurgency operations in the countrys Northeast Region by the armed forces or the military are not far from being done in full glare of State cover, complicity, conspiracy, censorship, falsehood and propaganda. The Government of Nigeria, by this, is also parading itself before Nigerians and those beyond borders as if it is a branch of Boko Haram and Fulani Herdsmen jihadist insurgents.

The above was the position of Intl Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law, as contained in a statement issued today in Onitsha, Eastern Nigeria and signed by its four principal officers: Emeka Umeagbalasi (Board Chair), Obianuju Igboeli, Esq., (Head of Civil Liberties & Rule of Law), Ndidi Amaka Bernard, Esq., (Head of Intl Justice & Human Rights) and Comrade Samuel Kamanyaoku (Head of Field Data Collection & Documentation).

The Government of Nigeria has also acutely become incorrigible and conspiratorially stained. Instead of rising to the occasion by facing squarely the jihadist insurgency and other forms of insecurity running riot on the country and its defenseless citizens, the Government is busy propagating falsehoods, creating confusion and misleading itself and Nigerians, by attempting to christianize the clear-cut Islamic jihadist insurgency, Intersociety added.

If for any reason, any of the insurgents bears a Christian name, then it is either that his or her name is officially faked or he or she is a captured defenseless Christian ordered or indoctrinated at gunpoint or under captivity to bomb or terrorize or kill; all designed to be directed at churches and their worshippers. These a captured Christian must do in order not to be executed or beheaded by his or her jihadist captors. It is on indisputable record that one of the reasons why Islamic jihadism persists around the world is because most, if not all Christians still hold on to the principle of pacifism, Emeka Umeagbalasi, a criminologist further explained.

It is recalled that the secularity challenged Nigerian Army had through its coordinator of Operation Safe Corridor, Major Gen Bamidele Shafa, claimed that some Boko Haram insurgents are Christians. The Major General made the claims (widely believed to be officially scripted) during his interview with the Sun Newspaper over the weekend. Mister Bamidele Shafa; who is the Nigerian Armys Coordinator of Operation Safe Corridor, is saddled with responsibility of de-radicalization and reintegration of repentant Boko Haram members.

The widely dismissive claims by the Nigerian Army come two months after the same Government of Nigeria through the Nigeria Police Force made failed attempts to christianize Boko Haram insurgency in the country and its deadly attacks including killing of Christians and bombing of churches and other Christian facilities. Church members and their vigilantes had two months ago arrested a suspected suicide bomber inside their church located at Sabon Tasha in Chikun LGA of Kaduna State. The suspect was said to have been arrested with a bag containing Improvised Explosive Devices and was handed over to the Police after a preliminary investigation carried out by the church during which he identified himself as Mohammed Sani.

Surprisingly, the Nigeria Police Force reportedly twisted the preliminary findings of the church and its members and announced the suspect as a Christian, named Nathaniel Samuel. The Police twisted narrative immediately attracted supportive stance from the Presidency and some leftist Muslim bodies; thereby raising strong suspicion that the Government of Nigeria was behind the NPF action or script. Despite several pressures from powers that be for the Kaduna State Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (Rev John Hayab) to retract, the Christian Reverend refused and maintained his stance till date.

Intersociety had severally raised serious concerns over Nigerian Governments seeming hand of Esau, but the voice of Jacob in the countrys insurgency and counterinsurgency activities. In our latest research report: Nigeria: A Killing Field of Defenseless Christians, the Nigerian Government was strongly accused of providing a safe corridor for the atrocious and genocidal Boko Haram and Herdsmen jihadists. The Government has also conducted itself as if it is the mouthpiece of the two insurgency groups-the Boko Haram and the jihadist Fulani Herdsmen. This is clearly done through policies and conducts formally and informally supportive of the insurgents and their terrorist activities.

Therefore, the latest statement of the Nigerian Government through the Nigerian Army is shocking but not surprising. The Government of Nigeria is so conspiratorial, by policies and conducts, that in a normal setting, it has earned itself both custodial and reparative guilty verdicts in courts of special and general jurisdictions. That is to say that in the context of State cover, the Government of Nigeria is inescapable; likewise in areas of complicity, conspiracy, censorship, falsehood and propaganda.

Integrity and legitimacy question also trails the Nigerian Armys de-radicalization and reintegration program for the repentant Boko Haram members. The Nigerian Army program is acutely below the international standards. This is because in the world over, especially in modern intra state or internal armed conflicts and their post conflict eras, it has never been found where a partisan or conspiratorial party, whether symmetric or asymmetric organizes or is allowed to organize de-radicalization and reintegration of former or self surrendered combatants, not to talk of captured and hardened Boko Haram combatants. The action of the Nigerian Military and its Army has led tore-radicalization, insertion, repeat offenses, returned wars and pollution of the military.

Those who genuinely surrender their arms and discontinue their armed struggle against Nigerian state and its defenseless citizens (i.e. timed out or exhausted Boko Haram insurgents, if any) ought to have been sent or transferred to international or UN humanitarian agencies-that are neutral, better equipped and trained to handle demobilization, disarming, resettlement, rehabilitation and reintegration in war or post war zones. On the other hand, those genuinely captured or forced to surrender ought to have been transferred to ICC or be prosecuted locally and can never be treated as repentant or low risk combatants.

Under the Geneva Conventions of 1948, self surrendered combatants must be treated as Prisoners-of-War who must face war crimes in the end. Also, in the eyes of the Geneva Conventions and other relevant international laws applicable in the present situation in Nigeria and its Northeast, the Nigerian Military and its Army is not allowed to be a judge in its own case. By the provisions of the Laws of War or Armed Conflict including internal armed conflict such as counterinsurgency operations in the Northeast, the Nigerian Military and its Army is partisan and an active party and must be subjected to thorough scrutiny under the three war principles of jus in bellum, jus ad bellum and jus post bellum.

In other words, the roles of the Nigerian Army or the Military in the conduct of counterinsurgency operations in Nigeria must also be subjected to international criminal, civil and diplomatic inquiries including whereby the vulnerable and culpable members of the Military, at the appropriate time, must pass through processes of demobilization, disarming, resettlement, rehabilitation and reintegration or prosecution for war crimes-where their conducts clearly and evidentially provide.

 Contacts:

Mobile/Whatsapp Line: +2348174090052

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.intersociety-ng.org
New Delhi: The Crime Branch of Delhi Police have reportedly found evidence that proves the role of suspended Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Tahir Hussain in the northeast Delhi violence. According to sources, the Delhi Police, which has been interrogating the suspended AAP leader in connection with the Delhi violence, is most likely to arrest him.

Notably, the Delhi Police has already booked Tahir for murder based on a complaint filed by family members of Intelligence Bureau (IB) staffer Ankit Sharma, who was brutally killed by rioters during the violence on February 24-25. The complaint was given by the victim's father, following which a case was registered under sections 365 and 302 of the Indian Penal Code.

Ankit's father Ravinder Kumar has alleged that Tahir, whose office is located near Chand Bagh Pulia, had gathered men who were pelting stones and petrol bombs during the violence which led to tension and fear among local residents. Ankit Sharma was found dead in a drain near Tahir's home in northeast Delhi's riot-hit Chand Bagh area.

Tahir has been in the eye of a major controversy after several viral videos showed hundreds of people on the rooftop of his building and hurling stones and petrol bombs on people during the riots. Later, a forensic team conducted searches at Tahir's residence and found a large cache of bottles meant for petrol bombs, stones and acid pouches from the rooftop of Tahir Hussain's residence-cum-commercial complex.

Earlier this week, Tahir along with the Popular Front of India (PFI), was also booked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on charges of money laundering and alleged funding of communal riots. Tahir's brother Shah Alam has also been arrested in connection with the riots and is currently in judicial custody.

At least 53 people, including Ankit Sharma and a Police Head Constable Rattan Lal, were killed in the violence that rattled the national capital recently.
Uzbekistan early on March 15 reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19, with the government saying the infected person was an Uzbek citizen returning from France.

The same day, neighboring Kazakhstan declared a state of emergency as authorities announced that three new cases had been recorded, pushing the total number there to nine.

Kazakhstan was thought to have been coronavirus-free until four infections were confirmed on March 13. The state of emergency announced by presidential decree imposes a nationwide quarantine and will restrict both entry to and departure from the country to all except diplomats and individuals invited by the government.

Kazakhstan had already announced the cancelation of Norouz holiday celebrations and a military parade devoted to the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany.

Officials there previously said more than 1,000 people were in quarantine and nearly 500 others in self-quarantine at home.

Uzbekistan announced similar sweeping measures on March 15, barring entry for all foreigners and departures by locals.

The Uzbek government also closed schools and universities for three weeks, canceled all public events, and suspended international air and highway connections beginning March 16.

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are the only Central Asian republics to have officially registered any cases of the new coronavirus at the center of a global pandemic.

Iranian Deaths Top 700

Meanwhile, in Iran, as the number of fatalities attributed to COVID-19 topped 700, the official handling the response to the pandemic warned that the country's health facilities could soon be overwhelmed.



If the trend continues, there will not be enough capacity, the state-run IRNA news agency quoted Ali Reza Zali as saying on March 15.

The country has reported that nearly 14,000 people are infected, behind only China and Italy.

Iran reportedly has around 110,000 hospital beds, including 30,000 in Tehran, and has said it will set up mobile clinics. Critics fear the real number of COVID-19 infections could be much higher as questions swirl over the government's transparency with regard to the issue.

Interactive: The Symptoms Of COVID-19

Zali said that many of those who died were otherwise healthy, while Iran's Health Ministry published statistics showing that 55 percent of those who died were in their 60s, but 15 percent were younger than 40.

Iranian Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in a televised news conference that people "should cancel all travel and stay at home so that we may see the situation improving in the coming days."

Clerical rulers in Iran have closed schools and universities and suspended religious, cultural, and sports events across the country to combat the outbreak, and the country has sought a $5-billion emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help finance the effort.

Trump Negative For Coronavirus

Countries around the world continued to introduce new measures in an effort to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center, which combines WHO figures and local media reports, put the precise number of COVID-19 infections around the world at 162,627 as of March 15, with 6,065 deaths. It shows 75,620 patients have recovered after testing positive for the virus.

A Reuters tally put the numbers at 162,365 people infected and 6,070 dead. It put the number of those recovered at 75,871.

Across Europe, which was recently identified by the World Health Organization as the epicenter of the pandemic that emerged in China in December 2019, many states were restricting limits on day-to-day movements and international travel in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Despite taking similar measures, France was going forward with local elections on March 15, arguing that the vote was essential to democratic continuity.

In the United States, a travel ban on flights from 26 European states that has caused chaos at airports was being extended to include the United Kingdom and Ireland.

U.S. President Donald Trump has tested negative for the coronavirus, the White House physician has said.

"This evening, I received confirmation that the test is negative," Sean Conley, the president's physician said in a statement on March 14.

"One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation at Mar-a-Lago, the president remains symptom-free," he said, referring to Trumps Florida resort.

In China, authorities continued to record lower numbers of domestic infections, but were imposing new checks on international travelers after 16 new imported cases were reported on March 14.

In Russia, four new cases of COVID-19 infection were announced on March 15, bringing the total there to 63.

Rail service between Russia and Ukraine, Moldova, and Latvia will be suspended as of March 17, according to a subsidiary of Russian Railways.

Armenia shut down the city of Vagharshapat, west of the capital, Yerevan, in a bid to curb the spread of the virus, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on March 15.

Eighteen coronavirus cases out of 28 registered in Armenia were reported from Vagharshapat, also known as Echmiadzin. The city has a population of 46,000 people.

Pashinian said the local residents will be able to leave the city only after having their body temperature taken.

Italy, the hardest-hit country in Europe with more than 1,800 fatalities, recorded 368 new deaths on March 15, the countrys civil-protection authority said.

The Vatican announced that Pope Francis will not lead any public Easter celebrations.

Britain, which had resisted major restrictions, was reportedly preparing to ban large gatherings.

The pandemic has roiled world financial markets and prompted many governments to pledge spending packages to try to limit economic effects.

With reporting by AP, AFP and Reuters
 Flash

Central African Republic confirmed on Saturday its first case of COVID-19, according to the country's Ministry of Health and Population.

The patient is a 74-year-old Italian national who has recently been in Milan. He arrived in Bangui on Sunday on a Royal Air Maroc flight, according to the ministry.

The test was carried out by the Pasteur Institute of Bangui. The patient is now being taken care of by health authorities, who are now tracing the patient's close contacts.

This first case came a day after the country took a series of updated measures to contain the new coronavirus, including a ban on mass gatherings and travel restrictions, shutting down of nightclubs, and massive installation of hand washing device in public places.

Public servants including ministers are no longer authorized to travel to high risk countries. A toll-free line, 1212, has been established for reporting any suspected cases.
2.3 lakh Yaba pills seized

UNB, Chattogram :

Members of Bangladesh Coast Guard on Friday seized 2 lakh Yaba pills in a drive from Karnaphuli River in Chattogram.

On secret information, a team of the Coast Guard conducted a drive at Ghat No. 15 of the Karnaphuli River around 3am when they recovered the Yaba tablets after searching a wooden boat, said sources at the Coast Guard headquarters.

The seized Yaba pills were handed over to Patenga Police Station.

Meanwhile, another team of Coast Guard conducted a drive at Char Element area of Haimchar upazila in Chandpur district and seized 22 lakh metres of Current Net around 3pm on Thursday.
Seats at the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul remained empty, Sunday, as the church replaced its Sunday worship services with online ones to ensure its members' safety amid the spread of COVID-19. /Yonhap





By Bahk Eun-ji







Korea added 76 new cases on Saturday, with a total number of cases at 8,162, making the first day in nearly three weeks when the number of new cases has fallen below 100, the health authorities said, Sunday.







The government reported 76 new COVID-19 infections Saturday, the first time in nearly three weeks for the number to have dropped below 100.







The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said Sunday that the total number of coronavirus patients had reached 8,162, with 75 fatalities  most of whom were elderly patients who had been suffering from underlying illnesses. Those recovering from the infection and being released from quarantine now number 834; while nearly 270,000 tests have been carried out so far.







This is the first time in 23 days that the number of newly confirmed cases has fallen to double digits since Feb.21, when it marked 74. Since Feb.22, when 190 patients were found to have contracted COVID-19, the number of confirmed cases has been more than 100 daily. The figure also marked the fourth straight decrease since 242 cases were reported Wednesday.







Of the 76, 41 were from Daegu and four from North Gyeongsang Province, the epicenters of the virus outbreak here whose total numbers of confirmed infections now stand at 6,031 and 1,157, respectively. The two regions account for about 88 percent of the total confirmed cases in South Korea.







In the metropolitan area there were 22 new confirmed patients  nine in Seoul, 11 in Gyeonggi Province, and two in Incheon  all linked to a call center in Guro District that has produced the largest group infection in the capital area and its vicinity.







The KCDC said the recent pace of new infections is showing signs of slowing down, but added it was still on high alert for new infection cluster similar to those in the Guro call center and the Government Complex in Sejong, an administrative city south of Seoul. The total number of infections at Sejong is now 39, with patients coming from the health, education and veterans' affairs ministries.







Meanwhile, Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin said that a ceremony to mark the 36th anniversary of the founding of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus was replaced with an online worship service, Saturday. The group had already announced it would hold an online anniversary event, and that worship services would also be held via the internet until the virus outbreak subsides.







Daegu Metropolitan Government issued an administrative order last week banning all Shincheonji followers from holding meetings and religious events. Kwon said the city has been cooperating with police to strengthen its monitoring for possible meetings in the city.







Daegu has been hit hardest by the epidemic of the highly contagious virus and became a hotbed for the outbreak, as more than 60 percent of confirmed cases there were Shincheonji members, as of Saturday.


Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 15)  Several Cabinet members and other government officials said Sunday that they tested negative for the novel coronavirus after coming in contact with someone confirmed to have the disease, known as COVID-19.

The Cabinet officials came in contact with a person who eventually tested positive for the disease last week, prompting them to go on a 14-day self-quarantine. CNN Philippines earlier reported that a transport official is one of the countrys confirmed coronavirus patients.

The following public officials tested negative for COVID-19:

Executive

-Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade

-Public Works Secretary Mark Villar

-Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III

-Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea

-Presidential Security Group head Colonel Jesus Durante III

-Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno

Legislative

-Senator Sherwin Gatchalian

-Senator Nancy Binay

Judiciary

-Supreme Court Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta

Local executives

-Manila Mayor Francisco Isko Moreno Domagoso

The reports came a day after Malacanang announced that President Rodrigo Duterte, as well as his former aide now Senator Christopher Bong Go, were also cleared of COVID-19.

Moreno went on isolation after returning from his trip to the United Kingdom.

Other public officials opted to go on a voluntary two-week quarantine after attending a large event which included an attendee who eventually tested positive for COVID-19. Among them are Education Secretary Leonor Briones, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, as well as Navotas City Rep. John Rey Tiangco and his brother Mayor Toby Tiangco.

LIST: Lawmakers, gov't officials on self-quarantine after COVID-19 exposure

Separately, 12 senators also went into isolation upon learning that one of the resource people invited to a committee hearing chaired by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian became a COVID-19 patient. The mans wife reportedly died of the disease.

The disease is spread through small droplets from the nose or mouth when people infected with the virus cough or sneeze. Commonly reported COVID-19 symptoms are fever, dry cough and shortness of breath. Those with severe and critical symptoms should call the Health Department at (02) 8-651-7800 local 1149-1150.
In the wake of Coronavirus concerns, a special Air India flight carrying 211 Indian students who were stranded in Italy, departed for India on Saturday. As per reports, the flight also had seven compassionate cases. As per reports, Italy has reported 175 deaths from Coronavirus on Saturday.

Taking to Twitter, the Indian Consulate in Milan posted pictures of the people in the flight and thanked the Air India's team and the Italian authorities for the cooperation. Earlier, Air India had announced the cancellation of all flights to Kuwait and Italy till April 30.

211 students & 7 compassionate cases departed by AI flight #Milan.all those who helped us through this difficult situation. Special to @airindiain team & Italian authorities. Consulate will continue to ensure welfare of all Indians in northern #Italy @MEAIndia @DrSJaishankar pic.twitter.com/eTX6GXHWCf  India in Milan (@cgmilan1) March 14, 2020

India started evacuating people after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the Coronavirus outbreak as a Pandemic. The Indian authorities have been carrying out evacuations from several countries including China, Japan and Iran as the number of cases of oronavirus continue to rise in these countries.

Coronavirus in India

As of date, the total number of positive cases in India has soared up to around 84 as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Along with it, two deaths have been reported in Kalaburagi and West Delhi respectively. 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.

Read: Coronavirus outbreak: China reports 11 new infections, including 7 'imported' cases

Moreover, the Centre has strongly advised Indians to avoid all non-essential travel abroad. The government is also monitoring all suspected cases and issued preventive advisories.

Read: Coronavirus scare: General public not to be allowed in parliament complex as precautionary measure

The Coronavirus crisis

First detected in Wuhan in December 2019, COVID-19- the novel Coronavirus has affected nearly 135 countries in the world. Presently, there are over 142,649 confirmed cases of COVID-19 which has led to the death of 5,393 people. As there is no vaccine or specific antiviral medicine to treat COVID-19, countries have been grappling with all possible mechanisms to contain its scope. So far, China, South Korea, Italy, and Iran have witnessed the most number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.

Read: Coronavirus scare: 230 passengers from Delhi screened at Arunachals Naharlagun station

Read: Punjab govt taking all steps to prevent Coronavirus spread, no need to panic: Amarinder
- Pascal announced the good news on Instagram after documenting his travel to Nigeria

- The actor beat the likes of veteran Nigerian stars Ramsey Noah and Mofe Damijoh

- He thanked his fans for supporting his hustle and helping him bring the award home

Kenyan hunk Pascal Tokodi has proved yet again he is the next big thing in Africas acting scene after defeating the best of the best.

The 26-year-old Selina star bagged a coveted award in Nigeria after being nominated for the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Award.

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The thespian was crowned the best supporting actor during a ceremony held at Nigeria. The event was attended by stars from all over the continent.

Pascal beat the best of the best including Nigerian veterans Ramsey Noah, Mofe Damijoh and Nkem Owoh.

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The handsome actor and director announced the good news via Instagram and thanked his fans for religiously voting fir him and always supporting his career.

We did it! Blessings fam! Thank you! Thank you so much, the 26-year-old told his followers.

His fans were elated and believed Pascal deserved the win and was always destined for greatness.

When he first learnt he was slotted for the award, the hunk could not believe it and felt like it was all a dream.

Luckily, some dreams do come true and the East African artiste made it to the wall of fame.

Pascal started out small but his determination bore fruits and gave rise to a successful career.

When his career was kicking off, the multi talented star even tried out music and was good at it but decided to focus more on being on the big screen.

Acting became his oxygen and everything he touched turned into gold.

As soon as the hunk stepped onto local soap Selina series he became a hit and his career changed forever.

Pascal who plays a character named Nelson embodied his role and became one with his fans.

Fan groups for his character were created and his following on social media grew in a short time.

Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly.

My father blamed me for the death of my sister | Tuko TV

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HALIFAXNova Scotia has identified its first three presumptive cases of COVID-19  the last province in the country to do so  on a weekend that saw all four Atlantic Provinces make similar coronavirus diagnosis announcements.

At a news conference Sunday, the provinces chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang said the three cases were all travel-related and unconnected to each other.

At the same time, Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil introduced a sweeping set of measures aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.

One of the victims, a woman in her 60s had returned from Australia on March 8. The second, a man in his 50s, had attended a conference in California before returning. The third, a man in his 30s, had been travelling through Europe.

All three results will need to be confirmed by the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg. They are the first of the provinces 418 tests to come back a presumptive positive.

McNeil announced a series of further restrictions designed to hamper the transmission of the virus. immediately, anyone who has travelled outside of Canada must self-isolate immediately, even if asymptomatic. Beginning Monday, the province will have health inspectors at airports meeting flights in Halifax and Sydney.

As well, long-term care facilities in Nova Scotia will be closed to all visitors effective immediately. McNeil also said schools would be closed for two weeks following March break, pending reassessment at the beginning of April.

Daycare centres are to be closed beginning Tuesday, and also reassessed at the beginning of April.

Restaurants, bars, movie theatres and other public gathering spots are to keep numbers below 150, and distance patrons by about two metres.

We all have to do our part to reduce the spread and keep Nova Scotians healthy and safe. Take care of one another. Be kind to one another, and ensure that we support those in our province who require our support, said McNeil.

On Saturday, Prince Edward Island announced its first confirmed case of COVID-19. The provinces chief public health officer Dr. Heather Morrison identified the case as a woman in her 50s who had recently returned from a cruise.

Later Saturday, Newfoundland and Labrador announced its first presumptive case of the disease, also a woman recently back from a cruise. In both cases, the victims were in self-isolation.

New Brunswick also announced a second presumptive case on Saturday. That case involved a man, between 50 and 60, who was in close contact with the provinces first confirmed case, a woman who had travelled to France. The man had not travelled himself.

On Sunday, Ontario also reported 39 new coronavirus cases, bringing the provinces total number of cases to 142.

The four Atlantic Provinces have all responded to the impending coronavirus cases by closing schools, shutting down government offices and cancelling sporting events and most public activities that attract large crowds.

Read more about:
UPDATE: Follow our coronavirus live blog for Monday, March 16, here.

10:24 p.m. Chick-fil-A is temporarily closing its dining room seating to limit person-to-person contact, the restaurant chain announced.

Some restaurant locations may only offer service in drive-thrus, while others may offer takeout, delivery or mobile-order options, according to the announcement.

"We know these are challenging times, but well continue to do our best to serve you," according to the announcement.

9 p.m. Texas Department of Public Safety officials said Sunday that recently expired state driver's licenses and ID cards will be valid while the coronavirus state of disaster is ongoing, reports the Chronicle's Taylor Goldenstein.

According to a letter from Sheri Gipson, chief of DPS' driver license division, licenses and IDs that expire on or after March 13 will be valid for 60 days after the end of the state of disaster, which Gov. Greg Abbott announced Friday in response to the pandemic. House Speaker Dennis Bonnen first posted the letter in a tweet late Sunday.

The letter notes that the exception only applies for IDs that are expired -- not ones that have been suspended, revoked, denied or otherwise deemed ineligible.

8:07 p.m. Harris County reported an additional two cases of COVID-19.

One involves a 40- to 50-year-old woman and another a 50- to 60-year-old man, officials said. The woman, who lives in northwest Harris County, was in contact with a COVID-19 patient who lives in her area, officials said.

The man also lives in northwest Harris County, and county epidemiologists are still investigating the details of his case, officials said.

The two cases are not related and were uncovered during independent investigations. Both are stable and isolated, officials said.

7:25 p.m. The CDC on Sunday released an updated list of recommendations for large events and mass gatherings.

The agency now recommends that for the next 8 weeks, organizers cancel or postpone in-person events with 50 or more people throughout the country.

The recommendation does not apply to the day-to-day operation of organizations such as schools, institutes of higher learning, or businesses, the agency said. The recommendation also is not intended to supersede the advice of local public health officials, the agency said.

6:24 p.m. The University of Texas tentatively plans to reopen March 30, according to a announcement reported by the Austin American-Statesman.

The plan may change as public health circumstances evolve, the newspaper reported.

In a news release University President Gregory L. Fenves, who tested negative for the virus, said faculty members are planning to teach as many classes as possible online. Social distancing procedures will be introduced for other classes and in residence halls, dining halls, libraries, workspaces and student spaces.

5:48 p.m. School could be out for the year, reports the Chronicle's Jacob Carpenter.

Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath told education and legislative officials Sunday that schools could remain closed long-term  potentially through the remainder of the academic year  in regions with community spread of the novel coronavirus, including the Houston area.

In a conference call with superintendents, legislative officials and others, Morath said the state is likely looking at large numbers of kids possibly missing the rest of the school year, the Houston Chronicle has learned. He added its marginally optimistic to believe already-shuttered schools in areas with an outbreak will re-open within the next eight weeks.

Morath advised district leaders to begin preparing messages to parents notifying them that classes could remain canceled beyond March.

5:17 p.m. The Houston Rodeo announced it will refund commercial exhibitors who rented space on the rodeo grounds this year.

Thats one of several measures rodeo officials are taking to help participants recover from the city's decision to cancel the famed event, officials said.

With the 2019 Rodeo providing an economic impact of $227 million and an economic activity of $391 million, we understand this is hard on many of us, organizers said.

In additional to rental refunds, exhibitors at the School Art and Lamb and Goat competitions will be paid the guaranteed premiums that they earned. All entry fees for livestock and horse show exhibitors will be refunded. The rodeo is also working on plans to support its junior exhibitors.

All rodeo athletes that competed in the first three super series events will be paid any money they earned.

The rodeo also plans to honor its commitment to award $14.2 million in scholarships, $3.7 million in educational program grants and $662,000 in graduate assistantships this year.

4:52 p.m. Houston ISD is adding curbside pickup to its food distribution sites starting Monday to encourage social distancing.

Those unable to drive to the 36 food distribution sites can get in line, but they'll need to remain six feet apart from the people around them. District police and volunteers will be at the sites to enforce the minimum distance.

Map: Find your nearest distribution site

The meals are being compiled with the Houston Food Bank, which just snagged a $350,000 donation from Texans' J.J. Watt and his wife, Kealia Ohai Watt.

4:18 p.m. Despite Galveston's efforts to encourage people to stay home, the resort islands downtown and seawall beaches were teeming with tourists on Sunday.

Dozens lined up for tickets to the Pleasure Pier, an amusement park facing the Gulf of Mexico, staff writer Nick Powell reports from the seaside city. The weekend farmers market at the Bryan Museum bustled with its usual foot traffic. And downtown, a sizable group of green-clad Galvestonians spilled into the street in front of OMalleys Stage Door pub for a pre-St. Patricks Day bar crawl sponsored by the Galveston Humane Society.

We were pretty much backing out of it last night, but we decided to just come, get here to the parking lot and see how things are going, said Barbara Lee, wearing rainbow aviator sunglasses and a green tutu adorned with shamrocks.

Robert Zahn, a realtor, inhaled a vaporizer pen with a friend, Tim Dudley, across the street from OMalleys and explained that the group was being cautious while still allowing themselves to enjoy the debaucherous festivities.

We are outside with fresh air and we are actually keeping a physical distance from people, said Robert Zahn, a realtor wearing a green t-shirt. The only concern would be if we go into a bar and theres a crowd.

4:10 p.m. Keep up with the Houston Chronicle as we track the number of presumptive positive cases of the novel coronavirus in the Houston region. Data journalist Jordan Rubio has compiled the data in two ways.

3:33 p.m. Jim Mattress Mack McIngvale is collecting non-perishable food and unopened toiletries to hand out to seniors who have been advised not to leave their homes.

Sylvester Turner and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Houston) joined the furniture mogul Sunday afternoon to announce the donation program. Items can be dropped off at any Gallery Furniture store from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Weve got to fill in where the federal governments money has not yet reached," Jackson Lee said. On Saturday, the congresswoman voted to pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

Seniors who are looking for aid can call Gallery Furniture at 713-694-5570. And kids who stop by the store can get a packed lunch.

3:29 p.m. Amid an increase in local COVID-19 cases, Childrens Museum Houston and its Fort Bend Childrens Discovery Center will close to the public starting Monday.

Executive director Tammie Kahn said that the museum had previously planned to close Tuesday, but moved up its schedule after learning that scientists increasingly believe that children can be novel coronavirus carriers without showing symptoms.

Museum staff are already planning ways to engage with homebound children online and by phone, Kahn said.

3:26 p.m. State health officials will soon receive a federal stash of medical supplies to keep local hospitals equipped with protective items, such as surgical masks and gloves.

The Strategic National Stockpile began sending a shipment of equipment to an undisclosed warehouse in San Antonio on Saturday. From there, those items will be sent to hospital facilities across the state.

The stockpile has sent items to Texas before during natural disasters.

2:48 p.m. If you haven't started social distancing, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo thinks it's time.

"Even if youre young & healthy, avoid gatherings of ANY size in which youll be in close contact," Hidalgo tweeted Sunday afternoon. "You could be a carrier."

Officials believe cutting off unnecessary contact with people is expected to reduce the number of new novel coronavirus cases.

2:40 p.m. The entire University of Houston baseball team has been self-quarantined after a staffer came down with symptoms consistent with the novel coronavirus.

The person has not been confirmed as a presumptive positive but is being tested, staff writer Joseph Duarte reports. No other athletes or staff members have developed symptoms.

The team was in Las Vegas from March 9-11.

2:11 p.m. Gregory Fenves, president of the University of Texas at Austin, tested negative Sunday for the novel coronavirus, a school spokesperson said. His wife, Carmel, tested positive Friday after traveling recently to New York.

Fenves will continue to self-quarantine for two weeks because he was in contact with the confirmed case, the official said.

Fenves also experienced "flu-like symptoms" through Thursday night.

12:44 p.m. Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. tweeted Sunday that he is donating 10,000 meals to the Houston Food Bank.

The athlete is among several members of the team slated to return to Houston to continue spring training at Minute Maid Park, staff writer Chandler Rome reports. Some players who require injury rehabilitation or want to stay in Florida will remain at their West Palm Beach facility.

Regardless of location, the groups of players will be working out together during this time, McCullers Jr. said.

12:02 p.m. As of noon Sunday, there are 56 presumptive positive coronavirus cases in Texas, with at least 10 of them in Harris County. Fort Bend County has nine cases, while Dallas County has eight, according to state health officials.

The state updates the numbers once a day at the Department of State Health Services website.

11:37 a.m. Church in Houston continued for some Sunday morning, with ushers sporting disposable gloves and lining collection baskets with clear trash bags at the Catholic Charismatic Center in Eastwood.

During most Sunday Masses, the church usually attracts more than 800 people. Although the front pews filled up, the back pews saw a slower trickle of congregants  plenty of room for churchgoers to distance themselves from one another, staff writer Gwendolyn Wu reports.

Despite the cancellation of Mass in cities across the U.S., including Boston and San Antonio, the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston continued with services as planned.

Its not the first virus this church has experienced, Father John Paul Bolger told congregants.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo said Friday that parishioners would be exempt from attending Mass if they wished and urged people who were elderly, immune-compromised or sick to stay home. Some opted to stay home, with over 120 attendees watching the Catholic Charismatic Centers YouTube stream instead.

11:17 a.m. Although Houston airports were not among the 13 airports with heightened CDC screenings, Mayor Sylvester Turner issued a recommendation for travelers returning from international trips to self-quarantine for two weeks.

For those returning to Houston from other states on domestic flights or travels, he "strongly advises" seven days, according to his twitter.

He made the statement just before stepping up to a pulpit at Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church, where he delivered a proclamation on the church's 155th anniversary.

"We can clean our hands, we can use hand sanitizer, we don't have to hug," Turner said to cheers.

10:50 a.m. Long screening lines that are cramming beleaguered travelers together for health screenings at 13 airports, such as Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, are not expected in Houston.

Houston Airport System spokesman Foti Kallergis said that all European flights to Houston have already been canceled or diverted. Bush Intercontinental Airport was not among the 13 airports the Centers for Disease Control tapped to receive incoming European flights, he continued.

Wait times at IAH security checkpoints appeared to be under 10 minutes, while international processing could range anywhere from seven to 35 minutes, according to online trackers.

10:30 a.m. Matagorda County found its first presumptive positive case of COVID-19 on Saturday involving a woman in her 60s, according to hospital officials.

The woman has no travel history outside Texas and was admitted to Matagorda Regional Medical Center for complications from pneumonia. She remains hospitalized in fair condition, officials said.

The Houston area's number of presumptive positive cases now stands at 27, with 51 cases being reported statewide. New cases in Houston and Montgomery County were also announced on Saturday. The latest case in Houston involves a man who recently traveled to Panama. He is between 50 and 60 years old and is hospitalized in good condition.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a third New Yorker has died of coronavirus (COVID-19), and the total number of confirmed cases in New York has surpassed 700 Sunday afternoon, with 329 of those cases confirmed in New York City.

Cuomo said the third death is a 79-year-old woman who died in New York City today. The woman had multiple major underlying health issues before testing positive and was admitted last week, officials said.

New York State has tested 5,272 people thus far, according to Cuomo, which is an additional 442 tests since yesterday at 6 p.m.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

Approximately 19% of the states confirmed cases are hospitalized, with 65 patients currently in intensive care units.

Globally, there have been over 162,000 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University, and over 6,000 deaths. Over 75,000 people have recovered.

Cuomo spoke to the importance of flattening the curve of the virus, a term utilized to represent the potential peak of confirmed cases, as a heavy influx would cause the health care system to be overburdened.

Help New York #FlattenTheCurve!



Slowing down #Coronavirus is necessary to protect your health & reduce the strain on our healthcare system.



Heres what to do:



-Stay home as much as possible

-Keep 6 feet of distance from others in public

-Minimize in-person social contact pic.twitter.com/zPIKPTfXzg  Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 15, 2020

In an open letter to President Donald Trump published in the New York Times, Cuomo said, According to one projection, as many as 214 million people in our country could be infected over the course of the epidemic. Of those, as many as 21 million people could require hospitalization.

This would crush the nations medical system, Cuomo wrote.

ICU BEDS

New York State has approximately 53,000 hospital beds, Cuomo said on Sunday, and about 3,100 of them are intensive-care beds, which are fitted with vitally-important ventilators.

However, Cuomo said you will need thousands of more ventilators to handle the nearly-inevitable rise of cases, and asked to deploy the Army Corps of Engineers and use that capacity to retrofit existing facilities to free up hospital beds.

A decision is easy when you have no options, Cuomo said. And here, this nation has no options.

He offered using facilities like SUNY dorms to serve as temporary hospitals.

We have facilities that could serve as temporary hospitals, like SUNY dorms.



I am urging the President: deploy the Army Corps of Engineers, retrofit these buildings as medical facilities to free up hospital beds.



The federal gov't alone has the ability to do this fast enough.  Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 15, 2020

You will be short thousands of ICU beds, thousands of ventilators, he said, adding that measures to add to existing hospital staff, including efforts to have retired nurses and doctors contact their old hospitals, are steps made to maximize the impact of the current hospital system.

Additionally, Cuomo called for the federal government to provide help and guidance to states on what to do and when to do it, saying, this cant be a national policy of every state does its own thing.

You cant have a patchwork quilt of policies, Cuomo said. Make a decision, tell the states, this is the decision, and then lets go.

I am asking private businesses to aggressively consider voluntary closings and allow employees to work from home.



Reducing density is both a social responsibility & will help protect workforces.



If businesses don't voluntarily cooperate, we will consider mandatory measures.  Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) March 15, 2020

VOLUNTARY BUSINESS CLOSURES

Cuomo also called on private businesses to aggressively consider voluntary closings and allow employees to work from home.

Reducing density is both a social responsibility & will help protect workforces, he wrote on Twitter. If businesses dont voluntarily cooperate, we will consider mandatory measures.

Despite the unwavering calls for a stronger response to the coronavirus, Cuomo also cautioned individuals to avoid panicking.

The fear is winning; the fear is disconnected from the facts, he said. Fear is an emotion. Emotion can often be disconnected with fact.

Many, many, many people are going to get the virus," he said, but 80% will self resolve.

VIRUS WIDESPREAD IN NYC

Mayor Bill de Blasio said on CNN that it is clear that the coronavirus is widespread in the city.

De Blasio said it is likely that the number of confirmed cases will surpass 1,000 early in the coming week, and he criticized the federal response to the crisis.

We are playing a huge game of catch up in this country, he said.

"The only hope is that the federal government wakes up and figures out that were in a war.

This is a breaking news story. More information will be posted as it becomes available.

***

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Daniel Radcliffe has blamed the role of Harry Potter for turning him into an alcoholic.

The British actor made the admission while appearing on BBC Radio 4s latest Desert Island Discs.

He told host Lauren Laverne: If I went out and if I got drunk, Id suddenly be aware of there being interest in that because its not just a drunk guy. Its Oh, Harry Potters getting drunk in the bar.

Radcliffe said that playing the boy wizard carried some kind of interest for people and also a slightly mocking interest, adding: Its inherently funny for people.

The actor told Laverne that [his] way of dealing with that [was] just to drink more or get more drunk, so I did a lot of that for a few years.

He continued: A lot of drinking that happened towards the end of Potter and for a little bit after it finished, it was panic, a little bit not knowing what to do next  not being comfortable enough in who I was to remain sober.

Radcliffe, who has been sober since 2010, praised his family and friends on set for providing him with enough perspective on my life to help him through tough times.

The actor previously said that he attempted to stop drinking multiple times and eventually did so with the help of friends.

Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked Show all 10 1 /10 Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked 10. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald JK Rowling gifted herself a whole new world to explore with the Fantastic Beasts franchise, with five films to dial back and explore the Wizarding World as it stood in the early 20th century. While the first, and far superior entry, took place in New York, The Crimes of Grindelwald shifts the action to Paris. And, for the majority of the film, it continues in the spirit of originality and creativity, with new beasts for Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) to tame and magical delights to be uncovered. All this good will is swiftly undone, however, in the films closing chapter. What follows is a baffling series of expositional conversations and meaningless connections, dragging The Crimes of Grindelwald down into the murky depths occupied by the Star Wars prequels. Rex Features Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked 9. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix The Harry Potter franchises greatest weakness, perhaps, was its need to mature at the same pace as its audience. And as that audience plunged into awkward adolescence, so too did the movies. The Order of the Phoenix may have its ardent supporters, but it most acutely represents the lag between the franchises bright-eyed, whimsical beginnings and the epic weight of its conclusion. In the attempt to adapt the longest Potter book into the shortest Potter film, the rush to maturity looks all the more thorny. Dudley Dursley (Harry Melling) is suddenly transformed into a chain-wearing thug, while the plot works overtime to sidetrack Harry (Daniel Radcliffe)s inevitable confrontation with Voldemort with a handy political metaphor. Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked 8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I Splitting the last Potter book into two films was, inevitably, the right decision in order to save audiences from a rushed conclusion to one of the most popular franchises ever. Yet The Deathly Hallows Part II could only shine if The Deathly Hallows Part I was willing to take the fall and act as pure set-up to its successor. Its arguably the most emotionally unsatisfying of the series, following Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) as they attempt to evade Voldemorts clutches and destroy the Horcruxes, the artefacts containing the Dark Lords soul, the keys to his final destruction. The film trades on conflict between the trio, as Rons jealousy (as influenced by the locket) serves only to prefigure his eventual future with Hermione. Even the films animated history lesson isnt enough to make this film memorable. Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked 7. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets The franchises second instalment certainly has its standout moments  it introduces both all-time legend Dobby into the game and lets Kenneth Branagh steals scene after scene as the vainglorious Gilderoy Lockhart. However, its bloated 161-minute runtime can make it tough work. Director Chris Columbus returned with as much enthusiasm as he expressed in The Philosophers Stone, delivering thrills in Aragog, the basilisk, the petrifications, the Whomping Willow, and the Quidditch matches. That isnt enough, regrettably, to fully distract from its rather dry narrative, which delivers endless plot twists about the dark history of Hogwarts and the truth behind Tom Riddles diary. Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked 6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Another of the adolescent-stage films of the franchise, The Half-Blood Prince could just as easily have fallen prey to The Order of the Phoenixs tonal awkwardness, but theres a much keener sense of the wider stakes here  Severus Snape (Alan Rickman)s machinations make for particularly gripping viewing, culminating in a face-off that still has the propensity to shock years later. Whats crucial, however, is the sense of balance thats also brought to this film, as the students of Hogwarts find moments for the old magic: a Butterbeer shared with friends, or a game of Quidditch. Professor Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) provides a light sense of comic relief, alongside the now-infamous Hermiones got nice skin moment between Ron and Harry. Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked 5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II Director Yates and screenwriter Steve Kloves faced the ultimate challenge with The Deathly Hallows Part II: to satisfactorily conclude a story 10 years in the making. Few would argue against their success, since the film is actually the highest rated of the entire Potter series (at 96 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes), although its reliance on narrative tricks and deceptions have made it slightly less appealing on repeated viewing. That said, there are some bold creative decisions here that save The Deathly Hallows Part II from simply feeling like a procession of notable character deaths, including the decision to relegate some of those deaths to offscreen. Its a film that knows how to manipulate its audience, but also knows when to show restraint. Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked 4. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them The Harry Potter series became the Wizarding World with the release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a film that incites instant curiosity for its cinematic frontier: 1920s New York, divided between the slick Art Deco design of MACUSA, The Magical Congress of the United States of America, the smoke-filled speakeasies (complete with goblin jazz singers and bartenders), and the dark corners inhabited by the Second Salemer witch hunters. In one film, screenwriter Rowling and director Yates were able to establish both a visual and thematic depth to their world that feels equal to the universe of Harry and his friends. Add to that, they found an empathetic protagonist in Eddie Redmaynes Newt Scamander, a magical zoologist with a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Rex Features Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked 3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire At this point, the Potter series was four films in, so a change of pace had become essential to the franchises survival. The Triwizard Tournament fulfilled that need magnificently, allowing the introduction of a more global perspective thanks to Fleur Delacour (Clemence Poesy) and Viktor Krum (Stanislav Ianevski), alongside a neat sequence of set pieces, from deadly mermaids to dragons. The Yule Ball also remains a visual delight. Its an almost comically elegant backdrop for Ron, Harry, and Hermiones youthful angst over dates and relationships. Add to that, the film boasts both Brendan Gleesons brilliant performance as Mad-Eye Moody and the film debut of Robert Pattinson, as Hufflepuffs tragic hero Cedric Diggory. Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked 2. Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone Youre a wizard, Harry. And, with that, thousands of childhoods became instantly filled with wonder, never mind the looming disappointment of realising a letter from Hogwarts was never going to turn up in the post. As tempting as it may be to ridicule The Philosophers Stone for its badly aged special effects (poor Fluffy) and objectionable child acting, there is no replacing the magic conjured in our very first look at Hogwarts, a soft glow emanating from its many towers. The film is a sugary sweet delight that rightly deserves its place as a modern childrens classic. It relishes in its air of joy and fantasy  and that cannot be underestimated, no matter how epic the series conclusion. Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked 1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban The franchises biggest risk is also its biggest triumph. As unexpected as the move may have been to hand the reins over to Alfonso Cuaron, fresh from his sensual coming-of-age tale Y Tu Mama Tambien, The Prisoner of Azkaban has become the ultimate Harry Potter movie. Cuaron could subtly warp the look and feel of this word to progress towards maturity, without disrupting what had been established in the first two films. Its the most successful in doing so of the entire series. The balance between light and dark provides risk without sacrificing enchantment. The Dementor is the most frightening creation of this universe, while the Patronus is the most beautiful. And yet its still a film grounded in character, and Cuaron does not allow the pain haunting the likes of Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) and Remus Lupin (David Thewlis) to be lost in the visual fray.

Ultimately, it was my own decision, he told Off Camera. Like I woke up one morning after a night going like, This is probably not good.

Last year, Radcliffe named his favourite Harry Potter film, acknowledging it was one not a lot of people [choose].
(Natural News) By now, everybody knows the coronavirus spreads like crazy through crowded, indoor environments. And because the lying mainstream media  and the malicious Tech Giants that censor coronavirus solutions  have been telling people to NOT prepare, tens of millions of Americans suddenly went into a panic yesterday and started raiding the retail stores like a wave of human locusts.

Theyre stripping the shelves bare and finding themselves stuck in long lines  some of them snaking for a quarter mile inside the store  just to get to the checkout counter. This entire time, they are exposed to enormous crowds of people who are potentially infected with the coronavirus.

And dont forget that coronavirus survives on surfaces for several days, including grocery cart handles, fresh produce and even cereal boxes. This means those who are infected (but dont yet know it) are likely scattering coronavirus seeds all across the grocery stores.

According to my pandemic projection model, revision 3, there are right now about 25,000 coronavirus infected people in the USA. This means that, on average, every 1 in 13,000 people you encounter is infected. However, the vast majority of these infections are found in just five areas: NYC, Boston, Washington D.C., San Francisco / Bay Area and Seattle. In those areas, the odds of any particular person being infected as significantly higher, probably closer to 1 in 5000 people.

It sounds like a small number, right? But thats because people arent doing the math on this. If you go to the grocery store in one of these high-risk areas, and if 1,000 other people have go through that same grocery store on that same day, there is an 18% chance that a coronavirus-infected person went through the same store you went through on that day.

Interestingly, people are always asking me to explain the math on these calculations, so the math is (4999/5000)^1000.

The answer to that math problem is 0.8187, which means you have an 82% chance of not encountering a coronavirus-infected person in the scenario described above. So if you have an 82% chance of not encountering one, you have an 18% chance of encountering one.

As we saw in South Korea, just one coronavirus-infected person can spread it to hundreds of other people who gather in an enclosed space. In Korea it was a church, but it might as well have been a grocery store or a Costco warehouse. The virus isnt picky. It will spread just the same.

And this underscores the devastating societal cost of:

1) Media misinformation that actively mocked people for buying food early on.

2) The absolutely criminal level of censorship by the tech giants that has banned the most accurate independent voices who have been warning people now for over six weeks (voices like myself, Chris Martenson, Stefan Molyneaux, etc., all of whom are widely banned or shadowbanned).

3) The outrageous incompetence of US government officials like Surgeon General Adams, who actively (and stupidly) told people to stop buying personal protective equipment that might have helped stop the spread of the virus.

In essence, the combination of Big Tech, Big Government and Big Media herded the American people into super spreader panic events like what were seeing right now.

You should know that if you find yourself standing in line at a packed grocery store, feeling a sense of fear because you were too late to buy supplies, the corrupt establishment wanted you to be there in that circumstance. Thats how they spread the virus, of course: Corral the people into enclosed spaces like oblivious cattle. And they pulled it off without any difficulty at all.

When are stores that sell TP, hand sanitizers, etc going to limit the number of those items purchased per person? Or is that happening already? These hoarder types are making things MUCH worse. Please think of others and be kind during this trying time.  Michael Fabiano (@Michael_Fabiano) March 14, 2020

The people dutifully panicked on cue, right as they were programmed to, mobbing the stores and creating super spreader scenarios that will, three weeks from now, see a rapid doubling of the number of coronavirus cases in just one weekend.

Here are some of the sheeple being herded around Costco, bawling at each other just like ranch animals:

And heres what happens when the cattle / sheeple get even more afraid and start stabbing each other:

https://twitter.com/GAFollowers/status/1238284227906592774

At least this one Costco was limiting the number of people entering the store at any one time, a wise choice to limit the spread of the coronavirus:

Went to my local @Costco in Lynnwood, WA and saw this. Local police are present and crowd control policies in place. Long line of people and limiting entry to make sure social distancing is followed. Apparently yesterday was a nightmare. pic.twitter.com/D44ZpChdQy  Karam Dana   (@KaramDana) March 14, 2020

Watch this mini-documentary to learn more about whats coming:

Read more at Pandemic.news.
ALBANY  Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is urging the federal government to develop a national strategy to combat the coronavirus pandemic, hoping officials will enlist the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to retrofit existing facilities into temporary medical centers and authorize states to further broaden their testing capacity.

The governor said Sunday that he feels he has done most of what he can at the state level, which has included banning gatherings of more than 500 people, and pushing expanded lab and automated testing and quarantines for those who might development the COVID-19 illness from the virus.

"Their capacity is amazing," Cuomo said of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "And what better time to use those resources than saying, 'Let's get to work, let's retrofit buildings, let's purchase the equipment, let's use that massive logistical machine of the military to actually save lives.' It makes all the sense in the world, and by the way, we have no option."

Cuomo worries that the state will run out of hospital beds, both in the intensive care unit and otherwise, to care for COVID-19 patients. The statewide total hit 729 as of Sunday afternoon, and three people have died; 19 percent of patients are hospitalized. The third person who died was a 79-year-old woman in New York City who had multiple other health problems. In the Capital Region, Albany County added four new patients Sunday making it 11 confirmed COVID-19 cases; Saratoga County added another case making it four in that county. One of the people who tested positive is a staff member at Tesago Elementary in the Shenendehowa school district. That person, however, hadn't been in the building since March 9.

The state hospital system has 53,000 beds and 3,000 beds in intensive care units, the governor said.

The wave could break the hospital system, Cuomo said. In my opinion, which is not science-based, you will not be able to flatten the curve to avoid the wave. You will be short thousands of ICU beds, thousands of ventilators.

Cuomo sent President Donald Trump an open letter Sunday morning, in which he also requested the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authorize states to certify a wider array of testing labs and methods.

He also asked the federal government for uniform guidance when it comes to closing businesses and schools or canceling events. As of Sunday afternoon, the governor was still leaving the decision up to individual school districts and companies  with many BOCES systems and counties already deciding to close schools from two to up to five weeks. Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had pushed against closing city schools because of the massive support system the schools provide for disadvantaged children there.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

But by late Sunday afternoon, Cuomo announced that the New York City, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk county schools would all be closing - with the caveat that New York City must develop a plan within the next day "to ensure children who rely on school breakfast and lunch programs will continue to receive that support, and parents - especially critical healthcare workers and first responders - will be provided access to child care as needed." New York City will also be closing schools until April 20.

On a call with reporters, the governor also called on several teachers' and health care workers' unions to be heavily involved in devising a plan to keep some schools open as child care facilities so others can close.

"This is about Americans protecting Americans' lives, and I will work in full partnership with the president on this issue, 100 percent, but I ask him personally to take this seriously," Cuomo said. "I know it's a dramatic action  it may be an unprecedented action. This is a dramatic time and an unprecedented time, and great challenges require great leaders and great solutions, and that's what this is."
A Newark man who authorities say was driving drunk caused a multi-vehicle crash in Kearny that left one person dead and two others injured, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said.

William Frazier, 53, was driving a 2017 Nissa Altima westbound on Harrison Avenue, near Bergen Avenue, Friday night at 6:30 p.m. when he struck a 2018 Kia Soul that was traveling east, Suarez said.

The collision caused the Kia Soul to veer into oncoming traffic and strike a 2009 Freightliner truck cab.

Vance Caswell, 26 of Newark, who was a passenger in the Kia, was taken by EMS to St. Michaels Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at approximately 7:40 p.m., Suarez said.

The fatal crash is the fourth in Hudson County this year and the second in less than a week. On Wednesday, a motorcycle crashed into a car carrier on Routes 1&9 north near North Street shortly before 10:15 p.m.

The motorcyclist was declared dead at the scene shortly after the crash. Details of the crash and the name of the victim have not been released.

In Friday nights fatal crash, the drivers of the Kia and the Freightliner sustained injuries that were not considered life-threatening, and they were treated at University Hospital and later released.

Frazier was arrested and charged with causing a death while driving with a suspended license, a third-degree crime, and driving while intoxicated. Additional charges and summonses may be pending.

Suarez credited the Hudson County Regional Collision Investigation Unit and the Kearny Police Department with the investigation and the arrest.

The events surrounding the collision remain under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Office of the Hudson County Prosecutor at 201-915-1345 or to leave an anonymous tip on the Hudson County Prosecutors official website at http://www.hudsoncountyprosecutorsofficenj.org/homicide-tip/.

All information will be kept confidential.
Rome mayor calls on city's residents to respect quarantine rules.

"From what we have seen, and based on our experience, there are still too many people on the streets."

This is the opinion of two Chinese doctors, part of a team of nine experts who flew to Rome to help Italy tackle its Coronavirus outbreak.

The Chinese doctors arrived in Rome on 12 March, bringing with them 31 tons of medical aid, including respirators, for distribution by the Italian Red Cross.

The two medics, Liang Zongan and Xiao Ning, told Italian newspaper La Repubblica that the only way to succeed in the battle against Coronavirus is for "everyone to rigorously respect these guidelines."

Rome's mayor Virginia Raggi went one step further today by defining the minority who flout the quarantine rules as "idiots" who put the lives of others, including their loved ones, at risk.

Reminding people that the city's parks are now closed, Raggi appealed to everyone to "respect the rules and stay at home", saying: "let's win this battle together."

Photo Adnkronos
Im thinking that I just have to resign myself to being at OHare for a long time, because surely they would be taking temperatures. On the plane, Im giving myself this whole pep talk about being patient. I decided that whatever I had to go through would be worth it because I would be home and safe in my own condo.
Australia's top health official hasn't ruled out the possibility of forcing cities into lockdown if the coronavirus outbreak worsens.

Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy admitted drastic measures already in place in virus-stricken parts of Spain, France and Italy could be enforced in a desperate bid to slow down the spread of the deadly virus.

Professor Murphy said everything was up for consideration when he appeared on ABC's Insiders alongside federal health minister Greg Hunt on Sunday morning.

'It is a potential that could be the case,' he said.

'But that may be focal. One of the things we know about outbreaks of infections is that they can affect one part of a country, not another.'

Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy (pictured) refused to rule out enforcing the drastic measure of city-wide lockdowns similar to ones already place in Europe

France became the latest European nation to shut all restaurants, shops, cinemas, nighclubs and cafes on Saturday as the French death toll rose to 91.

The Spanish government has also formally declared a state of emergency and forced the nation into lockdown.

Professor Murphy was asked by program host David Speers whether parts of certain cities such as Sydney could go rather than the entire nation.

'Potentially you could,' Professor Murphy replied.

'The Koreans did that for two provinces, very successfully locked them down. Everything is up for consideration.

'The premiers and the Prime Minister said to us, the health advisors, 'give us your fearless advice and we will take it.'

Sydney's streets could become deserted if the deadly coronavirus outbreak worsens. Pictured is Circular Quay on Saturday

Earlier in the program, Professor Murphy and Mr Hunt they weren't infected with the virus, despite attending a meeting on Tuesday with Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton, who has since tested positive.

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

'No one can be absolutely certain about everything but all of our advice, internationally, is that the peak infectious period is when you have symptoms,' Professor said.

'There have been very few cases of people transmitting the virus in the 24 hours beforehand.'

He also revealed parliament is planning to sit this week as scheduled, despite a government ban on public mass gathering from Monday.

'We're looking at a range of measures to reduce the number of people in the (parliament) building including staff and visitors, school groups are nearly all cancelled now,' he said.

He urged people not yet infected to consider social distancing measures but go about their normal lives.

Italy has gone into lockdown and forced the closure of all store exept for plarmacies and food. Pictured is Milan's Navigli district on Friday

'At the moment we are not suggesting people should stop using public transport,' Professor Murphy said.

'As the situation evolves, this will change. Our social distancing measures may well change over time. At the moment we're ahead of the curve.'

'This is an evolving situation. The advice right now is as a first step, we are suggesting that all non-essential gatherings of more than 500 people not proceed.'

Professor Murphy also labelled a recommendation by Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton for households to stock up on two weeks' of food supplies and 60 days worth of medicine as 'premature'.

'For most people, we don't want to encourage major panic buying at the moment. We've seen that with the supermarket chains. But I think it is probably sensible to have a few days of supply,' Professor Murphy said.
Farmers have been still struggling to maintain agricultural production during prolonged hot weather in the coastal central province of Ninh Thuan.

Local residents dig a well to find water for their crops in the coastal central province of Ninh Thuan.

In Ninh Hai Districts Nhon Hai Commune, farmers have been digging wells hundreds of metres deep to find water for their crops.

Nguyen Chung, a local farmer, said he just spent VN40 million (US$1,700) to dig a well.

The water shortage started in early February, he said.

Chung also spent about VN10 million ($430) on a 2km pipe and a pump for his red onion farm.

It costs Chung about VN2 million ($86) for electricity alone each month.

Chung has borrowed money from relatives to try and manage the situation.

Lam Hoc Muoi in My Tuong 2 Village said he had just paid VN70 million ($3,000) for a 100m well in an effort to save his 8,000 sq.m farm of red onions and watermelons.

Vo Thi Kim Lien from My Tuong 1 Village said her two 40m wells, which were dug in 2018, had run dry since early February.

She had to hire a company to extend the wells to 150 metres to get water, which cost was over VN100 million ($4,300).

"We found water but not as much as expected in the first well. We hoped more would be found in the second well," she said.

She needed water for her grape vines while the fruit was ripe. If the fruit was dehydrated, it would fall, she said.

Lien said she did not have enough money to pay the company, so she had agreed to pay after the harvest.

I really hope I will have enough water for my grapes, she said.

Pham Gia Huy, the owner of the drilling company, said local people used to dig wells of 40-50 metres to find water for irrigation.

This had resulted in a groundwater shortage, he said.

Huy said he knew some local farmers had been going through difficult times, so he had said it was fine to pay after the harvest.

Data from the commune's Peoples Committee showed it had over 160ha of red onion, garlic, apple, grape and grass farms.

The committee said most local ponds and lakes had run out of water.

Statistics from the Ninh Thuan Irrigation Works Exploitation One Member Limited Company said that all 21 local reservoirs were down to 55 million of cubic metres, equal to 28.3 per cent of capacity.

ang Kim Cuong, deputy head of the provincial Agriculture and Rural Development Department, said more than 7,800ha of crops had been suspended due to lack of water in the spring crop this year.

Hungry cattle

Pi Nang Thi Noan of Phuoc Trung Commune said she was raising seven cows.

She had to buy straw to feed them each day due to the shortage of fresh grass, triggered by the prolonged hot weather. It cost her about VN100,000 ($4.3) daily.

Ta In Bo from ong Day Village said he had 20 cows, and only had enough straw stored until the end of this month.

If it did not rain before the end of this month, he would have to spend about VN300,000 ($12.9) per day to buy straw, he added.

The cost would be too high, he said.

Local farmers are waiting for heavy rain now, he said.

Statistics from the agricultural department said it was estimated there were over 433,000 goats, sheep, cows and buffalos in the province.

The majority of small-scale animal husbandry households depended on natural pastures, the department said.

In response to the situation, Tran Quoc Nam, deputy chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee, said relevant departments and agencies had been told to focus on coping with the prolonged hot weather.

The province would improve water conservation and prioritise supplying water from rivers and reservoirs to serve households, key economic sectors and agricultural production, he said.

Nam also ordered the Animal Health and Husbandry Division to instruct farmers to keep their animals healthy, use water efficiently and not expand their herds if they were unable to secure food and water for them.  VNS

New reservoirs built to cope with drought, saline intrusion in Vietnam 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.
By Express News Service

NAGERCOIL: A 25-year-old woman and her two-year-old daughter, suspected with coronavirus disease, have been admitted to the isolation ward of Government Kanniyakumari Medical College and Hospital here on Saturday. The hospital sources said that the duo had returned from Oman five days ago. Medical Superintendent of the hospital Dr Arul Prakash said that the duo has been stable and that the samples taken from them were sent to Theni Medical College for testing.

Meanwhile, the samples taken from a 26-year-old youth, who was admitted to the quarantine isolation ward of the hospital, have tested negative for coronavirus disease and the youth was discharged. As part of the coronavirus preventive measures, the Padmanabhapuram palace near Thuckalay in the district would remain closed for tourists till March 31.
Student protesters tried to take out a candlelight march at Aligarh Muslim University here to mourn the death of a youth who had died of gunshot injuries sustained in violent clashes during protests over the amended citizenship act last month, but were blocked at the main gate itself, police said.

Sixty students including 50 unnamed persons have been booked by police at the Civil Lines police station in connection with the protests at the AMU campus on Saturday night. Ten students were named for violating Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code.

The protesters tried to march towards the collectorate, which is located close to AMU, to submit a memorandum to senior district officials but were thwarted from doing so by police personnel who reached the spot and blocked them at the Sir Syed Crossing, the main university campus gate, according to Civil Lines Circle Officer (CO) Anil Samania.

Earlier in the evening, a group of protesting students had announced that they were going to hold a candlelight march to mourn the death of Mohammad Tariq Munawwar, a youth who was injured on February 23 at Upper Kot and succumbed to his gunshot injuries late on Friday night at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College Hospital inside AMU, where he was being treated.

The protesting students were demanding the arrest of two persons who were booked in the case but are still at large.

CO Samania told media that the main accused Vinay Varshney has already been arrested and the police were following up on the matter.

"The protesters were insisting on proceeding towards the collectorate and they were not ready to hand over their memorandum at the Babey Sir Syed gate where senior district officials were ready to accept the memorandum," he claimed.

Later, the memorandum was handed over to officials, he said.

Samania denied that the police had baton charged the students or had used any force to disperse the mob.

Police had beefed up security measures in the old city as a precautionary measure following Tariq's death on Friday night.

On Wednesday, police had arrested Varshney, a prominent BJP leader from the city, who was the main accused in the shooting incident that left Tariq injured.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has stated that he was not in any way connected with the dethronement of the former Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II.

Sanusi was dethroned on Monday, March 9 and banished to Nassarawa State.

In a terse statement on Sunday by his spokesman, Umar Gwandu, Malami debunked allegations that he played a role in the removal of the former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor.

The issue of who does what over the dethronement saga has been effectively submitted for judicial determination. Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice will not comment one way or the other over a matter that is pending before the court, it read.

Sanusi was dethroned on Monday, March 9 and banished to Nassarawa State, was flown to Lagos Friday night after a High Court nullified his banishment. He would be living in the state henceforth.

Earlier, he was moved to Loko, then Awe, both in Nasarawa, following his banishment.

In his reaction, Sanusi said he could get a favourable judgement if he challenged his ouster but that he doesnt want to return to Kano as Emir.
Fifteen of the beleaguered New Mexicans whose Hawaiian cruise aboard the Grand Princess turned nightmare after several passengers and crew members tested positive for COVID-19 arrived home Sunday, eight days after they had been scheduled to return.

Carolyn Wright of Santa Fe said she and travel mate Beryl Ward, also of Santa Fe, were transported by state-chartered air ambulance along with two other New Mexicans from Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego and arrived around 1 a.m. in Albuquerque.

The passengers were tested for COVID-19 upon arrival  thought Wright said they had been previously tested at Miramar  and were escorted home still in masks by a member of the New Mexico National Guard.

Eleven more New Mexicans arrived just after 11 p.m. from Dobbins Air Force Base in Georgia, said Cindy Rizzo, a passenger from Los Lunas.

A 12th man in his 80s did not make the trip to New Mexico after he fell ill and was hospitalized, governors spokeswoman Judy Gibbs Robinson said. It was not known yet what the cause of his illness is.

Two New Mexicans who had been isolated at Travis Air Force Base with their California granddaughter opted to remain at the base, Robinson said.

The passengers from Dobbins included eight New Mexicans who had refused late Thursday to depart from a bus after learning they were not headed to Miramar as planned. Their whereabouts had been unknown until Saturday when Rizzos husband, Mark, texted a Journal columnist that they had been taken to Dobbins.

Initially, the New Mexicans were scheduled to be taken off the Grand Princess, docked at the Port of Oakland in California since March 9, and flown to Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, in Texas, to be tested and quarantined there.

But after Texas refused to take passengers from other states and complaints by passengers grew louder about how disorganized the federal agencies tasked with handling them were and how they were not being told what was going to happen to them, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham ordered that arrangements be made to bring the New Mexicans home to be tested, treated and self-quarantined.

Federal authorities had balked at returning the passengers until Saturday after hours of negotiations.

Our governor pulled out all the stops, Wright said upon her return home.

I just want to thank all of our friends and family that helped make this possible. It takes a village, and the New Mexico village sure came through.

The Grand Princess went under quarantine March 5 and was diverted from San Francisco to Oakland after two passengers and 19 crew members tested positive for COVID-19. The two-week cruise, which carried 3,533 passengers and crew, had been scheduled to return March 7. The cruise began in Los Angeles, traveled to Hawaii and was diverted from a stop in Ensenada, Mexico, after COVID-19 was detected.
New Delhi: 53-year old Mohinder Singh Khalsa leads a quiet life in northeast Delhis Gokulpuri. His routine is simple  he gets ready each morning and climbs down to the ground floor to run his mobile phone store.

On February 24, the day riots raged in his neighbourhood, the simple act of tying his turban  a daily affirmation of his religious identity  became a solemn commitment to offer a lifeline to those in trouble.

I was sitting in my shop in the evening. A mob had attacked a mosque in the neighbourhood. Around 10 Muslim families that live in my gali were scared after the attack, he said. Some people were also holed up inside the mosque. We managed to get all of them into our house, he said.

Khalsa and his son realised that their Muslim neighbours would be safer in nearby Kardampuri. The challenge, however, was to get the 60-odd people out of Gokulpuri, and all Khalsa had for ferrying them was one scooter.

I didnt have any means of transport with me at the time. I called my son who was a kilometer away and he got here with his motorcycle, he said. He explained that the duo evacuated Muslim families on their scooter and motorcycle in batches of two or three, taking 20 rounds between Gokulpuri and Kardampuri.

We evacuated 60 people in 2 hours, he said.

They first rescued the young girls, then the younger boys, followed by women. Afraid that young, bearded Muslim men were particularly vulnerable as mobs thronged the streets, Khalsa and his son lent them disguises by tying turbans on their heads for the ride to safety.

The riots that began in Delhi on February 23 raged on for three days. They left 53 people dead and more than a thousand homeless. The number of fatalities would have been higher had it not been for such personal acts of courage.

Jatinder Singh Shunty, a resident of Shahdara and a former MLA, runs an NGO that provides free ambulance facilities. When all the vehicles operated by his NGO were unavailable, he set out himself in his car to take people to hospitals. Over two days, he had transported as many as 14 people to the hospital.

Shunty recounted that on February 24, he received a phone call that a news reporter had been shot, and because all the ambulances were away, he drove his own car and took his son to the spot to ferry the reporter to the hospital.

"The reporter was courageous, he told me what happened without panicking. He was shot in the chest so we got his MRI and CT scan done before taking him to GTB (Guru Tegh Bahadur) Hospital," he said.

Rebuilding northeast Delhi

Unlike other parts of the city, where Hindu and Muslim communities live in segregated colonies, northeast Delhi has mixed-faith neighbourhoods. Many Sikhs, a minority, have made their homes and set up shops in these parts.

Sikh residents in these areas came to the rescue of many like Mohammed Yusuf, a pharmacist, who found his shop reduced to dust. He said that a worker from Khalsa Aid, a Sikh volunteer-based aid organization, helped him rebuild his medical store.

I had no faith or courage left. I had lost the ability to think. If a trader loses his trade, he has nothing left. It feeds our families, gives us good lives. There is nothing beyond it, Yusuf said. He mourned the loss of his shop that he had built over many years.

Some brother from Khalsa Aid came and found me. Someone told him about my plight. I didnt believe that they would help me, he said. He explained that the worker listened to his woes and reassured him that he would be back on his feet again.

I said it was enough that they had showed concern, but they went beyond. It is amazing what they have done, he said. Days after the riots, Yusuf is finally managing to smile a little bit.

God sits up there and watches. These people have taken action, he said, adding, They must be a little bit crazy to help out a total stranger like that. My own relatives didnt even call to ask if we were alright.

Inderjeet Singh, the Khalsa Aid worker who helped Yusuf, is going through the rubble in another shop, assessing the damage. This 26-year old from Dehradun said he will not leave Delhi until Yusuf and others like him are rehabilitated.

At Chand Bagh, I was told that someone called Mohammed Yusuf was so hopeless that he cant bring himself to even ask for help. He never thought he would have to go through this, he was leading a good life, Singh said.

He added that Yusufs entire family was depressed, but he reassured them that the damage would be undone. He, along with others, had assessed Yusufs loss of about Rs 12 to 13 lakh and immediately started working towards it.

I met him again today and he hugged me. He said he didnt think anyone would help. He had tears of joy. I said this is what our Gurus have taught us, he said.

Amarpreet Singh, the Managing Director of Khalsa Aid (Asia Pacific), said, We have identified and are rebuilding shops that were destroyed in the riots so people can start their business again. Citing the example of a fruit market that was burnt down in Khajoori Khas, he said that since the vendors have no income source left, Khalsa Aid has ordered carts for them.

Drawing from experience

At Chand Bagh, rehabilitation work continues after sunset. People who had well-stocked kitchens just days ago, now line up for langar for dinner.

Bit by bit, Chand Bagh is rebuilding itself. The trauma of the violence, however, will last a long time, according to the Sikh Samaritans. They know that hatred can crush the human spirit, having witnessed a pogrom in 1984 that targeted their community.

Mohinder Singh Khalsa sees his helpful deeds as a debt he had to repay. I was 16 or 17 years old in 1984. Even then, there was harmony in the neighbourhood, he shared.

But during the riots, we saw Sikhs running into colonies, we saw mobs running after them and setting them on fire. We thought we had forgotten those images, but no Sikh can ever forget the massacre. We didnt want the same thing to happen in 2020, he said. He recalled that some well-meaning Hindus had kept his family safe in their homes for three days.

Sharing his own experience, Amarpreet Singh said that the shop his family used to run was burnt in 1984. However, they decided to learn the lesson of love and empathy from their past. We said to ourselves we will not let this happen to anyone else. Hindus and Muslims stood with us when that had happened.

A community that has suffered indescribable violence at different points of time  during the Partition and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots  has found in itself reservoirs of compassion and empathy.

These men said that Sikhism is rooted in the twin concepts of sewa (selfless service) and simran (to remember God), making it impossible for them to turn a blind eye to human suffering.

The principles of the Sikh faith and the message from our Gurus have an impact on us. We dont see peoples faith when we help someone, Khalsa said.

Shunty recalled a Sikh fable of Bhai Kanhaiya, who would give water to his enemies on the battlefield. When asked by the 10th Guru Gobind Singh about it, he said that he did not see them as the enemy, but only as someone in need.
The strategies of former vice president Joe Biden paid off in the second Super Tuesday in Michigan. He overtook Bernie Sanders, who had hopes of repeating the performance of 2016 when he defeated Hillary Clinton. Unfortunately, the Vermont senator had to concede the round to his rival. Biden notched up impressive wins to move ahead in the race for the Democratic Party nomination to take on Donald Trump.

The former vice president has recast his priorities and remodeled his strategies to create a powerful coalition of people who matter. They include African Americans, suburbanites and rural white voters who have the power to make things happen.

That paid dividends. These groups used to back Bernie Sanders earlier but have changed sides. They probably felt that backing Biden would help their party to offer a formidable challenge to Trump and deny him a second term.

Former VP Joe Biden had another Super Tuesday and expanded his lead in the Democratic presidential race. Biden won in at least 4 of 6 states which voted yesterday, with 2 states too close to call. He took the battleground state of Michigan by double digits.@EdOKeefe explains. pic.twitter.com/i1o5gkAN2J  CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) March 11, 2020

CNN says Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders will meet again Sunday night in Arizona. It would be yet another debate and the Vermont senator would have to put up a good show in order to seize back the initiative.

There are the primaries next week in states that he lost in 2016. That would be preying on his mind. On top of that, there would be the effect of coronavirus with little or no gathering of supporters. These are a few factors that could make his journey ahead more difficult. Right now, Joe Biden appears to be holding all the aces.

Discuss this news on Eunomia

Joe Biden wants to challenge Trump

The former vice president Joe Biden realized that he had to get the support of the young voters apart from suburban and white working-class voters. His influence with African American voters was evident in Missouri and Michigan. That would help the Democratic Party to emerge victorious against the Republicans in November.

Biden admitted after the Super Tuesday that his focus is now on the final round namely the general election.

Joe Biden WINS Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri and Idaho primaries on Super Tuesday 2 https://t.co/srHJMlTBoA pic.twitter.com/3MnO5hdhLQ  Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) March 11, 2020

On the subject of Bernie Sanders, CNN says he had delivered his best night of the 2016 primary in Michigan. At that time, he had ousted Hillary Clinton in the nomination race. However, that did not happen in 2020, and Biden could beat him to the winning post. Michigan this time was a disappointment for Sanders. He had readjusted his schedule to devote more time in Michigan because he felt it was "the most important state." However, he does not intend to drop out of the race and is ready for the next debate on Sunday night.

Sanders wanted to win Michigan but Joe Biden denied it

According to Vox, Super Tuesday 2 saw Joe Biden closing in on the Democratic nomination for president. He won Michigan comfortably by a huge margin. He had already won Missouri and Mississippi, and these have helped him to cement his place in the race. Bernie Sanders has very little chance of recovering lost ground in the 2020 race. They will meet for the first one-on-one debate on March 15 and it could be the last chance for Sanders to redeem himself.

Vox says Joe Biden has a clear advantage after he overtook Bernie Sanders. His win in Michigan was the result of a strong showing of suburban voters who combined with the black voters to script Bidens wins.

It seems these suburban voters had crafted the win for Democrats in the midterm elections. Incidentally, the coronavirus threat played spoilsport with the 2020 campaign. Both Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden had to cancel several campaign events. Moreover, public health experts emphasized the necessity of maintaining social distancing. Obviously, there would be hesitation to shake hands and mingle with the crowds.

Confidence level high for Joe Biden

The Democratic Party race to get the nomination for the 2020 presidential election turned up many surprises. First was the number of candidates from different professions. There were experienced ones as well as newcomers apart from women. As the process gained momentum, the number of hopefuls kept reducing. It is now a toss-up between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.
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From ELLE Decor

Social distancing is recommended to help prevent the spread of novel coronavirus.

Experts say staying at least 6 feet away from others whenever possible will help slow the new coronavirus epidemic.

Going outside is still okay (and suggested for your mental and physical health) as long as you steer clear of crowded areas.

Ever since the novel coronavirus was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, life looks... different. Companies are asking employees to work from home, schools are temporarily shut, and stores and cultural institutions are closing temporarily. Places where lots of people congregate, like sporting events, parades, festivals, and concerts, are being cancelled. People are also putting travel plans on hold, and flights between the U.S. and Europe are temporarily banned.

So what does this mean for those plans you had to meet friends for dinner, go to that party, or do any of the things you usually do over the weekend, like head to the gym, a park, the movies, or a grocery store?

Since the virus that causes COVID-19 is mainly spread via respiratory droplets (thanks to a cough, a sneeze), experts recommend whats called social distancing, which... can mean different things. For instance, in my community, common meeting spots, like the library, park district, and schools have closed. And many larger gatherings, like races and the NCAA March Madness tournament, have been cancelled. Thats a social distancing decision made for you.

History tells us this is smart when it comes to slowing the spread of a highly contagious disease. During the 1918 influenza pandemic, for example, Philadelphia was slow to institute social distancing measures, while St. Louis shut down gatherings early on, says Catherine Troisi, PhD, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. As a result, St. Louis had many fewer infections and deaths, she says.

Story continues

Laying low doesnt stop transmission entirely, but it can help flatten the curve (as in the growth curve of people testing positive for novel coronavirus). The reason this is so important is because, if everyone gets sick at once and theres a large spike in cases, the healthcare system wont be able to handle the influx of patients.

If you flatten the curve by slowing transmission, youll spread out the need for the resources and hopefully buy time until theres effective antiviral medication and, eventually, a vaccine, Troisi says.

What were learning about novel coronavirus and COVID-19 is rapidly changing. That said, Troisi emphasizes that it's not enough to just stay home when you're sick. (Though you should definitely do that.)

With this virus, were pretty sure that people are infectious before they have symptoms, which can expose other people, says Troisi. And those people could be the ones most vulnerable to suffering complications from COVID-19, including the elderly, immunocompromised, and those with chronic diseases.

"People are not going to be hermits," says Troisi. "You have to take into consideration your particular circumstance and how much risk youre willing to take." In many instances, the choice is yours.

Heres your social distancing action plan, courtesy of Troisi:

Order in:

Delivery is your friend. Order groceries, order dinner, order wine. If you really want to be cautious, you can include leave at my front door in the delivery instructions and use the app to leave a tip. Use it as a chance to read or work through Netflix queue.

Skip the crowds.

Many cities and states have issued guidelines on what cancelling larger events means, and in some instances, thats considered gatherings of 50, 100, 250, or 1,000 people, says Troisi. At the moment, these guidelines will differ depending on where you live. Check what, if any, rules are in effect. Personally, you might consider postponing that party you were going to throw, even if its only 20 people. Consider even limiting smaller gatherings, like playdates or going to a couple's place for dinner.

Definitely go outside.

At this time, you do not have to stay in your home, and doing so could have ramifications on your mental health. I recommend going out in nature, whether its your backyard or a park thats not so busy, says Troisi. "Being outside is good for our mental health, and we know exercise, even walking, boosts the immune system, so its a win-win, she says.



Give them their space.

Social distancing means putting space between you and others. Right now, were learning that the virus might be able to linger in the air and spread via aerosol, but in general, we think that if youre more than 6 feet from someone, youre probably okay, she says.

Wave to people.

Dont shake hands, kiss hello, or hug. Doing so definitely puts you within that 6-foot range of someone else. And shaking hands is one way for someone to quite literally hand you a virus. Touching your face afterward would introduce the virus into your body.

Skip public transportation if you can.

Social distancing means that you're not taking public transportation, says Troisi. That's not possible for everyone, of course. In that case, do your best to put physical distance between you and other riders. As for shared rides, Troisi says, it's typically just one or two people in the car, so there's not much risk involved. "But if you yourself are sick, you don't want to [take a shared ride], period," adds Troisi.



Reassess as you go.

The info about COVID-19 is continually changing. What you do this weekend may be different from whats advisable next weekend, says Troisi. Be prepared to change things up. Living in a time of uncertainty is certainly unnerving, but remember: Its not going to be like this forever.



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A classroom at Semyeong Elementary School in Seoul is empty, Sunday. / Yonhap

By Kim Se-jeong







The Ministry of Education is under mounting pressure to postpone school openings until the beginning of April because new cases of coronavirus infections are still occurring.







The schools  from kindergartens to universities  are scheduled to open March 23.







The Korean Federation of Teachers' Association said over the weekend: "An additional school delay will be inevitable if group infections on a smaller scale continue. The educational authorities must be aware that schools are vulnerable to infection because young children spend hours together and eat together."







Parents' groups also called on the government to postpone the opening.







"With the given quarantine schedule, we can't protect children from the new coronavirus. The authorities should delay it again," a spokesman for one group said.







One parent filed a petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website making the same request and received the support of more than 90,000 people.







Daegu Metropolitan Education Office Superintendent Kang Wun-hee asked the education ministry last week to delay the school opening in his city.







The government said the matter was being discussed with no decision having been made so far.







"We're discussing the issue with the Ministry of Education and the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We'll try to decide as soon as possible," a health ministry official said during a press conference Sunday.







A further delay is likely to further disrupt the annual school year and will have other knock on effects.







Elementary, middle and high schools have a mandatory 190 school days per year, and an additional delay would mean reducing summer and winter vacation days to meet the requirement.







The delay is expected to complicate things the most for 12th graders who will be applying for universities later this year.







Mid-term exams are scheduled for the end of May for them. If they are delayed or cancelled, it will affect the annual academic performance evaluation that 12th graders need by the end of September to apply to universities.







The delay is also making life difficult for working parents who have had to find people to care for their young children at home.



Government measures to deal with this have left parents unimpressed.






Coronavirus Outbreak Updates: As many as 5,845 people have died across the world due to the deadly coronavirus so far. The total number of infections in mainland China stands at 80,813, including 3,000 deaths. In India, the Ministry of Family and Health Welfare has said the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across India has surged to 107, including 17 foreign nationals, as on March 15 (12 PM). The deadly virus has spread across 12 states of the country. Of these, 9 patients have recovered while the deadly virus claimed lives of two elderly patients -- a 76-year-old Karnataka man and 68-year-old women from Delhi. As per the Maharashtra Health Department, a 59-year-old woman has tested positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra on Saturday. She had a travel history to Russia and Kazakhstan. With this, the total number of positive cases in the state rises to 32.

Check all the timely updates on novel coronavirus outbreak on BusinessToday.In blog

5.00 PM: 450 Indians evacuated from virus-hit Iran, Italy

Over 450 Indians, including students, stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran and Italy were brought back by two flights on Sunday and were quarantined at separate facilities, reports PTI.

A total of 218 Indians, mostly students, landed at around 9.45 AM at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi and were taken to an Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) quarantine facility in south-west Delhi's Chhawla area.

Over 230 Indians brought back from Iran reached the national capital at about 3:15 AM and were quarantined at the Indian Army Wellness Centre in Jaisalmer.

4.45 PM: Iran reports 113 new deaths, total rises to 724

Iran's death toll from the coronavirus disease has crossed 724, with 113 new deaths in last 24 hours, tweeted Alireza Vahabzadeh, an adviser to Iran's health minister.

Vahabzadeh, in a tweet, said, "In the past 24 hours, 1,209 new cases have been confirmed ... with 113 deaths in the past 24 hours, the death toll has reached 724".

4.30 PM: Passenger train services between India-Bangladesh suspended

India-Bangladesh passenger train services have been suspended from today as a precaution against the COVID-19 disease, said an Eastern Railway official on a Union government directive.

The official said services of Bandhan Express and Maitree trains will remain suspended from March 15 until further orders.

4.15 PM: PM Modi speaks to CM Thackeray on COVID-19 mitigation efforts

PM Modi, in a telephonic conversation, spoke to Uddhav Thackeray, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, to discuss the state's preparedness to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak. The conversation was centred around the efforts made by the state and the Centre to tackle the outbreak situation.

4.00 PM: The inmates of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Central Jail at Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, will supply 2,000 masks they have manufactured to the state health department over the novel coronavirus outbreak, says PTI.

3.45 PM: Queen Elizabeth II shifted out of Buckingham Palace in London to Windsor Castle

The 93-year-old Queen Elizabeth II and her 98-year-old husband, Prince Philip has been shifted out of Buckingham Palace in London to Windsor Castle. They both are likely to be placed in quarantine at the royal Sandringham Estate in Norfolk in the coming weeks.

The coronavirus outbreak in the UK has affected over 1,140 people with death toll hitting 21, nearly doubling from 11 within a day.

3.17 PM: Coronavirus cases in Rajasthan

Gajendra Luniwal, Jaipur Hotel Association President (Rajasthan): 100% bookings have been cancelled. Domestic tourists are also not visiting now, it has reached to zero. Hotel industry and its allied services are facing losses. The state has reported four cases of coronavirus, including four foreign nationals.

3.15 PM: Coronavirus cases in Karnataka

Karnataka has tested highest number of coronavirus samples so far at 731, claims the state government. The number of infected people stands at 6 in the state.

3.09 PM: PM Narendra Modi had telephonic conversation with Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, reports ANI. They discussed the situation of coronavirus in the state and the measures regarding it.

3.01 PM: Pakistan's coronavirus tally rises to 34

A new confirmed case of the novel coronavirus surfaced early Sunday in Islamabad, bringing Pakistan's total number of cases to 34, according to a media report. The new victim is the husband of a woman who recently travelled to Pakistan from the United States and tested positive on Saturday, the Express Tribune newspaper reported. The lady is currently in critical condition, receiving treatment at the isolation ward in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), the paper said, adding that there are now four COVID-19 patients at the isolation ward in PIMS.

3.00 PM: Pak PM's aide to participate in SAARC video conference

Pakistan Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Health Dr Zafar Mirza will participate in a video conference of SAARC member countries on Sunday proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to formulate a joint strategy to combat the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic. - PTI

2.59 PM: Railways start disinfecting Mumbai train coaches

As the battle against coronavirus intensifies, the railway authorities in Mumbai have started disinfecting local trains, which carry around 80 lakh suburban commuters everyday, as well as long distance trains. According to the Central Railway (CR), all the coach fittings, including grab handles, door handles, door latches, entry doors, window grills, electric switches and other parts inside local trains as well as outstation trains are being cleaned using disinfectants. - PTI

2.50 PM: MP jail inmates to give 2,000 masks to health dept

Inmates of a jail in Madhya Pradesh will supply 2,000 masks they have manufactured to the state health department in view of the novel coronavirus outbreak, a senior official said on Sunday. The inmates of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Central Jail in Jabalpur started making the masks after a request from the state health department, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Jails)(Jabalpur range) Gopal Tamrakar told PTI. "A team of 50 inmates are engaged in making 2,000 masks. These will be supplied by March 16. The cost per piece is Rs 7. The cotton cloth used for preparing the masks has been made in the powerlooms installed in the jail itself," he said.

2.40 PM: Indian tests positive in UAE

An Indian national, who returned to the UAE after a holiday abroad, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. -PTI

2.33 PM: Coronavirus cases in Madhya Pradesh

The state has not reported any COVID-19 case so far. As a precautionary measure, the Madhya Pradesh government has closed schools, colleges, libraries, cinema halls, marriage halls, etc, until further notice. As many as 50 isolation centres have also been set up in the state.
And now for something completely different: Lets give some love to our former governor, Chris Christie, whose signature reform in 2011 is about to save us another $1 billion next year.

Please, dont stomp away, hear me out. Christie was radioactive by the time he left, the most reviled governor since the Jurassic Age. These days, his weekly defense of President Trump on TV Sunday mornings makes him an accomplice to the Mad Kings crimes.

But Christie did big things, and one of them was that 2011 reform, known as Chapter 78. It saved taxpayers billions of dollars, and it left our teachers, cops and other public workers with benefits that are still far more generous than most taxpayers enjoy.

So, how did a reform thats nearly a decade old save us another $1 billion?

Because last week, the teachers union agreed to a breakthrough health plan that will save taxpayers $650 million, and teachers another $400 million, assuming it works as planned. And the head of the teachers union, Marie Blistan, acknowledged in a backhanded way that it never would have happened without the 2011 reform.

The key reason is the clever design of the reform, the work of Christie and his Democratic partner, Senate President Steve Sweeney.

For the first time, it required public workers to pay a share of their health premiums. So, as costs went up, teachers had a potent incentive to join the search for savings.

They cant make ends meet, Blistan said, standing by Sweeneys side as she called this ceasefire. We heard story after story of single moms who were forced to work two or three jobs, members who couldnt pay their mortgages, who had to move back in with their parentsThis will be a win-win, all around.

No one likes the idea of denying teachers a good living, but there are nuances to this.

Teachers could save 25 percent by choosing the cheapest plan from the menu of options, according to the Senate, but few did. Most chose the most expensive plan, which costs an eye-popping $38,000 for a family, split between taxpayers and teachers.

Also, the reform was designed to protect the younger, lower-paid teachers. Premium costs vary with income under Chapter 78. While the highest earners pay 35 percent of the premiums, the lowest earners pay just 3 percent.

Still, the shared premium was tough, especially for the older teachers who dominate the NJEA leadership.

The reality is that it was Chapter 78 that brought people to the table, Sweeney says. They wanted relief, and taxpayers wanted relief, too.

In this new agreement, most teachers would revert to paying a share of salary, the traditional approach. That will reduce the states leverage once this 7-year deal expires, granted, but Sweeney reasoned this was a good time to cash in that chip.

It gave us leverage, he says. It did its job.

Assessing Christies legacy presents an intellectual challenge. If you want to be fair-minded, you have to try to hold the good and the bad in your head at the same time.

He was a bully from the start, and he lied all the time. (Are we really supposed to believe he was personal friends with the King of Jordan, the excuse he gave for accepting personal gifts?)

When he sniffed the presidency, he lost his way, and pretended to be right-winger. The one I find hardest to forgive was his call to revamp school funding so that rich kids in the suburbs would get the same state aid as poor kids in cities, a plan that would have required Newark to cut its school budget by more than half, forcing mass layoffs. And dont get me started on the beach photo. Or Bridgegate.

But Christie was a governor of consequence. He made bipartisan deals on big things, and not just Chapter 78.

His reforms improved schools in Newark and Camden dramatically, and he had to bang his head into brick walls to get it done. Its not just that he built one of the best charter school sectors in the country, the traditional schools improved, too. And it was no right-wing model; his plan was almost the same as Barack Obamas, and Cory Booker was his chief ally in the fight.

The result? Today nearly half of Newark kids attend schools that beat the state average in math and English tests. Graduation rates have jumped by 20 points. Obviously we still have a lot to do, said Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said when Christie left office. But I think the data is real. Compared to other cities, we do very well, and thats something that gets overlooked.

On criminal justice, too, Christie made concrete gains that mostly benefited the disadvantaged. He enacted a bail reform that that frees defendants while they await trial, if a judge finds they present little risk to public safety. Today, jail population is down by 6,000  more than two thirds African-American or Latino.

I torture my Democrats friends sometimes by asking them to name a Democratic governor who did as much for poor minorities. What, for example can Jon Corzine or Phil Murphy put up to match Christie?

Murphy would say that he raised the minimum wage, provided more scholarships for community college students, restored funding for Planned Parenthood, expanded tax credits for the working poor, all great stuff, and more is likely coming.

But those are consensus issues for Democrats. Christies big accomplishments were not only more significant, they were all tough sells, across the aisle. He was a talented politician who got big stuff done. And we just got a $1 billion reminder of that fact.

More: Tom Moran columns

Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @tomamoran. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
If you have chosen to take isolation as a result of coronavirus infection, or your neighborhood has also been locked off by the pandemic, the best option would be to make things easier with a quarantine on at least 14 days of supplies.

CDC's most recent advisory calls for action to be taken, including food and medication storage that you might need, particularly for the people at higher risk of severe coronavirus disease. It really is crucial to have healthy food on hand when you are planning on staying at home more than expected.

This only means choosing foods that take up nutrition to guarantee that you will get the fiber, vitamins, minerals and any other substances you need in order to sustain your wellbeing and immunity. This also includes buying food that is worth about two weeks for those who are in quarantine for an extended period of time.

We have sorted out just what you need and do not need to help you plan for a possible isolation for a longer stay in your home. The following are our recommendations.

What to Buy

Several of the products you can invest in to plan for a possible 14-day quarantine should consist of the very same food, personal care and cleaning products which you already might have on your grocery list regularly. However it is important to check all these items available for the next two weeks of your isolation.

Fruits and vegetables

You will have to supply every person in your family with food that is non-perishable for at least two weeks. It's wise to buy the food that you and your family consume daily. You may save them for your weekly menu along the way if you end up not eating all your canned, pantry and frozen dishes as part of your self isolation program. You might also have to stack on harder perishables, that you can consume before you get into the longer stash.

Protein

You would like to ensure that your family gets enough protein the whole day round because cells depend on it for the immune system.Your body will start feeling tired and weak without enough protein.

Personal Hygiene

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urges everybody to clean their hands with soft, soapy water so the movement and spread of coronavirus can be stopped for at least 20 seconds. With that being said, you have more to do than keeping your hands clean when you scrub. You may want to make certain that you get the correct personal care and hygiene supply throughout the 14 days that you are on lockdown.

Sanitation

A new, non-peer-examined research, carried out by scientists at the Princeton and Los Angeles National Institute of Health and the University of California, indicates that coronavirus can live on surfaces for two to three days. Therefore it is a safe idea to vacuum your living room regularly before, during and after your lockdown.

Medical Supplies

Contact the World Health Organization and the CDC for medical advice. However, if you think you are in contact with coronavirus, contact your family doctor or the local hospital as quickly as possible. However, it is highly recommended to create your own survival kit since medical services will most frequently be overwhelmed and are unable to support you immediately in the case of a natural disaster or a pandemic.
A 70-year-old man has died of COVID-19, Oregon Health Authority officials said, marking the first known death in the state of the disease caused by the coronavirus.

The Multnomah County resident had been hospitalized at Portlands Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He tested positive just four days ago and reportedly had other health problems.

State and county health officials declined to answer additional questions about the man. But they offered statements in reaction to his death, which came a little more than two weeks after the first presumed case of the coronavirus was reported in Oregon. That case involved an employee at a Lake Oswego elementary school who lived in Washington County.

The veterans case is not associated with the outbreak at a Lebanon assisted living facility, where there are nine presumptive cases.

Its been a nonstop torrent of news in the weeks since then, and despite a lack of significant and coordinated testing around Oregon or the nation, 11 counties have presumed coronavirus cases as of Saturday.

Gov. Kate Brown, who in recent days ordered a ban on gatherings greater than 250 people and subsequently shuttered public schools for several weeks, said that even though the state knew this day would come," it does not make the news any easier.

In a statement, Brown described the man as an honored veteran who served his country to protect the freedoms we all hold dear.

Dan Herrigstad, a spokesman for the VA medical center, confirmed the mans death. He said the 70-year-old was the first known in-patient case where a veteran in Portland or Vancouver was even tested for coronavirus. He was also the first presumptive positive.

He first tested positive for COVID-19 on March 10, and state health officials said he had underlying health conditions.

He had not traveled to a country where the virus was confirmed.

As of Saturday, Oregon had 36 presumed cases of novel coronavirus. Dozens more are still awaiting a diagnosis.

In Washington state, 40 people are known to have died from coronavirus as of Saturday, the most in the country.

CORONAVIRUS IN OREGON: THE LATEST NEWS

At the same time as she recognized his death, Brown urged Oregonians to take collective action to help slow the rate of infections by avoiding large events and staying home when sick. I have every confidence in the health professionals who are working day and night to contain the coronavirus in Oregon, she said, "and I will do everything within my power to ensure they have the resources they need to continue their work with all available speed.

Patrick Allen, director of the states health authority, issued a separate statement, saying Oregon had been braced for this news: Our thoughts and deepest sympathy are with the family of this individual who honorably served his country.

This is a sobering reminder that this virus is in our community and can be serious for older people and those with underlying conditions, Dr. Jennifer Vines, Multnomah County Health Officer, said in a statement. This loss has motivated us to continue our efforts to minimize the impact of this virus on our community.

Herrigstad, the VA spokesman, said the hospital started curtailing the number of visitors patients could receive sometime at or around the time the 70-year-old man first tested positive for COVID-19. Patients would only be allowed one visitor.

As of Friday evening, the hospital updated its policy again. Visitors were forbidden altogether.

Herrigstad said he understands people want to visit friends or family, but many of the patients who are in the VA facility are already vulnerable to coronavirus. Thats who were really putting at risk, he said. Its that much more important that people follow those instructions.

The 70-year-old man died the following day.

-- Andrew Theen; atheen@oregonian.com; 503-294-4026; @andrewtheen

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CLEVELAND, Ohio  The travel industry has been upended in the past week, and so has this traveler.

A week ago, I wrote about my plans to travel to Ecuador this month to visit my college-age daughter, who is studying there for the semester. I said I planned to go, despite the growing concerns about coronavirus and its spread around the world.

Even when the State Department last week issued a worldwide Level 3 advisory, suggesting that all U.S. citizens reconsider traveling abroad, I still hoped to go.

As I write this on Friday, however, I am in the process of canceling the trip. My daughters program is being shut down, primarily because her fellow students have been ordered to return to the United States (although she has not).

In addition, I have been advised by people in Ecuador not to come, as Americans may be facing quarantine upon arrival to the country.

Its not the outcome I wanted.

And I have heard from many of you, who also have had bucket-list types of trips canceled, some at the very last moment.

I dont really have any wise words to share, other than this crisis will not last forever. Eventually, we will be back to exploring the world, and I look forward to that day.

I also acknowledge that canceling a trip because I dont want others to get sick (and because the government doesnt want others to get sick) is certainly better than canceling a trip because I myself am sick.

So I try to remain grateful for my own good health, and my familys good health.

Ban causes confusion

I was almost ready to feel sorry for the airline industry last week, and then I heard about the price-gouging that was going on in the wake of President Donald Trumps announced ban on travel from Europe to the U.S.

The ban appeared to give travelers 48 hours to secure flights to return to the United States. The president, unfortunately, wasnt clear that U.S. citizens were not included in the ban. Thus, Americans and non-Americans alike scrambled to find flights to get home, and prices skyrocketed.

Clevelander Alan Glazen was among those confused by the presidents speech  and moved quickly to buy three tickets to return home from Portugal by Friday, for an eye-popping $7,500. Once he realized he didnt need to alter his original itinerary, he canceled the purchase. He plans to return to Cleveland on Monday.

And that wasnt the only miscommunication last week from the government.

I was traveling last weekend in Cincinnati when the new State Department advisory came across my phone, recommending that Americans avoid travel by cruise ship. A day later, government officials were walking back a portion of that advice, suggesting that only older travelers, particularly those with underlying health conditions, need to avoid cruising.

Travel agents have been inundated all week, first fielding calls from would-be cruisers  even young, healthy clients  who were concerned about the State Departments warning, and later from travelers booked to go to Europe this spring.

Bill Coyle, the owner of Encompass the World Travel in Brunswick and Westlake, estimated that hes heard from more than two-thirds of his clients, asking to cancel or rebook trips. I feel like Im more overwhelmed than after Sept. 11, he said.

I dont write this to bash the government for its response to this crisis, although clearly it could do a much better job of communicating, both to the public and to affected industries.

I get that this situation is evolving daily, hourly, and its not possible to communicate perfectly. Some miscommunication should probably be expected.

Indeed, I fear my own words have been misinterpreted.

Staying home  for now

Last week, after I wrote about my plans to continue to travel out of the country, I heard from many readers, most of whom applauded me for my refusal to panic in the wake of widespread chaos. But one reader was unimpressed.

He wrote to me: I found your article offensive as well as cavalier. Your position was that [you should] be free to travel, since it is only seniors who have underlying issues need worry. Do you mean that you should not be concerned about carrying the virus to the mature population? It sounds like you are in the pocket of the travel industry. Seniors be damned.

I sent him back what I hope was a polite but pointed response.

Obviously, I hope I dont get sick overseas. But honestly, Im probably just as likely to get sick here. And no, of course I wouldnt want to bring the virus back and infect unsuspecting seniors.

As I write this, Ecuador has 17 cases of coronavirus within its borders; the United States has more than 1,800.

Until Thursday, I was still planning to go.

But then my daughter found out her program was being canceled, and my husband was told that he would be subject to a 14-day quarantine by his employer if he left the country.

So I am tasked with the difficult job of canceling all of our reservations and trying to get some money back. (We had travel insurance, but it does not cover cancellations due to the known coronavirus.)

I will report back on my efforts.

In the meantime, I hope to reschedule the trip for some future date. Because at some point  and I sincerely hope its not too far in the future  we will be out traveling and exploring and living fully again.

Read more:

Cleveland travelers express frustration over European ban, share travel troubles

Tourism to Cleveland, region, likely to drop due to coronavirus concerns

Calling all Readers: Seeking acts of kindness amidst the coronavirus pandemic
Fayaz Wani By

SRI NAGAR: Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Saturday met National Conference president Farooq Abdullah who was released after over seven-month detention a day earlier. Azad flew from Delhi to meet Farooq at his Gupkar residence and had lunch with him. Talking to media after the meeting, Congress leader called for restoration of democracy and release of detained political leaders and restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, saying declaring the state as Union Territory is an insult to the people. Azad said democracy should be restored in J&K.

The democracy will be restored once all leaders are released. India is known for democracy but not for the democracy wherein three former CMs are under detention and another had to approach Supreme Court, he said. First and foremost is restoring democracy in J&K.

If you want Kashmir and J&K to prosper and develop, the key doesnt lie in caging leaders like parrots All the detained leaders including two former CMs and common people must be released.

Azad said he was happy to meet Farooq, 83, after seven and half months although reasons for his detention are still not known. Farooq along with two other former CMs Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti and other mainstream leaders was detained on August 5, when the Centre scrapped Article 370 of the Constitution.

Detention is for those who violate laws and are involved in anti-national and anti-government activities. There is no question of any violation by these (mainstream) leaders, irrespective of their party affiliation, Azad said.

The Congress leader demanded the oration of statehood to J&K. How can such a big state be converted into a UT. Declaring this state a UT is an insult to people of J&K. It must be revoked and J&K declared a state again. He said elections must be conducted in J&K followed proper procedure and also stressed that on taking corrective measures to revive deteriorating economy of J&K. People ave the right to elect their government, which can launch development, he added.

RULES OUT NEW PARTY

Regrading Jammu Kashmir Apni Party, Azad said, several attempts were made to form such parties.

J-K and democracy cannot be run through such parties, he claimed.
The Traditional Council of Obas in Ekiti State has appealed to the Oyo State governor, Seyi Maklnde, to tell Alaafin of Oyo, Lamidi Adeyemi, to desist from meddling in the internal affairs of Ekiti monarchs.

The council conveyed its grouse in a letter dated March 14 and signed by its chairman, Alawe of Ilawe-Ekiti, Adebanji Alabi.

Mr Alabi accused the Alaafin of distorting facts and meddlesomeness.

This latest rebuttal came on the heel of Alaafins memo to the Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, over a recent query sent to 16 monarchs in the state.

The Alaafin in his letter dated March 12, which he said he was writing on behalf of seven paramount royal fathers in Yoruba land, had urged the state government to desist from meddling into the affairs of the traditional rulers.

From time immemorial, Obaship Leadership in Ekiti Land had been within the sixteen Obas without any dispute or quarrel among them and indeed to the admiration of other Yoruba Kingdoms, he wrote, advising the governor not to degrade the traditional institution in Yoruba land.

But the Ekiti State Traditional Council has advised Governor Fayemi to disregard Mr Adeyemis letter because it was clearly ill-motivated and in bad faith.

The rebuttal

In the hard-worded response titled Request to stop undue interference of His Majesty, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, in the internal affairs of Ekiti Obas, Mr Alabi also said Alaafin goofed.

He said the Oyo monarchs letter was borne out of ignorance and asked to know why the other six traditional rulers mentioned in the letter did not sign to ensure concurrence.

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He added that the Alaafins interference in the matter was absolutely unwarranted as he cannot superintend over the monarchy in Ekiti State because Ekiti was never and can never be part of Oyo empire.

We say with all sense of authority and responsibility that Alaafins letter is borne out of ignorance. Let him remove the log in his eyes before seeking to remove the speck from others.

Moreover, the little disagreement amongst Ekiti Obas has not affected the functionality of our Traditional Council. We hold our meetings statutorily unlike the Traditional Council under Alaafin that has long been grounded, the letter read.

Alaafin is no doubt an Oba that enjoys stirring controversies and (crises) where there are none, Mr Alabi further wrote. He is without doubt a meddlesome interloper who is bent on exporting the crisis he engineered during the old Oyo Empire during which the Traditional Council was unable to hold a single meeting as a result of leadership tussle between him and Ooni of Ife until Osun was carved out of old Oyo State.

The impasse

Eight months ago, the relationship between some traditional rulers and the Ekiti State government was severed after Mr Fayemi appointed the Alawe of Ilawe-Ekiti, Adebanji Alabi, as the Chairman of the State Council of Traditional Rulers.

They considered the appointee junior to them and not deserving of the office.

Not satisfied with Mr Alabis appointment, the aggrieved traditional rulers headed to the court and also vowed not to cooperate or attend any meeting or function where the appointee is present or presides.

Recently, Governor Kayode Fayemi issued administrative letters to no fewer than eleven first-class traditional rulers over alleged non-cooperation with government and leadership of the state traditional council.

Your conspicuous absence at the council meetings and state official functions, without any excuse or justification is considered inimical to the proper administration of the chieftaincy institution you represent, Mr Fayemi wrote, asking them to reply within 72 hours.

But the governor has since denied having plans to dethrone any of the traditional rulers served with the letters. He said it was a mere administrative letter, and not a query.

Read the full letter by the Ekiti monarch below.

His Excellency,

Engr. Seyi Makinde,

The Governor of Oyo State,

Governors Office,

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Ibadan.

REQUEST TO STOP UNDUE INTERFERENCE OF HIS MAJESTY, OBA LAMIDI ADEYEMI IN THE INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF EKITI OBAS.

The attention of Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers has been drawn to an undue interference of His Majesty Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, The Alaafin of Oyo in the internal affairs of Ekiti Obas through a letter written to Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, dated 12th March 2020 and well circulated in the social media the following day with respect to the administration of chieftancy matters in Ekiti State. This is to say the least unbecoming of one of your monarchs in Oyo State. Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers takes strong exception to the whole content of Alaafins letter which is absolutely unwarranted as Alaafin cannot superintend over the monarchy in Ekiti State. Ekiti was never and can never be part of Oyo empire. It is on this note that Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers is respectfully requesting your Excellency to stop the Alaafin from his meddlesomeness in the internal affairs of Ekiti Obas.

(2) The letter of Oba Adeyemi contained a lot of misrepresentation of facts and inaccurate accounts of events between the State Government and the Traditional Institution in Ekiti State which CANNOT be in consultation with, and concurrence of the highly revered and venerable Traditional Rulers mentioned in the letter but who did not sign same.

(3) It is a matter of fact and law that Grading, Classification and Composition of Council of Obas in Ekiti State and perhaps anywhere in Nigeria is governed by Law through Government Gazettes even from the Colonial era. From his letter, Alaafin is unable to define what qualifies an Oba to be a PeluPelu Oba. He is not aware of the fact that among the first group of Obas that formed the Association in 1900 were Deji of Akure (Ondo State) and Owalobo of Obo Ayegunle (Kwara State) who have since left the Association. He is also not aware of the fact that some Obas joined the Group in 1909  Atta Ayede, 1929 (Elemure), 1947 (Alawe, Arajaka, Olujido Ido Ile and Olosi) (Minutes of the Pelupelu meetings for those periods are available) In 1971 Olomuo was admitted to the Pelupelu status by the then Governor of Western State, the Late Gen Adeyinka Adebayo.

(4) It should be noted that, seventeen (17) Obas are presently laying claim to PeluPelu Obaship in Ekiti State. And by Government Gazette of October 2018, Government recognized twenty two (22) Obas as PeluPelu in Ekiti and no one raised an eyebrow when Governor Ayo Fayose added the 22nd member, the Oluyin of Iyin  Ekiti in August, 2018. What is therefore sacrosanct about the number of pelupelu Obas which Alaafin put at sixteen.

(5) We therefore say with all sense of authority and responsibility that Alaafin goofed to say that from time immemorial, Obaship Leadership had been within the sixteen (16) Obas who he could neither name nor mention. He only pretends not to know that the number of Pelupelu Obas has never be static.

(6) Unfortunately and appallingly, Alaafin stated that his source of information was by Hearsay Yet he refused to verify his erroneous fact before falsely accusing Governor Fayemi of neglect. He refused to say those he considers as subordinate Obas. Subordinate to who?

(7) Alaafin is no doubt an Oba who enjoys stirring controversies and crisis where there are none. He is without doubt a meddlesome interloper who is bent on exporting the crisis he engineered in old Oyo State during which the Traditional Council was unable to hold a single meeting as a result of leadership tussle between him and the OONI of Ife until OSUN was carved out of old Oyo State.

(8) Worse still and under him, the Oyo State Council of Traditional Rulers has not held a meeting once in four (4) years under his Chairmanship as a result of his inability to foster peace, unity and cohesion among the Obas. How does he give what he does not have. Ekiti Monarchs are not Alaafins AJELES hence his current voyage into an internal affairs of Ekiti Obas is highly unwarranted.

(9) Ekiti State Council of obas is highly offended by the vituperation poured on our Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi through Alaafins unsolicited intervention in a purely domestic affairs of our Council. Alaafin has no moral right nor justification to interfere in the matter of Traditional Rulers administration in Ekiti State.

(10) The Traditional Council of Obas in Ekiti State is therefore passionately appealing to His Excellency Engr. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State to call Alaafin to order and to desist forthwith from meddling in the internal affairs of Ekiti Obas, especially as the matter is pending before a Court of competent jurisdiction. Moreover, the little disagreement amongst Ekiti Obas has not affected the functionality of our Traditional Council. We hold our meetings statutorily unlike the Traditional Council under Alaafin that has long been grounded.

(11) It is pertinent to put on record that, Governor Kayode Fayemi met the present classification of Obas on ground in Ekiti State and has not added one Oba to the class of PeluPelu Obas. The various classifications had been done by previous Administrations through the 1947 Gazette, 1948 Gazette, 1959 Gazette, 2004 Gazette and 2018 Gazette. The present Chairman of Ekiti Traditional Council is listed and classified among the PeluPelu Obas in the Gazette.

(12) It is not out of place if in a Council of over Seventy (70) members, only eleven (11) Obas are aggrieved, and have gone to Court. More so that the aggrieved Obas have informed the Court that they are in an advance stage of settlement out of Court even though unknown to Government and their Chairman. Why Should Alaafin judge a case without seeking the views of the other party. why did Alaafin not exercise restraint and caution before writing a letter based on misinformation. The letter of Alaafin to Governor Fayemi is clearly subjudice to the matter in court.

(13) We say with all sense of authority and responsibility that Alaafins letter is borne out of ignorance. Let him remove the log in his eyes before seeking to remove the speck from others.

(14) Finally, the Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers has therefore advised our Governor Dr Kayode Fayemi NOT to dignify Alaafins letter with any response because it is clearly ill-motivated and in bad faith.

(15) Please accept the assurances of the Highest regards of Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers.

HRM OBA ADEBANJI AJIBADE ALABI, AFUNTADE I,

ALAWE OF ILAWE  EKITI AND CHAIRMAN, EKITI STATE COUNCIL OF TRADITIONAL RULERS.
Following the now-viral news that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC has detected a new suspected case of Coronavirus in Enugu state, Nigerians have taken to their Twitter handle to react to the development.

Reacting to the news, Nigerians hailed the agency for their timely intervention in preventing the spread of the deadly disease in Nigeria.

Read Also: JUST IN: Donald Trump Tested For Coronavirus; See Result

What Nigerians are saying below:

Great, Welldone @NCDCgov, Needless to say that as results are being expected, those she came in contact with are also being tracked just as a precaution. Keep up the good work.  Enugu Metropolitan Network (@The042Network) March 15, 2020

Im really impressed with the momentum. Please keep up the energy! Some of your strategies are now being referenced worldwide.   Atiku/Obi (@MultiChris1) March 15, 2020
A MAN from Binfield Heath who shared intimate pictures of a woman has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Dean Martin, 42, of Kings Common Close, was sentenced at Reading Magistrates Court on Tuesday after previously admitting harassment.

The offences took place in Woodley between July 14 and 17 last year.

Charlotte Webster, prosecuting, said Martin had photographs of the woman in a bath and an intimate part of her body, which he sent to a male relative of the victim via Facebook.

Two days later he sent them to a female friend of the victim, believing they were in a relationship. He described the women as sick.

In a statement read out in court, the victim said Martin had no right to distribute these pictures to anyone because she not given him her permission.

She said her mental health had been affected by the incident and she feared that it had a detrimental effect on her children.

Hymo-Ney Yia, for Martin, said his client had no recent or relevant previous convictions and had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

Michael Scott, from the probation service, said that Martin feared any custodial sentence would affect his elderly parents as he lived with them and took care of them.

He added: He said he was scared of prison and unsure how he would cope in that kind of environment.

Sentencing Martin, magistrate Brian Cox told him that harassment was fairly nasty.

Martin was also given a restraining order meaning he cannot make any contact with the victim for two years.

He will have to carry out up to 30 days rehabilitation and 180 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay 207 costs.
What you need to know about COVID-19 in Ottawa Sunday, March 15

Recent developments:

5 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the city Sunday.

OLG has announced the temporary closure of all casinos in Ontario, including the Rideau Carleton Raceway.

Food banks in Ottawa and Gatineau are seeking monetary donations as they anticipate a spike in demand for their services.

What are the symptoms of COVID-19?

Symptoms of COVID-19 range from a very mild, cold-like illness to a severe lung infection. The most common symptoms include fever, fatigue and a dry cough.

A trip to the emergency room is necessary if anyone has difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, confusion or inability to wake up and bluish lips or face, the World Health Organization says.

The WHO says about one out of every six people who contract COVID-19 become seriously ill and develop difficulty breathing.

Older people, those with compromised immune systems and those with underlying medical problems such as high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes are more likely to develop serious illness.

The experience in Italy and China suggests as many as 10 per cent of people infected can require critical care.

The Public Health Agency of Canada says the risk to the general public is low.

The coronavirus primarily spreads through droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. The virus can also spread through close, prolonged contact, such as touching or shaking hands and it can spread from person to person via surfaces like door handles, mobile phones, tables and light switches.

There is no vaccine and no drugs to treat COVID-19. Hospitals can only help manage the symptoms.

What if I have symptoms?

If you are experiencing shortness of breath or other severe symptoms, you should go to the emergency room and look for special signs.

People with mild symptoms who have not left Canada nor been in close contact with a confirmed case should, as has always been the case, stay at home.

These people are encouraged to read Ottawa Public Health's information page and call TeleHealth at 1-866-797-0000 with any further questions.

Story continues

Anyone who feels sick and has recently travelled outside Canada or has been in contact with someone who has recently travelled should self-isolate at home as quickly as possible and seek guidance from Ottawa Public Health.

They may be eligible for a test.

How do we get tested?

Ottawa Public Health has now opened its community assessment centre at Brewer Arena. There people with mild cold and flu symptoms can be assessed and if they meet necessary criteria, get tested for COVID-19.

The centre is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily at 151 Brewer Way, off Bronson Avenue near Carleton University.

It's meant to divert non-emergency cases away from hospitals.

You don't need to call ahead.

You're asked not to take public transit if you are going to the arena.

Gatineau's downtown assessment location has also opened.

What is the current situation in Ottawa?

In Ottawa public events are being cancelled, many people are being asked or told to work from home and most schools are closed or have moved classes online.

CBC Ottawa is keeping a running list of local cancellations because of COVID-19.

It's a temporary public health strategy aimed at slowing the potential spread of COVID-19 and buying time so the health care system doesn't get overwhelmed by a sudden spike in patients.

Ten people in Ottawa have tested positive for COVID-19, including Sophie Gregoire Trudeau. Five new cases were confirmed Sunday morning, but without any further details.

Elsewhere in eastern Ontario, a woman in her 30s tested positive at the Glengarry Memorial Hospital in Alexandria, Ont.

There have also been two COVID-19 cases in the Trenton, Ont., quarantine for returning cruise ship passengers and one in a person who visited Mont-Laurier, Que.

The local public health authority says there's no risk to the public in the Trenton area.

How do I protect myself and others?

Ottawa Public Health advises people to take the following measures to reduce the risk:

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

Stay at home if you are sick, which includes not visiting others in hospital or a care home.

Cover your mouth and nose when you cough and sneeze.

If you don't have a tissue, sneeze or cough into your sleeve or arm.

Get a yearly flu vaccination.

Self-isolate for 14 days if you're returning home from another country.

For more information

What if I have more questions?

As of Thursday, March 12, OPH was reporting "significant call volumes" at its 613-580-6744 number and said its priority was to hear from:

Health care providers reporting information.

Residents who've travelled to Iran, Italy or China's Hubei province.

Residents who've travelled outside Canada and are experiencing symptoms like fever, coughing and breathing difficulties.

Residents who've been in close contact with someone who's travelled abroad and are beginning to experience those same symptoms.

Anyone else should first read through their coronavirus website or phone TeleHealth at 1-866-797-0000.

The average call back time for TeleHealth calls has been between two and three hours, a spokesperson said Friday.

For western Quebec residents, Info-Sante 811 was also reporting "technical difficulties" Thursday and said people may have problems reaching someone on the other end.

Travellers still face highest risk in Ottawa

As of Saturday, March 14, people returning from all travel abroad are advised to self-isolate for 14 days, no matter whether they experience any symptoms.

If these people start feeling symptoms, they are asked to stay away from other people as quickly as possible and call a doctor or OPH.

Medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches said there is currently no evidence of community transmission in the Ottawa area, which occurs when the virus doesn't come from a known source such as travelling to a region with positive cases.

What if I have travel plans?

Chief Public Officer of Health Dr. Theresa Tam said Friday Canadians should postpone or cancel travel plans outside the country and avoid all cruises.

Transportation Minister Marc Garneau said Friday international flights to Canada will be restricted to certain airports; specific airports have not been released.

Global Affairs Canada has issued COVID-19-related travel notices for China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iran, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Spain.

The department is advising all Canadians travelling anywhere internationally to return to Canada on commercial flights while they are available.

Travel advice from the federal government can be found on Global Affairs Canada's website.

Several U.S. states, including New York, Washington, and Florida, have declared states of emergency because of COVID-19.
MADRID  The scene is becoming all too familiar, and now it has gripped Spain: Streets are empty, shops are shuttered, families are cloistered at home and the numbers of those infected with the coronavirus, and those who have died, are growing.

Spain  like Italy and France to varying degrees  is now on lockdown, struggling to contain a virus that already seems out of control, with about 8,000 people infected and almost 300 dead. In the center of Madrid, police patrolled the streets, with few cars passing along its main artery, the Castellana. In Barcelona, the Gothic Quarter was empty, and private security kept anyone from entering the cathedral.

Spains prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, said he was imposing drastic measures to fight the coronavirus, forcing people to stay indoors, with exemptions only for so-called exceptional circumstances.

The situation is no joke, said Sergio Gonzalez, 26, as he walked his dog in Barcelona, a mask covering his face.
It has felt like trying to outrun a tidal wave.

Attempting to move between two countries which are not friends, via a third, during a global pandemic, with borders closing around us, shifting quarantine and entry regulations, and everything I own including two cats in tow, has felt apocalyptic.

The scheduled week-long journey to move to my new posting in Beirut started when the Covid-19 outbreak was still a news story breaking elsewhere.

That changed right at a point where it was impossible to turn back. Along the way, the subject I had been furiously filing on for work, suddenly became a very galling reality.

It hit that not only were most countries in the world likely to experience some level of government-enforced lockdown, but even if our authorities do not enforce such measures, we as citizens must be responsible and carry out precautions like social-distancing ourselves.

I write this piece not to spread more misery nor to moan about how hard it has been (because it really hasnt) but because conversations with people back in London and in the US sound so alarmingly out of tune with the reality we are facing, with the reality they will likely face.

So many people back home keep telling me this is all overhyped by the media.

They say catching the virus is a bit like riding out the flu, even as the death toll soars towards 6,000 and experts warn it can cause lifelong damage and the healthy can unwittingly transmit the disease to the most vulnerable. Or carry it to countries like Lebanon, with large refugee populations, that cannot cope. Facebook posts still abound with people sharing articles claiming there was no need to panic, to stop going to restaurants, to change your routine. Others complain their travel plans are on hold.

Panicking is never a good idea  obsessively stockpiling unnecessary amounts of toilet roll is not a good idea  but the notion that we wont or shouldnt need to temporarily change our behaviour in quite significant ways to protect people, that we can continue our lives as before, is naive and even dangerous.

The restrictions are coming to everyone everywhere. We must calmly and orderly respect them. This hit me when we were detained at the first border we needed to cross, over quarantine queries. We were eventually let through just hours before that border shuttered indefinitely. A day later the country we had just left, effectively sealed itself off completely.

Twenty-four hours after that  now in Jordan  the Jordanian authorities banned all travel to Lebanon and so we boarded what turned out to be one of the last flights out of Amman to Beirut  or the last chopper into Saigon as friends darkly quipped. At each point, there was panic, confusion, anxiety, heartache as people were trapped on either side of border crossings trying to get out or trying to get in. There was terror at anyone who coughed.

Stressed officials repeated the same plea that they did not know the new rules, hotlines didnt work, health ministry websites crashed. We had bizarre conversations where we were breaking the news of fresh travel restrictions to airlines that could not keep up with their own government press conferences.

The Twitter account of Royal Jordanian sent me a message saying flights to Beirut have been halted while the flustered call centre said they thought our flight was still on. On that plane, which did leave, everyone from the crew to passengers were in masks.

While in the air, Lebanon announced fresh restrictions on people coming from the UK, prompting confusion at the airport about whether they could let me in even though, according to Jordans rules, they couldnt send me back. Beirut airport officials taking temperatures at passport control briefly panicked about whether the cats could carry corona.

I stood marooned like a plague victim holding the carrier, with the cat screaming inside, as everyone took several big steps back until it was confirmed that could not be the case.

We arrived in a once-bustling city of Beirut, renowned for raucous nightlife and great restaurants, at a point where nearly everything is closed bar supermarkets, where everyone is quietly (and orderly) stocking up in masks and gloves. Store security officers now take your temperature to permit you entrance and disinfect your trolley before handing it to you.

 Coronavirus: Massive obituary columns in Italy show extent of tragedy

We hear reports that fresh restrictions will come into play tomorrow closing everything  including private and public institutions  except supermarkets at certain times and pharmacies.

The reassuring conversations I had had with colleagues just days ago, that people were overreacting, that the restrictions were too severe and likely would not come to us, that we can and should continue our lives as before, feel like a dream from another world. Those naive points we stupidly made disintegrate hourly with every new piece of information received.

Instead a realisation has come into stark focus: it is an enormous privilege to be able to make plans like travelling or even popping down the street for a coffee with a colleague.

Friends from the war-torn countries have bitterly pointed out uncertainty and restrictions like these are just one section of the horrifying reality they face every day. Welcome to part of our world, they type.

The need to protect the weakest is acute here in Lebanon, a country where the economy was already on its knees before the pandemic, that was rocked by anti-corruption protests and is host to as many as 1.5 million refugees from Syria.

It would be impossible to contain a deadly outbreak if just one person contracts the virus in the camps where people are living without access to proper sanitation in tents. And so, for now, as miserable as it all seems, we must all do our part to help.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 22:02:11|Editor: xuxin

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MOSCOW, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The route for a Russian-Turkish joint patrol of the strategic M4 highway in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib was shortened due to provocations by militants, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

The militants tried to use civilians, including women and children, as a "human shield," the ministry said in a statement.

The Russian-Turkish center on the coordination for the joint patrolling and ceasefire monitoring in Syria decided to reduce the length of the route to avoid possible incidents that may involve civilians, it said.

The Turkish side was given extra time to neutralize the rebels and ensure security of the joint patrols along the M4 highway, it added.

Earlier this month, Russia and Turkey agreed to create a safety corridor six km to the north and six km to the south from the strategic M4 highway, which connects Aleppo in northern Syria with Latakia in the northwest.

Moscow and Ankara also agreed to begin joint patrolling of the M4 highway on March 15 as part of the efforts to reduce tensions in Idlib.
Dayton ISD announced late Saturday night that they would also join other area districts Cleveland and Liberty among them to assist students who are not in school with Grab-n-Go food.

Over the next week or so, students around Liberty County will be practicing social distancing to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. School and all extra-curricular activities have been canceled. Its a disruption for students who were focused on prom, showing animals that will bring them scholarships and the many other late year activities for which students shine.

Related: Liberty County school districts cancel class to thwart coronavirus

While there are no cases of COVID-19 in the Liberty county area as of presstime, there are some in neighboring Harris and Montgomery and school officials are working proactively to prevent the spread of the virus.

The cancellation of classes has uncovered a huge hole that will drastically affect students who are in needfood.

For some students, the two meals at schoolbreakfast and lunchare the only meals they get for the day in a home that is desperately trying to make ends meet.

Districts respond

Cleveland ISD will provide free drive-thru meals to all children 18 years or younger on beginning on Monday from 9 a.m.-11 a.m. Children must be in the vehicle to obtain the meals provided.

The drive-thru service will be at the Cleveland Middle School student drop-off/pick-up area while entering the campus on Truman Street, then exciting in the front of the campus on 321.

Meanwhile Dayton ISD will begin a Grab-n-Go breakfast and lunch combo starting Monday, March 16. Daily meals will be available for drive-thru and pickup between 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. at Richter Elementary School.

Related: Liberty County, Dayton, Liberty issue disaster declarations amid coronavirus concerns

Parents or guardians are asked to use the bus loop entrance off Cherry Creek. Drivers can form a car-rider line in the back of the school where the buses normally drop off students.

Young said the students must be present in the car in order to take a meal.

They dont need their school ID badges, but they must be present in the car to receive a meal, he said.

The district is responsible for keeping accurate numbers to report in hopes they may get reimbursement from the federal government.

The Grab-n-Go meals are free to any Dayton ISD student 18 years of age and under. Dayton ISD employees will deliver the meals to each car.

Students and parents are encouraged to watch the district website and Facebook for additional instructions as necessary.

Liberty ISD is also providing meals.

Daily meals will be available for drive-thru pick-up between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm at Liberty Middle School, via the bus drop-off lane on the west side of the school, the district said in a statement. Meals are available for any LISD students 18 years of age and under.

Students in need

The meals are very important for students in the region, Dayton ISD officials said. Nearly 70% of Dayton ISD students are deemed economically disadvantaged by the state and qualify for free or reduced-price meals because of their family income.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Churches brace for financial hit with coronavirus

More than 22 million students nationwide benefit from federal assistance programs, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Dayton is not one of the districts that meets the threshold for the entire district to receive free meals.

During President Donald J. Trumps announcement that placed the nation in a state of disaster, the move freed up some $50 billion in assets to help with a list of industries across the nation that are suffering. The Emergency Coronavirus Bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday and in the hands of the U.S. Senate would free up funds to help schools across the nation keep their students fed during the crisis.

The bill increases funding for the nations SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), food banks and the children who receive free or reduced-price lunch at school. Approximately $1 billion was set aside for food assistance programs.

Dayton ISD spokesperson Travis Young said they were still getting guidance from the Texas Education Agency on how to fund it.

Were going to take care of our kids regardless, Young said.

dtaylor@hcnonline.com
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Linkedin Ben K. C. Laksana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 15, 2020 09:54 667 7f440ff09e92db75a02bbad206ab2b8a 3 Opinion conservative-Muslims,Muslim,Indonesia,religious-beliefs Free

Indonesia, the worlds largest Muslim population, is still often promoted as an example of a modern and moderate Islamic democracy.

However, various reports have indicated growing levels of Muslim conservatism.

Among them is last years Indonesian Muslim Report by research firm Alvara.

Based on interviews with 1,567 respondents in 34 provinces, the report suggests the countrys young generation is becoming more conservative. The report indicates that both generation Z (aged between 14 and 21 years old) and young millennial (22-29) respondents dominate within those who identify as puritan & ultra-conservative, accounting for almost 60%.

Those are significant figures as Indonesias young generation accounts for almost a quarter of the countrys population, or around 63.8 million individuals.

While these reports give cause for great concern, the numbers reveal little about how young people navigate daily encounters with religious difference.

My research on the everyday lives of Indonesian young people and their religious interactions may help shed light on why they are becoming more conservative.

Everyday practices

In 2013, I interviewed 20 people between the ages of 16 and 19 from three different high schools in the nations capital, Jakarta: a private, public and a public-run Islamic high school. These three schools use the national curriculum, but the Islamic school has an additional curriculum on Islam.

I also conducted focus group discussions with these young people.

I found these youth do not simply learn about tolerance from grand concepts taught in class. They also learn from their direct experiences with religious diversity.

This is contrary to what the government believes.

The government believes a tolerant society comes from decades-long teaching of tolerance from the New Order regime. This teaching forbids debates on religions, races and tribes among its citizens to avoid conflicts.

Yet although young people are conditioned to avoid discussing religions in public, my research shows everyday experiences of religious diversity influence their views.

One of my respondents, a 16-year-old from an Islamic high school, shared that he came to an understanding about tolerance and how to practise it from his daily experience with non-Muslim friends in his neighbourhood.

This not only confirms the importance of the everyday experience for learning tolerance, but my interviews also show young people need access to spaces and opportunities that encourage inter-religious relationships in their everyday lives.

In the above case, my respondent has access to building amicable, close and daily relationships with his non-Muslim neighbours.

But now we see the mushrooming of exclusively Muslim housing complexes such as in Yogyakarta.

These exclusive spaces are the result of a combination of growing conservatism, capitalist interests and the lack of an inclusive vision of the citys spatial planning.

This may result in young people having more limited access to others from different religious backgrounds, further generating their conservative views.

This does not mean the existence of Muslims-only housing becomes the only factor behind the rising conservatism among youths.But it does suggest its important to understand and acknowledge that day-to-day experiences influence young peoples lives and views.

The need for further studies

By focusing on young peoples everyday interactions, my research aims to help us understand the social contexts shaping their attitudes and values, including their religious views.

Social contexts play a significant role in providing spaces and opportunities for promoting tolerance in the lives of Indonesian youths.

An analysis of social, political, economic and cultural structures will give us a bigger picture. This will avoid simplifying the issue by putting the blame on the youth alone.

However, this kind of research is still limited.

Rising conservatism among Indonesian youth requires a structural analysis of the social and political contexts in which they live. We need to understand the roles of government, educational institutions, media, families and religious leaders in these young peoples lives, as well as how economic inequalities affect their religious views.

Thus, the question of why Indonesian youth is becoming more conservative remains open and demands further investigation of their everyday lives.

---

Ben K. C. Laksana, Lecturer, International University Liaison Indonesia

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
Bickering and divided, Afghan leaders are expected to stumble toward the peace table with the Taliban at some point soon. It's an event that likely won't register on officials' radar in Ottawa  where COVID-19 and plunging oil prices have nailed decision-makers to their desks.

It will, however, receive the rapt attention of tens of thousands of Canadians whose lives have been intertwined with  or irrecoverably altered by  a war that came within a whisker of defeating former prime minister Stephen Harper's minority government.

The sixth anniversary of the flag coming down on Canada's military mission in the ruined south Asian country passed on Thursday without fanfare. It has been almost a decade now since Canadian combat operations in Kandahar ended and were handed over to U.S. forces.

Exhausted and impatient after nearly two decades of war, the Trump administration last month cut a deal with the Taliban. The fine print of that deal still has not been shared with the American public, or with NATO allies such as Canada and Britain.

It commits to a full withdrawal of foreign troops as long as the enemy  which waged a ceaseless, bloody guerrilla war for nearly 20 years  commits to not allowing Afghanistan to be used as a base for international terrorism by (among others) al-Qaida, the Taliban's most stalwart ally.

The agreement was negotiated over the heads of the Afghan government, which has already balked at one of its key provisions and is mired in divisions so deep that rival presidential candidates held their own separate swearing-in ceremonies last weekend.

There is a palpable sense of dismay among Canadians who committed a good portion of their lives and professional careers to Afghanistan.

CBC News spoke with seven people, three former soldiers, three diplomats and one Afghan-Canadian, many of whom saw combat. We asked them one straightforward question: Is this the moment you fought for?

Cpl. (ret) Bruce Moncur

Story continues

CBC News

Badly wounded in 2006 during the seminal battle Operation Medusa, retired corporal Bruce Moncur looked at the deal and said he doesn't understand why this moment could not have arrived 14 years ago, or more. He wonders about the stubborn refusal of successive U.S. administrations and Canadian governments to negotiate with the Taliban.

"Our failures created nothing more than a generational quagmire in which some soldiers and children born after 9/11 are now fighting for a cause we were never given a chance to win," Moncur said.

The Afghans were guaranteed security, protection and prosperity, none of which truly materialized.

"This failure sits at the feet of all the governments, which did not do a proper job, and leaves me wondering about the blood I left in the sands of Kandahar, the 13 soldiers that I knew who gave everything, and the ten soldiers that I have known since whose demons proved too great.

"Such sacrifice has inevitably resulted in nothing. All for nought, for ours is not to question why."

Chris Alexander

As Canada's former ambassador to Afghanistan (2003-2005), Chris Alexander could not believe the terms of the deal cut by Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. President Donald Trump's point man in negotiations with the Taliban.

"No, this is not at all the peace for which we fought and worked for so many years," said Alexander, who went on to serve in the former Conservative government as immigration minister. "The exclusion of the Afghan government from these talks has been a hugely counter-productive mistake from the start."

Terry Pedwell/Canadian Press

The war was prolonged, he said, by the "U.S. failure to sanction Pakistan for its comprehensive support to the Taliban," an omission he called "totally inexplicable."

Individuals, companies and state agencies in Pakistan, he said, "should face wide-ranging sanctions for their continuing sponsorship of terrorist groups and proxy war in Afghanistan, as Russia, Iran and Syria now do for their misdeeds in Ukraine, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere."

Bashir Jamalzadah

At the outset of the war, Bashir Jamalzadah read a Pakistani news article which said that country's top generals warned the Americans not to ally themselves with Northern Alliance warlords  that there would be trouble if they did.

"And now, after 19 years, I am witnessing that superpower giving in to the demands of Pakistani generals and signing a shameful defeat agreement with a group of zealots who don't know anything other than killing innocent people," said Jamalzadah, a Canadian citizen of Afghan origin who served as an adviser and interpreter with the Canadian army during some of its toughest days of combat.

"I totally agree with the Canadian soldiers that we didn't fight for this. This is the worst outcome for all the sacrifices we made."

Supplied

Like Moncur, Jamalzadah wonders why we didn't arrive at this moment a decade and a half ago, and shares Alexander's bafflement over Washington's tolerance of Pakistan's behaviour.

"The Taliban tried to negotiate with Americans in the early years when they were in a much weaker position, but Americans rejected them," he said. "I wonder how the United States of America can [now] take such a historic humiliation."

He is not optimistic about the future for the country of his birth.

"There are many gullible Pashtun (an ethnic group in both Afghanistan and Pakistan) and non-Pashtun political figures who believe that the Taliban will agree with a broad-based government and share power with them," Jamalzadah said. "That is just a dream and will never [be] realized."

Ben Rowswell

The peace accord, signed with the Taliban on Feb. 29, contains two secret annexes which have not been shown to American allies  or even to most American lawmakers. According to The New York Times, the documents lay out the specifics of the understandings between the U.S. and the Taliban  including which bases would remain open under Afghan control. The State Department told the newspaper the documents are classified because "the movement of troops and operations against terrorists are sensitive matters."

Ben Rowswell, Canada's former representative in Kandahar and now the president of the Canadian International Council, said that is not what allies fought for over the last two decades.

Murray Brewster/Canadian Press

"This peace deal does not include the government of Afghanistan," he said. "That is a betrayal of what NATO was there for. Our goal was to re-establish a government that would act on behalf of its citizens."

The Afghan government was, and is, flawed in many ways, he said, but it was based on a mandate from the people of Afghanistan.

"The Taliban do not represent the people of Afghanistan," Rowswell said. "To cut a deal with them and leave the Afghan government out of the deal completely undoes 19 years of sacrifice."

Cpl. (ret) Matt Luloff

Retired corporal Matt Luloff, who served with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry battle group in 2008, wonders whether the Afghan government is ready to join the negotiating table.

"I would love to see the moment when Afghanistan becomes a free, open and democratic society," said Luloff, now a city councillor in the Ottawa suburb of Orleans, Ont. "I fought for the rule of law and against thuggery and the use of violence for coercion.

"I'm not certain we are at that point. We need to see political stability and proper governance models that are wholeheartedly accepted in every corner of the country and everywhere in between."

CBC News/Contributed/Matt Luloff

He said he believes Afghanistan, politically and socially, is still a long way from a time when political platforms and doorknocking replace threats and intimidation  such as the unsigned "night letters" the Taliban have used to intimidate Afghans who support secular government and education.

"Expedient and easy solutions will not last." Luloff said. "Solutions cannot be imposed from some outside power in the case of Afghanistan. Empowerment and legitimacy must come from within."

Renee Filiatrault

Renee Filiatrault, a former foreign service officer with Task Force Kandahar, said there's a difference between the peace deal signed by the U.S. and actual peace in Afghanistan  and conflating the two would be both unrealistic and unwise.

"While it's not the moment" everyone was fighting for, she said, "it is a moment."

She said we've already seen the challenges involved in implementing the withdrawal deal manifest themselves in the Afghan government's reluctance to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners.

CBC News

Filiatrault, who served in the federal defence minister's office during the 9/11 terror attacks, recalled how one of the first demands of the American government was for the Taliban to renounce al-Qaida.

"Nobody could ever have believed it would take 19 years to secure that," said Filiatrault, who most recently worked for Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan. "What Canadians did mattered one way or another in where Afghanistan is now. There are better markers of having made a difference in the country than this handshake.

"Whether the agreement holds is unpredictable. Time will tell. And as many of us heard on the ground, we have the watches and the Taliban have the time. They have always shown strategic patience in meeting their objectives."

Leading Seaman (ret) Bruno Guevremont

Getting to this moment in Afghanistan involved a lot of pain and suffering, said retired leading seaman Bruno Guevremont, a former navy clearance diver who disarmed Taliban bombs and booby traps  and, in one memorable incident in 2009, a live suicide bomber.

Bruno Guevremont/Facebook

He seems remarkably reconciled to the imperfections of the situation unfolding before him, saying he simply hopes that the peace agreement, the U.S. withdrawal and the upcoming direct Afghan negotiations will be successful and that "all these things that will stop the fighting in Afghanistan."

One of the things he learned in Afghanistan and in the years since, while dealing with his post traumatic stress disorder, is that hope and grace are also weapons in war.

"I'm ... thinking about the residents, the citizens of Afghanistan," he said. "They were some of the nicest, most welcoming people I've ever met, and they deserve to live in a free country."
One of the questions we get often is whether someone who is undocumented should be counted, and the answer is yes, of course, Diaz said. Mano a Mano has focused its outreach on making sure the community knows that everyone needs to be counted, regardless of their immigration status.
For a long time, Wyoming politics seemed to lack the bitter ideological partisanship that exists in other states. Thats not to say politics in Wyoming arent tough at times. But until the past decade, lawmakers seemed less interested in wedge issues and more focused on pragmatically solving problems.

Now, even minor issues are politicized in ways that only distract us from the profound issues that our state actually faces. Consider the attempt earlier this month by Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, R-Lingle, to scuttle the nominations of three people appointed by the governor to serve on state commissions. Though Steinmetz ultimately failed, the fact that several lawmakers went along with the effort hints at a coarseness to our politics that we hope doesnt become more pervasive.

On the weekend prior to the vote, Steinmetz had penned a handwritten note to Gov. Mark Gordon. In the note, which the governors office released after a reporter requested it, Steinmetz said she was unable to vote to confirm these candidates as they have demonstrated the inability to remain impartial in the areas they would oversee. Steinmetz went on to encourage Gordon to replace the three  Dr. Rene Hinkle, Ryan McConnaughey and Keren Meister-Emerich  with candidates more in step with Wyoming values.

When a reporter asked her about the letter, Steinmetz declined to elaborate or explain what exactly she meant by Wyoming values. But we would argue that challenging three qualified appointees, ones vetted by the governor and possessing impressive resumes, showed a lack of Wyoming values. It hinted at exactly the kind of politics that turn off so many Americans.

Because the candidates abilities werent in question. McConnaughey is a spokesman for the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, one of the most powerful industry groups in the state, and a former staffer for former Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis. Hinkle is an OB/GYN and chief of staff at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, one of the states largest hospitals. Meister-Emerich is a longtime educator in possession of a doctoral degree from the University of Wyoming.

Although Steinmetz didnt detail what was behind her opposition, some of her colleagues suggested politics were at play. McConnaughey speculated it might be based on his LGBTQ advocacy work. Hinkle, meanwhile, had testified about bills aimed at limiting access to abortion, with objections that were medically based, rather than stemming from ideology.

Is this really what we want as Wyomingites? Qualified appointees turned away from public service for what appears to be political concerns?

Thankfully, that didnt come to pass this time, although 13 senators did vote again Hinkles nomination. Eight senators voted against McConnaughey and five opposed Meister-Emerich.

Some who supported the nominations suggested that when appointees were opposed in the past, it was because they lacked the necessary qualifications or created a conflict of interest. Not this time.

There was some political motivation there, I think, said Sen. Charlie Scott, the longtime Republican lawmaker representing Natrona County. And a lot of us thought that was improper. That was probably why the effort went nowhere.

We hope similar efforts go nowhere. Because Wyomings true values emphasize pragmatism over ideology. They reward politics that strive to solve our problems, not divide us. They are the values that honor someone for their qualifications, and their willingness to contribute time and effort, not their politics.

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A group of Egyptian expats in the US organised a demonstration in front of the White House on Sunday to support Egypt in regard to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam talks.

The group held banners demanding support and respect for Egypt's rights to the Nile water.

Egyptian expats have also launched a petition on change.org to collect signatures in support of Egypts position.

Egypt initialled an agreement on the mega-dams filling and operation in February, which was the result of several rounds of trilateral talks between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan that were moderated by the US and the World Bank.

Ethiopia withdrew from the last round of talks, while Sudan also did not sign the agreement.

Ethiopia has accused the US of favouring Egypt in the row over the dam, which Cairo fears will significantly diminish its water supply from the Nile.

Egypt, meanwhile, believes that Ethiopia is intentionally hindering the course of the talks.

The dam is now more than 70 percent complete, and Ethiopia plans to start filling its reservoir in July.

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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the dastardly Pulwama attack of last year has revealed that terror groups such as the Jaish-e-Mohammed were roping in young boys in Kashmir for making online purchases, including chemicals used for manufacturing explosives, officials said.

The investigation into the terror attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel recently led to the arrest of two people, including 19-year-old Wazir, who during his interrogation gave the officials an insight into the radicalisation process of the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Wazir is alleged to have procured online aluminium powder, jackets used in high-altitude areas, mobile battery banks and trekking shoes, officials said.

Aluminum powder, which was used in earlier times by photographers to create camera flashes, is highly flammable and used as an ingredient in blasting agents used in commercial mining, they said.

Wazir handed over the aluminium powder to Jaish-e-Mohammed overground workers and it was used by terrorists in the February 14 suicide attack when an explosive-laden car hit a CRPF convoy killing 40 personnel.

His interrogation also gave an insight into how JeM overground workers were brainwashing young boys and preparing them to indulge in terror activities, the officials said.

The case, which had virtually come to a halt as all conspirators had been killed, got a fresh impetus after the NIA identified the house where Adil Ahmed Dar, the terrorist who was driving the explosive-laden car, had shot his last propaganda video that was subsequently released by the terror group from Pakistan.

On February 28, the NIA achieved a major breakthrough in the case when it arrested 22-year-old Shakir Bashir Magrey, a furniture shop owner and resident of Hajibal in Pulwama's Kakapora.

Magrey had provided shelter and other logistical assistance to suicide bomber Adil. He was introduced to Adil in mid-2018 by Pakistani terrorist Mohammad Umar Farooq and he became a full-time overground worker of the JeM.

This month, the NIA has arrested four people, including Tariq Ahmed Shah, his daughter Insha Jan, Wazir-ul-Islam and Mohammad Abbass Rather. The number of people arrested in this case has gone up to five.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Medical safeguards introduced following the conviction of Britain's most notorious serial killer Dr Harold Shipman will be temporarily relaxed as Ministers are handed sweeping new powers to tackle coronavirus.

Under emergency legislation to be put before MPs within days, strict rules around the registration of deaths and cremations will be put on hold to ease the burden on the NHS.

Measures to stop the 'death management industry' being overwhelmed will also be drawn up, including using so-called Henry VIII powers to allow the compulsory purchase of land for large burial sites with the flick of a ministerial pen.

The new law, expected to sail through the Commons due to the Government's 80-seat majority, will allow further emergency provisions to be implemented through statutory instrument - changes to the law that do not require a vote.

The Mail on Sunday understands the grim reality of what Whitehall insiders have dubbed 'death pits' have been left from the Bill to avoid public panic.

Boris Johnson in the Cabinet Room in No 10, chairing a Covid-19 meeting with Sir Patrick Vallance and England's Chief Medical Officer Prof Chris Whitty, March 14

The Civil Contingencies Act of 2004 requires previously legislated emergency powers to be renewed every 21 days once they are triggered, but the MoS has learnt this provision may be amended due to the elongated nature of this crisis.

The upcoming legislation, due to be published this week and voted on before Easter recess, will also give the Government the powers to suspend large public gatherings, which Downing Street signalled they could trigger as soon as next weekend.

The move puts key summer events such as Glastonbury, the VE Day commemorations, Chelsea Flower Show, Wimbledon and Royal Ascot in doubt.

Boris Johnson had faced criticism for not taking such actions, despite similar steps being taken by other European countries as the pandemic worsens. He insisted he was following scientific advice that such closures would have a limited effect.

Yesterday a Whitehall source denied the Government was U-turning on that advice, saying the change of heart reflected concerns about the pressure mass gatherings put on police and ambulance services that may be depleted because of the virus.

'We have drafted emergency legislation to give the Government the powers it needs to deal with coronavirus, including powers to stop mass gatherings and compensate organisations,' the source said. 'We will publish this legislation next week.'

Boris Johnson in the Cabinet Room in No 10, chairing a Covid-19 meeting with Sir Patrick Vallance and England's Chief Medical Officer Prof Chris Whitty, March 14

Boris Johnson in the Cabinet Room in No 10, chairing a Covid-19 meeting with Sir Patrick Vallance and England's Chief Medical Officer Prof Chris Whitty, March 14

It is expected that the so-called 'shutdown' of the UK will be designed to coincide with the UK state school holiday timetable - with schools already due to close on Friday April 3 for two weeks.

Meanwhile the police and armed services will be given the power to ground planes incoming to Britain, stop trains, close motorways and detain suspected virus incubators or sufferers.

While law enforcement will be given greater powers, doctors and healthcare professionals will be freed from red tape as the death toll mounts.

The medical world was rocked when GP Shipman killed more than 200 of his patients, sparking a clampdown on how deaths are registered. Where previously Shipman was able to mask his actions, now following the death of a patient a doctor must issue a medical certificate of cause of death and hand it to next of kin.

If that relative then applies to have the body cremated a second doctor is required to complete an additional certificate confirming the cause of death.

The second doctor must discuss and check the cause of death with the first doctor and the family or carers and note any inconsistencies, before sending both forms to a medical referee. However, these safeguards will be relaxed if the death toll continues to mount. The emergency legislation will allow for just one doctor or medical professional to sign off deaths and cremations.

The emergency laws could be approved without a formal vote amid fears Commons' crowded voting lobbies could help spread the virus.

Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg last week told MPs that Public Health England did not think the division lobbies were a 'high risk' and that opening the windows 'would be beneficial'. However, some MPs are still privately concerned.
For a sector that is frequently chided for merely trying to burnish its green credentials, it appears some players are willing to put their money where their mouths are--by going for a clean energy overkill.

In February, Italian multinational oil and gas company ENI shocked the world when it unveiled what has been hailed as the most ambitious climate pledge yet by an oil supermajor.

Eni has now set out a plan to lower its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.

Sounds good enough, but not exactly earth-shattering. Whats so different about ENIs new plan that has the environmentalists swooning? After all, last year, the $40 billion oil giant unveiled what--on face value--appears to be an even more impressive target to cut its net carbon emissions to zero by 2030.

This time, were getting a bit more realistic. And in this case, it takes more oil to reduce our carbon footprint in much the same way that it takes money to make money.

Scope 3 Emissions

Hidden in the fine print of the carbon-reduction plan by the Italian major is a pledge to rein in Scope 3 emissions--or emissions generated by ENIs supply chain partners and end-users.

In the 2019 pledge, the state-controlled company announced that it planned to expand its green business by investing in planting forests to capture more than 20 million tonnes of CO2 by 2030 and installing 10 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable capacity by 2030, up from 0.2 GW that year.

In other words, ENI was only concerned with its own direct carbon footprint.

In the new plan, ENI says it will work to lower emissions from its own operations as well as those from the fossil fuel products it sells. Related: Russia Fires Back: Could Boost Oil Production By 500,000 Bpd

This way, it beats previous its previous pledge as well as those by the likes of Repsol and BP, both of which have 2050 as their deadline for net-zero carbon emissions but have mostly been vague about their Scope 3 strategies. For instance, in February, new BP chief executive Bernard Looney pledged to meet the demands of the Paris climate change agreement, but provided few details on how his company planned to make this a reality.

But even ENIs wonder-plan is not as gilt-edged as it seems.

The Natural Gas Bridge

Theres a bridge to cross here, otherwise everyone would simply sink.

Like most oil and gas majors, ENI has no plans to ramp down its fossil fuel production--at least not yet.

Indeed, the company says it actually intends to ramp up oil production by 3.5% per year through 2025, at which point in time it will begin to shift to natural gas, ramping up its production by 85% through 2050.

Like many fossil fuel companies, advocates, and apologists, ENI views natural gas as a necessary bridge as the world tries to wean itself off fossil fuels. Natural gas does produce about 28% less CO 2 emissions than heating oil and 50% less than coal for the same amount of energy when burned. Further, natural gas can be used to keep the power grid stable as solar and wind power fluctuate.

So at first glance that does not sound like a terrible idea, until you consider that a cross-section of climate experts have warned that we only have a ten-year window in which to take decisive action to prevent irreversible damage to our climate and ecosystems. During the first five years of that timeframe, ENI plans to take a detour to first ramp-up oil production before beginning a ramp-down at an unspecified future date.

In other words, its business as usual for ENI and other oil and gas supermajors--for now.

Kicking the Can Down the Road

While ENIs plan is laudable due to a dearth of serious carbon commitments from its contemporaries, it will still look to some like another plan to continue kicking the can down the road until either government policies or catastrophic climate change forces its hand. Related: Saudi Arabia's Archenemy Is Taking Advantage Of The Oil War

Maybe, maybe not. Change is a process, and the ethical squeeze is already on. Everyones on board with the change because environmental investing is already a mega-trend and big money is shifting here; but we have to be realistic.

ENIs plan to continue growing oil production for the next half-decade is, perhaps, informed by new projections that oil demand is likely to continue growing over the next decade or so. Its not exactly a climate change activists dream come true--but it is still miles ahead of what its peers.

With ExxonMobil touting algal biofuels investments in TV ads, and Chevron appearing to think that offering electric car charging at gas stations is the answer, you can forgive ENI for sending mixed messages about where its climate change loyalties lie.

But at the very least, Americas supermajors ought to borrow a leaf from the Italian oil giant.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

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By West Kentucky Star Staff Mar. 15, 2020 | 03:46 PM | PADUCAH

Paducah City Hall will be closed to public walk-in traffic starting on Monday.Paducah Public Information Officer Pam Spencer says the building will close for at least two weeks in an effort to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. City services will continue; however, those needing to contact the city should use other means including phone, email, or online.City Manager Jim Arndt says the decision to close was based on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendation that people practice of social distancing to slow the spread of the potentially deadly virus.The general information phone number for City government is 270-444-8800. During normal business hours, a customer experience representative will take your call and guide you to the appropriate department or service.Those needing to drop off a payment to the Finance Department can use the drop-box that is on the front of the 5th Street side of the building.If you need a permit through the Fire Prevention Division, call Fire Prevention at 270-444-8527. Information will be taken over the phone with payments through the drop-box outside the building. Permits then will be emailed to the permit holder. Regarding plans that need to be reviewed, please send them digitally if possible. Otherwise, contact the receiving department to make arrangements: Engineering at 270-444-8511; Planning at 270-8690; and Fire Prevention at 270-444-8527.For more information visit the citys website at the link below.

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The Euro to US Dollar (EUR/USD) exchange rate is seen holding firm on Monday amid a market meltdown that saw the stock plunge triggers automatic trading halt on the New York Stock Exchange.

Currency analysts suggest momentum studies are oversold for EUR/USD and forecast at least a rebound from here.

Exchange Rates UK Research team have compiled a roundup of expert FX views on the current EUR/USD outlook from 10 leading FX analysts.

Ten Expert Currency Analyst Views and Opinion on Euro Near to Medium-Term Outlook

Robin Wilkin, Lloyds Bank 16/03

"Prices continue to hold over 1.1050 Fibonacci support, with momentum studies turning into bull mode. A move through 1.1220 region of resistance should open a further recovery towards 1.1350-1.1425, with the 1.1500 reaction highs from the beginning of the month above there. This would fit our core cycle analysis that 1.0778 was a significant low for an eventual move back towards 1.1800 range highs, but to still be part of a broader range for now. A decline through 1.1050 would question that, with 1.0930 last support ahead of 1.0778."

Shaun Osborne, Chief FX Strategist at Scotiabank 16/03

"The common currency is leading the non-haven G10 league in overnight trading on the back of last nights emergency Fed action as well as the commitment by key central banks to use their swap lines to maintain the flow of USDs. At home, last weeks ECB announcement fell short of expectations on the rate-cutting side but presented an immediate ramp up in asset purchases. It was Lagardes subsequent press conference, however, that tore down the optimism around the ECB stepping up to the challenge as the President indicated that it was not the Banks job to reduce spreads between Eurozone economies; she reportedly apologized to members of the governing council for her communication mishap on Friday. Todays EUR push masks the still fragmented approach to the crisis by governments in the bloc; an emergency call of EU leaders scheduled for tomorrow will hopefully bridge the difference in each countrys approach to the outbreak.

"EUR/USD short-term technicals are Neutral/bullishThe EURs solid gain this morning has positioned the currency for a reversal of last weeks slide which saw it close below the 1.11 mark for the first time since late-Feb. Todays moves were capped around the 38.2% retracement mark at 1.1219 with the 1.12 psychological level likely to also prompt EUR selling lest the move exhibits a high degree of upward momentum. The vicinity of 23.6% retracement mark at 1.1154 will act as support. "

Anton Kolhanov, Kolhanov.com - EUR/USD, spot market Monday forecast, March 16

"Downtrend - The downtrend may be expected to continue, while pair is trading below resistance level 1.1238, which will be followed by reaching support level 1.1056 and if it keeps on moving down below that level, we may expect the pair to reach support level 1.0940.

"Uptrend - An uptrend will start as soon, as the pair rises above resistance level 1.1238, which will be followed by moving up to resistance level 1.1353."

AFEX analysts 16/03

"The ECB showed how little room it has for manoeuvre as it held interest rates at -0.5% and added a relatively small amount of euro 120 billion to QE for the year. This reinforces the markets view that the interest rate differential between the EU and US is set to diminish. This has been the main motivation for the recent EUR/USD strength, alongside position squaring. With the US Fed cutting interest rates overnight to near zero, it wouldnt surprise if EUR/USD stayed supported in the short term."

Marc-Andre Fongern, Head of FX Research & Keynote Speaker at Fongern Global Forex 16/03

"The Federal Reserve's recent emergency measures are utterly alarming, in other words, investors are likely to remain intimidated. I anticipate an exceptionally painful global recession. The USD is unlikely to depreciate significantly for the time being, as numerous central banks are currently forced to cut interest rates drastically. Additionally, fears of a global liquidity crisis are resulting in a consistently high demand for the greenback."

Erik Bregar, Exchange Bank of Canada 16/3

"Euro/dollar is recouping some of last weeks ECB-driven losses this morning as global markets (and the Fed) go into panic mode again. The EUR continues to benefit whenever we see large bouts of risk-off across global markets and its getting an added boost today from the relative EU vs US monetary policy outlooks, which has just gone alarmingly more dovish in the US. Traders have some resistance to chop through in the 1.1200-1.1250s today however and at the moment they appear to be struggling. The CFTC released its weekly Commitment of Traders report on Friday afternoon and it showed a mass scramble from the leveraged funds to exit short EURUSD positions during the week ending March 10."

Chris Turner, Global Head of Markets and Regional Head of Research for UK & CEE at ING

"Four factors stand out as key EUR/USD drivers over the next one to two years. These are: (i) Impact of Covid-19 on the real sector; (ii) Central banks response; (iii) Fiscal response; (iv) Politics. Above we outline our baseline and alternative assumptions for these inputs  and the corresponding EUR/USD profiles. As a base case we are now split between scenario 2 and scenario 3."

Martin Enlund, Nordea

"While the dash for cash and US Treasury markets have recently been hurtful for our view, we still look for a higher EUR/USD, lower US 10y bond and at the very best mediocre risk appetite for equities. As for the other G10 central bank meetings, Bank of Japans rate decision is due on Thursday 19 March. Switzerlands SNB will also show what they are up to that same say."

UOB Research

"We indicated on Wednesday (11 Mar, spot 1.1300) that upward momentum has been dented and added, a break of 1.1230 would indicate that the rally that started in February has run its course. EUR cracked 1.1230 yesterday (12 Mar), plummeted to 1.1054 before snapping back up. The wild swings resulted in a huge 1-day range of 279 pips, the largest since June 2018. Overall, Mondays top of 1.1496 is viewed a short-term top and from here, EUR could trade in a choppy manner and within a broad 1.0980/1.1380."

Richard Perry, Hantec Markets

"A double whammy of an incredulous ECB press conference, dollar strength on funding concerns and a Fed move to mitigate, generated a wild session on EUR/USD. A high to low range of 280 pips does not even tell the whole story either. Taking a step back though to survey the technical damage to the chart, there is a breach of the support band $1.1200/$1.1240 which we see as being a move that opens the next target area of $1.1100, an old pivot. Selling into strength has already been a developing theme and for now we see little reason to change this view. Technicals are reflective of this, with the RSI below 60 having been above 80 means the corrective momentum is developing still. A Stochastics sell signal add to this. Resistance is now between $1.1200/$1.1240 with the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement (of $1.0775/$1.1492) at $1.1220. Whilst the market trades under $1.1300/$1.1330 resistance the move remains corrective now."
His nickname in China was The Cannon, and Ren Zhiqiangs latest commentary was among his most explosive yet.

Ren, an outspoken property tycoon in Beijing, wrote in a scathing essay that Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, was a power-hungry clown. He said the ruling Communist Partys strict limits on free speech had exacerbated the coronavirus epidemic.

Now Ren, one of the most prominent critics of Xi in mainland China, is missing, his friends said Saturday.

His disappearance comes amid a far-reaching campaign by the party to quash criticism of its slow, secretive initial response to the epidemic, which has killed more than 3,100 people in China and sickened more than 80,000.

The Chinese government is working to portray Xi as a hero who is leading the country to victory in a peoples war against the virus. But officials are contending with deep anger from the Chinese public, with many people still seething over the governments early efforts to conceal the crisis.

Ren, a party member, is well known for his searing critiques of Xi. In 2016, the party placed him on a years probation for denouncing Xis propaganda policies in comments online.

The government has monitored Rens movements intensely ever since, friends said, preventing him from leaving the country and deleting his social media accounts, where he had built a wide following.

Where he might be was unclear Saturday, and police in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Were very worried about him, said Wang Ying, a retired entrepreneur and friend of Rens. I will continue to look for him.

In recent weeks, an essay by Ren began circulating among elite circles in China and abroad. In it, he blamed the government for silencing whistleblowers and trying to conceal the outbreak, which began in the central city of Wuhan in December.

While he did not explicitly use Xis name in the commentary, Ren left no doubt he was speaking about Chinas leader, repeatedly referencing Xis speeches and actions.

I see not an emperor standing there exhibiting his new clothes, but a clown who stripped naked and insisted on continuing to be an emperor, he wrote.

Addressing Xi, he wrote: You dont in the slightest hide your resolute ambition to be an emperor and your determination to destroy anyone who wont let you.

Ren, 69, is the retired chairman of Huayuan Properties, a real estate developer. In 2016, Ren came under scrutiny after writing on his microblog that Chinas news media should serve the people, not the party, contradicting one of Xis high-profile pronouncements. His remarks offered a window into growing frustration among Chinese intellectuals and entrepreneurs over Xis increasingly authoritarian rule.

The party moved quickly to censure him, saying he had lost his party spirit. But he continued to speak out on other topics, such as Chinas strict policies to limit the population in big cities.

As more details about Chinas efforts to cover up the coronavirus outbreak have been disclosed by the Chinese news media in recent weeks, Xi has come under attack from several prominent Chinese activists and intellectuals.

Xu Zhangrun, a law professor in Beijing, published an essay last month saying that the epidemic had revealed the rotten core of Chinese governance.

Xu Zhiyong, a prominent legal activist, released a letter to Xi on social media, accusing him of a coverup and calling on him to step down. He was later detained.

Activists said Rens disappearance was a worrying sign that the government was escalating its latest crackdown on free speech.

The epidemic has brought out the worst of Xi Jinping, said Yang Jianli, a rights activist based in the United States. He is so determined not to give an inch, rightly understanding an inch would mean hundreds of miles.

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She is a woman of many skills.

And Eva Longoria was spotted stocking up on cloth and a dress form at a craft shop in the Valley this weekend.

The 45-year-old actress, producer and director was spotted emerging with her cart from Joann Fabric And Crafts in Sherman Oaks.

On the move: Eva Longoria was spotted stocking up on cloth and a dress form at a craft shop in the Valley this weekend

Sweeping her hair into a ponytail, the Desperate Housewives icon threw on a flowing cream tunic blouse and a pair of dull brown sweats.

Accessorizing with a cross-body bag and a pair of large black sunglasses, she rounded off her look with Rothy's bright white sneakers.

On February 20 Eva flew from Los Angeles to Rome to shoot a short film amid the coronavirus outbreak that has since put all of Italy under lockdown.

She was staying in Castel Gandolfo, a medieval town 25 kilometers away from the capital, and was pictured running through the woods while shooting a scene.

Off she goes: The 45-year-old actress, producer and director was spotted heading to Joann Fabric And Crafts in Sherman Oaks

Near the end of February she assured her Instagram followers that she was all right since she was not in northern Italy, where the virus first became a major concern.

'Hi everybody. I am shooting in this small town in Italy. I am nowhere near the North, thank you for your concerns,' she said.

'Everyone was calling and texting me about the coronavirus in the north of Italy. It's really sad, but we're further away.'

The first two cases of the virus in Italy were two Chinese tourists in Rome, the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera reported at the end of January.

The look: Sweeping her hair into a ponytail, the Desperate Housewives icon threw on a flowing cream tunic blouse with a pair of dull brown sweats and Rothy's bright white sneakers

An outbreak followed in Lombardy, the northern region where Milan is located, and five days ago Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte instituted a national quarantine.

Italy has the second most COVID-19 cases of any country other than mainland China, and the most in the world per capita.

U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed a travel ban on continental Europe beginning Friday. On Monday, this stricture will extend to the UK and Ireland.
Bogota, March 15 : The Colombian Attorney General said that prosecutors have recovered recordings in which a murdered cattle rancher mentions President Ivan Duque and Senator Alvaro Uribes alleged involvement in a vote-buying scam.

Attorney General Francisco Barbosa said on Saturday that he did not know about the recordings of Jose 'Nene' Guillermo Hernandez, who was killed last May in Brazil, mentioning Duque and Uribe until they were given to him following a judicial inspection, reports Efe mews.

"Neither the director of the National Police nor the director of the Dijin (Criminal Investigation Directorate of the National Police) ever informed me that they had these audios," Barbosa told the media here.

"It was the Prosecutor's Office, which after conducting a judicial inspection of the Technical Chamber of Dijin Communications, managed to recover the recordings." He said the inspection was carried out from 8 p.m. on Thursday until 4 a.m. on Friday.

Barbosa added the audios had always been at the hands of the police and were never referred to the Attorney General's office.

Duque and Uribe are at the centre of a political scandal after conversations were revealed about the rancher, thought to have been the key figure in the alleged purchase of votes during the election campaign that the President won.

The order allegedly came from Uribe.

The case called "Nenepolitica" came to light after part of the audios were transcribed by journalist Gonzalo Guillen and published in La Nueva Prensa news outlet.

Guillen said that prosecutors' investigation over a young man's murder revealed phone conversations which said Hernandez is "the axis of a vote-buying operation in (Colombia's) north coast for (Duque) and (Uribe)", over which the supreme court opened a preliminary investigation.

Prosecutors had been investigating Hernandez, who since 2015 was a suspect for the August 2011 murder in Barranquilla of Oscar Eduardo RodrAguez, son of moneylender Carlos RodrAguez, with whom the former had problems over a debt of 1 billion pesos (about $ 350,000).
"You have to get on the front foot; you see an issue, you address it," she said.

With the country's education sector increasingly under pressure from COVID-19, schools closing and students and families self-isolating, teachers are being relied on for practical and emotional support.

Koonung Secondary School is using online resources to stay connected to students unable to leave China due to coronavirus. Credit:Justin McManus

Communicating, keeping calm and logging on; these are the ways teachers are getting their students through the coronavirus pandemic.

"So from the first day we had assemblies, the school nurses spoke to the kids about basic things like don't panic and we need to be aware of basic hygiene.

"If you continue with business as usual and you've got a good routine and you're having open discussions about things then you can actually reduce a lot of concern.

"I hope we can keep kids not feeling anxious but we've been trying to just keep going, making sure people are informed."

The Mont Albert North school also has taken that commitment to communication up a notch since four of its students were unable to return from China to begin the school year.

The staff are using the school's online portal to post notes and lesson plans as well as FaceTime and Skype to keep in daily contact with the students and provide them with a virtual classroom and a support network. The school's counsellors and the students' friends are also in regular contact.
A day ahead of the floor test in Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Congress MLAs and Independents who were stationed at a resort in Jaipur arrived in Bhopal on Sunday (March 15). The MLAs were seen flashing victory signs at the airport and some of them claimed that the Congress government would prove majority in the floor test.

Senior Congress leader Harish Rawat, who was accompanying the MLAs, told the media that Chief Minister Kamal Nath will win the trust vote on the floor of Assembly on Monday (March 16). He also added that the party leaders were in touch with rebel MLAs. We are ready for the floor test and we are confident of winning it. We are not nervous, BJP is. Those (rebel) MLAs are also in touch with us, he said.

On Saturday (March 14), Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon had asked CM Kamal Nath to face a floor test on Monday, the first day of the budget session of the Assembly.

"Under Article 174 and 175(2) of the Constitution, I am empowered to direct that MP Assembly session will begin on March 16 at 11 am with my address. Soon after that, the only work to be done is voting on trust vote," Governor Tandon said in the letter.

Tandon passed the order hours after CM Kamal Nath wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah urging the latter ensure the "release" of 22 Congress MLAs held "captive" in Bengaluru.

Please use your power as Union home minister so that 22 Congress MLAs held captive can safely reach Madhya Pradesh and participate in the Assembly session beginning from March 16 without any allurement and fear," Kamal Nath wrote in the four-page letter.

A whip has also been issued by Madhya Pradesh Congress asking all its MLAs to be present in the Assembly from March 16 to April 13 during the session and vote in favour of the government during the floor test.

The political turmoil in Madhya Pradesh started after 22 Congress MLAs, loyalists of Jyotiraditya Scindia who quit the Congress to join the BJP, resigned from the Assembly, reducing the 15-month-old CM Kamal Nath's government to a minority in the Assembly.
John Cleese's iconic character Basil Fawlty (pictured). Tony investigates a fraud where another Basil, this time Basil Scruby, was impersonated by fraudsters

Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.

S.A. writes: I think some scammers are operating off the back of Beside Asset Management Limited, which you have written about before.

Tony Hetherington replies: I warned last year that Beside Asset Management accepted investors cash, claimed to make big profits, but then demanded thousands of pounds up front before it would allow withdrawals.

The profits were fictional, and the company vanished with the loot. Now Data Financial Services claims to be riding to the rescue.

Thank you for sending me its letter offering to help clients redeem their full portfolio value, including profits. The letter is from DFS director Basil Scruby, and he invites you to contact him on 0207 315 4094. This Central London phone number makes sense, as DFS says its address is 239 Kensington High Street, a short walk from the offices of The Mail on Sunday.

Now for the truth. There is no trace of DFS at the address it uses. And while there is a genuine company called Data Financial Services Limited, it is in Oxfordshire, not London. Its equally genuine director is Basil Scruby, a perfectly respectable businessman.

He told me: Data Financial Services is a privately owned company that holds some of my earnings. It has property, and has never offered financial services.

And he added one fact the fraudsters would not have known: My name is Basil, just like Basil Fawlty, but I am never called Basil. I am known as Tom, and that is how I always sign my name, never Basil.

He first heard about the scam last month, when he received a three-page letter from the Financial Conduct Authority, quoting law after law, all written on the basis that the crooked company was his and not a clone.

Acting without FCA authorisation could earn him two years in jail, the letter warned  though I cannot remember the last time the regulator prosecuted someone for this.

When Tom Scruby told the FCA the scam was nothing to do with him, it placed a warning on its website. The FCA tells me it is still monitoring the scam, but did not seem aware that it is still active.

A more realistic approach came from Hertfordshire Trading Standards, acting on a tip-off from a potential victim.

It recognised straight away that the scam DFS was a clone, and the councils community protection manager, Mike MacGregor, told me: We are gathering evidence and taking appropriate action.

'We have been in discussion with the police, and we will seek to have the website and telephone numbers taken down. This is something I myself would have expected the FCA to have done weeks ago.

I did telephone the fake DFS to invite a comment. A well-spoken young man said he could not connect me to Basil Scruby, and as soon as I gave my name, his tone changed. This is Grove Lane Garage in Leeds, he insisted. We have a London telephone number for the convenience of customers.

This was news to everyone at the real Grove Lane Garage, where owner Shaun Rushworth told me he has never had a London number. But he added: Somebody did defraud my business credit card in London. I think we are just another victim of these people.

So where are the fraudsters? The London number is no clue. It is part of a big batch of numbers controlled by Dolphin Com, a business based in Crewe in Cheshire.

You want to pretend to be in London while you are really in, say, Timbuktu  no problem, Dolphin offers UK phone numbers from a huge list of area codes, with calls diverted to wherever you like. Dolphin did not reply to invitations to comment on DFS.

You may wonder how the fraudsters make money out of all this. The answer is in their letter, which says it will only help investors who have a unique reference number. There is no such thing. However, I expect the bogus DFS will fix you up with one, for a price, of course.

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.
By AFP

SANTIAGO: Chile has quarantined more than 1,300 people aboard two cruise ships after an elderly Briton aboard one of them tested positive for the coronavirus, the health ministry announced Saturday.

Both ships are cruising the Chilean fjords in Patagonia.

The 85-year-old man showed symptoms of the virus after getting off the Silver Explorer ship in the far southern port of Caleta Tortel, 2,400 kilometers (1,500 miles) from Santiago.

The man was later transferred to a hospital in the city of Coyhaique where he tested positive for the virus.

"The ship is in quarantine off the port of Castro. The British citizen is in good condition but has tested positive for coronavirus," Health Minister Jaime Manalich told a press conference. The other ship, the Azmara Pursuit -- with 665 passengers and nearly 400 crew -- had earlier crossed into Chilean waters from the southern Argentine port of Ushuaia. Manalich said it was currently near the port of Chacabuco after authorities banned it from landing passengers there, on grounds that it was carrying suspected cases of the coronavirus.

The ship is on a 21-day cruise from Buenos Aires to Callao in Peru, just beside Lima. The number of coronavirus cases in Chile reached 61 on Saturday, 18 more than on Friday. Manalich said Chile is in Phase 3 of the crisis, with means that in addition to those infected with COVID-19 coming from abroad, there may be local cases.

"This means a more delicate situation from the epidemiological point of view in controlling the disease," he said.

Chile has taken broad measures against the spread of the virus, banning events of more than 500 people, recommending people work from home, and ordering the quarantine of 2,600 students attending an elite private school in Santiago.

In other developments around Latin America on Saturday, Colombia expelled two French nationals and two Spaniards for violating coronavirus quarantine rules.

The two couples separately took tourist trips in defiance of restrictions imposed on visitors from the worst-affected countries, immigration officials said.

Ecuador announced it was closing its borders to foreigners after the country registered its second coronavirus death.

In Bolivia, a ban on direct flights to and from Europe went into effect on Saturday.

Travelers from China, South Korea, Italy and Spain are also banned from entry. Panama banned flights from Asia, one day after blocking flights from Europe.

Authorities also announced that schools will shutter in Venezuela, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Uruguay.

As of 2200 GMT Saturday, Latin America had registered 6 coronavirus deaths and 430 cases of infection.
Kabul: The case of crime increasing day by day has taken a formidable form today. In this present era, everyone is worried about how long will this problem be resolved. There is again a deadlock over the release of Taliban prisoners in Afghanistan. The government has postponed the decision to release the prisoners. Due to this, a crisis has arisen regarding the peace talks between the government and the Taliban.

PM's wife also became a victim of corona

According to the information, President Ashraf Ghani recently announced the release of 1,500 Taliban prisoners. The government made this announcement to demonstrate goodwill ahead of talks with the Taliban. However, before this, President Ghani refused to release the Taliban prisoners. Due to this government's stand, the peace talks with the Taliban were in a shambles.

Corona creates chaos around world, teacher told proper way to cough

America's agreement with the Taliban was endangered. After this, Ghani was prepared for the release of Taliban prisoners. On the other hand, talking about suitors, on Saturday, March 14, 2020, Afghanistan National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal said, the issue of the release of prisoners has been postponed. According to the Taliban list, some time is needed to ensure the identity of the prisoners, we are working on it.

US President Trump conducted Corona's test, said this on the information of the reports
As conflict enters 10th year, UN agency warns that 2.8m children are out of school in Syria and neighbouring countries.

More than 4.8 million children have been born into war since Syrias brutal conflict erupted nine years ago, the UN childrens agency has said, adding that thousands of others were killed or wounded in the conflict.

The war in Syria marks yet another shameful milestone today, said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF executive director, as the conflict entered its tenth year.

Millions of children are entering their second decade of life surrounded by war, violence, death and displacement.

The 2011 uprising had been brewing for decades under the autocratic rule of President Bashar al-Assad, who inherited power from his father, Hafez al-Assad, in 2010 after nearly 30 years at the helm.

On March 15, 2011, and following demonstrations elsewhere in the region, tens of thousands of Syrians began rallying peacefully in cities across the country to demand the removal of al-Assad.

In response, the government resorted to the use of force and labelled anyone who opposed it a terrorist.

Authorities spared nobody in the ensuing crackdown with opposition leaders, activists and professionals all being targeted.

Those who escaped execution were arrested and tortured. Many of them have gone missing.

Citing data from 2014 when official monitoring began, UNICEF said that more than 9,000 children were killed or injured in the conflict.

During the same time close to 5,000 children  some as young as seven  were recruited into the fighting (and) nearly 1,000 education and medical facilities came under attack.

The agency warned that the true impact of this war on children is likely to be more profound.

Ted Chaiban, UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said an ongoing offensive by government forces on the last rebel stronghold in northwestern Syria was having severe consequences on children.

Fighting in Idlib since December 1 has displaced more than 960,000 people, including over 575,000 children, according to UNICEF.

And as a result of the wider impact of the conflict more than 2.8 million children are out of school inside Syria and in neighbouring countries, the agency said.

Two in five schools cannot be used because they are destroyed, damaged, sheltering displaced families or being used for military purposes, UNICEF said.

Violence is still very much raging across the country, you have countless civilians that are trapped in a warzone in northwest Syria, Rachel Sider, advocacy adviser at the Norwegian Refugee Council, told Al Jazeera.

Were quite appalled with the inaction of world powers that have allowed this violence to spiral out of control and allowed warring parties to kill, maim and displace millions of Syrians across the country, she added.

Addressing warring parties, Fore said: Our message is clear: Stop hitting schools and hospitals.

Stop killing and maiming children. Grant us the crossline and cross-border access we need to reach those in need. Far too many children have suffered for far too long.
Coles has stepped up restrictions on its products to include limits on mince as supermarket shelves in Australia are stripped bare amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The new restrictions on the meat were announced by the supermarket giant on Sunday afternoon to combat panic-buying as the disease spreads globally.

It follows limits being extended beyond toilet paper on Friday to items including flour, paper towels and paper tissues.

Empty shelves pictured at a Coles supermarket in Waterloo in southern Sydney. The supermarket has brought in new restrictions for items including mince and flour and paper towels

The new restrictions on the meat were announced by the supermarket giant on Sunday afternoon (Facebook post pictured)

'As the situation around Coronavirus continues to develop, we want to ensure you have the most up to date information on product availability,' Coles said in a statement on Sunday.

'The purchase of mince, pasta, flour, dry rice, paper towels, paper tissues and hand sanitisers is limited to 2 items per customer.'

Coles' chief executive officer Steven Cain said staff were working 'as hard as possible' to ensure shelves were sufficiently stocked.

Pictured: pedestrians in North Sydney walk past a Coles supermarket in the suburb on Sunday

'As the situation around coronavirus continues to develop, we believe that everyone in the community should have access to their share of grocery items, particularly the elderly,' he said.

It comes after Woolworths shoppers were hit with bad news when the supermarket giant announced toilet paper would no longer be available to order online and pick up.

COLES' PURCHASE LIMITS AMID PANIC-BUYING Maximum two items per customer: Mince Pasta Flour Dry rice Paper towels Paper tissues Hand sanitisers Advertisement

The chain announced toilet paper would no longer be available to order online and pick up.

In an email sent to customers by CEO Brad Banducci, the supermarket chain said it was running low on toilet paper along with other supplies due to panic buying.

Mr Banducci said due to demand, the highly sought-after product 'wont be available for pick up orders for the time being'.

'Limits are now in place on toilet paper, wipes, paper towels, serviettes, rice and some other items,' he said.

'Our toilet paper suppliers continue to work on meeting increased demand, and we're working with some suppliers to prioritise the production of smaller pack sizes, so we can make more packs available to you this week.

'Our team will be happy to see if toilet paper is available in store when you come in to pick up your order.'

Pictured: A purchase restriction notice at a Coles in Sydney

So far 280 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus in Australia, with three deaths.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also announced the Australian 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.
Ashesi University has announced it will suspend classes effective Monday, March 16.

This comes in the wake of the outbreak of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus in the country.

A notice from the school said we are suspending classes indefinitely and moving to online teaching.

The schools definite decision comes after the government announced a new travel advisory that includes a ban on travel to Ghana by persons from countries with more than 200 reported cases of COVID-19.

Students, whose homes are in Ghana, will be encouraged to practice social distancing as they pack up and leave campus to return home. International students who live off-campus will be assisted in moving to campus, a notice sighted by Citi News indicated.

The school said it is training its non-teaching staff on how to handle suspected patients of Coronavirus on campus.

Cleaners will be taught how to incorporate the right mix of alcohol with cleaning liquids and taught to clean frequently, the notice said.

Throughout the week, the school indicated that it will be introducing various ways of keeping academic work online virtually while staff are trained to keep the campus safe from the virus.

The school in a series of tweets added that students who are home should not report to campus.

Students who are already at home, are encouraged to stay through this period. Should parent(s) be coming to campus to pick up students, please note that you will not be allowed into student hostels. Parents would have to meet their ward in the car park(s) for pick-up, one of the tweets read. University of Ghana suspends lectures

The University of Ghana earlier on Sunday announced that it has temporarily suspended lectures.

The announcement followed confirmation that one of the six cases recorded in the country was of a student who had returned from the US. Coronavirus cases in Ghana

As at noon on Sunday March 15, 2020, six cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed in Ghana.

Director of Public Health at Ghana Health Service, Dr Badu Sarkodie who provided updates on the country's cases on Sunday said all the cases were imported into the country.

The first two cases were confirmed on Thursday March 12, 2020.

Two other cases were confirmed on Friday, March 13, 2020 while an additional two were confirmed on Saturday, March 14, 2020.

Five of the cases were confirmed in the Greater Accra Region while the remaining one was confirmed in the Ashanti Region.

citinewsroom
Update: Victim, suspect identified; NYPD releases additional details about the incident.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.-- A dispute that began on a residential street in West Brighton early Sunday morning ended with a woman dead and a man in custody.

Police responded at about 12:50 a.m. to Egbert Avenue, near Mundy Avenue for a report of a woman injured by a driver and damage to private property.

A 29-year-old woman climbed onto the hood of the Mitsubishi SUV during the dispute, at which point the driver hit the accelerator, ultimately crashing into the front porch of a home, police said.

The female victim, whose identity is pending family notification, was pronounced dead at Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton.

No other injuries were reported, according to an NYPD spokesman.

A 25-year-old male was in police custody, with charges pending, as of Sunday morning.

The suspect and victim were known to each other, police said.

Emergency crews responded early Sunday morning to a report of a woman struck by a driver on a residential street in West Brighton. (Courtesy of J. Logan)

A man who lives nearby said he heard a loud bang," and that police arrived at the scene within literally seconds."

Police said the incident remains under investigation by the NYPDs Collision Investigation Squad.

This is a breaking story. More information will be posted as it becomes available.
WASHINGTON  The coronavirus outbreak is prompting a heated debate among lawmakers and the White House over whether the Trump administration should remove the tariffs it has imposed on China and other nations to provide some economic relief.

Supporters of lifting the tariffs, even temporarily, say it would be a simple and immediate way to help businesses and consumers struggling with higher costs from President Trumps levies. U.S. tariffs on foreign steel, aluminum and more than $360 billion of Chinese goods have chipped away at profits for companies that depend on imported goods and parts, slowed business investment and weighed on households, particularly those on the lower end of the income scale.

But opponents warn the move could provide China with an economic advantage at a particularly sensitive moment. Factories are slowly restarting in China, as the country shakes off the virus that began on its shores, but the outbreak in the United States and Europe continues to worsen, with schools, restaurants, offices and other Western businesses now closing.

China hawks warn that the Chinese government and businesses will take advantage of any pause in tariffs to capture a larger share of global industries, putting Beijing on a dominant course for years to come.
Trenise Jackson, 44, was outside of ShopRite in Downtown Jersey City with her shopping cart filled with cases of bottled water, cereal and canned goods Saturday afternoon.

Like so many others, she was stocking up because of the coronavirus crisis. Its all for her and her 17-year-old son, she told The Jersey Journal.

We dont know whats going to happen, said Jackson, a 44-year-old Jersey City resident.

Jackson said stocking up now is crucial and many people are not taking the outbreak as seriously as they should.

A trip through ShopRite stores in Jersey City and Hoboken, and the the Stop and Shop in Bayonne tell a different story. Shelves where toilet paper, hand soaps, fever-reducing medicine, cereal, canned foods and soups sat earlier this week are now barren, at least temporarily.

For 48-year-old Susan Parker, who has diabetes and rides a mobility scooter due to a disability, a trip to the supermarket Saturday was a filled with anxiety because of the growing number of cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus.

She only needed a few things. I didnt see much spring water left, Parker said after shopping at Stop and Shop. They dont have much stuff.

Parker, of Jersey City, wore gloves and carried a face mask in her purse and was accompanied by her boyfriend, Joey Ziko.

Ziko, 43, works at a warehouse in Secaucus and rides the bus from Jersey City every day. Hes worried about Parker, who he believes maybe more vulnerable to the coronavirus.

I can probably fight off anything I get because I try to boost my immune system, Ziko said. But I dont want her to get sick... Im worried.

As of Sunday morning there has been at least 72 positive COVID-19 cases and two deaths in New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted. In Hudson County, there are seven cases.

Jackson, like Ziko, said her fear is not about herself, but of her son.

Jacksons son, a Lincoln High School student who she did not want to identify, has asthma and has battled pneumonia before, she said.

I feel like I can fight anything, but for him, Im afraid, she said. Thats my worse fear. ... So, Im going to take precaution no matter what.

The 44-year-old, a court reporter in New York, said shell be working at home to be with her son for the week.

Most schools across Hudson County are closed for at least a week and municipalities have canceled recreation and community events. The state ordered all municipal courts closed for two weeks and state courts has postponed all new trials.

Hoboken has closed City Hall, shut down bars, limited restaurants to pick-up and takeout orders and imposed a 10 p.m. curfew. Jersey City has ordered bars and restaurants closed by 10 p.m.

On Friday, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency, which frees up $50 billion in federal funds to help cover costs of responding to the virus.

Globally, coronavirus has infected more than 142,000 people and left more than 5,000 dead.

Ziko and Parker said life after the coronavirus will be completely different.

In all my life, Ive never seen anything like this, Parker said.

This is like something youd see in a movie, Ziko added. Its scary.
ALBANY  In the midst of a coronavirus pandemic, the message from government officials could not be clearer: This is not a time to play politics.

But, of course, the virus has spread rapidly in the midst of a very political time: It is a presidential election year, with New Yorks primary scheduled for April 28. The entire state Legislature is up for election, as is the U.S. House of Representatives  and that primary is scheduled for June 23. Candidates are about two weeks into their petitioning period, relying on in-person interactions to gather hundreds of signatures to get their names on the ballot.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo knew that was, perhaps, not the smartest idea  the state is battling an invisible, highly contagious and unprecedented threat known as COVID-19. And so, on Saturday afternoon, he issued an executive order slashing the number of signatures required to qualify for the ballot to 30 percent of the statutory threshold and prohibited candidates from petitioning after Tuesday, a full two weeks ahead of schedule.

"This will ensure our electoral process goes on while safeguarding public health," Cuomo tweeted just hours after briefing the press on the first confirmed COVID-19 death in the state.

The response in New York mirrors that of the fallout in the national political world: canceled fundraisers and rallies, debates without audiences, the closure of the U.S. Capitol to the public. The state Capitol in Albany will close to visitors effective Sunday after two Assembly members were diagnosed with the illness.

Cuomo's executive order came in the wake of mounting pressure from legislators and candidates who feared spreading the illness or putting their volunteers in danger as they collected signatures. Some had suspended petitioning of their own volition, including several Albany-area congressional candidates, and others canceled scheduled fundraisers and rallies while pledging only to collect the minimum number of signatures.

"Its a big relief for those of us who were concerned that we have to choose between running for re-election and putting peoples health in jeopardy," said Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Westchester County, whose district includes one of the areas most deeply affected by the pandemic. She had been "looking at" legislation to lessen the signature requirement last week.

Petitioning is a "contact sport," said state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, D-Brooklyn and the chair of the Senate elections committee, and it would have been counterproductive to encourage social distancing while also mandating petition gathering. Cuomo told reporters Saturday evening that all signatures collected after March 17 will be void.

"Were facing an unprecedented public health crisis," Myrie said. "It takes extraordinary circumstances for us to make changes to the election law, certainly while were in the middle of the process, but were facing an extraordinary circumstance."

On Saturday, both U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, and her Democratic opponent Tedra Cobb, suspended petitioning. Both said they have reached and exceeded the original signature requirement  1,250 names  ahead of Cuomo's announcement. Cobb on Thursday had also directed all at-risk volunteers to stop petitioning and canceled all public events until further notice. She closed her Canton office and is ordering staff to work remotely.

As of Friday, U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, and his Republican opponent Liz Joy had also instituted dramatic changes to their campaign schedules.

The law requires signatures to be collected by April 2 to gain access to the ballot, Tonko campaign spokesman Sean Magers said late last week. We are doing the minimum required by the law to qualify for the election, but campaigning beyond that has been halted.

Joy said that while she continues petitioning, volunteers are regularly sanitizing their hands, clipboards and pens. She has stopped all campaign events, including a large fundraiser scheduled for March 29.

We are canceling everything until April 1st at least," Joy said, noting she's taking "every precaution" because her husband is a cardiologist who sometimes works in the emergency room at Ellis Medicine in Schenectady.

It remains to be seen whether the updated requirements will bar some candidates from getting their names on the ballot.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

But petitioning has not been the only victim of the new virus. Two state Senate Democratic fundraisers were scheduled for this week; both have now been postponed, according to an Albany insider familiar with the plans. (Cuomo late last week barred all events featuring more than 500 people, and all smaller events must be held at facilities that fill, at most, to half capacity.)

Still, the broader impact of the coronavirus on campaigns and elections is growing larger by the day. Cuomo's Saturday executive order permits absentee voting in the March 24 election for Queens borough president; voters can register for absentee ballots until March 23. State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, D-Bronx, last week introduced legislation to allow absentee ballots in the event of a public health crisis.

On Friday, state Sen. James Skoufis, D-Orange County, announced legislation that would change New York's presidential primary from April 28 to June 23. A handful of special elections  including those for a Buffalo-area congressional seat and Syracuse state Senate seat  are also scheduled for April.

John Conklin, a spokesman for the state Board of Elections, said the body has issued guidance about appropriate practices for poll workers to protect themselves and the public and measures to properly clean voting machines and electronic poll ballots. They have also issued health-related guidance to county boards of elections, he said.

Several Capital Region villages are still planning elections on Wednesday unless they hear otherwise, including Corinth where there is a contested mayoral race.

Mayor Dennis Morreale, who is not seeking re-election, said the voting areas in the Village Hall continue to be continually sanitized. Individual pens for marking ballots are being provided to voters that they can take home. "We've taken every precaution. We're prepared," he said. Voting is noon to 9 p.m. Other villages with polling scheduled include Colonie and Castleton-on-Hudson.

At the highest levels of U.S. government, a Sunday Democratic presidential primary debate between former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders was moved to Washington D.C, from Phoenix, Ariz., and will no longer have a live audience.

Sanders and Biden have canceled campaign rallies and other get-out-the-vote events ahead of the primaries this week in Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio. President Donald Trump also called off a handful of scheduled campaign events in Nevada; he has another rally planned for March 25 in Tampa, Fla., but said it probably won't happen "because people will say its better to not do."

"We need a little separation until such time as this goes away," Trump said Thursday. "It's going to go away. It's going to go away."

Staff writers Emilie Munson and Wendy Liberatore contributed to this article.
London, March 16 : Socialite Paris Hilton wants to live forever because she thinks it would be "boring" if there's nothing after death.

"Death scares me because I don't know what happens. I just don't want it to be nothing because that would be so boring. I'm trying to figure out a way - freezing myself or inventing the fountain of youth pill - so people could live forever, like that movie 'Death Becomes Her'," Hilton told Britain's Cosmopolitan magazine, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

She feels "lucky" that she has retained her youthful appearance without resorting to cosmetic surgery.

"I feel 21 forever. And I'm all natural. I feel so lucky that my mum always told me to stay out of the sun. I feel lucky I haven't had to resort to what most people do in this town," Hilton said.

Meanwhile, though she has ruled herself out of a reboot of "The Simple Life", Hilton said producers have quizzed her on who she think would be perfect for the show - which saw her and Nicole Richie try their hands at various tasks - if it did come back, but refused to say who she chose.

She said: "My schedule is just so insane. I can't imagine leaving my life and going to the middle of nowhere and doing that again. Plus the show is so timeless and iconic, you can't remake that. They asked me who I would recommend if I didn't want to do it myself. (Who did I say?) I can't tell. I've signed a confidentiality agreement.

"I don't know (if it is coming back). I don't think it'll ever be what it was, but it will be fun to watch other people do it."
The political drama in Madhya Pradesh is all set to shift to the Assembly after the governor directed Chief Minister to seek a trust vote on Monday and Speaker NP Prajapati said he will first give a ruling on whether to hold the floor test.

As the rebellion led by Jyotiraditya Scindia threatened the survival of its government, the Congress appeared keen on putting off the trust vote and asserted that it is the Speaker's prerogative to decide about the proceedings of the House, but a buoyed BJP maintained that he was bound by the governor's direction.

After the Speaker accepted the resignation of six Congress MLAs on Saturday, the party now has 108 legislators. These include 16 rebel legislators who have also put in their papers but their resignations are yet to be accepted.

The BJP has 107 seats in the House which now has an effective strength of 222, with the majority mark being 112.

To add to the ruling Congress' woes, it is yet uncertain whether it will continue getting the support of four Independents, two BSP MLAs and one MLA from the SP.

The week-long political drama saw both the Congress and the BJP herding their MLAs to resorts outside the state due to fears of poaching. While the Congress MLAs returned on Sunday from Jaipur, the BJP too was bringing back its legislators from Haryana to attend the first day of the session on Monday.

Both the parties have issued whips to their MLAs.

On Saturday night, Governor Lalji Tandon wrote to asking him to seek a trust vote in the Assembly soon after the governor address on Monday, saying his government was in minority.

Referring to resignations of 22 Congress MLAs, the Governor said: "Based on the above facts, prima facie, I believe that your government has lost the confidence of the House and it is in minority.

"This is a very serious issue and therefore as per the constitutional provisions and for protecting the democratic values, it is necessary that on March 16, soon after my address, you seek the trust vote in the Assembly."



"Under Article 174 and 175(2) of the Constitution, I am empowered to direct that MP Assembly session will begin on March 16 at 11 am with my address. Soon after that the only work to be done is voting on trust vote," the letter.

The governor also directed that the trust vote be held by division of votes and the process be recorded on video by the Vidhan Sabha through independent persons.

He said it "must be completed under any circumstances on March 16, 2020 and it should not be adjourned, delayed or suspended".

But the Assembly Speaker on Sunday remained non committal over the trust vote.

This will be known tomorrow... I will read out my ruling tomorrow," he told reporters when asked if the trust vote will be held on Monday.

There were indications on Sunday that the beleaguered Congress government might seek to buy time from the Speaker to win back some of its 16 rebels MLAs.

The governor has directed the chief minister to seek confidence vote after his address. But, the Assembly Speaker decides the proceedings of the House, MP Law and Legal Affairs Minister PC Sharma argued.

What all will be done in the House, the Speaker decides, the Minister contended and expressed confidence his party will prove majority on the floor comfortably.

The party has alleged that the BJP was holding the rebels MLAs captive at a hotel in Bengaluru, a charge denied by the saffron party outright.

Another Congress MLA said that the floor test "might not take place on Monday" and the issue could even go to court.

As suspense remained on whether a trust vote will be held or not on Monday, sources said both the parties were mulling legal recourse in case the proceedings do not go their way.

"The Congress has lost the majority. The Governor is saying that it is a minority. I am not saying this. This has been mentioned in the letter sent to Chief Minister by the Governor, the BJP chief whip in the assembly, Narottam Mishra, said.

BJP vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe said Chief Minister should step down as the Congress government has become "lame-duck" after the resignation of the 22 MLAs.

BJP legislative party sources said that it will vociferously press for the trust vote after the Governor's address.

The opposition party claims that the political crisis in the state is due to internal fighting in the Congress and it has nothing to do with it.

The 19 rebel Congress MLAs are likely to return by Monday morning, a source close to Jyotiraditya Scindia, who has joined the BJP, said.

Amid the political slugfest, state public relations minister PC Sharma on Sunday demanded that all the MLAs be screened for coronavirus.

"The MLAs who have returned from Jaipur and also those who have gone to Haryana and Benguluru should undergo coronavirus tests. It is important as the virus has spread in Jaipur and Haryana," he said.

Meanwhile, a team of doctors reached hotel Courtyard by Marriot in MP Nagar here, where Congress MLAs are put up after coming from Jaipur, for coronavirus screening.

State Minister of Health and Finance Tarun Bhanot had earlier said the legislators would be screened for the virus.
Its possible that students in Ohio will not be returning to school for the rest of the school year. Ohio is one of several states that has announced schools will be closed for the next three weeks. And during an interview with CNN on Sunday, Gov. Mike DeWine made clear that could easily extend through the summer.

Absolutely, DeWine said when CNNs Brianna Keilar asked him if the state could close schools for the rest of the year. The key is what medical experts are saying that the covid-19 outbreak may not peak until the end of April or May. Weve informed superintendents while weve closed schools for three weeks, odds are we will go on a lot longer, he said. It would not surprise me at all if schools did not open again this year.

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More than 20 states and several large urban school districts, including Los Angeles, have announced that all K-12 schools are shutting down in an effort to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. Even though most districts are announcing closures of between two-to-four weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said closing schools for eight weeks or longer would be far more effective to stop the spread of covid-19.

DeWine also said the state health director will be ordering all bars and restaurants to close to the public at 9 p.m. Sunday night in Ohio. The governor said his administration decided to take action amid concern from people who were worried about crowded bars on Saturday night and increasing concern about St. Patricks Day celebrations this coming week. Restaurants and bars will still be able to offer carryout and delivery services. I cant tell you how sorry I am. Our goal is for everyone to get through this. What we wish is that next St. Patricks Day everyone will be there and theyll have an opportunity to celebrate, DeWine said.
More than 200 Indians, who were evacuated from coronavirus-hit Iran, were on Sunday brought to Rajasthans Jaisalmer and will be quarantined at the Indian Armys wellness centre, officials said.

The Indians, including students and pilgrims, had reached Mumbai early on Sunday on a Mahan Air flight, an Iranian carrier, and then brought to Jaisalmer in two Air India planes.

The Wellness Centre at Jaisalmer is fully equipped and functional facility to help Indian citizens undertake the mandatory quarantine period under the supervision of skilled medical authorities, Colonel Sombit Ghosh, Rajasthans defence spokesperson, said.

Highlights The Indians, including students and pilgrims, were brought to Jaisalmer in two Air India planes. Army soldiers have volunteered to take care of the evacuated people They came to Mumbai in a Mahan Air flight, an Iranian carrier.

Soldiers have volunteered to provide care and support to our countrymen returning from overseas, he said.

Col Ghosh said the wellness centre is working with the civil administration airport authorities and the Indian Air Force (IAF) to ensure proper care is provided to all the evacuated citizens.

After the Indians landed in Mumbai, external affairs minister S Jaishankar thanked Iranian authorities for helping India in the evacuation of its nationals.

234 Indians stranded in Iran have arrived in India; including 131 students and 103 pilgrims. Thank you Ambassador @dhamugaddam (Dhamu Gaddam) and @India_in_Iran team for your efforts. Thank Iranian authorities, the minister tweeted.

Iran is among the worst affected countries in the Middle East with 12,729 cases and even senior officials testing positive. It said on Saturday the coronavirus outbreak has killed another 97 people, pushing the death toll in the country to 611.

India has carried out several evacuations of Indians nationals from Iran in the past few days.

The first batch of 58 Indians was brought back in a C-17 Globemaster, the largest military aircraft in the Indian Air Forces (IAFs) inventory, on Tuesday followed by another evacuation of 44 individuals on Friday.

Also read: 58 evacuated from Iran, housed in isolation at Hindon airbase medical facility; remain asymptomatic

India and Iran have both begun operations to evacuate citizens stranded in each others territories and have pledged full cooperation in this regard.

India is trying to set up a laboratory in Iran to test all Indians for the coronavirus to expedite their exit and in the meanwhile, their samples are being sent to India in batches for testing onboard special Mahan Air flights.

India has reported two deaths and 93 positive cases of coronavirus so far.
PKK terrorists neutralized in northern Syria

Within the scope of Turkeys anti-terror operations, three terrorists who were plotting attacks on Turkish forces were neutralized.

The Turkish army neutralized three YPG/PKK terrorists in northern Syrian territories, the National Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

OPERATIONS WILL CONTINUE

In a Twitter post, the ministry said two PKK/YPG terrorists who attacked on Turkish troops in the Operation Euphrates Shield area, and another one attempting to infiltrate the Operation Peace Spring area were neutralized.

It added that the operations will continue without letup.

In 2016-2019, Turkey launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border into northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable peaceful settlement by locals: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday urged the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations to create a common framework for telemedicine as part of the region's efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking via video conferencing with participants from all SAARC member countries, Ghani put forth five proposals for combatting the virus that has infected nearly 150 people in the region.

Ghani further said that the closing of borders amid coronavirus concerns will result in significant problems regarding the availability of medicine and basic goods.

"As a landlocked country -- which is simultaneously the heart of Asia -- the closing of the border will result in significant problems regarding availability of medicine and basic goods. We (need to) coordinate to be able to create controlled flows, that, both, allows transactions to take place while focusing on the essentials," said Ghani.

The Afghan President further said: "Since India is both a very important member of the SAARC and a member of Shanghai Cooperation, it can coordinate between SAARC and Shanghai Cooperation and share how much experience of China is replicable to our situation and how do we learn from their experience."

The video conference had been proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an aim to chalk out a joint strategy to fight coronavirus. The proposal was welcomed and endorsed by all SAARC nations and the conference was held for today.

In his address on the occasion, Modi said that the SAARC regions must prepare, act, and succeed together to defeat the pandemic.

"As developing nations, all of us have significant challenges in terms of access to health care facilities. Our people-to-people ties are ancient and our society deeply interconnected. We must all prepare, act, and succeed together," Modi said.

He stressed the importance of vigilance since the region is densely populated.

"COVID-19 has recently been classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a pandemic. So far, our SAARC region has listed fewer than 150 cases but we need to remain vigilant. SAARC region is home to nearly 1/5 of all humanity. It is densely populated," said Modi.

Prime Minister Modi briefed the SAARC member countries about India's experience of combating the spread of coronavirus so far.

"Prepare, but don't panic has been our guiding mantra. We started screening entry into India from mid-January itself, while also gradually increasing restrictions on travel. The step-by-step approach has helped avoid panic. We have made special efforts to reach out to vulnerable groups," he said.

The Prime Minister said that "we have worked to quickly ramp up capacity in our system including through training our medical staff across the country. We have also increased diagnostic capabilities. Within two months, we moved from one major facility for pan-India testing."

Modi said that the country has developed protocols for each stage of managing the pandemic.

"We also responded to the call of our people abroad. We evacuated nearly 1,400 Indians from different countries. We also similarly helped some of the citizens of our neighbouring countries," he said.

Underlining the concern of other countries for their citizens in India, Modi said that the foreign ambassadors are being updated about the situation in the country on a regular basis.

"We cannot predict with certainty how the situation will unfold despite our best efforts. You must also be facing similar concern," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Shankkar Aiyar By

Social distancing is the go-to phrase and instrument to counter transmission of Covid19 virus. As with medication and interventions it comes with contra-effects. The socialisation of dont touch-meet- engage-travel advice, leads to paralysis of economic activity, imposes costs on individuals and nations and has triggered a cascade of consequences.

The potential cost of the economic shutdown brought down world markets and the precipitous slide of the markets aggravated the sense of uncertainty and fear. The flight of capital to safety, witnessed across global markets this week, sent central banks and governments scurrying to their treasury chests to preclude what was first seen as a liquidity crisis from morphing into a calamity of solvency.

Every crisis also arrives with its own window for reflection. As William Gibson famously said, the future is here and is waiting to be embraced. The instruments of mitigation afford a glimpse of the next economy and dare one say, even the next society. Change comes at inflexion points in history, this is such a cusp and the world is inexorably and structurally transitioning to new ways and systems. And the signs are manifest in the tactics which could be strategies for the future.

This week, Harvard University told students its moving all classes online starting March 23 in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States. Students would attend virtual classes and be assessed for credit as usual. Conceivably created capacity could be converted into a template for expansion and a parallel stream for graduate courses.

It is estimated that over 200 million students are enrolled in graduate classes across the world  a catchment worth tapping into at lower costs to the student and the university. It is not just education. The idea of going to work has been morphing for some years. On Friday, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, sent a memo to all employees, 245,000 of them, asking them to work from home as Covid19 spreads across the globe. To be sure AT&T is not the only corporation to advice so  Amazon, Google, Twitter Spotify have all mandated so.

This temporary tactic could arguably form the basis for future strategies for expansion and staffing. Sure, there could be downsides  of accountability and productivity  but these will be weighed in consonance with operational costs. The potential fall in footprints has consequences not just for the future of commercial space but also the scale economics of mobility and infrastructure  particularly governments planning/ executing mass transport corridors. Already a large segment of urban commercial space is emptying thanks to the loss of shoppers who have gone online.

Fear of transmission has also halted court work. On Thursday, the highest court of Switzerland directed that all public hearings be postponed. In Italy, all court proceedings are suspended. In Ireland and Vietnam, all courts have been shut for March. In Canada, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has suspended jury selection for trials till further notice. In the United States, federal courts in Manhattan, Massachusetts and Connecticut ordered the suspension of all jury trials scheduled to begin. Ostensibly, the expectation is of early restoration of normalcy.

That said, delays will catalyse thinking on alternate methods of judicial processes involving induction of technological solutions  for instance, live-streaming of proceedings, use of online platforms for civil litigation, submission of arguments online for final hearing in the court, and as with bail hearings, video trials could be the next thing in geographies not following the jury system.

At another level, companies are banning travel and governments have blocked inward and outward travellers  consequently the S&P Supercomposite Airlines Industry Index, including SkyWest, United, Delta et al sank  as much as 17 per cent on Thursday alone, the biggest since 9/11. Companies are designing methods of remote engagement and delivery of services. Clearly this is temporary but it gives a glimpse of what could be and opens up the potential for enterprises facilitating remote business engagements.

Change is also arriving at governments for governance. The approach on how to deal with welfare needs is poised for change. Employees unable to attend work due to the need to be in isolation/quarantine and workers in the gig economy are badly hit. There is a rising clamour for compensation. The consensus opinion is in favour of direct income support to those affected  a la the Aadhaar enabled direct benefit transfer system. The debate on universal basic income will be revived and customised to suit context and geography.

There are many more domains which are poised at the cusp of change  and the advent of 5G, and IOT systems will only accelerate the shift. The viral fears, the epidemiology and the epistemology in the ongoing crisis affords economies the opportunity to peep into the window for a view of what the future could be like.

To paraphrase poet Matthew Arnold, we are between two worlds, one that is ebbing and one that is rising on the horizon.

shankkar.aiyar@gmail.com

SHANKKAR AIYAR - Author of Aadhaar: A Biometric History of Indias 12 Digit Revolution, and Accidental India
CHICAGO  Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Sunday said all dine-in bars and restaurants will be closed Monday night to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The closure is until March 30.

"I know how difficult this will be on small businesses around the state," he said during a press conference.

"We must do everything we can to safeguard the health and safety of the citizens of Illinois and that requires urgent action," Pritzker said. "... The time for action is here. This is not a joke. No one is immune to this and you have an obligation to act in the best interest of all the people of this state."

"The state is working closely with restaurant owners and food delivery services to ensure kitchens can safely remain open to continue food delivery and put in place drive-thru and curbside pickup options for restaurants to continue to serve the public," the governor's office said in a statement.

Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Assocation, said the two-week shutdown was "necessary to mitigate" the spread.

Public safety is the No. 1 concern of the Illinois Restaurant Association, he said. First and foremost, we want to protect the health of our customers and team members. We remain vigilant in helping employers to navigate the immediate challenges that come with this rapidly changing situation."

The Illinois Department of Public Health also announced 29 new cases of coronavirus disease across Illinois. Five additional counties are now reporting cases  Champaign, Clinton, Sangamon, Whiteside, and Winnebago counties. Other locations with cases include Chicago and Cook, Cumberland, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, St. Clair, and Woodford counties.

Currently, IDPH is reporting 93 cases in 13 counties in Illinois. Cases have occurred in all age ranges and the number of cases that do not have a clear connection to travel or a known COVID-19 case is increasing.

The state Department of Public Health on Saturday said a Cumberland County man in his 70s tested positive for COVID-19, as well as a Woodford County resident also in his 70s. Two cases in St. Clair County, near St. Louis, also were reported.

Later on Saturday, the Sangamon County Department of Public Health also said a patient tested positive at Memorial Hospital and was in intensive care, and a second patient tested positive at an outpatient facility.

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 worldwide outbreak has sickened more than 156,000 people and left more than 5,800 dead, with thousands of new cases confirmed each day. The death toll in the United States climbed to 61, while infections neared 3,000.

Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, both Democrats, on Saturday criticized the Trump administration for allowing about 3,000 Americans returning from Europe to be stuck for hours inside the customs area at O'Hare International Airport on Saturday, violating federal recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that people practice social distancing."

But Pritzker predicted Sunday would be even worse on NBC's Meet the Press. He said that the administration should have bolstered staffing at the receiving airports in anticipation of long lines. But instead, he said, passengers were stuck in a small area, hundreds and hundreds of people, and thats exactly what you dont want in this pandemic.

"If getting mad on Twitter is what it takes to get federal officials to act, I'm absolutely going to do that," Pritzker said in the Sunday press conference.

Directing her comments to Vice President Pence, who is leading a federal task force on the coronavirus, Lightfoot said officials need to coordinate with governors and mayors to ensure safety. When they dont listen to local officials, Lightfoot warned, You risk causing serious illness and death.

President Donald Trump defended the administration's actions in a tweet Sunday.

We are doing very precise Medical Screenings at our airports. Pardon the interruptions and delays, we are moving as quickly as possible, but it is very important that we be vigilant and careful. We must get it right. Safety first! he wrote.

Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the state health department, on Saturday said the number of Illinois cases should increase dramatically as results come in from private labs.

It is vitally important that we implement social distancing measures, such as staying home and canceling large events, Ezike said.

The Cumberland County patient prompted officials there to declare a state of emergency. Events, including church services, have been canceled for the next week, as officials seek to determine who may have come into contact with the man and prevent the further spread of the virus.

The Associated Press and Chicago Tribune contributed to this report.

SUNDAY UPDATE: Coronavirus in Central Illinois

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Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has given reasons why the recently deposed Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, cannot succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023 despite calls in some quarters that he join politics ahead of the 2023 general elections.

Fani-Kayode who blasted those calling for Sanusi to replace President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023, wonders why the next President must come from the North, describing those making the call as accursed slaves.

The former Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, boss is seen by some as the best candidate to take over from Buhari even though he officially does not belong to any political party.

Fani-Kayode tweeted, The kind of evil that some useful idiots and accursed slaves are wishing upon themselves with this SLS for 2023 thing baffles me. Must we be slaves to the north forever? Abi they don swear for una?

Also, a former representative of Kaduna Central senatorial district at the Senate, Shehu Sani, warned Sanusi Lamido Sanusi against joining politics ahead of 2023 presidential election.

In a post he shared on Twitter and directed to the ex-Emir, Shehu Sani said, Rest well in the comfort of your family without the burden and the lice of the turban and the gown.

Avoid individuals and groups trying to drag you into partisan politics and avoid being used as a ladder. Its enough being a hero, they should look for a martyr elsewhere.

Sanusi, who was dethroned on Monday and banished to Nasarawa State few hours later, regained his freedom yesterday after an Abuja court ruled in his favour.

Also, a former representative of Kaduna Central senatorial district at the Senate, Shehu Sani, warned Sanusi Lamido Sanusi against joining politics ahead of 2023 presidential election.

In a post he shared on Twitter and directed to the ex-Emir, Shehu Sani said, Rest well in the comfort of your family without the burden and the lice of the turban and the gown.

Avoid individuals and groups trying to drag you into partisan politics and avoid being used as a ladder. Its enough being a hero, they should look for a martyr elsewhere.
EDWARDSVILLE  Incumbent Madison County Board Member Victor Valentine Jr. is being challenged by former Edwardsville Mayor Gary Niebur in one of three contested primary races on March 17.

The two will face off in the Democratic primary for the District 17 seat. So far, the winner would be unopposed in the Nov. 3 election.

A second Democratic county board primary race also is on the ballot. Tammy Davis and Dina Burch will vie for the District 19 seat now held by Michael Parkinson. Parkinson declined to run again.

On the Republican ballot, District 3 county board incumbent Phil Chapman is being challenged William Meyer, who lost the seat to Chapman in 2016.

Valentine, a teen reach coordinator with at-risk youth at the Lessie Bates Davis Neighborhood House in East St. Louis, was appointed to the board in June to fill the remaining term of Ann Gorman who moved out of the district. He is the son of long-time Venice Alderman Victor Valentine Sr. He and his wife, Rhoda, have three adult children and one still in high school.

When appointed, Valentine said one area of concern is the lack of diversity on the board. Valentine is one of three black members on the 29-seat board. He currently serves on the Grants, Health Department, Information Technology, and Personnel and Labor Relations committees.

Niebur is the retired CEO of the Edwardsville YMCA and was a long-time mayor of Edwardsville, retiring from that position in 2013 after serving five terms. He also served two terms as an Edwardsville alderman prior to that.

He and his wife, Debby, have four grown children and one grandchild.

I am proud of my record of public service and seek to continue to be of service to the people of District 17, he said.

His priorities are the efficient use of taxpayer dollars, responsible and effective representation, commitment to smart growth policies and job creation, to be a strong advocate for public safety, and to promote transparency and civility in government.

My experience in financial management, budgeting, business development, personal management, economic development and job creation has prepared me to be an effective member of the County Board, he said. During my 20-year tenure as mayor the city had balanced budgets every year, and the city property tax rate remained relatively flat.

Tuesdays primary also has referendum questions for two communities. Glen Carbon residents will vote in issuing $7.4 million in general obligation bonds for street improvements. Highland residents will vote on allowing a cannabis dispensary to operate within the citty.
Patient readers, Links today is too long (though I hope not without interest). I had a household emergency, and I could not cut the material down to its usual length. Hopefully the links are organized well enough to you can skip what you dont want to read. lambert

How the worlds fattest parrot came back from the brink Guardian

Dalio caught flat-footed with big losses at Bridgewater fund FT (DL). Thats a damn shame (hat tip, Sturgill Simpson).

American Airlines to suspend nearly all long-haul international flights starting March 16 Reuters

Opinion: Moving Our Pharmaceutical Factories Overseas Was A Huge Mistake Buzzfeed

Make America Autarkic Again William Upton, American Mind. Claremont Institute.

#COVID-19

The science:

Research team has isolated the COVID-19 virus Sunnybrook Research Institute (research and teaching hospital with the University of Toronto).

COVID-19 Incubation Period: An Update NEJM Journal Watch

Age-Specific Mortality During the 1918 Influenza Pandemic: Unravelling the Mystery of High Young Adult Mortality PLoS One. Using historical records from Canada and the U.S., we report a peak of mortality at the exact age of 28 during the pandemic and argue that this increased mortality resulted from an early life exposure to influenza during the previous Russian flu pandemic of 188990. We posit that in specific instances, development of immunological memory to an influenza virus strain in early life may lead to a dysregulated immune response to antigenically novel strains encountered in later life, thereby increasing the risk of death. A thread inspired by this link:

1/N After looking at the demographics, virology, public health dimensions, and earlier parallels (e.g., the 1918 flu epidemic), it seems to me that this whole episode is being handled incorrectly. This is partly due to @realDonaldTrump's self-serving blunders, but not entirely.  Stuart Newman (@sanewman1) March 13, 2020

Reinfection could not occur in SARS-CoV-2 infected rhesus macaques bioRxiv

* * *

Potential treatment:

Coronavirus: Chloroquine yields positive data in Covid-19 trial Clinical Trials Arena

Convalescent plasma as a potential therapy for COVID-19 The Lancet. Interestingly, the Chinese team that went to Italy brought plasma.

* * *

Materiel shortages:

US hospitals are already starting to run out of respirator masks crucial for coronavirus protection Live Science

The World Needs Masks. China Makes Them  But Has Been Hoarding Them. NYT. Too bad we cant make them ourselves. How did that happen?

Mouse Hunt: Lab Races To Grow Mice For COVID-19 Research NPR

Why Even A Huge Medical Stockpile Will Be of Limited Use Against COVID-19 NPR

* * *

Testing:

Testing in U.S. CDC (dk). Finally, a regularly updating central source.

Albuquerque Hospital Launches Drive-Up COVID-19 Testing AP

* * *

Spread:

Worst-case coronavirus models show massive US toll The Hill. Some back-of-the-envelope calculations. Thread:

This is a thread about how to interpret the seemingly sudden appearance of #COVID19 across the much of the US in the past week with some back-of-the-envelop calculations for number of current infections. 1/13 pic.twitter.com/QbzRbRVheS  Trevor Bedford (@trvrb) March 14, 2020

From Containment to Mitigation of COVID-19 in the US JAMA

Multiplication, not addition (1):

Graphs are useful but to really get what that rising curve is, have a look at the obituaries page of this Bergamo daily newspaper, comparing one from February with one from now pic.twitter.com/78mgZseyVt  Ben Phillips (@benphillips76) March 14, 2020

Multiplication, not addition (2):

* * *

Economic effects:

Commentary: Do not let economic globalization fall victim of pandemic Xinhua

The main point of this thread from a computational biologist is seasonal resurgence, but this is an interesting argument in economic effects.

Health and the economy are closely linked. The correlation between per-capita GDP and health (life expectancy) is essentially perfect. If the covid-19 pandemic leads to a global economy collapse, many more lives will be lost than covid-19 would ever be able to claim. (12/12) pic.twitter.com/ZXcj2s8PAA  Francois Balloux (@BallouxFrancois) March 14, 2020

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Political response:

Theres a Giant Hole in Pelosis Coronavirus Bill Editorial Board (!), NYT. Well done, all:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday night celebrated the coronavirus legislation that passed early Saturday as providing paid sick leave to American workers affected by the pandemic. She neglected to mention the fine print. In fact, the bill guarantees sick leave only to about 20 percent of workers. Big employers like McDonalds and Amazon are not required to provide any paid sick leave, while companies with fewer than 50 employees can seek hardship exemptions from the Trump administration. If you are sick, stay home, Vice President Mike Pence said at a news conference on Saturday afternoon. Youre not going to miss a pay check. But thats simply not true. Sick workers should stay home, but there is no guarantee in the emergency legislation that most of them will get paid.

Pelosis response:

I dont support U.S. taxpayer money subsidizing corporations to provide benefits to workers that they should already be providing. House Democrats will continue to prioritize strong emergency leave policies as we fight to put #FamiliesFirst. https://t.co/GIoCJAKE1M  Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) March 15, 2020

they should already be providing. It would be hard to find a better example of the ideological and moral collaose of our two major parties. Still, they got good press for a news cycle, before anybody could read the fine print. So theres that. (If you want to read a truly suberb example of Establishment Democrat smugness and delusion  one can only hope written before the above from the Times was published  try this from WaPos Monkey Cage.)

How the Senate Paved the Way for Coronavirus Profiteering The Intercept

* * *

Corporate response:

We get email (1):

A letter from Andrea Johnston, Chief Operating Officer of OpenTable Our thoughts are with you as we all work to navigate this challenging time. As the COVID-19 (coronavirus) continues to make headlines, even the best-laid plans are up for last-minute changes. Those changes are hitting restaurants hard as they struggle with the effects of reduced travel and government calls to avoid large gatherings. Looking at comprehensive data from restaurants on our platform  across online reservations, phone reservations, and walk-ins  we note sharp declines over the last week. In the United States and United Kingdom, we see a 20 percent reduction in total seated diners vs. last year. Mexico and Canada are down 15 to 17 percent. At the city level, diners are down approximately 45 percent in Seattle, 40 percent in San Francisco, 30 percent in New York, and 25 percent in London, Los Angeles, and Chicago. (All declines cited here are on a year-over-year basis.)  To support the restaurants we all love, wed like to share a few simple things you can do to help your favorite restaurants weather this storm: If you have a change of plans, please let the restaurant know as soon as possible so they can plan accordingly. Even cancelling the same day is better than not showing up. Order take-out or delivery. It gives the restaurant business and keeps you well fed. Many restaurants that dont usually offer these options are making exceptions.

Re-book for a future dateit will give everyone something to look forward to. Consider purchasing restaurant gift cards if theyre offered.

Tip generously if you can afford it. Tipped workers are some of the first to suffer in times of economic distress. Everyones health and safety are our first concern. We urge everyone to stay informed (the Centers for Disease Control regularly updates their site) and to take the recommended precautions. If you have questions or concerns about a reservation, ask the restaurant about their specific practices. I hope all of you stay safe and healthy. Thank you  Andrea

We get email (2). Via:

* * *

Travel:

Travelers stuck in long lines at DFW due to CDC questionnaire and enhanced screening, airport says Texas Tribune. And so:

#BREAKING: Passengers stuck in long lines for immigration at @DFWAirport tell us there are no offers of hand sanitizer, gloves, or masks from U.S. Customs / Immigration. Travelers say theyve had no screenings of temp yet and no one following #coronavirus protocols. pic.twitter.com/9viCnWdncz  Jason Whitely (@JasonWhitely) March 15, 2020

Trump Is Extending The Europe Travel Ban To The UK And Ireland As The Coronavirus Pandemic Escalates Buzzfeed. Crowding airports further, no doubt.

* * *

Remedies and ameliorations:

Social distancing (1):

Social distancing last night on the Upper West Side of NYC, where, not incidentally, public school is still in session. It was an unseasonably warm March night and every restaurant I saw was busy, indoors and out. pic.twitter.com/9yiVRVHPHY  katie rosman (@katierosman) March 14, 2020

Social distancing (2):

St. Patricks Day partiers hit the town over officials pleas amid coronavirus outbreak https://t.co/OaqgrgfaVb pic.twitter.com/mZUKITFj78  Jake Wittich (@JakeWittich) March 14, 2020

Social distancing (3):

My town currently has very big "escaping NYC to hunker down at weekend home" energy  Chris Arnade (@Chris_arnade) March 13, 2020

And in two weeks time, near those weekend homes.

Bartending In The Time of Coronavirus Medium

You Might Be Buying a Hand Sanitizer That Wont Work for Coronavirus Pro Publica

Metropolitan Opera to Offer Up Nightly Met Opera Streams OperaWire

Porn site allows Italians to watch all of its content for free during the countrys coronavirus lockdown Daily Mail
China's CGTN, or China Global Television Network, is pretty much the RT News of China. It's the state propaganda and disinformation operation most aggressively active, and watched, by spies, of any nation that pays attention to China. Last February 2019, it was forced to register as a foreign agent.

So what weird stuff it is to read that one of its reporters has been caught at the White House gate with a high fever, which is a symptom of the highly contagious coronavirus. The fever was in the 100-degree range. You'd know if you had such a fever. Yet the person was clamoring to get into a closed-quarters press briefing with other reporters and President Trump, which, if it were coronavirus he had, would be sure to spread that, (or else another illness) - to Trump, his staff, and the press that follows him around. Check the photo at this link to see how close it is.

According to the Washington Examiner, emphasis mine:

A journalist was denied entry into the White House Coronavirus Task Force news briefing Saturday after developing a fever. Reporters had their body temperatures taken by staff at the White House as a precaution against the coronavirus. One person was tested three times by the White House Medical Unit over a 15-minute period, and each time, the result registered above the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guideline of what constitutes a fever, 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Katie Miller, who is a press secretary to Vice President Mike Pence. Fever is one of the symptoms of the coronavirus. NBC News's Kelly O'Donnell said in a tweet that the journalist who was turned away appeared to be from China Global Television Network.

Now it's possible the man really didn't know, despite it being near impossible to not know you had a 100-degree fever and the world's eyes are already on China. It's also possible the Chinese television network had a work ethic so merciless that the man would have been penalized for not going to the press briefing and maybe there wasn't anyone else to do it. It's also possible he didn't care. It's important to consider relatively benign explanations to be fair.

But given who his news organization is - and its recent behavior, as well as that of its patron, China's, it's fair to be more skeptical.

One, China has falsely attempted to pin the coronavirus crisis, brought on by its own mismanagement, on America. America has offered to help them, and China has turned them down, flinging lies at our country instead, getting themselves called on the diplomatic carpet. We all know they are under pressure from this crisis. Their response has been somewhat cooperative in some areas, but pretty malevolent, considering. Might there be some part of the Chinese government that would like to infect the entire press corps and/or President Trump in the midst of this? I can't put it past them. We already know what their state of mind is right now.

Two: Chicoms have attempted to infiltrate the quarters of President Trump in order to do him harm. Remember that incident in Mar-a-Lago where a likely Chicom agent brought in malevolent computer spyware and had no authorization to be on the premises? She played dumb for the court and got off lightly, but it's very likely she was part of a Chicom operation. From this, we now know that their priority is to get close to Trump. Their technique is to play dumb, and they do this over and over, there have been six such incidents of supposedly 'confused' tourists trying to get close to Trump. This operation with the press pool looks like the same kind of thing.

Three, China's CGTN has been pretty funny about things, too.

First, there's their coverage: The Google search here shows 'all's hunky dory, China's got this' party-line reports about China conquering the coronavirus. All good news, a sure sign of propaganda. Here's a cut-and-paste, and try not to blanch at how much of this state propaganda is appearing on Yahoo!:

Yahoo Finance CGTN: Latest Data Shows Over 36,000 Patients Had Recovered in Wuhan In central China's Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, new COVID-19 cases have dropped to a single digit, with just four reported ... 18 hours ago Yahoo Finance CGTN: Peoples Safety and Health Always Come First, as China to Win Battle Against Coronavirus Outbreak CGTN reported Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Wuhan on March 10, when China's COVID-19 prevention and control efforts had turned ... 20 hours ago Associated Press CGTN: Positive Signs Show China Is Recovering From COVID ..

Meanwhile, on March 4, CGTN were the subject to tit-for-tat expulsions in response to China's expulsion of American journalists covering the coronavirus crisis in Wuhan and elsewhere in China. Their response was mendacious and defiant:

U.S. government suppression wont deter us from providing the world with more high-quality news. We hope the U.S. government will cease politicizing legitimate news operations. CGTN provides a window on Chinese culture and a platform for Chinese perspectives on international affairs. Even if the State Departments actions make working in the U.S. more difficult, we will spare no effort to provide audiences with accurate, objective and fair news coverage.

What garbage. They're a registered foreign agent masquerading as a news outfit and doing their best to get 'respectability' from that, defiantly saying they will 'cover the news' (read: whatever it is they really do) no matter what Trump says. It sounds like they're willing to spread coronavirus to do it.

Which at a minimum, suggests they might just be capable of germ warfare, the kind that leftists in the states, (such as this Bernie-ite acolyte), have been threatening. Leftists always have that malevolent 'kill them' thing going, and the Chicoms are leftists. Would they really try something like this? No one should put it past them.

Image credit: Logo via Facebook, public domain
Hollywood directors who had their glitzy premieres canceled due to coronavirus are finding inventive ways to build buzz for their films -- including bringing the red carpet into their living rooms. Movie festivals such as SXSW in Texas and Tribeca in New York have been scrapped in recent days as the deadly pandemic spreads. This has shorn major titles of the publicity generated by opening night reviews and galas, and left hundreds of unsold indie films without distributors. The makers of "The Carnivores," a quirky thriller-meets-love story set to debut at SXSW, took matters into their own hands by shifting the "premiere" to the cinematographer's Austin home. "We have full catering, we have a red carpet, we have a photographer coming, we have local news," said director Caleb Michael Johnson. The red carpet will run from the front porch, through the house, and back to a taco stand -- which is being catered for free by a local sponsor. The idea emerged from a three-hour bar conversation the day the festival was canceled. "It was crazy because we weren't even that drunk! The ideas came really fast," said cinematographer Adam Minnick. "Our world premiere was Saturday 14th and dammit we wanted to still have our screening on Saturday 14th in Austin." The same tactic was employed by US actor David Arquette, whose documentary about his controversial forays into pro wrestling shifted from a SXSW premiere to his home near Hollywood within 24 hours. Arquette and his wife flew in the director from the East Coast -- and made a dash to wholesale store Costco for drinks -- before guests gathered on couches and the living room floor, the Los Angeles Times reported. - 'No substitute' - Johnson said the more intimate nature of these events put guests at ease about the risk of contagion -- but others are skipping physical events altogether, turning to technology. David Magdael, a publicist who had four world premieres set for SXSW, looked into screening films at Hollywood agencies' offices after the festival was canceled -- but had to scrap that too after the town shut up shop. Fortunately, trade press including IndieWire still intend to publish reviews on the days that films were due to premiere. "On our end, on the PR side, we're still moving forward as if the film festival is happening," said Magdael. SXSW's prestigious film competitions will go ahead as planned, with movies available to juries online. "We know it's no substitute for the live SXSW event with its unique and fantastic audience, but at least it's some way to get attention for these wonderful films," said organizer Janet Pierson. Spencer Folmar's new drama about the opioid crisis, intended to screen at the postponed Beverly Hills Film Festival, will hit streaming platforms on the day it was due in theaters nationwide. "It's a shame, you know -- this is two years in the making, and everyone loves the theatrical experience," he said of "Shooting Heroin." The movie will now rely on online advertising and sending digital "screener" links to critics. "But this is what we have to do for the sake of the film and getting the message out." - 'Scary' - Despite these creative solutions, some damage from festivals closing will be hard to repair. Lindsay Lindenbaum's documentary "Tomboy," about four famous female drummers, was relying on SXSW to secure final funding needed to buy expensive music licensing. One of the film's subjects, Bobbye Hall, played on Marvin Gaye's soul hit "What's Going On." The song "is such an important piece of music in the film to really show what a legend she is," said the director. She plans to launch an online fundraiser seeking donations next week. Ashley Eakin, director of short comedy "Single" about two people with disabilities who are set up on a date, fears the momentum that SXSW would have given her fledgling career could be lost. "It's hard because I've never gotten into a big festival, and SXSW can potentially be a once in a lifetime thing," she said. She added: "It's kind of scary, especially for us new filmmakers... We're all on the cusp of things happening and people being interested in us. "We're worried that it could be a full year, or however long it's going to take, for them to be wanting to take a risk again." Movie festivals such as SXSW in Texas have been scrapped in recent days as the deadly coronavirus pandemic spreads US actor David Arquette's documentary about his controversial forays into pro wrestling shifted from a SXSW premiere to his home near Hollywood within 24 hours The Beverly Hills Film Festival is among those canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic Young filmmakers fear the momentum SXSW would have given their fledgling careers could be lost
Connecticut is staring down the barrel of an epidemic. But if the coronavirus spreads to one-fifth of the population, as the state epidemiologist said might happen, can Connecticuts health infrastructure handle it?

If that happens, Well have to make decisions that I dont think weve ever had to make before, Milfords Dr. Kevin Carr said.

Take hospital beds. There were a total of 8,540 available hospital beds spread out unevenly across Connecticut in 2018, according to Department of Public Health records. On a usual day, when there isnt a global pandemic, an average of 63 percent of those beds are occupied.

That leaves a few more than 3,000 available hospital beds in Connecticut, regardless of the coronavirus.

Its not just beds. Negative pressure rooms, ventilators, masks, disinfectant, robes, personnel and more could all be in short supply if the epidemic spreads as far as Cartter said it might. Hospital representatives and doctors said as much during an information session at the capitol earlier this month.

We do have some PPE, personal protective equipment, challenges. We will see some shortages, Mark Casey, director of emergency management at Trinity Health, told legislators.

Paul Wentworth, emergency management coordinator at Johnson Memorial Hospital, which has only 96 beds, said the problem will be how to treat large groups of patients who need to be isolated.

Negative pressure space or isolation space in most hospitals are a challenge, and how to turn a unit or an area into that, he said.

Ventilators, in particular, have been identified as a potential issue.

Were aware therell be an increased demand for ventilators given the respiratory symptoms associated with COVID-19, Francesca Provenzano, of the Department of Public Health, told legislators. The strategic national stockpile does include ventilators but those will be in limited supply, and the state of Connecticut does maintain a calibrated cache of them in our state but, again, limited supply.

The answer will be triage, said Carr, formerly of the Yale University School of Medicine.

If, for example, a doctor is treating two patients, one with a 5 percent chance of survival and another with a 75 percent chance of survival, which one gets treatment if resources are limited?

Which one are you going to provide those limited resources? Its not so cut and dry. There is a subjective component to it thats always going to come into play, Carr said. Its not something that weve had to address in this country before.

There is no official, universal standard for triage, but as Christopher H. Lee wrote in the American Medical Associations Journal of Ethics, patients are organized by priority.

Patients whose lives are in immediate danger and who need immediate treatment get top priority. Patients with such extensive injuries that they cannot be saved with the limited resources available have no priority, which as Lee wrote, presents ethical concerns.

While it is logical to help the greatest number of victims in a disaster, it is difficult to walk away from a person who is on the verge of succumbing to severe injuries, Lee wrote.

Of course, it depends on how the epidemic progresses. The number of confirmed cases in Connecticut continues to rise, but not all patients need hospitalization and some dont require ventilators.

Some of this depends on how it plays out, Michael Ivy, deputy chief medical officer of Yale New Haven Health, said earlier this month. If its 20 percent of patients that require hospitalization and a significant percentage, 5 percent, of patients require ventilators, thats going to be a lot, absolutely.

Cartter said as many as 700,000 Connecticut residents could contract the coronavirus. Using Ivys math, thats potentially 7,000 Connecticut patients in need of ventilators.

One solution is to make sure people who dont need to be in the hospital, stay away. To that end, the state has been encouraging the use of telemedicine.

Telemedicine allows patients to consult with a medical professional without potentially compromising the health of office staff and the public, Insurance Commissioner Andrew N. Mais said in a release. Telemedicine can be a vital tool to combat this public health challenge.

The goal is to avoid imposing an unnecessary burden on an already burdened health system, Victoria Veltri, executive director of the state Office of Health Strategy, said during an interview.

What we dont want to do is unnecessarily add to that burden, she said, to make sure that there are not extra cases sent to them that dont need to be sent to them. We do not want to create a situation of overburdening our providers.

Not everyone has to go to the hospital, she said.

Meanwhile, hospitals are preparing for a potential surge in the number of patients, and strains on available resources. And while coronavirus may present some challenges, it is a situation medical professionals have considered and trained for, according to Paul Kidwell, of the Connecticut Hospital Association.

This is what hospitals do. We routinely plan and drill for such events so that we are ready when they occur, he said. As part of the ongoing work to prepare for the potential clinical needs of patients diagnosed with COVID-19, Connecticut hospitals are working together to assess current hospital capacity and opportunities to expand that capacity.

Carr agreed.

Is the system capable of supporting the need? If the system is made up of individuals who are freaking amazing, then I do believe we are going to be ready, he said.
An ethics investigation into an outgoing Fianna Fail senator has been dropped after a complaint over his voting record was withdrawn.

The Seanad's ethics committee determined that there was insufficient evidence to prove allegations that Keith Swanick misused the fobbing-in system in Leinster House that is used to calculate expenses.

However, the committee raised concerns with Oireachtas authorities about its ability to investigate complaints under current ethics laws.

Mr Swanick, who has called for Micheal Martin to resign as Fianna Fail leader in the wake of the general election result, said he welcomed the outcome.

"I've always had an excellent work ethic and never had anything to hide. I didn't go into politics for monetary gain," he said.

The Mayo-based senator, who is not running for re-election, said it had been "desperation stakes" from Mr Martin to call him out over his voting record.

It was alleged that Mr Swanick failed to participate in 75pc of Seanad votes on days he was recorded as being present in Leinster House.

Mr Swanick, a GP who runs a practice in Belmullet, Co Mayo, was the subject of an RTE investigation last year which showed he did not vote on 84 of the 114 voting days he fobbed into Leinster House between June 2016 and July 2019. Mr Swanick received close to 73,000 in travel expenses up to the end of 2018.

After the RTE report was published Mr Swanick defended his voting record, insisting he has been "one of the most prolific senators with regards to policy development" and had not entered politics for monetary gain.

He cited the taskforce on loneliness he established, several private members' bills, his campaigning for the cessation of government investment in tobacco companies and representations for colleagues.

"Any representation I do on behalf of local authority members or colleagues ultimately serves a member of the public and that has been my one goal. At no stage have I entered politics for monetary gain and since elected in 2016 I've lost money, but monetary gain has never been an issue for me," he said at the time.

Mr Martin suggested last December that Mr Swanick had questions to answer and said "there is an issue there" with his voting record.

The Seanad members' interest committee began an investigation last month but was forced to restart its probe at a second meeting earlier this month. This came after Independent Senator Michael McDowell said at the end of the first meeting that he had discussed the matter with Mr Swanick, felt he had a conflict of interest as a result and that he should no longer take part in the probe.

At the second meeting on March 3, members received a letter from the complainant who said they wished to withdraw the complaint because Mr Swanick was not seeking re-election. On legal advice that difficulties with evidence could hamper the investigation, the committee determined that there was no evidence of irregular recording of attendance by Mr Swanick.

It agreed to write to the Oireachtas Commission over concerns that ethics legislation as currently written does not provide guidance on what can be done when a complaint is withdrawn and does not allow the members' interests committee to take further steps in an investigation once a person subject of a complaint ceases to be a member.

Earlier this month the Sunday Independent revealed that Mr Swanick wanted Mr Martin to resign.

His call has been backed by several Fianna Fail councillors publicly and Mr Martin came under pressure from his parliamentary party earlier this month over his refusal to engage with Sinn Fein.
As the deadly coronavirus outbreak continues to force countries to take precautionary measures, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have poured more than $46 billion to fight the impact of the pandemic on the economy. According to reports, the UAE central bank said in a statement on March 15 that it has pledged $27 billion in bank measures to support the businesses in the Emirates during the outbreak. However, despite the stimulus package, the stock exchange was down by more than four per cent early in the session before deducting the losses by 50 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority said that the kingdom has also announced $13 billion to ease the effects on the private sector as the fatal virus has now spread to more than 150 countries since it first originated in the Chinese province of Wuhan in December 2019.

Egypt's presidential spokesperson, Bassam Rady has said on his official Facebook page that the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has called for $6.7 billion funds in order to finance a state plan. However, the source of this fund has not been mentioned by Rady, while also announced that schools nad universities will be suspended for two weeks starting from March 15 (local time).

Read - PM Modi Leads SAARC Conference On Coronavirus, Shares 'Prepare, Don't Panic' Mantra

Read - Coronavirus: No Film, TV Shoots For 2 Weeks, Associations Announce, After Celeb Reactions

Global pandemic

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the coronavirus as a global pandemic after the virus spread to more than 152 countries, resulting in the deaths of more than 5,900 people worldwide. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom further even urged all nations to get very serious over the issue and take all necessary measures to contain the virus from spreading at this rate. Tedros said, that the word 'Pandemic' cannot be used lightly or carelessly due to its strong connotation.

However, Tedros also said that the coronavirus outbreak is a "controllable pandemic". According to a statement released by the World Health Organisation, Tedros outlined two main reasons as to why the decision was taken to describe the epidemic as a pandemic. Tedros said that one reason was the speed and scale of transmission and the others was because 'countries are not approaching this threat with the level of political commitment needed to control it'.

First detected in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei Province of China, the coronavirus outbreak has disrupted many lives since December 2019. As per reports, the total number of confirmed cases within China has reportedly hit 80,849 and at least 161,028 cases worldwide. According to reports, the death toll in China has also surpassed 3,199 and the National Health Commission also confirmed more than 25 new cases on March 15. The death toll due to the deadly virus across the world also mounted to over 5,973.

Read - Maharashtra Health Minister Reviews Preparedness At Hospital Treating Coronavirus Patients

Read - Coronavirus Scare: SC Suspends Guided Tours For Public, Closes Museum




American President Donald Trump is finally getting his wall, but it is not along the southern border with Mexico. It is around the White House.

The White House fence is being rebuilt under the direction of the U.S. Secret Service and the National Park Service. The move comes after several security problems over the years, including a 2014 incident in which a Texas man climbed the fence. He was able to enter the White House without being stopped.

These days, a temporary white barrier interferes with tourists view of the White House, as the building of the new fence continues.

The first part of the new barrier is already up. At almost four meters tall, it is nearly two times the size of the former fence. It is also equipped with anti-climb technology.

Everything, all the pieces, had to be beefed up, says Thomas Luebke. He is secretary of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, which advised the Secret Service and the Park Service on the design of the new fence.

The new fence is much different from the very first White House fence. It was made of wood and put up by Thomas Jefferson in the early 1800s. A few years later, he replaced the wooden fence with a stone wall. By 1819, parts of the fence were made of iron.

The early fences were designed to keep out animals, not people. Visitors often freely walked around the White House.

It was relatively easy to get inside and go upstairs to the second floor. That's where the president worked before the West Wing was built, says Matthew Costello. He is with the White House Historical Association.

President Abraham Lincoln had a doorway cut between his office and his private living area so that he could avoid the crowds waiting outside his office door.

Until the 1920s, presidents decided how open to keep the land around the White House.

In the 1880s, President Grover Cleveland kept the White House completely open, until strangers tried to pick up his children.

President Theodore Roosevelt decided to reopen the White House grounds in the early 1900s, but changed his mind when people kept walking over to the West Wing to see him.

All the presidents up until John Tyler in the 1840s used their own employees to guard the White House.

The U.S. Secret Service took control of security after three sitting presidents were killed between 1865 and 1901.

Between Abraham Lincoln's assassination, James Garfields assassination, William McKinleys assassination, if you had been born in 1840, over the course of your lifetime, you would have witnessed three presidential assassinations, says Costello.

During the presidency of Calvin Coolidge in the 1920s, the White House grounds were closed for good to wandering visitors. Since then, anyone who wants to visit the White House must have an appointment.

For the new fence, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts worked to help balance security improvements to the new fence while keeping the barrier pleasant to look at.

You actually have to start rethinking the pieces, what they're made of, how well they work together, says Luebke.

The new fence is expected to be completed by 2021.

Im Susan Shand.

VOAs Dora Mekouar reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

tourist  n. one who visits a place for pleasure

beef up  phrasal verb. to increase

relatively  adv. in some way

assassination  n. to kill (someone, such as a famous or important person) usually for political reasons
Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like St Patrick's Day is not what it used to be when they were young?

My St Patrick's Days were spent wiggling slowly down the Main Street in Mallow dressed in my Brownies uniform, or my gymnastics leotard, or in the costume of my latest theatre endeavour. The outfit usually reflected the sometimes fleeting enthusiasm du jour, but often it was the very action of walking in the parade that made me dump the membership, along with any uniform accoutrements I had made my mother buy.

I remember a particularly awful St Patrick's Day around 1997, where a load of the gym club, dressed in Lycra, were instructed to do forward rolls down the town in the rain, on tarmac! We only got to stand up and rest when the sliotars of the under-10 GAA team ahead of us got away from them, and they had to scramble towards their adoring parents, who were dotted along the barrier, to have the balls returned to them.

The thing that kept us going, forward rolling, as it were, towards the finish line, was the promise of candyfloss and popcorn and hot dogs, and all the other exotics treats that lived just past the 'stage', in the food stalls. The stage was not what we in 2020, with our Electric Picnic and All Together Now, would recognise as a performance platform. It was more like the back of an articulated lorry with the flappy tarpaulin bits rolled up, and some of the best, least-beaten-up chairs from the secondary school plonked on top. And a microphone. There was always a microphone, wasn't there? But it was more like a loudspeaker that constantly and inappropriately interfered with itself.

I used to think it was the same microphone that they used in Mallow train station. Whenever the train pulled in, you'd hear an extended mumble that you knew was meant to be coherent, but simply wasn't. Since the advent of automated announcements on trains, I've since learned that what was being said was: "Passengers for Banteer, Millstreet, Rathmore, Killarney, Farranfore and Tralee, please change at Mallow".

I have such vivid memories of the parades in Mallow because there's the sweetest, most diligent photographer in my hometown who has beautifully captured more than 35 years of regional events. Stephen Murphy worked for the Mallow Star when I was growing up, and the only reason many of us tolerated the indignities of doing acrobatics on wet tarmac was for the chance to be featured in the brimming pages of the local paper.

Recently, I find St Patrick's Day rather hellish. I accept that I live in Dublin, so my expectations of quaint rostrums and cute children performing dance routines to Let it Go might be misplaced. But surely it wasn't for this that St Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland?

The Liffey is 'turned green' in honour of the big day - which I reckon is only claimed so the tourists aren't horrified at the pollution, and don't realise that the Liffey is, in fact, always green.

The city is shut down to traffic, and so drunk people wearing (sometimes only) an Irish flag, and shamrock-covered Americans snake through the streets, interrupting RTE news broadcasts by shouting over the shoulder of whichever poor correspondent got the short straw.

I walked through the south side of the city one Paddy's Day and had my walk slowed to a standstill. I took a few minutes before I realised I was actually in a queue half way down Grafton Street. Behind me, a queue had formed in the other direction. Between people waiting to get their photo taken with Phil Lynott, Molly Malone or some busking child, the city centre is a nightmare.

Where are the little candyfloss stalls? Where are the school chairs? I stay indoors during St Patrick's Day now, and watch reruns of Friends to try to mitigate the nightmares of giant Macnas puppets that are usually triggered by the holiday.

Apparently, parades were never really associated with St Patrick's Day in Ireland. Much like trick-or-treating, Superbowl parties and Valentine's Day bonanzas, we adopted them from the US.

Speaking of which, did you know that the bowl of shamrock that the Taoiseach presents to the US President every Paddy's Day is immediately destroyed by the Secret Service, because non-indigenous plant and biological items are forbidden? It's the same reason you can't bring Superquinn sausages with you on your J-1. How many of you have broken this rule, though? All I can think is: what an insulting thing to do to a gift! When someone comes to my house and they kindly bring flowers, even if it's a bunch of awful chrysanthemums, I still say thank you, and put them in a vase. Destroying them? Well, that's just rude.
Statewide list of sites: How to find free lunch for Michigan kids with schools shut down

ANN ARBOR, MI  Ann Arbor Public Schools have set locations for free to-go meals to be distributed for children 18 and younger.

The state ordered all Michigan K-12 schools closed from March 16 to April 5 as a precaution against the further spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. There were 33 confirmed cases in Michigan as of late Saturday, March 14, state officials said.

Free lunch pickups planned for Ypsilanti Community Schools students; volunteers sought

How to find free lunch for Michigan kids with schools shut down

Breakfast and lunch packages will be available for pickup from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Days for pick up are: Monday, March 16, Tuesday, March 17, Friday, March 20, Tuesday, March 24, Friday, March 27, Tuesday, March 31, and Thursday, April 2.

Additional meals will be distributed on some days to cover multiple breakfasts and lunches.

Pickup locations are:

 Peace Maple Meadows Satellite, West Ann Arbor Satellite 1111 N. Maple Road.

 Arrowwood Hills Community Center, 2566 Arrowwood Trail.

 Bryant Community Center, 3 W. Eden Court.

 Green Baxter Court Community Center, 1737 Green Road.

 Hikone Community Center, 2724 Hikone Drive.

 The Pinelake Village Coop, outside the clubhouse, 2680 Adrienne Drive.

 Lakestone Apartments, outside the clubhouse, 4275 Eyrie Drive.

 Scio Farms, outside the clubhouse, 6655 Jackson Road.

 Orchard Grove, outside the clubhouse, 2835 S. Wagner Road.

 Carpenter Elementary, outside the school, 4250 Central Blvd.

 Scarlett Middle School, outside the school, 3300 Lorraine St.

For individuals that cant make it to one of these food pick-ups or have food allergy concerns, call the AAPS Food Service Hotline at 734-994-2265.

Lisa McDonald, owner of TeaHaus, 204-206 N. 4th Ave., said she and her business will be providing free boxed lunches for AAPS students starting Monday. The boxed meals will be handed out at Eat More Tea, 211 E. Ann St. in downtown Ann Arbor.

Pittsfield Township restaurant Palm Palace, 2370 Carpenter Road, is offering free meals for kids while schools are closed.

MORE MICHIGAN CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE HERE.

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Coronavirus concerns change Kroger store hours, Meijer deli service in Michigan

With 9 coronavirus cases, Oakland County orders restaurants, bars to cut customer capacity

Drive-through coronavirus testing available in Jackson

Coronavirus has Michigan spring-break travelers scrambling: Its all up in the air

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.
One of our gimlet-eyed friends has asked for anonymity to report from the firing line. He calls himself Ammoboy. Ill give you his name when you pry it from my cold, dead lips. We are happy to protect his identity with a nod to our beloved humor columnist and grateful for the opportunity to put forward his modest proposal. He writes:

I shoot a lot. Three times a week minimum, sometimes four, and if Im lucky and time permits, five. So my shooting range/gun shop is what sociologists would call my Third Place. Its not home, where Im a spouse on duty from noon till one minute past noon, its not work since I am 10 years beyond the horrors of office life; its the place where Im me without any effort. The talk is always banter, jibe and jest, all bonding courtesy of a sense of being a besieged community, and a general enthusiasm for the gizmos themselves. Needless to say, its as non-racist, non-classist, non-misogynist as any place in America.

But today it wasnt my place. It was a damn mess.

People, people, people! Everybody is buying guns. It happens every time apocalypse fever fills the air, animated by crazed dreams of civil breakdown, too many viewings of Mad Max, food shortage, the whimsy of life and death, and anyones aching need to protect children, spouse and self. This time its COVID-19, but it could be any dodgy possibility as sustained and amplified by the willfully ignorant.

So as I sat there in the crowd, waiting for my turn to get to the firing line, I wondered: Who ARE they?

Theyre not conservatives. Conservatives already have their guns, many of them of the so-helpful AR and AK variant, and many boxesand crates and palletsof ammo. Thats because apocalyptic thinking is never far from the conservative mind, with its realthink about the evil that men do and how quickly they can do it. It wasnt a liberal who said, When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.

Some are certainly the low-informed indifferent, bludgeoned into fear by the media blackjack. Some are the occasional shooter discovering himself low on ammo. But certainly, somemaybe even mostare liberals.

This makes me sick. You would think them at least capable of some honor on these issues. They desire a certain world, one without the righteous force of self-protection, which they consider vulgar and immoral. (Hard to tell which looms larger in their imagination!) So here is an opportunity for them to live in that world and they say, No thanks. Not me. Him or her, but not me. Which way to the .45 automatics?

These are people who would deny us any living creatures fundamental right to self-defense. These are a tribe that wants the police to look in our bed stand for the pistol with the light aboard. These are the snots whose ignorance is hot bliss when it comes to the things themselves, as if knowledge of the difference between a .308 and a .30-06 disqualifies one from the human race. These are the dweebs who want gun-owners listed in a public registry, like child molesters, of whom they consider gun-owners the moral and ontological equal. These are the sanctimonious pointy-heads who wish to use the economic bayonet of boycott and lawsuit to gut our culture.

I have a modest proposal for this annoying situation. The gun industry, especially at the retail level, should boycott THEM. It is for their own good. I wish to spare them the danger of an accident, the trauma of shooting fellow sentient beings or even their own foot, the hypocrisy of not practicing what they preach. I feel those burdens are simply too heavy for their turbulent emotional state.

Thus, I believe gun stores should be encouraged to sell only to select groups of those who can be trusted with the power of life and death. That would be NRA members or members of any other of the many pro-gun rights outfits. Another group would be those who already have state issued gun-possession permits. Another would be known customers, those whove supported the place for years, not only with cash but with comradeship. Of course, active-duty police and armed forces, or retirees, would be included as would sons and daughters of all the above.

As for the liberals, what do they do when s hits f, and bad dudes are smashing down the door to get at the food that was meant for Jimmy and Little Sally? Why, they can call the police.

What do you mean, theres no answer?
By PTI

JAMMU: Pakistan violated ceasefire by resorting to unprovoked firing and mortar shelling on forward posts and villages along the Line of Control and the International Border in Poonch and Kathua districts of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Sunday.

The firing and shelling by Pakistani Army in Kirni and Qasba sectors along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district started around 1:45 pm on Sunday and lasted for nearly one-and-a-half-hour, causing damage to some civilian structures, they said.

There was no report of any casualty, but some domestic animals suffered splinter injuries, the officials said. "Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by small arms firing and shelling with mortar along LoC in Kirni and Qasba sectors in Poonch. Indian Army is retaliating befittingly," a defence spokesman said.

The officials said Pakistani Rangers also violated ceasefire by firing on forward posts in Manyari-Chorgali area of Hiranagar sector along the International Border (IB) in Kathua district, prompting effective retaliation by the Border Security Force.

The firing was initiated by the Pakistani Rangers when they targeted the forward posts around 9.45 pm on Saturday, the officials said, adding heavy firing rattled the area till 4.35 am on Sunday, causing panic among the border residents. However, no one was injured in the incident, the officials added.
The country's 122 federal prisons and many of the 1,700-plus state prisons have banned visitors and volunteers, hoping to prevent potentially disastrous coronavirus outbreaks among prisoners and staff in close quarters where disease can easily spread.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons announced its ban Friday, joining most states and some counties taking the same measure in their own prisons or jails.

The federal prisons are generally banning lawyer visits for 30 days -- a step further than most state facilities -- though confidential legal calls are allowed, and lawyers can request exceptions.

The intent is to keep outsiders from introducing the virus to the facilities where the nation's roughly 2.2 million prisoners and jail inmates live, and where the disease could spread rapidly, as 2019 mumps outbreaks in Texas and New Jersey jails showed.

"You can't keep a 2- to 3-foot distance from inmates, and they can't keep that distance themselves," said Ray Coleman Jr., a teacher at the federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida, and president of the local union representing the facility's correctional officers.

Compounding the concern: Many prisoners hit the chronic-disease or age risk factors for severe coronavirus illness.

Prisoners and jail inmates are more likely than the general population to ever report having a chronic condition or infectious disease, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The prison population is increasing in age as well. In 2016, 11% of the 1.45 million people in state and federal prisons were over the age of 55, up from 3% in 1999, according to The Pew Charitable Trusts.

No states were reporting outbreaks at prisons as of Saturday morning. But the advocacy group Human Rights Watch has proposed that prisons, jails and immigration detention centers consider supervised release for people with high-risk factors like chronic disease.

And the ACLU of Louisiana has called for expedited parole hearings for elderly prisoners and the release of all jailed people awaiting trial who aren't considered a public safety risk.

In Cleveland, Cuyahoga County's common pleas court was holding extra hearings Saturday, trying to reduce the jail population in part by settling cases with guilty pleas and either releasing them or sending them to prison or house arrest, CNN affiliate WJW reported.

The bans, and how prisons are compensating, vary

The ban on outsiders vary in detail by jurisdiction, but generally at the federal and state level, they include even non-contact visits with glass partitions.

The moves are similar to how some states are restricting access to nursing homes and assisted living facilities. More than 35 states had announced visitation bans in state prisons by Saturday morning.

Some county jails, like the one in Los Angeles County, are keeping visitors out.

To compensate, federal prisons and many states say they are increasing prisoners' number of phone calls, or number of total minutes allotted for calls.

"We know that it's going to be hard ... on families and on prisoners where that visit is so important," Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Wednesday, announcing visitation bans in Kentucky's state prisons. "But this is about protecting their health, the health of our corrections officers, and making sure that we get through this."

Some states, including Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Ohio and South Dakota, are expanding or otherwise touting prisoners' ability to connect with people on the outside by video.

Generally, states are allowing in-person legal visits, with attorneys subject to health screenings before entering.

Even some states that hadn't announced full visitation bans by Saturday morning did have restrictions. Arkansas, Nebraska and New Hampshire were screening visitors and employees for symptoms. Iowa has banned volunteers but was allowing non-contact visits. However, the state warned even those could be suspended soon.

Corrections officers are concerned about their safety, too

Reducing visitor traffic at prisons may help slow spread of the disease to corrections officers, without whom prisons can't run. While many businesses are encouraging workers to telecommute, corrections officers have no such option.

The more officers call in sick, the more strain will be put on staffing levels. That would be hard especially in federal prisons, which have long faced staffing shortages, said Joe Rojas, Southeast region vice president of the union representing federal corrections officers, the American Federation of Government Employees' Council of Prison Locals.

"We're already dead short of staff as it is" at the Federal Correctional Complex in Coleman, Florida, where Rojas works as a teacher, he said. That complex has 12 vacancies in the medical department alone, Rojas said, in part because of relatively low pay and rigorous work.

Rojas, who spoke to CNN on Friday shortly before federal prison visitor ban was announced, was frustrated that a ban hadn't come days earlier.

Both Rojas and Ray Coleman, the Tallahassee prison teacher, said their prisons needed more protective equipment, like masks, gloves and hand sanitizer.

Coleman, who said some of these items were on back order, said the Tallahassee prison had about 60 masks for about 250 employees, including 20 medical staff, as of Friday afternoon.

The "biggest issue is we don't have resources," Coleman said. "We're having a hard time getting masks and gloves, all of that stuff."

The Federal Bureau of Prisons responded by pointing to a statement that AFGE Council of Local Prisons president Shane Fausey released, thanking the Trump administration and bureau Director Michael Carvajal for their "swift, decisive, and unprecedented actions taken to combat the COVID-19 virus and its ominous threat that it poses to our nation's federal prisons."

"The BOP appreciates the union's cooperation and assistance as we do everything we can to assure the safety and security of our staff and inmates," said the bureau's Sue Allison on Saturday.

The president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents many workers in state prisons, said the union has been working with state and local officials to push for training, equipment "and other preventative measures to mitigate the potential spread of the virus within correctional facilities."

"We call on employers to extend greater flexibility in leave policies and to provide staff access to medical treatment as soon as possible if they are symptomatic," AFSCME President Lee Saunders said Friday. "Our correctional officers regularly step up to keep our communities safe and strong, and they deserve our support and respect in this uncertain and unsettling time."
Greece is transferring 450 migrants recently detained for trying to reach the island of Lesbos illegally to a facility near Athens, authorities said Sunday.

A ship with the migrants landed at a port near Athens and the migrants will be transferred to a facility just north of the capital pending deportation, an official at the Ministry of Migration policy told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak on the matter. The transfer to the facility was still underway Sunday morning.

All the migrants have been detained since March 1, just days after Turkey said it was opening its borders to the millions of migrants on its soil.

In response, Greece has toughened its stance, suspending all asylum applications for a month and jailing migrants, and refugees, who tried to cross the land border from Turkey.

Although the migrants had been taken to the ship several days ago, the whole operation had been shrouded in secrecy, with officials refusing to comment on the ship's destination even after it left Lesbos early Saturday afternoon.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The deadly novel coronavirus outbreak in Iran has exposed a long-suspected attribute of an outspoken Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) General and former mayor of Tehran, who has is set to preside over the newly elected parliament on May 28.

Circulating a commercial video on his Telegram Channel, IRGC Brigadier General Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf (Ghalibaf) has called upon people to deposit money in a little-known institution's bank account and help it contain the deadly virus.

The institution is named after the eighth Shiite Imam, Ali ibn Musa al-Reza, buried in Iran's second-largest city, Mashhad. The "Imam Reza Headquarters," claims that it manufactures protective masks in fifty workshops across Iran, and it has also promised unnamed state-own entities to produce twenty million masks for free distribution among the poverty-stricken people in Iran.

The "headquarters" is officially registered as the Mehr al-Reza Jihadi Foundation.

The shady outfit's website maintains that it was established in a popular, spontaneous move in 2013 to assist "deprived people" in cultural and social fields.

Nevertheless, the website does not provide the foundation's articles of association, the names of people on its board of directors nor the sources of its income.

Digging further, one finds out that the foundation was officially registered in 2016. Therefore, it is not clear how the unregistered and unlicensed entity operated and even won government contracts between 2013 and 2016.

The IRGC-affiliated daily, Javan, reported on August 31, 2015, that the headquarters had completed 1,200 construction projects and deployed 3,700 staff in the oil-rich province of Khuzestan, southwest Iran,

Still digging further, one finds out that a mid-ranking cleric, Gholam Reza Qassemian, is named as the chairman of the foundation's board of directors.

Widely known as Qalibaf's nightingale, Qassemian is praised for his singing video clips. He is also the manager of Meshkat Shi'ite seminary.

Qalibafs name has been tied to huge corruption scandals at the Tehran municipality, during his tenure as mayor. When in 2017, a new city council was elected, news about billions of dollars having disappeared from the citys coffers were revealed. But Qalibafs hardliner allies mercilessly attacked the new mayor and his aides who were disclosing episodes of his corruption.

Qassemian's close relationship with Qalibaf, during the latter's control over the Tehran municipality (2005-2017) helped the "headquarters" obtain lucrative contracts, including the management of 23 centers for drug rehabilitation in 2017 across Tehran.

The centers were entrusted to Qassemian's foundation for three years, under unknown conditions.

According to pro-reform daily Sharq's report on September 16, 2019, every unit of the 23 drug rehabilitation centers is valued between seventy billion to 100 billion rials (approximately $ 1.7 million to $2.4 million).

Although the foundation denies its connection to the rehab centers, the work progress reports of the centers are published by the foundation.

The foundations social media accounts reveal it was also involved in the lucrative business of providing service to Iranian pilgrims who annually travel to the city of Karbala, in Iraq. As a matter of fact, Qalibaf twisted the arms of all district mayors in Tehran to contribute to the foundation for providing service to pilgrims, according to a member of Tehran city council.

This was all happening while the foundation was still not registered and its is not clear how it could have financial dealing and bank accounts.

In a nutshell, the Mehr al-Reza Jihadi Foundation is a carbon copy of hundreds of other charitable entities in Iran that make millions, thanks to their connections with a prominent political, military or religious figure.

These entities are never transparent, are always under the protection of a powerful figure, do not issue any financial reports and can suddenly set up branches in all parts of the country.

Supported by a political heavyweight, every one of these shady foundations makes millions and returns the favor during elections.

They also always become visibly active during natural disasters and other emergencies such as the coronavirus crisis, with appeals to citizens and businesses to collect money, without any transparency.

The IRGC brigadier General, former Police Chief (2000-2005) and Tehran Mayor (2005-2017), Qalibaf won 1,265,000 votes, the highest in Tehran, in the February 2020 parliamentary elections.

Many analysts believe that although mired in corruption, the 58-year-old Qalibaf might become the next speaker of parliament on May 28.

The Islamic Republic Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose grip on power is being challenged by mounting pressures from Washington and by growing discontent at home, is seen by analysts as counting on security hawks like Qalibaf to form a loyal and obedient parliament.
The Haryana government on Sunday ordered the closure of all the government as well as private schools and banned public gatheringspolitical as well as socialtill March 31 as the state bordering the national Capital further took a slew of steps to fight the spread of the Coronavirus infection (Covid-19) outbreak.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar along with health minister Anil Vij reviewed the preparations of the health department to check the spread of the Coronavirus and decided that cinema halls, gyms, swimming pools, clubs and night clubs will also remain closed till March 31.

Later in the evening, Khattar also tweeted that the state government has banned gathering of more than 200 people in functions such as political, religious, social, cultural, sports, personal or family events across the state till March 31, a government spokesperson said. We have also decided to set up 100 isolation beds in every district and more than that in cities neighbouring New Delhi, he stated in the tweet.

The Gurugram district administration, when asked about the matter said that these directions will be implemented in letter and spirit. All necessary measures will be taken to prevent the spread of Coronavirus, said the government spokesperson.

While the schools will remain closed during this period, examinations in the schools will continue to be held as per the schedule.

The students will attend the school only to take the board exams, annual exams and assessment exams as per the previous schedule. However, all teaching and non-teaching staff will attend the school as usual, Dr Mahavir Singh, Principal Secretary (education), said.

Meanwhile, the Haryana Staff Selection Commission also cancelled the online written examination of assistant lineman and various other posts of the skill development and industrial training department due to administrative reasons and also keeping in view the spread of Coronavirus.

The chief minister directed that 2,500 to 3,000 beds (minimum 100 in each district) should be identified in the Isolation Wards set up in the government hospitals of the State. The number of these beds, Khattar said, could be increased in cities like Gurugram, Rohtak and Jhajjar.

At present 1,328 beds have been identified in 298 isolation wards in government hospitals and district-wise arrangement of quarantine facility has been made for 3,000 people.

Health Minister Anil Vij said that the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homoeopathy (Ayush) will organise 100 camps in the state from Monday, wherein medicines would be distributed to the people free of cost to enhance their immune systems.

The government has decided that sanitisers will be installed in those government offices where people in large number visit for their day-to-day work.

All the chief medical officers have been directed to ensure the installation of sanitisers in district offices in consultation with the deputy commissioners concerned.

Notably, no Haryana citizen has tested positive for Coronavirus. The sample of a 29-year-old woman from Gurugram, who returned from Malaysia and fell sick, have been sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune, a senior health official from Gurugram said on Sunday.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Domestic air traffic will see a drop of 15 to 20 per cent on account of Coronavirus outbreak, said Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister for Civil Aviation. Yet, he ruled out a bailout package for airlines and instead suggested them to approach oil companies for a 30-day credit supply of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF).

ATF accounts for 40 per cent of an airlines expenditure and any slowdown in air traffic sans relief on ATF taxes may adversely impact revenue of air carriers. Speaking at the ongoing Wings India 2020 here on Saturday, Puri said he also requested the Oil Ministry to adopt a 15-day price adjustment for ATF pricing instead of 30 days given global crude prices are seeing a sharp correction.

Outbreak will cause short-term economic disadvantage: Aviation Min

Besides, he also spoke to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the GST Council to possibly bring ATF under the fold of GST. Such a move could mean a uniform tax rate as against the current practice of centre and state levies. We are at a point where we need to bring ATF under GST and by and large there is acknowledgement from across states to make it happen, he said. Admitting that the Coronavirus outbreak will cause some economic disadvantage, Puri said it was only a passing phase, which India will overcome and take advantage of the opportunities arising out of the global challenge.

In a country of nearly 1.30 billion people, we have 80 positive cases. Many of them are going to be okay, we may add some but looking at that perspective we will not only overcome the challenge, but I see robust and vibrant growth in the civil aviation sector, he said. Puri said India was on course to emerge as the third-largest civil aviation market and the number of air passengers will likely go up from current 345 million passengers per annum to one billion by 2030. But given the penetration and double-digit growth, he hoped that the one billion passenger target will be achieved much before, say by, 2024-25.

Stating that the Indian airports constitute a global benchmark on how airports should work during such pandemic situations, Puri said the country had so far screened 10,876 flights or about 12 lakh passengers, of which 3,225 required further screening.

Key focus areas

Meanwhile, speaking earlier at the event, KT Rama Rao, Minister for Industries & Commerce, IT&C, Government of Telangana, underscored two key areas where the State would focus on. With respect to aviation and aerospace, there has been tremendous growth with further room to grow for us. Our focus should be on skill development and MRO infrastructure and foreign investments... The MRO sector has a huge potential for employment generation along with significant investments from overseas. We are working together to bring in reforms and policies that will enable us to bring in more employment opportunities for young India, he noted.

Increased focus on MRO infrastructure building will lead to Indian aircraft being serviced completely in India. By 2040, the Ministry of Civil Aviation along with FICCI targets complete component manufacturing and MRO services from the country. According to Anand Stanely of Air Bus, domestic traffic grew 1,400 per cent or 14 times in the last 18 years. Though the elephant in the room, is the Coronavirus, Stanely said, the aviation industrys future in terms of connectivity is promising.
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) on Saturday announced to provide free online Python courses to universities which have suspended their regular classes amidst scare of Covid-19 (coronavirus) spread. Covid-19 has been declared a pandemic by WHO recently after its cases were reported in over two dozen countries.

These free online classes can be accessed on Prutor--- the free online programming tutor. Prutor.ai offers many online courses. Prutor is a proprietary technology developed at IIT-K over the last six years utilising thousands of hours of teachers and students, said Amey Karkare, who developed the technology.

As classes have been suspended in many states in the country, online tutoring is a solution to catch up with teaching hours lost due to closure, he said.

Until recently, this advanced tools and associated video lectures were available only to IITs like IIT Bombay, IIT Madras and IIT Goa, who used Prutor to teach programming to thousands of students. With a lot of students will have free time due to the virus, Amey and Mahendra K Verma are making these courses and tools available for free so that universities and colleges can extend benefit to their students.

Most colleges have cancelled classes to prevent the virus from spreading. IITs, IISc and NITs other institutions, which are just cancelling the classes, said Karkare.

Interested educational institutions can sign up through an online portal (https://prutor.ai/) and will have free access through July 31, 2020 for any number of students.

Deputy director of the IIT-K Professor Manindra Agarwal said, It is a very interesting use of technology that is useful for basic tutoring.

On March 14, following the announcement of Amey decision, IIT Kanpur physics faculty member Dr Mahendra K Verma said that as the classes were off it was a wonderful opportunity for anyone to explore the wonderful world of Python.

Amey said that only the top Indian universities were prepared to introduce online learning, but many others did not have the necessary infrastructure to run the courses on their own.

It has already been adopted by IIT Mumbai, IIT Goa, IIT Madras and other leading institutions to teach coding. According to Amey, Any student above 8th grade can learn programming using Prutor.

He is also making available lectures in both Hindi and English to any college or university that is interested. Prutor.ai is a technology that is not available anywhere else, and IIT Kanpur would be happy to provide it to any university and college willing to adopt it. We want to teach coding to as many students as possible, if any company can share some CSR funds with IIT Kanpur, we can help accelerate this Amey said.

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Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 23:40:57|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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CAIRO, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi held talks on Sunday with deputy of Sudan's Sovereign Council Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) built on their shared Nile River, the Egyptian presidency said.

The meeting discussed the developments of the GERD issue in the light of the agreement reached through tripartite negotiations in Washington but was unilaterally inked by Egypt, according to Egyptian presidential spokesman Bassam Rady.

Dagalo also commended Egypt for "maintaining the safety and stability of Sudan amid the historic turn it goes through," Rady said in a statement.

In late February, Ethiopia declined a U.S.-sponsored ministerial meeting with Egypt and Sudan in Washington to conclude a deal over the rules of filling and operating the GERD that has been building since 2011.

While Ethiopia, an upstream Nile Basin country, eyes massive benefits from the dam construction, downstream Egypt is concerned that it might affect its 55.5-billion-cubic-meter annual share of Nile water.

Egypt's fellow downstream country Sudan expects future benefits from the GERD construction despite Egyptian concerns. The Sudanese side also didn't sign the GERD agreement in Washington that was initialled by Egypt in late February.

"Sudan is part of the GERD issue and it will act as a mediator to bring views closer and reach a relevant agreement," Dagalo told reporters following his meeting with Sisi, according to Egypt's official MENA news agency.

The GERD is expected to produce over 6,000 megawatts of electricity and become Africa's largest hydropower dam upon completion.
INTERNATIONAL Womens Day on Sunday was definitely not being marked by Henleys toads.

As regular Henley Standard readers will know, each year around this time the Henley Toad Patrol is formed to help the amphibians cross the road.

The volunteers put up a large plastic barrier along a section of the A4155 Marlow Road to catch the toads, frogs and newts as they migrate at night from Oaken Grove Wood to a pond on the Culden Faw Estate on the other side of the road where they reproduce.

Instead of being squashed by passing traffic, the creatures are carried across in buckets by members of the patrol.

So what has that got to do with womens equality, I hear you ask?

The answer comes from Professor John Sumpter, a founding member of the patrol and head of ecology at Brunel University.

He explains: At the beginning of the spawning migration in early February, almost all the toads collected by the volunteers at the barrier were males.

We call these single males  they want to get to the pond early in order to be in prime position when the female toads start arriving. However, other male toads use a different strategy  they hitch a ride on a female. Thus, when many of the female toads reach the barrier, as they are doing in high numbers currently, they are already paired with a male. We call these pairs of toads.

The smaller male climbs on to the back of the female and clasps her tightly. Scientifically, the two toads are said to be in amplexus. The male toad has specially developed pads on his front legs that help him grip his female in this mating embrace.

Thus the poor female has to carry her male a considerable distance as she crawls slowly towards the pond where she will spawn.

Each lazy male is trying to ensure that when his female releases her eggs, he will be in prime position to fertilise them. External fertilisation is the norm in amphibians.

A relatively small percentage of female toads arrive at the barrier unaccompanied by a male. We call these single females. But they rarely stay single for long.

If single males and single females are put together in a bucket, by the time the volunteer has crossed the road and walked to the pond, there are usually mainly pairs of toads in the bucket. Male toads obviously do not spend very long choosing a suitable mate!

The professor says that last week was another busy one for the volunteers, with significant numbers of toads on the move whenever the weather conditions were suitable.

He says: The relatively mild, and sometimes wet, weather recently has encouraged lots of toads to head for their spawning pond.

Weather conditions throughout Saturday night were particularly favourable for amphibians and more than 1,000 toads, together with some frogs and newts, were collected from the barrier by nearly 20 volunteers and taken to the pond. Other nights were less busy but still nearly 1,700 toads were collected during the week.

By the end of the week a total of 5,976 toads, 165 frogs and 169 smooth newts had been carried across the road since the operation began in

February.

This means that the number of toads has passed the average, which is close to 5,500, and the migration period is not due to finish until some time around the end of this month.

Not even the expert Prof Sumpter is willing to hazard a guess at what the final total will be.
Foremost Nigerian stand-up comedian, Ali Baba has stated that he wants a friend that would damn all consequence for him, like El-Rufai, Kaduna state governor, did for Sanusi Lamido, the dethroned Emir of Kano state.

Alibaba made this known via his official Instagram page on Friday.

Read Also: Dethroned Emir Sanusi Is A Liar, Says Reno Omokri

El-Rufai left his Kaduna base to pay the deposed Emir a visit at Awe before they proceeded to Abuja together.

He wrote:

I want a friend like @nelrufai. I want a friend that will damn all consequences for me.

I want a friend who will lift me up when I have been let down by constituted authority.

I want a friend who can relate with me, without thinking their positions in life must define our relationship.

I want a friend whose intelligence, character, values and views on general issues meet on different levels and levels out when we differ.

I want a friend, who, when Im in trenches, when I run out of arms, when Im taking incoming fire, when I have been shot, will cut short their cruise, to help heal my bruises.

s

I want a friend like @nelrufai. I want to be an @nelrufai to my friends.
This story was produced as part of a joint effort between Spotlight PA, LNP Media Group, PennLive, PA Post, and WITF to cover how Pennsylvania state government is responding to the coronavirus.

Story by Gillian McGoldrick of LNP | LancasterOnline

HARRISBURG  Despite concerns over the coronavirus, a special election in Bucks County will go on as planned Tuesday, a top state House official has announced.

Both Gov. Tom Wolf and local officials had called for the special election in the 18th House district to be postponed, as the number of COVID-19 cases in the county rose to three. On Saturday, with the county total at 12, Wolf expanded a voluntary shutdown of non-essential businesses to the area.

We are concerned with both being able to staff that election as well as peoples comfort with being able to come out and vote, given the situation and the social distancing recommendations," Diane M. Ellis-Marseglia, chair of the Board of Bucks County Commissioners, said Saturday.

But in a statement, House Speaker Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny) said the Bucks County special election as well as two others  one in Westmoreland County and the other in a district that includes parts of Butler and Mercer Counties  would go on as planned.

The impact of the COVID-19 virus is being felt by all of us, and I applaud the statewide efforts to practice social distancing and increased disinfecting in public spaces. These same practices will be in place on election day, but they do not require the rescheduling of the special elections, Turzai said in a statement on Saturday. When you consider that absentee ballots have already been applied for and returned, these elections are already underway.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PENNSYLVANIA: Click to see where cases of the coronavirus are in Pennsylvania are located.



Turzai said he consulted with the House parliamentarian, who expressed concerns about increased confusion for voters and disenfranchising absentee voters, including members of the military, who would have to reapply for absentee status. The parliamentarian also said its unclear if Turzai has the authority to schedule a new election under these circumstances.

The race in Bucks County is a key one for Democrats hoping to flip the GOP-controlled House this fall. Republican K.C. Tomlinson and Democrat Harold Hayes are vying to replace Gene DiGirolamo, a moderate who resigned to become a county commissioner.

The elections in Western Pennsylvania were called to fill vacancies in the state House left by members who won judgeships.

While all voters are able to request a mail-in ballot for the April primary, that option was not available for these special elections. County officials said Friday they are planning to report to their assigned polling locations prepared with wipes and gloves.

Id like to say we could put everybody in a bubble and protect everybody, but Im not sure thats possible, said Jeffrey Greenburg, the director of elections for Mercer County.

Counties will take special precautions due to the coronavirus, the elections officials said. These policies include asking voters in districts with paper ballots to bring their own pens, as well as providing poll workers with gloves and sanitizing wipes to clean the machines and scanners after use. Officials are also encouraging voters to follow the Department of Healths guidelines like washing their hands after leaving polling locations.

Andy Harkulich, chair of the Mercer County Democrats, said Friday he thinks COVID-19 will affect turnout.

Im sure the numbers will be down, he said. What were going through, you cant complain about. This thing thats going on is pretty serious.

In Westmoreland County, director of elections Beth Lechman said she expects turnout to drop by about 7% compared to previous special elections, down to around 10% total turnout.

But in Bucks County, chief clerk of elections Gail Humphrey said she is expecting higher turnout for a special election because of the seat were replacing and because of what seems to be the changing political climate in the area.

As of Friday morning, Humphrey said she had only discussed with state officials how the county can address safety concerns for the April 28 primary.

Were just trying to get through this special election, Greenburg in Mercer County said. Then, theres a lot of big conversations occurring at the state level as we approach the presidential primary.

Inquirer staff writer Chris Brennan contributed to this article.

Spotlight PA receives funding from nonprofit institutions and readers like you who are committed to investigative journalism that gets results. Give a gift today at spotlightpa.org/donate.

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Bad times raise the leadership bar; Gov. Wolf is meeting it | John Baer
Georgia election officials are postponing the states March 24 presidential primaries until May because of fears over the coronavirus.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a statement that in-person early voting, which began statewide March 2, will be halted and the election will be moved to May 19, when Georgias other 2020 primary elections are being held.

The action followed Republican Gov. Brian Kemps signature of an emergency declaration that unlocked sweeping powers to fight COVID-19. In a speech Saturday, the governor renewed a call for places of worship, schools and others to consider canceling large gatherings as cases in the state rise.

As of Saturday, the virus had infected more than 150,000 people worldwide and killed over 5,600. Georgia is reporting 66 confirmed cases, with most concentrated around metro Atlanta. One death in the state has been caused by the virus.

Election officials said in addition to the safety of the public, one of the biggest considerations was the risk the virus posed to poll workers, who are often older.

On Friday, Louisiana became the first state to
By Express News Service

COIMBATORE: A 30-year-old software developer, who got stuck at Rome for three days unable to obtain a COVID-19 negative certificate, has finally made it to India. Srinithin Jayabal (30), a resident of Peelamedu, reached Coimbatore on Saturday. However, the journey was not easy as he had to take a detour and shell out a lot of money. Also, he reportedly did not get any support from the Indian Embassy.

He said, With India quarantining itself from a few countries namely Italy, France, Spain, and Germany, I could not get back home without a COVID-19 negative certificate. Therefore, I travelled to another European country, which is free from the virus, from Rome. The country, which he refused to name because of security reasons, did not mandate a COVID-19 negative certificate from the passengers.

From there, I boarded a flight to New Delhi. After reaching India, I cleared the immigration after undergoing screening at the airport. Later, I boarded a direct flight to Coimbatore and reached home on Saturday morning, he explained. He claimed that his whole travel from Rome to India cost him around `90,000. Srinithin said he would be home quarantining himself because of his recent travel histories.

Preventive measures

The Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation has been implementing the preventive measures in full swing. Disinfectant is being sprayed inside buses, at malls and theatres. A Health Department official said that the types of hand washes would be displayed for a few seconds at digital advertising boards across the city.

Home quarantining

CMCH Dean B Asokan suggested that home quarantine must be done effectively. He said that such people must isolate themselves from others and use only their own products.
The chairman of the reconciliation committee of Nigerias ruling party, APC, Bisi Akande, has warned that the many court cases filed over disputes in the party are harmful to the party in compound ways.

Mr Akande stated this in a statement sent to journalists early on Sunday.

PREMIUM TIMES reported the different court cases by members of the party for and against the leadership of Adams Oshiomhole, the embattled national chairman of the party.

A court in Abuja ordered the suspension of Mr Oshiomhole based on an earlier controversial suspension by the APC in Edo, Mr Oshiomholes home state.

Hours after the suspension, the APC announced three new members of its National Working Committee, including Waziri Bulama as acting national secretary, a move condemned by some leaders of the party.

A federal court in Kano later gave a different order that Mr Oshiomhole should continue in office.

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.

Amidst the controversy, the assistant national secretary of the party, Victor Gaidom, circulated a statement announcing a National Executive Council (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.

However, a court in Lagos Thursday ruled that a NEC meeting of the APC cannot hold except the trio of Waziri Bulama, Abiola Ajimobi, and Paul Chukwuma are in attendance. The three were the appointments announced after Mr Oshiomholes suspension as acting national secretary, acting deputy national chairman and acting national auditor respectively.

READ ALSO:

Amidst the various court cases and the uncertainty surrounding the NEC meeting scheduled to hold on Tuesday, Mr Akande said he is a bit taken aback by the swift resort to the courts by some members who seek external decisions on what are intrinsically internal matters best determined by the deliberative process that is part and parcel of democratically-oriented party politics.

The former Osun governor did not speak on the controversial NEC meeting but called on party members to allow the committee to do its work and should stop seeking judicial intervention in matters under the purview of the special committee

Read Mr Akandes full statement below.

I have noticed with growing concern the increasing number of court cases being filed pertaining to disputes regarding the leadership of our party, the All Progressives Congress. Competition and different views on leadership are inherent in political parties. Thus, the fact that all party members do not agree on all things is not abnormal. Politics after all is, in significant degree, the art of resolving conflicts and disputes in a manner that strengthens institutions as well as relationships between the people who share those common institutions.

The APC is a democratic body. This means we seek to resolve internal conflict through dialogue, deliberation and ultimately through open and transparent voting procedures. Consequently, I am a bit taken aback by the swift resort to the courts by some members who seek external decisions on what are intrinsically internal matters best determined by the deliberative process that is part and parcel of democratically-oriented party politics.

I do not know the motivations behind this litigious conduct. It is not in my nature to ascribe negative or harmful motives to anyone. Those seeking access to the courts to decide what are basically politic questions perhaps think they are doing the right thing. If this is the case, I must state that they are innocently in error.

Their actions are harmful to the party in compound ways. First, the subject matter they bring before the court is not amenable to judicial pronouncement. The manner by which court decisions are rendered  one side wins, the other loses  is not the best way to resolve political disputes. Again, such disputes are better treated by dialogue and the give-and-take that dialogue engenders. Courts do not proceed in such a manner. Second, to resort to the courts casts the party in a negative public light. Third, this penchant for litigation undermines party discipline, internal dispute resolution mechanisms and institutions.

I must remind party members the party constitution requires that all internal dispute resolution measures be exhausted before a member carries a matter to court. I dare say this provision has not been honored either in spirit or in letter by those initiating these court cases seeking to oust party officials.

More specifically, along with several other respected party members, I have been appointed as a member of the partys special reconciliation committee. I have been given the further honor to be the committee chairman. This committee was the product of discussion and deliberation of party organs such as the NWC and NEC. No one has contended that this committee was improperly established.

The committee mandate was to investigate and submit recommendations regarding the dispute in Edo state involving National Party Chairman Oshiomole and Governor Obaseki as well as inquire into disputes in other states that might weaken the party. All party members are aware of this decision. Thus, it runs contrary to the explicit decision of the party and is severely premature for members to seek judicial intervention in areas that form the very subject matter of the special committees mandate. To do this even before the committee has had time to do and finish its work not only insults the committee, it offends the NWC, NEC and the entire party.

Consequently, I call on all party members to honor the rightful and correct decisions of the party leadership. Members should allow the committee to do its work and should stop seeking judicial intervention in matters under the purview of the special committee until the committee has done its work and the party leadership has acted upon its recommendations. For members to act otherwise would be to discard the party constitution and ignore the tenets of deliberation and compromise upon which all successful political parties are founded.

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Three people are missing and another 10 were saved after a cargo boat in Taiwan Strait Saturday afternoon, the maritime search and rescue center of Guangdong Province confirmed.

The cargo boat with 13 crew members from the city of Weihai, the east coastal province of Shandong, sank in the south of the Taiwan Strait at 3:26 p.m. Saturday, according to local maritime authorities.

Rescue vessels and helicopters from maritime search teams of Guangdong and the nearby Fujian Province were sent out. Ten people got rescued, and the search work continues.
France allowed municipal elections to go ahead on Sunday even as officials imposed a drastic nationwide shutdown on businesses

Cafes, shops and restaurants shut down across France and Spain on Sunday and travellers faced chaos at US airports as governments stepped up their fight against the coronavirus pandemic which has now reportedly killed more than 6,000.

France ordered the closure of all non-essential businesses, while Spain went a step further and banned people from leaving home except to go to work, get medical care or buy food.

Cases also spiked in Germany and sources told AFP that the government planned to shut its borders with France, Switzerland and Austria on Monday.

Spain and France are among the worst-hit countries in Europe although Italy, which imposed Europe's most draconian lockdown on its 60 million citizens last week, still dominates in terms of infections from COVID-19.

A spike in deaths reported in Spain from 183 on Saturday to 288 on Sunday took the global toll to 6,036 from almost 160,000 infections, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources.

Experts warn, however, that the real figure is likely to be higher as tests are not available to everyone and people can be infected without showing symptoms.

The disease has now hit all global regions, ripping up sporting and cultural calendars, causing panic in stock markets and companiesparticularly airlinesand prompting often contradictory responses from governments.

The United States imposed a travel ban on countries in Europe's Schengen free-movement area last week, but has since said it would add Britain and Ireland to the list.

China, where the disease originated, is now imposing its own crackdown on international travellersall will be put into quarantine on arrivalafter linking most of its new infections to those coming from overseas.

As the virus continued its global spread, the plight of existing hotspots intensified.

Iran announced 113 new deaths on Sunday taking its total to 724, the world's third-worst toll after China and Italy, and officials urged people to avoid public gatherings.

Britain is getting ready for more drastic action

US travel spat

The US travel restrictions threw airports into disarray with passengers complaining of massive queues as staff battled with the new entry rules and stipulations on medical screening.

One passenger, Ann Lewis Schmidt, told CNN passengers at Chicago's O'Hare airport were held at "close quarters" when they arrived, adding: "So if we didn't have the virus before, we have a great chance of getting it now."

Similar stories emerged on social media from passengers at Dallas and New York's JFK.

Illinois governor JB Pritzker said the queues at O'Hare were "unacceptable" and demanded that President Donald Trump take action.

"The federal government needs to get its s@#t together. NOW," he tweeted.

Trump tested negative for the disease, having come into contact with several members of a Brazilian presidential delegation who have since tested positive.

Governments in Europe also struggled to respond clearly.

Britain, which had avoided crackdowns and instead tried to manage the spread and create "herd immunity", cancelled local elections and hinted that it would follow most other affected European nations and ban mass gatherings.

On the other hand, France allowed municipal elections to go ahead on Sunday even as officials imposed a drastic nationwide shutdown on all non-essential businesses and promised to progressively restrict long-distance travel.

The risk from voting for the elderly was no greater "than going shopping", insisted Jean-Francois Delfraissy, chairman of France's coronavirus science council.

Several countries have announced bans on foreigners entering their countries.

Iran announced 113 new deaths on Sunday and officials urged people to heed the advice to avoid public gatherings

Austria banned gatherings of more than five people on Sunday, telling citizens to stay in unless absolutely necessary.

Norway announced it would shut ports and airports with international connections on Saturday before retreating a day later and saying although foreigners would be turned away the facilities would remain open.

The isolated turn to music

The spread of the virus has spooked even those countries without significant outbreakswith both Australia and New Zealand saying that anyone arriving from overseas must self-isolate for two weeks.

"We are going to have to get used to some changes in the way we live our lives," said Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Kazakhstan declared a state of emergency on Sunday despite having just eight confirmed infections.

In Africa, which has been spared the worst of the disease, half a dozen countries announced new infections over the weekend.

The announcements sparked restrictions on gatherings in Rwanda, panic-buying in the Seychelles and furious recriminations in Zimbabwea country yet to register a single case.

"Coronavirus is the work of god punishing countries who imposed sanctions on us," said Zimbabwe's defence minister Oppah Muchinguri on Saturday.

Latin America has also recorded only small clusters of infections, though Colombia shut its border with Venezuela over a rise in cases there.

Chile has also taken some protective measuresquarantining more than 1,300 people aboard two cruise ships after an elderly Briton aboard one of them tested positive for the coronavirus.

However, the cancelled events, closed schools and restrictions on movements have driven people to great lengths to avoid isolation and disappointment.

Romans have been singing to each other from their apartments, and across the US on the weekend hundreds of youngsters posted their cancelled high-school musical numbers on social media under #SunshineSongs.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2020 AFP
The Andhra Pradesh state election commission on Sunday postponed elections to rural and urban local bodies for six weeks in view of the coronavirus threat.

State election commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar issued a notification about the postponement of the elections that were initially scheduled to be held between March 21 and March 29.

The polling for mandal parishad (block parishad) territorial constituencies (MPTCs) and zilla parishad territorial constituencies (ZPTCs) was scheduled to be held on March 21.

Elections for municipalities, municipal corporations and nagar panchayats were scheduled for March 23. The elections to gram panchayats were scheduled to be held on March 27 and 29.

The election process for both rural and urban local bodies would be continued after six weeks from now, or after the threat of Covid-19 recedes, whichever is earlier. The scheduled already announced for gram panchayats has been kept in abeyance until further orders, Ramesh Kumar said.

He said the decision had been taken following representations from various political parties seeking postponement of elections due to the coronavirus scare and also assessing the overall situations in the neighbouring states and the country as a whole.

A large number of voters are expected to come from Hyderabad and other places in Telangana to Andhra to cast their votes in the local body elections. So, there is a possibility of spread of the virus during such mass congregations. Hence, we have decided to postpone the local body polls for six weeks. New dates will be announced once the spread of the virus is contained, he said.

He said since the ballot paper would be used for voting and considering the long queues where large number of people would gather at one place, the contamination of the ballot boxes might pose a threat to public health.

In all, elections would be held for 669 ZPTCs and 9,639 MPTCS in 676 mandals (blocks) spread over 13 districts of the state. Elections will also be held for 12 municipal corporations and 75 municipalities and nagar panchayats.

At several places, a large number of MPTC and ZPTC members got elected unanimously and their election would be valid. However, the Model Code of Conduct will continue for another six weeks, the SEC said.

Ramesh Kumar also ordered immediate transfer of district collectors and superintendents of police of Guntur and Chittoor districts, which reported large scale violence during the nomination process for local body elections.

He also ordered suspension of inspector of police in Macherla police station in Giuntur district, where there were attacks on Telugu Desam Party former MLAs Bonda Umamaheshwar Rao and Buddha Venkanna last week.

The SEC also ordered transfer of deputy superintendents of police of Srikalahasti and Palamaner in Chittoor district, besides inspectors of Tirupati, Palamaner, Tadipatri and Rayadurgam police stations for their alleged failure in preventing violent attacks on the political party activists.

If necessary, the SEC will consider cancellation of election process in Tirupati, Macherla and Punganur, he said.

The SEC also stopped the YSR Congress governments prestigious house site distribution programme scheduled on March 25, coinciding with Ugadi festival, because of the model code of conduct.

YSRC president chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy was supposed to launch the scheme Pedalandiriki illu (housing for the poor) as part of Navararatnalu (Nine jewels) programme, in which 26 lakh house site pattas were to be distributed on a single day.

The SEC said that since the model code of conduct (MCC) came into place on March 7, the announcement of new schemes and implementation of old ones cannot be done in a manner that it will impact the outcome of the elections.

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While the Congress and opposition BJP are weighing their options in view of Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon directing Chief Minister Kamal Nath to seek a trust vote in the Assembly on March 16, a minister on Sunday said proceedings in the House are conducted by speaker.

The statement of state Law and Legal Affairs Minister PC Sharma hinted that the Congress might be trying to buy some time to win back some of its rebel MLAs and might not be keen for a floor test on Monday.

Meanwhile, a Congress MLA said the "issue of the floor test" might be taken to court.

On the other hand, the opposition BJP might demand for a trust vote after Governor's customary address in the House on Monday. According to sources, the BJP's strategy will be to stall proceedings of the Assembly if its demand is rejected.

"The governor has directed the chief minister to seek a confidence vote after his address. But, it is the Assembly Speaker who decides the proceedings of the House," said Sharma, indicating that the Congress might not be keen on the trust vote on Monday.

"It is the Speaker's prerogative as far as proceedings in the House are concerned," he said, adding that the Congress will win the confidence test comfortably.

A Congress MLA said the trust vote might not be taken up on Monday.

"The floor test might not take place on Monday. It is impossible tomorrow. The issue (of the floor test) will go to court," he said.

Referring to the governor's directions, BJP chief whip in the Assembly Narottam Mishra said the ruling Congress has lost its majority.

"I am not saying this, this has been mentioned in the letter sent to Chief Minister by the Governor that it (government) is in a minority," he said.

With Speaker NP Prajapati accepting resignations of six of the total 22 MLAs of the Congress, the strength of the House has come down to 222.

The MLAs resigned on Wednesday after senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia quit the party and joined the BJP.

Before the political crisis, the Congress had 114 MLAs. The Kamal Nath government came to power in December, 2018 with the support of two MLAs of the BSP and one legislator of the SP. The BJP has 107 MLAs, just five short of the new majority mark at 112.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
There are times I have to remind myself that we are all adults in the Legislative Office Building, because lately it doesnt seem to be so.

The debate over HB 5044: An Act Concerning Immunizations is bringing out the worst from its proponents, who are resorting to using hate speech to denigrate the opposing side  concerned Connecticut parents  rather than listening to their testimonies and investigating their claims and concerns.

Weve heard allegations that the 4,000 people who showed up at the Capitol to attend the public hearing on HB 5044 are working for the Russians. Weve heard our spokesperson for the Department of Public Health refer to these people  who testified for 22 straight hours, primarily against HB 5044, at the public hearing  as the American Taliban. We constantly hear these families referred to as anti-vaxxers.

Please stop. Words have power. Hate speech has power. You are using hate speech to maliciously disparage the thousands of families who are legitimately opposed to government overreach, and who are doing what we should all be doing  fighting to protect freedom and democracy, not just for ourselves, but for everyone.

We arent anti-vaxxers. We are parents. We are doctors, firemen, lawyers, teachers, truck drivers, shopkeepers and legislators. In fact, many of us are vaxxers, who nonetheless support your right to informed consent and your right to make significant medical decisions for your child. Many of us are former vaxxers, who watched as our childrens health degenerated with each dose. We have every right to question the legitimacy of mandating 69 doses of 16 different, liability-free vaccines (with 200 more in the pipeline) for ourselves and our children. We have every right to follow our consciences when it comes to making informed vaccine choices. Your attacks are specious and uncalled for.

Rather than doing the work of actually investigating the credible safety concerns regarding vaccines and correcting the flawed DPH data on which HB 5044 was based, the media and politicians use bumper-sticker catch phrases  safe and effective, the science is settled, there is no link between vaccines and autism, etc. Could it be that after decades of Big Pharma spending billions of dollars every year in direct consumer advertising, peoples minds have been made up for them? That Big Pharma has so influenced public opinion and poisoned the debate?

I am one of the Democrats in the Connecticut State Legislature willing to take a stand with families fighting against government overreach. I stand with families against a nationwide push by Big Pharma to eliminate religious exemptions. Whether you agree or not, respect for the religious beliefs of all citizens should be afforded. Many of us have served our country in the armed forces to preserve and defend the very rights that HB 5044 seeks to take away. For that we are called the American Taliban by a public employee? Really?

We are Americans who love our country and are willing to stand up in defense of our and your constitutionally protected rights to practice our religions, to provide our children with an education, and to shield them from a pharmaceutical industry that is destroying our nations health. This is Connecticut, the Constitution State, and we fight to preserve our rights. Thats what Americans do. Why are reporters and politicians alike taking up the slings and arrows of hate speech against us?

The allegations from colleagues that dark money is funding the thousands of mothers fighting to preserve religious freedom to protect their children is a sad, desperate attempt to discredit the brave segment of citizens who care about preserving state and federal constitutionally protected rights. The money is coming from vaccine-injured families. The money is coming from parents and grandparents.

Did any of you hear any of the historic 22-hour public hearing testimony? Where is your empathy?

How is it that Democrats  members of the party thats supposed to represent and defend the rights of the little guy  are carrying the water for Big Pharma? Anyone? How can the party of NARAL Pro-Choice America do a 180 and seek to take away those very same rights of choice once a child is born? How are the Democrats OK with depriving children of their constitutional right to an education? How does that make any sense?

We have a major medical crisis within todays young population that is being completely ignored. According to the CDC website, 1 in 59 children were diagnosed with autism in 2014, compared to 1 in 150 in 2000 and 1 in 10,000 in the 1980s. Back when I was a child, autism was unheard of. Nobody was medicated to the extent they are today. There were no deadly food allergies. Kids were healthy. If they got sick, they stayed home until they got better. Common childhood illnesses were accepted and welcomed so as to gain lifelong, permanent immunity. Today, we have a multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical industry that has injected itself into the equation of health care, and its causing mayhem. Kids are sicker than ever before, kids have more allergies than ever before, and kids are on more medications than ever before.

During the Public Health Committee Public Hearing on Feb. 19, I asked DPH Commissioner Renee D. Coleman-Mitchell what was being done to find out why children are so sick. Her answer was a shrug of the shoulders. We dont know why there are so many kids with autism, she told us. Why not?

As unbridled corporate greed poisons the air we breathe and pollutes our oceans, it is doing the same to our children  injecting them with heavy metals and a laundry list of toxins that have no business inside our bodies.

And vaccine mandates arent just for children any more  HB 5044 applies to adults attending college classes just as it applies to children in private preschools. Vaccine mandates will likely be increasing for adults as it becomes clear we cant have the fabled herd immunity unless adults are vaccinated and revaccinated, as well. The pharmaceutical industry seeks cradle to grave customers.

I am not an anti-vaxxer. I only seek to be informed and do what I believe is right. I grew up in the 1960s, and if there was one thing I learned back then, it was to question authority, rather than to blindly trust the government. If we would just open our eyes to see and our ears to hear, we could stop enabling the criminal pharmaceutical corporations that brought us the devastation of Vioxx and Oxycontin.

If HB 5044 does come to the floor of the House of Representatives, I will argue these points in detail, and I will encourage my fellow Democrats to vote no on HB 5044 to stop this government overreach.

In the 16 years during which Ive had the honor to serve as a state representative from Bridgeport, I do believe this is the single most important vote I will ever make. Whatever the outcome, I will be able to hold my head up and say I did my best for Connecticuts future generations, and that I upheld my oath to protect and defend the Constitutions of Connecticut and the United States.

Jack Hennessy represents the 127th District in the state House of Representatives.
First patient recovers from COVID-19 in Georgia - GeorgianJournal
Parents indicted in boy's death: The parents and grandmother of a 6-year-old northern Arizona boy have been indicted on murder and other charges in the child's death. Elizabeth Archibeque, 26, and Anthony Martinez, 23, and the child's grandmother Ann Marie Martinez, 50, are scheduled to appear in Coconino County Superior Court on March 23 for arraignments. The three were arrested this month in Flagstaff after Ann Marie Martinez called 911 and said she thought her grandson was dead. Police found the boy unresponsive. An officer noted he could have been dead for hours.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, listens during a briefing on coronavirus in the Brady press briefing room at the White House, Saturday, March 14, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The government's top infectious disease expert said Sunday he would like to see aggressive measures such as a 14-day national shutdown that would require Americans to hunker down even more to help slow spread of the coronavirus.

Still, Dr. Anthony Fauc i said travel restrictions within the United States, such as to and from hard-hit Washington state and California, probably will not be needed anytime soon.

Fauci, the public face of the administration's messaging during a round of morning TV interviews, said the country should do as much as "we possibly could," even if officials are criticized for "overreacting." He said he raised the issue of measures such as a shutdown with the Trump administration, and said it has been open to his ideas.

"I think Americans should be prepared that they are going to have to hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing," said Fauci, a member of the White House task force on combating the spread of coronavirus. He head the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health

Fauci said the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions should already be hunkering down, but other Americans, too, should consider "much more" restrictions on outside activity, from work and travel to possibly self-restrictions on eating at restaurants.

"Everybody has got to get involved in distancing themselves socially," Fauci said.

"Everything is on the table," he said. "Right now, myself personally, I wouldn't go to a restaurant. I just wouldn't because I don't want to be in a crowded place. ... I don't want to be in a situation where I'm going to be all of a sudden self-isolating for 14 days." The virus has an incubation period of anywhere from two days to 14 days before symptoms emerge.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a briefing on coronavirus in the Brady press briefing room at the White House, Saturday, March 14, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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 worldwide outbreak has sickened more than 156,000 people and left more than 5,800 dead. The death toll in the United States has reached more than 50, while infections neared 3,000 across 49 states.

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 weeks to six weeks to recover.

President Donald Trump last week announced a sweeping travel ban for much of Europe. On Saturday, he added the United Kingdom and Ireland to a list of countries that would face travel restrictions over the next 30 days. He has pledged broadened U.S. testing for the virus as major employers such as Apple Inc. have sent workers home to telework and several states and big cities, including Los Angeles and Boston, shuttered down schools for a week or more.

In the nation's capital, White House officials over the weekend said Trump tested negative for the virus after he was recently in contact with three people at his Florida resort who tested positive, and several lawmakers in recent days have said they were self-quarantining out of an abundance of caution.

On Sunday, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said a former staff member tested positive for COVID-19. That staffer, Daniel Goldman, the attorney who led Democratic questioning during the House impeachment hearings, had left the office 10 days ago and he's believed to have contracted the virus after his departure.

"We will still be taking additional precautions over the next few days," Schiff said. "The former staffer is feeling better and no current staff have reported any flu-like symptoms at this time."

NIH reported Sunday that one of its staff working in its division on arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases had tested positive for COVID-19, its first case. NIH said the person was not involved in patient care and was now quarantined at home and "doing well."

In this Saturday, March 14, 2020 file photo, travelers wait to check in their luggage at the Los Angeles International Airport. The coronavirus pandemic that's caused many Americans to avoid airports has others booking spur-of-the moment trips at dirt-cheap ticket prices. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

Trump has suggested that restrictions on travel within the U.S. to areas hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic could be next. But Fauci on Sunday played down that or having major national lockdowns on the level now seen in European countries such as Italy and Spain.

"We feel that with rather stringent mitigation and containment, without necessarily complete lockdown, we would be able to prevent ourselves from getting to where, unfortunately, Italy is now," Fauci said.

"With regard to domestic travel bans, we always talk about it, consider everything. But I can tell you that has not been seriously considered, doing travel bans in the country. ... I don't see that right now or in the immediate future."

At the White House, Trump on Sunday was set to hold a call with grocery store executives to discuss their response to coronavirus outbreak. Retailers have reported seeing a crush of shoppers flocking to stores to stock up on food and other essentials. Consumers have expressed frustration that some itemssuch as hand sanitizer and toilet paperis becoming more difficult to find.

But more than the crisis was on his mind. He tweeted that he was considering a full pardon for Michael Flynn, his disgraced former national security adviser, and he directed barbs at a familiar target, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow expressed confidence that supply lines such as food for stores will be largely unaffected by the virus outbreak.

"I've read about some situations where this is a difficulty, but most of our supply lines are working pretty well in the domestic United States," he said. "I mean, there's a huge economic challenge here. Do not get me wrong, a huge economic challenge. On the other hand, most of America is still working. ... Factories are not shutting down across the country, at least not yet."

An entire section of meat and poultry is left empty after panicked shoppers swept through in fear of the coronavirus at a local grocery store in Burbank, Calif. on Saturday, March 14, 2020. Californians wanting to escape the new reality of the coronavirus at the movies, casino or amusement park are running into the six foot rule. State health officials issued new guidance Saturday urging theaters to keep attendance under 250 people and ask strangers to sit six feet apart. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

Trump, who declared Sunday a National Day of Prayer, said he tuned in to the live stream from the Free Chapel, a Gainesville, Georgia evangelical church led by Jentezen Franklin.

"I am watching a great and beautiful service by Pastor Jentezen Franklin. Thank you!" Trump tweeted.

Vice President Mike Pence, who leads the White House task force, said he planned to disclose more details about a web site being developed by Verily, a subsidiary of Google's parent company, that is being designed to help communities assess and direct Americans to sites conducting coronavirus screening.

Trump on Friday announced the imminent rollout of a website "facilitated" by Google that would guide users through a series of questions to determine whether they should be screened for the virus. The company, however, has said that the web site was in early stages of development and would be focused on the San Francisco Bay Area.

Fauci spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press," CNN's "State of the Union," ABC's "This Week," "Fox News Sunday," and CBS' "Face the Nation." Kudlow appeared on CBS.

Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Scott Morrison has told Australians to stop giving handshakes amid the coronavirus pandemic just hours after the country's health chief said it was low risk to do so.

In the same media address the prime minister ordered all overseas arrivals to self-isolate for two weeks as he issued a raft of new measures to combat the virus' spread.

Chief medical officer Brendan Murphy said earlier on Sunday only returning travellers were being urged to refrain from the gesture as part of a strategy called 'social distancing'.

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison pictured speaking to the media on Sunday as he urged Australians to stop giving handshakes to stem the spread of the coronavirus

But in the press conference on Sunday afternoon, Mr Morrison said everyone in Australia should stop shaking hands.

Social distancing means keeping 1.5m away from others, if possible, the chief medical officer had explained in an interview with ABC's Insiders.

'This is a new thing weve moved to, something I will be practising, my cabinet members and others are practicing,' Mr Morrison said.

'This is not something that was necessarily a key requirement weeks ago but its just another step up now.'

The issue of the handshake has already been discussed by political and health leaders as the coronavirus continues to spread at pandemic level.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said earlier this month Australians should think carefully about whether they need to give someone a handshake.

The announcement follows NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian (left) appearing horrified when Mr Morrison went to shake her hand on Friday

Then on Friday, NSW premier Gladys Berijiklian looked horrified when Mr Morrison ignored advice and went in for a handshake.

298 people have been infected with the COVID-19 virus in Australia and three people have died.

The number of coronavirus cases in NSW jumped by 22 over 24 hours, taking the total number of infected people in the state to 134.

Schools from Monday will adopt social distancing measures, including cancelling assemblies, excursions, and travel, as well as some events and conferences, NSW Department of Education Secretary Mark Scott announced on Sunday.

People pictured wearing masks outside the Sydney Opera House on Saturday. The guidance on handshakes is part of the government's social distancing strategy

The provisions will also see all major sporting, arts and initiative events and activities temporarily stopped until further notice.

That includes whole-of-school sporting events and inter-school events which involve three or more schools.

It comes as all new jury trials in the NSW Supreme and District court will be suspended indefinitely from Monday.

Jury trials which have already begun will continue.

During the press conference on Sunday, Mr Morrison announced all international arrivals into Australia will be forced to self-isolate for 14 days in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The prime minister also announced cruise ships will be banned from docking in Australian ports for at least 30 days.

People are seen dressed in personal protective equipment outside the international departures terminal at Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne

'This is very important. What we have seen in recent weeks is more countries having issues with the virus and that means that the source of some of those transitions are coming  transmissions are coming from those countries,' he said.

The forced isolation for international comes after New Zealand imposed the same restrictions last week.

Penalties for not self-isolating will be determined by states and territories.

From Monday, gatherings of more than 500 people have been banned.

Limitations on large gatherings in enclosed areas such as theatres are expected to be made later in the week.

All international arrivals into Australia will be forced to self-isolate for 14 days in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus , Scott Morrison announced

Mr Morrison said the measures were to slow the spread of the deadly illness over the next six month to ease the pressure on the health system.

He insisted schools will remain open.

'When you take children out of schools and put them back in the broader community, the ability for them to potentially engage with others increases the risk.'

Symptoms of the virus include a fever, cough, sore throat and shortness of breath

All international arrivals into Australia will be forced to self-isolate for 14 days in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Scott Morrison announced

A travel ban has already been put in place for mainland China, Iran, South Korea and Italy.

Last week the government banned 'non essential' public gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday.

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 ban will have stunning consequences for sporting codes, such as the NRL and AFL. Festivals, religious services, concerts and plays - even school assemblies - will be called into doubt.

Sydney's Royal Easter Show will be cancelled in the wake of the PM's statement as have further Melbourne Fashion Festival shows.

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.

The pandemic has seen the world grind to a halt as fear and uncertainty grips the globe.

Italy became the first country in Europe last week to impose a lockdown to combat the spreading Covid-19 illness as more than 17,000 people are infected.

The Mediterranean country's death toll hit over 1,200 - making Italy the worst-hit country outside of China, where the disease first incubated.

A video posted this week, understood to have been filmed at an Aldi store in Western Sydney, showed customers stampeding into the toilet paper aisle as soon as the shop's doors opened

Woolworths, Coles, and Aldi imposed one packet per customer limits on toilet paper and asked the public to show courtesy to staff and other shoppers

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF THE CORONAVIRUS? Once someone has caught the virus it may take between two and 14 days for them to show any symptoms. If and when they do, typical signs include: a runny nose

a cough

sore throat

fever (high temperature) The vast majority of patients  at least 97 per cent, based on available data  will recover from these without any issues or medical help. In a small group of patients, who seem mainly to be the elderly or those with long-term illnesses, it can lead to pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection in which the insides of the lungs swell up and fill with fluid. It makes it increasingly difficult to breathe and, if left untreated, can be fatal and suffocate people. Advertisement

Under current lockdown rules, shops - except pharmacies, supermarkets, and newsagents - are to remain closed at all times.

Schools and universities, which closed on March 4, are expected to remain shut until April 3.

Spain and France are also now on lockdown to stop the spread.

America has also shuts its doors to travellers from Europe.

The virus has already caused wide-spread panic in Australia with shoppers stripping supermarket shelves of toilet paper and other essential items.

People have also been queuing for hours to be tested for the deadly virus.

The 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.

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.

Some schools and workplaces have closed their doors amid coronavirus scares.

Globally, the infection has spread to more than 150,000 people across 112 countries, and killed at least 5,500 people.

Last week the government banned 'non essential' public gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday
Amid speculation of whether Chief Minister Kamal Nath government will be able to prove its majority in the Assembly or not, Home Minister Bala Bachchan on Sunday said that security arrangements have been made for 22 MLAs.

"The state government has prepared heavy security arrangements for its 22 MLAs, who have given their resignation," Bachchan told reporters after coming out from a meeting with Chief Minister Nath.

When asked if the floor test will happen as per the schedule, he said: "It will be seen and done when the time demands."

He also said: "In today's meeting with the Chief Minister, discussions were held to ensure that tomorrow's (March 16) Budget Session runs smoothly."

The meeting was attended by more than 100 Congress MLAs, the minister added.

On March 14, Chief Minister Nath sought the intervention of Home Minister Amit Shah for the "release" of 22 Congress MLAs who had been kept in Bengaluru, saying that they had been held "captive" and were under "pressure".

In a letter to Shah, Chief Minister Nath had said the BJP's demand for floor test had "no meaning" till the MLAs do not reach the state.

He said that the MLAs do not have any means of personal communication and all efforts to reach them have failed.

In the four-page letter, Nath said Governor Lalji Tandon had told him that the responsibility of security of those who will come to meet the Speaker should be with the CRPF but as the Chief Minister, it is his duty to ensure the security of all residents of the state including MLAs.

He had urged Shah to use his powers as the Home Minister so that 22 MLAs safely reach Madhya Pradesh and discharge their responsibilities "without fear or greed" in the assembly session beginning March 16.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bret Michael Conover, a devoted and loving husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend, joined the golden wheat fields of Heaven Feb. 20, 2020, from injuries he sustained in an auto accident.

Bret was born on March 31, 1959 in Billings to the late Maurice and Eleanor Conover. He grew up on the family farm East of Broadview graduating from Broadview High School in 1978.

Bret met the love of his life, Denise Visser, through his friend Bart Heiken during high school. Sweethearts from day one, Bret and Denise married July 15, 1978, and started their family soon after. First they welcomed Kendra, followed by twin boys Chad and Craig. Their second daughter, Brooke, would arrive 13 years later completing the family.

Bret and Denise established life on the farm right after high school, taking over the day to day operations of Conover Farms. Later on they expanded the operation and brought on their two sons, something Bret was most proud of. He taught his children all about agriculture and hard work and was very adamant about making sure the place was sustainable for generations to come. He was meticulous in his approach to farming and that showed in the crops at harvest.
Activity days 'The warriors of Vinnitsa' 2020

20 - 23 of March 2020 will be activity days of the Club WW radio amateurs in Vinnitsa region of Ukraine.

3 QSO (SWL) with radioamateur station of Vinnitsa region (UR#N, UT#N, US#N e.t.c.) will provide you an opportunity to get a memorial AWARD "The warriors of Vinnitsa".

QSO with club station of UR4NWW will give you 2 point QSO.

"The warriors of Vinnitsa" is amateur radio diploma in honor of 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Vinnitsa from nazi invaders in 1944.

Send your request with log to our mailbox: ur4nww@gmail.com until 31 of March 2020.

More info: http://ur4nww.qrz.ru/memorial/
Kazakhstan has now declared a state of emergency, barring almost all travel to and from the country.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has published a decree restricting entry and exit to everyone except diplomats, and people specifically invited by the government.

The decree also restricts the work of large retail trade facilities, and instructs regional officials to boost security at key buildings and facilities.

The measures are set to be in place until 15 April.

Kazakhstan currently has eight confirmed cases of coronavirus.

All of Czech Republic to be quarantined

Everyone in the Czech Republic will be quarantined, local news agency CTK reports, quoting Prime Minister Andrej Babis.

The Czech ministry of health said earlier today that there were now 214 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country  an increase of 25 since yesterday.
Amid coronavirus fears, booths for travel agencies stand empty at Incheon International Airport, Friday. / Yonhap



By Baek Byung-yeul



The travel and leisure industries are reeling from the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, with an increasing number of travel agencies closing due to entry bans on travelers from Korea and sagging travel demand, data showed Sunday.



According to the data on records of licenses filed with local governments, 56 travel agencies have reported closing their businesses between January 20  when the first positive test of the novel coronavirus was identified here  and March 13.



The data show just how serious the impact of the coronavirus outbreak is, with more than one travel agency a day going out of business.






Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured that the remaining political prisoners in Jammu and Kashmir would be released "very soon", the newly formed Apni Party's president Altaf Bukhari said here on Saturday, days after former chief minister Farooq Abdullah was released.

A 24-member delegation of the Apni Party led by Bukhari held detailed discussions with Shah in the presence of top officials of the Home Ministry.

The delegation had met prime minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.

Emerging after the meeting that lasted nearly two hours, Bukhari told reporters that the release of remaining political leaders was among the topic discussed with the home minister.

"Yes, we did discuss about the detention of remaining political leaders and others, and the home minister said it is a process and we will be releasing them very soon," Bukhari said.

Many political leaders, including former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, were detained by the government after the abrogation of special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5.

National Conference president and former CM Farooq Abdullah was released on March 13 after being kept in detention for 221 days.

According to a home ministry statement, Shah allayed the apprehensions of the delegation on restrictions and said all decisions on relaxations are based on ground realities and not due to any pressure.

"Even political prisoners will be freed in times to come as the main objective of the government is that not a single person should die, be it a common Kashmiri or security personnel," the home minster said.

Shah also assured the delegation of restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood at an "early opportunity" and no change in the demography of the region.

Expressing confidence that "visible changes will be seen on the ground in the next few months, the home minister also assured the delegation that the NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take all steps for the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir".

The political delegation was the first one to meet central leaders after the abrogation of J-K's special status on August 5.

Engaging with the delegation on about 40-odd issues raised by them, the home minister emphasised that there is no intention of the government for demographic change in the region and "all such talks have no basis at all".

Bukhari said that there was a clear assurance on this issue from the prime minister and the home minister.

In a similar assurance as given by the prime minister to the delegation, Shah said the government will work with all sections of the society to realise the hopes of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir at an early opportunity.

Shah referred to the prime minister's address to the nation after the abrogation of Article 370 and said that and even he in his speech in Lok Sabha on August 6, 2019 expressed the same.

The home minister said this is also good for India's interest, as the region is a border area, according to the official statement.

The home minister assured the delegation that Jammu and Kashmir will have a better domicile policy than other states in the country and that a reasonable economic development policy will be drafted soon after widespread consultation.

Shah said his government is open to suggestions and feedback from all political parties and individuals for overall development of Jammu and Kashmir.

He emphasised that there is no discrimination in implementation of central laws in Jammu and Kashmir and interests of all sections will be taken care of.

He said that a land bank had been created in the union territory and the government would soon come out with an industrial policy to ensure rapid economic development.

He expressed hope that in the next four years, Jammu and Kashmir will have three times more investments than Rs 13,000 crore that it has received in last 70 years.

There is a huge potential and investors are also willing to come forward. This will also solve the problem of unemployment in the region, he added.

On the issue of reservation, the home minister said that a commission will be set up soon and reiterated that no injustice will be done to Gujjars, nomads and other communities.

On the issues concerning JK Bank, he assured the delegation of personal intervention in the matter.

The JK Apni Party chief also raised various other issues, including age relaxation for youths from the union territory appearing in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams, relief in horticulture and agriculture.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Jenna Dewan and fiance Steve Kazee welcomed their son Callum into the world on March 6.

And on Saturday, the 39-year-old actress documented her baby bliss on social media.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, Dewan shared a sweet snapshot of Kazee planting a tender kiss on Callum's forehead with the caption: 'early morning shift.'

Hands-on Dad: Jenna Dewan took to Instagram in the early hours of Saturday morning to share a snapshot of fiance Steve Kazee tending to their newborn son Callum

Callum's tiny frame was wrapped up tightly in a blanket, while a groggy Kazee took on dad duty with stride.

A few hours alter, Steve took to his Instagram to share a video of himself tenderly rubbing the one-week-old's tiny foot.

While this is the first child for theater actor Steve, Callum is Jenna's second child  she shares daughter Everly, six, with her ex-husband Channing Tatum.

And Everly, currently staying with Dewan and Kazee, made an appearance in her mom's Instagram story on Friday and Saturday.

Puppy love: In a portrait shared by Dewan on Saturday afternoon, the family's pooch can be seen curled up next to newborn Callum as he slept

Watch dog: In a video shared by Dewan on Saturday, her six-year-old daughter Everly could be seen cradling Callum as the family's dog stayed close by to 'guard' the siblings

The six-year-old, in a clip shared on Saturday afternoon, cradled her sleeping newborn brother in her arms.

Next to the siblings was the family's protective brown Pitbull pup, who Dewan stated has been 'on guard' since Callum's birth last week.

Dewan followed up the short clip with a still image of the pooch curled up next to Callum as they napped.

In one portrait shared by Dewan on Friday morning, she can be seen partaking in some 'social quarantine,' while Callum rests in Everly's arms.

So tiny! A few hours alter, Steve took to his Instagram to share a video of himself tenderly rubbing the one-week-old's tiny foot

Social quarantine: 'Social quarantine at its finest,' captioned Dewan, which she later corrected to 'social distancing' stating that '#babybrain' was to blame for her terminology mix-up on Friday

'Social quarantine at its finest,' captioned Dewan, which she later corrected to 'social distancing' stating that '#babybrain' was to blame for her terminology mix-up.

The Flirty Dancing judge was referencing the social distancing suggested by the U.S. government as a preventative measure for the spread of the coronavirus.

Though Callum was born on March 6, the proud parents did not share the news of their son's birth on social media until Tuesday.

Dewan posted the first look at her bundle of joy in a picture taken from her hospital bed.

Heaven: On Friday, a bare-faced Jenna posted a selfie of herself and Callum onto her Instagram story with the caption 'heaven'

Welcome: On Tuesday, Dewan shared a black and white portrait of herself and her son as a means of announcing his birth to the world

'And just like that, our hearts exploded into all of eternity and beyond Welcome to the world you little angel!  Callum Michael Rebel Kazee 3/6/20,' the brunette beauty wrote in her caption.

In the black and white image the Dewan can be seen holding Callum to her chest, while he body remained wrapped under a blanket.

Kazee shared a black and white image of his own on his personal Instagram page that featured the 44-year-old actor's hand grasping onto Callum's.

He wrote: 'In an instant our universe burst wide open and nothing would ever be the same. Welcome to earth star child. Callum Michael Rebel Kazee 3/6/20.'
Washington: A new poll of Democratic primary voters conducted by The Wall Street Journal and NBC News shows a significant consolidation of support behind former vice president Joe Biden, emphasising Senator Bernie Sanders' failure to broaden his support the way Biden has over the past few weeks.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks about the coronavirus in Delaware. Credit:AP

Among those Democrats who have voted or plan to vote, 61 per cent say Biden is their preferred nominee as opposed to 32 per cent who prefer Sanders. In a poll conducted in mid-February, 15 per cent of voters identified Biden as their preferred choice.

Biden's swift transformation into consensus front-runner followed a decisive win in South Carolina, at which point multiple candidates who had been splitting the loyalties of the electorate dropped out and endorsed the former vice president.

But even after fellow liberal-leaning Senator Elizabeth Warren dropped out of the race last week, Sanders' support jumped just five points - to 32 per cent - in a much smaller field.
Holding of a floor test on



Monday, as directed by Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon, found no mention in the List of Business (LoB) issued by the state Assembly secretariat on Sunday night.

The LoB has mentioned only about the Governor's customary address on the first day of the Budget session and the motion of thanks.

The principal secretary of the Legislative Assembly could not be reached for his reaction despite repeated attempts.

However, former minister and an expert on legislative matters, Choudhary Rakesh Singh Chaturvedi told PTI: "Governor is the head of the state while Speaker is the head of the Assembly, who has all powers vested in him. A speaker works as per his discretion and according to the rules and procedures of the House".

On Saturday late night, the governor directed Chief Minister Kamal Nath to seek a floor test, four days after the Congress-led government was pushed to the brink following resignation of 22 MLAs, who are believed to be loyalists of former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, who has since joined the BJP.

Chaturvedi opined that the governor should not have ordered a floor test without physically verifying the resignations of the 22 MLAs.

On Tuesday, 19 MLAs had e-mailed their resignations to the governor.

"How can the governor be confident that the letters of these MLAs are genuine and are not written under any pressure," he asked.

"Moreover, the governor's secretariat has also not given its proper advise on the matter. If any resignation is accepted in this manner, then tomorrow a Naxalite can kidnap a legislator and on gun-point force him to write his resignation letter," Chaturvedi said.

"Before writing a letter to the CM directing him to seek a trust vote, the governor should have asked the Assembly's secretariat to provide him the list of MLAs belonging to each political party and acted accordingly, or he should have directed the Opposition party to parade the MLAs," he said.

Meanwhile, former principal secretary of the Assembly, Bhagwan Dev Israni said the state Assembly can always come out with the supplementary business list in the night or even in the morning of a session.

Israni said that the governor has directed the chief minister and the Assembly under Article 175(2) of the Constitution to seek the trust vote.

"However, it is the discretion of the speaker to conduct the proceedings," he said.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Gopal Bhargava rushed to meet the governor on Sunday night, after the LoB was released.

"The Congress government wants to evade the floor test. This is unconstitutional as the governor has issued clear directives that the Kamal Nath should seek trust vote just after his (governor's) address (to the House) on Monday.

"We have conveyed to the governor that the agenda of the state Assembly for Monday doesn't include this (holding of floor test), and he assured me that a suitable action will be taken," Bhargava added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Large office space and improved connectivity will be in high demand in coming years, according to market researcher Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).

Office buildings in Ho Chi Minh City

In report forecasting trends in the Vietnamese real estate market, JLL said that office space remains a hot commodity as rents have soared past the recent peak to reach a decade high.

Rental rates in Grade A and B buildings have increased, supported by strong demand and higher rental rates in newer office developments. Tenants are struggling to find bigger space because in the current market, only one Grade A building and 10 Grade B buildings can provide a contiguous space larger than 1,000 sqm, the researcher said.

The demand for large office space will accelerate in the next few years as co-working operators grow in numbers and companies look to upgrade their office to retain talent and expand businesses. Larger and more flexible space means a better chance of collaboration plus better use of energy and space.

In the fast-changing retail sector, success has never been more dependent on the supply chain, JLL said.

Omni-channels are adding new layers of complexity to retail logistics: its no longer just getting products on shelves, but making them available anytime and anywhere. As a new trend in the market, both retailers and mall developers are reinventing themselves with focus on F&B and experiential retailers, providing better customer services and applying technology, consumer analytics to enhance their popularity and increase foot traffic, the company said.

JLL also forecasts that limited new supplies will continue.

According to the latest report from JLL, about 30,000-35,000 units are expected to launch officially in HCM City and 40.000-45.000 units in Ha Noi in 2020. However, the number is subject to a great deal of uncertainty given the Governments tight control in granting land-use rights and construction licences.

Strong demand is set to carry on and will boost the price further across all sectors, JLL said. However, the demand in high-end segments, especially from investors, is likely to slow down in the long term as their already-high price level and low rental yield make it a less attractive investment.

The green movement also received a tremendous boost after "fine dust" and "virus" became buzzwords. As people rush to buy masks, landlords are racing to upgrade their buildings to protect workers and enhance profits as investments in indoor air quality and hygiene help to differentiate office buildings from competitors.

Stephen Wyatt, country head of JLL Vietnam, said: Sustainability is not just a trend, it has to be the future of work. The next generation of buildings is set to become more green, with sustainable technologies to save on operating costs and innovative design to attract more occupiers and tenants.

The industry is still the hottest sector in the market with demand growing strong as companies are still looking to relocate from China amid political uncertainty. Even before the trade war, significant interest from foreign investors had led to land value and rental rate on the increase.

Manufacturing is the sector with the most significant investment in the past 10 years, and JLL predicts that it will continue to dominate the market in the next few years.

Logistics is expected to be the future of the industrial market. In recent years, increasing demand from both traditional retail and continuous growth from e-commerce sectors has put great pressure on existing supply chains, facilities and warehouses.

JLL predicts that the growth of retail will contribute to investment activities related to the current shortfalls of the industry.

Overall, macroeconomics like urbanisation, growth in smartphone and internet usage, and an ageing population, will fuel demand for alternative investment choices. Alternative real estate such as senior and student housing, data centres, and cloud kitchens will be popular to investors in the next few years./.

Tougher market for office for lease in coming time Delays to approvals for new office developments, along with proposed land price hikes, are unsettling the prospects for the Ho Chi Minh City office segment.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday issued a whip to all its MLAs asking them to be present in the assembly for the floor test scheduled for March 16.

The floor test will be held in the MP Assembly to decide the fate of Chief Minister Kamal Nath led Congress government in the state.

Meanwhile, earlier today the Congress MLAs who were lodged in a Jaipur resort following the political crisis in MP arrived at Bhopal airport.

These MLAs were accompanied by senior Congress leader Harish Rawat, who exuded confidence of Kamal-Nath led government winning floor test in the Assembly.

He claimed that BJP is nervous about the floor test.

"We are ready for floor test tomorrow and we are confident of winning it. We are not nervous, the BJP is," Rawat told reporters here.

On being asked about the rebel MLAs who have supported former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, the former Uttarakhand Chief Minister said: "Those (rebel) MLAs are in touch with us."

Meanwhile, Congress leaders including Digvijaya Singh and Shobha Oza arrived at Chief Minister Kamal Nath's residence.

Congress on Saturday issued a whip to all its MLAs for the legislative assembly session in Madhya Pradesh which is scheduled to be held from March 16 to April 13.

Scindia's decision to leave Congress was followed by the resignation from 22 party MLAs loyal to him. The legislators who have resigned include six ministers.

Several Congress leaders, including Digvijaya Singh, had accused the BJP of trying to poach its leaders.

(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.)
Two of the EU's biggest states, Spain and France, have followed Italy in announcing emergency restrictions to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), a BBC report said.

US airports have been thrown into chaos as new health screening measures for people returning from Europe are brought into force. Long queues formed as travellers waited for hours for the screenings before passing through customs.

Earlier, Vice-President Mike Pence said a ban imposed on travel from European nations would be extended to the UK and Ireland on Tuesday.

The US has more than 2,700 confirmed cases, with 54 deaths. Illinois governor JB Pritzker said the long lines at Chicago's O'Hare airport were "unacceptable".

The World Health Organization (WHO) says Europe is now the "epicentre" of the pandemic. WHO head Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has urged countries to use aggressive measures, community mobilisation and social distancing to save lives.

In Spain, people are banned from leaving home except for buying essential supplies and medicines, or for work. With 191 deaths, Spain is Europe's worst-hit country after Italy.

In France, where 91 people have died, cafes, restaurants, cinemas and most shops are now shut.

Italy, which has recorded more than 1,440 deaths, began a nationwide lockdown on Monday.

Meanwhile, Australia says that from midnight on Sunday (13:00 GMT) anyone entering the country will be required to self-isolate for 14 days. It follows a similar move by New Zealand.

US President Donald Trump has tested negative for coronavirus, the White House said. It comes a week after he hosted an event that included some guests who were later found to have the virus.

Canada is urging all its citizens abroad to return home while they still can.

In China, where the coronavirus outbreak started last year, new cases brought in by people arriving in the country outnumbered those by local transmission for the first time.

South Korea on Sunday reported 76 new cases - the first time in nearly a month that the number fell below 100.

India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that the total number of positive cases increased to 107, after 12 fresh cases were reported from Maharashtra. The deadly virus has claimed two lives so far.

Meanwhile, a Dubai-bound Emirates flight from Kochi carrying 270 passengers was grounded before take-off and all the passengers were offloaded after one person tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease on Sunday, Kochi airport officials. The passenger, officials said, was a UK tourist who had boarded the flight after he slipped out of quarantine from a hotel in Munnar.
SEVERAL route options for the proposed bypasses of Newcastle West and Abbeyfelae will be made public by this summer, local councillors have been told.

This will set in train a public consultation, following which the preferred routes for each town will be selected and this is expected to take place early next year.

Meanwhile, a LIDAR survey, a modern technology which uses ground penetrating radar, is expected to begin some time this month.

And a traffic survey is scheduled to take place in May.

Addressing this months meeting of the Newcastle West Municipal District, Declan OMahony, an engineer with the Mid-West Road Design Office, said constraint study and the gathering of information had been almost completed.

They were now a number of route options for north and south of Newcastle West and north and south of Abbeyfeale, he said.

These route options, he stressed came with a range of challenges.

One major challenge cited by Mr OMahony was the high level of ribbon development in both towns.

In Newcastle West, he said, an additional issue was the high level of archaeology records.

On the southern side of the town, he explained, there were also high levels of flood plains, which had to be taken into account.

In Abbeyfeale, topography would be a challenge.

The topography is very hilly and with a steep gradient, Mr OMahony said.

On the northern side of the town, there were rivers, a Special Area of Conservation and flood areas.

At present we are developing options, he told councillors.

The public consultation to show these route options will take place before summer 2020.

Following the public consultation, he continued, there will be an appraisal of all route options before the preferred routes are selected.

Currently, Mr OMahony explained, both schemes are being worked on in tandem. But, he added: It is possible one may overtake the other.

The expectation is that it will be mid-2023 before the planning application stage is reached.

I think it is very important that Newcastle West and Abbeyfeale are done in tandem, Cllr Francis Foley, Abbeyfeale said.

If Newcastle West goes ahead, we are going to have a serious problem in Abbeyfeale.

Cllr Michael Collins asked where the schemes lie in the list of national priorities and warned that whatever route is selected in Newcastle West would need to take account of traffic movements around the town and not just through traffic.

Senior executive engineer, Tim Fitzgerald told him they would have to generate a business case for the schemes which would include a cost-benefit analysis.

The traffic survey was crucial to this but he assured him, it would take account of all traffic movements.

An Environment Impact Assessment would also be required in law, he pointed out.

Cllr John Sheahan raised concerns that road schemes of this kind could get shelved depending on who makes up the new government.

And he was also worried that instead of relatively straightforward ring roads, they would end up with a huge scheme such as the previous N20 scheme from Adare to the Kerry border.

But Mr OMahony reassured him, they were looking at a much simpler scheme. The study areas were located around the two towns.

We dont need a highway, declared Cllr Jerome Scanlan.

A Castleisland bypass is what we need.
A nurse died of cancer after being exposed to asbestos while working at the same London hospital trust where the Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Diana gave birth.

Sue Taylor's first job as a respiratory nurse was in 1981 at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, where she worked for three years.

In June 2017 aged 54, Mrs Taylor died of mesothelioma, with a coroner ruling her cause of death to be asbestos cancer - likely contracted while she was working as a nurse in the 1980s.

The mother-of-three, of Worthing, West Sussex, was given her terminal diagnosis in late 2016 and underwent gruelling rounds of chemotherapy so she could live to see her daughter Beth get married the following April.

Although she made it to the wedding, she died a few months before Beth, 26, gave birth to her first grandchild.

Her devastated family are now looking to take legal action against Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust claiming it failed to protect her from the deadly substance and are desperate for any other potential victims to come forward to strengthen their case.

St Mary's privately-run Lindo Wing, which is separate to the rest of the site but part of the same trust, has been the royal maternity ward of choice for decades, with Prince William, Harry, George, Louis and Princess Charlotte all born there.

Sue Taylor's first job as a nurse was at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, west London, where she worked from 1981 to 1984 (pictured right). She died of asbestos-related cancer in June 2017 (pictured right in April 2017 - two months before she died)

Mother-of-three Sue Taylor (centre) is pictured during a family photoshoot 10 days before she died with husband Graeme (also centre), daughter Beth, 26, and sons Ian, 24, and Edward, 20

St Mary's privately-run Lindo Wing is where Princess Diana gave birth to Prince William and Prince Harry and where the Duchess of Cambridge also chose to give birth to her three children

During her four years at St Mary's, Mrs Taylor spent a lot of time walking through underground corridors where repair work took place on pipes lagged with asbestos.

Before it was banned in 1999, it was widely used in construction across Britain, particularly for NHS hospitals built between the 1950s and 1980s.

It was outlawed after doctors identified a link between people who were exposed to the harmful fibres and those who developed mesothelioma, cancer of the lung lining, between 20 and 40 years later.

The Taylor family want to make a civil claim against Imperial College Healthcare claiming it failed in its duty of care to protect their loved one from the deadly asbestos.

Her daughter Beth Ross told MailOnline: 'She spent her whole life helping people and ultimately that cost her her life.

'Mesothelioma takes 30 to 40 years to present itself, so we believe it could have only happened while she was at St Mary's.

'Being a respiratory nurse, she knew exactly what was coming. There was nothing she could do about it.'

Mrs Taylor (right) underwent gruelling rounds of chemotherapy so she could live to see her daughter Beth (centre) get married in April 2017

Mrs Taylor first started to notice symptoms in late 2016. She developed a cough and lost some weight, but having recently lost her father and with her mother moving into the family home, she just put it down to stress.

Eventually she visited the GP who sent her for an X-Ray, which came back with a diagnosis of pneumonia.

But after a second opinion and a CT scan, she was given the devastating mesothelioma diagnosis in December that year.

What is mesothelioma? Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops in the lining that covers the outer surface of some of the body's organs. Mesothelioma mainly affects the lining of the lungs (pleural mesothelioma), although it can also affect the lining of the tummy (peritoneal mesothelioma), heart or testicles. More than 2,600 people are diagnosed with the condition each year in the UK. Most cases are diagnosed in people aged 60 to 80, and men are affected more commonly than women. Unfortunately, it's rarely possible to cure mesothelioma, although treatment can help control the symptoms. Mesothelioma is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos, a group of minerals made of microscopic fibres that used to be widely used in construction. These tiny fibres can easily get in the lungs, where they get stuck, damaging the lungs over time. It usually takes a while for this to cause any obvious problems, with mesothelioma typically developing more than 20 years after exposure to asbestos. The use of asbestos was completely banned in 1999, so the risk of exposure is much lower nowadays. But materials containing asbestos are still found in many older buildings. What are the symptoms? chest pain shortness of breath fatigue (extreme tiredness) a high temperature (fever) and sweating, particularly at night a persistent cough loss of appetite and unexplained weight loss clubbed (swollen) fingertips Source: NHS Advertisement

Her prognosis was 'bleak from the beginning', explained her daughter, with the cancer showing up as two solid lumps on her lungs, as opposed to the more common pleural thickening usually caused by the disease.

The cancer was too close to her diaphragm for doctors to operate, so she agreed on having chemotherapy at Worthing Hospital to give her more time with her family.

Mrs Ross, who uses her married name, said: 'When she was diagnosed her only question was 'Am I going to be able to make it to my daughter's wedding in April?

'Chemo caused her kidneys to fail pretty quickly and she had an allergic reaction to it. It wasn't nice, but she did it for me.'

Oncology nurses were surprised the mother-of-three lived to see her daughter's wedding, which she described as 'bittersweet'.

She added: 'She even managed to dance. Those are nice memories.'

In the months that followed the disease continued to spread and eventually Mrs Taylor went into a hospice, where she died with her family at her bedside.

Her daughter Beth said her mother's death has affected her father Graeme, 59, and younger brothers Ian, 24, and Edward, 20, in different ways.

The mother-of-one added: 'My dad has found it really hard. By the time they got married she had already come into contact with the asbestos, so he feels as if he married a dying lady.

'And since this has all started, I have had a daughter who is now seven month-old.

'Mum always used to say how much she looked forward to being a grandma.

'So we all feel a bit cheated that she never got the chance to meet any of the grandchildren she so desperately wanted.

'She never saw my youngest brother turn 18 either. It's these missed milestones that are the most difficult.

'I feel like I've had to take over the role of being mum. I have to always make sure my brothers are okay, so it took a long time for me to be able to grieve properly.

'But I think I find it harder now, having my daughter here.

'If you're having a tough day with a newborn you just want to turn to your mum and I don't have that anymore.'

Mrs Ross, an NHS radiographer, also had to give up her job as she was unable to face returning to the same hospital where she worked with her mother - and treating patients with the disease that killed her.

She said: 'We both worked at Worthing Hospital for my whole career and for as long as I could remember.

'She mainly worked night shifts so whenever I was on nights and I had a spare 10 minutes I would go and see her for a cup of tea and a catch up.

'It was like a barrier going back there after she died. I couldn't face it.'

Mrs Ross added: 'My dad (right) has found it really hard. By the time they got married she had already come into contact with the asbestos, so he feels as if he married a dying lady.' Pictured: The couple on their wedding day

Her daughter Beth (pictured with her mother Sue) told MailOnline: 'She spent her whole life helping people and ultimately that cost her her life.'

Mrs Ross has since returned to work as a part-time bank radiographer.

She added: 'People have only realised the impact of asbestos very recently.

'One of the first X-rays I did when I went back to work was a gentleman who used to work with it. But people are quite blase about it still.

'We want people to know you don't have to have worked directly with it for it to have affected you.'

If the Taylors win their case they want to go on a family holiday to make memories with their newest addition.

Mrs Ross said: 'Family holidays are still important to us, so we hope we can make new memories now my daughter is here.'

Sue Taylor and her daughter Beth are pictured when she was a teenager

She also hopes to help her youngest brothers get their own homes, adding that it has been hard for them to stay in the house they grew up in with their mother.

She said: 'If anyone remembers walking along those passageways like my mum did, please get in touch.'

Dushal Mehta from Fieldfisher, the solicitors pursuing a claim on behalf of the family, said they are very keen to hear from anyone who also worked at St Mary's around the same time as Sue Taylor and who also remembers asbestos in the corridors.

He added: 'This is such a terrible case, where someone who has given their whole life looking after other people is inflicted with this awful disease. Unfortunately, cases of nurses exposed to asbestos are all too common.

'The worrying thing is that other people who worked in similar circumstances could also be living with a time bomb.'

An Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust spokesperson said: We offer our sincere condolences to Sue Taylors family. We are unable to comment on on-going claims.
Faster: How a Legendary Car and Driver Rene Dreyfus Beat Hitlers Best

How a Jewish Driver, an American Heiress, and a Legendary Car Beat Hitlers Best

By Neil Bascomb

A pulse-pounding tale of triumph by an improbable team of upstarts over Hitlers fearsome Silver Arrows during the golden age of auto racing.

They were the unlikeliest of heroes. Rene Dreyfus, a former top driver on the international race car circuit, had been banned from the best European teamsand fastest carsby the mid-1930s because of his Jewish heritage. Charles Weiffenbach, head of the down-on-its-luck automaker Delahaye, was desperately trying to save his company as the world teetered toward the brink. And Lucy Schell, the adventurous daughter of an American multi-millionaire, yearned to reclaim the glory of her rally-driving days.

As Nazi Germany launched its campaign of racial terror and pushed the world toward war, these three misfits banded together to challenge Hitlers dominance at the apex of motorsport: the Grand Prix. Their quest for redemption culminated in a remarkable race that is still talked about in racing circles to this daybut which, soon after it ended, Hitler attempted to completely erase from history.

Bringing to life this glamorous era and the sport that defined it, Faster chronicles one of the most inspiring, death-defying upsets of all time: a symbolic blow against the Nazis during historys darkest hour.
Live racing was conducted in front of an empty grandstand on Saturday (March 14) at Miami Valley Raceway. The grandstand was empty due to a shutdown caused by the Coronavirus crisis. The program of racing was exciting nonetheless, and was enjoyed by numerous new off-track fans, as evidenced by a higher-than-normal handle.

Miller, the leading dash driver at the current Miami Valley meet, was intent on dictating the fractions as the 1-2 favourite in the Williams Memorial. It took Gold Digger King most of the intial :27 quarter to gain control, then the four-year-old son of Pet Rock put up middle fractions of :55.1 and 1:23 over the rain dampened "sloppy" track.

A final :29 split was enough to hold off Diesel Accelerator, who sat a pocket trip throughout, and the lengthy first-over bid of Dashing To Da Wire. The 1:52 win was the seventh of the Scott Mogan trainees young career and increased his career bounty to $171,097.

Linda Van Camp owns Gold Digger King, who paid $3.00 to win. Brett Miller sat in the sulky. The exacta paid $11 and the "chalky" 50-cent trifecta returned just $9.05.

A contentious $24,000 Open Pace earlier on the card was captured by My Hero Ron, who was a head better than fast-closing Hallies Comet and just a length better than Gerardo who made all the pace in the race before tiring to a third place finish in the 1:52.3 mile. My Hero Ron in now just one win away from millionaire status as the victory lifted his overall bounty to $990,663. The eight-year-old Well Said gelding has amassed 36 wins from 167 starts and owns a 1:49.2 record taken five seasons ago.

Dan Dubeansky trains My Hero Ron for owner Brian Witt.

Miami Valley will continue live racing, with no live fans, on Sunday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. Those wishing to watch and/or wager on the races can head to miamivalleygaming.com/racing/ where they can find links to advance deposit wagering platforms and also find a link to enable downloading of the program pages courtesy of the USTA.

(With files from Miami Valley Raceway)
Seven years ago, North County filmmaker Jonathan Berman moved to Joshua Tree for five months to start a documentary about 50s-era space alien-channeler George Van Tassel.

Dozens of interviews, thousands of hours of research and editing and hundreds of test screenings later, Berman and his recently completed documentary, Calling All Earthlings, are returning to Joshua Tree this weekend for a sold-out screening.

Although Van Tassels name may not be familiar to most Americans, its legendary among sci-fi/space age aficionados and beloved by residents of Californias Mojave Desert, where Van Tassel once lived, hosted UFO conventions and built his mysterious Integratron.

The never-finished domed structure, which Van Tassel constructed from plans he claimed were delivered by a spaceman from Venus, was designed to rejuvenate human cells and dramatically extend life.

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Bermans 76-minute film not only examines the life of Van Tassel and his Integratron, it also explores the culture of Mojaves often-quirky desert dwellers, whove been mystically drawn to the remote region for centuries.

George Van Tassel was the grandfather of the Age of Aquarius. You could say he was the first hippie, said Berman, in an interview Wednesday in his office at Cal State San Marcos. Hes taught film arts there since 2004, including classes this fall in documentary filmmaking and media distribution.

A photograph of UFO contactee George Van Tassel in a still from Jonathan Bermans documentary Calling All Earthlings. (Courtesy photo)

Calling All Earthlings is Bermans fourth film and the second to chronicle Californias counter-culture history. His 2006 documentary Commune, about the collectivist Black Bear Ranch in Siskiyou County, was recently optioned for a TV series. His next project will be a TV series on California life in the mid-20th century.

Berman, 56, grew up on Long Island watching Marx Brothers, Mel Brooks and John Cassavetes films and got his start in New York doing production jobs and editing on documentaries and a horror film. He found he preferred making documentaries because they offer the filmmaker more freedom to blur the line between fact and fiction.

Fiction is all over Southern California in Hollywood gossip, which has been going strong for 100-plus years, in UFO stories like George Van Tassel and now even in politics. Once again we lead the nation, he said.

Berman, who splits his time between homes in San Marcos and L.A.s Echo Park neighborhood, said he came across Van Tassels story in 2010. While watching a slide show about alternative spirituality at a salon-style gathering in L.A., he saw a picture of the Integratron flash on the screen.

Here was this Gothic dome that looked like a planetarium with a sign in front that said for basic experimentation in life extension and thats what sent me down this rabbit hole, Berman said.

He took a sabbatical from teaching, recruited young cinematographers Tony Molina and Greg Wilson and they moved into a friends rundown vacation home in Joshua Tree.

Documentary filmmaker Jonathan Berman on location in Joshua Tree during the filming of Calling All Earthlings. (Courtesy photo)

Working without a script, Berman interviewed nearly three dozen area residents on their memories of Van Tassel, the sonic powers of the Integratron and their own sightings of UFOs in the desert.

He also interviewed an astronomer, a historian, 60s pop star Eric Burdon, Van Tassels son-in-law, a member of the Morongo Indian tribe and a channeler who summoned Van Tassels spirit to answer a few of Bermans questions on film.

It took shape as I went along, he said, of the serendipitous style of the movie. One interview led to another. My films have an element of the Buddhistic where things are happening in real time and were just passing through.

Van Tassel was born in Ohio in 1910 and moved at age 20 to the L.A. area, where he worked for nearly 20 years as an airplane mechanic and inspector for Lockheed, Douglas Aircraft and Hughes Aircraft.

In 1947, he left L.A. and moved his wife and children to Giant Rock, the worlds largest free-standing boulder, about 25 miles northwest of Joshua Tree. There he built an airstrip, opened a cafe and, he later wrote, began receiving telepathic messages from Outer Space.

In April 1953, he hosted the first of his annual Interplanetary Spacecraft Conventions, which would eventually grow in size from a few hundred to nearly 10,000 people.

Then one night in August 1953, he claimed to have been awakened by a visiting Venusian named Solgonda, who took him for a spaceship ride and delivered blueprints via telepathy for the Integratron.

Bermans film doesnt answer why Van Tassel was spiritually drawn to Giant Rock or whether his alien encounters were real.

I think there are a multiplicity of answers, like in Rashomon, Berman said of the samurai film which features contradicting storylines. Did he meet people from another world? I dont know. I hope this film asks more questions than it answers.

In 1957, Van Tassel broke ground on the Integratron in Landers, a tiny town four miles south of Giant Rock. The all-wood structure with a copper coil at its center was designed to harness electromagnetic energy to create a bathlike field of negative ions, so that when a person walked through the building they would emerge from the other side 20 to 30 years younger.

Using money from his UFO conventions and a space-themed newsletter, Van Tassel worked for more than 20 years on the Integratron until his heart attack death in 1978, just weeks before it was scheduled for its first test run. Today, the building is owned by three sisters who use the acoustically perfect structure as a music, energy and sonic healing center.

Berman said that through the Integratron, Van Tassel hoped to help people live longer and create a source of free energy, two things that have since come to pass thanks to improved medical care and renewable energy sources like solar and wind.

The dome was like this Swiss army knife of all the things we wanted as humans, Berman said.

Although Berman is listed in the credits as director and producer of Calling All Earthlings, he calls the film a collaborative effort that involved many of his students and colleagues at Cal State San Marcos.

Students helped with editing and poster design; anthropology professor Bonnie Bade helped with research; theater professor Judy Bauerlein did voice work; and film professor Kristine Diekman helped Berman shape the film from unintelligible to a snoozefest to a lot better to finally holding together.

The film premiered June 2 at the Illuminate Festival of Consciousness in Sedona, Ariz., and has since played at the Maui film fest and several screenings in L.A. Its now available for streaming On Demand and Berman is planning to tackle the European market next. For information on the film, visit callingallearthlingsmovie.com.

Berman said he hopes viewers get a sense that his film isnt just about Van Tassel and his invention. He also hopes it inspires discussion on Californians endless quest to find spiritual healing and renewal in the desert.

Was George a Tom Sawyer telling tales or a rainmaker? Berman said. He was representative of that generation of men who came back from World War II seeking answers and an alternative form of spirituality.

pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com
In the wake of coronavirus scare, Mahan Air has offered for safe repatriation of Indians stuck in Iran without any commercial interest as a humanitarian initiative, said Managing Director of the airlines in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday.

"I, on behalf of Mahan Air, offer to safely repatriate all Indian nationals stranded in Iran back to their country without any commercial interest as a humanitarian initiative for our Indian brethren," said Managing Director of Iran's Mahan Air.

Earlier, as many as 234 Indian nationals who were among the people stranded in Iran amid the coronavirus outbreak arrived in India, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday.

A Mahan Air flight carrying the Indians onboard had landed in Mumbai. Among the 234 people, 131 are students and the rest are pilgrims.

As per the official reports, the number of positive coronavirus cases in India has climbed to 107.

The Health Organization (WHO) has declared that Europe has become the new 'epicenter' of the global coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than 15 lakh people with over 4000 deaths.

(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.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 20:26:35|Editor: huaxia

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CHANGSHA, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Blue River Dairy, a nutritional formula manufacturer based in central China's Hunan Province, aided Italy's anti-coronavirus fight by donating medical supplies worth 2.4 million yuan (about 343,000 U.S. dollars).

The donation includes 40,000 N95 respirator masks, 1,800 protective suits and 250,000 pairs of medical gloves, which all comply with EU criteria, the company said Saturday.

Those medical supplies will be air transported as soon as possible to hospitals designated by the regional government of Sardinia, it said.

Alessandra Zedda, vice president of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, said on a video call Saturday that Blue River's donation reflected its social responsibility and proved the solidarity of the two peoples to fight the virus.

Blue River completed in 2016 the first cooperation between Chinese and Italian dairy enterprises by acquiring Italian dairy manufacturer Alimenta. It built a formula factory and sheep milk ingredient factory in Sardinia last year.
In Puerto Rico, the governors orders specifically mentioned the shuttering of bars, shopping malls and movie theaters, all gathering places that had appeared packed on Saturday. The Latin trap artist Bad Bunny disappointed some fans on social media after he posted a selfie of himself tightly hugging friends.

On Sunday, hours before the shutdown order was to take effect at 6 p.m., San Juan, the capital, bustled as usual. The crowds at Plaza Las Americas, the biggest shopping mall, seemed perhaps a bit thinner. The islands schools had already been ordered closed for the next two weeks.

Cellphones buzzed in unison on Sunday afternoon with the sound of an emergency alert about the curfew.

It seems like a pretty logical and fair measure to take at night, one resident, Alexander Caraballo, said of the curfew after standing in a short line on Sunday at a homeopathic pharmacy in the town of Manati to stock up on vitamin C and echinacea. The shop was letting customers in one at a time to avoid needless contact.

Ive personally been isolating myself, and taking preventive measures, and being disciplined to avoid contagion, said Mr. Caraballo, 25, a freelance fashion and portrait photographer. At the supermarket, cashiers wore gloves, he said. Ive run into several acquaintances, worried but getting ready.

Five coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Puerto Rico so far, though more are suspected. Ms. Vazquez, who assumed the governorship in August and is now running for the seat, appeared determined to avoid a deadly disaster similar to Hurricane Maria in 2017, which killed an estimated 2,975 Puerto Ricans. Her administration has already been criticized for getting slow Covid-19 test results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Rafael Rodriguez Mercado, the health secretary, resigned on Friday.

One-fifth of Puerto Ricos population of nearly 3.2 million is 65 or older, and the islands health system struggled after Hurricane Maria. Puerto Rico has also been dealing with the aftermath of earthquakes that sent thousands of fearful people to sleep outdoors.
France will progressively reduce long-distance train, bus and plane travel on its territory over the coming days in a bid to limit the spread of the coronavirus, the ecology minister said Sunday.

The country, which has already shut cafes, restaurants, schools and universities and urged people to limit their movements, will now seek to limit long-distance travel "to the strictly necessary" minister Elisabeth Borne told journalists in Paris.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(CNN)  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, has been placed in isolation after testing positive for coronavirus.

She is feeling well and has mild symptoms, and will remain in isolation for 14 days, according to a statement from the Prime Minister's office. He is not being tested at this time.

Health officials will reach out to those who've been in contact with her as necessary, the office 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," the office said in a statement. "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."

He will continue with his duties, and plans to address Canadians on Friday.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Sophie Trudeau, wife of Canadian Prime Minister, tests positive for coronavirus"
Hospital staff in the Chinese city where the coronavirus originated removed their masks ceremoniously as the countrys last emergency hospital, built to handle the crisis, was closed.

In a video that has been viewed millions of times online, workers remove their masks one by one as the camera passes them, to mark the moment.

China built 14 new hospitals, including two in Wuhan, early last month in just weeks to provide thousands of beds for the sick as the virus spread rapidly.

The country has recorded 80,824 cases of coronavirus and 3,189 deaths since the start of the outbreak at the end of last year.

But strict quarantine measures appear to have drastically reduced the number of new cases, and the country has eased up on the measures in its hardest hit region.

On Saturday health chiefs said there had been 13 new deaths and just 11 new cases, including people who recently arrived from other affected countries. More than 65,000 people have recovered from the disease in China.

Meanwhile the US and China have fallen into a war of words over coronavirus. The State Department on Friday summoned Chinas ambassador to the US to complain about comments from a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman suggesting that the US army may have introduced the coronavirus to Wuhan.

The department said Chinas storyline about the virus had been shifting away from the Wuhan Huanan market since mid-January, indicating that China is trying avoid responsibility for the outbreak.

The market, where numerous live animals that would never normally mix in the wild, were kept in close confinement in cages ready for sale for eating, was pinpointed by Chinese and other experts as the source of the virus.
The Foreign Office has warned against all but essential travel to the United States.

The move comes hours after Washington said a ban on UK and Irish flights to the US would be introduced because of the coronavirus outbreak.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: "We are advising against all but essential travel to the USA following the US government announcement imposing restrictions on travel from the UK."

Britons will be added to America's ban on travellers from Europe from 4am GMT on Tuesday.

People with journeys planned are advised to check with their airline and tour operator.

Those already in America are also recommended to stay in contact with their travel company and airline.

Acting homeland security secretary Chad Wolf said the ban had been extended because of the growing COVID-19 outbreak in the UK, where 35 people have died.

Downing Street said on Saturday night that Boris Johnson had spoken to Mr Trump but did not confirm if they had discussed the ban.

America's 30-day suspension on passenger flights from the Schengen Area of mainland Europe started on Friday - but the UK and Ireland were not initially included.

President Trump blamed the European Union for not acting quickly to address the outbreak and said US clusters were "seeded" by European travellers.

However, he said the UK was doing a "good job" on handling the situation

The ban was criticised by the EU, which said it was a "unilateral decision" taken "without consultation".

Meanwhile, the coronavirus continues to cause havoc for international travel and the world's airlines.

Ryanair has announced major cuts to its Spanish flights because of the lockdown in the country.

"Ryanair Group Airlines (including Buzz and Lauda) has been forced to severely reduce flights to/from Spain, the Balearic Islands and Canary Islands from 24:00 Sun 15 Mar until 24:00 Thurs 19 Mar," said a statement.

The chairman of Virgin Airlines is also set to tell Boris Johnson the UK airline industry needs billions to avert a catastrophe.

Morocco has suspended all international passenger flights to and from its airports. The country has had 28 coronavirus cases including one death.

Sky News will broadcast a special programme at 6:30pm tonight, with experts answering your questions #AskSkyNews
The World Health Organization announced an pandemic earlier this month of over 120,000 worldwide cases of infection and over 4,300 cases of fatalities. The World Health Organization has also urged administrations to step up prevention measures by means of monitoring, surveillance and isolation, saying countries still have a chance to change the direction of the pandemic.

The President of Mexico has encouraged the population to be calm and has also said that the government has the "capability to deal with the situation." AMLO has gone as far as waving off inquiries about Mexico's status in the pandemic.

Authorities claimed that the Mexican government is able to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, with only 15 reported cases in the nation. Although, some health professionals have been advising that the world has not yet learned of the last global H1N1 and swine flu outbreak.

The cumulative number of reported cases of the latest coronavirus in Mexico from months in a global virus outbreak-turned-pandemic, to date has been a meagre 15. However one doctor is not quite so certain of the precision of that.

The Head of Internal Medicine at ABC Hospital in Mexico City, Francisco Moreno Sanchez, has told the local media station on Wednesday that he is concerned about the country's shortage of diagnostic testing, and worries that "many more cases" circulate "undetermined."

He has said that the number of infections would have a "brutal" impact on Mexico if he is correct. Mexico's Ministry of Health had administered a total of 324 assessments as of March 11.

He also expressed his concern on how a widespread outbreak can affect the nation's health-care system. As of the moment, he added that there are only three medical centers accredited to check for COVID-19 in Mexico. However, an individual must have recently traveled to a country deemed "high-risk" or established contact with an infected person to get checked by a healthcare professional.

Part of Moreno's concern about the outbreak comes down to a lack of precautions at Mexico's airport terminals. At airports or any other ports of entry for the travelers to Mexico, the government has not introduced numerous border security procedures. Notwithstanding a policy proposed by the United States, the Mexican government had no intention to restrict international travel or close the borders.

Moreno argues that this strategy limits the reliability of case detection, as the infection has already traveled to over 100 countries.

Tracking measures have only been enhanced at Mexico's capital city airport following the 8th reported occurrence. On Thursday, the country postponed its first big global conference on tourism amid virus concerns.

Tourism is important for the economy of Mexico- an unprecedented 44 million international tourists entered Mexico in 2019. Moreover, it is also a popular destination site throughout North America for spring breakers.

According to Alejandro Macias, the former national commissioner for influenza in Mexico after the H1N1 epidemic, Mexico is now only monitoring people who have a direct link to the one who flew to a state considered high-risk, or who was in touch with a reported case.
A man has been charged with assault after a brawl broke out in a busy supermarket filed with panicked shoppers amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Shocked onlookers filmed the confrontation between the two men, aged 54 and 39, at the Woolworths store in Bass Hill, Sydney, on Sunday.

The footage showed one of the men being led out of the busy store before he quickly turned back and ran towards the other customer.

Many people could be heard screaming and yelling amid the chaos.

Staff and other shoppers intervened and attempted to separate the pair.

'He hit my dad, I'm going f***ing kill him,' one of the men could be heard shouting.

The footage show one of the men being led out of the busy store before he quickly turned back and ran towards the other customer

NSW Police arrested the 39-year-old at a home in Georges Hall at 5pm on Sunday and charged him with common assault.

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

He was granted conditional bail to appear in Bankstown Local Court in April.

Police do not believe the men were arguing over groceries.

The chaotic scenes came as Australians continue to flood supermarkets and strip the shelves of long-life items such as rice, pasta and toilet paper.

Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths introduced a one-pack limit on toilet paper due to shortages.

Those supermarket chains had also introduced buying limits for basic food items.

Last week three women were involved fist fight over toilet paper at another Sydney supermarket.

Hysterical screaming broke out as the trio battled in the aisles, with the incident seemingly stemming from a mother and daughter stockpiling toilet paper.

The woman were filmed brawling in a Woolworths supermarket in Sydney as they tried to buy toilet paper (pictured)

To contain the spread of the virus, the federal government announced that all international arrivals will have to self-isolate or 14 days when they arrive into the country in bid to stop the spread of the illness.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison also announced cruise ships will be banned from docking in Australian ports for at least 30 days.

The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Australia has climbed to 299 by early Monday morning, with five fatalities.

Stores across the country have been cleaned out of toilet paper in the last week

Woolworths, Coles, and Aldi imposed one packet per customer limits on toilet paper and asked the public to show courtesy to staff and other shoppers

Globally, the infection has spread to more than 150,000 people across 112 countries, and killed at least 5,500 people.

The virus has forced Italy, Spain and France into lockdown in a bid to stop the spread of the killer illness.

Restaurants, shops, cinemas, nightclubs and cafes will shut for the foreseeable future in France.

However supermarkets, pharmacies, banks and petrol stations will remain open.

America has also shut its doors to travellers from Europe.
Prosperous native and chef, Caomhan de Bri and his fellow chef, Nathan Dimond, were busy on the evening of March 4.

The two chefs, along with their respective wives, Carla and Rebecca, were beginning a new restaurant venture in north Kildare.

Family and friends had headed to Celbridge to taste what will be on the menu for customers at the new venture.

The pair have taken over the former Canteen premises on the Main Street to open what Caomhan described as a pop up restaurant, Ginger's BBQ.

Caomhan said that they will try to the new venture for a short time at least, to see how it is working.

Born, bred and buttered in west Kildare, Caomhan, was schooled in Prosperous, Clane and Blessington, before becoming a chef and heading to other climes to work, including France, London (Gordon Ramsey's Maze) and Wexford.

He did not see too much of Gordon Ramsey during his spell there but the experience was good.

He now runs his own catering company and is joined by Nathan, who was head chef in Lyons, up to relatively recently. We were talking about setting up Ginger's BBQ for a good while, says Caomhan.

On March 4, their burger went down a treat with many.

It comes from a herd of Japanese wagyu cattle, located in Antrim. It is the first carbon neutral herd of cattle in the country, said Caomhan, who lives in Enfield with Carla.

Gingers BBQ will do lunches from Wednesday to Saturday and dinners from Thursday to Saturday. They are on Facebook and Instagram or GingersBBQ@gmail.com

Monday and Tuesday is recovery day for the team.

Nathan, who is from the The Valleys in Wales and Rebecca, originally from outside Nenagh in Tipperary, now live in Nurney.

Rebecca works with Helen McAlinden Fashions in South William Street, Dublin, when not minding their children, Georgia (4) and Theo (2).

Carla, originally from Leitrim, studied biomedical science in Maynooth University, followed up with a Phd and now lectures in biology in TU Dublin.
With the coronavirus leading to shortages of some supplies, Pennsylvanias top prosecutor says he is receiving more cases of price gouging.

State Attorney General Josh Shapiro said on Twitter Sunday his office has fielded a whopping 614 reports of price gouging.

On Saturday, he said his office had received 373 complaints and has filed 24 cease-and-desist letters to get them to stop. His office has received more than 200 complaints in one day.

The attorney generals office has set up a special e-mail address so Pennsylvanians can alert authorities to price gouging: pricegouging@attorneygeneral.gov.

Were working hard to investigate every lead you send us, Shapiro said on Twitter. So keep them coming.

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN PENNSYLVANIA: Click to see where cases of the coronavirus are in Pennsylvania are located.



Shapiro asked those filing complaints to include the name of the product, the price and the store location.

Weve received a whopping 614 reports of price gouging -- and my Office is in the process of looking into every single one of them.



When emailing your report to pricegouging@attorneygeneral.gov include details like:



 product name

 product price

 store location  AG Josh Shapiro (@PAAttorneyGen) March 15, 2020

When Gov. Tom Wolf issued a disaster declaration to deal with the coronavirus, he put in place protections designed to guard against price gouging.

Under rules governing a disaster emergency in Pennsylvania, companies and vendors are barred from charging a price for goods or services that exceeds 20 percent of the average price for those same items or services in the 7 days preceding the date of declaration, state officials said.

Shapiro has urged consumers to contact his office if they see the price of basic goods and services rise dramatically.

Text PennLive to 717-745-7532 to sign up to have breaking news and essential updates about the coronavirus delivered right to your mobile device. Data and messaging rates may apply.

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Coronavirus and closing businesses: Gov. Tom Wolf is urging but not forcing it

Coronavirus prompts mass closings in 2 more Pa. counties, plus 2 new cases reported
While daily life suddenly looks different for many people amid the coronavirus outbreak, the Great Lakes Bay Region communities have come together to put smiles back on a few hundred faces.

With facilitation from local businessman Jimmy Greene  president and CEO of the Associated Builders and Contractors, Greater Michigan Chapter  and donations from several generous people and businesses, hundreds of area children and families will receive McDonalds gift cards to purchase Happy Meals.

Sometimes as adults, we just forget the joy  and the fear, mind you  of our young kids, and having gone through this with 9/11 with my older kids, I remember that, Greene said. And so I think this is just an opportunity  it may seem minuscule, but I just think in times like this, you just want to feel like youre doing something.

Greene, who lives in Saginaw and works in Midland, is a father of school-aged kids himself. When Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer directed all schools to cancel in-school learning until April 5 in efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus, he was among the many parents who immediately thought about kids no longer getting lunch at school five days a week.

I can tell you that even when I was growing up that lunch was THE meal for us and I suspect for many of the kids in our poorest urban and rural communities, many of these parents and a ton in single family homes count on that lunch," Greene stated in a Facebook post.

While area school districts have begun to announce their plans for free meal programs, including the Midland Public Schools, Greene was still determined to provide kids with an extra treat during this uncertain time.

I knew the school districts would step up, and they always do  mine was more about putting a smile on the face of kids and especially in our small, urban communities, you know, where poverty is high  just to put a smile on their face.

So, Greene posted to Facebook early Friday, March 13, about his plan to secure $1,000 donations each from the Associated Builders and Contractors, Greater Michigan Chapter and The Greater Michigan Construction Academy. His post was shared hundreds of times and Greene has since received additional donations from people and businesses such as Dow CEO Jim Fitterling, Richard Garber Jr., with Garber Dealerships, Great Lakes Bay Construction, Three Rivers Corporation, Kelly and James Fabiano, and even one of the local McDonalds owners, Jim Luth, among others.

Greene said its enough to purchase hundreds of $10 gift cards, which can then be used to purchase Happy Meals.

This week, he will be making runs to local community centers and schools in the entire region, to hand off the gift cards, which will then be passed along to kids and their families.

While Greene acknowledged the extra time and work required of him to make it work, he said its brought him a lot of joy. In addition, he said the way this initiative spread on social media not only showed the positive power of the online platforms, but in a way, was the spreading of a good virus.

The funny part about it is, the intent was to put a smile on the face of kids, but Im the one smiling the most, he said.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 03:44:48|Editor: huaxia

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A medical technician works at a novel coronavirus detection lab in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on March 14, 2020. (Photo by Luay Sababa/Xinhua)

RAMALLAH, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Palestine said on Saturday that it was the first to follow in China's steps by taking timely and successful measures against the spread of the novel coronavirus.

"We were the first country after China to follow serious and strict measures that have been successful in controlling the spread of the virus," said Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtayeh at the opening of a special cabinet meeting.

Ishtayeh said his cabinet convened an urgent meeting to discuss the emergency state budget in the light of the state of emergency declared on March 5.

As part of its precautionary measures, the cabinet meeting was held in a wider hall, with ministers seated more than one meter away from each other, he noted.

Ensuring no shortage of goods supply in the market, the prime minister called on the Palestinians to avoid gatherings and unnecessary travels.

Earlier in the day, the Palestinian government suspended prayers in mosques and churches in the West Bank to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, urging worshippers to pray at home.

"In the light of the Health Ministry's recommendation to minimize contact among people and reduce gatherings as much as possible, we call upon our Muslim people in Palestine to hold their prayers at home," said a statement by the Palestinian Ministry of Waqf and Religious Affairs.

Meanwhile, the Higher Presidential Committee of Churches Affairs in Palestine asked Christians to be "committed to the declared state of emergency" and hold prayers at home.

Ibrahim Milhem, spokesman of the Palestinian government, said 38 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the West Bank.

On March 5, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared a state of emergency for one month after the first case of coronavirus was discovered in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
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 30 million regular users worldwide, 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.

Weve 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 Hornets advice is to maintain a social network but remotely.

More than 100 LGBT+ rights groups this week called on U.S. public health officials to address the vulnerability of gay and trans people, warning that their frequently weakened immune systems due to higher rates of HIV and cancer can put them at risk.

LGBT+ groups are cancelling and delaying a slew of events due to the spread of coronavirus including the 200,000-strong annual Los Angeles Pride parade, which was postponed on Thursday.

Gay dating site 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.

Protecting users

A spokesman for Grindr, the worlds best-known gay dating app, which has just launched Grindr Lite aimed at emerging market countries where gay sex might be difficult or illegal, said the company had sent out a notice to users on Thursday.

We... have published (WHO) guidelines in the Grindr app to help users make the best informed decisions when interacting with others, the spokesman said.

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.

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) theyre also about having community and maintaining it online when we cant do it in person.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.)

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Home > Archives (2006 on) > 2020 > Jyotiraditya Finds New Pasture

Jyotiraditya Scindia, the scion of the royal family of Gwalior, who grew up in the Congress for eighteen years and one of those whom the people believed the mantle of the Congress will eventually devolve on, has deserted the party and found a new pasture in the BJP. In defence of his defection to the saffron party, Scindia has alleged that the Congress has ceased to be the party that it once was.

Granted that the Congress has ceased to be what it was, granted that the Congress has become too organisationally weak to play an effective role in national politics, granted that the party has become practically without a leader. But the Congress, howsoever weak, has not abandoned its ideology of democracy, secularism and an unflinching commitment to fighting communalism, the ideology Scindia had been loyal to and the ideology he has not yet formally bidden goodbye to. Can Scindia provide a rationale for his action: being disillusioned with a secular party he decided to embrace a party which stands for creating a Hindu Rashtra? Now he will have as his companions and colleagues such men as Anurag Thakur, Kapil Mishra and Pervesh Varma. He can no longer object to such slogans as Goli Maro Salon-ko.

Scindias desertion of the Congress just after the Delhi communal riots is particularly unfortunate. The role of his new party in organising the riots must be known to him. He has heard the governments official position on the riots as explained by Home Minister Amit Shah in Parliament and his mischievous insinuation that it was Congress President Sonia Gandhi who instigated the riots. Now Scindia will have to stomach without a murmur of protest the preposterous charge that his leader of nearly two decades is an instigator of communal riots. He will have to stomach many other charges against the Congress as wellcharges he knows as false and fabricated.

Scindia has been chosen as one of the BJP candidates for the coming Rajya Sabha biennial elections. No doubt, he will win comfortably and if the political grapevine is true, he is slated to become a member of the Union Cabinet. He will now speak a new political language, support actions he had fiercely opposed so long and defend an ideology he had earlier found as abhorrent and unacceptable. If he and is co-defectors can bring about the downfall of the Kamal Nath Government in Madhya Pradesh, he may expect to be handsomely rewarded.

Trouble is also brewing in Rajasthan, another Congress-ruled State where Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot are known to be not seeing eye to eye. After the desertion of Scindia from the Congress, many fear there will be trouble in Rajasthan. Where personal ambition rather than ideological belief and commitment gets primacy, everything is possible.

What is shocking is the total immobility of the entire Opposition. All their activity is confined to issuing press statements or holding press conferences. There is not the slightest attempt at organising mass mobilisation, of hitting the streets, of giving voice to the anger and despair of the common people who are being crushed by the deepening economic crisis. The Left has marginalised itself in national politics. Other regional parties are not showing signs of life either.

In the pervading gloom, the Congress alone, despite its organisational dystrophy and with-out a strong and determined leadership, remains the only national party with tens of thousands of devoted workers across the length and breadth of India. Given leadership and a sense of direction, they can still throw a challenge to the forces of majoritarian fascism of the BJP and frustrate its plans to transform a secular and democratic India into an authoritarian Hindu Rashtra. Further delay may land the country into a Winter of Despair for how long nobody knows.

And here arises a crucial question that Congressmen shrink even from mentioning, far less discussing. But this question has to be faced head-on. Rahul Gandhi has failed as a leader. The failure is undeniable. To survive and play its role in national politics, the Congress will have to search for a leader outside the Gandhi family. This will not be easy because the Congress has been acculturated since Indira Gandhis days to look for leadership only within this family. It is time to get out of this old habit and accept the truth that in the new situation and in face of new challenges, a new leader outside the family has to take over the leadership of the party. Dragging the feet on this question will be fatal for the Congress.

The author was a correspondent of The Hindu in Assam. He also worked in Patriot, Compass (Bengali), Mainstream. A veteran journalist, he comes from a Gandhian family and was intimately associated with the RCPI leader, Pannalal Das Gupta.
Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala on Sunday said recent unseasonal rains and hailstorm have caused extensive damage to the crops at many places in Haryana but the government is not concerned about the plight of farmers.

Surjewala said "the crops of farmers have suffered 40-50 per cent damage, but Khattar government is not concerned about their plight.''



Speaking to reporters in Kaithal, from where Surjewala is a former legislator, he said during the past one-month, the district alone has received rainfall which is 700 per cent in excess than normal limit.

Likewise, there are many other districts which have received 650-700 per cent rainfall in excess whereas some southern parts of Haryana have got rainfall 800 per cent in excess than the normal during past one month, he said.

"While farmers have suffered extensive damage to crops, the government is not concerned about their plight. The chief minister is busy taking camel rides," he said.

Khattar had on Saturday posted his pictures where he was seen enjoying a camel ride at a livestock exhibition in Karnal.

In the pictures posted on his Twitter handle, Khattar was seen waving to a group of people who were clicking his pictures.

Surjewala demanded that the government give a compensation of Rs 30,000 per acre to the farmers for their damaged crops.

Rain accompanied by strong winds have flattened wheat crop in many areas of Yamunanagar, Karnal, Kaithal, Kurukshetra and some other districts in Haryana.

The farmers have demanded that government give them adequate compensation for the damage.

Speaking at a public rally in Israna in Panipat on Friday, Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautalasaid the concerned Deputy Commissioners have been instructed to carry out special 'girdawari' to assess the loss.

Meanwhile, in a statement here, Surjewala alleged that there have been nine paper leaks of class 10 and 12 examinations conducted by the Haryana School Education Board in the last 12 days.

Accusing the state government of ruining the future of students and youths by not taking any action over frequent paper leaks, he demanded a comprehensive investigation to fix the "protectors and patrons of the 'Nakal Mafia' (cheating mafia)".

"Under whose patronage is this 'Nakal Mafia' flourishing?" the Congress leader asked.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Since Sanusi Lamido was dethroned as Emir of Kano, popular social media commentator and a former presidential aide, Reno Omokri has been launching series of attacks at him with the latest, describing the dethroned Emir as a liar.

Speaking via his official Twitter handle, Omokri further stated that anybody who thinks the deposed Emir, who was the governor of central bank of Nigeria during the tenure of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan exposed corruption is ignorant.

Read Also: Why I Couldnt Abandon Dethroned Sanusi  El-Rufai

He added that most of his revelations at the time were fake.

He wrote:

Anyone saying Sanusi exposed corruption during @GEJonathan s administration is ignorant. There was no $49.8 billion missing. There was no $22 billion missing. There was no $12 billion missing. There was no $10.8 billion missing. Sanusi lied. He is a liar. Period!
Nigerian author and former aide to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, has taken to his page to remind Nigerians of just how terrible the dethroned Emir of Kano is.

Taking to his IG page, Omokri, again brought the attention of many to the story of then 13-year-old Ese who was abducted by a bike rider known as Yunusa.

Read Also: Reno Omokri Sends Memo To Unfaithful Married Men

He went on to state that same Emir who preached against child marriage, publicly defended Yunusa.

Emir Sanusi preached against child marriage. He knows it is what Southerners want to hear. Yet, when Yunusa abducted 13-year-old Ese, and took her to Kano, Sanusi protected Yunusa in public and in private.

It was not until Punch started the #FreeEse campaign that public opinion FORCED Sanusi to abandon his stance.

According to Eses mother, Mrs Rose Oruru, she was insulted and assaulted at Sanusis palace when she went to beg for her daughters release. Please Google it. Yunusa appeared in court with a high priced lawyer, Kayode Olaosebikan.

Who paid for this lawyer and Yunusas 3 million bail? Yunusa was an okada rider. He didnt have that type of money. Nigerians and our short memories!

#BuhariTormentor
Two more people have been confirmed dead from COVID-19 in Australia, while Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced anyone arriving in the country will have to self-isolate for two weeks.

A 77-year-old woman died on Friday after she flew to Sydney from Queensland, according to NSW Health, which also confirmed the death of a 90-year-old woman at an aged care facility on Saturday. The two fatalities took the national death toll to five.

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Mr Morrison announced on Sunday that anyone arriving in Australia from midnight would be required to self-isolate for 14 days. International cruise ships will also be barred from docking in Australia for the next 30 days.

Students tested positive to coronavirus at both UNSW and University of Sydney, while the state's schools implement "distancing measures" for its students, banning assemblies and camps.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned that the state's police had the authority to enforce self-isolation, while Victorians could be fined $20,000 if they break the state's health recommendations.

The NSW Attorney General announced all new jury trials will be suspended until further notice.

ASX employees have been asked to work from home after a Sydney employee tested positive to COVID-19, while the Melbourne Victory football club may have to self-isolate for two weeks after being stuck in New Zealand on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Australia's chief medical officer Brendan Murphy called for 'sensible' purchasing of necessities in the wake of self-isolation fears, as supermarkets across the country struggle to restock. He warned against panic buying.
TIT FOR TAT: Members of Iraqi security forces are seen at a civilian airport under construction in the holy Shiite city of Kerbala in Iraq which was hit by a US air strike last week. Photo: Reuters

A barrage of rockets hit a base housing US and other coalition troops north of Baghdad yesterday, Iraqi security officials said, just days after a similar attack killed three servicemen, including two Americans.

The US-led coalition said at least 25 rockets struck Camp Taji just before 11am. Some struck the area where coalition forces are based, while others fell on air defence units, the Iraqi military statement said.

Five people were wounded in the attack including three coalition members and two Iraqi soldiers, according to spokesman for the US-led coalition. The nationalities of the wounded coalition members were not immediately known.

A statement from Iraq's military said the "brutal aggression" wounded a number of air defence personnel who remain in critical condition, but did not provide a number.

Iraqi forces later discovered seven platforms from which the rockets were launched in an area north of Baghdad. Another 24 missiles were discovered in place and ready to launch.

The attack was unusual because it occurred during the day. Previous assaults on military bases housing US troops typically occurred at night.

The earlier rocket attack against Camp Taji last Wednesday also killed a British serviceman. It prompted American airstrikes last Friday against what US officials said were mainly weapons facilities belonging to Kataib Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia group believed to be responsible.

However, Iraq's military said those airstrikes killed five security force members and a civilian, while wounding five fighters from the Popular Mobilisation Forces, an umbrella organisation including an array of militias, including some Iran-backed groups.

Iran-backed Shiite militia groups vowed to exact revenge for last Friday's US strikes, signalling another cycle of tit-for-tat violence between Washington and Tehran that could play out inside Iraq.

Iraq's military also cautioned the US from retaliating as it did last Friday without approval from the government. Taking unilateral action would "not limit these actions, but rather nurtures them, weakens the ability of the Iraqi state", the statement said.

America's killing of Iraqi security forces might also give Iran-backed militia groups more reason to stage counter-attacks against US troops in Iraq, analysts said.

"We can't forget that the PMF is a recognised entity within the Iraqi security forces; they aren't isolated from the security forces and often are co-located on the same bases or use the same facilities," said Sajad Jiyad, a researcher and former managing director of the Bayan Centre, a Baghdad-based think tank.

"Now the (Iran-backed) groups who supported the initial strike in Taji, who were the most outspoken, feel obliged, authorised, maybe even legitimised to respond, ostensibly to protect Iraqi sovereignty but really to keep the pressure up on Americans," he added.

"There are no red lines anymore," Jiyad said.

Last Wednesday's attack on Camp Taji was the deadliest to target US troops in Iraq since a late December rocket attack on an Iraqi base, which killed a US contractor. That attack set in motion a series of attacks that brought Iraq to the brink of war.

After the contractor was killed, America launched airstrikes targeting Kataib Hezbollah, which in turn led to protests at the US embassy in Baghdad.

A US drone strike in Baghdad then killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, a top commander responsible for expeditionary operations across the wider Mideast. Iran struck back with a ballistic missile attack on US forces in Iraq, the Islamic Republic's most direct assault on America since the 1979 seizing of the US embassy in Tehran.

Then US and Iran stepped back from further attacks after the Soleimani incident. A senior US official said in late January, when US-Iran tensions had cooled, that the killing of Americans constituted a red line that could spark more violence.

Associated Press
A mild winter in many parts of Japan means the cherry blossoms are expected to arrive earlier than usual. By the time we hit April a the start of the fiscal year, the school term, and when new employees begin their first day on the job a the cherry blossoms are likely to be almost finished in the Kanto and Kansai regions.

For Kyoto in particular, thatas very bad news. COVID-19 couldnat have arrived at a worse time for a city world renowned for its cherry blossoms. Local businesses know cherry blossom season and the autumn months are the two peak spending periods by foreign and Japanese visitors. Since late February, Kyoto, like elsewhere, has been forced to cancel events, large and small, including traditional spring events like the aMiyako Odori,a a series of cherry blossom dances performed by the cityas maiko and geiko (Kyotoas geisha).

For the past five or six years, overtourism has been Kyotoas main problem, with residents, foreign and Japanese, complaining loudly about hordes of foreign tourists in the streets spoiling their fair city. On the other hand, hotels and hostels have been popping up in Kyoto like mushrooms. A lot of people made, and continue to make, a ton of money off the tourist trade.

But now, aundertourisma is the concern. This spring, Kyoto is remarkably uncrowded. Hotels, which have faced accusations of price-gouging at this time of year in the past amid excessive demand, are struggling to fill their rooms. Those who do go to Kyoto now can find rooms at some upscale establishments that are as cheap as a youth hostel.

The problem is, what do you do after you arrive? Museums like the Kyoto National Museum are currently closed due to COVID-19 concerns. Most businesses were still open as of this writing, but the possibility remains they could decide to close their doors or reduce their hours of operation.
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The travel restrictions announced in Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs's second National Address on March 14th, 2020 are hereby further clarified.





On March 17th, only incoming visitors from the USA, Canada, Europe, UK and Ireland are restricted to enter the country of St. Maarten. This does not apply to St. Maarten/St. Martin residents, as well as residents and nationals of the surrounding islands whom utilize Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) as a transit point. Travelers from around the Caribbean region are not restricted unless they have travelled to the listed areas in the past 21 days. The current travel restrictions apply for two weeks starting on Tuesday, March 17th. Commercial and private/chartered airlines will be allowed to land and take-off after the March 16th deadline date to facilitate the following:





 Visitors who are currently on the island, or neighboring islands, who are scheduled to travel out via PJIA in the coming weeks to return to their home country.





 Returning residents of St. Maarten/St. Martin and the surrounding islands, who usually transit through PJIA, invited specialists and other technical assistants, to enter the country with valid travel documents.





Hotels and other types of accommodations on St. Maarten/St. Martin and the surrounding islands, for which St. Maarten serves as a hub function, are advised to inform their guests accordingly. Residents of the island as well as surrounding islands are advised to take note as well. Airlines, and handlers will be informed via PJIA and Port St. Maarten operations to make the necessary arrangements.





Prime Minister Jacobs reiterated, "The restrictions do not apply to St. Maarten/St. Martin residents, nor residents of neighboring islands who transit through St. Maarten. All returning and transiting residents are reminded to continue to monitor themselves upon return and to notify their doctor should they start to show symptoms."





Prime Minister Jacobs hereby reminds the general public that all measures are being undertaken in order to protect our vulnerable community as the virus spreads in the wider world.




The line of couples waiting to wed in circuit court Saturday morning wasn't longer than usual, court clerks said. What was unusual was that  for the first time in Cook County or Illinois  it included several same-sex couples with a license to marry.

Some held bouquets, wore white dresses or gray suits, and were accompanied by family or friends, but any trappings of a familiar wedding scene had to come together quickly for these couples. A federal judge Friday allowed Cook County to issue marriage licenses months before a state marriage law is scheduled to take effect.

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Greg Gale, 62, said he scrambled to put appropriate wedding attire together  he decided on a light-colored suit and red tie  Saturday morning after he and his now-husband, Chris Ferguson, 61, decided in the early morning hours to marry after driving to the Cook County clerk's office Friday to be among the first to get their license.

After the four-minute ceremony, the smiling couple of more than 20 years, from Bloomingdale, reflected on the day's significance.

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"It's historic," said Gale. "Yesterday morning I had filled out an application to get married in Iowa because it was legal there, (but) we wanted to do it here, where we live. It's just a once-in-a-lifetime thing."

Paperwork in hand, Lisa Martin and Vicki Kenyon waited in line at the court office, casual in jeans and sweaters. After 13 years together, the couple were relieved to "upgrade the relationship status," Kenyon said, from a civil union to marriage.

"It's just kind of neat to be part of the first people doing it," said Kenyon, 46, adding that because she travels often for work, "having that legal protection is really important to us."

U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman's ruling was announced late Friday morning, drawing 46 gay couples to the lower level of the Daley Center to get a marriage license. Thanks to a waiver from a judge, Cook County Clerk David Orr even married a couple Friday, giving them red roses to celebrate.

Flanked by their 9-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son, Theresa Volpe and Mercedes Santos held hands as Orr officiated at their marriage ceremony in his office in the Loop. The couple were part of a previous lawsuit over gay union rights and had testified in Springfield on behalf of gay marriage.

The state's first gay marriage was Nov. 27, when Chicagoans Vernita Gray and Patricia Ewert wed after a federal court ordered the Cook County clerk to immediately issue them a license because Gray was battling terminal cancer. Gray and Ewert had filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court arguing that they should be granted the right to marry immediately.

The women, both in their mid-60s, had been in a committed relationship for more than five years and in 2011 entered into a civil union. Gray has lived in Illinois all her life and has terminal breast cancer. It was her last wish to be formally married to her partner, the couple's attorneys said at the time.

But Saturday was the first day most couples could wed because Illinois licenses, which are valid for 60 days, require couples to wait a calendar day before marrying. Couples in an Illinois civil union can get a marriage license with its $60 fee waived.

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The ruling applies only to Cook County, but couples like Gale and Ferguson who live in other counties can get their license in Cook County if they also are married in the county, Orr said.

Gov. Pat Quinn signed the state's same-sex marriage bill into law Nov. 20 during a ceremony at the University of Illinois at Chicago attended by more than 2,000 supporters. Since then, at least two couples have been granted the right to marry before the June 1 deadline because one partner faced a life-threatening medical condition. In her decision announced Friday, Coleman wrote that "there is no reason to delay further when no opposition has been presented to this Court and committed gay and lesbian couples have already suffered from the denial of their fundamental right to marry."

On Saturday, more than 20 same-sex couples were married in the three hours the First Municipal District Marriage and Civil Union Court in downtown Chicago was open for ceremonies, Court Clerk Michele Roberts said

.

Tribune reporter Juan Perez Jr. contributed.

mmanchir@tribune.com

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Twitter @TribuneMM
Hoboken officials on Saturday ordered gyms, health clubs, daycares and movie theaters to close in the city as part of efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

I completely recognize that these decisions will undoubtedly cause an inconvenience for residents and, in most cases, alter our day to day lives, Mayor Ravinder Bhalla said in a statement. But, we have to take into account the very serious predictions outlined by health experts from across the United States and the world, that the spread of COVID-19 is much likely to get worse before it improves.

I greatly appreciate everyones cooperation and understanding during these unprecedented times. Please continue to to take every measure possible in order to practice social distancing, avoiding large gatherings, and washing your hands and sanitizing frequently.  Ravinder S. Bhalla (@RaviBhalla) March 14, 2020

The stepped-up closures came after the city shut down playgrounds, recreation centers and ballfields on Friday. Officials said Hoboken has one reported presumptive positive case of the respiratory virus.

On Saturday, New Jersey officials said the states overall total of cases jumped to 69, with the bulk of cases reported in Bergen County, where the county executive also closed theaters and other public venues.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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In pics: PM Modi to inaugurate new campus of Classical Tamil institute in Chennai tomorrow

Joint strategy on coronavirus: SAARC to convene today

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Mar 15: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in a video-conference of all the SAARC nations on Sunday to chalk out a joint strategy to fight the coronavirus outbreak that has killed over 5,000 people worldwide.

Modi on Friday proposed formulation of a joint strategy by the SAARC nations to fight coronavirus, a suggestion that was backed by all the member states.

"Timely action for a healthier planet. Tomorrow at 5 PM, leaders of SAARC nations will discuss, via conferencing, a roadmap to fight the challenge of COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. I am confident that our coming together will lead to effective outcomes and benefit our citizens," the prime minister said in a tweet on Saturday.

Will attend SAARC video conference on coronavirus: Pakistan says yes to Modis call

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar confirmed in a tweet that Modi will lead India at the video-conference.

Calling on the SAARC nations to set an example for the world, Modi had reached out to the eight-member regional grouping and pitched for a video-conference among its leaders to chalk out a strong strategy to fight coronavirus, which has killed more than 5,000 people globally.

His appeal got a prompt response from Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, Bhutanese premier Lotay Tshering, Bangladeshi 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 the threat of COVID-19 required coordinated efforts at 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.

Besides Modi, leaders of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and the special assistant to the Pakistani prime minister on Health are likely to participate in the video-conference.

Modi's pitch for a joint SAARC strategy to combat coronavirus assumes significance as in the last three years, India has been distancing itself from the SAARC, citing the security challenge facing the region from terror networks based in Pakistan, which is also a member of the grouping.

Coronavirus Scare: Handshakes on hold, Namaste makes a global comeback

In December last year, the prime minister had said India's efforts for a greater collaboration among the SAARC countries were repeatedly challenged with threats and acts of terrorism, in an oblique reference to Pakistan.

The last SAARC Summit in 2014 was held in Nepal's Kathmandu, which was attended by Modi.

The 2016 SAARC Summit was to be held in Islamabad. But after a terror attack on an Indian Army camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri on September 18 that year, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit due to the "prevailing circumstances".

The summit was called off after Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to take part in it.

In a series of tweets on Friday, 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."

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday that the coronavirus outbreak could be characterised as pandemic.

Coronavirus: Number of positive cases rise to 84, says Health ministry

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 organisation comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

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Story first published: Sunday, March 15, 2020, 8:53 [IST]
P&O and Carnival Cruises are suspending all operations for a month due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The two Australian businesses have implemented a 30-day pause period and will reconvene on April 13.

The response mirrors Viking Cruises who closed last week until May 1, after both businesses were criticised for continuing to operate.

The Queen Elizabeth cancelled its trip from Sydney to New Zealand on Sunday, with P&O Cruises Australia president Sture Myrmell telling 7News they were prioritising the health of staff and guests.

P&O and Carnival Cruises are suspending all operations for a month due to the coronavirus pandemic. Pictured: The Pacific Dawn arriving in Brisbane in March 2017

Passengers wait as a man is tested for coronavirus on board the Norwegian Jewel cruise ship in Sydney in February

'Cancelling or reducing the length of a cruise is the last thing we would ever want to do but these are extraordinary times and we have no hesitation in putting the health and well-being of our guests, crew and the wider community first,' Mr Myrmell said.

A Carnival Cruises statement said they are following the advice of health officials.

'While Carnival has not had a diagnosed case linked to our operation we realise this situation is bigger than the cruise industry and we will continue to do our part to support public officials to manage and contain this unprecedented public health challenge,' the statement reads.

Holiday makers who had plans with P&O and Carnival Cruises will be contacted by their respective company for further details.

The Australian government has urged passengers to reconsider international cruise trips after the Diamond Princess was forced to quarantine in Japan for two weeks in February as the virus ran rampant on board.

Viking Cruises had a passenger on a river cruise in south-east Asia this week who had been exposed to the deadly virus while in transit.

Passengers watch on as the Sea Princess cruise ship departs Sydney Harbour on March 10

Twenty-nine guests have been put into quarantine as a result.

The travel industry has been hugely impacted as the coronavirus has spread around the world, with countries closing borders for nomads and preventing large gatherings of people in the wake of the disease.

Travel bans are in place for China, Italy, Iran and South Korea, while Donald Trump announced that no one, bar the country's citizens, who have been in Europe can enter the country.

New Zealand are enforcing all internationally arriving people - including returning Kiwis - to self-isolate for a fortnight upon arriving in the country.

Virgin, Qantas and Jetstar have reduced flights in the wake of the pandemic, while various sporting events have been cancelled or banned fans from attending to prevent the risk of spreading the disease.
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.
A Canadian woman and an Italian man who had been kidnapped 15 months ago in Burkina Faso have been released in good health, according to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in neighbouring Mali.

Quebec resident Edith Blais and Italian Luca Tacchetto had been travelling by car in the southwest of Burkina Faso when they were abducted in December 2018.

Their ordeal finally ended on Friday when they were handed over to UN peacekeepers in Mali.

They were later flown to the Malian capital Bamako where they were greeted by Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

It is not known who kidnapped them, if a ransom was paid or who arranged for their release.

Burkina Fasos security situation had been deteriorating in the year before the pair were kidnapped. It has become worse since then.

Jihadist groups have been pushing across Malis border into Burkina Faso over the past year.

Al-Qaida and Islamic State-linked groups are active in Burkina Faso.
It is indeed cheering news that President Donald Trump of America declared a National Day of Prayer to fight Coronavirus outbreak. He asked the American citizens to pray wherever they are and to turn towards prayer in an act of faith. Listen to him, We are a country that, throughout our history, has looked to God for protection and strength in times like these. Together, we will easily prevail! Yes, this guy will always say that he wants America to be great again and I am happy that he is taking the right step to achieve this. When last did an American president talk or behave like this? Talking about national prayer? Reminding citizens of Americas history of divine protection and strength? Definitely, not recently. Look at his policies on Israel; a sharp deviation from the hostile posture of the past regime. Obama was doing everything to humiliate Israel, while economically and militarily empowering their enemies. I added militarily because those countries were using the huge money they were getting to secretly, deceptively further their military, terrorism and nuclear ambition. He was virtually pushing the Jews to the wall. And you know what that can result to.

But this is a country that was founded on biblical principles. It has God enshrined on its currency, motto, anthem and the president and officials take oath of office with the bible. In fact, almost all the founding fathers of America were spirit filled and even tongue-speaking Christians. But things later changed. The same Gods America became a leader in everything anti God, from the worship of Satan and immorality to total rebellion against Gods existence and authority. You already know that it hosts the headquarters of most occult groups, including Church of Satan. It is the biggest propagator of immoral activities like same-sex relationships, single motherhood, abortion, etc. They believe in total freedom, even when the issue is against the word of God. In fact, it is not a secret that the government before Trump invested everything to lure and coerce other governments and institutions to legalize same-sex marriages. Thank God that some sane people, like African leaders rejected and rebuffed him. I remember the Nigerians, Ghanians and Kenyans told Obama to perish, go to hell with his promised aids and the immoral, demonic suggestion. It was indeed a big shame for the so-called Gods Own Country!

It is restoring and heartwarming that a president of America is today calling for a national prayer. It is a good restart and I believe that God is about to take that country to even greater heights. True, enduring prosperity, victory and security can only come from God; the creator and sustainer of all things. For the epidemic Coronavirus and other issues, solutions are already coming. The prayer is a good start. I remember when the Israelites were dying from snake bites in the wilderness, Moses prayed and God healed and stopped the problem. When the angel of death was killing the people because of the disobedience of taking census against Gods instructions, Great King David prayed and God recalled the angel. When three nations came against Judah, Jehoshaphat declared national praying and fasting and God went to war himself and their enemies killed themselves. When all the Jews were decreed to be killed, Esther asked Mordecai and all the Jews to fast and pray, and God miraculously turned the tables against their enemies. Haman, his sons and all their enemies were killed. And you remember the plagues in Egypt? Pharaoh would always ask Moses and Aaron to please go and pray to their God to remove the plagues. Yes, like in Egypt, all these diseases, viruses, natural disasters, attacks and wars are coming today because of our disobedience to Gods word. If we return to him as America is doing now, then he will remove them and restore us. But if not more serious problems, diseases and disasters are sure coming!

For Trump to recognize that Americas strength, prosperity, protection and healing come from God is indeed refreshing and should cause every citizen to celebrate. With his creation of jobs, foreign policies, pay rise for the military and security budgets, trade defense and actions against the enemies, Donald Trump is already writing his name in gold and may come out as one of the best presidents in the history of America. God bless you!

Rev Gabriel Agbo is of the Assemblies of God and the author of the book Power of Midnight Prayer. Tel: 08037113283. E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.authorsden.com/pastorgabrielnagbo
People across Spain have entered lockdown with a nationwide round of applause, from their balconies, to show their gratitude to medical staff working on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak.

Pedro Sanchez, Spains prime minister, gave a televised address on Saturday night announcing measures confining residents to their homes except for essential trips outside.

Minutes later, at 10pm, people in cities as widespread as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Pamplona took to their balconies and leaned from windows to applaud those working in the countrys health services.

Footage of the unprecedented show of appreciation was shared widely on social media, captioned with the words aplauso sanitario, (I applaud the health services) and quedate en casa (stay at home).

It comes after similar isolation measures were introduced in Italy, where residents have been filmed coming together to fill the streets with song from their respective balconies in heartening displays of national unity.

Spain now has more than 6,000 confirmed cases of the virus  the fifth highest number of cases of any other country  after recording a 24-hour rise of at least 1,500 on Friday.

Under the governments new measures, residents are only allowed to leave their homes to buy food and medicine, commute to work, go to hospitals and banks, or take trips to care for the young and elderly.

All schools and universities are closed, along with restaurants, bars, hotels and other non-essential retail businesses.

From now we enter into a new phase, Mr Sanchez told the nation on Saturday night. We wont hesitate in doing what we must to beat the virus. We are putting health first.

We will [eventually] return to the routine of our jobs and again visit our friends and loved ones.

Until that time comes, lets not waste energies that are essential now. Lets not lose our way, he said, urging all to stay home.

Several fire brigades also shared their appreciation for health care workers at 10pm, sounding their engines sirens from fire stations in Madrid and Valladolid, as firefighters lined up to join the applause of nearby residents.

Shouts of viva los medicos (long live doctors) could also be heard ringing through the streets, with some residents also turning the lights on and off in their homes.

Shortly after his announcement, Mr Sanchezs wife Begona Gomez was revealed to have tested positive for Covid-19.

Both are in good health, according to the government. At least two Cabinet members have also contracted the virus.

A state of emergency has been declared for 15 days. The government had been expected to announce further measures on Saturday to mitigate the economic and social impacts of the crisis, with aid for companies and workers.

But after a seven-hour cabinet meeting, ministers could not agree. Mr Sanchez said the measures would wait until the next meeting, but sought to reassure concerned citizens.

I want to tell the workers, the self-employed, and businesses that the government of Spain is going to do everything in its power to cushion the effects of this crisis, Mr Sanchez said.

Additional reporting by agencies
The number of people infected with the coronavirus in Spain increased by a third to 7,753 and more than 100 new deaths were recorded over the last 24 hours, health officials said Sunday.

The latest spike in Europes second-most affected country after Italy comes after the Spanish government imposed a near-total nationwide lockdown, banning people from leaving home except to go to work, get medical care or buy food.

The countrys death toll from the outbreak climbed to 288 on Sunday from at least 183, while the total number of cases rose to 7,753 from 5,753.

The wife of Spains Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is among those who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, his office said late Saturday, just hours after he announced the lockdown.

ALSO WATCH | Amid coronavirus lockdown, Italians sing from windows and balconies

Both Begona Gomez and her husband were well, and were at their official residence following the new measures introduced by the health authorities, said a government statement.

The measures were introduced as part of a 15-day state of emergency officially declared by his government on Saturday.

It is only the second time that the government has evoked it since the country returned to democracy following the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.

The other time was during a 2010 air traffic controllers strike.

Sanchez warned Friday that the number of infections could reach 10,000 in the coming days in Spain.
Pakistan's President Arif Alvi will leave for China on a two-day maiden visit from Monday to show solidarity with the country for its effort to combat the novel coronavirus.

Radio Pakistan reported that Alvi was undertaking the visit on the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

He will meet with President Xi and other Chinese leaders. A number of MoUs are expected to be signed.

The visit is aimed at conveying strong support and solidarity of Pakistan towards the Government and the people of China while Beijing was resolutely engaged in efforts to contain and deal with the spread of Covid-19, according to Radio Pakistan.

This will be President Alvi's first visit to China.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
No matter what your political leaning, the New York Times is a prestigious newspaper that is published in multiple countries and recognized worldwide. It is for this reason that any article published in the Times that has a story referencing Chattanooga is especially noteworthy. Today's New York Times has a lengthy article that "highlights" two of our area residents, Matt and Noah Colvin. Two brothers from Hixson who have become quite the successful entrepreneurs. Great publicity for our esteemed city, you say? Not so fast....

It seems that the Colvin brothers decided to take the news of the COVID-19 outbreak and make some money. They loaded up an SUV and a U-Haul and went to their (our) local Dollar Tree, Walmart, Staples and Home Depot and "cleaned the shelves" of every last container of hand sanitizer and anti-bacterial wipes. They then continued their buying spree going to "little hole-in-the-wall dollar stores in the backwoods" all the way to Kentucky. They brought their booty back to Hixson and began selling it online for between $8 and $70 each, multiple times what they paid for them. One of the Colvin brothers even proudly posed for a picture for The Times in front of his inventory.

You want to know the ironic part? I actually thought The Times was doing an expose on people price gouging. These guys were selling essential health supplies in the time of a deadly pandemic for huge profits. They had essentially robbed the market of supply and then took advantage of the lack of supply to charge outrageous prices to people who just wanted basic things to be able to protect their families. You know what? The story is about the brothers complaining about the fact that Amazon and E-Bay took down their website and refused to let them continue to do business. Now, the poor unsuspecting brothers are stuck with a garage full of essential supplies and nowhere to sell them. Wow...There's a Chattanooga story that we can be proud of.

Brothers Colvin: Let me be clear. I am outraged. I am speechless that you would deprive your neighbors (including me) of the very basic cleaning supplies that are absolutely essential for surviving this new pandemic virus. The two of you determined that your own selfish monetary gains were worth more than the health (and possibly the very lives) of your neighbors. There are no words harsh enough for the two of you (and if there were, this news organization would not publish the words I would have to say to you). We have yet to see this COVID-19 play out here in our community but if it turns out to be as deadly here as it has been everywhere else in the world, you will have blood on your hands. Picture the elderly person, shuffling to make the Herculean effort to get out of their home, trying to heed the warnings that they are seeing on the news, to get to the store for essential supplies including hand sanitizer and anti-bacterial wipes. Now picture their faces when they get to the store and the shelves are bare because of your greed. How about the mom of three that is just trying to stave off the illness so that she can continue to go to work to support her kids? How about the immuno-compromised twenty-something that is in the middle of chemotherapy and desperately needs all of the sanitizing help that he/she can get just to stay alive? Never mind the rest of us who just want to try the best that we can to keep our families safe. You have robbed all of these people of the most basic of supplies, which could actually endanger their lives, all in the name of "making a buck". You are the worst of the worst. The lowest of the low.

The Times quotes you trying to defend your actions (and whining about your current inability to continue to gouge consumers) as saying that the current laws regarding price gouging "Are built for Billy Bob's gas station doubling the amount he charges for gas during a hurricane." Really?! So, Billy Bob is wrong but you are not? Billy Bob's customers who drowned from the hurricane because they were not able to pay to evacuate are just as dead as the people who die because they haven't been able to access basic cleaning supplies that would have killed the virus in their homes.

I am not particularly religious so I will not try to remind you of the wrath that awaits you in hell. What I will say is that I hope that the next U-Haul that you rent is to pack your belongings and get out of Chattanooga.

Lynn Ashton

* * *

I could not agree more with Lynn Ashton. If our local DA is not quarantined from the recent Bar Association meeting, I would suggest he make himself useful and arrest these guys.

Certainly, in this current environment, anything that sanitizes would be considered "essential goods" for someone who is at risk.





Mike Parker

Harrison

* * *

Mr. Parker:

The local District Attorney General's Office doesn't investigate or prosecute allegations of price gouging. However, the State Attorney General's Office led by Attorney General Herb Slatery does investigate and prosecute these matters. Yesterday, I received some citizen complaints about the allegations of price gouging and I immediately forwarded those concerns to the State Attorney General. Today, the Attorney General's Office has issued a cease and desist letter to the brothers.





If you or any other Hamilton County citizen wishes to file a complaint, you can visit the Attorney General's website and file a complaint via their online portal. This process would be the most efficient way to let voices be heard. If you have any other issues I can be of assistance to, please let me know. You can reach me at neal.pinkston@hcdatn.org





God's peace, blessings, and immense healing powers to you and all of Hamilton County during these challenging times.





Neal Pinkston

District Attorney General

Chattanooga, TN

* * *

Another question about all of this hoarding that has been going on is why retail businesses to include big box stores like Costco, grocery stores, and other retail chains did not prevent hoarding in the first place? These businesses should have known this was coming and should have put significant restrictions on bulk purchases of certain items.

Now there are people out there who apparently have a two year supply of cold medicine, face masks, hand sanitizer, and toilet paper sitting in their garages gathering dust. Im hopeful that more good than bad will come out of this crisis, and hopefully in a couple of months when we can look back on this and see what we did right and what we did wrong that businesses will have a plan to prevent hoarders like this from interrupting the supply chain.

Robert Maner

* * *

Matt and Noah Colvin are friends of mine. Ive known both of them long enough to know their character and ethics. They come from a family farm culture of dawn to dusk hard physical labor producing food to feed our state and nation.

These men are no criminals and if called on by the state attorney general I will gladly testify on their behalf.

Was this a bad decision? Yes, assuredly. Bad judgement? Most definitely! Criminal? No more criminal in my mind than hospitals charging $7.50 for single aspirin tablets, $1,100 for simple saline IV bags, or an ambulance provider charging $450 for a five minute non-critical ambulance ride.

I know two wrongs dont make a right, but in this case it appears the Colvins are merely guilty of non-certified over-pricing of essential medical items.

Finally, for those pranking them or anyone with phony pizza delivery keep in mind that the only loser in that game is the pizza franchise and its drivers since the pizzas usually go in the trash at no charge to the victim of the prank.

JB Griffin

* * *

Ms. Ashton, your letter is excellent, as always. Thank you for calling this greed, at the expense of public health, for what it is.

There is nothing that can justify pure greed that causes direct harm to the public. Let me repeat, nothing. These folks viewed a pandemic, or public health crisis, as commerce opportunity. That is sick.

How many businesses, that have concentrations of people, cannot purchase coronavirus prevention because of the greed exhibited in this one case? Driving around Chattanooga buying up products to prevent the spread of coronavirus, makes the accused appear as pure bottom feeders.

I would say that predatory behavior and greed mongering abounds at this time. We see this in all declarations of emergency, war, and other emergencies. The vultures move in.

Of course, JB is correct. Hospitals are overcharging for essential and lifesaving interventions. Lock up their executives too, health is an essential service and the public at large is being robbed. When do we the people get justice in greed mongering at hospitals?

Make a profit in an honest way. Overcharging and hording essential products and services is not a Christian way of life. While we are all sinners, our faith calls upon us to hate the sin and love the sinner. It is my hope and prayer, the greed perpetrators learn that they should love their fellow man in crisis, not fleece his wallet.

The current circumstance demands that we help one another, and not attempt to get rich on tragedy.

April Eidson

* * *

As I read the hate-filled comments directed toward the Colvin brothers following the news that the Attorney General is investigating them for price-gouging, I had a couple of thoughts:

1. If these men were interested in price-gouging, the decision to do that was a bad one and one that they have since re-visited, having now offered the products to anyone who can use them, according to today's Times-Free Press.

2. If any charges were filed against them, they would be legally innocent until proven guilty, regardless of anyone's opinion or desire to cause them harm. Panic and fear over a pandemic does not invalidate their constitutional rights nor do these fears justify hate-mongering.

3. When considering investigation of price-gouging, should Attorneys-General not take a look at the medical profession's habit of spending less than five minutes with each patient, then rushing off to another patient, and then billing insurance and Medicare for $180 or more per patient per visit as has happened frequently?

4. Common sense is always good ..far too many people have decided to abandon it since this COVID-19 concern developed.

Tim McDonald

* * *

Ive known both of them long enough to know their character and ethics. They come from a family farm culture of dawn to dusk hard physical labor producing food to feed our state and nation.

These men are no criminals and if called on by the state attorney general I will gladly testify on their behalf.

Focusing on a direct quote from an earlier letter, I am puzzled how the fact that two people who are identified as hard working farmers allow anyone to give these two guys a pass. I am equally puzzled at how the focus seems to rest on whether there is a criminal activity embedded in all this.

I learned a long time ago that some things may not be illegal but in the end it just aint right and I am guessing most of us were taught this lesson. Citing hospital costs does not absolve the apparent intent of two men (whatever their rationale) who premeditated and decided to take advantage of a serious issue that affects all people with only their well-being and financial security being the issue.

Right is right even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it. - Saint Augustine

Gary Davis



* * *

The Colvin brothers actions are already done. Nothing can change that. And nothing good comes on dwelling on them.

Especially in this time of crisis, strive to rise above the fray, and not join the mob. Lead by example.

Keep your Maker close, and your family closer. We will all be better for it.

Wilson von Kessler

St. Elmo
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He returned to his hosting duties on Nine's Today show in January.

But rumours are Karl Stefanovic, 45, has his sights set on a career in the US when his Australian TV contract ends later this year.

Reports suggest Karl will drop long-standing manager Sharon Finnigan of SF Celebrity Management, as he has inked a deal with Chris Hemsworth's Melbourne-based agent, Mark Morissey.

'It's a different play for me': Today host Karl Stefanovic has sparked rumours he could be chasing a US career after 'signing with Chris Hemsworth's manager' as his Nine contract nears completion this year. Pictured with wife Jasmine Yarbrough

As of Sunday morning, March 15, Karl was listed under talent for SF Celebrity Management, and not present on Morissey Management's website.

The Daily Telegraph claimed Karl, and his shoe-designer wife Jasmine Yarbrough, could soon relocate overseas.

'It's a different play for me being asked to do something with international focus,' Karl told the publication on Saturday, before adding: 'It's early days.'

It's believed the journalist intends to 'collaborate' with Mark on TV projects, and international productions.

Moving on up! Karl could be moving to the US after allegedly signing with Melbourne-based manager Mark Morissey - who also manages Hollywood actor Chris Hemsworth

Time for a change? Karl was rumoured to have split with his agent-of-17-years Sharon Finnigan (right)- but the talent manager said Karl was 'still with me' last weekend. Pictured at Karl's wedding in 2018 to wife Jasmine in Mexico

An inside source told the publication: 'Karl has long seen himself spending more time in the US, so this is the first real steps towards that plan. He is very focused on that.'

Last week, Karl was rumoured to have split with his agent-of-17-years Sharon Finnigan - but the talent manager said Karl was 'still with me' to The Sunday Telegraph.

Karl has been signed with the Sydney talent agent for the last 17 years.

The two are known to have a close working relationship, with Sharon even attending his wedding to Mara & Mine shoe designer, Jasmine, in December, 2018.

Working relationship: Karl has been with the Sydney talent agent Sharon (second left) for the past 17 years

That same year, Sharon dealt with the shock departure of Karl from the Today Show.

She was also reportedly present when Nine chief executive Hugh Marks delivered the news of the axing to Karl over the phone.

Sharon, who runs SF Celebrity Management, has a number of stars on the books including Phoebe Burgess and Michael Usher.

Hard work: Despite the Today show initially getting a healthy jump in the ratings, the embattled Nine breakfast show continues to struggle to find an audience. (R) Allison Langdon

Meanwhile, Karl recently made a comeback to the Today show alongside new co-host Allison Langdon.

Despite initially getting a healthy jump in the ratings, the embattled breakfast show continues to struggle to find an audience.

Last month, the Today show recorded its lowest ratings of 2020, with a paltry 171,000 metro viewers tuning in.
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 04:18:29|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on March 13, 2020 shows an empty departure hall at Terminal 2E of Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy, near Paris, France.(Photo by Jack Chan/Xinhua)

The French government declared its highest epidemic alert at national level, with the coronavirus confirmed actively spreading across the country.

As of Saturday, France has confirmed 4,500 cases of coronavirus infection, "twice as much as 72 hours previously."

PARIS, March 14 (Xinhua) -- With the coronavirus confirmed actively spreading across the country, France entered "stage 3" of its epidemic response plan, which means it is now at highest epidemic alert at national level, announced Director-General of Health Jerome Salomon on Saturday evening.

As of Saturday, France has confirmed 4,500 cases of coronavirus infection, "twice as much as 72 hours previously", 91 people died and 300 patients are now hospitalized in intensive care, said Salomon.

A tourist wearing a mask is seen on the Place du Trocadero in Paris, France, March 12, 2020.(Photo by Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua)

Before Salomon gave the update on the epidemic, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced that starting from Saturday midnight, all cafes, restaurants, cinemas, discotheques as well as non-essential shops in France will be closed until further notice. Public transport will be maintained but limited.

A woman wearing a protective mask is seen at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy, near Paris, France, on March 13, 2020.(Photo by Jack Chan/Xinhua)

"We notice an acceleration of the spread of the virus, and a rapid increase in the number of people in intensive care. We observe that the first measures taken are not perfectly applied" by the French people, he lamented, recalling that the best way to slow down the epidemic is to respect the "social distance" recommended by health experts.

Philippe reiterated his call on the French people to limit trips as much as possible. However, he said, the first round of municipal elections will take place on Sunday as planned.

Under France's epidemic response plan adopted in 2011, the authorities' objective in stage 3 moves from "slowing down the spread" to "attenuating the effects of the epidemic wave".

Since entering stage 2 on Feb. 28, the French government and the health authorities had vowed to mobilize all necessary preparations before the transition into the highest alert stage, which they expected to delay as long as possible.

Stage 3 marks the end of individual monitoring of cases by the Health Watch Institute, and in the event of saturation of the health care resources, treatment priorities must be applied, according to the 2011 epidemic response guide.
Dimanche 15 mars 2020, a l'occasion du premier tour des elections municipales, Martinique la 1ere propose un dispositif complet pour vous faire vivre le scrutin sur ses trois medias : Television-Radio-Internet.

Martinique la 1ere 

A partir de 18h30 : debut du Live minute par minute pour vous faire vivre en continu ce premier tour des municipales de ce dimanche 15 mars 2020.Images, participation, estimations, resultats, analyses, reactions... a suivre tout au long de la soiree avec nos reporters, nos correspondants, nos journalistes en studio et leurs invites.Ces resultats sont mis a jour en temps reel au fur et a mesure du depouillement des 330 bureaux de vote des 34 communes du territoire.Pour suivre le Live  c'est par ici. Carte des resultats :
President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated foremost Nigerian poet, Odia Ofeimun, on his 70th birthday.

The presidents greetings were contained in a statement by his spokesperson, Femi Adesina.

Read Mr Adesinas full statement below.

President Muhammadu Buhari joins Nigerias vibrant creative community in celebrating renowned poet, author and publisher, Odia Ofeimun, who turns 70 on Monday, March 16, 2020.

President Buhari rejoices with the editor, dramatist and activist, who served as Private Secretary to the Premier of Western Nigeria and foremost nationalist, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, congratulating him for the honour he brings to the country, and the inspiration he gives to many.

The President extols Ofeimuns resilient spirit, discipline, focus, and his unquenchable love for knowledge, attributes that catapulted him into the spotlight at a young age, bringing fame at home and abroad, and many recognitions and awards for his colourful creative works, particularly in poetry and dance drama.

While commending the poet for such an admirable pedigree at 70, President Buhari also felicitates with family, friends and professional colleagues of the former President of the Association of Nigerian Authors, who have consistently rolled out drums at every landmark age to give him deserved honour.

The President prays that almighty God will grant Ofeimun longer life, good health and more wisdom to keep sharing his talent with the world.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

March 15, 2020
Illinois Governor May Close Bars, Restaurants: We Need to Go on Lockdown

The governor of Illinois said he is considering closing down bars and restaurants across the state in light of the Wuhan coronavirus global pandemic.

Following a federal emergency declaration and statewide school closures, young people who think theyre impervious to this went out and celebrated St. Patricks Day, Gov. J.B. Pritzker told NBCs Meet the Press on Sunday morning. People arent understanding that, even if youre healthy, even if youre young, that you may be a carrier. And youre going to hand it over to somebody else, Pritzker added.

The St. Patricks Day parade in Chicago and related events were canceled in light of the viral outbreak.

But COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, is currently spreading because even healthy people can be walking around, giving it to other people, the governor remarked, adding that we need to go on lockdown.

When he was pressed about the statement on the program, Pritzker said his office is on the trajectory to implement more controls.

You can imagine each one of these decisions has consequences to them that are not just about the pandemic, he said. So were actually looking hard at that decision making today, Pritzker added. We obviously saw what happened in Europe. Nowhere in the United States really has there been a lockdown on bars and restaurants, but its something that were seriously looking at.

As of Sunday, data provided by Johns Hopkins University says that more than 3,000 cases of the virus have been confirmed around the United States along with more than 60 deaths.

His remarks came as Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Sunday ordered all restaurants and bars in the state to close 9 p.m. on Sunday night.
Rome [Italy], Mar 15 (ANI): Nigel Adams, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development in the UK, has formally declared that they are aware of reports of mass graves in Khuzdar, Turbat, and Dera Bugti in Balochistan.

Adams made this remark while replying to questions raised by a British member of Parliament, Stephen Morgan, who is the Labour MP for Portsmouth South in England. The Labour MP raised the questions in Parliament after a delegation headed by Hakeem Wadhela, the president of Baloch National Movement UK Chapter, met twice with the MP and gave a detailed presentation about Balochistan.

Few words, sanitise and sterilised as only words can be; few words referring to one of the darkest chapters of the ongoing genocide in Balochistan:

At the end of January 2014, in fact, eight collective graves were discovered in Khuzdar, Tootak. A shepherd, leading his flock to pasture, saw human bones sticking out of the earth. He called the police, people started digging. They counted 169 bodies. The police, after sealing off the site and rush the people away, declared that there were only 15 bodies.

The same graves, mass graves filled with unidentified bodies, have been found in Dera Bugti and Sui, containing the remains of women and children too and confirming the fear that quite often the 'missing people' of Balochistan are killed and quickly buried in unnamed and unsigned graves. Unfortunately, the truth will never come to light. No one knows how many other mass tombs are there, or the number of nameless corpses buried in those hastily dug holes.

Because the reactions of the Army and government were emblematic once more; instead of investigating, the military intensified operations against the Baloch, bombing Dera Bugti, Mashkai, Awaran, Nisarabad, and Panjgur, using helicopter gunships and artillery. Entire neighbourhoods were reduced to rubble.

When the graves were uncovered, the police and the Army refused to let the small crowd that had gathered try to identify the bodies. They dispersed the onlookers, wielding their sticks. Interestingly, the graves were discovered not far from the residence of Shafique Mengal: A goon reputedly close to the intelligence services and the leader of one of the best-known groups used by the Army in dealing with both the nationalists and ordinary citizens.

Mengal's organisation is openly affiliated to the intelligence services and the Frontier Corps, which use the group for work that is a little 'dirtier' than usual. It has been said that the Frontier Corps provided Mengal and his men with a present of a private prison complete with torture cells near Tootak.

Needless to say, after a mild wave of indignation, the story of the mass graves disappeared under a pall of silence. Faced with the concerned recommendations of a number of humanitarian organisations, the Pakistani government 'commission of enquiry' showed most eagerness not in establishing the truth but in exonerating the armed forces and secret services to the utmost of its ability.

The truth is that the system is rotten to its core. The commissioners empowered to make recommendations can be members of the very organisations they are asked to judge. In such cases, it is obviously in their interests to engage in cover-ups and negate the evidence.

Amnesty International stated: " The Frontier Corps reportedly cordoned off the area surrounding the graves soon after their discovery, preventing civil society and the local community from monitoring activity at the gravesites. The Frontier Corps has also reportedly prevented some relatives of enforced disappearance victims from visiting a local hospital to inspect the recovered bodies to see if they could identify their missing relatives."

"As far as Amnesty International is aware, no Frontier Corps or other security and intelligence service personnel have been brought to justice for their involvement in enforced disappearances or other human rights violations in Balochistan. The authorities also have a very poor record in bringing non-state suspects to justice, with criminal gangs and armed groups, some hostile to the state or engaged in hostilities in neighbouring Afghanistan, others targeting those considered anti-state or the minority Shi'a Muslim population, operating with virtual impunity," it added.

Independent investigations, and even international humanitarian organisations' access to the areas in question, are banned for 'security reasons'; in truth, this is more for the security of the state's institutions than that of its citizens.

Acknowledging the UK knows of the mass graves, the West knows, UN knows and the not only do nothing about it but goes on selling arms to Pakistan, the same arms used against Baloch and other Pakistani citizens, means we are not just witnesses but also responsible for those unnamed bodies, for the plight of people of Baloch waiting for years their dear ones to come back. We are responsible for those graves, for those children. And partners in crime with Frontier Corps, Shafiq Mengal and people like him. Think about it, Mr Adams.

.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Fujairah Building Industries, a UAE-based company engaged in the building materials sector, has recommended distribution of 15 per cent cash dividends (15 fils per share) to the investors for FY 2019.



A major player in the region, Fujairah Building Industries Group currently produces a range of products including rockwool insulation products, concrete blocks, pavers, terrazzo tiles, marble products, kerbstones and ceramic tiles.



The Emirati group had achieved a revenue of Dh218.6 million ($59.5 million) from continuing operations for the year ended December 31, 2019, said Fujairah Building Industries in its filing to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).



The company has recommended to the board for distribution of cash dividends worth Dh20.4 million ($5.5 million) for 2019 at the ordinary general meeting (OGM), it added.



Last year, the OGM had approved the distribution of 10 fils per share as cash dividends for 2018.-TradeArabia News Service
Hundreds of scientists have warned the British government that their response to the coronavirus epidemic is risking many more lives than necessary.

In an open letter published on Saturday night, more than 295 academics living and working in the UK backed calls for immediate measures to restrict the spread of Covid-19.

They criticised the UKs strategy of delaying restrictions in a bid to achieve herd immunity, arguing that it would put the NHS under even more stress.

By putting in place social distancing measures now, the growth can be slowed down dramatically, and thousands of lives can be spared, the letter adds.

We consider the social distancing measures taken as of today as insufficient, and we believe that additional and more restrictive measures should be taken immediately, as it is already happening in other countries across the world.

The letter adds to the pressure on Boris Johnson to act quickly following confirmation that 10 more coronavirus patients have died, nearly doubling the total in one day to 21. The number of confirmed cases increased to 1,140.

France and Spain have both imposed partial lockdowns, including closures of most shops, cafes and restaurants. Italy, which has the highest number of cases outside China with more than 21,000, is already under total lockdown.

The government responded to the letter by saying that we will be instituting our next planned interventions soon.

We will publish the modelling and data considered by Sage [the governments Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies], a spokesman added. We continue to be guided by the advice of the chief medical officer and the chief scientific adviser.

Meanwhile the Department of Health and Social Care rejected the criticisms stated in the letter.

Herd immunity is not part of our action plan, but is a natural by-product of an epidemic, a spokesman said. Our aims are to save lives, protect the most vulnerable, and relieve pressure on our NHS.

The letter has been signed by a wide range of scientists at UK universities, including professors, lecturers and PhD students in mathematics, biology, medicine and computer science.

Additional reporting by Press Association
A Canadian woman and her Italian partner kidnapped in Burkina Faso in December 2018 have been released to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in neighbouring Mali and they appear to be in good health, a mission spokesman has said.

Edith Blais and Italian Luca Tacchetto went missing while travelling through Burkina Faso, where armed groups with links to al-Qaeda and the ISIL (ISIS) group are active and have kidnapped Westerners in the past.

A security official from the UN mission in Mali, MINUSMA, told AFP news agency on Saturday that peacekeepers found the pair near the northern town of Kidal.



Both are well. They are under our protection. They will be transferred to Bamako on Saturday and then flown to their respective countries, the security official said.

It is not known who was responsible for Blais and Tacchettos kidnapping or if any ransom was paid.

UN mission spokesman Olivier Salgado told Reuters news agency that the two were received by peacekeepers on Friday evening and would be handed over to Malian authorities later on Saturday.

He shared a photo of Blais and Tacchetto wearing UN human rights T-shirts and sweatpants. Both are grinning in the photo and appear to be healthy.

No information was immediately available about the circumstances in which the two were found.

Blais, from Quebec, and her partner Tacchetto, from Venice, disappeared in mid-December 2018 while travelling through the west African country.

The couple, who are in their 30s, were driving by car to Ouagadougou from Bobo-Dioulasso, more than 360km (224 miles) west of the capital, when all trace of them was lost, according to Blaiss family.

They had been planning to go to Togo to work on a humanitarian project.

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By Park Jae-hyuk







Lotte Card said Friday that it has nominated former Hyundai Capital America CEO Cho Jwa-jin as the successor to incumbent CEO Kim Chang-kwon.







Born in 1967, Cho served as the head of Oliver Wyman's Korean office and a managing director of Hyundai Card.







He also led James Cho Management Consulting as CEO.







The nominee will be appointed after the general shareholders meeting and the board of directors meeting slated for late March.







"As an expert having deep knowledge and experience in the credit card business, Cho is the right person to lead our company's grow into a leading credit card firm," a Lotte Card official said.







The replacement was a surprise as Kim was supposed to serve out his term that ends March 2021.







Kim was reappointed to serve another two-year term in October 2019, although MBK Partners acquired a 79.83 percent stake in Lotte Card from Lotte Group.







It is usual for private equity firms to reshuffle the management of their portfolio companies.







Kim's reappointment was regarded as the largest shareholder's apparent effort to stabilize the company after the takeover.







Lotte Card said Kim will remain in the company as vice chairman, but Cho is expected to lead the company's new businesses.







"Despite deteriorating business conditions in the credit card industry, Kim has pursued profit-oriented management, and businesses for the future, taking a long-term perspective," the company official said.







"To recognize him for stabilizing the company amid a change in the largest shareholder, we gave him the vice chairman position that did not exist in our company before."







In addition to the recent nomination, Lotte Card hired three new executives from outside the company in November 2019.







They are Seok Dong-il from Samsung Card, Park Ik-jin from Orange Life Insurance and Ku Young-woo from Korea Retail Asset Management Corp.


We've lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. On the other hand, we'd be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So before you buy or sell Suchuang Gas Corporation Limited (HKG:1430), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.

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.

We would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing. But it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing. For example, a Harvard University study found that 'insider purchases earn abnormal returns of more than 6% per year.

Check out our latest analysis for Suchuang Gas

Suchuang Gas Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

insider Aping Su made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for HK$15m worth of shares at a price of HK$2.20 each. That means that even when the share price was higher than HK$1.89 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. 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. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when an insider has purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price. Aping Su was the only individual insider to buy over the year.

The chart below shows insider transactions (by individuals) over the last year. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

Story continues

SEHK:1430 Recent Insider Trading, March 15th 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

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. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 23% of Suchuang Gas shares, worth about HK$389m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Do The Suchuang Gas Insider Transactions Indicate?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. With high insider ownership and encouraging transactions, it seems like Suchuang Gas insiders think the business has merit. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. To assist with this, we've discovered 1 warning sign that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Suchuang Gas.

But note: Suchuang Gas may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

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.
Hyderabad, March 16 : Telangana on Sunday reported third positive case of novel coronavirus, health officials said.

A 46-year-old man, travel history to the Netherlands, was tested positive for COVID-19. He was admitted to government-run Gandhi Hospital and his condition was stated to be stable.

This is the third COVID-19 positive case from the state. The second case was reported on Saturday.

A 24-year-old girl student, who recently returned from Italy, was found positive on Saturday. Samples of two persons with suspected symptoms were sent to National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. One of them was tested positive.

The second patient, who tested negative, will be discharged in a few days.

The first COVID-19 positive case was reported on March 2. The techie, who had returned from Dubai, was discharged from hospital on March 13.

Director of Public Health, G. Srinivas Rao said results of samples of 28 persons with suspected symptoms were awaited. A total of 22 persons with suspected symptoms were brought to hospital and kept in isolation on Sunday.

A total of 85 suspected were reported on Sunday. They include 22 self-reported passengers.

As many as 63 people were kept under home quarantine on Sunday, taking the cumulative figure to 833.

The health personnel on Sunday screened 3,151 passengers at Hyderabad airport. The number of passengers screened so far at this airport increased to 63,181.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Nineteen persons of Dubai-bound Emirates flight including the UK citizen who tested positive for coronavirus, have been kept in the isolation ward at Ernakulam Medical College, said Dr MK Kuttappan, District Medical Officer on Sunday.

"The 19 persons have been kept in the isolation ward at Ernakulam medical college," said Dr Kuttappan.

"As the UK citizen who tested positive for coronavirus was a part of the group, hence 18 members of that group including his wife have been deboarded from Dubai-bound Emirates flight," airport spokesperson told ANI.

Kerala Minister VS Sunilkumar said that the Emirates plane took off for its destination at 12:47 pm with 270 passengers on board.

He said that the runway could be made available for the departure for the delayed flight as there was no other normal operation from 10 am to 6 pm due to the resurfacing project in the Kochi airport, which will be completed only on March 28.

Earlier, a UK citizen tested positive for coronavirus infection was deboarded from an aircraft while he was trying to leave through a Dubai-bound Emirates flight from the Cochin international airport in the state.

He had allegedly boarded the flight without notifying the authorities. The patient's samples were taken on March 14 and he was advised to remain in quarantine.

As other passengers had also boarded the flight, all 289 passengers on board the aircraft were deboarded after the news came to light.

According to authorities, the UK citizen was previously in the Tea Country Resort in Munnar at Idukki district.

Meanwhile, VS Sunil Kumar, Minister of Agriculture, has urged the public to not panic over the situation and assured that the airport will not be closed following the issue.

Notably, the number of coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 107 including foreign nationals, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.

In the wake of spurt in cases of coronavirus across the country, the Central government on Saturday decided to treat the deadly virus as a "notified disaster".

Coronavirus, which originated in China's Wuhan city in December last year, has so far spread to more than 100 countries, infecting over 1,30,000 people. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared coronavirus as a pandemic.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
German officials are trying to stop the Trump administration from luring German biopharmeceutical company CureVac to the US to get its experimental coronavirus vaccines exclusively for Americans.

President Donald Trump has offered funds to lure the company CureVac to the US. The German government has made counter-offers to make the company stay, according to a report in German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.

An unidentified German government source told the paper Trump is trying to secure the scientists' work exclusively, and would do anything to get a vaccine for the United States - 'but only for the United States.'

CureVac said last week they are working on with a multitude of coronavirus vaccine candidates and are selecting the two best to go into clinical trials.

The company's CEO met with President Donald Trump and the White House Coronavirus Task Force to discuss a vaccine earlier this month.

German politicians are now insisting that no country should have a monopoly on any future vaccine.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the White House for comment.

German officials are trying to stop the US from enticing German company CureVac to move its research to the US, insisting no country should have a monopoly on any future vaccine. President Donald Trump had offered funds to lure the company CureVac to the US to reportedly get the vaccine exclusively for Americans

'The German government is very interested in ensuring that vaccines and active substances against the new coronavirus are also developed in Germany and Europe,' the newspaper quoted a Health Ministry official as saying.

'In this regard, the government is in intensive exchange with the company CureVac.'

A spokeswoman for the German Health Ministry said: 'We confirm the report in the Welt am Sonntag.'

The US Embassy in Berlin and CureVac is yet to comment on the report.

'The exclusive sale of a possible vaccine to the USA must be prevented by all means. Capitalism has limits,' Karl Lauterbach, a professor of health economics and epidemiology who is also a senior lawmaker with the Social Democrats, tweeted in reaction to the report.

Curevac is a private company founded in 2008 based in Tuebingen with other sites in Frankfurt and Boston.

CureVac said the company is getting ready to take experimental coronavirus vaccines to clinical trials, Florian von der Muelbe, CureVac's chief production officer and co-founder, said last week.

The company hopes to have an experimental vaccine ready by June or July to then seek the go-ahead from regulators for testing on humans.

Former CureVac CEO Daniel Menichella (right), accompanied by Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (left), speaks during the White House meeting with pharmaceutical executives on March 2

'We believe we can develop the vaccine for COVID-19 very, very quickly, and we have the wherewithal to manufacture it, although we would like some additional help on our largest GMP fourth facility,' Menichella said at the White House meeting, nine days before he was replaced

Curevac is a private biopharmeceutical company founded in 2008 based in Tuebingen with other sites in Frankfurt and Boston

The company said that a mode of action that allowed for a low dosage to trigger an immune reaction against rabies would be applied in the coronavirus setting.

'These minimal dosages that we have achieved put us in a position here in Tuebingen to produce up to 10 million doses per (production) campaign,' von der Muelbe said of a potential vaccine.

A campaign, or production cycle, lasts several weeks.

'More than one dose may be required to immunize a person, but one campaign would still serve several million people,' he said.

Then-CureVac CEO Daniel Menichella met Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and senior representatives of pharmaceutical and biotech companies to discuss a vaccine at the White House on March 2.

'We believe we can develop the vaccine for COVID-19 very, very quickly, and we have the wherewithal to manufacture it, although we would like some additional help on our largest GMP fourth facility,' Menichella said at that meeting.

In the US as of Sunday morning there are over 2,900 cases of coronavirus and at least 58 deaths. People pictured wearing masks in New York City Saturday

This map shows the total number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the US as of Sunday

In that White House meeting the top executives from nearly a dozen biotech and pharmaceutical companies briefed Trump on their coronavirus drug development plans.

Menichella, who became CEO in May 2018, was abruptly replaced by board chairman Ingmar Hoerr just nine days after his DC meeting with Trump and drugmakers.

'We will continue to focus fully on taking the company to the next stage of its development and advance our clinical product pipeline with the goal of bringing mRNA-based drugs to patients. The vaccine against Covid-19 plays a key role here,' Hoerr said according to BioPharma Dive after Menichella was ousted.

CureVac specializes in RNA molecules that instruct human cells to produce therapeutic proteins that trigger an immune response to cancer or infection diseases.

CureVac was granted $8.3million by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations in January to build a solution based on its low-dose vaccine technology.

Dievini Hopp BioTech Holding and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are two prominent investors in CureVac.

Top US health officials have said that it would take up to 18 months to develop any vaccine against the pathogen.
TEHRAN  The head of Irans response to the new coronavirus acknowledged Sunday that the pandemic could overwhelm health facilities in his country, which is battling the worst outbreak in the Middle East while under heavy U.S. sanctions.

Irans Health Ministry reported another 113 deaths, bringing the countrys toll to 724, with nearly 14,000 confirmed cases. It was the biggest single-day jump in fatalities since the virus was first reported in the country.

Irans outbreak has caused growing alarm, with concerns about the governments transparency in reporting the extent of the epidemic and its ability to contain it.

If the trend continues, there will not be enough capacity, Ali Reza Zali, who is leading the campaign against the outbreak, was quoted as saying by the state-run IRNA news agency.

Iran is believed to have around 110,000 hospital beds, including 30,000 in the capital, Tehran. Authorities have pledged to set up mobile clinics as needed.

Zali also acknowledged that many of those who have died from the COVID-19 illness caused by the virus were otherwise healthy. Health Ministry figures show that while 55% of fatalities were in their 60s, some 15% were younger than 40.

In Iran, the virus has infected a number of senior officials, including Cabinet ministers, members of parliament, Revolutionary Guard members and Health Ministry officials.

Authorities have nevertheless been slow to adopt measures taken by other hard-hit countries. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday ruled out a general quarantine and said the government was working to keep the borders open.

Dalia Samhouri, a senior regional official with the World Health Organization, said both Iran and Egypt, two of the most populous countries in the Middle East, were likely underreporting cases. Egypt has reported 110 cases, including two fatalities.

Iran has struggled to respond in part because of crippling sanctions imposed by the Trump administration after the U.S. withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal. The U.S. says it has offered humanitarian aid but that Iran has rejected it.

Countries across the Middle East have imposed sweeping travel restrictions, canceled public events and called on non-essential businesses to close for the coming weeks. Many have temporarily closed schools and universities.

In the skyscraper-studded city of Dubai, a global business and travel hub in the United Arab Emirates, authorities announced on Sunday that all movie theaters, arcades and gyms would be closed through the end of the month.

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, also shut down its amusement parks and museums through the end of the month, including Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Nasser Karimi and Joseph Krauss are Associated Press writers.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Sunday said that his country's economy has taken a severe blow due to coronavirus and recommended SAARC member countries to formulate a mechanism to avail assistance for struggling economies to tide over the crisis.

"Our economy has taken a severe blow due to coronavirus, particularly in the tourism sector. Most of our tourists are from Italy and the EU countries. Now there is a ban on their coming. Our tourism sector was just recovering after last years' April 21 terrorist attack," Rajapaksa said in the video conference with all SAARC leaders.

The Sri Lankan President said that the country's export has also been adversely affected.

"I strongly recommend SAARC leaders to formulate a mechanism to assist our economies to tide over this very difficult period. I also wish to recommend that a SAARC ministerial-level route be established to discuss and coordinate regional matters in combating coronavirus," Rajapaksa said.

"Our biggest challenge is to stop or minimise the virus entering into Sri Lanka and control its spread. For this purpose, we have banned tourists and others from entering Sri Lanka, especially from the EU countries and South Korea, etc," he added.

Rajapaksa also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for initiating the video conference to share experiences, ideas, best practices and understand the challenges and discuss measures to combat the spread of coronavirus.

He said, while the first case reported in Sri Lanka was a Chinese woman tourist, the first Sri Lankan to be infected was a tour guide who had contracted the virus from an Italian tourist, who has already left the country. He said the country has also set up a task force to take steps to prevent the spread of the disease.

Earlier, Prime Minister Modi said the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries should "prepare, act and succeed together" against COVID-19.

"As developing nations, all of us have significant challenges in terms of access to heal care facilities. Our people-to-people ties are ancient and our society deeply interconnected. We must all prepare, act and succeed together," Modi said.

He stressed the importance of vigilance since the region is densely populated.

"COVID-19 has recently been classified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a pandemic. So far, our SAARC region has listed fewer than 150 cases but we need to remain vigilant. SAARC region is home to nearly 1/5 of all humanity. It is densely populated," said Modi.

Prime Minister Modi briefed the SAARC member countries about India's experience of combating the spread of coronavirus so far.

"Prepare, but don't panic has been our guiding mantra. We started screening entry into India from mid-January itself, while also gradually increasing restrictions on travel. The step-by-step approach has helped avoid panic. We have made special efforts to reach out to vulnerable groups," he said.

The Prime Minister said that "we have worked to quickly ramp up capacity in our system including through training our medical staff across the country. We have also increased diagnostic capabilities. Within two months, we moved from one major facility for pan-India testing."

Modi said that the country has developed protocols for each stage of managing the pandemic.

"We also responded to the call of our people abroad. We evacuated nearly 1,400 Indians from different countries. We also similarly helped some of the citizens of our neighbouring countries," he said.

Underlining the concern of other countries for their citizens in India, Modi said that the foreign ambassadors are being updated about the situation in the country on a regular basis.

"We cannot predict with certainty how the situation will unfold despite our best efforts. You must also be facing similar concern," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
TOLEDO, Ohio  Government and hospital leaders are increasingly sounding the alarm about the health care system in the U.S. and its readiness to absorb waves of patients in the worst-case scenario involving the new coronavirus outbreak.

Authorities nationwide already are taking major steps to expand capacity with each passing day, building tents and outfitting unused spaces to house patients. They also are urging people to postpone elective surgeries, dental work and even veterinarian care. New Yorks governor called for using military bases or college dorms as makeshift care centers.

Among the biggest concerns is whether there will be enough beds, equipment and staff to handle several large outbreaks simultaneously in multiple cities.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institutes of Healths infectious diseases chief, said its critical that steps be taken now to prevent the virus from spreading quickly.

The job is to put a full-court press on not allowing the worst-case scenario to occur, said Fauci, who appeared Sunday on several network news shows.

While he does not expect massive outbreaks in the U.S. like those in Italy, he said there is the possibility if it reaches that point that an overwhelming influx of patients could lead to a lack of supplies, including ventilators.

And thats when youre going to have to make some very tough decisions, Fauci said.

In Washington state, which leads the nation in the number of positive COVID-19 cases with more than 600 illnesses and 40 deaths, the increase in people visiting clinics with respiratory symptoms is straining the states supply of personal protective gear worn by health care workers.

The federal government has sent the state tens of thousands of respirators, gowns, gloves and other protective gear for health care providers. But those shipments arent enough, said Clark Halvorson, Assistant Secretary of Health for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response.

The disease has infected over 162,000 people worldwide, and more than 6,000 people have died so far.

Most people who have tested positive for the virus experience only mild or moderate symptoms. Yet theres a greater danger and longer recovery period for older adults and people with existing health problems.

The nations hospitals collectively have about a million beds, with 100,000 for critical care patients, but often those beds for the sickest patients are mostly filled, Scott Gottlieb, a former FDA commissioner, told CBS Face the Nation.

If we do have multiple epidemics in multiple large U.S. cities, the system will become overwhelmed, he said.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has suggested mobilizing the Army Corps of Engineers to turn facilities such as military bases or college dorms into temporary medical centers.

States cannot build more hospitals, acquire ventilators or modify facilities quickly enough, Cuomo wrote in an opinion piece published Sunday in The New York Times.

Officials in the Seattle area have been setting up temporary housing  and even bought a motel and leased another  to add space for patients who might be homeless or whose living conditions might not allow for self-isolation, such as students in college dorms. King County also is setting up modular housing and is using the arrivals hall at a county-owned airport as a shelter to reduce overcrowding  and meet social-distancing requirements  in existing homeless shelters.

Hospital executives say theyre always planning for disasters and have been concentrating on coronavirus preparations for the past two months.

If you go past our emergency department now, youll see tents erected in the parking lot that allow us to increase emergency department capacity, Johnese Spisso, president of UCLA Health, said Sunday on NBCs Meet the Press.

The systems network of clinics throughout Los Angeles and Southern California have additional capacity and doctors are encouraging telemedicine, he said.

Dr. Peter Slavin, the president of Massachusetts General Hospital, said the next two weeks will be critical as the medical community expects a dramatic increase in the number of cases.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine recommended on Saturday that elective surgeries be postponed, including dental and veterinary procedures, so that health care workers wont be stretched thin and surgical masks can be saved for health care workers dealing with the virus.

ProMedica, which operates 13 hospitals in Ohio and Michigan, is ready to call in help from staffing agencies if needed and is looking at ways to provide child care for employees whose children are off school, said Deana Sievert, chief nursing . Doctors also have voluntarily canceled their vacations.

The community can flatten off the curve of this, by avoiding large events, staying at home, washing their hands and practicing social distancing to help U.S. hospitals avoid an onslaught of cases, said Dr. Penny Wheeler, CEO of Minneapolis-based Allina Health, which has 12 hospitals and more than 90 clinics in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Allina also has been canceling conferences, meetings and anything else that does not directly impact patient care.

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Associated Press writers Martha Bellisle and Gene Johnson in Seattle and Jeff Baenen in Minneapolis 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.
The Telangana government on Sunday clarified it has not issued any order to IT and other companies in the state, directing employees to work from home in the wake of coronavirus fears, even as some multinationals have offered the option to their staff.

The clarification comes after the government announced a slew of measures, including closure of all educational institutions till March 31, to prevent the spread of the pandemic, following two confirmed coronavirus cases in the state.

"The state government has deliberately decided not to issue any specific direction to all the companies. They are expected to make their own assessment of the situation and take a prudent call..

Some companies have received global directions (to work from home). If they have directions, they are free to follow it," Principal Secretary, IT and Industries, Jayesh Ranjan told PTI.

E-tailer Amazon is recommending its employees including those stationed in Hyderabad to chose work-from-home option.

"We continue to work closely with public and private medical experts to ensure we are taking the right precautions as the situation continues to evolve.

As a result, we are now recommending that all of our employees globally who are able to work from home do so through the end of March," Amazon spokesperson told PTI in an email reply.

Tech company Qualcomm has also provided the work-from- home option to majority of its employees to help prevent the contagion, sources said.

When contacted, Executive Chairman of Cyient Ltd, BVR Mohan Reddy said they were evaluating the situation and have not taken any decision on asking the company employees to work from home as of now.

"No. Not as of now. They (senior management) are evaluating the projects which employees can work on from home. Some of our projects are very complex.

So therefore we have not still asked anybody to work from home," he said adding Cyient's Business Continuity Programme (BCP) is working on these issues.

Hyderabad Software Exporters' Association (Hysea) President, Murali Bollu said the body as well as small and medium IT firms were finding it difficult to rent laptops that could be provided to their employees.

According to him, Hyderabad IT industry employs about five lakh people.

Meanwhile, the city Police issued a warning against spreading false information on coronavirus and asked citizens not to believe in any unverified or message.

"If anybody is found spreading false or unverified or message to create fear and panic in the society, legal action will be taken against them under section 54 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005," police said in a statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The role of an executive is an important one in any organization. Functioning as leaders, they are responsible for a business' culture, performance, and the public's perception of its brand. That's why it's essential that the right person gets hired for the job - but finding this perfect candidate isn't always an easy task.

Here are the top qualities of a leader that a top executive search firm would look for if you hired them to headhunt for you.

1. Has a Vision

A great leader is one that has a goal they want to achieve, and a passion for it. They also communicate this vision to the rest of the organization and are clear about what each person's role in it is.

2. Is Transparent

Transparency in a leader is essential, especially if they want the people below them to trust and follow them. They will be clear about their intentions and where the company is heading, and won't hide information from their employees or the public.

3. Great at Communicating

A leader needs to be able to effectively communicate strategies, goals, and objectives that are meant to get employees motivated and engaged. They also need to be able to listen to feedback, empathize with concerns, and be involved.

4. Self-Motivated

Your leadership team is responsible for providing motivation, so it's important that they are self-motivated and driven to succeed. They're the backbone of what keeps everything moving forward.

5. Self-Aware

Leaders often have an issue of letting their position get to their head. Without self-awareness, they won't be able to check their own ego and accept that there might be better ideas out there than the ones they can provide.

6. Able to Adapt

The world of business is always changing: every year, there are new innovations, markets, risks, threats, and competitors. The best executives need to understand and often anticipate the changing landscape of your industry, and adapt to them.

7. Possess Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

While new technical skills can always be taught, emotional intelligence isn't just something that can be easily developed. EQ is all about having compassion, being able to empathize and read people, and also about making an effort to care for others and support them.

Leaders need these soft skills in order to relate to and connect with their team, as well as with the customers that they serve.

8. Foster Talent

The most successful companies are the ones that are inclusive and collaborative: they nurture their existing talent and help it grow. Your executive leaders should encourage this attitude and put efforts in place to help their employees see their own potential and grow.

9. Good Problem-Solver

Even through difficult times, a leader needs to be able to overcome challenges effectively without getting discouraged or frustrated. They also need to be willing to get creative with the way they tackle issues.

10. Accountable

Your executive team represents the face of the company, and thus they need to be willing to take on the blame when required. This shows humbleness and also responsibility, and sets a good example for the team.

Keep an eye out for these traits and you will find yourself a great leader for an executive role.
Yesterday evening, the HPSC confirmed that a second patient diagnosed with COVID-19 in Ireland died.

There have now been two deaths associated with COVID-19 in the Republic of Ireland.

The HPSC stated there were 39 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland which included 29 males and 10 females.

Twenty one cases "are associated with the east of the country; 13 in the south, three associated with the north west and two cases associated with the west of Ireland. Thirty four people have tested positive for coronavirus in Northern Ireland.

As of yesterday, Saturday 14 March, there were 129 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland, but that figure is expected to rise in the coming weeks.

The HSE is working to identify any contacts the patients may have had, to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread.

Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said: Firstly, I would like to extend my condolences to the family and friends of the patient who died yesterday.

It is up to every one of us to play our role in slowing down the spread of this disease. Ireland is following ECDC guidelines in our approach to containing COVID19.

Yesterday's increase in cases reinforces the necessity of the measures put in place last week, including hand and respiratory hygiene, social distancing, school closures and limiting the size of mass gatherings".

Dr Holohan urged every citizen to follow these measures "to protect our people, especially the most vulnerable in our society".

I note also the pressure our emergency services phonelines were under yesterday. 112/999 should only be used for emergencies, when an ambulance is required. This is not an advice line.

If you have flu like symptoms, self isolate at home until Monday and visit hse.ie for advice. You can call your GP on Monday morning and they will decide if you need a test. Please only call 999 or GP out of hours for emergencies."

KDoc appointment line (serving Kildare and West Wicklow) is 1890 599 362 but you must make an appointment in advance; if you are presenting with Covid-19 symptoms, you will be given a second number to call when you arrive and you will be brought to a separate area. Yesterday's GP services there continued till almost 3am to cope with the demand and increased appointments.

Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health: There are many anecdotal stories of people ignoring the social distancing guidelines laid out on Thursday.

We are in an unprecedented global situation. Everyone in the country must play their part in protecting the most vulnerable and slowing down the spread of this disease.
A busy week it was at the Senate last week as many lawmakers worked for four days attending to national matters.

This weeks legislative activities began from Monday through Thursday.

Senators discussed several issues of national importance ranging from the oil price crash to the Social Media bill and constitutional amendment legislations.

Below are some major discussions from the Senate last week:

Monday:

 Members of the Senate Committee on Judiciary kicked off the week with the long-awaited public hearing of the controversial Social Media bill.

Present at the hearing was the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, who declared the event open.

In his presentation, the sponsor of the bill, Muhammed Musa, said the opinions of Nigerians on the bill supersedes his personal interest.

Many Nigerians and civic groups, thereafter, took turns to condemn the proposed legislation.

But the Nigerian Army and two other groups supported the bill.

Tuesday

 The Senate, in less than 10 minutes on Tuesday, passed a bill that seeks to amend the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2004.

The bill, sponsored by the Senate leader, Abdullahi Yahaya , seeks to regulate businesses and Nigerian companies.

 President Muhammadu Buhari wrote to the Senate seeking amendments to the Finance Act recently passed by the National Assembly.

In a bid to fast track his request, the Senate on Wednesday, treated the bill for first and second reading.

His message was conveyed in a letter read out by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, at the start of plenary.

 The Senate Committee on Finance demanded the identity of a lawyer paid $4 million from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) as a consultancy fee.

The fee was reportedly paid by the managers of the ECA.

 The Senate constituted a joint committee to engage relevant federal ministries on the oil price crash announced early last week.

The decision followed a point of order raised by the Senate leader, Abdullahi Yahaya.

 Many male Nigerian senators voted to oppose including gender parity in the Nigerian constitution.

Despite their opposition, however, the Senate resolved to ensure that gender equality is a priority in the next constitutional amendment.

Wednesday:

 Ten bills seeking to amend the constitution scaled second reading. The bills were referred to the Senate committee on Constitutional Review for further legislative work.

 The senator representing Niger South, Bima Enagi, introduced a bill that seeks to ban the importation of generators in Nigeria.

The bill, titled a bill for an Act to prohibit/ban the importation of generating sets to curb the menace of environmental (air) pollution and to facilitate the development of the power sector, was one of the six bills read for the first time on Wednesday.

 A bill that seeks to establish the North West Development Commission (NWDC) scaled second reading at the Senate.

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The bill is sponsored by Kano senator, Barau Jibrin, and was introduced in the Senate in November 2019.

Thursday:

 A bill that proposes Higher National Diploma (HND) as the minimum qualification for citizens seeking to be president or governors, passed second reading .

The bill also seeks to make the Ordinary National Diploma (OND) the minimum qualification for contesting for state and federal legislative seats.

 A bill that seeks to establish the South East Development Commission (SEDC) scaled second reading at the Senate. The bill is sponsored by Stella Oduah (PDP-Anambra).

Also read for the second time was the North Central Development Commission bill sponsored by Abba Moro (PDP-Benue).

 The South-east caucus in the Senate complained about the exclusion of the region in infrastructural projects for which the federal government has secured Senate approval to borrow $22.7 billion.

The senators took the protest to Mr Lawan and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.

 A bill that seeks to strip vice-presidents, governors and deputy governors of immunity when found guilty of fraud or electoral crimes, 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
Italy, South Korea, and Iran have emerged as epicenters of the coronavirus outbreak that started in Wuhan, China. Experts said these countries economic and political ties with China facilitated the spread of the virus that has now emerged as a global pandemic, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Wuhan virus appeared at the end of the year and has now infected over 142,000 people around the world, with the number very likely to increase, according to the March 14 situation report of the WHO.

The vast majority of cases reported after Feb. 25 have come from outside China, with Italy, Iran, and South Korea emerging as the major clusters and contributing to the bulk of deaths.

What was initially seen as a largely China-centric shock is now understood to be a global crisis, said CSIS experts, Stephanie Segal and Dylan Gerstel in an analysis posted Wednesday.

As the crisis increases uncertainty and leads to what Segal and Gerstel call financial market volatility last seen during the global financial crisis those concerned with the situation in Italy, Iran, and South Korea discussed the China-linked cause with The Epoch Times.

Italys Dependence on China

China is one of Italys biggest trading partners and the Chinese are one of the largest immigrant communities inside the country. Experts and politicians believe that Italys economic and political relationship with China has contributed to the coronavirus crisis inside the country.

Italys civil protection authority said 1,441 people had died due to the Wuhan virus, while 21,157 were infected as of Saturday, reported the Reuters.

Andrea Delmastro Delle Vedove, an Italian politician from the national-conservative Fratelli dItalia (Brothers of Italy) party, told The Epoch Times that the current crisis shows that interdependence on China can be problematic.

Of course the coronavirus opens a disturbing scenario, it tells us that interdependence from China can be a problem not only from an economic or industrial etc. point of view, but also from a national security, national health prophylaxis, said Delle Vedove, a member of the foreign affairs commission of his party.

Delle Vedove has cause to worry, over 3 million Chinese tourists visited Italy in 2018, according to Reuters. The first three cases of coronavirus appeared in Italy at the end of January, with two of them being Chinese tourists, according to The Guardian.

This propelled the country to close transport links with China. As the virus and the anti-Chinese sentiment intensified, Chinese companies inside Italy also increased their attempts to change public opinion.

The Chinese consumer electronic company Xiaomi donated tens and thousands of FFP3 masks to Italy last week, according to a March 5 Facebook post on the companys page. But Delle Vedove said the act contributed to growing fears.

We also fear them when they bring us gifts, also because if the coronavirus had not arrived we did not need their masks, and we could have faced the coronavirus if they had immediately told the truth of this demon, born in China, said the politician.

Corroborating Delle Vedove, two Carnegie experts, Paul Haenle and Lucas Tcheyan, wrote in an analysis last month that Beijings continued opacity has only fueled further speculation over the true origins of the crisis and the extent of its spread.

While Delle Vedove expressed concerns about the demon born in China, Italian President Sergio Mattarella visited a Rome school with largely Chinese students early last month to calm down the anti-Chinese sentiment and show friendship toward China, according to Reuters.

Following Matharellas gesture of friendship toward China, Chinese leader Xi Jinping thanked him in a message read by Chinas ambassador to Rome, Li Junhua, at a concert at the presidential palace a few weeks later, reported ANSA, an Italian News Agency.

This is another concrete gesture that shows real friendship is seen in moments of need and I am deeply moved, said Jinpings letter.

For Delle Vedove, this is a cause of worry. He accused China of not being a safe and transparent country and said that China doesnt respect any rules, only using them to its advantage, despite being a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Irans High-Level Contacts With China

While the virus continued to spread from Italy around Europe, in the Middle East it spread from Iran. Experts say the coronavirus outbreak there indicates high-level contacts between the Iranian and Chinese regimes.

Reports say Iranian Mahan airways was continuing to fly between various Iranian and Chinese cities despite the ban declared by the Iranian regime on Jan. 31, thereby jeopardizing the public health inside Iran and the entire Middle East.

A Feb. 2 release on the airlines website said that the flights to and from China were stopped at the end of February.

As @khamenei_ir knows, the best biological defense wouldve been to tell the Iranian people the truth about the Wuhan virus when it spread to #Iran from China. Instead, he kept Mahan Air flights coming and going to the epicenter in China, and jailed those who spoke out, U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo said in a message on Twitter on March 13.

Mahan airlines was sanctioned by the U.S. treasury in 2011 for its links with Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the Iranian military that was declared a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the Trump administration last year.

Manjari Singh, a Middle East expert from the Middle East Institute in New Delhi, told The Epoch Times in an email that Irans case is curious because it is isolated due to economic and political sanctions but was still hit by the pandemic.

Thereby, meaning that it is not so isolated as it is thought to be! she said.

A report by Radio Farda, a Persian-language broadcaster supported by the U.S. Congress, corroborated what Manjari said. It reported that despite the ban a Mahan flight (W578) flew from Beijing to Tehran on Feb. 21.

Moreover the first outbreak was in the city of Qom, which is a religious city, so a lot of pilgrimage takes place but it is also the city where most of the Chinese projects are set up. So the Chinese link is there, said Singh.

Nicole Robinson, a research assistant for the Middle East with the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, also told The Epoch Times in an email that hundreds of Chinese students and junior clerics study in the Iranian seminaries in Qom.

Singh said there has been a massive coverup and lack of transparency about the Wuhan virus outbreak in Iran since the beginning.

Probably Iran didnt want its trade with China to be disrupted and thats why it took the spread of the virus very callously and did not reveal it. Cautionary measures were not taken and traveling to and fro to China was not checked, said Singh.

A report by The Atlantic heightens Singhs and Robinsons concerns. It said on March 4 and 5, two evacuation flights carrying Chinese citizens were allowed to leave Tehran for Chinas Gansu province and 11 out of 311 tested by the Chinese authorities at the airport were found to be infected.

While Iranian state media, The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), said 724 people had died due to coronavirus as of March 15, Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an anti-regime group said in a release on March 14 the number has exceeded 4,500.

Radio Farda, also reported coverup by the Iranian regime on March 9 and quoted the pro-Rouhani Entekhab news website that said the coronavirus death toll is over 2,000 in the country.

Anger in South Korea Over Conciliation with China

As the coronavirus crisis intensified inside South Korea, anti-Chinese sentiment inside the country also intensified, with people blaming the government for not imposing travel restrictions on China during the early days of the outbreak.

Senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation for Northeast Asia, Bruce Klinger, said that while South Korean President Moon Jae-in wants China to facilitate its dialogue with North Korea ahead of the National Assembly elections looming on April 15, people are not happy with it.

The coronavirus has had a devastating impact on the South Korean economy. Critics accuse Moon of being overly conciliatory to Beijing by hesitating to impose travel restrictions on Chinese visitors in the early stages of the outbreak, Klingner told The Epoch Times in an email.

The South Korean public got very angry with President Moon after he sent medical equipment worth $5 million to Wuhan in the early days of the outbreak. Matters got worse after that when the virus spread rapidly inside South Korea and the public, seeking health services, blamed China.

Over 1.4 million South Koreans signed a petition on the Presidential website as of March 11, demanding that President Moon be impeached over his handling of the coronavirus and his pro-China policies.

The more President Moon Jae-in responds to the pneumonia (new coronavirus) problem in China, the more likely he is to be seen as the president of China, not the president of South Korea, said the petition.

In Korea, the price of masks soared more than 10 times and sold out, so it was difficult for people to buy masks due to mask shortages, it said.

The petition also blamed the South Korean government for not restricting Chinese from entering their country. After the outbreak, 5 million Chinese entered South Korea before the blockage was placed on Wuhan.

From The Epoch Times
Yes Bank expects pressures from sour loans, which led it to declare the highest loss for any private sector lender at Rs 18,654 crore for the December quarter, to continue even in FY21, but CEO-designate Prashant Kumar is confident of its survival after a Rs 10,000-crore capital infusion. The bank witnessed withdrawals of over Rs 72,000 crore of deposits in the last six months to Rs 1.37 lakh crore, but the Rs 10,000 crore capital infusion, coupled with over 1,000 branches and a strong customer base makes Kumar confident of Yes Bank continuing to be a "going concern".

"The proposed capital infusion and the bank's strong customer base and branch network will enable the Bank to continue its business for the foreseeable future, so as to be able to realise its assets and discharge its liabilities in its normal course of business," the bank said, quoting Kumar's assessment.

Kumar is at present the bank's RBI-appointed administrator and will be taking over as CEO on Wednesday evening once the bank comes out of moratorium.

The heavy reverses on corporate lending -- nearly a third of the overall loans have turned sour -- have probably led the new management led by Kumar to earmark focus on retail and small business loans as a priority going forward, according to its investor presentation.

The bank has also made it clear that additional-tier 1 bonds of over Rs 8,500 crore will have to be written-down completely for the reconstruction to begin, setting the stage for a legal battle.

Kumar had to be installed as the administrator of the bank on March 5 by the RBI, after the government superseded its board due to an inability to raise much-needed capital.

Much of the troubles at the bank are attributed to the alleged mishandling by its co-founder and former chief executive Rana Kapoor, whose term was cut short by the RBI due to governance lapses.

Under Kapoor's successor Ravneet Gill, it began an accelerated recognition of the stress hidden in the balance sheet, which started with reporting its maiden quarterly loss in March 2019.

Kumar has continued the widely prevalent practice of an incoming head cleaning up the books and preferring to start with a clean slate.

However, in its investor presentation, Yes Bank said slippages, which went up to Rs 24,587 crore in the December quarter, will normalise only in FY22.

The bank told investors that it expects slippages to be at 5 per cent of the assets in FY21. The assets decreased by 22 per cent to Rs 2.90 lakh crore at the end of December 2019, as compared to the year-ago period.

Compared to the preceding quarter, advances overdue for 31 to 90 days (levels before they get tagged as NPAs), declined 43 per cent to Rs 13,911 crore.

The higher slippages and a reduction in loan book were key reasons for the 60 per cent decline in the core net interest income at Rs 1,065 crore, and also narrowing of the net interest margin to 1.4 per cent from 3.3 per cent a year ago.

Deposit mobilisation, accelerating resolution of the stressed assets and cost optimisation have been marked as the key focus areas, along with a shift to low-value loans by Kumar.

In the high-value loans segment, the strategy is to reduce exposure to commercial realty, non-bank lenders, housing finance companies, infrastructure and electricity sectors, it said.

Meanwhile, the bank's reconstruction has been set-off with the issue of Rs 10,000 crore of shares to the consortium led by SBI, which also includes IDFC First Bank, Bandhan Bank, Federal Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank, the bank informed the exchanges.

The capital infusion of Rs 10,000 crore along with the writedown of the bonds will ensure that the common equity tier-I capital ratio will move to 7.6 per cent from 0.6 per cent in December 2019, and also above the regulatory mandated 7.375 per cent, the bank said.

On the contentious issue of the fate of the additional tier-I bond holders, who are staring Rs 8,500 crore of holdings being written down, there was no good news in the bank's late night communiques to the exchanges, even as auditors suggested the money can be handy amid the extremely low capital buffers.

Kumar said the relevant section of the Banking Regulation Act has been invoked by the RBI and the scheme has been notified, wherein the bank is "deemed to be non-viable or approaching non-viability".

" accordingly, the triggers for a write-down of certain Basel III additional tier 1 Bonds ("AT 1 Bonds") issued by the Bank has been triggered. Such AT-1 Bonds would need to be fully written down permanently before any reconstruction of the Bank is undertaken," he made it clear.
The COVID-19 pandemic provides a measure of our worth as individuals and it is also a stress test for Spains political system, a democracy whose welfare state is under great strain as a result of the economic downturn and unresolved territorial issues which complicate the management of an unprecedented situation further at a time when institutional distrust between the Catalan government and its Spanish counterpart is at an all-time high.

On a personal level, whenever we find ourselves under great pressure we are offered a chance to show who we are as individuals. In some cases, the gravity of our character flaws a pre-existing condition that predates the arrival of the virus becomes blatantly obvious and we witness how solidarity, goodwill and generosity and the lack thereof are equally pervasive.

Likewise, in the political arena we can see that the authorities in the more reliable countries have managed to persuade the general public to heed the advice of experts and their political leaders. In Spain, where people still shun politics and do not stand behind their leaders, policies are not easily implemented. The discredit of politics is a malaise that might stem from the Franco era and political disenfranchisement, but it is fuelled by corruption and the mismanagement of crisis situations. An example of the latter is the fact that it has taken PM Pedro Sanchez one and a half days to outline the steps he will take after the announcement that he would be declaring a state of emergency, a decision that might bring about costly consequences and lead to troops being deployed in the streets.

However, the dangerous pre-existing condition in Spains case is the countrys unresolved territorial issues. Obviously, the spread of the virus will not be stopped by national borders and total cooperation in every instance will be required in Spain, Europe and across the world. Needless to say, an exceptional situation such as this calls for measures that will match the magnitude of the challenge, as well as full cooperation between the political and scientific institutions. The main goal is to become more efficient at implementing decisions and subsidiary decision-making tends to yield better results. Suspending regional powers does not guarantee better crisis management, whereas coordination and cooperation across borders do.

The pandemic demands better coordination and better management indeed, but it has also tarnished the image of Catalan politics following president Torras announcement on Friday evening that all of Catalonia would be put on lockdown, something he has not followed through on. As a matter of fact, the Catalan government has no authority to order a lockdown and can neither take over border control duties nor shut down airports, ports and railway stations.

On this point, the COVID-19 crisis is a reality-check for Catalonia and the Basque Country, two nations that wont allow their home rule to be snatched from them. While other Spanish regions would quite naturally even enthusiastically hand over their powers to Madrid, this is a taboo subject for those that aspire to greater devolved powers, especially for Catalonia in the post-independence bid scenario.

It is a poor start for the Spanish authorities, who initially dragged their feet and then announced a highly exceptional state of emergency, only to wait a day and a half before outlining the extraordinary measures that will impact the working and private lives of everyone in Spain for two weeks. It is not easy to strike a balance between protecting the public from such a contagious virus and avoiding an economic downfall. The coming weeks will be marked by collective anxiety.

The state of emergency decreed by the Spanish authorities is a political steamroller. Who will have the gall to claim that Spain is the most de-centralised country in Europe when regional governments are stripped of their powers in a matter of hours and without prior consultation? It is a power wake-up call delivered by a Spanish government that has no plans to act like you would expect in a quasi-federal country. The decision will be imposed and, prompted by the coronavirus crisis, Spain will shift from a system of devolved regional powers (which only the Senate could suspend temporarily) to a re-centralised model.

The situation is grave and there will be ample time to gauge the results of such a traumatic decision. Meanwhile, we must insist on better coordination and management, for everyones sake, in order to overcome this drama.

Accurate reporting

When the proverbial hits the fan, it is essential to have access to quality reporting and there is no room for anything other than the real deal. Thats why, now more than ever, our editorial team will keep working to report on the situation of our health service, the fragility of some in our society, the tremendous vocational effort made by healthcare professionals, and the political and economic effects of this crisis. The connection of true digital reporting with our time will allow us to stick to our goal of providing unbiased reporting that is socially engaged, be in print form or online. Once again, ARA is working for you and we are grateful for the support of our readers and subscribers.
But researchers and proponents say that thinking about early childhood programs like public school is a useful frame. As schools close because of the coronavirus outbreak, parents are coming to terms with how much they rely on them as a safe place for children to go. The idea treats preschool as an investment that benefits society at large, as primary and secondary education do. Universal programs tend to have broader political support than those that are means-tested  targeted at people below a certain income. And they are simpler to run because people dont have to submit paperwork to prove they qualify.

For early learning in particular, researchers say, universal options have educational benefits that means-tested programs like Head Start do not. Achievement gaps between rich and poor children are evident by kindergarten, and classrooms with children from various economic backgrounds have been found to improve childrens learning, particularly for lower-income children.

On his campaign website, Senator Sanders cited this as a reason for his plan: Our means-tested system has created racially and economically segregated child care and pre-K in this country.

A recent study of 5,100 4-year-olds from 33 states, using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, compared those who attended universal pre-K (available to everyone); targeted pre-K (available to families below a certain income); and no pre-K. Universal programs had much larger effects on childrens academic performance and kindergarten readiness than targeted programs, and this was especially true for low-income children. The study ruled out various explanations, like spending per student and childrens alternative care arrangements.

This leaves open the possibility that the universal nature of the program gets families invested, and holds the programs to a higher degree of accountability, said the studys author, Elizabeth Cascio, an economist at Dartmouth.

Europe provides an example: Many countries there provide universal early childhood programs, free or subsidized. In many nations, more than 90 percent of children are in preschool at age 3; in France and Britain, its nearly 100 percent, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

In the United States, by comparison, one in three children doesnt attend preschool. Those who dont are more likely to be Hispanic, from low-income families or with parents who did not go to college.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)  The Afghan government Saturday postponed the release of 1,500 Taliban prisoners, an Afghan official said, a decision that could sabotage a peace deal signed last month between the Taliban and the United States.

Jawed Faisal, spokesman for the Afghan National Security Adviser's office, said the releases were being delayed because more time was needed to review the list of prisoners. The move comes despite President Ashraf Ghani's decree earlier this week promising the start of the releases Saturday as a good will gesture to get intra-Afghan negotiations started.

The U.S.-Taliban deal was touted at the time as the best chance at ending Afghanistan's endless wars and bringing U.S. troops home after nearly 19 years.

There was no immediate response from the Taliban to the delayed prisoner release.

Faisal said Ghani's government wanted more time to review the list of prisoners. The U.S.-Taliban deal called for the release of up to 5,000 Taliban as well as 1,000 Afghan government captives ahead of intra-Afghan negotiations, considered a critical next step to reaching a lasting peace in Afghanistan.

Ghani's decree promised the release of 100 prisoners a day beginning Saturday until 1,500 prisoners were released. He would then release the remaining 3,500 after intra-Afghan talks began and those releases would be staggered and would go ahead only if talks progressed and Taliban reduced violence.

Although Ghani's decree differs from the U.S.-Taliban deal, Faisal insisted Ghani was committed to releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners.

However, Ghani is embroiled in political turmoil in Kabul, where he is battling his leading political rival Abdullah Abdullah, who has also declared himself president. Abdullah has so far refused to accept the results of last year's presidential results charging widespread irregularities and abuse of power by Ghani. Still, the national election commission last month declared Ghani the winner despite allegations lodged also by the elections complaints commission.

Story continues

Meanwhile, the decree Ghani announced on Wednesday said the first round of 1,500 prisoners to be freed would be selected based on age, health and the length of their sentences already served. The released prisoners, who would be biometrically identified, would also have to give a written guarantee that they would not return to the battlefield.

The Taliban handed off their list of 5,000 to an American negotiator, who delivered it to the Afghan government administration. The Taliban's spokesman in Qatar, where the insurgent group maintains a political office, said the Taliban would accept only those on the pre-approved list and warned Kabul against offering substitutes.

The Taliban said they are committed to the deal they made with the United States but would not start negotiations with Kabul government or other political leaders until the prisoners were freed.

Even if the Taliban were ready to talk, it's not clear when Kabul would be ready to field a negotiating team as the feud between opposing politicians has yet to be resolved.

The United States has said its withdrawal of troops  which has already begun  was not dependent on successful negotiations between Afghans on both sides of the conflict.

However, the U.S. State Department has issued statements urging Kabul's feuding politicians to find a compromise, urged an end to posturing and said many of the Taliban prisoners on the list had already served their sentence and that the names were decided after lengthy negotiations.

Washington also chastised the Taliban for resuming attacks on Afghanistan's security forces, even though they promised not to attack U.S. and NATO troops. Washington said the level of Taliban violence was too high and wanted to see a reduction.

Despite the political chaos in Kabul and increased violence on the battlefield, the United States has started withdrawing its troops in keeping with the deal it signed Feb. 29 with the Taliban. In the first phase, Washington will reduce its troops contingent to 8,600, down from the current 13,000.

If the Taliban adhere to their commitments to deny terrorists safe havens in Afghanistan, Washington will withdraw the remainder of its troops over 14 months, according to the agreement.

______

Associated Press Writer Kathy gannon contributed to this report from Islamabad
A spate of EU countries have introduced border controls and travel bans in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic  including against other EU member states.

Some, mostly UK-based, commentators, have asked how the closures can take place, given freedom of movement between countries is one of the main pillars of the European Union.

But in fact, EU treaties allow member states to suspend open borders on a temporary basis if they have a good reason.
French actor Alexis Manenti says his Oscar nominated political drama "Les Miserables" is a timely film, for India and even the world, which is divided by hate.

Directed by Ladj Ly, the film is based on the 2005 French riots which took place in Montfermeil, a suburb 25 kilometers from Paris.

"Les Miserables" chronicles the events in a day, when an act of police violence is filmed by a local child and things spiral out of control.

"The riots were in 2005 but it feels like nothing changed. They built new buildings but it's the same poverty inside. The fire is (still) burning and it can lead to an explosion very fast," Manenti, who has also co-written the film with director Ly and Giordano Gederlini, told PTI.

The actor says the teams intention with the film is to remind everyone, during a time of refugee crisis and religious clashes, to look beyond hate.

"We always say it's the 'other' which is bad, people from the suburbs or the minorities or the police but it's the government which has the real responsibility... It's the message of the film, how people aren't looking at each other but responding to stereotypes.

"The situation is very bad in Paris (when it comes to refugees), a lot of people sleep on the streets, running from wars and disasters. They're just here to have a better life but a lot of people don't want them to be a part of France."



This "othering" is what "Les Miserables" looks at critically examining the tension between the police and residents who feel marginalised and fight against the prejudice.

"With this film we have tried to say that policemen aren't the problem but they are part of the problem. It's the political system which makes it (the problem) happen. Some of the officers of course abuse their power... but they're underpaid.

"It's frustrating for those who want to make things better but they're only in front of mountains of problems and they are humans who can make errors. The movie shows how everything is more complex."



The film's director, Ly, grew up in Paris' immigrant suburbs and started recording videos of police confrontations with his friends. Manenti's co-star in the film, Omar Soumare, comes from a similar suburb and has lived the reality which the film shows.

"All of this makes it authentic. Omar comes from that kind of area, a suburb of Paris, he did it with a lot of honesty. It's hard for him to speak about his own suffering experience. People sometimes don't like to listen to it. I'm very proud to be a part of this project, where people have shown their lives and put their souls."



The 38-year-old actor hopes the treatment of marginalised community across the world changes.

"We have got a lot of chance in France, we can't say compared to other countries it's hard but it's getting more and more difficult to get the nationality. Everyone today wants to build their own community, everyone is just fighting for themselves or their community.

"I'd like to see a united France in the future, a France which accepts different communities, without religious fights, like here (in India) there's a lot of problem of Islamophobia. So the hope is for people to live together and look at each other like a human community," he added.

"Les Miserables" opened in select theatres in India on Friday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Fourteen new positive cases were reported in Singapore on Sunday, taking the total number of such cases to 226 in the island-nation.

It is the highest number of new cases Singapore has reported in a single day. Three patients are linked to previous cases.

Singapore will block entry or transit for visitors with travel history to Italy, France, Spain and Germany within the last 14 days from Sunday amid a surge of COVID-19 cases in Europe.

On Sunday, Singapore also announced further measures to reduce importation of infections, advising residents to defer all non-essential travel abroad to reduce their risks of contracting the virus during this pandemic.

The advisory, which took immediate effect, will apply for 30 days and is subject to further review.

On Saturday, Singapore reported 12 new cases.
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 15, 2020 / Compare-autoinsurance.org (https://compare-autoinsurance.org/) is a top auto insurance brokerage website, providing car insurance quotes online from trustworthy agencies all over the United States. This website offers car insurance info about different coverage types, available discounts, and money-saving tips.

Drivers can have many reasons for canceling their policies mid-term. The most common reasons for doing that range from the driver's desire to reduce his carbon footprint and the commute to public transportation, moving to another country or state that doesn't require car insurance, or changing the vehicle for a motorcycle or RV.

Policyholders that are canceling their policies before they expire are entitled to a refund in most cases. However, before asking for a refund, drivers should know a few things about how much money they will get back and if there are any associated fees.

There are two scenarios for policyholders that want to get a car insurance refund:

Car insurance refund if the policyholder paid in full. In this scenario, policyholders can easily get a refund. The further in advance, a driver paid for his policy, the more likely he will obtain a refund if he cancels his policy. Drivers that paid in full can ask for a refund in certain situations like removing coverage from a vehicle, canceling the insurance policy mid-term, changing coverage or removing a vehicle, moving to a safer area, removing a high-risk driver from the plan.

Policy refund if the policyholder pays monthly. Drivers that pay for their insurance on a monthly basis will have less money refunded. Also, any changes the driver does to his vehicle will come in the form of a credit toward future billing. Refunds are less likely, and a credit will reduce the future insurance bills instead of generating a refund, In this scenario, the driver will get a refund only if he cancels the policy during the policy mid billing cycle.

Drivers that cancel their car insurance will require to pay a fee in some cases. Usually, that fee only applies if the driver cancels his policy within the first two weeks after he purchased coverage.

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Think you need to be tested for coronavirus?

If youre a Riverside Medical Group patient, now you wont have to get out of your car.

The medical company announced this weekend that it has opened a drive-thru testing clinic in Secaucus as a way to keep both patients and medical staff safe.

This process minimizes exposure to COVID-19 positive patients to clinical offices and the community at large, the company said in a statement.

Tamara Hejab, a Riverside Medical Group spokesperson, on Sunday said that the drive thru is only available RMG patients because of a limited number of test kits. The drive thru, which opened Friday, has tested 21 people so far, Hejab said.

Those concerned about suspected COVID-19 symptoms, which can include a fever, cough and shortness of breath, should call RMG so they can be evaluated via phone by a medical professional. If they meet certain criteria, or if theyve been previously exposed to a person who has the virus, they will receive an appointment to be tested at the drive-thru testing center 10th Street in Secaucus.

For insured patients, the tests are covered by insurance without a copay, Hejab said. The cost for uninsured people will vary by case, she said. The company can address uninsured patients in a case by case basis Hejab said.

News 12 New Jersey, which first reported on the drive-thru testing, reported that the tests take three to five days to produce a result.

The company said the drive-thru center is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. by appointment only.

Currently, 70 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in New Jersey and two people have died. Hunterdon County announced its first positive case Sunday morning.

This story has been updated with additional information.

Follow the CDC website for more and updated information.

Sign up for text message alerts from NJ.com on coronavirus in New Jersey:





J. Dale Shoemaker is a reporter on the data & investigations team. He can be reached at jshoemaker@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JDale_Shoemaker.
Tests conducted by MyBroadband have shown that airtime balances on new Cell C and MTN prepaid SIMs are being depleted.

South African mobile users often complain about disappearing airtime, and we regularly conduct tests to determine whether airtime is truly depleting on its own.

In July 2017, MyBroadband discovered that MTN airtime was depleting with no clear reason, even when mobile data was switched off on the test device.

MTN subsequently addressed the problem, which it said was due to out-of-bundle data usage and the need for devices to establish an LTE network connection even when not using mobile data.

In the case of our first test in 2020, both MTN and Cell C airtime balances were decreasing due to out-of-bundle data being enabled by default. However, this usage was disproportional relative to other operators.

The test, which was conducted across Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, and Telkom SIMs, is detailed below.

The test

To see if irregular airtime depletion was occurring on mobile networks, MyBroadband placed new prepaid SIMs into four Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge smartphones.

The smartphones were connected to the same active Wi-Fi connection with the same applications installed, and each was registered to the same Google account.

We also checked if any of the SIMs were subscribed to WASP services via USSD menus. All the SIMs reported they were clean.

Each SIM was then was loaded with R10 airtime at the start of the test.

All settings were left on their default configurations to simulate a real-world user scenario.

On 27 February 2020, the prepaid SIMs reflected the following airtime balances:

Vodacom  R10.00

MTN  R10.00

Telkom  R10.00

Cell C  R10.00

No user actions which would have consumed airtime or data were performed. The smartphones remained powered on and connected to a stable Wi-Fi connection for the duration of the test.

Airtime balances were recorded regularly and mobile data usage was monitored through the My Data Manager app for Android.

It should be noted that the MTN SIM was credited with 250MB of WhatsApp data when we recharged it with airtime  this balance was noted and monitored.

Wi-Fi On  Vodacom 5c difference

After leaving all the smartphones powered on and connected to Wi-Fi for three days, we checked the airtime balances again.

We noted that three smartphones had a data balance of R10.00, except for Vodacom  which had a data balance of R9.95.

This difference was curious, but the Vodacom airtime balance did not decrease any further throughout the test.

As of 2 March 2020, the prepaid SIMs reflected the following airtime balances:

Vodacom  R9.95

MTN  R10.00

Telkom  R10.00

Cell C  R10.00

At this stage, we turned off the Wi-Fi connections of the smartphones and left their mobile data connections active.

None of the SIMs had an active data balance, except for the MTN SIM, which had a WhatsApp data balance of 250MB.

Wi-Fi Off  Cell C and MTN depletion

We left the smartphones with no Wi-Fi connection for two days before checking their airtime balances again.

The Telkom SIM still had a balance of R10.00 and the Vodacom SIM had retained its R9.95 balance. The MTN and Cell C SIMs, however, were short.

With airtime balances of R6.39 and R6.94 respectively, the MTN and Cell C SIMs had lost over R3 each in two days.

The My Data Manager showed similar mobile data usage across all devices  mostly trace amounts of data for Google Play Services.

On 4 March 2020, the prepaid SIMs reflected the following airtime balances:

Vodacom  R9.95

MTN  R6.39

Telkom  R10.00

Cell C  R6.94

ICASAs End-User Service and Subscriber Charter requires that out-of-bundle mobile data usage be an opt-in service in South Africa, but networks can choose to only disable out-of-bundle data depletion once a bundle has been purchased and depleted.

In addition to this, the WhatsApp data balance on the MTN SIM did not decline. The Vodacom and Telkom SIMs were also left on their default settings and did not suffer airtime depletion.

As the data usage across all SIMs was similar, it means that even if we were charged for out-of-bundle data on the MTN and Cell C SIMs, Vodacom and Telkom allowed the same levels of trace background data usage without depleting our airtime balance.

Inconsistent airtime depletion

The depletion of airtime relative to background data usage was therefore not consistent across the operators.

For example, the device with the Telkom SIM showed 7.3MB of data usage over the two days and no airtime was lost. The Cell C SIM, however, showed 4.8MB of data usage and its airtime balance fell by R3.06.

The MTN device showed 9MB of background data usage and lost R3.61 of its airtime balance, while the Vodacom SIM showed 3MB of data usage and did not fall past R9.95.

These results are summarised below:

SIM Background data usage Airtime depleted Vodacom 3MB R0.00 Telkom 7.3MB R0.00 Cell C 4.8MB R3.06 MTN 9MB R3.61

It is also important to note that neither the MTN or the Cell C SIM received any notification SMSs warning of out-of-bundle data depletion or declining airtime balances.

Trace background usage (mostly attributed to Google Play Services) occurs even when out-of-bundle data usage is disabled, as in the case of the Telkom SIM.

MTN responds

MTN said it noted results of the test, adding that the depleted airtime was due to out-of-bundle data usage being enabled by default on MTN prepaid SIMs.

Upon our investigation, we have found that MyBroadband conducted the test with a new MTN SIM card, and all new prepaid customers on MTN are charged an out of bundle rate of R0.29c/MB until they have purchased a data bundle, or if they change their OOB data settings using our self-service channels, MTN said.

A new MTN SIM card with a recharge of R10 or more is provisioned with free 250MB for WhatsApp, free 1GB for the Ayoba messaging app, and free 60 night minutes as a part of the MTN Bundle bonanza promotion, it added.

The charges incurred on the tested MTN SIM card were background traffic (Google, YouTube, and Samsung) on the phone which was charged from the expiry airtime wallet.

MTN said this background usage, and out-of-bundle data usage being enabled by default on prepaid SIMs, resulted in the airtime depletion recorded in the test.

The company did not respond when asked why the smartphones with Vodacom and Telkom SIMs did not show airtime depletion despite their background mobile data usage being similar to the MTN device.

Vodacom responds

Vodacom noted that as a data bundle had not been purchased and depleted on the Vodacom SIM, out-of-bundle data usage would be applied.

Our OOB block implementation is in line with the ICASA regulations, Vodacom said. The regulation states that no OOB charges are to be applied by default once a data bundle is depleted.

If this is a new prepaid SIM which attempts to use data without the purchase of a data bundle, OOB usage will be applied. We stop applying OOB by default after the depletion of an active data bundle.

Interestingly, however, Vodacom did not charge our SIM for the trace background data used for Google Play Services, despite stating that out-of-bundle data usage was enabled.

Cell C responds

Cell C noted that its out-of-bundle data charges were enabled by default, and stated this would account for the airtime depletion.

Based on the End User Services and Subscriber Charter Regulations, all customers activated on a new SIM card will receive an SMS asking whether they would like to opt-out of OOB usage, Cell C said.

This message reads: As per law, you can select to continue using data at out-of-bundle rates or to stop data usage when your bundle depletes. Choose now, dial *147# option 2. If no choice is made data usage will continue.

Cell C said that applications running in the background would consume airtime if no choice was made.

Telkom  No OOB billing

The airtime balance on the Telkom SIM did not change throughout the test, as Telkom automatically blocks out-of-bundle billing for prepaid customers by default.

When Telkom customers try to access the Internet and their data is depleted, they are presented with a web page informing them they must purchase a data bundle to continue browsing.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The College of Staten Island is closed Sunday and Monday after five more campus members are either awaiting results of the coronavirus (COVID-19) test or have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus, said the schools president in an e-mail to college students and faculty.

We appreciate that these people have updated us so that we can take appropriate precautions, said William J. Fritz, CSI president.

Only one of the five, a student who was last at the school on Wednesday, March 11, is symptomatic. The others have been exposed to people who are feeling ill, but they themselves dont have any symptoms, he added.

Fritz said state health officials believe that the student was asymptomatic when she was on campus and none of the other students awaiting results are exhibiting symptoms.

The risk to our community is low, but I believe it prudent to exercise caution while we consult further with health experts and perform a deep cleaning of the campus in accordance with city and state guidelines, said Fritz.

*** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK ***

While the student was only at Willowbrook campus, both that campus and the schools St. George location will be closed Sunday and Monday. Dolphin Cove will remain open. However, during this time only essential personnel" are reporting to campus," he said.

The weekend announcement from Fritz followed a memo on Friday that there was one confirmed case of the virus on campus.

NYS health officials who are experts on communicable diseases have advised us that because she just tested positive, has not been on campus for 8 days and did not have any symptoms at the time, that the case does not pose a risk to the CSI community," he wrote in the initial e-email on Friday.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that State University of New York and the City University of New York classes will be moving online March 19, and will remain that way for the remainder of the spring 2020 semester.

CUNY schools have been on a five-day recess since Thursday.

STATEN ISLAND CASES

As of Saturday, there were at least five confirmed cases of the virus on Staten Island.

A spokesman at Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton told the Advance/SILive.com on Saturday that the hospital has yet to record any positive cases of coronavirus.

A spokesman at Staten Island University Hospital said that they are currently treating one patient for COVID-19 at the North Site in Ocean Breeze.

The patient is in isolation and in an area of the hospital where protective measures will ensure the safety of our other patients and our front line staff who are caring for these patients, the spokesman said.

The spokesman couldnt not provide further information about the patient currently at the Ocean Breeze location.

No coronavirus-related deaths have been reported at either SIUH locations, a spokesperson for the hospital said.

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Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd (IHFL) on Sunday said the company as well as its promoters do not have any outstanding term loan from

The company was clarifying on "some rumours" in social media in this regard.

"In relation to some rumors and misinformation in social media regarding term loans of to Indiabulls Housing Finance, we would like to place facts in public domain that the outstanding terms loans from to Indiabulls Housing Finance are Zero," an IHFL statement said.

It further said that the outstanding term loans from Yes Bank to promoter of Indiabulls Housing Finance or any of his promoter / family members are Zero.

In a separate filing, Karnataka Bank also rejected somenews reports that had raised doubts on the safety of some banks using an "absurd and flawed so called M-Cap to deposit ratio".

The bank asserted that its financial health is sound and the Capital to Risk Weighted Assets ratio, the main parameter, is well above the limit prescribed by the RBI.

IndiaBulls Housing Finance said the misinformation campaign on Indiabulls Housing Finance is being orchestrated by the blackmailing and extortion gang who we have been dealing with for past one year, few members of this gang are in jail and few are absconding.

The company said, "We are in process of taking legal action on various media platforms that the gang is abusing to spread misinformation about Indiabulls Housing Finance."



While dismissing the application of Kislay Panday, a Proclaimed Offender and the mastermind of various PILs in different courts against Indiabulls Housing Finance and the leader of blackmailing gang, the Honorable High Court order quoted in its order dated 27-2-2020: Therefore, looking into the allegations of blackmailing and extortion of money from the complainant, I do not find that from the bare perusal of the FIR it can be quashed.

Even at the stage when the petition was filed, non bailable warrants were issued against the petitioner. The anticipatory bail of the petitioner was dismissed by the trial court and thereafter the petitioner traveled abroad and never returned back.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Bank also clarified that some reports had raised doubts on safety of some banks, including the bank, using an "absurd and flawed so called M-Cap to deposit ratio".

Later the said report was also circulated widely in social media.

The above report by India Today "tv channel infused a lot of anxiety and panicky situation among the depositors in particular and other stakeholders in general and also raised a doubt about the safety of the Bank", the filing said.

The aforesaid report by television channel is totally incorrect, mischievous and likely to mislead the public and depositors by creating shadow of doubt about safety of the Bank, it added.

The RBI, Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor to Government of India, and SBI Chairman and other experts in the matter clarified that so called M- cap to deposits ratio is non-existent in the financial world and nowhere used in the world to measure the health of banks, it mentioned.

"In fact the solvency and strength of banks is measured globally by referring to Capital to Risk Weighted Assets ratio i e CRAR only. The CRAR of your Bank as per audited financials as on March 31,2019 was at 13.17 per cent which is well above the CRAR of 10.825 per cent prescribed by Reserve Bank of India.

"It is amply clear that your Bank is well capitalised indicating solvency of the Bank and with sound financial position measured among other parameters like Net NPA (2.95%) and Provision Coverage Ratio(PCR) (58.45%) as on March 31, 2019," the bank said.

The Bank has also taken appropriate legal action against such incorrect and misleading publications.

(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.)
If you need your Starbucks latte, be prepared to grab it to go.

The Seattle-based coffee chain said it is taking increased procautions in its stores as more communities, and the federal government, call for increased levels of "social distancing" to guard against the COVID-19 outbreak.

For at least the next two weeks, Starbucks will take steps to prevent customers from gathering in its cafes in the U.S. and Canada. It is pausing the use of seating, both inside cafes and on patios. But most cafes, mobile order and pay and drive-thru and delivery options will remain open.

The company is also looking to make changes in its mobile order pickup station and its condiment bar in stores, and will allow partners to wear gloves while collecting payments.

Starbucks said some of its company-operated stores will be temporarily shut down in "high-social gathering" locations like inside malls or on university campuses.

In locations such as Seattle and New York, where there are clusters of coronavirus cases, the company will reduce operating hours or temporarily close select stores.

Starbucks said these steps were highly effective when deployed in China.

CNBC's Kate Rogers contributed to this report.
Dehradun: A trainee IFS officer was tested coronavirus positive in Dehradun on Sunday (March 15, 2020) which makes it the first case of coronavirus in Uttrakhand. As per reports, six IFS officer who went for a study tour to Spain were screened out of which one was detected as positive.

DG Health Dr Amita Upreti said that a group of officers went to Spain and Finland on a study tour and on their return to India their health started deteriorating. She added that the IFS officers are kept isolated for the meantime and their health condition is constantly being monitored.

Till now 25 suspected patients have been screened in Dehradun, out of which 15 people reports were found negative while the reports of other 10 people are awaited. The state's health department said that it is constantly monitoring the situation regarding the prevention of coronavirus.

The number of coronavirus cases in India has gone up to 108, which includes 91 Indians. Among these, nine have been cured and two have died. According to officials, the total number of passengers screened at the airport so far is 12,29,363.

Maharashtra has emerged as the worst-hit state in the country with 31 positive cases.
The Perspective

Atlanta, Georgia

March 15, 2020





It is said that where there are two Jews, there are three opinions. And in the state of Israel, there is yet another version: where there are five Jews, there are nine political parties. There are certainly advantages to having different views on every topic, especially when the issues under discussion are seriously consequential and relate to the future national security and wellbeing of the state. However, when those different views are not guided by a unity of purpose, but rather personal interest, which is placed above that of the nations, the result could be extraordinary dire to the future of the state. Moreover, when corruption at the top seeps through the lower strata of the political parties, it is like an infectious disease forcing everyone to zealously guard his/her turf and leave the affairs of the state for another day, if that day ever comes.

This is the plight of the political parties in Israel, which are putting the future of the state at risknot because they cannot form a government that must address the urgent issues that face the nation, but largely because the leaders of the parties and their surrogates insist on being appointed to posts or positions to satisfy their hunger for power.

Chief among those who are corrupt to the bone is Prime Minister Netanyahu, who bribes, cheats, misleads, lies, fakes, and deceives, and would crawl to the bottom of any sewage pit only to stay in power. The fact that he has been indicted in three cases on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust and will soon face trial after several years of exhaustive investigation, is only befitting a man who has no scruples and is willing to drag the country into the same pit.

One, however, cannot blame Netanyahu alone. It is the Likud party that has enabled him over the years to chip away brick-by-brick at Israels democracy, undermine the judiciary, discriminate against Israeli Arabs as well as Jews of color, alienate the American Jewish community, and torpedo any prospect of a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. To be sure, the Likud party has long since lost its conscience as it continues to support its leader, whose manipulative skills are surpassed only by his deviousness and ever-insatiable thirst to stay as prime minister to his dying day  to hell with Israels future.

And what about the other political parties? Why is it that after three elections, there is still no consensus to form a government? Had the business of the state assumed priority and consensus emerged in developing a cohesive strategy on how to deal with the difficult issues the country must grapple with and set aside personal ambition, a government could have been formed following the first election.

But that was not the case. Not a single party has advanced specific policies to address the rampant poverty that affects nearly two million Israelis (representing 23 percent of the Israeli population), half of whom are children, in a country that has, in relative terms, one of the strongest economies in the world.

Not a single party has a comprehensive plan as to how to fix the broken healthcare system in a country that has some of the most advanced scientific and technological research in medicine worldwide.

Not a single party is paying any attention to the continuing discrimination against some Sephardic Jewish communities and especially against Israeli Arabs, who constitute 20 percent of the population. They are accused of being disloyal and their representatives are shunned away from participating in the political affairs of the state, but then they are expected to support the governments treatment of the Palestinians in the territories as the perpetual enemy to justify their draconian policies.

Not a single party is addressing the growing emigration of disillusioned Israelis who are fed up with the governments paralysis and corruption and have lost faith in the countrys future. The number of those leaving Israel is greater than the number of immigrants into the country that was supposed to be the promised land for the Jews.

Not a single party is trying to remedy the destructively escalating social and political polarization between the secular and the orthodox, between Arab and Jews, between the haves and have-nots in a country that faces mortal enemies in a region awash with instability, violence, wars, and deadly rivalries for regional hegemony.

And above all, not a single party has come up with a realistic plan to end the seven decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has and continues to consume the Israelis from within, having still no end in sight. Not a single leader of any of the parties can say where Israel will be in 10 or 15 years if there is no solution to the conflict with the Palestinians.

The two leading parties, Likud and Kahol Lavan, talk with various degree of emphasis about the annexation of the settlements along the Jordan Valley, about maintaining indefinite Israeli security throughout the West Bank, about means and ways to stifle Palestinian communities while applying different laws governing the Palestinians in the West Bank versus the Jews who populate the settlements. However, one thing is certain: Israel is becoming an apartheid state and Trumps deal of the century only reinforces this ugly, self-destructive development.

The sad thing is that no matter how much wishful thinking and how harshly any government treats the Palestinians, the Palestinians will not disappear. They are there to stay and will never give up or give in on their right for statehood, regardless of the massive and unconditional American support Israel may enjoy for now.

The Israeli political parties must sooner than later wake up to the bitter reality. Regardless of Israels overwhelming military superiority, including its nuclear arsenals, Israels real strength lies in the cohesiveness and unity of purpose among its people. Any future Israeli government must first and foremost focus on strengthening the Israeli social fabric by addressing the socio-economic malaise while further enhancing the judiciary and guarding the democratic principles of the state that includes the Israeli Arabs.

Simultaneously, the next government must articulate a peace plan to end the conflict with the Palestinians based on a two-state solution. By using its military and economic prowess, Israel can sustain any peace accord as long as it is fair and allows the Palestinians to live in peace and dignity.



No one can impose any moratorium on the Israeli freedom to discuss any number of views on any issue. This is one of the central hallmarks of a true democracy. In the end, though, Israel has gone astray for too long under a misguided Prime Minister. Now the country is marching toward self-destruction unless a new awakening sweeps the nation and the people remember the reasons behind the establishment of the state in the first place.




After hunting almost every country of the world, the outbreak of coronavirus has also reached Kenya. The first case came to light in Kenya on Friday. The health ministry has confirmed this. The outbreak of Coronavirus spread from Wuhan, China has reached more than 120 countries. Kenya Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said that on March 12, the patient returned to Kenya after traveling to the US.

US President Trump conducted Corona's test, said this on the information of the reports

Till date, 4,624 people have died from this virus globally while more than 1 lakh people are infected with this virus. Things have worsened in Italy due to this virus. Italy lost 827 people in just two weeks. In order to check the infection of this dangerous virus, all the businesses except medical stores and shops selling food items have been closed in the country. In the European country, with the instruction of people to stay in homes, some restrictions have already been imposed.

Coronavirus: Donald Trump's big statement says, 'So far 50 people have died from China.'

More than 72 cases of coronavirus have been reported in India. 29 cases have been reported in Pakistan. The World Health Organization (who) warned that if this is not done enough to stop the virus, then this virus will spread rapidly in all the countries. who has declared it an epidemic. There is chaos in the entire world on the coronavirus, so research and research is also going on to cut it. Meanwhile, good news has come out that Israel has discovered a vaccine to treat the coronavirus and scientists will soon announce it publicly. A sample of several countries was included in this research.

Kim Jong Un supervises another round of artillery drills
In a harrowing series of tweets, a senior health official in the Obama administration has outlined how the largest US cities and hospitals will be overrun with coronavirus cases by 23 March and a million may die.

Andy Slavitt, the former acting administrator of Medicare and Medicaid under President Barack Obama, consulted with state and local officials and took to Twitter to outline the main points from a memo he is preparing.

He advocates for a complete and strict policy of social isolation, and for hospitals to move quickly to reorganise and prioritise resources. Mr Slavitt emphasises that expanding medical capacity wont make much of a difference without social distancing as for every person that contracts the virus, two more will be infected.

What are mayors, governors & their staffs reporting? That people are jamming the bars. I get it. Home from work. Cooped up. Crisis mentality. We need to let steam off. Shared experience. But stop that. All the bars & restaurants are closed now across Europe.

Describing the situation in Italian hospitals and what that means for the US, he says: Every report describes this as a tsunami. And if it happens like a tsunami, in major cities we will have 10s of thousands more cases than we have beds & we will have 1 ventilator for every 8 people who need one.

Mr Slavitt says that the only way to prevent a similar situation in the US is to socially isolate and he links to another Twitter thread in which he predicts 1 million deaths because of the lack of containment and inability to test for the virus.

His advice for authorities and medical facilities is blunt. Hospitals must get rid of elective procedures, expand negative pressure rooms, move ventilator capacity to hot spots & seek additional where possible, create isolation negative pressure rooms, get tests 4 every front line worker, get masks [and] other supplies even on black mkt.

He also says that others should draw from the experience of Seattle and see what people there went through, as well as instructing hospitals to: Build tents to spec, commandeer hotels and arenas. Hire ppl losing work to sanitise everything.

Many cities & states are considering calling in hell from the national guard. Alarmed? My view at this point is better them now than the Red Cross later, he says.

Mr Slavitt is clear where the focus of blame lies: The original sin is Trumps months long denial and his dismantling of public health and response infrastructure. That wasnt all, but it led to other fatal mistakes.
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Sunday called off his weekly meet and greet with fans amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The 77-year-old actor, who sees his admirers every Sunday at his house Jalsa in Juhu since past 37 years, took to Twitter to share the update.

"To all Ef and well wishers an earnest request! Please do not come to Jalsa gate today... Sunday meet (I) am not going to come!" Bachchan wrote on the microblogging site.

The veteran actor also urged his fans to take precautions in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, which has led to more than 5,000 deaths globally.

"Take precautions... be safe," he added.

The coronavirus outbreak, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An oil price plunge means the worlds top energy companies will have to review promises to return billions to investors, either by slowing down share buy-backs or reintroducing non-cash dividends, analysts said on Monday.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading at around $36 a barrel, down around 20 percent by 16:45 GMT on Monday, when analysts lowered share price forecasts for top oil and gas producers.

The Brent benchmark has fallen by as much as a third since Thursday, just before Russia walked away from an agreement by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut output.

The slide is expected to force a rethink of spending plans by corporate boards. Many oil companies had cut costs in response to an oil downturn in 2014, when OPEC opened wide oil taps to try to protect members market shares in reaction to the US shale oil revolution.

On that occasion, Eni reduced its dividend, while peers kept up payouts. Now the sector is also struggling to retain investor appetite because of concerns about long-term sustainability as the world seeks to curb its use of climate-warming fossil fuels.

To try to keep investors on their side, the boards of major oil companies boosted dividends and share buy-back programmes. But even with an average Brent price of $64 a barrel last year, most companies were hardly able to balance their income with their spending.

The oil majors were entering survival mode in these market conditions and will have to assess where they can cut spending, Jefferies analyst Jason Gammel said in a note.

Buy-backs and dividend growth are now almost certainly off the table, and questions on who will need to cut the dividend first will be topical, Gammel said.

Last week, Chevron pledged to return up to $80bn to shareholders over the next five years.

Goldman Sachs said that depending on the duration of the crude down-cycle, Chevron could taper its buy-back programme while ExxonMobil could slow down its $33bn spending plans in 2020 and dividend growth.

That followed earlier warnings, including from Royal Dutch Shell that it would slow its $25bn share buy-back programme as the coronavirus weighs on the global economy and depresses fuel demand.

BP last month said it would raise its dividend, even though its profits last year fell by about a quarter.

We are in unchartered waters at least for the short term, analysts at Bernstein said after downgrading their recommendations for Shell, Eni, Repsol, Total and Equinor.

Bernstein added, in a note, that it expected divestments to happen and investments to be reduced, but saw no dividend cuts. Bernstein analyst Oswald Clint said that breakevens prices among European majors had improved since the last downturn.

Since the 2014 crash, companies have cut costs by billions of dollars, with many configuring their business to withstand oil prices of around $50 a barrel.

Oil majors, including Total and Royal Dutch Shell, introduced scrip dividends after the last slump, which allowed them to issue dividends in the form of shares rather than cash.

A return to scrip dividends is not unlikely if this develops into a six-month price war, Stuart Joyner, an analyst at Redburn, said.

Redburn said it expected Total and Chevron to maintain payouts, Shell to pare back its buy-backs further, and Equinor and Eni to come under pressure to discontinue current buy-backs.

Equinor, Norways largest oil and gas producer, said on Monday that the companys strong balance sheet put it in a robust position to handle volatility.

US shale producers, which face some of the highest production costs, on Monday rushed to deepen spending cuts and reduce future output.

BP and Shell declined to comment. Other majors had no immediate comment.
Fellow Ghanaians, we are in the midst of the apocalyptic novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19/2019-nCoV). Soon, most of our energies may well be absorbed into the task ahead to contain and suppress the virus from becoming a major disease outbreak in this country.

But the issues surrounding the Electoral Commissions (EC) decision to throw away 7,500 ultra-expensive laptops and accessories plus 72,000 expensive hand-held gadgets, bought and maintained with tens of millions of our hard-earned money, havent gone away.

If anything at all, the announcement of the first two cases in Ghana throws into sharp relief whether the social distancing directive which discourages large social gatherings can be compatible with the ECs mass registration calendar, which shall see on average 2200 people cluster in the 8000 registration areas over a period of 43 days beginning on the 18th of April 2020.

That this timeline was technically impossible to meet from the get-go because the EC is yet to even complete its procurement activities for the hardware and core software, much less sign contracts with the relevant vendors, complete specifications, and receive the equipment for customisation, merely compounds the matter.

A pall of uncertainty now hangs over the timeline to the elections, with its strict sequence of activities: registration, exhibition, adjudication, and compilation before distribution of the register to the political parties for their review. Coronavirus, rather than displacing this EC new biometric register matter from our priority list, has in fact reinforced the urgency with which we must handle this situation.

We at IMANI have taken our time to compile this Questions and Answers (Q&A) document as a quick and ready reference for all those who have tracked the outcomes of our reinvigorated advocacy this week.

As we transition from the public phase of our educational effort to the stakeholder engagement phase, we would like to clear any doubts still lingering in the minds of the public because of the ECs sponsored propaganda, clearly stepped up in recent days. We also acknowledge many of the questions and issues raised by respected and highly experienced public figures in recent days in the line-up of responses we have produced below.

Question: This country has a history of mass registrations (registering every eligible voter/elector afresh) during election years. 2004 and 2012 come to mind. So why the concern about the timing?

Actually, since 1992, those are the only two electoral cycles during which fresh mass registrations were conducted. In 2004, the EC registered all voters in March and provided them with photographic ID cards for the first time at the total cost of $10 million. There were no biometric procurement issues. The only sophisticated gadgets needed then were digital cameras. The population of eligible voters was only about 57% of current numbers. The process thus required only two weeks.

In 2012, once again, the registration was undertaken in March of that year, but this time round there was indeed a biometric system in place. However, the biometric system procurement process was completed on 4th October 2011, with the award of a contract to STL, nearly six clear months before the commencement of voter registration. And even so, the 2012 elections saw the highest number of technical breakdowns at polling stations since 2000, facts attested to during the election petition hearing. The reason can be attributed to the novelty of the system in Ghana at the time of implementation and the knowledge limitations related to its operation. In short, any sense that the EC is rushing the process should give serious cause for concern.

Question: The EC says the existing system isnt in a good state for the general elections. They are the ones close to the situation. Shouldnt we just give them the benefit of the doubt?

Answer: The EC provided a very specific reason why the system is not fit for purpose. Here is it in their own words: The BVR kits are more than 7 years old and End-Of-Life (EOL) and can hardly be supported. They described all the different parts of the complex network of systems making up their technology platform in a similar way (See: https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/politics/election-2020-new-voters-register-new-biometric-voter-management-system-coming-electoral-commission.html). IMANI has carefully probed this very claim and found it to be untrue. What is shocking is that, to date, no media house has been brave enough to take the EC on for this totally false claim. The evidence of the ECs mendacity has been provided on multiple occasions and shall be reproduced here too.

Q: Wait, hold it, the EC has produced a letter from STL, the former contractors who worked on the system to prove the obsolescence theory. Do you know better than STL?

Well, the EC says STL was milking Ghana, charging $3.9 million per year in annual fees for doing very little. We tend to agree, like most people, that STL took advantage of lax oversight at the EC to overcharge. The previous Chairperson of the EC made the same arguments during her procurement-related impeachment proceedings. She talked about renegotiating several contracts signed by subordinates on her arrival at the EC etc. The current EC Chair and her deputies have also indicated that they came to see some STL-related contracts, which they eventually abrogated.

These are among the various reasons why STLs contract was abrogated by the current EC bosses four months after coming into office. It is strange that STLs unexecuted contracts, already dismissed as extortionate, are now being used to justify fresh overspending. STL has been gone for 15 months now. During that period, the EC never bothered to go to the actual companies who were providing the technology  HSB and Genkey  and ask them directly what it would cost to continue upgrading the system.

STL was, and has always been, a mere middleman in this context. It is not surprising that they will pad any quotations. HSB and Genkey, the actual Intellectual Property (IP) owners of the core platform are experienced biometric hardware and software providers whose products are certified to the highest standards according to the standards of the International Biometrics and Identity Association (IBIA) and are conformant with the CBEFF ISO standards. Evidence coming to light shows clearly that the EC made no effort to deal directly with HSB and Genkey to maintain and enhance the existing system after they had sacked STL.

Q: STL may have padded their quotations and may have been milking Ghana as many have accused them over the years, but that does not still mean that the biometric system is not obsolete.

We will repeat once more for emphasis: the ECs system is a network of multiple equipment and software. It is akin to a banking system (core software, ATMs, POSs, teller desktops etc) or a television production system (cameras, mixers, microphones, editing suites etc.). Different parts of the system tend to be overhauled at different paces. The system as a whole DOES NOT DATE FROM 2011. That claim was a blatant untruth. The country has spent over $60 million at least buying new equipment, software and licenses to upgrade, maintain, refresh and keep it up to date. Some of this equipment was even delivered after the present EC bosses came to office.

That claim was a blatant untruth. The country has spent over $60 million at least buying new equipment, software and licenses to upgrade, maintain, refresh and keep it up to date. Some of this equipment was even delivered after the present EC bosses came to office. According to a very connected journalist, this new cadre of EC bosses have taken delivery of as many as 150 of these very expensive devices. If we use historical procurement patterns at the EC as our guide these additional devices and accompanying software would have cost not less than $500,000.

In 2016, the entire set of 7000 laptops-with-accessories (called BVRs) was refurbished (note refurbished, not repaired). And 500 brand-new BVRs were purchased. 30,000 BVDs (the handheld gadgets used for identification) were refurbished and 40,000 brand new ones purchased. In that year, spending on technology hit roughly $50 million according to the Auditor General of Ghana. In 2018, according to the Ministry of Finance, 2000 more BVRs were purchased, and some old machines apparently retired.

If one conducts a portfolio lifecycle analysis, one can only conclude on the face of the evidence that the system is very up to date. Because BVRs come with licensed software installed already and the EC has also been updating the central software packages (the VMS) regularly, the system currently in place is pretty new overall.

Once this point sinks in, the fallacy in the ECs foundational argument becomes all too clear. If the system is not obsolete, then there is no basis in replacing every single equipment. One may replace a subset of the portfolio periodically because breakages do happen so one can buy some equipment over time to replace truly broken-down ones.

The ECs projected cost for refurbishing the system, which it says it got from STL, $74 million is wholly flawed because it is based on assumption of having to replace every single equipment and that STL shall intermediate the purchases. Since that is not necessary, and only a portion of the system needs replacement, the real cost of preserving the existing system for this electoral cycle is only $15 million, and not $74 million. This would mean 2000 more BVRs, 5000 more BVDs, data centre, and auxiliary service.

On the other hand, the ECs claims that buying a brand-new technology platform will only cost $56 million has been exposed to be untrue by the outcome of its just ended sham tender, which produced $72 million as the winning bid.

The ECs allies claim that renegotiation shall bring this amount to close to $60 million. Nevertheless, there are still squabbles, per our sources, over incoterms and other auxiliary costs, and the $59 million purportedly agreed is thus merely the floor price. At any rate, this is just the hardware cost. Adding the software procurement, datacentre and fibre-optic network costs may well balloon the amount to over $80 million. This is the real cost of the decision to completely replace the technology system.

Though the EC refuses to acknowledge that a limited voters registration exercise would be much less costly than a full, mass, registration, the evidence suggests otherwise. A limited registration exercise shall involve only the two million max of voters who have turned 18 or couldnt register in last year limited registration. A limited registration on the other hand should cost less than $20 million, instead of the roughly $70 million the EC plans to spend on the mass registration.

Q: Well, this is rather surprising. Which official documents are you relying upon to make these conclusions?

: Page 18 of the Ministry of Finances 2019 Program Based Budget analysis of the EC. Page 12 of the 2017 version of that same document. Pages 8 and 9 of the 2019 report of the Special Budget Committee, a parliamentary oversight body that reviews the ECs spending, and page 17 of the 2020 version of that same committees report. Pages 145, 146 and 153 of the Audit Service March 2019 report to Parliament covering the EC and other major institutions.

Triangulating all these various sources lead to plain and incontrovertible verbs that the ECs claim of the system dating from 2011 is a COMPLETE UNTRUTH. If the media were to hold the EC to account for deceiving the public so blatantly, the notion that we should give them the benefit of the doubt wouldnt even arise. How do you give the benefit of the doubt to an organisation insistent on denying the public the truth?

Q: Okay, but surely, this is probably just a mere case of misunderstanding and confusion. Maybe, some monies have been listed as released to the EC that never got disbursed or maybe wasnt used?

A: In reviewing the records we paid attention to indications that a particular expenditure is past and complete and not merely an allocation or even disbursement. For example, the Audit Services report captures specific dates on which the EC transferred monies to vendors, sometimes complete with payment voucher numbers. The evidence is virtually fool proof and ironclad.

Q: What about the claims that the EC mentioned to parliamentary committees several times that the biometric system was obsolete and that even the just exited Chair of the commission signed some contracts which have not been honoured? Surely, that can get captured and picked up by even auditors to create an erroneous impression of procurement?

Yes, in 2018, the EC appeared before the relevant parliamentary committee and insisted that it needs additional BVRs. But note carefully: it confirmed on pages 8 and 9 of the resultant parliamentary (Special Budget Committee) report that all 7500 BVRs in its portfolio have been refurbished but that it still needs an additional 5000. In addition, it wanted to procure 5000 BVDs.

This was clearly in view of the expansion of the number of polling stations and the need to maintain an excess margin in respect of the Two BVDs per Polling Station policy. Hence as late as 2018, according to the parliamentary record, the EC very much intended to keep the existing equipment. They just wanted to buy more items. In fact, in 2019, when they returned to the committee, they assured the members that the biometric system in its current state was fit to manage the upcoming elections. The only part of the ECs system that it has been consistent in calling for a replacement is the datacentre. The contract for that component has already been awarded.

Q: And the claim that the previous EC Chair signed contracts that were abrogated by the current management?

: Not sure what that argument is meant to achieve, except to mire this whole discussion in distraction. We have indicated clearly that equipment has continued to be bought and to be received at the EC. So it is obvious that the previous EC Chair bought quite a quantity of these machines.

In fact, due to the budget shortfall issues that other commentators have mentioned in recent days, the EC started to repurpose operational funds for use on capital expenditure. In fact, in the last electoral cycle, the EC spent almost 11 times its budgetary allocation for capital expenditure by diverting operational funds which, clearly, had been over-allocated.

They had also planned to increase the number of devices for sure, but the controversy today is not about the propriety of buying more machines to augment the present portfolio. It is about throwing away perfectly functional machines in order to redesign and rebuild the whole system from the ground up based on false claims of obsolescence.

Q: Could it be that the recent EC is just distrustful of any system left behind by the previous administration and wants something she can be fully confident in as the procurer?

: Please understand that the EC terminated the contract of the old contractor, STL, four months into office. She then paid new consultants to take over the system. That is what she has used to run a range of elections so far including the referendum. There is no validity to any such paranoia about an unreliable legacy system. Mere sentiment cannot be used to throw away a system valued at well over $60 million in order to spend $150 million buying a new one and collecting fresh data. $150 million is 85% the total value of recent annual allocations to the Road Fund, 70% of the value of the GET Fund, and 50% of the value of the National Health Fund. We are talking about money that can have massive impact on health, education and infrastructure.

Q: A major criticism is that you keep flitting from issue to issue, and changing the goal posts, all in a desperate bid to scuttle an activity of a major state institution.

That logic is strange. We have been very clear from day one what our issues are. The matters that divide major contributors to the ongoing debate are very clear. For even more clarity, we have illustrated the divergence in opinion below.

It should be easy to see that IMANIs position has stayed very much the same.

B. We believe that there are two main dimensions here: the ECs plans will cause a loss of nearly $150 million to Ghana, but beyond monetary losses the plans also put our elections at risk because the EC is rushing so much it is doing shoddy procurement work. On top of that, it is rigging tenders to achieve a predetermined outcome.

C. Both dimensions  cost and risk - have the prospect of damaging the health of our elections. We have already talked about the compression of timing. A compression predominantly due to the bungling of tender processes that began as far back as April 2019, but have been aborted and restarted several times with a plain end of achieving some preferred outcome. The sham tenders merely compound the risk factors.

Q: The EC and its allies deny any procurement issues. They say they acted within the law.

The fact that the law gives an institution power to perform some action or activity does not mean that it can undertake it anyhow it wants. The constitution, for instance, imposes a reasonability threshold in Article 296. Furthermore, all institutions are subject to public audits and financial responsibility statutes.

The ECs hardware tender that was eventually awarded to Thales suffered the illegitimacy of the Chairman of the Tender Committee, himself a longstanding member of the Electoral Commission, in fact one of the seven commissioners, writing to the Central Tender Review Committee (CTRC) and the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) to disown a tender evaluation report bearing his name and the names of the other panel members. He apparently refused to participate any further in the process in protest.

The EC then reconstituted a new committee, which rushed through a purportedly brand-new process to award the $72 million contract within a week . The classic safeguard of technical evaluation taking place without the evaluators knowing the financial offers of the bidders was breached because the financial offers had been opened one week, i.e. 3 rd January 2020, before the new committee was created. The new committee went ahead to disqualify one of the worlds leading biometric solutions providers, Idemia, and then set about discrediting the other highly qualified bidder, Smartmatic, thereby paving the way for Thales, and Rhema Systems, their local partners to win. Remember this was exactly the outcome the EC Chair had tried to force in her 18 th December 2019 memo. (See the full chronology of events posted above and below to better appreciate this point).

. The classic safeguard of technical evaluation taking place without the evaluators knowing the financial offers of the bidders was breached because the financial offers had been opened one week, i.e. 3 January 2020, before the new committee was created. The new committee went ahead to disqualify one of the worlds leading biometric solutions providers, Idemia, and then set about discrediting the other highly qualified bidder, Smartmatic, thereby paving the way for Thales, and Rhema Systems, their local partners to win. Remember this was exactly the outcome the EC Chair had tried to force in her 18 December 2019 memo. (See the full chronology of events posted above and below to better appreciate this point). A most peculiar revelation in recent days, by a member of the ECs Entity Tender Committee is that the process of scoring the technical bids in the ECs recent hardware tender somehow managed to take place without factoring in any due diligence on the bidders.And that the reputational risk defects of one bidder was indicated in the report but room could not be found to do same for the other. The final report used to recommend Thales for the contract award incorporated references to allegations against Smartmatic in the Philippines but refused to contend with far more damaging, and conclusive, records of wrongdoing by Thales, confirming the absence of an equal playing field.

Thales (and its subsidiary, Gemalto) are being sued for bungling the national ID system of Estonia; were once blacklisted by the World Bank; and are the subject of an active indictment in the ongoing Guptagate scandal in South Africa, concerning bribery at the highest levels of the South African government. A history of credible findings by competent and authoritative bodies, not mere allegations, of corrupting African elections officials was also ignored during the scoring.

In all this, it is important to bear in mind that the software tender, also published in October 2019, ended up being cancelled. Our sources tell us of attempts to sole-source the contract in the custom market, ruling out the prospect of being able to develop the relevant software in less than 6 months, and thus forcing the eventual subcontracting of the software job to Thales, a proprietary systems developer that can simply not hand over its source code to the EC, in the fashion contemplated by its inexperienced IT procurement expert. Thus, a major basis for this whole full replacement strategy, the notion of root control of the system, turns out being worthless.

Q: The argument has been made that Thales prevailed in an open and fair process and that none of the other bidders, Smartmatic or Idemia, was graded on a scheme not applicable to the others.

On 18 th December, the EC management tried to force the original tender evaluation panel to eliminate Smartmatic and Idemia by way of a memo providing comments to the committees draft report. When that failed, they dissolved the committee.

December, the EC management tried to force the original tender evaluation panel to eliminate Smartmatic and Idemia by way of a memo providing comments to the committees draft report. When that failed, they dissolved the committee. The new committee then found a way to eliminate Idemia on January 13 th 2020 on technical grounds thus ensuring that Idemia never proceeded to the financial evaluation round. Idemia manufactures the Morpho devices recently used in the Kenyan elections and others around the world. In our pricing analysis, we found the devices to be one of the most cost-competitive in the world.

2020 on technical grounds thus ensuring that Idemia never proceeded to the financial evaluation round. Idemia manufactures the Morpho devices recently used in the Kenyan elections and others around the world. In our pricing analysis, we found the devices to be one of the most cost-competitive in the world. In all honesty, it is not imaginable that in a rational evaluation, Idemia will be eliminated in a technical evaluation round also involving Miru and Buck Press, which have far limited elections technology deployment experience. Or that Miru will obtain higher marks than Smartmatic, which has 10 times Mirus experience, and three times the elections technology deployment experience of even the eventual winner, Thales. Mirus only comparable previous project was the one in DR Congo. An earlier attempt in Argentina was ended when the government found serious vulnerabilities in their systems.

When the EC says that they threw away the first report because the marks awarded bidders were too lopsided and unbalanced, one has to ask how a non-technical EC management can claim to have more insights than technical panel properly constituted to evaluate offers for several weeks. And whether an organisation that cannot even run a tender without confusion and rancour can smoothly implement a radical overhaul of a complex technology system within five weeks, the timeline to the ECs own self-imposed deadline to commence voter registration.

Q: Your comments have been interpreted as being in favour of some of the vendors that lost out, perhaps Idemia and Smartmatics.

Those inferences are plainly ridiculous. IMANI begun its opposition to the procurement of a new system in December when all these companies were busily bidding to win the contract. How can IMANI then be working for some of the companies, when our actions have been to deny them any money in the first place? Lets repeat: the procurement issues are related to the risk factors. If the EC is mismanaging the procurement, it is also mismanaging the elections. If the EC is trying to rig a tender, then its motives for pushing for a brand new system becomes suspect.

Q: But the EC claims that these matters that you are busily canvassing did not even feature in the evaluation?

That is also ridiculous. No $72-million-dollar project can be awarded without considerable due diligence involving background checks, reputational risk evaluation and track record research. So, the notion that these areas were merely explored in jest for some of the bidders and ignored for others because they are inconsequential for all makes no sense.

On the scoring sheets, there are multiple areas where the vendors are instructed to show that the equipment comes from REPUTABLE suppliers. On page 31 of the final tender committee report, it is plainly stated that due diligence of Smartmatic indicates an unfavourable business profile. The notion that this major finding in a section clearly labelled: Weaknesses of Bid on page 33 did not play any further role in scoring the bids is too ridiculous to even deserve further examination. And on page 28 of the 94-page report, the writers are emphatic that they did NOT SIGHT ANY ADVERSE FINDINGS on Thales. This was a categorical statement.

Because the qualitative inferences must influence the quantitative scores, we must look to them as providing us with a picture of how the evaluators saw each bidder. That is the only way to interpret the even sparsely annotated scoring marks. In 75% of cases, no remarks are given to explain scores. In one instance a bidder was scored zero because their solution did not go beyond minimum requirements. What does this mean? One bidder had their biometric verification scanner penalised for not matching the 4-4-2 configuration, yet that fact had already been addressed by penalising them through a modification of the financial offer to accommodate the preferred spec.

The entirety of the section 5 of the scoring scheme is dedicated to reviewing the quality of each bidders track record. Had the proper thing been done, Thales would have lost virtually all the marks it earned there due to the widely reported adverse findings related to its electoral technology deployment record in places like Gabon and Benin, where an investigative finding confirmed that its Gemalto unit had been paying monies majority owned by a member of that countrys Electoral Commission and his relatives. Adjusting its marks that way though would have lost it the bid. Which clearly could not be countenanced by the powers driving the tender.

Q: You have mentioned the term, conflict of interest. Where and how?

We have it on very good authority that Fairgreen Limited, whose CTO has been serving as the ECs technical expert on IT procurement and who has sat on the ECs tender evaluation panels, has been suppliers to the EC and continues to pursue datacentre subcontracting contracts. It is frighteningly mind-boggling that a procurement expert that stands to benefit from the direction and content of its advice also becomes a supplier or subcontractor to the same entity it is advising.

Q: There are some that argue that all this talk about technology obsolescence is besides the point, the real issue is the bloated character of the current Voters Register.

Whilst this is a popular view, there is no evidence, statistical or otherwise, that the ineligible names on the Register are anyway particularly skewed towards any particular political party. Without evidence of skewedness, any ineligible names can be considered as randomly distributed. The fact that victories in Ghanaian elections have vacillated over the last two decades reinforces the notion that there is no skewedness. Also, the trends in turnout numbers do not show in anyway a peculiar characteristic of this current register.

The strong pattern discernible in turnout stats analysis is the tendency of turnout to decrease in elections in which the incumbent political party loses. So whilst the ~64% turnout observed in the 2012 elections was lower than in the previous year, it was higher than the 2000 figure of ~61%. And, as further evidence that low turnout is not some distinct attribute of the current calendar, we can point to the referendum figure which was in the region of ~85%.

Q: So why doesnt IMANI go to court?
In the wake of the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus outbreak, with two recorded cases in Ghana, the Ghana Education Service, on Friday, 13th March, in a well-publicized statement, ordered all heads of schools to suspend public activities until further notice.



The Director-General of the GES, Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa said public activities such as Speech and Prize-Giving Days have been suspended until further directives are given by the Director-General.



Just as he continued to flout the directives, such as stopping hand shakes, in his recent visit to the Northern Region, John Mahama again defied this directive by the GES.



On Saturday, 14th March he attended the 15th anniversary celebration of St. Andrews Senior High School in Assin Fosu.



How irresponsible can the former President get? And this is a man who wants Ghanaians to give him another opportunity to rule Ghana?



God forbid. Ghanaians cannot entrust the destiny of the nation into the hands of such a person who doesn't show responsibility in the wake of this outbreak. It will never happen.



Thomas Nabila

Jirapa









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Pakistan Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Health Dr Zafar Mirza will participate in a video conference of SAARC member countries on Sunday proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to formulate a joint strategy to combat the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic.

Prime Minister Modi reached out to the eight-member regional grouping on Friday and pitched for a video conference among the leaders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to chalk out a strong strategy to combat the virus outbreak. His suggestion was backed by all member states of SAARC.

"The threat of #COVID-19 requires coordinated efforts at global and regional level. We have communicated that SAPM on Health will be available to participate in the video conference of #SAARC member countries on the issue," Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui tweeted on Saturday.

Also Read: COVID-19 cases rise to 107; India faces shortage of ventilators, ICU beds

Dr Mirza is leading Pakistan's campaign against the virus.

The deadly virus that first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year has claimed over 5,700 lives and infected more than 150,000 people across 135 countries and territories.

China remains the hardest-hit with more than 80,000 infections and 3,199 deaths.

No death has been reported in Pakistan while two persons have died in India due to the disease. So far, 34 cases of coronavirus have been reported in Pakistan and there are 107 confirmed cases in India.

Afghanistan has reported 11 confirmed cases while Sri Lanka' tally has risen to 10. Other members - Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan - have reported cases in single digit. All countries have individually taken measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus within their borders.

Modi's pitch for a joint SAARC strategy to combat coronavirus assumes significance as in the last three years, India has been distancing itself from the SAARC, citing the security challenges facing the region from terror networks based in Pakistan, which is also a member of the grouping.

In December last year, the prime minister had said India's efforts for greater collaboration among the SAARC countries were repeatedly challenged with threats and acts of terrorism, in an oblique reference to Pakistan.

The last SAARC Summit in 2014 was held in Nepal's Kathmandu, which was attended by Modi.

The 2016 SAARC Summit was to be held in Islamabad. But after a terror attack on an Indian Army camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Uri on September 18 that year, India expressed its inability to participate in the summit due to the "prevailing circumstances".

The summit was called off after Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan also declined to take part in it.

Also Read: FPIs withdraw Rs 37,976 cr from Indian markets in March amid coronavirus fears

Also Read: YES Bank was on the verge of going belly up; here's what Q3 results reveal

Also Read: YES Bank Q3 net loss spikes to Rs 18,564 cr, its worst ever
Two hundred and thirty-four Indians stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran have arrived in India, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday.

The batch comprises 131 students and 103 pilgrims, he said.

"234 Indians stranded in Iran have arrived in India; including 131 students and 103 pilgrims.

Thank you Ambassador Dhamu Gaddam and @India_in_Iran team for your efforts. Thank Iranian authorities," Jaishankar tweeted.

The third batch of Indians from Iran arrived early Sunday. A second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims had arrived from Iran on Friday.

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 first batch of 58 Indian pilgrims were brought back from Iran on Tuesday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By Trend

A hotline has been created in the Azerbaijani embassy in Turkey after the temporary suspension of mutual trips of Turkish and Azerbaijani citizens by plane and vehicles from 00:00 (GMT+4) March 15, Trend reports referring to the embassy.

"The hotline (+90 53 72 82 67 40) was created to quickly respond to the possible requests of our citizens who live, study and temporarily visited Turkey," the embassy said.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
January offered a glimpse of a Midland labor market that remained strong.

In data released Friday by the Texas Workforce Commission, its Midland-Odessa metropolitan statistical area (MSA) -- which incorporates Midland and Martin counties -- reported an unemployment rate of 2.4 percent, up from 2 percent in December 2019 and from 2.3 percent in January 2019.

Odessa reported an unemployment rate of 3.4 percent, up from 2.9 percent the previous month.

Midland continued to report the states lowest unemployment, followed by Amarillo and Austin-Round Rock at 2.7 percent each and Bryan-College Station at 2.9 percent.

Dont let this month fool you, warned Willie Taylor, chief executive officer of the commissions Workforce Solutions Permian Basin. We will see some adjustments. We may be approaching some difficult months.

Midland Unemployment January 2020 2.4 percent January 2019 2.3 percent See More Collapse

He predicted that when the commission issues its February report later in the month, the numbers will begin to show the impact of not only how the coronavirus has affected the energy industry, but also the impact of falling oil prices.

Everyones looking at whats going on with the price of oil and the coronavirus. We need to be wary of it and pray for the best, Taylor said Hopefully, the price decline will be short-lived and will recover.

The offices among the 17 counties his office oversees are already beginning to see more layoff reports and unemployment claimants, he said

Its all about the oil prices and whats going on between Saudi Arabia and Russia, he said. Were seeing adjustments and companies cut back.

Even so, Taylor said there remains a skilled labor shortage throughout the Permian Basin, citing the need for educators and medical staff -- skills that the region still struggles to attract.

Were also seeing a need for commercial drivers licensed truck drivers; in areas like electricians, plumbers, automotive and diesel technicians, that are so critical to the region, he said.

Momentum may keep industries such as construction strong for awhile, he said, but I anticipate a slowdown.

Midlands civilian labor force remained relatively flat, barely gaining 50 from December to January and coming in 1,650 higher than January 2019. The number of employed fell by 300, though there are almost 1500 more employed Midlanders than in January 2019 and the number of unemployed leaped by almost 400 from December to January and there are 175 more unemployed than in January 2019.

Midlands total nonfarm job count dropped by 1,600 from 115,700 in December to 114,100 in January. The Trade, Transportation and Utilities sector reported the steepest loss in jobs, shedding 600 from December to January. Midlands dominant Mining, Logging and Construction sector dropped 500 jobs. The Education and Health Services sector, the Leisure and Hospitality and the Government sector each lost 200 jobs and the Financial Activities sector lost 100 jobs. Professional and Business Services was the only sector to gain jobs, adding 200.

For the 12 months from January 2019 to January 2020, Midland added 1,800 jobs for a growth rate of 1.6 percent.

The Mining, Logging and Construction sector lost 1,000 jobs during that period, while Education and Health Services and the Government sectors each lost 200 jobs.

Business and Professional Services saw its job count climb 1,100 jobs, followed by Trade, Transportation and Utilities with 900 new jobs.

Leisure and Hospitality added 800 new jobs during the year, and the Other Services sector added 300 new jobs. Financial Activities was the other sector to report a gain, added 100 new jobs.

Statewide, the unemployment rate remained at 3.5 percent. The state added 19,500 jobs in January and has added 279,900 seasonally adjusted jobs over the year.

While Midland reported the states lowest unemployment, the highest was in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission at 7.4 percent.
Photo for illustration (Source: VNA)

Specifically, the 50th patient is a 50-year-old man residing in Hanois Ba Dinh district. He returned home on March 9th from a working trip to Paris, France. On March 11th, he developed a fever and coughing.

He is being quarantined at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in the outlying district of Dong Anh, and in stable condition.

The 51st is a 22-year-old student living in Hanois Bac Tu Liem district. From February 23rdto March 12th, she travelled through many countries in Europe. On March 11th, she had high temperature and coughing.

On March 13th, she arrived at Hanois Noi Bai international airport on flight QR968 and was sent straight to the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Dong Anh.

She is being treated at the hospital with stable health condition.

The 52nd is a 24-year-old woman residing in Ha Long city, Quang Ninh province, who returned to Vietnam on a flight from London on March 9th. After landing in Noi Bai international airport, she took a taxi to her home in Ha Long and was later sent to the provinces quarantine facility.

Her sample sent to the NIHE showed positive on March 14th.

The 53rd is a 53-year-old Czech citizen, who had contact with some Italians while in his home country.

On March 10th, he arrived at Tan Son Nhat international airport on flight QR970 from Qatars Doha. After entering Vietnam, he stayed in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.

After showing symptoms of coughing and tiredness on March 13th, he had a check-up at the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital of Traditional Medicine and was transferred to the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital of Tropical Diseases after his lung was found to be partly turned dark.

He is now receiving treatment at the HCM City Hospital of Tropical Diseases./.
1. Whose ad carries the line Where there is food, there should be alcohol and what is the context? Answer: Swiggy, emphasising on using hand sanitisers in the wake of Covid-19 2.

Connect a brand founded in the 1770s that was first known as India ___ ___, (subsequently the India was removed), The Sinking of the Titanic, Napoleon Bonaparte and what do you arrive at? Answer: The Bass beer brand founded in 1777. It was originally known as India Pale ale because it was sent to the troops of East India company 3. Name the person who said, To be a successful ...
With the number of fresh cases of the coronavirus (Covid-19) infection rising in Maharashtra, the state government is contemplating action against those who do not cooperate with the authorities and endanger the lives of other citizens.

On Saturday, three persons suspected to be infected by the coronavirus, ran away from an isolation ward in Ahmednagar. After a search operation was launched, the local police found them and quarantined the three patients at the hospital, again.

State health minister Rajesh Tope said that he had given orders to the police to track the runaway persons. Two of them returned while the third was brought to the hospital by the police. It is a very critical situation and patients must behave responsibly and not endanger the lives of other citizens. We will take strict action against those found violating the directions of the government, he said.

Ahmednagar district collector Rahul Dwivedi held a special meeting of different government departments and urged the officials to spread awareness and seek co-operation of the citizens in their efforts to combat the outbreak.

Two women and a man who were suspected to be infected by Covid-19 had left the special quarantine ward of the Ahmednagar civil hospital without informing the authorities, leading to a panic like situation in the city on Saturday. Two patients returned late night on Saturday while the third was brought to the hospital by the Ahmednagar police. Topkhana police officials said that a complaint was received from civil surgeons office regarding the runaway patients, however, it was not converted into an FIR.
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 03/14/2020



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

star Taylor Dunklin has revealed she didn't want to apologize for her Instagram Stories video because Brandon Reid had allegedly put her through so much by that point and she had reached a breaking point.During the March 11 broadcast of : Unfiltered, Taylor watched back a Season 10 clip of Brandon accusing her of going on the show for the cameras and her "platform." "Everything seems rehearsed," Brandon said of his wife, which resulted in Taylor being reluctant to apologize for her own mistakes.After watching the argument unfold, Taylor admitted, "Honestly, it feels really sad to sit here and watch that because I put up with so much stuff.""I put up with, like, just being disrespected every day," she added.Taylor vented in her Instagram Stories video she was single and looking for a man who could meet her "minimal" requirements, so Brandon -- feeling "disgusted" and rejected -- moved out of their apartment and seemingly ignored his wife's attempts to talk until the pair was forced to reunite for a session with expert Dr. Pepper Schwartz.But problems weren't resolved once Brandon and Taylor shared their opposing sides of the story, especially since Taylor admitted she wasn't sorry for the video because it "wasn't directed at Brandon" and she can post whatever she wants Unfiltered host Jamie Otis asked Taylor why it was so hard for her to apologize, knowing that's the reason Brandon was so upset with her."How I felt then in the moment was because I felt disrespected, like, 'Do I really need to sit here and apologize to someone who has disrespected me every day?'" Taylor said."Why do I have to be the bigger person?"viewers witnessed Brandon lash out and swear at Taylor on the last day of their honeymoon in Panama because he was tired of production filming his every move, but Jamie asked Taylor to get a little more specific on how he allegedly disrespected her every day afterward."I'm just dismissed, I'm ignored, or I'm yelled at all the time," Taylor claimed."It's just everything I do -- whether I'm like, 'Hey, I'll pick you up from work,' he's like, 'Why? Are you trying to get me to film?' He's just trying to hide from the cameras, I don't know!"Taylor was apparently fed up at this point in her relationship and had little fight left in her."Everything I do has an ulterior motive," Taylor said, "and I'm just tired of this because I don't have an ulterior motive."Jamie then asked expert Pastor Calvin Roberson to give his thoughts on Taylor and Brandon's struggle."It's hard to watch. It's tough to watch. But that argument has nothing to do with the video. It's not about the video," Pastor Cal observed."You are arguing over the fact that you don't feel valued, you don't feel respected, you don't feel as though you're being cared for. But he doesn't feel he's being cared for. But no one is really getting to the disease -- we're talking about the symptoms, and the video is just the symptom."Pastor Cal therefore offered Taylor some advice on how she might want to proceed in her failing relationship."You both could make this an incredible relationship if you just see the value in it, if you learn to respect each other, and if you learn to add some boundaries," Pastor Cal explained.Jamie wished the best for Taylor at the end of the segment and hoped she and Brandon could turn their marriage around.As shown on the latest episode of 's tenth season, Taylor didn't want to give up so easily on her marriage, so she invited Brandon to get a manicure with her at a nail salon."The experts matched us for a reason, and maybe I'm not going to close the doors on that yet," Taylor said in a confessional.Taylor made a peace offering by giving Brandon a card for their one-month anniversary with an apology written inside, but it wasn't enough for Brandon, who told the cameras Taylor had taken the easy way out and he wasn't convinced her apology was genuine.Taylor acknowledged she just wanted to build a friendship with Brandon but he never let things go and always seemed to think he was being attacked on a personal level."I just want to move on with my life. I want to cut all of this and be done with it . This has just been a cluster F and it's stupid," Brandon told Taylor on Wednesday night's broadcast.Brandon added that Taylor wanting to be friends was "a slap in the face," and so Taylor felt defeated in her relationship."My wife is a narcissist. She doesn't see anything wrong and she has a problem with admitting when she's wrong, and I can't be with someone who can't even admit when they are wrong," Brandon told a Diary Cam."Here she is making mistake after mistake, and she's not owning up to any of those mistakes."'s tenth season also stars Mindy Shiben and Zach Justice Meka Jones and Michael Watson Katie Conrad and Derek Sherman , and Jessica Studer and Austin Hurd Interested in more news? Join our Married at First Sight Facebook Group
PHILIPSBURG:--- T

The travel restrictions announced in Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs's second National Address on March 14th, 2020 are hereby further clarified.

On March 17th, only incoming visitors from the USA, Canada, Europe, UK and Ireland are restricted to enter the country of St. Maarten. This does not apply to St. Maarten/St. Martin residents, as well as residents and nationals of the surrounding islands whom utilize Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) as a transit point. Travelers from around the Caribbean region are not restricted unless they have travelled to the listed areas in the past 21 days. The current travel restrictions apply for two weeks starting on Tuesday, March 17th. Commercial and private/chartered airlines will be allowed to land and take-off after the March 16th deadline date to facilitate the following:

Visitors who are currently on the island, or neighboring islands, who are scheduled to travel out via PJIA in the coming weeks to return to their home country.

Returning residents of St. Maarten/St. Martin and the surrounding islands, who usually transit through PJIA, invited specialists and other technical assistants, to enter the country with valid travel documents.

Hotels and other types of accommodations on St. Maarten/St. Martin and the surrounding islands, for which St. Maarten serves as a hub function, are advised to inform their guests accordingly. Residents of the island as well as surrounding islands are advised to take note as well. Airlines, and handlers will be informed via PJIA and Port St. Maarten operations to make the necessary arrangements.

Prime Minister Jacobs reiterated, "The restrictions do not apply to St. Maarten/St. Martin residents, nor residents of neighboring islands who transit through St. Maarten. All returning and transiting residents are reminded to continue to monitor themselves upon return and to notify their doctor should they start to show symptoms."

Prime Minister Jacobs hereby reminds the general public that all measures are being undertaken in order to protect our vulnerable community as the virus spreads in the wider world.

National Address

Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs National Address on COVID-19 MARCH 14, 2020

People of St. Maarten, I hereby address you, as Prime Minister and Chair of the EOC (Emergency Operations Center), in an update for today Saturday March 14, 2020, as part of the process to keep the community of Sint Maarten informed about the latest developments and the Governments COVID-19 preparedness, prevention, mitigation and response measures.

The World Health Organization declared on Wednesday March 11 that the coronaviris COVID-19 has become a global pandemic. Based on this delcaration, the Government of Sint Maarten has stepped up its preparations and today March 14, after deliberation with the Council of Ministers and the EOC a number of decisions have been taken.

These preventive measures are to limit the exposure of the Sint Maarten people to COVID-19 due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in Europe and the United States of America.

Effective Tuesday, March 17, 2020, all international flights and cruises originating from the United States of America, Europe and the United Kingdom to Sint Maarten are cancelled for a period of two weeks. These travel restrictions do not apply for regional air and sea travel at this time. Travel within the Dutch Caribbean  Saba, St. Eustatius, Bonaire, Aruba, and Curacao remains in place until further notice. This travel restriction also applies to other seafaring vessels.

Arrangements will be put in place for visitors to return home with their carriers. Cargo flights/vessels bringing in food supplies, household goods, oil, gas, as well as medicine will continue. Also allowed, will be travel by technical and medical assistants whether via commercial or chartered airlines.

I would like to reiterate that there is no food shortage on the island. There is no reason to engage in panic buying or hoarding of food. There is a sufficient supply of food and medication on the island. We remain in constant contact with our suppliers and have been assured that replenishments will continue.

As of today, March 14th, up until and including Monday, March 16th, there is an opportunity for St. Maarten students studying abroad and residents as well as essential personnel to return to the country ahead of the 2 week travel restrictions.

All residents and nationals traveling back to Sint Maarten from the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom during this period, are recommended to monitor their health for 14-days for consistent cough, fever or respiratory problems (consitent with COVID-19) and maintain a social distance for the safety and security of the community. If you experience the aforementioned symptoms, please call your family physician. Do not go to your doctor or the medical center. During the phone call with your doctor, you will be advised further what actions should be taken.

The second decision regards large gatherings. With respect to social gatherings throughout the country, new permits will not be granted for gatherings of more than 100 persons. Permits which have already been issued relating to gatherings of more than 100 persons will be postponed until further notice.

Government also strongly recommends that persons in a public setting should keep a distance of at least one meter from each other under certain settings. All institutions, businesses, organizations, religious services and other entities should adhere to these recommended advices in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The current situation unfolding at the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) has been brought to my attention, as there was some confusion as to the travel history of 6 passengers on the Air France flight which landed today Saturday, March 14th, based on the fact that German nationals were on board. As we know germany has been added on March 11th to our list of restricted areas of travel. In the latest update received, two of the passengers are residents of Switserland and orignated from there and therefore are allowed to travel to St. Maarten as per our current travel restrictions. The other 4 passengers of German nationality who originated in Germany will return on the same flight back to France. The passengers were kept on board until this information was confirmed, and none have any symptoms related to COVID-19.

PJIA will issue a press release on this matter. The general public is advised not to allow themselves to be riled up before having all the facts. I will also continue to provide updates as the situation develops.

Follow our Government Radio station  107.9FM. For official information, statements and news updates or visit the Government website at www.sintmaartengov.org/coronavirus and our Facebook Page: Government of Sint Maarten.

As Prime Minister of St. Maarten, I wish to encourage all of us to remain steadfast in preparing for what is a world wide pandemic. While we currently have zero confirmed cases, these are all measures aimed at maintaining a COVID-19 status. I pray that we would take our fellow man/woman into consideration while going about our daily activities, and with the knowledge that we are ensuring your safety, refrain from panic buying and fear mongering. Continue to practice proper hygiene at home, at work and in the community.

Knowledge is power! Stay informed and be prepared. We are strong, resilient and faithful people and trust that this too shall pass.

God bless St. Maarten and her people as we work together; government and community to keep her safe. Thank you.
Police and Crime Commissioner election postponed until 2021

This article is old - Published: Sunday, Mar 15th, 2020

Mays Police and Crime Commissioner elections are to be postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Scheduled to take place on May 7, some candidates had already thrown their hats in their ring to challenge Arfon Jones in the elected role designed to hold the Chief Constable of North Wales Police to account.

But on Friday ministers announced that the poll would be put back, as well as local and mayoral elections in England, following the Electoral Commissions request to the UK Government on Thursday.

The decision means that the PCC elections are now likely to take place on the same day as the next Welsh Assembly elections on May 6, 2021.

Electoral Commission has said some elections in May should be postponed  no mention of the Police & Crime Commissioner elections although the statement is tagged "Police and Crime Commissioner elections and Wales https://t.co/UgoRkhZT3i  Wrexham.com (@wrexham) March 12, 2020

Writing to Michael Gove MP on Thursday, Bob Posner, the Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission had written: It has already become clear that the risks are so significant as to raise serious concerns about the polls continuing to their current timetable.

Although polling day is not until 7 May, preparations for the elections are already well underway and indeed publication of notice of election  which marks the start of the formal timetable  will take place later this month.

He added: We also anticipate that as a result of the direct and indirect impacts of Covid-19, there will be significant numbers of registered electors who in practice will not have opportunity to vote, or feel inclined to vote.

While increased access to post and proxy voting may provide a partial solution for some electors, it would create further and additional pressures and risks in other parts of the system.

Clearly any decisions to delay elections which are due is significant and would not normally be desirable; however, we are in unprecedented times.

The risks to delivery that have been identified are such that we cannot be confident that voters will be able to participate in the polls safely and confidently, nor that campaigners and parties will be able to put their case to the electorate.

Welcoming the decision, he added: We welcome and support the UK Governments decision to postpone the May elections.

This will allow local authorities to focus their efforts on delivering front line public services and importantly, mitigates risks to voters and campaigners.

We will work with the wider electoral community to ensure elections in 2021, including these postponed elections, are well run, command public trust and attract high levels of participation.

By Gareth Williams  BBC Local Democracy Reporter (more here on the LDR scheme)
The raging pandemic of the coronavirus COVID-19 to varying degrees affected almost all countries of the world. The countries of the South Caucasus did not stand aside from the negative world processes: the collapse of oil prices put serious pressure on the economy of Azerbaijan, the closure of borders and the introduction of large-scale quarantine restrictions hit the tourism industry and the service sector of Georgia.

While the problems that arise in Azerbaijan and Georgia are mostly of a socio-economic nature, in neighboring Armenia, the situation, in addition to negative economic factors, has a more pronounced political subtext. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, after several unsuccessful attempts to remove the chairman of the Constitutional Court Hrayr Tovmasyan at the end of last and the beginning of this year, went all-in. Wanting to get rid of the current composition of the Constitutional Court and its chairman, whom Pashinyan accuses of being close to the previous government, the Prime Minister put the issue to a popular vote.

This step was an extreme measure, which, incidentally, was negatively taken by the European partners of Nikol Pashinyan. In particular, the Venice Commission openly criticized the actions of the Armenian government, destroying the fragile balance of checks and balances between the branches of government. According to Armenian media, a lot of time was devoted to this problematic issue during the recent visit of Pashinyan to Brussels.

But today it begins to seem that the plans of the prime minister and his faction "My Step" were under attack.

The number of patients with coronavirus in Armenia is steadily growing (15 infected as of March 14), and against this background, the issue of transferring a referendum is becoming increasingly urgent.

Pashinyan has already had to interrupt his vacation and campaign. At the moment, he and his wife Anna Hakobyan are in isolation because of the risk of coronavirus infection. Pashinyan held mass meetings with citizens, while the country already has confirmed cases of coronavirus, many regarded it as irresponsibility.

If the referendum is not postponed and takes place on April 5, the turnout will be low. Elections - a mass event, which is categorically not recommended to attend in a pandemic. So, with a high degree of probability, the referendum, if it is held on April 5, will fail, because the supporters of the YES bloc will not be able to collect the 650,000 votes they need in their support.

If the referendum is postponed, then, firstly, it will be quite difficult to determine its new dates (probably not earlier than July-August this year, otherwise there is a high risk of re-postponement).

Secondly, by that time, citizens would feel the inevitable negative socio-economic consequences of the crisis (a decrease in transfers from abroad, a decrease in exports, a collapse in the tourism and service sectors). The "economic revolution" promised by Pashinyan will drown, and against such a difficult background, any attempts by Pashinyan to campaign in favor of citizens' participation in the referendum will only irritate the broad masses of the population - after all, they will be preoccupied with much more pressing issues than the redistribution of power in the country in favor of the current government .

Finally, the postponement of the referendum will be another chance for Armenias international partners to exert external pressure on it in this matter.

Thus, the spread of coronavirus in Armenia can have fatal consequences for the Armenian government. Today, the political fate of Nikol Pashinyan largely depends on how effectively the country's healthcare system under the leadership of Arsen Torosyan can withstand the further spread of the infection. One thing is obvious: the Armenian authorities were somewhat carried away by "PR", placing citizens with suspected coronavirus in five-star hotels, but they were late with more urgent preventive measures. Whether the Armenian voter will forgive this omission will be shown in the near future.
Olivia Newton-John's fans can breathe a sigh of relief.

The 71-year-old actress wasn't exposed to COVID-19 last week, despite being pictured with coronavirus-positive reporter Richard Wilkins on Instagram.

Richard had uploaded the photo of himself, Olivia and actor Paul Hogan on Tuesday, leading many to assume it was taken recently. But it's actually 18 months old.

Phew! Olivia Newton-John (centre) wasn't exposed to coronavirus last week because her interview with Richard Wilkins (left) was actually filmed in 2018. Pictured with Paul Hogan

The picture in question showed Richard, Olivia and Paul on set of The Very Excellent Mr Dundee in September 2018 in Melbourne.

Richard recorded his interview with the stars at the time, but it wasn't aired until last week to coincide with the film's release date.

Olivia has an increased risk of being affected by the pandemic because of her history with cancer - but fans don't have to worry about her catching it from Richard.

At risk: Olivia has an increased risk of being affected by the pandemic because of her history with cancer - but fans don't have to worry about her catching it from Richard. Pictured with her daughter, Chloe Lattanzi

It's believed she hasn't spoken to Richard since the COVID-19 breakout and he therefore hasn't exposed her to the deadly virus.

The four-time Grammy winner was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992, undergoing a partial mastectomy and reconstruction.

Olivia battled cancer for a second time in 2013, but kept the illness private.

She revealed in September 2018 that she was battling cancer for the third time since her first diagnosis more than 25 years ago.

Olivia, who is an advocate for medicinal cannabis and natural remedies, told The Daily Telegraph in February that her tumours were receding.

She said: 'My tumours are receding or they're going away or they're staying the same, on a Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer - that's pretty amazing.'

The Xanadu star also told Daily Mail Australia at the G'Day USA gala earlier this year that she was 'getting stronger and better all the time'.

'I am winning over it and living with it well,' she said. 'I don't think about it a lot, to be honest. Denial is a wonderful thing. I am getting stronger and better all the time.'

Cancer battler: Olivia, who is an advocate for medicinal cannabis and natural remedies, told The Daily Telegraph in February that her tumours were receding. Pictured at the Fire Fight bushfire relief concert in Sydney on February 16

Confirmed case: Channel Nine confirmed on Sunday that Richard, who had briefly met singer Rita Wilson at the Sydney Opera House on March 7, had tested positive for coronavirus

Channel Nine confirmed on Sunday that Richard, who had briefly met singer Rita Wilson at the Sydney Opera House on March 7, had tested positive for coronavirus.

Rita and her husband, Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks, tested positive for COVID-19 on the Gold Coast on Thursday.

On Sunday, Richard tweeted: 'Sincere thanks for all the messages... I really appreciate it. It's actually a bizarre feeling to have tested positive to this thing we've all been talking about. I feel 100 per cent... no symptoms at all!'

Cancer Council can offer cancer-related information and support on 13 11 20

The Coronavirus Health Information Line is 1800 020 080
The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) continues to pursue Russian state-controlled Rosneft Oil Co. (OTCMKTS: RNFTF) and its overseas affiliates involved with international transactions of Venezuela oil.

On Thursday, OFAC added TNK Trading International S.A. (TTI) to its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List.

U.S. individuals and companies are generally prohibited from conducting business with individuals or entities on the SDN List. Additionally, entities owned 50% or more in the aggregate by listed individuals or entities are blocked.

OFAC said following its Feb. 18 addition of Rosneft Trading S.A. to the SDN List that cargoes of Venezuelan oil were shifted to TTI to evade U.S. sanctions. Both Rosneft Trading and TTI are located in Switzerland and operated by Didier Casimiro.

"TNK Trading International S.A. is another Rosneft subsidiary brokering the sale and transport of Venezuelan crude oil, which is subject to sanctions," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a statement. "The Trump administration remains committed to targeting those who support the corrupt regime's exploitation of Venezuela's oil assets."

Rosneft Oil Co. obtained control over TTI in December 2017. The company is involved in the trading, processing and transport of raw materials, in particular unrefined petroleum and petroleum products.

Together, TTI and Rosneft Trading handled a large percentage of Venezuela's oil exports in 2019. According OFAC, TTI in January 2020 purchased about 14 million barrels of crude oil from Venezuela state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA), which has remained a significant funding source to the country's embattled President Nicolas Maduro.

In addition to this action, OFAC on Thursday issued a general license, which authorizes the continuation of certain business transactions with Rosneft Trading and TTI during a "wind down" period, expiring May 20.

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Press Release

March 15, 2020 STATEMENT OF SENATORS LEILA DE LIMA, FRANK DRILON, RISA HONTIVEROS, AND FRANCIS PANGILINAN Minority senators call for special session for supplemental COVID budget "In view of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, we in the Minority call for a special session of Congress to pass a supplemental budget to address the pandemic and help affected Filipino households, workers, and businesses. The supplemental budget should cover the test kits for massive testing; relief goods for the most vulnerable; additional health personnel, equipment (protective gear and hospital beds), and vitamins and medicine; cash support or basic income grant for the daily wage earners and the unemployed who don't have sick and vacation leaves; and subsidy or easy loans to help businesses, especially the micro and small ones, keep afloat during this period."
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday stressed for making people aware of preventive and precautionary steps to curb the spread of coronavirus and to upgrade the treatment facilities for it in the state.

In a meeting with his cabinet colleagues at his official residence, the chief minister also asked ministers to assess the damage to farmers' corps in recent rains and hailstorm in the state.

"People should be made aware about coronavirus. Prevention is its cure and by exercising precautions, we can save ourselves from this disease. Corona awareness should be done through Mukhayamantri Aarogya Mela," an official statement quoted the chief minister as telling ministers in the meeting.

"Posters pertaining to coronavirus should be put up at centres, which come under basic education, secondary education, higher education, vocational and skill development," he said.

The statement said the ministers were also told by the chief minister to review the preventive steps and treatment facilities of corona, besides assessing the loss due to the excessive rains and hailstorm and relief distribution in their respective districts of which they have been made in-charge.

Adityanath also said the affected farmers should be given compensation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union home minister Amit Shah during a meeting with a delegation from J&Ks newly formed Apni Party led by Altaf Bukhari, New Delhi. PTI photo

Srinagar: Union home minister Amit Shah has assured that the remaining political prisoners in Jammu and Kashmir would be released very soon, the newly formed Apni Partys president Altaf Bukhari said here on Saturday, days after former chief minister Farooq Abdullah was released.

A 24-member delegation of the Apni Party led by Bukhari held detailed discussions with Shah in the presence of top officials of the Home Ministry. The delegation had met prime minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.

Emerging after the meeting that lasted nearly two hours, Bukhari told reporters that the release of remaining political leaders was among the topics discussed with the home minister.

Yes, we did discuss about the detention of remaining political leaders and others, and the home minister said it is a process and we will be releasing them very soon, Bukhari said.

Many political leaders, including former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, were detained by the government after the abrogation of special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5.

National Conference president and former CM Farooq Abdullah was released on March 13 after being kept in detention for 221 days.

According to a home ministry statement, Shah allayed the apprehensions of the delegation on restrictions and said all decisions on relaxations are based on ground realities and not due to any pressure.

Even political prisoners will be freed in times to come as the main objective of the government is that not a single person should die, be it a common Kashmiri or security personnel, the home minister is believed to have said.

Shah is also said to have assured the delegation of restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood at an early opportunity and no change in the demography of the region.

Expressing confidence that visible changes will be seen on the ground in the next few months, the home minister also assured the delegation that the NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take all steps for the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir.

The political delegation was the first one to meet central leaders after the abrogation of J-K's special status on August 5.

Engaging with the delegation on about 40-odd issues raised by them, the home minister emphasised that there is no intention of the government for demographic change in the region and all such talks have no basis at all.

Bukhari said that there was a clear assurance on this issue from the prime minister and the home minister.

In a similar assurance as given by the prime minister to the delegation, Shah said the government will work with all sections of the society to realise the hopes of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir at an early opportunity.

Shah referred to the prime minister's address to the nation after the abrogation of Article 370 and said that and even he in his speech in Lok Sabha on August 6, 2019 expressed the same.

The home minister said this is also good for India's interest, as the region is a border area, according to the official statement.

The home minister assured the delegation that Jammu and Kashmir will have a better domicile policy than other states in the country and that a reasonable economic development policy will be drafted soon after widespread consultation.

Shah said his government is open to suggestions and feedback from all political parties and individuals for overall development of Jammu and Kashmir.

He emphasised that there is no discrimination in implementation of central laws in Jammu and Kashmir and interests of all sections will be taken care of.

He said that a land bank had been created in the union territory and the government would soon come out with an industrial policy to ensure rapid economic development.

He expressed hope that in the next four years, Jammu and Kashmir will have three times more investments than Rs 13,000 crore that it has received in last 70 years.

There is a huge potential and investors are also willing to come forward. This will also solve the problem of unemployment in the region, he added.

On the issue of reservation, the home minister said that a commission will be set up soon and reiterated that no injustice will be done to Gujjars, nomads and other communities.

On the issues concerning JK Bank, he assured the delegation of personal intervention in the matter.

The JK Apni Party chief also raised various other issues, including age relaxation for youths from the union territory appearing in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams, relief in horticulture and agriculture.
People are stealing hand sanitiser from hospitals and GP surgeries in Britain because of the coronavirus outbreak, sparking pleas from healthcare workers to stop.

Some hospitals have resorted to tying hand gel bottles to patients beds and putting stocks in secure cupboards to stop more being taken amid a shortage in high street shops.

Staff on a cancer ward at St Bartholomews Hospital in London wrote on Twitter: I cant believe I am having to ask this but please do not take the hand sanitisers off our wards when you visit Barts Hospital.

We need it to ensure safe care for your loved ones, the best way to prevent the spread of Covid-19 is good hand-washing.

A member of staff at Leicester Royal Infirmary called for people to grow up and behave.

Jim Stewart, clinical lead for the Leicester Intestinal Failure Team, wrote on Twitter: To the public. I know youre frightened but please do not steal the alcohol hand gel from hospitals. Youre putting staff and patients at risk. The NHS needs all the support it can get right now.

He added: If you steal from the NHS youre complicit in someones death. At this time possibly several deaths. Grow up and behave.

Lizzie Salter, a sister on a surgical ward at Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham, wrote: I had to cable tie hand sanitiser to beds today [Saturday] ... please please dont steal our alcohol gel.

Richard Beeken, the chief executive of Walsall Healthcare, tweeted: Please do not steal hand sanitiser from our hospital or community premises. This is needed for clinical purposes and protecting the most vulnerable from infection.

An anonymous worker at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow said thefts had been happening for more than a week.

A man and woman just came into my ward and ripped a bottle of hand sanitiser from the walk and left again, said one tweet. Please stop stealing our hand sanitiser gel, staff and patients need it.

Healthcare workers from across the UK reported similar thefts, with a man posting a photograph from outside an intensive care unit where a pouch of hand sanitiser had been ripped out of a wall dispenser.

People have stolen them from my brother-in-laws GP practice too, casing and all, ripping them off the wall, one person wrote on Twitter.

Nurses reported that face masks and gloves had also been stolen from some hospitals.

It came as a group of British supermarkets appealed for people to stop panic buying.

British food retailers have appealed to the public to stop panic buying amid reports of bare shelves at supermarkets across the country.

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

An open letter urged people to be considerate in the way they shop so others were not left without, as some shops limit purchases of basic household items.

The health secretary urged people to behave responsibly on Sunday morning.

Matt Hancock said a proposed set of laws setting out emergency powers to deal with the coronavirus outbreak will be outlined on Tuesday and published in full two days later.

He added that the government was working with Labour to take a cross-party approach, adding: It includes a broad range of actions, all about preparing Britain, making sure that were ready, should we need to be.

By Sunday afternoon, 35 patients who tested positive for the virus had died and 1,372 cases had been confirmed in the UK.
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
ALTON  Concerns over COVID-19 have prompted several local changes.

While Madison County has no presumptive positive or confirmed cases of COVID-19 at this time, officials are working to assure the public they are doing everything possible to prevent its spread.

The virus is in Illinois and the Bi-State region and although its not yet in Madison County, we anticipate it will be at some point, Health Department Director Toni Corona said.

Corona said people should avoid all non-essential gatherings. She noted recent state action to prevent the possible spread of the disease.

All of these things the state is doing it to promote social distancing, Corona said. This is a key recommendation to prevent community spread of the disease with the least disruption possible to peoples daily lives.

The risk to the general population in the United States still remains low, however, you can be a carrier and transmit it to those who are at risk. Remember them and protect them by your actions, she said.

Chairman Kurt Prenzler said Madison County Health Department is working around the clock to identify any threats to public safety. He said there are things the public can do to protect themselves.

Social distancing is a key action right now, he said. Stay away from larger crowds or if you have the ability to work from home then do so.

Corona encouraged county residents wash their hands, cover coughs and sneezes and stay home if they are sick. More information is on the Madison County Health Departments website at https://www.co.madison.il.us/departments/health/index.php.

Chief Judge William Mudge on Friday announced the Madison County courts of the Third Judicial Circuit will remain open, but with changes and limitations,.

The court is reviewing ways to minimize the need for jurors to be summoned to the courthouse; summoned jurors who feel ill should contact the jury commissioner at 618-296-4392. Litigants who feel ill are advised to contact the opposing party or attorney to determine if an agreed continuance can be obtained and submitted to the court. If there is no agreement, contact the circuit clerks office and advise them illness will prevent your attendance.

The court will continue to perform marriages but limit the number of people attending the ceremony. The Department of Probation and Court Services is exploring opportunities to use technology to meet clients needs while reducing in-person meetings.

The Child Abuse Prevention Kick Off planned April 1 has been postponed, as has Fitzs one-year Gotcha Day celebration formerly planned March 27. All courthouse tours and school visits are canceled until further notice.

The Madison County States Attorneys Office is asking the court to enter an order continuing certain traffic and misdemeanor dockets for no less than 30 days. Notice of this continuance will be sent by the circuit clerk, where practical. People with upcoming traffic ticket court appearances set in the next 30 days should wait to receive notice of a later court date, which will be set sometime after April 15. This notice does not apply to driving under the influence, domestic violence or felony criminal cases.

Starting Tuesday, all Hayner Public Library District facilities will be closed for at least two weeks, based on Gov. J. B. Pritzkers statewide directive to close all schools in the fight against the spread of COVID-19. The district anticipates reopening on March 31.

Some library employees will work remotely to ensure essential functions and communications are maintained, but the majority of the staff will not work during this time. Overdue fines will not be assessed to Hayner Library cardholders March 17-30.

Updaates will be posted on the librarys website at www.haynerlibrary.org and its Facebook page, www.facebook.com/haynerlibrary. The main phone line  618-462-0677  also will have up-to-date information regarding the closing.

Beverly Farm has announced it will not allow visitors to its campus .

The Shoppes at Be

GODFREY: Beverly Farm will not allow visitors to our campus and the equestrian center will only be open for boarders. Also, The Shoppes at Beverly Farm are not currently taking donations for resale and will only be open through the drive up.

Beverly Farm has canceled all tours from the community and all volunteer opportunities on campus. It also has canceled its Adult Easter Egg Hunt on April 4 and all events for the April 24-26 Family Weekend.

In Granite City, officials have announced protocols limiting social contact and increasing safety/cleaning.

The city has a limited availability of masks and public access to hand sanitizers. City vehicle sticker sales have been delayed until further notice. City and county court, which takes place on Monday and Thursday, has been canceled until April 1. And the Granite City Cinema will be closed March 16 through April 1.

People are asked not to come to city hall if they are sick or experiencing sickness symptoms.

The Riverbender Community Center will temporarily adjust its program schedule beginning Monday, March 16.

Friday Night Open Play events will be canceled until further notice and the Adult Game Day scheduled for Tuesday, March 17, is canceled. As is its normal policy, the After School program will be open Monday but will not be held on days that school is closed.

The center said cancellations do not affect private party rentals which will remain as scheduled.

The Alton Knights of Columbus/Spaulding Club has changed its all-you-can-eat Lenten fish fry buffet to a no-seating carryout format served by volunteers from Friday, March 20, through the end of Lent, April 10.

The carryout menu is available 4:30-7 p.m.
Many Canadian travellers went into panic mode Friday after the federal government advised against all international travel to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Here's what you need to know about the government's new travel advisory and how it will affect your vacation plans.

Is this a ban?

No. The government's advisory isn't a travel ban, but rather a recommendation to avoid international travel.

"The borders aren't closed. It's a free country. If a plane's taking off, you can get on it," said travel advisor Christiane Cormier, owner of Passports to Postcards Travel in Port Credit, Ont.

However, Canadians who opt to travel now may face consequences such as no coronavirus-related medical insurance coverage and difficulty securing a flight home, as Ottawa has pledged to reduce the number of airports accepting inbound international flights.

The government has also advised all Canadian travellers abroad to return home and recommended that any returning travellers self-isolate themselves for 14 days as a precaution.

Submitted by Christiane Cormier

Cormier said just the prospect of self-isolation has motivated some clients to nix their travel plans.

"For some people, their job requires them to be in an office, or they work in a capacity where they can't do that."

Will my cancellation insurance cover me?

Canadians who choose to cancel their trip should check with both their travel and insurance provider to explore their options.

Insurance broker Martin Firestone said customers with the right insurance should now be covered if they cancel an international trip.

That's because trip cancellation insurance typically covers travellers who have booked a trip before the government issues an advisory against non-essential travel to their destination.

Because Ottawa advised against all non-essential international travel on Friday, Firestone said customers who've already booked a trip should get a full refund  provided they qualify for the coverage and the travel advisory is still in place on their travel date.

Story continues

"This is huge," said Firestone about the travel advisory. "They basically turned the world into a hotspot that should not be travelled to."

CBC

So far, at least five Canadian insurance providers  including major players Manulife and Allianz  have issued company memos stating they will factor in the government's travel advisory when customers make claims.

It should be noted that the advisory won't apply to customers who signed up with an insurance company after it stopped offering coronavirus-related cancellation coverage.

Four insurance providers  Manulife, Allianz, TuGo and Blue Cross  recently stopped selling the coverage to new customers, because they now consider the virus a "known" issue.

What about medical coverage?

Firestone said another consequence of the new travel advisory is that Canadians who now choose to travel outside Canada likely won't have medical coverage if they get sick with the coronavirus.

That's because they've chosen to visit a country to which the government has advised against travelling, due to the virus.

"So if you end up in the emergency room and get admitted to a hospital and then the fever turns into bronchitis and pneumonia, this is hundreds of thousands of dollars that will not be covered," said Firestone with Travel Secure in Toronto. "That's scary."

According to Manulife's memo, travellers who depart for a trip after March 17 won't get coronavirus-related medical coverage.

According to a Friday announcement by insurance company, RTOERO, customers' trip interruption and emergency medical coverage will expire in 10 days, or however long it takes current travellers to safely return home.

Firestone said the government's travel advisory has currently made international travel a risky endeavour.

"Anybody really who's travelling now for non-essential reasons is doing the wrong thing. It is not the time to leave Canada."

What about the travel providers?

For people who want to cancel or change their trip and have no travel insurance, they still may be accommodated by their travel provider.

"Most of the tour operators are offering some flexibility," said Cormier. "I've actually been impressed with the way the industry, especially the big players in Canada, have stepped up."

Many cruise companies are offering full refunds or travel credits when people cancel or rebook.

At the beginning of March, Air Canada, WestJet, Air Transat and Sunwing began waiving change fees for bookings made that month, and now they have extended the offer to passengers who had booked before March, for travel up until April 30.

And those policies may become even more flexible as the coronavirus continues to ravage travel plans.

submitted by Laura Young

When the government warned against all international travel on Friday, Laura Young of Pickering, Ont., decided that she and her husband must cancel their vacation package deal to the Dominican Republic, booked with Air Transat.

"We thought, 'Well this is non-essential travel. We can't put ourselves in harm's way.'"

However, Young's flight departed the next day, Air Transat's phone lines were jammed and, at the time, the airline required that customers give three days' notice to make trip changes without paying a fee.

"I'm devastated," said Young, whose vacation package cost $5,000 in total. "I just like have this pit in my stomach."

CBC News contacted Air Transat, which replied that it had changed its policy, now requiring only one day's notice to change a booking without charges.

"This makes me so happy," said a relieved Young who submitted a claim online before the deadline.
A Patton Village police officer in his 40s who tested positive for COVID-19 remains in critical condition according to a Montgomery County Public Health District official.

Montgomery County Public Health District spokeswoman Misti Willingham said Saturday afternoon the countys first presumptive positive case of COVID-19 remained in critical condition.

The public health district cannot comment on a patients work history, but previous reporting confirmed the man is a Patton Village police officer who previously attended a barbecue cook-off event at the Houston rodeo on Feb. 29.

Montgomery County Public Health District spokeswoman Misti Willingham confirmed Saturday afternoon in conjunction with the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management the countys fourth case of the new coronavirus in Montgomery County.

In a release Saturday Willingham said the woman, who is in her 40s, is a resident of northwest Montgomery County. Her case is connected to Montgomery Countys third case, announced Thursday. She is currently in isolation at her home and does not require hospitalization right now.

Willingham updated updated the conditions on other cases in the county.

The countys second case, a woman in her 40s, who resides in southeast Montgomery County, is in critical condition in a hospital in Harris County. The countys third case is a man in his 40s who resides in northwest Montgomery County. He was initially in isolation at home but is now in good condition in a hospital in Montgomery County.

The police officer  tasked with administrative duty  had been out of the office and outside the Splendora-area department since Feb. 27, Police Chief Shannon Sharp said in a previous news release. Sharp later said the officer was off-the-clock on comp time.

Police said the officer had no recent contact with the public, such as calls for service and arrests.

We have been in constant contact with the Montgomery County Public Health Department, Sharp said earlier. 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.

jmaskulinski@hcnonline.com
Source: Xinhua| 2020-03-15 07:51:51|Editor: Xiang Bo

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WASHINGTON, March 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Department of Defense said Saturday that three U.S. service members were injured from the latest rocket attack on Iraq's Camp Taji military base, days after a similar rocket attack that caused U.S. casualties.

Two of the three wounded U.S. soldiers were seriously injured and sent to a military hospital in Baghdad, according to a Pentagon spokesman.

On Wednesday, a similar rocket attack on Camp Taji killed two U.S. soldiers and one British service member, and wounded 14 others. The next day, U.S. military conducted strikes against five facilities of Kata'ib Hezbollah (KH) across Iraq, saying the strikes could degrade their ability to conduct future attacks against coalition forces.

In the latest attack on Saturday, at least 25 rockets impacted Camp Taji hosting Coalition troops, some 20 km north of Baghdad, the U.S.-led coalition force said earlier in the day.

Commander of U.S. Central Command Kenneth McKenzie told the press at a Pentagon briefing on Friday that the threat to the United State in the region remains very high, and that the tensions have not gone down.

The tit-for-tat between the U.S. military and the Shia militia group might lock them into a cycles of attacks and reprisals.

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 for training and advisory purposes.
New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Tema West, Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah, has described the colourful reception that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo received in Kumasi during the 63rd anniversary of Ghanas independence as the evidence that the President is the peoples man.



On the 6th of March 2020, Kumasi spoke for the rest of Ghana. The enthusiasm, the colour riot, the rich cultural and traditional display and the sheer size of the spectators at the Baba Yara Stadium all said one thing, behold, this is our beloved President, Carlos Ahenkorah said.



In a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Friday, Mr Ahenkorah who is also the Deputy Minister of Trade pointed out that the President had for the past couple of years endeared himself to most Ghanaians on account of initiatives such as the free SHS, Planting for food and jobs among others.



He said: I dont think in the whole of the fourth Republic, Kumasi and Ghana have shown such attraction towards our leaders as they did to President Akufo-Addo.



This years commemoration of the 6th March celebration was exceptionally colourful with President Akufo-Addo headlining as the cynosure of admiration and praise especially from students.



Amidst a powerful riot of kente colours, a full to capacity Baba Yara stadium expectantly looked forward to welcoming the President before the celebrations would start and when he did, the whole stadium was a tumult.



But the climax of the occasion came when pupils from the Garrison High School in Kumasi stepped up to recite the appellations of the President in accompaniment to drums to invite the President to deliver his address.



The main poet, put the whole stadium in a sombre mood with an emotional rendition to thank the President for the Free SHS programme, which according to the pupil had provided opportunities for people of humble circumstances to also access education.



At a point, the emotional young girls broke into weeping as she bowed and thanked the President. The whole stadium became emotional after her as many mothers wiped tears from their eyes.



This moment showed all, what the President and his Free SHS means to the ordinary Ghanaian. These were genuine tears of relief shed by both pupils and parents alike. Ghanaians will never forget President Akufo-Addos thoughtfulness, Carlos Ahenkorah said.



He, therefore, called on Ghanaians to give him another four years in the December polls to complete all projects and projects he had initiated and those that were yet to begin for the benefit of all.

Source: GNA









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With the possibility of a 2020 virus pandemic, it is time for North Dakotans to be reminded of the devastation that occurred in the country and the state when influenza raged in 1918. It gives us a serious lesson so that we dont take the threat too casually and expect to continue life as usual.

Some people believe in the invincibility of the United States, doubting that anything could shatter our safety and security. If theres a war, we will win it. If theres a pandemic, we will cure it. If the earth warms, we will cool it. If the disaster is beyond our abilities, God will save his favorite nation.

History teaches us that empires have collapsed while in glory years comparable to the United States today. We need to have only one generation make a stupid mistake to destroy the United States. The threat is not only pandemics but, as in the case of the Roman Empire, the loss of civic virtue," i.e. a soft citizenship that lost its civil vigilance.

1918 victims unknown

Close to our day is the worldwide epidemic of Spanish flu in 1918 that killed an unknown number of victims, estimated from 17 to 100 million. That range tells us that nobody knows.

More of our troops mobilized to fight World War I died of influenza than died in the fighting. While the current virus attacks the old and the young, the 1918 influenza hit the 20-40 age groups the hardest.

Where the flu started is still another guessing game. It did not start in Spain, although the flu came to be known as a Spanish flu. Some thought China; some guessed Austria.

Started in Kansas?

U.S. Historian Alfred Crosby argued that it came from Kansas, and John Barry, another historian, nailed it down to Haskell County. Others thought Fort Riley. Scientists today are still guessing.

Barry pointed out that pregnant women were the most vulnerable, something worth considering until science defines vulnerable groups in the current near-pandemic.

According to Expedia, 13 studies of hospitalized women indicated that the death rate of those with the flu was from 23% to 71%. Of the women who survived childbirth, 25% lost their babies.

Thousands die in ND

North Dakota did not escape the 1918 pandemic. Not only did our soldiers die in the trenches along with those from other countries, according to an article by Dr. Steve McDonough in a 2017 Bismarck Tribune, North Dakota reported 1,378 deaths from the flu. Dr. McDonough said that 1,378 was a gross undercount, and it is more likely that 3,000 to 5,000 succumbed.

North Dakota was handicapped in fighting the flu because a significant number of doctors and nurses were in Europe caring for American troops.

Shortage of health providers

That meant that there werent enough health care providers to care for the sick, Dr. McDonough noted.

The flu was merciless. Florence Kimball, a 1913 graduate of Lisbon High School, was serving as a registered nurse with U.S. troops in Europe and died of the flu at age 24. The Lisbon American Legion Post was named in her honor.

The Student Army Training Corps had mustered 423 young men in Grand Forks, two-thirds of whom contracted the flu and 29 of whom perished.

Pandemics are grim. Until the scientific community comes up with a vaccine, we wont know what we are dealing with. "Caution is the watchword.

Lloyd Omdahl is a political scientist and former North Dakota lieutenant governor. His column appears Sundays.

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In 1765, General John Guise bequeathed his collection of more than 200 paintings and almost 2,000 drawings to his former college Christ Church.

Police could be seen looking at picture frames on the roof of the gallery (Collect)

This enabled the college to introduce art into Oxford education without the need to travel to Italy or visit stately homes, which at that point held the majority of art collections in the UK.

A number of subsequent gifts and bequests of paintings has meant the Christ Church Picture Gallery has grown to 300 paintings and almost 2,000 drawings.

The purpose-built gallery that houses the collection was designed by the architects Powell and Moya and was opened by the Queen in 1968.